Faded Butterfly's Whisperings

Status check

2008-06-20T14:54:00.004+08:00

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

2008-04-28T16:38:00.003+08:00

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

2007-11-28T14:55:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-21T16:32:00.000+08:00

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

2007-09-24T10:38:00.001+08:00

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

2007-09-21T15:57:00.000+08:00

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

2007-09-13T12:59:00.000+08:00

so many versions...

:-)

=-)

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

today..

2007-09-12T17:02:00.000+08:00

- 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

2007-09-06T07:40:00.000+08:00

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

2007-08-27T22:47:00.000+08:00

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

2007-08-19T22:28:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-08-09T16:24:00.000+08:00

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?

2007-08-08T16:52:00.000+08:00

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

2007-08-06T23:11:00.000+08:00

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

2007-07-30T13:13:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-07-27T09:55:00.000+08:00

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

2007-07-23T18:05:00.000+08:00

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

2007-07-20T15:46:00.000+08:00

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

2007-07-17T11:32:00.000+08:00

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?

2007-07-12T22:45:00.000+08:00

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

2007-06-29T09:03:00.000+08:00

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

2007-06-16T22:48:00.000+08:00

"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!

2007-06-08T00:04:00.000+08:00

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

2007-06-06T10:33:00.000+08:00

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

2007-05-30T13:19:00.000+08:00

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

2007-05-23T21:47:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-05-22T13:16:00.001+08:00

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!!

2007-05-20T21:10:00.000+08:00

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*

:(

2007-05-15T10:27:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-05-11T14:55:00.000+08:00

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

2007-05-10T10:45:00.000+08:00

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 :(

Bad Omen

2007-05-08T09:29:00.000+08:00

I am not really big on superstitions but I do what I can whenever I can; e.g. take extra precaution on Friday the 13th's, try not to break a mirror, always want to own a rabbit's foot (should have when Bibit died), and all that. In the span of the last week;

- my PC clock died on me. This synchronisation error to Internet server error has been on-going whenever my PC is left untouched for a couple of days OR it could be a curse from Kamarul. I believe it's the latter because I am not the only victim of this said curse as the AlcoholicFrogEater can attest to that!

- my room clock died on me. I changed the batteries twice since but it still does not work accurately. Maybe the batteries have been sitting too long in my drawer.

- my handphone's clock semi died on me. Last nite, I got confused looking at the PC clock that read 11:41pm, my room clock that read 9:37pm and my handphone clock that read 10:51pm. I had to quadruple check the time with my watch!! Which thankfully read 11:41pm.

Is this a bad omen or what?! :(

Europe Part II

2007-05-07T15:34:00.000+08:00

We spent a day in Brussels in high search for mussels in white wine sauce but was disappointed to not find any big succulent mussels. Instead, we settled for some beer hopping of some of the local beers in sight. We simply picked at random at any nice sounding names; obviously not the N.A. (non alcoholic) type of beers! We had more beer photos from WS's camera but it got busted in France, so no more pictures :((

The weather was so not for me; too hot under the blazing sun but too chilly in the shades. I wasn't sure if I was turning flushed from the sun or the beer :p

We stumbled across the Manneken Pis by accident, while munching away on an authenthic Belgian Waffle, Brussels style; which is basically with a choice of toppings. From a selection of powdered sugar, dark chocolate drizzles, white chocolate drizzles, whipped cream, ice-cream and fruits; I selected one with strawberries and chocolate. You can't go wrong with that! Except to throw away the last quarter cos it was just too sweet.

The Manneken Pis is indeed very tiny :p

The famous square, Grand Place

Hiding from the sun

Beautiful architecture!

Cobble stone streets

Good stuff!

One whole piece by yourself can be very "errrr"

Manneken Pis is only the height of my head, no?

I could sit here all day sipping beer!

The only mussels we had, those tiny brown specks in the potato dish

Europe Part I

2007-05-04T09:17:00.000+08:00

11 days Europe + 4 days Phuket immediately thereafter = one very sick fadedbutterfly. Been having the fever, flu, sorethroat and cough for the last few days.

Brief photo updates.

