SATC with SITC

we're supposed to watch it on friday but cin's going over the weekend *again* and jen will be away for quite some time that we ended up doing it today. so after salsa we rushed to meet the other 2 girls and shared a great time together ...
it is definitely a highly entertaining movie. the clothes, the shoes, the girls and of course the fact that the story line is a continuation of their final tv series' episode. each of them are still smart, witty, and interesting in their own way. i really love seeing their friendship, a proof that not partner nor marriage can break something THAT strong. they fight, they disagree and they say their unhappinnes out loud because they know at the end of the day they will overcome all that as their love for each other is strong. a solid friendship indeed. yeah yeah yeah it's a movie but still, wouldn't it be great to have that kinda relationship with your girlfriends?
looking forward to the next 50 years, girls ...
pic. courtesy of flixster.com

Love in The Time of Cholera

haven't read the book, i can't do any comparison with the movie, though i'm sure the book will be better as usual. you might call it a love story, but i find it's more like a man's obsession in love. how he tried every way to get the woman of his dreams including breaking his own vow in order to punish himself or probably even the woman indirectly. wll i guess when it's meant to be it will be regardless of how long it take for it to come true. a loooong movie with great cinematography.

pic. courtesy of imdb.com

Penelope

usual storyline with the predictable ending. it's about a girl who's family cursed disabled her to find her partner. leaving all things behind, she started a journey discovering the "world" for the 1st time in her life, which eventually leading the discovery that she loves the way she is. just an okay movie but then who can say no to JamesMcAvoy.

pic. courtesy of imdb.com

Back On Track

i'm going back to work tomorrow. managed to watch 4 dvds and catched loads of sleep during my 1.5days of sick leave; i think that's more than enough. now i just can't wait to go back to work, not for the work but more for the chit chatting.

Je T'aime et Voilá

its not a geat movie but the hidden message is there and i personally think that it still has that open ending style of a french movie. it's about a man, a chief surgery in a top hospital in france, who decided to give up everything in order to pursue his younger days dream, much to his wife's chagrin. a quarter life crisis? maybe, but sometimes once you've reached a certain age you kinda ask yourself "is this what i want to do for the rest of my life?" and i believe that's what happened to him. the road to pursuing all these ain't that smooth; he faced few difficulties and had to give up few important things in his life. still, his determination made people around him realised that dreams are meant to be realised. i think it also send a message that you can never change a man into someone you want him to be as he will eventually go back to the man he used to be.

pic. courtesy of cinemafilmfestival.com

Into The Wild

thanks to dvd, i finally catch this movie !!!

its a true story of a guy leaving all things behind as he believes there's more to life than just money, education, social responsibilities. he only has one thing in mind "the great adventure of alaska" and what an adventure he encounters there. sean penn did a great job as a director and the lead actor is definitely awesome portraying a guy in search of the meaning of life. still, i personally think he's selfish to leave all behind for his own freedom, his own discovery. at times you just need to weigh everything before making a drastic changes. leaving people who cares about you behind without any news, is a selfish act in my view. one of those movies worth watching indeed.

happinnes only real when shared

pic. courtesy of imdb.com

Down

my body finally goes on strike for the unhealthy lifestyle i've been leading lately. nah, its more like the unhealthy lifestyle i've been leading for YEARS! been feeling that i'd fall sick every now and then for the past few months but coke always perks me up. coke and a pack of m&m during office hours always do the trick. but not this time around....

i knew i was falling soon on friday when i kept clearing my throat and i can also feel it swollen. but i whipped myself and had a long night, though i fell asleep every now and then while watching the 2nd movie. slept during the taxi ride home, thank God the uncle didn't go the wrong way. spent my saturday finishing the book and sleeping in between. another long night as i stayed on joining the chitchatting when the meetup was over. it's about recession and the job market, how can i miss it eh. my head was pounding when i went home and again i slept all through the journey home. took some aspirin, switched off the a/c and covered myself to sweat the fever off - daddy's method which works wonders on me as well. was awake at 4am 'cos of the fever but somehow i managed to sleep again around 6ish. i skipped cycling in hope that i'd be better in the evening for the movie session. and yet i'm still feeling slightly feverish and my head's pounding. the world starts spinning everytime i stand. shivering when i'm actually sweating. sigh, this is so not good and this is all my fault. i miss cycling, i miss indy. i just hope i don't miss tennis tomorrow.

