Farewells and Adieux

I suppose it's true when they say turnaround in large firm is speedy. I'm losing most of my colleagues in favour of greener pastures. Comparing since Janvier 2007 till now, there has been about 10 or so that has tendered in their resignation and a few of them which I have grown close to and became fond of.

Sometimes life can be cruel but nonetheless, educational. Friends and people come and go and there is not much one can do but to cherish the times shared and stores memoirs altogether.

Hui Yun will be leaving SLB soon and as much as I am sad to see her go, I wish her all the best in her future undertakings. We will miss you dearly!

[pic: Sheryl, I and Hui Yun at Souled Out]

I am absolutely beyond tired but this issue has been on my mind for quite a considerable amount of time.

I get it everytime I'm driving and it flows melancholy outta my mind when I stop driving but lately, it has been bugging me to the point of irritation that I feel such a need to rant about it. I don't know about the rest of you out there, but the road conditions in Malaysia is absolutely abominable and utterly atrocious. My opinion anyway.

There are millions and zillions of potholes and broken edges all over, even on the major roads. How can one enjoy driving or at least to drive in a smooth manner, even if not in an enjoyable manner. KL has such a wide market for employment and almost everyone from all over differential states travel to KL each day for work purposes, amongst other things. All the highways and freeways are interstate linked and yet the roads are in such a bad condition. Needless to say the conditions regarding non-major roads.

Potholes are considered dangerous (especially when one is driving in a speedy manner) when they are vertically sided, and if more than 20mm deep, with a greater than 0.1 sq. m in principal road carriageways and 50mm deep in non-principal road carriageways. I find these conditions frequently when I'm driving, be it local or back to Penang. On top of that, it's also bad for tyres and suspension system. This conditions are even apparent when road works has just been completed. Unbelievable! You will find many broken edges and potholes on the very same road regardless of the fact that road works had previously been carried out. Can't the Councils just get it right !?

Perhaps some of you may think 'Welcome to Asia' or that I'm just a whinging cow but honestly, I think our local Council really ought to maintain a better and sound system on road maintenance as to enhance a facilitative manner to control the efficiency of our local traffic management and more importantly to increase a preventive measures to safeguard th normal occurence of accidents. And exactly what is what is road maintenance anyway. There are a number of activities which are classified as road maintenance, amongst other things to fix potholes, rough patches, broken edges, recoating of bitumen and concrete surfaces so as to render our road conditions reasonably safe to drive.

. . . recently caught Shinobi on DVD - Tartan Asian Film. I loved everything about this film. It has excellent cinematography, lush and beautiful landscape and cast that you can fall in love with. Like all Asian films, it's basically about martial arts, namely Ninjitsu (did I spelt that right ?) Two clans are at war and typically, a courageous man and a beautiful woman fell deeply in love . . . each belonging to the other clan. They are periodically, separated by the war and so much more . . . and the fighting scene has been superbly chereographed. If you haven't seen it already, it might be worth making your time for it . . .

3rd weekend of March

A few girls and I decided to head up to Genting, just to contribute to the gambling world. There were about 5 of us and we got transported by a luxury cab, so called. After a few minutes of relentless negotiation, the taxi driver agreed in a disgrunted manner to charge us RM100 instead of RM140. Oh by the way, is that expensive ? I'm not quite sure what the market rate is. So if anyone has got a clue, by all means, be my guest.

The journey was speedy and efficient. The air was cooling and it felt like satin on skin - very refreshing. Loved every minute of it, although I have to say that the air up there was a wholesome better before but that was a good 10 years ago. After a few rounds of walking in merry-go-round, YL and I decided to head the casino. I have to say, it was good to be back and hearing the jolly sound of the jackpot. Everything is the same as I remembered it, especially my favourite den albeit this included a series of new games. You may think that I was or am an avid gambler, but trust me when I say this - I am NOT but I do enjoy a few games which bears a whole load of risk. Adrenaline pumping.

