Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Translate this into Cantonese:

Wish you Horse Arrive Work Done
Step Step High Rise
Year Year Got Fish
One Road Smooth Wind
Heart Think Work Done
Dragon Horse Sperm God

Gong Xi Fa Chai!

“Reunion” lunch

Ray is already off for his CNY break while I’m still keeping to my working hours. Since I won’t be seeing him during the CNY period, we met up for our very own “reunion” lunch today. I brought him to a hidden stall in town which a colleague highly recommended. It was our first visit and since Ray was hungry, he ordered the stall’s entire menu! Before you think we’re gluttons, I have to clarify that the menu had only 4 items.

We had steamed rice with these:

Our lunch spread

The famous vinegar pork - the stall’s signature dish.

Steamed herbal chicken.

Lettuce with oyster sauce topped with fried onions.

Soup – with innards and chicken feet in it. Tasty!

This is the “secret alley” where this stall is located, on a road perpendicular to Jalan Gereja in KL.

Initially, when the man served us our order, he seemed surprised that we ordered all 4 dishes available and he even commented “4 dishes ah?” But we did not let any go to waste, except for the chicken feet found in the soup.

All gone.

Oh, guess how much it cost us for all that with tea? RM20!! Happy and full with a simple and delicious meal, Ray packed me back to work. *burp*

Hold your fire!

Catching only about 3 hours sleep last night, I feel like I’m walking on cloud nine today. Thank God traffic eased off a little bit this morning. Otherwise I’d be caught fast asleep waiting in jams. Came into the office feeling relaxed. It’s Friday and eve of CNY eve. OK, so I have to work for 3 hours tomorrow, so it’s not exactly the last day of work for me. But I can’t help but feel unmotivated to work today. I went about doing what I have to do in the quiet office with sleepy eyes and a wandering heart.

Suddenly, a big fight erupted between The Man and The Boss. It was amusing for me because it’s my first time witnessing their fights. My longer serving colleagues, on the other hand, are quite immune to their ways. The Man was even more hostile to The Boss than he behaved with his victims. He hurled offensive profanities like there was no tomorrow. The Boss plays it cleaner with no profanity rebuttals. Maybe it’s because Boss always has the upper hand in all situations by virtue of being Boss?

Anyway, it was top-notch yelling from both sides, at least by my standard. By now, the office was even quieter than before. But no, you can’t hear the sound of a pin drop amidst the heavy blasts of the bloody battleground. When the gun-fires reached its peak, someone bravely put a foot forward and tried to calm The Boss. It didn’t really work. After a few more exchanges of ammo, The Man finally walked off in defeat, doing his infamous huffs and puffs as he stormed away.

I am now totally awake.

Post war comments:
No matter what I think of The Man, I gotta say I salute him for his “healthy” attitude. Moments after his big episode with The Boss, he’s already calmed down and laughing heartily on the phone. Perhaps he’s good at compartmentalising his emotions. That is something I ought to learn.

Everybody loves hampers

As a practice, all festive hampers sent to the office are gathered and opened for lucky draws. Each item in the hampers is labelled with a number and we'll each get a chance to pick out little cards with numbers written on them. With that, we claim our matching numbered gifts.

At the stipulated time after the lunch hour, everyone began queuing to get their gifts. Some were happy with their goodies and some were negotiating exchanges amongst themselves. But at the end of it, everybody went away happy, clutching their prized possessions. It reminds of of the simple excitement you see in children but often lost in adulthood.

Nothing from the hamper was spared – the baskets in which they came in were also snatched up! You’ll be surprised how many people actually hoped to get one of those baskets. They seem to be the hottest items instead of the food stuff. Amongst the food stuff are things like mushrooms, biscuits & cookies, mandarin oranges, essence of chicken, wines, sparkling juices, some herbal stuff like ginseng and what-have-yous, and a whole lot of sweets and snacks. There were also some very symbolic items like a pair of rice bowls with chopsticks!

Anyway, above all else, there's cheer and colour in the workplace. That's the spirit of CNY.

No more banking on Saturdays

This morning's headlines was to declare a "Five-day week for banks". The way I see it, bankers will be overjoyed and doing the Chicken Little dance to celebrate the news. But there are many people who're not happy with the decision because they no longer wake up early on a weekend, beat the jam, hunt for a parking and queue for a half hour to get their banking done.

On the radio this morning, callers were upset about how it's an inconvenience to them that bankers don't work on Saturdays. But there're all sorts of facilities that you can easily do without having to have a man/woman behind the counter:

1. You can transfer funds or do interbank transactions to pay your loans and credit card bills from your internet/desktop/mobile banking.