Netherlands. Just in time for the famous tulips visit. We did not go to Keukenhof as everyone else did (otherwise it'd have been jam packed with people!) but instead to the wild tulip farms around the area. Haary was kind enough to have spent the day driving us about, snapping photos and driving by Keukenhof, I was mighty glad we didn't go in as the tulips in the wild were so much prettier and mightier than the contained garden ones. Endless rows of colourful single and double petal tulips.

Makes u feel like falling on top of this petal quilt

In whatever colour u want

Like a jigsaw puzzle print

We went to Madurodam (all of miniature Netherlands in one location) again as there was a Magic Ice Zoo; an ice carving exhibition going on at the same time. At -11'c, coming out of the meat freezer was the only way we felt warmish from the windy terrains of Netherlands! There was a mini tobagan ride that we made the mistake of going on cos our fingers almost fell off after that.

Wheee!!!

Fake street in Madurodam

A real windmill that we climbed, it stinks of damp wood

Irony

2007-04-27T13:37:00.000+08:00

Irony is when...

... A.Ooi went to NL the day after my return
... Bogge is going to Paris the Saturday after I was there
... HanTheTan is going to be at a different part of Thailand from us

-_-

Of mussels and crepes

2007-04-13T15:14:00.000+08:00

I am off to have the best mussels in white wine and best crepes in creperie tomorrow!!!! Energy boosters for my major hectic-walk-fest! Oh gosh, I hope I don't get lost. I hope I am able to hunt down what I have planned.

I firstly have to endure a week's worth of security technicalities -_-

Role playing

2007-04-09T17:57:00.000+08:00

Some years ago, I did one of them online quizzes - "Which Desperate Housewife are you?". Some 10 questions later, I was a Bree Van De Kamp. Although I'd like to think I am not as anal as her, being such an alcoholic control clean freak. I suppose I just like to bake :D And to throw nice grand dinner parties (when I have my own decent place someday). And to make sure it's spotless (if I can hire my own maid). And to have matching towels in my bathroom (if I can indulge in buying them this way). And to have the full suite dinner sets and cutleries (and polish them every other week). Right, so that's as close to a Bree as I am. U-huh.

Just the other day, I took another one - "Which Grey's are you?". A couple of questions later, I was an Addison Shepherd. Come on, I love men too much to be starring down 'em puss'. And I can't even imagine myself giving birth yet, what more making a living out of it? But perhaps from an emo point of view, I could be somewhat like her. But I suppose I would compete with a younger hotter chica who'd want my man (at all cost). And I just might move states to be with my man. But if I was really her, I'd stick with McSteamy. He's so much hotter. Right, so that's as close to an Addison as I am. U-huh.

So yeah, the only semblance is if I were to dye my hair red. So there!

End of phase 4

2007-04-02T22:30:00.000+08:00

The reality of it all only sank in to me today after the news was shared. Deep in me, I knew of course that the choice was made and that one day, a new life will be started somewhere whereas an old life will lose a part of herself.

We started phase 1 more than a decade ago. Everday was a joy at school, especially during recess time where we pulled all sorts of stunts like pao-ing a few cents off Kelvin Choo just to end the break with a Fanta Strawberry. We thought the end of the world was near when we had to split class towards the end of one year. But that only brought more laughter and fun between class periods where we wound up at each other's classes more than our own. The hours we spent talking on the phone each day, how much can we really talk anyway? Obviously tonnes.

Gradually, we moved to phase 2, driving to college instead of walking to school. The times we've skipped classes to hang around playing mahjong at Kimmy's, grumbling when Brian honked at the gate, or when we dropped by B'sar for lunch just because we were cruising in the red Beemer. And then we also partied in downtown city centre just because we could.

We were devastated when we had to leave for phase 3 because we couldnt bear to leave our men behind. One year and a cert later, the two men were history. Oh how we should have toured around a little more than just to fly home every opportunity we got. Our beloved Bent St was a blessing, our spiderman neighbour who unlocked our door for us and who we still owe that cake we wanted to thank him with, the time when you ran out laughing and a fly flew right into your throat, and how we warmed ourselves through the whole winter with Jim Beam's. The elcheapos. But those 8hours of Friends and tonnes of Sri Aji satchets more than made up for it all.

We went separately yet intertwined in phase 4, when you dropped by Pharma while eCop was servicing us. But we partied harder than we worked, those 8 hours nightlife we used to exercise. I wonder where we drew the energy from?

