:: Live the life u love, love the life u live ::

The Great Arizona Beer Festival

2009-04-06T17:38:00.007-07:00

Wow, didnt realise I have been away from the blogging world for so long. Gosh, time really flies. When you are busy, u get old faster... -___-

OK, well, let's see. About ONE month ago, John and I went to The Great Arizona Beer Festival @ Tempe Beach Park, right down the street from our condo. It was the very first time I have ever been to a beer festival - in broad daylight. Not that i meant i have been to a beer festival at night before, but it just amazes me that American people are so into beers that they can drink anytime, anywhere, anyhow.

The drinking gang.

We reached there as soon as the festival started. It was crazy because the line was already building up fast. I originally bought the DD (Designated Driver) ticket - which means I was not supposed to drink, but they didn't even look at my ticket and shoved me a mug and 24 coupons for beers. Oh well, free beers! :)

Me and my beer plus a beer can hanging on my neck.

My first drink was a white chocolate beer - how innovative! It was a mild drink, felt like drinking white chocolate with a slight taste of beer. Good for those non-drinkers.

John with his bag of stolen Doritos. Haha.

Halfway thru the festival, some of us were getting drunk. I mean not drunk drunk, but definitely very tipsy. They were speaking nonsense and LOUD! We took videos but they couldnt remember what they have done or said when we watched them the next couple of days.

The ladies - Wendy, Nicole, Amy, Jane and Teri.

It was definitely a fun-filled event. And the weather was amazing too! I hope summer don't come so soon...

A new chapter of life

2009-01-10T23:21:00.004-07:00

Today is the first day that I am officially a man's wife. A lot of people asked me, "How do you feel today?". Well, I still feel the same actually.. but definitely need to get adjusted when i am being introduced as Mrs Morris. :)

Memories of the civil ceremony last night are still fresh in my mind. Altho it was very short, but it meant the world to me. The magic words "I DO" marked the first step into our new chapter of life and fulfilling our vows of being with each other in sickness or in health - as long as we both shall live.

I want to thank all of our close frens who managed to attend our small civil ceremony a.k.a. ROM @ the Kyrene Justice Court on such a short notice. I am very happy to share this special occasion with you all and I hope you enjoyed it as much as John and I did.

And also a special thanks to John Poh for taking a lot of beautiful pictures for us and captured the details of the event.

Even though the civil ceremony is the legal and official date of our marriage, but we will be treating our wedding ceremony in April to be the "real wedding". So, there will be no ang pow during CNY!!!

There are still so many things to plan for my wedding in April. We are not even halfway there. Hopefully we will be able to get more done this week before we fly back to KL to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my families and frens. I miss them so much!

New Year, New Home, New Car and New...

2009-01-06T18:44:00.003-07:00

It was a planned "unplanned" purchase, seriously.

John had an excellent Audi RS6 for more than 4 years. It is a unique car and there are only 1000 of them in the country. We both love it and were thinking to keep it for a couple more years.

Unfortunately, the car began to give us problems and the maintenance cost was just too high to bear. We had to let it go...

After a few weeks of research, John finally chose the Infiniti FX50 (Sport Version) as our new car. It has all the nicest and latest features - there is nothing more that we could have asked for.

Our Audi RS6. Good bye!

Still looking very good.

Our new baby..

This new year of 2009 will hopefully bring us good luck because we have a lot going on!

Happy New Year 2009!

2008-12-31T20:36:00.007-07:00

First of all, Happy New Year to all my frens that are still loyally reading my blog. I know it has been more than 3 months since i last posted something - I felt bad.

For the last couple of months, it was crazy for me. There were so many things going on, i can barely breathe. Year 2009 will continue to be as hectic, but i promise to keep my blog updated more frequently. That is one of my resolutions for the new year! :)

Oh, I haven't mentioned here, i don't think - I have moved to a new place. It is a 7-storey condominium in the heart of Tempe downtown. Mill Avenue is now my new neighborhood. And I am loving it... ^_^

Some people may not like it because they think it is very crowded and too busy. But for me and John, we are both from the city. He grew up in New York City while I was raised in KL. We are so used to the crowd, the busy hour, the traffic and most importantly, the noise. In fact, John prolly couldnt sleep well without the noise.. :)

The Orchidhouse Lofts was the first place that we looked at with the realtor. We totally fell in love with it. All the other condos and apartments we visited after that just couldnt be compared with it. So here we are, a proud tenant of Orchidhouse.

Today, the Insight Fiesta Bowl Block Party is happening on the street of my neighbourhood. Alot of people came from other states to watch the final game for the Fiesta Bowl between Kansas and Minnesota - and then party!

The banner.

Location map.

What, who and where.

See, if we are not staying here, we wont be able to enjoy all the fun! Isn't this cool?!

Killer biscuit?

2008-09-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

Happy National Day, Malaysia!

2008-08-31T10:16:00.006-07:00

It is our Independance Day back in Malaysia. I called my mom last nite, and she told me about the fireworks and the holiday. I miss those times quite a bit..

More updates from the thunderstorm that we had on Thursday nite, the ASU (Arizona State University) Practice Facility which has just been completed this month for football practices during summer - is totally damaged!

Please read more about this here.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2008/08/29/20080829spt-asububble-ON.html

Before the storm hits the "bubble".

After the disaster.

Scariest thunderstorm ever..

2008-08-28T21:54:00.007-07:00

As i am blogging in the dark now, i can hear a clear loud thunder and flashes of lightning outside. This is the first time i experience such a serious thunderstorm - and yes, the electricity was cut off. :(

I just took a glimpse out of my window, and oh my gosh! All the trees in my apartment area were rooted off the ground. One fell on a red car - whoever the unfortunate owner is, i am so sorry to see that.

The storm was so bad that it sounded like hail. It felt like my windows were going to shatter at one point. FYI, i wasnt exaggerating.

After 20 minutes of heart pounding moments, the storm seem to have gone past us now. The thunder sounded further away. I took a second look outside - new discovery. One of the apartment's fences fell on top of a stretch of cars. Jesus Christ!

And the rain water made their way into the gaps of my window - causes the carpet on the floor next to the window to be soaked wet. "Wow, never in the 2 years i have been here had i seen such a thing happen" - John said.

Police cars are seen everwhere. The neighbourhood is full of sirens from the police car. Tomorrow we will hear some interesting news on the TV.

In the meantime, i need to take the candles into the bathroom to brush my teeth and sleep. It is going to be extremely hot tonite without the AC...

**Updates @ 6:33am in the morning of the next day

"Hot out of the oven" pictures, taken from my apartment window..

All the chairs and cushions were blew into the pool by the strong wind last nite. A big tree fell into it too..

Rooted trees..

Look at the impact. The red car was the one that i talked about earlier - about tree falling on top of it. Seems like the owner has no idea about it yet. -___-

Unbelieveable..

Stax

2008-08-27T07:54:00.002-07:00

We initially planned to bring the ladies from KL to try out the food in this restaurant. Somehow, we didnt have the time to do so - we have been having meeting every night and that kinda become a problem to organize anything at nite. And they, on the other hand, have meetings going on all day for planning and design.

Anyway, I decided to go there ourselves on one of the past weekends - after John's golf session. Stax Burger Bistro in Scottsdale is an interesting restaurant with an interesting concept. Basically, you can choose your own combination of ingredients for your mini burger.

Me @ Stax.

Just one comment. The service is pretty slow.. i think maybe cos there are not many people working on that day and it was crowded. Well, there is always room for improvement...

My own iPhone 3G

2008-08-15T21:38:00.004-07:00

I finally got my ass to the Apple store earlier this month to get the brand new iPhone 3G. I have been waiting for this phone since last year - i want 3G for faster access, *being kiasu*

Look at our faces when we got the iPhone!
(taken using the iPhone camera)

You need to sign up for a 2 years contract with AT&T to get the phone for $199 (8GB) or $299 (16GB). That is very good price (if you are an AT&T customer) and of cos, i got the 16B one.. :)

And since then, i am loving it!!

First birthday away from home...

2008-08-14T23:39:00.005-07:00

My phone beeped at me at 7:11pm, a day earlier. A message popped up on my iPhone screen, "Happy Birthday. Wishes from the other part of the world. ;-)".

That was the first time i got a text message on my US number - apart from John. Although it came in a lil bit earlier (due to timezone difference), but obviously i dont mind at all. I am happy that my frens still remember me, even tho i am so far away now.

After that, more text messages and emails came in. The biggest suprise of all, Ji Ric gave me a call from M'sia. Thank you so much for the birthday wishes. I love u guys!!!

I told my friends that i will be celebrating birthdays for both Malaysia and PHX time in the future. More time for celebration, i guess. *muahaha*

And also the lunar calendar.. *greedy*

Anyways, I was working in the office as usual - i didnt take the day off on my birthday. And due to a meeting scheduled close to lunch time, i decided to stay in my cube and eat something small. As i was happily munching away, my phone rang and it was from the front entrance's security station.

"Jane, I have flowers for you. Can you please come and pick it up?"

When the security officer handed me the flowers, i was a lil shocked to see a big balloon with "Happy Birthday" tied around the vase. It is nice and all, but i just never expected it.

So i walked back to my cube, which is probably close to 100m away - with the balloon flying on top of my head. People walked past me, peeping and smiling at me.

The roses and balloon on my desk.

Everyone who happened to walk close to my cube dropped by and said "Happy Birthday". :)
Thanks for the great surprise, *you know who*.

I didnt have any fancy celebration, if you are wondering. We just had a small dinner @ WildFish Seafood Grille in Scottsdale and that was about it.

I didnt bring my camera, cos i didnt expect to go anywhere. So this pic wasnt that good - no flash on my phone.

Specially made birthday cake, thanks to WildFish.

Right after the dinner, i had to rush back home for a conference call. *sigh*

080808

2008-08-08T11:17:00.002-07:00

Today marks the opening of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics that a lot of people have been looking forward to. It is the most anticipated event of the year, to be exact. I guess i will be staying up late at nite to catch the games...

This is a perfect example of how important the number 8 to the Chinese. It is a symbolic of prosperity and wealth!

8th of August, year 2008 at 8:08 pm.
What day could be better than this?

And hundreds of Chinese couples took this great chance to tie the knot on this auspicious day..

Btw, the opening ceremony is AMAZING!!!!! :)

Weekend activities

2008-08-03T08:33:00.001-07:00

Since the starting of this summer, one of my "routine" weekend activities is going for a movie. And as i said before, Tempe Marketplace is my favourite hanging out spot for the past few months. Not only it is close to our apartment, it has a good selection of restaurants that we like AND Harkins Theaters at reach.

I have a colleague who always ask me how was my weekend. And i always give the same answer, "Good! I went for a movie". Now, he calls me a movie queen... -___-"

Well, i know it sounded somewhat boring, but there is really nothing much to do here. Any suggestions?

Neways, after watching Mamma Mia! in Cinemark @Mesa, we explored the new shopping plaza a lil bit before going for dinner @ Famous Dave's.

Famous Dave's is a chain of southern-style barbecue restaurants serving pork ribs, chicken, and beef brisket. We came to know about it in one of the movie previews - i guess the commercial works :)

Cute sign on top of the wash basin!

Some other funny signs to light up your day.

St. Louis Rib-N-Meat BBQ Combo.

Sweetwater Catfish.

It was pretty crowded when we got there and we have to wait for about 30 mins before we were seated and another 30 mis before we get our food. No wonder it is advertised as PHX's No. 1 BBQ restaurant...

For ribs, i still prefer Bandera tho. Theirs were just amazing!

More foody adventures..

2008-08-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

This post was originally created almost a month ago.. when i had some free time during lunch. But then, work caught up to me and i totally forgot about it. Geez, i am getting old i guess.

John has been reminding me of my blog's life at stake. Most of the time, i have been sitting in front of my work PC, working. It can be very stressful sometimes, and poor him trying to figure out ways to keep my life more "interesting".

He knew that i enjoy taking pictures and we have an ongoing quest for new foody experience, we went to Joe's Crab Shack near Arizona Mills.

I have been to the one in San Francisco once, with Pei Yee - during my first business trip to PHX.

They are famous for their crabs and the also the deco. And they have dancing performance every other hour, if i am not mistaken.

Caesar Salad with grilled shrimp.

Joe's Steampot - Spicy Boil Flavour.

Look at me.. *drooling*

West Vs East Culture

2008-07-31T08:47:00.007-07:00

Humor for the stressful ones...

Blue - Westerner
Red - Asian

Opinion

B: Talk to the point.
R: Talk around the circle, especially if different opinions.

Way Of Life

B: individualism, think of himself or herself.
R: enjoy gathering with family and friends, solving their problems, and know each other's business (keh poh).

Punctuality

B: on time.
R: in time.

Contacts

B: Contact to related person only.
R: Contact everyone everywhere, business very successful.

