my last entry ..

for 2006 that is. can't believe it's ending soon!!
hmmm, how's 2006 so far for me? well one thing for sure i've had peace with myself and fully understand what self contentment means. i truly am very contented with what i am blessed with. of course this doesn't mean i have no plans, dreams, or even ambition - but for sure i count all the blessings i am given. i am not giving up on wishing for something to happen, but at the same time i am contented for what's been happenning with my life. i enjoy time with myself and actually treasure every seconds of it. i am no longer someone who's life depended on tv, but i balance it by doing other things when i'm at home. i am more aware of those small little things that makes life beautiful. i am doing better at meeting new people and my definition of having fun is hanging out for food and talking about things that is meaningful. i have learn to express my feelings openly and sharing my daily life with friends through email or phone is something i very look forward to everyday. no longer am i someone who wish i could be the other person, but i just be happy for whatever that happens to my friend without a slight feeling of wishing i could be as lucky as them. the only thing that got worst is my diet and my exercise regime which i plan to change once my family goes home.

in other words, i understand myself better...

Happy New Year everyone ....

books galore ..

the library staff finally called me. the book i reserved that couldn't be located when i went to collect it is now located. finally!!
i have to give two thumbs up for the library system here, if only we have a library back home which is half as good as the one here. the only library i enjoyed visiting during my childhood back home is the one in british council.
complain aside, i'm getting more and more addicted to placing a reservation from the website compared to renting books like i used to. i can save more money though i had to control reserving books as i still have 3 books at home waiting to be read. that's the only drawback of renting/lending instead of purchasing one. well, unless the book is very good i prefer to borrow. i'd just spend my days in the bookshop browsing for books that looks interesting and go online to find it. books that are in my reserved list includes the emotional intelligence book which is strongly recommended by a friend. paulo coelho will be the next author in my list as again, it's recommended by the same friend of mine.

on fulfilling your dreams ...

had dinner with friends last night in the birthday girl's nest. yeah, she's *just* 29 and yet had her own condo in a very prestige area from her own hard earned cash! though it's hers i couldn't help but feel a slightly sense of belonging there, probably because i was given all details from the moment she did the viewing, purchased it, all the talk she had with the designer, and the shopping we did for the iron and other stuff. i guess that's why i was given a task to become the guide for other friends who came. house aside, this friend of mine really motivates me to be more finance savvy. i mean she who earns what? probably 5x more than i do is leading a simple daily life - unlike me, a compulsive shopper who could just hail a cab anytime i want to and never give a second thought on something which sometimes i ended up regret buying. i could say that apart from motivating each other to be more cost savvy with another friend of mine; this girl really motivates me to think twice before spending my cash. yes of course i couldn't forget the fact that she's from a different line with much exposure working in few countries before coming here, but still she motivates me to be a 'better' person finance-wise.
dinner was good but as usual the chat was better. topic of the night :- what are we doing with our life, career, and contentment - i'll have another post on contentment as i have so many things in my mind on that. last night chat ended up with me being happy with the decision i had recently made, at least i was given more confirmation from the lots that i am doing the right thing. i just hope everything works smoothly for each one of us, and hopefully i can fulfill my plan.

roller coaster of life

wednesday morning i was feeling melancholic after volunteering for the christmas celebration held in office for children with cronic ilness. very sad seeing such a handsome boy, the one i was assigned to take care, facing a tough life. 4 years old. handsome. clever. mischiveous. yet deep down he's suffering. i hope he has a long life and can live his dreams on being a policeman and catch naughty boys.
wednesday night was a great night for me. mom and my nephew came and since then my day is fully occupied with the 'lil rascal.
thursday morning, just as i entered my office i got a message that my uncle, my dad's elder brother, passed away. i was sad and there's a regret in me too. i seldom visit him when i am the only family he had from his side. it's just the thought of going to hougang that always made me think twice before visiting him. the last time i visit him was during hari raya, such a good niece i am. too bad dad postponed his visit here, else he should be able to see his brother for the last time. he couldn't make it but my bro-in-law came and though my bro-in-law didn't see the body he stayed for the tahlil and at least there's someone else apart from mum, my nephew, and myself.
spent the next few days there and taking my nephew out here and there. it was quite tiring but at the same time i do enjoy all the impromptu family gathering we had in my late uncle's place.
he's the 4th family member that passed away this year. its like a tradition in my family, if there's a death in the family another 2nd and 3rd death will follow. this time around 4 in a year ...
no one can predict life and i do learn my lesson - never wait until tomorrow to visit the elders...

its DONE!!

i had my wisdom tooth extracted about 15 mins ago. i've overcome my biggest fear. yahooo!!
almost backed out last week but when cin told me that the dentist identified me as the terrified girl, i felt challenged to prove him wrong.
so there i was for the extraction. chit chatted with him awhile, him thanking me for referring cin to him and then he asked if i was ready. when i smiled before answering he straightaway said, 'forget it, you're never ready' hehe .. i've postponed this for more than a year due to the project but honestly i was happy to postponed it. as usual he would make a small comforting gestures during the process, some of which were embarassing. imagine him asking me if i'd prefer a sticker or a balloon instead!!. i was stressed when i saw the injections but everything went smoothly though there's a part where i bit his finger and he could only said,' ouch .. ouch.. let my finger go'. he didn't do a stitches on the wound as he knew it's going to be another problem later so it will be a little bit longer for my healing process. anyway it's done!! yahooooo. i only need to call home and brag about being brave going to the dentist without my parents by my side.

its out!

so we've spoken to boss. you can see she was a bit shock and the way she looked at us, err seems like a mother loosing a child. totally didn't know how to react i only sit, smiled and looked down when i couldn't meet her eyes anymore. well, being a great boss that she is (and i'm sure will always be) .. she'd see what she could do but of course we too have to give her ample time to prepare for everything. anyway everything is not confirmed yet, but we've prepared her and so-called 'seek' her assistance in all this. i guess with me&hp jumping into this together is what put her in quite a dismay. but life goes on and of course as hp told her we have to look after ourselves more.
i personally feel a bit bad, especially after meeting her yesterday venting out my frustration of someone who never want to follow the instructions. i kinda tell her that i gave up on that person and asked her to instruct that person herself. imagine what she had to face yesterday and today.

my verdict ...

okay, everyone knows there's so many indonesian restaurant here. everytime there's a new place and i tell my workmates, their respond would be, 'what chicken now?'. true though, as most of the place that we go have the 'chicken set meal'. so i'm just thinking of all the indonesian places in singapore that i've been too - some of them only once, some more than 5 times.

1. Sanur
well, for me it's just a so-so food. everyone talking about their tahu-telor which for me is simply ordinary. and as usual, the taste has been modified to cater for local preference

2. Bali Thai
can't say much about it - anyway its not pure indonesian food

3. House of Sundanese
the first time i came here, i thought it's a house of sudanese - based on my boss' pronounciation. but of course i was excited to have a taste of sayur asam here. as days goes by, their taste went by as well - and its no longer a place i like

4. Kintamani
now this place gave me excitement the first time i went there. how couldn't i be excited when they have 'asinan'. but my 2nd visit made me a little bit disappointed and by the 3rd visit i'm totally disappointed. there 'oommpph' factor of seeing the dishes was no longer there

5. es Teler 77
i remember when we knew there's a branch of it in singapore we went there on saturday night. dressed in bermuda we took a bus to joo chiat trying to locate the place. of course everyone looked at us 3 girls venturing around that area, when the hotel 81 was bustling with local 'guests'. but we're happy when we managed to locate the place and i think this place became one of my favourite for quite some time. more than once i went to orchard or bugis simply to buy back for lunch. even my workmates love the chicken and especially the chilli.
as days gone by, most of the time i go there nowadays i'll order the fried noodle. tried their chicken siomay on my last visit much to my disappointment. i guess having so much branch made their quality declined and i think they have to really look into it, especially with so many new places opening here

6. Ayam Penyet Ria
again i promoted this place to workmates and families. went here several times as well - the chicken is good but the pempek is not. the chilli is good but i think i can count with my fingers on the time i visited this place. well, at least this place is an inspiration to locals who open a stall selling 'nasi ayam penyet' in golden shoe when the chicken is totally not ayam penyet.

