Cogito ergo scribo

Still sick

2012-01-30T13:14:00.000+08:00

Was supposed to be back to work today but then am not. I am now in my rented room, feeling rather sick. Uh huh, am on MC today. In fact, just now i was coughing so badly until i threw up.

As mentioned, i was not fully recovered from the throat infection. Over the past week, i was still coughing and having mild sore throat.

On Saturday, LF, YM and i went to PT's house for our CNY gathering. Carol was having family gathering and Sui was sick, and hence both of them did not show up.

Well, even with just four of us, we chatted from 1pm to 10pm! And of course, we were eating almost non-stop too while we were chatting. I had some CNY goodies as well... and probably a bit too much. I guess all the talking and eating of heaty stuff resulted in the return of a full-blown sore throat on Saturday night. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling sick because my throat was so painful that i even had difficulties swallowing the saliva. I felt so uncomfortable that i couldn't get back to sleep and gotta missed the Sunday church service.

Yesterday after i got back to SG, i went to see the doctor again and told him that i never recovered completely even after finishing the full course of antibiotics. He then prescribed another course of antibiotics (stronger i presume) and some other tablets.

What a CNY i had this year. Was sick throughout and did not get to fully enjoy it at all. But then, i take it as a blessing in disguise. My landlady told me that she puts on 1KG just in a week because of all the eating, but i actually lost 1KG because of not feeling well. That's losing weight without even working hard at it. ;)

A good performance

2012-01-28T01:18:00.000+08:00

Just back from SG about an hour ago.

LF, Carol and i were at Esplanade today, watching the performance "Crosstalk Travellers".

The performance was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was funny and entertaining, while at the same time with meaningful and insightful messages about travelling and life. The playwright cum director brilliantly related the stories of his past travelling experiences and observations through the play in a humorous way, and it was delivered marvellously by three talented performers (one of them is Taiwanese TV celebrity 屈中恒).

The only pity was that there was a huge group of students in the audience. Led by several teachers, these students seemed to be on a school expedition for learning Chinese. However, half-way through the performance, some students lost interest and started talking among themselves. I was rather pissed and almost wanted to tell them to shut up.

Despite the annoyance, i had a wonderful evening.

Homemade Yu Sheng

2012-01-25T20:26:00.000+08:00

Mom woke up at 6am yesterday to make Yu Sheng to bring in to SG for the reunion lunch.

I love the Yu Sheng mom made. Unlike those made in restaurants that use colourings, the ingredients mom use for the Yu Sheng are veggie of different colours. She would not put any raw fish and hence it is actually a vegetarian dish. With me being sick now, this is one of the few dishes that i could actually take and enjoy.

Here's another look at the Yu Sheng after mom has put in the peanuts, crackers and sauce.

In case you are wondering - it is indeed as good as it looks. Yummy!

The second day of CNY

2012-01-25T20:11:00.000+08:00

On the first day of CNY, mom and i stayed at home in JB and did not go anywhere. I didn't even change into new clothes at all. Basically i spent almost the entire day in my own room doing nothing much.

Yesterday, the second day of CNY, we went in to SG again for another reunion meal. The youngest aunt and her husband were visiting us and hence we all went in to meet her again.

(Here's the post about the story of my youngest aunt in case you do not know about it)

Grandma is getting senile and she couldn't even recognise people sometimes now. When i visited her the last few times, aunt would intentionally ask grandma who i was and grandma could not get my name right anymore. She would look at me and say my aunt's name, and then i would correct her and told her that i am "Bo Bin" (which is "Ah Pin", "阿彬" in Hainanese).

Despite grandma's frail memory, she still remembers the youngest aunt. In fact, before CNY, she asked my uncle when my youngest aunt would come visit her again. Then yesterday when the youngest aunt showed up, grandma actually recognised her and was smiling so happily.

Everyone had reunion lunch and then chatted for a few good hours. We noticed that the youngest aunt was addressing grandma as "mom", and i was so glad that she could finally see grandma as her own mother. Overall, it was a good family time together.

On an unrelated note, i was actually feeling quite sick yesterday. I have completed the medication but my coughing is still bad. I am also having mild sore throat again; it seems like the full course of antibiotics did not successfully heal the throat infection and it seems to be creeping its way back. As if i am not feeling bad enough, i was having bad menstrual cramp too. So again, i spent most of today at home too. Sigh, what a lousy way to spend CNY.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-22T23:55:00.000+08:00

Just a few more minutes before the sound of firecrackers fills the air of the neighbourhood. In fact, i'm hearing it already near and far.

Here's my well wishes to all my friends on FB, and the same wishes to all who are reading this blog:

Have a great Lunar New Year!

Reunion dinner

2012-01-22T21:02:00.000+08:00

Am in SG now. Came in with mom this morning and we just had the reunion dinner here.

I think i should have mentioned before that my mom is a great cook, which is known among my friends. What i may not have mentioned was that i have two aunts who are good cooks too, one from SG and the other one in Melaka. I think the culinary talent probably runs in the family. My late maternal grandpa used to sell Hainanese Chicken Rice, and that's one of the few traditional dishes that i know how to cook.

However, having so many good cooks in the family means that i hardly need to cook at all and hence have not learned much culinary skills from them. All i know is to eat and critique.

Hainanese Chicken (the "white" one) is one of my favourite dishes as well, and we always have this dish for every occasion. Unfortunately for me this year, i didn't get a single bite of the chicken at all because i am coughing badly. Chinese believe that chicken and eggs induced phlegm and will worsen the coughing. So as much as i love the dish, i didn't touch it at all.

Besides that, i also need to resist the temptation of "ba gua" and CNY cookies that are on display.

This is really a great test to my self-control, especially when my mom and aunts kept telling me that it's ok to just eat a little bit. That's the thing you see... they will always say "just take a little bit and it won't hurt", and then before i know it, i will be indulging myself with all these heaty food. Perhaps that will make me happy for a moment but later on i'll be suffering tonight and probably for the following days or even weeks.

For now, i just wanna get well quickly so that i can stuff myself silly with all the CNY goodies - if there are still any left for me...

Recovering

2012-01-22T00:06:00.001+08:00

I am feeling so much better today!

My throat does not hurt anymore today but i am coughing terribly. The cough was so bad sometimes that i could feel pain at my chest when coughing, but then i guess it is better than having a sore throat that caused fever and excruciating pain. At least now the phlegm is only yellowish and sometimes even clear; before that, the phlegm was thick and accompanied with blood.

Unfortunately, my voice has not recovered yet and i am now sounding very coarse. I am taking Strepsils and the Chinese tranditional Fritillaria Loquat confection (川贝枇杷膏). I hope these would help.

I did go to see a doctor in SG when i was back from KL on Thursday night. The doctor prescribed new antibiotics and inflammation treatment for me. It seems like this new medication does work better, as i can feel myself recovering.

Mom has bought some CNY goodies at home. I looked at the cookies and crackers on the table this afternoon and was so tempted to snack some. Yet i told myself that i am still sick and must assert self-control. I should not prolong the suffering just for a momentary gratification of a craving.

On an unrelated note, LF came over to my home this afternoon and did manicure for me. After doing mine, she went to do it for PT. Yes, now she has a new profession of providing free manicure service for her friends. She did a good job and now i have clean and nice nails for CNY. Thanks LF!

Internet is back

2012-01-21T23:44:00.000+08:00

The Telekom man came over today to my home to fix the line. Apparently, it seemed like the line in the area was already back to normal, but the telephone socket at my home was spoilt after being struck by the lightning as well.

Ok ok, so perhaps Telekom is not THAT lousy. I might have wronged them last night. Well, what do you expect from an Internet addict who was terribly sick from a bad throat infection and having her PMS, and then heard the possibility of not having Internet access for a week? Over-reacting is the norm, ok?! I am so NOT gonna apologise for it. Hmph.

Anyway, am glad that i am back on line now. So now i will be able to do what i have planned to do over this long holiday - hopefully i really get down to doing it rather than procrastinating or going on to do some other non-productive things again (which seems quite likely!).

Internet-less

2012-01-20T23:28:00.001+08:00

Mom told me that the Telekom line at our area was struck by lightning a few days ago and all telephone and Internet lines are down. This affects every household on this street (and probably the neighbouring streets too).

This problem had already been reported but the line is still not fixed even after so many days. It seems like the Telekom staff is very into CNY holiday mood too, even though most, if not all, of them are not Chinese.

When i heard about this from mom in the car just now, my first reaction was, "shit, then what am i gonna do at home during this CNY holidays??!!"

(I am taking leave for next Wednesday to Friday like many others so that i can have the entire week off.)

Yes, i am so handicapped without Internet, especially when i have so many days at home. I have already planned what i wanna do over this long holiday, and a few of the things actually involved blogging and FB. My plan is foiled now, no thanks to Telekom.

I actually have lots of things to rant about Malaysia after my extended stay in KL and having gone through the massive traffic jam at the Malaysian checkpoint at 2nd Link this evening. Now, this just tops my list of things of why i think Malaysia is marching into doom if there is still no change to how it is governed and managed.

For those who wanna lecture me about how Malaysia is already better than many other countries, what i should not only be complaining while not helping to change it, what the opposition party may not do any better, what we are already progressing compared to before, yadda yadda yadda... You know what, i am not interested in listening to all these shits of yours. Just shut up and go away. Don't read my blog. Go and write on your own blog about what YOU think. This is MY blog and it is where I rant and complain and whine about anything and everything if i so desire. If it bothers you, so be it... as if i care. DUH.

==========

Phew, after getting that whinny and bitchy PinPin out of the system, i feel a little bit better now.

I would have felt a lot better if the tethering works. Unfortunately, not sure what is wrong with DIGI 3G or my out-dated iPhone, tethering didn't work on my laptop and i gotta resort to using iPhone for this post (after several attempts). Now even the DIGI network that i normally love is failing me too. Darn!

I would have written at least three posts today, as i have quite a few things to update. Since i am kinda Internet-less now, and it isn't exactly that enjoyable typing with the iPhone touch-screen keyboard and looking at such small screen, i'm gonna call it a day.

Oh boy, i wonder how i am gonna survive the following 7 days without Internet. For all i know, the Internet withdrawal syndromes may soon set in! *shivering*

Still very sick

2012-01-19T18:09:00.000+08:00

I am now at the boarding gate in KLIA, waiting for the 6:50pm flight back to SG.

I had a terrible night. My throat infection worsened and it hurt badly. In the middle of the night, the infection started to take effect on my whole body and my body temperature started to rise. I felt as if my body was on fire. I get rid of the blanket but i still felt very hot even though the aircon was on.

This morning, i woke up feeling really sick. I had actually asked the travel agent to change my flight today to an earlier flight but i was on wait list and there were no seats available at all. I had no choice but to stick to my original flight.

I thought of going into office at around 11am so that i could have a little more time to sleep and rest. Then i sent an sms to the senior consultant to inform her about it. She then suggested me to stay in the hotel to rest and not go into office at all. I replied that i wanted to do so but the check-out time is 12pm and i could not talk and hence could not ask for time extension. This was the first time i really understand the inconvenience and difficulties that the mute people would face in their daily lives.

Then the senior consultant said she could help me to call the hotel and ask for the extension. I gave her the number and she called. Initially the hotel staff told her that i would have to pay for half-day charges if i were to extend the check-out time until late afternoon, but the senior consultant told her that i am a regular customer of the hotel and asked the staff to check with the hotel manager if they could make an exception. Later on, i received a call from the staff and informed me that they would extend the check-out time to 3:30pm at no charge for me this time, and i was really happy with their good service.

After the hotel has confirmed the check-out time extension, the senior consultant then helped me to arrange the KLIA Limo to pick me up from the hotel to airport at 3:30pm. So, i could get back to sleep and take my time to get ready to leave. I am actually feeling a bit better now; even though i am still voiceless, at least there isn't so much pain anymore.

The medicines given by the doctor did not seem to be effective at all. I intend to go see a doctor again when i am back in SG. Ex-little boss has actually told me that whenever he is sick when he's in Malaysia, the medicines prescribed by the Malaysian doctor never seem to be effective for him and he always has to see the doctor in Singapore to recover from his sickness. I guess it is similar case for me now.

Anyway, i really can't wait to get back "home", and hope tonight will not be as miserable as last night.

Voiceless

2012-01-18T14:42:00.000+08:00

I lost my voice today and now i can't talk. This is the first time i experienced not able to talk - i spoke and yet no voice came out from my mouth. That feeling really sucks.

This morning i woke up still feeling very sick and having no energy at all (probably due to all the medication). The fever seemed to have subsided but my body was aching, especially the shoulders and the back. So i decided to rest in the hotel for half-a-day and then go to work in the afternoon.

I woke up at around 11pm and found myself voiceless. I wanted to take my medicine but i gotta eat something first. I didn't have anything to eat in my room and i couldn't call for room services because i couldn't speak. So i just got myself ready to go to work without eating anything or taking my medicine.

I wrote the company's address on a piece of paper and show it to the bellboy at the entrance so that he could help me to tell the cab driver where i was going. I arrived at the office at around 1pm. My team was having a discussion and i told them to stop and go to lunch with me, for i need them to help placing the order. I felt my body temperature rising again and i gotta take the medication asap.

Now i am sitting in the meeting room, with my mask on and waiting for a business user to have a meeting with us. I had taken my lunch and medicine, and i bet i'm gonna doze off again later since the cough and flu medicine have the effect of inducing drowsiness. I plan to change my return flight tomorrow to an earlier flight so that i do not have to come in to office tomorrow and just return to SG, but i am not sure if i am still allowed to change the flight with such last-minute notice. I can't have any more discussion with my team anyway and hence no point for me to stay on too.

I am feeling really miserable now. I just wanna go home and have a good rest.

Sick

2012-01-17T22:26:00.001+08:00

I am down with flu and feeling miserable now. Am having fever, sore throat and coughing.

Had seen the doctor this afternoon and he asked me to rest for a day. Then I told him that I am on business trip and hence gotta work.

Uh huh, i still went to the office and had team meeting for the whole day even though I was already sick when I woke up this morning. I did my best to keep myself awake but still dozed off for about 5 min in the meeting after i've taken the medication. Oh, and I wore a mask in the office so that I won't pass the flu virus to the colleagues, especially when CNY is just around the corner.

Just took the medicine and am going to bed soon. Hope I can recover before CNY.

An over-priced haircut

2012-01-15T23:42:00.003+08:00

I think it was a bad idea for me to stay over weekend here in KL, especially staying at Mid Valley. Whatever i had planned to do here did not turn out as expected, and my mood was kinda dampened even more.

First of all, i thought of watching a movie yesterday since i've not been to a cinema for a year already (or more). But then, there wasn't any good movie on screen now and so i decided not to waste my money and time.

Then the shopping part did not turn out well either. There were simply too many people here!

I am not sure if this is usual for Mid Valley over the weekends, or it was because everyone was out shopping for CNY. The mall was crowded, and even more so in the shops that had the red big word "Sales" on display.

So here's how i spent my weekend here.

Yesterday little brother went to KL in the morning and he came over to meet me up for lunch before going home. We had very nice Japanese ramen and a long chat about the department, work and also the plan for this year. After lunch, i did go shopping at Mid Valley but only bought one skirt (for office wear).

Today, i had planned to visit a hair salon to trim my hair and also to do a hair treatment. I was also contemplating to do manicure and pedicure so that i can have pretty nails for CNY. I could have waited till next week when i am back in JB to do all these, but then i figured that it will be the last weekend before CNY and people will pack the hair and nail salons. Since i have plenty of time here, i decided to do it here, and of course i did expect it to be more expensive doing it here.

What i did not expect was that it was THAT expensive - just doing the hair cost me RM535! If your jaw did not drop at that price, please know that all i did were a trim (of only about an inch), washing and hair treatment. I did not colour, perm or rebond my hair. This is considered a very steep price even after exchanged to SGD and if i were to do it in SG!

Before i get on with the story, here's a look at my new expensive hair (with an imagery price tag of RM535 on it):

... which looks the same before and after!!! :(

This morning, i looked up the directory of The Gardens Mall and noticed that there are three hair salons here. Two were named after the owners, who are supposedly famous hair stylists. I do not really know these names but i reckoned that if someone was to name his hair salon with his own name, he must be a somebody in that industry. Normally such salons should be very expensive and hence i chose the third one, which uses Kerastase Hair Care products that i have used before in the salon in JB.

Before i went in to the salon, i checked the price list on display and saw that a hair cut for long hair was below RM100 and hair treatment was priced as "starting from RM130". As mentioned, since i am at The Gardens, i did expect the price to be more expensive than elsewhere, and i thought the listed price was ok (usually in JB, a hair treatment at a normal salon also costs above RM100).

I went there at around 3pm but it was fully booked. I then told the receptionist that i stay at the hotel here and i could be back anytime if she could just put me on the next available slot. She then told me to return at 5pm and asked for my contact number in case there was free slot before that time. I gave her my SG mobile number and then went shopping at Isetan and Robinson (and did not buy anything).

I went back to the hair salon on time and a female hair stylist attended to me. I told her that i only wanted to trim my hair and do a hair treatment. I told her that i wanna keep my fringe long but i needed it to be trimmed a bit for some volume because i have fine and limp hair.

She then asked me if i wanted just a hair treatment or including scalp treatment. I told her i wanted both hair and scalp treatment, and then she told me that she would use a new Kerastase hair treatment product that gives good all-in-one result.

The hair stylist then asked a girl to wash my hair and to perform the scalp and hair treatment. The entire treatment was done in less than an hour, and i did not really feel much difference about the treatment. (A few years back, i had signed up a hair treatment with a salon in JB for hair spa, and it was much better but at lesser price per treatment.)

After the treatment, the hair stylist trimmed my hair, and all she did was just trimmed off about an inch. As for the fringe, she hardly cut any off and just left it as that (because she said i should not cut it if i wanna keep it long). This means that after the cut, my hairstyle is still the same as before, with just an inch shorter only.

So in just less than two hours time, i splurged away RM535 on my hair, which i could have gotten at one-third of the price for similar thing in JB. In fact, i've done a haircut + washing + rebonding + hair treatment at the salon in JB before and it cost less than that! I think even the hair stylist also thought that this was expensive, as she told me not to wash my hair until the day after, and also gave me some samples of shampoo and conditioners that i should use for the following days so that the treatment will last.

