Life's Laidet

Second chances

2010-09-26T23:51:00.000+08:00

How many people actually get second chances in life?

Not many.

If you do get a second chance, wouldn't you grab it with both hands and never let go?

I would.

And I am :)

You are free..

2010-06-18T00:16:00.000+08:00

Choong Woon Leng
07.07.1976 - 17.06.2010

Until we meet again...

2010-02-10T22:16:00.001+08:00

Doctors explained that her brain cells were shutting down which caused the seizures. There is no saying if she will ever regain consciousness.

I remembered being very calm when he explained this to me. It was in the wee hours of morning as he was going on his rounds. I had spent the night huddled in my sleeping bag at her side, keeping an eye on her as she had a troublesome breathing tube which kept slipping out whenever she coughed.

I prayed fervently for God to be merciful and not let her suffer. I sang mantras as I stroked her hair and hands, or massaged her feet. I helped the nurses clean and dress her. All the time praying she never had to suffer.

Then came May. I had made plans to climb Mount Kinabalu. My family and I turned the matter over and decided that I should proceed with the climb even as grandma was slowly slipping away.

A few days before my departure, I whispered my goodbyes to her. Although we have promised never to cry in her presence, I couldn't hold back my tears. I told her I was leaving her bedside to conquer the moutain and if she could, would she please wait for me to return so that I can share my victory with her.

She waited for me well into a week after my climb. She even regained consciousness just before her birthday. I was elated and very certain that she would wait for me. I got caught up with work (it was a critical turning point in my business as well) and put off rushing back to see her. I called home everyday for updates and she was showing positive signs of recovery. I snuffed that little voice that taunts "calm before the storm". I willed her to wait for me.

Alas, she slipped away on Thursday morning just after dawn. She passed away in her sleep. My mom called to break the news. I prayed and thanked God for leading her to the afterlife.

It's been 9 months since her passing. This blog entry has been sitting my draft box since June. I still cannot control the tears whenever I read this draft, even now as I sit in a bus full of strangers, making my journey from Prague to Vienna.

It was grandma's dream to visit Europe or, as she puts it "ang moh kok kar" (red haired man country), as I conclude my trip which took me from Budapest to Vienna to Prague and back, I feel that she is with me, enjoying the sights, the cold air, the general experience of being in a foreign land. I know she is smiling because I am (",)

Travelling solo.. and photographs

2010-02-10T22:15:00.000+08:00

I've pretty much decided that Europeans, in general with a handful of exceptions, are more concerned with photographing the subject person rather than the backdrop / scenery.

In a non-intentional experiment involving me stopping random strangers to help take my photo in front of a particular statue, monument, building etc of interest, they (whether man or woman, no gender bias here) tend to focus on me as the subject at the expense of the sight. I have several megabytes of photos to prove this. There you have me, full length from the top of my woolen cap down to the toes of my boots, but the focal point of interest is reduced to a partial background of no particular memorable significance.

Wassup with that?

So I've resorted to self-snaps which are often hit or miss but the good things about digital cameras, we can erase the mistake and re-take as many times as needed. The only problem is in the biting cold, patience is a virtue. So cue camera timers and my ever indispensible "octopus". Such nifty inventions they are (,")

Cheer up

2009-11-01T00:34:00.001+08:00

Was feeling rather low lately but seeing this in my bowl of "doll" noodle at Kim Gary perked me up a little :-)

How Can You Mend A Broken Heart by the Bee Gees

2009-10-25T20:06:00.001+08:00

I can think of younger days when living for my life
Was everything a (wo)man could want to do.
I could never see tomorrow, but I was never told about the sorrow.

And how can you mend a broken heart?
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining?
What makes the world go round?
How can you mend a this broken (wo)man?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again.

I can still feel the breeze that rustles through the trees
And misty memories of days gone by
We could never see tomorrow, noone said a word about the sorrow.

And how can you mend a broken heart?
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining?
What makes the world go round?
How can you mend this broken (wo)man?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again.

Could she have known?

2009-09-19T01:34:00.002+08:00

My hand absent-mindedly fiddled with the gold bangle on my right hand. I glanced at it and smiled. It was a gift from my grandmother earlier this year. She was in the pink of health then.

Two months after the Chinese lunar new year, grandma started sorting through her jewellery and gave instructions to my mom and aunt as to whom each piece was to go to in event of her passing. I was to take a photo of each item and tag it with her voice recording.

Having dealt with the major items, she showed me the remaining odds and ends and asked me to choose one. I picked the bangle simply because I have the baby version of it.

I wore it often as it made me feel close to grandma. It reminded me of the time she told me a secret.

She had a mild stroke shortly after the lunar new year. After her discharge from hospital, I went back to visit her. When she saw me, she tearfully said, "Amak boh yong" (I am useless). She felt bad for falling ill and making us worry. I wiped away her tears, hugged and kissed her, held her hands and told her that it's not her fault. She then told me that I was her favourite grandchild. No ones else heard except mom

It was after this incident that she decided to put her affairs in order. Before that, she never wanted to even speak about her wishes for "send-off", the ceremony rites or her will. But after that stroke, she asked my mom to engage a will writer and made plans for her possssions.

A few months after her will was signed, her health started to deteriorate. She was in the hospital for longer stretches each time. I went home every weekend to be with her sometimes working from her bedside at the hospital.

Mid-April, she suffered several successive fits attacks and became unconsciousness. She regained consciousness shortly before her birthday and was discharged from hospital. There was nothing more that the doctors could do.

Grandma went home and passed away 4 days after her 84th birthday. It was a Thursday.

Had she known that her time with us was running out? Was that why she gave me a momento while she was alert and well? Was she also preparing us when she was preparing her will?

blogging from my E71

Caution: Man with big ego driving big car

2009-09-10T18:01:00.003+08:00

Ever noticed that majority of people who drive big cars ergo are financially well off are morally and humanely bankrupt? Case in point: it was chock-a-block traffic downtown. A guy driving an XC90 was bumped by a man driving a less expensive car. For the sake of simplification, let's call the guy in the XC90, Mr V and the chap in the less expensive car, Mr M.

The damage was not catastrophic but there was a noticeable scratch along the side of Mr V's car. The damage to Mr M's car was hidden from my view.

Mr V stormed out of his car, guns blazing, gesticulating furiously at Mr M, colourful language spewing forth from his mouth. He was turning various shades of red, working himself into a frenzy. Perhaps the fact that Mr M remained in his car and not firing back made Mr V even more agitated for his voice increased several decibles and attracted the attention of the traffic policeman presiding over the congested intersection.

By now, Mr V was livid and was inconsolable. Mr M refused to participate in his shouting match and the traffic policeman was trying to smooth over the situation.

My question is: what did Mr V have for sahur (the meal before commencement of fast at dawn) this morning? Gun powder? Isn't the fasting month supposed to be one of quiet reflection, calm and finding peace with oneself and one's surroundings? Why did Mr V feel the need to work himself up like that? He must have been living a particularly stressful life being rich and driving an expensive car.

Second case in point: I was driving past the exit of a parking lot. Mr Camry came barreling out so I gave way. He nay said a word of thanks nor did he gesture an acknowledgement which led me to conclude that people who drive big cars have no manners.

Rich in material gains but bankrupt in curtesy and manners. What to do? Life's laidet (",)

blogging on the go with my E71

Drama...

2009-04-27T23:50:00.009+08:00

Woke up this morning and spent 3 hours on the phone with various people. By the time I put the phone down, it was already 11am. Time to make a quick dash to Batu Caves for (hopefully) 6 laps of stairs, shower and pop into the office. Sounds like a simple plan, right? How wrong could I be...

The sun was high in the sky when I rolled into the car park. Several tour buses just arrived and spewed streams of tourists, totting cameras and water bottles.

I set the workout tracking software on my phone and started the 1st lap, working up a healthy perspiration. Halfway through my second lap, I got a call from my client in Klang. So I stopped by the side railings and attended to his call. Several tourists passed me by.

All of a sudden I heard a faint puncturing sound and a hiss. Then felt a slight jab on my right shoulder. I turned and looked into this hissing simian face. Phreak! The blurdy monkey bit me!

I moved away in haste but was still talking to my client. He was going on about how he felt about my latest audit report blah blah... I was pacifying him and figuring out a solution while continuing my climb to the top of the stairs. All this while my wound was bleeding a trail down my arm.

When I finally manage to placate him and cut the connection, it was a good 5 minutes past. First thing's first, call JH. He confirmed that I should go to the nearest clinic and seek treatment. Ok... Easy enough.

While I was setting the GPS to direct me to the nearest clinic (thank God for this wonder device), JH called again to tell me to go to the hospital instead. Apparently, hospitals are better equipped to deal with such emergencies. So I reset the GPS to General Hospital, KL.

Next, call my cousin (Dr PL) in GHKL for instructions, i.e. where to check myself in. I am to go to the A&E (accident & emergency).

The 7.2km (as the GPS says) drive to GHKL was spent on the phone with the office, my mom and uncle and a couple of friends who called to make lunch plans. Only my mom didn't laugh when I told her I got bitten by a monkey. Also took a photo of the wound while waiting at a traffic light.

Arriving at the hospital and looking for a parking was a nightmare. It was visiting hours and all visitor parking spaces were taken. I had to park about a mile away and, totting my notebook pack, walk that mile to the A&E.

When I got to the triage window and told the fellow behind the counter that I got bitten by a monkey, he looked enquiringly at my face to see if I was joking. I showed him my bloodied arm.

After getting my blood pressure checked, I got an anti-tetanus jab and got my wound dressed. Not before the nurse had a go at me ("monyet tu gigit you sebab you terlalu seksi kot"). Yeah... That's comforting. I got bitten by a female monkey!

Now the waiting begins. Wait for myself to be registered and given a queue number. Wait to see the doctor. I was #130.

I whiled the time away watching tv and people. For the time that I was in the emergency room, I was the only Chinese. Tells you something, doesn't it?

My turn came to see the doctor. He asked me what happened. I told him I got bitten by a monkey and he had this "oh-oh" look on his face. He looked at me and I could tell that he was trying to figure out whether to take me seriously or not.

When he figured that I wasn't kidding, he tried to cover up the "oh-no-what-to-do-now" look on his face. He looked through a pile of books on his table and asked his assistant to the "black book". She gave it to him and the cover says: Emergency Solutions. G-R-E-A-T!