2. If you don't want to pay the interbank charges, fair enough. Just post a cheque.

3. If you need to bank in cash or cheques, there're those self-service terminals nowadays.

4. You can request the bank to post your cheque books to your home or office address and not go to the bank to collect.

On the other hand, your inconveniences would be:

1. Can't update your bank savings book but you get regular bank statements anyway.

2. If you need to withdraw more than the daily limit allowed on the ATM.

The National Union of Bank Employees made a statement to say that the non-working Saturdays is good for the bank employees to rest and go for holidays. The angry customers, however, think otherwise.

My personal take on this: Put yourself in the position of a banker and see how you feel having to work on Saturdays and having difficulty planning your holidays with your family because you need to serve everybody else. And, it comes with no extra pay or overtime.

Victoria's Secret - every girl's favourite?

Victoria's Secret, is it every girl's favourite? We don't have any VS outlet here in Malaysia, but someone came up with Women's Secret to match. Not a close match at all, though.

I used to know someone who flipped through the catalogue every other day and eventually went online to purchase something. For her to purchase online was a big deal because she was kinda computer illiterate. See what VS products can make you do, part with good money over the internet.

I'm also "guilty" somewhat, because I subscribe to its newsletter and they recently posted me a copy of their latest catalogue. I've also spotted Princess Poo Poo watching Tyra Banks model for VS and pondering if that's the secret to a guy's heart.

Now I'm beginning to wonder, is VS really a favourite amongst girls or is it because they're appealing to the guys and that's why it becomes a girl's natural choice?

A load to clear

For my own peace of mind, I need to get this off my chest. I don’t care if others think I’m being rude and rebellious.

No matter how God wants to make us good people, there are some sick-os who like to make things difficult for others and create trouble out of nothing. I have encountered such a beast man who picks on his victims whenever he feels that life is too peaceful for the victims. Unfortunately for me, I am also one of his many victims.

In the beginning, I endured his bullying and kept quiet whenever he was nasty to me. I even pitied him and consoled myself that he’s behaving so badly because he doesn’t get any warmth and love at home. But his constant bullying was too much for me and I concluded that even love can’t cure this man of his sickness. I decided enough is enough.

I no longer stand silent and let him abuse me with his sharp tongue. Whenever he comes near me, my defences are up no matter what comes out from his mouth. I have learned to treat him the way he treats others, returning his sarcasm, glaring back at him and my tone contain absolutely no friendliness. If a smile were offered to him, it is a cynical one that translates to saying “I don’t give a damn what you say”.

Arguing to defend myself against his accusations don’t work even if I’m 200% correct. Doing that only frustrates me even more and he seems to find satisfaction in driving me up the wall. The more you clarify, the more accusations he throws at you. It doesn’t matter that each accusation doesn’t relate to his original point. And if you think that you’ve won justifying yourself when you see him walk off, you’d be dead wrong. When he senses that he’s losing his own battle, he marches up to your boss and starts the whole accusation episode of your “crimes”. So now you’ve gotta defend yourself all over again to your boss and he’s just standing there, mocking you.

A well-meaning colleague advised that in order to soften him and lessen the abuses, I should be nice and pull a girlie-stunt (i.e. to act manja) on him. That is something I cannot do. Absolutely not! Not only will I be a hypocrite to myself, but I have too much pride to treat him like a king. Good thing is that since I stood up to his bullying ways, he’s lessened his abuses on me.

In the end, does he get what he wants? Sadly, yes. He derives satisfaction from your misery and even if you manage to get an “acquittal” of your so called “crimes” in his eyes, he’s probably laughing inside to have put you through all that stress.

I’ve never met a man as unbelievably nasty as him. Well, maybe I’ve not met all the world’s people. But at this moment, he rates No. 1 on my Evil Chart. Being born in the year of the Snake, I’m a vindictive person so I pray to God that he knows his limits with me before his nice car loses all 4 tyres!

First class resume

Are you good at writing a catchy resume that stands out from everyone else even though you've been ordinary at what you do?

Have you bought any books that teach you how to write winning resumes?

Have you sought help from friends or experts in generating a perfect resume for that job you really wanted?

Did you subscribe to services the likes of Jobstreet to improve on your resume?

Sometimes, the simple truth prevails and catches the most attention. And that's how ordinary people get hired for an extraordinary job. Don't think so? Read this resume (click to enlarge and then expand image):

Friends will be back!

Recognise these faces? They keep me from boredom and even offer a few laugh. They are readily welcomed into my home anytime. In fact, I collect the VCDs and DVDs and watch them over and over and I'm still not bored of them.