To give them some credits, the overall attitude of the staff and hair stylists were good. They were very polite despite i was left waiting sometimes. What i did not like (besides the pricing) was that they did not bother about all the hair fragments that were on my face. The lighting in the salon was not very bright and i did not see that there were lots of hair on my face after the haircut. The hair stylist and the girls at the cashier did not help me to get rid of the hair or did not even tell me about it. I just went off like that and only noticed it after i went to the washroom (and i had already passed by many people in the mall). This wasn't good customer service for a hair salon.

(A regular hair stylist of mine at one of the salons in JB that i used to patronised would always make sure my face was cleaned after the cut. He once even took a piece of tissue paper and wanted to wipe off the hair for me, but i felt the action was a bit too intimate and i told him that i would do it on my own. After that, he always passed me a piece of tissue paper after every haircut.)

Seriously, i am not sure if this is the usual pricing for this salon or not. I wasn't shown a breakdown of the treatment price list and hence it makes me wonder how they came to that pricing. In JB, i've heard story about salons charging higher price if the customer is a Singaporean. I am not sure if this is the case here too, as they might have thought that i am a Singaporean.

Anyway, i was in lousy mood after this over-priced haircut. I didn't have the mood to go shopping again or to do my manicure. All i needed was some sugar to cheer myself up and hence i got myself two Big Apple donuts for dinner (which were VERY sweet).

Sigh, and there goes my diet plan.

At KL

2012-01-13T23:04:00.001+08:00

Am now at a karaoke at The Gardens, listening to the guys singing Beyond's song. We are having a "lunar year wrap up" celebration, on department's expense of course.

I will be in KL until next Thursday. Uh huh, am staying over weekend. I've brought along a bigger luggage with lots of empty space. Intend to go shopping on weekend and hopefully can get some new outfits for CNY.

I was impelled to sing a song just now, and had a bottle of beer even though i have been staying away from alcohol for quite a while already. This is the thing about being manager - i gotta be sporting no matter how much I don't feel like doing certain thing.

Anyway, I do enjoy listening to some of the guys because they can sing very well. It helps me to distress and lift up my mood for the weekend as well.

Still no TV

2012-01-09T23:32:00.000+08:00

Consulted the IT guys today and went to get the cable from Sim Lim Tower in the evening. Then as i got home and wanted to connect my laptop to the TV (while excitedly thinking that i will be able to use my new TV today), i realised that i got the wrong cable.

How disappointing that is... and a wasted SGD19. :(

The thing is this - I am using an old laptop and there is only a VGA port. The IT guys told me to get a VGA-to-DVI cable and it ought to do the job. Then just now i realised that there isn't a DVI port on the TV at all. There is only a HDMI port. There isn't a VGA port on the TV either, and hence i can't use a VGA-to-VGA cable too.

I know i can get a VGA-to-HDMI cable, but i read that it isn't gonna work well without a converter because the two works on different signals - VGA is analog whereas HDMI is digital. Some people claim that the image quality will suffer if the laptop and TV are connected just by the cable without a proper converter. I am not sure if it is true but i think the converter is gonna be expensive, and i am not sure if i wanna spend too much money on it.

Seriously, i don't know how all these should work. Now i'm thinking if i might as well just get a plug-in media player that can play the video files on the TV without having connected to a laptop. That would be more convenient as well.

I really gotta figure something out. Otherwise, i really do not know what to do with this TV at all. I can't be leaving it sitting on the table as a decor.

(The IT guys told me to get a streaming video device that connects to the TV so that i can watch shows directly from the Internet. But then, i told them that i am using my landlady's Internet connection. If i were to do that, she is gonna experience slow bandwidth when i am watching the shows on TV!)

New TV

2012-01-08T20:15:00.000+08:00

I've unboxed my free 22" LED TV just now and fixed it to its stand. It is now sitting nicely on the table in my small rented room.

As you can see, i've not removed the sticky film from the screen yet. That's because it is basically useless to me now.

I don't have an antenna and there is no TV cable outlet in my rented room either. I don't watch TV anyway and hence it isn't a problem for me. What i do need, however, is a cable to connect the TV to my laptop. Yet, i am basically an idiot when it comes to this - i seriously do not know what cable to get.

Anyway, i am going to ask the IT guys to have lunch at Sim Lim Tower tomorrow so that i can also ask them to help me out. I've taken a picture of the TV rear panel and will also bring along the user manual. Hopefully i will be looking at a bigger screen by tomorrow night.

(I've brought the DVD player back to JB but it is still in the box. We already have two DVD players at home and hence do not need a third one.)

Freebie

2012-01-08T19:02:00.002+08:00

Am back in SG now.

Went to do my usual Sunday groceries shopping just now at Cold Storage. The Farmhouse fresh milk was on promotion with two cartons at cheaper price and a small bottle of Fruit Tree Fresh juice for free.

Since i won't be able to finish two cartons of milk, i only bought one despite the promotion. The salesgirl (a Chinese from China) saw me taking only one carton, so she reminded me about the promotion and i told her that i can't finish two. Then she asked me to wait for a while and still gave me the free fruit juice.

I was shocked and asked isn't the free fruit juice only for customers buying two cartons of milk?. She then said to me that she was giving it to me nonetheless since i am so pretty.

Ok, i am not too sure what your though is now after reading that, but there was this person in me rolling my eyes and thought, "bullshit lar, you just wanna quickly give out all the juices so that you can go home". Of course, being the polite person that i am, i did not respond in the same way. I smiled at her and said thank you.

Anyway, whatever the reason is, i welcome all freebies.

And talking about freebie, here's something i have wanted to whine about last month but forgot about it.

The Starbucks in SG give a cup of free coffee (the daily brew) for every packet of coffee powder bought. Since the introduction of their loyalty card, we can even keep the free coffee for future redemption (they will record it in the system but only for a limited time). Previously the free coffee will just be forfeited if we do not redeem it on the spot.

Last month i bought two packets of coffee powder at one of the Starbucks outlets near our office.

After i paid for the coffee powder, the staff did not ask the usual question of whether i want to redeem the free coffee or to keep it. I then asked the staff if i would get any free coffee and he said no. I told him that normally i would get free coffee with the coffee powder when i buy it at the other outlets, but he still said no and looked at me as if i've said something really bizarre.

I have bought the coffee powders at several Starbucks outlets before and all had given out the free coffee. Hence i doubt it is something applicable only to certain outlets. My guess is that this staff was unaware of it at all, which is rather surprising because i've always thought and found Starbucks staff to be very well trained.

Frankly, i was quite unhappy about this. Hey, after all, we are talking about two cups of free coffee here. But then, i did not want to argue or insist about it, but i did tell myself that i am not gonna buy anything from that outlet anymore.

For those who do not know - i love freebie, and i'm pissed when i don't get it.

Hot weather

2012-01-04T21:46:00.001+08:00

There were lots of rains for the past few months. It was so bad that there were floods at many places in Johor.

The weather seems to be getting warmer now. I noticed that it is always hot weather during CNY period.

The login page of The Gardens Hotel shows the current temperature and here's what was shown just now:

Seriously, "feels like" 41 degree C? Was it really that hot today?

(I couldn't tell because i was in aircon room all the time.)

At Senai Airport

2012-01-03T08:12:00.001+08:00

Am taking the 8:40 am flight flying to KL from JB. Will be there till Friday and then fly back to JB.

This has almost become my usual routine now for at least once per month - book a cab for 6:30 am, reach airport at around 7:00 am, put on my contact lenses and makeup in the washroom, check in, take breakfast at Coffee Bean, proceed to the gate, board, take off, touch down, collect luggage, and then take a cab to office.

These are just so predictable, but when we are talking about taking a flight and travelling, predictability is good. We sure do not want any unforeseeable situation.

Amazed

2012-01-01T13:21:00.001+08:00

Every year, our church has a theme.

The theme for year 2010 was "Stay Focused, Travel Light".

Last year was "Walk in Love, Serve by Faith".

Then this morning, i attended the first Sunday service of year 2012 and was astounded when i saw this on the wall and on the bulletin:

The theme for year 2012 for us from the Almighty is this - "Changed to Change".

I am in awe.

If you read this post first without reading the last one, you may not understand why i was so amazed. Before i wrote the post at the wee hour of this morning, i had a long chat with LF over the phone yesterday. We spoke about how i should make changes for this year. I then wrote about how year 2012 is gonna be the year of change for me without knowing that this is the exact theme for the church for this year too.

God is amazing. Hallelujah.

Bye-bye 2011 and hello 2012!

2012-01-01T00:30:00.002+08:00

I just got back from a church group gathering and wasn't in time to write the last post for year 2011. The gathering was great. Besides good food and games, we shared testimonies of how our lives had been touched and blessed by God. I also shared my story too (the concise version) with a group of people, mostly i did not know before today. Some were really touched by it, just like how i was touched by some of their testimonies as well. We then prayed for each other and know that God is with us at all times.

Anyway, I am now gonna do two posts of tradition in one this time.

In fact, i am not gonna do the "year in retrospect" thingy in the old ways anymore. I may write a paragraph or two as a quick wrap-up for the previous year, but there will no longer be a sequential detailed review anymore.

Frankly, i feel that the best "year in retrospect" post i've written was the one back in year 2009, the year when my life took a sharp turn and i had the most profound musings of my life. Nowadays, i avoid reading the old posts from that year, as doing so will only bring back all the bad memories. Yet, those posts were perhaps the most important because every piece was written in tears and helped to keep me sane during that most agonising time of my life.

Then in year 2010, i skipped the "year in retrospect" post, and in the first post for year 2011, i also skipped making new year's resolution. In that post, i wrote this:

...when a person needs to focus all her strength in living through the days without breaking down, when she needs to strive so hard to go through each day without giving up, when she needs to clench her teeth to subdue the overwhelming sorrow in her heart, when she needs to use her every breathe in chasing the shadow of far-away happiness despite the brokenness in her life, there is simply no extra energy for her to think about how each day passes. She can only work very hard at everything - at her life, at herself, just so that she will not be defeated by the wretchedness in life, with the hope that one day she will instead trample on the woes and put on a truly blissful smile and cry to the world, "i have survived and i am happy."

But for now, i can only say again, i have survived yet another year, happy or not.

The same can be said again for year 2011.

Well, i guess it has gotten better, as living through each day wasn't as difficult anymore. Yet i could not tell for sure if it was because i've numbed myself or i am indeed healing slowly. Whatever it is, i still wanna give myself a pat on the shoulders and said to myself, "you have survived another year in good shape!"

Indeed, it hasn't been too bad a year for me. I had two long personal trips this year. First was to Japan, which was the first time our group of old friends visiting Siang and her family at that foreign land. Then it was to Los Angeles with mom, seeing my brother again after more than 15 years being apart.

As for business trips, besides the regular trips to KL, i also went to Bali, Shanghai and HK. Our department also had our first team building event at Bukit Tinggi. There were some issues at work, which are still uncertain even until today, but there were also a few good news here and there (which i did not disclose on the blog).

Year 2011 was also the year i started slowly removing the things of that unpleasant past from my life. I sold off the HDB unit, returned the full sum of money to YY's mom (for her loan to us in buying the unit), and filed for my divorce. All these processes were painful but inevitable.

There were mishaps such as the lost wallet, car accident and sprained ankle, but there were also good news such as my good friend delivering a baby boy and me winning a free TV and DVD player.

As any other years, the past year was a mixture of good and bad, but one thing for sure is that there was blessing in everything, even for the worst situation.

Yes, we must always be grateful for everything in our life, good or bad. Good things are blessings from God, but do not forget that bad things can be blessings too. Sometimes we don't see it just yet, but when time comes, it will be revealed to us. So instead of feeling disgruntled about how life has been unfair to us (the "oh why me?" syndrome), do be grateful that we survived through the difficulties alive.

Every hardship we face in life is to mould us and build us. Some may think that such thought or saying is so corny, or it is just a way that we console ourselves. However, think of it this way - we can't change whatever that has already happened, so why not gain something out of the unpleasant past?

Every life experience, especially the difficult ones, will leave great impact in our life. We must always get some learning out of those experiences and have them contribute towards making us a better being.

The sorrow may still be torturing me inside, but i often ponder upon the life lessons that i should draw from that unpleasant past. There isn't a day passed by without me having the gratefulness in my heart. It may sound strange that i can actually be grateful for being sad. No, it is not that.

I am grateful for all the providence that God has blessed me with, all the good people that He had surrounded me with, and all the growth He had enabled me through the various experiences that i have to go through. It is not easy, and He never meant it to be easy anyway. The tougher it is, the more strength and perseverance are planted in me, and then i can become a better person to help and bless other people in turn.

As i waved bye-bye to year 2011 with a group of kind people, i welcome year 2012 with anxiety as well as anticipation. I am not gonna set out any resolutions but i do want to make one thing happen for myself in the new year - CHANGE.

Yes, this is going to be a year of change for me. I need to see changes in my life. I must make changes to my life. I have reached the point of my life that i know i must not stay at where i am anymore. More than two years of staying the same and being stuck in my own miserable pit is enough. Whatever that i was waiting for, or even the punishment that i unknowingly inflicted upon myself should have come to an end now. It is THE year to really move on.

O God, please grant me the wisdom and courage to take the leap of faith and to walk the path of Your will. Please heal me of the sorrow and help me to see the joy and hope in everyday life. Please guide me and show me the way, and put in me the strength to bear all burdens that come my way. Please let all goodness in my life that You have blessed me with becomes blessings to others, so that Your name will be glorified.

And lastly, to everyone in reading - wishing you a happy and blessed new year!

Free TV and DVD player

2011-12-30T21:55:00.001+08:00

There was lucky draw during the team building event that regional office had three weeks ago. I won the 4th prize.

I was actually quite disappointed when my name was announced for this prize. I had actually set my eyes on the 1st prize - an iPad2.

Anyway, i collected my prize from the office yesterday.

The prize was a Samsung 22 inch LED TV and a DVD Player. I brought the DVD player back to JB for my mom, and intend to hook my laptop to the LED TV for watching downloaded movies and shows.

Injustice

2011-12-30T21:41:00.000+08:00

A guy in JB was jailed for two years for stealing shampoo.

This baffles me.

Now, can someone please explain to me why stealing RM100+ worth of shampoo carries heavier penalty than stealing over million dollars of public money?

Malaysia memang boleh.

Dreams

2011-12-28T23:49:00.000+08:00

My attempt to get myself back to normal sleeping hours last night did not turn out too well. I am gonna do it again tonight.

Went to bed at 12am (this is considered earlier than usual already) and did not have problem falling asleep. But then, at around 3am+, i woke up because of a bad dream. It was bad sleeping quality after that.

I dreamt of YY. I can't remember the exact story in the dream, but it was something about him with another woman. In the dream, i was weeping sadly. I cried and cried and cried until i woke up finding myself lying in bed, my heart aching in agony.

This was not the first time that i had dreams like this. Everytime in the dream, it was always about YY being with another woman, and i would weep in deep sorrow. Then everytime i would wake up in grief and felt low-spirited for the entire day.

And there was one different dream that i had almost a year ago but i could remember vividly till today. In the dream, YY and i had agreed to meet up somewhere for a chat at a restaurant. I arrived at the meet-up place but went around the building many times, unable to find the exact restaurant. I called him up and asked him where he was, and he was also doing the same, going around the building in search of the exact place. He and i were at the same building at the same time, going 'round and 'round but we just could not find each other.

Then i woke up feeling really lousy. The dream was like a portrayal of our relationship - even though we are so near, we would never find each other anymore; our paths will not cross again.

I wasn't finding excuses when i mentioned before that i may be subconsciously deprived myself of sleep. When i am awake, i may be able to suppress my feelings and thoughts, but the monster simply can't be contained in dreams.

I know i still miss him, for i still hear the voice in my heart calling "bei" sometimes; or perhaps what i really miss isn't him but all the happy years we spent together. Whichever it is, i am not sure.

What i am sure though is that i am unwell; there is still something not right with me in my heart and in my mind. Intentionally not seeing it does not mean that it is not there; hiding it away does not mean that it will just go away by itself.

I know i gotta do something about it; i just gotta figure out how.

Fremont Street Experience

2011-12-26T23:33:00.000+08:00

Finally, i was done with uploading all the pictures and video clips to FB for my USA trip. Phew!

Uh huh, 4 months had passed since the trip and i did not complete posting up all the pictures and videos of the trip until today. I decided that i must get it done before the end of the year.

Anyway, here's one of the clips to share - the Fremont Street Experience at Downtown Las Vegas.

For those of you who are unaware - this Viva Vision is said to be the largest LED display in the world, in the length of about 5 football fields.

The LED show was stunning but quite tiring for the neck, as we gotta looked at to the ceiling for quite a few good minutes!

Season's Greetings

2011-12-24T23:02:00.000+08:00

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!

The last bondage

2011-12-21T20:50:00.000+08:00

YY and i went to the bank last week and close the joint account we had. Since the lawyer's fee had been fully paid off, the joint account could be closed and we got back some balances in cash.

I have received email from the lawyer that the divorce had been successfully filed and a hearing date arranged. We need not attend the hearing since there is no dispute between us. The court will only deliver the final judgement after three months. That is the period supposedly for the couple to cool down and see if there is any chance of reconciliation.

With the closing of the bank account, the pending judgement on the divorce application is essentially the last thing that still binds he and i together. There is nothing further to be done anymore, except just waiting for the day when the letter will arrive in our postbox, declaring the final severance of all ties. And from then on, we are not more than strangers.

No one will understand how it feels to go through the process of divorce unless one has experienced it personally. There is a Chinese word that aptly describes the feeling - 凌迟 (the Chinese ancient execution of killing a person by slicing off portions of the flesh over an extended period of time).

It is a slow and painful process, like ripping off some part of you piece by piece, in slow motion. It is a process of slowly removing a person and anything about him from your life, bit-by-bit, in a tardy pace. From two strangers to one couple whose lives were so closely intertwined, and then you gotta tear it apart and discard a portion of it away, as if all those years have actually never happened before, as if the happy and loving days that were once so treasured are all reduced to nothing, as if a person who was once so loved and held so dearly to your life actually does not matter at all.

And the part that was torn apart and thrown away will never grow back again. Even if it does, it can never be whole and complete again like before, ever. I once believed that love is eternal and marriage is a vow to be kept forever. Now, i am not sure anymore.

In KL

2011-12-21T20:24:00.000+08:00

I am in KL now. Am here for this week.

Besides the regular visit to KL for being with my team members, there are also two other purposes for me to be here this time: (1) to have follow-up discussion with my team on the output from the workshop held last week; (2) to conduct an induction for a new joinee.