Before I could join you in phase 5, wife and mother, you have to leave. Words cannot express the sorrow I feel to not have you that mere minute drive away. To further contribute to the thousands of dollars we have already spent on tehoaislimau's. To have found our second comfort home in Green House (or was it Green Tea or Tea House?) after the close-down of the old spot. To share insane jokes and laughter. To bitch and moan about our daily shit. To share nothern stories after each trip. To worry and to seek advice. To plan and to dream. All that is only a mere portion of our lives shared together, the ups and downs we have gone through, the great and the little, the laughter and the tears, the experiments and its side effects, those drink-n-dial moments, the eating sprees, the hopes and disappointments, and so much more are endless bittersweet memories I always hold true in my heart. It is bad enough that one leg of our tripod is down south in S'pore, now another geographical challenge for me...

You are a wonderful woman in your own way, strong and capable, funny and kind, always ever ready for a drink if you can, intelligent and conniving, generous and forgiving, trustworthy and realiable. I can never find another like you. No matter how difficult it may be, believe in yourself and have faith that you will pull through. Stay the way you are and you'll be fine. I promise.

I thank you for ALL and I apologise for some. I will miss you sorely; my best friend, my sister & my soulmate. I love you plenty and I wish you the very best that you so truly deserve. God bless. *hugs*

I am on sick leave

2007-04-02T09:13:00.000+08:00

I had one of my pain-until-can-die attacks middle of last night. You see, I have a really sensitive tummy. Combine that with a really low pain threshold, I have, on numerous occasions passed out from stomach aches. People who have not passed out have an amusing fascination of those who do, wondering what we see in that split second before all black encompasses us. Well, I do see bright spots blinking in my field of vision but I am unable to focus on any of the blinking spots because if I do, it moves away. Just like one of those optical illusion emails we have seen. And then I wont be able to control my limbs and as my vision starts to slant (body physically collapsing), I am aware yet unable to do anything about it. And then, total darkness for a split second.

That's it really.

While getting out of bed this morning, I felt woozy in the head and a tight clench in the pit of my stomach. So I thought - hey, this is no condition for me to drive all the way to work, sit through 10 hours of it, make pleasant conversations with the new cluster manager who's clocking in today and my boss who will be in the office today, go through a 2 hour team lunch just because (I know they will arrange) and see UBLC's face. So I called in sick. And then blog. :D

We just came back from a long weekend and was caught in terrible traffic due to the roadworks on the NSE. I think the Cheng Beng crowd added to it. 6 hours!!!! Cars were crawling by and even the little baby roach on my window can't be force-flown away because we were crawling by. We attempted to use the trunk roads halfway through our journey, we covered a fair distance until the trunk road became just as congested. So we hopped back on the highway because my bladder was about to explode and I needed a decent restroom. :p

Oh, and I got this done for RM 12. I'm not all that gungho on these artsy fartsy stuff but for RM 12, what the heck.

I'm off to the doc now.

Happy days are here again

2007-03-29T10:24:00.000+08:00

I am just done with a 3-days workshop that ended yesterday, so am taking a moment to just space out and earn some well deserved snaketime.

Some random updates:

- I missed out on yoga this week due to the workshop. I am not sure if it's just some psychological impact or what but I could have sworn my old nagging backpain peeked back a little yesterday. Remediation: strict 9-6 for the next couple of days :D

- I have been trying to wear out my war-gear before the hectic-walk-fest and it has been painful :( Two pinches on the outer side of my right foot but I am slowly getting there! There were three pinches on my first wear. Remediation: keep wearing to soften it otherwise splurge on a new comfort+style :D

- STF is finally relocating, FINALLY! He was supposed to move out of his current existing location like Oct 06?! He's a NATO (no action, talk only) not only in terms of work performance but even on moving seats!!! But he has to go cos a new one is coming in next Monday. No doubt he was once ok but his constant procrastination and mega BS is just overwhelming. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Remediation: what remediation? Happy celebrate la!

- We have an in lieu holiday tomorrow. A much needed one after the recent influx of urgent work. Action: Offline for 3 days, catch up with Magges, eat, sleep and spend some TLC moments with loved ones. Enquiry: how did the meeting with the Senior Partner go?

