The Day When My Primary School Seat-mate Got Married

Shikin Mansor (too many Shikin around the school back then) got married. I just knew that I was going to be so late for the reception since Saturday is my working day and we are now concentrating on planting the palms at the entrance side of the site. Good thing that Yan was home during the weekend or it would be awkward showing up late and alone. Fila was there too - been so long since I saw both her and Shikin, make that years already. I like the pelamin though, its green and its nature themed. Congratulations Shikin & husband.

When I Miss My Friends....

I watch this simple well wishes impromptu video a friend of mine made when we were out stranded at the studio staircase waiting for the studio supervisor to come and open the door. All of us in the video and more that was not in it sent Azhar (the guy in red and black stripe jersey) to KLIA an hour after the video was recorded. He was bound home in Sabah and coincidentially we managed to bump into Anita Sarawak at the airport, the diva and her husband along with her mother - of course we took pictures with her. It was poignant actually. It was one of the last moment we were there as students.

The leng chai in black is Jimmy, next Imah, followed by Mee Lan, Arul, Mahathir, yours truly, Ije, Azhar, Odiey, Allan. The one who keeps on saying "Say something" is Nazri a.k.a Carlos (because during matriculation the movie 'Lenjan' went out and the villain's name is Carlos - the sex crazed maniac. Started out as a joke but the name eventually stuck). Wow was I that fair back then? LOL nevermind.

Welcome To My World

The site The Workers

The Iron-Clawed Landscape Architect

We are chasing off with a dateline, everyone wants everything urgent. So anyway, where's my birthday wishes? Been 2 days already maa...

Hiatus

There's a very distinct gap between reality and dream. Everyone knows that, but those who don't might end up in a mental state of frenzy. Well maybe in one of the mental institution. Okay talking gibberish here. Halt. Work has been consuming me. Gobble me up whole that even ended dreaming about doing my work while I sleep. Now that is so darn creepy. But still, 5.30pm becomes the most valued moment of the day, or merely becomes a guideline that work time is over but the piling files are still there, staring at me from my desk as if it was taunting at me, saying "I'm not moving anywhere until you work on me." That was where the nightmare about work would come in, haunting me.

A new account exec joined us on the first September. It was a blessing. Ms L asked me to join over when the interview was conducted on numerous candidates who showed up and it was a new experience. At the end of the day, they start calling me 'Puan'. Now thats a new one - I'm not married - yet. Do I look old already? Oh gosh. Good thing that Ms L and I have the same opinion about a candidate that we both feel comfortable with. Bad thing was giving out bad news to those who didn't make it and most of the time, I was the one who have to do it.

The season for tender submission has ended, with numerous contracts that we have to work upon and now is the season of project implementation. I am going to cry over the petrol usage for my car especially since the price is going up, up and up which from the rumour I heard would not stop until it went to RM2.oo per litre. That is freaking me out.

Hey! Its Sunday and on Sunday I don't talk about work. But I already did. Okay make up time. Time to relax and think about nothing other than what is on the TV, what is on the internet and my cozy bed. Jeff is going to a friend of our's wedding party in Pennsylvania for the weekend. Congratulations John and Xiaying!

Ciao! My bed is calling.

Famous For The Day

Somene just approached me for my autograph

Can you believe it?

An autograph?

From me?

I even got a copy of my autograph too because it was on a carbon copy piece of paper. Here's the copy that I got.

Well of course, that 'nice person' asked for my driving licence before he asked me very politely to sign on that piece of paper. Since I sucked on acting and lying, I can't come up with a reasonable excuse for making that illegal turn. Well for one its good that the police wasn't the "mintak duit kopi" type of officer. Aarrgghhh now I have to turn up to the court. Darn.

Song Of The Day

Save Me

Corrinne May

I drift, I burn, I fly. When you sing lullabies. I'm helpless, I'm yearning. I'm like the putty in your hands. I laugh, I dream, I cry. When you take me on a roller coaster ride. You see me through and through. You see just who i am. Just take my hand and.