So when I heard on the radio news this morning that the group has agreed to come back and make 4 special 1-hour episodes, I was thrilled to no end. I'm one of the biggest fans of this group, and I can't wait for the new specials to be released.

I once saw a Friends trivia book and picked it up just to see how well I do. To my surprise, I could answer everything from the various seasons! That's when I knew I spend way too much time watching and rewatching them. Yupe, I'm that lunatic a fan.

Anyone who's a fan who'll join in my delight in the return of Friends?

Engaged Encounter

Our Engaged Encounter (EE) course during the weekend went great. Without knowing much about it, we attended with open minds and our expectation was that it will bring about more good then harm. Glad to say that our expectation was met.

I think many couples wouldn't have attended this course were it not made compulsory. And since people were "forced" to go, they might as well make the best out of it and I think most couples benefited a little something from it, if not wholly.

During our stay, we were with 29 other couples. For me personally, it was heart warming to see a group of 60 people breaking out in pairs during meal times, walking hand in hand and just being in the presence of each other. Of course there were times when people mingled in larger groups, too.

This is the first time I attend a course where you are not regarded as an individual. We were always regarded as a pair and even our name tags and files had 2 names on them.

Though our ultimate goal of was to get our EE certificate, I think we've got more than just the signed paper. We've got a clearer perspective and understanding of ourselves as an individual as well as a couple. It was also a safer ground to be completely honest and vulnerable to each other.

Generally the environment was a pretty happy one, being around people who are in the same transition in life, moving on the next stage. We had many light-hearted moments between the two of us and also as a group. It helps that the couples and even the facilitators and priests have a good sense of humour.

I wish the rest of the couples out there the best of their lifetimes to come.

The Dress

Warning: Guys, this topic may make you very uncomfortable and ruin the rest of your day. So if you think you can't stomach this post, don't read further. It's about that White Dress that women wear on That Bachelor Destruction Day.

End of Warning. Abort Reading Now.


Last night I watched a few minutes of a program on TV about a mother-daughter team who design and make wedding gowns. There was one particular part of the show where they dressed a girl up in a wedding gown and showed her how the gown was in fact a 3-in-1 piece; a classic wedding dress, an elegant evening gown and a lovely off-shoulder knee-length dress.

It transformed into each of the 3 different pieces simply by using velcro to attach and detach parts of the dress. Brilliant! The father of the bride-to-be was so awe-struck that he immediately wrote out a cheque despite his earlier protests in not wanting to buy her the gown.

Wedding gowns in Malaysia costs a fortune and that's why most women don't buy but rent them. In the West, I believe the dresses are a lot more affordable (if you look at dollar to dollar, without converting to RM). Plus, the designs there are much better too. They do get EVERYTHING, don't they?

From what I've observed, there aren't many simple gowns in the market here. I've seen some simple and classic ones but surprisingly they cost more than the elaborate ones. Is it true that less is more?

I have quite simple taste, and find these to be my dream dresses from David's Bridal:

Aren't they beautiful? =) *Dreamy*

I bet Ray hasn't dared venture reading past the warning paragraph at the beginning of this post. Poor fella, he's attending EE with me tomorrow. Almost sealing his fate. Wish him luck, will ya?

Anti-snatch bags

Jomel has recently related an unfortunate incident of a snatch theft. Today, featured in the Star newspapers is the launch of an anti-snatch handbag. Apparently, the strap, once pulled on, will detach and the bag falls free. I’ve seen these bags in malls before, and though it did seem like a good idea, the designs didn’t tempt me at all.

Anyway, the company selling these bags has also thrown in insurance for death, permanent disablement and medical expenses. So they’re selling you more than just a bag, huh?

Snatch thieves are getting more violent by the day, perhaps it's relative to their desperation. People are getting knocked over with a helmet or slashed by parang before their bags are snatched. It’s sad that it’s no longer safe wherever you are.

We’ve heard of so many cases and some of which even happened to people we know. Yet, I still see many women walking on pavements with their handbags casually slinging on their shoulder facing the outer side of the road, making them easy prey for passing motorists. Sometimes I am like that too, when my mind is wandering and I’m in a world of my own. We really should be more alert and careful.

Questions, questions, questions!

In my line of business, I know and understand the need to be very mindful of details and gathering knowledge/info is the only way to get down to everything. But what I had to do today was somewhat overboard, maybe even obsessive.

