Turning Zero Eight

2007 is drawing to an end. It has been an eventful year for me – ranging from triumphs to joys to downright struggles to pushing myself out of my comfort zone. This year saw a few of first timers -- they were pleasant surprises. I also discovered that I'm not immune to heartbreaks. I was reminded that when you come face to face with the important, you somehow can push aside your differences and carry on. I learnt that I love whole-heartedly. It warms my heart to know that I'm surrounded by caring friends. Sometimes people forget, or overlook things. I experienced that when a door closes, another door opens. I learnt that being transparent is a very big deal for me. In my eyes these have all contributed to my growth.

My best Seven in 2007:
1. Best Read – Ray Kluun’s Love Life
2. Best Cupcakes – don’t know what the place is called but for a price (2 vanilla cupcakes with vanilla and chocolate icing, please..), I can take you there :)
3. Best Music Video – Rihanna’s Umbrella
4. Best Shocker – Me going to Rain’s concert
5. Best Heart-warmer – “I need to see you for a while, in 5 minutes, come down.” Then he placed the pink ipod in my hand :)
6. Best Eye-opener – Those who matter don’t mind, those who mind don’t matter
7. Best Quote – “So since I’m not your everything, how about I be nothing at all to you?” from Beyonce’s Irreplaceable

My Best Seven Songs (released) in 2007:
1. Say It Right - Nelly Furtado ft Timbaland
2. What Goes Around (Comes Around) - JT
3. Love Is A Losing Game - Amy Winehouse
4. Irreplaceable - Beyonce
5. Stronger - Kanye West
6. Sexyback - JT
7. 4 In The Morning - Gwen

I have also seen progress with the people around me, what with relationships, emotional strength, parenthood, career, or just the crucial first step to reaching their goal - I am happy for them. To a bigger and more fabulous 2008; filled with laughter, true friendships and all things necessary for true happiness. Happy New Year!!

details of no constructive use

Ok, ok, let’s put it out there -- I have been ignoring this blog for a bit. Some of my friends have started to call me an ex-blogger.

For someone who once was hard up with putting up a covert statistics counter for her blog, I now no longer give a toss why the number of readers using safari browser has increased by fourfolds or who they might be, when only one of my friends use Mac. I don’t care where the readers are from, how often the same ones come, how long they stay on my blog, how they landed on my blog or where they head to after reading which posting of mine. I opted for weekly reports to be sent to my email but heck, I was never arsed to actually view them.

Why? I used to contemplate whether to put up nuffnang on my blog, and beforehand I wanted to see how many frequent here. But come to think of it, to me it’s a bit of a selling out, and will not work -- especially when I am a nobody using a pseudonym whose life isn’t that rocking to begin with and the readers are mostly my friends who drop by when they get bored at work and need a break.

Maybe I'm illogically far too ambitious for my own good. For now I’ll just keep on blogging irregularly, and not earn any moolah from it :)

P/S: See info on nuffnang here: http://www.nuffnang.com.my/

mama has arrived!

Nursing a health nosedive, I followed the doc’s orders and stayed indoors since Friday. Was depressingly on soft food, watched basically everything the slightest bit interesting on telly -- from HBO to BBCE to Intercontinental Rally Championship to MTV to snooker to Asian Idol to footie (but of course! A soft penalty gave us a stoppage time win, but an away win is brilliant, period.). I was constantly hungry and being the Melayu that I am, was missing having rice quite a bit. Inablity to chew is so not on.

On the verge of losing my sanity due to extreme boredom, I was gratefully pried away from the confines of my room on Sunday – thankfully picked up by GNB. Whilst the 6 of us were catching up, a text came in. A good friend told me to check out The Star coz he was in it. Being a PR hotshot, he quite often appears in publications what now with being a contributor to a magazine (I nearly died when I found out that he was attending Milan Fashion Week – AND AGAIN, when he texted me to tell me that he bumped into Hidetoshi Nakata. A picture message arrived shortly after..) but despite that -- it didn’t stop me from giving an excited shrill when I finally found him.

It was a 2-pager feature on 2008 trends with an adorable foto of him and a few others. They were giving tips of the coming year’s trends. I read through it and shared it with the rest of the table. Fashion guru? -esque? What next?

He is en route where he wants to be career-wise, dipping his feet in different waters and I most definitely share his delight. Muaks!!!

testing

I haven't blogged for some time that i actually forgot my blogspot login address :) I'm attempting to post this from my mobile out of curiosity.. Let's see if this works.

welcome!