Save me from this place. Heaven knows I'm falling. For you, my sweet embrace. Heaven Knows. Heaven knows I've been waiting for you.

I had a dream that i was falling from the sky. At 90 miles an hour. I was bound to crash and die. But out of nowhere you came and rescued me. There must be some grace in the touch of your face. I'm so happy that I've found you. I'm no longer afraid.

Oh ' cause you Save me from this place. Heaven knows i'm falling. For you my sweet embrace. Heaven knows. Heaven knows I've been waiting.

Before i met you. Life was slow-mo. So slow-mo. I thought i had it figured out. But you came and turned my whole world upside down.

Save me from this place Heaven knows I'm falling For you, my sweet embrace Heaven knows. Heaven knows you've come to. Save me from this place Heaven knows. I'm falling For you, my sweet embrace .Heaven Knows. Heaven knows I've been waiting for you. Waiting for you

Home Alone

I'm all alone...

Well for at least several days.

My mak and abah gone to Mekah last Friday for umrah and so I have the 6 cats to accompany me when I get back home from work. The weekend was not so bad. On Saturday my next-door neighbour held her wedding reception but since I have no Saturday off, I got there a tad bit late. Make that at 4.30pm when the crowd has already dispersed save for their relatives. Then again with their relative being my neighbours too, it wasn't that awkward. Though I was glad for the company of Mak Intan and her kids... make that adult kids. Since the whole road knows that my parents are away, I ended up with lots of food. Thats our way of taking care of each other at my place. The phone started ringing numerous times after I got back from the reception. Its the check up from my dear aunts and uncles asking how did everything goes. It was Saturday night. Good thing I'm not the wild party kind of person or the house would be upside down by the time my parents got back so I spent it the way I love to spend Saturday night most - sleeping.

Sunday wasn't that bad either. Mak Pah, my aunt called me up to accompany her to another wedding. Good thing or I would have to cook lunch, hehehe. Again, I ended up with lots of food, "Senang, malam tak payah masak," said the hostess for the reception. She's one of my mak's friends so there you go. Though the nasi minyak for her house was so good that I have to actually refrain myself from adding up for 2nd round. Watched TV, surf the net, played with my cats, snooze. As boring as it might sound, that is my perfect routine for a Sunday, hehehe. Gosh, honestly as I read that again... it just sound like a perfect life of an old maid - with cats and all. AACCKKK!!!

p.s: apologies to M.J fan for the pic. Though I think its hilarious :D

I'm Beautiful (Sangkanya!!!)

The current song that keeps playing over and over in my head - James Blunt's You're Beautiful. Just love the song, the lyric's innocent... well apart that another version the word 'flying' was actually sang as 'f**king' though I bet no radio in Malaysia & Singapore is playing that one. Most memorably 'ouchy and sympathetic' feeling hits when a girl was ranting at Daniel Ong on the radio about an unwanted attention she got from a guy when he knows so well that she already has a boyfriend and coincidentially the song was played right after.

You're Beautiful

My life is brilliant

My love is pure

I saw an angel

Of that I'm sure

She smiled at me on the subway

She was with another man

But I won't lose no sleep on that

'Cause I've got a plan

You're beautiful

You're beautiful

You're beautiful, it's true

I saw your face in a crowded place

And I don't know what to do

'Cause I'll never be with you

Yeah, she caught my eye

As we walked on by

She could see from my face that I was

Flying (f**king) high

And I don't think that I'll see her again

But we shared a moment that will last till the end

You're beautiful

You're beautiful

You're beautiful, it's true

I saw your face in a crowded place

And I don't know what to do

'Cause I'll never be with you

You're beautiful

You're beautiful

You're beautiful, it's true

There must be an angel with a smile on her face

When she thought up that I should be with you

But it's time to face the truth

I will never be with you

The lyric is beautiful and sweet, but kind of freaky when look from another angle. It could join The Police's stalker song, I'll Be Watching You. Another good reason to wear a ring during worktime.