Anger

B: Show that I am angry.
R: I am angry, but still smiling... (beware!)

Queue when waiting

B: Queuing in an orderly manner.
R: Queuing?! What's that?

Sundays on the road

B: Enjoy weekend relaxing peacefully.
R: Enjoy weekend in crowded places, like going to the mall.

Party

B: Only gather with their own group.
R: All focus on the one activity that is hosted by the CEO.

In the restaurant

B: Talk softly and gently in the restaurant.
R: Talk and laugh loudly like their own the restaurant.

Travelling

B: Love sightseeing and enjoy the scenery.
R: Taking picture is the most important, scenery is just for the background.

Handling of problems

B: Take any steps to solve the problems.
R: Try to avoid conflicts, and if can, don't leave any trail.

Three meals a day

B: Good meal for once a day is sufficed.
R: At least 3 good meals a day.

Transportation

B: Before drove cars, now cycling for environmental protection.
R: Before no money and rode a bike, now got money and drive a car.

Elderly in day to day life

B: When old, there is snoopy for companionship.
R: When old, guarantee will not be lonely, as long as willing to baby-sit the grandkids.

Moods and weather

B: The logic is, rain is pain.
R: The more the rain, more prosperity.

The Boss

B: The boss is part of the team.
R: The boss is a Fierce god.

What's trendy

B: Healthy Asian cuisine.
R: Expensive Western cuisine.

The child

B: The kid is going to be independent and make his/her own living.
R: Work, live and all for the kids, the centre of life.

Difference between Girls and Matured Women

2008-07-19T15:24:00.003-07:00

This is an interesting "old" forwarded email that i've got from a fren. I'll share it with you people here...

For all the girls out there. This maybe a good read for you to prepare urself of being a 'matured women'....

Girls leave their schedule wide-open and wait for a guy to call and make plans.

Matured women make their own plans and nicely tell the guy to get in where he fits

Girls want to control the man in their life.

Matured women know that if he's truly hers, he doesn't need controlling.

Girls check you for not calling them.

Matured women are too busy to realize you hadn't.

Girls are afraid to be alone.

Matured women revel in it-using it as a time for personal growth.

Girls ignore the good guys.

Matured women ignore the bad guys.

Girls make you come home.

Matured women make you want to come home.

Girls worry about not being pretty and/or good enough for their man.

Matured women know that they are pretty and/or good enough for any man.

Girls try to monopolize all their man's time ( I.e., don't want him hanging with his friends).

Matured women realize that a lil' bit of space makes the 'together time' even more special-and goes to kick it with her own friends!

Girls think a guy crying is weak.

Matured women offer their shoulder and a tissue.

Girls want to be spoiled and 'tell' their man so.

Matured women 'show' him and make him comfortable enough to reciprocate without fear of losing his 'manhood'.

Girls get hurt by one man and make all men pay for it.

Matured women know that, that was just one man.

Girls fall in love and chase aimlesly after the object of their affection, ignoring all 'signs'.

Matured women know that sometimes the one you love, don't always love you back and move on, without bitterness.

Girls will read this and get an attitude.

Matured women will read this and pass it on to other Matured women and their male friends.

Another week passed by..

2008-07-13T20:21:00.008-07:00

I went for my first annual health checkup here last week. I was nervous, no joke. Maybe cos i havent done any checkups for the last 5 years - i dunno what to expect. The nurse told us to fast for 12 hours before doing the lab work. That was kidna long.. i remembered it was only 8 hours last time, but i may be wrong.

Anyway, i got my result back on Sat, and it was very good! No high blood pressure or anything.. just that now my left arm is very sore because i took a Tdap shot. It is a preventive step that the doctor recommended to avoid tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.

Tho i can barely lift my arm, I am just so glad that i am in a pink of health!!! *yippie*

Below are some pictures taken during my dinner @ Stingray Sushi in Scottsdale. The food was pretty good and the waitress is doing a good job. There was a crowd outside the restaurant by the time we finished. Too bad we couldnt more food cos there was only two of us. I will definitely come back again.

Fireworks display in Tempe

2008-07-05T21:24:00.006-07:00

Some of the fireworks pics that i've took last nite @Tempe Town Lake, just opposite my apartment. Lotsa ppl sitting on the beach with us. Some even brought chairs and coolers and snacks to have a small picnic there. Seems like this a annual summer activity on 4th of July...

The Ozone, handmade calzone from Oregano's Pizza. Our dinner before fireworks.

I did not use a tripod, as you can see in the pics. They are quite blurry.. :P

I'm still alive..

2008-07-04T11:45:00.013-07:00

Hi people, i'm back.

It has been a while since i last posted something. Im sorry but i have been extremely busy with my work ever since i came back from KL. I am even working today, on the 4th of July - US Independence Day. Most of ppl have gone travelling or visiting, or at least shopping... but here i am, in front of my PC at home, blogging out. Sounds pathetic huh...

John complained that i didnt blog as much as i do when he first met me. I agree.
John has also complained that i didnt take pictures as much as i do when he first met me. I also agree.
Not that i dont want to, but it is getting harder nowadays.

Prolly cos i have been spending most of my time working. These couple of weeks are very critical for my project and all my team members have been working our ass out. Where got time to write?

Re: pictures, last time i used to take alot of pictures of food - cos ether it is a new restaurant or i have never been there before. But now that US is my new home, and i frequent the restaurants here alot, so what's the point?

However, me and John have vowed to try each and every restaurant that is available in Tempe Marketplace (our new favourite shopping mall). So i could use some nice pictures as memories :)

And as a start, here are some pictures from our dinner last nite @ King's Fish House.

New England Clam Chowder.

Fried Coconut Shrimp.

Cedar Plank Roasted Salmon with Dry Rub.

Next! :)

Btw, tonite i am gonna watch fireworks. Altho i can watch it from my apartment, but should i go to the park and join the crowd? *think*think*

Oh, before i forget, Happy Independence Day to all the US folks!

THE WET PANTS

2008-06-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

Come with me to a third grade classroom.....

There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! If not, five minutes from now I'm dead meat.'

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie.

She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!'

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.'

Congrats Bee Kheng!

2008-06-08T01:05:00.000-07:00

I am so happy for you!

Dilbert

2008-06-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

I'm back!

2008-05-29T20:56:00.003-07:00

It is good to be back.

It is going to be a good two weeks getaway from the summer. Altho not long but i am contented. My mom is the happiest person on earth when she knew i would be back. I have family dinners and activities all planned for the weekends.

Fantastic!

p/s: im very sleepy now. i had to work on US timezone for some meetings that are critical for the project. i think i will take a nap so that i will have enuff rest for tonite's team dinner... see ya!

In the mood for Brazillian?

2008-05-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

Angela was in town for business so we met up for dinner @ Fogo E Brasa for some Brazillian food. John has been to one of these type of restaurants when he was in Brazil few years ago, but neither me or Angela has ever been to one. So it would be very interesting to give it a try.

I and Angela.

It was an all-u-can-eat affair a.k.a. buffet style. They have an appetizer section in the middle of the restaurants, ranging from salads, pastas, seafood, etc. And each table will be given one "traffic light" cylinder wood. If you are not ready, show a red sign; if you are ready for meat, give it a green sign and if you are done for the nite, lay the wood flat on the table and they will clear your table for desserts.

When you show a green sign, waiters with skewers will come to you - non stop. Sample everything or only choose the one that u like.

John, Jane & Angela.

Fun experience. *burp*sorry*

Austin & San Antonio

2008-05-23T18:40:00.012-07:00

It was Game 4 for the NBA playoffs between Spurs (San Antonio) and Hornets (New Orleans) at San Antonio so we decided to make a trip to back to Austin to catch up with John's frens, besides watching the game live.

Touchdown @ Austin.

The weather in Austin is pretty much similar to Malaysia. It has a higher level of humidity compared to Phoenix. John did not like it too much cos he doesnt like the sticky feeling on his skin - which surprised me because he worked in Austin for 9 years. How can he stayed there for so long if he doesnt like it at all?

Anyways, we set up a luncheon with Kenny and Deotis @ Chuys, their favourite Mexican restaurant in Austin. The restaurant provides free flow of tortilla chips... anyone, i meant ANYONE can eat it. We had a few basket of tortilla chips while waiting for our table and I must say, I was 2/3 full even before i ordered my food. -____-

Misty, Mckenlee and Kenny.

Brianna, Deotis and April.

This is the first time i met Kenny and Deotis families. They are a bunch of nice people and coincidently, both of them (black men) married white women. McKenlee is very cute and pretty - cant stop smilling. *hugz*

The next day, we drove for 2 hours to San Antonio for the Spurs game. There are a lot of people going for the game, as expected but we bought a very good seat - closer to the court.

The Spurs cheerleaders in an autograph session.

In the fake locker room, but it looks real..

The game started!

The Spurs won that nite! It was amazing watching the team won at home court - the fans were incredible. We were happy too, so we went to the River Walk, one the famous places in San Antonio for a small celebration. We had some drinks at SWIG and guess what? We saw someone familiar, a face that we always see on TV at any basketball game. It was Jim Goldstein - the basketball superfan! He has a very unique taste in fashion because you will always see him with long gray hair and wears leather jackets, hats and interesting boots. You can never miss him if you see him on the street! More info about him at Wikipedia.

Jim Goldstein, the superfan and me.

Before we left San Antonio back to Austin to catch our flight, we went to The Alamo - another famous tourist attraction here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_Mission_in_San_Antonio

The Alamo.

Front of The Alamo.

Let's go in!

It was a nice getaway...

Triangle of Life

2008-05-20T09:53:00.004-07:00

EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: 'TRIANGLE OF LIFE'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_of_Life

My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.

I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries.

I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.

The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something.

Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the 'triangle of life'. The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the 'triangles' you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building.

TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY

1) Most everyone who simply 'ducks and covers' WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.

2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.

3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.

4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.

5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.

6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!

7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different 'moment of frequency' (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads – horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.

8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.

9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.

10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.

Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared!

'We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly'

In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul , University of Istanbul Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did 'duck and cover,' and ten mannequins I used in my 'triangle of life' survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions , relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover.

There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my method of the 'triangle of life.' This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe , and it was seen in the USA , Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.

Beijing Welcomes You!

2008-05-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

A video in conjunction of the 2008 Olympics. I hope i can be in Beijing too...

Bye Bye Yan!

2008-05-16T18:07:00.003-07:00

First of all, congrats on your graduation day tomoro. Your parents must be so proud of u.

To express our gratitude for your work during the internship, we went for a farewell lunch @ Kona Grill in Scottsdale Fashion Square.

Very delicious American dishes with Chinese influences in it. Lovely.

It is great knowing u, Yan. Wish u all the best in your future endeavors.

Jane, Yan, J-Mat, John.

Safe trip home, Bee Kheng and David!

2008-05-15T13:57:00.001-07:00

It was good seeing u guys here in PHX. I think Bee Kheng will have to put on a lot of whitening moisturizer on her face before her wedding next month - because she has some pretty good tan when she visited the Grand Canyon. That is how hot it is now and it is getting hotter.

We went to The Cheesecake Factory (Eddie's favourite) last Friday and we again, ordered too much food. How can u resist good cheesecake? No one can get away with the temptation...

This time around, we tried the carrot cake cheesecake, raspberry cheesecake and tiramisu cheesecake. *yummy*yummy*

Jane, Bee Kheng and David Hua.

Have a safe trip back and hopefully u guys enjoy the stay here.

Quinoa

2008-05-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Feeling to eat something healthy? High in protein and dietary fiber?

Well, we did 2 weeks ago and so we decided to have Quinoa. Pronounced as "keen-wah", it is a type of grain that is not widely available in the supermarts.

Cooked Quinoa.

Quinoa can be eaten in replace of rice, and we had it with tuna and soy sauce. A very simple dinner but full of nutritions. :)

So fun to be a Malaysian

2008-05-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

NATIONAL EXCUSE FOR HAIR LOSS:
Maggi Mee
(a popular instant noodle brand)

NATIONAL EXCUSE FOR BEING LATE:
Traffic Jam

NATIONAL CONDOM:
None. Most Malaysians still feel embarrassed buying condoms. So they rush into a 7-11, hurriedly grab the nearest pack, any pack, pay and leave before the cashier can even blink an eye.

NATIONAL FRUIT FOR INDUCING MENSTRUATION:
Pineapple

NATIONAL APHRODISIAC DRINK:
Stout. Many swear by it. But after a few pints they start swearing at everything...

NATIONAL FAKE ILLNESS FOR GETTING MC (MEN):
Food Poisoning
(MC - Medical Leave)

NATIONAL FAKE ILLNESS FOR GETTING MC (WOMEN):
Menstrual Pain
(MC - Medical Leave)

NATIONAL EXCUSES GIVEN BY WOMEN WHEN REFUSING SEX:
Headache, kids not asleep, maid not asleep, mother-in-law around, early appointment, period, haven't removed make-up, haven't had a shower, no water supply, going to watch 'Desperate Housewives', depressed, no mood, etc...

