SC Times

Bandung Trip 2nd to 5th Oct 2009

2009-10-09T13:35:00.015+08:00

Wow ! Didn't realize that I'd been abandoning my blog for more than a year ! Well, nowadays busy "facebook-ing", hence its neglected state. Anyway, decided to "revive" it by blogging about my recent trip to Bandung, Indonesia with my friends.

No, didn't eat any mee bandung there. No, didn't drink any air bandung either.

Couple of days before our trip, there was this earthquake at Padang. Having passed Geography marginally, I had no inkling whether Padang is anywhere near Bandung, so had to do some Googling to find out. Soon we found out that Padang is on the Sumatra Island, whereas Bandung is on the Jawa Island, so... relief.

Therefore on 2nd October 2009, all of us trooped to LCCT (yeah, had to take Air Asia) for our trip to Bandung early in the morning. The journey lasted about 2 hours plus. Seats : rather cramp and uncomfortable. Food : No more nasi lemak, lasagne, sandwiches. Only left instant noodles, NO THANKS !

Captain Drunk was mumbling something about the weather and time, I supposed, but couldn't really understand. When it was time to land, I'm not sure whether it was the wind (definitely can't be worse than the typhoon when we landed in Taipei last year !) or whether he couldn't decide on his course, we all saw the plane swaying left right left right before landing, then he REALLY applied the brakes ! We could just picture him full concentration stepping with all his might on the brakes.

Regardless, we landed safe and sound, but with a rather empty stomach. Queuing at the immigration was a slow affair since the airport was rather small. Also, I saw the conveyor belt "delivering" our luggages. There was a funny moment when I saw a bag "refusing" to move properly on the conveyor, only to be "pushed" behind by a larger luggage. Still, after a few inches, it refused to bug ! The guy manning the conveyor had to "push" the stubborn luggage. Turns out it was my friend's bag ! Hehehehehe.......

Outside the airport, we meet our driver, Amir (I think it's spelt as such). Nice guy, even helped me carry my bag, much to the chagrin of the rest, since he took the smallest and left them to lug their own "baggage" ! Hehehe... boy, did they complain !

Anyway, the first stop was..... LUNCH. He took us to this nice Sundanese (not Sudan ya...) restaurant in town. Nice ambience, good food. Main star of the day was the lovely strawberry juice, although it was too sweet for my liking. Had to add lots of ice to tone down the sweetness. My friends also ordered "sop bontot" (sup ekor in Msia) and their famous "dancing fish".

After the satisfying lunch, we went off to "Rumah Mode", a very nice and large factory outlet. Now, if you're expecting factory outlets like Hong Kong where each brand is one outlet, then you're very much mistaken. The factory outlets in Bandung sells basically any extras or even rejects from brands like Nike, Miss-T, Burberry, Quicksilver, Guess, etc etc etc all in one location. Therefore different outlets may have different designs.

A lot of people are there to grab bargains (they are quite cheap actually, compared with their normal prices) but for people like me (clue : rhymes with cat), it's more of a "browsing" trip. But surprise surprise, I managed to find a pair of sweatpants from Adidas and it's only for RM20 ! Anyhow, during those few days, we visited quite a number of those shops.

At Rumah Mode, they had a very nice Java Bean outlet, akin to Coffee Bean in KL. Really nice coffee there. Then I noticed this other shop selling smoothie, and looked at their menu. Saw it ? "Kopi Durian" ! Dare not try............

Outside Rumah Mode and actually on most of the streets, there will be hawkers with carts like these selling food ranging from Bakso to ice creams to fried bananas, etc etc etc. Not only that, at traffic light junctions, there will be people hawking wares like strawberries, blueberries, kuihs, drinks, and even saw a lady with more than 10 types of newspapers in both hands. Talk about a walking newspaper stand !

Later, we checked in to Hilton Bandung.......... next door. Hehehe.... We stayed at Hotel Cemerlang. The one thing I really have to complain about is.... their coffee ! Horrible, terrible, cannot even be classified under "coffee" ! Black, but no coffee smell, and definitely no coffee taste. It actually tasted like Japanese tea with burnt rice.

That night, we were taken off to "The Valley" restaurant for dinner. Since the restaurant is located quite high up in Bandung, it has a really good view of Bandung. Also the journey to the restaurant is an interesting one. Imagine within 1/2 an hour, you go from Kota Damansara to Jalan TAR, pass by Salak South, back to Kenny Hills, then finally reaching Gasing Hill.

Funny ? Yeah... we passed through bungalows, only to suddenly see small houses, which in a short while turned into shops, some dilapidated, then we'll see bungalows again, mansions even, suddenly some small shacks and shops, etc etc etc.

But truly the view from The Valley was spectacular. A very nice romantic restaurant (unfortunately I wasn't with a nice handsome hunk ler.....) cool breeze and great food. Prices are very reasonable too.

The next day was sight-seeing day. After breakfast (the first and last time I tasted the lousy coffee), we made a pit-stop at the petrol station. They also sell gas tanks there, and they are small cute ones, unlike those in Malaysia. People on motorcycles will buy and strap them to the back to carry home.

Our first stop was a visit to the crater of a volcano called Tangkuban Perahu. There's steam (or smoke) coming from the centre of the crater. Kinda scary, if you ask me ! Seems that there's a story behind its name. There's a lot of hawkers there trying to sell their wares and they will crowd around you. There are also ponies for hire if you wish to canter around for a bit.

A small drama happened when one of the ponies almost kicked my friend because another pony's tail swished on its back and startled it !. Luckily my friend was unhurt.

After that we went off to a hot spring. Very nice place, forgot the name though. They had placemats all around and you can just choose the spot you like and have like a little picnic there. However, I dipped my fingers into the "river" and find the water to be just lukewarm. But it's a really lovely place for R&R.

On our way to lunch, we passed by lots of farms. Hehe, this looks kinda like the farm I have in Facebook's Farmville.

We stopped by the road to buy big huge but cheap avocados, or as the locals call them, "Avokad". Since I duno how to eat or appreciate avocados, I refrained from buying any. Called sis also but she also didn't want any.

Just before lunch stop, we dropped by a strawberry farm and saw this stall outside hawking everything strawberry, from bag to slippers. Didn't pick any strawberries, and the jams looked extremely sweet. Tried their local tapioca, but didn't like the taste since it seemed to be fermented with rice wine.

Finally our lunch is at a restaurant called "Sapu Lidi". Lovely padi-field-themed restaurant with nice little huts like these for us to enjoy lunch. Quite cool. For a city gal like me who've never seen padi, it's just lovely. They even have scarecrows around.

Took the picture below when we were on a bridge passing through town. On the right was development of a high-rise building, and on the left is what you see here... a very highly congested living area.

Souvenir-wise, Bandung has nothing much to offer, so I didn't buy any souvenirs at all. All I bought were some snacks (nuts and dried bananas) and Amanda Brownies. Now this, I like. Very nice moist brownies, steamed instead of baked. But only can keep for four days.

So the next time anyone goes Bandung, you know what to get for me. Hehehehe.

If you want to see more photos, visit my facebook.

Sad, depressing, bleak, pathetic, stressful life

2008-08-16T10:53:00.003+08:00

I have been neglecting my blog ever since I started work again in June. From the start, it was a crazy ride. The new client always had so much problems with their environment, especially with virus issues. Coupled with trouble-making staff who either goes on leave or MC or don't do as instructed, I had a hellish time trying to manage things there. Then the old team of 4 staff all resigned, with 1 leaving 24-hours notice, 1 at the end of July, 1 mid-August and 1 end-August. So my office had to look for replacement, and managed to employ 2 new staff.

Just when I thought things can't get much worse, they do ! On the 29th of July, they discovered data loss in 3 of their servers, with 1 of the server having the entire C partition missing ! My staff and I scrambled to copy the data out of the server before it died. I was supposed to be on 1/2 day leave in the afternoon, coz I had to sent the faulty Khind airpot which I bought to the service centre in Shah Alam.

Once done, I quickly sent it back home then went back to office, reaching 6pm. Me and 2 of my staff stayed overnight to quickly setup another temporary server, and to copy data out from the failing server. The next morning, we had to check and configure the workstations to link with the new server. I finally got to leave the office at 3:30pm and went back home to sleep, skipping dinner.

The next day, I went back to work at 12pm and worked until around 9pm. On Saturday, went back to work again at 9am as there was a scheduled power failure at 1:30pm. Power came on at 3:00pm, and I went to check and ensure that the servers were all started up properly.

UNFORTUNATELY ....... 1 server, and this is the server that authenticates users, failed to boot up ! I nearly pulled all the hair from my roots. Tried ways and means to get it started but it failed. So I had to call emergency backup from our vendor, who finally arrived in the office around 7:15pm.

Another colleague of mine dropped by to help out. Finally around 9:30pm, we got the server up and running again. By the time we checked to ensure everything was ok and lock up the office to leave, it was already 10pm.

By this time, there was already suspicion of sabotage from those who resigned. Then 1 of my staff had to go do something stupid by refusing to let us check the notebook. When we refuse to give him back his notebook, he made a grab at it and took off with the hard disk, then return another unit to the office which couldn't be accessed.

So we sent it off to our vendor for recovery, and lo-behold, we managed to get the hard disk working again. There was NO operating system in the hard disk ! So he actually swapped it before returning the hard disk to the office. I can't imagine how someone can be such a dummy !

Right now, he's being suspended. The missing data for 2 of the servers are back, but the other server was not so lucky. It's a very old, obsolete application with no support even on the database, and the files that we managed to recover were actually dated 1 1/2 years' back. Unfortunately there were no backups because the backup drive was faulty and is only now being replaced.

So I had to be interviewed by the auditors and by the HR on this matter. My office had also employed a computer forensics company to try and determine the cause and possibly to catch perpetrator.

Most of my working days are from 9am - 9pm, and with things so stressful, sometimes I walk around like a zombie and can't even think straight because my mind is so tired ! However, this problem has actually forced me to think about migration, especially to Australia, since I think companies there will have a much more relaxed atmosphere.

Then on 14th August (which incidentally was the 14th day of 7th lunar calendar month) I had an accident ! I was driving home, happy that I could actually leave 8:30pm, and was going up the slope of the main road outside Plaza OUG.

Out of nowhere, this stupid red car suddenly appeared in my line of sight and I immediately tried braking, but I still hit the passenger side of his car. We stopped by the side to assess the damage to our cars. My light was slightly chipped and the car no plate in pieces, and the bumper was loosened slightly. His car had a dent in the sides.

This Kelvin fella had to cheek to say I was wrong. I told him it was my road, and since he was the one trying to cross the road, he was in the wrong. He insisted I pay or claim insurance, so I said I'll think about it and contact him again. We swapped mobile numbers.

The next morning he already called to say he can't lock his door. I asked him for his car registration no and told him I'll call him back. He must have easily called me around 20 times from morning till late afternoon, but I ignored the calls because ...
1. I wanted to ask opinions of my colleagues on who was in the wrong
2. My mobile and bluetooth was dead and needed to be recharged
3. I was busy like mad the whole day

Finally I called him back around 3:30pm. He told me he will fix his own car, but ask me to pay for his compound, as he has made a police report. I answered I won't coz no matter how, I was not in the wrong, and I wasn't even planning on claiming against his insurance. He still insisted since I hit him I had to pay and said if I don't then I should be careful not to let him see me or find my car. I immediately told him that I may go report police, because should anything happen to me or my car, I will hold him responsible.

About 15 minutes after I finished my conversation with him, someone claiming to be his "sister" called, again on the same issue and trying to get me to pay. Then suddenly the "sister" said that she is actually the "mother". I told her that I was threathened by the son and she should not ask me to pay for anything since her son was the wrong party.

Finally she got so upset she told me to keep the RM300 to buy my own coffin and hope that I will die in a crash with a huge lorry, then she hung up. I thought to myself, with a mother like this, no wonder the son was also like a gangster. Such a shitty mouth, she better be careful herself.

Then I had to go make a police report at Jalan Bandar since there was a 24-hour deadline. At the police station, I put in the report what he and his mom threathened me with. Police said he was wrong and asked me to claim his insurance, and for what he said, I should report it to Jabatab Jenayah.

So, for everyone, the stupid driver is Kelvin, car no BJT6151, mobile no 012-257 2030 and his mom's mobile is 016-384 1980. These are rude, uncouth people who likes to curse and threathen other people even when they are in the wrong.

Well, let's see what other trials and tribulations I will have coming ...............

You're cured !

2008-05-16T22:46:00.001+08:00

Hehe, that's what the doctors said yesterday when I went for my checkup. Both Prof Prepa and Dr. Tang were in the room. They check my face wound and said that it's healing up very well, and that I don't need to come back anymore. Didn't even prescribe any more ointment or cream for it anymore.

The report on the tumour was out and that it's confirmed benign, so the Prof said "You're officially cured !" Hahaha. He even asked me to go on a holiday ! Go wor .... ah ma this cannot eat, that cannot do, there cannot go ! Sigh.............

Anyway, the doctor gave me another 2 weeks' MC only, so I'll be back to work in June. Siiiigggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

My Operation - A week later

2008-05-08T12:05:00.005+08:00

Yes, it's already been a week since I came home. Today, I went back to the hospital because the Prof said that the results on the tumour may be ready and that my stitches can probably be removed today.

Have been having home cook food for the past week, but ah ma refuses to let me eat anything "black", e.g soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, etc. Said that if I do that, the scar may turn dark colour, and won't be nice later. I also can't take any chillies or anything sour. Sigh...... However, I think my ah ma is probably tired of having me home for so long, since now she had to cook for lunch AND dinner as well, hehehe.......

Anyway, I was back at the hospital this morning and then waited for my turn. Kinda felt like the Frankenstein, with the stitches on my left face. Soon, my number was called and I went into the room. I told Dr. Tang that Prof asked me to come back today to see if the results are out and also to have the stitches removed if it's okay.

The doctor checked my stitches and said that they are healing very well, and said agreed that they can be remove. Unfortunately, the report was still not out yet. Well, I still have to go back there next week, the report should be out by then.

My Operation - 30th April

2008-05-05T16:08:00.010+08:00

I finally dozed off after a LOOONNGG time, but woke up again at 3:30am. I went to the washroom, then went back to bed to try and sleep again. Unfortunately, the nurses came by around 4:30am to check my BP, and around 5:30am, they came round again to check the glucose. The nurse told me that I should go take a bath to get myself ready for the operation, and also to remove all underwears, dentures (don't have), contact lenses (don't have) or jewelleries (also don't have).

So I got my towel and took a bath. After I finished, I didn't have much to do, so I started on the Sudoku puzzles again. Around 6:30am, the nurse came by and started to put me on a drip, and also asked me to take my hypertension pills with just enough water to swallow them.

Sis arrived with Ade and Evelyn at 7:00am to give me moral support and because they were afraid that I'd be afraid. Bro sms sis to tell her that if the docs can't find my MRI and CAT scans, I should not go ahead with the operation. So sis asked me to call the doc to see if he had found the scans. Unfortunately, seems that he was still asleep, and he questioned why I called him up so early, and that he hasn't found the scans yet. I quickly said sorry for waking him up and hung up. Sigh......

I told sis what the Prof said, and she asked me whether I wanted to go ahead with the op or to wait and do another scan first. Ade said I should heed Nike slogan and "Just Do It". I told sis I had already made all the necessary arrangements, and that I don't want to defer it any longer.

At 9:10am, a nurse came by and ran through a pre-op checklist with me. While doing that, the Prof came to the ward to do his rounds and was surprised to see me still there. He asked me why I was still there and I told him the nurse was doing the checklist. Sis then proceeded to ask him about the scans again, and he said "I'm the doctor, and I'm not worried, so why are you worried ? It's all in here", pointing to his head.

Then he left. Another nurse brought in the OT transport bed. It was high up and I was wondering how I was supposed to get onto it. The answer came when a nurse placed a chair next to it and asked me to climb up into it ! I was then asked to lie down and was taken from the ward to the OT.