I Dunno What I Did This Weekend (I Know lah)

1. Attended a small reunion of the 2004 batch of B.L.A - All in a spur of a moment, Odiey messaged everyone and there I went to F1 and met up with everyone who was around in Serdang Friday night. In attendance - Wak, Miza, Odiey, Arul, Wuan Chin, Ah Hing, Chin Yeong, Imah. Shau Yean, her bf and Allan came a bit later. Heard Ah Ching will be making his way to Atlanta in October and curently submitting his works through the net. Gosh! Rindunya F1!!!!! Chicken Maryland yum.... aiyo, lapar. I mean I miss my friends, hehehe
2. Waited outside the Dewan Besar UPM for my graduating friends - I got there way too early at 11am, so there I went, looking for flowers to give out to my friends. Good thing there were only 5 of them, hehehe. Tapa sms me to get flowers for him too since he's speeding from his office, so there I looked like a flower girl. Odiey and Carlos reached a little bit later. Found Jimmy, Ah Hing, Chin Yeong, Terence, Amy and Siang by the favourite 'White Jeep' outside the hall. Chin Yeong managed to snag some wild Zingiber to give out to our friends.
3. Drama marathon (Engine & Good Luck) - Well what could I say? I'm a sucker for Takuya Kimura's Drama. Engine is brand new, courtesy of Bangbil and for Good Luck, make that 2nd time marathon. Hmm, sound like a typical couch potato to me.
4. PC Fair - The yearly PC fair at CS. I was aiming for the RAM but too many people around and I sure hate the parking there. Wish I took the bus instead.

Curious

To everyone reading this blog - I hope you would respond.

You see, its like this.

I was on my way home just now and as I stopped for a red light in Pekan Nenas, I was playing around pointing everything with my fingers - 45 seconds is way too long for 'orang dah takde kerja' (nothing-to-do-and-darn-bored person) like me. I pointed with my thumb, with my jari telunjuk (I dunno whats that in english but its next to the thumb), my middle finger also known as the f**k finger (but that's kind of obscene) and then I reached to the root of my question. Can anyone lift their ring finger? (ie: jari manis). I could lift all of the fingers but not that one. I remembered asking my friends once in kindergarten because there was this song where we start knowing which finger is which and yes I can't lift it then but I don't remember if my friends answered it or not. Or did I even asked it out loud.

Okay so here's some visual

Jari Telunjuk - Straight

(Okayla not that straight but normal)

My Ring Finger - Can only be raised to that level

Okay so my question:-

How many people could point with their ring finger straight like the other fingers?
Which is normal and which is not?
I know my Mak can't get it straight either so that's 2 out of 2, but then again we're blood related.

Hmmmmmmm..........

Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince

Neutral Review

Harry Potter is back and the plot gets thicker and darker. The story started with the meeting between the muggle's Prime Minister and Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. It showed that the situation has gone for the worst since Voldemort began to rise and the Death-Eaters were more bolder than before. The sixth book as expected, became more mysterious and filled with suspicions from start to the end. Gone were the fun and the newfound fascinations of the world of wizardry.

There was, as expected the new substitute teacher for Defence Against Dark Arts - but he's not a new teacher. But then again, he did substitute for Remus Lupin for a period of time. The quidditch matches were getting lesser - though its fun to see how Harry managed to put up a good team since he was the new Gryffindor's quidditch captain.

As for the question of who is the half-blood prince, he is not Voldemort. Though when Harry found the scribbled and worn textbook of the Advanced Potion Making with notes of dangerous non-verbal spells, all I could think was "Oh please, not another Voldemort's enchanted book". Not forgetting relationships and the game of jealousy between Ron and Hermione which in my opinion they took too long to admit to each other that they do have feelings for each other. As for Harry, all I could say is good riddance on Harry's infatuation towards Cho Chang. The new relationship that he had was much more satisfying. With who? Read it yourself.

Through this book the transformation of Tom Riddle to Voldemort was described, on how the genius Riddle become so obsessed in finding greater power and turn for the worst. And of course on why no teacher has managed to teach the Defence Against Dark Arts for more than a year. The position was cursed.

