Mini Hang Over

I attended a wedding dinner last night. Drank about 5 glasses of red wine .....and that's it !

a) I was dizzy reaching the end of the dinner

b) I mistakenly thought I left my house keys in Ringgit's car, ransacked his car, so 'pai sek' - I was panick because the key holder meant a lot to me, cannot afford to lose it ..

c) Vomitted in my car - gosh ...what a mess !

d) Early morning - discovered rashes - icthcy, irritating

e) Sleepless night - counting stars , went to sleep at 3:30 am, woke up at 6 am - Horrible !

f) Headache, no energy, too tired to focus at work ..bad girl !

My threshold is obviously deteriorating, have to watch out on this, and another lesson is that - behave if next day is a working day :(

So now, I'm sacrifying the 77th Academy Awards, going to bed now catching up with REST :(

Last day of February …

Hmmm, this month, unconsciously I’ve blogged a few posts on some men who walked past my life….this may be due to the lovey dovey February month :P

I consider myself a very lucky girl, surrounded with lots of good people. Today’s topic, allows me to share another dream I've been hiding :) -

a) I’ve extended invitation to my American host family to visit Malaysia ( many times for many years lioa ) – finally last year – they agree to visit Malaysia only to attend my wedding – my special day. According to them, waiting for this invitation is like asking when can they get a grand child ..

b) Yaya missed out all her rubber trees’ weddings ( that would be > 10 weddings ) , yet she told me, if I ever send her my invitation, she will be there for me …..so touching…travel thousand miles to share the joy with me , the same goes to Janice and my Uni best friend

c) Mr. Soon To Be GM – I treat him like my big brother, he’s started a saving account where he saved the ang pow money for my wedding, and it has been accumulating compounded interests for years. So, yearly, he will ask me when can he officially close this account..

d) Uncle Luke , Mr B, Tuan Hajis and other uncles - they are sincere and concern for me

e) Lastly, my family members who love me and closed friends who wish the best for me ..

So, I just have this thought that if one day, when the right timing comes and I get to share the rest of my life with my partner, what kind of wedding ceremony do I wish for ? Hmm, ok, this is my version. It will be on a Sunday morning – just 2 hours …..here’s the agenda :

Arrival of my guests in an air-conditioned small hall / ballroom ( remember my family tree is super simple , so hope my partner’s side is not complicated and open minded lah – and with some close friends, in total, it will be a small simple event )

a) 11 am – 12 noon – Blessing ceremony , exchanging marriage vows, then tea ceremony to respect the elderly, end with a prayer for all the people who shares this special moment with me

b) 12 noon – 1 pm – enjoy sumptuous buffet lunch – free seating – guests get to choose where to sit, to mingle freely ( may be background with my/our favourite soothing songs )

Me – the so called bride and my groom – shall be able to walk around – enjoy and share this joyful moments with people who loves me/us, cares for me/us …. ( those who is not sincere, don’t bother to come, or hopefully I’m smart enough not to invite them)

If the financial is OK, may be just state a rule to my guests not to bring gift / ang pow……or if they do, then all the gifts and ang pow money collected – shall be channeled to the charity – this would be meaningful, for me and for all my honorable guests.

Then, later of the evening, hope to catch a flight out to nowhere for honeymoon, that’s it.. No need to have chee mui, heng dai, bridal car, and all those ceremonies running around town under the hot sun, which is stressful and tedious (to me lah)….. Some may ask, why still need this simple ceremony then ? Because I still want to share this joyful special day with people I care and I love – it’s like receiving their blessings … and most important, I wish to capture photos with them, as sweet memories forever. (hey, I've already have a few guests on my waiting lists for years lioa). Now, I can dream of this whatever way I want, it is a challenge to sell across this wish firstly to my so called partner, hope he is someone who thinks alike, then the in-laws. The end of the day, I just wish they understand that Marriage is between me and my partner, and we should be given the utmost preferences of how we want to run it, and not to please others ….my special day mah :) …. Oh, lovely dream , hahaha …

My 21st Birthday

Last night a big group of my colleagues went to Klang Teluk Gong for seafood. Teluk Gong seem to be a famous place for seafood this days….My colleagues have been wanting to visit this place. All eager to drive far far away to taste the food. This area is sort of my territory, I gladly showed them the way ….IMO, Teluk Gong seafood is OK only, but price is quite cheap or reasonable.

Some of the gang members had a surprise for the birthday boy, bought him 2 cakes, 1 was to trick him – smashed on his face while he’s blowing the candles…. the other one was a real cake for makan punya .

I recalled my unforgettable 21st birthday. I was in a small little town called Warrensburg in Missouri State. My Malaysian friends belanja me Chinese dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, then we went to Super Wal-Mart store to buy fresh lobsters, had a good feast at my friend’s house. Lobster goes well with beer, we drank, laughed …having so much fun. It was a cold winter night, half way thru the beer and lobster session, I was called to go outside of the house to collect something …so I did …little did I know when I stepped out, I was freezing, my body was wet soaked in beer, and in pain as well– bcoz friends threw 3 dozens of eggs on me….all I could do was shout, covered my face with hands …and let them ‘played’ me lah …. I was totally wet from head to toe, so so cold standing on the pathway full of snow outside of the house ….every seconds counts – when the eggs flew to my directions and hit me splashhhhhh, and whipped cream flew from one angle, and another angle was beer poured onto me …..aiyuh yuh ….two ‘S’ words – Sejuk & Sakit. The crowd enjoyed this show …. I was like a snowman :)

After the stunt show, my kind hearted friends allowed me to freshen up myself, then presented me a gift – a purple color Victoria Secret silk nightie, I guess to symbolize the freedom age or being grown up liow …..we continue the beer party till wee hours. What a creative or ‘mean’ way of celebrating my 21st birthday. Seriously, I only need this once :), glad that it was a winter as well, if not, I may ended up drunk and left sleeping on the street whole night ( just like my Uni best friend ) ....those were some of the 'odd' things we did back then in a foreign country, hehe

Hakka Man 客家男人 ....