Bad news! His book only covered dog/cat bite. He left the room (presumably to consult with his colleagues) and came back with a crest fallen look on his face. He daren't meet my eyes when he told me to wait outside the consultation room and he will come get me later. At this point, nothing can surprise me. Maybe it was post-traumatic shock.

More time passed when a nurse called out my name. I went into the see the doctor and he had written out a prescription for antibiotics and a slip instructing me to go to the nearest clinic to get a daily dressing for my wound.

On the left column on the slip was written "monkey bite" under "penyakit". I didn't know it was a disease *lol*

I took a walk to the main pharmacy and took another queue number (#4320). While waiting, I went to the cafeteria for a sandwich. Hadn't eaten all day. Felt kinda selfconscious with the big piece of gauze sticking out of my shoulder like a piece of armour, so I packed and left. Sides, the aroma in the cafeteria made me feel slightly sick.

My queue number was called. I received 2 foil-packed antibiotics. You know it's expensive stuff when they pack it in foil. That done, I trekked back to my car and drove home. All in all, I spent 2.5 hours at the hospital. Not bad for government service.

Dr PL called to asked how things were. I told her the episode with the doctor. It turns out when he left the room, he put out an enquiry to all the medical staff in the hospital. Dr PL's colleague told her while they were making their rounds at the wards and her colleague commented: who would get bitten by a monkey in KL? To which Dr PL said: that's my cousin!

It turns out that Dr Get-Help prescribed me a top of the line antibiotic which costs RM6 per tablet (I received 14 tablets in total). If I were to have gone to a regular, private clinic for treatment, this whole ordeal would have easily cost me RM50 not inclusive of medication. Guess how much I paid at GHKL?

That's my tax dollars put to good use! (",)

Anyways, here's a look at the wound in the evening.

Incidentally, I think Dr Get-Help went on the Net for solutions because I found this site when I got home (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/768875-treatment).

Of Making the Connection

2009-04-11T20:18:00.010+08:00

My Friday ended at 0130 hours on a Saturday only to begin again when the alarm went off at 0615 hours. Hitting the snooze button, I stole another 3 minutes of shut-eye before JH gave me a wake up call. No more snoozin', time's a-loosin'. I was out the door at 0630 hours, driving towards TPM to meet the rest. Today, we're going to train at the steps of Batu Caves. 10 showed up.

A little background about Batu Caves for the uninitiated. There are 272 steps from rising from the foot of the hill, demarcated by a charming archway decorated with several avatars of the Lord Murugan / Subramaniam, to the mouth of the cave complex that houses the shrines of several Hindu dieties. It's approximately 28.9km away from TPM which took us about 35 minutes to get there (this after discounting the time wasted making a wrong turn).

We arrived without fanfare at 0745 hours and met PT at the base of the stairs. Our training aim today is to complete 4 laps (1 lap = completing 1 set, up and down the stairs) in 90 minutes. We took it slow with the 1st lap. Everyone broke pace and reached the top together. We took photos within the cave and walked around to shake out the kinks in our legs. Thereafter, everyone went their own pace.

I'm glad to say that the team did a good job meeting the training aim (Well done, guys and gals!). No drama, no incident, no sweat! Ok... Maybe not the sweat part. We all sweat buckets :) I, for one, pushed beyond the 4-lap aim and went for 5 laps and in the process, I struck up conversation with this uncle who "coached" and cheered me along. Thank you!

We had chilled Milo to quench our thirst at the carpark, thanks to PT. And decided to go for breakfast before going our separate ways. Me, being a weekend vegan, had a groundnut bao with "teh c special". That was lunch.

After a 30-minute nap, I was on the road again. I've signed up for the Bikram Posture Clinic in Subang. Rich Nichols (head honco for Bikram yoga teachers in this region) conducted the 2-hour clinic.

I've never been to a yoga posture clinic before and was quite surprised to see the studio packed from wall to wall. When usually we have about 4 feet between yoga mats, today there was only a 2 feet gap. The other difference was in the heat. It was not turned on and we had the windows slightly open. In spite of that, the class was sweating profusely 30 minutes into the clinic.

Today's session concentrates on correction and imparting tips on the standing series of the Bikram posture progression. Picked up some very good pointers at the clinic and I'm now seriously considering getting a tatt to commemorate conquering white water rafting at Padas and the peak of Mount Kinabalu :) Shhh..! Don't tell my parents.

Rich challenged the clinic participants to attend the 1600 hours yoga class conducted by Erik. Only 15 took him on. I must admit though, after 2 hours of posture analysis and learning even without the 40 degree heat, I couldn't make it through all 26 postures. Having said that though, I'm not disappointed in myself. As Sean (another Bikram teacher) always says, "it's yoga practice, not yoga perfect".

Since taking up Bikram, I have noted a marked difference in my physique and psyche. The improvement of the later resulted in my being able to stay focused, remember things better and push myself to achieve more because the brain is no longer setting up roadblocks for the body. It's a whole different life when your brain is not trying to sabotage your body's potential. It's the brain making the connection with the body for both to move in sync. My body surprises me everyday :)

Since signing up to join MY's colleagues to climb Mount K, we've been training together by going on hikes and treks. These have improve my cardio immensely. I find myself no longer out of breath / panting after climbing the 3 flights of stairs (a total of 63 steps) to my office everyday and, in fact, have started to take the stairs when going to JH's place on the weekend (he lives on a 4th floor apartment).

Now you are already starting to wonder: what's the point in all this? Well, I'm getting there :)

Many people have said that climbing Mount K is more mental than physical. I figured that in taking up this challenge, I am putting both to the test. In my daily grind, I find myself able to cope that much better both mentally and physically. So much so, somedays I feel almost invincible. And that is an incredible feeling.

If someone had told me 1 year ago that I would be going for 5 laps at Batu Caves (traipsing up and down 2,720 steps) thereafter attending a 120-minute yoga clinic followed by 90 minutes of Bikram hot yoga all in one day, I'd say, "Who me?" but here I sit today, blogging about it and feeling the endorphins coursing through my veins. Best feeling in the world!

Oh.. And did I mention that there was this incredibly hot Korean teacher at the clinic today. Wow! She turned my head a couple of times and I was so definitely gawking at her. She was HAWT! (",)

Hike #4: Bkt Tabur

2009-03-02T10:37:00.001+08:00

6.30am on Saturday morning found me waiting in the dark in front of MY's office in Bkt Jalil. Woman said meet at 0630 but when I called her, she was still at home! (-_-)

Sun rises above the ridge

There were 7 of us this time around. 5 were noobs, PT (picture right) and hubby WA, JS, TL (picture left) and Tz. We made good time, scaling to 200m in 27 mins.

Group photo minus Tz

I'm glad to report that I aced my kryptonite boulder this time around. But the funny incident happened at the 2nd rope (yes, there is a 2nd rope which I neglected to mention in my previous entry - leave something out to blog about later na).

Anyways, there I was grappling with my decent when MY called out, "Use the 2nd knot!" and my reflex reply was, "To do what?" which incited peels of laughter from PT and yours truly. The men in the group have no sense of humour (tsk!).

More on Bukit Tabur

2009-02-25T01:39:00.012+08:00

3 days after my most excellent adventure on Bukit Tabur, my knees developed some 'colour'. Behold...

One of my clients found it apt to point out, "Bruises cause your market value to drop, my dear." Such encouragement!

Was chatting with HT on Tuesday and he says, I quote, "i look up to u for taking the challenge.. a fren of mine broke her arm there.. didn't wanna scare u .." Now he tells me!

Keen to know more about Bukit Tabur, I did what most people would do. I Google-d it.

http://www.naturemalaysia.com/bukit-tabur.htm

Apparently, Bukit Tabur is a natural heritage site. It is the single largest quartz ridge in the world. Fu-yoh! I had no inkling that I was scrambling amongst greatness..

http://www.endemicguides.com/Tabur_hill.htm

"If you climb up Bukit Tabur, which is part of these magnificent quartz ridges, the view is breathtaking on one side and heartbreaking on the other. It is heartbreaking to see the devastation, ugly scarring and flattening of the hillsides in the vicinity of the Klang Gates dam and around Taman Melawati, Kemensah Heights, Kampung Kemensah (once famous for its streams and waterfalls which have now turned muddy) and Taman Zooview."

~ Tree Hugger @ The Star Online (Monday, 20 October 2008)

There's even a site that has dedicated pages (with photos) of how to properly decend (there are 4 ways) my kryptonite boulder

http://thetrekkers.blogspot.com/

For those who plans to conquer Tabur, do visit this link http://www.mycorezone.com/main.php?section=resource&page=resource_view&article_id=131

Bukit Tabur @ Melawati

2009-02-21T20:02:00.027+08:00

Our group for this weekend's hike was reduced to 5. The rest had something or rather and so the 5 of us made our way to the venue for our third hike which proves to be the most trying thusfar.

MY said that it is challenging and kidding she was not. In choosing to be ignorant, I was spared the chance to chicken out and trudged on with the rest. Unbeknowst to me, this trek would test my mental strength and challenge my very psyche.

There were warning signs posted at the start of the trail citing the latest 3 accidents to befall careless climbers. Somehow, the person(s) who made the sign only cited the accidents involving women... (-_-)

Making our way up through the cover of trees was not unlike our other hikes. It took us 30 mins to reach the first rest stop.

We were rewarded with a beautiful view of a lake with the morning mist still hovering over the surface of the water. I later found out that this was the Klang Gate Dam. Look closely at the picture below and you can see the ridges that form Bukit Tabur. Looks like a stegosaurus, no?

On the other hand, is civilisation. Twas a misty morning so the twin towers were shrouded in a gossamer shroud of (haze) doom!

Our trail continued uphill from there and just when I was beginning to think that the 'tough' part was all hype, we came to the first challenge, which I would like to call my 'kryptonite'.

There were 2 options to move onto the next ridge (side note: remember stegosaurus? - see picture) either we do the "dare-devil" which involves using a notched rope to scramble down the boulders or the "wussy" which involves walking around the boulders. Being enthusiastic and knowing our K decent will involve ropes, absailing and dare-devil type antics, we chose the former. There are no wussies here.

MY and TW surveying the 'drop'. Note the rope on TW's right. That's our 'insurance'.