Death. There were death involving someone very close to Harry and I'm not going to spoil the story for those who want but haven't read the book. It ends with Harry telling Ron and Hermione that he won't be coming back for the next year in Hogwarts. He's continuing his final mission to hunt the Dark Lord himself, by destroying Voldemort's horcruxes before the final confrontation. Harry Potter fans would know that its either Voldemort or Harry that is going to be dead.

Emotional Review

I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S DEAD!!!!!!

First its Sirius, then its him. Who else is going to be next? Harry? Please NO!!!!! (though it is rumoured that there is the possibility of Harry getting killed in the end). Seems everyone near Harry was getting killed in the process of hunting the evil sucker Voldemort. When I read the word 'Avada Kedavra' seems like instead of Harry, it was myself who was being casted the body binding spell on and could only look, again, someone so very dear to him getting killed.

So I cried, so I became emotional, so what? So I did the next thing that came to my mind, I called Edda. And yes, like me she is one of the fans. Her reading style, she skips the pages and head straight for the end. She told me that she looked at the page of the death in the train on her way back home and couldn't help but say "Alaaaa kenape mati!!!" out loud. And she was traveling alone. Knowing her for so long throughout secondary and matriculation, I know she did just that. We spent on the phone for near half an hour until duty calls (Yes, I have to work today for an exhibition and Edda works on Sunday). Though I don't know how wrong I could be but I do believe that the one who cast the Avada Kedavra was acting out his part in the mission even though it seems so darn cruel and unsuspected.

Harry have to give up everything for the final mission, and it is clear that his childhood has ended. Truth is he became much more serious on the pursuit of the Dark Lord since Sirius died. He's carrying much heavier burden than before with no one to trust. Ron and Hermione were too precious for Harry to involve them into, and so does his new girlfriend. I will wait with bated breath til the final book is out. Just hope that J.K. Rowling won't take too long to get it done like the interval between the Goblet of Fire and the Order of Phoenix. Its too torturing and mind killing.

And Today Is....

HARRY POTTER DAY!!!!

Well actually the release of the 6th book of the Harry Potter series - Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, which is also believed to be the second last of the Harry Potter Saga. I collected the book from MPH - well actually drive like a maniac during lunchtime from Taman Sutera to Taman Universiti so that my absence at the display booth won't be noticed. Okay I sound like a geek already. Just who is the half-blood prince? Voldemort? Hush, I'm going back to my reading.

Mellow

Okay, I'm feeling mellow and lonely. No idea for the blog entry - too many things going on for the weekend work work and work and not forgetting the launch of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince this weekend, yeay! So here, I'm plugging my ears with the headset making myself deaf with the songs in the media library.

15 must have songs in no particular order (for me lah) in my library (both office and home):-

1. Diamond Dust - Kyosuke Himuro
2. Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx
3. First Love - Utada Hikaru
4. Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
5. With Or Without You - U2
6. Maaf - Jikustik
7. Every Heart - BoA
8. Everything - Lifehouse
9. Take Me Away - Lifehouse
10. Name - Goo Goo Dolls
11. M - Ayumi Hamasaki
12. Another Day - Lemar
13. When Love and Hate Collide - Def Leppard
14. Sore Ga, Ai Deshou - Full Metal Panic OST (dunno who sings, thee hee hee)
15. Down - Blink 182

Hmm.... now that I look from the list... Gosh! (not for me to disclose what I conclude of myself :p)

Rev Up Your Engine

Just got back home from watching Initial D and it rocks!!! Certainly worth the RM8 parking ticket (darn!) since GSC at Leisure Mall wasn't showing it (and the parking there is freee, darn!). Read and heard too many good reviews about the movie so there I went to CS right after work ends driven by a strong urge to find out just how good is the movie. I've never read the comic before but knowing Japanese manga, it has to be good.