NATIONAL EXCUSES GIVEN BY MEN WHEN REFUSING SEX:
None. Malaysian men never refuse sex
(oh ya??)

NATIONAL CURE FOR HEADACHES:
Panadol. The 'cure for all'. If it fails we have another secret weapon; Tiger Balm

NATIONAL CURE FOR DIZZINESS:
Minyak Angin Cap Kapak

NATIONAL CAUSE OF DIZZINESS (FOR YUPPIES):
Happy Hours

NATIONAL INSTANT CURE FOR DIZZINESS (FOR YUPPIES):
The sight of a police roadblock

NATIONAL RUBBISH DUMP:
Anywhere. As long as it is not your house.

NATIONAL MOST MIS-PRONOUNCED NAME:
Carrefour. Sometimes even pronounced as Carry 4! On second thought, why bother pronouncing stupid French brands like Peugeot, Renault or Citroen correctly. I think it sounds better,when the local mechanics say 'Pew Jeot'. When I was in school, Milo was always 'MeeLo', now that I'm sophisticated, I say 'My Lo'. So don't be embarrassed saying 'Carry 4' when the Mat Sallehs shamelessly pronounce orang utan as 'rangootan'.

NATIONAL ROADSIDE DISTRACTION:
The Bra-less Tourist. See how heads turn and traffic slows down when a bra-less Mat Salleh backpacker goes 'bouncing' about on the streets.

Happy Birthday Tee Tee!

2008-05-09T09:29:00.002-07:00

I havent seen this cute "little" friend for so long. Hey, when you wanna come and visit me in the states? *wink*wink*

Happy Birthday Tee Hui! All the best and give me a hug please.... :) *hugz*

Body aching..

2008-05-07T10:19:00.002-07:00

I guess i havent been exercising for a while since i moved here. No running, no badminton, no bowling, no whatsoever. I have been thinking to start running in the morning or evening, but the weather here is really killing me. U know how i hate hot and sunny weather.. especially when it is getting hotter and hotter in the summer. I will get sun burn for sure, and that is not very appealing to me.

After getting the Wii last week, i have some indoor "exercise". This is a good start. I had bowling, golf, tennis, baseball and some boxing. I have to really swing my arms hard as if i am really playing them for real. And the fact that i havent been using my muscles for some time, my body is very sore for the last couple of days.

No kidding.

I need to work out a bit. Seriously. Maybe i should play more Wii. And since we just bought Super Mario Galaxy - you will see me sitting in front of the TV for quite a bit. *wii..*

Super Mario Galaxy.

More info about this game at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Galaxy

Happy Birthday Peky!

2008-05-03T18:23:00.003-07:00

This was taken way back.. a couple of years ago. BUT this doesnt mean that i dont remember your birthday after so many years!

Have a good birthday.. and im really hoping that we can meet up soon! Love ya, PIG! *muaks*

A new toy in the house!

2008-04-28T17:36:00.006-07:00

I just got a Wii! It is fun! Now i can imagine and understand how and why people can get addicted in this. I will be one of them soon...

It is bundled with a game, called Wii Sports with the option to play Tennis, Baseball, Golf, Bowling and Boxing in the comfort of one's living room. You can use the Wii Remote controller to mimic the actions of swinging a racket, bat or club, roll a ball down an alley or bring the left jab. And u can have up to 4 person playing at the same time. Looking for a tennis doubles game? *wink*

And not just that, it has a SD memory card slot which means you can enjoy slideshows of your favorite photos on TV. Drag an MP3 onto the card, and you can have a soundtrack as well! It also has a wireless capability where you can get updated info from the Internet, such as news, weather forecast, and so much more. Aint this cool?

We have also reserved a Wii Fit and i cant wait for it to come out on May 21st! It is a combination of fitness and fun - where you can do yoga, aerobics, hula hoop, jogging, etc, besides taking your weight and center of gravity and BMI (Body Mass Index).

Exercise and play at the comfort of your home!

Getting hotter and drier

2008-04-23T17:21:00.003-07:00

It has only been a couple of days but my skin has shown some negative effects. My face has some minor peeling which indicates the lack of moisture. This is really tough on me because I was born with a dry skin. Even when I was back in KL, I have to religiously putting on lotion on every part of my body. Not to mention now...

My heels are having cracks. And the worst thing is my hair - super frizzy. I just got my hair cut (before taking the flights to PHX) to remove all the split ends and damaged hair but after spending only one day here, they have gone back to their old self. *faints*

One morning I woke up and looked in the mirror, found out my hair was like being cooked inside an oven for a minute - it almost drives me nuts!

Actually, the current weather is kinda nice. It is not too hot during the day and not too cold at night. The thing is, it is very dry. very very low humidity level. I ironed my clothes yesterday and the wrinkle just wont go away cos it was too dry. *arrggghhh*

And to top it all, summer is just around the corner and i heard that last year, it went up to 120 Farenheit. That is just crazy! I am gonna stay indoor most of the time. :S Hopefully i can survive my first summer here. *gulp*

Finally!

2008-04-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

I have landed in PHX! Safe and sound. Thanks for all the wishes.. really appreciate them a lot. Will talk to u guys soon. Let me settle down first, okie?

I need rest

2008-04-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

~written on the plane~

It is midnite now but I can’t sleep. No, I am not suffering from amnesia or anything of that sort. As a matter of fact, I am actually very very tired. I haven’t been sleeping a lot for the last couple of days because I was busy packing, but also tried to spend as much time as possible with my family - which includes wee hours chat. My bro just came back from Labuan for holidays too and I won’t get to see him again the next time I come back. So that explains it.

I planned to rest and sleep on the plane, to reclaim the sleep that I have lost. So after the dinner is served, I got myself all cozy in a very comfortable position, ready for a good rest. I had about 2 hours of good nap before the nightmare began. The guy seated at the back of my row was coughing and sneezing non-stop. They said you can easily catch any illnesses on a plane because viruses from anyone can travel everywhere in the contained environment.

I was feeling a bit uncomfortable with the fact that he is seated so close to me. And I was doing the “breath holding skill” whenever he coughed or sneezed. I know it prolly won’t help a lot BUT I was doing my best to reduce as much possibility as I can to catch the virus. The last time I had someone coughing seated close to me was when I traveled back to PHX from New York after Christmas last year. And as a result of that, I had a mild pneumonia which lasted for close to 1 month. So yes, I am being a lil paranoid cos I definitely wouldn’t want to have the history repeated itself. I certainly hope you don’t think this is an act of selfishness…

I turned my head to the opposite direction and tried to get back to sleep. After a while, the guy stopped coughing. I was relief and had 2 more hours of undisturbed nap. Then the second nightmare began. *damn*

I heard a very, superbly loud snore. Not just a normal one, but one with a rhythm. Soft soft LOOUUUDD, soft soft LOOUUUDD, soft soft LOOUUUDD, then quiet for a few seconds. And it repeats. You can laugh all you can when you read this, but if you are in my position now, you can’t even force a smile.

Well, you may have guessed it right – it was from the same guy. Never ever in my whole life that I would have imagine myself being awaken by a snore. I was so well known among my family members as a “dead sleeper” last time. There was once when I was at the age of 11 or 12, my house was rammed by a car. I am not kidding you, seriously. Apparently, there was this drunken driver who fell asleep in a split second and turned his steering wheel towards our house (which I have lived for 26 years before I moved to this current condo). BANG! Our main gate was being knocked down and his car went down the drain, 90 degrees. It was very loud, as I was told and everyone woke up and went out to check out what was happening.

EXCEPT ME. I was still fast asleep on my bed. *eyes rolling*unbelievable*

So how can I be possibly awaken by a snore?! You know what, I had no idea but that was what happened.

I can’t even close my eyes without having my brain processing the unwanted noise. And to top it all, the kids at the back began to cry too – as if they are competing for the loudest noise on the plane. Great! Simply amazing experience huh?

So now I am all awake, walked to the small “pantry” area at the back of the plane and grabbed a drink and a pack of snacks. Besides being able to stretch some, I am feeling a little hungry because I have used up all my energy to force myself to sleep and also all the twisting and turning in my seat. And since I think I will be watching some movies too to get my eyes tired again, I prolly need to fill up my stomach before I get any gastric pain.

I will post this as soon as I get a chance to connect to the internet. Hopefully I can do that when I land in LA, not sure if they have any free wireless access. I certainly hope so cos I will have about 5 hours before my next flight to PHX. *sigh*

Hmm, seems like the snoring and crying have stopped. Maybe I can resume sleeping now. So see ya!

@ Changi Airport, Singapore

2008-04-20T00:17:00.002-07:00

One more flight and i will be there soon!

Boarding time now.. will post more when i reach there. See ya!

More food!

2008-04-19T08:58:00.012-07:00

Since my trip has been postponed and i've got extra 2 weeks to spend with my family, i made plans for some "makan-makan" trip to satisfy my tastebud for the local Malaysian food. I know there are Malaysian food available in US too, but they are not as authentic.. :P

Below are some pictures of the food. These are from Seri Kembangan.. hot soup, stir fried beansprout, pork ribs, fried chicken wings, fa diu chicken and mini tarts.

Dim sum breakfast @ Chuai Heng with mom and bro.

Dinner @ Kam's Kitchen just now.

Happy Birthday Bro!

2008-04-16T09:01:00.003-07:00

John, Jane, Mom, Bro.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!

*muaks*

More headaches..

2008-04-16T04:24:00.004-07:00

It has been almost a year since i moved to this condo but the problems never stopped coming in. Every now and then, there will be some unexpected issues.

This morning, i was doing my weekly conference call in the living room. The call lasted for one and a half hour, so my eyes wandered around a lil around the condo. Trying to capture the picture in my head, so to speak. And that was the beginning of another nightmare.

There was an air bubble line on my wall, from top to bottom until the telephone socket. How the hell did that happened? I never saw that before! And the wall was still smooth last weekend when my frens came over and complimented the nice color of the wall, specifically.

If u ask me, it looks like a crack. But it could be a water leakage from upstairs. Either way, i am worried that the condition might get worse. I hate things like this coming up at the very last minute when the 18 months warranty period is going to end next month. And i am about to leave the country until the warranty is over. Could it be any worst? *grrr*

But u know what, things always happened at the wrong time. It is just very frustrating.

So i spent the whole day complaining about the air bubble on the wall to the management office, followed up with them regarding my complain 3 weeks ago about the minor water leakage in my bathrooms (yes, they havent started any action yet) and done a few rounds of checking on my other walls in the condo. I am not too confident about their quality of works now...

One of the management officers came up a short while after my complain - to do a preliminary check to identify the actual cause. I think it is a waste of effort because they could just call the contractor to come up and look at it and then fix it all at once. I guess they dont believe all the aunties and uncles who just happened to complain about everything unnecessarily.

"Hmm, this is not a crack la.."
"So is this a water leakage? It looks like bubble, maybe water bubble?"
"No, there is no water pipe along that wall."
"Then why is that happening?"

The guy started to brief me about science...

"U know that all objects will shrink at night and expand during the day? Same goes to the wall. And ur paint is better quality one where u can wipe away any dirts on it, rite?"
"Yea.."
"So it has one type of chemical which will act like a rubber on the surface. When the wall expands, the wall could change shape or direction a little bit. That is why the paint was pushed up and creating the bubble line. U know.. like ur clothes when u push it to each other."
"So u are saying that this is not a crack or a water leakage, but just something that normally happens.."
"Yup, u are right."

He was about to leave when i pointed a small dent of the bubble line..

"What about this? It looks like a hole here..."
"Oh.... I think u have a crack on your wall. Let me file a complain for the contractor to come and fix it."

*what?!*oh my god*

That is how they do their work.. imagine if i didnt notice that small little spot. T_T

Pack, pack, pack..

2008-04-15T05:10:00.001-07:00

Taxi driver has become my best friend recently. They are always there when i needed them the most. Some people say this is a luxury, but I say it is a lost of freedom...

Since the day i sold off my car, i have been a very "homey" girl - practically staying at home all the time. Not that i was always out last time, but i had some regular activities. Now, I try not to go out anywhere unnecessarily, knowing that transportation will be somewhat an issue.

Alot of my frens asked me "Where are u now?" and my answer is always "At home". They laughed. They wont believe me.. until i told them the whole story. *sigh* -____-

However, being at home gives me more time to think of what to pack. After much consideration, I dont think i can bring everything at one time. I dont have enuff luggage space. Some things just need to wait for the next round. And i will have another helper with me then. Hehe :)

Over and Out!