A (not so) tiny tot was born today to proud parents MOBF and MOBFH. My congratulations with an abundance of love.

Baby CH, Aunty Chocpot thinks you’re super adorable. Kisses!

a jog down memory lane

I had a great dinner last Wednesday and we had a chat about our childhood. It reminded me of great many things which took place when I was little, and not so little; like:

how I was amazed with hot air balloons and contemplated jumping off from our balcony with an open umbrella. I was about 4; or

how my brother always managed to trick me into thinking that he genuinely wanted me to do the fun things he was in the midst of, but of course, he would have already thought of ways to trick me and ultimately bully me; or

how I got in the lift alone when I was 5, too short and too busy bawling to press the floor button or to do anything clever (but I was rescued by a room service guy); or

how I loved and looked forward to the Lego sessions I get to do whenever Mom does her shopping; or

how I got a cut on my thigh climbing a school fence cutting school with my then best friend with her brother. I was 8. I still have the scar until now; or

how initially I could only ride the bicycle without trainer wheels on surfaces with grass and if I moved onto somewhat smooth surface I would immediately lose my balance; or

how I enjoyed camping in our lawn until my brother decides to 'accidentally' snip the tip of my cat's ear and the literally bleeding cat came running into the tent. Of course I screamed in horror. Mom thought he cut my ear; or

how I passed out falling right into a drain from an open ole-skool window unable to contain my excitement of seeing my first non-zoo monkey;

I now see my nephew and he is every bit as naughty as his dad. I thank God he doesn't have a little sister :)

Back to that dinner. I learnt that a certain someone's face was on fire while on a drinking binge... muwahahaaaa.. I hurt my cheeks laughing!

facebook

I registered with facebook so that I can throw sheep at my friends. Then the interest moved to having my garden, my aquarium, my tattoo, my pet, scrabulous, so on and so forth.

I had a fluff(y) pet panda (yes, pandas aren't fluffy I know) and a pet pig. With the pet panda, I could feed it, pet it, and race it with my friends' pets. With the pet pig, I could feed it apple pie or glazed donut and my friends can abuse it; e.g. if they choose to roast my pet then a picture of her as roast pig will appear. If the pet is abused, its health will deteriorate and you will have to feed it. Everyday you're given some amount of credits and each act will cost you one credit. It's fun, because you get to feed it, and get to harrass your friends' pets as well.

So I erased my pet panda as I wanted to 'concentrate' on my pig. I'm weird like that, deal with it :p

A friend recently registered with facebook and equally recent adopted a pet; the latter I didn't know about. When I decided to login post-work one day, there was no picture of my pinky pet pig.

I refreshed the page. It said RIP. A shark killed her.

A shark killed her?

A shark killed her!!

There she was, a framed picture, next to her tombstone. I can no longer feed her apple pie or glazed donuts. Sobs.

And then I realised who killed my pig.

Why did you have to kill her? And kill other people's pets? Can't you just use your credit to feed your own pet? The fun lies with abusing each other's pet, not killing them. Pet murderer! You're a monster!

I've been asked to adopt a new pet so that we can gang up and kill the shark. Go ahead guys, I'm in mourning.

here fishy fishy fishy

lost in translation

Text messages are fun but when you don’t understand what the other person is trying to say, it’s such a draaaag… Do I take up French or somehow diplomatically ask the person to improve his English??
Bah.

Ran errands, skipped lunch and typhooned my way across town yesterday to be on time for my dental appointment, only to wait for a good 35 minutes prior to seeing her. On the up side, there are improvements. Her plans of uprighting my lower wisdom teeth are in play. When do I take them off? I don’t even bother asking anymore. I’m at a point where I’m close to kicking myself for even deciding to wear braces, and contemplating to sue her for perhaps some fragment of ill advice. Good things come to those who wait, they say. Whatever, I don’t buy it. Currently, all I know is they hurt like hell.

What are the odds of having a drink in Bangsar and a peddler comes up to your table bringing sexual organs of a tiger?
Precisely.
I thought it was some sort of stick. Hahahaa.. (no, I didn’t see the balls..) Why anyone would want to do anything with an animal’s copulating organ, whatever the belief is, beats me.

Oh. Zip it about footie.

what is it about you?

Your passion for knowledge inspires me. Your sense of responsibility humbles me. Your sturdy encouragement boosts me. Your belief in me speaks volumes. Your love warms my heart.