It's a weird feeling, a bit like what you see on TV in medical dramasa when the ceiling lights passes by in front of your eyes. Of course in TV dramas, they don't run into bumps and corners like in reality. Finally I reach the OT entrance, and I heard sis and my nieces saying, "Bye, see you when you come out later".

A glass door opened and I was wheeled inside. Since I had to take off my glasses, I can't really see clearly but I knew I passed by a lot of corridors. Then we reached another glass door, but the "bed" in front of me had problem negotiating through, so there was a bit of "traffic jam" before I was wheeled through it as well.

I was then sent to a "parking" area, where the nurses did a final check before proceeding into the OT. An old lady was "parked" next to me, and she was complaining to the nurse that her drip needle hurts. I also heard some doctors talking about "Wah, yesterday's operation was soooo bloody. You didn't see meh ?" "Very bloody meh ?" "VEERRRRYYY bloody....." Great. Just what I need to hear.

After a while, I was wheeled into OT room 13. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 9:35am. Waiting there was boring with nothing to do and I can't sit up, so much so that I was actually feeling sleepy !

Now, I think everyone thought that I felt anxious or doubtful or even afraid of the op, but to tell you truthfully, I was actually feeling quite calm and did not doubt that I will go ahead with the op, even when I was told that the scans were lost.

A little later, a nurse came in to do a final final check. I asked her what time my operation will be. She said that I was supposed to be the last case, but because the little boy ahead of me had fever and can't go on with his operation, mine is now pushed up as the 2nd case. However, there is now an emergency where an old man can't breathe, and they are helping him.

No wonder I kept hearing the machine with the heart beat beeping. Some time later, I heard one of the nurses calling the man a few times, "Uncle, uncle, can you hear me uncle ?" Then I heard the bed being wheeled out, and the "clink clank" of things being rearranged.

At 10:20am, I was wheeled into the OT. They placed me next to the OT bed and asked me to move myself to the OT table. I thought it would have been a steel and cold one, but it was not. Maybe for ENT operations, the tables are slightly different ?

One of the doctors placed something under my head, then they placed something which they called "sandbags" under my shoulders. The nurse placed an oxygen mask over my nose and mouth, and asked me to "breathe in, breathe out". Then she had to fix something and passed the mask to another nurse, but the 2nd one didn't know how to hold it properly, there's a big gap where air was escaping, and the mask was now touching my eye !

I had to tap her hand and point to my eye to let her know it's poking me ! Then the 1st nurse took the mask back, berated her for holding it wrongly, then placed it properly again over my nose and mouth. After breathing in a few more times, I was in la-la land.

By the time I was concious again, I was back at the "parking area" and there was a warm feeling above me, like being under the sunlight. I can hear some people talking, and a baby kept crying. I ventured to open my eyes and saw that above me, there was something that gave off the warmth that I was feeling. Next to me was some nurses hunched over another bed and warmer similar to mine, but some how the baby kept crying and they were trying to console it. I heard someone mention "12:30 lor..." then dozed off again.

I kept dozing off and waking up repeatedly, and also kept hearing the baby crying next to me. After a while, I heard someone say "1:30...." Dunno what's wrong with the poor baby, crying non-stop. The nurses were saying "Sayang.... dah dah..... kesian....."

Later, someone told me that they will be sending me back to the ward. I was wondering, "Huh ? No need to go ICU meh ? Can straight away go back to ward ?" Soon, someone removed the warmer overhead and starts pushing the bed. I dozed off again, until I heard someone say "Can you move your legs ? Slowly... now move your body...." and I was back in Bed 9 of the ward. Because the OT bed is higher, I just had to "drop" myself to the lower bed.

I listened to the chattering around me for a while but not really registering anything. I closed my eyes to rest for a while. I was wondering where my sis and nieces went, then thought they probably went off for lunch. I wondered whether my facial nerves were ok, so I tried to smile and also tried frown. Seems ok......

However, I soon heard their voices, and they were asking "Dunno Ah Yee out from OT yet or not ? Go and take a look lar..." Then, "SHE OUT D SHE OUT D !" "Gasp ! She still look pretty wor !" I thought to myself, "Huh ? Pretty ? What does she mean ?" I heard a nurse tell them I just came back. I opened my eyes and tried to look at them, but without glasses, everything looks blurr. Can make out Ade though. She was already flipping out her mobile and calling somebody. "Ah Yee out d.. and she still looks PRETTY"

Again I thought, "Huh ? Me still pretty ? Why ? Expect me to become very ugly meh ?" Then they saw that I was awake, and asked me whether I'm ok. Sis asked me to try and speak. I answered her "Oklar..". Then she asked whether it's painful or not, and I shook my head a bit. I don't know whether she started speaking to Ade or whether she was talking on her mobile, but I touched her hand and showed her I can smile also.

I can hear the wonder and happiness in her voice when she told someone "She can smile ! Ah Yee smiled !" Then I drop off to slumber again. After dunno how long, I can feel sis touching my left face and left ear, asking me whether I can feel or not. Ade or Evelyn told her to stop doing that and let me sleep. I opened my eyes again, and told her I can feel, but it's numb. They asked me whether I want to sit up for a while, but I told them no. Then they asked me a few questions, which I answered.

Told them a bit about the operation time, and when I came out, and how I got back into the bed, etc etc. Then the Prof came by and said that everything looks ok, and that I should start eating afterwards. He also casually told sis that the whole operation only took 45 minutes ! Seems that he had to cut open a major artery that was right in front of the tumour to properly remove it. He told us that he won't be coming tomorrow, but will come on Friday (2nd May) to check on me.

Around 5:00pm, I finally decided to sit up, since my back hurts after having slept so long in the same position ! I found out that I still had the drip, and that there's a "drain" on the left side of my face to drain out blood. Ade told me that she took a picture while I was sleeping and MMS it to her sis and my bro. The wonders of technology.......

At 6pm, my dinner came. Porridge of course, what else will it be ? However, I was glad to have something to eat, and although hesitantly at first, I was soon down to the last spoonful. I kept thinking, it's probably a first to have someone have an operation on the face in the morning, then to have that same person having dinner at night.

Bro-in-law also fetch mom to come visit me. I think mom looked scared to see all the dangling wires and to see me sitting up ! Around 9:30pm, they left me to let me rest. Unfortunately, unlike the first night, they kept turning the aircond off and on, so much so that it became really stuffy at times, but cold at other times. Because of this, I kept waking up because I really hate the heat.

My Operation - 1st & 2nd May

2008-05-05T16:08:00.009+08:00

Somehow, I always end up waking up around 3am or 3:30am. The so-called witching hour. However, because it was so hot and stuffy, there's nothing much I could do. An hour later, the nurse came to check on my BP, glucose and temperature. Seems that I still have a bit of fever.

So by 6am, I decided to forego the thought of sleeping and sat up. I started working on a Sudoku puzzle and waited for my breakfast. I find that if I sleep for a long time, my back starts aching, but if I sit for a long time, my bum hurts. Sigh.... just can't win either way !

Finally breakfast arrives at 8am. Porridge again....... Soon, sis came with bro-in-law to "jaga" me. Must be damn boring for them as well. I read a bit of the papers, then decided to go sleep for a while. But quite difficult because I daren't turn my head too much. Around 10am, a doctor came by to check on me, and proceed to remove the bandages on my wound.

It was painful. Not painful on the wound, where the area was still numb, but painful when my hair got pulled ! The bandages were sticking SO tightly, even the doctor had a hard time trying to remove them. Finally, almost everything was off, and he asked the nurses to help me clean the wound, but the "drain" can only be removed the next day. I also told the doctor that I had a slight cough.

About an hour plus after the doctor left, the nurses came to help me clean up the wound, remove the excess bandages and also to remove the excess drip needle from my hand. PAINFUL ! Even now, the hole is still there.

Then lunch came. Porridge. Again. Sigh..... After lunch, I took a nap, but mom and nieces came to switch with sis and bro-in-law, and mom insists I wake up and talk to them. Said she wanted to ask me some questions, so I had to sit up and answer her. An hour later, she left with sis and bro-in-law, leaving Ange and Ade with me.

The nurse came and check my temperature, and said that I still have a bit of fever. Ade asked her whether I need some Panadol for my fever. Soon, she came back with the Panadol and also some cough syrup. Let me tell you, those cough syrups were GREAT !

After drinking, I actually managed to fall asleep, regardless of all the noise ! Hehehehe.... I woke up around 5pm, and chatted with my nieces for a while, then of course had my dinner. Before dinner arrived, a male aide came to ask me what I wanted for breakfast the next day ! Hurray ! No more porridge ! I asked for bread, rice with fish for lunch, and rice with fish for dinner.

But for tonight, the menu is the same. Porridge lor... what else. By that time, I was getting really sick of it ! Ange and Ade asked me to add some Marmite into the porridge so that it taste better.

I added a bit, and it does seem better, but just after that, my phone rang. Ah Ma called to remind Ange and Ade not to let me take the Marmite, because it's black, might cause the scar to turn dark wor. But what to do, already added into porridge, hehehe.. So I finished it off.

Then I dozed off again. My aunt and cousin came to visit me later in the evening. When I woke up, they were already there chatting with my nieces. I was wondering when the cough syrup will be served, so that I can get a decent night's rest. Ade asked the nurse who checked my temperature when I'd be given the "ubat tidur". The nurse looked puzzled, and told her that I'm not prescribed that, only cough syrup. Hehehehe.... Ade wanted to asked about that ler, because it can give me a good sleep, but instead of cough syrup, she said "ubat tidur". She was told that it'll be given around midnite. Great. I have to wait THAT long.

Around 9pm, they all left to let me rest. Ange said that she'll be coming tomorrow morning since she took leave. About 9:15pm, the nurse came with my Panadol and bless her, the cough syrup. I took it and *poof* went to sleep.

Unfortunately..... had to wake up around 3:30am AGAIN because my neighbour was coughing very very badly. The nurses were around her to try and help her remove the phelgm stuck in her throat. So, by 6:15am, I was again up and looking at the Sudoku puzzles.

At 8am, my bread came with some butter, some jam and one hard boiled egg. Hehehe... so nice. Finally, something to eat besides porridge. While I was eating it, the doctor came by to take a look at my face. He told me that I can be discharged on that day, and that the drain will be removed so that I can leave soon. He asked me to come back in 10 days to get the stitches removed, and in 2 weeks' time to get the report on the tumour. He said it was BIG and they took a lot of pictures.

Well, instead of showing you the actual ugly photo, let me show you a pictorial version. The tumour was 8.8cm ! HUGE ! Inside my FACE ! Goodness....

I called sis and Ange to tell them that I can be discharged already. I changed back to my own clothes, and started slowly packing some of my stuff. By the time Ange arrived, I had almost packed everything.

We then sat around to wait for the bill. Some time later, Prof Prepa also dropped by to take a look at me, and told me that everything looks fine. He said that instead of 10 days, I can come back next Thursday to try and get the report on the tumour and to remove the stitches. He said that the tumour should be benign, but a test will be done just to be sure.

After he left, I called mom and told her "I have bad news." She asked, "What ! What ! What happened ?" Then I told her, "Doc say I can come home today wor...." She said, "CHEH ! Aiyah, notchet go market. Okaylar." Hehehe.

Soon, we got bored waiting so I went to the ward counter to see when the bill will be ready. The counter guy passed me a prescription list which is supposed to be purchased from the Inpatient Prescription counter on the 1st floor in Menara Utama and then go make payment at the Inpatient Registration counter on the 2nd floor of Menara Utama.

Just then I remembered that I don't have any money with me since I passed everything including my wallet to sis ! Ange asked me not to worry and to wait in the ward while she goes and settle everything.

Poor thing, she had to walk sooooo far away. Soon, she came back and I asked her how much she had to pay. She said that instead of paying, they actually told her they have a balance of RM40 to return ! I was SHOCKED ! And extremely happy and thankful ! Not only was the operation a success, the cost which had me worrying is no longer a worry anymore.

Ange then fetch me home, and we reach my house around 11:45am. Later sis also came and all of them, including mom went out for lunch. Sis said I should stay home. Anyway, before I left, the nurse gave me some cough medicine, and I was already feeling its effect. After they left, I had a nice sleep.

It was nice to be back home. I got to watch my Astro channels, the AOD (Astro On Demand) shows, etc etc. Even the bed was more comfortable and most importantly, I got to logon to the Internet whenever I want.

I will be back to the hospital next week to remove my stitches and to see whether the report is out.

My Operation - 29th April

2008-05-03T20:39:00.007+08:00

On my body now, there are :

5 painful needle holes, 3 of which are swollen and 1 blue black

1 painful small hole in the neck

9 stitches in the left face, which is also slightly swollen

A numb left face and ear

AND a left earlobe with no feeling

All these happened because of the tumour that was growing in my face. I finally did the operation to remove it.

Dr. Tang called me on 28th April and told me to go to the clinic first on the 28th before "checking in" to the ward. I packed a Sudoku book (courtesy of Lisa) and a pen, a book, a bottle of water, my mobile phone and also a sweater. Yep, didn't pack a lot coz didn't want to carry everything with me while I walk from 1 place to another !

So, on the morning of 29th, I drove myself to Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and reached there around 7:50am. After parking my car, I first went to Pharmcare to collect my medication before going to the clinic.

Around 8am, I registered myself and waited for the doctor to call me. After about an hour plus (and about 4 Sudoku puzzles), my number was finally called. Once inside, Dr. Tang took a whole bunch of forms and started filling them. There were really a LOT of forms. I was asked to sign on one of the form. I then asked the doc again what time my operation is scheduled for, and he told me 9am in the morning. Then he asked the nurse to get him something.

The nurse came back with this drip needle which he poke into my left wrist, and he collected about 4 test tubes of blood ! PAINFUL ! Then he put a stopper into the drip needle, which will be used again later. I was then asked to wait outside for someone to take me to the inpatient registration counter, because I have to first pay a deposit of RM500.

All these are located in Menara Utama. Someone then took me to Menara Timur's Ward 7TD to check-in. I waited there for about 15 minutes, then a guy came and put a patient tag on my right wrist. The ward was really cold and I could see that most of the patients and their family members were bundled up in sweaters or windbreakers. After a while, I was taken to Bed 9, where it will be my "home" for the next few days.

The nurse also asked me to change into the hospital gowns. After changing, I took out my sweater to wear, then called my mom and sis to tell them that I've already checked-in. Sis said she can come around 12 noon and asked me what I wanted to eat. She said she can tapau McD or chicken rice for me. I told her not to come so soon because I had to do some tests, and was not sure what time I'd be back at the ward.

The doctor told me that I only have to start fasting from 12 midnite. Around 10:30am, I was taken to do the ECG test and for a chest x-ray. Since I was afraid of losing my mobile and my wallet, I took my bag along with me. Everything was done by around 11:30am.

I was wondering whether I'd be served lunch or whether I had to go buy something to eat. However, at 12pm, lunch was served. I chose rice instead of porridge as I knew after the operation, I will be eating porridge for some time, probably until I get sick of it. For lunch, there was rice, ayam masak merah, pickled vegetables and a slice of watermelon. I ate the rice and chicken only.

After lunch, I started on another Sudoku puzzle. Mid-way through, someone called me to say that the anestatician wants to speak to me. She asked me a few questions, explain about the procedure and also asked me to sign the consent form. I went back to my bed after that and continued on the puzzle.

I looked around at my "neighbours". On my left was an Indian lady. On my right, a Chinese lady, and across me was an empty bed. Next to it was a Malay lady. Later, the Chinese lady was transferred to a room at the back, and a Malay girl was brought in and occupied the empty bed.

Around 2:30pm, I was again called, this time by a doctor who wanted to document my case, since it's rather unique. Yeah, I think I made ENT history by having the biggest tumour in the face / head. He wanted to take some pictures of me, to which I agreed.

