Update of A Mini Hiatus 0.2

Saturday 23rd Oct

Over the weekend, we went to check out the supposedly new swanking bar in town, named Skybar @ Traders Hotel. I was told that it has the same concept as Luna Bar and since I haven't been to Luna Bar before, I cannot do the comparisons. Hmm, might be an interesting point to say that it has a swimming pool, loads of comfy sofas and a top-notch view of KLCC, view impaired by the haze of course. However, the turn-out was a bit of a let-down. There aren't enough people to filled up half of the place.

Upon arriving, we were forewarned that the queue to get drinks were long and the service was rather crappy. So we went to find out.

There appear to be no queue actually, but rather just loads of people waiting scathingly all around the bar to place their orders. So we stood and waited to be served. Quizzically, none of the bartender seemed to be making any eye contact nor did they appear to be interested in taking orders at all. In fact, they seemed pretty stressed out making drinks for the earlier customer and there were only 1 or 2 bartender around.

So we tried in vain to get one of the bartender's attention. In walked another bartender and we managed to get his attention and placed our orders. Got our drinks in a speedy manner which was surprising. Then we waited for the waiter to present the bill to us. But the bill didn't arrive. We stood there looking at the bartender and giving him an expectant look .. but hey, no one seemed interested. My friend was waving his green note and still no one said anything. We tried to talk to them but they weren't listening. We decided to wait. Finally, we walked off. I figured it can be sorted out later. Besides, it's not my real problem if they aren't diligent in ensuring payments.

And walked off we did. Back to our table. After a considerable amount of time, as I was talking to my housemate, I heard someone saying to my back "Excuse me Ms, you forgot to settle the bill". I turned around and look at him with a surprised look. I was tempted to say something really sarcastic but decided against it. I mean it was a busy night, they were clearly understaff and it being Raya and all, I merely smiled and replied "Oh, we tried to pay but couldn't". Waiter boy said something and he lost me there cause that's the exact moment my eye caught the bill. It was RM52 for a gin and tonic and a Tiger beer. For Christ's sake! My hand was groping and groping for my purse. Damn those huge bags ..... it takes forever to find something. I know a place like SkyBar with their state of art interior, prices are sky high but I am definately not pleased with the level of service.

Still groping .... I was silently thinking BloodyCRAPservice! Not only did you ignored me earlier on and now you are embarressing me as well. You should have a BELL around your neck!

Suddenly, I saw a quick hand [thanks CL] slipping a green note to the waiter boy. Off he went. End of an uncomfortable moment. *phew*

We decided to leave after that one drink and headed to ....

Mambo @ Z O U K

Initially, the name 'mambo' had me confused thinking that it was a name of a venue. Turned out that it's the name of a theme night, usually on Friday night in Zouk, KL current hottest clubbing scene. 'Mambo' is a night where music in the 80's are played throughout the night. Yup, you yeard me right ... 80's. Stuff like Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper which is did kinda perked my mood.
Then you have the most classic song ever - Dancing Queen by Abba. No way am I gonna sway and swing my hips to that tune!

All in all, I had a great time and truly enjoyed it. Many thanks to the company I was with :-)

Update of A Mini Hiatus 0.1

Sunday, 22nd Oct

I met up with a friend, M along with his other friends at Cineleisure at The Curve. 'The Prestige' is one hell of an excellent movie. The plot is rather basic. However, the complexity of the plot is ingenious and masterly creative. Good cast too. I'll have to say that Christian Bale was excellent though I didn't quite like his character that much. Michael Caine is forever an all-time favourite. If you are into dark, sinister twists and intense complex mentality, then this film would probably be your cuppa tea.

We then proceed to Starbucks and I tell you, this is not advisable to visit everyday as the drinks can be quite pricey when accumulated. Chatted for a while and soon came dinnertime. This always happens. None of us knows where to go and what to eat. When eventually someone comes up with an idea, the rest does the same. So we have loggerheads. Final consensus decided on Steamboat. So off we drove heading to Kepong and then *tut tut tut tuuuut tut tut tut*. It's my cellphone. A friend called to inform change of venue. So we ended up eating at ss2 - the famous fried Indomie ever made. But alas, much to my dissapointment it didn't taste as good as before. In fact, it didn't taste good at all. The noodles were not properly cooked and so it tasted hard and the seasonings was not properly mixed.