This is the magic of ‘Eternity’’ :o ... I have this liking for Hakka man. Don’t ask me why, I don’t have answers. I enjoy Hakka food – the 算盘子 and I’ve always wanted to learn to speak Hakka dialect fluently ….. years ago, this opportunity came. I met a Hakka guy from customer site, the first date was at Starbucks Coffee. Too bad, he didn’t bring me makan Hakka food, and he didn’t have Eternity on, else – I’d fall in the trap lioa :P

Eternity

I have 2 hours long lunch on Friday…..so today, decided to go for hair cut – since my hair kinda long and heavy, also I’m bored lioa, need a change …. After the cut, this hairdresser came by and applied mousse on my hair, then blowed dry. The minute he applied the mousse …..my senser organs awoke, searching high low for the person who's wearing this Calvin Klein’s Eternity perfume ….ai sek man – si Bahija is sensitive to this Eternity lah. I like this smell, and it makes me ‘pening’… lol. So, I realized that this Eternity smell came from the hair mousse which is on my hair now, so here I am, can smell it when I’m working, every move I made – it is there – haunting me… needless to say – I can’t concentrate well on work now ….meeting also blur blur ….and it is like a man just next to me wearing this perfume - oh oh illusion …this is a torture :( …

Next time, before anyone apply any hair products on me, I need to smell first. On the other hand, this is a good strategy to make a woman fantasize leh ! muak-ha-ha ...

Xmas tree vs rubber tree

This is for Janice – who handed in her resignation, will be a FREE girl after March 9, ending her working life in Malaysia, starting a new chapter of life in Taiwan…. Gee , March 10 morning – when she opens her eyes – her feeling must be ‘extremely happy – no need to drag her body to office lioa ‘.

A friend from Johor, asked to remind Janice to activate her email services, and keep in touch with her friends…. Her quote “Don't because of 1 Christmas tree (boyfriend) and let go other rubber trees (her old friends like us)”

Speaking of this, the old me, tends to forget about my rubber trees ….it’s unhealthy, selfish of me. Friendship is a gift, a bridge which need time, effort, love, care to nurture and build, there is special ingredients in each of my friends, which spice up my life (vice versa)...I learned to treasure this jewel. Rubber tree is equally important as well :) …..

I am Grass-Fragrance type

I participated in a character-analysis thingy ....here is the result, I'm the Grass-Fragrance type wor ........ does it reflect me ? what say you ?

You have very strong will, not dependent on others and gives an impression of being a lone-ranger. You are extremely curious and sensual, living a clear-headed, modern life. At first glance you place yourself on a pedestal, and you are difficult to get along. But once others talk to you, they know you are easygoing. And when the relationship develops, they realise you are affable, you have an androgynous charm, which makes you popular with all genders. But you don't like your weak side to be seen. You might look cool on the surface, but beneath it all, you are really passionate. Only people who know your true self can maintain a long-lasting relationship with you.

Financial BF

Conversation with Ringgit today prompted or rather brought my memory back to another guy I met years ago, I told Ringgit today I need a boyfriend who is good in financial planning or accounting ……ok, moons ago - my Uni best friend introduced him to me. Back then he was an accountant. He’s very calculative, and serious in his work …I mean now I can understand why he was so serious in his work, because that time, we were young, energetic, just entered the working world, in the 20’s mah, we had this tendency to ‘pok’, treating that time as golden time to work hard, climb ladder, to accumulate wealth …..Back then, he was working full time, loaded with work and audits, plus his master studies. I dislike arrogant, calculative, low principled, talk nonsense kind of guy – that’s the first look – and disqualify lioa. Sometimes I wonder, is this fair to the other party ? fair to me ? Well, I suppose fair is not the question here, I think both parties just need to be comfortable with each other loh ( he may also dislike me for something I have, vice versa) . I think timing is important ….as we walk thru the journey, things, people, environment change …..now, if he appeared in front of me …we may have changed, and things may work out ….who knows, if that happens, the current requirement is that he needs to manage my financial investments and all my portfolios ….a bit of programming logic and day dreaming ..haha

If him
If he = Financial expert
Then Goto Early Retirement Routine
Else
Goto Next Planning Routine
Exit

Else
Next …

Kampung girl ....

Years ago …just imagined a kampong girl went to a developed country, adapting her life with new things, new gadgets around her ….One fine day, during her lunch time, she walked to a square box, put in an egg, turned the knob …suddenly, BOMB !! everyone at the cafeteria looked at her, stared at the square box …what happened ? need to evacuate ? need to call 911 ? The girl I think should be embarrassed, learned her lesson the hard way – that egg cannot be cooked in microwave. Her colleagues named her ‘microwave buster’ after listening to her story. Hey, she’s smart now, she advised a colleague not to warm up an egg tart which is covered in aluminium foil :)

still feeling ashamed ....

well, while I'm trying to be sensible fighting my battle ....a friend of mine, Sanguine ....suddenly asked me - how can she volunteer her time in MAB, to do voice recording in Chinese - so that the visually impaired folks can listen via a tape or may be ipod shuffle ....geeeee , so kiew meh , why ask today ? why not last week ? why not next month ? Is this a sign for me ?