7. Desa Kartika
sorry my friend, but this place is a total disappointment for me. why? the food is simply not indonesian - maybe Bali style but simply not my taste

8. Pagi, Siang dan Malam (or is it Sore??)
found this place by accident few years ago when it was still a small establishment. the last time i went there, the place has turned into one of a nice restaurant and the food was good. i couldn't really recall the taste but i think i left them place feeling satisfied.

9. Warung Pariaman
well i've known this place since i was a kid. i remember when we visited our grandparents here, there's definitely a day when we asked the driver to get it for our lunch. we would then open it and sit at the dining area enjoying the food. ah, i miss nana and nani ....
as i grew old, my sister still will make a time to eat the chicken here everytime she's in town. judging from the popularity of the chicken, we'd asked my auntie to call the owner and save some for us. as for me? i think the chicken is so-so only, eh.

10. Sabar Menanti
okay, the beef rendang is good and i remembered once having the delivery from this place. most of my workmates were happy with the food. i've only been to this place several times that i actually forgotten about its existence!

11. Warung Lele
food was good, it was one of my auntie's favourite place for several months. but as they changed management, so did the taste. i guess with all other establishment providing more local indonesian food, i tend to forget about this place as well

12. Nasi Padang Zion Road
the food is good! but still can't be compared with the padang dishes back home. but honestly i like their food and they have a varieties of dishes to choose from. it's good and its one of the famous nasi padang in singapore
13. Bumbu
it is so not authentic indonesian but nevertheless, i like their dishes. my workmates agree and so does my boss
14. Ayam Bakar Ojolali
well the gado-gado is nice, the chicken set meal is nice, the sayur asam is nice as well. ally still wants to go to this place for its chicken as he tasted the 'nasi liwet' the last time we went there. so far people i went there with enjoy the food.

15. Kantin Aneka
one of my favourite place for sure. honestly, i haven't try anything except for the chicken set once and all the other time i'm there for the batagor. up until today if i have no idea on what to have for lunch, i'll just go to somerset and buy the batagor back. how many times have i tell the lady owner to open a branch in raffles place, i couldn't recall. the last time i went there, i was offered a brownies as she just came back from indonesia. though one of my friend didn't really like the food, well actually more on the gado-gado sauce being cold, i still put this place in my top 5 list. good food - good service, what more can you ask for.

16. Restoran Surabaya
food was okay but i guess the one of the owner draw my friend's attention more than the food, hence the reason we went there several times. apart from that, i salute the advertising the place put - go to the place and see all the pictures of celebrity around. well actually the group had a picture taken with the owners as well but it's not displayed. lol - remembering that day still brings smile to my face. but the food here is good too - not fantastic, but good.

17. Ayam Bakar Wong Solo
went here once and i don't think i'll be so eagerly to go back there again. not many choice and the food is okay. haven't try the chicken back home so i can't make the comparison. this poligamious man really display his family picture at the restaurant - doh!

16.Sinar Pagi
now this is one of my favourite place as well. be it lunch, be it dinner - it's always pack and i guess the staff there knew us but heart already. food was good and i simply love the sambal goreng! definitely a must-try!

18. Rice Table
been there - ate there - don't think will come back. enough said..

19. Warung Nasi Wayan
went here for lunch once, err err .. maybe i'm not into balinese cuisine but i don't think i'll come back again. well actually i did due to a friend organising lunch there. sorry, maybe it's just me who's not into it, though i don't think perkedel jagung is balinese cuisine.

20. Prime Cafe
a quite new establishment, it only had few choices as they're trying to maintain the quality (that's what the staff said). food was okay - they sell gudeg. not fantastic but worth visiting once. the staff is friendly and still remembered our order the first time we went there.

21. Garuda
said to be the same as the one in medan. i like the gulai ayam and the singkong. but still couldn't digest the fact that veggies ($6.00) is more expensive than the chicken ($4.80). probably organic. it's good for a la carte 'cos the time we went there each person order their own food so it's so very costly. a friend told me she had it pack for lunch and it costed her $22 - $10/each for a kripik udang when the prawn is only one and so small. the ambience is nice and some said it's under the 'tung lok' company, hence the interior design. the time we went there, ex-minister tony tan was also dining there with his family. i guess that's how famous this place is. will i go there again? yes - will it be that often? i'm afraid not ..


hmm, is there anything that i left out?
well i haven't tried tambuah mas, pondok gurame, and definitely Kedai-Ibu (this will be the place where i'll have my 1st sate padang as i plan to visit it the next time they sell it, judging from the ooohh-aahhh it seems to have a great sate padang there)
see .. there's so many food here, no wonder my waistline is getting 'better' and 'better'..

it's 4ish in the afternoon, the rain is pouring outside and i can hear the pitter patter sound of it. the weather is simply irresistable that i ended up looking out the window more than staring at my machine. my machine is also playing a nice song, really puts me into the mood that i'd decided to skip gym *again* and go home straight after work. lame excuse indeed when i actually spoilt my jacket 'cos its too tight for me now. got my mobile e-statement earlier and i was thrill to see the amount. it went down 70% from my previous bill. yes, i can do better but at least this is a great achievement. me & hp met one of the partner yesterday and we had a nice 'chat'. hopefully we can achieve what we want in the near future, hence we've decided to let it out in the open tomorrow with boss. it's better she hears it from us instead of from someone else.
now if you'll excuse me, i'll get back to enjoying the sound of the rain outside...

touring around ...

our new place is totally different from the old one. when i could just walk to the building while still reading my book as the security guards know us already, i couldn't do it here. let's see - entry to the lift area - tap. inside the lift selecting level - tap. main glass door - tap. department door - tap. imagine not having the card with us. my desk, though not as big as the previous office is situated in quite a nice corner. from where i am sitting, next to the all glass window, i can see my old office building. very nice compared to what i've been seeing for the last 5 years. just came back from browsing the main reception area and it was nice!! the reception area was grand, the media room was very nice and the meeting room is simply nice. if only the project is still on we'll be enjoying all that every week! hehe .. the reception area has a line of bamboo trees, separating the resting area and the meeting room. which reminds me of the pantry. call me 'norak' but in the old building we only have a lounge area but here we have a nice staff lounge at each level near the pantry - its just like those diners you saw in movies. i'd called one of the partner yesterday and we're supposed to meet for a chat over coffee later - time to have a try of this new facilities given in a different level.
nevertheless, i miss my old building as well. i even took some pictures of the old place for memory sake.

dead woman blogging...