YL started to play in a series of 'Tai Sai'. After a few good rounds, I got bored and said "I'll be over there". Finger pointing to the corner where a few games of Blackjack and Baccarat was taking its toll. Got some chips and started playing. Over a few rounds of games through the night, I realised a few things just before I fell asleep. It took me a whole lot longer to decide whether to bet on P or B and I have to be absolutely sure to the point of positive that what I bet on would win or at least possess a high chance of winning. And if I wasn't sure or gut instinct was clouded - I would skip a round. This, I did many times and it was such a long game. All in all, I sat at the Baccarat table for a straight few good hours. Perspiration started to well up when my capital was running low. Adrenalin started to flow in a rapid manner, could feel it all over me. Tension bulding up. Uh-oh . . .

"Right, Maddy. Keep it cool. Just try to breakeven" - This, I thought to myself.

Towards the end of the night or shall I say morning, I managed to breakeven. *phew* Was I glad beyond relief. It's a policy to gamble with the amount of capital of which you are willing to lose and walk away should a that loss materialised. However, I was being such an obstinate gusto and was near to adamant on achieving a breakeven. But I have to say, it was dangerous as judging by the way things were - I could have lost a whole lot more than I was willing to bargained for. But still . . .

Think it will be a long, long time till I step into a casino again.

Modern 'Peeping Tom'

To those of you who have been to my home, will know that my kitchen window is not covered with blind or curtain. We initially tried to but had some trouble while drilling a hole. So we just left it as it is.

As of late, whenever I finished taking my shower and upon coming out from the bathroom, I had a funny feeling that I was being watched. True enough, as I discreetly glanced out the kitchen window, I saw a shadow movement hiding from being seen. So I froze and thought of what to do. Then I decided to come out in view and true enough, there was this skinny sicko with a pervert face looking in. The minute he saw me looking at him, he walked away in a speedy manner. And most of the time, I'm clad in my towel and he seems to be there whenever I'm showering/showered! On another occasion, he even rang my door bell relentlessly and can be seen walking up and down the corridor outside my unit.

The bathroom is located just next to the kitchen and upon coming out from the bathroom, one can see through the kitchen window. The view from the kitchen window faces another unit i.e. a door and opposite that door, is the lift. This is where the 'Peeping Tom' hides whenever he's seen by others.

Initially, when I first saw him ... I thought he was spying on my place as to monitor the timings of our comings and goings so that he can find an opportunity to break in. This, I have informed my housemate and I am sure they are aware. So, we have 2 padlocks now. This was back in December. But it seems that this sicko is certainly more inclined to be a 'Peeping Tom', he stands at the very same place and peeps. And the only time I seem to catch him is whenever I am coming out from the bathroom.

Needless to say, I am beyond frustration and a fear of security. And the fact that my housemate travel frequently and is virtually never at home doesn't help much either. And how are we or I gonna catch this dude? Whenever I see him, I'm too afraid to confront him thinking all sorts ... such as what if he's got a knife with him, what if he touches me ?! Ew .. I seriously don't know what I would do.

My housemate and I have come up with this idea. Get a clear picture of his face, print it and post it all over our condo with a size 60 font saying 'BEWARE OF PEEPING TOM'. SKINNY WITH A PERVERT FACE' , a young chinese male, black hair, pale skin .... etc etc. But how am I gonna get a clear picture of his face ? Maybe I'll just make do with a 'fleeting glance' .....

Anybody with a bright idea on what to do ?

Looks like I have yet to go to so many places ….

Home at last, after a long journey.

The past 2 weeks at work had been utter madness. I and my team had to pull a 24 hour shift on Thursday night and worked way till Friday non-stop. All in the name of getting out the report by the deadline which is 1500 on Friday. Due to the fact that 'twas such a last minute instruction from the client, we had no choice but to work non-stop even way into the wee early hours in the morning and all the way into the afternoon hours.

Needless to say, it was very tiring to the point of extreme exhaustion.

We finally managed to get the report out albeit an hour late. I just hope I didn't make any fatal mistakes given the working circumstances. As if that wasn't bad enough, traffic on Friday evening was horrendous. I left at 1655 hours thinking that I would be home in no time as traffic should be smooth sailing, but how wrong was I. I got home abt 1830. O ..... I was near tears out of impatience and extreme exhaustion together with the mere fact that I have to travel back to Penang for obvious reasons. And due to that, I really needed to rest, get my act together and most of all, to pack! So I was looking forward to have a siesta when I got home, but only to find my 2 housemates watching loud TV again. *sigh* Sometimes I really feel like murdering those 2 for being so inconsiderate.

