Last Entry of the Year

last weekend of the year and i decided to spend it wisely.........

after spending most of the time out yesterday i decided not to go out today, apart from hitting the hawker and supermarket awhile. i didn't do anything much too, only ironing and some light cleaning. it's been awhile since i spent my sunday simply lazing around playing websudoku and watching tv just when i'm bored. and i love it!! i even had a nice short chat with a dear friend whom i really really really miss. thanks for the sweet conversation and yes, i meant what i wrote - we miss you loads just like you miss us. i personally miss the bus ride home together, the conversation, you! hope you get a chance to visit us here one day 'cos we don't know where to visit you since you're always on the move.

actually i was supposed to go to this karting event at punggol with another friend as my friend is volunteering for the event. but i decided not to, especially when my cuz is just back from hajj and my aunt might be calling anytime asking to go and visit her. thankfully that didn't happen though.

i think i finally get back the lack of rest for the last few days, working with a slightly heavy head, night movie almost everyday after work and not a single time hitting the gym. i am officially obese now that i am 10kgs overweight! oh well, nevermind. that will be on top of my to do list next year. not resolution, oh no.. just to do list. i have never do that resolution thingy. the only resolution i have is not to have any resolution. i just have a to do list, c'est tout. it's definitely a looooong list but i think i'm going to concentrate to 5 items at one time. losing weight is definitely on top of the list. followed by attending the religious class regularly and the other top 3 will be kept in me and will be revealed one at a time, whenever i'm done with it. lets just say that i'm planning to live while i'm alive and sleep when i'm dead ;)

speaking of new year i hope for a better me - mentally, physically, socially, religiously, financially and of course a good career as well. sky's the limit and i aim to be good in everything i do without neglecting my belief, my family, my friends and of course myself. for starters i have to plan my study!! the exam is just 2 months away now.

i'm hoping for a better and peaceful world as well. come to think about it i'll be having a quiet celebration with a christian, catholic, hindu, jew, free thinker, and an atheist tomorrow. we respect each other in a very basic way. ordering some halal food and including non alcoholic drinks to cater for me is one of the example. now if we can start from ourselves, i'm sure there's still hope for a better world. but then there's this thing called politic, eh. oh well ....

for sure 2007 is a great year for me, and the highlight of the year gotta be my decision on joining the weekly volley ball followed by the decision i made in my career life.

oh well better stop now before i start blabbering too much.

*** HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE ***

may 2008 bring lots of happiness and abundance of joy

bringing us closer to God, family, friends - all the loved ones..

My Sweet Saturday

i finally spent time with myself!!

woke up late i prepared myself breakfast complete with hot chocolate and did some cleaning. went to orchard as my shopping mode is one. well actually i do need to get a lot of stuffs. its been delayed for ages 'cos i didn't find any that suits my taste and when i saw it i saw it all! oh well, it's been a while since i spoilt myself anyway.

back home with a legging and 3 pairs of footwear. stopped for a late lunch of batagor before heading to bugis to get some decoration for monday. surprise surprise, it's all chinese new year's decoration. tell me about kiasuism again, please. after searching at 3 shops located from one end to another i managed to get the balloons, decorations and a whistling sparklers! now this is interesting and i can't wait to hear it myself.

back home and rest awhile before heading down to bugis again and meetup with a friend and one of the boys for dinner. it was a simple yet pleasant time spent together. it's time like this that you get to know your friends better and be more comfortable with them. as for the boy, on my way home i realised that the more i know him the more i like him. it's not because of the way he views life and friendship that kinda make me see myself in him but it's simply because i find him very genuine and unpretentious and i kinda sense that he's trustworthy as well. i really hope he will grow to be someone successful 'cos he really deserves all that. actually i just realised that he's the only friend i made in this country who knows the existence of my blog and he might be reading this!!! well "ah boy", if you're reading this, i meant what i wrote. i hope you don't change (unless if its for better of course) and be a gentleman like we "elders" shared with you today. i'm just glad that we crossed each others path in sentosa :) and good luck with the school projects!!!

Nic and Ms. Bhutto

i am totally assure that nic cage is still not good to look at, not for me at least. back from watching the movie, i read a text message about ms. bhutto's death - shot in the neck before the car she was in bombed. innalillahi wa inna ilaihi roji'un. this kinda act is totally unacceptable. i wonder when will people start treating each other as human, even when they're your rival....

Face The Music

in more or less a week's time things will change, well maybe not change but back to the old times. the difference is that i have a different view on everything now. 2 months of absence gives me plenty of time to think - my view, my expectation, what i'll really get, my readiness to face stuff, etc. i can safely say that i have a wonderful 2 months doing everything i want to do without thinking too much of disappointment and stuff. it will definitely change in a week's time and i have to be ready for that. either i act like everything is the same as it normally is or i follow the path one of my friend is leading when he's faced with what i'll be facing again soon. i know it's up to me to decide and i actually know what i want. but sometimes reality isn't the same as what you have in your mind.

Zombie

what's in your head ...

in your head ...

zombie zombie zombie ay ay ay ...

i feel like one at this moment..

i need my bed, my pillows, my bolster and my blankie. definitely no hours of phone conversation tonight.

An Afternoon with the "Chipmunks"

you can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you -Dale Carnegie

after sending mom off i went straight to orchard. the plan was to meet the two boys an hour earlier before the other boy arrives so that they can talk and clear things between them and i be the mediator. but oh well, one couldn't make it and we ended up changing our plans. from 12.30 we met at 1ish then straight to lunch before movie. nevertheless i had a good time. thanks for the gift guys, i like it a lot. hope you guys like mine too. it is very difficult to find gift for teenage boys. one gave me a book i've been thinking to get after reading it. i wonder how he knows that i was thinking of getting that book. the blowup picture is sweet indeed, not to mention the quote on friendship he put there. i always feel that he is like me, the way he looks at life and his approach in friendship, hence the reason i understand his feelings in the situation he is in. while the earring i received from the other boy is simple and sweet - my kinda earring indeed. i'll make a point to wear it at least once in his presence. its just nice to do something different today - extending my halfday leave to full day and spending time with the boys that always reminds me of my school days.

well to be honest i am a little disappointed that i couldn't help them mend things up. nothing much to be fixed actually. they just need to speak up. at times, it takes a lot of effort to preserve a friendship. one is just too stubborn to succumb to his own needs to mend things up. i kept telling him to leave the pride at home but it seems he still brought half of it today. well getting them to agree on my plan is a good start and at least they talked today. i hope with times they can get back to what they used to be - happy bubbly funny hardworking boys.

On A Mission

i hope to have a good result tomorrow. wish me luck!

on another note, i called my nephew earlier but couldn't get him as my sis said he is depositing his income in the atm machine. huh? what? apparently he worked and earned 82 kidzos today. kids nowadays eh.