Happy birthday Dad. You are a great many things to me, above and beyond words. I’m a very lucky girl. Thank you.

a month zoomed by

It's going to be Hari Raya in a few days' time. Already? Dang, that was fast... A good indication would be when your plead-and-send-to-the-tailor-at-the-last-minute baju kurung is ready and now hanging in your closet at home. I feel as though the fasting month just zipped through. Initially, it was a bit dreary, but things looked up ever since.

Actually it has been quite an eventful month, surrounded by family, friends. And extended family (for the most part, the proper "description" would be yikes!). Looking back, there were a number of things I did; things I normally would find reasons to give it a miss, or just things I usually am plain lazy to engage in.

And work. Lots and lots of work. Mine and off-loaded non-mine urgent work.

EUGH.

Let's not go there. Menolikeys.

Anyway, I decided to give in to the temptation of a visit to The Pavilion, escorted by Miss Shopaholic du jour, MBF. It does remind me of Siam Paragon. I like the current flow (or lack of it) of patrons but I don't know whether it will be as pleasant when all the shops open. But what caught my eye were the white and black super massive wannabe chandeliers (I think that's what they are) currently used as deco in Parkson. They look like these and I absolutely love them:

Do you like them?

Yes/No? Whatever.

Gah... This posting is making me fall asleep. Or is that due to the low blood sugar level?

Oh well, I hope my fingers would be more rajin to bother blog my not-so-private (mis)adventures and type out entries after this.

To heightened productivity and vast opportunities in the near future, not just in blogosphere.

we need to talk

"babe we need to talk. esok k."

Puzzled and concerned, I texted back saying I'm ok to talk whenever.

She rang me. My immediate reaction was -- "Are you ok? What's wrong?"

And her answer was

.

.

.

"When did Izzie sleep with George? But they're best friends! This cannot happen..."

.

.

.

Grey's Anatomy.

*sigh*

Cheers PO.

And no, I'm not going to tell you what happens in the end. Or in between, for that matter :p

2 minutes after first encounter with my away jersey :)

my first away jersey :)

meet uncle hussain - lagu untukmu

quiz overload

Your Life Path Number is 8

Your purpose in life is to help others succeed You are both a natural leader and a natural success. You are also a great judge of character. You have a head for business and finance. You know how to make money. A great visionary, you can see gold where other people see nothing. In love, you are very generous - with gifts, time, and guidance. You love to inspire people, but it can be frustrating when they don't understand your vision. Great success comes easily for you. But so does great failure, as you are very reckless. You are confident, and sometimes this confidence borders on arrogance.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

Your PMS Disaster Level: Medium

You definitely are a bit of a wreck once a month. But as long as remember to take it easy, your PMS isn't a major crisis.

Are You a PMS Disaster?

Your Toes Should Be Black

A total rulebreaker (and heartbreaker), you're always a little punk rock. Your flirting style: Wacky and addictive Your ideal guy: An accomplished musician, artist or writer Stay away from: Preppy guys looking for a fling, wanabe ideal guys

What Color Should Your Toenails Be?

You Are 28% Misanthropic

You're a little misanthropic - but who isn't? Your reactions to other people are pretty normal. You enjoy being friendly with people you encounter, but if you're having a rough day, watch out!

How Misanthropic Are You?

Your Love is Represented by a White Rose

While you may or may not be totally naive, you do approach love with an eternal innocence. You love like you've never been hurt. And you put all your faith in your partner. Your philosophy on love is: be honest and be yourself.

What Rose Represents Your Love?

chocpot's *little* hang-ups

One’s pet peeves may seem unfounded to others. Whatever it is, these are some of mine in no particular order:

1. Toothache – currently experiencing it :(

2. Keeping something, and not being able to find it later when needed.

3. Remembering a face/lyrics/scene, but not the name/song/movie.

4. When your skin breaks out and people assume you haven’t been cleansing properly. Ever heard of hormones/stress/food intake/oil glands going beserk?

5. Potholes that go unfixed for a long time.

6. Drivers who apparently cannot grasp the whole oh-so-complex concept of pedestrian crossing -- morons!

7. When a woman wears tight butt-hugging stretchy work-out trousers with underwear that is too tight -- because she looks like she has 4 butt-cheeks. One word. Ghastly.

8. People who spit in public (footballers during matches are excluded because they can’t run to the loo each time they want to do that, eh?)

9. People/kids who are noisy/who find it amusing to kick your seat in the cinema and their parents/guardians say nothing to stop the kids.