Hmm, not the best. I guess that's what happened when it's mass produced so much so that the quality has plummeted.

I was ready to head home after dinner. That is the odd thing about me. When I'm home, I wanna head out and when I'm out, I wanna head home. Anyway, some brilliant lass suggested to watch The Grudge 2 and I stared at her in horror. The Grudge scared the shit out of me when I first watched in about a year ago. So -ah-no! I'm not going to watch it. I was more than happy to head home. Funny though cause it turns out that the rest of the gang wanted to see Open Season and not The Grudge 2. So we drove back to Cineleisure to watch Open Season.

Hilarious! Go see.

Managed to watch Man U v LV. A total dissapointing game. *sigh* Where is the passion and spirit ?

Can't wait to see The Black Dahlia.

W-O-R-K + M-A-N-N-E-R-S

It's back to work tomorrow. Oh yea I am now employed. Forgot to mention that wee detail. Wonder what's the traffic like tomorrow. With a small faint of hope, I hope it's not too bad.

Argh. Waking up at 6 is a real pain.

Today, I accompanied a friend to his dentist. An anal elderly dentist. The minute I stepped into the cream-coloured walls .. I came face to face with the most grumpiest looking man ever. And it caught me by surprise as I thought it's the receptionist who usually sits at the counter/front desk.

My friend [a customer] walked in and greeted him by saying 'hey Doc'. Anal man replied by nothing. So that would mean he didn't reply.
I was dumbfounded. I know we're in Asia but surely an educated dentist can be bothered to reply right ?

So we both sat waiting for his name to be called. Whilst awaiting, suddenly came a loud thundering at full volume 'Stupid!' Why didn't you wrote that down in his appointment card? Why did I ever hire you ?!" yelled the anal dentist to his nurse.

I couldn't help but to feel sorry for her. Perhaps the dentist should exercise his vexation in a discreet + professional manner.

If only I have internet access at work :(

I Goggled Image for Trick or Treat and I got this.

Hilarious!

Doesn't anyone here share my humour ?

Guess Not!

This life is getting to me. Or rather more accurately, this neighbourhood is starting to get to me. I live in a row of terrace houses, all streamlined, neatly into opposite row, facing one another. It's actually a nice area, with wispy tree branches flowing gently to the street giving it an urban chic look.

However, all is not well. I've been having great difficulty in getting some sleep nowadays. Directly across my house, lives an Indian family, or at least I think it's a family. I love Indians, don't get me wrong. I think they have wonderful culture values, particularly in the culinary department. But, their particular loud-TV-noises-of-Indian-movies-think-everyone-will-love-it volume is starting to drive me nuts. You know how it is with Indian movies, yes they sing badly! And it also doesn't help at all that I occupy the front room which faces the front of the house. This usually delves deep into the night. Yes, at times up till 2 or 3 am and when all is quiet and the sound becomes pain-in-the-arse darn clear. In fact, I think I can even learn to enjoy the story, if I was to understand the Indian language. It's that clear and loud.

On my right immediate neighbour, lives a Malay family. They're alright, decent except for occasional hormonal screaming. Some people just talk loudly, having no idea at all that their conversation is being blared to the selective hearing of those around them. That, I can live with. Until recently. It seems that the Malay family (sorry I don't really know their names) have purchased a new, swanking modern washing machine. Seems to be attached right to the wall facing my house. And it vibrates gargantuan-ly. Is there such a word? I don't care. I mean it, it's DARN LOUD! It goes BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG GONG BONG BONG BONG GONG GONG BONG GONG BONG WOOOOOOOO GOOOONG BONG BONG TONG TONG every time it does a wash. It's all hunky-dory when Ms Dame-Wash-A-Lot washes only once or twice a day. But noooooo! The new swanking washing machine seems to be in load all the time, from 9am and even 3am! I thought it was only me, having despised outrages noises but my family commented on the same thing. So it's not just me. She does indeed wash a helluva lot! and at inconvenient times at that.