Roof Top BBQ Session

order your priorities :- love, trust, respect.

what about: love, trust, sex, respect.

what is a woman's list? what about guys list? what is your list?

what do you look in the opposite sex?

what do you guys think about arrange marriage?

do you have to compromise to make a relationship works? commitment wise?

how can you stay together like our parents? our grandparents?

small matter counts, that's how love is expressed - or is that respect?

what attracts you from the opposite sex, physically?

does a big stone matters that much? what about joint account?

what's with this my money is mine, your money is mine crap?

and the list kept on growing.

from a normal stuff above to sharing about what some see in their relatives to the difference in marriage in different culture we talked and discussed everything openly. i don't know how but somehow around 4ish we started a very very VERY private topic that at first i walked away pretending to be cleaning stuff. but then, after thinking that we're all adult i shared my view of the value i hold dearly (i ended up being spared from few questions, yiihaa) and for sure i do get some interesting educational stuff from others. one of them are so very liberal that even a liberal guy said he is so. when i was asked things i had no idea about i ended up thinking of the malory brothers! haha, thanks ms. lindsey for the wonderful books you wrote about them.

it is an eye-opener session. lets just said everyone shared their deepest dark secret without reservation. somehow without even realising it, we ended up chatting the whole night and only stopped at around 8ish. we saw how the moon moved from one end to another and still continue talking. from yawning to fully awake to shivering from the cold morning air to feeling totally numb from sitting that long due to the talk we had.

the guys are not locals so their view might differs from people here. actually one of them is local but still he spent most of his time abroad. sometimes my imagination just did its own work while listening to them sharing stuff. and fret not girls, you don't have to be so stressed seeing how slim the locals are because that's not what guys want, well not for the non-locals at least. they even said put jessica alba and another girl that has a great aura but not that great figure and they might choose that girl instead. it's all about the aura, or so they said. true though that local tends to pick their preferences based on the society;s expectation instead of their own preference. the one interesting question that is still in my mind was, 'tell us girls, what's so great about that louis vuitton bag. it's just like a walking advertisement and it is hideous.' guys will always be guys eh.

thank you guys for being very open in sharing everything. a best 14 hours bbq party indeed. and to my dear friend who just called me, don't worry about me looking at you differently now that i know your deepest darkest secrets and fantasies. you are still my friend and whatever you do with your personal life is not my business. i won't be judgemental. after all like i always remind myself, you can be among them but you don't have to be one of them.

Ugh

i know i shouldn't be feeling this way but i'm just so very frustrated. frustrated for not being able to skip all these stuffs. frustrated with the forever changing plans. frustrated for not having a confirmed time when i can run some errand rather than waiting in vain. just simply totally utterly annoyingly frustrated!!

if only i could skip it all without upsetting anyone .....

Shopping Hunting Gathering

pardon me for being shallow but this post is all about shopping......

well the plan was to do my own shopping but after meeting few friends somehow i ended up with a plan to meet 2 of them to do some shopping for the gathering's decoration. since i still need to do my own shopping, i left earlier to orchard. only managed to get 3 pressies though. geepers!! i still have a long way to go. and to think i still have no idea what to get for few friends of mine. well whatever i ended up getting, i hope you guys are pleased with it.

once my time is up i went to bugis and met them. had our lunch and off we went hunting for the decorations. we were so pleased to finally managed to find those fairy lights after searching for it for quite some time. it's quite an interesting day actually i should say.

we parted way at 6ish as they need to go home preparing themselves for whatever their plans are while i headed back to orchard to meet another friend and continue my shopping. well that was the plan. somehow i went there only to meet her for dinner then i took a cab to my auntie's place as requested by mom. on the way there, i was told to changed my destination to my uncle's as they're planning to go there 1st. did that, met them, had another round of dinner, went to my aunt's place, chit chatted until 11ish and went home. the plan has totally changed! i was told that we'd be heading to my eldest uncle's place after my aunt's but somehow we ended up at another uncle's place before my aunt's and c'est tout. and then came another nightmare! my uncle will pick us up at 7 AM tomorrow for breakfast before heading to my eldest uncle's place (confuse? well, i have 6 uncles and 5 aunties from mom's side). from there i'd be accompanying mom to do her last minute shopping. and to think i only have tomorrow to complete my own ....

i can say that this is my first time doing soo many shopping for this event. payah juga neh orang2 pake ngasih2 kado segala, aye kan jadi repot. though i'm new at it, i am enjoying the fun of searching the right gifts for those i care. and i hope to complete this task soon and start handing it out when i meet them next week or maybe even next year? haha...

ps. thanks to a friend who finally hinted on what she wants.

Warm Wishes...

happy indonesian (well, the international one is in may) mothers day, mommy dearie. may you're always in God's protection and lead a happy life.

and to my dear uncle, happy birthday!

Random

when mom is sleeping at my aunt's place and i am left freely, i decided to stay in instead of attending the friday gathering just to finish translating the materials for the next class. this makes me realise that i haven't had a quiet night with myself for quite some time. and that is when i decided to text a friend tomorrow telling her that i'll be skipping vb. i plan on doing what people normally do here - shopping! well it's christmas season and though i don't celebrate it somehow i still get presents. with christmas getting so commercialised nowadays, i hope those really celebrating it doesn't forget the main reason of the celebration though. as for me, i'll just join the fun of giving and receiving presents. thanks to what melv wrote on his blog i am no longer confuse on what to get one friend of mine.

hmm.. now that i think about it, it's been a while since i go on a shopping trip. most of the time i'd just do it during my lunch break - plan what to buy, go there, get it, pay, back to office. i remembered the last time i went to orchard, i was amazed seeing that they have removed those rolling ads along orchard underground - when did they remove it i wonder. since mom will be spending time with her sisters tomorrow i think i can roam freely for a couple of hours before heading home. this is funny! sounds weird but i feel like i'm doing something out of normality tomorrow when it's just s.h.o.p.p.i.n.g.

on a more serious note, during lunch mom and i talked about my auntie, my belated uncle's wife. the reason mom spends the night there today because we know how lonely she is with all her kids grown up and she spending the whole afternoon with the maid and grandchildren when they're back from school. mom said being old in indonesia is much much better than here, back home she can join those religious classes, moves from mosque to mosque and stuff. she then said that when she's old and can't go out a lot she wanted to be put at those old folks home so that she still have friends to mingle around with. bring her home during weekends or holidays. she'd rather be there stuck with strangers who'd be friends than being alone at home doing nothing. i kept quiet because all these while i kinda feel that kids who put their parents at those old folks home are irresponsible, ungrateful. well of course i'm not talking about those who leave their parents there for good - now that is totally out of the question. i always thought why can't they hire a maid to take care of their parents when they're out working. can't they give something back in return to what the parents did for them. but now if you think about it, those old folks might prefer that.

on another note, i can't wait for wednesday to come. well mom is going home on that day but this isn't what i am looking forward to. i'm looking forward to the possibility of mending something that is very very valuable ...

now i better get back to this translation...

oopss... just got a text and now i'm contemplating - should i do vb tomorrow?

- updated at 1.41 am

guess what? i ended up going out. so much so for my staying in, uh....