Changing gear, I'm glad that Sanguine is serious about volunteering her time :)
Sometimes money donation is not enough, Time and Effort are the one lacking - to carry out various activities for the needed folks ......

Feeling guilty and ashamed ...

I've the opportunities to work with some under-privileged folks such as orphans, old folks and special kids. Take the example of ‘Perkop’, those mentally retarded kids who are smarter, having higher IQ, are enrolled into ‘Perkop’, to learn some simple living skills, also to earn some pocket money. For this center, one of the biggest customer is KFC, the kids will insert the plastic spoon, fork and paper tissue into a plastic bag and seal it….simple and easy for the kids to perform. The challenge they face today, is not enough work orders…..aiiii

So, here I am, wanting to order make a walk in wardrobe and kitchen cabinets...I know there is this center called Montfort Boy’s Town. The under-privileged boys are trained to do carpentry and many other useful skills. All I need to do is to call the center, an experience senior designer will come to my house, discuss, gather my requirement and take the measurements …then the boys will build as per the orders and specifications.

I’m proud of Janice, she made an effort to engage Montfort for her bedroom cupboard…I went to her house to view the cupboard, and realized the workmanship is not as smooth as I would expect for the price she paid….I asked Janice why would she do that, she replied she wanted to help the boys – well done !

And here I am, I’m feeling ashamed of myself , I’m involved in the volunteer works, and I know perfectly how difficult it is to receive work orders, to keep the kids motivated, to make them feel useful, to help them earn a simple living …..yet, I’m being so selfish here, not doing my part, not role-modeling, reluctant to engage them …..why why why ? In order words, I rather spend money, walk into those fancy air-conditioned kitchen specialty stores, than spending my money helping the needed society….The question I post to myself now is – shouldn’t I feel happier and proud of myself if I could careless about the quality and workmanship …and in return, the sense of ‘contributing to society’ should supersede the rest, right ? If everyone out there have the same mentality as I am, geee, then where is the caring society to assist the boys ?? I’m thinking hard, fighting my internal battle on this …..

吃饭

As I mentioned before, my family tree is simple, but I hardly have the full family attendance – as some of my siblings are overseas. To me, having everyone gather together, enjoying a nice, peaceful, joyous meal together – is something I always value the most !! Last night, on the way to restaurant, I suddenly smiled….my brother saw me smiling, and asked why ? I told him, I’m glad to eat dinner (吃饭) together. Big Brother nodded his head and smiled and agreed.

Throughout the dinner, our conversation was on how blessed each and everyone is, when we did the ‘loh sang’ - my siblings wished for healthy, happy lives, happy family – and not wealth only. As we mature in life, after going thru the ups and downs, sweet and sour, we do realize Health is Wealth and United Family are the sweetest gifts of all :) . The dinner ended with a dessert – glutinous rice ball (汤圆) ginger soup, which signified ‘Reunion’ …. niceeeee

Next, by right, one should enjoy and appreciate the good food, but in my case, there is just too much food within this short time – kesian my body .. Have you ever wonder Malaysian food are so high in cholesterol ? The food we had :- char kuay teow, nasi lemak, asam laksa, curry laksa, Indian rojak, satay, ketupat, cendol, roti canai, prawn mee, hokkien mee, durian, oysters, abalone, piglet, big prawns, preserved duck rice .. my far far away friends must be ‘homesick for food’ reading this list :P

Since my brother from Hong Kong have returned, and I’ve attended my CNY reunions, next week kena hop on simple diet, simple life and exercise ....

Amazingly - this is a super duper busy weekend, yet all things, all meetings, all events carried out beautifully - without me cancelling anything or FFK anyone ...turned out to be such a blissful weekend for Bahija....so so so cool :)

'Everyone can shuffle like the blind too'

Good use of Ipod Shuffle .... So glad that Ipod shuffle is an affordable and good gadgets for the visually impared folks, 'it' lights up their life with the lovely music ....Kudos to Apple !!

Janice told me once she wanted to volunteered in MAB ( Malaysian Association of Blind ) - they need volunteers to read story books, to do translations etc ...Of all the special care associations in Malaysia, I find MAB a good one. They actively train the visually impaired folks to be independent and earn a living...So folks, if you are thinking of a massage - try the blind massage in Breakfields, or if you are shopping in Mid Valley Megamall, after the long walking trips, you can drop by the MAB foot reflexology center ( 3rd floor i think - opposite Jusco's entrance ) .....I tried blind massages a few times, these people are so friendly and humble....I found joy communicating and helping them, as well as rewarding myself, truly a win/win :)

知音人

I’m into this spiritual soul searching thingy lately ….all I do is to let Him draw me closer, open my heart, worship Him ….blessings and amazing things are happening to me, I felt His presence. A friend asked how was the feeling like ? I’m so sorry to him, I couldn’t explain or describe it well, I wish I could :(

Tonight, attended a program ….there is this lady who is non Christian (new to christianity – very much like me), she shared her testimony – and I swear all the things she said – I 100% agree, and exactly replica happening to me as well …there I was, nodding my head non-stop. In other words, I’ve found someone who understand what I’m going thru now, I’m not alone, I’m not insane :)