The End of The Affair

the bookclub strikes again. this time we decided to skip the movie and concentrate solely on the book. that way we have more time discussing the book. and as usual, the more i attend the meetup the more i know that there's so much i don't know. like this particular book, i see it as one of a tragic love story kinda book but others have their own opinion. they can link it to war and politic! it opened my eyes and made me learn to be more analytical as well. and to think we'll be discussing a shakespeare book for the next meetup...

Home

its been a great trip home, well it has always been actually.

was supposed to be doing rafting with the girls during weekend but dad scolded my sis who gave us the info and she called asking me not to go. dad gave the permission eventually, half-heartedly as well. so i decided to obey my parents and backed out. we ended up doing a road trip, which i think was great as well since we're doing it all by ourselves - no strangers sharing the same car with us. still, thanks girls!!

had a marvellous time with the girls, instead of doing paragliding as what we (at least i) had in mind, we ended up laughing at the guy who spent more than 30mins flying around (its either he has not learn how to land or he's trying to get a connection to call someone for help or maybe even his GPRS ain't working), commenting on the guy who's as white as ghost waiting for his first flying experience, celebrity spotting *only one actually* and after awhile we decided to ask. too bad we had no time left and not enough cash as well. we decided to go back the following day (not sure if the girls were keen with this actually) but that too was cancelled as we did the safari trek that lasted for few hours. did the night safari, where all our plan went haywired when we're called to board the bus and safari trek the following day. great food, great weather, great catch up with my two lovely besties back home. been awhile since we did something together, the last one was in 2001 when we went to bali together.

other than that, i spent most of my time with my nieces, nephew and family. the ritual of visiting the elders was also there, mum would kill me if i said no to this anyway. my nephew is getting wittier and he left me speechless few times. he did his own banking while we're asked to sit and wait for him (!!), he knew how to operate my camera and recorded something that is a good laugh for his sister. after asking my age, he asked me why i have no baby now that i'm 34. God knows what other questions he has in mind the next time i meet him. my 1st niece is adorable as ever, instead of calling me chala baby she called me chala chala. chubby kiddo with a cute voice and laughter. my sister's bangles attracted her more than her own tea set i got her. girls will always be girls, eh. my younger niece is getting bigger as well, protesting if i watched tv instead of flicking to other channel in search for some advertisement for her. i'm sure they will all grow up to be some mischivieous kids thanks to my nephew who's kinda like their leader.

had a hot stone massage, a creambath and loads of food. raiding my sister's room in search of movies i haven't watch. and a deep meaningful comment from my sister when i shared with her about the couple i met in kinabalu. she may not be aware but what she said still lingers in my mind.

a short yet sweet break that made me promise myself to be a better person for those people close to my heart.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

that is if emirates can be considered one :)

im going away from this country for a few days, back to the arms of my family. and friends. and cats. and local dishes. and pollution. and traffic. ahhh, my very own definition of little heaven on earth.

hasta la vista, baby ...

Doomed

i am definitely in trouble. for the 2nd time, dad's prepaid card has been de-activated as i haven't top it up for more than 6 months. but i thought i top it up early this year when my uncle reminded me to? i tried very very hard to get it activated but apparently 1 month is the only grace period given. man, i can hear my dad saying how incompetent i am. how i can't be trusted to do a simple thing as topping it up regularly. especially when he texted me from time to time reminding me to top it up for him. and to think i top up my friend's card regularly but failed to do one for my own father? tried persuading the customer service to recycle this number to no avail. i feel so useless now. useless and hoping for dad not to ask if i've top it up when he sees me later ...

Attitude

if i don't voice it out, i'd be forever in silence. if i don't fight for myself, no one else will. if i don't do make any changes in my life, i have but myself to blame.

wish me luck ...

Wonderful Life

i may not have everything. i may not be able to do everything i want mostly due to financial limitation. i may not be satisfied with what i have achieved so far. i may wish to have someone else's luck in certain aspects of life. but i never stop feeling grateful for what i already have and i never even once feel down with my own life. my parents may be one of those conservative parents but i know all the restrictions are for my own good.

i learnt to be contented with what i have. i learnt to accept the fact that i can never get what i want. i realised that disappointment is good to let the person in me realised life doesn't always go the way you want it to be. and most of all i learnt to be someone who feel blessed with all those small little things in life that often being taken for granted.

and i hope my friend, someone who has a perfectly smooth journey - and i do mean perfect perfect - throughout her life, can finally realised and accept the fact that at times things just don't work the way you want it to be.

