Thanks, y'all

Thanks, y'all

He made me wait up for him but I didn't last and dozed off in front of the tv. By the time he came back from JB, it was 3am, I think. He insist that I woke up. When he saw my eyes open, he pushed this clear plastic bag to me. I've seen that bag before... but where...?

I looked in. A clear box. There's something inside.... I struggled with the box. Heck, I just woke up... He opened it up for me. I think HE is the excited one. I saw it. OMG! It's what I've always wanted! A SWATCH SCUBA! The REAL one!

"From Daddy, Mummy & Me. From us," he said. "Happy birthday."

Gee, thanks.... Darn, I'm still sleepy. I hope this ain't all a dream....

"Oh ya. Got you tiramisu & choc. fudge cake." And pushed a small white box to me. Cute. But....

"Dude, you know what time is it now? You dun expect me to eat cream cake in the wee hours of morning dun' ya..? I'll eat it tomorrow, can??"

True enuff', before he left for work, I brushed my teeth and took out the cakes. Tot' he'll chomp it with me. He cut a small piece, fed me and said, "Nah, happy birthday, girl." Took a bite for himself and left for work. I finished both slices anyway. Gotta' please him.

He is, after all, my brother. My only sibling. My bestest friend. Love ya' bro. Love y'all. Thank you so much for the gift....

KL-Sepang '05

The tix n pass
Originally uploaded by crush-ice.

Heya, I'm back!
*warning* Looong entry ahead.

Actually since Monday... But damn tired, liao! Didn't wanna take leave on that day cos' there's a pile of projects waiting on my table and I reached home only at 2+am that Monday, meaning I'm left with less than 4hrs sleep.

Monday is already on my list of not-so-favourite day plus the exhaustion of being on the road for hours and the lack of sleep, I'm surprised that I was seated at my office desk that day. No mean feat, I tell you!

The trip was more than all right. Hey, after all, this is my very first trip to KL without my family. No such things as haggling for kains and other what-nots in Masjid India (the 'makciks haven'). We did make a trip down there but it's just different, if you get what I mean.

We didn't really get off on a good start. Some really cute planning by Tini & her fiance saw me with bleary eyes early that Friday morning when I met them at 2am for supper before setting off at 530am to JB. Then there's the wait for 'the others' a.k.a some 9 other bikes that last for all of an hour plus at the petrol station.

Then we kena stopped by the f***ing police (just a couple of them) who saw a 'big S'pore car' and negotiated with us to pay them RM50 and "they'll forget about the fine". What bullcrap! No speed detector, no camera and they say were going at 125kmph. Wah, so precise, ah?! You keep your detector in your pants, issit?!

Oh, that's not the only one. In fact there's another stop right after we left the rest area @ Air Keroh. Except this time, it's the 'real' one. You can see their superior (shoulder studs and all) over there and there are like a bunch of them. Kena a 'real' ticket this time. All the bikes kena stopped but only a few got the golden ticket. Heck! Just because it's the racing weekend, doesn't mean we're racing down the highway, okay??

That day alone, we got lost twice. One, while on the way to Sepang to purchase the tix. The other one is the cute part. A case of 'Soooo near yet, SOOOO FAR'. We missed the exit that will lead to our rented apartments by a mere 10metres or so but due to the peak hour traffic and the absence of a road shoulder, reversing is a big no-no so we drove into KL (during the peak rushing-home hour) and had to take a breather in the end by chilling at Dataran Merdeka (of all places) and take fotos... Eventful, huh?

In the evening, we called reception to book us 4 taxis but none wanna take us to Bintang Walk cos' that place is freaking jammed up so we have to settle with taking a cab to KL Sentral and take the monorail from Brickfields. By then, it's 9pm and everyone was famished. When they say they wanna eat Chicken Rice I was like.. huh? Come all the way to KL eat Chix Rice??? But the dish was a real kick-ass. Real Hainan taste. No regrets!

Planet Hollywood was ok. Play pool, chill. The music is sooo not my taste. Didn't dance. Can't even dance. Won't dance. Period. Too tired and sleepy. Left early. Oh, it was ladies nite so I entered for free!!!! The fact I have to show my IC amused me to bits. End of Friday.

