My poor mum tripped & fell this morning & dislocated her elbow. She was sent to hospital by an ambulance & got her X-Ray done. At first, the Dr can't see any fracture & as such put her on anaesthetic to relocate the elbow bones back in place.
She finished her op after lunch just now & did an X-Ray again after she woke up from the anaesthetic sleep. It was then tht the fracture was revealed... Errr.... actually not really a fracture. More like a piece of bone "chipped" off!
Fortunately the Dr say it should be ok to remove the chipped piece of bone without much harm to the future use of the elbow. However, you'll never know with Drs this days....
She's scheduled to be operated tomorrow to either piece back the bone / if tht's not possible, to remove the bone.
Hope she gets well soon from this ordeal without much side effects on her elbow....
Monday 29 June 2009
Friday 26 June 2009
The King of Pop Died!!!!
Unbelievable! The King of Pop Died! I mean the Legendary Michael Jackson! When I read it at 7am this morning, I thought it was an internet hoax (again.....)!
Like Ms. Storm said, she never expected to be able to see MJ die in our life-time.
I understand what she meant, cos' it's juzz beyond us to imagine tht a legend wud die (if at all), whatmore before us. Amazing tht he tried so hard / so many ways to remain youthful looking (like sleeping in a pure oxygen chamber - coffin like if u ask me), and yet died before actually turning old & wrinkly.
Call me sick lar... but am interested to know how he wants to be buried / cremated / hung over the clift of some Himalayan outcrop & left to "embalm" in the freezing weather / a huge musoleum with Terracotta figurines of Elizabeth Taylor (during her younger days) & his many "children".... I know... sorry... It was really nasty of me.... can't help it!
I used to like him a lot.... Beat It! Billy Jean! Thriller! etc... but post Blood on the Dance Floor..... errr.... let's just say his music & looks really veered off (actually looks wise, it veered off earlier... Still ok @ Thriller - dracula teeth & all). *I swear I'll be "visited" by him this evening if I continue on this "nasty" note.
Ms Storm also updated me tht Farah Fawcet died yesterday too... In her own words "what kind of crazy Thurs is tht huh?" Died of cancer after battling it for 2-years...
Thursday 25 June 2009
The Wonder That is Mother Nature
Antarctica Frozen Wave pix's - Nature is amazing!The water froze the instant the wave broke through the ice. That's what it is like in Antarctica where it is the coldest weather in decades. Water freezes the instantit comes in contact with the air. The temperature of the water is already some degrees below freezing. Just look at how the wave froze in mid-air!!!
Amazing Striped Icebergs
Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions. Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with melted water and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form. When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe. Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the
ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.
ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Book Review: Eleven On Top by Janet Evanovich
It's about a lady bounty hunter - Stephanie Plum who always seem to get herself thrown into garbage dumps / dodging bullets & basically throw herself into dangerous situations (most of the time unwittingly). She has a childhood sweetheart, Joe Morelli & at the same time is attracted to another cool, calm & collected bounty hunter, Ranger (just Ranger.... no surname & not even sure if tht's his real name! Bet it's a name to hide his real name tht's actually quite funny sounding tht he doesn't want ppl to know).
1 day she's just fed-up with tht kind of life & called it quits. She tried to change career, but not having any previous experience (besides hauling criminals), she had to start from the bottom (or as the way thing progressed - from the top actually).
1) A clerk in a button factory - should be a safe enough behind the desk job. But she lasted less than 24hrs because she refused to "provide" sexual favours to the boss. Along the way, she managed to "acquire" a few bullet holes on the back screen & body of her car (presumably fr her enemies)
2) Work in a laundrette - Kan Kleen, operated by a Mama Macaroni. (oh btw, her employment was automatically terminated when her employer got blown to bits thanks to the bomb planted in Stephanie's car, but Mama Macaroni decided to take over & drive instead. Suffice to say, despite Mama Macaroni's "bulk" there's not much left to be collected after the explosion).
3) With her "superb" track record of causing havoc in all her previous jobs, she had to move her career direction downwards... To be exact - down to the bucket, where she works as a "1-leg-kick" (Canto: Yat Kiok Thek, which means 1 person do all chores) in a fast food restaurant called Cluck-in-a-Bucket. She has to say corny stuff like "Thank you for visiting Cluck-in-a-Bucket. Have a clucky day!" & she has to cluck like a chicken for customers who asks for it (imagine tht happening in KFC... For the life of me I can't imagine someone wanting the order-taker to cluck). The last day of her employment, she was stationed at the drive-thru counter taking orders. It was her last day, because someone (1 of her "pals" she managed to cause some real injury in her previous job as a bounty hunter) pulled up the drive-thru counter & pass her a gift wrapped package (it ticked!). In panic, she accidentally threw the parcel into hot boiling oil tht was meant for frying chickens! Again in panic, her co-worker sprayed water from the fire-extinguisher. Kaboom!! Let's just say Cluck-in-a-Bucket became Cluck-in-ashes.
4) Trying to safe Stephanie from herself, Ranger offered her a position in his firm, running searches on ppl they had to catch / spy on / provide security for (Ranger is both a bounty hunter & a successful business man providing security & surveillance services). She borrowed Morelli's SUV to get to work, but being the disaster magnet she is, the SUV turned to dust along with his rickety garage when a bomb exploded as soon as Stephanie left the car to enter Morelli's hse (where she's staying until "things settles down"). So she ended up getting a Ducati fr Ranger (cos' any bomb planting will be obvious as there's no nook / cranny to hide it) & a loaded gun to protect herself.
She tried to solve the mystery of events tht happened to her lately. Someone seriously wants her dead - but who? She had a suspect, but he's supposed to be dead. Turned out she has been barking up the wrong tree & the mystery unravelled towards the end (of which she very nearly got killed if not for Ranger). Will not spoil the ending in case you want to read it.
Though it seems I have written quite a lot abt the book, but actually there are more disasters to check out tht I did not mention above. The ending was quite abrupt though. It was as if even the author is sick of coming up with more disasters & just decided to end it with Steph nearly got killed, Ranger saved her & the culprit reprimanded (oh not without the normal criminal spill their beans on why they do this / that... That is "sooooo..... normal" for criminals to do - i.e. explain themselves... being sarcastic there).
Overall an ok read, but pretty far fetched most of the time. Exaggerated version of a walking catastrophe.
1 day she's just fed-up with tht kind of life & called it quits. She tried to change career, but not having any previous experience (besides hauling criminals), she had to start from the bottom (or as the way thing progressed - from the top actually).
1) A clerk in a button factory - should be a safe enough behind the desk job. But she lasted less than 24hrs because she refused to "provide" sexual favours to the boss. Along the way, she managed to "acquire" a few bullet holes on the back screen & body of her car (presumably fr her enemies)
2) Work in a laundrette - Kan Kleen, operated by a Mama Macaroni. (oh btw, her employment was automatically terminated when her employer got blown to bits thanks to the bomb planted in Stephanie's car, but Mama Macaroni decided to take over & drive instead. Suffice to say, despite Mama Macaroni's "bulk" there's not much left to be collected after the explosion).
3) With her "superb" track record of causing havoc in all her previous jobs, she had to move her career direction downwards... To be exact - down to the bucket, where she works as a "1-leg-kick" (Canto: Yat Kiok Thek, which means 1 person do all chores) in a fast food restaurant called Cluck-in-a-Bucket. She has to say corny stuff like "Thank you for visiting Cluck-in-a-Bucket. Have a clucky day!" & she has to cluck like a chicken for customers who asks for it (imagine tht happening in KFC... For the life of me I can't imagine someone wanting the order-taker to cluck). The last day of her employment, she was stationed at the drive-thru counter taking orders. It was her last day, because someone (1 of her "pals" she managed to cause some real injury in her previous job as a bounty hunter) pulled up the drive-thru counter & pass her a gift wrapped package (it ticked!). In panic, she accidentally threw the parcel into hot boiling oil tht was meant for frying chickens! Again in panic, her co-worker sprayed water from the fire-extinguisher. Kaboom!! Let's just say Cluck-in-a-Bucket became Cluck-in-ashes.