All day long I’ve been staring at a document of questions that’s 18 pages long with a whopping total of 153 questions to be answered. And that’s not counting some sub-questions within a question. It’s dreadful and my eyes are sore. When I lean back in my chair and stare at the document on my screen, I’m close to seeing an image like this:

Bad news is that once I'm done with it, I gotta repeat the same document for the next project!

My oh-so-tired eyes need something else to feast on to “correct” my vision. But what?

The signs don't lie

Before the year ended last year, I already felt that I was putting on extra layers. Half the time I could convince myself it was merely optical illusions. You see, I'm not the type who puts on weight very easily so I was a little nervous about it.


Then came Christmas break where I had a solid week of food, food and more food. Soon after, the signs of my horizontal growth could no longer be taken for any optical illusions.

Here are some big fat hints that I could not argue with:

1. I stepped on a weighing machine and it read a higher number compared to just before Christmas.

2. My watch, which I've been wearing for 6 years, suddenly got so tight on my wrist that it was very uncomfortable. I had to bring it to a shop to have it adjusted to a longer length.

3. My pants felt tighter when I wore it in the mornings, BEFORE any meals!

4. My mom, who was away for some time, came home and said "You've put on weight!" just by looking at me.

I thought I could easily loose the weight but it's proving to be harder than I thought. Nonetheless, I don't think I'll put myself on a diet or workout. Maybe those KGs could stay and I'll have to start making sure I don't keep "layering" myself, especially when Chinese New Year is less than 2 weeks away.

What I've been up to

Been quiet the last few days enjoying leisurely time doing the following:

1. catching up on sleep
2. eat - my craving last weekend wasn't chocolate cake anymore. It was "siew pau"!
3. finished reading the last of Dan Brown's books (when's his next book anyway?)
4. watch cats fight, play, groom, sleep
5. watch TV
6. play sudoku

*Stretch*

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to catch up on emails work. :)

Fashion sense

Today we were each given a red scarf with our company logo printed all over it (thank goodness they are in small prints). We were told that we’re encouraged to wear that every Monday, like how the guys have to wear the company tie on Mondays. I’m not gonna be caught wearing it unless it is made compulsory. I’ve got 2 good reasons why I’ll never be seen with it:

1. That bright shade of red just doesn’t go with me
2. I don’t wear scarves

Anyway, out of curiosity, I searched around (after all it’s Friday and no one is really in the mood to work) and found the various ways to wear a scarf. I’m not a very fashion conscious person and won’t bother to take great pains to dress up, but I just want to see what kind of fashion parade I can expect to see around the office come Mondays.

Here are some I found:

Long tie style

Ascot wrap

Cowl style

Used as a knotted belt

Bandana wrap

Two-shoulder wrap

Neck wrap

Apart from the different ways to wear them, there are also many different ways to knot a scarf. I remember learning them some 6 years ago during one of those compulsory Grooming Course I had to attend. But I’ve forgotten them all seeing that I never made use of that knowledge.

Well, good to know at least some ladies in the office can have some fashion fun with the scarf.

Wake up call

I've always wondered this:

How does a hearing impaired person wake up since he/she can't make use of an alarm clock?

I've been asking around and most times the first answer that comes along is to use the vibrate function on a mobile phone. But aren't we forgetting that there was a time when we didn't have mobile phones?

Anyone knows?

Words of wisdom for car owners

A responsible guy on the road is trying to impart wisdom to other car owners (click to see larger picture & please bear with the reflection in the picture).

*Picture courtesy of Ray who was fast enough to spot the car and learned a thing or two from those few words.

P/S. For the record, I've never driven his car!

All work & no play makes Eternity a dull gal

I’ve been obsessed counting the working days for January and February. There are only 18 working days for each of these months for KL offices. For those of you workaholics and those who don’t know what to do if not at work, then sorry. But for me, it’s a “bonus” for the next 2 months.

Not only do I work that 18-day month, I am also scheduled for training programs for both months. That reduces my working days even more. On top of that, boss will also be away for an entire week at end of next month! Yippee!! Which “lucky” firm hired me, you wonder?

However, this “windfall” is only for the first two months of the year. After that it’s back to an occasional day off here and there. But wait, let me calculate my balance of leave. I’m determined to work hard and play even harder!

Chocolate passion

It started with a colleague offering cakes around the office. When my teeth sunk into the chilled chocolate banana cake, I was dead impressed and savoured every bit of the remaining slice.

I didn't have enough of it and I bet there wasn't enough to go around the office anyway. After finding out from my colleague where she got the cake, I bugged Ray on Saturday night at about 2a.m. to take me for cake the next day!