10. When you attempt raising money for an injured stray cat and get asked whether you secretly wish to be saviour of all stray animals. Then they proceed to comment that the money raised is better saved towards a holiday for yourself -- Nobody’s forcing you to contribute, fool.

11. Not nice two-faced people who add fuel to fire.

12. Monkeys at airasia boarding “queue”. This you have to experience in order to understand :)

13. Airasia’s new express boarding, i.e. you’re allowed to board first for a fee. And yes, even the elderly or those with toddlers will have to “queue” with the monkeys if they don't pay this express boarding fee. What ever happened to simple courtesy and understanding? We have to pay for it, now?

Do we share any of the above annoyances?

foto source: primates.com

slowly by slow

Much to the annoyance to a number of people, I have managed to go through the whole of August by only posting photos. Some though forwarded me links to photoblogs and The Wood Dragon decided to enlighten me with "light reading" and its friends whom I'm not familiar with, read below --

"You have a number of pics that have dark areas and bright areas… finding the right exposure to capture those types of pictures is tricky. If you take your light reading on too dark an object, then your pic will turn out over exposed (glare, or maybe even washout in the brighter bits). Conversely, if you take your light reading on too bright an object, you will lose the details in the darker part of your composition. All that you will learn to balance/compensate as you take more and more photos."

Was I supposed to have made sense out of that? I don't even know what light reading is, probably is stupid of me, but I don't know jack.

Perhaps in time, but not with my phone cam, eh?

Whatever.

drama

happy 50th Merdeka!

sheltered

why a phone camera is not a good idea

float on water

get victorious!

now, THAT is an AMAZING goal :)

video source: http://www.goalvideoz.com/

BKK - a bit crazy OK, very crazy not OK (quoted from a crazy cabbie)

why the same foto? because i can

updates in pictorial

Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars

*video from Grey's Anatomy Season 2*

We'll do it all / Everything / On our own

We don't need / Anything / Or anyone

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

I don't quite know / How to say / How I feel

Those three words / Are said too much / They're not enough

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

Forget what we're told / Before we get too old / Show me a garden that's bursting into life

Let's waste time / Chasing cars / Around our heads

I need your grace / To remind me / To find my own

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

Forget what we're told / Before we get too old / Show me a garden that's bursting into life

All that I am / All that I ever was / Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see

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

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

the blondie revisits

Time: 5:50 a.m.

Touch n Go balance: RM 8+

Value not enough to pay toll to destination. Too early in the morning to reload without leaving the car.

Mental note from home all the way to toll house: “Don’t go to smart tag lane. Don’t go to smart tag lane. Don’t go to smart tag lane.”

Reached toll house.

“Ok, am not in smart tag lane.”

“Eh, where is the little toll-person-giving-out-ticket box?”

Realisation hits.

“Damn I’m in the Touch n Go lane.”

Crap.

Rear view mirror. “Oh ok no cars. Good – too early for people to drive anyway. Let’s reverse.”

Reversing reversing reversing.

“Crap. When do these reflective orange/white toll lane separator burjiggies end?”

Reversing.

“OMG! The only ticket lane which is open is righttttt at the end. How on earth am I going to end up in that lane all the way over THERE without causing any automobile disaster?”

Rear view mirror. “No cars.” Blink. Deliberated.

“Sheesh. Forget it.”

I went through the Touch n Go lane anyway.

Because I didn’t want to cause a jam at the destination exit, I exited at bloody Rawang on my smart tag; u-turned and re-entered the highway via ticket from there.

In my defence? I hadn’t had coffee yet… Brain function expectedly a bit thwarted THAT early in the morning.

And yes -- I've reloaded my Touch n Go :)

Ortho, Autobots, 2 weddings, poppyseed muffin and a bag

Finally the opportunity came for me to watch Transformers yesterday, thanks to Petman for getting the tickets for all of us. The fact that F was going to watch it for the fourth time contributed to me feeling excited and hyper about the movie.

Let me tell you that it isn’t without justification.

I think the movie is insanely BRILLIANT. Hey, if it can trigger the happy, panic, excited and sad buttons over robots, it IS that good.

I’m so going to watch it again :)

But why isn’t Bumblebee a beetle? Anybody wants to shed some light?

On footie side, Owen and Joey Barton are now injured. Seriously. Just as I was getting excited counting the weeks to the new season. Sigh...