its monday and yet i can't wait for the weekend. i really really can't wait - yupe, i'm gonna whine here.
friday was crazy in the office. with the server movement, phase 1 movement, all seemed to be haywired. engineer came early to dismantle one unix server & they insisted on not dismounting the other one which were going to be moved to the new location. IT snapped at me as they couldn't dismount their server 'cos our engineer was blocking the way. i knew they were under lots of stress so i just kept silence and only commented on it afterwards. after engineer was done, mover was not there and IT was not sure what time they're ready to call the mover. so we asked the engineer to walked around as per IT's advised. i then helped IT 'cos i knew they're out of people and at the same time protested on being snapped at, hehe. once everything was done and we called the mover, i called the engineer but it took them ages to reach. IT couldn't wait any longer so they went to the new location. just as the engineer arrived i got a called that the building has stopped any movement due to lunch time, we could only start at 2. sigh .. i told the engineers and i knew they were a bit unhappy. 2 pm, movers were not anywhere to be seen. i kept on calling until they reached at 2.30. another problem, they couldn't carry the rack 'cos the servers were still inside. engineers didn't want to dismount it and movers didn't want to carry it if it's not dismounted. arrrgghh, it's so difficult to be the middle person. after much persuasion to no avail i called boss and let her settle. at the same time i called the engineers' office and complained about them. i mean 1.5K just to supervised the movement? come on!! finally they agreed on dismounting the server BUT not the UPS. mover still didn't want to move it and they ended up dismounting the UPS. the problem didn't stop there. in the new office everything was up except for the rack. security didn't approve carrying the rack up and movers had to queue for the cargo lift which was serving all 50 floors. engineers already showed their unhappinness and i couldn't do anything. they gave up and went home by 6 pm to continue the work on monday. just as they went home, the rack came! called them to come back but they rejected - i wonder who's paying who actually. so tired that i went home after all were settle hoping to get a good night sleep. i was floating all along due to lack of sleep the night before. so much for hope, 12.30 am IT called asking about one of our server. my mind was blank and i couldn't think straight, i guess i was babbling until i gave them the correct information.
saturday i woke up early as i promised a friend to make her strawberry pudding for her rented-house warming. though i was feeling a bit dizzy i forced myself to get up, do some shopping, make the pudding & vla before going to IKEA. yeah, new office makes me want to re-decorate my new workspace. went for 2 movies at night and slept at 4ish am - another long night.
went to my friends place on sunday, bukit batok .. sooo far that i took a cab to and fro as i didn't have much energy left. i even left early so that i could go home and have a rest. wrong choice! i ended up falling asleep for an hour - means i couldn't sleep early that night. never mind, a match to watch anyway. yeah, the football match was good and i ended up sleeping around 2ish am.
back to work on monday - havoc!! they changed the ip address of one of our server and i couldn't connect to the US server! rats!! i gotta generate a new set of public key and it will take days for US to action on it - i've imagine all the stuff we gotta catch up with once it's authenticated. engineer came and they couldn't finish due to some stuff being blocked by the consultant. definitely annoying that i just went to my boss and let her talked to the upper management to get all settled. i don't know what else is coming next, hardly had breakfast and now i just realised it's 3 and i haven't had lunch. no mood to eat anyway. the only thing i can think about now is 5 more days to weekend...

red carpet. glamourous. it's over!!

d&d was over with a flying colour last night, at least that's what us committee said. it's fun. it's tiring, but most importantly it's done!
after so many communications. make over-dressed up-dolled up-hair styling i decided to just go with whatever i have in my closet. but then a news came, the chairman is dolling up, he even bought a 2.5K tux for this event. blimmey! everyone started to re-think on being simple.
went to find a much more glam dress but after searching high and low i thought to myself, this is after all only d&d. so, nope .. whatever in my closet should be fine. messages came about make over. not having a great make up skill, i considered it. but the price was too steep, at least for me who's now starting to audit my monthly expenses. so me and two other girls decided to do it by ourselves. 3 of us also decided to spend the night there. done!
then, one of the girls decided for a make over, 'cos the chairman who's her boss, kinda disagreed on her doing it alone. we agreed as well, especially that she's the co-chairman. 2 girls left - both inexperience - still be doing on their own. told the rest, and they too would be doing it themselves. goodie good..
d&d day. told boss that i'd be leaving early and she's fine *on the event itself, she told me she didn't know i was in the committee, hence she thought i left early to dress up, doh!*. went early and watched the performance practising for the last time. went down to get hair done - not bad. met the others and off we went to the room and started experimenting. not bad!! well at least that's what they said :)
event was great. we hang around after the dinner was over. music was great. as usual, i love observing and this was the right time to observe people. when they're in their high and low state. bonded more with these 2 girls as we only get closer after the hr project.
1.30 am. time to knock off. after taking care of everything we went up to our room. 2 other girls decided to stay and luckily none of the guys stay so we got additional room. spent the morning chatting with cn and slept at 3ish am.
woke up. work!! bummer bummer bummer .. everyone were still in la-la land, if only i could take leave like them. sleepy now... yawn

i run so that i can eat more tiramisu!!

yupe, that'll be my reason for running. as usual i felt shite waking up early but it went off as soon as i left home for office. met my workmates there, put our stuff before going down to the start line. run was good - met sy when we started but then all of us parted ways. decided to go with my own pace so i was left quite behind and only met hp & jn again when we made the turn, they were quite ahead of me. met cin near the turn & just exchanged few words and continued w/ the run. i managed to pass jn and continued 'til the finish line without a single stop. with my condition (surprisingly i was not coughing during the run, started coughing again afterwards!!) i should give myself a pat in the back - not once did i stop. goodie good. apparently i passed hp without realising it when i thought she's way in front of me - ended the run in 1 hr 09 mins, not the official time though. went back to office after quite a chaos as we couldn't locate jn and thought something had happened to her, collected our stuff then went home. hopefully i can persuade hp to go for the half marathon next year!

demanding patient

so i've been under the weather for a week now. when my cough started i went to the company doctor - just few floors below. i was told to take precautions, not sleeping with my aircon on, drink more water, avoid spicy food, and all that stuff. he prescribed me the typical singaporean's cough mixture, one that is not strong for my indonesian body, and a normal lozenges. i know that when i started coughing it'd take months to get rid of it, i normally ended up being asked to go for chest x-ray - always with the same result 'your lunges are clear'. so after the monday run, i started to developed a slight fever but i bare with it, working and floating at the same time until i couldn't take it anymore, i went to see the doctor. met the same doc i met last friday. though he wanted to give me a medical cert, i told him not to as i couldn't afford taking leave. all i wanted was something stronger, as i told him only silomat works for me. he was a bit reluctanct to prescribe that cough mixture, you know it cost more. i ended up getting it and another type of lozenges, something better though not what i want. so today, as my cough is getting worst (apologies to all my workmates for my non-stop-coughing-and-clearing-throat) and i could only sit down feeling like i'm floating thanks to my slight fever, i went down to see a doctor again. as usual, i always call before going down so i won't have to wait long and this time around there's only one doctor available - the same one. went down when its closer to my turn and upon seeing me he smiled, i guess what first came to his mind was 'don't tell me silomat doesn't work now'. well, as usual i couldn't take the mc but i asked for him to prescribe me another lozenges that works better (and of course, it's more costly). i got it of course. that's a tactic when seeing company doctor, request for the best medicine if you know it - else they'll prescribe you the normal one. now that i've got all the best medicine, sleep without aircon, i hope i can recover soon. 3 more days to the run man!

sexylicious friday ..