2008-04-09T05:06:00.000-07:00

Bubye my frens #6

2008-04-05T20:33:00.006-07:00

I haven't been seeing them for quite some time. We never really hang out that much ever since i transferred to the KL office 4 years ago. I know it is hard because either i have to travel down to Seremban or they have to come and meet me in KL. With their own family matters to deal with, it is understandable that sometimes we just cant make time for a gathering.

But knowing that i will be leaving soon, we decided to meet up in MidValley @ the newly opened Tony Roma's yesterday.

Catherine, Ah Kok, Lee Yan, Jade & baby Ryan, Wang, Jane, Suet Li and Chris (Deric holding the camera).

Our old girl group - Lee Yan, Jade & Jane.

Baby Ryan and me :)

I will miss u guys so much! *muaks*hugz*

Bubye my frens #5

2008-04-04T08:43:00.001-07:00

This is an unexpected farewell for me from my neighbours. They are my mom's best frens in the condo - they do everything together. Swimming, morning walk, shopping, food sampling... they have more activities than i do!

We booked for late lunch @ Jogoya Japanese Buffet in Star Hill. Mom love this place because there are alot of varieties of food served here, besides the usual sashimi and sushi. She doesnt like raw food...

2008 - a prosperous year!

Me, mom and our neighbours.

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I think they are trying to feed me and make me gain some weight because they complained that i am too skinny.. -___-

Bubye my frens #4

2008-04-02T08:34:00.012-07:00

It was supposed to be my last day at work. My heart was heavy but i told myself, "I will be coming back. It is my home country and i am still working in the same company!".

Thomas treated me and the team for a buffet lunch at Seoul Garden in 1U. It was a combination of a few occasions; my farewell, to welcome our new team member Zuriani and also to celebrate the half yearly bonus we just received. It was very nice of him.

Free flow of BBQ meat and Korean dishes *yummy* - but there were not much of a selection, which was kinda disappointing.

Seoul Garden @ One Utama.

I think i took pictures with most of the ppl at work. Some were left out because i couldnt catch them on time before they left the office. Well, i guess i will see them again soon...

Here are some pictures taken that day. I will miss u guys..

Malaysian food

2008-03-30T19:09:00.004-07:00

Some of the local delicacies that i will be missing soon.

Chinese kuih.

Bak zhang.

Chee Cheong Fun.

Roasted pork.

Satay and sausages.

Fried beehoon.

Tired and exhausted

2008-03-29T23:27:00.002-07:00

Cheng Ming is also known as the Tomb Sweeping Day in some other countries and basically, it is the day where we pay respect and honour our ancestors at grave sites.

This year, we had a crazy Cheng Ming. As early as we go to the grave sites every year, this time is the earliest by far. Why? Cos we need to beat the time where some of the major city roads were to be closed to make way for the KL Marathon. GREAT!

The night before, my aunt called and told us that the road closure will happen around 4:30am. Oh my gosh, why do they have to organize the marathon on this day, of so many days in the year? Don't they know that alot of ppl will be using those roads to reach the KL grave sites in conjuction of Cheng Ming Festival?

Me and mom woke up at 3:45am to get ready. Uncle came to pick us up and on our way, we saw a lot of polices standing by the roadside, getting ready to close the road. We looked at our watch, it was just merely a few minutes before 4:30am. Phew, that was so close.

When we reached my grandparent's grave, we were surprised to see a lot of ppl already there, some even done with their prayers! Last year, we reached the site about 6:30am but we could hardly see more than 10 families there. I guess these people knew about the road closure too.

We took about slightly more than an hour praying and paying respects to my grandparents. On our way back, we saw the road closure and the long queue of cars trying to get in. Poor them.

Next, we went to the Nirvana Memorial Park in Semenyih to pay respect to my father and my late uncle (dad's youngest brother). We thought we will not be caught up in any traffic because we were so much earlier compared to the previous years, but we were so wrong. Some stupid cars were tired of waiting in the line and tried to do a shortcut by using the road for oncoming cars. Really stupid cos that caused a massive traffic as the oncoming cars were now trapped and created a deadlock.

We waited for half an hour in the line before we decided to park the car and walk. We took all the stuff we need for the prayers and walked about 1KM to the Nirvana Memorial Park. If we were to drive, i dont think we can reach there in 1.5 hours. It was just crazy.

This could be the last time i can pay respect to my father during Cheng Ming. I will be coming back of cos, but most prolly it will not be on this day. I will come and visit him on other days. I hope he will understand and know that i love him very very much. I miss him so much even after 11 years that he has been gone.

Now im tired and exhausted after so much walk and so little sleep. Gotta take a nap soon.

Bubye my frens #3

2008-03-27T05:45:00.002-07:00

IMHO, Dave’s Pizza Pasta Vino in 1 Utama serves the best Itallian food in Malaysia. Not only that, it is the first Itallian restaurant that i have seen so far that serves pork.

Jessica & hubby, Raymond met me and Soo for dinner last nite at Dave's. We ordered 2 pastas and 2 pizzas for sharing - sharing is loving, dude! I love all the food in the menu.. just name anything and i can say it is very delicious! I am surprised that there is only one Dave's Pizza Pasta Vino in the Klang Valley or even Malaysia (correct me if i am wrong). You would think they could have opened a lot more branches with their good quality of food. *scratch head*

Not a single trace of food was left on the plates. All gone in 60 seconds!
-___-""

Jessica, Jane & Soo.

We were about to order more food, taking Jessica as an excuse - well, she is pregnant and she should be eating more! But Raymond stopped us, "Dont judge a book by its cover! I will be the one ended up eating them". Haha. Cute.

Jane & Raymond.

Take care, matey!

Bubye my frens #2

2008-03-25T07:15:00.001-07:00

We were dancing and laughing together. We enjoy being on the dance floor very much but that nite, I was distracted. I absolutely had no idea how to tell my dance friends that i am going away very soon. I am sure they will be as shock as the rest, making my heart even heavier to move to the States. I was waiting for a good opportunity when one of them teased me, asking me, "When are you going to US again?"

"Next month", I said.
"Wow, so nice. How long are u going away this time?"
"Permanently.."
"What?!"

Yea, i can see their jaws almost hitting the ground. Well, at least in my own imagination.. *ahem*

As hard as they are trying to take the news, they are very happy for me - to be able to live the life that i want. It is not as easy as it seems, there are sacrifices that i have to make. But at the end of the day, hopefully everything will turn out well.

Just now, all of us met up for dinner @ Island Cafe in SS2 (same row with McDonalds, at the other end). It has been a long time since we last had dinner together. Everyone was busy with their own stuff.

Altho it is not anything fancy, but i do enjoy their company, made the night more meaningful. And i like the Jasmine tea :)

Jane, How Wee, Ssu Ee, Huini and Yee Ling.

Lee was late, so he couldnt join us. Therefore, i insisted on taking a group picture in the dancing room, before he leaves for Turkey next week for his project assignment.

Jane, Ssu Ee, How Wee, Huini, Lee and Yee Ling.

Again, i will be back to visit u guys again. Dont worry.

Car-less

2008-03-24T02:24:00.003-07:00

It wasnt a great deal, but it was by far the best deal i got. And now, finally, im officially car-less. Yea, that doesnt sound good at all.

Never had i imagine life is so difficult without a car. Maybe i was too spoiled by having someone to fetch me everywhere before i got my own car in the final year of my university days. It was such a freedom, to be able to go anywhere my mood takes me. To be able to meet up with my family and frens at the snap of a finger. And to be able to go on a food adventure (jalan-jalan cari makan), that i love to do so much.

If only the public transportation in KL is so much better, then i wouldnt have fret a bit about losing a car. Buses were my only transportation when i was in high school, but i dreaded those times where i have to wait for one for more than an hour sometimes. Waiting in a bus stop (that is probably 5 minutes away from my house) is not the best thing in the world, especially under the hot sun with a temperature so high that could easily get u skin cancer. Not only that, u will never be able to get a decent or undecent seat during rush hour and u could end up being trapped under two pairs of sweaty arms that can get u fainted in 10 seconds. Yes baby, im not kidding u.

Moving to my new place currently has slightly improved some of the issues. The bus stop is just outside of my condo's entrance and the buses come more often that they used to. There are a lot of shops nearby which eliminate some of the necessities to drive out. My mom is the happiest person when we decided to get this property. :P

My ex-car, Honda City.

I am now using my aunt's car temporarily to go to work. But i will have to return it next week because she will need to use the car every now and then. Hopefully it wont cause her too much trouble now.

Bubye my frens!

2008-03-21T02:58:00.003-07:00

Most of my frens were very shocked when they got to know that i will be leaving for the States next month. They didnt believe me. Yes, i will be transferred to my company's head office in Phoenix, Arizona.

I totally understand how they feel because i felt the same way 2 weeks ago. I wasnt expecting this to come so soon - but what can i say, opportunity came knocking on my door when i am least prepared.

In summary, there was a PHX based position available from a different team and i was in the list of candidates to fill up the role. Maybe i wasnt the perfect or the top candidate that they would want but after a little compromise from both parties, we came to an agreement. And one of the many things, i'm supposed to start working there in early April.

It was a very very hard decision, trust me. Altho i knew this is going to happen eventually, but it is still not as easy as i would thought it would be. For me to leave my family and frens behind, starting my life all over again in a foreign country - that needs a lot of courage, as well as support from my family.

After many sleepless nights, the decision was made. And since then, i was so busy taking care of my personal and work stuffs. *breathe*breathe*

So last nite, my high school frens gave me a farewell dinner @ Tian Yian Cafe & Restaurant in Taman Miharja, Cheras. We chose a vegetarian restaurant because 2 of my frens are vegetarian and we want everyone to enjoy the food and company. Actually, I went to the SS2, PJ branch last year and it was really good!

The food was very good as expected. i can see myself coming back again.. :)

Jane, Sok Yee and Henk.

Chee Yee, Soon Kuan, Danny, Cherrie, Jane, Lai Yeen, Shi Yen, Wee Peng & Sok Yee.

I am very glad that my family took the news with an open mind. Mom is sad of cos, but i promise that i will come back to visit her as often as i can. *muaks*

Renewing passport is a breeze now..

2008-03-17T06:40:00.009-07:00

Since I was small, I have always dreaded to go to the government departments. Not only i have to wake up extra early to get my butt there before they officially opens (cos they will only start on the dot if not later), wait in the long queue (altho im early because apparently, ppl here are super kiasu) BUT i could also be waiting for hours just to get the stuff i needed to be done.

This morning, i fetched my mom to the Wangsa Maju Immigration Office to renew her passport. I was planning to go to the State Immigration of KL in Pusat Bandar Damansara before i found out there is a branch in Wangsa Maju, much closer to my home. Yea, i know i am a lil outdated, but it is never too late to know now.

I left my condo around 7:20am and reached there 10 minutes before 8am. I figured we should be there ealier because my mom wanted to get her picture taken there. 5 years ago when she got her current passport, she took her picture in a normal photo shop in Ampang but they were rejected by the immigration officer because they claimed that the pictures were not following the standards/rules...

Anyways, back to this morning - there were plenty of parking spots in front of the immigration building. I was told that it is hard to get a parking spot in that area but i guess i was too early for the spots to be filled up. While she was getting her pictures taken, i walked to the entrance and found out that the counters were opened already. 10 minutes earlier!

I took the application form that i've printed out from the website (and filled up of cos) with a photocopy of her IC and 2 copies of photos to the counter to take a queue number but i was told that the form is not accepted. Apparently, printing the 2 page form in 2 pieces of A4 paper will not be accepted. You have to print on both side of an A4 paper! I obviously didnt know that and ended up buying the form from them for RM1 when i can print the form from their website for free. How ironic...

But besides that, everything was amazing. We got called to the counter immediately after we took our number cos there was only 2 other ppl in the room (and they have already been called). The officer took her form, pictures, IC and thumb print as verification - making sure that we are not applying for a different person :) Then we paid the RM300 fees at the cashier counter and all these were done in less than 10 minutes. *jaws dropped*

We were told by the officer to come back to get the passport in 1 hour. 1 HOUR! That was pretty fast and i admit i was surprised because i thought it was supposed to be done in 2 hours (which is already great because when i had mine renewed 3 years ago, i can only get it the next working day). And a lot of other developed countries needed more than 3 days to get one passport done. *thumbs up*

While waiting, we went for breakfast in a nearby hawker centre. We came back about 30 minutes later and there were more people now but still not alot. As i was walking towards a bunch of open seats, I realised that our number has been called for passport collection. WOW! I am now really amazed at how fast the government department do their job currently. We got a new passport in just an hour, from start to end.

As i was leaving the immigration building, i saw all the parking spots were fulled and there were cars waiting by the roadside, looking for possible spots. I guess if i werent as early, i might not be able to get it all done in an hour. So it is always good to be an early bird. However, if i were to go to the immigration department at Pusat Bandar Damansara, i am sure it would be crowded too even if it's early. I am glad i made a good decision.