I was then asked to stand against the wall, and face front and side for him to take pictures. In my mind, I was thinking, if they had asked me to hold a number plate, I would really look like a criminal ! The doctor then asked me to sit down so that he can take some pictures inside my mouth, because part of the tumour's "bump" can be seen there.

After the pictures, I went back to my bed, and around 3pm, tea was sent. Just as I wanted to start on the Milo, a couple of doctors came, and checked my lump. After these 2 doctors, another 2 came ! Sheesh, the tumour might as well be a superstar, with everyone wanting to see it ! Finally, after they left, I got to drink my Milo, which had already turned cold. Sigh.... I decided to skip the donut because I didn't want my glucose level to rise.

The Chinese lady later came and talked to me, asking what I was in for. I told her about my tumour, and she said that she had been hospitalized for 2 weeks now. She also had 2 tumours removed from her face, but hers was cancerous, and the doctor also removed lymph nodes from around her neck and back to prevent the cancer spread.

She told me that she first found out about the lumps a year ago, when she went to Gleneagles to check them, but was told that they were nothing. However she persisted to checked and finally came to UMMC, who confirmed the lumps were cancerous and had to be removed.

She also told me that the Indian lady on my right had been staying in the hospital for more than a month. Seems that she also had a cancerous lump removed from her face and had to replace the flesh with some flesh from her thigh. Seems that she had been in the ICU for almost a week, but recovered enough to be transferred back to the normal ward.

As we were conversion, Prof Preba arrived with Dr. Tang again to check on me and to tell me that they can't find my MRI and CAT scans ! Prof said that he will try and locate it again, since it's probably misplaced because of the few times I was ALMOST admitted. (once because of my glucose, once I asked for delay and the last time they changed the date).

At 6pm, my dinner arrived. It was rice and chicken in oyster sauce, 2 types of vegetables, an orange, a packet of biscuit and also a packet of Milo. I found out that they actually serve Milo the whole day through, from breakfast, to lunch, to tea and also for dinner. Weird huh ?

Sis came around 7pm with her hubby and Evelyn. She went to my house to collect the other things which I may need to use from ah ma before coming to see me at the ward. She also brought along a mug of hot Bovril for me to drink because I told her it was cold in the ward. It was nice to drink that. Yummy. She also bought a new bottle of Marmite for me, in case I want to make something hot to drink later.

Before she left, I passed her my bag which had my wallet and the clothes I wore when I was admitted, together with the key and parking ticket of my car. I then tried to sleep, thinking that it would be quite easy because I was tired and slept late the night before. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to sleep in a hospital. It's really NOISY ! There's people talking, coughing, moving around, going to the washroom, lights, sounds of equipments, TV sound, etc etc etc.

Decision made

2008-04-26T21:00:00.003+08:00

Well, I've decided about 2 weeks back that I'd be going for the operation. Although I was having 2nd thoughts about the op since the doc said that facial damage will be about 10-20%, but I think removing it is better than leaving it in my head. What if it grows as big as a melon ? It will squish my brains and eyes to 1 side !

Also, the alternative medicine that I was taking doesn't seem to be having any effect as all. Since last Sun, my left ear feels "blocked", a feeling akin to being on high land or when you have flu. I was a bit worried after the 3rd day so went to UM to see a doctor. Unfortunately, the group of docs I normally see had changed their shift from Wed/Fri to Tue/Thu. But I figured, what the heck, just go see one of them.

After waiting 1 hour, it was finally my turn. The doc did some tests using the tuning fork, then asked me to go do some auditory tests in Pantai because the machine in UM is under repair.

However, I decided not to do that. Instead I waited until evening to find out if the Prof Prepa was on duty. Upon finding that he was, I left at 6pm sharp and went home to collect my ah ma and the patient card.

I reached there around 7:20pm, and registered. After waiting a while, I went into the room. He checked my ear and said that my ears looked very clear. I can actually see in on the monitor. It was clear and clean.

He said it's probably due to the tumour. Then he sprayed something into my nose, and asked me to go outside and wait for a few minutes. After a while, he called me back in again. Then he poked a camera down my nose !

He showed me that the tumour is pressing against the tube, and he said that after removing the tumour, my ear's hearing should return to normal. Then I asked him again about the operation. He said that the facial nerves damages should be temporary, and for first 2-3 weeks, I won't be able to chew properly, especially on the left side.

I will probably be given 4-6 weeks' medical leave by the doctor. I will make sure to rest properly before going back to work, since I had been working so hard lately. I rarely leave the office before 8:30pm ! Therefore, it will indeed be a good time for me to take a well-deserved rest (well, at least I think so lor....)

I will be working until 28th, admitting on 29th and on 30th, the doc will be performing my operation. After that, I will be given medical leave for 4-6 weeks, depending on my recuperation progress. Of course, the longer the better ler ! Hehehe.... it IS a MAJOR operation, not to be taken lightly. However, the doc seemed pretty confident about the op, so hopefully everything goes well.

Hong Kong - 1st Day

2008-04-16T00:40:00.010+08:00

I went to Hong Kong with my sis and my 2 nieces, Ade and Evelyn from 18th March - 22nd March. We took the 9am flight from KLIA on Cathay Pacific and we will be staying in Hotel Kowloon in Tsim Sha Tsui area.

I saw Mr. Magorium's Emporium on the flight to Hong Kong, and watch Beowulf on the flight back to KLIA. As for the food on Cathay Pacific, seems that the fish fillet rice was terrible, because the fish had a very strong "fishy" taste. However, my omelette and hash browns were quite nice. I gave the Kit Kat and Yogurt to Ade and Evelyn. On the flight back, they also gave us Nestle ice cream. Yummy.
This is the plane we flew on. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, we can see that the sky was not very clear but the weather was cool. The Hong Kong airport was huge, with shops everywhere. Even their shuttle train were longer than the one in KLIA.
At the airport, we went looking for the agent and for the shuttle bus to take us to our hotel.
Upon arrival at our hotel, we went to check in. The hotel lobby is quite nice, and it is just next door to the Seibu departmental store. We booked two rooms since there were four of us.

The hotel rooms were small (the norm in Hong Kong) but quite nice and clean. It even had a small LCD TV (to save space). When we turned on the TV, there was a greeting to welcome us to their hotel. Talk about maximizing the use of technology !
After a while, we decided to go out and have a walk around, to try and recognize some landmarks. We saw a McDonalds nearby our hotel and immediately felt a bit hungry, so we wandered in to have some food. Sis was hankering for her porky bun. Hehehe....

The McDonalds in Hong Kong are much nicer and had a lot more selections. They have cakes, sandwiches and salads aside from the normal fare. They even have capuccino and lattes.

We ordered a lobster soup, and a Ham & Cheese set. The lobster soup was okay but a tad salty. The Ham & Cheese burger was delicious !

After the meal, we then made our way to the Avenue of Stars. Instead of going the short way, we took the long way there since we were still unfamiliar with the roads and directions. Finally we reach the harbour and saw the Hong Kong skyline, but as you can see, it still looks blurry.
There were also displays of Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying and Ni Ni around the area.

We continued along the Avenue Of Stars and took some photos with the various items and props. Hehehe...

We walked around the area and took some photos of the night view of the Hong Kong skyline.

At 8pm, we managed to get some seats to watch the Symphony of Lights show, where the lights on the buildings across the harbour changes according to the music played. Very nice and indeed spectacular.
After the show, we went in search of a place for dinner. In one of the departmental stores, they had 2 very nice antique cars on display.
Finally we decided to have dinner at UCC Cafe since it was Evelyn's birthday. The food was quite nice.

After dinner, we decided to go to the recommended Sweet Dynasty for desserts and supper. It was located at 100 Canton Road. We ordered some porridge and also their walnut soup, tau foo fa, mixed fruits sago and honeymelon sago. Everything was tasty and their porridge was so smooth and nice.

On the way back to the hotel after the desserts, we passed by a Hard Rock Cafe and also a big Louis Vuitton shop.

We reached the hotel around 11pm. Tomorrow, we decided to go to Disneyland so as to beat the weekend crowd.

Hong Kong - 2nd Day

2008-04-16T00:39:00.019+08:00

We decided to go to Disneyland on a weekday, so we spent the whole of our 2nd day in Hong Kong there. We decided to go for breakfast at one of the local shops nearby our hotel before beginning our journey to Disneyland.

We ordered chee cheong fun, porridge, wantan mee and beef ball noodles. The food was quite good, and the coffee was nice.

After breakfast, we took the MTR towards Sunny Bay. Once there, we boarded the MTR that will take us to Disneyland. Even the trains' windows had the famous Mickey Mouse symbol and the train's interior was very different from the normal MTR trains.
We reach Disneyland around 9am. Seen here is the entrance to the Hong Kong Disneyland.

On the way in, there was a very nice fountain with the many figurines of Disney characters around it.
Even the tickets are so nice. Each one had a different Disney character on it. However, Disneyland only opens at 10am, so we sat around on the benches outside to wait for the doors to open.
Around 9:50am, we started to queue at the entrance. When the doors opened, the workers checked everyone's bags. Initially we thought they wanted to consfiscate all the drinks and food that people bring in. But it wasn't that because they allowed those who brought food and drinks to pass through. Hmmmm, wondered what they were looking for ? Weapons Of Mass Destruction ? Or are they planning to consfiscate all the Bugs Bunny, Tweety or Snoopy that people bring in ?

After we passed through the gates, we took a photo of the big Mickey with the Disney train station in the background.
On our way inside, we saw a Pluto character and went to take a picture with it.

At the Town Centre, we quickly went to queue for a photo with the stars of Disneyland, Mickey and Minnie. Nice leh....
Altogether in Hong Kong Disneyland, there are 3 "lands". There's Tomorrowland, Fantasyland and Adventureland. We went to Tomorrowland first, and went queuing for Space Mountain. It was a very exciting roller coaster ride in the dark. You feel as if you're really in space, with all the stars zooming past you. We went on the ride TWICE but sis decided not to go again. In fact if I had the time, I would have gone on it a few more times !!! Sis waited for us at the Comet Cafe nearby.

After that, Ade, Evelyn and I tried the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. It's a very kiddy ride, where you sit in a "car" and you can use the "gun" in front to point at shoot at the bad guys to get score points. Ade scored the highest followed by me.

Then we collected sis from the cafe and went to see Stitch Encounter. There are sessions in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. We decided not to wait for an English session, so we just joined the Mandarin one. It was a very very funny show, with the cartoon Stitch interacting with the audiences. Very enjoyable indeed.

By the time we came out from the show, it was close to 11:30am, and the Golden Mickeys show begins at 12pm, so we went queuing for it. The thing about all these resorts, you have to queue for everything, and they don't provide benches for you to sit while waiting. Sigh.......

The Golden Mickeys is an "award show" for the Disney characters. Quite entertaining.

After the show, we decided to have our lunch as our stomachs were beginning to growl. Although the food was not that great and quite pricey, we really liked the utensils. Just look at the bowl. It's side handles had Mickey's symbol on it. Nice hoh ?

After lunch, we then went to watch the 3D Mickey's PhilharMagic show. Again, a very enjoyable show with the storyline about Donald chasing after a magic hat and getting into all sorts of trouble.
In the theater, as we waited for it to begin, I suddenly had a whiff of eggs and when I looked around, I saw an old aunty peeling an egg for her lunch. Hehehe...
Ade and Evelyn went on the carousel after the show, then it was time to get back to the Main Street for the 3pm Disney Parade. Instead of walking, we decided to take the train from Fantasyland back to the Main Street.

In the train, we had a glimpse of the whole of Tomorrowland.
We managed to get some seats for the Disney Parade, but I sat with Evelyn while sis sat with Ade right across the street. While waiting for the Parade to start, I dashed into Mickey's House and took some photos.

There was this couple sitting next to us from UK, and they had adopted a very cute African kid. He kept pestering his dad for popcorns, then he also played with Evelyn and myself. Very nice and friendly kid, not the least bit afraid of us at all.

Just before the parade started, some very stubborn woman and her daughter decided to stand right in front of our seats to watch the parade ! Even though many berated them, they refuse to move ! Talk about rude people ! So in the end, Evelyn and myself had to resort to standing on our benches in order to be able to take some decent photos.

After the parade, we went back to Fantasyland and saw "Merlin" near the carousel trying to find a "king" to pull the sword out from the stone.
From Fantasyland, we went to Adventureland. We went on the Jungle River Cruise, which had queues for English, Cantonese and Mandarin. We chose English of course, and it was the shortest queue ! Hehehehe.....

Quite an interesting ride, and our boatman kept saying "Say goodbye to those on land, it may be the last time you see them !". We passed by "elephants", "crocodiles", "hippos", and even a "danger zone" where there were geysers made by an angry "God".

Then Ade and Evelyn decided to take the river cruise to Tarzan Island. Sis and myself opted out as we didn't want to climb up the Tarzan tree ! My legs just couldn't take so much walking and queuing. Instead, I went in search of the Jumbo sausage. It was quite delicious.
At 5pm, we all began queuing for the Festival Of The Lion King show. We had to wait for 1 whole hour, and I can tell you, my legs were so tired. Made me wish I had brought along Yoko-Yoko to apply !

Finally at 6pm, we were allowed to enter the hall. Finally, we have places to sit ! The show was quite grand and elaborate. It was about Simba reminiscing how he became the King of all Beasts.
By the time the show finished, it was already closed to 7pm. Since the fireworks starts at 8pm, we decided to go back to the Main Street. We saw the Disney workers pulling the line to demarcate the border, and we managed to get a place just behind the line. Finally, there's no way anyone will be standing in front of me and blocking my view !

Sis, Ade and Evelyn decided to go collect the photos taken with Mickey & Minnie in the morning, and to pay a visit to Mickey's House. Since I had already been there, I became the designated seat reserver and bag watcher. It was really boring sitting there. Luckily I had my iPod with me. The square began to quickly filled up with people who wanted to watch the fireworks.
Finally at 8pm sharp, Ade and Evelyn managed to come back just in time for the fireworks to begin. It was really wonderful and spectacular, unlike the lousy one we saw in Putrajaya last year. Really worth the wait.

After the fireworks, we went shopping for souvenirs as a remembrance for our visit to Hong Kong Disneyland. I wanted to buy a very nice Mickey lanyard, but unfortunately, they were all sold out.

For our dinner, we decided to go back to town for dinner. Unfortunately, the shop we chose wasn't that great. Food was ok, but the coffee was not nice at all. We saw quite a few tables ordering some crispy fish skins, so we also ordered them, but it was so-so only. The noodles, rice and porridge were quite okay though.

After dinner, we went to Sweet Dynasty again for desserts before heading back to the hotel and dropping off to sleep. I practically smoothered by legs with Tiger Balm after taking my bath to try and ease the pain. (No Yoko-Yoko ma, use Tiger Balm as replacement lor....). It helped a bit, but not much.

Hong Kong - 3rd Day

2008-04-16T00:39:00.018+08:00

This morning we woke up and went to McDonalds for breakfast. We ordered the Ham n' Egg Twisty Pasta. It was really delicious. Don't understand why Malaysia McDonalds can't have this on their menu.

Evelyn ordered the Big Breakfast set. Almost similar to Malaysia.
Ade ordered the Sausage McMuffin, also something similar to Malaysia.
After breakfast, we took the MTR to Tung Chung as we wanted to take the Ngong Ping 360 Cable car ride to Lantau Island, where the Tian Tan Buddha Statue is. Tung Chung had a huge mall called Citygates that had a lot of outlets for brands like Nike, Adidas, Polo Ralph Lauren, Burberry, etc etc etc.

The whole cable car journey took about 25 minutes, and it had an "angle station" where the cars makes a turn of about 60 degrees before proceeding on it's journey. On arrival at Lantau, we have to pass through the Ngong Ping village where there are a lot of souvenir shops and restaurants.