Uh huh, there is a new member to my team - an Assistant IS Project Manager. This is an additional headcount; in fact, my team was budgeted to have three more members while the other teams in my department are not allowed to add anymore headcounts. Some people may see it as a bit of unfairness here, when my team is not the one with the most workload but will be the team with the most people after the added headcount. There is a reason for this but i shall not disclose it here. Well, at least not now.

Basically, a lot have happened over this past six months. I figure that it is more prudent for me not to divulge too much until the dust settles.

Work aside, i am also having problem on personal aspect. It is nothing new; just that all the sadness that i've been suppressing over the past years are surfacing now, overwhelming me sometimes. Am in a bit of depression, but of course let's also not discount the possibility that it may be due to holiday season too. Holiday blues always get to me.

I guess the worst part of all is that i know something isn't quite right about me and yet i can't or am not doing anything about it. I do feel like slapping myself sometimes; no, all the time actually.

Sleeping is still bad, both in terms of quantity and quality. Workload is not an excuse for me on not blogging regularly; fatigue is.

Fatigue

2011-12-16T21:41:00.000+08:00

For some reasons, i've not been getting sufficient sleep. I think i have worn myself out because of that. It was so bad that i would fall asleep within 3 seconds of immobility. It happened everyday in the cab over the past workdays. That is really bad.

Gotta sleep soon... mind isn't working anymore... *yawn*

A packed weekend

2011-12-11T23:34:00.003+08:00

I just got back to my rented place at around 10:30pm. It has been a tiring yet fun weekend. I'm just gonna do a very brief update for now, as i am really really really dead tired.

On Friday, the regional office had a team building activity at Snow City, and then followed by dinner at Resort World Sentosa and performance "Voyage de la Vie".

Then early Saturday morning, my boss, ex-little boss and i flew off to KL. We were having team building event for our department at Bukit Tinggi. Uh huh, we had two team building events over three days, with different groups of colleagues.

On Saturday night, boss cancelled the night activities that were originally planned and we all went to Genting Highlands for some entertainment. There was another half-day of activities this morning. After that, my boss and i took the 8:30pm flight back from KL to SG.

We are having a process design sign-off workshop this week in SG. The finance directors from around Asia and a representative from UK will be here to attend the workshop. My team members will be here too. So despite having an exhausted weekend without rest, we still gotta work hard and stay alert for this week.

Gosh, it's sure gonna be a looooooog week for me!

My theme song 126

2011-12-08T23:53:00.000+08:00

爱

你还记得吗记忆的炎夏
散落在风中的已蒸发
喧哗的都已沙哑

没结果的花未完成的牵挂
我们学会许多说法
来掩饰不碰的伤疤

因为我会想起你
我害怕面对自己
我的意志总被寂寞吞食

因为你总会提醒
过去总不会过去
有种真爱不是我的

假如我不曾爱你
我不会失去自己
想念的刺钉住我的位置

因为你总会提醒
尽管我得到世界
有些幸福不是我的

你还记得吗记忆的炎夏
我终于没选择的分岔
最后又有谁到达

Melancholy

2011-12-08T23:51:00.000+08:00

It's another melancholy day for me.

No, in fact, today is worse than any other day. It's the day when all the if's and would-have's tortured my mind.

"Time will heal; time will heal..." I could only chant to myself over and over again.

But then, a tiny voice deep in my heart asked, "will it really?"

I could only hope and pray hard.

English

2011-12-06T22:54:00.000+08:00

There are two common English mistakes i noticed from the workplace.

(1) "fill in", "fill out", "fill up"

I was reviewing a user creation request form and noticed that there was a note on the form stating, "please fill up the form and submit it to..."

I read the sentence and felt something was not right. I would normally say "fill in the form", or "fill out the form", but not "fill up the form". I told my staff to amend the sentence, and she said this was how they have always said it and did not realise it was wrong.

Actually i've noticed that a lot of people in Asia would say "fill up a form". I am not too sure if it is really wrong, but generally Americans would say "fill out" while the Brits would say "fill in". To me, filling up something normally refers to making something with a capacity full, such as "fill up the gas" , "audiences filling up the auditorium". When we are talking about writing information into empty spaces on paper, it should be "fill in" or "fill out".

Of course, i do not claim to be an English guru, and so i may be wrong.

(2) Comma splice

This is definitely wrong in English grammar. It is a common mistake made by people with English as a second language, especially Chinese. It is probably because in Chinese language, we do use comma between complete sentences. Yet, in English, it is incorrect to use comma to join two independent clauses.

To illustrate my point, here's an email from one of my consultants to my boss (who complimented her for a job well done):

Thank you for this encouraging email.

First and foremost, I would like to say that I am not the lonely ranger in this project, I have my team members helping me, especially xxx & xxx, they are 'the man behind' me, who give me a great support and helpful hands anytime, no matter I called them during weekend, night time or their day-off, they will extend their support to me immediately, without their support, I definitely couldn't get the project go-live or even passed the UAT alone.

Therefore I would like to share this credit with them as well.

Ok, first of all, i know there are other grammar mistakes in the paragraphs. This consultant is weak in her English writing and communication skills, and she knows it too. Just forget about all other grammar mistakes for now and pay attention to the comma splices - notice how ALL sentences were joined by just commas?

Such writing is very common in a lot of emails and documents that my staff write. This may be the extreme case; most of the comma splices they made would be just two clauses, but it gets on my nerves because i feel that this is just the basics of English writing and they should get it right.

Having said that, in casual writing such as blogs, chats or personal emails, we may be guilty of comma splice too. Sometimes we may do so intentionally as a writing style in emphasising certain point. However, in official or formal writing, i do expect them to write in proper English.

Alright, that's all the English lesson for today. ;)

My theme song 125

2011-12-05T16:12:00.001+08:00

This is a heart-wrenching song.

情殇

一条路一双鞋一个人一夜不归
梦一场爱一回可以给的我都给
一转身一道别一曲离歌伤了谁
眼一闭风一吹答案依然是无解

轻轻的一个吻竟然如此的崩溃
深深的一段情一场无尽的心碎
情殇无悔不懂的人不会了解
午夜梦回梦毁午夜话已说绝
情殇无悔一点一滴都凄美
当真心枯萎当誓言瓦解
不必再说谁恨谁

轻轻的一个吻竟然如此的崩溃　
深深的一段情一场无尽的心碎
情殇无悔不懂的人不会了解　
午夜梦回梦毁午夜我不后悔
情殇无悔一点一滴都凄美　
当真心枯萎当誓言瓦解不必再说谁恨谁
把美梦销毁把思念收回不必再说谁爱谁

Last Thursday

2011-12-03T22:50:00.000+08:00

Mom went to the Johor Premium Outlet on last Thursday. She said it's really huge; she spent about 5 hours there and did not finish shopping the entire outlet mall. Mom said it was really pack that day and most are Singaporeans and rich Malays. I would like to go shopping for CNY outfits there too, but am hesitant when i think about the crowd.

On the same day in Singapore, i went down to the lawyer's office to sign the affidavit. Once both YY and i have signed the document, the lawyer can file it to the court for a hearing. Since we do not have to appear in court for uncontested divorce, there is nothing further need to be done on my end but just wait. The entire process should take another 3 months or so before the divorce is finalised. It's kinda ironic that the process of ending a marriage is so simple yet expensive.

I took leave on that day even though it took me less than 10 minutes for the signing of the paper. I knew that i was gonna be in a really lousy mood and so decided to give myself a break for that day. After i left the lawyer's office, i went shopping at Orchid Road and spend SGD400+ just in an afternoon. Well, shopping therapy did help, but only for a short while.

On an unrelated note, our group of girlfriends are gonna have a gathering tomorrow. It has been months since we had our last meet-up. This may probably be the last before the end of this year.

Not sleeping enough

2011-11-29T19:17:00.000+08:00

I am still in the office and going "home" soon. Decided to post up a few paragraphs before i go.

Had only slept for less than 3 hours last night because i stayed up to read the novel. The strange thing is that i do not feel tired at all today. I did not even yawn for the whole day, not even in the morning when i woke up.

Something is not quite right - i noticed that the longer hours i sleep, the more tired i feel. Yet, i am more energetic (but not necessarily more alert) with shorter sleeping hours. I suspect that my brain is kept active constantly when i'm not having sufficient sleep, and this is in fact unhealthy in the long term because i am basically draining myself physically and mentally.

There may be something beneath this behaviour of self-deprived sleep. I do not know for sure but i can somehow sense it, as if there is a tiny voice telling me that i gotta stop running away from the things that i do not want to face. I have bad dreams sometimes and unpleasant things are happening in my life recently. I could feel depression creeping in and i am coping with it, probably in the wrong way.

Anyway, time to leave office now. Today is considered one of the earliest days for me to knock off from work over these few months. Perhaps this will give me more time to do the nonsense at "home" and then go to bed earlier.

One Minute Fly

2011-11-27T19:40:00.000+08:00

There are over 50 posts i saved as drafts in Blogger, some with half-written paragraphs, some with just a title, and some with uploaded pictures or links.

Here's one of the drafts with a YouTube clip that i've shared on my FB many months back.

Don't you feel sometimes you are like just this one-minute fly, with so many things planned for your life and yet can never get them done, whether because of procrastination, not properly managing our priorities, or constrained by the circumstances we are in? I feel that all the time.

I have yet to make my bucket list. I really ought to make one and tick the items off the list one-by-one, just like the fly did. I know some of the things i hope for life can never go onto my bucket list anymore, but for those that do, hopefully i'd have all of them completed by the time i kick the bucket.

Trivia of my uneventful days

2011-11-25T01:06:00.000+08:00

The cab driver of the cab i took this evening shared with me about how the booking system works in the different taxi companies in SG. He even gave me a telephone number that is still on radio calling method and allows "negotiation" for urgent case (i.e. jump queue for a cab by paying more booking fees).
A colleague in Malaysia told me about how he was stopped by a traffic police for speeding and he settled it with money. I gave him a piece of my mind, telling him that he is one of the persons who helped to corrupt our country and hence he should not be complaining about the deteriorating situation in the country.
Heard on radio this morning about a news that a guy built an iPad from old tablet PC for his girlfriend. I asked myself - between a guy who would build an iPad for me and a guy would would buy one for me, which would i choose? My answer made me realised that i am actually a vain person. Heh.
I bought new boxes of contact lenses on Sunday in JB before returning to SG. Since the LASIK is not gonna happen within this year anymore, i will still need to look pretty for the Christmas.
I brought three big packets of tidbits to office (which contained 8 small packets each) for our department and all were finished up within just a week. The guys really like junk food - and so do i.
It was all peace and quiet this week. The two girls went to stay in Malaysia with their aunt, and the landlady has gone to China for a church mission trip. There are only the landlady's sister-in-law and me in the HDB unit. However, my room hasn't been cleaned for 5 days already and it is really dirty now. In case you don't see how one is related to the other, it basically means that the landlady and her sister had been cleaning my room for me (since the maid was gone).
Worked from home this Monday and Tuesday, and decided to do so again tomorrow. Aunt went to the mission trip together with my landlady and hence mom would not be going over to aunt's place before coming here like she always does every Friday. With the start of school holiday, now the foreign car permit restriction ends at 12pm instead of 5pm. Mom will come in to SG earlier, but no one is at home and i'd have to be around to open the door for her. See, i found a valid reason for me to work from home.
The Johor Premium Outlet is opening soon and there is a pre-sales event on 1-Dec.

I've registered for mom and asked her to go and have a look. Finally, we have our very own factory outlet here. Hope it is as good as the one in USA and Japan.
My sprained ankle was still not completely healed. Not sure if it's because of the rain over these few days, i felt discomfort at the sprained area. Oh no, i am having rheumatism even i'm not that old yet.
I am craving for something - not food but shopping. Uh huh, have wanted to do some serious shopping for months but never got to do it. Am looking forward to the year end sales now.

Plan changed

2011-11-19T21:54:00.000+08:00

Yes, yes, i know, i know, i've been really lax in blogging over these few months. It would be an excuse if i were to say that i'm busy at work. Even though i am indeed rushing for some work, that does not mean that i have no time to write a few lines. Work is still manageable despite series of unpleasant events that has been bugging me for months already.

I have not been blogging because i'm very much addicted (still) in reading novels on my iPhone, so much so that i have been sleeping late for it. That is stressing my eyes too and sometimes i really wonder if i'd go blind if i carry on like this.

Talking about eyes, i was forced to change my plan of going for LASIK operation in early December. There is an important workshop that will be held in mid-December and i am one of the key persons in the preparation. The project manager (from UK)of this workshop was very concerned when i told him about my LASIK plan. He urged me to re-schedule it but i refused. He then brought it up to the top management as a concern and project risk. My boss then came to talk to me and told me to change the plan if, as he said he would not want anyone to point fingers at us if anything were to go wrong in the workshop. Talk about office politics and ass-covering... sigh.

Well, since my boss has already raised the request, i gotta relent. After all, this operation is not something for a sickness and not as if it can't be re-planned. But then, this of course makes me very unhappy, for there is a reason on why i chose that date in the first place and now it won't work for me anymore. It's frustrating when work interferes with personal life. This also makes me feel even more demoralised, when the situation at work isn't exactly very good already.

Anyway, it's not really a big deal. I guess when one is already sick of the job and in a low spirit, any little things would be amplified and taken negatively. I am well aware of this and gotta make extra effort to keep myself thinking positively. Perhaps looking forward to Christmas can help to lift my spirit up.

(Humming to myself: 'tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la...)

Trivia of my uneventful days

2011-11-14T22:32:00.000+08:00

Had dinner with LF at MOF @ Bugis just now. It's great to meet up with friend(s) after work, even when it's just a couple of hours of chatting. It helps me to unwind and that sure does me good.
A colleague is in Korea now and am going to ask her to help buy some Skinfood products. I heard those Korean skincare brands are a lot cheaper there.
Bought 3 tickets from Sistic online today for a Chinese talkshow on Jan 2012 at Esplanade. I will be going with LF and Carol.
Heard an interesting news this morning about pigeons taking train instead of flying. Amazing... animals are so smart now.
Am seriously planning to go for LASIK in December. I am now left with about 7 days supply of contact lenses (i wear daily disposable lenses), and i will have to be off contact lenses for at least a week before going for the pre-op check-up. I intend to use up all my contact lenses and then start wearing glasses for about 10 days or so. This means that i can only go for the check-up and surgery in early December.
School holidays in SG will be starting next week and my landlady will be going to China for a week of church mission trip. The two girls are gonna stay with their aunts in Malaysia during their mother's absence. I am so looking forward to the peace and quiet time here.
Am having trouble deciding what to wear to work everyday. I looked at my wardrobe and realised that most of my outfits are rather old already. I really need a wardrobe overhaul. Am looking forward to the year end sale in SG.
I always claim for the cab fare from office back to my "home" in the evening regardless of the time. There is supposedly a company policy that allows employees making transport claims only after working for a certain hours (e.g. 3 hours after working hours). Since this was not clearly stated anywhere, i have hence always asked for a receipt whenever i take a cab home, and then made the claim and my boss has always approved it too. Yet, today my boss noticed a receipt for 7pm and told me to cancel it. I guess i'd lose such "benefit" from now on.
Situation at work still isn't looking good, and that has brought my spirit down. I am not doing anything much to change the situation, at least not for now. Just feel that i should be still for now and see how things go in the end.
Have been having junk food recently due to lousy mood. I think this may have adverse effect on my weight - i've put on about 1.5KG recently. Must really change the habit of having junk food when i am down; instead, some fruits and nuts should lift my spirit up.

11 11 11

2011-11-11T23:42:00.000+08:00

Am back in JB now. The flight departed on time today.

I must post this up no matter what, because today is the day with six 1's in the date. This day only happens once in a lifetime.

This early morning i heard on the radio that there were a lot of couples getting married today. They chose this day because they liked the date with all the 1's, for it symbolises "one heart" (一心一意).

I found it amusing really. No matter how auspicious the day is, it has absolutely no bearing on the marriage or the relationship.

Love is fugacious; so is life. It takes great effort to make the former lasting, but there is nothing we can do to beat the transience nature of the latter, no matter how hard we try.

Nonetheless, on a day like this that only happens every 100 years, may every loving couples who made their vows today keep their promises and lead a blissful life.

At KLIA

2011-11-11T21:00:00.001+08:00

Am waiting at the departure gate now. My flight back to JB is at 9:20pm. Let's see if it's gonna be delayed again.

I did not get to go shopping at all. Was busy working till late nights, and also attended a department dinner on one of the evenings.

Can't wait to get home. I need rest.

At Senai Airport

2011-11-08T08:01:00.001+08:00

Going to KL and will be there until Friday.

The trip to Kukup was not much fun. I did not go anywhere but stayed in the room resting and reading novel on my iPhone. I could have done that at home without the hours of driving and putting up with staying in the same room with 7 other people. Anyway, mom did have fun with her church friends.

Boss will be in KL too this week. There has been a bit of tension between him and me since a few months back. Nowadays I'd really rather not be at the same place as him.

I intend to do some shopping while I'm there this week. Hope I can spare some time in the evening to do so even though I'm rushing for a piece of work under tight deadline.

Weekends

2011-11-05T23:46:00.002+08:00

Well, as you may be able to tell, lately i'm still not in the mood to blog. Besides being rather down, i am feeling tired too. There are situations at work and i will leave it to another post. For this post, i'm just gonna do a random updates of these two weekends.

Basically, i've not been having sufficient rest over the weekends. That probably explained my fatigue (of course, sleeping late everyday is still the main contributing factor).

Last Saturday, EY came in to JB again and i spent the entire day driving him to the furniture shops in Taman Molek and Bukit Indah. He has gotten his HDB unit and renovating it now. He had wanted to get all the furniture from JB because it's cheaper but then the design of most furniture here did not suit his taste.

Anyway, at the end, he finally get a few pieces from one of the furniture shops at Bukit Indah. It was an eye opener for me to see how he bargained for prices. I felt relief that he did not buy from PT after seeing how he pushed the price down again and again with the salespersons. It is not easy to do business with him.

Last Sunday, after the church service, my family celebrated grandma's 93rd birthday (i think) at a restaurant. My uncle and aunts came in from SG, and there were 18 of us. We had lunch at 阿明帝皇鸭 restaurant. The roasted duck there is really nice.

It's long weekend this week but still packed with activities. This morning, i went with my mom and aunt to the Chinese reflexology center for a full-body massage again. We are making this a monthly affair, as it really helps in loosening up our stiff neck, shoulders and back. This is especially needed for people like me who lacks exercise and spend most of the time sitting in front of computer.