The scene starts with an aerial vision of the road at Mount Akina which is of course the main setting of the whole movie. Don't compare it with Fast and Furious because certainly, different movies have their own strength. Its all about downhill race - no drugs, no undercover cops no good guy, bad guy etc etc, just racers showing off their best on the road though the guys from the Emperor team are way too cocky. After watching Fast and Furious and Too Fast Too furious I would like nothing more to have fancy, cool and fast car though after watching Initial D, I would certainly like to drive a Toyota Trueno Apex (AE86). How would your ego survive if a tofu delivery car, an AE86 to boot overtake your car and you're driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III? Makes me wonder if I could do modifications on my Kancil. Hmmmmm...

One thing for sure, when the VCD hits the shop, I will be buying it. Edison Chen is so cool!!!!

My Name Is....

Things that we are getting used to - and can't live without - name. Everyone have a name, and names I might add. Everything has a name. Even rocks have name ie: granite, calcite etc. As everybody know, my name is Nadiah. Thats just it. Short. Though if you look into my identity card you would see that my name is so long.Too long. My inital in the IC - NDHAZ. Long enough? N is for my name and the rest is for my Abah's name. I still don't know how my big brother and sister managed to cut the D part but they did. Then anyway that's the name that I was born into and the name that I would go to grave with.

So what does nadiah means? All my life I know that nadiah means 'generous'. Hmm... generous to the shopping complex and shops? Yikes! In a bookstore where they sell all this keychains with name meaning it was written that nadiah means and assembly. Now that's confusing. So I did some digging. I know my name is of arabic origin and the search through internet shows that the name nadia/nadya/nadiah is of arabic, russian and hebrew origin.

In arabic there's 2 meaning. One is for generous, and the other is the beginning. In Russian it means hope while in hebrew it means an assembly. In arabic, if you spelled it wrongly it may mean differently. As an example for my younger bro's name. My abah intended it to mean "the smile of the religion" (if i'm not mistaken) and then one day my bro's teacher spelled the name wrongly in arabic lettering on his exercise book by exchanging one letter to make it mean "the barking of the religion" - my abah knows arabic very well so he starts to point the mistake. My bro doesn't care so til today he spells his name in arabic to the barking one. Same thing goes for those with chinese name, different way of saying a name makes it mean differently. A late friend of mine told me to correct my pronunciation of his name because I was calling him "shameless flower".

Whatever my name means, I know my parents meant for it to have a good meaning. A name is a prayer for those who have it. Imagine a person name that means stupid. That person, even though is not stupid may be banished to stupidity because everyone is calling him stupid. I asked my mak, which meaning did they intend for me when I was born. And so she said - "generous". So here I am, Nadiah, the generous... I hope I won't be generous to un-necessary place *gulp.

Amusing Information for the Day

These info were obtained through today's Morning Madness show on Perfect 10 98.7fm during my ride to the office:-

1. A woman cancelled her wedding with her fiancee less than 24 hours from their supposed to be wedding. The groom in return called up his past girlfriends and proposed to every one of them until 1 of them said yes. They were married in the ceremony and no guest was notified about the change of the bride. This happened in Romania.
2. This one might be gross - told Jeff first and he said, to quote "I'm going to have nightmares". A teenage boy was found to start mentsruating. No kidding. Make no mistake, this boy is not a hermaphrodite (khunsa) but he has started having it for few months already and been showing symptoms of a normal menstruation - stomach cramps, bouts of nausea, mood swings and of course the bleeding. In a way, feels like finally a man could feel what us women feel every month but then again now I think about it, that boy - and the people around him of course - are going to have a huge trouble every month if he has PMS. Okay I can't stop thinking this part away from my head. If, and I repeat IF he's gay... would he be pregnant? Aack!!! lari!!! nauzubillah. This happen in India.

Continued - 3rd Day in Bangkok

Managed to wake up 'bapak punya' early which was actually at 5.30am Bangkok time which actually in Malaysia its 6.30am. Took a bath, brushed my teeth and then fell back asleep until the familiar sound of the boys knocking on our door to wake us up for breakfast. We were all set. The day's itinerary was going to Chatuchak weekend market. It took about 15 minutes from the hotel and believe me, being stuck in a taxi with 7 person is never good. Another thing I found out in Bangkok that the taxi driver could accept driving for 6 person without any hesitation. At first we thought that taking 2 taxis would be good but judging from the traffic around there and the fact that we only know where we want to go but not knowing how or where it was, we chose to travel in the same vehicle.