Saturday morning, woke up and Tini was haggling Odi to go swimming. In the end he went to buy breakfast and Tini, myself and another gal plus a bunch of the guys jumped into the apartment pool. Kinda small but got mini waterfall and jacuzzi. Hah! The bonus? They actually reared some PENGUINS! Hahah! The pratas they brought back for breakfast was big-ass! Almost the size of an A4 paper.

Some guy was so stubborn he went ahead to Genting with a loose screw on his bike. Not surprisingly the screw came off so they had to send an xtra screw to him and sabotage our shopping plans. Dammit. Slept awhile (when I'm already all dressed up). When I woke up, they're still not back. Others slept while I watched this Hindi movie. Yeah, I'm VERY bored. I dun fancy such movies but what to do? TV has only 4 pathetic channels.

Oh ya, I recalled hearing some noise outside. One guy was banging on a door at the end, "Oi, open the door, lah oi!!!" He looked scary. Tall, big-sized, bald and clad in all black. Thing is, he's also in our group. So why the heck is he banging on THAT door?

Yeap, you got it right. He got the room no. wrong. Should see the look on his face when I looked at him from outside OUR door. Sheepish! Hee. Needless to say, 5 mins later the security came by..... That fella was hiding inside the bedroom, I think.

We had to skip KLCC & Times Sq. and head straight for Masjid India.... I dunno there's a freaking loooong bazaar there. My mum would love it but I was soooo... cheesed out. So much food.. all that din and the heat... Uuurgh! Dinner was at this Indian Muslim rest'n. They wanted air-con so we end up booking the whole room cos' there are more that 20 of us. The feast was... weird. I dunno, each one of us end up having different dishes on our plate. Like some mix & match game.

We skipped Petaling Street cos' this KL couple, Is & Julia that we hung out with-who is also our guide took us to this uber-cool bazaar at Damansara that opens after midnight and has a much better atmosphere. Friendlier sellers, trendier crowd, less noise and the place is spacious and open. I spent a lot there. Head back to our apartment at 3am. Started packing. We gotta wake up at like... 7????? Darn. End of Saturday.

Was woken up by this frantic knocking on the door. I was asleep on the sofa and was still stretched out when they guys swaggered in, all fully-decked in riding gear. WTF??!! Checked my hair. Phew, still in place. Gotta look cool, babe. Nobody wants to see a girl looking like a witch upon waking up. Put on my specs. and pulled my knees closer to the chest, looking like 'hey-I-just-woke-up-but-I-still-look-presentable-don't-I'? Ooooh, sexay! *Ahakz* Ignore those lines. I just woke up, remember?

The guys gonna find some good seats so they set off darn early to Sepang and they wanna fix up the banners as well. Enthusiatic fellas. By the time we awoke, washed up and checked our stuff, it was almost 10am. Ju & Is came by and we head for breakfast at this warung which seemed kinda' popular. Just look at the crowd! The Nasi Lemak is indeed kick-ass. All self-service. I was a bit worried thou, eating sambal in the morning. Luckily I didn't order coffee w/ milk. My belly sure can't take it.

Got into Is's & Ju's car. Deanna (who took a break from riding with her beau) & I started talking rubbish which spanned various, unrelated topics cos' we have this similar problem of talking crap when we are sleepy. Ju slept so Is ACTUALLY listened to our crappy conversation. He later told his wifey that we're 'gossiping'. Whatever, dude. By the time we changed currency, top-up petrol and manoeuvered our way to Sepang after making circles like 3x cos' we lost our way (live in KL also can get lost...), it was almost 2pm when we reached the race track. Darn hot! They other guys' mission to set off early was not wasted. We were directly facing the YAMAHA pit and both you and I know who's sitting in there. Yeap, Mr big, curly hair cum World Champion, Valentino Rossi.

My poor Daniel Pedrosa (of 250cc) was out of the race cos' he crashed. But he's still champ. Yeah! The atmospere was electric by the time they warm up the bikes' engines. That vroom-vroom from inside the pit was orgasmic! Heh.