4) Trying to safe Stephanie from herself, Ranger offered her a position in his firm, running searches on ppl they had to catch / spy on / provide security for (Ranger is both a bounty hunter & a successful business man providing security & surveillance services). She borrowed Morelli's SUV to get to work, but being the disaster magnet she is, the SUV turned to dust along with his rickety garage when a bomb exploded as soon as Stephanie left the car to enter Morelli's hse (where she's staying until "things settles down"). So she ended up getting a Ducati fr Ranger (cos' any bomb planting will be obvious as there's no nook / cranny to hide it) & a loaded gun to protect herself.
She tried to solve the mystery of events tht happened to her lately. Someone seriously wants her dead - but who? She had a suspect, but he's supposed to be dead. Turned out she has been barking up the wrong tree & the mystery unravelled towards the end (of which she very nearly got killed if not for Ranger). Will not spoil the ending in case you want to read it.
Though it seems I have written quite a lot abt the book, but actually there are more disasters to check out tht I did not mention above. The ending was quite abrupt though. It was as if even the author is sick of coming up with more disasters & just decided to end it with Steph nearly got killed, Ranger saved her & the culprit reprimanded (oh not without the normal criminal spill their beans on why they do this / that... That is "sooooo..... normal" for criminals to do - i.e. explain themselves... being sarcastic there).
Overall an ok read, but pretty far fetched most of the time. Exaggerated version of a walking catastrophe.
Technology Has Taken Over Our Lives!
Arrgghh!!! I can't send out a single work related e-mails & receive any e-mails. How to work like tht....
What's more difficult is to pretend tht I'm actually productive when I practically can't do anything without my e-mail. what to do.... What to do...
What's more difficult is to pretend tht I'm actually productive when I practically can't do anything without my e-mail. what to do.... What to do...
Monday 22 June 2009
Movie Review: Terminator: Salvation
Before even going for the movie, 9/10 of our friends told us tht the movie was lousy / doesn't meet the mark when compared to all the other Terminator movies. So we were debating whether to go or not for the movie.
Finally we went last Sunday & caught the morning show. Maybe I went in with very low expectation, so it did not turn out as badly as I thought. But my hubby still did not like it much. He still prefers the previous Terminator movies where it was non-stop action & thrill. This movie has its slow / boring moments.
Christian Bale's acting was really lifeless, expresionless & he alwiz have d same look whether when fighting / when his helicopter is crashing / when on a life/death fight wif d robots / when lie dying & Marcus (d hybrid) offered to donate his heart... Expressionless through it all! I'd thought he shud at least look grateful lar.... d guy is giving away his life leh! **shakes head**
I liked Marcus (dunno his real name). He managed to display some complex emotion at the right time. Some of the most notable scenes where I thought was particularly good were :
1. when he found out he's actually a machine (I actually scolded Christian Bale when he distrusted Marcus juzz cos' he's a machine. I think I actually said "Stupid" out loud without realizing & promptly sink down really low in my seat... hahahaha..... but no reaction fr the rest of the movie-goers though... so suspect they agreed.... :-p)
2. when trying to enter d gates of Skynet & d robot let him enter because he was a machine.... tht had a mixture of sadness & anger... I actualy felt sorry for him there
3. when he found out he was duped & he was actually sent by Skynet to infiltrate d humans
Overall? If not for Marcus, dun think I can find much to like abt d movie....
Finally we went last Sunday & caught the morning show. Maybe I went in with very low expectation, so it did not turn out as badly as I thought. But my hubby still did not like it much. He still prefers the previous Terminator movies where it was non-stop action & thrill. This movie has its slow / boring moments.
Christian Bale's acting was really lifeless, expresionless & he alwiz have d same look whether when fighting / when his helicopter is crashing / when on a life/death fight wif d robots / when lie dying & Marcus (d hybrid) offered to donate his heart... Expressionless through it all! I'd thought he shud at least look grateful lar.... d guy is giving away his life leh! **shakes head**
I liked Marcus (dunno his real name). He managed to display some complex emotion at the right time. Some of the most notable scenes where I thought was particularly good were :
1. when he found out he's actually a machine (I actually scolded Christian Bale when he distrusted Marcus juzz cos' he's a machine. I think I actually said "Stupid" out loud without realizing & promptly sink down really low in my seat... hahahaha..... but no reaction fr the rest of the movie-goers though... so suspect they agreed.... :-p)
2. when trying to enter d gates of Skynet & d robot let him enter because he was a machine.... tht had a mixture of sadness & anger... I actualy felt sorry for him there
3. when he found out he was duped & he was actually sent by Skynet to infiltrate d humans
Overall? If not for Marcus, dun think I can find much to like abt d movie....
Hepi Besday to Me.....
Hepi Besday to Me.....
Hepi Besday to Me.....
Hepi Besday to Me..... Eee......
Hepi Besday to Me..... :-P
Actually should post this article on 19th Jun.... But was too lazy to even go on-line, so only started writing now....
Wht I did on d day? Nothing much....
Eat....
Sleep....
A teeny-weeny bit of house cleaning
cook lunch for hubby
Watch TV
Sleep again
& finally dinner with hubby @ Alson Kelana's Jap Restaurant... Love d sashimi there.... smooch smooch smooch!....
for those who tried to call me but didn't get thru.... sowee.... must have fallen asleep / something.... then when I saw d # of miss calls.... errr.... nevermind.... :-p
Overall, it was quite a good b'day.... a quiet & relaxing 1... juzz d way I like it....
Hepi Besday to Me.....
Hepi Besday to Me..... Eee......
Hepi Besday to Me..... :-P
Actually should post this article on 19th Jun.... But was too lazy to even go on-line, so only started writing now....
Wht I did on d day? Nothing much....
Eat....
Sleep....
A teeny-weeny bit of house cleaning
cook lunch for hubby
Watch TV
Sleep again
& finally dinner with hubby @ Alson Kelana's Jap Restaurant... Love d sashimi there.... smooch smooch smooch!....
for those who tried to call me but didn't get thru.... sowee.... must have fallen asleep / something.... then when I saw d # of miss calls.... errr.... nevermind.... :-p
Overall, it was quite a good b'day.... a quiet & relaxing 1... juzz d way I like it....
Thursday 18 June 2009
Book Review: The True Naomi Story by A.M. Goldsher
This is A "Little Black Dress" Book where most of them are chick reads....
Naturally it's about Naomi. It's supposedly written by Naomi to give her version of her Biography vs. the many Biographies on her in the book store. Oh... u must be wondering who's she to get her Biographies written... forgot to mention she's a rock star. Or rather she & her band, consisting of Jen (keyboard, background singer & song writer for this band), Travis (bassist & Jen's bro), Frank Craft (drummer).
Some of the descriptions of the recording & the phases of development of their rock group are quite technical tht there are times I wonder if the write is also involved in the industry. Of course it's not all smooth sailing. It started really nice with best friends Naomi & Jen jamming together in Jen's room, both of them have supportive parents when they said they don't want to go to college (although their results certainly qualifies them), but tht bond disentangled as they shoot to stardom overnight. I won't tell the ending. Suffice to say it's a happy one.
Ok for some light reading...
Naturally it's about Naomi. It's supposedly written by Naomi to give her version of her Biography vs. the many Biographies on her in the book store. Oh... u must be wondering who's she to get her Biographies written... forgot to mention she's a rock star. Or rather she & her band, consisting of Jen (keyboard, background singer & song writer for this band), Travis (bassist & Jen's bro), Frank Craft (drummer).
Some of the descriptions of the recording & the phases of development of their rock group are quite technical tht there are times I wonder if the write is also involved in the industry. Of course it's not all smooth sailing. It started really nice with best friends Naomi & Jen jamming together in Jen's room, both of them have supportive parents when they said they don't want to go to college (although their results certainly qualifies them), but tht bond disentangled as they shoot to stardom overnight. I won't tell the ending. Suffice to say it's a happy one.
Ok for some light reading...
Wednesday 17 June 2009
To LV or not to LV
The other day, my colleagues shared a gossip tht our team member bought an LV for his girlfriend (not even wife yet mind you.... girlfriend) tht costs RM4k! It was not even a handbag.... It was a purse & it's RM4k!!
Wahhhh!!!! No wonder LV can't go bankcrupt here! I remembered as I cross Bkt Bintang, I was commenting, how come this shop is still surviving.... got ppl buy meh so expensive? My question was answered by tht purchase.