Intermezzo

took half day leave today as mom is cooking for tomorrow's gathering. somehow the family gathering for this year is held here and mom decided to cook something different for her families. this time around - arabic dishes. it sounded simple when she talked about it but somehow it was tedious, well at least for me. on top of that as usual, she ended up cooking more dishes than planned. i was like 'huh? i thought you said only this and this. how come you're cooking that as well?' oh well, mom being mom. mom wasn't done with all her cooking, she still has dish to cook early in the morning later and as a matter of fact she's now in the kitchen preparing the nasi kebuli. few of my aunties came to lend a helping hands and they left around 9ish. i started doing the cleaning after they left - sweep and mop the place, arrange the furniture and put more stools in the living room, scrub both toilets before taking a shower and left for a movie. soon as i reached home from the movie, mom woke up and went back to the kitchen. guess i need to re-clean the kitchen again later, eh.

on another embarrassing note, i think i twisted something during combat yesterday. walking, moving, turning basically everything involving leg is a torture. its like there's something around the hip flexor that gives me a squeeky and pain feeling everytime i move. few times i felt like cursing out loud due to the pain. i tried swan pose, inner thigh stretch, all the things i do in class to loosen up the tightness there but it doesn't really work, or maybe not yet. but its a torture especially while i was helping mom carrying the huge pan up and down the stove and while scrubbing the floor. i've already applied some deep heating rub around that area. hope it loosen it up a little. i need my legs to be working fine tomorrow 'cos i'm sure it'll be a looooooooooong day of cleaning.

okay, i think i better end this and get out to help mom...

and to those celebrating it - Eid al-Adha Mubarak

Monkey Mind

like most humanoids, i am burdened with what the buddhists call the "monkey mind" - the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl. from the distant past to the unknowable future, my mind swings wildly through time, touching on dozens of ideas a minute, unharnessed and undisciplined. this in itself is not necessarily a problem; the problem is the emotional attachment that goes along with the thinking. happy thoughts make me happy, but - whoop! - how quickly i swing again into obsessive worry, blowing the mood; and then it's remembrance of angry moment and i start to get hot and pissed off all over again; and then my mind decides it might be a good time to start feeling sorry for itself, and loneliness follows promptly. you are, after all, what you think. your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions.

the other problem with all this swinging through the vines of thought is that you are never where you are. you are always digging in the past or poking (me: what? facebook?) at the future, but rarely do you rest in this moment.

-- elizabeth gilbert

Conclusion

i just watched hady's 1st performance in Asian Idol in youtube and okay it wasn't bad. then i watched the clip when the winner was announced again and again, first to capture hady's expression then to look into other contestants' expression.

anyways, i guess hady winning it isn't that bad since he has the look or so people said. i for one still find his face too common but then again compared to the other guys he is the best physically. well okay, congrats and hope you do asian good in case they're going to have the 2nd season of world idol.

haha, i sound like a teenager eh. nevermind i am always young at heart :P.

I Used To Work There

its getting torn down bit by bit. and i spend most of my day looking at the crane, it feels like i'm watching some movie where the giant animal or robot is tearing its enemy off one piece at a time.
in other word, i'm skivving at work!

Whirlwind

this is crazy. or should i say i am crazy. the phone call i received on saturday morning and the question asked kinda make me in a rollercoaster ride with myself. nuts. and i'm having all these fantasies in my mind. it is fun being a dreamer, i can so-called entertain myself with making some short stories or fantasies in my mind. but when i know all the things we talked about on saturday might just be my friend's assumption, its just not healthy. wish i could control my mind from wandering off every now and then .....

Conspiracy or What??

when i had class on tuesday, Linkin Park show was on tuesday. the next will be on mondays and wednesdays. guess what? the police and santana show is on monday!!!! idiot...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

hady mirza the asian idol? CRAZY. NUTS. he is better compared to the indian idol - and that's all.

i'm sure M1, SingTel, StarHub earns MUCH this month.

sigh, when i heard his name i tried to reason that it might be he was as a joke, asking him to stand back but ..

oh wait a minute,

was i watching asian idol or WORST asian idol??

sigh .. the only person i know that is happy with the result is my nephew....

state: shocked and will always be

Rain Or Shine

who said rain stops people from having fun? we played in the rain earlier today and it was fun. well actually i didnt play when it was raining heavily, simply stood under the shelter watching others playing. once the game was over i joined in for the following game since the rain stopped. of course it started raining again during the game so we just continued and it was fun, even with all the sand sticking on our body. i just realised that there are sands on my face when i took a shower at home.

its the 2nd last game for one of the danish guy as well as he'll be flying home for good this coming thursday. i know he'll still be playing tomorrow since he's still aiming to get a good tan that lasts long before flying back home. surely i will - well i think everyone will - miss hearing him shouting 'somebody!' or 'anybody' during the game. ah, there goes the cute view. well at least he left something for me to always remember him - several little scars on my left leg :P.

Passing Judgement

last night in between watching the movie we talked about other movies - which one is funny, which one we like the most etc. r asked if i've watched big momma 2. i said no. she said at first she didn't have the intention on watching it but because she had nothing else to do at home she ended up watching it on cable. she told me the reason she had no interest watching it, which is actually same as mine. we just don't appreciate the jokes and actors which are well, black. but she had great time and laugh watching it. after which she said to herself that its always not fair to judge something based on the first impression. if she didn't be open minded and watch it despite her first impression on black comedy, she wouldn't have a good laugh. and that applies in life as well.

first impression tends to make people decide on the next step when we're not supposed to do that. first encounter might not bring the best out of a person, hence the need of 2nd and 3rd or maybe even 4th before judging the person.

i have to agree with her but sometimes some people are just too shallow to wait even for the 2nd encounter before passing judgement. including myself...

Yet Another Entry

its been one nice in a weird kinda way night for me.

the plan was to go home and spend time with mum before going out to meet few friends and talk about some stuff. but upon hearing my going out at night mum decided to spend time house hopping - her sibling's that is. i was left alone at home huhuhu.

the original plan was to join them and straight home. but r called this afternoon reminding me about the fine dining tomorrow as it has been planned since last month. i was actually thinking of giving it a miss with the reason that mum's in town. but then mum said she'd be spending the night at her auntie's place with her sisters so i said yes when r reminded me. but somehow the initiator cancelled it due to no confirmation from whoever he asked to join the dinner. it was a shame but then again, oh well... good for the pocket and i can do vb 'til the end and have a relaxing night. i actually left a message saying its a shame that it had to be cancelled and apparently r called him. somehow, we ended up being invited to his xmas party. since i know r is invited too, i told her that i've said yes to d about joining them. but of course we wanted to do this xmas gathering thingy as a way of replacing the cancelled dinner. and also, to know him better as a friend. so we decided that i'd be going to the gathering while r spends time at her office xmas party. we'll then meet and go to this xmas thingy. fine, deal!