* 29 different attributes, only 7 that you like

Aeons ago, I wrote a 6 word sentence in that Hallmark card I took an hour to choose.

Merely days after that, truth revealed itself. I came face to face with my fears.

I was bent on perseverance, albeit thoughts of giving up. It was harder than I thought.

Was that bona fide love or just plain idiocy?

You only live once...


* taken from You Only Live Once - The Strokes

going-ons

I am so drained!

Yesterday my back was a complete biatch. During my smoke break today I just couldn’t stand up anymore and chose to plonk myself on make-shift stool. Sat rooted on it and got HK to tap my cig ashes for me, much to her semi-displeasure. (Well. She only said "you ah..." and did it anyway.)

Despite my lethargy which curiously returned after my weekend rest, I somehow managed to slot in crashing a birthday dinner yesterday. Met Moon the first time yesterday. By coincidence came Ms 12-noon-slot. I had a jolly good time laughing about all the nonsense surrounding our banter. From astronauts to vitamin C jabs to “painting walls” to gym membership to Mawi to a brainstorm session of what amounts to healthy gossip. Utterly and insanely hilarious. That took my mind off my biatch of a back. Happy birthday again Moon :)

On a less me-me-me note, my heart goes out to the families of those on board the RMAF Nuri which went missing last Friday. My condolonces.

Read it here: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/17/nation/20070717150514&sec=nation

CHOCOLATE TEAPOT turned one last saturday

photo source: http://images.jupiterimages.com/

mishmash part deux

Exhausted doesn’t even begin to describe my current state.

I think my right hand might be slightly longer than my left now considering I was lugging the pilot bag everywhere.

I miss having coffee with MBF.

Pulled out from the hairshow -- mixed reactions.

Haven't gone for a swim in ages.

Looking forward to sleeping a ridiculous amount of hours one shot.

Lunch!!!

got anya?

Moons ago I pre-ordered 2 Anya Hindmarch's I’m Not A Plastic Bag bag. One for me and one for my mom. She’s currently into this save-the-environment bags. I thought she'd like one. Not that she knows about AH.

Anyway.

I was told that AH will ring me in early July to inform me when I can come collect them, and that I only need to pay for them then.

July comes. Hollaback boi emailed me to say that he’s picking up his the next day. I thought it was odd as I did not receive any calls from AH considering we placed our orders at the same outlet.

I was immersed in work and was outstation. A friend offered to see what’s going on with the status of my order. They ‘lost’ my data. Not good news.

I returned and gave them a call. Same status. I asked to speak to their manager.

The same person called me the next day. Also the same news. She further said that there’s nothing they can do (the impression I got was they choose to do nothing about this). No apology.

I blasted them. It really isn’t my concern if you lose or misplace or burn or flush my data down the toilet, even. I pre-ordered the bags because I WANT them. And I did what I was required to (as you personally informed me), in order to secure the order.

I put my foot down. I insist to speak to the manager. I’m sure she has other more pressing things to attend to but heck, you don’t get to treat me like that and not admit your major booboo.

Another person calls. Apologises on behalf of colleague blablabla. Definitely much better PR skills. I feel better.

Sometimes, simple admission and sincere apology make things acceptable under the circumstances.

No anya for me or mom then.

A bit annoying to see people in Malaysia selling it on eBay at ridiculous prices though… Opportunists!

photo source: http://www.myfashionlife.com/

Malaysia V China

The only thing I found interesting last night at the Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil was GNB telling me how much the Malaysian players make per month. Interesting in a “whattt?” kind of way.

Initially I thought the squad put forth was a reserve team. It was not. They were the best of the best. Best of the “best”, more like.

Apparently they make about RM10K - RM25K a month. When I heard, my jaw dropped. Why? I think they aren’t that good… Of course I only watch premier league games; but if my opinion is worth anything, I think they suck.

The passing was sloppy, the defence was slacking, ball clearance was poor. The clearance error resulted in the second China goal. I later learnt that the player who attempted to ‘clear’ the ball (but what he actually did was pass the ball to a team mate who was lying in a heap on the ground, and this was in the penalty box…) was the Malaysian captain. Hayooo… How laa…

At one point of time my head was just placed at the Malaysia goal. I fiddled with something for a few seconds and when I looked up, for a change -- only the keeper was there. I looked at the other side. What did I see? The players in yellow were attacking! It’s a rarity!

Malaysia got trashed.