Imagine, even avg income working class ppl like us are also buying LV, what more the really super rich ppl... So it sort of justified the continuous existence of LV in KL. Though, I think it can only survive in KL. Try putting it in Penang. The only customers they'll be seeing are the look-see-look-see variety.
Some asked whether as women I'm jealous tht I don't get such presents. However try as I may, I can't work up any jealousy... I'm happy with wht I have. I don't need an LV bag anyway. A nice bag in my favourite design is fine by me. A brandless calfskin handbag is also a luxury (minus an LV pricetag). Diamonds are even better (which I was so touched when hubby bought 2 in total since we got married). So wht is there to be jealous.
The only down side? Well, now whenever I'm undecided whether I should buy a Snowfly on 30% discount, nett at RM154... I find myself saying "Heck! What's RM154/pair of shoes (& comfy 1 too) when someone is splurging RM4k on a PURSE!". Thank goodness I only thought of tht after I left the shopping complex. If I thought of it right at the time I was window shopping... am just afraid I'll end up buying stuff from the boutiques at the Gardens (i.e. Banana Republic, Longchamp, Coach, Massimo Dutti etc)! It'll be a serious case of penny wise pound foolish when tht happens... There goes my dream bungalow home in Seremban 2 (but tht... is another story)...
Wahhhh!!!! No wonder LV can't go bankcrupt here! I remembered as I cross Bkt Bintang, I was commenting, how come this shop is still surviving.... got ppl buy meh so expensive? My question was answered by tht purchase.
Imagine, even avg income working class ppl like us are also buying LV, what more the really super rich ppl... So it sort of justified the continuous existence of LV in KL. Though, I think it can only survive in KL. Try putting it in Penang. The only customers they'll be seeing are the look-see-look-see variety.
Some asked whether as women I'm jealous tht I don't get such presents. However try as I may, I can't work up any jealousy... I'm happy with wht I have. I don't need an LV bag anyway. A nice bag in my favourite design is fine by me. A brandless calfskin handbag is also a luxury (minus an LV pricetag). Diamonds are even better (which I was so touched when hubby bought 2 in total since we got married). So wht is there to be jealous.
The only down side? Well, now whenever I'm undecided whether I should buy a Snowfly on 30% discount, nett at RM154... I find myself saying "Heck! What's RM154/pair of shoes (& comfy 1 too) when someone is splurging RM4k on a PURSE!". Thank goodness I only thought of tht after I left the shopping complex. If I thought of it right at the time I was window shopping... am just afraid I'll end up buying stuff from the boutiques at the Gardens (i.e. Banana Republic, Longchamp, Coach, Massimo Dutti etc)! It'll be a serious case of penny wise pound foolish when tht happens... There goes my dream bungalow home in Seremban 2 (but tht... is another story)...
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Stuck in The Past at 30
Whenever people look at my CD collection or the songs tht I save in my MP3, the most common remark is - "Aiyo... You really stuck in the past lar"
But I can't help it.... I just love my
Whitney Houston
Celine Dion
Take That
Boyzone (I know.... Didie will say "Hah! Finally she admits Boyzone is good..." but... Didie u gotta understand... as much as I'm loyal to Take That, I'm selecting the best of several "evil" ppl call music nowadays)
Michael Bolton
Jerry Lee Lewis (I know... I know... some remarked with "huh? who?")
Dione Warwick (another "who?")
Boys II Men
and others seangkatan with them (i.e. I can accept new singers with the above type of music genre / style)
A friend tried to let me listen to Beyonce, Justin Timberlake (yuck! sorry Shree... didn't like your hearthrob), Bob Seger, Avril Lavigne, Jewel (I like....), Joss Stone & Juanes. Turned up with mixed feelings over it.... Liked some, hated some... oklar.... :-)
But I can't help it.... I just love my
Whitney Houston
Celine Dion
Take That
Boyzone (I know.... Didie will say "Hah! Finally she admits Boyzone is good..." but... Didie u gotta understand... as much as I'm loyal to Take That, I'm selecting the best of several "evil" ppl call music nowadays)
Michael Bolton
Jerry Lee Lewis (I know... I know... some remarked with "huh? who?")
Dione Warwick (another "who?")
Boys II Men
and others seangkatan with them (i.e. I can accept new singers with the above type of music genre / style)
A friend tried to let me listen to Beyonce, Justin Timberlake (yuck! sorry Shree... didn't like your hearthrob), Bob Seger, Avril Lavigne, Jewel (I like....), Joss Stone & Juanes. Turned up with mixed feelings over it.... Liked some, hated some... oklar.... :-)
Monday 15 June 2009
Dinner with a Difference
Last Saturday night, I attended a dinner at Serdang courtesy of my Sis-In-Law. Apparently she bought some tickets (RM1000/table of 10pax!) for a donation drive / something (or at least tht was wht I thought). Just before the dinner, I found out it's for the DAP Cawangan Serdang's 42nd Anniversary. Ok.... it would be interesting to listen to some of the speeches (the last I heard was delivered by Tony Phua @ PJ right before the Mar'08 election), so wht the heck.
After securing our table, the speeches started. There was the President of DAP Cawangan Serdang, the Serdang rep (ppl call her "cili padi" but can't remember her name - how embarrassing...), Lim Kit Siang, Tony Phua (my favourite orator...) etc was there delivering their speeches as well.
Things got rather uncomfortable when the speeches got heated with talks on :
1. the difficulty in getting permit to organize tht function, which is a normal annual dinner kinda thing - it's not a threat to the society... A peaceful dinner & yet can't get permit, where's the logic / fairness of the police (yikes!! & I was told there were some plain-clothed special branch policemen on parole around the area)
2. the police (Again!?! I dun wanna go to jail for this!) arrested the ppl who did peaceful protests by wearing black & carrying candles on the day of Perak's State Assembly in session - to commemorate the "death of democracy". Quoting a part of the speech "Why are the policemen not out there in full force to curb the high crime rates? Catch the real ppl of threat to the society like the snatch-thieves & burglars? What is so dangerous abt ppl wearing black & carrying candles?! There was no damages to Public properties / violent retaliation on the police force. It was a peaceful protests! So, if we have power failure tht day & had to light candles & co-incidentally was wearing black, is it fair to round me up without trial?!" (at tht time I was squirming a little cos' I notice a Malay guy taking pix of our table - yikes!)
3. The Port Klang Free Zone project - some details of the contracts signed, the ballooning costs & the fact tht the company who's developing this project belongs to a politician! The statistics is just mind-boggling tht if it's a private company, such Return On Investment - ROI will cause the project to be thrown out of the window. Imagine... it's said tht :
a) with the latest RM12.5Bln investment on this project, it'll be 2045 before we actually see the return (& none of us tax payers will be alive to see the fruit of our sweat & tears!)
b) the saving from not embarking in this expensive project would allow us to get abt RM500k per person (including infants)
c) we will be able to buy up Plus / other highways & make the major roads toll-free
d) the government could have provided subsidized water / electricity / utilities
and a bunch of other statistics I can't remember (Now tht's interesting....)
4. The Plus Highway & how we are paying through our nose (sorry, was not paying much attention at this stage... it was 11.30+pm already at tht time & the hall was stuffy, with the occasional wind from a fan nearby)
5. Misuse of Public property by governing parties. Rightfully under democracy, the public land & properties does not belong to the ruling party. It belongs to the people. It can be used by the ruling party for activities tht contributes to the ppl, but if it's for the ruling party's meetings, functions etc, tht would be misuse of public property because the public has the right to charge rent for such properties... (they quoted examples, apparently there's also a case where the ruling party was using a piece of public land for development of a Fun Fare where entrance fee are imposed & generating profits for some cronies... Now tht's new... I dunno abt tht....)
And many-many more that I can't recall, but was at times a bit exaggerating (except Tony's speech. His tends to be more factual where he proves every statement he makes with statistics & explain the source of his info).
With the heated speeches, I was just amazed tht there were no forced dispersement of ppl from the site / capture of the public speakers under ISA.
To be honest, as much as I think it's a good exposure, just to know what is happening in our country, I hate to feel threatened just because I'm listening to the "opposition" (depending on which state I'm in). Whether it's lies / the truth, I belief we're smart enough to filter. Why can't there be more transparency? Just let the "opposition" talk! If they are lies - what is there to be afraid of? (Quote Mahatma Gandhi "I may look despicable, but when the light of truth shines through me, I am invincible" unquote).
