Freaking Hell! I was nicely asleep and suddenly there was this loud alarm buzzing off "... Beep, beep, beep, POOOoNNNn POnnnnNNN, Toooott, tooot, Toooot, Tiiiiiitttt, tiiiiitttt, TIIIIIiitttt, TAnnnggg ... " and it goes on and on for a bloody 15 mins or so coming from a car parked directly in front of my house. An idiotic relative of someone has accidentally triggered off his/her car alarm and it was freaking 9am! To make matter worse, it wasn't an alarm in its classical meaning. It was one of those 'Tu kau' alarm where it consist about 12 variations of different sounds. OMG .... this define the meaning of utter annoyance. No, that was a kind word. It was a NUISANCE! And the best part of it was that they didn't do anything about it and just let the alarm buzzed! Needless to say, I was wide awake. Not by choice! I am feeling that feeling ... you know the feeling when you "woke up unpleasantly and didn't want to wake up". Well yea, THAT feeling.

Of course I tried to resume sleep in vain but obviously failed. Pffffttt! First day of CNY and I'm off to a bad start already. I'm almost skeptical to resume doing anything.

Oh he he ..... Happy Lunar Year to everyone. I hope you all have a better morning than I did.

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Chinese New Year ("CNY") (the year of Ox) is upon us soon, which also means that I am back in hometown, Penang to be with my family. And of course, to see old friends too. I just hope I am able to squeeze in some time for that. Anyway, I've been a busy little bee since I got in. No no, not with social but with cleaning. All I did yesterday was to mop, wipe, vacuum & wash. Started from 2pm and finished at about 6pm. My hands are kinda tired. At least today, it won't be so busy. Just have to wash the porch area. I'm glad the latterns are up which means I don't have to do it! Haha!

I am in charge of the decorations, again. Gotten some new decorative stuff to hang from Living Quarters in KL. Then have to look presentable for tonight's reunion dinner, which will be held in my house. It's a small one. Ever since my grandparents have passed on, my youngest uncle (which I am very close to and fond of) will be joining us. My other uncles are too busy with their own family. But I guess I will see them on first day of CNY. Now that I'm an old fart, CNY is not really my favourite anymore. It used to be a lof of fun when I was a little kid and each CNY at Logan Road (my paternal grandparents' residence then) had a huge playground. I and my other 8 cousins would just play and run around, laughing like mad children. From catching to fireworks, singing and god knows what else, it used to be a lot of fun. Ahhhh the good ol' days. Sure does brings back good memories. CNY at my maternal grandparent' house was a lot of fun too. It was located at a hillside. I remember there was this huge, huge bougainvillea plant with its enormous trunk and it would bloom very vigorously every CNY, without fail. It looked so pretty as the petals were cherry red and bright pink in colour. I have a picture taken with it before. Wonder if I can find it again.

2008/2009

If it wasn't for Elena's blog in linking her page to my blog, I would not have even remembered that I have or had a blog. My last entry was June 2007! 'Twas a long time ago. It's now Janvier 2009. So that is 18 months in total. OoooOOOooo I guess work got in the way.

So in relation to 2008, I'll just summarise it. Well, for most of the things that I can remember.

January, 2008

Work was always busy and frustrating. My boss then was getting even more demanding and difficult, just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. So, all in all January was pretty much uneventful in terms of work. Though social life was getting interesting!

February, 2008

Went to Hong Kong. I had a great time and it was winter then! So, I get to wrapped myself in those thick clothing. Yes yes, I miss those. Funny I am. Had CNY in Penang.

March, 2008

Was at Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi. Had a super holiday!

April, 2008

Went to Hong Kong again. *gleeful looks* Oh yea, my work buddy, Sheryl resigned.

May, 2008

Sheryl had her last day in SLB on 9th May. Sadness.

June, 2008

With Sheryl gone from SLB, work was getting even busier than usual. And I was getting bored. Though having 2 new members joining the team did relieve the workload and the stress level that comes with it. Other than that, I can't remember anything in particular. O yea, because I was getting really tired with work and bored with what I was doing, thoughts of changing area of law practice kept floating in my mind. Oh yes, went to Saigon, Vietnam. It was superb! I love their seafood and the Ben Tanh market. There are loads and loads of bicycle in Saigon. Imagine traffic full of those. It can be quite scary. Also, had a short visit to Singapore and came back with many shopping bags. Someone shoot me please!

July, 2008

That precise thoughts about leaving SLB became frequent and soon, it was permanent. I soon came to realise how much I was not enjoying my job anymore. Signs such as dreading to go to work especially on Mondays. To the point that I cannot even enjoy my Sundays anymore. Friday would be my favourite day, but when Saturday night came and went ...... I would be thinking and saying out loud "Oh no, it's Sunday tomorrow and soon it will be Monday!" I'm sure G would love to attest to this 'cause he had to put up with my laments.