does sexy equals minimalist? look at jodie foster (though she tarnished her reputation for a small role, in my opinion), siti nurhaliza, err... the late Lady Diana(?), gosh i couldn't think of anyone else, ah! Jemima Khan, one beautiful lady there. they're normally covered but they still ooze sexiness. well, this thought just occurs to me after talking about the upcoming d&d. i said that i'd be wearing whatever i have in my closet, which is not many considering my current expanding waist. then someone came out saying as long as its sexy, it should match the theme. hmm, what is sexy? does glamourous means sexy? does glamourous have to be sexy? but then again, look at those people mentioned here. always dress immaculately yet still ooze some sexiness from within.
this reminds me of a chat we had few weeks ago, when a friend brought a topic of uniform party (not those sleazy, kinky kinda party though). we then talked about our school uniforms and we asked the malaysians if everyone have to use the 'baju kurung'-style uniform. then a guy said that actually he likes seeing girls in that outfit with reason being that ladies look elegant in that kind of outfit and made them wonder more. i shared about the talk i had with the boys back in my working day in batam, basically on dress-code as well. the chat evolved into a discussion about the 'leave some for imagination' belief and its true, a lot of people are intrigue on not knowing how sexy siti nurhaliza is - nobody has the chance to know, well apart from her hubby now.
so what is sexy? does skimpy means sexy? do you feel sexy when you dressed for someone or when you dressed for yourself? well, for me - just like beauty, sexy is in the eyes of the beholder

lunch time .. gosh it's already december!!

when there's (still) time to change ...

my uni friend. roommates. smart. beautiful (very!). cheerful. bubbly. religious. everything seems to work fine for her but deep inside, just like everyone else, there's always a trouble in paradise. how did she face all her troubles? closer to God. patience. never surrender. what happens to her now? happy. married. family. Hajj soon.
i remember the days when we were roommates. a very influential roommate, though at times i was bored with her kindness. let's see - she'd make sure i did all my prayers and woke me up if i fell asleep before doing it. she'd make sure i woke up for my morning prayer even when she's not praying. not only that, she'd woke me up again just to ask if i had done it. at times i was annoyed, with the fact of she waking me up just to ask simple questions. when she's not fasting she'd make sure i woke up for the morning meal, she knew very well how alarm didn't work for me at times. she's like a mom i had away from home. she is one good person. look what life has bring her.
me? all i could think of now is - when to watch this movie, when to try that food, what book to read next. prayer? i could just prioritise my work instead of leaving it simply to go down for 5 mins. sometimes i had to rush it just so that i wouldn't skip it. sometimes i skipped it as i was to darn busy with work. wonder when God give me something good, will i be too busy to accept it? mom always said that she noticed i am no longer the person she used to know. someone who attended religious class. someone who prioritise her prayers. someone who recite Qur'an almost everyday. her question would be 'what has happen to you?'. a question that always brought tears to my eyes. she is right. what happen to me? i keep on saying i got to get back on track but there's always an excuse for me. i stopped my religious class. i no longer recite Qur'an regularly. i haven't even re-pay my fasting when everyone back home is done with it!
i look at my friend and look at myself and all i can say is that i am the only one responsible for the person i become. i hope she goes to hajj and come back safely, fulfilling all her dreams on visiting the house of God. and i surely will try to be a better person.

the can-can man ...

managed to catch the always-not-around IT guy so i immediately went to their side and asked about the servers. with boss squeezing the deadline from 5 days to 3 days to 2 days (simply by saying, 'can? OT from sunday, not that you run the whole day maah' yeah right!) i really need to get all the confirmation before going there next monday. he is someone noone likes to liaise with, he is the person who always got me annoyed. no one in my dept wants to liaise with him but i had no choice. as usual, all my annoyance at someone will disappear just as soon as i see that person's face, and it happens with him as well. so there i was, discussing with him on the changes, how it would affect us, and what was it gonna be like. as usual, he simply listen, nod and only said a few words, mainly yes-sure-can; the reason nobody knows how to communicate with him. i ended up the conversation by saying,'so - free lunch for me today?' he looked at me with a blank expression and i answered his puzzled look with a 'i thought you'll say can can again mah', laughed and walked away. the first time i saw him smiling!!

we're moving !!

yupe, we'll be moving to a new premises next friday. since i'll be busy with the database and application migration next monday, i got to start packing from this week. it's quite sad to leave after 7 years in this office. but we'll be moving to a new place, and i got a seat next to the window. yes!! can't complain there - i still got to see our old building from where i'll be seating. i was told that my current seat has a good fengshui - that is there's a solid wall behind me and i'm facing the window. i'm not sure about that, but my current place is good as i got to face everyone else so it's easy for me to start talking, hehe. there's a solid wall behind me and i'm sitting near the window starting next week, is this a good fengshui too? i have no idea.. as long as there's money credited to my bank account every month, i'm happy! :)

choo-ing in and out ...

i was in the middle of composing an email when someone buzz-ed me.

j : so, how was it?
me: errr... how was what?
j: the sunday event
me: oh, it was good. came for it and went home with it
j: detail detail
me: later ya when i'm not busy
j: going to client place soon, tell me about it tomorrow

yeah, last sunday i attended an invitation. four seasons hotel. la mer. bmw. jimmy choo. personal branding. all these kinda add pressures on the dressing code. but this yours truly are in a time where only few fit her. what the heck, i'm attending it for the one and only reason, la mer gift pack. so there i was in jeans and tees, though i conciously wore high heels instead of my fave sandals.
event was good, being introduced to the trends of 2007. information on taking care of your leather, suede and velvet was also given - remember the #1 rule for leather :- alternate! i was excited when out came the shoes and bags of the next season, of course we tried some of it. one of the sandals was oh so gorgeous but come on, thousands of dollars for a shoe or a bag that's been spotted in beyonce's hand? unless i win a lottery. once done we were given a talk on personal branding, quite fun when we were to stand, breath, talk, feel the rib cage, and so on. i assume bmw would be next since we know cars were always associated with personal image. the most interesting part was of course la mer, where we were given tips and also try all sort of their products though i skipped trying some that i use especially when the lady that came to our side is someone whom i know knows that i'm wearing it. it was fun and once the events was over we were told to place and order, especially for the choos that will only be available next year. i didn't see anyone doing that, oh actually there was one. a lady dressed in true religion jeans and a gucci jacket who came with her daddy (or sugar daddy? who knows). as for me, i went out to collect the lamer gift pack and went home. back to the reality world - my world.

a royal takeaway..

okay we're nuts. we decided to continue with our monday run despite the weather. we did it last week, when hp was on leave and was caught in the rain. jn got fever the following day. yesterday even when it was still drizzling we decided to go, hey this is our last run before sunday. but we too decided to take it slow, just run 'til the 2nd bridge before turning back. there's not many regulars running yesterday. yeah, regulars for us as we've been seeing them every monday. the 'hump man' was surely not there. i called it that as he kept on making a 'hump' sound with every step he made but i noticed the 'hump' is getting lesser - his stamina must've been improving a lot. anyways again the rain started to get heavy even when we haven't reached the 2nd bridge so we turned back. popped vitamin C as soon as we reached office to avoid any unhappy events later on, we then went to adam road for dinner. why so far? it's hp's turn to decide and she chose there. i heard quite a lot of good reviews about the food there so i too was keen on going there. ended up eating nasi lemak, supposedly one of the best in town - even the sultan of brunei had his takeaway from this place, that's what's written on the paper. the queue was so long that it picked my interest more. went for the royal plush option which is not bad. the rice is soft, you know it's a good quality rice, and the chilli is good, not spicy though. i don't think it's so out of the world. and now i feel that my cough is getting worst - must be the chilli!

love, life, marriage, and more ..

while waiting for the 'clash of the titans' last night, i started reading one of the book i just borrowed. my God, i couldn't stop myself from reading it. it's very good and the joy and sorrow part really brought tears in my eyes. no wonder there's so much quotes taken from his books. i forced myself to stop reading it and watched ballack in action. after the match i texted my uncle and he ended up calling me and we talked about the match. err, did he know that i am only into the english premier league because ballack is now in chelsea? i have nuts knowledge when it comes to the technique, though i'm getting more familiar with it, that i just listened to him talking about it. once the conversation is done i couldn't help myself but continue reading the book. it was indeed one of the good book i read.