If there's even a slight feeling of threat / attempt to stop such functions (even if it's in the form of not issuing permit); the more it makes us think that there is indeed some truth in the opposition speeches, that's why the effort to subdue such messages.
We're still a long way from achieving the true meaning of democracy... where voicing opinion against the ruling party is not viewed as a threat to national security tht can cause another May 13th incident (tht ppl keep harping all the time), but rather a healthy debate to ensure our country prosper.
And stop the play of races unity bullshit. There never was a rift between races. My closest friends are Malays... (ok, even if there is, it's not as serious as wht everyone is harping abt). Someone needs to wake up & realize it's not issues of the races, but there are other more fundamental concerns that transcends race / religion. Chinese / Indians / the non-Bumis alone can't do anything in an election even if we were to 100% vote for the oppositions. Some of the Bumis needs to be in there as well to over-throw the ruling party. So STOP BLAMING THE NON-BUMI as being :
1) not patriotic
2) not loyal to the government
3) "tak mengenang budi" (hello!!)
4) "if not happy - you immigrants (i.e. Malaysian Chinese / Indians) can go back to China / India!" (yea.... & the Indonesians are more than welcome to take citizenship in Malaysia... so who's the racist here?)
Opps... got a bit over-heated there; but I'm just getting fed-up tht all I hear (from both sides) are accusation, yet I still can't see what has tht benefited the public at large. Just grow up!
After securing our table, the speeches started. There was the President of DAP Cawangan Serdang, the Serdang rep (ppl call her "cili padi" but can't remember her name - how embarrassing...), Lim Kit Siang, Tony Phua (my favourite orator...) etc was there delivering their speeches as well.
Things got rather uncomfortable when the speeches got heated with talks on :
1. the difficulty in getting permit to organize tht function, which is a normal annual dinner kinda thing - it's not a threat to the society... A peaceful dinner & yet can't get permit, where's the logic / fairness of the police (yikes!! & I was told there were some plain-clothed special branch policemen on parole around the area)
2. the police (Again!?! I dun wanna go to jail for this!) arrested the ppl who did peaceful protests by wearing black & carrying candles on the day of Perak's State Assembly in session - to commemorate the "death of democracy". Quoting a part of the speech "Why are the policemen not out there in full force to curb the high crime rates? Catch the real ppl of threat to the society like the snatch-thieves & burglars? What is so dangerous abt ppl wearing black & carrying candles?! There was no damages to Public properties / violent retaliation on the police force. It was a peaceful protests! So, if we have power failure tht day & had to light candles & co-incidentally was wearing black, is it fair to round me up without trial?!" (at tht time I was squirming a little cos' I notice a Malay guy taking pix of our table - yikes!)
3. The Port Klang Free Zone project - some details of the contracts signed, the ballooning costs & the fact tht the company who's developing this project belongs to a politician! The statistics is just mind-boggling tht if it's a private company, such Return On Investment - ROI will cause the project to be thrown out of the window. Imagine... it's said tht :
a) with the latest RM12.5Bln investment on this project, it'll be 2045 before we actually see the return (& none of us tax payers will be alive to see the fruit of our sweat & tears!)
b) the saving from not embarking in this expensive project would allow us to get abt RM500k per person (including infants)
c) we will be able to buy up Plus / other highways & make the major roads toll-free
d) the government could have provided subsidized water / electricity / utilities
and a bunch of other statistics I can't remember (Now tht's interesting....)
4. The Plus Highway & how we are paying through our nose (sorry, was not paying much attention at this stage... it was 11.30+pm already at tht time & the hall was stuffy, with the occasional wind from a fan nearby)
5. Misuse of Public property by governing parties. Rightfully under democracy, the public land & properties does not belong to the ruling party. It belongs to the people. It can be used by the ruling party for activities tht contributes to the ppl, but if it's for the ruling party's meetings, functions etc, tht would be misuse of public property because the public has the right to charge rent for such properties... (they quoted examples, apparently there's also a case where the ruling party was using a piece of public land for development of a Fun Fare where entrance fee are imposed & generating profits for some cronies... Now tht's new... I dunno abt tht....)
And many-many more that I can't recall, but was at times a bit exaggerating (except Tony's speech. His tends to be more factual where he proves every statement he makes with statistics & explain the source of his info).
With the heated speeches, I was just amazed tht there were no forced dispersement of ppl from the site / capture of the public speakers under ISA.
To be honest, as much as I think it's a good exposure, just to know what is happening in our country, I hate to feel threatened just because I'm listening to the "opposition" (depending on which state I'm in). Whether it's lies / the truth, I belief we're smart enough to filter. Why can't there be more transparency? Just let the "opposition" talk! If they are lies - what is there to be afraid of? (Quote Mahatma Gandhi "I may look despicable, but when the light of truth shines through me, I am invincible" unquote).
If there's even a slight feeling of threat / attempt to stop such functions (even if it's in the form of not issuing permit); the more it makes us think that there is indeed some truth in the opposition speeches, that's why the effort to subdue such messages.
We're still a long way from achieving the true meaning of democracy... where voicing opinion against the ruling party is not viewed as a threat to national security tht can cause another May 13th incident (tht ppl keep harping all the time), but rather a healthy debate to ensure our country prosper.
And stop the play of races unity bullshit. There never was a rift between races. My closest friends are Malays... (ok, even if there is, it's not as serious as wht everyone is harping abt). Someone needs to wake up & realize it's not issues of the races, but there are other more fundamental concerns that transcends race / religion. Chinese / Indians / the non-Bumis alone can't do anything in an election even if we were to 100% vote for the oppositions. Some of the Bumis needs to be in there as well to over-throw the ruling party. So STOP BLAMING THE NON-BUMI as being :
1) not patriotic
2) not loyal to the government
3) "tak mengenang budi" (hello!!)
4) "if not happy - you immigrants (i.e. Malaysian Chinese / Indians) can go back to China / India!" (yea.... & the Indonesians are more than welcome to take citizenship in Malaysia... so who's the racist here?)
Opps... got a bit over-heated there; but I'm just getting fed-up tht all I hear (from both sides) are accusation, yet I still can't see what has tht benefited the public at large. Just grow up!
Friday 12 June 2009
Experience of Using The Ovulation Kit
Before I proceed, excuse me if this article offends your sensibilities. I would like to forewarn, if you can't take the details, to stop reading now......
Man.... I thought taking my urine sample for the ovulation testing would be easy. But with me being diuretic (i.e. I need to pee almost every other hour), it's difficult! The kit's instruction says I must make sure I do not pee for 4 hours before taking urine sample for the test. They suggest mornings right after bed. Problem is, I woke up at 4am to pee, 6am to pee & 8am just before I start work I pee again.... All within the span of 2hrs.... & tht is with me refraining from drinking / eating (cos' food has water content too).
So I've been holding it now since 8am, not peeing, so tht I can take my sample at 12 noon. What a torture!!! & I've not even taken breakfast, just to stop liquid from flooding my "small" bladder!
What's worse, the instruction says I need to maintain relatively the same timing of day for all my tests. So if I do my 1st test on 12noon, I need to make sure all my other tests in subsequent days needs to be at around 12noon too. Ahhhh!!!!!!! Tht would be almost daily torture of no breakfast!!
I gotta seriously find a way to solve this problem... Wonder if with all my "holding it" for so many tests, my "south-region" organs & muscles may be better "trained" to "hold-it" better in future - so I don't need to take the "extreme" action of not ingesting anything, liquid / solids for the whole 4-hours duration!
Or maybe I should just find another ovulation kit... Maybe this is just the "cheap" 1 tht is more of an instrument of torture - since we're not paying the premium... (I wrote "cheap" cos' even the cheapest kit I can find costs about RM8/test stick - after discount mind you....). The other expensive ones can cost up to RM20/test stick. Bet tht type is hyper sensitive where u can pee every 15mins & still be able to take the test!!
Then again.... All of them had the instructions on a slip of paper in the box & not printed on the box... There must be a reason for tht... Yea... they don't want us to know tht we're supposed to be tortured to get tested.... :-p
Ok.... 10mins more & my torture will be over! It's now 11.50 & counting!.....
p/s: Fortunately I'm at home.... Otherwise my office mates will be wondering wht's happening to me "clamping" myself / wiggling on the chair all the time for the last 4 freaking hours... That would be embarassing....