Journey - Bumper to bumper traffic from Sg Buloh to god-knows-where. Honest to god, I just couldn't believe it when I found out that the mere reason for causing such terrible traffic was simply because some Malay dudes decided to have a picnic by the highway. Mind you, there were about 5-6 cars parked along side the 'hard-shoulder' and many dudes sitting by, having a puff away and chatting as if the rest of the world does not exist. Many cars had to slow down before them as to avoid them. After that, traffic was smooth!

I slept all the way till my front gate. Sympathy to my friend who had to drive for 6 hours and given the circumstances, it must be exhausting. Thanks A, for the ride. Appreciate it.

By the way, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone.

note: For your record, we left at about 1200 and reached Penang at about 0600. Imagine that.

Past 2 Weeks in a Roll

Finally, some available time to rant. Janvier has gone by in a whip for me, in terms of work, socialising and familial wise. As of late, I am involve in a large project and the team assigned to this project has been subjected to random lack of manpower. This is largely due to commingle of absenteeism, suspicious medical leave and even more suspicious emergency leave. This is hardly ideal nor feasible when each of us are assigned to a specific task and whenever one is absent - needless to say, it affects the progress of our project. In short, we are absolutely behind timeline and the schedule of work. On top of that, I still have tonnes of other things and errands to take care of.

Anyway, certain elite gets away with it and the hoi polloi such as moi, gotta take in all the shitty work with a stride.

I shall post some recent pictures on a later date. Too lazy to rant anymore.

Recently, or rather during Xmas, L and I planned to exchange gift. Due to late delivery, it was postponed till now. The gift arrived from the States on ... er think it was Saturday and alas! The day I've been waiting for is here! I got my gift for L locally, ain't there a need to wait for delivery - handpicked 2 presents. I got in the car, there was this big box waiting on the seat. Tore it and much to my delight, it's a display stand for earrings! Woo Hoo! I was thrilled as I've been wanting to get one since ages because I have too many earrings and have problems looking for certain pair of earrings to match whatever I am wearing. Now with this display stand, my earrings are neatly arranged and easy to access. Lurve it! Muchas gracias L!

What was supposedly to be a good night ended up with a rotten luck.

The night before, I managed to meet up with an old friend. My intention was just to have dinner. Since he was already out wine drinking with his mates, he asked me to join them. So I figured ok as I love wine drinking. Went to meet them at Vintry located somewhere in Damansara Heights. I had an enjoyable time, the company was hilarious, the food was good and the wine was superb. My old habit is kickin in again ... we drank 2 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of red and white. Come end of the night, I was more than just tipsy. Our gathering dispersed about 2ish and I went off in a drunken stupour to find my car. Started the engine and wheezed off towards Sprint Highway. After the Sprint Highway toll - I saw flashlights and with a sinking feelng thought to myself "Oh bloody $%^&,! Road Block! How could I have overlooked that?!". There was no way I could get out of this one as I know I drank a shit loads. My fear was confirmed when the breathaliser beeped loudly. Police asked a series of unnecessary questions eg where did I go, what did I do, what did I drink, how many glasses/bottles. He asked "Bukan pergi disco ?" I replied "Tidak, Encik". He said "Habis, pi mana?" Me: Wine shop. He said "OH. Mana bf?" Me: "Aiyoo, tak ada bf la Encik". He said "O seksi girl macam you tak ada bf?" Oh crap, is it any of his business whether I am attached or not and even if I am, am I obliged to disclose that to him ?! I am aware that I've committed a serious offence. Drunk driving is no joke so let's get on with it. After interrogation, he asked me to go back to my car. Later on, he asked "Moi dari Penang?" Me: "Ya, Encik". Then he said "Lain kali jangan buat lagi". With that he waved me off. Close call, I will definately be more prudent and careful in the future.