collect yours?

went to collect the race pack during lunch time. the plan was collect-charles&keith-lunch. the queue was so long, and we spent quite some time there, unlike last year when we simply spent around 15 mins for the whole thing.
no more time for lunch, but still stopped at c&k as hp's sandals were 'starving' already and she really need to get a new pair. the goodie bag is better compared to last year, especiall the bag.
the firm won't provide us a new tee so we'll be wearing the same tee worn during the bullrun. meaning :- i need to loose weight.

amazing ..

did you guys catch amazing race asia last night? it was a good episode for me personally because they went to Jakarta and Bali. the challenge in Bali was tough, 4 out of the 9 team took the penalty by skipping it. well, im not going to talk about the race here but i want to talk more about the place they went. my country!! jakarta and bali! they went to kuta beach, uluwatu, and tanah lot. Bali is indeed beautiful and i hope this show change the perception people have about indonesia, boost the tourism in that island back to its glorious days and i hope those ignorant people out there know that Bali is part of Indonesia, not a country by its own. yes my friend, it is part of Indonesia.

have you ever climb a tree?

i don't know but last night, as i couldn't sleep *thanks to the 2 cans of coke i had earlier* my mind wandered and i have no idea why i ended up thinking of climbing trees. i guess i was thinking about my nephew, and my cat, then i remembered when andres was still a kitten, he climbed the durian tree and couldn't get down. the tree was still small that he ended on top of the tree meow-ing while we're trying to assist him getting down. then it suddenly hit me, have most singaporeans *the young generation that is* experience climbing a tree? i consider myself lucky being born in a country with no land limitation. i've climbed few trees - jambu, mango, rambutan, cherry, starfruit, and probably some other trees that i couldn't recall . though people might not have a garden back home, they still have lots of trees around to climb. just look at those kids around my house, they would just pressed the bell and asked for mango, meaning they'd climb the tree and pluck one for themselves.
so i asked my workmates, most local said nope, they never climb a tree. instead they climb their house door frame. what a pity missing something fun during your childhood.

weekend, please come early...

arranging table for d&d is fun in a way that you can choose the best table for your dept and choose the worst table for the dept you despise. but its also a tedious work when you got to ensure the tables grouping when people tend to back out and those top people came with funny request. boss still don't know that i'm in the comittee and need to leave early on that day. i've been squeezing time during lunch or after work to do this. hopefully she'll release me early that day - else? i don't want to think about it.
this hasn't been a great week for me. soo many tasks that i sometimes envy those workmates of mine that only need to concentrate on few tasks. i'd rather you give me applications to do than having to chase vendors, getting approval on quotation, and all sorts of stuff that boss agrees on doing without telling us. imagine you suddenly receive a call or email about something you know nuts about, after approaching your boss you found out that she put your name there and now you have to look into it. how many times have i cry at work this week? i couldn't even remember. frustration, anger, stress all at one that i really snapped at my boss earlier. sorry but i don't think it's fair if i have to overlook at the whole project when i am supposed to be incharge of the application only. it's just crazy and i told her that straight up front. thank god she understood my frustration & i too knew that i had it. so i took a book, bought my lunch at Mc.D and then sat by the river. though the weather was hot i managed to calm myself and came back to work feeling a little bit relax. i know boss wants me to be involved more on the management side instead of simply application but sometimes it is too much. and the thought of her being away for the next 5 days adds more pressure on me. the life of an employee, work a million earn peanuts ...
two days ago i told my boss that i had too much things at hand and i couldn't look at the process she asked me to. she asked about the 2 girls that were supposed to work with me but i told her that their busy developing the application and got to wait until it's done before giving them the stuff. yesterday she held a dept. meeting telling the 2 girls that were supposed to work with me that they need to learn to prioritise things. with that, i handed over one of the stuff to them so they could look into it. i guess i too have to learn to be a little bit cruel and not only think about others but about myself as well.
and to top all this - another server crashed!! God is really testing my patience. Though its a crucial server, i simply point it to the backup server & up until now i got no mood to install the applications there. my mind is more on the database and web server migration. Unix? well if the partner disagrees with the amount i will get hp in and we'll push the server to the new building - after all its just across our current location. of course, i'm being sarcastic here ;). actually it's true, the price of mounting & dismounting server is simply crazy! and i still couldn't get in touch with the IT guy who's going to set all the new server. he's more difficult to meet than george bush. maybe i should be his stalker and wait at the lobby until i see him? hmm..
on another note, i just couldn't wait to move to the new location. just realised that we'll be moving on the same day with the servers, hence i need to do the packing next week and get one of my workmate to take care of my stuff. still have no clue on the praying location in the new building, but with it being an open concept and we'll be in the same area with IT, chances of me doing my prayer in my own space or going back to office after gym to do my prayer there is very slim. IT always stay late, unless i don't care? hmm..
oh well, let's take it one at a time... move there first, find the information later.

mumble jumble

it's already 3 and i practically haven't done anything i can be proud of. after a splendid weekend, i came to work with tons of determination to come out with something. but upon opening the tables, getting confused on figuring out how to differentiate credit note, auto billing and normal receipt i closed the tables and called finance to give me some clients with billing details so that i could trace back what is where. called vendor to chase some stuff they still owe me, so scared that we're moving to a new fax & photocopy system this friday yet they haven't give us the sample of output file. next week is closing and i don't want to experience another hell break loose after the project is over, eh. i'm getting good in chasing people nowadays without burning any fats. meanwhile i get back to doing my d&d to do list. yeah, its getting closer and closer and we still haven't decide on the table arrangement. chasing partners confirmation today, arrangement of table tomorrow. continued with the movement plan, though its all handled by IT as usual they don't want to take care of our Unix rack so hopefully the vendor will get back to us soon. now that i'm tired of chasing the partners but still awaiting finance to respond i could only open each tables figuring what it means. the central team should come out with the list of tables and it's functionality instead of leaving us in the dark, eh.
hmm .. a friend is away for her pilgrimage. wonder if she's arrive in israel now. hopefully she has a nice trip and get back home safely.
i better get back to playing with the tables though mostly i'll be opening, linking to other table trying to figure out the unfigurable hoping to master all the tables soon ..

how could you?

me and my besties have been planning on a trip to bromo for years. it was always postponed due to one or another reason. the last time we postponed was because of the activity in that mountain. and now, how could you guys do this to me? how could you? hehe, i'm just pulling your legs eh - i'm trying to make you guys feeling guilty of leaving me alone. yeah, they're going for the weekend trip in few hours time. too bad i couldn't make it - couldn't afford on another trip home after all the trips i've been doing. couldn't afford or should i say 'dare' to apply even for one day leave.
hope you guys have a blast and enjoy the well-deserved break. have fun guys! just remember to tell me the detail of the trip - that's the souvenir i request from you.