Man.... I thought taking my urine sample for the ovulation testing would be easy. But with me being diuretic (i.e. I need to pee almost every other hour), it's difficult! The kit's instruction says I must make sure I do not pee for 4 hours before taking urine sample for the test. They suggest mornings right after bed. Problem is, I woke up at 4am to pee, 6am to pee & 8am just before I start work I pee again.... All within the span of 2hrs.... & tht is with me refraining from drinking / eating (cos' food has water content too).
So I've been holding it now since 8am, not peeing, so tht I can take my sample at 12 noon. What a torture!!! & I've not even taken breakfast, just to stop liquid from flooding my "small" bladder!
What's worse, the instruction says I need to maintain relatively the same timing of day for all my tests. So if I do my 1st test on 12noon, I need to make sure all my other tests in subsequent days needs to be at around 12noon too. Ahhhh!!!!!!! Tht would be almost daily torture of no breakfast!!
I gotta seriously find a way to solve this problem... Wonder if with all my "holding it" for so many tests, my "south-region" organs & muscles may be better "trained" to "hold-it" better in future - so I don't need to take the "extreme" action of not ingesting anything, liquid / solids for the whole 4-hours duration!
Or maybe I should just find another ovulation kit... Maybe this is just the "cheap" 1 tht is more of an instrument of torture - since we're not paying the premium... (I wrote "cheap" cos' even the cheapest kit I can find costs about RM8/test stick - after discount mind you....). The other expensive ones can cost up to RM20/test stick. Bet tht type is hyper sensitive where u can pee every 15mins & still be able to take the test!!
Then again.... All of them had the instructions on a slip of paper in the box & not printed on the box... There must be a reason for tht... Yea... they don't want us to know tht we're supposed to be tortured to get tested.... :-p
Ok.... 10mins more & my torture will be over! It's now 11.50 & counting!.....
p/s: Fortunately I'm at home.... Otherwise my office mates will be wondering wht's happening to me "clamping" myself / wiggling on the chair all the time for the last 4 freaking hours... That would be embarassing....
Funnies in the Court Room
I know it's totally weird to post e-mail fwds in blogs, especially when we already have tonnes of junk in our Inbox, but this is too good not to share. Some funnies in the courtroom :
These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters who had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks. ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan! ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam? ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-one-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty-one. ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you kiddin' me? ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Are you kiddin' me? Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Now whose death do you suppose terminated it? ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Guess.
________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work. ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people. Would you like to rephrase that? ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him! ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Huh....are you qualified to ask that question? ________________________________________________
--- And the best for last: ---
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
Goodness me! This is a good 1....
These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters who had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks. ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan! ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam? ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-one-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty-one. ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you kiddin' me? ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Are you kiddin' me? Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Now whose death do you suppose terminated it? ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Guess.
________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work. ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people. Would you like to rephrase that? ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him! ________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Huh....are you qualified to ask that question? ________________________________________________
--- And the best for last: ---
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
Goodness me! This is a good 1....
Thursday 11 June 2009
Bed of Roses - My New "Treasure" Trove
After an out of office meeting in Glenmarie sometime back, I got my colleague to drop me off at Subang Parade. So I was window shopping while waiting for hubby to fetch me from there.
I found this lingerie shop on the Ground floor of Subang Parade tht sells plus size lingerie. The designs looks beautiful & they are not as expensive as Marks & Spencers & the few other places where u can get comfy XXL knickers. They have many materials including soft, comfy laces tht doesn't scratch / lycra tht just stretches & stretches / plain cotton but extra soft. Most importantly, most of them are no VPL (visible panty line) types.
Of course it's not as cheap as Jusco where you can get huge cotton knickers (tht by d way, makes u look like a grandma) at RM10/5pairs, but we're talking abt quality & making a woman feel sexy (despite her size) baybeh.....
Ohh.... & I must tell abt their bras too.... They make your 2 "treasures" look firm & well lifted. They are mostly off-season stuff from Dorothy Perkins & some other brands I can't remember. However as usual - they had to snip off the labels - which is fine by me... No one is going to sneak under my clothes to find out wht brand of knickers / knackers (I mean... bras...) I'm wearing underneath. I'll just declare it in my blog, right here! :-)
So if any of you are on the edge of Plus Size (i.e. size 9/10 & above), this is a good place. They have small sizes right up to XS too, but they also have sizes way up to 16/18 if I remember correctly (& bras up to cup E!). Spent a bomb there, but after wearing them... well worth every cent.
I found this lingerie shop on the Ground floor of Subang Parade tht sells plus size lingerie. The designs looks beautiful & they are not as expensive as Marks & Spencers & the few other places where u can get comfy XXL knickers. They have many materials including soft, comfy laces tht doesn't scratch / lycra tht just stretches & stretches / plain cotton but extra soft. Most importantly, most of them are no VPL (visible panty line) types.
Of course it's not as cheap as Jusco where you can get huge cotton knickers (tht by d way, makes u look like a grandma) at RM10/5pairs, but we're talking abt quality & making a woman feel sexy (despite her size) baybeh.....
Ohh.... & I must tell abt their bras too.... They make your 2 "treasures" look firm & well lifted. They are mostly off-season stuff from Dorothy Perkins & some other brands I can't remember. However as usual - they had to snip off the labels - which is fine by me... No one is going to sneak under my clothes to find out wht brand of knickers / knackers (I mean... bras...) I'm wearing underneath. I'll just declare it in my blog, right here! :-)
So if any of you are on the edge of Plus Size (i.e. size 9/10 & above), this is a good place. They have small sizes right up to XS too, but they also have sizes way up to 16/18 if I remember correctly (& bras up to cup E!). Spent a bomb there, but after wearing them... well worth every cent.
Wednesday 10 June 2009
Book Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I was browsing an e-book site, searching for some interesting short reads while waiting for hubby to fetch me (yup. He'll be in KL for a meeting). Probably I picked the wrong site, but the selection of books are either non-fictions / classics rather than new writers (i.e. writers tht are still alive at this point).
Then I found this e-book. I was surprised to find tht it's only 18pages! Considering it's turned into a movie, I thought it'll be much thicker. Anyway, am not complaining cos' tht's about the right number of pages. Too long & I'll have to postpone the reading to tomorrow.
The idea of a person being born old & die a baby is interesting. However there are some parts where I wished the author could have elaborated more to give the story some logic (I mean as logical as a child born old can be).
1. How in the world did the mother delivered this child - Caesarean? How can he be almost adult size when the mother's tummy should be about normal size (otherwise they'd have put her in the hospital pronto!)
2. No mention at all about the mother. She died?
3. The relationship with his wife & the changes of heart as he gets younger could have been elaborated more
Irregardless, it's amazing tht the author can tell such a story in such a concise manner & still made it interesting without much elaboration. Probably the idea of being born old & die young is an interesting idea to start with...
Then I found this e-book. I was surprised to find tht it's only 18pages! Considering it's turned into a movie, I thought it'll be much thicker. Anyway, am not complaining cos' tht's about the right number of pages. Too long & I'll have to postpone the reading to tomorrow.
The idea of a person being born old & die a baby is interesting. However there are some parts where I wished the author could have elaborated more to give the story some logic (I mean as logical as a child born old can be).
1. How in the world did the mother delivered this child - Caesarean? How can he be almost adult size when the mother's tummy should be about normal size (otherwise they'd have put her in the hospital pronto!)
2. No mention at all about the mother. She died?
3. The relationship with his wife & the changes of heart as he gets younger could have been elaborated more
Irregardless, it's amazing tht the author can tell such a story in such a concise manner & still made it interesting without much elaboration. Probably the idea of being born old & die young is an interesting idea to start with...
Tuesday 9 June 2009
Book Review: Where Rainbows End by Cecilia Ahern
Am beginning to feel tht Cecilia Ahern is going to be 1 of those few authors I'll never be able to find anything wrong with every single book they produce.
This is another great book tht was hard to put down. The story was told based on a collection of letters, IMs, chatroom conversations, e-mails & even short messages in greeting cards. Marking each event throughout the lives of Rosie Dunne, her best friend Alex and all the other supporting characters - Katie (Rosie's daughter), Toby (Katie's best friend), Stephanie (Rosie's elder sis), Ruby (Katie's 2nd Best friend) etc etc.