The noise from the engines when they started racing took me by surprise. I was sure that the sensation felt in my ears was like my ear-wax melting (not that I have a lot). The rest, well you should have an idea, if you caught the race on tv, that is. The ooh-ahhs when Gibernau & Nakano crashed or the cheering when Rossi got in front.... Frankly, I would rather watch the race on tv. At least I have a clear idea as to what goes on at the rest of the track and not simply rely on what I see on that big screen or on the track in front of me. But the sound makes this trip worth it. Ear-blasting but niceee....

Was looking forward to meeting my friend there but seeing the crowd, I guess I just have to solely communicate with him thru' SMS. The weather was darn hot by the time the race ended. And the walk to the main gate was so darn far! Sure to get sunburnt. And the crowd in the souvenir shop was... Need I say more...? After that, we head for home.

Chatted with Cat in the backseat. Had some heart-to-heart talk and I was amazed at her EQ level! She's so darn good with matters-of-the-heart. We soon nod off and by the time we woke up, the car had stopped and we're at Pagoh, Melacca. Darn them! Never woke us up before stopping! I stumbled out of the car. FYI, I slept with my face looking out so EVERYONE can see me sleeping. Paiseh, man!

Best part, went to the loo and didn't realize that my fly was open till' we're off to JB. Arrrghh!!!!! I hope that happened when I got into the car... You know like, it opened suddenly.... I hope.

They can still chill and have supper @ JB when I have to work early next morning.... Dunno how I survived....

drats!

Drats, drats, drats!

I'm still in the office, gotta' purchase some necessities later after returning my library books, send my mum, fetch my pal, PACK FOR MY TRIP and then wake up at 4 freaking AM cos' I gotta meet my pal at 5 AM and set off by 530 cos' we gotta leave S'pore by 7.

Tell me... Do i have sufficient time for all this??!

Know what's dumb? Knwing that I'm running out of time and yet still have the cheek to blog. Pfft!

Gonna watch Motor GP @ Sepang. Woohoo!!!!

Will be back in S'pore on Sunday night/Monday morning. I didn't take leave for Monday. Goodness knows how I'm going to survive the blues....

Ciao.

lightning, tuna & tv mobile

At this rate, we won't be needing street lamps...

Until recently, I didn't know that I was THAT damn scared of lightning. Well, who won't be when they keep searing across the sky like...EVERY minute or so?
Geez, felt like some Hollywood star, all those light flashes coming at you, except that they come right from the sky. All thousands of kilowatts of them.

Especially those that happen when it wasn't even raining. Or like what I've been thru' twice, at twilight. Right after I stepped out of the office. Pfft.

*****
Either I stuff myself unecessarily or you start listening properly...

Geez, my bro & I had better improve on our communication techniques.... Just a moment ago, I saw him coming back with a loaf of bread and he told me he wanna make tuna sandwich (or so I tot').

I dunno what got over me; while running the anti-virus scanner on the PC, I proceed to prepare my fav. recipe of Grilled Cheesy Tuna sandwich for him. I actually finished preparing the WHOLE can, ok. When the aroma of grilled cheese & tuna start wafting through the house, my bro (sounding alarmed), asked, "Ti, what are you baking?!!"

"Your tuna, lor. I tot' you said that you wanna eat tuna sandwich??"

"That's for TOMORROW. To bring to work. You mean you are grilling it now???"

Erk....! I looked at the clock. *slaps forehead*
Clever, clever girl. What a smartass. Just who the heck would wanna eat ANYTHING past 12 midnight after having eaten dinner less that 3 hours ago??!

So my bro took it upon himself to gobble down the sandwiches cos' they've already been toasted and leaving them for tomorrow will mean that we'll be feasting on Grilled Cheesy Tuna CRACKERS instead. Besides, I have this personal policy of not consuming anything after midnight, unless I want to sleep right before 4am....

*****

Drats that TV Mobile!

Had I stayed longer on that bus, it would have been the first time I watched a full episode of Shooting Stars. Really!

My collegue alighted just 2 stops away from me and this lady was quick in taking over that seat before I could even shift my bum out. I sensed trouble as soon as I saw her eyes transfixed on the tv screen.

Heck, she was even giggling aloud at this kinda' cute scene where Olinda was daydreaming. As soon as she noticed me looking at her with that 'I-know-it's-funny-but-your-giggling-scares-me' look, she pretended to cough. Just how corny is that?!