Finally we reach the foot of the big Buddha statue. Sis and I decided to just take a picture at the foot of the long staircase, since we had already "made the journey up" many years ago ! Hehehe, we let the 2 youngsters climb up the stairs while we went in search of the "San Sui Tau Foo Fa" which was not only delicious but very smooth as well.
Meanwhile, Ade and Evelyn finally reach the top and took a photo with the Buddha.
This picture was taken during our journey back to Tung Chung. You can see how far and high up the cable cars go. Sis was actually afraid during the whole journey !
By the time we finished our window shopping in Tung Chung, it was already close to 4pm. From there we went to Times Square Hong Kong just to take a look at the Hong Kong landmark. Then we took the ferry from Wan Chai as we wanted to go to Temple Street for dinner.
Temple Street is famous for its claypot rice, and we ordered 2 pots. One is claypot pork ribs and another one is claypot waxed meat. When the rice arrives, there is this bottle of dark soy sauce for us to add into the rice, then to mixed it up before eating.

Although the claypot rice is quite nice, Temple Street was sooooo quiet ! There were only a few stalls around, unlike the last time sis and I were in Hong Kong. Now, it's even smaller than the pasar malam near my house !

From Temple Street, we decided to go to Ladies Street. Now that is a really happening place, with so many people milling around, and it's like Petaling Street x 2. There were also many shops around. I bought a "skin" for my iPod and Evelyn bought her football jersey. Can't remember it was Ronaldo or Ronaldinho. To me, all same same.
Our last stop of the day was back to Sweet Dynasty. This time round, aside from the Walnut soup, we ordered Birds' nest egg tarts. Very small but quite tasty.
We also ordered some "Har Gau" but it was so-so only.
Evelyn ordered the Ginger Soup Glutinous Ball which took such a long time to arrive, and it's not even as tasty as those in Malaysia. I think even the ones sold in our pasar malam taste better !

Hong Kong - 4th Day

2008-04-16T00:14:00.019+08:00

Today we went on the 1/2 day city tour. Again, we went to McDonalds to have our breakfast. At 9am, we boarded the bus, but it was not as comfortable as the shuttle we took from the airport to the hotel. The bus also picked up tourists from other hotels. In total there were about 30 of us.

As the bus drove through the city, we saw the "pigeon holes", flats and apartments that Hong Kong people stay in. The tour guide told us each unit is only about 350-400 sqft ! I think my house kitchen is bigger than their house !

Our 1st stop was a "sampan" ride. Their so-called "sampan" is actually a motor boat. Each of us paid HKD50 for the ride. It took us past the big huge floating Jumbo restaurant which is owned by Stanley Ho, and at the end of the ride, we also saw Li Ka Shing's boat.

After the ride, the tour guide took us to Repulse Bay and showed us Jackie Chan's house, Stanley Ho's 1st wife and 4th wife's house, Karina Lau's apartment, etc etc. We stopped at the Tin Hau Temple. There is now a man-made beach, and a shopping mall that is almost nearing completion.

Near the man-made beach, there is a "horse" which reminds me of the cows surrounding Starhill. We took the opportunity to take photos with it, pretending that we are leading the winner of a derby. Hahaha...

Our next stop was a jewellery factory where they introduced their special pendants, etc. Then we were led to the showroom where they had gold, jade and pearls on sale. We didn't buy anything as they only use 20K gold (known here as 835 gold) whereas we in Malaysia prefer to buy 22K gold (916 gold).

Not many of us bought anything. Our last stop of the 1/2 day tour was at The Peak. Unfortunately, because of the weather, the view from the Peak was so blurr. We decided not to follow the bus back to the city because we wanted to visit Madam Tussauds Wax Museum. However, we asked the tour guide for a nice restaurant to have dim sum.

Once inside, we went crazy taking pictures with so many "stars" !

Poor Angelina Jolie had to loan me her Brad Pitt

Sis "molesting" Cecilia Chung

Ade "molesting" Utada Hikaru

You ! I think your country's currency is too high !

.... And you know, I think some of your foreign policies need changing....

Hello, hello (wah, we so popular)

I think your tie's crooked

"Yat ahhhh yip, hing zhaooooo hui ahhh"

Take me around Shanghai

Evelyn blissfully happy in Bae Yong-Jun's embrace

Wah... SOOOOO tall !

C'mon ! Let's see who's stronger !

La la la la la la

I look slimmer like this

The Peak's tram station

From the Peak, we took a cab down to Kowloon's Sportful Garden Restaurant. Yeah, very weird name, but the food is good ! The captain advised us to order this set (HKD238) as it gives value for money.

The first thing that came was the soup. It had chicken, some herbs, snow fungus and coconut bits. A whiff of the soup tells us that it will be delicious, and the first spoonful did not disappoint. It was really tasty, and don't think we can get it in KL.

Then came the char siew. It was also delicious, almost comparable to the char siew from Salak South.
The "Ham Sui Kok" (at least we think it is lar..) was not that great, but since it came with the set.....

The crystal skin dimsum was wonderful ! We really "tabik" the chef for being able to make the skin so translucent and full of fillings, yet doesn't break when we pick it up with our chopsticks. Talk about skills !

A dish of veges came next, and it was fried together with some sort of shellfish which we had never tasted before. Quite delicious.

We ordered their "chee cheong fun" but it was so-so lar..

This vege dish is also very delicious. Quite different from what we have back in KL.

Being gluttons, we ordered additional "Lotus Leaf Rice" (hor yip fan), thinking that the set would not be enough. It was quite nice, and filled us up so much we could hardly walk.

The egg tart was also ordered separately. It's very dainty and delicious, and not too sweet. Very nice indeed.

After the meal, as we walked towards the exit, we saw this HUUUUGGGEEE fish in the tank, and couldn't resist taking pictures of it. See ? Here's proof that it was a very very huge fish.

From the restaurant, we decided to go visit the Golden Bauhinia Square, near Wan Chai. We followed the instructions given by sis' friends, and it took us through a few complexes, one of which had these cute little miniatures on display. They are really small, yet the details are so fine. A little boy was crying his heart out because he wanted to buy them, but they were only for display.

As we pass through the Hong Kong Convention Centre, we saw this sight. Just look at those escalators, and it will give you a guide on how big the centre is.

Blurr view from the Square

The Golden Bauhinia

From there we went to Soho and Lan Kwai Fong by cab, since Ade and Eve have never been there before. We had to take the cab because our legs (well, at least mine and sis) are almost detached from our bodies !

View of Soho from one of its elevators

In Soho, we stopped by a Krispy Kreme donut shop and ordered some "refreshments". Hehehe

After the refreshments, we then continued our journey towards Lan Kwai Fong street. We passed by a stall selling lots and lots of beautiful tanglungs. Then we also saw this shop, which looked so yummy ! Slurrrrpppp ! Just look at the rows and rows and rows of char siew, roast duck and roast goose. And below them, alternating dishes of roast chicken and steam chicken.

We decided not to have dinner here, so we continued on to Lan Kwai Fong. Finally we reach the street and took a photo as remembrance.
From Lan Kwai Fong, we decided to take the MTR back to Tsim Sha Tsui as we wanted to walk around in Harbour City. On our way to the Central MTR station, we passed by this Hong Kong Jockey Club station, but didn't buy any tickets.

In Harbour City, we chose Crystal Jade La Mien Xiao Long Bau Restaurant that had a lot of people waiting for their queue, since people normally queue only for good food. Again, we were not disappointed as their food are delicious.

First off, we ordered this 5 grains fried rice. Very delicious and unusual.

Then we ordered this dish where very thinly sliced pork meat wraps around some veges and are topped with spicy sauce. Nice, and it's a cold dish. Then of course we had to have the xiao long bau. Delicious....

Since Hong Kong people always order roast pigeon, we ordered one as well. Taste like... duck, but very much smaller. Not really that great, if you ask me.After our dinner, we just had to go to Sweet Dynasty one last time for our desserts. Hehehe.. Couldn't resist ma.... We ordered Mango Pudding this time and of course the Walnut Soup. After the desserts, we decided to call it the day and started on our journey back to the hotel. However, barely 10 minutes into the journey, sis needed to visit the ladies, so we went into one of the malls nearby. It was already 11pm at that time. While waiting for her, we saw 2 Japanese restaurants still opened for business.

The ladies were just nearby the entrance of one of the Japanese restaurants, and as sis passed by, she happened to glance at the menu. Then she came towards us and said that we should have eaten here, as the prices were cheap and reasonable, and some of the items looked really delicious.

Ade and I looked at each other, then told her, why not we go and have our supper there ! So, all of us trooped into Watami Restaurant for our supper. We ordered a green tea and black sesame ice cream (HKD16), a dish of salmon sashimi (HKD39) and their "Anago Cooked In Sweet Soy Sauce And Shrimp Sushi" (HKD44). Everything were delicious. The salmon sashimi was so fresh and delicious, but we were already so full, we couldn't order another plate. What a waste.

The ice cream was so delicious that we were already half way through before we remembered to take a picture !

The salmon sashimi, altogether 7 pieces. They were really fresh.

The Anago Cooked In Sweet Soy Sauce And Shrimp Sushi

Hong Kong - Last Day

2008-04-15T23:29:00.008+08:00

Our last day in Hong Kong, we used the time to the max . We woke up early and took the MRT to Wong Tai Sin Temple. We actually found out the night before that using the Octopus card is cheaper than the published rates so we had enough for the fare there and back. We decided to go there first, then only look around to see if there are any good places for our breakfast.

The temple had quite a number of people although it was still quite early. Apparently it being a Saturday and coupled with being the 15th of the lunar month, a lot of people went there to pray to the Gods.

Aside from a lot of aunties selling joss sticks and etc at the MRT entrances and exits, there were also stalls like this in the temple's vacinity.

After a visit to the temple, we walked towards the nearby mall. One thing about Hong Kong, almost every MRT exit we went to had a mall or shopping street nearby. And although it was only 9am in the morning, the mall was already opened.

On our way there, again we saw another horse that seems to be a pair with the one near the Repulse Bay Temple, so of course we had to take another picture.

We found an eatery already opened in the mall and we ordered something which we always hear when watching Hong Kong serials.... Polo Bun. Basically it's a normal bun but the top has crusts made with pineapple juice. Emmmm.... it was Yummy ! We also ordered an egg tart, and it too was delicious. Smooth and the sweetness was just right. Surprisingly, we actually find Malaysian egg tarts sweeter !

I ordered pork chop with macaroni. Nice, but I find the pork chop a tad too "porky". Hehe. We also "tapau" some polo bun in case we got hungry before our flight.

After the breakfast, we went walking around the mall. My niece saw a G2000 shop, finally after so many days, and it was on SALE ! Did you know what we did ? We actually knocked on the door and asked the sales girl (who was having her breakfast) whether we can go in and buy something, because we have a flight to catch in the afternoon. She was so nice that she actually let us into the shop.

After trying on a few garments, Ade decided to buy 3 pieces of garment. As we were exiting the shop, another lady also enquired whether the shop is opened and whether she could come in to shop, but the sales girl told her no, they only open at 11am. We were really so lucky !

We went back to the hotel as the shuttle bus was coming at 12pm to fetch us. Before we exit the MRT station, we returned the Octopus card, and got back HKD40+ per card. It was really so convenient to use, whether on the MRT, bus, ferry, anywhere !

We really shopped until the last moment, because sis bought a watch for herself in the Seibu departmental store adjoined to our hotel. Although it's so near, we had never actually shopped there because each time we reach the hotel, it was already closed !

At 12pm, we took down our luggages, checked out and finally boarded the shuttle to the airport. It was sad leaving Hong Kong as we still had a few places we haven't gone yet, like Ocean Park, Stanley Market, etc. But we were glad to be going back to KL because our legs were really too tired and won't be able to stand much more walking ! Hehehe..

At the airport, just before we boarded the plane, I was walking past a shop and suddenly saw that it was selling ODM watches. I just had to go in and have a look. Guess what ? I saw, decided and paid for a watch all within 10 minutes ! Hehehe... no regrets though.

The watch has a scrolling text and it says "Never too late to action". Yeah, must be written by a Chinese. I just changed it recently (had to do it in a shop in KL selling ODM). Now every morning when I wear the watch, it greets me "Hi Gorgeous". Hahahaha.

One Year Older

2008-01-04T21:45:00.000+08:00

Just celebrated my birthday recently, with sis taking me out to have a nice nice dinner with the family. Of course I can't have any cakes (sugar mar...) but I did receive a lot of SMS, calls, emails and MSN messages to wish me Happy Birthday. Thank you everyone for your wishes.

Well, again I am 1 year older. Hopefully 2008 will be a good year for me. 2007 is not that great, with my health problems and also the company MSS. But everything is now is the past, and I look forward to a good year.

I have delayed my operation to 21st April 2008. Just too much work that I have to complete, and I'm afraid that if I go ahead with the operation, I won't be able to have a peaceful recovery. There are also other reasons, but regardless, at least I have some breathing space. And since the operation will be after all the moving, etc, I should be able to have a nice quiet peaceful recovery period.

I think my Chinese New Year should be quite enjoyable, except for the fact that I can't take anything sweet. Sigh.......

The Day Is Drawing Near

2007-12-31T23:26:00.000+08:00

4th January 2008 is the day that I will be admitted to Universiti Hospital for the final checkup before my operation. If everything goes well, my operation will proceed as planned on 7th January 2008.

It's sort of like a blessing in disguise that the original date of 20th December 2007 was postponed, as it allowed me to celebrate my Tong Festival, Christmas, New Year and birthday. Unfortunately, I won't be able to enjoy a cake during my birthday as I need to watch my glucose level..... sigh.....

I am quite surprised at myself, as I still am quite calm about the whole operation thingy. Perhaps I will start feeling anxious the night before my admission to the hospital. Also, with so much work to do in the office, it's keeping me very well occupied from morning till night, weekdays and even weekends !

At times, it's a wonder that I can actually complete certain tasks, since I am multi-tasking so much most of the time. I even find myself starting something, then when other things crop up, I actually forget all about it until the end of the day, or even the next day ! Getting old and stressed out !

With so little time for myself, I don't actually have time to dwell on my issues at all. I do hope that my operation will go well, so that I can actually recover fast. I am also worried as during the time of recuperation, my office is supposed to move down from the 18th Floor to the 14th Floor, followed by the holidays for the Chinese New Year.

There are tons of things which I have yet to pack or to transfer from the 18th Floor server room to the 14th Floor server room. Also, there are so many files that I should transfer and pack into boxes for easier transfer. I feel like going nuts just thinking about all these ! Having to handle all these alone is not an easy task, I tell you.

But, be rest assured that after my operation and during my recuperation, I will not trouble myself with office work, lest it interferes with my recovery ! I shall just be laid back and relax, and let other people suffer the work until I come back ! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Well, so much for now. Cheerio everyone and have a Happy New 2008 !

Stampede !

2007-12-31T23:13:00.000+08:00

On Christmas day, I went to Starhill's Jogoya for lunch with a friend and after the meal, we went to the Pavilion. As we exit from Starhill, we saw a WHOLLLLEEEEE bunch of cute cows lining up, ready for their photos to be taken !

Each and every cow had a different design, and looked cute. Some even had "owners" such as TNT, DHL, Maxis, etc. I even saw one that was quite similar to my Chinese zodiac. I was born an Ox in the Year of the Tiger, and this "cow" had tiger stripes. Hahahahaha.

How am I, you asked ?

2007-12-15T12:15:00.000+08:00

I am at this very moment tired and my back is aching from moving FOUR servers ALONE from the 20th floor to the 18th floor. I will have to move them again next week from the 18th down to its new server room on the 14th floor. Why am I doing this alone ? Well, because there is no one else here to help me !

Currently my health is not that good. Just found out last week that even when I fast, my blood glucose reading is high, and now I need to take pills to lower the reading. Luckily the pills seem to be working fine, since my reading is back to normal.

As for my operation on the 21st, well, it has been postponed by the Professor, since he had to take leave. Now I'd be admitted on the 4th of January 2008, and if everything checks out ok (i.e. BP is good, glucose is good) then I'd be allow to leave and check in again on the afternoon of 6th. My actual operation is scheduled for 7th January 2008.