Embarrassment

Case 1 –
In college's ladies washroom, Yaya and myself in the ladies doing small business – there also my mouth so busy - I commented that Miss A wasn’t pretty, not sexy, bla bla bla ….then flushed and opened the door …viola, Miss A was standing in front – heard the whole conversation. She looked at me madly. Oh Oh …since then, she never talked or smiled with me lioa …..I also didn’t apologize to her, so bad of me :(

Case 2 -
Handphone has this speed dial feature, can store up to 8 phone numbers which we dial often. This incident happened 5 years ago, I was in a car and my colleague was driving. Topic of discussion was work-related, and we were gossiping about a colleague – Mr Teluk Intan ..bla bla bla, I didn’t realize that my phonepad wasn’t locked, PLUS I also ter-tekan his speed dial number. So I knew he sort of heard ‘the heart’ of the stories , it was really ‘OH MY GOSH’ and finding a hole to bury my head. Almost till the end of the conversation, he actually gave me a call, and told me I ter-called him…. I remembered well I was so malu, felt my face was on fire, hot ….. and speechless. After that incident, prior starting or entering the gossiping session, I kinda take a peek at my handphones, just to make sure …. I always lock my phones now …

Case 3 -
Just 30 minutes ago, got a phone call --- I left my phone in my bag – unlock (so careless again), while moving around – it accidentally dialed twice to the first name on my phonebook – hahaha, Mr. Soon To Be GM, he returned a call to tell me the 2 accident calls…..we chatted for a while – this is like ‘thing happen for a reason’, I read an article published by him 2 weeks ago while he was in Shanghai, last night talked about him….Well, luckily I wasn’t doing naughty things this time , huuiiii

Recalling ……

Lately, since I started blogging, I’ll think of topic to blog, naturally, my mind flashing back to those fun old times ( bad experiences not many leh – got to think harder ) ….this motivates me to blog, simply because I want to try download or recall those memories, and put a smile on my face …. See, if one day, I got into an accident and lost my memory or developed Alzheimer – my friends or family members can re-connect my stories, my life back to me :)

Just the other night, Dragon reminded me of this guy. When he knew I had to work late, he sent me an online message – asked me to take care, to makan dinner on time, to be careful walking to the car in the carpark…. Sometimes, he would also leave a simple note on my car’s windscreen, reminded me to drive slowly ( yeah – I admit – I wasn’t a nice driver, cantonese word is ‘long’ 狼 ). Some occasion, he would also purposely stayed back, waited for me, and accompanied me to my car or dinner with me …. Yeah, so caring:) ! Hmm, I couldn’t remembered well how I felt back then, I mean did I made a special attempt to go back office, to give chance to people or I memang rushed back to office to work ….aiiiiiiiiiii, how could I be so dumb dumb, forgot all those sweet things people have done for me……nevertheless, recalling back - I’m smiling now :) , more memories to be recalled, hopefully ....

Sweet little things ....

Appreciating those nice little sweet things happening today :) .......

a) Secret Agent had Valentine dinner with his 'Long Time Lover' - initially, I tot she must be his sweetheart - wrong wor, guess lah. I find it so sweet to describe her as 'Long Time Lover' :)

b) Yaya's reminder on 'a box of chocolate'. She reminded me that last year this time, I was in California. Valentine Day, I drove to Milpitas ( near Silicon Valley ) to meet her and hubby, brought along 'a box of chocolate' for her ....never thought this small little gift was registered in her mind till now.... Yesterday, she reminded her hubby about that box of chocolate ....and of course - they thought of me :) - cool

c) Mr.HRC sent me this sweet V-ecard

d) Watched a lovely romantic movie - I do, but I Don't

e) Received a lovely physical V-card dedicated to the dearest princess, sent from far far away - so touched, the thought is greatly appreciated :)

g) My highschool kakis - we named our gang ' 大圈圈' = Bulatan Besar. CNY eve, I smsed them using 'Bulatan Besar'. Today, Boh Boh emailed me, expressing her anger. She's pregnant. She asked why was I so rude by calling her - a pregnant woman as Bulatan Besar...she's so cute, I had a good laugh. This is a miscommunication or rather mis-interpretation. I'll re-connect our Bulatan Besar this weekend :)

Simple Family Tree

A lot of people curious and asked me how could my mum and myself be away from home on CNY Day 1, I said why not ! I’m the second generation leh. My dad emigrated from China when he was 18 years old, left behind all his relatives in China, whom I've never met. My mum pula has 1 brother and 1 sister in Melaka, and they don’t keep in touch with each other….. so there goes my simple family tree – just my own siblings, brother/sister in law, nieces and nephews sahaja, I kinda enjoy this simple relationship though, less ‘family politics’ …. When I was in standard 3 or 4, the teacher taught us how to address uncle, cousins, saudara-mara etc. The chinese addressing is different for relatives from mum and father’s side, most of the kids already knew this well, except me – I kept forgetting who was who, so rojak for me then…..slow learner plus not applicable in my family mah. So, CNY for me – the most important one is reunion dinner on New Year Eve. The rest , either I sit at home watch TV days and nights, or meeting friends and some reunions …..This year, my hectic reunion, makan, chit chat, and games sessions are scheduled on this coming Saturday and Sunday ....may be have to apply leave on Monday to rest then :)

Dragons

Flashed back to 1996, should be in the month of June or July – at 15th floor reception. A young big eyes energetic girl walked to the reception. I walked past that area and overheard her name, her surname caught my attention and I captured her in my mind ….months later , I got to know her personally thru a colleague at 14th floor.