And, no, there aren’t anyone cute in the Malaysian squad… They either have weird haircut or sport a bald head or have rebonded hair. Nobody cute in the China team either…

I got some shots of parts of the stadium though. If that's any consolation.

so is it Eve OR Eee-Vee-Eee?

To me it’s the latter but apparently most people think it’s the former.

This ‘mentally challenging’ debate thus far has had a life of 2 weeks. We were in his car when “Like This” came on. I got hyper. “OMG! This is the Kelly Rowland and Eee-Vee-Eee song right?” MBA looked at me weird, and went on to ask why I have to say it like that.

I’ve always referred to her that way and have always thought that that IS the manner of which to say it. Yeah her real name is Eve Jeffers but I think for the purposes of her gangsta rapper image it is “Eee-Vee-Eee”. Logic? “Eve” is err not so gangsta-ish, not for someone who has pawprints tattooed on her boobs. But that’s just me exercising my summary logic…

The most reliable source, if any, would be her website -- but apparently it will not be launched till the next 16 days. My guess is for it to be in line with the release of her new album. Or something.

Anyway.

Your thoughts?

I WANT!

AWAY SHIRT 2007-08




source: http://www.soccervillage.co.uk/nufccomawayshop.html

toon army updates

Anybody cares? Whatevers. I care :p

Out:
1. Olivier Bernard (D)
2. Titus Bramble (D)
3. Craig Moore (D)
4. Oguchi Onyewu (D)
5. Antoine Sibierski (F)
6. Scott Parker (sobs..) (M)
7. Alan O'Brien (M)

In:
1. Mark Viduka (F) from Boro
2. Joey Barton (F) from Man City
3. David Rozenhal (D) from Paris St Germain
4. Geremi (D) from Chelsea

light rays

why?
I think my last posting had too many words. I enjoy writing, but I feel like visual for this preceding posting.

what?
The rays of light pierce through the clouds and what it does to the surface of the sea. I like.

how?
Snap snap. Minor repairs.
Yes, it could have been a better photo -- with better knowledge, better camera, better whatever else. But ok what; no?

where and when?
Pulau Tengah, off Mersing; May 2006, late afternoon.

i got clamped!

Yup, the title says it all. There was nothing pressing at the office since I miraculously completed the super urgent ones, so I decided to personally go to KL Sentral to pick up my ticket, prior to coming in for the day.

I turned into the departure area and saw a lot of parking boxes on the right side, a lot with the chain thing around the box (i.e. there is no way in hell you can park in that box) and some without. Traffic was non existent.

My being the typical Malaysian that I am, I decided to park at one of the empty boxes. It is probably only 40 steps away from the ticket office, at most. Parking at the Sentral carpark was not an option -- it didn’t enter my mind at all, given the circumstances surrounding my where-do-I-park assessment.

I mean, why park in bloody Alaska when you can park nearby? It's not as if I'm double parking or anything, there IS a box. Surely people can park in the damn box.

After all, how long can a wait for them to issue my ticket be, this early in the morning? I’ll be done in a jiffy anyway.

Of course they took a bit longer than norm at the ticket office.

I went back to my car, and there it was, an ugly yellow contraption with a pole kinda thing at my front left tyre.

The first thing that came to my mind was, “Seriously?!”

At the top of the pole was a sign for me to contact its customer service manager to release the clamp.

Of course it conveniently omitted the information as to where to find this customer service manager.

What am I? A psychic?

I went back in to look for people in purple (because that’s the KL Sentral people’s official colours lah) and found one. He then walkie-talkie-ed someone. When he finished he just said to wait by the car.

I asked him the procedure to get unclamped. It’s not as if I’ve been through this before. Hello…

It isn’t actually complicated anyway, so I just waited by my car. Then I saw the clamp zone signage. THAT? It looks so pretty that I missed it despite it being 2 meters away from where I parked. Seriously. That?

Some minutes afterwards a woman in an off-white top and purple sarong appeared at the entrance of the building and gave me a smile. That smile was more apologetic than anything. I knew right away I can haggle this one.

After voicing out my take on the whole clamping thing – the available box, the non-busy time, the cute yet ineffective signage, I requested my ‘offence’ to be compounded (I already said I’m a Malaysian what… hehee). She told me to pay a figure less than the one quoted earlier. I quickly did and asked her for a receipt. I then got unclamped.

On my way, I tried my luck and texted my boss asking whether it is claimable, seeing that I was picking up a ticket for a work-related trip. He obliged. Hehehee..

There’s always the first time for anything.