Condolences from Afar

first is the cyclone nargis. then the earthquake. my prayer and thoughts are with the victims and survivors. as for myanmar, i hope the military regime distributes the aid to the people. may each and everyone affected stay strong in this very difficult time of theirs.

Real Life Drama

remember the episode where poor monica, chandler, phoebe and joey are caught up between rachel and ross? i guess there's always a reason why one should think thorougly before mixing friendship and love.

that "twat" is our friend too, eh.

Happy Mothers Day

We have ordained humankind to show kindness toward their parents, for in pain their mothers carry them and in pain do they give birth. In thirty months they bear and wean; thus when they attain maturity they may pray, "Lord, inspire us that we may be thankful for the blessings You bestowed upon us and our parents. Kindle within us the desire to do what is upright and pleasing to You. Grant us righteous offspring, Lord. Verily, we turn to You in repentance, surrendering ourselves in earnest."

-Qur'an, Al-Ahqaf, Surah 46:15

*from BeliefnetMuslimWisdom of beliefnet.com

love you to bits, mom ...

Let It Be

sometimes i can understand how a person can be rebellious. at times people just need to be given a space to grow instead of just being forbidden to have a hand on what they want to try/do. as long as they're responsible and not doing anything that goes against their belief and standard norms, they should be given the chance and let them face the consequences of their own doing.

Feeling Blessed

i'm blessed. blessed. blessed. blessed. blessed. BLESSED. they said you win some you lose some. God is so very very VERY kind to me that though i lose some, i gain A LOT more. To be breathing until this very second - which enables me to do a lot of things - is one of His greatest gift. if i ever complain or whine about anything and i do mean ANYTHING, smack me in the head, will you?

oh have i mention that i am blessed? yupe, indeed i am. blessed. blessed. blessed. BLESSED.

Indonesia

what i have in mind for 2008 - when it comes to travelling that is- is to cover asia as much as i can within my limitation, time and mostly budget. i've been thinking of this and that and this and that but i miss the most important thing, covering my own country to its fullest. shame to feel insecure travelling solo in your own country. also, shame to the government for implementing the fiskal policy.

Seducing Mr. Perfect

not wanting to do anything but being sinfully lazy, i opted for a korean movie instead of reading the book i was supposed to read by april 26th.

quite an interesting romantic movie with bits and pieces of comedy, what else but boy meets girl, girl meets boy, argument and eventually they realised that the fall for each other with few misunderstanding and issues in between to build the momentum. and of course being a hopeless romantic me, i like the ending. actually i like the part when they kinda realised they might've fall for the other party but either they're not aware or refuse to admit it. and they live happily ever after NOT. the end...

pic. courtesy of yahoo movie

Random

i felt suffocated yesterday. so very suffocated that i didn't care anymore on what the outcome could be. i even called on the bluffing. but of course, as usual, things went back to normal. but i just didn't want to face this again in the future. even the idea of facing it again made me tired. there's a reason i've been avoiding it for quite some time. and i hope all the explanation given today turned to be positive, not just for today but from today onwards. if it happens again in the future, that will be the last one as i'm going to make a point to said *the end*

--

July 9th 2008

that will be my 2nd attempt. my 2nd and hopefully final attempt. i hope i learnt from my mistake instead of repeating it.

--

dang hp and her feng shui telling. it's all supertitious i know. only God knows what's going to happen to you in the future. God and only God. but eversince she told me about my wealth i started to be more cautious with my expenses. she could only laughed when i told her how i pondered about that particular reading. well actually it's good in a way. i think twice before spending it. should i rephrase to thanks hp for reading that about my wealth? hmm

--

food, movie, book and nothing else. that's how i'm spending my night today. haven't hit the gym for ages, partly due to the sprained feet, and yet i'm eating like a p.i.g!