Next, I went to Melaka with friends and ex-colleagues, Greedy was driving her car. While she was taking an exit at Alor Gajah, a friend of us mentioned his Chinese surname, boy boy boy ….greedy was on 5th gear high speed and she almost lost control and hit the ramp leh ……kinda dahsyat !

So, what’s so special with this 2 person ? Both of them have the same surname ‘Dragon’ – the super ONG strong powerful Chinese word / animal …. One is in Chinese , one is in English. It’s an auspicious name, I would said …..It’s my pleasure knowing this 2 Dragons :)

The Tin Hou Kong Temple ( Goddess of Heaven ) display a very colorful Dragon, whereas the rest of the animals are small and no color ( so so so unfair, my animal is super small and ugly ) :P

When I saw this Dragon last month, I thought of them :)

Bon Voyage & Welcome Home

A friend of mine, Tai Poh, is leaving USA today, balik kampung to tanah air ....wonder how's her feeling now ? After all, she's been in States for > 10 years .... it's a challenge to give up her lifestyle, her job - and return home - start all over again - adjust to Malaysian style !

When I returned home after studies, sort of got used to other lifestyle, so I always complained, always upset, depressed, kept compared my life in States .... beh tahan those rude folks here as well ... eventually, stopped complaining, started to blend in, we just need time to adjust ...things will be better eventually.

Tai Poh is on two months backpack trip to Europe, followed by 3 weeks in Taiwan. I'll pray for her safe and exciting trips, waiting to hear all her fun stories in May, Welcome Home to Malaysia :), we have 1 more professional Malaysian headcount for Vision 2020 !

Happy Valentine

When I was young, just started working in the previous company, Valentine was the day I hate to go to office. I had the choice of working in my office or go to work at the customer sites. There were some years, I couldn’t escaped and need to work from office on this day. So, that time, 14th, 19th, 20th and 21st floors, were kind of happening, a lot of young folks and a few hot chicks or pretty girls … so from 10 am onwards, could see they would prepared themselves, no mood to kerja liao…got ready to pick up phone call from reception, to pick up their flowers at 15th floor. For some of the popular girls, this was like a competition, to see who received the most flowers ….then almost at the end of the working day, those so called gentlemen in my department would go around surveying, counting who had the most bouquets of flowers or gifts and present a report ( so so ‘pak kuah’ hor )….

One year this day, OFK ‘kesian’ Greedy and myself , hey, should be both of us ‘kor lean’ him and accompanying him … 3 of us went dinner kat Desa Sri Hartamas Hor Poh Village (Hakka food), spent the night chit chatting with sumptuous food, I only remembered the food aje, couldn’t remembered our topic of conversations….back then, he liked to talk rubbish …that’s how I remembered him, and I usually switched off my ears ( so rude of me ) …

I say to appreciate our loved ones or friends Anytime, Now, Today, it is a present tense – not just on this one day aje , also appreciate with sincere 'heart'

Top 3 for 2005

It is a New Year, according to the Chinese calender. I need to list down my top 3 priorities for this year here, as a reminder, also to seek help from my fellow readers - check on me on item 2, kutuk me if I failed - help me to attain it !! Two of them are closely tied to the EQ I've learned last year (Body and Spirit) , put into practise now ....

1) Grow stronger spiritually ...

2) Health - my 12/2004 health report was good except LDL Cholesterol (the bad one) is 4.3 --> this is no good ! The acceptable range is 2.0 - 3.9. This means I need to exercise MORE, eat carefully - have discipline to do this effectively and continuously - plan next checkup June

3) Be a loving, caring, better daughter

What does it takes to be High in Emotion Quadrant (EQ) ?


Essentially, life is too short to be unhappy, depress most of the times, frustrated, feeling empty or full with negative thoughts ... Why not turn the coin around, view things from positive perspectives .... a half filled glass - can be viewed as half empty or half full, which one is better ?

I'm into this EQ thingy - which says 'Avoid Self Pity, Practice THANKFULNESS'. Enjoy the little things which come along, be happy :)

Back from Bali

Howdee, Bahija is back from Bali. Geeeee.....cuaca in Bali and KL are SO HOT ! At least KL is better - can stay in places with air-cond, Bali - most places including shopping malls no a/c, yuh, sweat till rambut basah, baju basah - no mood ( sam kei ) to shop. Anyway, how's Bali ? Hmm, it's so so only wor, the city is clean, full of foreigners, visited a few Hindu temples - they looked the same to me .... haha (80% of Balinese are Hindu). I think hor, in my mind - I still think of Egypt and Mido lor, tour members mentioned nak visit Egypt , geee.....si Bahija got so excited - shouted out loud and selling Egypt ( no wonder Habibi sync by sending me a sms la - remind me to promote his country ) ...

My dearest mum is a very hang fuk woman, i would said. So far, she tak pernah travel with budget airline. When I told her we were taking this Malaysia budget airline called Air Asia ( it is like RyanAir in Europe, JetBlue in USA or DragonAir in Hong Kong )- she was shocked sebab it is free seating, no meals or drinks and no newspapers being served. Her mind only knows that when she hop on flight, she expects food, drinks and services, had hard time re-setting her expectation...One cool thing traveling with mum - she is senior citizen , so hor...we get to board first, plenty of seats to choose ..... no need to 'pik' with the rest , ha ha ....