- I sent in fatty's pair of pants to the tailor to fix the burst zipper. Was supposed to collect it on Monday but it totally slipped my mind!! Oopsie daisy! Remediation: collect it pronto tomorrow :D

- I ate some superb sun-dried tomatoes bread this morning. It was one of those home-baked fresh loaf (not so fresh by the time I ate today since it came home on Monday) infused with very tasty sun-dried tomatoes in a light spanking orangey red colour. It came from Bakery in Sri Hartamas. I want more!!! Remediation: drop by tomorrow to pick up. Write down road instructions. :D

- I always get spam mails from my mom :( She thinks she's forwarding really good true-to-God-happened-in-real-life-yo! emails. And then we have discussions over dinner on the severity of such incidences and how much precaution we should be taking with sentences starting like "That's why I keep telling you all...... ". *sigh*. Remediation: insert rule to delete incoming mails from mom? Start a chain on some absurd claims of how talking about other people's alleged misfortunes over dinner can ruin family relationships, and see if this gets back to her? :D

No more.

Dear Shee...

2007-03-27T19:32:00.000+08:00

whoever said being a parent was easy? i can only recall the kinda mental trauma i put my mum thru while i was growing up and at that exasperated age of 16! i am not sure if sharing this will work as we're all our own individuals - but my mum has always been strict and fair with us. when i was at the age of 16, she can yell at me, ground me, refuse to give my any allowance when i was being nasty, yet i thought i was above it all. her words fell on deaf ears and i really did what i wanted to do, which at that time thought i was right.

mum held her ground. after a while, i came to. afterall, who am i to challenge mum? i stopped doing what i thought was ok (eg in Josh's case, not handing in his assignments on time etc). today, i am glad she held to her beliefs. that it was unheard of that i lived life as tho' without needing any parental guidance nor restrictions.

maybe what u can do is to understand his concerns, and at the same time, make him understand your concerns. that it is important you raise him up well because he means the world to you and that him achieving good grades at this stage of life is important to give himself a better future. make him understand why u placed so much emphasis on certain things which u, in your worldly motherhood experience, feel so passionate about which he may not see now but eventually will.
talk to him like an adult - nothing gives a younger one more reason and exposure than being treated like one (sometimes).

if all else fails, use your tears and disappointment to get to him. most children can't bear to see their parents going thru those kinda grief. but use this only as a last resort :p

*big hug*

*I can'f for the life of me remember my password*

Allergy

2007-03-22T14:26:00.000+08:00

Having read Magges' post on her baby's sensitive note - I thought I'd share my nose allergy with you so you would ever so kindly be wary of this condition of mine and attempt to NOT make life difficult for me. This thought was further fueled by a couple of M&E guys who were fixing the ceiling lights above the cubicle beside mine.

You see, I really can't stand the stench of BOs!!! I can unassumingly pick it up as soon as I come within a fairly close proximity of someone infested with it, that my nose immediately pinches over, automatically hold my breath and gag on the remnants that manage to sneak up my nostrils while my brain digested before reacting. And then I take a testing whiff (otherwise no oxygen) and can sometimes repeat the same cycle but with a much stronger effect as my lungs would then be empty of clean air.

I really can't comprehend why some of them folks are unable to smell themselves smelling bad?! I mean, don't they geddit when people do a nose twich - ala Bewitched, whenever they walk by? Or when the flies just drop dead around them?

The honest to goodness sweat from playing a sporting activity is fine. Same goes for wearing bad coloured cotton top (Sportsgirl!! watch it!!) in hot sunny weather. But not when you're just working in an air conditioned office and you emit this strong sour stench that can really make your poor colleagues retch!

For the sake of my own sanity, I have stopped being polite. Not like I go up to them and tell them in their face that they stink bad - oh trust me, I'd like that, but for fear of being beaten up or worse, grabbed tight and shoved under their armpits for all eternity until their smell is implanted in my nostrils forever and ever, I instead give them a poor pitiful frown, tsk'd just a wee bit, raise my hanky (or paper towels, whichever's closest) (okok, I am not so dainty-glam that I carry a hanky, for other reasons, perhaps) to cover my powdered nose, and keep glancing at them out of the corner of my eye to see when they're making a move out of my breathing air-space. Gosh - quite the rude huh.