Ray Kluun - Love Life

Ok ok, I really should get back to work but this book is so not put-downable... It is evoking all possible emotions known to me.

I'll try quickly summarise what I've read so far (I'm only about one third through the book) but I don't think it will do it justice. And, oh, the book is divided into 3 parts, and I'm only at Part 1 (i.e. this is my disclaimer, guys..).

The story is about a happy, married couple with a toddler who has it all. The wife then gets diagnosed with breast cancer and in a blink of an eye their life changed -- to trips to doctors and hospitals and chemotherapy and radiation and psychotherapist appointments. It talks about how the husband deals with all these changes and what he actually feels towards what they are experiencing. And what the wife goes through, in detail -- the doctors' opinons, the books, the chemotherapy, the hair loss, the throwing up, etc; and how he sees the wife coping with it.

Ablation of her breast had to be carried out and the excerpt below is when they were at the hospital the first time after the amputation, to remove the bandage. For a long time she looked at where her 'ex-D cup-breast' used to be; the 10 cm slit, the stitches, the skin, the disfigurement.

"Then she looks at me. I can see in her eyes she's humilated. Humiliated by the cancer. God, this is dreadful. She who wants to be beautiful must suffer pain. She who wants to stay alive must be distinctly ugly.

Those are the laws of cancer."

Please please, go read this book! It is (so far) about love and support and reality and infidelity, and it also gives you an educational peek of what goes on in the lives of cancer patients. It is just so very touching. Love Life by Ray Kluun. I am so glad they translated it to English!

Can't wait to continue my reading...

looking back with a big fat grin

The EH: babe...got blog aa? wats address?

chocpot: hahaaa. got. me shy la.. my blog i just talk shit only. nothing that stimulates the intellect big time :D

The EH: alaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
The EH: pls lah darlinggg
The EH: u got blog but dowan ppl 2 C..how la
The EH: fasterr

chocpot: hahahahaa

The EH: quick :-w

chocpot: heheee

The EH: :-w :D

chocpot: heheheee

The EH: oii
The EH: :w :D

chocpot: :-?

The EH: :))
The EH: :-w :D :-w :D

chocpot: r we gonna communicate thru emoticons?


This went on for a while. In the end, I parted with the address. And then we both had trouble with the internet connection. Hahahaaa…

Is there a point to this posting? Not really. I just find it amusing and wanted to post the conversation :p

Yesterday, The EH reminded me of just some of the ‘funny’ things yours truly here carried out during her undergrad years. It just didn’t make sense to me at first as I did not even remember it! I did ‘remember’ the preceding events though. For all the wrong reasons…

One needs to be told the full facts in order to appreciate it – nope, no such luck today! I’m not telling…

i'm spinning around

I don’t know why but since yesterday I can’t get this song out of my head.

I love this tune, and the video. Kylie looks hot in them -- both the video and THAT gold hot pants ;) Her dancing on the dance floor, her sitting and writhing and sliding on the bar top, the close up or her derriere in THAT gold hot pants. Now THAT’s what you call hot pants, children.

This was from the album Light Years, released in 2000.

Spinning Around also reminds me of August 2001, when we had a combined birthday bash for the twin leos and MBF in a suite right smack in the middle of KL. Personally the second thing that comes to my mind is me smacking my head on the hanging glass lampshade (don’t ask…). In fairness, it was hung low.

The most memorable of that party was the synchronised dancing to Spinning Around. Each of us was at our happy place and chilling and munching and socialising when a bunch of them decided to boost the joy factor and dance. When this song came on, someone had a bright idea to do a group dance. And that they did. Non-stop (to ensure everybody gets all the steps right). The song was on repeat for God knows how many times. I was proudly a happy spectator of the whole thing. It still makes me smile.

“Oooh baby baby baby, you know you like it like this…”

:)

World Environment Day meets Father's Day

People, FRIM is fabulous... The family decided to chill there for father's day. Ate some weird fruit off the tree, got bitten by some creature, screamed in sheer shock when I saw a superlong worm ON the earth (aren't they supposed to be INside earth?) and got all phobic when my sister got bitten (?) by a leach. Am so looking forward to the canopy walkway thing. We couldn't do it that day as they had met their 100 pax per day quota.

Oh, and I have the ultimate best dad in the world :)

Untrue to myself, I was requested and have agreed to have another go at Bbg's yet another event... Hehehee... That does not make the other time a one-off does it? Oh well. I'm not hurting anybody. It's a different kind of fun; once all the nervousness leaves your system. And it has been postponed to next month.