The collection of letters / conversations etc were so intimate & all the characters are so well developed tht you really feel for them. Each succes, failure, loss, heart-ache etc are celebrated / mourned (depending on the characters - any mishaps on some scumbags like Katie's ex-hubby would spark jubilation!).
Basically it's abt Rosie & Alex who've been best friends since they were 5yrs old. They separated in their teenage, just a year before college, where Rosie remained in Ireland while Alex flew to Boston (his father had a promotion tht requires him to be based there). Over the course of time, they got married, have kids (not neccessarily in tht order... if u know wht I mean...), career ups & downs, divorce etc. Through it all, Rosie & Alex continued keeping in touch. Along the way they discovered tht they've fallen in love with each other but each didn't know tht the other felt it too. They thought it was only 1-sided, because everytime 1 of them picked the courage to express their feelings, the other is attached to someone else.
By the time they both recognized the love they carried for each other, they are well into their 50s... Tragic, but better late then never. Good thing is, Katie (Rosie's daughter) may have realized this earlier then her mum (hint.... hint.....)
Love it! The characters were so adorable & sincere I can just picture them! Contact me if any of you wanna borrow this (or any of the other books I've reviewed). Note the word "borrow"... Must return wan ar....
This is another great book tht was hard to put down. The story was told based on a collection of letters, IMs, chatroom conversations, e-mails & even short messages in greeting cards. Marking each event throughout the lives of Rosie Dunne, her best friend Alex and all the other supporting characters - Katie (Rosie's daughter), Toby (Katie's best friend), Stephanie (Rosie's elder sis), Ruby (Katie's 2nd Best friend) etc etc.
The collection of letters / conversations etc were so intimate & all the characters are so well developed tht you really feel for them. Each succes, failure, loss, heart-ache etc are celebrated / mourned (depending on the characters - any mishaps on some scumbags like Katie's ex-hubby would spark jubilation!).
Basically it's abt Rosie & Alex who've been best friends since they were 5yrs old. They separated in their teenage, just a year before college, where Rosie remained in Ireland while Alex flew to Boston (his father had a promotion tht requires him to be based there). Over the course of time, they got married, have kids (not neccessarily in tht order... if u know wht I mean...), career ups & downs, divorce etc. Through it all, Rosie & Alex continued keeping in touch. Along the way they discovered tht they've fallen in love with each other but each didn't know tht the other felt it too. They thought it was only 1-sided, because everytime 1 of them picked the courage to express their feelings, the other is attached to someone else.
By the time they both recognized the love they carried for each other, they are well into their 50s... Tragic, but better late then never. Good thing is, Katie (Rosie's daughter) may have realized this earlier then her mum (hint.... hint.....)
Love it! The characters were so adorable & sincere I can just picture them! Contact me if any of you wanna borrow this (or any of the other books I've reviewed). Note the word "borrow"... Must return wan ar....
Monday 8 June 2009
Hong Kong Biz Trip - Last Day
Again I had breakfast in bed (can't help it. I love being pampered.... :-p) before heading off to the short walk to Times Square again. We target to stop work at 11.30am so tht I'll have enough time for lunch & catch the plane back to KL. My colleague was kind enough to send me all the way to the airport by car because he stays near Tsing Yi (which is on the way to the airport). So he'd work from our Tsing Yi plant after dropping me off at the airport.
We finished around 12noon & was worried we'll be late & thought of skipping lunch (since b/fast was really good). But my HK colleagues are confident there's more than enough time, so we finally had the infamous HK Dim Sum for lunch somewhere within Times Square as well. It was really good, but I think Malaysian's Dim Sum (the high end restaurants tht is... not the cikai RM3/plate variety) are equally good (in taste & price!).
Off we rushed to the airport (no last minute shopping for me). It would have been an uneventful check-in & flight back if not for a "leak" tht was detected from the aircraft I was on board. Fortunately they found it when the plane was still on the ground & the plane was not cleared for take-off until the cause of the leak is found & repaired. The pilot was communicating to us over the PA system throughout the whole 1.5hrs delay - updating us on the status of the repair, while apologising profusely each time he's on air to update. Chronology of update :
1. Technicians found source of leak
2. Engineers inspected the leak & identified repairs / spare-parts to be obtained
3. Awaiting the engineers to secure the spare part required
4. The efficient ground crew & engineers of HK airport has finally managed to repair the leak. The flight is now fit for take-off (hurrah! ;-))
Throughout the whole announcements, I keep whispering inside - take your time.... no need to apologise. Just get me back in 1 piece & alive, I'm happy. Who cares if I'm delayed for 5hrs, rather than not arrive at all!
A lady sitting in the other side of the aisle was a bit worried though. She & her family were suppose to board a plane (Air Asia) fr LCCT to Kota Bharu. With the delay, she may very well miss her flight. So throughout the 1.5hrs wait, she was asking the steward on what can be done for her tickets (which understandably she was a bit agitated cos' she'll burn 4 Air Asia tickets because of this delay). As much as he tried to help, the fact tht it was Air Asia, the steward was not able to help her much (or at least tht was as much as I managed to pick - not tht I was eaves-dropping, but the conversation was occuring right beside me!). I was praying tht she'll not make a fuss because I don't want to put too much undue pressure on the steward, which will then transfer it to the pilot, which then transfer tht pressure to the engineers, who'll then do a shoddy job just to shut everyone up (I certainly hope not even if this does happen!)!
Sigh.... This happens too close to the Air France incident to bring comfort in air travels. However the fact tht I can relay this story on this blog, shows tht I got home safely.... :-)
Thanks to the engineers & all the working crew of the airline who helps ensure tht every aviation trip is a safe one. Am also glad tht I managed to always remember to tell my hubby I love him every chance possible... so even if (touch wood) anything happened, there won't be any regrets tht I didn't say this / express tht etc... etc...
Around 7.15pm, 4th Jun'09... Home Sweet Home....
We finished around 12noon & was worried we'll be late & thought of skipping lunch (since b/fast was really good). But my HK colleagues are confident there's more than enough time, so we finally had the infamous HK Dim Sum for lunch somewhere within Times Square as well. It was really good, but I think Malaysian's Dim Sum (the high end restaurants tht is... not the cikai RM3/plate variety) are equally good (in taste & price!).
Off we rushed to the airport (no last minute shopping for me). It would have been an uneventful check-in & flight back if not for a "leak" tht was detected from the aircraft I was on board. Fortunately they found it when the plane was still on the ground & the plane was not cleared for take-off until the cause of the leak is found & repaired. The pilot was communicating to us over the PA system throughout the whole 1.5hrs delay - updating us on the status of the repair, while apologising profusely each time he's on air to update. Chronology of update :
1. Technicians found source of leak
2. Engineers inspected the leak & identified repairs / spare-parts to be obtained
3. Awaiting the engineers to secure the spare part required
4. The efficient ground crew & engineers of HK airport has finally managed to repair the leak. The flight is now fit for take-off (hurrah! ;-))
Throughout the whole announcements, I keep whispering inside - take your time.... no need to apologise. Just get me back in 1 piece & alive, I'm happy. Who cares if I'm delayed for 5hrs, rather than not arrive at all!
A lady sitting in the other side of the aisle was a bit worried though. She & her family were suppose to board a plane (Air Asia) fr LCCT to Kota Bharu. With the delay, she may very well miss her flight. So throughout the 1.5hrs wait, she was asking the steward on what can be done for her tickets (which understandably she was a bit agitated cos' she'll burn 4 Air Asia tickets because of this delay). As much as he tried to help, the fact tht it was Air Asia, the steward was not able to help her much (or at least tht was as much as I managed to pick - not tht I was eaves-dropping, but the conversation was occuring right beside me!). I was praying tht she'll not make a fuss because I don't want to put too much undue pressure on the steward, which will then transfer it to the pilot, which then transfer tht pressure to the engineers, who'll then do a shoddy job just to shut everyone up (I certainly hope not even if this does happen!)!
Sigh.... This happens too close to the Air France incident to bring comfort in air travels. However the fact tht I can relay this story on this blog, shows tht I got home safely.... :-)
Thanks to the engineers & all the working crew of the airline who helps ensure tht every aviation trip is a safe one. Am also glad tht I managed to always remember to tell my hubby I love him every chance possible... so even if (touch wood) anything happened, there won't be any regrets tht I didn't say this / express tht etc... etc...