In the evening, i went to my church cell group leader's house for BBQ gathering. His house is at Horizon Hill and this was the first time i went there. I was very impressed with this housing estate and even had a brief moment of thoughts on getting a house and live there too.

The gathering was quite fun, with games and good food. The guys did the BBQ for us and hence i did not have to do anything but just ate and mingled. It was also interesting to see our senior pastor in his casual outfit and joking around with us.

Tomorrow after the church service, mom and i are going to join her cell group in a getaway weekend at Kukup. We will be driving there right after the Sunday service and then spend one night there. The plan is to have seafood and visit the Mangrove forest, and of course to fellowship.

I wasn't really interested in going at first, as i had hoped to have a good rest over this long weekend. But then mom did not want to go alone since all other members are going with families. Then i figured that my life is rather pathetic to be just work and home all the time. It is also an unhealthy lifestyle to always just keep myself in the room, being all nerdy and not socialising with people. So i'm gonna do something different for a change, and hopefully it is gonna worth sacrificing a restful weekend.

i-Control

2011-10-31T23:47:00.000+08:00

LF asked me today about why there was no updated posts on my blog.

Well, i've been reading novel (from my iPhone) again over these few days. And as usual, whenever i start reading a "book", i can't stop myself from reading it. Sometimes i even stay up till late nights for it.

Yeah, i know, i have self-control issue.

Anyway, the IT Manager got himself an iPhone 4S over the weekend. He was one of the customers who were invited by Starhub to be the first batch of iPhone 4S owners. He showed it to us today. We played with Siri for a while and had a good laugh.

Then just now i saw my landlady playing with her iPad2 in the living room. I looked at my iPhone 3GS and was so full of enviours. I want a new i-gadget too.

Ok, i know i've been saying that i wanna get myself an iPad2 but never really did it. That's because knowing myself lacking self-control, i worried that i'll lose more sleep if i really get one. Hence i'm hesitating.

Until i am able to control myself and be more disciplined, i will need to control my impulse of getting a new gadget.

Good news

2011-10-26T22:49:00.000+08:00

Here's something i have wanted to post up earlier on my blog but didn't get to do so.

Congratulations to Carol and KT on their new born baby boy!

Carol delivered a healthy cute baby boy on 18 October 2011. This is the first baby boy among our group of good friends.

To my dear friend,

Congratulations on the arrival of your little angel. May God bless your child with all His love, care and happiness.

A real-life love story

2011-10-26T22:17:00.000+08:00

Two days ago i heard a news on the radio and then i did a search on the Web for it. It was a news that really touches my heart.

All the photos of the couples are filled with blissful smiles. They were always in each other's arms and you can really feel their happiness and love for each other.

This somehow reminded me of the song 最浪漫的事.

背靠着背坐在地毯上
听听音乐聊聊愿望
你希望我越来越温柔
我希望你放我在心上

你说想送我个浪漫的梦想
谢谢我带你找到天堂
哪怕用一辈子才能完成
只要我讲你就记住不忘

我能想到最浪漫的事
就是和你一起慢慢变老
一路上收藏点点滴滴的欢笑
留到以后坐着摇椅慢慢聊

我能想到最浪漫的事
就是和你一起慢慢变老
直到我们老得哪儿也去不了
你还依然把我当成手心里的宝

I am not a romantic person by nature. Sometimes i may even appear as aloof or cold to some people. When it comes to love, i am not the kind who is lovey-dovey all the time, nor the kind who would come up with all the romantic ideas to please the loved one.

To me, love is not necessarily something overt. Sometimes, the deepest love is expressed in a way that is the least obvious. We must not overlook every little thing or gesture a person does for you, for what we take for granted can in fact be the greatest love displayed in subtlety.

It is just like what is sung in the song - the most romantic thing is actually to grow old slowly with the person you love. Life can be a long journey, and often a difficult one too. When there is this person who is willing to commit the rest of his/her life to you, vow (and honour it) to hold you hands till death do you apart, and still love you and care for you when your face is already full of wrinkles, tell me, what can be more romantic than this?

This was the dream that i once had but now has shattered into pieces. In this modern era, love has become something transitory to many people, and marriage is nothing but a piece of paper that binds two person together and can be revoked anytime. I've come to realised that true love is rare in this world now. Sometimes i even wonder if there is still any at all.

After reading the news, i thank God that true love story does exist in real life. It did not happen to me, but at least it does exist. And somehow, that is comforting to know.

Today

2011-10-26T21:38:00.000+08:00

I spent the public holiday at "home" doing nothing much.

Woke up at noon time today. My landlady cooked the Hakka food "Pounded Tea" (擂茶) for lunch and i had a bowl too.

For those who are not aware, my dad is Hakka and my mom is Hainanese. On my dad's side, the traditional cuisine for our clan of Hakka is not those typical ones that people usually know (such as 釀豆腐, 梅菜扣肉, or 算盘子). The special dish that was passed down from my paternal grandma to my mom is Hakka meat balls. It's not something that you can find outside. It's one of my favourite dishes and my mom would cook it for me every now and then when i'm back in JB on the weekends.

Here's a picture of the dish (taken during the CNY potluck gathering at PT's home, when my mom cooked this dish for us):

So, back to today - after lunch, i spent the day editing the photos from my LA trip and uploaded to FB. There are still about 200+ pictures to go, and i'm not sure when i'll finally get it all done.

Then just now, i watched the animation "How To Train Your Dragon". It was quite good, and i like the Night Fury dragon, Toothless. It is cute. I wouldn't mind having a pet dragon like that.

Public Holiday tomorrow

2011-10-25T22:03:00.001+08:00

I've thought of knocking off from work on time today and go do some shopping, but in the end I was still the one who locked the office door.

It's Deepavali holiday tomorrow. I guess I'll most probably stay at "home" for the entire day to rest. I hope to catch up on posting the remaining photos of my LA trip on FB and also do a bit of blogging.

On an unrelated note, I am contemplating buying the ticket for the stage performance Richard III, starring Kevin Spacey. The ticket price is rather expensive and I'm not sure if I'd enjoy it going alone. Hmm...

Unsettled mind

2011-10-21T23:15:00.000+08:00

I'm not in the blogging mood lately, and i guess this is rather obvious from the infrequent updates.

Well, in fact i am not in the mood of doing anything.

It has been a slow week at work too, for i've handed the USA project back to the pretty girl and that eased off a portion of my workload. Yet, i'm still not sleeping early and spent lots of my non-working time reading novels off my iPhone.

Recently there have been some good and bad things encountered at work, and now i am at the point of my life to think about what i wanna do for the future. I do not know where i should cast my hope for the future even though i've been telling myself that there is always hope in life as long as we are alive and able. I'm just feeling so apprehensive about the roads ahead that i chose not to think too much about it and occupied myself with useless activities instead.

I'm an ostrich.

I think i should pray for direction from God, especially at times like this, but i'm not doing it. My mind is in a whirlpool of thoughts. I do not know what's wrong with me.

Perhaps i need time off from my life.

The past week

2011-10-16T23:38:00.001+08:00

This is gonna be a random update on what happened over the week, besides working late nights everyday.

The Canada project is postponed to next Jan/Feb because of some issues that came up at the eleventh hour. The business decision is to divert the effort to the USA project first and put Canada aside. It was a rather disappointing news to us, especially after all the hard work and late nights. But then, this is part and parcel of doing projects - the risks and uncertainties. Oh, and the pretty gal will be going to USA next week to support the project for two weeks. I didn't get to go this time... sigh.

The IT Consultant is away for two weeks for his reservist (in Australia!) and my boss asked one IT guy from the SG office to station at the regional office to help out with the work. This guy is only around 30 years old but he keeps calling me "彬妹" (younger sister). I told him to address me as big sister but he refused. He said it felt strange to call me big sister because i look younger than him. Well, normally we would feel happy if someone says we look young, but not in this case. This guy is quite flirtatious with gals in the office and i do not like that. I would want to draw a line and told him that i won't answer him if he calls me younger sister.

The run-away maid is still at the home and my landlady told me that no other employers want her. The only choices for my landlady now are to send the maid back to Philippines (and lost the SGD2K+ that she had paid for getting the maid) or to bring her back to this home again. My landlady had contemplated bringing the maid back but the kids objected strongly. I also advised her not to do so. Anyway, she called the maid and the maid refused to come back. So i guess the choice is obvious now.

YY came pick up his golf sets on Saturday. That's the last piece of physical thing he had at my home and he finally came to remove it; yet what he could never remove from that house is the years of memory that will always lingers and wrenches my heart.

I was having menstrual cramp and headache over the weekend. My menses was late this time (which is very rare), probably due to stress and over-tiring myself. Stayed at home over the weekend but am still exhausted. I plan to stop working so late for this week and have good rest every night.

Too many late nights

2011-10-12T23:41:00.001+08:00

Just got on a cab to go "home" now. Was having late night conference with North America again.

I'm exhausted beyond words. My eyes were hurting and I gotta wear glasses to work today.

I yearn for long rest.

Maid-less, again

2011-10-09T23:32:00.000+08:00

My mom and i came back to my rented place this afternoon and was told of a shocking news - the new Filipino maid who had just worked here for 3 weeks had run away.

No, no, she did not run away with a man or what. She went back to the maid agency and refused to return.

Actually the maid had planned for this for a few days already. On Wednesday, she asked me to help her to check if there was any more values in her EZ-Link card. She told me that she had not used the card for 6 months. She said it was bought when she was working with her previous employer and she wasn't sure if it was still usable. So i checked it for her and there was still SGD9+ of value.

I was somewhat suspicious of her motive in asking me to do this. I even wondered if my landlady knew that the maid had an EZ-Link card. Furthermore, the maid had been complaining to me about how she could not stand my landlady's daughter and she had never seen such naughty kid before (referring to the elder one). I sensed something not right, but then i was so busy with work that i forgot to inform my landlady about it.

My landlady told me that on Thursday, she actually saw the maid had all personal belongings packed in her luggage. She asked the maid why she packed all her stuff and questioned if she wanted to run away. The maid then said that if she really wanted to run away, she could have done anytime that when no one was at home in the afternoon. My landlady then did not probed further.

Then this morning, the maid woke up early and started washing all the bed linen without my landlady telling her to do so. She then told my landlady that she would like to finish up the laundry and would not go to church with them. My landlady then left the maid alone at home and went to the church with her kids.

My landlady received the call from the maid agent when she was having lunch after the church service. The agent told her that the maid had returned to the agency and refused to come back. Through the CCTV that my landlady had installed at home, she saw that the maid left the house just about two hours after they went to church. And the amazing part is that she left the luggage here, sealed and pasted with a piece of paper detailing what are inside the luggage.

Then what followed in the afternoon was chaos. My landlady wanted to settle this by bringing the maid back here and then cancel her work permit tomorrow, but before my landlady could go to the agency, the maid had already gone to a shelter home. My landlady then decided to just leave her there and has been making calls to friends to ask for advice.

Seeing my landlady was so busy and yet the girls were complaining about being hungry (it was dinner time), i offered to bring the girls to dinner at the mall opposite the flat. As much as i dislike babysitting and do not know how to deal with kids, i thought that was the least thing i could do to help.

My landlady still holds the passport of the maid, and i am not too sure how she is going to settle this issue. And a bigger question now is who's gonna take care of her kids while she is at work. Her mother had just gone back to Malaysia after staying here for almost half-a-year, helping her to look after the girls. She couldn't possibly ask the mother to come back again, because the mother had actually been complaining about how bored she was when she was staying here and had nothing to do but stuck in the HDB unit for the whole day. Looking at her predicament, i could only say that it is really tough to be a single mother with an irresponsible ex-husband.

There were actually a lot more stories about the most recent two maids but i am not in the gossiping mood. Uh huh, two Filipino maids had been to this household since the previous good one left. The last one stayed even shorter than this recent one, as she was caught being dishonest by hiding mobile SIM card in her the package of sanitary pads. My landlady's conclusion now is that Filipino maids are too simply smart and difficult to control.

Anyway, it's back to maid-less days again. Oh boy, i'm gonna see messy house again.

Sleeping time

2011-10-07T06:15:00.002+08:00

Oh gosh, finally i can go to bed now.

This was the second round of trial migration and UAT. The pretty gal did the last round, and i did this round because she is on long vacation.

The result - passed trial migration but failed UAT.

Sigh, i guess there is gonna be a third round.

I am exhausted. ZZZzzz...

Tribute to a great man

2011-10-06T17:08:00.004+08:00

My friends know that i am an Apple fans. What they may now know is that i like and respect Steve Jobs very much for his work and leadership.

I am not gonna write a long post about him and his passing. I believe much have been and will be said about him for the coming days or even weeks. I am also not writing this simply because everyone else is doing it.

I just want to post this up as a tribute to him.

For my friends who know me since young will remember that my dad was in the computer business. He set up his own business and it was the very first shop in JB that sold computers (a distributor). That was back in the 1980s. For those who are familiar with the development of computers should know that back in those days, the most popular personal computer was the Apple II.

Yes, back in those days, when i was just a kindergarten kid, i had my first encounter with computers. There were always a few Apple II at home that my dad brought back from the shop. To my brother and i, these computers were just another toy for us to play the games (oh those monochrome green screen!).

Sometimes when i looked back, i would wonder what i would have become today if my dad had not gotten sick, sold the business and passed away. The path of my life would have been so different. But then, there is never a 'would-have-been' in our life.

Anyway, in remembrance of Steve Jobs, i am going to post up the screenshots from the Apple homepage here.

Some people may not like him and may have different opinion of him, but to people who are in the technology field, he was undoubtedly one of the greatest geniuses in our era.

How do you know if a person is truly great and has made history? Well, if even the strongest competitor pays tribute and mourns his passing, then there is no doubt about his eminence in his field and to the world.

Working night shift

2011-10-06T16:36:00.001+08:00

I am gonna work from 9pm to 4am tonight to support Canada on their UAT. Hence i am at "home" now and will not be going to office tomorrow too.

Knowing that i gotta stay up the whole night today, i intentionally slept very late last night at around 2.30am. I hoped to adjust my biological clock a bit to Canadian timezone (12 hours behind us). Then i woke up in the noon today, and intend to get some sleep again later at around 5pm just so that i can last through the night.

After i woke up, i went out to have a quick lunch and also bought some snacks in case i needed it for tonight. Then i worked for while until my colleague asked me if i had heard the news about Steve Jobs's passing. I was shocked and felt sad.

The Web is now swamped with news, blog posts, messages and tweets about his passing. I am sure this is gonna last for a few weeks. After all, this is a person who has really changed the world. I am gonna write more in another post while getting ready for my night shift.

No time for sadness

2011-10-03T23:12:00.000+08:00

Have been feeling sad since the day when it was time to see the lawyer.

Uh huh, that means that i've actually been feeling rather down for a few weeks already but i just didn't write much about it. In fact, i didn't even talk about it. I just kinda ignore it and go about my life as usual.

Somehow, it felt worse today and had thought of blogging about it. But then, i decided that instead of being engulfed by sorrow, i might as well be occupied with work. Not sure which is more pathetic - drowning in sorrow or numbing myself with work.

Oh well, if you would excuse me, i'm gonna go reply tons of emails from the Americans now.

The past week

2011-10-01T23:02:00.000+08:00

This is just gonna be a random updates of what happened over this week that is gonna end soon.

The driver whose car i hit last Sunday had finally called me today. I have been waiting for his call for the whole week and was starting to wonder if he still wants the compensation at all. He had wanted to meet up tomorrow in SG to get the money from me but i cannot make it. I asked him to meet me during weekday (he works in SG too) but it seems like he only has time on weekends. In the end, he said he would ask his friend to pick it up from me on weekday.

My SG aunt came in to JB with us last night. She comes to JB every month to do full-body massage at a Chinese reflexology center. Mom and i went with her today. I had my first ever full-body massage today and it brought back unpleasant memories about how my marriage was wrecked. My mind ran wild about the possible scene of the first encounter of YY and that China woman. A supposedly relaxing activity somewhat dampened my mood.

I finally went to see a lawyer on Wednesday morning to start filing for my divorce. The lawyer said it is simple for my case because there is no children, property and money issue involved. It should be a straight-forward process and the new law does not require us to appear at court anymore if there is no dispute. His estimation is that the final judgement on the divorce application should be completed by February next year.

The meeting with the lawyer was very fast (less than an hour). After the meeting, i went to Ma Kuang TCM Medical Centre to see a Chinese physician. I was starting to feel mild pain on my sprained foot again and decided i really ought to see a doctor instead of waiting for it to heal by itself. The physiotherapist who attended to me was a Chinese lady. She massage the sprained area and it was very painful (because she pressed it with strong force). It was more painful after the therapy and i really wonder if i did the right thing. Anyway, i am still applying the herbal plaster on the sprained area (until tomorrow) and hopefully it will indeed heal after that. She told me to go back for a return visit next week but i don't think i'd do so anymore. The charge was expensive - SGD50+ and it is not claimable (my company does not recognise TCM fee). I might as well do it in Malaysia, which should be cheaper.

Mom told me that grandma fell down again on Friday and now her face is all bruised. Grandma is really a stubborn old lady. She cannot walk well anymore but she would always walk on her own when nobody is by her side despite everyone telling her not to do so. On the night she fell, the maid we hired to take care of her was in the kitchen washing dishes. Grandma woke up and saw nobody was around. She then wanted to walk to the kitchen to see if anyone was there. She was wearing socks and then she must have slipped and fell. I hope she did not hurt herself too terribly.

Had worked late everyday for the past week. The Canada and USA projects are entering critical phase and the Americans are having conference calls with us at least one per week. I was even asked to joined an urgent conference call at 11:15pm on one of the nights and it ended at around 1:30am.

In our team, only the pretty gal and i are involved in the projects for non-Asia countries. She is having a 10-day vacation since last Friday and i'd have to fill in for her. I guess it's gonna be a super hectic week ahead again. Sigh.

An accident

2011-09-27T21:55:00.000+08:00

Left office at around 9:30pm yesterday. I guess it's gonna be another week of late nights. I'm kinda tired of always being the one locking the door. Sigh.

Anyway, let's get down to the post i mentioned yesterday. Well, i guess i'll have to make this post shorter. It would have been in more details if i had written it on Sunday. Thoughts are lost bit-by-bit each day and hence i would have less to say about an incident if i do not blog about it on the same day.