Thank God.

ponder ponder

“When an assertion is made, either based on incident or based on fact, you need to answer the assertion. If it is not disputed, acknowledge it. If it is disputed, explain it. Explanation enables interpretation of facts which will facilitate the understanding of those facts. It is only then that we can apply the correct principles and eliminate wastages of time.”

It felt as if I was transported right back to uni. I was treated like one; just clothed in a different shell. Hell, I bet that uncle with a doctorate and wears hearing aid also felt as if he was treated like a student. All of us, regardless of experience, were “lectured” together. After all, he makes the rules here.

I actually jotted down what he was saying, or what I understood it to be. Maybe I didn’t want to be singled out as the-cocky-one-who-thinks-she-knows-enough-thus-I’m-going-to-give-her-hell-to-teach-her-that-in-my-territory-she-does-not-know-much. Maybe it prevented me from falling asleep. Maybe I really was interested.

Whatever the reason, as I re-read it, I thought, well. He makes sense. In his own ideal world; where truth is the barest requirement.

Perhaps in ours too, if we each try hard enough.

arachnophobe? or acrophobe?

I'm both. Actual big fat furry spiders scare me, as do heights. I'm usually gayat.

Après-Spidey (yes, finally…), oddly enough, we came across some quasi-spidermen in KLCC.

Picture time :)






Looks like fun, no? Guess not, considering having to relay yourself down with a water-filled rectangular pail attached to your arse and rags to clean the relatively convoluted beams when you’re airborne. Oh. Hanging in mid air, more like. I hope they have work hazard insurance and get paid a lot for this...

I’m also glad to announce that I’ve finally completed my marathon. No, not that kind. If you know me well enough you’d know I don’t do that :p I love love LOVE Grey’s Anatomy. The third season rocks!!! So drama… That’s the only drama I choose to handle right now.

hello viduka, goodbye parker (sobs...)

Mark Viduka became Sam Allardyce's first Newcastle signing on Thursday - with some details at the Man City end of the deal meaning that Joey Barton isn't yet a Magpie. The 31 year-old free agent has agreed a two-year deal with an option for a further season.

....

West Ham United confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that they had completed the signing of midfielder Scott Parker on a five year deal for a fee of £7m - £500K more than NUFC paid Chelsea in June 2005.

news source: http://www.nufc.com/

Which Grey's Anatomy Character Are You?

Do we have a fever, or is it just you? Successful, charming, and oh-so-attractive, like your Grey's Anatomy counterpart Dr. Derek Shepherd, you get everybody's blood pressure rising! People may have a hard time looking past your smokin' exterior, but when they do, they find intelligence to match. No wonder it's sometimes hard for you to avoid the spotlight.

Accused of being a little intimidating? Only by the jealous ones, we're sure. So dreamy!

Curious? Do the test here: http://web.tickle.com/tests/greysanatomy/

food for thought

I’m supposed to be (back) on healthy food diet. Or at least try to make ‘better’ food choices.

Lunch was surprisingly yums. Who would have thought the Chinese style stir-fried vege (and JUST chicken MBF, no seafood, I swear) and white rice from next door can taste THAT good… not that I’ve never had it before. I even got fed up of it at one point.

Withdrawal symptoms?

Over-raining the past week?

Sheer goldfish-like famine? (Noo.. not goldfish-like concentration span, coz I remember when I eat.)

I’m forever hungry it’s not funny.

Examples: I think about what I want for dinner at 10 a.m.; I have no guilt of finishing shared desserts – you know, when everybody slows down and just don’t look interested with the cake anymore, I’ll just finish it.

A friend had SALAD for main course and I just can’t help but every now and again stare at him nibbling on his leaves and olives throughout the meal waiting for him grow antlers and turn into a reindeer (it didn’t happen, btw).

Damn! Now I have a mental picture of that flourless choc cake with its gooey center (gooey good ok, not gooey euws..)

primrose is a hippie

Your Hippie Chick Name Is:

Primrose

Hippie Chick Name Generator

jab cross jab cross body right hook

You Fight Fair

For you, a fight is not about proving you're right. Instead, it's about discussing and resolving difficult issues. You don't look for fights, but you don't avoid them either. You realize that clearing the air is good, when you go about it the right way.

Do You Fight Fair?

of Angels and delusions

You Are Most Like Adriana Lima

Intriguing and sultry

Which Victoria's Secret Angel Are You?