My cravings for the day

Out of nowhere, I started craving for tea-break today. And what I wanted was good old cream crackers with kaya spread generously on it. The perfect way to wash it down is with a cup of hot tea. Mmmm...

*Slap slap slap*

Had to wake up to reality. Where on earth can I find that in the middle of the day while stuck in office with a thick pile of documents waiting? :(

The mystery behind coincidences

I tend to believe in strange things. One of the things I believe in is that there isn’t so much of a thing called coincidence. Ever since I read the book Celestine Prophecy years ago, I bought the idea that whatever you chance upon, or rather whatever you think you chanced upon, is in fact a planned event by the universal powers beyond. So whenever a coincidence occurs to me, I tend to reason out why it happened. But I’ve never been able to find a good rationale.

In the last 8 months or so, I’ve had many chanced encounters with lots of people who have at one point or another graced my life. Be them former workmates, school friends, fellow sportsmen/women or university friends, I’ve bumped into them after years of losing contact. Just over the weekend, I bumped into 6 people. That to me was quite extraordinary because I’m the type who hardly ever bump into friends on the street. And the best thing I find about rediscovering these friends again is that we could almost pick things off where we left them.

Some of these “coincidences” that have happened to me are quite uncanny, too. Not only will I soon end up working in the same building with someone whom I used to work with, but we’re going to be based on the same floor! How odd, considering that we came from different industry backgrounds, so to speak, and I would never have thought of us being in the same company again.

And speaking of oddities, some 2 years back I traded in my old car at a shop in Subang Jaya. Months later, I saw that very car of mine parked in my office building in KL! The new owner of the car happens to work in the same building as me. Seriously, what are the odds of that?? But you know what? If I were to buy lottery tickets, I wouldn’t even get close to lucky. I can’t explain it.

I guess some “coincidences” are hard to explain and beyond my understanding. Perhaps I should just take things as they come and enjoy life’s little surprises. If something is meant to happen for a reason, so be it. Que Sera, Sera.

How do you cure a TV addict?

Most people I know hardly ever touch their TV sets. And yes, this includes those who have Astro channels at home, too. I, on the other hand, am just the opposite. I don't even install Astro at home and yet I'm occupied most nights glued to the TV.

On Monday nights, I watch CSI and Ghost Whisperer.
Tuesdays will be Without A Trace, Simple Life and Desperate Housewives.
Wednesday nights are the only nights I find nothing interesting on.
Thursdays are interesting with Commander in Chief and America's Next Top Model.
Friday nights are Friends and Survivor.

All in all, I spend 8 hours watching all that in a week. Quite a big waste of time but hey, I'm an addict. How do you pull an addict away from the idiot box? The only way I could think of is to wait for all these series to come to an end. But then again when they do, maybe the new seasons of Smallville and Alias will be on to take their place...

Oh my gosh... Listen to the addict talk! Unstoppable!

New toy, new distraction

It’s been a little while since I posted. I haven’t been all that busy. Distraction is the more like it. About 10 days ago I made an impulsive purchase. I bought a notebook. When I got home, I was so excited to configure the wireless router so that I could go online anywhere in the house. Alas, it didn’t work and I had to wait a couple of days for help to arrive. In that time, I busied myself loading my new toy with files I’ve been storing on my portable hard disk and customising it the way I like.

I’ve always shared the home computer and it didn’t feel like it’s mine. Of course the computer in the office is mine to use but never one that I want to store my personal things in. So with this new toy in hand, it feels very comforting that IT’S ALL MINE!

Now, with the wireless router up and running, I’m extra productive at home. I watch my TV programs, keep an eye on the cats running about and surf the net all at the same time, in the same room. I think it’s now even harder to get me out of the house. I’m anti-social enough as it is…well maybe my friends could meet me over chats on the messenger??!

Avocado Cream Dessert

I was having lunch at Li Yen recently. It's a nice little Chinese restaurant in Ritz Carlton Hotel in the heart of KL. This place being a Chinese restaurant, I was surprised that a Brazilian dessert is on its menu and from what I hear, the restaurant is known for this particular dessert, too.

The host ordered a few portions of the dessert to be shared and I was thinking "How do I stomach just cream? And, avocado?? Isn't that for facial or something?".