Fengshui

suddenly my colleague looked at me, laughed and said, "i've been reading you. my guessing is that you'll find a partner next year"

huh? what??

yeah, hp continued her course and she's talking advance certification in fengshui now. when boss emailed us to pick a slot for appraisal, hp chose hers based on the 4 pillar elements and some other reading. though she had to opt for another timing when apparently that good timing has been taken by one of the operational staff.

when she was doing her certification few months back, she rearranged her desk in accordance to her fengshui. her phone ended up sitting next to mine; i got confused everytime her phone rang. one day i realised that the phone is back to its usual place and when i asked, her answer was "quite troublesome for me to pick the phone from that side" LOL

so back to my reading, all i told her in response was "that's not good enough. read again" :)

Corporate Movie Treat

between forbidden kingdom and iron man, i ballotted for the 2nd one and me and few other colleagues got it. not bad eh, each of us were also given a medium size popcorn and a bottle of pepsi. anyways ...

i'm not a fan of robert downey, but i think they did the right job in casting him as the lead man. his expression is just what we expect from a man dealing with weapons - the sarcasm, dark humour, air of authority and coolness, perfecto! the story line is also good, portraying what's happenning in the real world (the weapon dealing that is, not the suit). i think this is one of the best comic adaptation to date. and the gadget used - yummy!

pic. courtesy of imdb.com

Travel Note:- Malacca & Johor, Malaysia

intermezzo

a friend is now into trekking and at times i commented on his pictures whenever he uploaded it to facebook. he then asked if i'm keen and i said yes. so when they're planning on this mt. ophir crossover i ended up by saying yes. i was unsure how it'd be since i don't know him that well and i don't know the others. furthermore i am the only amateur trekker. but i went with an open mind and i had a wonderful time. torturous, but wonderful. so here it goes ...

day 01 - may 2nd 2008

went to meet the others and at that moment i felt at home, most of them are very kind and accepting. we had dinner together. being a seasoned trekker, they're totally prepared. i was the only one with the 'bo chap' attitude. i only brought 600ml of water since that's all i had during my kinabalu climb (apparently mt. ophir is ranked 6 on level of difficulty and kinabalu is ranked 12). but because all of them kinda made me scared, i ended up getting another bottle and a pack of bread for breakfast.

we're doing a crossover - start climbing up to the summit in the midnight to catch the sunrise and start descending afterwards. in total, 12 hours of walking. i thought kinabalu is tough, and since this is only 1,276m it should be quite alright. of course, i thought wrong after knowing the rank info.

since i only had 4 hours of sleep the other night that i decided to dope myself with coke during dinner and that was a wrong choice. i couldn't close my eyes the whole journey. i ended up chatting with seb when he's awake instead of trying to get some sleep. this trip makes me know him better as a friend. we chatted from work to friends to relationship and of course he still does what annoys me most - preaching about his belief.

we walked for 10mins before reaching the start of the trail, the asahan gate - in Malacca - and were then being briefed prior to the climb. i had to do my business between cars there since there's no place for you to do it properly, thank God i only need to do it once. at 1.30am, we all started our climb.

day 02 - may 3rd 2008

we started our climb at 1.30 am. i was surprised upon seeing the summit. i was like "that's the summit?" to which one of the guy answered "yes, it looks close but i can guarantee you it's tough". indeed it is. it's a jungle trek i.e. no proper trail like kinabalu and the steps can be quite high. seb found me a stick to hold on to and he kept on lifting my spirit saying things like "if you ever think of giving up, just remember there's a 63yr old man in this group". eventually, one of the man realised i don't have a pole and he was so kind to sacrifice himself and let me have his pole; it made my climb a little bit easier. we rested for few minutes at every checkpoint and i think i kinda dozed off at checkpoint 5 because i all i remembered was everyone switching off their headlights then suddenly one of the guy asked someone to remove the leech on his neck. it was a tough trek; you're so happy that you've been climbing up to 600ish metres only to realised you're going downhill again. this continued on several times.

reaching checkpoint 6, we went to the nearby waterfall to top up our water. from checkpoint 6 to the summit - which is checkpoint 8 - we had to hold onto a rope and pulled ourselves up. just like kinabalu BUT this is way steeper. when you thought you're done you'd end up seeing another rope or stairs. of course i didn't catch the sunrise as i only reached the summit at 7.30 am - 6 hours of sleepwalking. the guys were very nice, the minute i reached there all of them clapped their hand and gave me high five.

once at the summit we rested while waiting for the few others to arrive. yupe, apparently there's this indian guy who joined his friend and i think this is his first trekking. so i'm not that amateur :). had our breakfast, some photo taking and by 8.30am we all started to walk down. as usual descending is harder for me as the pressure were more on the knees and i do have a weak one, thanks to my weight.