But but but.. I'm not even asking for eu de toilette yet!! Just decent basic self care and cleanliness, which is something our fellow countrymen lacks quite sorely :( 3 basic skin-care: wash, soap, deodorant!

But if you want to earn karma points and go to heaven; bring on the Polo Black's, the Issey's, the Cerutti's, the CKs and the Chanel's. There's nothing like being a walking smelling pot of hotsex. ;)

Seriously, I don't know why I'm griping so much about this when I have tonnes of work to do. Tiddle doo now! *sniff*

Flat-lined

2007-03-19T12:25:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, I got my war gear for my major hectic-walk-fest next month. Not the above exactly (reptiles, amphibians and I don't go well at all) but something very similar :D I have been hunting high and low for quite sometime now and finally came across a good bargain in an almost perfect timing. I had to hunt for a pair of comfy walking smart casual easy to match yet dainty pair of flats which will protect my bare feet trudging across all sorts of terrains in the coming months. Saw 2 different pairs, requested for my size, one came back and the other was sold out. Paraded it for the Pip twice, a single nod each time, 5 minutes later and it was a done deal. I'm such a straight-forward shopper! I've yet to try out the comfort level in mine but I'm guessing a few trial sessions should "wear" it well. Yay me!

Yoga

2007-03-13T18:54:00.000+08:00

I attended my very first yoga session earlier. It is not an easy feat! Rewind a little, I have been having a bad back for quite some time now, mainly due to bad seating posture as a result of long hours in front of the computer. After getting a 17" flat TFT screen to project my 10" light weight laptop to avoid hunched back strains, 2 visits to the doctor, a brief period of painkillers and a tube of Deep Heat later, the pain returned! :(

Anyone with prolonged muscle aches can tell you how irritating it is to be enduring it at funny times throughout the day. I can simply be reaching down to pick a pebble off my shoe, bending a little to refill my water tumbler, shifting positions while in bed - boom! spasm attack. I would recoil so fast with a yelp that you may think I got burnt in the ass.

As the doctor advised, I should be going for more body massages or attend yoga classes. Hmm, tough choice here. Once a week; RM 70 per body massage vs free yoga from the company. Sigh, how I wish it could be free body massages from the company! Heh.

So yep, I just went for my first yoga class. Suffice to say, the Instructor kept murmuring;

"fadedbutterfly, bend your knees straight"
"fadedbutterfly, relax your facial muscles"
"fadedbutterfly, curl your toes in"
"fadedbutterfly, relax your facial muscles"
"fadedbutterfly, spread your palms wide"
"fadedbutterfly, relax your facial muscles"

With every stretch I do, every hamstring I stretch, every degrees my legs are raised, every angle I turn... I wince in pain. That is how fit I am. :(

Heroes

2007-03-12T09:24:00.000+08:00

I started Heroes S1 during the weekend. I many likey it! Back to the days of TV series obsession which was temporarily halted due to unfortunate circumstances. The list now owing:

1. 24 S6
2. Grey's Anatomy S3 - ep 11 onwards
3. Veronica Mars S3
4. Desparate Housewives S3 - ep 11 onwards

I guess I'd like to be Peter Petrelli if given the choice.

So YOU must start watching Heroes if you haven't already!

So we can discuss ep. 17 cos I just don't geddit. :p

Then and now

2007-03-07T17:47:00.000+08:00

I was sifting through random files over the weekend and came across a picture so hilarious that I made 3 other people laughed till they almost died.

The year was 1985 and there we were, Magges and I, standing side by side with our super blur looks, old school hairstyle, and me being taller than her. Heh. We went to kindy together.

And today, more than 2 decades later, we're still standing side by side with our super blur looks, slightly new hairstyle, and me still being taller than her. Heh. We went to high school, college and uni together.

All but missing one Bogge.

My passion at work...

2007-03-05T16:37:00.000+08:00

... is to kill some people. A certain someone to be exact but I can easily fill up the list in a split second! I remember when I was younger, a good 10 years ago, Magges and I would spend endless hours playing and plotting this superb game "Name 10 people you will kill if you could do it without getting in trouble". Oh I remember those days and I remember some names from back then too - a certain miss Val from Magges' list. Heh.