With this delay, it actually gives me a bit of breathing room since I was rushing to complete a whole slew of tasks due to the Corporate people moving to a new location. What with having to arrange for network cabling works, moving airconds, shifting servers, managing a faulty SDSL internet line, reconfiguring email accounts, and in between solving users' problems and helping them to source for items, I have virtually no time to rest ! Nowadays, it's lucky if I can leave the office by 7:30pm.

Also, the postponement allows me to celebrate the Winter Solstice (oklar... will eat less "tong yuen"), my favourite time of the year which is Christmas, and also my birthday (hint hint... presents/angpows will be happily received ! Hahaha)

So, this is how I am now. Hopefully after my operation I will have a very good rest, which I think I have earned !

Toyota Classics 18/11/2007

2007-11-25T03:04:00.001+08:00

Last Sunday my niece Ade treated me to Toyota Classics. Both she and her sisters were all dressed to the nines, all dolled up and looking really pretty. Me ? Usual lar... hehe....

The orchestra group were from Spain, and they also had a tenor with them. All in all, it was quite enjoyable. Initially I was rather reserved, since I was afraid they'd be playing from stuff like Hadyn, Handel or Mozart. I'd probably fall asleep !

Luckily they didn't, and it was really quite enjoyable. The only drawback was that the venue is rather hot, as the conductor requested for some of the air vents to be turned off, due to noise. Talk about perfectionist....

Two of the orchestra members are also quite handsome, so it was not only pleasant to the ears, but also to the eyes. Hehehehe.... hopefully can go again next year :-)

10 Years' Bond

2007-11-16T15:07:00.000+08:00

We met 10 years ago in this office. She was a replacement for the secretary who left, and she had this shy smile. Initially we were both rather reserved, but soon we became friends. I got to know about her 2 kids then, and now she already have 6 ! She also told me about her "Abang Joe", whom she loved very much.

We really had a lot of fun together, and we went through a lot together as well. We had a change of boss, went through a round of VSS in 1997 during the economic downturn, had colleagues leaving us and new colleagues joining us.

She is always there for me when I need someone to talk to, someone to advice me, a shoulder to cry on, etc. I am also there for her when she needs me. We have grown close together throughout all these years, becoming the best of friends.

I will always remember her promise to cook "ketam" for me, which she has yet to fulfill. I will also remember "Worm" and "Harpic" for a long long long long time. I will never forget all the "yellow" jokes she likes to crack, and her happy face, especially when she is really enjoying herself during annual dinners or year end gatherings.

I will never forget you, Norma.

My Ah Yee Very Terror

2007-11-06T13:51:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday hoh, my ah yee (aunt) so terror (outstanding, shocking, etc). She was having her dinner and swallowed a fish bone. Not those small tiny thin ones, but a 1 inch long, thick fish bone.

Don't ask me how, I am oso curious as to how she can swallow it. Long story short, she had to be admitted to the hospital for its removal. I think so far it's the most expensive fish she had, because the hospital bill was not cheap !

Weekend At Malacca – Sunday Part 1

2007-11-01T00:59:00.000+08:00

After the spree yesterday, we woke up around 10:30am on Sunday. By the time we all got ready, it was already about 11:30am, so we decided to go straight for lunch rather than breakfast.

Ange took us to Restoran Ole Sayang, a Nyonya restaurant that supposedly serves quite good Nyonya food. We ordered Rendang Chicken, mix vege, Ole Sayang tauhu and also Sambal Cili Jenak fish. Overall not too bad, but kinda pricey. We felt that the seafood dinner previous night was more worth it, and also fresher fish.

Rendang ayam

Mixed vegetables

Rice given by the restaurant

Ole Sayang tauhu

Sambal cili jenak

Then we told Ange we want to go Equatorial to pay a washroom visit, since the toilet in her house is so frustrating. Why ? It takes about 3-4 flushes before being able to clear a small tiny piece of tissue ! But again, our tyrannical unofficial tour guide refused our requests.

Instead, we ended up at Calanthe Art Café, where they serve coffee based on 13 states. We ordered Ange ordered Pahang coffee, Ade ordered Sabah and I ordered Kelantan. Eve ordered a Pink Lady, which is essentially strawberry shake. We also got ourselves a slice of Malteses Cheesecake to share.

Ade didn’t like her coffee because it was too bitter for her liking. All the three coffee each had its own distinctive taste. Kelantan was slightly sweeter. So in the end, she gave me her Sabah coffee while she ordered another glass of Perak coffee. Hehe… it was also not bad, and she liked it. Lucky for me, otherwise I might end up with that glass as well ! The cheesecake was very good. Yum.

Malteses Cheesecake

Weekend At Malacca – Sunday Part 2

2007-11-01T00:53:00.000+08:00

When we finally finished the coffee and cheesecake, we were very full but reluctant to go home, so instead we went shopping for Ange’s bed and mattress. Since she’d be moving soon, she need to get a bed and mattress for her new room. We went to a few shops. In the end, she has yet to decide on both the bed and the mattress, but we all agreed that the bed frame can be cheap, her mattress should be of good quality, and she can buy foam ones instead of spring, because those are cheaper.

Around 4pm, we went to Yong Ann Birds’ Nest shop for some desserts, and also a much-needed toilet break ! I saw some great-looking puddings outside the shop and decided to order one. The shop inside is very clean, and their toilets are clean and bright.

Ange ordered Honey Ginseng birds’ nests, Ade and Eve ordered Rock Sugar birds’ nest, and I got a Mango Pudding birds’ nest. My pudding came first. I took one bite, and……….. “What the !??!!!”

This is the mango pudding

Firstly, the “birds’ nest” tasted like partially cooked agar-agar. Crunchy. Also, there were sooooooooooo little of them that I can hardly see them. While I pass the pudding to Ange for tasting, the rest of the order came. Ange opened the cover and ……. “HAH ? Where’s the birds’ nests ?” Haha… all these three orders, especially the Rock Sugar birds’ nests looked like plain water. You really need to strain your eyes before you can see the birds’ nests. Hahahaha.

Rock sugar water. Birds' nests ? WHERE ?

First and last time we’ll be going there.

Weekend At Malacca – Sunday Part 3

2007-11-01T00:45:00.000+08:00

After the unsatisfying birds’ nest dessert, we went and bought some snacks from the Indian traders that were selling items for Deepavali. By the time we finish, it was already closed to 4:30pm. Since we were already full, we detour back to Ange’s house and had some shut-eye. Well, at least I had some shut-eye. Hehe.

We left the house again at around 6:00pm in search of dinner. Initially, Ange wanted to take us for Char Kuey Teow at one of the food courts, where we can also order Rojak Buah, but unfortunately the food court was closed on Sunday ! Can you imagine a food court being closed on Sunday in KL or PJ ?

Then we almost reach Mahkota Parade before Ange remembered a nice fried mee sua with pork soup near her house, which is very nice. So we went back there and ordered the pork soup fried mee sua, char kuey teow, fried oysters, and satay. Not just any satay, but pork satay and pork intestines satay !

The pork soup fried mee sua is nice, and something special. Can’t find it anywhere in KL, I think. The fried oysters were okay, char kuey teow so-so only. The satay was nice ! The meat is succulent and tasty. Definitely a must-try if I do make another trip down to Malacca next time.

Fried oysters

Pork soup with fried mee sua

Oink-oink and intestines satay

We finished our dinner, and went back to Ange’s house to collect the Kelisa and started our journey home at 7:30pm. After dozing off ½ a dozen times (and I don’t think Ade noticed, hehe) I finally reach home around 9:30pm. 30 minutes later Ade and Eve also reached their home.

All in, it was quite a satisfying trip to Malacca, especially with all the non-stop eating. For the next trip, I think we will definitely try and order the 9 other states’ coffee from Calanthe Arts Café.

Ange, start planning, and remember to find more new places for us to makan ! Haha.

What the Modern Woman Wants

2007-10-30T10:04:00.000+08:00

This excellent essay is from a 15 year old Singaporean girl who wrote the essay for the Commonwealth Essay Competition. Chief examiner Charles Kemp called her piece a 'powerfully moving and ironical critique of modern restlessness and its potentially cruel consequences'.The writing is fluent and assured, with excellent use of dialogue.

What the Modern Woman Wants
By Amanda Chong Wei-Zhen

The old woman sat in the backseat of the magenta convertible as it careened down the highway, clutching tightly to the plastic bag on her lap, afraid it may be kidnapped by the wind. She was not used to such speed, with trembling hands she pulled the seatbelt tighter but was careful not to touch the patent leather seats with her callused fingers, her daughter had warned her not to dirty it, 'Fingerprints show very clearly on white, Ma.'

Her daughter, Bee Choo, was driving and talking on her sleek silver mobile phone using big words the old woman could barely understand. 'Finance' 'Liquidation' 'Assets' 'Investments'... Her voice was crisp and important and had an unfamiliar lilt to it. Her Bee Choo sounded like one of those foreign girls on television. She was speaking in an American accent.

The old lady clucked her tongue in disapproval. 'I absolutely cannot have this. We have to sell!' Her daughter exclaimed agitatedly as she stepped on the accelerator; her perfectly manicured fingernails gripping onto the steering wheel in irritation.

'I can't DEAL with this anymore!' she yelled as she clicked the phone shut and hurled it angrily toward the backseat. The mobile phone hit the old woman on the forehead and nestled soundlessly into her lap. She calmly picked it up and handed it to her daughter.

'Sorry, Ma,' she said, losing the American pretence and switching to Mandarin. 'I have a big client in America. There have been a lot of problems.' The old lady nodded knowingly. Her daughter was big and important.

Bee Choo stared at her mother from the rear view window, wondering what she was thinking. Her mother's wrinkled countenance always carried the same cryptic look.

The phone began to ring again, an artificially cheerful digital tune, which broke the awkward silence. 'Hello, Beatrice! Yes, this is Elaine.' Elaine. The old woman cringed. I didn't name her Elaine. She remembered her daughter telling her, how an English name was very important for 'networking', Chinese ones being easily forgotten.

'Oh no, I can't see you for lunch today. I have to take the ancient relic to the temple for her weird daily prayer ritual.'

Ancient Relic. The old woman understood perfectly it was referring to her. Her daughter always assumed that her mother's silence meant she did not comprehend.

'Yes, I know! My car seats will be reeking of joss sticks!' The old woman pursed her lips tightly, her hands gripping her plastic bag in defence. The car curved smoothly into the temple courtyard. It looked almost garish next to the dull sheen of the ageing temple's roof. The old woman got out of the back seat, and made her unhurried way to the main hall.

Her daughter stepped out of the car in her business suit and stilettos and reapplied her lipstick as she made her brisk way to her mother's side.

'Ma, I'll wait outside. I have an important phone call to make,' she said, not bothering to hide her disgust at the pungent fumes of incense.

The old lady hobbled into the temple hall and lit a joss stick, she knelt down solemnly and whispered her now familiar daily prayer to the Gods.

Thank you God of the Sky, you have given my daughter luck all these years. Everything I prayed for, you have given her. She has everything a young woman in this world could possibly want. She has a big house with a swimming pool, a maid to help her, as she is too clumsy to sew or cook.

Her love life has been blessed; she is engaged to a rich and handsome angmoh man. Her company is now the top financial firm and even men listen to what she says. She lives the perfect life. You have given her everything except happiness. I ask that the gods be merciful to her even if she has lost her roots while reaping the harvest of success.

What you see is not true, she is a filial daughter to me. She gives me a room in her big house and provides well for me. She is rude to me only because I affect her happiness. A young woman does not want to be hindered by her old mother. It is my fault.

The old lady prayed so hard that tears welled up in her eyes. Finally, with her head bowed in reverence she planted the half-burnt joss stick into an urn of smouldering ashes.

She bowed once more. The old woman had been praying for her daughter for thirty-two years. When her stomach was round like a melon, she came to the temple and prayed that it was a son.

Then the time was ripe and the baby slipped out of her womb, bawling and adorable with fat thighs and pink cheeks, but unmistakably, a girl. Her husband had kicked and punched her for producing a useless baby who could not work or carry the family name.

Still, the woman returned to the temple with her new-born girl tied to her waist in a sarong and prayed that her daughter would grow up and have everything she ever wanted. Her husband left her and she prayed that her daughter would never have to depend on a man.

She prayed every day that her daughter would be a great woman, the woman that she, meek and uneducated, could never become. A woman with "neng kan"; the ability to do anything she set her mind to. A woman who commanded respect in the hearts of men. When she opened her mouth to speak, precious pearls would fall out and men would listen.

She will not be like me, the woman prayed as she watched her daughter grow up and drift away from her, speaking a language she scarcely understood. She watched her daughter transform from a quiet girl, to one who openly defied her, calling her "lao tu"; old-fashioned. She wanted her mother to be 'modern', a word so new there was no Chinese word for it.

Now her daughter was too clever for her and the old woman wondered why she had prayed like that. The gods had been faithful to her persistent prayer, but the wealth and success that poured forth so richly had buried the girl's roots and now she stood, faceless, with no identity, bound to the soil of her ancestors by only a string of origami banknotes.

Her daughter had forgotten her mother's values. Her wants were so ephemeral; that of a modern woman. Power, Wealth, access to the best fashion boutiques, and yet her daughter had not found true happiness. The old woman knew that you could find happiness with much less. When her daughter left the earth everything she had would count for nothing. People would look to her legacy and say that she was a great woman, but she would be forgotten once the wind blows over, like the ashes of burnt paper convertibles and mansions.

The old woman wished she could go back and erase all her big hopes and prayers for her daughter; now she had only one want: That her daughter be happy. She looked out of the temple gate. She saw her daughter speaking on the phone, her brow furrowed with anger and worry. Being at the top is not good, the woman thought, there is only one way to go from there - down.

The old woman carefully unfolded the plastic bag and spread out a packet of beehoon in front of the altar. Her daughter often mocked her for worshipping porcelain Gods. How could she pray to them so faithfully and expect pieces of ceramic to fly to her aid? But her daughter had her own gods too, idols of wealth, success and power that she was enslaved to and worshipped every day of her life.

Every day was a quest for the idols, and the idols she worshipped counted for nothing in eternity. All the wants her daughter had would slowly suck the life out of her and leave her, an empty soulless shell at the altar.

The old lady watched her joss stick. The dull heat had left a teetering grey stem that was on the danger of collapsing. Modern woman nowadays, the old lady sighed in resignation, as she bowed to the east one final time to end her ritual. Modern woman nowadays want so much that they lose their souls and wonder why they cannot find it.

Her joss stick disintegrated into a soft grey powder. She met her daughter outside the temple, the same look of worry and frustration was etched on her daughter's face. An empty expression, as if she was ploughing through the soil of her wants looking for the one thing that would sow the seeds of happiness.

They climbed into the convertible in silence and her daughter drove along the highway, this time not as fast as she had done before.

'Ma,' Bee Choo finally said. 'I don't know how to put this. Mark and I have been talking about it and we plan to move out of the big house. The property market is good now, and we managed to get a buyer willing to pay seven million for it. We decided we'd prefer a cosier penthouse apartment instead. We found a perfect one in Orchard Road. Once we move in to our apartment we plan to get rid of the maid, so we can have more space to ourselves...'

The old woman nodded knowingly. Bee Choo swallowed hard. 'We'd get someone to come in to do the housework and we can eat out - but once the maid is gone, there won't be anyone to look after you. You will be awfully lonely at home and, besides that, the apartment is rather small. There won't be space. We thought about it for a long time, and we decided the best thing for you is if you moved to a Home. There's one near Hougang - it's a Christian home, a very nice one.'

The old woman did not raise an eyebrow. 'I've been there, the matron is willing to take you in. It's beautiful with gardens and lots of old people to keep you company! I hardly have time for you, you'd be happier there.'