Before getting into the story, let me mention first that i have received my SG driving license by post on Friday. It has not even been a month since i went to renew it at the SG traffic police. That was rather efficient, and it really came just in time for something that happened on the following day. It's simply amazing how God works.

On Sunday morning, as usual, mom and i left home at around 9:45am for the church. And as usual, i was the one driving her car.

We reached the shop lots where our church is located and there was no parking space nearby. I decided that i gotta park the car at a parking lot that is at a rather far opposite of the shop lots and then walk to the church.

Just as i was about to drive out into the main road, mom told me that i just passed by a vacant parking space. I hesitated for a moment if i should still drive out to the main road (which is a huge roundabout) and turn back later for this parking space, or reverse the car to get to it. I looked into the rear mirror and saw there was no car behind, and hence i decided that i would just reverse the car since the parking space might be taken if i were to drive one big round and come back.

As i just shifted into the reverse gear, looked into the rear mirror and started reversing the car for not even 10 inches, i heard a loud honk followed by a very loud bang accompanied with a slight jerk.

Yes, that was it. I just hit another car.

Just for you to visualise what happened, here is a very quick draft i drew about what happened:

The box arrows are the flow of traffic; the "X" mark is where the parking space that i wanted to get to; the blue car was mom's car with the blue arrow showing that it was reversing; the red car is the other car that came in from the main road. So as you can see, the back bumper of our car banged into the front of the other car near the driver's seat.

The damage was not very serious on that car, but there was a dent and the driver's seat door could not open fully because of it. As for my mom's car, the bumper was scratched and loosened a bit.

Naturally, when such accident happened, the driver whose car was hit would definitely be super pissed. So this young guy, who looked rather "Ah Beng" (with golden hair and ear rings), got down from his car and looked really mad. He did a hand gesture at me, signalling "what the hell are you doing?", but before he could say anything, i immediately said, "sorry sorry."

He then, still pissed, said to me, "what is the use of saying sorry now?!" ("sorry 有什么用?!") I guess he thought that i wanna say sorry and then wriggle my way out of it.

I then said to him calmly (in Mandarin), "ok, it was my fault and i will pay for the cost of repairing your car." He was then quite surprised and asked me, "you do not want to claim from insurance?" I told him no and i would pay cash for the damages. I then asked him if he knew any workshop for repairing the car; if not, i know someone (my cousin) and could bring him there. He told me that he had his own contact and then proceeded to make a phone call. After the call, i told him that we should move the cars to the side so that we would not obstruct the traffic.

After we moved the cars, i waited for his friends to show up. There was a girl in the car with him and did not say anything much. This guy, who had apparently simmered down after seeing my humble and apologetic attitude, said jokingly to me, "(little) sister, why are you so careless?" ("小妹，为什么那么不小心？")

I did not know how to react to his remarks and just looked at him without answering. At that time, i was just amused and was thinking to myself, "little boy, when you were still in Pampers, i was in school already, ok?!"

He then asked for my IC, to which i told him that i do not have one because i just lost my wallet recently. At first he did not believe me and thought i did not want to show him my IC. I then gave him my name card, wrote my Malaysia IC number, personal mobile phone number, my mom's mobile phone number and my JB home phone number on it. I then took out the SG driving license that i just received on Friday and told him that this was the only identification i have with me. It was then he believed that i was telling the truth. The girl in the car then said that it seemed like i was down in my luck recently and i should go and pray at temple. I did not reply and just smiled.

(I wonder how the boy felt when he saw my date of birth and realised that i am not little sister 小妹 but big sister 大姐)

While we were waiting for his friends, my mom drove the car away to look for a space to park the car properly. He then realised that he did not take down my car number and then looked for my mom's car, which had been driven away already. I then told him that we were rushing to attend church and reassured him that i would pay for the repair cost, but also said that i put my trust in him for a reasonable repair cost and not taking advantage of me by quoting a high price.

His friend finally arrived about 10 minutes later (two older guys and one older lady, probably around 30 of age). One of the guys looked at the damage and passed a remark that the damage seemed serious and it might cost a lot because they would probably need to change the entire piece of car body panel. I felt that he was only saying this just so that he could ask for more from me, because the dent wasn't really very bad and could have been knocked back. Yet, i kept quiet and did not say anything.

The lady then asked me to write down my home address on my name card too, and all the three persons again did not believe me when i said i did not have my IC because i lost my wallet. They then told me to follow them to a nearby workshop for an assessment of the repair cost. I refused to go with them and told them that i gotta attend church. I told them to just go ahead to drive the car to the workshop, and i will pay for the repair cost. I again re-iterated that i believed they would not cheat me and would give me the real cost of repairing.

And with that, we ended the "negotiation" and left the scene. I was still in time to have a quick breakfast and attend the Sunday service. Yet, while i was having breakfast, i realised that i did not do the basic things that i should have done after a car accident - i did not note down the contact and car plate number of the other driver, and i didn't even take picture of the damage.

It was very careless of me, for i just wanted to leave quickly. I also realised that i was taking a huge risk in trusting the person to not take this as a chance to extort a huge sum from me by asking the workshop to issue a big bill (which a lot of people do so).

To say that i didn't panic at all would be a lie. Apparently, from the fact that me forgetting to do all the basic things after the accident would have shown that i was actually quite nervous. Yet, the person could not tell at all. I appeared to be very composed. I did not argue with him, talked to him in a calm manner, told him to clear the traffic, and settled the issue quickly (by agreeing to pay). The entire incident was settled within just 20 minutes or so, and half the time was actually spent waiting for his friend to arrive at the scene.

Ok, you see, if you look at my drawing of the scene again, i could have argued with him if i wanted. Since i was reversing within my own lane, i was not wrong if i did not pay attention to the right side. Supposedly what happened on my right side did not concern me since i was driving within the left lane. He actually drove into my lane when he came in from the main road, and that was how i would bang into his car.

However, i did not argue with him because i did break the traffic rule by reversing at that junction even though there was no car behind me. I was wrong in wanting to take a shortcut and not abiding by the rule, and the other car making a mistake too does not relieve me of my wrongdoing. If i am wrong, i am wrong; there is no excuse to it. And since i am wrong, then i'll have to pay for the consequence and the price; there is no other way around it. To me, this is the right and just thing to do. I have answered to my conscience and to God.

And since i've done my part, what the other person would do is beyond my control. He could choose to be truthful about the repair cost, or he could cheat me. His choice will be his own consequence to bear, and since i had already agreed to pay for it, i will pay for it no matter what, even if he asked for 4-digit figures.

(This belief and attitude not only apply to this accident but it is the way that i want to approach my life and in everything i do.)

Then the amazing thing was that during the sermon on that day, the pastor shared this with us: "Faith is... doing the right thing regardless of the consequences, knowing God will turn the ultimate effect to good - Pamela Reeve".

At first during the service, i was still feeling unrest at heart because i was still disturbed by the accident. In fact, i've been feeling rather down about some incidents at work and also the impending meeting with a lawyer on my case. My mind had actually been in a state of flux over the past weeks.

Yet, after the accident and from the sermon, i started to feel relief, for i felt that things would turn out all fine eventually. I decided that i would just have to do the right thing, pray hard and let God do His work on me. He will pave the way for me and give me strength in times of turbulence. My mind was then at ease after that.

So how did the story end? Well, after the service, i returned the missed call from the driver and was told that the repair cost would be RM550. I immediately agreed to it and they would contact me again about two or three days later after the repair.

All i could say is - Hallelujah!

New angry bird

2011-09-26T21:01:00.000+08:00

I've replaced the yellow angry bird on my cubicle to a white one:

This is the bird that lays bombing eggs, which i actually thought was quite useless in the game.

Anyway, i bought it from the USA for about USD10 (at Walmart). It is bigger in size than the ones bought by the IT Consultant.

Then today, he sent us a comic about anger management.

Since i'm the white bird now, i'm the first in queue for the anger management therapy!

Funny chat

2011-09-26T20:54:00.000+08:00

I put the sad smiley as my MSN status last week and forgot to change it today. Then in the evening, i received a message from a friend:

I changed the MSN status after that.

A new week ahead

2011-09-26T00:47:00.000+08:00

Ok, i've wanted to write a long post on something that happened today (or rather, yesterday since it has passed midnight), but apparently i did not get to it at all.

I was editing and uploading my photos of the LA Trip to FB and it actually took me more than 4 hours! And that was only for one of the days! I wonder how long it's gonna take me to complete the entire trip.

Anyway, i guess i gotta leave the post to tomorrow then, for it's time for bed. It's gonna be the start of a brand new week. The previous week hasn't been good, as it ended with me feeling rather lousy. Yet, i actually feel quite good now and am ready for another busy (and hopefully productive) week ahead.

Good night.

Trust, or lack thereof

2011-09-21T23:57:00.002+08:00

Had a hefty dinner tonight. Boss and i went to Merchant Court for buffet dinner. I suggested the place because i wanted to have the famous durian pengat, but somehow it wasn't as good as i remembered it. Perhaps it's because it isn't durian season now.

Anyway, you must be wondering why i was having dinner with my boss alone. Well, that's because he needed to talk to me about my "career development", or so as he termed it. As for why he wanted to talk to me about this, i'll not divulge much now until a later stage.

What i wanted to blog about today is not the dinner or the talk. It is about a rather amusing incident.

My boss only arrived in SG this evening and our dinner appointment was at 7pm. It was already 6pm+ when he reached the hotel, and hence he asked me to meet him up at the hotel lobby and then take a cab to the restaurant together.

On our way to the restaurant, his wife rang. Firstly of course my boss told her that he was on his way to dinner. Then from the conversation, i think the wife wanted to fix an electronic device at home and asked for his opinion. My boss did not want to talk much (probably because i was around) and hence he told his wife that he would give her a call in the night after the dinner. He said this several times to her, and also said "bye" several times, but she still kept on talking, apparently disregarding what he said.

After almost 5 minutes of conversation, i think she asked who he was having the dinner with, as i heard him say my name (i think she asked him that because she heard me answering the cab driver about something). Then the next thing he said was, "we had something to talk about" ("我哋有嘢倾"), followed by "got thing to talk about" ("有地嘢要倾"). Apparently, she must be asking him why he was having dinner with me and what are the things that he wanted to talk to me about. Yet my boss probably didn't want to give her the details in front of me and hence simply told her that we had something to chat about.

After that, he ended the conversation (rather abruptly actually, as i didn't hear a "bye"). When we were seated at the restaurant already, he got an sms and after reading it, he laughed out loudly. He then told me that it was from his wife and she told him that her blood pressure was very high then because he did not want to tell her why he needed to talk to me. He then said he would call her later in the night.

Then i didn't feel good about it and told my boss that he should call her right away, and i would not mind if he just go off to another place to talk to her (so that he would not feel awkward talking to her in front of me). I jokingly said to him that he'd better do so quickly, or otherwise her blood pressure will continue to escalate.

Ok, i found this incident rather amusing. I've not met her before but she seems to be a highly suspicious wife. But then perhaps my boss had done something in the past that made her this way, or she feels insecure since my boss travels a lot on his job and is always away from home.

Whatever it is, i felt ridiculous that i was seen in such light. On the other hand, i realised that there are indeed quite a lot of women who would insist on talking on the phone even when the husband already said that he would return the call later, which normally means he is currently busy with some other thing. I've seen similar situation happened on ex-little boss too, whereby the wife called during office hours and kept on talking on the phone even though he said he would call her back.

Frankly, i would think such behaviour is being not understanding. I recall my own behaviours when i was with YY and i had not done that (i would always stop the conversation immediately if he said "i would call you back", as that signified he was tied up with something at that moment), well, until the affair happened.

Uh huh, after the trust was broken, i would insist on finding out where he was, who he was with and what he was doing, disregarding whether or not he could talk at that moment. So perhaps in the cases of those guys, the wives have low trust in them. As for why that is so, i would not know and would not guess either.

Trust is a vital element in any relationships, and even the pillar for a strong and lasting marriage. So, never ever break the trust when you have 100% of it, for even a fraction less of the total trust would mean the end of an otherwise perfect relationship.

Wasted weekend

2011-09-19T19:48:00.002+08:00

So i've not been updating my blog regularly, not even over the weekend.

Alright, it's not that i was busy over the weekend. In fact, i did not step out of the house at all on Saturday.

I spent the weekend watching videos on my iPhone again. This time, it was a Korean drama, which i concluded that it was a total waste of my time after finished watching it - it was just ddddrrrraaaaaaggggggyyyyyyy...

The lead lady cried so much (in every episode for more than half the time) that i felt the tears gonna flow out of my iPhone. There were several times that i swear i felt like slapping her after watching the excessive shots of her tearful face calling/shouting "oppa" ("brother") repeatedly.

So why then waste time on it, you asked.

Frankly, i do not know. I should have used the time to upload the pictures and videos of my LA trip to FB (there are so many more to go!). Yet, once i started watching the first episode, i couldn't stop finishing it. It isn't because it was very good or what; i just wanna see how the story progressed and ended, and so i tortured myself by watching it all the way till the end. It was actually quite a silly thing to do, as i should have known how the story ended anyway. Uh huh, it pretty much followed the typical plot. Yawn.

Anyway, i've posted several videos on my FB. Based on the LIKE and comments, my friends seem to especially fancy the one on King Kong simply because all my yelling was recorded too (i am not the kind of lady who normally yells or shouts).

Exhausted

2011-09-14T23:16:00.001+08:00

I'm in the cab now. Left office at 11pm after a long conference call with USA.

The pretty girl team member joined the call from KL office too. Her husband was waiting for her in the office to go home together. That kinda reminded me of those similar days I used to have but would never return again. This somehow does dampen my mood, especially after a long tiring day.

Anyway, can't wait to get back "home" and sleep.

Delayed again

2011-09-12T09:09:00.001+08:00

I am now at Senai Airport waiting to board the plane. The flight is supposed to be departing at 8:50am but I am still waiting at the gate.

Uh huh, the flight is delayed, again.

This time, not only MAS but all flights are delayed due to technical problem at the airport.

Ok, this is unexpected situation that happens everywhere and so I shouldn't be complaining about it. But the the thing is not so much about the technical problem (even though that creates inconvenience to the passengers). The issue I have is on how the delay is handled.

Firstly, the screen is showing the gate status as "calling", and this usually means the plane is ready for boarding or they are already boarding passengers already. Yet, this is apparently not the case, as I've not even seen the plane.

Then there is no announcement of the delay at all. The airport and the airline did not bother to inform the travellers what happened. When I went to ask the ground crew if they were boarding already (at around 8:45am), the person told me (pointing through the glass window), "as you can see, we are having problem with the ladder."

Oooookaaay, seriously, I can't tell there is a problem. Even if I can, it doesn't mean they need not inform passengers of the delay, right?! And how about the standard "we apologise for the delay"? Oh, perhaps they aren't sorry because shit happens and there is nothing to be apologetic about. The passengers should be understanding.

Welcome to Malaysia.

The past weekend

2011-09-11T23:45:00.002+08:00

I've just finished packing my "luggage" for tomorrow. Well, actually it is not really a luggage but just a small duffel bag since i'm just gonna stay for a night in KL.

I had a good weekend.

EY came in to JB on Saturday to source for furniture for his new HDB unit. I spent almost an entire day bringing him to different furniture shops at my area, including PT's shop. He is quite fussy about the furniture he wants and it wasn't easy to find. His house will only be ready near end of the year and hence he would come in to JB again to place order for the furniture. Anyway, i did have an enjoyable time catching up with him over lunch and dinner with him.

Last night, after EY had returned to SG, i started watching an anime downloaded from PPS onto my iPhone. It was quite good and i finished watching all 25 episodes of it today (each episode is less than 25min long).

I have not been using my iPhone to watch videos until recently i was looking for a Taiwanese drama that i missed the last few episodes (and couldn't find it on the Web). I installed the free Apps for streaming videos and realised the shows could actually be watched offline if i download them onto the phone. After spending the weekend watching some shows and the anime, i earn for iPad2 even more now.

Perhaps i should stop hesitating. It is actually just a few clicks (and a few thousands Ringgit) away.

Busy week

2011-09-09T23:50:00.000+08:00

We left SG at around 8:45pm today and reached home in JB at around 11pm.

No, there wasn't a traffic jam. What happened was that mom missed the exit and gotta drove all the way to Ulu Tiram and then came back by Pasir Gudang highway. Sigh, what a long journey home.

Anyway, it had been a super hectic week for me. I've been staying in the office past 9pm from Monday to Thursday. Was blogging in the cab yesterday while on my way "home", but then the mobile signal suddenly just went off and the Apple Apps that i was using to blog requires constant network connection. So i lost the post and was too pissed to write again.

Am going to KL from JB on Monday and then return to SG on Tuesday. Uh huh, it's gonna be just a two days trip this time.

We have a new CIO. The previous one (who liked me very much) had left and this new one has just joined us for a month or two. He is visiting Asia Pacific next week, and the first stop is KL. My boss wants us, the managers, go to KL and present our area of work to the new CIO. There will also be lunch and dinner sessions with him. He will only be in KL for two days, and the next stop is SG. He will then fly to Australia on Thursday.

I have originally wanted to stay in KL for the entire week, but boss told me to return to SG too so that i could bring the new CIO to the branch office. Basically, there is a free time slot on Wednesday morning and my boss gotta attend the board meeting. He does not want the CIO having nothing to do or not having anyone to accompany the CIO, and so he figured that i am the best time filler. I would also need to take care of his lunch on that day because boss will be eating with the board members. I asked the IT Managers and IT Consultant to go together, and warned them not to leave me alone with the new CIO.

So, it's gonna be another hectic week ahead, entertaining the big shot. I am so gonna make sure i enjoy this weekend before the start of a new busy week.

Theories from FB

2011-09-05T20:25:00.000+08:00

I've always thought that Facebook is one of the best platform to prove or disprove the theory of "Six Degrees of Separation".

For those of you who do not know what this theory is about, you can Google for it. In short, this theory states that anyone on this planet is connected to another person through about six intermediate acquaintances.

If this theory is true, then we are actually closer knitted with each other than we've imagined.

So far, i've yet to see evidence of this theory on my FB. But then again, i did not really spend time tracing and matching all the acquaintances of my friends to find out if people are indeed connected to each other within six intermediaries. That's gonna be tough to carry out.

Yet, i've noticed an interesting thing recently.

People on this planet may or may not be so closely connected, but the experiences and incidents that happened on people sure closely resemble one another!

And i'm not only talking about the event itself but even the timing.