By the time we reached there at 8.30am the shops were about to open. In a way, we were too early. One thing about Chatuchak market, the shops categories are well organized unlike other market that we had gone to. There's the section for clothes, plants, books, pets, food etc. The plants that were out on display was so beautiful that we were itching to buy them. The bonsai planted in small pots were so beautiful and cheap - at 150 Baht!!! the thing was, how could we make the plant go pass the Malaysian custom? before a plant could be admitted into Malaysia they have to be quarantined that most of the time lots of them couldn't survive it. We could only watch those plants, snapped some pictures and walked through the alley.

Colourful rows of Portulaca grandiflora and the comel lote bonsai

Next stop was the section that got Ms Lee and I hooked for nearly an hour - the book section. Most of the books there are second hand, some are new and so darn cheap!!! Imagine buying a hardcover book for only 275 baht (thats roughly RM 27.50) where got over here?hehehe. Thailand landscape books are very good for idea reference and they even have the new issue produced every year. Believe me, neither myself or Ms Lee could read Thai but all the landscape books that we bought were in Thai. But who cares, its the pictures that matters most. Then I bought 2 paperback novels at 80 baht - John Grisham's A Painted House and Sidney Sheldon's If Tomorrow Comes. The Sidney Sheldon book was bought solely to refresh my memory on why I didn't enjoy it that much and to refer back to the racket over my cousin Dayah blog on which of his book is the best. We spent our time there til its near to 1 when we decided to stop for lunch before going back to the hotel to drop off our things.

We went straight away to Dream World - the famous theme park near to Bangkok. It was about an hour ride there that on the way to Dream World, most of us went to our own 'dream world'. We had great fun over there and yes, I was transformed back to be a kid. Spending too much time with kids under 14 made me act like that, but again, who cares no one asked my age anyway, hehehe. The peak of it all was when the boys and I was riding on the Splash ride. The ride is actually the one that is similar like the roller coaster but it went straight on the surface of the small pond. Thought the water splash was going to be small, we were wrong. By the time the ride ends, we were drenched wet. Ms Lee, Mr Lok and Mei Mei was laughing so hard looking at us that straight away they ushered us to the nearest clothes shop and told us to buy anything that fits. Now I know why they have lots of them inside the park itself. We went back to the hotel near to 9. Had dinner at the hotel's restaurant and fell off unconcious.

The parade at Dream World and Mei Mei and yours truly

Today marks up our first year all right. Can't believe it, woohoooooo!!!

I love you so much, sayang!!!

Second Day In Bangkok

Woke up at 6.30am, thinking that it was just about the right time for the Subuh prayers. Boy, was I so wrong. In Bangkok 6am is just like Malaysian 7.30am and it was already so bright. In other word - dah sah subuh gajah. Mei Mei wasn't sleeping well because of her constant coughing, and so does Ms Lee in that case. As for me... I didn't even woke up because of the coughing which Ms Lee pointed out, I slept like a log. Took a quick shower and prayed and laid down for a while as the day's activities were set to start at 9.00am because we hired a tourist guide for the Grand Palace Tour. Breakfast was a feast. At least there were something for me to eat so I found myself walloping salad, cereal, buns and fruits. Jeff told me once that one of his favourite breakfast is french toast (roti goreng telur) with maple syrup which to me would definitely taste odd, so I tried. Not bad at all - only that he told me after I got back that I was supposed to put melted butter and sprinkle some sugar on it too which I definitely didn't. Its a breakfast buffet so we could eat to our heart's content which in my case, so darn content.

