Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Tremors

This morning as I dug into my nasi lemak, the news was showing that there was another earthquake in Sumatera. People who lives in KL skyrise apartment/flathouses/condos could feel the building shaking - I know I don't want to live . Its good that more people were warned about the danger living at the coastal areas after the 26th December incident. Its still sad to hear though that someone was hit by a car in Sumatera in his attempt to go up to the higher level area and died.
One thing I know now, I don't want to live in a skyrise.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Finally

Yesterday was a very long day for me. Office, my bosses new house, Stulang Laut to send off the calling visa for the new worker and site to do some experimenting and monitoring. I was about to go home when we suddenly received a call from one of our clients that our newly planted oil palm tree fell off on the road. The palms that we planted were the huge, more than 8 feet palm so you could guess the horror that we got that time. If it fell on a car or any property, we could be toast. So I went and check the site and didn't reach home until about 8pm. When I went to Stulang Laut, I took upon myself to buy 2 huge chocolate bars at the Duty Free Zone as I was passing the document at the ferry station there. Help... I couldn't stop, and this is what left of that huge bar since last night. Believe me, that's last night's and tonight's dinner. Well at least there's still something left, YIKES!!!

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Definitely can't resist a Toblerone and a Cadbury (tucked in safely on my bookrack)

I finally manage to wash my car today after few weeks of not washing it and with B-bo's paw mark standing out embarrassingly on the car hood that I feel like castrating him, and I finally have time to spend with Jeff. Spring has finally come and he have lots of work lined up for the season. I love you sayang, ganbatte!!!

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Good Morning!!!

I'm definitely stalling to go to work, hehehe. Who doesn't? Anyway, since my sleeping time is kind of screwed nowadays, as in sleep first, woke up at 1 or 2, stayed up for a few hours and then go back to bed - sometimes, sleep straight from 8.30 to 5. And of course when I woke up, I would wonder, where had the day gone to? work and sleep, hehehe.

So anyway as I surfed the net this morning, I found my favourite TV chef - Jamie Oliver's or the naked chef (rest assured, its not him going naked while cooking, its the food getting naked - being prepared without those fancy ingredient) site. Well I have been a loyal viewer especially during the SPM result wait for 7 long months when I became a part-time housewife as my mom gone to work. His recipes are simple and easy to follow which of course resulted for a lot of food catastrophe in the kitchen from trying, but then again, its not that bad. Most of the food turn out real good. That was when I thought I want to be a chef (career change again huh?)

Enough talk about career. My brother got an offer from the Multimedia University, Cyberjaya for the Alpha course for Creative Multimedia. It strikes to me as rather too easy and fast but then again its a private university, but with his determination I'm sure he would enjoy it a lot. I mean come on, not many SPM result waiter would actually sit in front of his computer reading tutorials on computer graphic anywhere he could get it, 3D stuff and even took a class for computer graphic & multimedia at Cosmopoint inside that period. He's determined and I can't see him anywhere other than doing graphic. He's actually making banners for his online friends for a credit trade in his Kings Of Chaos game. Here's a few sample of wht he does and lots more great work to come.





His skills are more to blending nowadays but with that talent, he would be one of the best - everywhere. Ganbatte A'an!!! Another designer in the family, hehehe. Make us proud.

Latest news on the mosque, the Sri Rahmah Hall, a cemetary away from the used to be mosque is now used as a temporary praying hall until the new mosque gets to be built which is probably not anytime soon.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Workaholic?

Sleep work, wake up work, eat work, drive work, dream work (and the face of my bosses, ACK!!!)

Whats wrong with me? Lately all I could think of is my work, thinking about the design for work, even my dreams are invaded by work this past days. The though of work is overpowering me that it is driving me crazy. Am I a workaholic? Definitely not. I get off on time (but sometimes bring my work home) and of course, if I am a workaholic I wouldn't be blogging at this hour now wouldn't I?