Just in case if you guys are planning to renew or get a new passport in Malaysia, here are some tips for a smooth application:

1. Find a branch closer to you. You can save a lot of travel time especially when you are going on a weekdays where you can get caught in a bad traffic during rush hour.
2. For online application form, make sure you print the 2 page form on both side of ONE A4 paper. Printing on 2 pieces of paper will not be accepted. Else, just buy from them for RM1. Fill it up, of cos.
3. Get a photocopy of your Identification Card a.k.a. MyKad. Make sure you have both sides on the same page and DO NOT ever cut them because they want it in A4 size.
4. Bring 2 copies of your passport size photos (with ears visible) and make sure they follow the correct standard (it has a certain degree of blue background). To be safe, you can get your photos taken there and it cost RM12 for 4 pieces of instant photos.
5. Dont forget to bring RM300 as processing fees - they accept credit cards too but just in case the system/line is down, it is good to have cash on hand.
6. For renewal, please bring along your old/current passport.

That's all. Hope you can enjoy the same "breeze" as i do today.

U decide today!

2008-03-07T17:43:00.004-07:00

It is very quiet in the office now. But i am pretty sure it is very very crowded in most of the schools as they have been selected as the voting venues. Some of my colleagues have gone back to their hometowns to cast their votes. I am leaving earlier after lunch to do the same.

This year's election is definitely an interesting one. I have never seen so many Barisan Nasional's advertisements in the media in my whole life. Newspaper, TV, radio and on the street - anywhere and everything that u do.

The opposition parties are moving agressively too this time, holding lots of talks and speeches around the country. A few "verbal" fights are going on, as usual when it comes to who can become a good government and leader. Not to forget, many promises have been made where we will never know whether they will be fulfiled.

I guess it all depends on yourself, whom u trust the most. For me, it doesn't really matter who wins the election. The most important thing is the party who wins can really do a good job in leading this country and give peace, harmony and equality of rights to the people.

Whatever they say now - is nothing but a gimmic to get your votes. You should review their performances for the past 5 years. Hope u can make a good decision because your vote counts!

Baby care

2008-03-05T04:15:00.031-07:00

Surprise

2008-02-29T07:10:00.002-07:00

It was at noon and i was about to go for lunch. My cellphone rang and i looked at it, an unknown number was displayed. I picked it up and i heard a man's voice asking me, "Is this Jane speaking?". "I am calling from a florist, may i know where is your office located?"

My mind was blank for a while, surprised because i was not expecting this. I gave him the directions and went for lunch, but was looking forward to the arrival of the "surprise" which was unintentionally exposed.

The awaited "surprise" came shortly after lunch. My colleagues were laughing at me and asked who was it from, knowingly there is no one else besides him. It came with a card and all it was written in the card was my name and a web address. As i was typing the URL to access the site, the smell of freshness filled up my lungs. I havent been feeling so close to the greeneries for a long time, right by my side on my desk.

There in the website, laid another bigger surprise. Words that he hoped to keep me strong when we are apart, 10000 miles away. And it did...

No, it was not my birthday nor our anniversary day. Coincidently it arrived on the 29th of Feb, a day which only exists in every 4 years. But that wasnt the intention. And it surely wasnt a proposal, so stop speculating :)

Thank you for doing this. I know it aint easy to arrange them with all the logistic difficulties. And i really do appreciate it very much. No words can express how thankful and happy i am.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

Sawadee kha! - Part 4

2008-02-28T05:31:00.001-07:00

Day 4

It was a pretty much a relaxed day. Our flight was at 6pm, so we planned to leave around 3:30pm just to get there about 2 hours earlier.

We took the skytrain again to Erawan Shrine, which is conspicuously located in front of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel. This highly revered shrine was erected in 1956 and legend has it that the Lord Brahma employs his omnidirectional gaze to watch over and protect the mortal and immortal worlds. Offerings to the Lord Brahma Shrine: An offering set includes 16 incense sticks along with 4 each of candles, flower garlands and sheets of gold leaf.

Finally we did a Thai body massage at King and I Spa and Massage center before going back home (300 Baht for 1 hour). It was very very good! *argghhh*

Sawadee kha! - Part 3

2008-02-26T08:09:00.015-07:00

Day 3

Vimanmek Mansion a.k.a. The Palace in the Clouds is pieced together from golden teak without a single nail and houses a fine antique collection. It is claimed as the world's largest golden teakwood mansion and located within the Dusit Palace.

The main entrance of the mansion.

We were not allowed to wear short pants or sleeveless tops in the mansion, which doesnt really make sense to me. It is just a mansion, previous residence of the king. Why cant we wear short pants? If it is a temple, then i can understand cos we need to pay respect to the Buddha.. but this...

I guess we have to follow the rules..

Can u see the word Vimanmek?

John with the canyon display.

Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall.

We didnt visit all the buildings in Dusit Palace. You are not allowed to bring in your stuff inside these buildings so you have to keep them in the locker available for rent. Imagine going into 5 buildings and you have to go thru the hassle to put in and take out your stuff each and everytime. It doesnt worth it..

Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall is a majestic piece of Italian architecture located at the end of the Royal Plaza, 200 m behind the King Rama V Equestrian Monument. The building is very nice and beautiful. I somehow felt like a princess when i was there. The feeling was just amazing. *day dreaming*

This is a nice side view of the hall.

Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall.

King Rama V Equestrian Monument.

We then took a taxi to the Victory Monument to take some pics and proceed to Siam Paragon via sky train.

Victory Monument.

Siam Paragon is one of the biggest shopping centres in Asia. I am really amazed by how big and modern the mall is. It includes a wide range of stores and restaurants as well as a multiplex movie theater with one of them having the biggest screen and seating capacity in Asia.

Siam Paragon.

The Siam Ocean World aquarium is the largest aquarium in South East Asia. I saw a lot of weird fishes and water creatures which i never ever thought that could have ever exist!

Siam Ocean World.

Another exhausted day.. oh gosh..

Sawadee kha! - Part 2

2008-02-24T06:27:00.009-07:00

Day 2

It is a Saturday, and there is no where else to be than the Chatuchak Weekend Market! It is one of Asia's largest covered open-air markets with an incredible 15,000 stalls and an equally incredible range of goods including clothing, plants, household products, handicrafts, ceramics, pets and leather goods.

We took the skytrain, BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System) from Asok station (at Sukhumvit Road) to the Mo Chit station. I am really glad that Bangkok's public transportation is good enough that it helped makes travelling easier. We can go to most places via BTS or MRTA (subway). It would be really bad if we have to take taxi all the time because a lot of the taxi drivers do not speak English. There are times that we had to resort in using sign language (to try to describe the place) because they cant read an English map as well. It was indeed a challenge.

One of the many many entrances.

I think we didnt even cover 20% of the market. That just described how big the area is. I guess we need at least 3 days...

Look at the crowd!

Please beware of pickpockets since there are so many people walking by you all the time. You never know if that someone who bumped into u was really just an accident or intentional. Maps are available for free to help visitors to get around the market but we couldnt find any until half an hour before the market closes. *sigh*

Pets or live animals are sold here too.

We didnt buy a lot of stuffs. Altho there are so many stalls, John couldnt find a nice messenger bag designed for men at all. Most of the bags are for women. He was a lil disappointed. I think Petaling Street sell more nice bags than here. Anyway, i guess it depends on what you are looking for. If you wanted Thai arts or products, you will never go home empty handed.

After a long walk at Chatuchak, we took the subway to Suan-Lum Night Bazaar. It is also a very popular market offering one of the largest selections of Thai products in the country. There are more than 3,500 small shops selling clothes and accessories, jewelry, home decor items, arts and handicrafts as well as souvenirs.

Suam-Lum Night Bazaar.

Beers *burp*

Our feet were crying in pain at the end of the day as a result of walking too much. So we went for a foot massage in the night bazaar. It only cost us 250 Baht for an hour and the end result was very satisfactory. Now we are ready for another day of walk!

Sawadee kha! - Part 1

2008-02-23T06:02:00.022-07:00

As soon as i came out from the airport taxi, i was greeted by the revolving cube at the entrance of the Dream Bangkok Hotel. The whole concept of this boutique hotel is very hip and cool... To be honest, i think i like this place more than a lot of other 5 stars hotel..

Day 1

Before boarding the flight here, i've already done some prep work. My fren helped me to list out a few must-go places in Bangkok for a first time tourist like me.

After getting a quick breakfast @ McDonalds, we hailed a Tuk-Tuk with the intention to go to the famous Grand Palace, to begin our "temple day". We never had any experience with a tuk-tuk before but the driver looked decent and nice, plus he offered us a very good price - 20 Thai Baht for a 30 minutes drive to Grand Palace. So why not?

Unfortunately, it was a bad mistake! As soon as we head off to the main road, he tried to persuade us to go to a tailor shop. He begged us to just hang out in the tailor shop for 5 minutes and he will get 5 litres of gas coupon. My fren has pre-warned us about the tuk-tuks who claimed that Grand Palace is only opened around 12pm (it is actually opened from 8:30am) so there is no point being there earlier and that we have no choice but to go to whatever places that they bring us to...

We already knew the trick but being nice and to avoid pissing him off, we agreed. We thought we'd let him get the free coupon as a good start for his day and in return, he will be nicer to us. Again, we were wrong. Not only he did not appreciate our nice gestures at all, BUT instead, he tried to repeat his trick again and get us to visit another store to get another 5 litres gas coupon. This time, he was pissing us off! John was mad and insisted that he fetch us to the Grand Palace as promised. When he said no, we got off the tuk-tuk and took a taxi (and it only cost us 80 Thai Baht ~ RM8).

Oh well, at least we had an experience riding a tuk-tuk for free. No next time, please. -___-""

On our way in the taxi, we saw a lot of pictures of the current king (King Rama IX). He is obviously a very beloved and respectable king of Thailand. I was told that he is the longest serving king ever in the Thailand history. Recently, he just recovered from a spine injuries so there are a lot of sign boards along the road wishing him a speedy recovery and being healthy all the time.

The King with an old man when he was young.

First, we went to Wat Pho, home to the famous Reclining Buddha and also where traditional Thai massage was first taught. You need to dress properly before being allowed into the temples; meaning no sleeveless tops, short pants, spaghetti straps, short blouses, short skirts or singlets.

Miniature manuscripts and buddha images carved on the bottom of the Reclining Buddha's feet.

Very hot and sunny. I am definitely getting tanned after this.. *_*

Wat Pho
Opens daily: 8am - 6pm
Entrance fee: 50 Baht
**Appropriate dress is compulsory

After that, we took a boat ride to the opposite river bank to visit Wat Arun, which is also famously known as Temple of Dawn. The Temple of Dawn is one of Bangkok's most spectacular sights. A quick climb up its porcelain-bedecked prang offers some lovely river views.

Wat Arun from Chao Phraya River.

It was a very very short boat ride, actually. If i were somehow asked to swim across the river bank, i think i could possibly do that. *grins* But of cos, that is not something that i would prefer to do, imagine what could have been thrown into the brownish river.. *ewww*

The central prang from the bottom.

The amazing statues forming the platform of the prang.

When i first saw the central prang of Wat Arun, i said "WOW". When i saw the steep steps going up to the balcony, John said "OH MY GOD". Haha.

Holding tight..

From the central balcony.

The view from the balcony is really magnificent. You can see the Wat Pho and Grand Palace from here. We spent half an hour appreciating the nice sceneries and taking dozens of pictures before moving on to the next temple.

Wat Arun
Opens daily: 8:30am - 5pm
Entrance fee: 50 Baht
Ferry to Wat Arun: 3.50 Baht

Wat Phra Kaew or famously known as The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is Thailand's most important temple, consisting of over 100 brightly colored buildings, golden sapphires and glittering mosaics that date back to 1782.

The Emerald Buddha is in fact carved from a block of green jade and was first discovered in 1434 in a stupa in Chiang Rai. At that time, the image was covered with plaster and was thought to be an ordinary Buddha image. Later, however, the abbot who had found the image noticed that the plaster on the nose had flaked off, revealing the green stone underneath. The abbot initially thought that the stone was emerald and thus the legend of the Emerald Buddha image began.

By the time we reached there, we only have an hour left before it closes at 3:30pm. We didnt take the free guided tour altho it was highly recommended by my friend. The whole tour is gonna take a longer time and we were afraid that we might not be able to visit the whole place. So we decided to walk on our own.. and read the history of each area from the brochure that they gave us.

A mythological giant (yak).

Located at The Upper Terrace are four main monuments - Phra Siratana Chedi, a reliquary in the shape of a golden chedi; Phra Mondop, a repository for Buddhist sacred scriptures inscribed on palm leaves and contained within a beautiful mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinet; a miniature Angkor Wat crafted by the order of King Mongkut (Rama IV); and the Royal Pantheon in which statues of the past sovereigns of the ruling Chakri Dynasty are enshrined.