r called while i was busy looking at myself in the mirror, analysing how fat i am to restrategies the plan. lets go to the xmas party and leave early for the gathering if its boring. else, stay longer and then gathering. okay fine. i rushed out, hailed a cab, reached the place, met r and went up. we were freakingly surprised to find that the place was empty! apparently it wasn't a xmas gathering; but spending time together before he flies home for xmas. me and r could only looked at each other when we realised that. as usual my 'sorry, but i'm a non-alcoholic drinker, do you have any soda?' gave the host an extra work to go down and get a bottle of coke. we used the time to inspect the place (with his permission of course) and telling each other how good that both decided to come and waited for each other before going up. btw, nice pricey place - $7.8K/mth on company expense! blxxdy expat!!!.

surprisingly it turned out to be a simple yet nice evening, getting to know the other parties better. even me and r talked about what we find comfortable from each other. someone told me that she's an airy fairy lady even before i know her. but i think she's just someone nice who talks and laughs the way she does. a nice decent lady who knows her limit in everything. we ended up chatting 'til we're bored and watched ice age on cable that i texted d about skipping the gathering and update me on the conclusion as we're still stuck in another place.

pretty weird how things ended up but honestly i prefer this kinda setting better - simple, cozy, and definitely nothing dodgy.

on a lighter note, i finally received the postcard. apparently it takes almost a month to receive it from peru. she has reached and left her hometown, updated me on msn, uploaded all pictures on facebook, she even has left for yet another round of adventure and only now did i receive it. so very efficient, eh...

Don't Stop

Life ends when you stop dreaming
Hope ends when you stop believing
Love ends when you stop caring
Friendship ends when you stop sharing
*copied from an email signature of one of my ex-student*

Thank You!

my companion since what? 2002?

you left the gym locker in 2005 and went home, after which you've only been used for run, tennis and trekking. i'm sure you miss the good old days of combat, pump, abt, steps, hip hop, jazz dance, weight training and spinning. you're the one suffering the most from my gym freak days.

JPMorgan, BullRun, RealRun, StandChart 10K - you experienced it all. well apart from 2006 when the other shoes is used for most of the runs.

not even once you failed me, well not until yesterday that is. you gave up halfway during my run back to the starting point.

nevertheless, thanks for accompanying me for the past 5 years or so

It's Never Too Late

quite a shocker to receive an email from one of the finance exec that she'd be leaving until 2009. not wanting to believe the rumours (and also just being a kaypoh me) i called her and asked if its true that she'd bee leaving for good. yes. if she didn't mind me asking if she'd be moving to another place or ? moving to another place. and to think she started working in this company in 1975!

Disappointment

alright, i can't hold it any longer. i need to let it out...

it's been 2 days already and my disappointment is way beyond words. i've tried to be calm and remained hopeful and as much as i need a closure i know that i have to face the unspoken fact. it's like i'm 80% there and suddenly it disappears. poof!

Promise

my to-do list is getting longer and longer that i promise myself to start striking it off one at a time seriously instead of just adding things to it. but as usual there's always a hindrance along the way, just as what i encountered while trying to strike one item off.

in my dictionary, a promise to yourself is definitely not to be taken lightly. you are going to be disappointed by yourself if you broke it. and i surely don't want to be disappointed with myself. hopefully ....

Pancasila ...

my sister called to tell me that she's disturbing her son. she lied to him there'd be a test on kewarganegaraan tomorrow. apparently nowadays kids don't learn like what we used to - no pancasila, nothing of that sort. or maybe if they still, my nephew hasn't got it. she was laughing when she called me telling me that my nephew was surprised with the questions since he hasn't learn any of it and he was wondering about the exam too 'cos as far as he knows school is closed on monday (which is true). my sis asked me to listen while she repeated the question and continue asking new ones. i couldn't help myself but laughed upon hearing what's going on at the other end...

my sis (s): hey, repeat again. what is sila pertama of pancasila?
me nephew (n): monas?
s: wrong. its ketuhanan yang maha esa. what is sila kedua now?
n: Allah?
*i can hear my sister's trying to control her laughter*
s: no, it's kemanusiaan yang adil dan beradab. when is sumpah pemuda?
n: i don't know...
s: what is the capital city of Indonesia?
n: iiihhh.. my brain want to explode
s: you don't know? Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia.
s: what is the national language of Indonesia
n: bahasa Indonesia?
s: there you know. who is the one reading the proklamasi?
n: daddy?
s: daddy your head ..
n: iiiihhhhhh my brain want to explode you know ...

by this time around i even heard the driver's laughter. and my sis couldn't control her laughter anymore. she told me my nephew looked annoyed and that's the end of our conversation.

Zouk-ing In

went to a friend's house warming earlier. the plan was to stay until 2.30pm so that i can reach sentosa around 3ish. but apparently the blessing ceremony just started while we're having some food. so ended up stayin until the ceremony was over, its just not nice eh to leave in the middle of it. its pretty interesting as well as this is my 1st time witnessing the catholic ritual in blessing the house. we were all given papers to sing along to but i just sat there and looked at the paper while listening to them singing. after the prayers and some water sprinkling around the house and us (i hope it wasn't that obvious but i was surprised when it was thrown to every direction) i quickly left the place and rushed to vb.

i am now thinking about the bet i was asked to make. well basically during the talk in between vb i told one guy that he'd be seeing a slimmer me upon his return next year. i was sharing this to another friend during our walk to the monorail station, how i realised that next year is just few weeks away when he overheard the conversation and asked if i want to bet on this. hmm, i think i'm taking his bet. now all i need is to START working on it!

its Zouk Out today and sentosa was definitely crowded when we left it around 8ish. well, i'm too old for that, i think Zouking In at home is more of my cup of tea.

Killing Time

soo many birthdays!!

this day alone, my workmate, my beloved buddy, and another friend are celebrating their birthdays. tomorrow another friend. sunday will be my beloved sister's time. soo many birthdays. happy birthday all. and juwi, i thought bontang is in the same timezone as us, hence i called you at midnight. apparently its already 1am there. haha, i'm not apologising for waking you up 'cos that's the purpose of me calling - to wake you up (just an hour late though!)

got a call from the tour agent just now. i thought something had happened to mom 'cos she sounded pretty serious. apparently the flight got delayed due to the weather and so they're now taking a coach to some city before catching a flight to another city then to mumbai then fly to delhi (or the other way around; or something along that line) before coming back here. i asked what's the point of doing all that, why couldn't they just wait for the flight. apparently the weather in kashmir is pretty bad that no plane can fly, well at least she said so. oh well, few days more and with all the transfer and stuff it'll be tiring but might be fun as well that mom might enjoyed it. i know mom is adventurous in nature but she just couldn't do it now that she's old. she did ask me to find out about vietnam 'cos she's thinking of going there a.l.o.n.e!! way to go, mom. anyways, that means she wouldn't be back here tomorrow morning as scheduled. it'll be either sunday or monday. one thing good is that i don't have to wake up early to fetch her tomorrow but i was thinking of going out shopping with her on sunday eh. oh well ....

hmm, now that i don't have to wake up early tomorrow, i'm thinking of joining the gathering later. but lets see what time i will leave the house, once you're in it its just difficult to get out of it - the house i mean.