The dessert finally came. It was a pile of light green cream served in a bowl. I didn't snap a picture of it, but it looks something like this:



Don't be fooled by how it looks. I had my first spoonful and instantly loved it! It's very light in texture, definitely not the thick kind of cream I thought it'd be and so wonderfully refreshing. It was served chilled and every spoonful became more addictive than the last.

It seems like a very easy dessert to make. I found a recipe of it from Recipe Zaar. But I'm too lazy to try it. The one at Li Yen is still highly recommended.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

All day in the office my MP3 player is set to repeat the song Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Katherine McPhee of American Idol fame. It gives me the goose bums listening to her great rendition of the song.

Is there really a Wonderland somewhere beyond the rainbow?

Worst blood test experience ever! - Updated.

One of the things I hate most is to have needles stuck into me. Yesterday I had to do a medical check that included a blood test. I was already nervous enough about it, but seeing how the doctor operated scared me even more. All throughout the medical check, he was OK. He asked me a series of health questions, took my blood pressure and made me read some coloured numbers to check if I'm colour blind. Then, he came to the final part - drawing my blood.

He adjusted his glasses and squinted to have a look at my right arm to find a vein. I have to admit it was quite hard to see the vein. I offered him my left arm, saying that it was much clearer and from past experiences, I normally had blood drawn from that arm. He took a look and said "No la, it's the same".

So he began wrapping up my right arm and I turned away. I felt the prick of the needle and wished he could hurry up and finish. It felt like an eternity. I could feel him drawing the syringe and I tried to think of what pleasant things I could be doing after that examination. But it wasn't enough to take my mind off the sharp pain.

After a while, he said it's done BUT...it wasn't enough blood. He showed me the tube that held my blood and it wasn't even a quarter filled. I was horrified when he said "You need to do this again, not at the same place. Somewhere else". He looked at me quizzically from head to toe, as if looking for a body part he could draw blood from! He totally freaked me out.

I quickly offered him my left arm again and tried to convince him it'll work. Having not much choice, he agreed. I turned away again and felt the prick in my other arm. This time, I heard him say "Ahh, this arm is very good. So always remember ah, next time do blood test must do on left arm". In my heart, I was thinking "I told you but you didn't believe me!!"

Finally, it was over. I don't know if it's psychological or it's because I'm anemic, but I immediately felt faint and close to vomitting. I didn't utter a word to the doctor because I can't afford to fail this medical examination.

I quickly left his office. When I was in the lift, I saw my reflection in the mirror and I was as pale as a ghost. I was surprised he didn't see it. I got into the car and sat there for minutes until I was better.

That was not all. I think the doctor had injured the vein in my right arm. About an hour after I left the clinic, I noticed a bruise on the area where I was pricked. I know it's quite common that people get a light bruise after a blood test so I ignored it. But hours later, the bruise was getting bigger. When I woke up this morning, I found it even larger than last night, and it hurts when I press against the area. Look at this:

See the whole purplish patch? How bad is this?

I don't think I can stand up to another blood test anytime in the near future. You'd have to drag my dead body into the clinic to get my blood! I do regret that I didn't insist on having the blood drawn on my left arm the first time. So I blame myself too for having to do this twice. To everyone else, if you know your "sweet spot", please insist on doing it right the first time round.

Update:
My bruise got worse, so I went to another doctor to check it out. He said clearly my vein has been punctured during all that pricking and my blood is "leaking" out of my vein and depositing right beneath my skin layer. Thus the ugly bruise. He gave me some medication to help with the bleeding and to subside the bruise.

Ain't this ugly?

Do I look like I've been abused?!

Hope this medicine helps.

I'm moving on

It's something I've wanted to do for some time now. And it's finally happening. At times when I expected it, it never occurred but when I least thought it would come true, it did. Maybe it's all about timing, being at the right place at the right time.

All the places I've been so far, I've no regrets even though some were not as pleasant as others. I believe there were good reasons behind me being at each of these places. Some reasons arranged by the powers beyond you and me.

I didn't need any conviction that this is where I should go and there will be nothing that anyone can say to sway me from it. What it may hold in the future, I do not know.

So today I take my first step to make this happen. I placed my resignation letter on my boss' desk and turned to walk away feeling happy with what's coming next.

I wanna learn some moves

On Saturday night, we went with J to Little Havana because J had wanted to do salsa. Not knowing what salsa really was, we accompanied her to the salsa club and it wasn’t a complete waste of our time even though we didn’t hit the dance floor.