August, 2008

With my mind made up, I decided not to re-new my contract. Tendered resignation. (Of cos when I resigned, I had no idea of the impending economy downturn. I just hope I haven't made the wrong decision and that I am able to find yet, another good job). Believe me, it was quite hard for me to actually decide this, especially this being my first proper job in Malaysia. Having a job signify having a means to live and with it, it brings a level of security. Nonetheless, I was quite determined to execute my decision now that it was clear to me that I didn't want to be with SLB anymore. Anyway, I am to leave in 4 weeks time. At this rate, I discovered I had taken too many leaves and had to reimburse the firm! Kinda hilarious when you think about it. Anyway, no biggie since I now know that I was definately leaving.

September, 2008

Nightmare begun. Due diligence ("DD") in ... KUCHING! That bloody boring place. The shops closes at errr ... I don't really know the exact time but we were strolling the streets looking for some food and that was about 8pm and nothing much was opened! Actually, I didn't mind the place so much but rather it was the avalanche amount of workload. Now, that's a killer. This was a really, really busy month for me. I didn't have time for anything else, not even to cut get a haircut nor to cut my nails. Again, I was heading the physical inspections of documents in Kuching and at the same time, was also juggling to handle my own files with phone calls, trying to abide expiration date and datelines for other files and most of all, I had to complete my status report (which I didn't even have the time to begin with). This was simply because I was always in Kuching. I flew there every week, without fail. It came to a point wherein the bosses requested for us to obtain an open ticket as they didn't know how long we were required in Kuching. This means, having to spend our weekend in Kuching. Argh. I, for one, totally didn't agree at all. And I know the rest of the girls didn't either. You see, when you are working in a law firm like SLB, weekends are sacred. It is the only time we get to be with our family and loved ones. So we did this, flew in on Monday and leave on Thursday/Friday for each week in September. On the first few occasion, we were in business class as it is the firm's policy to fly in business class. But one of the bosses expressly forbids us from doing so. She sent me an e-mail stating this and it was cc to the whole wide world. Totally unnecessary. Why not ? It is the firm's policy after all. So anyway, there we were, with our many luggage (for clothes, documents, and heavy law books for reference purposes) and also, our laptop bags, crammed within the economy class. It was totally packed and we were squeezed up due to the lack of space with our legs coiled up like a sleeping serpent - totally uncomfortable. Great. This situation commingled with the fact that things were always going wrong at work came to a point that I just couldn't wait to leave SLB and to put it all behind me. I am so sick and tired of DD. And I sure as hell have no intention of drafting and producing the DDRs, all 18 of them! I've had my fair share in 2007 and trust me when I say, it's a pain in the arse, My last day was somewhere in October. Have yet to wait. Super.

nb. I heard the DD is still ongoing and it is now January 2009. I am so glad I am not involved anymore *gleeful looks*

October, 2008

Informed my ex boss that I need to leave the DD team as I needed time to sort out my many, many other files and to complete my status report which I haven't even begin with. And I only had a few days left before my last day. He agreed and informed the other bosses' team which I was assisting them in relation to the DD. Since he gave the word out, they have no other options but to leave me alone. Sigh, what a relief. And I finally completed my status report. Another relief. I honestly felt as though they were still expecting me to give 100% towards the DD even when I was leaving in a few days time. Crap. Mid month came and I was a free person. I just couldn't wait to get some proper rest and mostly to sleep. I was just so tired and worn out. I guess the DD didn't help at all. I felt as though I haven't slept properly for these 2 whole years. Working in SLB did sort of drain me out. Managed to squeeze a short trip to Pangkor Laut Resort ("PLR"). Had such a nice relaxing time and the beach were nice! I do want to go again but it's a bit of a long drive to get here. Shortly after the PLR trip, I left for Penang.

November, 2008

Back in Penang with my family for 3 weeks. It was good. In mid November, went to Koh Samui for my b'day. Initially, we wanted to go to Bali but due to the execution of the bombers, I got chicken feet and we decided to head to Koh Samui instead. Stayed at Sala Samui (http://www.salasamui.com/) which is a great resort. We even have our bed overlooking our private pool. So good. Though it was a bit too rainy for our liking. Didn't make it to Koh Tao or Koh Phangan due to extreme weather conditions. No biggie. We still enjoyed ourselves. Before leaving for Koh Samui, had a few birthday drinks at Vintry. OSM was so sweet. She made me a cheesecake and I have only known her for a few months then. I was silently touched. *happy smile*

December, 2008

Cherlene and Adren got married! After 11 years of being together, they decided to tie the knot. About time I would say. So, I headed down to Singapore for their registration of marriage. Then, Elena was back in Msia for a 2 weeks holiday with her bf, Mike and a friend, Zach. They all came down to KL from Penang and we all went to Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit the temples. We all had a nice time. After our trip to Cambodia, Elena and Mike left for Penang whilst Zach stayed with us. So we had Christmas and New Year to look forward to. After a little while, my flu worsened and fever was back with a vengeance on ..... New Year's eve!!! We were supposed to meet some friends at Leonardo's and I was still having fever at 9pm. At this point, I was just gonna stay indoor. But decided to try my luck and whacked a couple of Actifast, crossed my fingers that the fever would subside and waited. Finally, I was feeling ok at 10 ish (fever subsided) and left for Leonardo's at about 11.30pm. Miraculously, I was fine the next day. Flu vanished. I guess there is some truth after all to the saying "Alcohol cures everything". *tsk tsk* We saw fireworks from Leonardo's. All in all, it turned out well. But I was home by 1am. Ha ha.