'You'd be happier there, really.' Her daughter repeated as if to affirm herself. This time the old woman had no plastic bag of food offerings to cling tightly to; she bit her lip and fastened her seat belt, as if it would protect her from a daughter who did not want her anymore. She sunk deep into the leather seat, letting her shoulders sag, and her fingers trace the white seat.

'Ma?' her daughter asked, searching the rear view window for her mother. 'Is everything okay?'

What had to be done, had to be done. 'Yes,' she said firmly, louder than she intended, 'if it will make you happy,' she added more quietly.

'It's for you, Ma! You'll be happier there. You can move there tomorrow, I already got the maid to pack your things.' Elaine said triumphantly, mentally ticking yet another item off her agenda.

'I knew everything would be fine.'

Elaine smiled widely; she felt liberated. Perhaps getting rid of her mother would make her happier. She had thought about it. It seemed the only hindrance in her pursuit of happiness. She was happy now. She had everything a modern woman ever wanted; Money, Status, Career, Love,Power and now, Freedom, without her mother and her old-fashioned ways to weigh her down...

Yes, she was free. Her phone buzzed urgently, she picked it up and read the message, still beaming from ear to ear. 'Stocks 10% increase!'

Yes, things were definitely beginning to look up for her... And while searching for the meaning of life in the luminance of her hand phone screen, the old woman in the backseat became invisible, and she did not see the tears.

Weekend At Malacca – Saturday Part 1

2007-10-29T18:12:00.001+08:00

Last Saturday (27th October 2007), I went to Malacca with my 2 nieces (Ade and Eve) to visit their sister, who is working there. Ange is currently renting a house and will be moving soon to rent a room with her colleague, so before she does that, we decided to make a trip down because in future, it would be difficult for us to stay at her place.

We departed from KL around 11:30am after a breakfast of Pan Mee near my place. Then we went back to my house for a washroom visit before departing on the journey. Ade said she will NOT stop for any wee wee breaks on the way until we reach Malacca !

We reached Ange’s house around 1:30pm in the afternoon, and unloaded all our stuff from the car. Ade then parked her car at the porch, because we’d be travelling around in Ange’s car instead. Ange was hustling us out of the house because she was HUNGRY ! Boy, was she in a foul mood. We had a lot of “cat mee” from her that day and the next ! Hahaha…. So out we went in search of food.

Our first stop was for Taiwan Pork Ribs noodles. We ordered Beef Noodles, Pork Chop noodles and Pork Ribs noodles. The pork noodles were ok, but the beef noodles was tasty. However, the pork ribs and pork chops are very fresh because they are fried only when ordered. They have a branch in PJ as well, so we may be visiting there soon.

Beef noodles

Pork chop noodles

Frying the pork ribs and pork chops

We told Ange that we wanted to have ikan bakar for dinner, followed by a trip to Malacca Zoo for night safari, then back to town for satay celup. But she REFUSED our request for Malacca Zoo night safari, saying that it was far, and that it could not be better than Singapore Zooe’s night safari. Ade also wanted to visit the Crocodile Farm, which was also banned by Ange. Sigh…

After the late lunch, we stopped at Tan Kim Hock where I bought some snacks and durian cake for mom and my colleagues. After that, we went to Jonkers’ Street to jalan-jalan and also to have dessert. We went to the Jonkers’ Street Dessert and ordered 2 bowls of cendol and 2 bowls of ABC. Deeeeeelicious ! I also bought a cute little carry case there.

Around 4:00pm, we left Jonker Street and went to Mahkota Parade. We needed a nice cool place to shop around while waiting for dinner time. 1st thing we did was a pit-stop at the ladies. Then Ange said she wanted to go to MPH to look for a book. In the end, she bought a Cleo magazine and I bought 2 books ! Sigh….. bookshops are my bane !

We went to Parkson for a while, then decided to have some snacks before dinner, so to McDonalds we went. Ade ordered 2 sundae cones, 6 pieces nuggets and 1 large coke for all of us to share. After that we walked around Mahkota Parade for a bit longer before leaving for dinner.

Weekend At Malacca – Saturday Part 2

2007-10-29T17:13:00.000+08:00

Ange said she will take us to a place near a river for our seafood dinner. Her Malacca friends took her there once, and she found the seafood fresh, tasty and affordable. The restaurant is actually beside Sg. Duyung, although I seriously doubt that any duyung (dolphin) can survive in the murky brown water !

We ordered a jug of teh limau ais at the recommendation of the waiter, who said that the coconut water on that day doesn’t taste so good. Then Ange and Ade went to choose their seafood.

They ordered cockles, fried large prawns, razor clams fried with ginger and siakap fish cooked the “Heaven & Hell” way, meaning ½ grilled with sambal, the other ½ steamed in banana leaves. I also took a packet of their nasi lemak (it was very small) to try the sambal cili and to share with my nieces.

The fish, cockles and prawns were yummy and fresh. But the razor clams, I think Chinese’s way of cooking taste much better. The cockles and fish goes very well with their cili. We also ordered a piece of otak-otak each. All of these washed down with the teh ais limau. *Buuurrrpppp* *satisfied look*

My only advice is that if you do go there, make sure to carry with you either Tiger Balm or Mopiko or any mosquito repellent. While you make a meal out of the seafood, they make a meal out of you !

Weekend At Malacca – Saturday Part 3

2007-10-29T16:55:00.000+08:00

Our night is not over yet. We still wanted to go to Malacca Zoo for night safari but our dictator tour guide Ange refuse to go. She said if we wanted to go, she can drive us home, then we can take her car and go. Sigh….. What a tyrant. Hehehe

So she took us back to Jonker Street, where she said there is a night market on Saturday, but we told her we don’t want to go pasar malam. KL also have mah … hehehe. So we went to Tesco Malacca because she needed to buy some drinking water. We walked about in Tesco and aside from the water, we also bought Shandy, Famous Amos and a packet of Mamee Funkees.

Then she remembered that there is a nice putu piring which she liked. The putu piring is made by a Chinese Apek and his wife, and it was really tasty, with lots of coconut shreds inside. Probably the taste was enhanced by the nice gula melaka. We had a piece each.

Because we wanted to try satay celup, we found ourselves outside Capitol Satay, queing for our seats at 10:00pm. There were lots of people and while waiting, we saw a table outside with about 5-6 person. They asked for the bill, and when the girl came to calculate, she had a whole bunch of sticks in her hand ! There must have been about 70-80 sticks in there.

We waited for about 30 minutes before we got a table. Ange, Ade and Eve went to choose what to eat while I waited for the table to be cleared. For our satay celup, we had a mixture of sotong, meat balls, kangkung, prawns, foo chuk, etc.

We then ordered 3 coconuts and a can of 100 plus.

Firstly, they put a “pail” of satay sauce in the middle of the table. Then after a while, a girl came with 2 huge scoops of nuts and proceeded to mix them into the satay sauce. When the sauce began to boil, we started to put in the sticks.

Truth be told, the satay sauce has mixture of spices in them, which I don’t really fancy, but I don’t mind eating. I may visit again in the future, just for fun but it will not be in my “Must Have” list. However, both Ade and Eve didn’t like it. After the satay celup, we decided to call it the day and went back home to shower and sleep. Our makan spree is to continue the following day.

Weekend trip to Malacca

2007-10-28T23:02:00.000+08:00

Just came back from Malacca today after a weekend there. I went to Malacca with my nieces and stayed with my eldest niece, who is working there. We reached Malacca on Saturday around 2pm, and from then onwards, it was a makan spree !

Yep, we ate from afternoon till supper , then began again today from afternoon onwards until dinner. No breakfast coz we all woke up around 10:30am, so jumped straight to lunch. Basically, these were our eating itinerary :

27th October 2007
* Beef noodles and pork ribs noodles
* Cendol and ABC at Jonker Street
* McDonalds sundae and nuggets
* Seafood dinner with nasi lemak at Sg. Duyung
* Putu piring
* Satay celup

28th October 2007
* Nyonya food
* Sabah, Pahang, Kelantan & Perak coffee with Malteses cheesecake
* Birds' nest drinks
* Pork organs soup with fried mee sua noodles, rojak buah, fried oysters, char kuey teow and satay

I have the photos of the food taken, will blog and show them later.

My Leng Chai Is BACK !

2007-10-25T21:45:00.000+08:00

Yes ! Yes ! Yes ! My leng chai is back with me now ! Although he cost me RM115.67, it was worth it. Many told me to just change him, but I can't ! I won't ! Not my leng chai !

Hehehehe......... We'll be going to Malacca for the weekend, and he shall help me to take many beauuuuutiful photos... YES !

O.... for the uninitiated, my leng chai is my Sony Ericsson K750i..... haha.

Popeye Is Back Home !

2007-10-24T10:45:00.000+08:00

Yep, my Popeye is back home on Sunday. It was raining cats and dogs (no pun intended !) when he arrived in the van. He was so excited that his tail was wagging non-stop the whole time, but there was no time to greet and pat him.

Mom quickly sent him back to the kennel and returned the leash to the driver. However, Popeye was not letting us off the hook so easily. He was howling loudly, probably shouting as to why we didn't go and see him, and let him sniff at us.

So I had to go out to the kennels, to see him, pat his head, etc etc. And he didn't stop howling until mom did the same. Talk about being pampered ! I pop my head next door to see how Gable was doing, and guess what, he must have thought he saw a ghost !

He was sitting in the furthest corner of the kennel, and he was shivering ! Hahahaha..... what a stupid dog ! The more Popeye howled, the more he shivered !

For the past few days, Popeye has started scratching himself again, and at certain places, the skin is turning red again. Mom just gave him a bath again yesterday. Just don't understand why is it that when he was at the vet he can actually get so much better, but back home he scratches so much again. Sigh.....

Hopefully this time round with more baths, he'll get better and better. And I think Gable's getting jealous of all the attention Popeye is getting, coz when he is let out, at times he will just stand in front of Popeye's kennel and bark at him. Naughty leh.....

Right or Left ?

2007-10-17T14:43:00.001+08:00

The Right Brain vs Left Brain test ...

Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise? (click on it to see)

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

Source : http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22556281-661,00.html

Poor ole Fungeline

2007-10-12T00:23:00.000+08:00

Today we went to Chili's for dinner
But clearly we made a grave error
Their service was in total disorder
And they even missed out an order

Although the food was quite tasty without a doubt
Refilling drinks was another matter
We had to wave hands around and call out
For us to catch the attention of the waiter

Poor old Angeline said she became Fungeline
(She said it’s Fungus & Angeline)
She wanted to enjoy the Chocolate Molten Cake
But all it did was gave her a heart ache

First they told her the kitchen had no power
So the dessert cannot be delivered
Then the power came back and the crises was over
But her Chocolate Molten Cake was still not served

Half an hour later the dessert was delivered to our table
But spoons were nowhere to be found
Fungeline stuck out her tongue, mimicking Gable
She wanted to eat it like a hound

Luckily spoons were finally found for us
So she got to enjoy it properly
She filled up the feedback card with gust
Hopefully their service will improve greatly

Tis Not A Good Month

2007-10-10T21:39:00.000+08:00

1. Popeye got sick
2. Bluetooth sent for repairs
3. Mobile phone camera not working
4. Almost became jobless
5. I got food poisoning

Sigh................................... Must subscribe to Law Of Attraction

EVERYTHING SHALL BECOME WELL AGAIN

Sore Petpet

2007-10-09T23:21:00.000+08:00

I am down with food poisoning ! Dunno what I ate yesterday that gave me this problem, but boy, it was hard to bear ! My tummy started felling bloated yesterday around 9pm, and I thought it was because I overate, so I told mom to let me lie quietly in bed.

It was a restless night, and by 4am this morning, I had my first visit to the loo. Basically I had diarrhea and it was all "watery". Before I went to see the doctor at 9am in the morning, I had already visited the loo 4 times ! Not only that, I was also having a fever and was feeling nauseous.

The doctor confirms it is food poisoning and said that there was a lot of "wind" in my stomach. He said I should eat either toast bread, meehoon soup or porridge only. No tea, no coffee, no milo, no chillies, no fried stuff. But I am to drink 1.5l of 100 plus today and tomorrow. He also gave me a whole bunch of medicine to take. Almost fainted when I saw the pills !

So I went home, and my breakfast was basically 1/2 a piece of toast bread. Yeah, unbelievable. After that I went to sleep for a while, coz I was too tired. By noon, mom woke me up again and asked me to take some porridge. I took about 1/2 a bowl of porridge. How big was the bowl ? The normal rice bowl. Torture time came for me to take the pills. I took about 1 hour to down all the pills, then went to sleep.

I always wondered whether patients are being deliberately tortured to take pills that are sooooo big. Why can't pills be made into stronger but smaller sizes ? Or have some nice flavours like orange, lime, bacon, chicken, etc instead of being only bitter ? At least then when you're sick and have to take pills, you will enjoy them.

Anyway, I slept until about 8pm, then woke up and had another bowl of porridge. Yep, full rice bowl this time. But it was a bit too much, and I had some leftovers. Again, I had to slowly pace myself while taking the pills. Yes, took me another hour.

I was still purging, and all in all, today I visited the loo 9 times. Now, my tummy already feels like its building up, and I think in another 1/2 hour, I'd have to visit it again. All these visits are making my petpet sore !

The doctor gave me 2 days MC, so hopefully I shall be much better tomorrow, and be more cheerful.

Awoooooooo !!!!!

2007-10-07T22:58:00.000+08:00

Today we went to see Popeye at the vet. As the helper took us into the room where Popeye was kept, facing the entrance was a black Doberman. Wah, he really looked smart ! Then I was taken aback because a German Shephard was looking at us as though she wanted to eat us, and was barking. The helper said "Michelle ! No !" and it really stopped. Although it no longer barked at us, it was still looking at us with distrust.

Then I saw Popeye in his cage. Opposite him was a lovely Golden Retriever. No wonder sis said he was the ugliest dog there ! Hahaha. He was laying quietly in the cage, that is, until he saw us. He quickly got up and started barking and whining at us !

He was soooooooooooooooooooooo very excited, wagging his tail non-stop. And he use his paws to grab my hand into the cage so that he can smell at it, gnaw at it and push his head against my palm. He went "AAAAAWWOOOOOOOOOOOOO, OUUUUUUUU, WOOOOOOOOOOO !"

After a while, we said goodbye to him and told him to be a good boy. He continued to bark and whine. Even after we had left the room and went to buy some treats for Gable, he continued to howl for a good 5 minutes ! Probably he's wondering why we were abandoning him again. Hahahaha.

Well, he's looking much better now, and will probably be able to come home in another week or so. But for now, he'd have to stay a while longer. Hahaha. Hopefully can go see him during the weekdays next week, although it's a bit doubtful.

Phone-less & Bluetooth-less

2007-10-06T17:14:00.000+08:00

Sigh...........

I sent my i-Tech back for a check because although the battery is supposed to last up to 4-5 days, mine always goes dead in 2-3 days. Also, it tends to disconnect itself from my phone at times, even when I am using it !

So I have to leave it at the service centre for about 10 days before I can collect it back.

Also, I sent my leng chai to the service centre. Apparently the camera saving issue is probably due to the motherboard ! And to think that I actually treat it so carefully, it still gets hardware problem ! I'm probably gonna treat it more like dirt when I get it back later !

As of now, I have to use back my old Siemens phone for now. My leng chai will have to stay at the service centre for about 3 days and since it's already out of warranty, I will have to pay to get it checked !

Sigh............................................

My Leng Chai Is Sick !

2007-10-05T23:28:00.000+08:00

My leng chai is sick !

Already a few times I tried taking photos with it, but the photos do not get saved into the phone memory or memory card, even though it says "Saving".

Today was worse because after taking a photo, it will go back into normal phone mode, and the photo is nowhere to be seen.

I took it to the Sony Ericsson service centre in Mid Valley Gardens, but apparently they were only opened for 5 days, so their equipments are not ready yet. I will have to take my phone to either Amcorp Mall or KLCC for them to check the problem.