And when I was already standing up, all poised to slip past her to alight, she was too much into the show to even hear my, "Excuse me" x 3. What the..? She's lucky she heard me clearing my throat (on purpose, of course) or I would have to resort to stepping on her toes to get her attention. She just had NO idea how far I have to walk, should I miss that stop.

*****
I remembered, sometime last week, my bro was urgently calling me from outside the gate, asking me to let him in quickly.

Seeing how restless he was and the fact that his keychain was sticking outta' his bag and yet he asked me to unlock the gate hurriedly, I assumed he need to use toilet a.s.a.p. Then he said (urgently), "Ti, Jamie Oliver! Quick!!!"

Huh? I just checked cable Channel 16 (Travel & Living) and it was the dudes from Surfing The Menu. What Jamie Oliver?? I just looked at him while he fumbled with the remote.

"Ti, Jamie Oliver! What channel?" So I told him the ONLY channel that played cooking programmes at that hour and true enuff', it was the 2 surfer dudes/chefs roasting some lamb somewhere.

"Where's Jamie? I just watched it! Couldn't have ended!" He was almost exasperated.

So I asked, "What channel was that?" He replied, "TV Mobile...."

I kept on staring at him with the, 'are-you-trying-to-kid-me' look until it dawned upon him that TV Mobile does NOT exist at ANY home. Unless u live at some government facilty complex or some other public place.

"Let me guess. U watched Jamie Oliver on the bus?" And I continued rubbing salt to the wound, "Try tuning to 89.3 fm. Maybe you can listen to him sputtering (like Daffy Duck) bout' his cooking over the airwaves..."

taking leave.

The past week had been a pretty tiring affair. A new major project came up; my collegue & myself gotta prepare dwgs and other stuff that's essential for the site measurements we eventually did of that particular 7-STOREY industrial bldg. Took us 3 freaking days.

3 days filled with bitter-sweet memories. Of dust & grime. Of office politics and bitchiness. Of exhaustion. Of the helpfulness and co-operation shown, the friendliness and the kindness of that gorgeous lady who went all the way to buy us 2 cans of coke from the vending machine. For that, I Thank You. It's been an experience.

**I dun' really fancy Coke but I was so touched by that sweet gesture that I drank it anyway. Needless to say, I burped all the way. Geez all that gas! I sure come across as someone with a severe case of flatulence...
*****
Taking leave.

After much deliberation/procrastination and thought, I finally agreed to join my long-time pal, Tini for the trip this weekend (after 19 years, it's finally our first overseas trip together!)

And today, I was supposed to inform my boss of my taking leave this Friday and boy, do I procrastinate! (FYI, it's really easy to obtain leave from my company cos' aside from my collegue & myself, it's just my boss & his wifey)
Had a briefing by my boss just now and I saw him delegating 4 DIFFERENT PROJECTS to be done by this week. *bangs head on keyboard*

I was panicking, cos' I really thought that I might have to discard the idea of going for this trip that I SOOO wanted to be part of. Whyyyy?! Why.... this week??!
Why not 2 weeks ago when I sure had no other plans and was rummaging around for ANY work to be done? When I was at loss as to what to do cos' there's just NOTHING to be done? Null. Zilch.

I dunno what happened then (cos' I kinda' got all woozy from all that panicking) but I think he was setting the datelines for the respective projects and when I heard him mentioning, "Friday," I immediately blurted out, "Oh dear. I forgot to inform you that I'll be taking leave this Friday..."

I complete that statement with this alarmed look plus the slight scratching of the head just so it will seem like something that had really slipped my mind and just recalled. Yeah rite! I was simply waiting for the right moment to inform him. Never thought that I've to put on a little act at the same time.... Geez!

He was surprised. Bet he was thinking that this employee of his has such an immaculate timing. "Ok.... So we push the deadline earlier..." Pause. "...Will you (by any chance) be in, Friday morning?"

That guy is seriously pushing his luck, here.

Mouth agape, (yes it's an act, so?) my mind start whirring back to the SMSes I received from Tini, telling me that we'll be setting off (very) early Friday morning. Before dawn, in fact. Cos' we gotta whisk that weekend-plate car thru' the customs before the clock strikes 7.
"Ermmm.... Nope. I'm taking the WHOLE day off."
Dun' make me tell you what time I gotta' get outta' this country....