i read this guy's blog, where he said blogging is for people who has soo many time in their hand. well i gotta agree with that, look what i'm doing now. though i have to add that blogging can also be used to let your feelings out, especially when you can't or maybe don't want to share it with someone else. well at least that's for me. and oh oh, so that you can retrace what's been happenning in your life.

okay i better stop and do my prayer now. tata

Uncertainty

i did something bad - i decided to skip the back-to-back combat and pump launch today. my eyelids are simply too heavy that i think giving it a miss would do my body good. this is the only chance i can go home early, i'm always doing something after work that taking a break once in a while is good.

anyways, i stopped at the training school to handover the assessment papers and the overall review of each student. sidetrack: i was puzzled seeing the loooong queue in front of starbucks, apparently by donating to salvation army, you get a free drink. hmm, are they donating sincerely or just for the drinks eh? knowing how the locals are, my bet goes to the 2nd one. after handing everything over i was given the schedule for the next class which starts in the 4th week of january. i was feeling good upon knowing that as that means i have plenty time to rest before getting back to teaching *duh*. but then i saw the days - mondays and wednesdays. o o... monday is my tennis session with the girls and wednesday is my running session with hp. i know its up to me and after minusing the chinese new year week and the period when the girls will be away, i'd be missing 2 tennis sessions and 3 runs. i know they won't mind me missing few sessions since they've been doing the same as well, but i just feel bad. but this kinda opportunity doesn't come twice, the experience and obviously the money. i'm still contemplating when i have to give an answer tomorrow. hmmm....

on a lighter note, i've been searching high and low for that preserved mango with skin. china square pushing cart doesn't have it at the moment and the shop at bedok doesn't have it as well. tried the supermarkets and they don't carry it. and i'm craving for it since last week. man!

well i better get my shower and prepare myself for the amazing race. at this time, my fave instructor should be in class doing the launch - it's pump now - they are probably in the middle of tricep track. wonder how tough this release is for each class.

Too Nice To Be Unblogged

Those wounded in love, unlike those wounded in armed conflict, are neither victims nor torturers.
They chose something that is part of life, and so they have to accept both the agony and the ecstasy of their choice
-paulo coelho, warrior of light

A Little Bit of Everything ....

its been a wonderful tuesday so far. well considering it'll end soon let me rephrase it. it's been a wonderful tuesday. and i hope my week will continue the same....

--

it started pretty rough when i came to work only to receive email that all data is delayed and it's only resolved at 3.20 am, when our schedule is 2 am. i have to re-run everything so 3 hours of my time gone just like that when today was closing and apart from doing my own work (which is more now that the china girl left) i still have to cover for boss who's on sick leave and hp who's on holiday. i tried my best to be calm, skipped lunch and stuff so that i can finish all at one go. in short, managed to get all things done by 6.20 pm. yes!! the wonderful of multi-tasking ...

--

had a conference call today, in one of the partner room - the partner i kinda dislike. my view on him kinda changed after today. well, he is still that forever urgent-i want it now-come to my office and explain to me about this figure-i'm not happy with the amount, please explain to me the criteria you used kinda guy, but he is one who values others opinion. since boss is on sick leave, i had to be there alone and he still involved me in those configuration discussion even when i know nuts. he still asked for my view and when he talked about the KPI setup with the finance manager, he took every opportunity to explain it to me what's what. of course at the end he wanted us to be present during the discussion he'd have to convince other partners on this application but its just nice to be acknowledged even when you're not supposed to be. during the call he'd mute the phone just to talk about his money plants, joking about a coup going on in the philippines when their line got cut, he's just very jovial. guess he's just different when it comes to the japanese business, eh. i tend to ignore him if i ever see him around the area even when i know he's looking at me. can't do that again now.

--

it's my last class today. happy but kinda miss the guys too. they're very fun to be with and i never feel bored during class thanks to their jokes and stuff. at the end of the class, one of them came to the front and, representing the whole class, gave me a gift. it was those police force mug and 2 pins. i am very touched as i was already given the diary few weeks back. very sweet of them. they asked if its okay to ask me out for a dinner or stuff and i said i'm fine with it. i read the feedback they gave and i am simply overwhelmed by what they think of me. some even said that they'd do intermediate class only if i am the teacher. so sweet of them. i felt bad that i still got the nepalese guys name mixed but i remember it now!!

i was told about the up coming class in january. still contemplating though. part of me wants to do it because well obviously additional income - which can be used for holiday savings - and also its just fun to be doing this. but also i have to think of being tied up for yet another month, just tuesdays and fridays i know but still .....

--

a friend texted me on sunday, saying that we should really catch up. i said yes and asked who she is. bad i know, but i don't have her number what else can i do. so we should be catching up tomorrow at timbre, one of the place i want to check out. on monday i was asked if i'd be free for dinner on wednesday with another girl as well. apparently the girl is in a midst of a huge (and i do mean HUGE) problem so my friend was wondering if we girls could meet her for dinner to show some sort of support. i said yes, not remembering the first plan i have. i was stuck and eventually decided to postpone the 1st one by texting her tomorrow telling that i'd have some urgent matters to settle. somehow she texted me today saying that she's not feeling well. good. great. i suggested to postpone but she insisted on meeting up. this stupid girl of yours truly still didn't say that she couldn't make it and went along with it. man!! i seriously have some explanation to do tomorrow. i think i'd tell her honestly that something urgent comes up and suggest to postpone it. i feel bad but my priority lies in this friend who's in deep shxt. i just hate myself for not saying it up front earlier ...

Motivation

i have to loose weight, and i have to loose it fast. not only for myself but also to proof to the cleaner that i can do so. huh, the cleaner?!? here's the chat i had on my way to the lift lobby this evening ...

she: (vacuuming the carpet along the hallway) going home?

me: *smile nicely* yes, bye..

she: straight away home, or shopping or walk-around or ...

me: oh, going for exercise *showing her my tennis racket*

she: exercise exercise, still fat also mah ..

me: *speechless*

little does she knows that i tend to work harder to proof a person wrong.

No Turning Back

i've scheduled the exam - 28 feb 2008. i might chose the date without thinking twice, without even considering my readiness; then again, that's the only way i can force myself to study.

2 months to go but still ... wish me luck!

Done!

me: registration for the standchart marathon is open already. wanna try half-marathon this year?

hp: i don't think i can make it. we haven't even increase our weekly run's distance

me: okay, so we stick to 10K and focus on the timing then?

hp: yes

i should thank hp for not going with my suggestion, though she backed out and i ran alone. well i didn't start alone though since another friend of mine is doing it as well, so we met up and put our stuff at my office before heading to the starting point. it was a good run but timing wise i think i did better last year. i won't know for sure until the official result is out but still i did some walking this year. i ran pretty slow last year while i ran a little faster today. oh well, what's done is done. one more off my to-do list.

once done with the run and brunch, i went home for a short rest before heading down to expo for the IT fair. i was a bit tired but still wanted to go for a while especially two of the boys are working there so just wanna say hi and i told jc i'd be going with her too. anyways we didn't stay long, we left straight after jc got her stuff. they went to sentosa while i went home. i actually got a tennis game to go to. already backed out last week i feel bad if i do that again now, but my eyelids were pretty heavy and my legs were sending message to my brain 'foot reflexiology .. foot reflexiology'. i followed my legs wishes and went for one, which was awesome. this man really know how to make my legs happy. he didn't massage like he used to, this time around he really really focused on those areas that were screaming for attention.

now i'm back home simply feeling nothing. well nothing for now, lets see what i'd be feeling when i start my ironing session.