Few days ago I dreamt that I was at my bosses house - they are moving into their new house finally and currently doing the renovation. I dreamt I went to their house, doing some sketch for the landscape (yeah, work!) and suddenly found a huge tree with lots of small creepy heads (only the head, about the size of a golf ball) with long hair. If anyone knows how the creature 'jenglot' look like that was wht I saw in my dream but it seems lifeless daytime and yeah, my bosses house doesn't have any huge trees around. They live in the new residential area. Creepy, must be because of the video 'Entity' that my brother bought about real ghost (don't know to say that the source is authentic and they bring along the 'bomoh' in the show - and yeah the vidoe is Indonesian made) caught on tape.

Last night, I dreamt about work again. I was writing a quote in a tender document and was trying hard to meet up the deadline. At the end I dreamt eating rice with gulai ikan with my cousins (probably because of the wonderfullest gula ikan sold at the new restaurant nearby). Then again thats around my office area. Work again. Workaholic? NO WAY!!!

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Petang yang Syahdu

Its time for the maghrib prayer but something is definitely at Kampung Parit Semerah - the sound of azan (prayer call). At about 6pm just now I could hear the sound of siren from the main road. I thought its a passing ambulance going through. I live not that far from the mosque but its not that near that we could see it. But then our neighbour, Wak Toriman was calling out for my abah "USTAZ!!!MASJID TERBAKAR!!!". All of us - my mak, abah and brother was taken aback, went and ran to the mosque. Abah is the chairman for the mosque committee and has been working on the project for the building of a new mosque to substitute for the old one for years. Just this dawn my abah went to the mosque for Subuh prayer and to give religious class that comes afterwards. No one was in the mosque at 6pm after the asar prayer, alhamdulillah and its not anywhere near to maghrib time. Abah is concerned about the documents needed for the building of the new mosque and good thing that he already banked in the donation that he got during the last Friday prayers. The donation for the orphanage however is still in there.

Now my abah and mak just came back, they said the fire was caused by the short circuit and the hot weather is also an addition to the cause. The mosque is quite old, but still to lose it this way is hard and sad for us. It was built bottom half on concrete and top half by wood and it only take less than 30 minutes for it to be finished off.

I grew up playing around the mosque when they have gatherings for ma'al hijrah, prophet muhammad's birthday and so on. I admit that nowadays I only went to the mosque during the month of ramadhan (fasting month) for the terawih prayers and do the rest of the prayers at home but still... it is a loss for every one of us. Hope the documents for the building of the new mosque is not destroyed. Its too quiet right now...

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6.15pm

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6.25pm

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6.30pm

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The fallen used-to-be-blue dome, now its back to the original stainless steel colour

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My fellow villagemen trying to recover the document from the mosque office

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Saturday at Last

I don't know why but this week seems to drag so slowly fo me. No matter where I go, by the time I got back to the office it showed that I have more hours to go til the hours ends. So anyway I was feeling kind of nostalgic yesterday as I sent over some quotations to the client's office. Honestly I haven't been there for a few weeks and although the office was not that far, I took upon myself to drive along the stretch of road that is flanked with Tabebuia rosea or the common name is Tecoma (originally known as Tecoma rosea) and it was wow. It is very obvious that the tree is blooming profusely at the time of this year and it was so beautiful that I had to go through this road again (even when its not actually at the road that I'm supposed to take).

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Beautiful isn't it?

So anyway, Sue called me up at exactly 12.30am just now. She's actually now at the 'Force of Nature' concert for the tsunami relief. What she was calling me up for? Well okay the artist who are performing in the concert are - Black Eyed Peas, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, BSB and more of the local artist. We used to go gaa-gaa over BSB when we were young (like we are so old right now, yeah right) and she actually called me up to hear one of the songs by them while they're performing. Honestly I don't remember the title of the song that she let me hear but its one of the famous song. I remembered calling it the cheating song, hahaha. She was asking whether I could go to the concert with her last week but hey, I have no Saturday off and the ticket price... wallawei!!! Thanks Sue!!! The rest of my friends and I have been putting quack status on our yahoo, taunting about her going to the concert - something about taking pictures of our 'ex-boyfriends' (LOL honest sayang, I'm so over BSB) and calling her hampes, hahahaha.