Lucky Day - Feb 7

Today, I collected a big cheque from the lawyer. My brother won his court case against his developer. We fought for years, finally persistent effort pays off ! My brother’s name is the first plantiff – the case is named ‘my brother’s name and 14 others’ vs ‘the bad developer’. This case is made as reference and recorded in the history, so his name is recorded …..haha!! It is sad that most of the Malaysian laws don’t protect consumer well, we need to know our rights, and fight for it, never give in !!

Next, my American host family FINALLY read the Christmas blog I dedicated to them ...haha ! Doesn't matter when they read it, most important, they READ it !

Lastly, Yaya – she FINALLY commented on my blog – YAHOO …..this is cool ! Please keep up the good work, or better still, start your own blog , be the second blogger inspired by me, make your honorable name in my history book :)

A friend of mine

Met her in high school, back then, I respected her for getting a part time job after school or during weekend – very hardworking and ‘kuay’. She worked in those Chinese wedding dinners to serve drinks, wines or beers. She’s a tall girl, but hor, her body tak balance, with her 5’ 8” height, she only wears shoe size of 5 or 6, her gravity is not good. This actually caused problem to her, she can’t go trekking or mountain climbing or do some heavy duty exercises which rely heavily on legs. After high school, both of us went for American Twinning programs in a private college, so we carpooled to college everyday for 14 months. Back then, I was driving my family car, old Honda civic, no radio, no music, air-cond no good, rusty car – when rained – we had to face the flood inside and outside the car, horrible !! We’d to saved cost as education fees very mahal, so most of the time, we packed 2 slices of roti with planta margerin for lunch, imagined we were eating roti in front of rich kids, I think sometimes we ended up makan roti at the lorong outside those classrooms (pai sek mah) ! We passed by Kampung Penchala everyday, went thru the narrow road, via the orang asli reserved area from Damansara to Kepong. We even eye-witnessed Sey Hoy Chan first project /first phase in developing Bandar Utama leh. Yuh, if only we could knew that this place is a gold mine now, we would have dropped our University dreams, and channeled the education fund in property investment hor ! Today, that area is declared as PJ Golden Triangle, come back and take a look, U'll pengsan seeing its development. So, we ended up in different universities, I was in Missouri, and she’s in Lousiana, Lafayette ( betul tak ?)… Still remembered all the Chee Mui and herself at Subang Airport sending me off to US, she injured her leg, balut her leg and limped to airport ( somemore she’d to leave for US a week after me leh). Back then, I always wished to pay her a visit in Lousiana via Greyhound bus or a cross-state train – but too bad, I never did – missed out the golden opportunity … would be fun hor traveling in a bus for > 12 hours and full of African American … this sweetie is now settling down in Dallas. I’m so glad things are working out well for her !! From my view, I think 2004 was a good year for her as well, as she and her hubby got their statuses, a new home, a better job in terms of exposure and traveling, hopefully compensation as well hah, also not forgetting those super duper unbelievable cheap massages in China :P – and yes, she is same shoe with me now, cannot afford to spend lavishly on massages. Her strategy should be to make her hubby the masseuse lah ..

Closing, I try to blog things happening to me, as remembrance in future, when I read back, I’ll know what had happened today. It also plays another role – allowing me to re-think, re-treasure events or people who’ve came into my life ….as I recall, I blog them (though I'm not good in writing and expressing – but tak kisah lah), I get to re-appreciate, re-connect to those wonderful people and beautiful things which stepped into my life. Next, it’s also a good way for my far far away friends to keep in touch with me :)….so, dear – think about ‘blogging’ yeah !! Happy Chinese New Year , hope you have a reunion dinner, remember to call home ...

Greeting from someone special ….

21st century, ecards and SMS are the ‘IN’ things, I hardly buy/use physical card now. Last time, a month before CNY, I would prepared a long list, bought the cards, wrote some stories, then mailed to my friends both local and overseas.

Sometimes, I do treasure the joy of receiving a physical greeting card, knowing that the sender takes the effort and time thinking of me, selecting the card, and mailing it all the way to me. This year, so far, I’ve received only one, the first one as well – treating it like a treasure. Guess from who ? Mrs Lily Ooi. She’s my high school teacher. Taught me mathematics and additional math. My favourite teacher. She’s very dedicated and professional, had a lot of passion in her teaching. She inspired the whole class – to excel in our mathematics. If I remembered well, our class broke the history record of achieving 100% good score ! She transferred from a reputable school and started teaching us in form 4. (I couldn’t remembered which school, could be St John). Since she taught us 2 classes, we basically met her everyday. We liked to attend her class, she motivated us, triggered our mind to think think think …gave us a lot of homework, and would stayed back after school to mark our homework. It was not ‘cincai’ kind of marking though, she went thru each of our solutions carefully, marked them and even suggested better alternatives. See, for a class of 40+ students, she spent huge amount of time and ‘sam kei’ marking our homework. We learned to appreciate her, enjoyed having her. She was one of the best teacher. We observed her dressing, her style, her behaviour, even her hairstyle ….then gossiped, laughed about it ….we could guessed what dress she'd wear the next day… Chee Mui, remember her favorite dress – the white collar apple green dress? She’s our topic of discussion, Oh, we also noticed her ‘curry chicken’ on her neck as well :P …

Anyway, she retired years ago, and migrated to New Zealand. I’m surprise to receive this ‘no return address’ greeting card from her …..I need to dig my old address book for her home address.