Today (and almost every other day to be exact), I want to kill a certain ugly-balding-leery-chinapek. Now, for a start I hardly ever accuse anyone of being ugly because heck, I ain't some hot chicca myself. If I was, I would probably tell ugly people that they're ugly. Second of all, I am above that in the sense that I believe everyone of us is individually beautiful inside. But this post is not about self-righteousness la ok. So getting back to my anger - yeah, I wanna shoot this ugly-balding-leery-chinapek 10 times over because he is a big time slacker who brags into your face every chance he gets, has no table manners whatsoever, wears black rims cos he thinks its IN and has a maniacal laughter while thinking he is God's gift to his colleagues. I so totally hate braggats because I am not privilege enough to mix with the elite circle who are entitled to brag within their own rights but instead, am surrounded by some who brag way above their social entitlement!

Imagine scenarios and conversations like these:

*early Monday morning*
UBLC: wah, you know ar.. last night I had alot to drink. Almost finished a bottle of *watever, cant remember*. But should have brought it for u la.
Me: *looks at him. looks away. thinks to self, what is the relevance of that statement when I don't drink with you, I don't want to know what you did over the weekend, I don't care if you drink yourself drunk and don't come in to work today. scowl*

*mid hectic Monday afternoon*
UBLC: so hey, the lunch tomorrow how? are you going?
Me: No, I declined the invite
UBLC: oh ok la, then we can take BH to some other place.
Me: Oh, he is he flying in tomorrow? Ok la, whatever.
UBLC: Yea and I'm flying off tomorrow already
Me: *scowl*

After repeatedly dropping hints, as though they're farts from a bean meal, for the last 3 weeks on his upcoming business travel to some other 3rd world country. Every freaking opportunity he gets; its always "ooh, I'm flying off to xx" in an arrogant manner. For crying out loud - wtf?!! It's only like his 2nd trip and to some chekai place!! Big freaking deal!!

I just hate it when others try to lure me into a conversation which I have no interest in whatsoever so they can brag about it. Why? It makes them think they very keng chau isit? KNS.

So my list of 10 names would probably be something like this:

1. UBLC
2. UBLC
3. UBLC
...
...
10. UBLC

*scowl scowl*

I love bubblies

2007-03-01T12:32:00.000+08:00

Really nice packaging

I bought a bottle of bubbly en route back from Dubai with the intention of sharing some pink love with my loved ones on Valentine's day. But alas, due to unforeseen circumstances, popping it on the designated day was not possible.

Coupled with the 11th day of the chinese Lunar New Year and the ample of prawns (my 2nd favourite seafoodie) which were prepared in 3 different styles; sambal, har lok and ginger & soy sauce baked, we gathered yesterday to toast to a year of prosperity and good health. *clink*

The Brut Imperial Rose costs a little more than the Brut Imperial but tasted so much better! It has a tinge of sweetness within its pink trickles. Sadly, that is the only way I can describe it for I am no connoisseur of the golden bubbly. Yet.

I wonder when would be a good opportunity to indulge in West-In KL, Prego's champagne brunch? Well I always have this notion that day-time drinking will pass me out pronto. Something to do with the heat and brightness and lobster-like burn I will emanate. Perhaps when bogge (heh) is back and magges finds new slutclothes and the 3 of us will pull through our 20km-away-from-home-holiday? Afterall, we plan to go crazy during then! ;)

*clink*

The 14th that was

2007-02-21T23:30:00.000+08:00

27 is such an odd year to celebrate one's birthday. It's neither here nor there; when you've already past your mid 20's and not yet nearing 30, so it's no biggie really.

As with every year, the over-rated and over-commercialised day of love will have every merchant trying to make a quick buck out of gullible gents trying to woo the lady of their desire. Prices will be sky-high, roses will suddenly be in a short supply over demand and traffic will be horrendous. But love songs will be played throughout the whole day on air waves, one automatically extends a warm smile to strangers near and far, those in love will feel overwhelmed with what they have, those seeking love will be extra light-headed hoping cupid will strike this day.