TW was the first to take the rope. He made it, no sweat. Next was MY. She, too aced the rope. I was next. Oh-kay... Grab the rope with both hands. Easy enough. "NEVER LET GO," said MY. "Now swing around and plant your left foot on the left boulder". Done. "Lean onto the rope. Trust the rope and let your right foot hang down to look for a foothold." Wha..? Me brain froze at "trust the rope". Haaaaaalp!

There were some tense moments where I couldn't connect my brain to my hands and feet. My right hand kept trying to hang onto the boulder when it should be firmly holding onto the rope to help my left foot support my body while my right foot refused to budge. WTF! I'm so screwed!

MY and TW were tops, they talked me through the whole episode and I managed to scale down the boulder but not without scrapping my knee in the process. HY (pictured right) took to the rope and slope like a duck to water. I felt like chickensh*t after that. JH had long legs so he practically 'walked' down the slope. Double chickensh*t =(

The second challenge was a climbing one where we had to scale an almost verticle, jagged slope. MY said, "you'll have to do the spiderman here". Raaaaiggghtt~! Picked up more 'souvenirs' from here. Bruises to my knees and scrapes on my right hand. I'm such an apparent noob (T_T)

The last challenge of the day was to hop over a 'longkang' (drain). This so-called longkang was actually a chasm separating two ridges and the sharp stones do not exactly make it any easier. Imagine landing on it (ouch~!). Face first (OUCH~!!). Luckily, none of that happened (whew!)

Enough adventure for the day. We started our decent through more 'friendly' terrain. By friendly, I meant more trees (handholds), exposed tree roots (footholds) and damp soil to cushion our trek. I have never been more thankful for trees (,")

Post Valentine Hike

2009-02-15T17:29:00.013+08:00

Our second hike of the series and we're going to Apaksan in U-Lik, Cheras. I have no idea what is its official name so "Apaksan" it is. There were 13 of us this time around with 2 newbies, WR (HF's hubby) and JS (the green guy as HF refers to him).

We met in front of TL's house and set off for Apaksan in 3 cars. Upon arrival, AP went in search of breakfast. The rest of us just stood incredulously at the foot of the hill waiting for him which gave HY ample time to get busy with her camera.

A partial-group photo while waiting for AP and JT

The trek posed a bit more of a challenge as compared to Gasing. And the hill-walkers were markedly different.

Whereas in Gasing we were cheerfully greeted by the uncles and aunties who passed our group, the people in Apaksan were a sullen lot. And there was this peculiar grandpa-grandson duo and several aunties who clapped their hands in unison whilst traversing the hill. I call them the 'clappers'. I reckon it serves to 'warn' the hill 'residents' of our intention to 'pass through' their 'territory' but MY figures it to keep the tempo of the walk. Her guess is as good as mine =)

Winded, we reached stop #1 with a good panoramic view of PJ. An uncle (not part of our group!) took out his harmonica, and we were entertained to several catchy Chinese tunes.

These were the last 2 to arrive.

Short rest and on with our trek. At stop #2, we were treated to a beautiful view of KL city vista. The KL and twin towers looked like miniature pin maps. WA mentioned that someone told him of a waterfall at stop #3. We trudged on...

Before long, we reached stop #4: The Guinness Stop. Quite an interesting choice of name. And there was a rudimentary map tacked onto a tree. There were some Chinese words which I made out to represent 'top of the hill'. HY told me that the other words were 'long route' and 'short route'. Dang! I should've paid attention in Chinese class =p

We were certain we did not miss stop #3: Waterfall and surmised that WA was had. So after a short break, we began our decent down the same path we took coming up. Along the way, I learnt how to 'break' into my Vios (courtesy of AP as he once locked his keys in the trunk of his car) with needle nose pliers and that Toyota keeps several of such experts on their payroll to assist car owners who were ever caught in a predicament without their keys... call Toyota Assist.

Hike over, dim sum time! TL took us to his favourite haunt and we had to have an especially big table to accommodate all of us. I likened our breakfast jaunt to a swarm of locusts. No sooner had the food been laid before us when it was cleaned out. This happened 3 times and I lost count of the number of times we had to get our teapot refilled. Admittedly, we are a rowdy bunch and it's great that we can get along together cos, as MY said, "get use to it cos we'll be spending 5 days together" (".)

A virgin no more

2009-02-10T11:19:00.005+08:00

It was an accident. Things just progressed too fast and getting caught up in the moment, it happened... I stepped into the gym for the first time in my life (-___-)

Twas the wee hours of morning. I dragged myself out of bed to go for Bikram but unbeknowst to me, the blurdy centre changed the schedule without prior notification. What's a girl to do at 6.30am, all geared up for a work-out but none to be had?

The answer was a row of treadmills and electronic gadgetry which are guaranteed to make you sweat. Since I'm going to climb a mountain in May, might as well work up some stamina.

Pulling on my hand-me-down Nikes, I headed for the first machine that looked like it wouldn't make me resemble a hamster running the wheel. Some sort of cross-country skiing machine maybe? Looks easy enough.

5 minutes later, my heart rate was up and I'm breaking a sweat. Good! But no more skiing... I can't feel my legs.

Hopping off, I scan for the StairMaster. A doctor friend recommended that I do 30 mins of stairs 3 times a week to prep for my climb. None to be found on the ground floor so up to the 1st floor, I went.

In a corner was something that remotely resembles a StairMaster, though I'm not quite sure. There was a nice gentleman resolutely stepping on the peddles and it looked like he was climbing so I decided to give it a shot (virgins don't know better).

Programming the darn thing should be a cinch but it isn't. 30 seconds later, I gave up and must have looked thoroughly baffled when the nice gentleman called out, "the higher the effort number, the easier it is". Thanks but how do I apply this information?

The machine displayed a message: lift your knees one at a time. Aah.. why didn't you say so earlier?

The effort level was adjusted to 25 (min is 1, max is 25). Then comes the next instruction: keep speed at 270 spm (presumably means 270 steps per minute). Ok.. let's go!

5 minutes later, I'm no closer to 270 spm (hovering between 130 to 150 spm) although I've never stepped so furiously before in my life. Yet the instructions kept flashing: keep speed at 270 spm. Before I passed out, I hit the "pause" button. "The higher the effort number the easier it is." Yeah right!

There has got to be an easier way, think I, the gym virgin. Let's try setting a "Goal". 5 km, I tapped with the numerical keypad. "Lift your knees one at a time". This time I lifted slowly with as little gusto as I could muster. Effort set at 3. Aw-raight!

"Keep speed at 60 spm." Hurrah! That's do-able.

Step left, step right... My calves were starting to protest. "24 minutes to end". I glanced at the timer and it's been only 5 minutes. OMG! How to survive 24 minutes? Distance stepped was only 1.5km. Keep going... "Climbing a mountain is not so much stamina and endurance but also mental strength". Right-o...

I cannot begin to describe the immeasurable relief when the "Goal" indicator blinked 5km. Yapari! I've done it. I can't feel my legs for the first few seconds but thankfully I didn't fall flat on my face.

I am so not cut out to be gym bunny :(

Getting the hang of it

2009-02-07T11:03:00.003+08:00

Plans were made to ease the climbers into hiking and trekking which will gradually prepare us for the Big K in May (hey, that rhymes!).

After the big hoo-ha over Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year, the group was ready for our first hike. BT organised the hike, most of us turned up. Our quarry was Bukit Gasing.

We met bright and early at the 1st meeting point and set out in 2 cars ferrying 8 climbers. When we reached the 2nd meeting point, another 3 cars joined the motorcade bearing another 5 climbers. At the destination, we added another 1 to our ranks.

HY and I wore our new Timberlands to break them in. MY just lost hers the week before CNY (blurdy house thieves!). AP wore slippers (he da man!).

The hike was timed for 2 hours to give everyone ample time to finish the trail. And a hike it was.

It rained the night before so new Timmies were soon muddied. We passed a little stream (Goretex: guaranteed to keep you dry) and the highlight of the hike was the suspension bridge. Now MY is afraid of heights and she was ahead of the rest of us. Needless to say, we just had to shake the bridge when she was at mid-point. Thanks for being a good sport, MY!

When we reached the 'top' of the trail, HY whipped out her camera and recorded more "evidence". We didn't look so much worse for wear, if I do say so myself.

All in all, twas fun and I'm looking forward to the next hike. There will be 12 altogether so that should keep our weekends busy (",)

The makings of an adventure

2009-02-03T02:14:00.007+08:00

This is an excerpt of an actual phone conversation between HF and me:

Me: Timberland shoes at RM149. Can buy ar?

HF: That's cheap. Timberland shoes are usually between RM 300 - 500. Grab it.

Me: But what would I need a pair of Timberlands for?

HF: Well... I'm sure you'll find a need for it.

Me: Like what...?

HF: I dunno... Maybe you'll want to climb a mountain?

15 mins later

Me: It's me again. I think we have to look for a mountain to climb soon.

I was on my last errand when I saw the bunting: Timberland Warehouse Sale. My curiosity was piqued. Never mind that checks and plaids are not cuppa tea, or that hiking boots and lumberjack jackets are not my thang, I just gravitated to the sale venue.

What happened in the next 20 minutes is summed up by the phone conversation above. What happened thereafter will culminate in a snap decision and forking out of more money to climb Mount Kinabalu, flight tickets, accommodation etc. Yes, I saved some money on a pair of Timberlands only to pay more than I saved to climb a mountain.

But I'm taking all of this in good faith. Never mind that we're sedentary women managers whose only strenuous exercise is Bikram yoga twice a week. Never mind that we have membership / access to gyms to which we have never visited since the day we collected our membership / access cards. Never mind that we have not 'roughed it out' since school days and have gotten all too comfortable in our cocoons. We're going to climb a mountain and the highest one in South East Asia no less.

As if that's not enough, we're going via ferrata, which I hear, involves walking on iron rungs and ropes sticking out of the sheer cliff side of the mountain.

And the clincher? We're going white water rafting the day before. Woo-hoo! Bring it on!

Another milestone..

2009-01-24T02:05:00.001+08:00

I'm thankful for another healthy year gone by
A year where I realise how truly blessed I am
More friends who remembered my birthday
Extra good wishes and presents my way
That much more good food to share (more love handles!)
Creating such happy vibes and a warm glowing in my heart

Thanks to all my mates
You've really made my special day awesome
Thanks for all the well wishes and gifts
Cheers to another splendid year ahead

Spot Came Home

2009-01-12T18:43:00.001+08:00

My dalmation (aptly named Spot) went MIA 2 Sundays ago.