He had to agree, otherwise he won't get any sleep with my bugging. So on Sunday we set out early to have my car serviced and immediately headed into the Golden Triangle. It was jammed but he patiently drove me there.

The cafe is called West 57th St. Cafe, by Zang Toi. It's on the 1st Floor of Sungai Wang, opposite Padini store. It was previously in Lot 10 but they no longer serve food in that fashion boutique.

Anyway, here's what I've been craving for:

Chocolate cake with chunky bananas

Ray had it topped with ice cream

Plate is cleaned till the last drop

It was a little different from the one I had earlier - it was served warm when we ate in. I preferred the chilled one without ice cream. Nevertheless, it was still satisfying. The cake texture is soft and the chocolate is rich. So rich that we couldn't have dinner till it was supper time.

For now, my chocolate cake craving has been well satisfied and I promised Ray I won't be bugging him at wee hours of the morning for it again. After all, it did set us back RM30 for our slices of cakes and drinks, so it won't be a frequent visit.

Blood is always thicker than water

...intimate girl-talk, secrets and hopes exposed...

Last night the 4 of us cousins met up for dinner. Everybody have been busy with their own lives and we seldom meet for many reasons and often made complicated by our own circumstances; one doesn't live in this country, another has husband and baby to care for, and the other two just working and minding their own daily lives.

We were close in our very much younger days but grew apart during our teenage years. It wasn't until 4 or 5 years ago that we made more effort to meet more often. By then we were all grown up and have experienced many bitter-sweet moments in life.

All through dinner, we caught each other up on many things. We updated our past happenings, how we've overcome things and moved on, shared our future plans and even some family secrets.

It surprised me that even after being apart for so many years, we could so naturally talk about many intimate things that we would not talk about even with close friends.

It made me realise that some bonds will never cease when it comes to blood relations. We can be strangers for years but it doesn't take much for us to rekindle that lost time.

Anyway, whenever we meet up I always feel very comfortable and happy sharing, listening and laughing together. They're like the sisters I've never had. I don't have any siblings, so they are the closest to siblings that I can ever have. Have I been missing out on all that blissfulness of having siblings? I think so.

Fluffies & Such

I used to collect soft toys of any kind. As I got a little older, my favourites were Tatty Teddy, Winnie The Pooh and Forever Friends.

They used to be painstakingly arranged on my bed, and yes they took a good half of it. Wonder how I slept on it? Ahh...that's a secret.

Anyway, this post isn't about my fluffies because I no longer keep them. Donated most of them away and erm, kept just a handful.

However, I do know *someone* who still enjoys them and proudly displays them in her car. Let's take a peek into her car to see where she fits them in, shall we?

On the rear mirror

On the dashboard

Hanging down from the rear mirror

Slid into the side bar at the door

A huge one has gotta take a back seat

I wonder if there will be more to come... =)

What a break it was

During the week-long Christmas break, we went down south to Muar, Malacca and Singapore. The highlight of the entire week was FOOD! As a result, I've gained 2KGs already. Luckily, I also loose weight quite easily. All I need is to purge all day and the extra weight's gone (sorry, gross eh?).

Most of the time we digged in when the food was served, so there aren't any pictures to show for our meals. Except when someone got curious and kindly helped me take the pictures of the famous Malacca chicken rice balls being processed.

A bucket of rice waiting to be turned into rice balls.

That's one...

...and many more...

Fishballs or rice balls?

Cendol for dessert.

During our day-trip to Malacca, this boy caught my eye. Look at him go! Has he got style or what?

Stylo milo!

Then we headed into Singapore amidst all that jam just to see the Christmas lights. Alas, it was a disappointment. It wasn't as great and all the same along Orchard Road. I personally think the lightings on Centrepoint, where Robinsons is, was better than the ones on the streets.

Anyway, loaded with love, food and not to mention Christmas goodies, we headed back to reality and now it's back to work, work, work and more work!

The year that was

How quickly the year 2005 went by. I'm sure we each have our stories to tell, lessons to remember and memories to keep close to our hearts. Some are bitter, some sweet. But that's life.

Personally I have a lot of people to thank for making my life just that much more colourful and meaningful: meeting new friends; finding long lost friends; unforgettable working trips to West Africa; and coming to terms and resolving some troubled areas in my life.

Anyway, I was told that this year is the Year of the Dog. My "princesses" were wondering when the Year of the Cat will come. I don't have the heart to tell them that there will never be one. Nevertheless, we welcomed the year 2006 together last night at 12.20a.m.

They don't look very pleased, do they?

Prue & The Slave

Piper forced by The Slave to say hello

Phoebe getting a New Year hug from The Slave