I Know I Gotta Sleep But Still .....

i couldn't resist blogging, putting how my day was - word by word.

slept late only to wake up late. well actually i woke up at 8 but it's too early that i slept again and woke up at 11, when i am supposed to meet a friend at 10. geepers!! rushing off, calling a cab; i managed to be in city before 12 and had a lunch before the movie starts. nice interesting movie but sorry eh, patrick dempsey still doesn't do me.

rushed to vb for a game after missing it for 2 weeks now. crowd wasn't that great, wasn't that bad either. i was a little pixxed when someone instructed me on where to stand during the game. oh come on, it's not a competitive one though i know a lot of people have been complaining how these newbies make it to be one. played 2 games and spent the rest of the time chatting with others before rushing home for dinner.

home, showered, got changed and back to city to meet the others for dinner. while waiting for others to arrive we chatted casually and somehow we talked about vb. r said that it was no longer as fun as before and i totally agreed with him. i told him the earlier incident without mentioning name and he told me his view on how the newbie is, and he mentioned name - the same guy! i so really wish that the main organiser is back in singers soon so that everything can be back to normal. its still fun and i will still go for vb but its no longer as fun as it used to be due to the competitiveness of it. not all though to be fair, just a few people, but still ....

anyways ... dinner was great, simply a wonderful place to have dinner with friends. i really enjoyed it and the shepherd's pie was awesome; we shared on desserts as its huge plus we got to taste more that way. i can say i have enough carb loading for tomorrow.

speaking of carb loading, i'm also doing my annual ritual prior to the standchart run - asking myself why the hell did i sign up. and this year i have no idea who's running from my firm, hp is away and the IT guy somehow got his ankle twisted on friday. oh well, oh well, oh well. damage is done and i think i need to shut my machine and shut my eyes hoping that i'll wake up on time for the run

Desire

i thought i could end class early since its just review, but i was told the earliest is just 15 minutes before the scheduled time. sigh. anyway due to the fun we had, we finished only 5 minutes earlier so i didn't have enough time to send mum off on her trip. the girls texted saying they're hanging out around that place, so i decided to join them instead before heading home. a good decision indeed.

thanks for the chat and sharing girls which, as usual, was fun. now i can't help myself but fantasing all the stuff we talked about :)

Justifying Myself

had a good game on monday. woke up late to miss combat on tuesday. had a good class at night. didn't run yesterday but did the house chores prior to mum's arrival. tired from all the cleaning after the guests left. slept late. not a peaceful sleep as mum snored here and there. feeling very sleepy now. vb on saturday. standchart 10k run on sunday. still not at my perfect game when boss called at 5pm asking me to rush few things out just because the phillippines office had, geez.. the kiasu attitude eh. and she's supposed to be on hospitalisation leave. so why should i go combat today? shouldn't i just go home? or better still - go for a wash & blow prior to going home. right? right?

Loneliness

have you ever feel alone even when you're surrounded by families and friends? alone that you even asked yourself why you feel that way considering how contented you are with what life has given you this far?. could it be a warning so that you don't stop just because you're contented? could it be just the loneliness begging for attention since you've neglected him for so long because you're busy? or is it just a reminder so that you don't give up?

Finally!

Congratulations! You have successfully met the requirements of the PMI Exam Application audit. You have until 11/27/2008 3:42:37 PM (1 year) to schedule and take the exam

sounds like a melody to my ears ...

Mum

i purposedly took leave today to clean the house. i didnt do it during the weekend because i was practically out of the house most of the time. either that or i was simply lazy to use the little time i have for that. i asked mum what time she'd be arriving and she said just like last time 1 pm. i didnt ask for details and i assumed its 1 pm my time, hence my decision on taking full day instead of half day of leave. promised my workmates that i'd be going back later so that we can still do the run prior to dinner at seoul garden (i told them few days ago about me missing eating here and one said she'd treat us there as she just got her 10 years long-service award). but i just checked the website and apparently the plane is scheduled to land at 4.15 pm! called mum and she said 1pm is departure time in jakarta. faint. i could've just take 1/2 day leave, go home and do some quick cleaning before fetching her eh. she insisted on me continuing with my plan though as she could take a taxi home, mum being mum. oh well, i will just cancel the run later.

but still, if i take 1/2 day today i can take another 1/2 day tomorrow to accompany her to the hospital. jakarta is pretty amusing, she went to the hospital (a private one some more) to get vaccination prior to her trip - thyphoid, flu, polio. no polio vaccination available, furthermore the doctor is in a meeting hence no one could do it that she decided to get it here instead. so funny.

oh well, i have to stop dreaming of having mie ayam pangsit for lunch since she won't be here that early and start thinking what to cook for breakfast cum lunch. and of course, start doing what i'm supposed to do - cleaning...

Interest

project management course. language course. photography course. it's all normal right. of all the courses available one of my workmate decided to take professional certification in ... feng shui!! mind you, its not that cheap, eh. haha, very interesting but still it makes me wonder why.........

Random ...

had a business lunch with that blue-green eyed bloke today. since he was the one suggesting coming to my area and go for lunch i let him made the choice when he asked where to have it. i actually picked cedele but he said it's too pack and suggested somewhere along the waterfront. huh? apparently he's referring to boat quay. he asked where i said anything, as usual. he picked two and i had to choose which one. italian or thai? italian. outdoor or indoor? outdoor.

lunch was good, no awkwardness whatsoever. well of course there were moments of silence where one was caught looking at the other party, but that's normal right. though it was supposed to be a business lunch we talked more on sports, his baby, his girlfriend and other stuff, only 25% of the conversation involved business. he's french so i had to be very attentive when he talked so as to understand his words. of course i was also enjoying his eyes - which somehow became green-golden. i just hope i didn't look very mesmerised everytime i looked into his eyes when we're talking. hey, God's creation here... must be adored :). i was pretty blunt when i told him that i find parisian snobbish that he almost choked on his pizza. its true eh though he said its not snobbish, they're just a little bit proud. duh!! what's the difference. we talked about my belief too. its definitely a nice lunch and i am really hoping for something positive here.

--

boss called me in talking about some course in mid january. i took this opportunity to talked about the growing database and gave some suggestion which was accepted very well. at the same time i felt a pang of guilt. what if one day i leave the company. i know she will be very upset and am i willing to hurt her after working 8 years with her. there were ups and downs for sure but i kinda regard and love her like i do my mum. all the things i do, trying very hard to do the best in all the things i was asked to do simply because i want her to be proud of me, to see her smile. it's very hard for me if i think of all that. not that i'll be leaving or whatsoever - but what if?