To all my readers, Happy Chinese New Year ! wishing you a joyous, prosperous Roaster Year 新年快乐 :)

Diamond and death are forever

Read this article from Star. Interesting, now the cremated human body can be turned into diamond. It is possible to create more than 50 one-carat LifeCem diamonds from one cremated individual...Carbon makes diamond, and carbon in human body is abundant. Here is the link :- Lifegem diamond

Miracle

This afternoon, my family all carpool in my sweety (car). As usual, we had lots of conversations on things happening on us and around us. Suddenly, my mum said this "if i want to be a christian, how do I settle my Nirwana tomb ? can a chirstian buried together with a non-christian ?". I was TOTALLY SHOCKED, couldn't believed what I heard. In my life so far, I've NEVER EVER hear this from my mum. It's amazing that she said that today out of nowhere.... Praise the Lord ! Such a miracle to me, I quickly took this opportunity to share my faith in god with my family members (this item has been bothering me for weeks)... mum and sister said they respect my choice :) - I'm so glad !!

When I knew I was saved, I wasn't happy, but sad and felt uneasy...I'm sad because I'm goin to heaven and my family is not. I've been praying to god. I even told my cell leader that my mum already bought her tomb (together with my dad's), and have her funeral activities planned and setup via the chinese way...it would be a dream to have her accept christ. Today, I realized that Me and Mum both think alike, both of us have the same doubt, same question in our mind. It is so awesome that God hear my prayers and grant me this miracle. From here, I know things are possible, I've my blessings and I'll work on this !! Miracle, miracle, miracle, it's been a new life experience after my decision, god of words are so powerful, I'm indeed blessed to receive them..... thank you Lord !

Conversion with a MAS steward

I was queuing to check in my luggage. There was this big group of cabin crew caught my attention. They look Malaysians, but their crew uniforms doesn’t belong to the MAS team, I was curious. To my surprise, when I boarded my flight, there was this Chinese crew guy ( quite decent looking ..see see man man ), sitting just next to me. Wow, si Bahija, after buckled the belt, straight away turn my head to left and asked him “Are you a steward ?” He replied yes, then we started the conversation ….to me, he would be categorized as a shy man, sebab he replied my questions in short sentences. But I was so curious to find out more about his job, I kept prompting him. Eventually, he’s more relaxed and told me more thing…..hahaha.. Perseverance and Persistence are the keys to Success ! Hey, don’t get me wrong, I wasn't flirting with him :P (now thinking back, I may be too aggressive and ter-takut-kan him liao …yuh, lain kali must act ‘see man’ and talk less)

OK, back to the story, MAS has this crew called temporary crew. This temp crew only open to Malaysian citizens, to those crew members who decided to settle down in Malaysia, and to those who are over the age limit of the general cabin crew. MAS will subcon them to whichever airlines which need temporary staffs, such as SIA, Cathay, Japan, European airlines etc. This round, this crew are contracted to do the Hajj flight. Have you heard of Air Atlanta ? Air Atlanta HQ is in Iceland, and MAS is the stakeholder. One of their Hajj route fly muslim folks to Mecca for their hajj. The crew is now on their way to Jeddah to bring back Malaysian Haji and Hajjah. The Hajj season starts in early December, and end in March, total 46 days. There are 2 entry ports in Saudi Arabia, one in Medina, and one in Jeddah. Only muslim can enter Medina, so this chinese guy can never fly to Medina. He shared his experience of serving those tired muslim folks who return from Hajj. A lot of them are sick, down with flu or cough. Also a lot of the older folks cannot make it home safely. So there are a lot of coffins being shipped back … I kinda like the idea of this flexible temporary workforce.

Next, I’m thinking …..why am I so curious of Hajj ? A more precise one should be why do I show interest on things related to Islam now ? I have a favourite cab driver in Penang, on the way to airport today, I shared with him stories of Egypt, Habibi, Mohammad Ali (Alabaster) Mosque …..the ‘magic’ is still flowing strong within me …. OH YA, today at the blurred lunch, Dockers Pant’s new team mate sat next to me, she asked about Egypt. So I briefly described to her about Egypt, and end the topic saying that her life will change after the trip …. YUH, now I connect all this events – are these synchronicity to me again, if yes ...then apa ???

Blurred Lunch

For years, my sau kung lunches were Chinese dishes and Lo Sang ( or Yee Sang ). This year, my Penang friends are very innovative, thinking out of box. We went for Indian food, Mumbai Palace at Crystal Square. The ambience is nice. I love the papadam comes with mint & chutney dip…so yummy, refilled many rounds.

This Indian restaurant has ventilation problem, as we sat longer inside the restaurant, our visibility deteriorated, getting blurred …the whole restaurant was so smorky! We were joking that at the end of our meal, we may not be able to see each other liao….One of my friend experienced eyes irritation, and Dockers Pant pula had bleeding nose ….. powerful leh.

The service was super duper slow, waited so long for everything. Everyone said NO secong time to this place. Later, we found out there was no 10% service charges wor, so that could be the reason for this tortoise service. Anyway, as I always tell my friends, it is not the food that matters, it is the company. My department kakis love photo sessions. It was indeed my honor to close this Chinese Calender year with them. While the service was slow, I got to chit chat with the girls, had some small talks and photo sessions. It was a blissful blurred lunch … check out the photo, it also displayed the misty look ..

Won the battle !

Ha Ha Ha !! Great dicipline, strong will power. Wish I could continue this momentum, propagate this across to other area such as sleep less, wake up early at 6 am, exercise 3 times a week etc etc etc ...