What started out as irritation (he bolted out the door again!!) turned to worry (did he get run over by a car?!?!) before blossoming to utter dismay (he's gone!!!!! *sobs*).

Just when we gave up hope of ever seeing Spot again, there he sits, coolly by the gate, patiently waiting for someone to let him in.

Spot Came Home =) There's a good fella.

Personalities & Gifting

2009-01-08T18:09:00.004+08:00

I've been reading (still in the process although got the book about a month ago) about the different personalities, their characteristics and it's simply fascinating. Put my bestest galpals and self on the enclosed test via email and figured that amongst us, we've got 2 Popular Sanguines (MY and me) and 1 Powerful Choleric (J). HF hasn't responded yet. She's not very consistent with the emails therefore suggesting that she is quite highly likely a Popular Sanguine as well ;-p

In a nutshell, Popular Sanguines are the life of the party. Always armed with a story to tell and keeps everyone entertained. The Powerful Cholerics are the leaders. They are the decision makers and like to stay in control. They keep the Popular Sanguines out of mischief.

The other personalities discussed in the book are Perfect Melancholies and Peaceful Phlegmatics. The Perfect Melancholies are the logical, thinking ones. They adore systems and make great engineers. The Peaceful Phlegmatics (nothing to do with the stuff you expell from your throat) are the "dudes and dudettes" (laidback) of the lot. They prefer to just go with the flow and have a general "whatever" view of things.

Since reading this book, I've been actively thinking and categorising my friends. Then Christmas came along and it's interesting to see the choice of gifts each personality type came up with.

Since yours truly is a Popular Sanguine, I list here my gifts of choice:-

Barney slippers for my (unofficial) 'god-son'
cheerful coloured, woven silk ties with just the right balance of professionalism and vibrance so as not to appear boring
magic 8 balls to help out when making a decision is just too difficult
bracelets of pastel coloured pearls in irregular shapes - no need to say why this gift appealed to me
plushie giraffe for a tall friend
eye mask for my manager with 4 kids
UNO game for another manager with 3 kids

Gifts I received:-

a notebook backpack from my beloved - practical gift (and color as well) as he saw that my current one is falling to bits. Me thinks he is either a Perfect Melancholy or a Powerful Choleric. Probably both.
a candle holder with 2 adorable cherubs - me thinks the giver is a Peaceful Phlegmatic
a mechanical pencil with very retro zig zags - I discovered that I can actually get giddy looking at it rotating in my hands. I'm thinking this friend is a Peaceful Phlegmatic (it's a pencil!)
a book entitled "Mr Jones' Rules for the Modern Man" - an engineer gave this to me. Go figure!
a pretty crystal pendant on a delicate sterling silver chain - definitely a Peaceful Phlegmatic
a starter charm bracelet with a 4-leaf clover charm to start - from myself. Yep! Only a Popular Sanguine would buy herself a gift at Christmas *lol

So what did you get for Christmas?

Merry X'Mas Everyone!

2008-12-24T17:23:00.000+08:00

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift just prior to Christmas. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity.

John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up, and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot, and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird, and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.

Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behaviour."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behaviour, the bird continued, "May I ask; just what did that turkey in there say?"

It was all a misunderstanding

2008-04-25T18:05:00.004+08:00

Waitress: I would like to deny that what was reported ever happened. The ex-Minister did not fondle or molest me. It was all a misunderstanding.

Reporter: What made you make that report then? What actually happened?

Waitress: I did feel someone putting his hands on my backside. Then I felt the hand going higher. I protested, but it did not stop. I tried to pull the hand away, but the owner of the hand is much stronger than me. He was also drunk because I could smell it from his breath.

Reporter: What made you initially suspect that it was the ex-minister who did it?

Waitress: After pleading for sometime, I couldn't take it anymore so I screamed. Then they on the lights and the ex minister was next to me.

Reporter: You suspected that he was the one because he was next to you? It could have been others right?

Waitress: I thought it was him, because that night, he was the only customer. There was no one else in the bar except the bar boy, two other waitresses who were with the bar boy, the ex-minister and me. That was why I thought it was him.

Reporter: It could have been either of the waitresses or the bar-boy right?

Waitress: No it couldn't be, they were at quite a distance away. The lights were on only seconds after I screamed.

Reporter: Then how come you are now sure that it was not the ex-minister, since he was the only one close to you? Anyway, how close was he to you?

Waitress: He was very close, about 6 inches away. I only realised that it couldn't have been him when the police and his lawyers visited me a few days ago.

Reporter: How many of them visited you?

Waitress: 20 police personnel and 12 lawyers.

Reporter: So many of them? What did they say or do?

Waitress: They told me that that club is haunted. They said that a few years ago, a drunkard lecherous old man was shot dead for molesting a woman there. They added that it could be his ghost who did it.

Reporter: And you believed them?

Waitress: I was confused, but they brought an ex waitress who confessed that the same thing happened to her and coincidentally, the same ex minister was beside her. They said that, the dead man was an enemy of the ex minister so that was why his ghost did it every time he is around.

Reporter: Since the place is haunted, are you going back to work there?

Waitress: Oh no, I don't have to work anymore. The ex minister was so kind. He said that he took pity on me because I was molested by the ghost of his enemy. He blamed himself for what had happened to me. He gave me a cheque for 1 million ringgit, a condominium and an expensive car. He said I don't have to pay for the condominium. To show how he cares, he even took a key and said that he would be checking on me, to see if I need any help or if the ghost is still haunting me. That is why, I feel so bad that I had implicated a very good man.

KUALA LUMPUR:

The woman who lodged a police report alleging a former cabinet minister had outraged her modesty at her workplace in a hotel in KL Sentral cannot in law withdraw the report, said Gelugor MP Karpal Singh.

Karpal, a lawyer, said a person who lodged a police report could not at her whim and fancies withdraw a report by way of a letter or statutory declaration. The person ran the risk of lodging a false report and was bound by the contents of the report, he added.

"The police have to investigate the woman's report despite withdrawal of same by her. If the allegations against the ex-minister, as set out in the police report, are true, then the police have no alternative but to take action," he said.

Karpal said this was a serious offence under Section 354 of the Penal Code, which carried imprisonment of up to 10 years or fine or whipping or with two of such punishments.

He said that if it was revealed in the course of the investigation that the contents of the police report was false, then the woman concerned should be charged for giving false information to the police.

This was an offence under Section 182 of the Penal Code, which provided for an imprisonment for a term which may be extended to six months, or a fine which may extend to RM,2000, or both.

Karpal thus called on the police to carry out an in-depth investigation to determine the culpability of the ex-minister for allegedly outraging the woman's modesty, or the culpability of the woman concerned for giving false information to the police.

This would be in the public interest, he said.

The woman retracted the report lodged against the ex-minister, saying that she misunderstood the incident.

My favourite piece on our post-election analysis

2008-03-17T16:20:00.007+08:00

Malaysian voters open the door for Anwar Ibrahim
Michael Backman
The Age
March 12, 2008

MALAYSIA Boleh! (Malaysia Can!) is Malaysia's national slogan but after last Saturday's elections, the real slogan should be Malaysians Boleh! for ordinary Malaysians are to be congratulated. The humiliation they handed their government at the federal and state elections demonstrates how politically sophisticated and mature they have become in the face of a high-handed and patronising government.

Five state governments were won by the opposition and federally, the Government had its worst showing ever. But it was the clinical precision in which voters went about their business that was most impressive.

Zainuddin Maidin, the information minister, lost his seat. A measure of how complacent the Government had become was its appointment of the inept Zainuddin to the role in the first place. His appalling performance on Al Jazeera television late last year was a very public international humiliation for all Malaysians. Voters did what Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not have the guts to do: they removed him from office.

Malaysia's media has become so discredited that local bloggers are now hugely popular. Zainuddin had patronisingly warned Malaysians about false information spread by bloggers. They responded by voting one of the most popular bloggers , Jeff Ooi into parliament.

The birthday of Samy Vellu, the long-serving public works minister and head of the party that represents Malaysia's Indian community, coincided with election day but it was Malaysians who got the birthday present. Samy lost his seat.

No one is more to blame than he for driving Malaysia's Indians into their pitiful state as second-class citizens. His deputy also lost his seat, as did the head of the party's youth wing, its vice-president, and the head of its women's wing. The party barely exists now.

Meanwhile, a lawyer who championed the rights of Indians and who has been detained without charge since December because of it, won a seat in a state parliament a seat in which the majority of voters are actually Chinese. It seems that ordinary Malaysians have a greater sense of fair play than their Government.

The Government lost power in the state of Penang. Lim Guan Eng, the much-respected new chief minister, was arrested and jailed in 1994 after he distributed a brochure complaining about the handling of claims that the (then) chief minister of Malacca, Rahim Thamby Chik, had sexual relations with an under-age girl who happened to be one of Lim's constituents.

Unbelievably Thamby Chik was not charged for what amounted to statutory rape but Lim was, for having distributed the pamphlet. How embarrassing for Abdullah that he must now deal with a chief minister that his Government so unfairly jailed.

Only the state government of Sarawak was spared voters' ire but only because it had its elections last year. But nature will bring change there too. Its long-serving, outstandingly greedy, cancer-stricken chief minister is soon to learn that a shroud has no pockets.

More broadly, the very legitimacy of Abdullah's Government is open to question. At the federal level, the opposition received 47.8% of the vote; a remarkable result given voting fraud, a frightened media that gives the opposition almost no positive coverage, and severely rigged electoral boundaries. As it was, about a third of eligible voters did not vote, meaning that Abdullah's Government was returned by only four out of 10 eligible voters.

Late last year, I met with former finance minister and senior ruling party lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah at his residence in Kuala Lumpur. He told me how appalled he was by the direction Malaysia had taken. He said that Malaysia needed a free media and a truly independent judiciary. He decried the corruption and nepotism that had beset the leadership of his own party. "But why don't you stand up in parliament and say these things?" I asked.

"Because the media would be instructed not to report it," he said.

If the opposition parties and their leaders can put their egos aside and think strategically, they have a chance of giving Malaysia what it sorely needs, a stable two-party system.

Opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim will become eligible for election next month with the expiry of the ban following his criminal conviction.

The nightmare scenario for Abdullah is that Anwar's wife, who was again elected on Saturday, will resign in the coming months, forcing a by-election at which Anwar will be elected. He might then help to coalesce the opposition parties into a more unified and effective voice. If he were to lure the Chinese-based MCA and perhaps the Sarawak-based United Traditional Bumiputera Party away from the ruling coalition, then the opposition would have precisely half the members of parliament. And if just one more government member were to walk, Tengku Razaleigh perhaps , then the Government will fall after 50 years in office. The current 13-party ruling coalition would be replaced by a five-party coalition. Whether or not this happens, there will be constant tension from the fact that it might.

Abdullah has emerged as probably Malaysia's most pointless prime minister. The election results are an unmitigated disaster for him and his Government. If the opposition is sufficiently disciplined and the ruling coalition starts to crack, then his nightmare has only just begun. Could Abdullah negotiate such a minefield? So far his political talents don't seem to have stretched beyond using chemical-laden water cannons against his own people.

It would seem his days are numbered.

40 things you'd like to say out loud at work

2008-01-22T11:32:00.000+08:00

1. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of sh*t.

2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.

3. How about never? Is never good for you?

4. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.

5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to see it my way.

6. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter.

7. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.

8. I don't work here. I'm a consultant.

9. It sounds like English, but I can't understand a damn word you're saying.

10. Ahhh... I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again.

11. I like you. You remind me of myself when I was young and stupid.

12. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.

13. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't give a damn.

14. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.

15. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.

16. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.

17. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.

18. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.

19. What am I? Flypaper for freaks?!

20. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.

21. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off.

22. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

23. And your crybaby whiny-assed opinion would be...?

24. Do I look like a people person?

25. This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.

26. I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.

27. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.

28. If I throw a stick, will you leave?

29. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.

30. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.

31. I'm trying to imagine you with a personality.

32. A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.

33. Can I trade this job for what's behind door #1?

34. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

35. Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?

36. Chaos, panic, and disorder - my work here is done.

37. How do I set a laser printer to stun?

38. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted a salary.

39. Who lit the fuse on your a**?

40. Oh I get it... like humour... but different.

Where not to eat..

2008-01-03T11:37:00.000+08:00

If ever you happen to go to PJ Old Town, there is a food circus.. er.. I mean.. food court diagonally across the traffic-lighted crossroads from Public Bank. If you also happen to be hungry, this is as good a place as any to find good food for a reasonable price... with one exception but we'll get to that later.

All the establishments here seem quite.. well.. established (",) with a steady stream of customers and all available tables taken. Never mind that the weather outside was sweltering hot and humid, the patrons keep coming in. Luckily, the drink sellers were prepared with their renditions of ice kacang and '"leong sui" (herbal tea)

There is this particularly well patronised stall that sells "char-siu" (barbequed, glazed pork), "siu-yok" (barbequed belly pork) and "siu-kai" (barbequed chicken) available with your choice of rice or porridge (congee to some folks).

Now, my boyfriend LOVES pork. Ergo, he made a bee-line for this stall and ordered "chair-siu-kai" (which is a combination of equal portions of each served with rice, for the benefit of those who are not well-versed with Chinese fare).

As he sat down at our table, he kept a firm eye on Stall 41 and noted that there was never a time when there weren't people standing on the sidelines, waiting for their take-away orders. The only server manning the tables was a harried Indonesian lady but she was efficient.

When his order came (cost him RM4.50), the portions were too small for his liking, so he decided to add a side order of "siu-yok". This came shortly after in an even smaller portion (yes, it was possible!) at a staggerring RM3!

I counted that there were only 7 bite-sized pieces of pork with 2 slices of cucumber and a careless garnish of chinese parsley. Wow! The only excuse for such a steep price tag would be the taste. So we each picked out a piece and chomped down, fully anticipating a good treat for our palate.

Alas..! Disappointments abound. There were no taste explosions. No heavenly amalgamation of flavours just regular barbequed pork. Nothing remotely spectacular about that taste to warrant the premium pricing *sigh* What a disappointment :(

I wonder if there is a "char-siu" sellers' association that I can refer to for guidelines on price setting?

2007-12-31T17:40:00.000+08:00

If Life Were Like A Computer:

You could add/remove someone in your life using the control panel.
You could put your kids in the recycle bin and restore them when you feel like it!
You could improve your appearance by adjusting the display settings.
You could turn off the speakers when life gets too noisy.Y
You could click on "find" (Ctrl, F) to recover your lost remote control and car keys.
To get your daily exercise, just click on "run"!
If you mess up your life, you could always press "Ctrl, Alt, Delete" and start all over!

Would that be grand?

Running up the tab

2007-12-31T11:02:00.000+08:00

It's the year end and there are mega discounts and price slashing galore. Being the bargain hunter that I am, yours truly decided to hit the shops and scout for cheap buys. Armed with my credit cards and a sweater (because of over-zealous Christmas-spirited shopping mall operators - see last entry in blog), I went on a pilgrimage to pay homage to the Queen of all Sales.. The Malaysian YES (Year-End-Sale).

I spent a whole day at one of the 5 imminent malls in the Klang Valley with my childhood buddy in tow. We walked the floors and scoured all our favourite shops, which was approximately 60% of the mall barring the cinema, food places, books and toy shops (never pay regular prices when there are warehouse sales abound!). I came out of it empty handed except for the purchase of a can of green tea, ice cream and dinner. How truly disappointing :(

Keeping my spirits up, I decided to check out 2 book companies' warehouse and moving out sale respectively. That endeavour was more satisfying in that I have suceeded in stocking up a year's worth of reading supplies and some VCDs (original only mind you) for the nieces and nephews. However, my boyfriend did not appreciate spending 3 hours with his head tilted to one side in order to read the titles off the book spines. Needless to say, there was a grumpy face driving us home that evening and a tired but happy bookworm hoarding my 'spoils of war' *hyuk! hyuk!*

Today, I gave my staff the day off and am contemplating to launch an 'assault' on the latest, upmarket mall to hit the town. According to my childhood buddy, the mall we went to was child's play in comparison to that. Ooooo... a challenge if I ever knew one! I've checked the traffic conditions online and put out my shopping shoes so as soon as I can peel myself away from my comfy perch in front of my laptop, I will be off. Wish me luck! And to you, dear reader, have an excellent New Year!

My dad...

2007-12-29T00:47:00.000+08:00

My dad is my hero. He brought me up the way all typical, olden-day Chinese dads do: keeping a stiff upper-lip and is hands-free in my up-bringing (he leaves it to mum). He never praised me in front of anybody and down-played praises by well.. anybody. It's not that he isn't proud of me, he is, it's just the conservative Chinese way. However, lately, he's been taking over the role of mum, i.e. nagging, scolding and when all else fails, resorts to emotional blackmail and 'cold wars'.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not complaining that my dad is conniving or sly, he's just reaching out to me in the only way he knows how. You see, growing up with a dad conditioned me to be close to mum while maintaining a cordial and respectful distance (physically and emotionally) from dad. Mum says something, I listen. Dad says something, I ask mum if I should listen :) So I get it that he feels insecure and therefore the theaterics.

Take this New Year weekend for instance. I called dad up on Friday to discus holiday plans. He said, quite nonchalantly, "You're not coming back (to my hometown) for New Year?". Now when dad says that, he means, "I want you to come back". So I mulled over it, taking into consideration the mass influx of people who will be travelling back to the Klang Valley from their galivanting a.k.a. "cuti-cuti Malaysia", I called him again to hint at not going back in lieu of the anticipated traffic jams to which he replied: There is no jam if you take the old (trunk) road. So there... Dad has decided.

So drawing from all my years of growing up with dad, I called up mum (naturally, this being the 21st century, it means calling mum's mobile phone as opposed to just asking dad to pass the line) to ask her opinion. To cut a long story short, mum said, "Don't bother coming back" and so here I am, holed up in my city home, blogging :) Dad won't be happy but mum has spoken.

"Do they know it's Christmas..."...Do we?

2007-12-28T18:33:00.000+08:00

Christmas came and went. SILENTLY. Christmas carols were so infrequently blasted over the radio in the days leading up to Christmas that I stopped listening out for it (instead, I played my own Christmas carols on the CD player). The streets look pretty much the same as they do everyday except for sporadic greetings in Bahasa Malaysia proclaiming: Selamat Hari Natal and Tahun Baru. The Christmas spirit is dead in Malaysia except in shopping malls.

All shopping malls in the Klang Valley spared no costs in conjuring up the 'rah-rah' for this season. Gigantic connifers sprouted out of polished tiles complete with fake snow and the works. I swear that they even turn down the thermostat to make it chilly for the added effect.

So what does Christmas mean to me? Zilch.. except the gift receiving part *grin*

Earth Angels

2007-12-11T17:02:00.000+08:00

I met an angel tonight. We've been hardwired to associate 'angels' with heavenly bodies of light with wings and a halo above their heads but no.. The angel I met was neither ephemeral nor was she a dark shadow bearing a resemblance of the 'Grim Reaper'. She was very much human, just like you and me.

Having spent much of the evening during a dinner party talking to her, I am re-assured that there is still good in this world and it doesn't matter if you are "only one of many" trying to do good in this crazy world. The important thing is that you ARE making it happen and not waiting around for something to happen.

In this season of giving and caring, what better way than to re-pledge oneself to helping God's creatures especially our less fortunate bretheren? There are many worthy causes out there who are grateful for generous contributions, be in terms of money or effort.

"Be the change that you want to see happen"

Ding dong..! The witch is gone!

2007-10-29T11:59:00.000+08:00

*singing* oh happy day...
today.. i be rid of a 'pest'. how much more excellent can it be?
having said that, i can think of at least 12 things but right now i'm happy enough that i got my 'pest' is gone so i'll leave my 12 things for another day :)

Seriously...

2007-10-25T18:00:00.000+08:00

Samy Vellu goofed again with this statement:

"SAYA SYUKUR ANGKASAWAN KITA SETELAH MENINGGAL DUNIA 10 HARI, KINI SELAMAT DI KEBUMI"

More Than Meets The Eye...