Our tourist guide came and we started exploring. The journey from the hotel to the Grand Palace took about 15 minutes and on the way we were so full of inquiry on every building that we saw. Mr Ariya was great though honestly Ms Lee and I both don't like the feeling of people waiting on us and keeping time when we are going on a holiday which is why we were travelling on free & easy basis. There's a lot of things that covered up the Grand Palace visit which is the Royal Museum, Wat Phra Kaew and the Banquet Hall. The residential palace was off limit because the palace are still used by the first princess. The first stop was the Wat Phra Kaew which is the buddhist temple inside the palace area. The whole structure looks like it was made of gold though Mr Ariya said it wasn't. The architecture and the landscape was so beautiful which what Ms Lee pointed out, the Thais are very well established with their ornamental landscape of any kind. We were surprised to find out that the image on one of the coronation building was handpainted, not wall papered. We made a close inspection and saw that each object were a little bit different and too fine that no wall paper could be that.

Yours truly (Intan commented so much that she wanted to see my pic, not anyone else)

The white flowers are Wrightia thai while the yellow ones are Wedelia trilobata (if I'm not wrong)

Image of the Miniature Angkor Wat handcarved to stone and one shot of Wat Phra Kaew roof.



Image towards the Banquet Hall at the Grand Palace

Because of the transport that we were using was sponsored by the Gem's Gallery, it became one of our unplanned stop. An unplanned stop which cost a lot because I bought something over there, hehehe. Something small and flashy and beautiful but still too big for my fingers. The sales person said my finger's too small which is something that I would never dreamt of hearing if I came there 2 years ago. We haven't had enough time for a refitting which they said would cost our 15 minutes so I just bought it and wore it on my middle finger. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized that I could wear it over my left thumb.

We had lunch at the hotel which consist of rice, fried sea bass with mango salad, seaweed soup, fried squids, tofu soup and mixed vegetable. It was a feast though basically that was what we normally ate for our lunch over in Bangkok. True to what the driver who sent us to Changi Airport said, the rice in Thailand is heavenly and very fulfilling. After lunch Mr Lok decided that he would stay at the hotel with Mei Mei and San Ho since both of them are not feeling well. San Ho had food poisoning which we suspected because of last night's dinner at the stall in the Suan Lum Bazaar.

Ms Lee took San Yi and I to the roadside as soon as we were ready and hailed a cab to go to Pratunam. Interestingly enough, our taxi driver on that trip doesn't know much of english that to our amusement we were actually talking back in different languages without knowing what the others are saying. Ms Lee spoke English, the driver spoke thai though we managed to learn thai numbers along the way. Pratunam is very well known around the area for clothes and it was also kind of disconcerting to see that some of them sells eye-popping lingerie. I wonder if anyone would have the nerve to buy it. If its in an enclosed shop, people would but an open air market that sells clothing that actually only covers up the essential part... I don't know.

We were getting hungry and tired and so we chose to go to MBK Centre, one of the most well known shopping complex in Bangkok. Being curious on how the ride on the tuk-tuk feels, we hailed one at the junction bargaining with the drivers for the best price. We settled for one at 100 baht a ride since its already night time and it does remind us a lot on the James Bond riding off the tuk-tuk for the Visa card advertisement. The traffic in Bangkok as always was jammed and much to our delight (fright actually) the driver knows his way around town. The more we screamed, the more he sped and smiled and he actually made a crazy U- turn on the freeway that was filled with fast vehicles on both side which I swore if he's not good enough, the tuk-tuk would tip over. We were all very excited with the daredevil way he brought us to our destination. We gone through every alley and every houses' backyard that by the time we reached MBK we were kind of disappointed. Now we know why the visa advertisement featured the tuk-tuk.

View from inside the tuk-tuk to the bustling alley of Pratunam

Our first intended target was the food court at the 6th floor but on the way there Ms Lee and I was caught up on the 4th floor where they sell all the furnitures. San Yi and I managed to cause a racket when we were playing and testing on a megaphone as Ms Lee was busy looking at the furnitures. We thought that the battery was not in it until we accidentally turned the siren on. It was so loud that we got a surprise of our own. By the time the siren was off we can't stop laughing. All Ms Lee said, "Kids".

Gratefully at the food court there are 2 muslim stalls, one selling thai food which look a lil bit weird for me and the other was the one selling indian food. So I chose nasi briyani - even if I don't like nasi briyani that much. We did a little more window shopping before finally taking a taxi back to our hotel. Our itinerary for the next day would be more full.