Before I forget,

Happy 9th Month Anniversary, sayang!!!

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Katak!!! Where Are You!!!

Reached home late at night from my trip in KL. Didn't realize that Katak Jr. was not at the porch or at the kitchen where he always is. Asked my mak, she said Katak has been lost for the weekend. Uwaaaa!!!!! I called him Katak because he's the only surviving kitten from Belang and since he's the only one, he tend to get lots of milk supply that made his tummy huge that he has to drag it when he walks. It remind us a lot of katak- frog. Thats why we add the jr behind. We had another Katak before, but he was dead in the cat's teenage years. His legs were getting stronger and he's getting macho-er by the minute, and now he's GONE!!!!!

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Katak Jr. at his favourite sleeping spot at the shoe rack...
Where are you?

Monday, March 14, 2005

Mataku yang Sepet

Been a very busy but exciting weekend. Well of course, my weekend only consist of a day and a half, and that was how long I went to KL. Reached Serdang at about 9 and had a very sumptuous dinner at F1 restaurant - was so darn hungry that I actually finished everything that I ordered. Got to my sister's house and promptly fell asleep. Felt like a boa constrictor who had just consumed a whole goat... mengular.

In the morning, woke up and watched Buli on the player, Jeff called and then went out for breakfast... make that a very late breakfast with my sister's boyfriend. We were supposed to get ready at 11, but since her boyfriend took upon himself to show up and make a surprise, we just went out with him. Finally reached Kak Mai's house at 1. The groom's delegation hasn't arrived yet for the bersanding ceremony and I didn't stay long. I only managed to take a snap of Kak Mai and I have to admit, the make-up artist did a very fine job and she looks like a living doll. That figures though because the make-up artist was a male. Besides, everyone knows that they're the best.

Went to Mak Jun's house in Bangsar and afterwards my sister dropped me off at the train station. I actually have planned to meet up my friends in KLCC other than do my book shopping at Kinokuniya. Found Intan and Yan in the midst of the bustling crowd browsing the books at the fiction area while keeping up with the gossips. Intan bought me a ticket to watch 'Sepet' (it means small eyes in Malay) and so we went. It was a good movie and I have to admit, its the 2nd Malaysian movie that I enjoyed watching (P. Ramlee's is excluded because all his movies are good and they're all at another era) though at some scenes it drags especially when the characters are having one on one conversation with their friends. But nevertheless, the conversations are something that I could relate to. Everyone in the moviehouse were having a good time from the neverending laughs that could be heard throughout the show. But the feeling was kind of spoilt at the last part when the camera was focusing on the character Orkid and her mother. Apparently the viewers were too busy laughing on the crying face of Ida Nerina that I missed some part of Jason/Ah Loong's letter to Orkid. Spoil, but heck I cried anyway.

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Books I bought and Dayah gave - in exchange with Dean Koontz's The Watcher

The movie ends and again we went to Kinokuniya because there's not much shop that interest us anyway... gosh, that makes me sound like a bookworm. Trust me, the bookstore is exciting when you have friends that could talk and give out comments non stop abt anything - from self help book to fictions. Waited for Sue and Nini while met up with Anas and his fiance. Then we went to Nando's, and I must admit even if age and clothing style is way different from 6 years back, one thing will never change - Our speech style, we're still very loud like we were in the hostel years.

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Started my journey back home at 11.30pm and boy I was so tired that I slept the whole trip. Next time, I'd do it again for sure.

Friday, March 11, 2005

Test Drive

I'm now on my new pc. Its black, its silver but the casing logo is too huge for my taste but what the heck, its the inside that's important. So far, so good and now I'm downloading heavyduty on it. Its fast and I love it, hehehe.