Firstly, LF told us that her application for Singapore PR was rejected. Just about two days after, i saw this on my FB:

LF and this guy do not know each other, but both of them were Singapore PRs before and both got rejected. Ok, you may say that this is nothing surprising since Singapore government has tightened up the issuance of PR since the election.

Then how about this - just a few days after i just got back from LA, i saw Misery Bear's photos of his LA trip. He should be there around the same time as i was!

Alright, LA is a popular holiday destination and hence you may think this is not a big deal either.

Then yesterday, i saw a friend posted this on FB:

In less than a week, my friend talked about the same song that i've posted on my blog. Ok, you can say that this is a popular song and it's usual for people to think of this song when we are lazing around doing nothing.

Now, how about the following?

Three friends on my FB, who do not know each other at all, posted similar thing on their walls on the same day:

If you are amazed by this, then i've fooled you.

It was Singapore Curry Day on 21st August lar... heehee...

So you may be asking now - what is my point to write all these, besides being really bo liao?

Well, the world is smaller than we think it is, and nothing in this world is real coincidence. Our environment, peers, media... all play a part in moulding us and conditioning how and what we think. So, do be wary of it.

And now, i am craving for curry.

Spot the difference

2011-09-05T00:29:00.003+08:00

I've not been blogging as regularly as i'd hope i would.

Well, besides being hectic at work, i'm also spending time editing and uploading the photos of my USA trip onto FB. The progress is slow.

Anyway, here's one picture that i edited today and thought it would be fun to share it here.

Here's a picture taken at the entrance of Universal Studios Hollywood. Spot the different on the fountain (disregarding the tourists):

It's obvious, isn't it? Well, that's because there are two pictures put side-by-side for comparison. If i did not put the first one, anyone would have thought there were originally four figures all together.

Uh huh, there was this guy dressed like the statue walking onto the fountain and started posing with the statues.

He could have easily fooled anyone if he could stay stationary.

[Updated] Ah, right after i published the post and looked at the picture again, i noticed the figure on the left (holding the light) was also different - the hand moved! So i guess that was a real man too (but i did not notice it when i was there).

[Updated again] Ok, after looking at the picture AGAIN, i think it should be the angle of the shot that caused the difference. I do not think that is a real man.

It's time

2011-08-31T23:30:00.001+08:00

Finally, today is THE day.

That sounds like I have been looking forward to it. And my reply to that would be "yes and no".

There are things in life that you know are inevitable, such as death, or such as time passing by.

Yes, time - this is one thing in life that will never stop moving, no matter you are counting it or not.

It's as if you lock yourself in a room without clocks, watches, mobile phones, or anything that can tell time. You can't tell how long has passed, but time does not standstill simply because you are not paying any attention to it. The time will still pass, you will still age, the world will still change, and so do people.

I did not specifically mark the day on my calendar, but I know it would come eventually. I wasn't consciously counting the days, but there seemed to be a clock buried deep in my subconscious mind and went tick tick tick. And when this day has finally come, even though I did my best not to think anything about it, the heart would ache by itself, as if it had been set with an alarm and knew when to go off. Tick tick tick.

It's a mixed feeling, and I'm not sure how i should really feel about it. What I do know is that the road ahead is gonna be painful. The things that I've intentionally neglected, that I've forced myself not to remember, that I've numbed myself from feeling about it, will gotta be dug up one-by-one, torturing me, strangling me, wrenching my heart and mocking me.

Yes, it's gonna be difficult. I know but I'm gotta face it nonetheless.

Today has not been an easy day for me. I'm gonna end this with a note I posted on my FB today:

心隐隐的痛着，提醒着我时间已经到了。不知不觉，两年的时间就这样悄悄的溜走。即使我很努力地把那记忆锁在心底最深、最深的地方，不去触碰它，假装已遗忘了它，时间也不会因为这样而为我驻足，反而在我麻木地过着浑浑噩噩的日子中流逝得更快。

是时候打开那尘封的记忆盒子了，就算我还会心痛、还会流泪、还会感慨、还会惋惜，我也不得不勇敢地去面对它。因为唯有这样，我才能真正的结束那不堪的过去，就算是形式上的结束，却也代表着我人生的另一个开始。周而复始，若没有结束，就不会有开始；即使那结束的方式叫人感伤，该划下休止符的乐章始终还是有完结的时候。

我只能告诉自己，所有的痛，都是人生的历练，并提醒着我：虽然曾被深深的伤害过，但却也刻骨铭心的爱过；虽然没有完美的结局，但曾有甜美的回忆；虽然伤得体无完肤，但却让我更勇敢坚强；虽然人生曾走到了绝望的路口，但转角处总有绝处逢生的希望；虽然未来会孤独彷徨，但也可自由豁达；虽然未尽人意，但我却无愧于心。

我现在最需要的，不是隐忍的能耐，不是无情的冷漠，更不是强装的满不在乎。我需要的，是无尽的勇气，去接受自己也是一个软弱的人。只有在认清了自己的软弱之后，才会知道自己其实可以多么的坚强。

I am gonna allow myself to be human. If I were to break, I will let myself break, for I know that God will be with me at all times, and that is perhaps the only way that I can rebuild myself into someone stronger, better, and even happier.

Not doing anything

2011-08-30T23:28:00.002+08:00

Or rather, not doing anything productive.

Uh huh, that was what i've been doing - or not doing - for these three days. I didn't even step out of the house.

Sunday

Couldn't drag myself out of bed to go to church with my landlady (she is my aunt's friend from church). The church is at Bukit Batok and we gotta take two buses to get there. The Sunday service starts at 8:30am (i think) and she would leave home at around 6:50am. I wasn't disciplined enough to sleep early on Saturday night and hence couldn't get up early. Had been missing church for more than a month already. That's really bad.

Anyway, i ended up spending the day doing nothing but reading novel on my iPhone.

Monday

Woke up with a headache and hence decided to work from "home". Told my boss that i might have over-tired myself from the travelling and he actually apologised for having me to fly over to HK right after my USA trip.

Anyway, it was a slow day and i didn't really do much work, even though i had two conference calls from "home". Oh, and that also meant i didn't go settle my lost NRIC and driving licence. Oops, talking about procrastination.

Today

Spent the day catching up on my FB and watched lots of clips made by some famous YouTubbers. Not sure why i did that, when i could have spent the day uploading my photos, or reading some books, or blogging. I guess i was just not in the mood to do anything that requires using my brain too much - ok, i'm not implying that reading through FB updates or watching YouTube clips are brainless stuff. Just don't read too much into the writing of a person who isn't using much of her brain today.

Anyway, somehow i was reminded of "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars.

I must be back to office tomorrow and seriously get back to work. The application for replacements of my NRIC and driving license will have to be on Thursday then.

At HK Airport

2011-08-27T09:41:00.000+08:00

Am in the Krisflyer Silver Lounge now, and going to leave for the gate after this post.

Slept for only 3 hours last night. Was watching the TV and didn't realise the time.

I bought mooncakes and a lot of facial products in HK. I did not leave much room in my luggage when i came here, so i gotta stuff it to the fullest last night. It almost could not fit everything. I must bring a bigger luggage next time.

Not going back to JB this weekend again. I have not been back in JB for the entire August and kinda miss home. I gotta settle my lost NRIC and driving license in Singapore next Monday; otherwise, i would have requested to work from JB on Monday since Tuesday is a public holiday.

There are still lots of outstanding work to catch up, but i'm not gonna worry about it this weekend. I really need a good rest to recuperate from the extensive travelling.

Who's the boss

2011-08-25T04:30:00.001+08:00

Was just done with reviewing the gap-fit document written by the two ladies and that will be used for the review meeting in another 5 hours time.

Uh huh, it was another late night for me, while my two subordinates should already be in their deep deep sleep already. Sometimes I really wonder who's the real boss here.

Anyway, am only left with 2.5 hours of sleep before I gotta wake up and get ready for work. So I'd better sleep now and leave the ranting to another day.

Late

2011-08-22T08:21:00.001+08:00

At the lift area now, waiting for the gals. And the time now is 8:18am.

We have said to meet up at 8am everyday and then have breakfast together before walking to office. Yet, every single day, I'd have to wait for them here. They are late everyday. Not just 5 or 10 minutes late, but more than 20 minutes.

It's very annoying.

Weekend in HK

2011-08-21T17:01:00.000+08:00

I'm now in the hotel room, rushing the slides for tomorrow.

Uh huh, it's gonna be my session tomorrow and i've not done any preparation. After i started doing it, i realised there are quite a lot of things to prepare. I'm also toying with the idea of conducting the session tomorrow in Cantonese, but it may slow down the speed if i really do that because i'd have to translate the language in my head first before speaking it. The benefit of doing so is that it will help me to relate better with the users, and also it will probably help to keep them awake too - because it's gonna sound so funny and they would be so entertained for the entire session.

I didn't do any work yesterday, for i figured that i needed a break (even though i just returned from a long vacation). I slept till afternoon, had a quick lunch and then took to train to SOGO at Causeway Bay. I only walked around for an hour or two and did not buy anything except some food stuff for dinner. HK is a crowded place, especially on weekends, and i do not like it at all. Hence i also do not enjoy shopping here either.

Then today, i went around the area near the hotel and bought a pair of shoes that i could wear with with my office attire and fit in the walking cast. Since my sprained ankle has not fully recovered yet, i cannot wear high-heels and must still wear the walking cast to protect it if i need to do lots of walking (the hotel is within walking distance to the office). I do not have any flat-heel shoes that can go with my office attire, and hence i only brought a pair of sport shoes and a pair of sandals with me. When i wore the sport shoes with my formal pants last week, it looked so odd. That was why i decided that i gotta get a pair of flat-heel shoes that are without back quarters so that my foot can fit into it even when i'm wearing the walking cast.

I did not go out or meet up with the two consultants over the weekend. It is best to give everyone a break from each other, for i'm sick of facing them, especially the emotional face of the senior consultant. I believe they feel the same too. They have their own friends here and their own plans already anyway.

Before i end this post and get back to work, here are some pictures i took over these few days:

Porridge for dinner on Tuesday night (艇仔粥):

Lunch at Starbucks yesterday:

Lunch today - chicken rice and coffee + tea drink (鸳鸯):

And one of the things i love to do whenever i travel to another country is to visit the local supermarkets or grocery stores because this is the place where we get to see different products and have a glimpse into the daily life of the people there. Sometimes i can spend almost an hour in the store browsing the products on the shelves even without buying anything.

I went to the Welcome Supermart here and saw the Qoo drinks that i like, with flavours that we do not get in Singapore - soya milk and mango juice:

(I think we do not have this drinks in Malaysia at all)

I bought a can of Qoo apple juice from SOGO yesterday:

At HK

2011-08-17T10:18:00.000+08:00

Arrived in HK on Monday late evening. The kick-off meeting went on well yesterday, even though i did not do much preparation and only slept for 3 hours on the night before.

Starting from today until next Friday, we will be holding the gap-fit workshop on different functional areas. I did not do much work during my vacation in USA and had not done any preparation for the workshop. Fortunately, after the kick-off session, all the rest of the week will be in charge by the two consultants. My session will be in next week and i still have time to prepare the slides and demo.

I'm still recovering from the jet lag and had only slept for 6 hours+ for two nights combined. Oddly, i do not feel sleepy despite the weariness from the excessive travelling.

Boss is in UK this week and he called me yesterday after reading my email and realised that i am back to work. He sounded happy that i am back and started passing back to me some of the work that he had assigned to the two consultants during my absence.

Sigh, now i really have the feeling that my vacation is so over... back to reality.

Post vacation blues

2011-08-12T16:16:00.000+08:00

I'm not kidding you, this is really what i'm suffering from now.

Check out Wikipedia on the explanation of post vacation blues. Sometimes there may even be depression too!

So, be prepared to read more rants than vacation sharing on this blog for the coming days.

First off, i gotta deal with the jet lag for sure. In fact, it should be bed time for me now in LA time zone. Yet, i'm now stuck here in KLIA waiting for the postponed flight. So do bear with me, for a person deprived of sleep is normally more easily agitated.

Then, if i were to sum up the vacation briefly, i would say that it is not really as good as i had hoped. In fact, there were quite a number of unpleasant days and unhappy events. I've not made a calculation of the total amount i spent on this entire trip, but a rough estimate would be around SGD8K. I did not really feel that it was money well-spent, and i could only keep on telling myself that i should be thankful and feel blessed that i am able to spare this amount without feeling much pinch financially.

Lastly, and the worst of all, is that i am feeling a lot of pressure from work. The HK project kick-off will be held on 16/8 (next Tuesday) and boss wants me to be there even though i've told him that the two ladies should be able to handle it by themselves. Basically, he has no confidence in them, especially on project and people management portion.

This means that i gotta fly off to HK on 15/8 and be there for about two weeks (will be back in SG on 27/8). I'll have to rush for the project materials over the weekend, as i've not done anything on it during the vacation. I also have tons of work piled up after 2 weeks of absence, and a major document due by end of the month.

On personal affairs, i have yet to settle my lost IDs and my sprained ankle is still not recovered yet. The time is also almost up for me to settle the painful affair that i'm sure gonna drain me physically and emotionally.

Ok, now that i'm done with the rant on this blog, i'll have to deal with my blues in real life. Whether it is work or personal, i just gotta work through it.

Transit at KLIA again

2011-08-12T14:50:00.000+08:00

I am actually in a rather bad mood now for various reasons, and i'll rant about one of the main contributing factors.

After 20 hours of travelling half a globe back to Malaysia, i am now in KLIA again.

We arrived at KLIA at around 12pm and the flight back to SG is at 4:30pm. Mom and i had thought of going out of the airport but then there is no facility in KLIA to place our hand-carry luggage. What a lousy airport.

So, we ended up waiting here at a restaurant where we had a lousy tasting lunch at exorbitant prices, again:

(Two weeks ago when we were in-transit here, mom bought a small bottle of mineral water for RM12!!!)

While we were waiting here, i remembered that there was an email i received while the plane stopped by Taiwan to refuel. It was from Zuji, the website where i bought the air tickets. The email mentioned that the airline had informed Zuji about a change in my flight schedule and asked me to give their customer care centre a call. I did so and was told that our flight back to SG was changed to 5:30pm. I was puzzle about this because we have already gotten the boarding passes for this leg of the flight when we checked in at LAX, so i didn't understand how they could simply change my flight just like that.

Since i was already at the airport, i went to make an enquiry at MAS counter. The ground crew informed me that the 4:30pm flight was cancelled and hence i was moved to the flight that departs an hour later. Notice that i said "i was moved". Yes, after checking the system, the lady could not locate my mom's name in the system. Apparently, they cancelled the flight and moved me to a later flight, but my mom's booking was simply cancelled without moving her accordingly too.

Anyway, the lady took back the boarding passes of the cancelled flight and then re-issued new ones for mom and me. This also means that my transit time here has just been extended by another hour. Fortunately i did check email and call Zuji, otherwise we may have problem getting onto the plane later.

Actually the flight with MAS had not been pleasant at all, but i told myself that i should not keep on comparing SIA with MAS, for we get what we pay for. But then, this flight cancellation and how it was handled have worsened my perception on MAS (when it was already not very good to begin with). It sure doesn't help when i'm so tired and in need of a bath desperately (i can't stand my oily flat hair, uncleaned face and teeth!).

Alright, enough of this rant for now. Mom had gone around looking to buy a bottle of water again and the cheapest she could find cost RM9. She didn't buy it this time. The drinks in this restaurant costs RM6 per cup, and so i'm gonna move to Burger King or Starbucks.

One more day

2011-08-10T15:41:00.000+08:00

This is probably gonna be my last update while i'm still in LA. In about another 24 hours, mom and i will be flying home.

Frankly, i can't wait to get back home, but not eager to get back to work at all. Work is piling up like crazy, and there is this nagging voice at the back of my head that kept on bugging me about it. I can't even truly put my mind at ease during my vacation. Sigh...

Anyway, i'm just gonna do a quick update and then go to bed.

Mom and i took a 3D2N tour to Las Vegas, and we just got back to my brother's place on Tuesday evening. The tour was supposed to include a day at Grand Canyon but we decided to skip it and stayed in Las Vegas instead. There is a reason for that and i'll elaborate it in another post, if i ever get to it.

Here's another teaser - here's me taking a picture of myself sulking in my brother's car with the evening sunlight.

(The aircon in his car isn't working and hence we gotta open the windows while he was speeding on the freeway.)

(This post was written on 10-Aug-11, 12.40am)

I am a sinner

2011-08-06T15:43:00.001+08:00

Since I came to LA, I've been thinking that I made a mistake in choosing to stay at my brother's place instead of a hotel. There are a number of reasons why I think this way, but the most crucial of all is the part where I'd have to sin.

And seriously, my conscience is killing me.

I guess it isn't really right for me to say that "I'd have to sin", as it sounds like I didn't have a choice. The fact is that I do have a choice, as everyone does in everything we do. Yet, as much as I was reluctant, I chose to do it nonetheless.

I have done two things that I hated and feel so guilty about it.

Firstly, I helped my brother's landlady to buy two cartons of duty-free cigarettes from Changi Airport and brought over to LA for her.

Ok, before you say this is not a big deal, do know that I hate smoking. I cannot stand people smoking; I am of the opinion that smoking is a bad habit and it is as good as spending money in gradually killing yourself. So, by helping my brother's landlady in buying cigarettes, I'm actually condoning a behaviour that I abhor.

I had actually contemplated not buying for her when I was at the airport, but my mom wanted to get it because she was worried that the landlady would be unhappy and then it would make my brother's life difficult. I didn't want my mom to be worried and so I relented.

Now whenever I am at the kitchen chatting with the landlady while she is taking a puff, and seeing that she is actually coughing and having sore throat for weeks already, I hear a voice telling myself that I should not have brought the cigarettes for her.

Secondly, which is the one that really makes me feel very guilty, is that I have to tell lies to my brother's landlady and her boy friend (who stays with her here) so that my story would match up with what my brother had told her.

I am not gonna divulge much here about what lies he had told in the first place. Basically, if I were to tell the truth, I'm not sure how the landlady would react. My brother may be in trouble, and I do not wanna create any troubles for him, which will in turn upset my mom.

Yet, the thing about lying is that most of the times, you gotta tell other lies to cover up one simple lie. And to make the matter worse, I do not know what my brother had told them in the entirety, and hence the more they poke, the more there will be loopholes in the stories.