--

Men judge women according to whether they can picture having sex with them;

women judge men by whether they can imagine kissing them.

White teeth, fresh breath, great shoes, cell phone turned off, and unchapped lips make her more apt to lock lips with you that night.

got this from the net earlier. hmm not sure about the 1st statement but i kinda agree with the 2nd one. i shared this with few girls and they agreed as well.

i think about the lunch i had earlier - yupe, i totally agree with it :)

--

called home earlier. mum is the one going on a tour but i was the one who's busy. vaccination. insurance. bla bla bla. the 3rd time i called my nephew picked it up and of course i had problem ending the conversation. he asked if i know that viento, one of our cat, has been missing for a week. my heart skipped a beat. oh no! please God, don't let anything bad happen to him. please let him find his way home. i know i can't hope for the best now but still a body is better than nothing. no, nothing but him returning home is the best result. please please come back safely viento....

Memorable ...

i am just done watching batman begins for the 3rd time mainly because it has christian bale, one of the actors i like. and in my opinion, of all the batman movies made, this is the best. also, the fighting scene in the mountain is simply beautiful!

i love listening to quotes in any movies i watch and i recall liking few quotes in this movie everytime i watch it.

- it is not who you are underneath, it is what you do that defines you ...

- why do we fall? so that we might learn better to pick ourselves up

now it's permanently captured here ..

on another note, i miss reading mr. coelho's book. i miss his words. i miss the self-reflection i always end up with after reading it. i miss the drive i have everytime i'm done reading it. i just miss it. period. at the moment i'm reading a book about a woman searching for her purpose in life. well actually, i just read few pages of it so can't comment anything at the moment. it looks good though, and at least even reading few pages have give me something to reflect upon myself. lets see how it goes.....

lastly, an amusing quote from the same movie :- what was the point of all those push-ups when you can't even lift the bloody log? :)

Somebody Save Me!!

i'm feeling sinful today.

woke up early though i only slept at 3ish this morning only because i couldn't wait any longer to have my indomie goreng kornet - tried indomie goreng kriuuukkk which was well, crunchy :). i know i had a wedding to attend to in the afternoon but i couldn't care less. another round of eating during wedding, arabic food and cream puff with ice-cream filling. yummy yummy and i ate without remembering the fact that i had difficulty finding an outfit earlier. bought myself a bar of mars ice-cream on my way home when i know i shouldn't. rested awhile and woke up just to text my friend saying that i'd skipped tennis (yes, i met a girl who stays just a station away with a tennis court in her condo and she invited me to join her sessions on sundays and tuesdays. yippeee). the weather wasn't good that i was hoping it rains so i have a better excuse to skip it but of course there's always a conspiracy going on against me that i ended up saying i'm tired and would only join next week. lets see if i do so since i have a run to do in the morning. and now i'm having difficulty making up my mind on what should i have for dinner even when i ain't that hungry, just itchy to munch something. i should've get moving and do the house chore instead of lazing around now that inspector mum is coming in few days time. but all i can think of is kfc? mcdonalds? pizza hut? help me, somebody .. anybody!!

Shallow Entry

i skipped vb today because i was having a good time at a friend's house warming. well actually i left early but went up again after few minutes of contemplation by the side road. firstly if i do vb i would only stay for like an hour to go home and get ready for dinner. secondly my insurance agent was still not there when i left the place and i wanted to see her to pass this lucky draw thingo i received through mail. i stuffed myself with 4 rounds (yess 4!!) of nasi uduk, gado2 and some medan's crackers. we were like supporting each other that whenever one person wanted to eat the rest would eat as well. sigh sigh sigh. 4 days of cardio went just like that.

i was supposed to go home, shower, get change and go out for dinner pronto. instead i spent more than 15 minutes trying clothes. none fits me!! even the jeans i bought recently was slightly tight. yes i keep on saying this yet i don't seems to do anything to fix it seriously. i know i know, but for now i just want to remind myself again. the dinner is somewhere posh and yet i couldn't wear what i deemed appropriate. a moment i thought of not going because of this wardrobe issue but thankfully i managed to find something a little representable and go. geepers, this body seriously need to be tortured fast! the question is WHEN and HOW can i get my motivation back?

i did pretty okay this week, even patted myself on the back when i detoured from mrt station to gym on thursday. but it isn't enough. not for me who's been exercising vigorously before. i really need more!!!!

Its the Class Not the Person

during the amazing race asia last night, i called home. my nephew picked up the call and told me that her mum said 'weeekkksss'. apparently they're watching it too and they were surprised upon seeing my favourite instructor. my sis said she was in shock, my brother in-law's eyes almost came out of the socket while my youngest sis could only laughed 'cos she has attended his class once. hello, i gotta make an explanation that i like his class not him! come on, i don't think i'm that nuts eh. but the fact is he does conduct a great class, reaching out to each and everyone in it. me and few gym buddies used to move from branch to branch simply to attend his class.

but that was then. i couldn't even remember when was the last time i attended his class. all i remembered was him asking me if i was busy at work, hence the absence. hahahaha, not busy but lazy. well lets see if i can make it this monday.

anyway .. i still root for him this season.

Food and Body

now i'm absolutely, 110% sure that shah alam has the best prata in singapore. after not having it for quite some time i'm beginning to like the prata in food republic, vivo city. last night after our run i was thinking about this place and kfc though we ended up in kfc. so today we went there for lunch. hp and jn agreed that the prata is tasty. so do go and try it!
on my way back i bought the new edition of women's weekly. i was tempted for 2 days now after seeing what's written on the front cover - learn her (jennifer garner's) fast-results body shaping plan. well of course i know i can't really believe that since she has the body way before pregnancy. but this kinda info will motivate me to work harder in the gym or at least i can use some of her weight training method. well, that's what i thought. started flipping through it i stopped at the page where she is featured. info on how fast she get back to activities after giving birth, the next page is where the body shaping plan info is. and what's the plan?
targeted toning for the cheeks, jaw and forehead $600 for 20 minutes, to contour the body call yadda yadda yadda, temposcilation (whatever that is) portion body slim therapy $400 for 30 mins. blxxdy hxll. !&^#)!^#(#!#P($P$!${{$. i feel soooooooo cheated!

Quote of the Day

some wait a lifetime to travel

a wise travel a lifetime

- unknown (to me)

Record Breaker

its 2 am in the morning. i have been on the phone for 3 hours now. blimmey!! how i wish i could end the conversation .............