And as a result, I don't get a good night sleep anymore. And it's starting to take a toll on my skin and lifestyle.

And yes, I am complaining. Doesn't help much as I'm in a foul mood these days.

Confined at home.

Frustrated.

Bored.

Need a job!

Destination : Paris

Sitting at home for almost 2 months is beginning to have an adverse effect on me. I'm starting to feel really bored and itching to head back to work. Anyway, I thought I'll talk about my last trip to Europe in Summer '05 since I have never really talked about it and I'm also reminiscing. I only had a day in Paris as it was a compulsory stopover before departing on my next journey. I had Paris all planned out that is to head to the places of attraction that I missed going at my last trip which was in 2003. Arrived in Paris about 18:00 which means I have an evening and a full day out. My plan for the full day was to visit the Château de Versailles and Les Invalides. But well, all didn't quite go as according to plan.

I met Sarah, a girl from New Zealand travelling on her own as well. We decided to head over to the Sacre Couer to watch the night sky set in along the steps before the church. Prior, we went to purchased a bottle of wine + some good french cheese. p.s. be sure to pack your corkscrew upon your travels.

We met 2 American boys and started to chat with them. For the life of me, I have tried hard to recall the names of the 2 American chap but I just cannot remember it. Anyway, it was fun just chilling out with wine and talking crap. Don't you agree that the guy without the cap looks like that crazy guy from 'Something About Mary'? *heh*

Above-left: Illuminated Sacre-Coeur
Bottom-left: 2 American chap with Sarah. We were seated at the steps in front of the Sacre-Couer, enjoying the night away. It was jammed-packed with tourist of all shapes and sizes. I was the one behind the camera.

Here's an interesting illustration to depicts what are the effects to one's appearance should one keep thinking ugly thoughts. This was one of the many pieces of work by Blake for Roald Dahl's famous book, The Twits. This was actually a story of revenge: the revenge that Mr and Mrs Twit take on each other and then the revenge their victims take on them. What ya reckon of the picture? Think there's any truth in it ?

The Big Read

The Big Read, Books of Books - The Nation's 100 Favourite Books was a survey conducted by the BBC on 5th April 2003. It was a survey to which questions such as "What is your best loved book? The one that feels like an old friend; the one you grew up with; the one that gets you through hard times; even the one that changed your life?" were posed to the British public.

The nominations period lasted for 2 weeks. Only novels were eligible but they could be from any country or time and a series of books, such as Lord of the Rings, could count as a single title as long as it has been published in a single volume. Such a bookworm as I am, I was thrilled to learn that my all time favourite book was within the top 100 books at Nu. 66 - The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton's. It features story about an enchanted tree within deep in magical forest. 3 young kids had just moved to the country. Sooner or later, they ventured out into the woods during their pastimes. Soon, they discovered there were different pieces of land which lands at the top of the enchanted tree on weekly basis. Lands such as Land of Birthdays and Nursery Rhyme Land. The children visit mysterious worlds with their friends who live in the tree. Some of the lands that appear at the top of the tree are magical and usually mishap adventures take place. Whatever land it was and whatever misadventures it was, the children could always climb back down the ladder to the Faraway Tree.

I love this book. It gives me a quick view of all the books I have read and have yet to read. Book junkie, that I am!

A Canny Advertisement

Here's what I came across whilst reading a really old Malaysian Law Journals [MLJ], 1954. These days, law journals are a boring read as nothing graphical and colours are allowed in. However things were quite different back then which is why I quite like to browse through the old version, with a particular like for advertisement.

Illustrated above is an advertisement to promote liquor, namely Whiskey and back then, it was selling at $3.95 only. These days, you'll be lucky if you can get a Coke for that price.

I instantly like the graphic advertisement. It's smart, clever and it definitely got my attention as to how bad an addiction does to a person. It illustrates an elderly man lying in a bed, with a bad leg and to satisfy his addiction to Whiskey, he came up with such a brilliant idea.

Look carefully. Brilliant huh.... Don't you just love it.

p.s. click on the picture for a larger view.