Shoe Talk

this morning i was looking for a pair of sandal to wear to work. it's friday, dress down day, sandal day. i knew i had that pair of sandal but i couldn't locate it. storeroom, shoe cabinet, another shoe cabinet still couldn't find it. it took me quite some time of digging until i found it. while walking to the mrt i realised that this sandal didn't really match the pants i'm wearing. time to get a new shoe? ah .. shoes.
i don't know what's it with the obsession women have with shoes until i watch this movie. true indeed, you will always feel good after getting a pair of new shoes as it wouldn't give you any physical warnings - all it does is adding a new line in your bank statement. platform, kittenheels, stillettos, boots, sandals, thongs, open-toe, there are so many types of shoes out there that it would justify our action on getting a pair of each type.
well it might not apply to every woman. a friend of mine will only buy herself one shoe for work until its worn off before getting a new one. another friend will buy the same shoe in different colour if she finds it comfortable, only two and that's it. another friend of mine buys only those basic color, and even purchasing one requires lots on consideration. my ex-colleague has a 'one in one out' rule imposed by her hubby - that is, when a new pair of shoes enter the house, one of the old pair has to go out. whereas for me? i think i'd stick to adding my shoe collection for as long as i shall live.

a good day?

don't ask me how i ended up skipping gym, took the mrt home and alighted at tampines - it just happened. after hearing so much rave about this movie, i ended up getting one ticket for myself before heading for a dinner. back to the cinema, bought myself a large size of sweet popcorn and coke light *so much so for light when its accompanied by something sinful*. the movie was good and the time i spent with myself is great. once in a while its nice to be enjoying the time with yourself. oh, have i tell you that tampines mrt station looks like IKEA with all the posters? i can't wait to visit the branch there!
thanks to the large size coke, i had another restless night. my love-hate relationship with this drink is getting worst. i've been sleeping like a baby for a week and once i had it at night, there it goes. thanks to the tv which accompanied me throughout the whole night. i watched the re-run of amazing race asia and was quite puzzled with the detour given when they're in indonesia. selling bakso or pushing the cart while singing 'abang tukang bakso?' come on! couldn't they find something better to do? but honestly when it comes to seeing them doing it i couldn't help myself but laughing to the toneless clueless song. tried getting back to sleep to no avail and that was when i realised i couldn't wait any longer to get my wisdom tooth extracted. been postponing it for a year as per boss' request that now the hole is getting bigger and the throbbing is getting more painful. i have to take care of myself and think of doing it the soonest possible, but with the office movement and the month-end closing i don't think i can have it done in the next 2 weeks. 4.30 am and i'm still wide awake. thank God the next time i opened my eyes it was morning, meaning i had a sleep however short that is.

walking down the memory lane...

mom just called asking what do i want to do with the crazy shirt full of signature? i was confused for a moment than i realised what she meant was my secondary and high school shirt, the one used on the day we knew we passed the exam and then we walked around signing other people's shirt while others signed ours. ah .. those were the days.
on that day all we could think of getting all of our friends to sign our shirt while asking them to write something memorable in the year book. some would spray their hairs with 'pylox' as well. i tried my best to skip that or ended up getting a great lecture at home.
i'm trying to remember who sign where on my shirt. i'm trying to recall the friends i went around the school with. and now my mind wanders to my secondary school and high school time. those were the days ..
should i throw it away? should i keep it as a memory?

i love tree hill, call it a teeny boppers drama if you like but i love it. why ? not because of the actors 'cos i'm way too old for that *the actors aint that great anyway*, not because of the clothes, not even the location. the story line is pretty simple as well but quite nice to follow. what i love most is the quotes that was thrown here and there. i always listen carefully to all the dialogues especially when lucas was talking in the background, simple yet meaningful. some of the quotes that i love :-

as tennesse williams said, when so many lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone

passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction

As happens sometimes a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment. And then the moment was gone

Ida Scott Taylor once wrote: Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.

"Did you ever look at a picture of yourself and see a stranger in the background? It makes you wonder how many people have pictures of you, how many moments of other people's lives we've been in. Were we part of someone's life when their dream came true, or were we there when their dreams died? Did we keep trying to get in, as if we were somehow destined to be there? Or did the shot take us by surprise? Just think, you could be a big part of someone else's life, and not even know it."

sometimes people play hard to get to know that the other person's feeling are real

Remember tonight for it is the beginning of always, a promise. The belief in each other in the possibility of love. A decision to ignore or simply rise above the pain of the past. a covenant which at once binds 2 souls and yet severs prior ties. A celebration of the chance taken and the challenge that lies ahead. For two will always be stronger than one. Like a team braced against the tempest of the world. And love will always be the guiding force in our lives. For tonight is a mere formality. Only an announcement to the world of feelings long held made long ago in a sacred space

take a break, it's 2.19 pm

after days of listening to glenn bragging about arsenal's victory over liverpool (yea, yea, yea), i finally got some interesting info today.
do you know that most employee will feel like a shxt, no mood to work after lunch at 2.19 pm. no kidding, that's what the outcome of the research in some country which my memory failed to recall. so when a friend of mine sent a yawning icon through msn messager, the first thing i did was look at the time and it's 2.29 pm.

noodles day

decided to spend my weekend at home i said no to all suggestion on going out especially with the heavy downpour earlier. already made myself an instant noodle *haven't had one for more than 2 years* when my aunt called saying the hari raya visiting is still ON! lucky i have covered few houses by myself that i simply asked her to call me when she's going to one of my uncle's place. while getting ready and thinking of taking a bus as my cash has been used for paying the plumber *so expensive!!* another uncle of mine called for a chit chat and so sweet of him, since he was nearby he fetched me and sent me to meet my aunties. i treasured the quality time we had during the ride. don't you love this kind of uncle? very very thoughtful.
met my aunties and apparently there was a change in the original plan. we went to my cousin's fiancee's sister's house to discuss the upcoming wedding first before heading down to my uncle's. it was a bit awkward for me, following them to discuss on the date, the how and where, and with the wife being malay we also have to follow the usual malay wedding (separate celebration - one at each side). still couldn't believe that one of my baby cousin is getting married!. Hell, i still couldn't grasp the fact the my little sister is now a wife, like my uncle said he still could remember sleeping with my sis everytime he visit my parents. how time flies, eh. the discussion was accompanied by hor fun, not bad. from there we went to other places. basically we had hor fun, kway tiaw, bee hon, mee betawi (though i didn't see this kinda noodle back home), and ended up with another round of noodle. only in singapore (or is it my relatives?) can you do the hari raya visiting up to 11ish at night complete with noodles in every house(s). still got few more houses to cover, boy how i wish i could end this visiting soon.

weekend blurt..

yesterday's run was fun, running in the rain. went to the meeting point only to stare at the heavy rain. chitchated with other dept while waiting for the rain, got to know another indonesian working in the firm. at the end the partners decided to go to our future office while waiting for the rain. so there we were busying ourselves at the new building. while doing that we met the admin manager and persuaded her to bring us to our future department. hmm, can't say much now that we're going to be in the same room with IT so it's bigger yet it's smaller. me & hp just glad that its a wall behind us, instead of a glass window of my boss' room. went down and meet the others again. spent more time browsing the area and i was involved in a conversation with one of the partner that i used to avoid, sigh - now there's no way i could just pretend not knowing who he is and walk away. by then it's only drizzling, so we went down for a group photo and headed down to the padang. crisp was there and i spent time talking to him, been awhile since seeing him. he's no longer volunteering in the networking group, hence my reason for asking more questions. typical crisp, he will engage a conversation with someone and slowly pull another person in. by the time we reached the padang, i've already been involved in a conversation with people i never talk to before. the downside of this was that now that more partners know your existence means you have to think twice before ignoring the office dress-code. run was good, managed to finish the 3.2 km within 22 mins, not bad but could've been better!. dinner afterwards before going home. decided to skip the gathering organised by al, unless he wanted someone smelling like bull there, i'd better go straight home for a shower.
spent my night reading two books at one go. one book is good in a sense it was like a compilation of dos and don'ts of everything. do you know that it's inconsiderate to wear too much perfume in the morning? do you realise that vertical stripes clothes scream 'hey, i'm trying to look slim' and lots of other new things worth knowing. at the same time i read a so-called wake up call book. borrowed it for my friend but no harm reading it first, eh? jen called while i was watching cable, so gotta let go of the movie and at the end after hours of chitchatting, we ended up talking about the book - i read certain part and we talked about it. haven't done this kinda girl talk with her for weeks as i've been heading home that often.
thinking of waking up late today before going out later, but my uncle called me at the wee hours to ask the recipe for sayur asam. blimmey, it's weekend and i'm wide awake. i've been sleeping like a baby since i decided to let coke out of my lifestyle for the time being. it's like a payback time for all the sleepless night. excuse me now, i think i'll get back to reading my email especially that i got two from matt damon.