Siem Reap

i didn't sleep the whole night. well actually i did, but i let my light on so every few minutes i alwasy woke up. a friend texted me at 3ish am so that i didn't miss my flight. during checked-in i read the info under my e-visa and that was when i realised i had to have 2 copies of it. bugger! searched high and low to print or scan or even copy what i have but you couldn't find any in changi! i gave up and stopped to have my breakfast. casually i shared my frustration with the staff and what do you know, he had this phone-fax-copier machine and he copied one for me. very sweet of him. during boarding, my sunblock got confiscated as its > 100ml. i tried to negotiate as it's only half left in it but i'm sorry miss. i just got it few weeks back and its pretty costly too. oh well.

day 01 - thursday, 15 Nov'07

reached there on time and found the guest house's driver holding a paper with 'mehrani sakasim' written on it. haha. he was also fetching another 3 person from singapore so after all were there we went to the hostel. casually i asked those guest if they're going to do the tour provided by the hotel. they were and they actually asked if all of us could go together. i agreed but of course being a minority there i sort of have to follow what they want, like car instead of tuk tuk. i weighed the pros and cons. if i were to go with them i could cut my tour cost down to 75% and i could do tuk tuk on my own. so i agreed and after putting all our stuff we started the tour. we went to angkor thom, angkor wat, bayoun, and few others. had amouk, which was like our sayur singkong but better, for lunch. done with all the temples we went for a foot massage first to kill time. we were asked to change to pyjamas and the foot massage somehow ended up like a whole body massage with concentration on legs. us$6, not bad eh. done with massage we went to this temple to see the sunset. it was a steep climb up and we had to be very careful as the traffic wasn't control so you might just stepped at someone who's climbing up and quite a tiring one too. sunset was good that i enjoyed it even when i was alone and surrounded by people. well, even when i was with other people we only spent the journey and meal together, the rest of the tour i was practically on my own. it was good though, from eavesdropping other people's guide i managed to make friends with a group from mexico and explored angkor wat together with them. done with sunset we're all ready for some food! the planned was to go to the guest house's club where there was a free apsara dance. however, the driver brought us to this buffet dinner which has a better performance. oh well, not that i can eat much there but i sure did stuff myself with loads of french loafs.

day 02 - friday, 16 Nov'07

nobody wanted to do sunrise at angkor wat so all of us get ready and left the place at 9 am. 1st stop, waterfall. it was out of siem reap and the only option is car so another tuk tukless day for me. the journey itself took like an hour or so and once we reached there we started our trekking up. just few minutes up we met this couple and casually asked on the journey up. they looked disappointed saying the waterfall ain't that great but told us to continue and decided ourselves. one girl was having a 2nd thought and i was a bit afraid they decided to cancel. it's one against 3 neh. but the guy was pretty wise saying to continue so as not to waste the long journey. it was quite a tough trek up where you have to climb few rocks and stuff before reaching the waterfall. 30 mins of journey and there we were looking at some stone crafts around the waterfall, enjoying the view before continuing our journey down. i was perspiring like mad which was good considering how long i've been missing a good workout. i sprained my ankle on the way down and i had to walk a little bit slower after that. thank God its nothing serious. back from waterfall we continued doing the grand tour - jungle temple, angkor thom and few others. i have to say angkor thom is definitely my favourite one, with the trees and stuff; this is where they filmed most of the screen from the 1st lara croft movie. after all these tour we stopped at central market for some shopping though most of the shops were closed already. dinner and off we went back to the guest house. i requested for massage - us$3/hour in your own room, tell me if this isn't a good deal! they even covered your face with cucumber when they're doing the front side of your body.

day 03 - saturday, 17 Nov'07

left around 9ish in the morning to do the floating village boat ride . prior to that we stopped at the old market, looking at the weekend activities in the wet market and did some shopping and off we go to tonle sap. seeing all these people makes you feel really really blessed being borned in a normal situation where you don't have to worry much on where your next meal will come from. and yet we *well at least me* still complain every now and there wishing for something more. done with the tour we were brought to 4 more temples. by this time i was already sick of temples. so i just went in awhile, took pictures if the place was nice or simply taking candid shots of the kids and the surroundings. talking about the kids, they're all just so cheeky and smart. they can named the capital city of almost every country and in return they'd asked you to buy something. when i said i have bought it they'd said i didn't get it from them so i had to. you just need to be very firm and said no, which is something i'm not good at. one of the lady brought lots of candies, biscuits, pencils and gave it to them. she was told to do so by her friend back home so as not to make the kids disappointed when we rejected buying things from them. it is an excellent idea and it never came across my mind to do so. they're so happy and i think it's a common thing there that sometimes they would asked you point blank, 'you have candy for me, lady?'
done with all these, we stopped for lunch. this time around i tried their lhok lhak beef. not bad as well. before leaving the place i bought some sourish stuff from the passer by seller and enjoyed it on my journey back to city. we went to central market and asked the driver to fetch us back in 2 hours time. i was like what the heck must i do spending 2 hours shopping? not for me. so after getting the things i need i went out of central market in search for some cambodian goodies. asking around and some said old market, so i walked to old market and after searching high and low to no avail i started asking around for a nearby supermarket. tough time finding people who understood me. from one minimart to another, walking for quite some time along the road and yet i still couldn't find any cambodian goodies apart from that overly charged cookies so i just get something from vietnam instead, haha. don't care lah, colleagues are not allowed to comment. tired with all these and i still have an hour to spare i hailed a tuk-tuk and with a mixture of english, sign language and some acting i got him to take me around the city for an hour. he brought me quite far that i kept asking if there's enough time for me to reach central market by 6 pm. i casually asked about the french loaf and what is put inside. he said mostly pork and i made face, so his next question is about my belief. and apparently he's a moslem too. so the journey became enjoyable when he stopped and explained to me about the moslem in siem reap, about his imam and stuff. he then brought me to some paddyfield and asked me to watch the sunset while he went away leaving me alone in a tuk-tuk in a middle of nowhere. i enjoyed the view and at the same time tried to locate his whereabouts. apparently .. he was doing his own 'business' behind the bush. after having enough of the sunset i asked him to move and i reached central market just at the same time as the driver came. dinner by the road side, fried mama noodle with vegetables for me, we headed back to the guest house. it was pretty early so after i had my shower i went out strolling around the area. stopped at the night market and then went to the main road hoping to get some french loaf. pretty interesting view i saw in the lane i passed by, girls "preparing" themselves for some action, girls already in action, that i increased my pace to reach the brighter lane faster. stopped at those road-sides carts but i couldn't get anything as all i saw was those porky nose hanging loosely waiting to be eaten. eeekkk. did some walking and decided to go back to the hostel when i realised its already past 9. ordered garlic bread from the bar *it was nice!* and another massage i ended the day sinfully contented.

day 04 - sunday, 18 Nov'07

left the guest house at 6. the driver was so cute, when i was taking some pictures of the guest house he approached me saying that since i would go bye-bye soon take picture with him. so we had our pictures taken. i asked for his number and he asked for my email. wuah, not bad eh! left the guest house and reached airport early BUT still i was late for the flight. final boarding announcement and i was still standing at the immigration queue. thanks to the slow staff in my queue. when i asked him to hurry up in stamping or typing as the flight's going soon he told me that i need to come early for that. i was annoyed and told him off that i was early and he was too slow. come on i came in earlier than the 3 person but they took the other queue and were done way faster than me! huh!

well, all in all it was a pretty interesting getaway.
its been a while since i went on a trip alone and its just nice to spend time with myself. and not to mention, i have 3 new friends now.

ps. juwi, i got 200ish pictures and i can't upload all to flickr. still finding a way to upload all before sharing it with you guys ;)