2007-07-04T02:00:00.000+08:00

AWESOME!! As soon as I stop feeling tingly, I will write a proper post on THE movie of the century: Transformers

What do you think?

2007-06-29T22:44:00.001+08:00

Here's the poser: A lady wrote an email to a radio show to seek the listeners' opinion on her concern. Her boyfriend of 3 years is as wonderful as boyfriends can get. Even after all these years, he still makes the effort to take her out to nice dinners, buy her gifts and flowers, take her on nice weekend getaways etc. He is 31 years old, has a stable job is financially stable and she can foresee herself spending the rest of her life with him. The trouble is, even though he is 31 and is financially independent, he still receives an allowance from his parents. She finds this odd and wants to know if this is a common practice among rich folks and what do the listeners' think.

Some called in to ask if the guy's parents would mind adopting a 40-something year old "son" *grinz* but most (including the guy radio show host) opine that the guy should "wear a saree and stay at home"... in other words a "wuss".

Waitaminute! Having extra dosh is considered "wussy"? Since when? So I called up the station to give my 2-sen worth.

Radio show host ("RSH"): Hello? What say you?

Me: Hello. Is this XYZ fm?

RSH: Yes, it is. Who's speaking please?

Me: This is Jasmine. I'd like to say that I think it's sweet that the parents are helping out their child.

RSH: But this "child" is already 30. He is not a "child" anymore!

Me: Well... to a parents, it doesn't matter if a "child" is 30, 10, 50 or 80. No matter how old you are, you are and always will be your parents' "child". And parents being parents, they naturally look out for their kids. It's nice to have extra cash. There can never be "too much money" and here you have someone giving you money. If it were me I'd just take the money and shut up..

RSH: *laughs* You've got a point there..

Join an online protest

2007-06-27T16:27:00.000+08:00

I joined another online protest today. Go to http://www.streamyxsucks.com/ Got meself a nice little banner as well. Let's see some online activism! It is time that monopolising utility conglomerates realise that the consumer is king and they can't expect to charge us the sky, earth, sun and moon in return for lousy service and get away with it. Come on people. Get of our complacent bums and let our voices be heard. Unite and fight!

Boycott!!

2007-06-26T17:15:00.000+08:00

It has been 3 years, 5 months and 23 days since I boycotted a certain nasi kandar Penang restaurant in Taman Tun Dr Ismail. "Why?" you may ask. Here's the scenario:-

3 years, 5 months and 23 days ago I went to Lotus to indulge in one of our national pasttimes: hanging out at the mamak with friends. Not content to just nurse my cup of 'teh tarik', I decided to have a piece of fried chicken. The piece of chicken was no larger than my fist and I was charge RM6 for it. Needless to say I was outraged and all manner of disgust was felt. That was the long and short of it.

So today, I celebrate my 3rd year, 5th month and 23th day in boycotting this place.

Web Publishing

2007-06-01T18:30:00.000+08:00

O-kay..! I admit it. I'm lousy at web publishing. Just haven't got the faintest clue on what, who, where and how. Bleh... But somehow, thinking that I CAN if I TRY, I proceeded to drive myself utterly bonkers trying to save a few ringgits by updating my own company website. The conclusion is: I'll leave it to the pros. I'll just content myself with blogging :-p

Mothers and Daughters

2007-06-01T12:15:00.000+08:00

The month of May has bore witness to four life-changing events: 2 births and 2 deaths. Nope... Neither of those occurring within my family but they relate instead to people whom I work closely with.

Two daddy's became repeat daddies to two beautiful little girls.

Two sons lost their mothers to battles with illness and old age.

Somehow I couldn't help but think whether the two golden mothers have passed on only to assume the youthful form of the two daughters?

The cycle of life...

Life is short...

2007-05-28T12:43:00.000+08:00

I came across this quote:

When you keep saying you are busy, then you are never free.

When you keep saying you have no time, then you will never have the time.

When you keep saying you will do it tomorrow, then your tomorrow will never come.

Carpe diem.. like this adorable chap here.. {photo removed} unfortunately, due to strong protests and jeerings from certain parties, the picture had to be removed to prevent further har-"ass"-ment.

Rip Off

2007-04-09T19:06:00.000+08:00

I don't really know what is the actual statistic out there, but I am sure that 60% of the computer literate world are using a particular 'why-so'-soft operating system with accompanying suite of word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and email programmes bundled into a neat little package which starts with an "O" and ends with an "E" (no, it is not "orifice" but it does rhyme with it though). So anywhos, I was trying to open a presentation file done with this programme suite but somehow there was an error. After clicking numerous "send error reports", I noticed a link that says "click on the link below to find out how to resolve this problem". "Oh great!" me thinks to myself. Finally, a solution! So I click the link...

What happens next is blurdy upsetting.

This was the message that appeared in my internet browser:-

Problem caused by "Why-so"-soft O****e 2002: consider upgrading

The problem was caused by "Why-so"-soft O****e 2002, which was created by "Why-so"-soft Corporation. "Why-so"-soft O****e 2002 is in its "Extended Support" phase. This phase of support for "Why-so"-soft O****e 2002 began on July 11, 2006. Only security-related solutions are created by "Why-so"-soft for this version of "Why-so"-soft O****e.

Recommendation

Consider upgrading to the latest version of "Why-so"-soft O****e to receive full support. Go online to learn how to upgrade.

Was this information helpful?

[Yes] [No] [Somewhat]

I'm like: WTF??!! So I clicked "NO" and additional text appeared:-

Why?

[ ] Information is wrong

[ ] Information is confusing

[ ] Information does not apply to what I am experiencing

How can we make this information more helpful? (1000 character limit)

"Why" in deed! I checked the option for "information is confusing" and wrote the following in the "how can we make this information more helpful?" box:-

Dear "Why-so"-soft

I do not understand why after forking out good money to purchase your product, I am faced with this situation wherein the solution is to shell out more money in order to upgrade. Your corporation is already earning so much money, please have a heart and stop squeezing your loyal users.

{click} "submit"

What it means to be Malaysian

2007-02-08T13:20:00.000+08:00

You have to wake up 2 hours earlier just to get to work half an hour late because:-

you were stuck in a jam getting out of your residential area because the property developer and municipality planner did not think to build enough access roads to accommodate the influx of residents to the new housing area;
there is only one single lane "toll free" road and a thousand cars trying to get onto it;
there is a multi lane toll paying road with 10 collection booths, but only 2 are open and the touch 'n go and/or smart-tag lanes are reduced to one serviceable gantry because the others are "sedang diuji" (undergoing tests);
the multi lane toll paying road converges into a three or (heavens!) two lane road;
the very uniquely Malaysian "queue cutters" who thinks that he/she gets an advantage by being 2 cars ahead of you on a jammed road (hurrah! big deal!); and
traffic lights that seem to take forever to change and when they do, the car in front of you decides to stall, splutter and die.

You pay 300% in car excise duties, yearly road tax, exorbitant toll, (frequently) price-adjusted petrol, parking charges and still get stuck in a jam;
You wish to use the public transportation system but there is no to service your area; or you most likely will still have to fork out ridiculous taxi fares because the distance is too far to walk but not far enough to justify the taxi driver's "effort"; or it rains and you end up stranded at the bus stop/LRT station and praying a passing vehicle doesn't splatter you with mud;
You have to stand in line in order to get a queue number to wait some more at government departments(!);
You're being given a long speech about how you have flaunted the law/exceeded the speed limit and how the officer will have to haul your a*s down to the "balai" (police station) only to have the same officer tell you that he wishes to "help you settle" on the spot;
You dial a frequently called number only to be told by an automated voice that "the number you have dialed, is no longer in service" when you just manage to get through 5 minutes ago (weird...);
The standard phrase for seeking opportunities or options is, "got/ada lubang ka?" (nope, it doesn't have any negative/kinky connotations, it just simply means "do you know of a source?")

Go Holiday! Island Hopping in KK

2006-12-07T11:32:00.000+08:00

What makes you tick on weekends when you are away from home? I went island hopping after a week-worth of honest work. The plan was to wake up bright and early on Saturday morning to catch the first available boat out on an island-hopping adventure. I was quite determined to quelched the fear of drowning and go snorkelling. At this juncture, I should mention that I DO NOT know how to swim but I figured that as long as I kept the life jacket firmly belted and fasten every available strap, I should be fine. Afterall, if you are meant to die, you will die no matter if you are just soaking in the bathtub. Right-o.. That sorted, I set my alarm clock for 5am.

At the appointed hour, I was up like a bolt and rushed straight for the curtains in my hotel room. To my dismay, it was raining like a typhoon has hit KK *sighs* There goes my determination to conquer my fear. Oh well... I suppose it's "die another day" for me. I called up my colleagues and after a moment of lamenting, we decided that we shall wait another couple of hours before really calling it quits. So waited we did..

Miraculously, at 7am, the sun came out shining in full force (the sun rises half an hour earlier in East Malaysia). The sky turned brilliant blue and there was nary a cloud as far as the eye can see. Alright man! This is it. I called up my colleagues and we packed up and checked out of the hotel in 30 mins. A short cab ride away from our hotel and we arrived at wharf (can't remember the name) and had to wait until 9.30am for the next boat so we passed the time catching another 40-winks.

Our boat was a small aluminium boat with a roof and an out-board motor. Twas a bumpy ride for the 12 of us sitting on either side. We got splashed and the wind whipped our hair against our faces. But it was invigorating. At one point, one of our travelling companions lost his cap to a gust of wind and it landed in the middle of the sea. We thought that was the end of it but the boatman very deftly turned the boat around and not only did he manage to spot the cap bobbing in the waves but was able to bring our boat close enough alongside for its owner to fish it out of the sea. No special implements required. *clap clap clap!*

The first island we landed on was Pulau Manukan (or Manukan Island). It was heavenly. The waters were so blue it made you feel relaxed just looking at it. There were a million little fishes of all shapes and colours darting about the stilts supporting the jetty. It was such a pleasant welcome party.

There was a matter of paying a small conservation fee at the tourist centre and it was off to the snorkelling area we go. Fitted out with snorkels, face masks, flippers and life jackets, my colleagues and I trundge the short distance from the jetty to the designated snorkelling area. We had an hour before heading off to another island.