Unfortunately, the guy deduced that it is most probably an issue with the camera, and in order to change it will cost me RM200+ ! MONEY MONEY MONEY !

I'll have to get it checked first before deciding, and with the warranty over............

Popeye, Here I Come

2007-10-05T16:25:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow I will be going to visit Popeye for the first time since his "admission" to the vet. I called the doc yesterday and was told that his wound is healing well, and that his eyes and ears are getting better.

Either he'd be glad to see me (meaning he'd be whining while wagging his tail) or he'd be angry coz he though we abandoned him (means ignoring me !). Haha, let's see what happens tomorrow.

But I'm glad that he's getting better and hopefully he'd be back home soon. I think Gable's a bit lost without him !

Popeye's Save For Now !

2007-10-02T21:50:00.001+08:00

Mom made the decision yesterday to put Popeye "to sleep" but we had to make a trip to the clinic to sign the consent form. It's for them to cover their backs so that they won't be blamed later if the owner denies giving the consent.

So I tried to rush home after work, but I only reach my house around 6:20pm, and there is no way I can make it to the clinic by 7pm, knowing that Puchong is so jammed up after office hours. Therefore, I told mom that we'd have to ask sis to go sign the form tomorrow on our behalf.

This morning, sis told me that she'll probably keep Popeye there for at least another week to allow the doc to treat him coz when she saw him yesterday afternoon, he was not scratching himself at all. In fact, he was a good boy, sitting quietly in the cage !

Then the Dr. also called late morning today, saying that she has calculated the cost of treating Popeye, to about RM400, but she would like to know whether she can change my mind about euthanizing him, coz she said that his eyes and ears are much better now, and he was not scratching or biting himself at all.

When sis went to the vet, she told them to keep Popeye there for a while, so thanks to my sis, Popeye is still alive and kicking, but still have to stay there for the time being. They will be treating his eyes and ears problem, and will be giving him twice weekly baths with Malasep (I think it's spelt like this) for now.

They will also start treating his skin issues with medicine. Will probably only get to see him this Saturday coz there's no way I can make it from office to Puchong before 7pm. Hope he'll be looking much better, but sis did say that he was the ugliest dog in the clinic !

Kurang Satu Kaki Lunch

2007-10-02T14:09:00.000+08:00

Hmmm....... with all the restructuring going on in my company, finally one of my lunch partner will be transferred to Amcorp from tomorrow onwards. It will be much more difficult for us to meet and gossip about the latest shows on TV, discuss about what will happen in Drive Of Life, etc...

And we won't be able to talk about where to go for lunch d...........

SIIIIIGGGHHHHHH....................................................

All the best to you, Carrine.

To Do Or Not To Do, That Is The Question

2007-10-01T08:47:00.000+08:00

I think I can understand the quandary Sherlock Holmes was in, when he said that. I am now in the same predicament. My dog, Popeye was sent to the vet last Thursday because mom discovered a few holes in the side of his body. He has been having this really chronic skin disease since he was about 2 or 3 years old, and it's just getting worse.

The holes are actually maggot wounds, and mom wanted him to be humanely euthanized (put to sleep) because it's become a real chore for her to take care of Popeye. When the van came to get him, he was so frightened and didn't want to get into the van. The driver had to pull him up the van forcefully. I felt really sad because we were sending him to his death, although it would probably also be a relieve for him because then he wouldn't have to scratch and bite himself 24x7.

Anyhow, I called the vet that evening. A Dr. Sunita told me that they had already cleaned the maggot wounds. Mom kept pestering me to tell them to put him to sleep. When I told the Dr., she said that she doesn't have the heart to do it, and that she thinks his skin problems are treatable, although it will be long term and may cost a lot.

I told her about all the diets / soaps / creams / ointments / spray / medicine we've tried over the years but it didn't work. Plus he was already 8 years old. She said she will take a look at his skin problem the following day and give me the diagnosis.

But mom was adamant at putting him to sleep, because she was also afraid that his skin disease may infect Gable and also his eyes and ears seemed to be having problems as well. So I was resolved to call her on Friday and told her to euthanize Popeye. But the Dr. insists that we should continue treatment, and also said that we could try Z-Lid, a type of hypo-allergenic kibble that costs RM200 per 8kg bag ! It's the best in the market for dogs with really sensitive allergies.

She said the other alternative would be to leave Popeye at the clinic for a month so that they can try to treat him and hopefully there'll be improvements later. I said that I will call later to see what to do with Popeye, meanwhile they can continue to treat him.

Saturday came and left, and we still didn't have a decision. Mom was wavering between being really adamant at putting him down, and then suddenly saying maybe should keep him at the clinic for 2 weeks. I still dunno what to do.

On Sunday, I called the clinic again, and Dr. Ding answered. He said that the maggot wounds are much better now, and when I asked him about euthanizing Popeye, he said that his eating fine, and should not be euthanized. He also don't have the heart to do it. He suggests starting the medication to treat his skin problem, and that it was not contagious, so there should be no problem for Gable.

So I told him to keep Popeye there for a while, and that I won't have the time to see him that day, and that I will call on Monday to check up on his status. That's my quandary now.... to do or not to do...... Should he be euthanized or brought home for another chance ? How how how ?

Major Trouble - Part 5

2007-09-30T02:40:00.001+08:00

18th September (afternoon)

FNAC was scheduled at 1pm in the afternoon whereas MRI scan was to be done at 5pm in the evening. So I drove to my sis’ house, and she accompanied me to do the FNAC.

The doctor asked me to lie on the bed and turn my head to the side so that he can poke the needle into me easily. All in all, I was made to endure 3 needles being poked into my face ! The first needle was not too painful, akin to being bitten by a little red ant. I heard the doctor said to the nurse, “Give me the black one”.

After withdrawing the needle, the contents were spread onto some specimen slides, which are then placed under the microscope for him to check whether he has enough sample for a biopsy.

However, he told me “We have to do this the 2nd time.” Then he told the nurse, “Give me the blue one”. This time, it was PAINFUL ! I told the doctor and he said it was because he retained the needle in my face slightly longer. Unfortunately, a 3rd time was required, and he used the “black” one again, which was not so painful. Luckily this time is the last one. My face was truly “blue-black” after the needles !

Major Trouble - Part 6

2007-09-30T02:39:00.000+08:00

18th September (evening)

We left the hospital after the FNAC and went back to my sis’ house. At 5pm, we were back in UM for my MRI scan. Unfortunately, because of the earlier FNAC, I was told that the MRI scan may reflect some dark spots due to blood flow from the FNAC procedure. However, I was still allowed to go ahead with the MRI scan.

The doctor then pokes a drip needle onto the back of my left hand. It was PAINFUL ! After a while, it began to swell up slightly. Again, a syringe filled with something was placed in the drip needle, and held with plaster. Then I was asked to change into the hospital gown.

Luckily I managed to change without requiring any help. Can you imagine how difficult it was, having to get out of a long sleeve top WITHOUT dislodging the needle and syringe ? It was quite a feat, I can tell you. I had to get my sis to tie up the gown at the back though. Can’t do it at all by myself.

Then I was asked to lie down on the MRI scan bed. I was asked to close my eyes, and if possible go to sleep. I was also told not to move AT ALL when the scan begins, otherwise they’d have to do it all over again. Easy for them to say !

Thank God I wasn’t claustrophobic because the machine gives you that feeling. Also, there are lots of banging and clanking and buzzing. It’s a very noisy machine. I can just fit the machine on the sides, it was that small. Whether there’s a lot of space in front of my face, I wouldn’t know, because my eyes were closed.

After about 20-30 minutes into the procedure, the radiologist came into the room and told me that he “had to adjust the space”. He also shot me with whatever that was in the syringe.

Then everything started over again. All in, I was there for slightly over an hour, but by the end of it, my left hand hurts, my head hurts because I had tied my hair and the knot was digging into the back of my head, yet I can’t move for fear or having to endure it another 30 minutes !

I was sweating because I ache all over the body having to stay in the same position for such a long time. Finally, I hear him come into the room and got me out of the MRI machine. He also pulled out the drip needle, and then asked me to go change.

So, at the end of the day, my face hurts from the FNAC procedure, my hand hurts from the drip needle, and worst thing is, my wallet hurts because I had to pay about RM1.4k for these 2 procedures !

Major Trouble - Part 7

2007-09-30T02:38:00.000+08:00

26th September

This is the day that I’m supposed to collect my results of the FNAC from the Professor. Since UMSC opens only at 5pm, I took ½ day leave, and after having lunch with my colleagues, I went to Mid Valley by myself to kill time. The Gardens was opening on that day, with Isetan, Robinson and Marks & Spencer.

I left around 4pm and went to my sister’s place. She was accompanying me to collect the results. We reach there 5pm, and registered. But after waiting for an hour, we were still not called. Those who came later actually went in before we did. A check with the nurse revealed that they were hunting for my FNAC report.

Finally, they managed to locate the report, and the doctor said that 90 over percent it’s benign. He then asked me to go to UM again tomorrow morning at 9am to register under the Government sector and to get a date for the operation.

He also looked at the MRI scan and said that it was HUGE, one of the largest he had seen so far, but told me not to worry about it. My sister asked about the operation, and was told that I should expect to be warded for about 4 days, and after that I will have to rest for about 3 weeks.

Also, for the operation, they will be cutting from the neck under the ear, and run under the jawline to the chin. However, if necessary, they may also have to cut from the chin upwards to the lower lip, because it may be necessary for them to remove part of my jaw to take out the whole tumour.

Well, this means that I will become Scarface after the operation. Sigh…….

Major Trouble - Part 8

2007-09-30T02:35:00.000+08:00

27th September

I woke up early in the morning, as if going to work. My mom accompanied me this time. I left the house around 7:30am and was caught in the jam towards Jalan Templer. However, traffic after that was a breeze and I reached UM around 8:15am.

So I took a number for registration and then had to pay before seeing the doctor. They must be afraid of patient not paying after visiting the doctors, but then again, there were so many rooms with so many patients and doctors, it would be rather hard for them to keep track of anything.

When my number was called, it was 9:15am, and I was sent to a young doctor. I told him that I was supposed to have an appointment with Professor Preba, then he asked me to wait again outside while he pass the file to the Professor.

After another 20 minutes, I was called into the Professor’s consultation room. He said that he wants some of his colleagues to take a look at me, and whether I’d mind. I told him I wouldn’t mind, thinking it’ll probably only be one or two doctors. He also told me not to say anything.

SIX doctors came into that small room ! They are all the Professor’s students, and one by one, they felt my face to try and see the “lump”. Boy, talk about being at the centre of attention !

Then one young lady was asked to do the diagnosis, and the Professor kept on asking her what she would do, what she thinks it is, etc etc etc. Most of what she answered was correct. How’d I know ? Aiyah, it was similar to what was written in the reports from the CT Scan, MRI Scan and FNAC mah…….

Anyway, I was the lab rat of the day, and I can see that all of them were so excited. Dunno whether I should feel happy or be concerned ! Finally, after some discussion with his students while I sat there dumbly, I was told to follow Dr. Victor, who will give me a date for my operation.

After flipping through the “Major Op” book, he only managed to slot me in on 21st December 2007 for the operation. I will have to be admitted on the 20th morning. Hopefully it will be a successful operation without any complications. Unfortunately, it means that my Christmas Eve will be in the hospital, but hopefully I can be discharged on Christmas Day itself.

Also, there goes my New Year and birthday celebrations…… Sigh….. And it will also be the “Tong” Festival on 22nd December, but I don’t think I’d be able to eat my favourite “tong yuen” yet…. SIIIIGGHHHHH……………..

The Gardens, Mid Valley

2007-09-27T22:17:00.000+08:00

Went to The Gardens, Mid Valley yesterday as I was on 1/2 day's leave. It was raining rather heavily when I left the office. After parking my car, I started to look for directions to The Gardens. I assumed that there will either be a bridge of some sort, or a tunnel that will lead me there.

Boy, was I wrong. Turns out that we were supposed to go to The Gardens through the Boulevard. Although they had canopies setup to shelter shoppers from the rain, they however can't stop the rain water from turning into huge puddles under the canopies. It was quite difficult to navigate through dry patches while avoiding other shoppers.

My first stop was the new Robinsons. They took up 3 floors in The Gardens. Quite nice, with a number of new brands available there. Looks pricey though.

As I exit Robinsons towards the centre of the mall, this is whata I see. Very nice lights on the ceiling there were quite a number of small "bridges" for shoppers to move between the left and right shops.

There are a few places where shoppers can sit and rest when they feel tired. The chairs have high backs and looked comfy.
Then I went to Marks & Spencer. Clothes there are slightly pricier, but are rather nice. Love the food section though. Was looking at all the available tea and coffee, and of course eyeing the biscuits and candy ! Didn't buy any though.

Isetan took up 4 floors, and also had some new brands as well. Outside the 4th floor of Isetan, I remember seeing a new Jap restaurant renovating and getting ready for business. Can't wait for it to open. May be expensive, but should probably try it once.
On the ground floor outside of Isetan, there is a nice cafe that I'd probably go next time to enjoy their coffee. Looks good eh....

Major Trouble - The Beginning

2007-09-27T00:35:00.002+08:00

10th September

I woke up in the morning with a throat that had was stuck with a lot of phlegm. Even as I was brushing my teeth, I coughed up some, and it was a sickly greenish colour.

However, as I began work in office, it became slightly better. During the morning meeting, I drank some coffee, and by the time the meeting was over, I was having a slight sore throat and was coughing.

So after my lunch, around 2pm, I got a medical chit from Admin and went to SMC. When the GP saw my throat, he sent me to the ENT specialist, saying that my throat was swollen. I also told him about the “bump” in my face which my mom had been complaining forever, saying that it was swollen. He asked me to tell the ENT specialist about it.

Because of this, I had to go back to my Admin for a Guarantee Letter (GL) which is required before I can proceed further. Then I trot back down and passed them the GL, after which they took me to register at the specialist centre.

The ENT specialist was on the first floor of SMC. I sat and waited for my turn, and was thinking probably the GP was making a big fuss over my sore throat. When it was my turn, I told him about my throat and also about my “swollen” face. He poked around, then asked me to go do a CT Scan, saying that he just want to be sure, but it’s probably nothing.

So I went to the X-Ray department for my CT Scan. The nurse then asked me to change into the hospital gown, then poke a drip needle into my vein on the right hand. Then she placed a syringe in the drip and just held it with a plaster !

I was then asked to lie on the scan bed and they injected me with something, which made me feel a bit warm suddenly. Must be dye or something. Then CT scan then began. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to open or close my eyes, so I decided to close them, in case there are any rays that could blind me ! The radiologist told me that I am not supposed to move, not even swallow ! That was difficult !

But after about 15 – 20 minutes, the scan was done. I was asked to wait for a while, in case what they injected me with affected me somehow. The scan will be sent to the doctor tomorrow, whom I will be seeing again. It was already about 4:30pm when I finished everything and went back to my office.

Major Trouble - Part 2

2007-09-27T00:35:00.001+08:00

11th September

I went to work as usual, and went to SMC to see the specialist again at 10:00am. I was hoping that my scan would be ok, that it was because I always sleep on the right side of my face, thus one side is flat and the other bulging with fat only.

When the doctor saw me, he took my x-ray scans and then started his sentence with “Hmm… just like I suspected.” Okay, that doesn’t sound good. I waited for him to continue. He told me that I have a rather large tumour in my face, which is causing the bump to appear. It’s from the salivery glands, near what they call the deep lobe. Operation is required to remove it, and it’s going to be a rather difficult one because of its location. A few surgeons are required to be around for this operation.

But then he said he had to go consult the radiologist again, and when he came back, he said that the operation should be performed in one of the larger hospitals, like UM or HUKM or Hospital Selayang. The reason is that one of the surgeon required is from the dentistry, and probably a neurologist because of the number of facial nerves.