Phra Siratana Chedi.

Model of Angkor Wat.

Grand Palace is the jewel in Bangkok's architectural crown and it is still used for state functions. But public access is sufficiently extensive to make it a must-see.

The visit to Grand Palace this time around was kinda bad because partial of the palace was closed due to lying in state ceremony of the king's elder sister, Princess Galyani Vadhana, whom had passed away in January(read the news here). According to the Thai's royal customary, the body will be laid in the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall of the Grand Palace for 100 days and therefore, those area will be closed for visiting.

Chakri Maha Prasat Hall.

John with the Thai guard.

Hope the princess will rest in peace.

Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Opens daily: 8:30am - 3:30pm
Entrance fee: 250 Baht (includes Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, Vimanmek Mansion and The Royal Thai Decorations and Coins Pavillion)
**Appropriate dress is compulsory.

Tired, but looking forward to the next day..

Bubbly by Colbie Caillat

2008-02-18T06:14:00.001-07:00

Lately, i'm addicted to this song. It is very nicely presented.. btw, i think she looks a little bit like Jennifer Aniston, dont u think so?

Will you count me in?

I've been awake for a while now
You got me feelin like a child now
'Cause every time I see your bubbly face
I get the tinglies in a silly place

It starts in my toes
And I crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes
I always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go

The rain is falling on my window pane
But we are hiding in a safer place
Under covers staying dry and warm
You give me feelings that I adore

It starts in my toes
Make me crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes
I always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go

What am I gonna say
When you make me feel this way
I just mmmmm

And it starts in my toes
Makes me crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes
I always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go

I've been asleep for a while now
You tuck me in just like a child now
'Cause every time you hold me in your arms
I'm comfortable enough to feel your warmth

And it starts in my soul
And I lose all control
When you kiss my nose
The feelin' shows
'cause you make me smile baby
Just take your time now
Holdin' me tight

Wherever wherever wherever you go
Wherever wherever wherever you go

Wherever you go
I always know
'Cause you make me smile
Even just for a while

Everything

2008-02-14T09:11:00.003-07:00

Michael Buble - Everything

You're a falling star, You're the get away car.
You're the line in the sand when I go too far.
You're the swimming pool, on an August day.
And you're the perfect thing to say.

And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute.
Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.
Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true.
Cause you can see it when I look at you.

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.
You're a mystery, you're from outer space,
You're every minute of my everyday.

And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man,
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.
Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,
And you know that's what our love can do.

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, You make me sing
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.
You're every song, and I sing along.
'Cause you're my everything.
Yeah, yeah

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-13T19:14:00.003-07:00

Just FYI, CJ7 is way much better than Kung Fu Dunk. For those who said KFD is nice, i am pretty sure they are just watching Jay Chou and they are his fans.

So back to the topic, this is the day the restaurants and the florists are making great money. Imagine for a normal dinner set, it can go up to RM120 per person by just putting a nice name "Valentine's Set Dinner" or "Couple Set Dinner".with additional love shape food. And it is superbly crowded that you may have to wait for an hour for just a table for two.

I am gonna skip all these troubles and fly to Bangkok for a short vacation. Not purposely planned for this occasion tho, but this is indeed my best Valentine's Day gift ever! Thank you, baby.

To other couples, Happy Valentine's Day!! Enjoy your celebration with your partner. I know i will :)

Will talk to u guys again after i come back. Ciao!

Happy Chinese New Year!

2008-02-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

To-do list

1. CNY decorations - checked.
2. Cookies - checked.
3. New Year clothes - checked.
4. New shoes - checked.
5. CNY wishes - checked.

Ok, i guess i can sleep now...

Congrats Ah Kok & Catherine!

2008-02-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

Today is your day! I am so happy that you guys finally tied the knot.. gosh, what took u so long Ah Kok??!! :P

I am so sorry that i didnt manage to attend your wedding dinner at Seremban. I just got back and there are so many things that i need to take care of. Hope you will understand.

But nevertheless, i am sincere in wishing u guys "Happy Forever!". When is little piglet coming into the picture?? *hehe*

Warning! Cloverfield can cause motion sickness!

2008-01-21T00:37:00.000-07:00

The trailer looks exciting. I was excited and eager to watch it so we decided to go on the opening day. We bought our tickets early, knowing that it will be sold out soon...

The cinema here in US is very different from Malaysia. There are no seats being assigned to u, hence you have to be there early, queue in front of the cinema hall and fight for the best seats. Our movie was at 7:30pm and it was shown in the Harkins Cine Capri at Tempe Marketplace, one of the largest cinema that they have so far.

Since it can accommodate a lot of movie patrons, we thought we should be there about 30 mins earlier to get some "decent seats" but much to our surprise, they were all taken. We only managed to get a front side seats, which was bad because we knew that the movie is shaky. There is nothing that much that we can do.

Cloverfield is shot based on a video camera held by one of the actors. They were supposed to be in a farewell party when Manhattan was attacked by a big "dinasour" (i guess). It gave birth/produced little creatures which attacked the poor humans. A lot of people died (of cos) including all the main characters...

The whole story was purely about how they tried to escape from the deadly scene but unfortunately, one by one died. There were some gross scenes but still bearable.

I had a lot of popcorns but i was so dizzy as a result from that freaking movie, i felt like throwing up. I will not say much but watch at your own risk!

Happy Birthday Megan!

2008-01-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

It all started with a nice authentic Thai dinner in Swaddee Thai restaurant @ Chandler. It was really good. We shared a couple of dishes together but still ended up packing some back home. Thanks for the recommendations, Megan.

After dinner, John and I dropped by Megan's house for some coffee and desserts and a small birthday celebration. Isaac wanted us to come so bad so that we can watch the Land Before Time with him. I love him, he is just so cute! (he changed his mind and we watched Lion King 2 1/2). Kids are just so amazing, they can be so innocent and yet full of curiosity. You just never know what they have on their mind.

I really miss u guys so so much. Hopefully we will see each other again soon! Cant wait to spend more time with u guys..

*muaks*

Wanna get some free abalone?

2008-01-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

All new MacBook Air

2008-01-13T02:33:00.000-07:00

It's out. Oh my gosh.

Introducing MacBook Air, the world's thinnest notebook. *drools*

Long lost friend

2008-01-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

I knew Megan when i joined the company as an intern in year 2002. We got along perfectly well and together with Jade and Lee Yan, we were the most famous girl group in the office back then. Ok, maybe i was exaggerating a lil, but we were indeed well known among the people at work (cos they were only a small number of ladies, especially younger ones).

After returning to study for for final semester in the university, we lost contact completely. I am not pointing fingers at anyone. Maybe it was because i was so occupied by my final year project at that time, that i didnt even take the slightest action to email her at least.

She left the company before i came back and years gone by without any idea what happened to her. I felt bad that i lost a good friend but then Facebook changed everything. (i did not get any money to help in promoting Facebook here).

She found me in Facebook, a website that has become increasingly famous in the cyberwave. I was so happy when i first got a message from her, after so long... She had 2 kids now and currently staying in PHX! What a coincidence!? I cant throw away this opportunity to meet her up and talk to each other again in person.

On New Year's Day, i went over to her apartment and i had the best day as a start for year 2008. She didnt change much, as pretty as she always be. She made some Malaysian food to take away my crave for the past week. How thoughtful and this is a proof of a dear friend.

Pizza, buffalo wings, Tom Yam meehoon (noodles) and sambal eggs.

Megan and Kevin with their two kids, Elysa and Isaac.

Elysa was sick and she was crying a lot. Poor thing, she had a bad cold. Hope she will feel better soon. I am so looking forward to meet her again. See u soon, miss u so much!

Great Words

2008-01-05T00:24:00.000-07:00

In a day, when you don't come across any problems - you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path.
- Swami Vivekananda

Three sentences for getting SUCCESS:
a) know more than other
b) work more than other
c) expect less than other
- William Shakesphere

If you win you need not explain,
But if you lose you should not be there to explain.
- Adolph Hitler

Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world. If you do so, you are insulting yourself.
- Alen Strike

If we cannot love the person whom we see, how can we love God whom we cannot see?
- Mother Teresa

Winning doesn't always mean being first, winning means you're doing better than you've done before.
- Bonnie Blair

I will not say I failed 1000 times, I will say that I discovered there are 1000 ways that can cause failure.
- Thomas Edison

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing of changing himself.
- Leo Tolstoy

Believing everybody is dangerous; believing nobody is very dangerous.
- Abraham Lincoln

Love your job, but never fall in love with your company because you never know when it stops loving you.
- Abdul Kalam

If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they had never tried a new thing in their life.
- Einstein

Never break four things in your life - Trust, Promise, Relation & Heart because when they break they don't make noise but pains a lot.
- Charles

If you start judging people you will be having no time to love them.
- Mother Teresa

There are many Races in Life, but in the End, the only Race is with YOURSELF.

New York, New York

2008-01-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

The flight took us the whole day. My bf and I left PHX at 8:30am but did not reach Newark Airport, New Jersey until 8:30pm. It was very cold. Weather forecast said the temperature was 2 degree Celcius. Oh gosh. My body was shaking even though it was just a short distance to the car.

His brother, Tae fetched us from the airport and straight to his mum's place, where we are going to stay during the vacation. He is very friendly and easy going, which made me felt so much better than what i have expected. U know how nervous it is when u are meeting the other family for the first time.

I heard voices of the kids, shouting "They are here!" as we stepped into the house. I was trembling a lil, i admit. I held John's hand tight, and he said "Don't worry, they are just happy to see us".

Pat, his sister welcomed us with a big smile. Alicia and Jessica (Pat's daughters) are very cute. They were shy at first, but after some warming up sessions, they just cant stop talking. Haha.

Pretty decorations from the neighbour.

New York is the best place to be during Christmas, that is what i was told. Yes, i am lucky to be able to do that. It didnt snow, unfortunately, but there were lotsa dirty snow on the ground - leftovers from the snow the week before. Not a very pretty scene but the feeling of being there was still amazing.

Times Square was very crowded as usual. U see people walking everywhere, in every corner. Americans, Koreans, Japanese, Africans, Mexican - just name it. After a short walk on the street, we watched Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway. Jennifer Garner, Kevin Kline and Daniel Sunjata did a very good job.

I was not kidding about the crowd...

9 days to year 2008.

If u have seen the movie Sleepless in Seattle before, then the Empire State Building shouldnt be a stranger to u. The queue was very long just to get in the building, BUT we accidently (really, i swear!) cut the line and save us an hour, at least. There were 2 observation decks, the major one being at the 86th floor with an outdoor deck. That nite was very cold and the strong wind made it almost unbearable. The 102nd floor is the highest one can get to but it is just a very small indoor area. Nothing to shout about. I like it better in the outdoor deck.

The Empire State Building during the day.

Jane and John.

If u are going to be in NYC during Xmas, you should never miss the Rockefeller Center. There is a huge and nicely decorated Christmas tree which will be displayed every year without fail, a tradition. Dozens of people lining up to get to the ice skating rink, something that you can only do in the winter, i guess. You know, skating is something that i am not so good at so u will not see me lining up. *tongue out*

Rockefeller Center.

You have to fight with people to get good view for pictures.. man!

Before we ended our vacation, we visited the Statue of Liberty. Too bad we didnt get a chance to go into the statue (up to the pedestal only because of security reasons) as we were late and the passes were all distributed out. But i am still happy to be there to see one of the famous landmarks of the world. By the way, did u know that there is a sister statue in Paris? I only got to know this when i watched the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets last week.

On the ferry going towards the island.

We definitely look very tiny here.

That basically sum up my trip to New York. Here is another picture of the kids. I'm going to bed now...

Jessica and Alicia.

Happy New Year 2008!

2007-12-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

Another year has passed. Again, i cant believe how fast time flies. I woke up this morning and saw lotsa text messages from my frens, wishing me a very Happy New Year. Yes, i almost forgot. It is Jan 1st 2008 back in Malaysia. Over here, we are 15 hours behind. So i am still enjoying the very last day of year 2007. 12 more hours to go before stepping into 2008.

Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year, People!!!

What the Modern Woman Wants

2007-12-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

What the Modern Woman Wants
By Amanda Chong Wei-Zhen

The old woman sat in the backseat of the magenta convertible as it careened down the highway, clutching tightly to the plastic bag on her lap, afraid it may be kidnapped by the wind. She was not used to such speed, with trembling hands she pulled the seatbelt tighter but was careful not to touch the patent leather seats with her callused fingers, her daughter had warned her not to dirty it, 'Fingerprints show very clearly on white, Ma.'