Well at least now I know that I'm DEFINITELY going on that trip. *Toodle-dee-dum...*
I'm definitely elated-despite the fact that I'll be going on a full-force overtime all the way till' Thursday. Well, anything for a much desired break. Anything... *Tra-laa-laaa......*

Still awake??!

Erk...? Still awake??!

When I post my previous entry, I said I wanna sleep cos' I'm gonna be ready to drive out to j.b tomorrow. Look at the time now.

Why do I have to stumble into r*****'s blog and read it at this ungodly hour???
Cos' he's so obscenely funny, that's why. And his farnee posts are also so damn blardee long and related to one another that I can't help reading all at one shot.

My bro won't be back till' almost dawn so he will be zonked out tomorrow later. Meaning, I'll be the driver for the day. And I have to be awake like... in less than 4 hours? (if I ever sleep, that is) How to survive, like that?

KNNBCCB

Great. Now I'm blogging like him. Pfft.

traffic light

Title: (dumb) TRAFFIC LIGHT

I'm very much incensed with this stoopid telemovie I just watched on the M'sian channel TV3. The title? TRAFFIC LIGHT. Quite a dumb title huh?

Storyline: Guy likes girl. Girl like someone else. Dejected guy agreed to parent's choice and marry another. Girl realise mistake. Try to look for guy. Her boss confess to loving her. Always help her. SO CHEESY..! (yet I still watch)

But there are some philosophical lines voiced by the lead actor (guy who likes girl) peppered into the otherwise dumb script.Like how he told his wife, "What a blessing it was to be able to learn to love someone after marriage, cos' the love is more significant when you can learn to love someone whole-heartedly... (no holds-barred cos' they are married, after all...)" That's NOT what he said EXACTLY, but it's more or less like that. Hope you get the idea.

Another one is, "Life is like a traffic light. When it turns red, that's when you know you gotta stop." He quoted that when it dawned upon him that the girl he's after is not meant for him after all and decided to stop hoping for her to requite his feelings. "And when it turns green, you gotta' move on (with your life)..."

I assumed that's the reason for the dumb-sounding title of the drama.... That is-UNTIL I watched the ending. The DUMB ending.
... Girl saw guy (with his wife) driving off in his car. Girl took a cab and went after him. Car stop at TRAFFIC LIGHT (gettit???). Girl got off (she paid the cab driver, of course) and confront guy. They talked things out (all the while at that TRAFFIC LIGHT). Guy (his conscience clear) is honest and introduced his wife. Girl (a bit psycho) got into a state of denial and and stepped back.....

Yes, very predicatable isn't it? As always, when u r on the road what happens? Another car comes by (like...DUH!). Guy ran after girl. Saved her. Guy died. Poor wifey (pregnant, even!) had to see hubby die. Dumb. DUMB. DUMB! Why the TRAFFIC LIGHT???? No other place to talk things out, ah?

The best part is, poor wifey gotta' get on with life with a kid without her hubby. Psycho girl? She decide that the boss (yes, he's still in the picture) and her are meant for each other after all. She marry him. That is SO UNFAIR!!!!!

Did I say that this story is DUMB? Why did I even watched till' the END??!!!

Geez, being pissed does tire me out. Gotta sleep now (at the earliest time this week). Gotta drive into J.B tomorrow. Expecting to get stuck in a massive jam when I return (have to prepare for that). End of school holiday, what.....

PS: Does THIS DATE seem familiar, or what? PEACE.

The flying papadum

And the moral is...

Went to a jemputan a fortnight ago, (I know it's pretty long ago but I just recalled this incident just now and felt the urge to blog it out) where I saw some papadums (the Indian crackers, YUM!) which was placed on the dessert table (maybe the dishes table were full). I took some for myself. My parents were surprised there's papadums. Guess they didn't notice. I gave one of mine to my mum (I onli took 2).

Anyway, mum finished eating first but I'm still struggling with my food and I just finished off the last bit of my papadum. Wanna ask a favour from my mum to take some for me. However, seeing that she's started drinking, I held back and waited till' she's done.