Furthermore, the landlady and her boyfriend have been very friendly, truthful, hospitable and helpful to mom and me. They chatted with me like friends and told me about their families. The more they treat us well, the worse I feel about being not truthful with them. I could have made some friends in this trip but it is not gonna happen; I won't be able to add them to my FB or keep in touch if they request for it (and I hope they won't).

You see, just as any relationships, the foundation of friendship is truthfulness, sincerity and trust. From the very beginning, I haven't been truthful and I believe anyone would feel mad to be lied to. There is no way that they will take me as friends if they are aware of the truth and how I had lied to them.

And the worst of all is that through lying, I'm committing sins. I know God will not want His children to lie, and yet I still do it knowingly simply because I do not want to make my mom unhappy and make troubles for my brother. In a way, I've chosen humans over God.

For non believers, all these may not seem to be such a great deal, but my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ would understand how terrible I am feeling about all these. Now I'm not even sure if I'm worthy of asking for God's forgiveness when I'll still be lying while I'm still here. :(

Foot

2011-08-06T11:25:00.001+08:00

We were back at my brother's place after 4D2N of tiring but fun touring and sight-seeing.

Ok, here's an update on my sprained ankle, taken from my FB -

The long-haul flight was a torture to my foot and it looked like a pork knuckle when i reached LA:

Yes, it was as bad as it looked. Not only the ankle but the entire foot swelled up badly. There were also more bruises but oddly i didn't feel much pain.

After resting for a few days and applying ice packs and ointment, it got better. The swelling subsided and the bruises healed. It is not fully recovered though, as it is still swelling and tender to touch. I still can't move the ankle sideways without feeling the sore. I believe the speed of recovery may be slower due to the excessive walking and standing (but heck, it's all worthwhile).

Alright, since i'm on the topic of foot, here's a picture of my the other foot:

They don't call this place sunny California for nothing. I'm having very bad tan now, or maybe even sunburn. I did apply sunscreen but it didn't really help too much, especially when i'm a person with darker skin tone. I get tanned easily but take a long time to get back fairer skin.

On an unrelated note, in case i am too busy to blog about my trip (like i always do), here's a quick rundown of the places we visited for the past four days: Hollywood Boulevard, Universal Studios Hollywood, Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, sight-seeing tour of the rich and famous area in LA (Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, etc.), and Warner Bros. Studio VIP Tour.

Just as a teaser, here's an amusing sight we saw when we stepped onto Hollywood Boulevard:

Uh huh, Batman was queuing up for hot dog. You see, superheroes also need to eat. ;)

The charming Batman noticed me taking picture of him and he actually smiled at me (but not seen in this picture):

(This post was written on 5-Aug-11, 5.10pm)

At Hollywood

2011-08-02T15:53:00.001+08:00

This is gonna be a quick update.

My brother was and still is driving me up the wall. I couldn't help but felt fortunate that i do not stay with him in my daily life; otherwise, I think I would have gone mad already.

Well, the good news is that I'm now in a hotel room at Sunset Boulevard. Mom and I have spent the evening walking along the famous Hollywood Boulevard. It's a tourist area but interesting and colourful. I've taken quite a lot of photos there (without mom or me in the pictures).

My plan for tomorrow is to visit Universal Studios at Hollywood. Woohoo!

Now I finally feel that I'm on vacation.

(This post was written on 1-Aug-11, 11.52pm)

Pissed

2011-07-30T15:33:00.001+08:00

Ok, i've been thinking about posting some details of my trip so far, but instead i need to rant; otherwise i think i'll probably lose my temper very soon.

(Anyway, the trip update is gonna be short and quick, as there is nothing much to tell really.)

Seriously, i do not know how to deal with my brother. I am putting up with him for the sake of my mom... he really pisses me off, and seriously, i'm now just taking this trip as the sole purpose to make my mom happy (which does not really seem to be the case either, which i will relate it eventually in another post).

I think not seeing each other for more than 15 years and to hardly keep in touch have really made a very deep negative impact on our family relationship. Let's not talk about how my brother is now or my opinion of him, for that's probably gonna be a long post. For now, i just need to get this off my chest.

So far, i've not really been to anywhere except to the factory outlet mall for a few hours this afternoon. I feel that if i still don't do anything about it, i'd probably just end up spending 14 days at my brother's place doing nothing (or work) everyday.

LA is a place where you are practically handicapped when you do not have a car. The public transport is near to non-existence and the cab fare is expensive. My brother does not stay near LA downtown area and there is nothing but just town houses within walking distance.

As i do not have a driving license now, i could not rent a car or drive my brother's car. He needs his car to go to work everyday anyway (even though i do not really see him working hard at all, and again that is for another post). So my mom and i ended up not able to go anywhere without him.

So there are three options for us now:
(1) Join local tour
(2) Stay at hotel in downtown
(3) My brother drops us off and picks us up at our destinations

After more than 2 hours of research just now, i decided to do a combination of the three.

First of all, i decided that mom and i should stay in a hotel at Hollywood area for maybe two nights so that it is near to various attractions. There are also shuttle bus to and fro this hotel, with a pass that we could buy to enter over 40 different attractions at cheaper combined prices. This will also cut down the time for travelling and we won't be so tired.

When i told my brother about this plan, he immediately rejected it and said he could drive us anywhere. Yet, i do not think that is a good idea and i'm kinda tired to have to tell him where i wanna visit and then be judged by him. I did not reply him though, and decided to talk to my mom in private tomorrow and seek her opinion.

Secondly, i found a multi-lingual 5½ hour tour of LA. It is just a sightseeing tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and downtown LA with some quick stops - yeah, the touch-and-go kind with a tour guide. I figure that this is good with mom around and when my sprained ankle does not permit me to do excessive walking (even though i have done so today at the outlet mall).

I will need my brother to drop us off at the pick-up point and so i told him about it. He then told me not to waste my money on whatever tour, as those are just rip-offs on tourists. He said there is nothing much there at all, and if we really wanna see that area, he can just drop us off there and we can walk around on our own.

I was pissed and told him that we do not know the area at all and it is dangerous for us to walk around on our own should we wander into any dangerous neighbourhood. Then i snapped at him, "well, we ARE tourists". He then said (to stop the argument), "ok ok, whatever."

Actually i know and agree with his statement about joining tours can be a rip-off, but he gotta consider my mom. If i were to go with my friends like i did with LF and PT, we would have no problem go exploring on our own. Yet, with my mom around, he can't expect her to do the same. Furthermore, i'm not sure if LA is safe no matter where we go; i'm sure there are places that are unsafe and we are not aware of it at all.

His comments about "there is nothing there to see" also pissed me off. He has forgotten that, unlike him who has stayed here for years, this is our first time here. Will any tourists who come to LA go home without at least seeing the Hollywood sign at all?! It is just like one going to New York and did not bother to see the Statue of Liberty, or going to Washington and did not check out the White House or monuments.

(And seriously, what else he expects us to do here for 14 days if everywhere is also "nothing to see" to him???)

Then he also disapproved me of taking pictures of the food or things i saw. On the first day i was here when i took picture of our first meal, he told me not to do that. Then on the second day when i took out my camera to take picture of his car, he again said to me, "can you please don't do that", and then murmured something, which i know that he felt embarrassed or something. He said he does not understand why i wanna take pictures of the food and everything i see. I was unhappy and told him, "what's the big deal? I am a tourist." But then, just out of respect since he does not like it, i have stopped taking pictures.

There was also this thing about coffee. I gotta take my daily dose of coffee and i have an headache today because of the jet lag plus missing my coffee. So just now when my brother picked me up at the outlet mall, i told him that i would need to stop by Starbucks to get some coffee powder, for i've bought a coffee filter to make coffee.

My brother does not drink coffee at all. He then again did not agree with me buying coffee from Starbucks. He said he did not understand why i wanna buy coffee from Starbucks since it is so expensive. I did not answer him but mom told him that i gotta have coffee everyday and i like Starbucks coffee. He then murmured something disapprovingly again, which to that i almost wanted to tell him, "So what if it is expensive? I have lots of money (老娘我有的是钱)." Of course i did not say that out loud.

Here's another one - before i came here, i've also briefly checked out what the free things i can do here. I found out that for the month of July and August, there are free Shakespearean plays at Griffith Park. I've marked it as one of the activities that i wanna do here and even checked out the schedule on the play that i wanna watch.

Yet, the play starts at 7pm and will end late at night. I don't think his place is near Griffith Park and don't feel right asking him to pick me up in the night. So just now i casually mentioned this to him and kinda wanted to find out if it is far from here. His first reaction to me is that Griffith Park is a dangerous place and i should not go there. I was puzzled and did not really believe him, for i've read that Griffith Park is huge and there are different areas in tha park for different activities. If the drama organisation can stage a free performance there for arts lovers in the evening (and there are even drama workshop for students that starts at 5pm!), it can't be that dangerous.

I told him this thought and he said to me, "i don't understand why you wanna watch a play." I was pissed and told him, "why not? I'm here and i wanna experience everything that i can." You see, i don't blame him for not knowing that i love Shakespearean plays, but i an not happy at him for belittling anything that is not of his interest. To him, only watching movies are real entertainment and anything else is just plain pointless.

As for his various negative or contemptuous comments about Christianity (because mom and i asked to visit a church on Sunday), i would just keep quiet and not say anything. He is obstinate in maintaining his opinions, values and way of life that i do not think it would make any difference to say anything.

Three days have passed and the trip has so far been nothing but disgruntlement. I just gotta keep telling myself that even if we end up going back just like this, at least my mom has finally gotten to see his precious son whom she missed so so so much. And frankly, i do not know if the next meet up will be another 15 years+, or if my mom will still be around or well enough to travel so far.

Nonetheless, i think i really ought to do something about this and not let it becomes the worst and most wasted long trip of my life.

(This post was written on 29-Jul-11, 11.47pm)

Transit at KLIA

2011-07-27T13:31:00.000+08:00

Am at KLIA now. There is a 4-hour transit time before we board the plane again to LA.

I just posted a status onto my FB:

I thought of doing some work here while waiting and was connected to the KLIA free wifi. But then, i could not access the Web pages of my company Gmail, Facebook or Blogger. It would just show the connection error page. Since there is a maximum data charge per day with Digi 3G, i decided not to waste my time trying to get the wifi working and connect via my iPhone instead.

You see, it's not that i like to bash my mother land. The problem is that the progress and quality of the development do not match up to the price - every little project costs more than millions of ringgit and yet we aren't getting that kind of worth.

Alright, this post is not to rant about our country, so let's move on.

The morning flight from SG to KL was at 9.50am. It was delayed a bit and we arrived at KLIA at around 11.25am. When mom and i were at Changi Airport T2, the location where Starbucks used to be was replaced by another cafe. And so we had breakfast there.

When we checked in at Changi this morning, i asked the airline staff to change seat for me. As expected, there was no more available seats at all. The lady advised me to check again at the transfer counter in KLIA.

Right after i arrived at KLIA, i asked the same again at the transfer counter and was told the same thing - there was not available seat. The counter lady told me to check again at the gate. She said maybe i can ask to switch with another passenger. Then i asked her (sarcastically), "do you think anyone would want to change from an aisle or front seat to a middle seat?" She said she does not think so too.

(Before you calling me nasty, please know it was because i was not happy with her attitude. She did not appear as helpful at all; rather, her entire body language and facial expression showed total apathy, as if telling me, "do not bother me". This pissed me off, especially after a series of bad experience with lousy customer service and a contrastine one last night, which i would relate it in another post.)

Anyway, i will ask again at the gate later but i seriously don't pin much hope on it.

Before i end this post, here's the lunch with exorbitant prices we had just now at KLIA:

All set to go

2011-07-26T23:25:00.000+08:00

I will only do a quick update now and will see if i can write more tomorrow when i am at the airport and during transit in KL.

Got the replacement for my two credit cards and one ATM card today. Have exchanged a sum of USD and am all packed. I am so ready for the trip!

Due to the excessive walking today, the ankle is swelling up again. And i've done nothing yet about my lost IDs and driving license. In addition, there are tons of unfinished work that i would have to rush for even during my holidays, and i gotta deal with my moody staff again today.

Yet, despite all these, i am in a chirpy mood now. I guess that's the magic a long vacation has on people.

More lousy services

2011-07-26T09:09:00.000+08:00

I really gotta rant about this...

Seriously, there is still a loooooooooong way to go for the customer service in Malaysia.

After experiencing an unpleasant customer service with Public Bank, i just had another with a big Malaysian corporation again today - Malaysia Airlines.

First of all, i signed up for the MAS airmiles called Enrich. I have no idea why MAS did not join in any of the airlines alliance such as the Star Alliance; instead, they isolate themselves and customers must sign up with their airmiles. I guess they figured that this is the way to force the customers to always take their flights to earn airmiles. If that is so, then it is actually a thinking without foresight.

Singapore Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, and i have many points accumulated under SIA. In my previous business trips to USA, when i was booking for my flights, i specifically told the travel agent to book me under the airlines that are also members of Star Alliance so that i can earn the points. You see, it is not possible for any airlines to cover ALL the routes in the world, especially for those domestic or non-popular destinations. Furthermore, there are also times when the flight is full or the flight time does not suit the travellers, and then the travellers will look for other airlines for the flight. In such cases, travellers such as myself would choose the airlines that can accumulate points under the same loyalty programme rather than splitting up the airmiles. In a way, this is another way to get more customers too. Yet, our dear MAS choose to be so alone out there.

Ok, so this is the way it is, i signed up for Enrich so that i don't waste the airmiles for this flight to USA. But then, i could not log on to the membership site. There was a function that says "forget your password" on the site and i clicked on it to have my password reset and sent to my email. I did that like at least more than 5 times already but i've not received any emails at all. I think that function isn't working at all, and now i can't log in to my membership site unless i called them up to complain about it.

Lastly is on the online check-in facility. Alright, it's not that i wanna keep comparing Singapore with Malaysia, but i just couldn't help it because i am so used to the good services provided by SG companies.

The online check-in facility on SIA website allows passengers to change seats even after we have checked in. We can also cancel the check-in and re-do it again. The user interface is friendly and smooth.

Yet, our lousy MAS online check-in facility does not allow checked in customer to change the seats or cancel the check-in. Basically, once you have already checked in, the only thing you are still allowed to amend is the Enrich membership number.

Yesterday i did the online check-in on MAS website. After i filled in all the necessary particulars (i gotta do that everytime i check-in online because i could not log on to my membership page) and click "Next", i was hit with an error about unable to proceed with the checking in on my ticket. I then try it again from the start, but was eventually brought to the page where it showed that i've already checked in with seats already assigned! The worst part is that the "change seat" button was disabled and i could not make any changes to it.

So, basically i did not get to choose my seats, did not get to even see where the seat is, and couldn't make changes to it either. I have wanted to choose either the first row or an aisle seat so that there may be a way for me to elevate my foot during the long-haul flight, but now i'm stuck.

I then called up the customer service at MAS just now and told them about my situation and requested them to change the seat for me. After much time spent, the guy told me that there are no more available seats and asked me to try again when i'm at tha airport. Oooookkkaaay, what's the odd that any seats will still be available tomorrow morning right before the flight?

Furthermore, i asked him where my allocated seat is located. He told me that it is right in the middle of the middle cluster (the 5 seats cluster). That is gonna be really bad. I think my foot is gonna swell up like an elephant leg after close to 20 hours of flying time. I could of course try asking someone to switch seat for me, but seriously who would want to change from a front or aisle seat to a narrow middle seat for such long hours flight?

Anyway, my comment for my experience with MAS online service - it SUCKS! It is not customer oriented or user friendly. They should seriously take reference from SIA and improve on it. But then, Malaysian government or GLC always have this unrealistic bloated ego about themselves that they think they are the greatest and most wonderful of all. So i seriously won't put much hope in it.

Oh well, i'll just have to tell myself that this is a cheap ticket and hence comes the price. I'll just have to bear with it, and i've been trained over these few years to withstand agonies.

So yeah, this is NOT gonna break me.

Horrendous customer service

2011-07-26T01:24:00.001+08:00

I had a brief but terrible experience with the customer service of Public Bank when i was reporting my lost ATM card:

(CS = Customer Service)

Rude CS: "Hello?" (He did not even greet the customers with the company name or identify himself)

PinPin: "Hi, i've lost my ATM Card today and would like to report it."

Rude CS: "Ok, your IC number?" (in a rude tone)

PinPin: "750201-01-xxxx"

Rude CS: "Your bank account number?"

PinPin: "Huh, i do not know my bank account number."

Rude CS: "You only have one account with Public Bank?"

PinPin: "Yes."

Rude CS: "Ok, the card is cancelled."

PinPin: "Erm, so i just go to any of the branches to get a new card?"

Rude CS: "Yes."

PinPin: "Ok, thanks."

Rude CS: "Ok." (Then put down the phone)

I was appalled by such service level. Seriously, i've always thought that Public Bank provides the best service among all the banks in Malaysia, and now i know that i'm so wrong.

When i called the banks in Singapore, the customer service personnel was very polite and helpful (or at least they sounded so). They would asked me a bunch of questions to verify my identity before proceeding with my request.

Yet, with Public Bank, all i need to say is just my IC number? So anyone can just call in to cancel someone else's card!

Furthermore, the way that he conducted himself on the phone had absolutely no courtesy. No "may I", "please" or "thank you". All questions were asked in one incomplete sentence in a rude tone. He also did not offer to tell me how i could get a replacement card, nor did he greet the customers properly when picking up and putting down the call. It was horrendous.

I think i'd better call the bank again to make sure the ATM card has indeed been cancelled. I wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't.

Obstacles

2011-07-25T23:56:00.000+08:00

Ok, as if a sprained ankle wasn't bad enough, i gotta be hit with another obstacles before the trip.

Uh huh, i lost my wallet today. All i can do is just to let out a big sigh. SIGH.

Let me see if i can relate the event... but the fact is that i seriously do not know how and when it happened.

Mom and i were packing our luggage last night (she is staying at my rented place for these two days). I recall that the last time i saw my wallet was at around 10pm+, when i was thinking to pass my Easi-Link card to my mom. At the end it was not needed and i THINK i then put the wallet back to my purse as i always do.

(I may have a habit of placing my glasses or mobile phones anywhere, but not my wallet. I always put it back to my purse after i'm done using it.)

This morning i called a cab to work. After i have received the confirmation of the booking on my phone, i put the phone back into my purse and then went down to the HDB block to wait for the cab. During the entire time, i did not really look into my purse and hence i do not know if the wallet was in the purse at that time or not.