running running as fast as we can ...

in 2.5 hours time we'll be participating in the SGX bull run. it's quite a short distance that we managed to persuade few others to join as well. it's exciting how i used to force hp to join running, and when she's used to me forcing her we managed to get jn to join us. now not only 3 of us, but 3 more girls from my dept. are joining the run.
funny part is boss asked me to bring my mobile along so if anything happen i could come back to work. her being on leave today made me think i could escape this but she called to make sure of that. it's just like going home 30 mins earlier!. imagine we're running and at the last 1 km, the phone rang and should i turn back or continue the run? think i'd bring my mobile? no way! might be leaving earlier to meet the rest from the firm for a group photo. can't wait for the fun...

ryan star is in the house!!

next week he'll be performing live. not surprise if he's singing losing my religion. by hook or by crook i want to watch him perform live. anyone? anyone? anyone?

ou est tu, mon qua-si-modo?

went for the show last night. though it was not that great, the music was good, lyric was well written, and their voices were definitely awesome. quite interesting as i kinda forget the whole story apart from the affection quasimodo has for esmeralda, la zingara. couldn't even recall the existence of phoebus de chateaupers and fleur-de-lys. bit of emotional when quasimodo was asking God the unfairness of the world. it's fun but because it was in french, i had to keep on looking at the TV screen for the translation. i tried to minimise switching view from the TV and concentrate more on the stage and that was when i realised my french is awfully poor. learnt few new words though :). the crowd was not that great that we were upgraded to a better seating *if only we were upgraded to VIP*. phoebus looks handsome and esmeralda is surely sexy. overall rating :- not bad.

when its not meant to be..

last tuesday me and hp went to try something new. though we're so called competing against each other here we ended up helping each other with everything literally. we even made sure that whatever we entered was not different so that the end result will be based on when we were faced with the challenge individually. few days past without any news until last friday when i received a call asking me to come down as i was shortlisted for the challenge. i didn't tell hp on this as apart from i was too darn stress with work i wasn't sure if they wouldn't call her. i backed out as i need to fly home that evening and was hoping for a 2nd chance. monday, again i received a text message asking if i were still interested in trying out as they didn't hear anything from me. i told that person i was out of town and i was told another person was also shortlisted for this challenge. i was also told to prepare myself as i might be asked to take the challenge today. so to be fair to hp i told her about this and she was fine. in fact, she started to find something else that is new and i help her on trying. but i didn't receive any more information on this challenge. was a bit disappointed and a bit sad why was i only called on the day i wasn't available. well i am going to wash away my disappointment and together with hp will find new stuff to try.

back to reality

back to work is always something i so not looking forward to. especially when i found out that the harddisk failed on friday and the one who's supposed to back me up went home happily leaving hp to attend to it. guess she was annoyed and been keeping to herself for days that once i sat down she told me everything. poor girl. now that the project is over we have to change all local applications and boss kept on giving us ad-hoc stuff. i guess she thinks we're super good that we could come out with all the ad-hoc stuff fast when the fact was new system, new structure means we have to start from scratch, understanding what comes from where, especially with no documentation and the important part that we're not finance all this terms are alien to us at the moment. guess the frustration sharing me and hp use to do everyday helps a lot. just look at her when she couldn't share her frustration.
work aside, going home was good! though i didn't get my own room and spent the past 3 nights at my parents room it was fun. i woke up at 3 am everyday as mum started her morning prayers. with aunties and uncles at home it was like a non-stop chitchatting and i enjoy watching footballs with my uncles complete with the comments and shouts, it brought back the good old days. wedding was smooth, food was great and my nephew surely had a blast. he even stood in front of everyone and danced (!!) when the group was singing some religious song. all my uncles and aunties were amazed with my nephew. too clever that sometimes i felt so speechless with his comments. oh, i got a lovely gift from my sis and her hubby as she jumped on me and get married first, so i guess that's a tradition? i don't know - just glad that the gift was nice. it was awkward though hearing my new brother-in-law called me bucy as only my sis called me that before. niece was growing up fast and started talking and i hope the next time i'm back she can talk more of the 'ooo .. eeee ... aaa ..' words.
didnt realised that this is my 5th trip home this year until i was told no more free tax. i asked if there's any chance of getting it 5 times this year only to get an answer to wait for next year. yeah right, i told them that i'd been hearing that for ages and i wouldn't put high hope on that before going to pay the tax.
back home with some indigestion problem. what have i ate that caused my nausea. feeling a bit better after throwing up. i think i'll just sleep during my lunch time hoping it won't get worst as i have a meeting to attend to at 2.30.
wouldn't it be great if i could live my life without having to work but travelling and doing some social work

what a day ...

after spending time with the IT guy and vendor 'til 11ish last night, i came to office with the same problem. the vendor came and changed the motherboard, rebuilding the raid and now we're crossing our fingers, toes, and eyes that everything will be smooth. boss was asking indirectly if i could cancel my leave but i firmly said no. once in a while i have to stand up for myself, eh. well everything was ready before 4 that i had to rush with the hr stuff and suddenly the finance asked me to reload the gl with some changes. murphy's law indeed. my hands were shaking doing all those stuff. to play safe i disabled all jobs and asked cm to do it manually on monday. i felt bad not attending the early happy hour knowing the event was moved to 10 am and few non-alcoholic beverages were provided for me. sorry mich, been bailing out from you for several times that i promised to make it up on day. thank god i managed to rush out of the office by 4.30.
there's always light at the end of the tunnel - true indeed. i need to wait for only 10mins before getting a cab with a friendly driver. arrived at the airport only to get my door opened by the usher. though i told him i'm not flying first class, not even flying sq he said its his pleasure to do so. during check-in, as usual i requested for aisle sit. the guy said that he'd check if any aisle seat available and few seconds after that he said 'i'll put you at business class ya'. what else can i said but 'great, thank you!'. and now, no queue to access the internet!
i'm coming home to the durian which should be ripe enough to be eaten, to my families whose busy attending 9 guests who'd arrived this mornig, to my niece and nephew, and of course to those local dishes.
still 10 mins to boarding and 4 mins for the internet usage. will maximise it now. work? let me think about it when they call me on monday!

around the world

had department lunch and the project consultant was invited to join us since today's her last day. at first we planned on going somewhere else but the place was fully book that we decided to go here instead. furthermore when they said it was a french buffet i immediately agreed on the 2nd choice. chicken rice, noodle, fish, chicken - what french buffet? apparently the desserts are the french buffet - lol. anyway it was nice having lunch while noticing we started at one side and ended at another place. it was funny when jn was going to the buffet table without realising the our table is no longer on the left but the right side that she turned to the wrong side.
lunch aside, i took this opportunity to talked more with mich, 'cos all this while i only chatted with her through sametime and if we were to meet most of the time we talked about the project. we were talking about the 25 days of leave i still have and about our plan next year since we're still not allowed to take leave unless it's important this year. i was talking about greece when she excitedly said she too was interested to go there. then i asked about her being stewardess before. it was fun that she managed to travel around the world except for greece, turkey, and spain. she did make a good choice of resigning from her then position to be a stewardess for 2 years before joining the corporate again while her market value was still high. the reason was that during business trip she couldn't really do travelling so before she exceeded the age limit of joining SQ she decided to give it a try. she told me about the ups and downs of being a stewardess, the grooming stuff which didn't change her at all *she's so very simple yet elegant*, the back problem stewardess normally have, the travelling once touched down, and lots of stuff. it was surely fun though she too said you have to be matured before entering that world - i know what she means. now that the project is done, she's planning on taking a break before starting another project. i asked on how she got all this project and she said so far she's been lucky though she's thinking of joining the corporate again. hmm, a marketing manager turned stewardess turned project consultant turned whatever she's doing next. what a lucky girl!!