So when I hit 27 recently, I decided I will not celebrate my birthday. Don't get me wrong - I love birthdays and I love celebrations but somehow, I felt there wasn't anything much worth celebrating this year. However, the pig-out dinner the night before with my family, the buffet spread a few days after with my Pip, the jell-o cake & the walk-in birthday serenade from my colleagues, the many SMS-es and MSN msgs throughout the day, the two bottles of perfume and a last-minute White Tea & Ginger body lotion and the ultimate Blue shuffle from my sister dearest, more than blew my mind away. *heart*

I'd be a big fat liar to say that I didn't enjoy my birthday :p It was not a birthday of expectations but rather, a birthday of appreciation. My appreciation for those who cares. XOXO.

New babies

2007-02-21T17:21:00.000+08:00

Ky Jern - the world's most cheerful baby (bad shot of his dad tho') at 6 months old, on his first day of CNY with a fever yet sporting a smile and a hug when you reach out to him

Joel - my Godson, one in a million shot captured of him smiling here at 2 months old, born to my bestest soulmate Magges

William - the adorable Valentine babe that was long awaited for by the Chan's

In the last 6 months, there has been many recent additions to my extended family. All simply adorable!!! Makes me wanna have one of my own leh ;)

Dubai through my eyes

2007-02-21T01:27:00.000+08:00

UAE Dir 900 had better be good!

I loved the little switch that accompanied this nifty magnifying mirror

At the City Tower 2 and its full grandeur

Souq Madinat

View of the Burj

I was faced with this closed Check-In counter scene for a full 1 hr 15 mins

Touchdown

2007-02-12T20:21:00.000+08:00

My trip to Dubai sucked! Entirely to the max!! Perhaps it was because I had expectations of the great sightsee's, beautiful climate, modern city and rich skylines. The infamous Burj Al Arab, the Palm development, the far stretching desert and camels, a string of fancy cars.. but I was met with nothing more than rude cabbies, excruciatingly painful traffic jams, nauseous BO's and painstaking expensiveness.

My days were spent mainly in the hotel and at the office. But my room in the Hyatt Regency is beautiful! Plush carpeting, heavy bed with fluffy pillows, state-of-the-art lamps lighting up the room, and a very solid business executive style desk. The view is nothing to shout about though, I can peek above parts of the building to catch a glimpse of the seafront but no sight of the Burj. Considering it was UAE Dirs 900 a night (and an increase to UAE Dirs 1200 on my last night!), it wouldn't have fell short of that.

We made a trip to the Deria City Centre one night, which is nothing more than Midvalley Megamall really, and to the Souq Madinat the other. Now, the trip to the Souq at least comforted me a little. It's a beautiful man-made castle with an indoor bazaar of over-priced souvenirs and an alfresco opening overlooking a river (man-made?) and a perfect view of the Burj. There were several restaurants and bars lined beside the river and many many comfy couches and throw pillows with shisha to boot of course.

But alas, our trips did not include lounging time as it already takes us close to an hour to get there in the first place. Throw in another hour for the ride back to the hotel, that leaves very little time to rest proper before the 6:30am alarm rings.

I know I've been unfair to say Dubai sucked as I did not even get to see Dubai for what she has made herself out to be today, but in any event, it still sucked. I have never been more glad to rush to the airport for my flight back to KL but only to be welcomed by long luggage scanning queues, late check-in counters opening and express customs line for Preferred Class passengers which weren't very express at all.

But I wasn't surprised to say the least.

To the desert & beyond

2007-02-02T16:11:00.000+08:00

I caught up on Toy Story really really late. I just missed its cinema screenings and on cable TV but thanks to a movie-freak friend, I finally saw it. Fell totally in love with 'em Squeeze Toy Aliens. Their glazed stoned eyes and speech cracked me up.

And so I will be traveling to the deserts of Dubai this Sunday. A little apprehensive as I have technically not been to Dubai, the few transits when I was younger en route to London doesn't count. I hardly recall their infamous airport to begin with!

But wahey, just when I thought I might not get a chance to visit the Burj Al Arab due to my tight schedule, I just got an assurance that our "night agenda" have been properly planned for. Fantastic! And camels will be next on my list. Heh.

I am inspired!

2007-01-31T20:16:00.000+08:00

Inspired to occasionally write with the emphasis on significant ramblings (is that an oxymoron?) hence the creation of this little web space. But I am assuming it is more due to the nice clackety clack feel of my keyboard. Whatever the reason, there will be no barries to the entries for this is just for my own keepsake when I grow older. Let's hope this lasts ;)