we took the hutan trail for descending, which is in Johor. so basically we're walking from Malacca to Johor. living to its name, the trail is really a forest; loads of obstacle and you have to be careful not to lose way. and don't get me to the rocks; i was so scared at one of the long descending down on ropes especially when the guide said "this you can't let go of your hand until your legs touch the ground, else you will fall down" when i said what if i slip his answer was "be careful, you don't want to slip because your face will hit the rock and it will be like a motor accident". man, i was like an old lady on the rope work, taking one step at a time very carefully. unlike ascending where we all stick together - we all stopped if someone behind asked to - descending were divided into several groups unintentionally. i started in the first group and ended up in the last one. during my journey down i chatted with the guy who lend me the pole; he told me that my trekking shoes don't really do the work and gave me some tips on trekking. i like this group, they really care for the well being of each other. i was quite impatience with the indian guy as he was darn slow and i wanted to get this done fast but i couldn't just walk by myself as they preferred you to stay together. good actually because with that you kinda show support towards your mates. but after reaching the 2nd last checkpoint me and another man decided to continue ourselves and leave the guide to attend to him. we reached the station and again everybody cheered and gave me a high five. lol i feel silly but i know they're giving me a "pat" as a newcomer.

we waited for almost an hour for the indian guy to arrive (thank God me and mr. lee decided to go ahead) then all of us left for dinner and another stop for snack prior to going home. reached singapore at 10ish pm and i took a cab home. i was so tired and sleepy.

overall it was a nice challenging trip. i overcome obstacles, especially on the rope work. we didn't go to the waterfall since its now close after the death of 2 singaporeans there. trip wise, i met interesting people who are very supportive towards each other. so supportive they are that they asked me to join them on their weekend trekking in bukit timah to build stamina for the next trip. hell, i think i've had enough trekking for the year - or maybe for the next few months...

I'm Back

if you think mt. kinabalu was tough, well mt. ophir crossover will kill you. the trail, the sleepiness, the steep rocks, everything. i haven't have any sleep since i woke up on friday morning. in total being wide awake for 40 hrs. i need to get a shower and hopefully get some sleep though i doubt i can get one since i have coke earlier. still, the trekking was awesome. a torture but AWESOME!!
to be continued ...

12 Hrs Of Sleepwalking

and i'm sleepy now as i only have 4 hours of sleep last night. die!
pic. courtesy of myoutdoor.com

Turn Left, Turn Right

life is full of coincidences, even two parallel lines might someday meet

thought its a pure romantic movie, apparently a comedy as well. an interesting view on destiny. pretty cheesy ending, though - a force of nature interferes 'cos they've been so close yet so far apart. morale of the story: check out your neighbour(s). LOL, definitely not here...

pic. courtesy of lovehkfilm.com

life is full of surprises, the kite you're flying might suddenly sail away

Over Her Dead Body

for me it's an okay movie . funny at times but just okay. i personally think that they're only exploiting eva's popularity here. and they should've picked someone else to play ashley, someone who could make ashley naturally funny. the storyline is predictable - if only the cast could help make it more fun to watch...

pic. courtesy of imdb.com

A Night To Remember

disappointed i am still was but it disappeared with the hugs from the girls. one of them told me her suspicion on my disappointment, which i find is true. thank you girls...

a very dear friend of ours is in town and today is the day we're catching up with him, hence the dinner. he doesn't change a bit, well more muscular and still as charming as ever. and with his 5 o'clock shadow; all of us agreed on how ruggedly handsome he looks. even when we haven't meet for more than a year, nothing's change. we're still doing the same old things we used to do - teasing each other, joking, sharing views of life, pouring our heart out on what's happenning at work and what we've been doing since he moved from singers, and of course being the only guy surrounded by 4 of us - girls. went for a 2nd round where we had dessert and continued our chit chat - from life to girls to work to religion to all other stuff. to sum it up - i love how today ends.

he's still the same old dearly charming guy. he still makes us blush once in a while with his genuine compliments. even we noticed how one of the waitress are taken by his charm. he still makes me speechless every now and then. and he still said i give out the 'arrogance' vibe *i beg to differ anyway*. overall he's still the same dear friend who will always have a special place in our heart. i'm so glad i have you as a friend and i am so very sure whoever you end up with will be one of the luckiest girl alive.

on another note, reached home and i was surprised to read a message from my friend. she's a scientist and she failed her exam last year. she's retaking it in september and hoping to ace it this time around. i know this might sound bad but still, a scientist failing an exam - i must be normal to fail mine then.