Her daughter, Bee Choo, was driving and talking on her sleek silver mobile phone using big words the old woman could barely understand.

'Finance', 'Liquidation', 'Assets', 'Investments' ... Her voice was crisp and important and had an unfamiliar lilt to it. Her Bee Choo sounded like one of those foreign girls on television. She was speaking in an American accent.

The old lady clucked her tongue in disapproval. 'I absolutely cannot have this. We have to sell!' Her daughter exclaimed agitatedly as she stepped on the accelerator; her perfectly manicured fingernails gripping onto the steering wheel in irritation.

'I can't DEAL with this anymore!' she yelled as she clicked the phone shut and hurled it angrily toward the backseat. The mobile phone hit the old woman on the forehead and nestled soundlessly into her lap. She calmly picked it up and handed it to her daughter.

'Sorry, Ma,' she said, losing the American pretence and switching to Mandarin. 'I have a big client in America. There have been a lot of problems.' The old lady nodded knowingly. Her daughter was big and important.

Bee Choo stared at her mother from the rear view window, wondering what she was thinking. Her mother's wrinkled countenance always carried the same cryptic look.

The phone began to ring again, an artificially cheerful digital tune, which broke the awkward silence. 'Hello, Beatrice! Yes, this is Elaine.' Elaine. The old woman cringed. I didn't name her Elaine. She remembered her daughter telling her, how an English name was very important for 'networking', Chinese ones being easily forgotten.

'Oh no, I can't see you for lunch today. I have to take the ancient relic to the temple for her weird daily prayer ritual.' Ancient Relic. The old woman understood perfectly it was referring to her. Her daughter always assumed that her mother's silence meant she did not comprehend.

'Yes, I know! My car seats will be reeking of joss sticks!' The old woman pursed her lips tightly, her hands gripping her plastic bag in defence. The car curved smoothly into the temple courtyard. It looked almost garish next to the dull sheen of the ageing temple's roof. The old woman got out of the back seat, and made her unhurried way to the main hall.

Her daughter stepped out of the car in her business suit and stilettos and reapplied her lipstick as she made her brisk way to her mother's side.

'Ma, I'll wait outside. I have an important phone call to make,' she said, not bothering to hide her disgust at the pungent fumes of incense.

The old lady hobbled into the temple hall and lit a joss stick, she knelt down solemnly and whispered her now familiar daily prayer to the Gods.

Thank you God of the Sky, you have given my daughter luck all these years. Everything I prayed for, you have given her. She has everything a young woman in this world could possibly want. She has a big house with a swimming pool, a maid to help her, as she is too clumsy to sew or cook.

Her love life has been blessed; she is engaged to a rich and handsome angmoh man. Her company is now the top financial firm and even men listen to what she says. She lives the perfect life. You have given her everything except happiness. I ask that the gods be merciful to her even if she has lost her roots while reaping the harvest of success.

What you see is not true, she is a filial daughter to me. She gives me a room in her big house and provides well for me. She is rude to me only because I affect her happiness. A young woman does not want to be hindered by her old mother. It is my fault.

The old lady prayed so hard that tears welled up in her eyes. Finally, with her head bowed in reverence she planted the half-burnt joss stick into an urn of smouldering ashes.

She bowed once more. The old woman had been praying for her daughter for thirty-two years. When her stomach was round like a melon, she came to the temple and prayed that it was a son.

Then the time was ripe and the baby slipped out of her womb, bawling and adorable with fat thighs and pink cheeks, but unmistakably, a girl. Her husband had kicked and punched her for producing a useless baby who could not work or carry the family name.

Still, the woman returned to the temple with her new-born girl tied to her waist in a sarong and prayed that her daughter would grow up and have everything she ever wanted. Her husband left her and she prayed that her daughter would never have to depend on a man.

She prayed every day that her daughter would be a great woman, the woman that she, meek and uneducated, could never become. A woman with nengkan; the ability to do anything she set her mind to. A woman who commanded respect in the hearts of men. When she opened her mouth to speak, precious pearls would fall out and men would listen.

She will not be like me, the woman prayed as she watched her daughter grow up and drift away from her, speaking a language she scarcely understood. She watched her daughter transform from a quiet girl, to one who openly defied her, calling her laotu; old-fashioned. She wanted her mother to be 'modern', a word so new there was no Chinese word for it.

Now her daughter was too clever for her and the old woman wondered why she had prayed like that. The gods had been faithful to her persistent prayer, but the wealth and success that poured forth so richly had buried the girl's roots and now she stood, faceless, with no identity, bound to the soil of her ancestors by only a string of origami banknotes.

Her daughter had forgotten her mother's values. Her wants were so ephemeral; that of a modern woman. Power, Wealth, access to the best fashion boutiques, and yet her daughter had not found true happiness. The old woman knew that you could find happiness with much less. When her daughter left the earth everything she had would count for nothing. People would look to her legacy and say that she was a great woman, but she would be forgotten once the wind blows over, like the ashes of burnt paper convertibles and mansions.

The old woman wished she could go back and erase all her big hopes and prayers for her daughter; now she had only one want: That her daughter be happy. She looked out of the temple gate. She saw her daughter speaking on the phone, her brow furrowed with anger and worry. Being at the top is not good, the woman thought, there is only one way to go from there - down.

The old woman carefully unfolded the plastic bag and spread out a packet of beehoon in front of the altar. Her daughter often mocked her for worshipping porcelain Gods. How could she pray to them so faithfully and expect pieces of ceramic to fly to her aid? But her daughter had her own gods too, idols of wealth, success and power that she was enslaved to and worshipped every day of her life.

Every day was a quest for the idols, and the idols she worshipped counted for nothing in eternity. All the wants her daughter had would slowly suck the life out of her and leave her, an empty soulless shell at the altar.

The old lady watched her joss stick. The dull heat had left a teetering grey stem that was on the danger of collapsing. Modern woman nowadays, the old lady sighed in resignation, as she bowed to the east one final time to end her ritual. Modern woman nowadays want so much that they lose their souls and wonder why they cannot find it.

Her joss stick disintegrated into a soft grey powder. She met her daughter outside the temple, the same look of worry and frustration was etched on her daughter's face. An empty expression, as if she was ploughing through the soil of her wants looking for the one thing that would sow the seeds of happiness.

They climbed into the convertible in silence and her daughter drove along the highway, this time not as fast as she had done before.

'Ma,' Bee Choo finally said. 'I don't know how to put this. Mark and I have been talking about it and we plan to move out of the big house. The property market is good now, and we managed to get a buyer willing to pay seven million for it. We decided we'd prefer a cosier penthouse apartment instead. We found a perfect one in Orchard Road. Once we move in to our apartment we plan to get rid of the maid, so we can have more space to ourselves...'

The old woman nodded knowingly. Bee Choo swallowed hard. 'We'd get someone to come in to do the housework and we can eat out - but once the maid is gone, there won't be anyone to look after you. You will be awfully lonely at home and, besides that, the apartment is rather small. There won't be space. We thought about it for a long time, and we decided the best thing for you is if you moved to a Home. There's one near Hougang - it's a Christian home, a very nice one.'

The old woman did not raise an eyebrow. 'I've been there, the matron is willing to take you in. It's beautiful with gardens and lots of old people to keep you company! I hardly have time for you, you'd be happier there.'

'You'd be happier there, really.' Her daughter repeated as if to affirm herself. This time the old woman had no plastic bag of food offerings to cling tightly to; she bit her lip and fastened her seat belt, as if it would protect her from a daughter who did not want her anymore. She sunk deep into the leather seat, letting her shoulders sag, and her fingers trace the white seat.

'Ma?' her daughter asked, searching the rear view window for her mother. 'Is everything okay?' What had to be done, had to be done. 'Yes,' she said firmly, louder than she intended, 'if it will make you happy,' she added more quietly.

'It's for you, Ma! You'll be happier there. You can move there tomorrow, I already got the maid to pack your things.' Elaine said triumphantly, mentally ticking yet another item off her agenda. 'I knew everything would be fine.'

Elaine smiled widely; she felt liberated. Perhaps getting rid of her mother would make her happier. She had thought about it. It seemed the only hindrance in her pursuit of happiness. She was happy now. She had everything a modern woman ever wanted; Money, Status, Career, Love,Power and now, Freedom, without her mother and her old-fashioned ways to weigh her down...

Yes, she was free. Her phone buzzed urgently, she picked it up and read the message, still beaming from ear to ear. 'Stocks 10% increase!'

Yes, things were definitely beginning to look up for her... And while searching for the meaning of life in the luminance of her hand phone screen, the old woman in the backseat became invisible, and she did not see the tears.

New Year Eve's Celebration @ 1Utama

2007-12-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2007-12-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

Enjoy your holidays!

Let's bowl!

2007-12-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

My vacation starts today! Yippeee! I have been waiting for this day for so long... I definitely need a break!

Last nite, we had our annual bowling competition for our corporate IT office. There were more people taking part this year, making the competition more interesting. Since our new office is now so close to the bowling center, alot of them went for practice every other day... sharpening their bowling skill to aim for the top prize.

My team, High Rollers - CK, Wei Siang, Jane & Ted.

It was really fun. You can see all the teams striving hard for a strike or at least a spare. A lot of "yeah!" and "come on!" and "way to go!".. *thumbs up*

The Best Male and Female Bowler Award.

Medals for the Best Team.

Best Male Bowler goes to Chee Siong!

Best Female Bowler goes to Jessica!

Best Team - Siew Kim, Jeff, YD (the presenter), Soo and Steven.

Thanks to the committee team for all your hard work in making this event a success! *applause*

Today is Ming Jade's birthday... Happy Birthday Jade! Wish all your dreams will come true.. and your baby boy is healthy always. *muaks*

Izzi's promotion

2007-12-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome Jeff!

2007-12-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

As i was browsing my picture's folder just now, i realised that i have not blog about my boss from PHX, who came to visit us more than 1 week ago. Haha. I swear to u, it is not on purpose!

Jeff McKibben just joined the company for about 5 months. We only talked once in a conference call, which was setup to introduce himself to the team here. Therefore, i dont really know him that well.

His trip here to KL was a very short one. We had a couple of meetings right after he landed in Malaysia and checked into the One World Hotel. I was amazed that he could still go for dinner with the team @ Shogun, 1U later that nite.

Soo, Siva, JY, Jeff, Jane, PY, Jessica & Simon.

Ted, Jane, PY and Jessica.

He told me the next morning that he did not have any jet lag because he was too tired. Well, that could be a good thing :)

The favourite spot for group picture. Haha.

I will miss u, YD!

2007-12-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

When my manager broke out the news about YD leaving the company, i was really sad. Altho I have somehow expected this to happen, but i didnt know it will come so soon (even before the year end bonus is announced!). I am sure it was a very hard decision for him since he has worked here for 17 years. There are so many memories..

YD is a very good boss, IMHO. He takes care of all his "children" very well. I could still remember the long "battle" between him and my ex-boss in Seremban when i asked for a transfer to the KL office. But he never gave up on the slighest possibility. I owe him for that, and thank him for bringing me over to RSDC.

So yesterday, we gathered everyone into our conference room for a small award giving ceremony. Ted has taken the initiative to get a nice pewter platter (Batik) from Royal Selangor. It is very expensive... but nice.

YD and our Asia-Pac IT Manager, Ted Braun.

In appreciation of your distinguished career with ON.

Nice closeup shot.

The office people are going to have a farewell dinner for YD on 2nd Jan at Summer Palace Restaurant, Damansara Utama. I wont be around, so i bought him a gift myself. Hopefully he will like it.

YD, u will always be in our heart!

Gasoline Cafe @ Times Square

2007-12-11T03:04:00.000-07:00

I went to the Gasoline Cafe in Times Square with my mom yesterday. It is just another different HK styled cafe, which i think has been over rated. It has a very unique design, i admit, but that is all. Food is definitely disappointing.

We were seated in an area "inside the pyramid". It was very dark and we basically need to "feel" our way in. Sitting on the floor with a dim light pointing on the table, we had a hard time looking through the menu. My mom mentioned that she needed a torchlight.. haha.

We had Kam Heong Fish Fillet Rice and Black Pepper Fried Udon. The rice is definitely a bad choice. The fried udon is at least edible. And to add up to the disappointment, the waitress left us "in the dark" (pun intended) and came back to us for our order about 10 minutes later. After that, i never see her again (besides serving us the food). Bad food plus bad service. I will never come back here again.

Here are a few more shots of their unique design. Bye bye.

The Mummy on the wall.

Dinasour to celebrate Christmas?

I cannot believe those can be used as a chair.. creative, i guess...

Congratulations Teck Lee!

2007-12-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

Another friend of mine walked down the isle. I am so happy for him. Congratulations again Teck Lee! Hope u and your beloved wife live happily ever after!

Whenever we were at any wedding dinner, one question will definitely come up. No matter what happen, without fail. "When is your turn?".