mood: annoyed that the vendor is still not here!! oh my prison break :\

miss me already, eh?

i don't know what effect do i have with the servers here. it could be the fact that i always hum if not sing while doing my work be it through pc anywhere, terminal services, or directly in the server room *with few jumping to fight the cold*. everytime i go on leave there's always a problem with the server. when i was doing bridgeclimbing, i got a call that the sql server crashed and need to restore everything. when i went home i got a call that the file server crashed. when i was planning on leave another server was affected by virus. basically whenever i want to go on leave the servers seem to make problem. even when our old financial system would only be used for the last few weeks, the server caused problem.
and now!!!
already got my monday leave approved, already planning on leaving early tomorrow to go home *again* for my sister's wedding when the new server gives me problem. i noticed something strange with the server since yesterday. it either hung or reboot by itself. i suspect its the huge nested xml file that need to be transformed but even when i was not doing it the server suddenly hung. today after liaising with the IT dept, we realised its the SCSI problem. come on!! not even a year that server is with us, bollocks!! IT called the vendor and now we're waiting for them to arrive and fix it. when my boss asked me to stay and wait with IT i said yes and jokingly added 'hiks hiks .. good bye combat' oh my! since when have i been such a drama queen with my boss, i have no idea! upon hearing that my boss laughed and asked me to go for combat and let the IT called me once the vendor is here. no way am i bringing a cellphone to the class or rushing off from class back to office. i'd rather stay back and do whatever i can do while waiting for them *including blogging*. at least i have the opportunity to leave early tomorrow without sacrificing my lunch time.
and the next time i'm planning on taking leave, i'll post my picture in front of each server and play mp3 of my humming hehe

distance makes the heart grows ponder

been having problem sleeping since i am back. until last sunday night when i could only fall asleep at 4 am. it must be the coke i've been drinking. i'm back to my old habit of drinking at least a can of coke a day. i even finished a big bottle of it last sunday, hence the insomnia. decided to make some changes as it totally effects my plan on going to the gym before work, i restrained myself from drinking coke yesterday. and it's not a surprise that i slept like a baby this morning. i am so determined not to get even a sip of coke today so that i can have a good sleep again tonight. my eyes are heavy and i feel like floating but i concentrated more on work to forget about coke. sigh, it's so sad that the one i love the most is the one that i have to avoid for the time being.

Ohayo ...

yesterday run was good. surprisingly we managed to finish it earlier than usual. it was also my turn to pick the place for dinner. of course took this opportunity to pick a place i've been wanting to try for so long, ramen tan. i was actually quite excited when this place became halal certified few months back. to be fair to jn, we decided to visit the branch at ang mo kio so that for once it's close to her residence area. i picked dry ramen and prawn with mayo *no calamari :'(*. though the taste is not that out of this world great, it satisfied me. definitely will come back again!

*chasing cars*

We’ll do it all
Everything
On our own

We don’t need
Anything
Or anyone

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I don’t quite know
How to say
How I feel

Those three words
Are said too much
They’re not enough

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we’re told
Before we get too old
To show me a garden that’s bursting into life

Let’s waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads

I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we’re told
Before we get too old
To show me a garden that’s bursting into life

All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes,
They’re all I can see

I don’t know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

i love this song! not only its played during the final season of grey's anatomy, it's also played in the next episode of prison break. thanks for the mp3 cin!!
if i were to choose 2 favourite song in 2006, i'll chose this and drops of jupiter. nice songs!!

halfway done ..

my hari raya visiting is almost over - the good thing of me doing the visiting alone is that i can cut short in every houses and i don't have to wear punjabi or baju kurong as it's always straight from work. friday lunch was good, sinfully sinful especially with the brownies pancake and teppanyaki ice cream - yummilicious indeed. feeling so full i almost back out from the dinner but then i went there with one of the tea lady here. food wise was quite disappointing, it's no longer the old place with lots of variety - no more asinan, no more sayur asam :'(. from there i took a cab to hougang and started my hari raya visiting again, from hougang straight to tampines. not bad as i covered another 3 houses.
spent the whole saturday morning at home which i kinda regret afterwards. i should've followed aunt. sue & her families to bukit panjang to my uncle's house. now i don't know how am i supposed to go there alone. went to bukit batok in the evening. food was good especially for me who hasn't had indonesian satay for ages. from there instead of going home, i continued my hari raya visiting. took bus 61 since it's heading to eunos but i gave up and took a cab instead after spending almost 2 hours inside the bus. clementi, holland rd, holland v, commonwealth, queensway, chinatown, vivo city, bugis - felt like i was on a day tour around singapore! went to my aunt place & had a chit chat for quite some time there. my cousin is going abroad for study soon and i was the one who was so excited while he himself couldn't wait for the 5 years to be over, lol. from there went to my uncle's place and spent quite some time there with 3 cousins to chitchat with. talked about career and education with one; talk about life, love, shopping with the other one and about adventure and sports with the younger one. you can talk about everything with this family. since i reached there while chelsea was playing, i joined them watching ballack *for me* in action, my uncle is a chelsea's fans after all so it's fun. there goes the plan of visiting another uncle's house. tiring, full, bloated but fun!
decided to spend sunday at home but then my uncle left a voice mail and 2 text messages about the open house at his daughter's place. bugger! but knowing what a good cook she is, i called around asking for a lift from one of the aunties and got one!. the food was good but what's more exciting was the i feel like gretel entering the candy house. it's definitely a kids heaven with all the sweets and chocolate on the table. i couldn't restrain myself from trying each and every single things on the table before moving to the dining area for the hari raya goodies. sinful but satisfying.
now i hope i could stop all the craziness and control my intake. already missed the morning pump, thanks to a big bottle of pepsi that deprived me of my sleep. i hope i could finish my visiting soon so that i can have a proper eating regime soon. ameen to that!

Food Fiesta

managed to cover 5 houses yesterday - yay! still lots of houses to go but i think i'll cover uncles, aunties, and my grannies houses first. already thought i could finish my visiting once i cover all houses around tampines when i remember shoot! the most important house, my daddy's bro!! i really hate the thought that i had to travel to hougang to do this visiting - will try to squeeze it in later. guess i'll wait for my auntie to recover and join her visiting my grand uncle, grand aunties, and my mom's step grandma. why does oldies have to have so many children, eh?
it's friday!! no one's in the mood of working that we'll be leaving the office at 11ish for the project launch party until 3 pm today. heard the place was closed for this function as not only the team will be attending, but partners as well. too bad, the place is not halal certified :'(. we're hoping that the local project consultant's suggestion to the partner is approved. if so, the project core team members will be released home after the lunch is over. woohoo, whatever the decision will be, we'll be bringing our bag with us.
then after work, the managing partner & his wife invite those celebrating to attend the hari raya & deepavali celebration dinner at one of my favourite place. though i have problem when it comes to this, as i don't know many malays and indians here, i think i'll still be going just for the food. will leave early so that i can do my visiting later.
and how am i supposed to control my diet?!?