When i've arrived at the office tower, i opened my purse and noticed that the pocket where i place my wallet was empty. My immediate thought was that i've left the wallet at "home" and then i called the IT Manager down to pay for the cab fare for me.

After i got into the office, i called my mom and asked her to check the room to see if my wallet was there. My mom said she could not see it and would help to look for it. Then, my landlady's mother and my mom search everywhere (even underneath the mattress and inside the dustbin in my room) but the wallet was still no where to be found. Later in the afternoon, my SG aunt also went to my rented place and helped to hunt for it again but to no avail. SIGH.

When my aunt went into my room, she noticed that the sliding window was not locked even though it was closed. I always place my purse on top of the table near the window with the zip opened, but i will always ensure the window is closed and locked. I do not know who had unlocked the window in my room. They then suspected that a thief might have slided open the window last night and took the wallet away. It was kinda eerie to think that someone actually did that while i was fast asleep just beside the table. This means that a thief (if there was indeed one) might be staring at me last night while i was sleeping.

So, we had concluded that there are three possibilities of how the wallet was lost:
(1) It was stolen last night through the unlocked window
(2) It was dropped somewhere this morning between the HDB unit to the ground floor
(3) The cab driver stole it in the car (since i was sleeping in the car and i THINK my purse was not zipped up at that time)

When i returned "home" this evening, i searched the room again and really could not find the wallet. So we decided to report the lost wallet to the police. I limped my way to the police station but was told that i need not report to the lost since i could not be sure if there was indeed a crime involved. I just gotta take care of reporting all the lost cards to the banks and replacing all the lost ID cards. SIGH.

As for my Malaysian IC, since i require a police report to get a new IC, i could do self-service police report of lost items from the Singapore Police website. I did that and have gotten a soft copy of the police report in my email.

I've also called up DBS and UOB to cancel my credit cards and ATM cards. For the credit cards, i told them that i am going overseas on Wednesday and they will arrange the replacement cards to be couriered to me (to my uncle's place at Woodlands) by tomorrow evening. As for the ATM cards, i will have to go to any of the bank branches personally to get a new one.

I have a corporate AMEX card and i've called up to cancel it too. However, there is no urgency to replace that card. Then i also called Public Bank to cancel my ATM card, but the customer service was the worst i've encountered so far. He was very rude, even though i was told that the card was cancelled (but i think i better call again to confirm tomorrow). I will relate the conversation in another post.

Now the most troublesome and biggest headache is the three IDs - SG NRIC, MY IC, and SG driving license. I will have to go to the relevant government agencies to get those replaced, and it will be multiple trips since it takes time to get those done. For SG NRIC, i would also be fined SGD100 for 1st time lost of NRIC. I think i could only go do all these after i return from LA. This also means that i would not be able to get my international license tomorrow without my driving license. SIGH.

Now, i only hoped that it was not stolen. I'd rather it was dropped somewhere and a good and honest person has picked it up and surrendered it to the police. I don't really care about the few hundreds dollars that were lost so long as i could get the IDs back.

Well, to say that this (yet another) incident has no effect on me would be a lie. Of course i was upset about it, but i did not panic at all. I told myself that whatever happened has already happened and there is really no use in panicking. I would just have to do the necessary to minimise further losses. SIGH.

Alright, i have actually let out more than one big sigh. There seems to be obstacles to my LA trip, and i just gotta keep the faith to believe in God. HE will guide the way, and everything will work out to be fine.

Diagnosis of my sprain

2011-07-24T23:57:00.003+08:00

Went to see a orthopaedist yesterday. The doctor is rather famous in our area.

He examined my foot by pressing at different areas to see if there was pain. He then took an x-ray of my foot to confirm that there was no bone fracture.

His diagnosis was that the inversion sprain has resulted in a stretch or tear of the ligaments. The doctor was very patient and showed me pictures of foot anatomy while explaining to me where the injury was. He told me that there are three grades to the severity of an ankle sprain. Grade 1 & 2 are just stretch or partial tear of the ligaments, while grade 3 is complete tear and would never fully recover unless undergoing surgery. X-ray will only display bone structure and not the ligaments, and only MRI can determine the severity of the sprain. However, this is normally only done on sportsmen who need to get back to their games quickly and not really necessary for layman like us.

I asked him that since i am still able to walk without much pain, then does it mean that it was not a grade 3 sprain? He said that it is indeed unlikely that there was a complete tear of the ligaments, but one should not rule it out completely. He said i am still able to walk because there is a tendon at our inner heel that can support our walking, and our normal body reaction would avoid the pain and place pressure on the inside of the foot when walking. I realised that is exactly what i am doing and hence i am limping.

He also told me that a lot of times, people associate pain with recovery; yet, a complete healing of the ligaments would take about 6 weeks even though we may not feel much pain after about 10 days or so. That was the misconception that many people have and resume to normal activities after about one or two weeks, when the sprain is actually still not fully recovered. That was why some patients never recovered properly and would suffer from side effects.

He prescribed a anti-inflammatory medicine and told me to continue the R.I.C.E treatment (which i did so when i was in KL) - Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. He said i should definitely reduce walking about and keep my leg elevated for most times. If i put my leg down for extended hours, the gravity will cause the sprained ankle to swell up. That was why we normally would find the swelling subsided when we wake up in the morning but get worse as we go through the day. He also recommended to continue using ice to reduce the swelling.

I then told him that i am flying to USA in economy class. He then shook his head and said that was gonna be very bad. He told me to somehow figure out how to keep my leg elevated during the flight, and also recommended me to buy a walking cast to protect my foot when i am walking around in LA.

The entire treatment (and a crash course on ankle ligaments sprain) cost RM500 and he gave me 14 days MC! I am gonna claim the amount from the company, and also wanna find out if i can make any insurance claim for it. As for the 14 days MC (which i really wonder if it is necessary since it doesn't seem to be that serious), i am contemplating about asking my boss if i can change my annual leave for the LA trip to MC instead. Then i'd save my annual leave. If i can really do that, then it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise!

Update on the sprain

2011-07-23T00:55:00.000+08:00

Am back in JB now.

So let's backtrack a bit on what happened.

I was out with my department to have a farewell dinner at a restaurant in The Gardens. There was this ramp at the entrance. It was not obvious and i didn't notice it. There was when i sprained my left ankle. A few of my colleagues actually told me that they too almost fell at the same place.

At the very moment when i sprained it, i could feel numbness and pain on my ankle and the entire foot. I stood there and wait for the numbness and pain to pass. It took about a minute or so, and then i didn't feel the pain anymore (perhaps it was still numb). Then i sat in the restaurant for almost two hours, during which time i did not attend to the sprain immediately (as i did not want to make a fuss out of it). When the farewell dinner ended, i stood up and started walking, there was when i started to feel the pain.

Little brother then sent me back to the hotel and on our way back, he went to a pharmacy and got me a tube of ointment. I also bought a bandage for binding up the ankle and foot to protect it.

Here's a picture i took on the night when i was back at the hotel. The ankle was all swollen and painful:

So what i did on the first night was to apply some ice at the swelling area and place a pillow beneath my foot when i slept. I also bandaged it at all times except when taking bath. Lastly, i also prayed for God to heal it.

The next day, little brother picked me up from the hotel to work. Then my team members said they wanna bring me to see a sensei but then they said the famous one is at Old Klang Road and normally there will be a long wait to see the sensei. I told them that i do not want to waste time waiting for so long and drive so far. They then searched the Web for a nearby sensei, but i told them i do not feel comfortable simply going to see a Chinese physician without knowing if he is good, for i have had bad experience before with Chinese physician aggravating my injury instead of curing it.

In the end, i went to the clinic next to our office block (our panel doctor) and as expected, the doctor simply prescribed some painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication for me. I took the anti-inflammatory medicine but not the painkillers, as it was not really that painful until i couldn't stand it.

This morning, i woke up feeling a lot better. I did not really feel much pain and i think the swelling has subsided a bit too. However, there seems to be some numbness at my foot and i still can't bend the foot too much (it feels "tight" as i move it). I dare not putting too much pressure on the left leg and hence i was still limping.

Then just now, after i got home and removed the bandage, i saw that the ankle was still a bit swollen and the bruises has started showing. Oddly enough, the bruises seemed to concentrate at the lower part of the ankle.

Mom is gonna bring me to see a orthopedist tomorrow morning. She is very worried, especially when our long-awaited trip is just 4 days away.

Oh well, no point in worrying about things that had already happened. I feel that it is healing well, but i shall know for sure after seeing the specialist tomorrow.

Sprained ankle

2011-07-20T23:23:00.001+08:00

I sprained my ankle this evening when I was out with my department for a farewell dinner. My ankle now swells like an elephant leg.

It hurts when I walk. No, it actually hurts even when I'm laying the foot on a pillow now. I'm not sure if I can get to work tomorrow without problem.

Just great. Only one week away from my much looked forward vacation and now I sprained my ankle.

I'm too upset and in pain now to blog more.

Flight delayed

2011-07-18T08:36:00.000+08:00

Great, the flight is gonna be delayed for about 20 minutes. In fact, the plane has just arrived and the passengers from the lat flight are just coming out from the gate.

This is nothing new. I've heard people complaining about Air Asia's flights are often delayed, but I've never encountered personally before. All the flights I've taken on Air Asia before, none had been late. MAS, on the other hand, often has flight delays. I'm not sure if that's because I take more MAS flight than Air Asia, or MAS indeed is worse. Anyway, SIA is still the best airlines I've taken so far, even among all the different foreign carriers. It's the same for the airport too - Changi Airport is the best airport out of the many airports I've been to so far.

Oh, there was a small incident just now. An aunty who seemed to only spoke Cantonese approached me earlier and asked me where was Gate #2, which is the gate I'm waiting at. So I asked her, with my half-baked Cantonese, if she was going to KL. She said yes and so I told her that I'm on the same flight as her. She looked glad and said she would just follow me.

Then just now after the announcement about the flight delay, she came to me again and asked what the announcement was about. I told her about the delay and she looked worried, and then showed me her air ticket. It was then I saw that she was actually taking Firefly and the boarding time was printed as 8:15 am. I told her about it and helped her to check the boarding gate from the screen. Fortunately the flight status was shown as "final call" and the flight has not departed yet. I then pointed her to the right gate and saw her got into the gate successfully, with the airline attendant at the gate showing an unhappy face (and seemed to be scolding the aunty too).

I wonder why an aunty who does not know Malay and English was travelling alone, but a lesson learned for me is that we should never assume; always check and confirm the details. If I had checked the aunty's ticket when she first approached me, she would not have almost missed her flight.

At Senai Airport

2011-07-18T08:07:00.001+08:00

Blogging with the iPhone apps again. I'm starting to like it.

Taking the 8:50am flight to KL again today. When i was there two weeks ago, I was supposed to complete the system design with my team, but there were simply too many meetings that took my time away from the work that I was supposed to be doing up there. Hence I gotta go there again this week, right before my vacation that starts next Wednesday.

Talk about the vacation, seeing the count down going into single digit days, I'm starting to feel excited. It's not so much about visiting LA but seeing my brother again after more than a decade. I've never expected i'd be looking forward to seeing him too. I guess blood is indeed thicker than water.

There are already a few meetings scheduled for this week as well. I hope there won't be more, so that I can get my work done and enjoy my holiday without worrying about the unfinished work.

Trivia of my uneventful days

2011-07-18T00:29:00.001+08:00

I have signed up Google+ through an invitation from a colleague.
Mom and i went shopping for some groceries over the weekends for our LA trip. Mom is gonna cook some local dishes for my brother and his landlady (a Singaporean) when we are there.
Have not planned for my trip yet. Mom said my brother won't be able to take any leave from work, and i wonder how we are to commute and travel around there. I will have to renew my international license before i go there, for i may probably need to rent a car for going around.
Totally missed this GSS. Have been to busy that i didn't go shopping or buy anything at all. Anyway, i'll compensate it with shopping spree in the USA.
Have planned to finish uploading all the photos from my previous business trips (Taiwan and USA) to FB before my LA vacation, but didn't get to do it this weekend. I think i most probably won't be blogging the travel logs anymore (such as the trip to Bali, Japan, Shanghai), for it has passed too long and would take too much of my time. I've shared the trips with my friends via photos on FB anyway.
Met up with LF they all on Saturday and had a great lunch and chatting session. I am glad to have a chance to see Carol before she delivers her baby in October.
A colleague from the USA wrote to me and asked me a rumour that she said was going around there - i was planning to move to the USA. I was surprised at how fast news travels. I've indeed intentionally told a few selected people about my intention of working overseas, but i didn't expect this message to travel half-a globe to the USA!
Went to make a new pair of glasses on Sunday and was told that the power of my myopia in both eyes has actually decreased but astigmatism increased a bit. This is a sign of ageing and the result of spending too much time on light-emitting devices. I think i will have presbyopia very soon. The eyes of people nowadays age faster than in the older days, and it is even more so for people like me who spend excessive hours in front of the computer or iPhone.
Wanted to order iPad2 online (from Malaysia) yesterday but the delivery date will be within Friday to next Tuesday. I couldn't put KL office address nor my JB home address, so didn't proceed with the purchase in the end. No iPad for my vacation then. I should have ordered it earlier.
Will be in KL again for this week. It is still crazy at work.

Another late night

2011-07-14T21:26:00.001+08:00

Am on the cab now. Left office at around 9pm, and it has been working late in the office everyday for me.

Somehow, I am very motivated over these few weeks, and so I don't really feel negatively about being so hectic at work, even though I am physically tired.

I think the countdown to my vacation contributed a lot to my unusually high morale. As the counter went into the range of 10+ days, my motivation to focus and work hard increased. See, it does help when there is something to look forward to.

Oh, and I am typing this on my iPhone with an App I installed yesterday. Let's see if it works at all, but before I click Publish, I'd better copy all these texts first.

Ok, here we go.

Yellow

2011-07-14T00:39:00.000+08:00

Ok, i am not gonna write a long post on my thoughts about the Bersih rally. I think a lot have already been said everywhere, and my stand should be obvious to those who know me. My reactions were not any different from most people - touched, angered, shaken and awakened.

What i do wanna say is that i've realised through this event that i had actually given up hope for the country (as i was thinking of migrating), and because of that i had become somewhat apathetic to many things that were going on in the country. I have lots of complaints and dissatisfaction about my mother land, but i've never really thought of doing anything for it. In my mind, i already felt that it is hopeless and it would only worsen until we hit rock bottom. Hence i would spend time working for other cause than to work to better my country. I had lost almost 99% of patriotism in me.

Yet, after seeing how the people came together, and seeing their courage and determination, it had me thinking really hard and re-examine myself seriously.

If there is a similar effect on half of the people who have read the news and watched the video clips online, then i think the rally has achieved more than it set out to do in the first place.

Kudos to all the people who pressed on in the face of adversity. You all are heroes.

New look with bugs

2011-07-13T23:47:00.002+08:00

Here's what happened yesterday.

I left office at around 10pm yesterday and then decided that i was not gonna switch on my laptop since it was late already. So i decided to blog using my iPhone.

First i typed out a post titled "Meetings" and talked about how hectic it was at work, with most of my time spent on back-to-back meetings. After half-an-hour of typing with much difficulty on iPhone, i clicked Publish and then it returned an error page. I clicked the Back button and it went back to a blank post. I click on my post list and there was no draft of that post either.

Fed up, i typed a new post ranting about how i lost my post and was not gonna re-typed what i had wanted to post earlier. I clicked Publish and again was hit with an error page. The second post was again no where to be found.

I was so pissed and hence i typed out the last post with my email and the published it through the email. (Yes, Blogger does have this blogging via email facility.)

The problem was with this new dashboard. Blogger revamped the user interface and it has a totally new look now. Somehow, this new interface does not work so well on iPhone browser (i was not using any Apps to blog but accessing it through the browser). It seems unable to publish any post successfully.

In addition, the new design also removed the auto-saving function. Previously, the post would auto-save by itself every few minutes as we were editing it. Hence if anything happened, we would have a draft in our post list. Yet, now it won't do it automatically anymore, and the worst part is even if we wanna do it manually by clicking the Save button, it would just return an error message. This means that we can't save any draft anymore; i just gotta copy and save it in Notepad or something.

Great job, Blogger. I would have loved the new look if you didn't have the bugs to come with it.

Stupid new dashboard

2011-07-12T23:49:00.002+08:00

I typed a post and then lost it, two times in a row.
Damn you Blogger. This has totally spoilt my mood to blog for today.
Before swearing words start pouring out of me, I'm gonna call it a day now.

Back home in JB

2011-07-10T00:43:00.000+08:00

I'm back in JB at around 5pm today.

It has been a super hectic week for me last week. I didn't have time to blog or even check my FB.

LF came to stay with me at the hotel in KL last week, as she was having a project in KL too. Then again, we drove to Melaka last night and then returned to JB today while stopping over at Tangkak for durian. We didn't do much in Melaka this time because we left KL rather late last evening. We only had a late dinner at Jonker Walk last night and Nyonya cuisine for lunch today.

There were roadblocks at various places in KL last week. When we left KL at around 7pm yesterday, we saw a roadblock at the Sungei Besi toll on the direction towards KL. The police blocked off two lanes out of the three, and was stopping every car and flashing the torchlight at each car that drove by. The traffic came to a complete standstill and jammed up all the way from the toll to the exit of UPM (and the congestion was still building up as we passed by).

As we drove by on the other lane, LF and i really felt for those people in the traffic jam. Imagine that you were one of them - after a long day of work, it was Friday evening and you were eager to get home for dinner and a good rest. Yet, you were going no where because your car was stuck in an unnecessary jam for nothing. Our bet was that it would take at least 3 hours to clear up the traffic.

Then today, there were roadblocks at Melaka, Tangkak and JB too. The police would block off the lanes and only allow one lane for passing through. What we found puzzling was that they weren't looking into the cars at all and it was as if they were just making the cars to stop for no purpose at all. It was as if they were intentionally creating inconvenience to frustrate the people, just so that the people would start blaming those who called for the rally.

And indeed, just now i saw a message of a friend on FB saying that he was stuck in a jam for hours because of "stupid Bersih". It is really sad that the government's tactic actually worked on these ignorant people.

However, as we may be feeling disappointed at the country and the ignorant Malaysians, do not forget those brave people who attended and supported the rallies in KL and all around the world. As i read the online news and watched the videos posted on FB, i was touched to tears. Yes, more and more people have awakened, and this is the first step, if not the most important of all.

For once, i finally saw a glim of hope for our country.