After a quick briefing by the lifeguard and the all important tip: "always breathe through your mouth!" I was ready to hit the waters. First, I swum the shallow end, well within the lifeguard's line of vision. Once I have gotten accustomed to breathing through a straw (it honestly felt like it), it was time to venture into the deep.

The experience was TOTALLY OUT OF THIS WORLD! Truly. The world under the surface of the blue waters is from another planet. To start of, everything was in a nice blue-green tint. Here and there, you can see shaft of golden sunlight filtering from the surface. And the underwater community was thriving! As it was still early morning, the day was just starting for the denizens of Manukan waters. There were parrot fishes of every imaginable colour (I like the purple and green ones), corals of various shapes and sizes (I could only identify the 'Brain Coral'), sea urchins (they have eyes!!), little fishes, not so little fishes, big fishies (ummm... sashimi!) and laid-back starfishes in yellow, green, red and blue (up until that moment, I've always thought that the souvenir shops dyed the starfishes which just goes to show that you learn something new everyday) Them starfishes were draped on the surfaces of rocks and corals and somehow I imagined them to be saying,'"Hey dude! Ssup?" They just gave me that vibe.

Time stood still. I tried to look at everything and as much as I can but then I noticed that there will little white flecks before my eyes. Oh no! Could it be that I'm passing out from the lack of oxygen? No wait.. Could it be?? OMG! They are PLANKTON!! You've only ever heard of plankton on documentary shows and learning about them in science books but to actually see it? It was stupendous. If I were a cartoon, you'd probably see giant exclamation marks right above my head!

All too soon, it was time to go. Our next destination was Pulau Sapi (or Sapi Island). Pulai Sapi was less commercialised than Manukan and our boat operator assured us the waters are unspoilt with more to see. We headed off in anticipation. I was doubly elated because I finally conquered my fear of the water and went snorkelling! Oh such wonders under the sea!

Sapi is a much smaller island. Hence would explain why it was lesser developed than Manukan. It was here that I encountered 'Nemo'. You know.. the orange clown fish with white stripes that kiddies in our time will forever refer to as 'Nemo'. There was nemo in search of food, nemo playing hide-and-go-seek, nemo hiding within the fronds of the anemomeneh *haha* etc.

The little fishes in Sapi are a friendly lot. I suppose they are accustomed to human snorklers feeding them. I gathered this from the way they converged around me when I remained stationary while watching the bigger fishes scavenging for food. There was this one particular medium sized black fish who gave me quite a fright when it swam to eye-level. I swore that it looked me straight in the eye and when I lift my hands to touch it, it BIT me!! It didn't hurt but it still startled me no less. When it didn't get anything to eat, the fiesty little one ATTACKED me! I swear that it pecked my mask. No kidding! I later found out that this fish (not sure if it is the same one) also attacked my colleague when he didn't feed it.

We had a plane to catch at 6. So at 2pm, we dragged ourselves to the jetty to wait for our ride back to the mainland.

While passing a wide expanse of sea, our boat hit a piece of driftwood and started taking in water. We were quite clueless about the accident but I did notice that our boat driver was frantically bailing bucket after bucket of water from our boat. In the end, he decided to land us at Pulau Gayang (the biggest island in Pitas Bay) and called back for help (it was a good thing there was mobile coverage there!). At this juncture, I must tell you about Pulau Gayang or rather the notorious reputation it has.

Pulau Gayang is home to more than a hundred illegal immigrants who proclaim themselves as 'Malaysians' whilst living amongst the local fishermen community. It is rumoured that there has been mysterious disappearances of visitors to this island in the past. Needless to say, we were a tad apprehensive about being stranded on this island with no means of escape but we were soon captivated by the natural beauty of the island. Our boat driver chose to beach at a secluded patch of sand, cordoned off from the populated parts of the island by fierce undergrowth and trees. So we got to enjoy a quiet moment of calm reverie while being lulled by the pleasant ocean breeze. The picture shows an outcropp of rocks which is part of Pulau Gayang and in the distant horizon is KK town.

All too soon, help came. We were herded onto a bigger speed boat but not before gathering some peebles as momentos of our perilous (yeah, right!) boat ride and being stranded on a notorious island sans the head hunters (we ARE in Sabah after all) and cannibals.

A friend of mine just came back from 'vacation' in Sabah. He's an avid photographer and the photos you see here are his handiwork.. Well.. All except for that self-shot piccie of me looking quite 'stoned' :-p

Baby Sister Wanted

2006-11-10T11:14:00.000+08:00

Was waiting for the elevator when I chanced upon this gem of a notice. I don't mean to be cruel but it made me cringe ('cos I was trying not to laugh too loudly). When I shared this picture with my colleagues in the office, we all shared a round of good laughs at the expense of the person who put up this notice. In the immortal words of WYC: "Fwah! Your Ing-lang very the powder-ful aah..!" Oh man.. I gotta stop being so mean (>.<) ~Jas, 11.11.2006~

Message in a dream

2006-11-07T18:57:00.000+08:00

Ever dreamt of deceased loved ones? The Chinese believe that the deceased 'communicates' with the living through dreams. However, they also believe that in these dreams, the deceased cannot speak, touch nor be in close proximity to the living. I guess these are the rules of the game.

I do dream of my paternal grandmother whom I call 'MaMa'. Although not often but as compared to other members of my family, I had the most "encounters" with her. She passed away on 27 September in the year 1999 after a brief battle with cancer. I would say brief in comparison to some cancer patients who suffer the horrible ravages of the disease for many years, causing long and painful sufferring. She never speaks to me in my dreams but somehow, telepathically (I guess) I always seem to understand what she means to convey.

The times when I do dream of her, I wake up awash in emotions. I feel a certain closeness to her and I just wish that I could have had a little more time with her. When MaMa was alive, she was a stern woman and never one to show tenderness. She was a disciplinarian but she brought me up and imparted her knowledge accummulated from the school of hard knocks. Life was never easy for MaMa. She came to Malaysia in the early 30s with hardly a penny to her name. She met and married my grandfather and bore him 4 children. When my father was 9, my grandfather died in the hands of the Japanese soldier (during the invasion of Malaya). Since then she single handedly brought up her own children and also those of her sister and close friend (at one point there were 8 mouths to feed including her own!)

She came to me in my dreams again. This time with her bags packed and a sad feeling in the air. I asked her if she was going to visit my aunt in Sydney but she signalled 'no' and waved goodbye. She said nought a word but somehow I felt that it was our last 'goodbye'. Could it be that she came to tell me that she has gone on to her next re-birth and that she will no longer "visit" me?

I woke up with mixed feelings: sadness and yet happy that she has 'moved on'. I can only pray that she will have a good re-birth but if that is not her fate, then I pray that she will have the courage to bear it and to make the necessary "amends" in this re-birth to ensure a better one in the next life. I realise that I might have lost some of you readers at this juncture but all I can say is that as a Bundhu (more on this in my later entries), I am a staunch believer in "reincarnation".

Back to my grandmother... It remains to be seen if her message to me in my last dream was that of 'goodbye'. I will surely miss her more... ~Jas ("~)

A picnic @ Hulu Langat

2006-11-07T18:04:00.000+08:00

It was a bright and sunny Sunday. We had a week to plan this trip but the credit should go entirely to Jaclyn and Andrew for pulling it together. Afterall, they were the ones who mooted the idea, gathered the participants and prepared all the food. The rest of us just came along and helped carry the food up the hill.

And boy! was it a hike. It was a steep 20-minute climb. We had to take frequent breaks (and a sandwich each) to help us along! But the hike was well worth the labour albeit there was quite a crowd there already.

We were only too glad to dump our respective loads and Andrew wasted no time in unpacking (and showing off) our food. Lunch was served! A delicious packet of "nasi lemak" (a popular local fare of rice cooked in coconut milk with condiments) with a choice of either chicken or squid "rendang" *yum yum!* Dessert was a choice of bananas (the healthier option) or potato chips (the not-so healthy option). The hike coupled with the crisp forest and waterfall air worked up a good appetite and lunch was polished off in a matter of mere minutes.

After a hearty lunch, it was time to hit the water. The water was icy cold *brrr~!* but we soldiered on nevertheless. We are not going to let our hike go to waste! No sir-ee..! We'll splash around even if our faces turned blue. Fortunately, we live in a tropical climate and it was mid-afternoon thus we quickly got used to the biting cold and ventured to the cascades for a nice "massage" (,")

Aah... so much fun! Time certainly flew. Andrew brought a pail and fishnet and we went fishing and 'prawn'-ing.. eer... what's the correct term for catching prawns? further beyond the waterfall. This entailed another rigorous hike up a steep, dirt slope with only portruding rocks and tree roots as foot and hand holds. Our catch was dismal but the climb took us to several shallow pools of water fed by a serene, flowing stream hedged on either side by splendid old trees. The scenery was breathaking. If only we'd remembered to bring the camera!

Our last water activity for the day was to take turns sliding down the 'waterslide'. The 'slide' was hewn out of solid boulder rock. Not content to merely slide down alone, we tried many interesting 'combinations' of sliding including a 3-person up to 5-person 'train'. The air was soon filled with squeals of delight and excitement. You'd have thought we were behaving like a group of 10 year olds!

All too soon, it was time to pack up and leave, taking with us a cache of fond memories and lugging our tired bones down the steep slope. We are reminded that all too often, life passes us by on the fastlane. It is only when we stop long enough to take in the view is when our daily struggles seem to lighten and melt away. ~Jas (",) 05.11.2006~

GOD? Are you there?

2006-11-07T18:00:00.000+08:00

This entry is hosted on another site. Please click this link...
http://jasmine123.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog/2006/09/god_are_you_the.html

Wedding Belles

2006-11-07T17:45:00.000+08:00

I am attending a wedding this Sunday. The groom is a friend from a group of friends whom I've 'inherited' from an ex. My role in the wedding is to play 'ji mui' to the bride. It is a role which I am called in to play quite frequently these days.

I've got another two friends getting married on the same last Saturday of June. I know both the brides well. One is my friend from when I was sweet sixteen and the other is from my varsity days. I've been double booked on that day but fortunately, my varsity friend will have an 'encore' wedding reception back in our hometown on July 1. I've been asked to MC this event.

I've been invited to another wedding on July 8 in the Lion City of Singapore but I had to turn down the invite due to work commitments overseas.