Around 7.15pm, 4th Jun'09... Home Sweet Home....
Hong Kong Biz Trip - Day 2
Day 2 & I was too lazy to go wandering the streets of Causeway Bay to find for breakfast. So I had Breakfast in Bed courtesy of Excelsior's Room Service! (boy.... this is so not the Hong Kong experience).... I ordered for it to be delivered at 6.30am so tht it can serve as a wake-up call as well. I guess the guy who delivered the food must be cursing cos' I asked for food to be delivered so early in the bloody morning when I'm not even awake to have it yet (judging from my disheveled hair)...
Anyway, after a most satisfying breakfast of eggs (sunny side up), pork sausages, grilled cherry tomatoes, muesli, danish pastries with assorted butter & jams, orange juice & hot chocolate - I felt like curling back in bed!!! Freshen up my face & slap on some make-up & off I left for Times Square again on on foot.
The discussions were good & I'm at least comforted tht the work indeed requires my travel to HK. Released some of the "guilt", tht I was spending precious travel budget for things tht can be done remotely via net-meeting; but it felt good to know tht I can say on my conscience tht it's less effective & more time wasted if we went on the option of me working from MY. I'll not understand what they want / the help needed....
For lunch we went to a Yunnan restaurant serving spicy food. It's right in Times Square. Because it was raining, we couldn't be bothered to waste time driving out. The food was quite good & it was packed! You can hardly find a place to eat without reservations!
By the time we finished it was around 7pm & was in no mood to continue working. So packed my bags & left to scout for places to eat. This time I asked my colleagues for recommendations. I was given 2 places in the World Trade Centre building tht is directly opposite to Excelsior Hotel. The first recommended place was a Japanese Restaurant, but there were abt 200+ waiting list number being handed out & I was number 100++. I couldn't be bothered to wait even if they said it was the best Tongkatsu in the whole of Hong Kong.... So I went scouting for the 2nd recommended place - a restaurant serving Shang Hai noodles & other specialties. It was just 1 floor below the Japanese restaurant but same phenomenon... 100++ ppl in front of me. My God!! & they said the economy was bad... These are considered high-end restaurants & we have 100+ppl lining out in front of it!
So I just randomly picked another Jap restaurant situated on the 13th floor, way above the shopping complex in 1 of the tower blocks. It serves grilled meats, so thought of splurging on Wagyu beef. It was quite good, but it's no fun grilling your meat on a hot grill alone & getting your mouth burned (alone)... Wished I brought my story book along.... Oh well...
After dinner (& after all the time wasted on finding for a place to eat), I didn't have much time left to shop. Was attracted by several shops but can't buy anything :
1) A shop selling Shoes & Bags on 70% discount.... but Nine West after 70% sale is still RM200-300 for something tht's not even leather & with killer heels that can either sprain your ankles / cause you to lose 2 front teeth on the sidewalk (knowing how uneven our sidewalk surface in MY is)... So no thank you....
2) FrancFranc - wow this place is heavenly! The designs are so beautiful, finishing well made, but the price is also sky high! I love the designs on the stationery, the glassware was classy & divine, the bath products (bath salts & aromatheraphy stuff) were so tempting! It took all my restraint not to splurge there. Walked out empty handed but am proud of it.
3) Sasa - yea.... I know we have Sasa in MY too.... but the prices here is CRAZY!! Imagine - Elizabeth Arden's 5th Avenue (75ml) is only RM50 & Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea (100ml) is only RM55! Regretted I did not buy more. I just bought a bottle each (5th Avenue for mum & Green Tea for me) cos' I thought there's only so much EDT tht a person can use.
The Green Tea fragrance brought back sweet memories.... :-) I remembered hubby (then b/f) loved tht fragrance very much. He used to hold my hands & later bring it over to his nose because he loved the fragrance so much (admittedly I was freaked out at tht time - "err.... why are u sniffing at me? Am not a bitch in heat ok!" hahahaha..... but now I thought the gesture to be so sweet.....)
Anyway, by the time I got back to the hotel it was about 10+pm. Just enough time to bathe & cuddle in bed for a midnight movie..... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............
Anyway, after a most satisfying breakfast of eggs (sunny side up), pork sausages, grilled cherry tomatoes, muesli, danish pastries with assorted butter & jams, orange juice & hot chocolate - I felt like curling back in bed!!! Freshen up my face & slap on some make-up & off I left for Times Square again on on foot.
The discussions were good & I'm at least comforted tht the work indeed requires my travel to HK. Released some of the "guilt", tht I was spending precious travel budget for things tht can be done remotely via net-meeting; but it felt good to know tht I can say on my conscience tht it's less effective & more time wasted if we went on the option of me working from MY. I'll not understand what they want / the help needed....
For lunch we went to a Yunnan restaurant serving spicy food. It's right in Times Square. Because it was raining, we couldn't be bothered to waste time driving out. The food was quite good & it was packed! You can hardly find a place to eat without reservations!
By the time we finished it was around 7pm & was in no mood to continue working. So packed my bags & left to scout for places to eat. This time I asked my colleagues for recommendations. I was given 2 places in the World Trade Centre building tht is directly opposite to Excelsior Hotel. The first recommended place was a Japanese Restaurant, but there were abt 200+ waiting list number being handed out & I was number 100++. I couldn't be bothered to wait even if they said it was the best Tongkatsu in the whole of Hong Kong.... So I went scouting for the 2nd recommended place - a restaurant serving Shang Hai noodles & other specialties. It was just 1 floor below the Japanese restaurant but same phenomenon... 100++ ppl in front of me. My God!! & they said the economy was bad... These are considered high-end restaurants & we have 100+ppl lining out in front of it!
So I just randomly picked another Jap restaurant situated on the 13th floor, way above the shopping complex in 1 of the tower blocks. It serves grilled meats, so thought of splurging on Wagyu beef. It was quite good, but it's no fun grilling your meat on a hot grill alone & getting your mouth burned (alone)... Wished I brought my story book along.... Oh well...
After dinner (& after all the time wasted on finding for a place to eat), I didn't have much time left to shop. Was attracted by several shops but can't buy anything :
1) A shop selling Shoes & Bags on 70% discount.... but Nine West after 70% sale is still RM200-300 for something tht's not even leather & with killer heels that can either sprain your ankles / cause you to lose 2 front teeth on the sidewalk (knowing how uneven our sidewalk surface in MY is)... So no thank you....
2) FrancFranc - wow this place is heavenly! The designs are so beautiful, finishing well made, but the price is also sky high! I love the designs on the stationery, the glassware was classy & divine, the bath products (bath salts & aromatheraphy stuff) were so tempting! It took all my restraint not to splurge there. Walked out empty handed but am proud of it.
3) Sasa - yea.... I know we have Sasa in MY too.... but the prices here is CRAZY!! Imagine - Elizabeth Arden's 5th Avenue (75ml) is only RM50 & Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea (100ml) is only RM55! Regretted I did not buy more. I just bought a bottle each (5th Avenue for mum & Green Tea for me) cos' I thought there's only so much EDT tht a person can use.
The Green Tea fragrance brought back sweet memories.... :-) I remembered hubby (then b/f) loved tht fragrance very much. He used to hold my hands & later bring it over to his nose because he loved the fragrance so much (admittedly I was freaked out at tht time - "err.... why are u sniffing at me? Am not a bitch in heat ok!" hahahaha..... but now I thought the gesture to be so sweet.....)
Anyway, by the time I got back to the hotel it was about 10+pm. Just enough time to bathe & cuddle in bed for a midnight movie..... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............
Hong Kong Biz Trip - Day 1 (Part II)
I checked in to Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay. It's the nearest hotel within walking distance to office, but the rates is pricey - HKD1,000 (i.e. abt RM500) per night's stay with no breakfast included! The service is superb though. I lost count of the number of times the reception says "Thank you" & "Miss Boey". She said it so often tht I grew dizzy fr it after some time. Good directions & complimentary maps to help me on my walk to office. Well with the price they're charging, they better at least have free maps! :-)
On the way to Shell Tower in Times Square HK, I "bumped" into Gigi Leong doing some event on stage with some fans. Wished I could stay but I was already late as it is. So I just caught a glimpse of her very tall & fair self, then rush off...