People around us are setting up their own little family, one by one. I just heard that 2 other ex-schoolmates are planning to get hitched next year. I guess that means another 2 "red bombs" coming up. And those are only the ones that we knew of. I can imagine plenty of those that are in progress and to be known soon. -____-

Anyhow, I had a good time in Teck Lee's banquet just now. Of cos, i saw more old frens that i never met for a while. The most shocking discovery is to see the changes of Seng Leng, a guy from the class next door when i was in high school. I couldnt recognise him at all! There was a story behind all the changes, but that was all a history. The most important thing now is that he is healthy and happy as he can be. Im glad everything turned out the way it is now.

In the mid of the event, the bride and groom decided to entertain us with a couple of love songs. Altho they werent in tune most of the time, but it was their wedding, so who cares.. :P

Singing in their own world...

Nothing to shout about the food served in the restaurant. I have a list of other restaurants that are better than this. But of cos, sometimes we will just have to deal with the not so good ones because most of the good restaurants will be fully booked ONE YEAR before the wedding date.

Nevertheless, it was a happy occasion and everyone of us enjoyed the company and truthfully wish Teck Lee all the best!

Canton-i

2007-12-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

Simon is my "Java API team member" in Shenzhen who came over for a week to attend the Oracle Hyperion Consultancy session in our office. We have talked with each other a couple of times on the phone and done numerous conference calls together, but i never met him in person. He is a very humble and quiet guy.

It was his last day in KL today so we brought him to a better and nicer restaurant for lunch. Canton-i @ 1U just opened not too long ago at the Ground Floor, opposite TGI Fridays. It is a subsidiary of Dragon-i (famous for its Shanghai Ramen and Shanghainese Dumplings).

Canton-i, a new concept restaurant.

The interior of the restaurant is very nice, with a lil feel of Chinese but also some fusion decorations. Because of its limited space, they put a lot of mirrors to create an illusion of a bigger space. Very smart indeed.

The delicious egg tarts, RM3 for two.

The food there is on the higher end tho. It is somehow expected since they have invested so much money. A normal bowl of noodles costs at least RM10.80.

Overall, the food is not bad. The only thing that we are not very comfortable of is their air-cond. It was too cold. This will affect the taste of the noodles (especially dry ones) because they get cold very fast. Hopefully they will look into this matter.

Koon Seng & Simon.

Btw, have a safe trip back to Shenzhen tomorrow Simon! We are happy to have u here.

One Utama's Christmas decoration at Oval, New Wing. Very nice!

Consult me..

2007-12-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

This is a small note to justify my absence in the next couple of days in the blogging area.

For the whole of this week, we are having an Oracle Hyperion Consultant in the office to help us solve a couple of identified issues. He will also give us some trainings, tips and tricks in Hyperion. I was looking forward to these sessions, to be honest, but so far, i was really disappointed.

Everything was set and arranged for the initial consultant. Things were fine until the very last minute, the consultant was down with typhus and was admitted to the hospital. I heard his condition was pretty serious, therefore he could not make it to the training sessions. There were lotsa emails flying here and there between my boss and the Oracle folks. At this moment, i could imagine one of the scenes in the Singaporean movie Just Follow Law where the emails were "physically flying" everywhere. *haha*

In the end, the Oracle people managed to find someone and sent an Australian guy (who is currently based in Singapore) here. We were putting our hopes very high, thinking that he could be the one to help us in solving most of our current issues with the limitations of the Hyperion tool. Oh boy, we were so wrong...

First of all, he is not fully prepared. I know we shouldnt blame him for that because he was called in very last minute and he was supposed to attend a seminar/conference somewhere. But he should at least read his presentations before the training. On his first day, i felt like he dont even know what was the content of his slides. And he was basically reading out from the documentations that he had. Ok, we dont have to pay so much for you to come here and read, if u give me the notes, i can do the reading myself!

Second, he is just not technical enuff. I think he should be doing pre-sales than consultancy. Whatever question we asked him, he would be like: "Good question, erm.. i dunno". What!? Are u kidding me??! A consultant should never say dunno. Either you said you will look for the necessary information and let us know asap, or say cannot be done. -___-

In the end, i gave up asking. Waste of money.. Luckily the Hyperion Java API session scheduled for next week is cancelled. We will try to get someone who is better in doing his job.

Secret Recipe 10th Anniversary

2007-12-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

8 ways to scare away a telemarketer..

2007-12-03T02:50:00.000-07:00

Try it at your own risk!!

Which Disney Princess Are You?

2007-11-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

I'm Belle.

You are the people princess, able to identify with all those around you. You harbor no ill will towards any human being or inanimate objects. You level of compassion for others allows you to see beyond their physical exterior to the inner beauty within others. Your true love prince, albeit beautiful, will only reveal himself in due time. You're Belle!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2007-11-28T02:57:00.000-07:00

U may find this picture familiar, thats right. I stole it from your Facebook profile. *keke*

After being away out of the country for so long, now u are finally back to Malaysia and be a good boy. More time to hang out with old frens, no more excuses, k!!

Wish u a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Something to enlighten your day..

2007-11-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Eric!

2007-11-24T00:26:00.000-07:00

Hope you enjoyed the birthday lunch just now!! Not the best cake, i admit, but aint u going on a diet now? It's for your own good. Hahahaha.

Wish all your dreams come true! And good luck in your progress of getting the girl.. keke. (oopss, sorry... secret spilled out).

Largest Biscuit Sculpture in Malaysia!

2007-11-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

I was walking back to the office from lunch yesterday when i saw a small crowd gathered at the High Street of 1U. Stood proudly at the center of the crowd was a big sculpture of some of the world's famous attractions, all made from Jacob's biscuit.

There were the Esplanade (a.k.a. Durian) from Singapore, Petronas Twin Tower from Malaysia, The Great Wall from China, Taj Mahal from India, The Great Pyramid of Giza, Eiffel Tower from Paris and Tower Bridge from London.

By the way, Happy Birthday Zhun Hao! Just so u know, I still remember your birthday :)

Jogoya 2nd Anniversary Promotion

2007-11-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Your IQ test

2007-11-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

You got 25 questions right out of a possible 30.
You took 15 minutes to complete the test.
We estimate your IQ to be: 131...
The average person has an IQ of 100 - if you are over 100 you are above average!

I am actually pretty good!!! :) *muahahaha*

Happy Birthday Loo!

2007-11-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

Loo is another best fren of mine whom i have known for more than 13 years. She and Sok Yee studied in the same high school as i am, in the small town of Ampang. In the first few days of school, i felt a lil out of place, mostly because i was Malay educated while most of the rest were Chinese educated. While most people would stick to their own group of frens, they are the ones who have helped me to get used to the new environment, inviting me to take part in their activities and being a part of their gang. I have a lot to say to them, but most important of all, Thank You!

We are planning to have a party to celebrate Sok Yee's and Loo's birthday together this weekend. Hmm, any suggestions?

Happy Birthday Sok Yee!

2007-11-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

A year older but a year wiser, Happy Birthday Sok Sok!

Looking back at our friendship, we have been knowing each other for 13 years and it is still growing. That is definitely not a short period of time. How often will u get a group of friends that are willing to lend a helping hand when u needed them the most? How often will u get a bunch of friends that will stand by u no matter what happened? And how often will u get these caring friends that will remember your birthday every year?

I am very thankful that i have these frens, and i am even more thankful that one of them is u! Thank you my dear.

Tian Yian Cafe

2007-11-16T04:38:00.000-07:00

Tian Yian Cafe is not the typical vegetarian restaurant that you've seen normally. When Jess suggested this restaurant for lunch last Thursday, we were very eager to find out. Honestly, i have never been to a vegetarian restaurant that serves pasta, pizza or even burger! It's really amazing..

The restaurant is situated at the same row of Poh Kong Jewellery shop in SS2, Petaling Jaya. From what we heard from the waitress who served us, this is just a branch from the original restaurant that is located at Taman Miharja, Cheras.

We ordered a slice of eggless lemon cheese cake (as appetizer and not dessert!), fried mushroom and green curry hor fun (flat noodles). The green curry is very good, i like it because it is not too thick with coconut milk (santan).

Eggless Lemon Cheese Cake.

Vegetarian Mushroom.

Green Curry Hor Fun.

The price is pretty reasonable, so i will definitely come again next time. I am sorry i didnt have the address for this particular restaurant, but i do have the one in Taman Miharja.

Tian Yian Cafe & Restaurant
5, 7 & 9, Jalan 3/93,
Taman Miharja, Jalan Cheras,
Kuala Lumpur

Tel: (603)9281 8837
Opening hours: 11am - 9pm

Go crazy on Eclipse!

2007-11-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

Congrats Chee Punn & wife!

2007-11-12T01:36:00.000-07:00

(Back) Lai Yeen, bride and Chee Punn, Jane, Sok Yee, Loo, Wee Peng, Shi Yen. (Front) Chee Yee, Soon Kuan, Chun Jin, Ji Ric, Ka Boon.

One by one, my school frens are getting married. I guess we are all grown up and it is time to set up our own little family. Sometimes, i still feel like we just graduated from high school yesterday. We are still as crazy as before, dunno if that is a good thing...

Most of us went to Chee Punn's wedding dinner last Saturday @ The Grandeur Restaurant, Pandan Perdana. We saw a lot of long lost frens, those that we havent met since we left high school. I heard a couple of them got married and are expecting. Can't really imagine them being a mother when my memories with them are still stuck in the 90's. -___-""

Kai Yan, Pui Yam (she is 7 mths pregnant, can u tell?), Karen and Chee How.

Siew Ting (5 mths pregnant, gosh!), Annie & bf, Choon Fung.

It was fun catching up with each other once more. I wonder when will be the next time we meet again. Prolly the next wedding dinner, erm.. next month for Teck Lee's. (more wedding dinner to come).

Spicy Soup and Huadiao Chicken

2007-11-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

It has been more than 3 years since the last time i came to Seri Kembangan for the famous Spicy Soup (some called it Hot Soup) and Huadiao Chicken. Ah Kok, the makan king led the entourage back then. It was super delicious..

During the Deepavali holiday, my aunts suggested to find some good food around KL area and somehow, spicy soup came into the discussion. I can vaguely remember the directions to that particular restaurant, but we took the risk anyways.

Restoran Kien Kee is located behind the post office, non visible from the main street. There are two driving center in the same area, which made it easier for me to find. We managed to get a table in one of the two air-conditioned rooms, i suggest you do the same if you come here. You could be sweating like crazy cos it was hot outside, not mentioning eating Spicy Soup. -____-

There are not many dishes available for you to order because most people come here for their signature dishes. So me and my families settled for Spicy Soup, Toufu, Huadiao Chicken and a plate of vegetables.

Spicy Soup.

Toufu.

Huadiao Chicken. The chicken meat is tender and succulent with a strong wine fragrance.

Vegetable.

This eatery is also famous for the Drunken Prawns, prepared with rice wine. We didnt order that tho, cos it would be too much food for us. Below are the details of the restaurant.

Restoran Kien Kee
Address: D1, Jalan 10/3, 43300 Sri Kembangan, Selangor
Business Hours: 9.30am - 3pm (Lunch), 5.30pm - 9pm (Dinner). Closed on Monday.
Contact Person: Mr Siow Piang Koon
Tel: 012-3509900

Huadiao Chicken: RM7
Spicy Soup: RM7
Drunken Prawns: RM35 (small), RM65 (large)

Ho Chak! featured this restaurant too sometime back. Take a look at the video, but sorry, it is in Mandarin only :)

Your Picture Personality Results

2007-11-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

Temperament
Flexible

Nothing seems to bother you - you sail through life crisis free. It's not that your life doesn't have its ups and downs, it's just that you handle everything without unnecessary drama and antics. You approach each day fresh, not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. You are confident that you can handle anything that comes your way and experience has shown that you are absolutely right about this.

Interests
Simple

You are continually pursuing a simpler and less complicated life - you don't allow yourself to fall victim to all of the "should do's" that society continually bombards you with. You are thoughtful about your life choices and think in terms of yourself, others and the world in which we live. You have a great sense that we are part of something much bigger and we must be good to others, if we want others and the world to be good to us.

Amusement
Thoughtful

You are easily stressed out and overwhelmed - you need to take care of yourself first and foremost. Because you tend to be self reflective, you know your limits quite well and must remember to not exceed those limits. When you overwhelm your life with obligations and responsibilities, you tend to shut down and go into yourself even further. Take some time to find your serenity and kick back your feet.

Passion
Emotional

For you passion is less about romance and sex - it's more about friendship and family. Strong emotional bonds and connections are your passion and your pleasure. You always let your loved ones know how much you love, respect and admire them. You do this through kind words, loving actions and simple gestures. You count your blessings each day and express your love openly. You expect the same from others