To Buy Or Not To Buy

Again, I have been away from the blogpage - mine and everyone else's. Between the neverending revised quotations and designs for the client, I found myself stuck in a whirlpool. The feeling is more or less like being stuck in a front load washing machine that keeps going on and on and on and you'll never know when the machine will stop. Despite what I wrote in my last entry about having to live on a tight budget this week I have to come up with a decision about money again. To buy or not to buy a new CPU. Well yeah I still have my saving and my last year bonus so it could cover up the expense. My CPU is already 3 years old, loyal servant of mine for the whole university years despite the fact that too many times I blew the RAM up - thank god for the 3 years hardware warranty or I'd be toast. here's the list of whts going on with my CPU:-
  1. Can't access to registry editor - this could be bad news if I have worms in my system and couldn't delete it due to the registry.
  2. Can't detect CD drive. Its hard because I need the drive to reformat my pc and I haven't even have Adobe Photoshop and my digital camera driver installed in it yet.
  3. No Microsoft Office. I was about to install it and then again, no CD drive, no talk.
  4. Sometimes after a few minutes working with my pen drive, it can't detect it too. Nearly had heart attack too many times as I was working with my designs.
  5. All the floppy disk that comes after a process from the pc could be considered as toast. Can't be read on other pc.
  6. Can't access into someone else's webcam or will have error. Major frustrating.
  7. Can't close any IM windows. If I do, the whole yahoo messenger will have error.

I have talked to a few pc technicians about my pc and told them about the diagnosis. Mostly said that there's something wrong with my motherboard - darn, I had just bought that 4 months ago. And some said about my hard disk drive. So again I have to make a decision, based on this list:-

Pro:

  1. I don't have to stay back at the office to do my work - enough complaining about getting home late from my mak as already is. I could only do my AutoCAD work at home but not Excel.
  2. Could continue with my Sims fever - I played that a lot and since I had to reformat the pc last time, the saved data was all gone
  3. Could continue my story writing - ooops erm, nevermind. I write for my own self satisfaction and no one ever read it. Save for my friend in school when I wrote at that time - Sue, ingat lagi hope & chances? oh and your 'Monster' hehehehe. Again this is interrupted by the non existence of Words.
  4. The most important of all - Internet access. Details not needed.
  5. New pc, new cost, new stuff, a year warranty.
Con:
  1. Ka-ching!!!!
  2. Old pc, repair, cost a lot but the inside is still old and still prone to more damages.

Last decision, I bought the CPU - take note, only the CPU with my hand pick specifications on the motherboard, RAM, hard disk, graphic card, combo drive (was opting for a DVD-RW but being the cost effective person I am, I skip that) yadda yadda yadda and its done. They thought I am a student - being near to UTM and since I still have the student face I didn't say anything when they gave me the special price. Gonna collect it today after work. Just can't wait.

Before I forgot, SPM result was announced yesterday and my brother got a good result. Like sister like brother - he followed my footsteps and made my parents unhappy. Not the bad kind of unhappy but the weird joking unhappy. What did he do? Well he aced in both his english subjects - english and english for science & technology and for Malay language, he got 4. I must admit he's better in that than me - I got 5, and got 1 for my english, hahahaha. All my mak could say (the same thing that she said to me 6 years ago)- "anak jawa ni... kat rumah cakap bahasa apa?"

Oh and I read Dayah's blog. Apparently Shalli proposed last night and the 'merisik' delegation will be coming tomorrow. Hmm..... sound very hasty to me. All the best Dayah, love you bunch cousin.

...... Baby i miss you TONS..........

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Reality Check

Here I am, 2 in the morning and writing off my entry in my blog. Actually I have been staring off into space for hours in the darkness of my room when something hits me. Paycheck day is only next week and unlike any past salary, starting off from this month my budget is going to be really tight. And I mean really tight.