I also noticed tht although not everyone is using face masks (probably only those having flu / cough - which is very thoughtful of them), hygiene is certainly top in the agenda. Examples of the extent of their precaution:
1) Lift buttons are "sanitized" every hour & some lifts are manned by someone to press the buttons for you (this person wears gloves)
2) Around the lift area, you'll find an automated alchohol based non-rinsing soap / sanitizer to clean your hands
Anyway, by the time I was finally united with my host, thank God they confirm they had the charger tht I need. As for my lack of hp.... Well, maybe it's for the best.... No distractions during discussions (but sure miss talking to hubby in d evenings though).
In the evening, I wandered the area around my hotel for place to eat. As I only brought limited cash (HKD500 - reserved for taxi rides to airport etc), my options are limited to restaurants tht accepts credit card. So as much as I'd like to try the local cuisine tht costs HKD30 or less per bowl, I was scouting for the bigger restaurants. I found some neon signboards advertising Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai & Indonesian food & they are all on the 11th-20th floor!... Trouble is, I can't seem to find the entrance to this place. Found escalators... but I can't be going 20 floors by escalator! The lifts seem to be hidden.... somewhere....
So guess what.... Instead of a nice traditional Hong Kong style chinese food, I found myself in a Japanese restaurant called "Sen-Ryo". I consoled myself tht I know for a fact, Hong Kong has many good Japanese restaurants.... Maybe I got lucky & found 1 of those? Tough luck.... It was towards the end of the meal tht I found out it was operated by Genki Sushi.... sigh..... I can get this back home!!! Wel... there's always Day-2....
On the way to Shell Tower in Times Square HK, I "bumped" into Gigi Leong doing some event on stage with some fans. Wished I could stay but I was already late as it is. So I just caught a glimpse of her very tall & fair self, then rush off...
I also noticed tht although not everyone is using face masks (probably only those having flu / cough - which is very thoughtful of them), hygiene is certainly top in the agenda. Examples of the extent of their precaution:
1) Lift buttons are "sanitized" every hour & some lifts are manned by someone to press the buttons for you (this person wears gloves)
2) Around the lift area, you'll find an automated alchohol based non-rinsing soap / sanitizer to clean your hands
Anyway, by the time I was finally united with my host, thank God they confirm they had the charger tht I need. As for my lack of hp.... Well, maybe it's for the best.... No distractions during discussions (but sure miss talking to hubby in d evenings though).
In the evening, I wandered the area around my hotel for place to eat. As I only brought limited cash (HKD500 - reserved for taxi rides to airport etc), my options are limited to restaurants tht accepts credit card. So as much as I'd like to try the local cuisine tht costs HKD30 or less per bowl, I was scouting for the bigger restaurants. I found some neon signboards advertising Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai & Indonesian food & they are all on the 11th-20th floor!... Trouble is, I can't seem to find the entrance to this place. Found escalators... but I can't be going 20 floors by escalator! The lifts seem to be hidden.... somewhere....
So guess what.... Instead of a nice traditional Hong Kong style chinese food, I found myself in a Japanese restaurant called "Sen-Ryo". I consoled myself tht I know for a fact, Hong Kong has many good Japanese restaurants.... Maybe I got lucky & found 1 of those? Tough luck.... It was towards the end of the meal tht I found out it was operated by Genki Sushi.... sigh..... I can get this back home!!! Wel... there's always Day-2....
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Hong Kong Biz Trip - Day 1
Yesterday, 2nd June was my first of the 3-days tht I'm in HK for business trip. Quite a bumpy start to the day, because before I can even land on HK, I already forgot to bring along 2 things :
1) My h/p - used it as my alarm clock & after tht forgot to put it back in my h/bag... sigh....
2) My hp charger (;-p) am refering to the hp laptop charger... To lighten my laptop bag, I often removed the charger, since both my Cheras & PD home has chargers, so I don't need to carry it around. You know how heavy a charger can become when you're standing for about an hour on the train to Seremban?!
I was so worried tht the HK team has upgraded their laptops (like KL), cos' in KL it's impossible to share chargers in meetings when most of the others are carrying new laptops & mine (thank goodness) was still the older model. Why thank goodness? Cos' the new one is damn heavy & bulky.... I'll be drowned by the size of the bag!
Anyway, I'm digressing. Back to the topic. Nothing exciting after tht throughout the plane ride. Read a book - Cecelia Ahern, eat, watch a movie (Wall-E... I know, very kiddy... but...) & napped a little towards the tail end of the 3hrs 45mins journey. Ppl used to say, "haiya! a few mins shy of 4-hrs only!!", because our company policy says, when travel over 4-hrs, staff gets to sit biz class. I don't mind though... To be honest, even 4-hrs is not worth biz class.... You don't get to enjoy the extra service much + I can bear with the lag of leg room when it's 4hrs journey (but of course, tht's because I don't have tht much legs to "store" anyway... hahaha). Am digressing again...
Then I reached the airport. The signage was superb! KLIA should learn from them. I went through immigration, bought the airport express train to HK station & found the platform to the train easily! Best of all, immigration was a breeze. The minute there's a flood of passangers, I saw with my own eyes, men / ladies personel starts entering the cubicles to start processing entries (unlike MY). Upon reaching HK station, I was told to take the cab. However I found a free ride to the hotel tht I'm staying. So I thought I should take tht, check-in & walk out again to Times Square where Shell HK is located. Boy! Bad move... It's good when you're on holiday. But when you're going for a biz meeting, it sure is not relaxing to see the bus go from 1 hotel after the other & still not arriving to yours. It was about 40mins later tht I reach the hotel (when I'm sure it takes say 10-15mins direct drive?). So.... I sheepishly entered Shell HK very late & my host - very worried (I forgot my hp remember?)... sigh.... all in a day's work.... (& actual work has not even started yet!!) :-p
Ok.... Serious meeting going on. Will update the evening activities & Day 2 events later.... Bye....
1) My h/p - used it as my alarm clock & after tht forgot to put it back in my h/bag... sigh....
2) My hp charger (;-p) am refering to the hp laptop charger... To lighten my laptop bag, I often removed the charger, since both my Cheras & PD home has chargers, so I don't need to carry it around. You know how heavy a charger can become when you're standing for about an hour on the train to Seremban?!
I was so worried tht the HK team has upgraded their laptops (like KL), cos' in KL it's impossible to share chargers in meetings when most of the others are carrying new laptops & mine (thank goodness) was still the older model. Why thank goodness? Cos' the new one is damn heavy & bulky.... I'll be drowned by the size of the bag!
Anyway, I'm digressing. Back to the topic. Nothing exciting after tht throughout the plane ride. Read a book - Cecelia Ahern, eat, watch a movie (Wall-E... I know, very kiddy... but...) & napped a little towards the tail end of the 3hrs 45mins journey. Ppl used to say, "haiya! a few mins shy of 4-hrs only!!", because our company policy says, when travel over 4-hrs, staff gets to sit biz class. I don't mind though... To be honest, even 4-hrs is not worth biz class.... You don't get to enjoy the extra service much + I can bear with the lag of leg room when it's 4hrs journey (but of course, tht's because I don't have tht much legs to "store" anyway... hahaha). Am digressing again...
Then I reached the airport. The signage was superb! KLIA should learn from them. I went through immigration, bought the airport express train to HK station & found the platform to the train easily! Best of all, immigration was a breeze. The minute there's a flood of passangers, I saw with my own eyes, men / ladies personel starts entering the cubicles to start processing entries (unlike MY). Upon reaching HK station, I was told to take the cab. However I found a free ride to the hotel tht I'm staying. So I thought I should take tht, check-in & walk out again to Times Square where Shell HK is located. Boy! Bad move... It's good when you're on holiday. But when you're going for a biz meeting, it sure is not relaxing to see the bus go from 1 hotel after the other & still not arriving to yours. It was about 40mins later tht I reach the hotel (when I'm sure it takes say 10-15mins direct drive?). So.... I sheepishly entered Shell HK very late & my host - very worried (I forgot my hp remember?)... sigh.... all in a day's work.... (& actual work has not even started yet!!) :-p
Ok.... Serious meeting going on. Will update the evening activities & Day 2 events later.... Bye....
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