Fanatical about derrière [der-ee-air] ...

As much as we have silicon gels pad to enchance the ever oh-so-loved-by-men, that is the swelling curve of woman's bosom, there's such thing called the derrière enchancer. I came across this item of particular interest as it's just hilarious and yet, cunningly smart. To those of you who were never particularly proud of your derrière, this could be the ultimate solution for your concern. I shall not divulge any further as the following pictures should be self-explanatory, depicting the before & after effects.

Behold your breath, this is the actual appearance of the so called derrière:-

The derrière enchancer is available at KLCC and www.huit.com.

It's bloody 2 am on a Monday morning and I should be asleep. I guess it's pretty much obvious that I can't sleep for which is the exact reason that I am still online and composing nonsense on my blog. I've got this nasty viral cough and its irritation render it hard for me to sleep peacefully. Not to mentioned, I need to drink water all the time as it is the closest means to relieve my throat irritation. Has any one out there got some better suggestions to relieve coughs ? I've already tried Robitussin and it's not working as it so famously claimed. Assuming there are people reading my blog, that is.

Oh! Here's a rather exciting news - been waiting in vain to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End and I finally get to watch it on Wed just gone. It was PREMIER! 'Twas an act of charity really. A friend of a friend got about 10 tickets at the cost of RM30.00 which will go to the WHO. I will say this over and over again - Lurve Jhonny Depp. He's such a versatile character indeed and lurve that oh-so-chiselled-nose of his! Initially, I was sort of worried about not being able to catch it as fear of working late might arise, but I managed to fend off work till the next day, And suffer I did the next day. :-(

Come to think of it, young Will Turner wasn't too bad either, though I wouldn't have said that about him in The Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest. I thought he looked damn sexy in his jet black pirate outfit as Captain Turner of the Flying Dutchman.

I have to say that my favourite scene was when Sparrow sailed on his Black Pearl across the desert causing the dumbfounded look on the whole crew ... better yet when Mr Gibbs said "Slap me thrice and return me to mama!".

Far - neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

O.K, gonna attempt to sleep but with my noisy housemates and his weird friends, I seriouslys doubt it. *sigh*

Right ... so what was it that I wanted to blog about ? Ahh yes, the Labour holiday that invariably passed not too long ago but felt like ages since.

Anyway.

I was back in Penang and it felt really good to see my friends and families. Really needed that break although I am quite pissed with myself for overlooking Mother's Day. In order to redeem myself and to my dearest mom, I've made plans to indulge her in a sinful buffet lunch or dinner at Equitorial Hotel, Pg. Venue subject to change of course, should a better place is suggested.

This time 'round, I was bestowed with the role of being a chaperone. You see, dear Sheryl and her family decided to drive up to Penang for a short holiday. At first, I was a bit of a blurcase, having not lived in Penang for such a long time .... I, myself wouldn't have a proper clue as to all the rightful places to head for good food. Apparently, people only ever visited Penang mainly due to its famous cuisine and its delicious food. All in the end, I am glad she was happy with my recommendation.

For some unfathomable reaon, I am starting to miss Penang. It's a surpise to me as I don't ever recall missing Penang ever, at least not so much in such a profound manner.

Could this mean that I am getting tired of KL ?

Nothing beats seeing a good 'ol friend again ....

I thought it would never arrive, the day Elle was due to be back in KL/PG but when it's here, it's going by so quickly! Elle got into KL on 20.04 and I went to meet her & Melinda at Alexis in the late evening - though I had conjunctivitis and still having it. Boy - was it good to see her! The last I met up with her was in Sept/Oct '05.

She still looks the same as ever - cute & pretty. We catch up and chatted, shopped for a bit and went to fill her in on her cravings. I haven't realised how much I missed talking to her till now. We proceeded to Mont Kiara/Desa Sri Hartamas as there were a few boutiques to check out and also to get a taste of 'Wan-tan-mee' as my dear friend is craving it dearly. But sad to say, those in Pg tasted better. We were both really tired, for me due to my eyes condition and for her due to her travelling hours.

She spent a night at my place and it was nice having her around - someone to talk nonsense with and discuss about clothes, shoes, bags and boys! But we didn't really chatted much till Sat morning. Then we went off on a piggin' session for dim sum at Quality Hotel. Such a bargain RM24.50 - eat all you can! and the best of it all - it's halal. I'm so gonna bring my Malay colleague there.

I'm missing Elle already .... :-(

[pic: Elena and I at the flea market @ The Curve]

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 . . .