So I finally get out of my bed, taking the agreement letter that I signed 4 years ago and took my calculator. Well okay the calculator is always my best friend everytime the cheque comes. Add this add that, minus this minus that, done counting - Walloaeh!!!! Just enough for petrol and food. Just my luck though that now the paper is abuzz about graduates who haven't paid up the PTPTN loan. Anyway, I still count myself lucky because at least I have a job and I could pay up for the student loan.

Moral of the story & an advice from my big brother - Start a college fund for my kids so they won't face what I face now. Aiyo my head is spinning already, hehehe

Friday, March 04, 2005

Liar Liar

I turned up the radio today and a very interesting topic was brought up by Daniel Ong on Perfect 10 98.7fm Morning Madness - The Lies We Tell. What started all this? Apparently Dan read it somewhere that Tyra Banks of the ANTM fame told models to lie about their age to get more jobs. Liar liar pants on fire, thats how we heard the kids chant. Here I know I grew up hearing that if we lie, our tongue will be cut off in hell. Lies are bad, that one we know but sometimes we just go on to autopilot to lie just to save ourself. Anyway, the respond that Dan got this morning through SMS was overwhelming. Some lies were interesting and funny and some were just downright bad.

Interesting one - a single woman lied to everyone that she is attached because she was getting sick of the disbelief faces that she got when she tells people that she's single but in the end she face problem because she fell for a collegue that is so sure that she's single. That remind me of the story of the boy who cried wolf.

Funny ones - someone was giving a girl the direction to the gents room instead of the ladies because of the lack of sign on the door. Sound like and everyday prank to me.Sadly though Dan received lots of lies told from husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends who cheats. One cheating girlfriend actually survived the two timing for a year until her boyfriend dumped her for another girl which she said her karma - what goes around comes around. Well I do believe that when you do something, it always gets back to you.

People in general always categorise lies in 3 different categories.

1) White lies - Also known as the lies that is necessary for the other person's good. The example could be seen in the movie Liar Liar where Jim Carrey's character admits to his son that he lied to his wife when she was pregnant, telling her that she was beautiful instead of the huge elephant that he thought she was at that time.

2) Half truth - Okay, so it is basically not lying but with-holding some information from the other side. Thats how we see it but to some half truths are also a lie. Imagine withholding information from your boss that you have called a client - last week. In truth, you have called the client, only the when part is in question.

3) Downright bad lie - Bad lie either means, a really bad lie to get what someone want no matter the consequences that in the end will hurt a lot of people around including the liar himself or a really bad lie told by a beginner liar, hahaha. Kidding. Of course its the first one. That was mainly how a good company, a family or a relationship falls down.

I'm sure everyone had been lied at and have their share of lying too throughout their lives. Well, no need to say more that lying is bad, everyone knows about it but sometimes some people just can't help it. Being lied at hurts, everyone knows that too. A word from Daniel Ong to wrap it all up - Lying is bad, but if you do don't get caught, hahahaha. The show is called Morning Madness for a reason - Its crazy, its mad and its funny. An online friend told me - Everyone lies, only at what degree they are lying is not determined. That would wraps up the entry for today.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

What a Busy Day

March is in and I have been neglecting my blogpage for so long. For one, work is always busy and sometimes I was on the verge of burning out - doesn't anyone? The difference now is that I have my school friends' yahoo id so I don't feel quite alone and they are also multitasking - of course. Jeff too in this case since he works night time (daytime for us) for this time being and get home the time I do. His trip here is delayed until April because of an unavoidable cause or I won't be writing my entry right now. Too many places to go, too little time.

Actually I don't have much idea for today's entry so I would like to introduce you to my newly made confused smiley with a bouncing red ball, hahahaha.

To my ever multitasking busy friend whom I've grown up with for 5 years - this entry is for you guys. HIDUP KTAM & SMKAJB!!!! hahahaha
esp: Eena, Mail (aku still rasa nama Sue lagi ayu, hahaha), Intan, Anas

Baby I love you!!!!