First Day In Bangkok

Thursday, 9th June 2005. The day of my first airplane ride. Woke up that morning about the same time as I woke up during working days. The plane in Changi Airport is scheduled at 12.50pm and since my bosses are worried about the traffic jam on the causeway, I have to arrive at their house at least at 9am. Did a check up routine at the site before going there, just to know if the workers have enough petrol and diesel supply. As I arrived, Mei-Mei, my bosses' youngest and only daughter greeted me excitedly for the impending trip while San Yi and San Ho were watching TV and checking up their stuff while they were at it.

At about 9.30am our ride came, I rode in with the 2 boys while my bosses are at the other with Mei Mei. We reached there just in time for the check in. One thing about booking through the net for Tiger Airways, there's no need for ticket. We only need to have the reservation number and then we're all set. For this trip, we managed to get all the bookings done through the internet. We know the risk of using the credit card online but with the irresistable discounts available online and with the added security measure - and of course from the experience of our business contact, we did it all there.

Took lunch while waiting for our boarding time and I must admit we all took our own sweet time to finish the food. By the time we were done the screen was flashing that its the last call for our flight. Frantically all of us ran towards the boarding gate which was so strategically situated at the very end of the line. Reminded me of the flight scene in Home Alone 1 & 2. By the time we were there our plane wasn't even at the gate and everyone were still waiting. The waiting room was packed with passengers of the same flight and it was a blessing when the attendant gave those who travel with children to board up first - Mei Mei and San Ho are still under 12 and considered as children of course. One thing about budget airline, its a free seating flight so whoever fastest gets the best spot.

The plane took off and it was great. My first trip on flight, of course I enjoyed it. Though the best part lasted for only minutes before the plane ascended above the cloud and all I could see was fluffy white shape cotton candy along the way. The sight that greeted us as we reached the Don Muang Airport was fantastic. We went pass farms and we could see the blocky patches of the plantation of many colours from the plane.

Getting a taxi service at the airport was hectic. There were too many services ranging from Limo, minivan to taxi were available. We just have to choose which service and how much we are willing to pay. One thing about taxi service in Bangkok which is so much different from the service here, the taxi driver will ask us which way we want to take - the normal road or the highway. Through normal road we only have to pay for the figure stated at the meter, but for the highway we have to pay for the highway ticket. Definitely if we took a taxi over here the cost would definitely cover up the toll cost and the drive. We checked into our hotel and rested for a while before starting off with our excursion. As I say booking through te net is much much cheaper than walking in. Its about 50% of difference. Those who walks in have to pay for 2,700 baht for a double room but as for us, thanks to Farangs, we only paid 1010 baht per night with an additional free bed.

We didn't know much about Bangkok so we went to the taxi service counter at the lobby for directions and information. The nearest shopping area to our hotel is the Suan Lum Night Bazaar near to Lumphini Park. It is a market area consist of 4,000 shops selling home decorative, pots, shirts, and lots more not forgetting the massage parlour which seems to be in abundance around the area.

The Alley of Suan Lum Night Bazaar

We first took our dinner as we reached there as Mei Mei and San Ho were getting hungry. Honestly dinner time is when I dreaded most especially as we reached the hawker arena. Seems that no stalls were selling vegetarian food and the only muslim stall at that area was closed for day off. And all of the listed menu consist of pork. I did more exploring and luckily there's a pizza stall at the corner. So I bought myself a huge slice of tuna pizza for the night. Afterwards we shopped and look for more stuff and as we walked pass a massage parlour, my boss want to stop by and try the massage. She offered all of us the massage but I'd rather not. I know how painful foot reflexology massage could be so Mei Mei, San Yi and I sat back and become my bosses' spectator as the massage begins. San Ho was laughing all the way, while Mr Lok and Ms Lee was cringing and laughing at certain time.

Massage Session

We called the night off as its already midnight (which in Malaysia was already 1am). Tomorrow's plan was the Grand Palace.