When I attended another varsity chum's wedding in my hometown in May, I was pre-booked to MC at another mate's wedding in October. Since December 2005, I've also been 'summoned' to attend my ex-colleague's wedding in December this year.

Sitting here counting the number of wedding invitations I've received so far is daunting. There will be many more to come in the next couple of years as most of my friends of like age are settling down to wedded bliss and my services as 'ji mui' or MC will be called to the fore. I am running out of ideas to 'test' the groom's unrequited love for his bride. Just like I am running out of speech snippets for Chinese wedding MC-ing. There are very limited resources on the Net to this effect.

I am calling all readers who are experience or otherwise in either of these fields to please contribute your ideas for the benefit and greater good of all future 'ji muis' and Chinese wedding MCs. The grand plan is to gather all these ideas and organise them onto a website. Consider it as my contribution to the hoi polloi who are playing 'supporting roles' to the happy couple(s), traipsing down the aisle toward marital bliss. Please send all suggestions to ideas2me@gmail.com. No viruses, spam or offensive/malicious emails please. ~Jas (;") 09.06.2006~

iRK-ful

2006-11-07T17:41:00.000+08:00

I perch on my stoop in Starbucks, sipping Zen Green Tea and tapping out this entry while trying to calm myself and be less irritated by my run in with some ladies in the restroom earlier. Have you ever wished, especially those times when you've got an urgent call of nature, for someone to hurry up and finish their business so that you may conduct yours?

Thankfully I didn't have any urgent business to conduct this afternoon when this particular incident took place. I was waiting at the start of a row of restroom stalls when two ladies, offspring in tow, just stepped gingerly past me effectively cutting the cue, as if I didn't exist! When the second lady waltzed past, I looked her sternly in the eye and said "would you mind waiting your turn, please?" and guess what? She gave me this 'i-think-i-know-what-you're-saying-but-i-choose-to-pretend-i-don't' smile and proceeded into the next vacated stall. Hal-lo??!!

I don't mean to compare our rakyat's mentality with those of the west but I think these are very basic toilet etiquette that every civilised person should be aware of and observe. For one, you stand IN LINE while waiting your turn. Then there's 'please flush after use' and throwing foreign objects into the toilet cistern is a big no-no.

Living in Malaysia where certain cultures practise washing up (and I don't mean just hands) after a visit to the loo, I can live with the constantly wet and slippery floor of the toilet stall but having to play the 'try-your-luck-and-pick-a-stall' game is just TOO MUCH! Imagine if there's an URGENT call of nature and you've survived to be the next in line when these ignoramuses (or pretend-to-be) just step past you and proceed to occupy the first available toilet at your (oh my bladder!) expense. You'd be hopping mad.. well.. if you can hop with your bladder full that is :)

It's deplorable having to put up with a wet and dirty floor. Equally disgusting to find a toilet stuck with.. er.. rubbish. But cue-cutting is the LAST straw. I've witnessed arguments breaking out in toilets due to cue-cutting but generally, we Malaysians are a tolerant lot. However, this does not give the delinquents an excuse to pretend not to know. If you see a line at your destination, you take your place at the end of the line. Not in front.

I've heard radio advertisements educating the public on being 'curteous and not cut cue'. Can they also please extend the message for toilet cue-cutters? It's time for a mentality change and this should manifest itself in every aspect of our daily lives, not just on the roads, in the supermarkets or at the 'counter pembayaran' but at the parking lot (oh.. have I got a bone to pick with those lot stealers) and our public toilets.

Darn.. I've finished my tea and now feel a need to go to the restroom. What characters will I meet there this time :( ~Jas (-_-) 22.04.2006~

Valentine's Day

2006-11-07T17:29:00.000+08:00

That one special day in a year that men and women alike scramble to buy that perfect gift to express the depth of their feelings for each other. But that's not the point of this blog. The point is that Valentine's Day is not just about spending it with your significant other but it is a celebration of love and relationships. Love is not confined to the romantic type and relationships should not be strictly interpreted to be between two people in love.

Valentine's Day is a celebration of love for everyone that matters in an individuals' life, be it parents, siblings, friends or the sales person who attends to you at your regular lunch place ;)Given that this Valentine's will the first that I am celebrating with the new man in my life, it is made extra special with my mother calling me to wish me a "Happy Valentine's Day" and my friends sending me text messages throughout the day. Even Melvin, my regular HP notebook sales person at Low Yatt, gave me a box of chocies yesterday and the Starbucks Barista, Zainal, gave me a chocolate heart today when I got me afternoon cuppa (^_^) It's so nice to be loved and appreciated.

Whilst it is nice to receive gifts and flowers on Valentine's Day, I think the best feeling is to know that one is remembered and appreciated. It is always a pleasant feeling to hear the 'ding dong' of my phone signifying a message has arrived and reading it puts a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart. Guess I am simple in that way. Besides, I condemn all the over-sell and hype employed by florists, retailers and eateries in 'celebrating' Valentine's Day to the point of being over commercialised. The celebration of love is a very personal thing and NOBODY should be made to feel pressured to fork out shameless amounts of money just to show it.

So folks, don't need to despair if you haven't gotten the requisite bouquet of roses and candy/present for your sweetheart, instead, show them your sincerity by COOKING him/her a meal (just remember the candles) and please also don't forget your parents who are, essentially, your first loves in life.

Have a HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY and let not the celebration of love be only for this day ~Jas (",) 14.02.2006~

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

2006-11-07T16:50:00.000+08:00

I've been thinking of putting up a post for sometime now, but didn't really settle on a topic. Most of what I think to write about are nebulous and usually thought up during my drive to work, which by the way, can easily be derailed when some maniac haphazardly cuts into my lane whereby I'm compelled to H & C (honk & curse) ergo loosing my train of thought. Anyway...

Had a great 'ladies night out' with my chums from school last night. We're your average career women, replete in office garb and all. And I can't help but notice that the general the conversation centred around talk on the "hubby", "wedding plans", "property prices", "career prospects"... So far removed from when our topics of conversations were "have you done your homework assignment?", "guess who's having a crush on X? *gasp!* no way!!", "can you BELIEVE what a bore that teacher is?" so on and so forth. This makes me think of how far along my friendship with these ladies have come.

I've known two of them since I was in kindergarten. Gee... that felt like a lifetime away! (",) The rest were gathered from my early years of secondary school. When I think back to my formative years, my friends were a prominent feature in all of them. I can't imagine all the cuts and bruisess without them there to soothe and comfort me and sharing in on the accomplishments and credits. They've become like second family.

I might be a sentimental wuss but being the eldest of the pack, I can't help but feel a sense of nostalgic pride when I witness the marriage of my pals. Yes, I'm one of those who dabs furiously at my eyes at weddings. I remember the overwhelming rush of emotions when I witness Lisa sign her name on her marriage certificate. When I marry off my children in the future, I wonder if I will have the same feeling of relief, bittersweet happiness intermingled with a small sense of loss?

When I think back, I am thankful for being allowed into their lives. I never had siblings and they have been generous in sharing theirs with me. And likewise, I am glad they are in my life. I can go on and on and on with this but I will stop here. I just wanted to put it down on record, how much I appreciate all my friends not only the five ladies mentioned here, but everyone that I have met and became friends with throughout my life. ~Jas (,") 17.06.2005~

Telaga, Sabah

2006-11-07T16:22:00.000+08:00

Just got back from a remarkable working holiday. Well, if truth be told, it was more holiday than work. Stayed in a logyard near this really tiny village called Telaga, situated about an hour's drive away from Kota Marudu where for the most part of the journey was offroad 4WD driving.

Don't get me started on the scenery. It's as if I have landed in jungle swamp paradise. The view of the water from my bedroom is only best described by graphic representation, afterall a picture paints a thousand words. Check out the pix (,")

Had seafood everyday and spent most the day loafing around the quarters on the logyard, trekking along jungle trails enclosed on both sides by lush green acacia treas or climbing up the chipmill conveyor (definitely beats vegetating in front of the idiot box).

The sultry nights will find me, leg tucked under, sitting on the verandah/pier studiously tapping away on my mobile phone at the one of two locations in the logyard that has mobile network signal, vulnerable to the attack of little jetplane fighters (damn mossies!) if not for the saving grace of mosquito coils.

I'm looking forward to my next trip there this June. There, serenity envelopes me with each passing day...Can you spell B.L.I.S.S? ~Jas (",) 24.04.2005~

A Day Of Flower Power!

2006-11-07T14:23:00.000+08:00

Aah.. sweet memories! How I miss the crisp fresh air and the riot of colours at Keukenhoff. A visit to Lisse (the tulip region of The Netherlands) is not complete without paying a tribute to the tulips at this beautiful outdoor park. The park is only open for the Spring season from March to May and it features the exquisite blooms that is synonymous with this country in every imaginable shape, size and colour. On display are also other types of flowers but understandably the tulips are given centre-stage and pride of place.

The tulips are planted in clusters under trees, in interesting patterns. Almost all of them will sport an ID tag to identify the species and also the name of the grower and the district from which it originates. This serves as an exhibit if you may of the grower's latest offering to the gardening community. So I'd like to think of Keukenhoff as not just a garden but also a trade fair.

Walking around, my uncle spotted several patches of tulips from his district, Voorhout. Coming from a family of tulip farmers, he was naturally excited and insisted that they got the grower's name wrong. Yep! That's my Uncle Piet. He loves attention and as if stomping all over the grass near 'his' tulip patches is not enough (there's a sign saying "Stay Off The Grass") he even tried to attract the attention of the park attendants to correct their 'mistake'. *rolling eyes*

Featured around the park are sculptures and works of art by famous artists although, in my eyes, they are merely 'accessories' to the natural splendour before my eyes. This is truly God's best works on display. If ever you mention the 'Garden of Eden', this is how I would imagine it to be like.

After a full day of oggling and getting my neck twisted around in a knot, it was time to leave. Not that I wanted to, but my camera ran out of juice and memory to store all the images I captured. I bid farewell to my Garden of Eden, and returned home with a heavy heart. I made a vow that day. I vowed to come back with my family one day to share with them the splendour that is God's doing. ~Jas (;") 11.04.2004~

Stairs to... No Where?!?

2006-11-03T11:05:00.000+08:00

Spotted this while being stuck in a traffic jam getting from one meeting to another. Pretty strange if you asked me. Wassup with that la? ~Jas (,") 03.11.2006~