We watched and admired some good salsa dancers, learned the names of various other dances that we normally could not differentiate one from the other, and even thought maybe we should learn some salsa moves for the sake of doing one dance during the wedding! But no, I don’t think that’s happening because with just about 3 spins and twirls, I would’ve blacked out from feeling dizzy.

Earlier in the day we were at The Curve and Fitness First was running a campaign on their Group Exercise classes. I watched in fascination the Body Jam session and was immediately inspired to take it up. It’s been years since I did something as vigorous as this. My last “dance” was some 3 or 4 years back doing line dancing with a bunch of colleagues. I thought that was fun too but Body Jam seems more dynamic and definitely a better and proper work-out. It's about time I pick up my lazy bones and make them work.

Anyone out there who’s currently doing Body Jam and ready to spare me some advise?

No title for this post

Today is one of those days that I wish to write and write about nothing and everything. You know the feeling? The one where sometimes you can talk non-stop about just anything under the sun? It’s as if it’s the most liberating thing to do, to express yourself in a free manner and not be bothered about being judged one way or another. The problem about being spontaneous and holding a never-ending conversation about unrelated topics is that maybe the other person isn’t really listening and thinking “God, when is she going to shut up?”. But then again, if it’s just me talking and someone else listening, it’s not really a conversation, is it?

If you have read thus far and still reading, and find me irritating for babbling non-sensibly, I suggest it’s time to quit reading this post because I’m about to ramble on about things that aren’t important or logical to anyone. It’s just a need I have to release my flow of thoughts. It feels congested in my head and I can’t exactly go scream it out loud while a plane flies above to stifle my voice. It’s not that I’m frustrated or unhappy, thus the need to let it out. On the contrary, my mood is pretty good for a while now. But still, sometimes people need an outlet of some kind. Well, this is mine. Right now I'm very restless and anxious.

Am I talking like I’m drunk? Speaking of which, I do wonder what I’ll be talking about if I were drunk. Probably something stupid enough to embarrass myself and everyone else around me. So friends, if one day I’m out with you and I’m drunk (my guess is that it won’t happen because I won’t be drinking. But just in case…), please, for the love of God, just put me to sleep. And no, please do not ever make me drunk on my wedding day. I insist on drinking only Chinese tea or maybe soft drinks on those “yum sing” rounds. Well, if we have to do the “yum sing” rounds, that is.

Do you believe in dreams? By dreams, I mean the ones that happen while you’re sleeping and not the ones about achieving your first million in the shortest time possible. I used to remember my dreams very clearly but of late, they have become a distant memory and most times now I can’t even recall what they are. I’m fascinated with the world of dreams and like to decipher the messages behind them. Alas, since I can’t remember them, there’s nothing for me to interpret. Does this imply that I’m still looking for myself through my dream messages? I don’t know. Consciously, I think I know what I am and what I want. If my subconscious says otherwise, well it’s about time the subconscious come on out and tell me in the face what I don’t know.

Are you still reading this post? Up until now I haven’t said anything that makes much sense. You only have yourself to blame if you read my illogical thoughts and get frustrated, ya?

In the mornings while on my way to work, I tune in to the Mix Breakfast Show hosted by Richard and Shaz. I like them but I think Shaz tends to over-pronounce her “R”. I’ve got nothing against Shaz, and I applaud her for wanting to pronounce her words as perfectly as possible. But overdoing it spoils it for me because it feels like she’s trying too hard to speak with an American accent. Everyday when I hear her, I tell myself I’m going to write a friendly email to her and voice my opinion. But then, I think even the friendliest of email won’t do any good because she probably will read it, feel offended and then tell everyone on air that there’s this nobody telling her how to speak. Then her fans will ring up and say nice things to console and defend her, call me names and ask me to leave her alone. Probably not worth it to write that email, you reckon?

Hey, what do you know, I’m feeling better already after rambling. What a day it has been.

*Stretch*

Jimmy shoes

Finally, Jimmy Choo has decided to bring his creation back home. I read the news that his luxurious shoes and accessories will be sold in Malaysia starting 2007.

I would like to visit his boutique when it opens but it’s not because I’m a fan or that I’m planning to buy any. I just want to shock myself at how the shoes are priced in unbelievable thousands!