While waiting, I overheard 2 makciks (aunties) talking loudly behind me, on how crowded it was and they needed to find seats (cos' they chose to get the food before getting a seat). Suddenly a gust of wind blew and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see who that was. No one. I turned back to face the table, and I saw A PAPADUM LANDING RIGHT SMACK ON MY PLATE!

I heard one of the makcik behing me saying, "Alamak, keropok aku terbang!" (Oh no, my cracker flew away!) So that tap was actually the papadum flying. Hee...

Dah rezeki aku agaknya (Guess it's my good luck, here). My mum was giggling by then while I was aghast. I looked at her and told her that I was ACTUALLY waiting to tell her to take a papadum for me and one actually LANDED on my plate!

Alhamdulillah. Maybe it's berkat Allah buat seseorang anak yg tidak lokek dgn ibunya sendiri dan sanggup menunggu dgn sabar sblm meminta sesuatu dgn ibunya. Ni bukan kes masuk bakul angkat sendiri, ok. Just tell y'all that all good things done will reap good outcomes. Especially to your parents. Syukran....

Question answered...

Another chance...

I decided to give my PC another shot. What gives me the drive to try it out is the fact that after I cleared the area (table, actually) up a bit, I have a decent workstation. No, really!

I used to sit on the corner of my bro's bed cos' it kinda' got in the way and there's no space to squeeze the chair in. The bed's pretty low so my hand is perched high on the table and it's pretty ridiculous, moving the mouse around in that position. Now, realizing that a sofa-bed is a sofa bed after all, I fold the bed up, shift it in and VOILA! I got space! Yee hah!

Ok, so my PC is still mute but who cares! I got more space! More DECENT space.
********
Question answered...
02092005

Every now & then, I tend to make daft decisions. You know, when you wake up one morning and realized you have no plans made with anyone so you decide to spend some time by yourself?

Yeah, last Friday, I decided to make my way to the library. I dunno why, actually. The date due for my books is 1 week away and I've already made plans to go with my cousins this weekend. I just feel like it.

So I wore my favourite shoes and lug the 3 thick books I've borrowed. I set my mind on heading to Marine Parade Library after work. I like it there. But I do contemplate on the new National Library, seeing that I've yet to explore more of that place... Nah, Marine Parade's nearer.

In the back of my mind I knew that 2 buses go to Marine Parade from Paya Lebar. When bus no. 70 came, I hesitated. Does this bus go there? *tried peering at the bus no. post*
Yeah, I remember a certain 70-ish no. Ah, whack it! I board anyway. Suddenly I heard a lady behind me asking the driver, "Does this bus go to Suntec?" Hmm... Fishy. I didn't stick long enuff' to hear the reply.

Somehow my instincts kicked in and I began to feel uneasy when the bus kept right after the Singapore Post bus stop. And I knew that I'm in for it when the bus really TURNED RIGHT instead of GOING STRAIGHT towards Katong. wtf??

It suddenly dawned on me that the bus that goes to Marine Parade is 76 and NOT 70.
That's it, girl. You've taken the WRONG BUS! *slaps forehead*
In my horror, I forgot to alight at the next stop and stayed put. It was already dark and I realized that I may not know where this bus is headed.

I recalled the question the lady asked the driver when she board just now...
Yess!!! SUNTEC! (but did the driver answered, "yes or no??")

So I've had my question answered. Marine Parade or National Library? The National Library, baby. The National Library.....

PS: The Nat'l Library is a mere 5-10mins walk from Suntec City....

When love & hate collide....

When love & hate collide....

I've always had a love-hate relationship with my home PC. And I'm hating it now. That's why I've not switched it on for almost 2 weeks. That also explains why I've not uploaded those 2-week old pics from my digicam and fone (and I was VERY trigger happy back then. Imagine the no. of pics I have to sort later...)

That clearly explains the lack of updates.

Same reason why some guys treat their mobiles like their gal, that's how I treat my PC. My baby... Maybe because it's the one thing that I paid for straight from my pocket that cost so much. Something that cost so much shouldn't give too much trouble, shouldn't it? Rite? rite...?

Bah.

Maybe I'm just miffed because the PC just isn't emitting any sound aside from those little beeps you hear upon start-up. Either the sound card or the speaker's down. Those hundreds of MP3s I have are pretty redundant unless I burn them into cds and listen to them mp3s on the radio. Dammit.