Oh, belum tell what happened yeah. I won the battle against my own temptation, bravo :), didn't give in to 'massage' ! This morning, Secret Agent pula came to me, told me there is this center which offer head, shoulder, face and foot massages all in for $100 only - super cheap. I gave him Sandy Lum 'mong jue eye look' and said No.

So now, feeling happy and a bit proud of my little achievement ... hmmm, how shall I reward myself now ? allow myself to pre-view TAR result ....

CNY

I’m same boat with Ringgit. This year, the CNY mood wasn’t there at all. Previous years, I would brought goodies, cookies, setup the decorations, have pre, during and post CNY activities on my calender. This year, super quiet, nothing has been done at all. I guess I’ve used up my energy for Christmas last year ….

Reflected those fun time attending many ‘sau kung’ and ‘houi kung’ meals with my ex-colleagues. One of my favourite gang consists of Bootidelicious, Ringgit, Anti-Ringgit, Emily, NLK. Greedy and Joey ( I think they also pernah joined) – usually we ate dim sum at Summer Palace Restaurant at Damansara Kim, which came with the ‘yee sang’ dish …. We threw in all our wishes for a better, prosperous new year etc etc etc …..

When I joined my current company, the tradition also present. The last Friday before CNY, and the first working Friday during CNY – we the whole gang (mixture rojak from various departments – min 2 10-seats tables ) would go for 2 hours lunch break, to Hoi Tin Restaurant, and celebrated our ‘sau kung’ and ‘houi kung’ meals. Here, we ordered various Chinese dishes. I realized that I haven’t captured a single photo …..this is bad, need to snap some liao

This year, the timing is so great. Since I’m in Penang, I’ve the privilege of celebrating with my Penang colleagues ( all from my department ), this is a rare opportunity…. I’m looking forward enjoying their company tomorrow – the Penang way – yey !

I’m a KL city girl, celebrated CNY in KL most of the time. Surprisingly, Penang folks already anticipated their CNY, they started burning firecrackers during midnight or early morning… last 2 nights, it was so disturbing for people, like me, who wished to have a good night sleep. Imagine this during CNY in Penang ? I’m sure firecrackers are everywhere, though it is riuh-rendah CNY atmosphere ….but kesian to those who doesn’t celebrate this festival or those young babies or people who just want a peaceful quiet night … may be they just need to practice tolerance and patience during that time kuah ….muhibah celebration !

Class of 2005

I attended the last open forum for my department today. This was the second time we managed to gather everyone in a room, and celebrated our 3rd year anniversary as well. Boy, time flies, I joined this company and this department when it was starting up. Most of us were hired externally into this department. We came from various background and different work culture, got into this organization, brain-washed, blended into the new set of 'Values and Culture'. I’ve met a few nice folks along the way. Bear the fruits, developed working and friendships …… today, reflecting on the ‘old goodies or memories’ slides, appreciated the journey we’ve walked thru ! I’ve lost one friend – Heng, passed away due to brain tumor. Then, there are some folks who left Penang, and working next door to me now….almost 3 years with this organization..we’ve transformed from a new startup to a mature organization now, more challenging tasks are transferred from other regions into my organization…..we’ve grown, gain our respect and trust from others …. 3 years – so many good achievements ! (of course still many room for improvement). Now, the latest reorganization is to dissolve my organization and moved us from one centralized center to distributed organizations. What happen next, we don’t know , it could be a good reorganization, or vice versa. Personally, I always try to accept ‘change’ as a positive opportunity. 3 years in my job, seeking god’s guidance and hints for my next path. I’m proud to graduate from the class of 2005, here is our family photo …for all of us who've contributed sigfinicantly to the growth of our company (from globalization perspective), we did well !!

Mah Lau, hope you are reading this, our mutual friend, who is driving camry, is at the first row, right in the middle .... check him out :P

We graduated from 'The Class of 2005' ....

Fighting 'temptation' !

One of the way I make myself happy is to indulge in spa or massage. It started back in 1997, where I pampered myself after some hectic weeks or some stressful tasks or to reward myself. Saturday was the day I threw away everything, and headed straight to my favourite place. Back then, massage was cheap, only about RM 55 for 1 hour session in a classy area like Desa Sri Hartamas or Bangsar…. .This spa and massage slowly gain popularity, and now …it is widely available and getting very pricy. During my business or personal trips, I’ll definitely spare a relaxing evening for my massage session, I’ve tried various styles from Philippines, Singapore, Penang, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Beijing, and some from local as well ( Swedish, oil, pressure point, blind, aromatherapy ). 2 years ago, Dockers Pant and myself went to Hatyai, gee, we 2 kiasu girls, we did 4 massage sessions each within 12 hours, it was super duper cheap, but no quality loh. I reduced this treats tremendously after I forked out my downpayments for my so called liabilities. Last year, started all this indulges again, thought of giving myself a little break to enjoy life a bit …… but reality is, it is ‘luxury’ item in my list…. Since I need to cut down my spending this year, I should not be tempted to ‘massage’ ….. temptation, temptation, how could I stay away from this temptation, I’m on business trip now…last night, I passed by the massage center, smelled the lovely aromatic oils and heard the smoothing music, oh …I almost ‘ter-jejak’ my feet into the room. I survived last night, did well …. quickly left that place. Now, I’m getting off from work, my mind thinking of it again, this is Satan’s work, little devil …. Brrrrrr , I’ve got to occupy myself tonight, have strong discipline, be strong, never give in to ‘temptation’ ! helpppppppppp