Then he pat me on the back, said everything should be ok, no need to worry, and sent me out the room, asking me to wait for his referral letter to the other hospitals. Yeah, right ! Everything ok !

After I got the letter, I went back to my office and MSN my sis the news. By evening, even my bro called me up from Australia and asked me about the matter. Sis asked me to immediately take leave on Thursday (13th September) so that I can go get a 2nd opinion from the ENT specialist in Hospital Pantai Cheras.

Major Trouble - Part 3

2007-09-27T00:34:00.000+08:00

13th September (morning)

I got up in the morning and got ready to wait for my niece to come fetch me. She accompanied me to Pantai Cheras. We reached there around 9:40am in the morning and registered at the doctor’s clinic. Initially I thought the doctor was a lady, because the doctor was called “Vivian”, but turns out he’s a nice gentleman.

I walked into his consultation room, and before I even had a chance to sit down, he asked “Why your face bengkak ?”. Sigh…. Then he took a look at the scans and then asked me to sit on a chair while he turned my head this way and that, and prodded at the “lump”.

Then he asked me some questions, “Can you swallow ?” “Is it painful ?” “Can you breathe properly ?” “Has your voice changed in any way ?” to which I answered a resounding “No”.

The doctor started explaining that the “lump” in my face was a tumour, and it was kinda big. He also explained that it will be a major operation, and agreed with the doctor in SMC that it should be performed in large hospitals. The cost, if it’s done in private hospitals may be around RM20-50k, because of the number of doctors involved. If all goes well, the operation will take around 1-2 hours, but if they need to “saw open the jaw, remove the tumour, then putting a plate to hold the jaw back in place !”, the operation may take 5-6 hours.

Apparently it grew probably due to some sort of problem with the nerves. My niece that asked whether it’s a genetic thingy, and the doctor said “No.” Boy, was she relieved ! We were recommended to go to Universiti Malaya (UM) for this sort of operation.

Major Trouble - Part 4

2007-09-27T00:28:00.000+08:00

13th September (evening)

Right after the consultation from the Pantai doctor, sis called UM to try and make an appointment with the ENT specialist, and was told that we can go see Professor Preba at 5pm, at the UM Specialist Centre (UMSC).

So after a trip to Ikea with my niece, we went back to her house. My sis and niece then accompanied me to see the Professor at UMSC. We reached there around 5:50pm, and registration was a breeze ! All I had to do was give them my MyKad, and they stuck it into the reader and got the information from the smart chip. Barely 1 minute.

After about 10 minutes, we were called to the Professor’s consultation room. He had the same diagnosis for me, but he advised me to do a MRI scan to determine the actual size and location of the tumour, and also FNAC (fine needle aspiration cytology), a sort of biopsy without actually having to “cut me up”, to determine whether it’s benign or malignant.

He also said that it will be a major operation, and that he will transfer me to the Government side for the operation instead of doing it under UMSC because the cost is lower, more doctors are on standby, and there will be many equipments and facilities available for them should they be required during my operation.

Seems that the tumour is growing up my head, and is now already at the base of the skull. And it is HUGE. Hey, no pain ma. How I know it's growing so big in there !??!!!

So I was to go back to UM on 18th September to do the FNAC and MRI, then on 26th September, I can collect the FNAC report when I go see the Professor again.

Malaysia International Fireworks Competition

2007-09-05T00:18:00.001+08:00

Last Sunday (2nd September, 2007), sis took her family and both my mom and myself to Putrajaya International Convention Centre) to see the Grand Finale of the Fireworks competition held there.

My nieces bought the tickets for 9 person, each costing RM38.50, and also parking stickers for the 2 cars, each costing RM10. It was drizzling when we reach there around 8pm. After a visit to the loo, we went outside to the open area, where there were already hundreds of people waiting, some having their dinner there.

The food and drinks were a rip-off, because it was sold at such an expensive price ! My nieces started going around looking for chairs for all of us to sit. Almost all the chairs were already taken up, especially those nearest the open air balcony, where people actually sat in the drizzle with umbrellas, just to ensure they have a good view.

My nieces managed to secure 4 chairs, but there were 9 of us, so we had to look for more. Luckily, I managed to find another 4 chairs. Then we sat down and waited for the fireworks to begin. Mom was afraid that since we sat far away from the balcony, we won't be able to watch the fireworks. We assured her that fireworks are shot high into the sky, so wherever we sit, we should be able to see it clearly.

How wrong we were ! When the fireworks started at 10:30pm, we only HEARD them, but couldn't see anything ! Turns out, because the fireworks were fired from a low area, and with PICC situated on a hill, only those right at the balcony front can see the fireworks ! People began to stand up, and some even stood on their chairs, so the rest of us who are at the back were deprived of a good view.

We were still able to see SOME of the fireworks, when they were being shot higher into the sky. However, of the promised 30 minutes, I think we only saw about 10 minutes' worth of fireworks. Here are some of them, which I managed to capture.

After the fireworks, we waited around because everyone else were rushing towards the exit. So I went up to the balcony area and took a photo of the landscape below. It's really beautiful at night, and you can also see how high up we were, which is why we missed out on such a lot of the fireworks.

Those people below are at the main entrance of PICC. They probably had a better view of the fireworks than us !

We left around 11:15pm, and reach my sis' house around 12:30pm. By the time I reach home, it was already 1am in the morning, and I was supposed to wake up at 6:30am for work. For the whole of that Monday, I was in a daze.

The Merdeka Eve Incident

2007-09-03T08:32:00.000+08:00

My kucilek (aka my Kancil larr......) broke down on the eve of Merdeka, and guess where .....

Where else but the busy Seremban Highway, where it was bumper-to-bumper because everyone else wanted to "balik kampung" !

I was on my way home and caught in the jam when suddenly I heard a "poooooof !" and saw white mist coming out from under my car ! Coincidentally, there was a huge bus next to me, and initially I thought the noise and mist came from it, but after looking at it for several more seconds, I realized that it's not from the bus.

Then I started looking the indicators in my car and saw that the meter for the radiator was 5mm away from the "H" ! I immediately new something was very wrong and started frantically to look for a place where I can stop my car.

I had to go from being extreme right and cross 5 lanes to reach a little small curve in the road to stop, so that at least I don't distrupt the traffic too much. The meter needle JUST reached "H" when I stopped the car totally.

I opened up the hood, and found that there was no more water in the plastic tank thingy ! Luckily I still had 1/2 a bottle of water with me, so I poured it into the tank, and started calling my friends to ask what I should do. They advised me to wait it out, to let the engine cool down before starting up again.

So I sat there, locked in the car, watching traffic pass by while waiting for the engine to cool down. I saw that a trailer had also broke down about 50 metres in front of me. After about 30 minutes, I saw that the needle had gone down halfway, and thought to myself, it should be enough for me to make my journey home.

I fired up the engine, and started slowly driving again, but barely 300 metres, the needle went all the way up to "H" again ! I had no choice but to stop my car immediately, and since I was on the left, the cars / bikes behind me had to slowly file pass me on the right.

I waited for another 20 mins, and quickly started the engine so that I can move another 200 metres more because, there is a turnoff to the SMART office beside the river where I can park my car away from the traffic. I just made it in the nick of time, because the needle went from 10 mm to "H" all the way up to the MAX ! But at least I am now away from the main traffic.

I looked around for water that I can pour into the water tank, because one of my friends said that lots of water is needed. There was this fella on a motor-bike that was looking at the river and I asked him whether he had any water to spare. He gave me his 1.5 litre mineral water bottle, and I took it, and poured almost 3/4 into the plastic tank.

Then I waited for the engine to cool down. A bike with 2 fella stopped and claimed they were mechanics, and asked to check the engine. I told them that I already put in water, and was waiting for it to cool down.

After about 30 mins, I tried starting the engine again, and saw that the needle is still near "H", and saw small vapours of mists coming out of the engine. I immediately stopped again, and this time, I wondered whether something else was wrong.

Another guy on a bike stopped, and asked about the engine. This time, I got out of the car and said I think I don't have enough water. He told me that he suspects the connectors to the engine is bust because he said it's a frequent problem with Kancil cars. By that time it was already 7pm, and starting to get dark. He took a light and was fiddling with all the pipes connecting to the engine, and showed me one that was hanging loose !

No wonder I heard the "poof". It must have been the sound made when the connecter went bust. He gave me his number, and said that he can change it for me for RM30, but I lied and told him I already called Kurnia for help. He said if I don't want to wait, I can give him a call.

So I called my SOS number (aka my sister and bro-in-law lar....) and told them what happened. Sis helped me call Kurnia and arranged for a tow-truck to come rescue me. Sis gave me an address of the workshop where I'm supposed to send my car, which is near her house. I also noticed a Perdana that broke down about 50 metres from my car, but it was on the outer side of the turn-off, so it was distrupting traffic flow. Because of the traffic jam, I had to wait until 8:30pm for the truck to arrive.

The tow truck operator told me that Kancil always have problems with the "T" and "H" connectors, and that there were quite a number of cars that broke down that day, due to all the jams. True enough, during the journey, we passed by about 5 other cars that broke down ! Finally I reach Sg. Way, and my bro-in-law was waiting to guide us to the workshop. Once we reached there and parked the car, I followed him home and had dinner at sis' house.

My poor kucilek being released by the tow truck

Then I drove my niece's car back home. Even though it was Merdeka day, the workshop was opened and I had my car fixed. I was lucky I stopped fast, because I was told, if I had forced the car to continue on and the engine died, I will have to change a whole new engine ! As it is now, all I had to do was just to change the connectors.

Phew ! I shudder to think what the cost would have been like if I had to change the engine !

Malacca Trip on 23rd August 2007

2007-08-29T00:45:00.000+08:00

Went on a one-day trip to Malacca with Ange and Evelyn, to accompany Ange while she goes for an interview there and also for a "jalan-jalan cari makan" kinda trip.

Her interview was at 10am, so I had to leave my house around 6:30am in the morning so that I can reach her house by 7am. On working days, I normally wake up around 6:45am, but for this, I had to wake up at 5:30am !

We left her house around 7am, and reach Malacca around 9:30am. We took her new Proton Wira Aeroback for the journey. She was early for the interview, and she was also still hesitant about it, coz she already had a job that was supposed to start work on 3rd Sept at F&S, but this was a pharmaceutical company (XSP), so she was also interested in the job.

She was dropped off at the factory gates 9:45am, then I drove her car around to see where Evelyn and I can go. We drove around aimlessly for about 20 minutes before we stopped and shared a "Penang Har Mee" at a shop. It was ok lar.... not too bad, but nothing to shout about either. The aunty helper was a real blurr sotong. First she gave us the wrong bowl, then she sent our bowl of mee to the table next to us ! So blurr !

After that, we went into Giant to while the time away. We left Giant around 11:30am and went back to XSP to see if Ange is done with the interview. We sat outside for another 30 mins and even finished a packet of chips, but she hasn't called us. So I decided to drive to Bintang for a walk.

Finally, around 12:30pm, she called us to say we can go fetch her now. We went back to the factory (only 5 minutes drive away) and fetch her, then went into town to look for food.

She parked the car near Public Bank and went looking for the char siew rice that her friend recommended. Unfortunately, we were a bit late, and the char siew were already finished. So we walked around Jonker Street to look for some place to eat.

We passed by this oldest temple in Malacca and stopped for some photos.

We went into this quaint little restaurant that serves some pretty cute blended juices and ordered lasagna and spaghetti. See these drinks ? Look nice leh.............. Taste ? Yucks. I think the shop don't believe in sugar, so tasted yucky. Their lasagne was okay, but the spaghetti had a weird taste. Ange said they put too much vinegar.

After the so-so lunch, we spent some time at the shops, and I bought some rather nice buttery pineapple tarts. Yummy ! Expensive though, small container, but RM14.50 each ! Then I saw this colourful shop, and took a picture of it.

Finally, we proceed towards the Stadhuys building and took some photos of it. We also went into the church next to the building for a look-around.

When we came out from the church, we saw this fella happily snoozing in his trishaw. Haha. Must have been a slow day. Then an Indian man approached us, and talked to us in fluent Cantonese, asking to take a ride in his trishaw. We politely declined, but was awed that he can speak such fluent Cantonese.

See the bus stand there. I wonder what's the difference between the Red 5 and Blue 5 bus.

Finally, we passed by this majestic church on our way back to the car after a nice bowl of cendol by the river.
Thus concludes our one-day Malacca trip.

Missed the Blood Moon !

2007-08-29T00:42:00.000+08:00

Today (28th August 2007) was supposed to have a full lunar eclipse, also known as Blood Moon because the moon will turn a dark red colour. Unfortunately, I totally forgot about it, and only remembered around 12:30am ! It was already over by then. I'll have to read about it in the papers. Sigh.................

Simpsons - The Movie

2007-08-05T00:57:00.000+08:00

Went to watch this show today, and it was a darn funny show ! It reallllly made fun of EVERYTHING. The only thing I feel is that it shouldn't be rated "U" because it's not really that suitable for kids, what with two burly cops kissing, and having Bart skateboarding naked around town !

But then again, that's what makes The Simpsons such a hit both with kids and adults alike. Homer is his usual selfish self, until he met the "Boob Lady". Hahaha...

Go watch the show, you won't regret it.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

2007-08-05T00:56:00.000+08:00

Well, I still can't blog about the book, because SOMEONE has NOT read it yet, and had already threatened to KILL me if I reveal anything about the book. Not gonna say much, except that H***** died at the very beginning...... hehehe.

Dinner at Sri Siam

2007-07-29T02:40:00.000+08:00

Yesterday had dinner at Sri Siam with sis and family, to celebrate my niece Ade's birthday. My initial reaction to the restaurant was that it had a slight "cockroach-chy smell". We looked at the menu and debated what to order, but both myself and my nieces agreed that we will be ordering "Tam Tim Grob", which is water chestnuts in santan and sirap for dessert.

The service, especially from the lady who did the ordering was not that good. We didn't want the peanuts they served, then she asked rather rudely whether we want the 3 small plates of chilli sauce, which they also "charge". She was asked to leave 2 of them.

Of the food that we ordered, this was the one we liked most. It's actually fried squid, but it was cut into small pieces, and very crunchy.
This is sambal-fried asparagus. Not bad.
The hot-plate beef was quite juicy, but a tad sweet though.
The pineapple fried rice was pretty good, probably because we were still hungry. Notice the almost empty fried squid plate at the back ? Hehe....
Their fried mee is basically using maggi mee and frying it with prawns and chicken. I think some of the mamak's fried maggi actually taste better !
The otak-otak that we ordered. Not so good....
The signature dish of any Thai restaurant will be their tomyam. So how does Sri Siam's tomyam taste ? Well, by the end of the meal, the soup in my bowl probably went down oni 1 cm. Yes, the soup was yucky, because it has a weird taste ! Doesn't taste nice at all.
However, their Tam Tim Grob dessert taste pretty good. It would be tastier if they added some nangka into it. Whole meal cost RM200+. Conclusion ? First and last visit.....

Dinner at Dragon-i

2007-07-24T13:55:00.001+08:00

Last Sunday went to Mid Valley's Dragon-i for dinner (non-halal restaurant) with my friend. We ordered quite a few dishes, so by the end of the meal, we were so full that we had to tapau one of the dishes. But what we had were quite interesting.

This is the "Hua Tiao" chicken, and it's a cold dish. The chicken is chilled and placed in chinese "hua tiao" wine. Quite nice and fragrant, once you get pass the bitterness of the wine.
Next is their signature "siao loong pau". Inside each of these miniature "buns" is a spoonful of HOT (as in scalding) soup and some pork. Very yummy .......
Then came the seafood soup, which is made of clams and also had red dates and other stuff in it. Bit "fishy" for me.
Now, this is an interesting dish, and it also taste really delicious. The white stuff are actually made of egg whites and some mushrooms fried together. Beneath the broccolis are soy sauce. Then they place a raw egg yolk in the middle. You are supposed to mix the egg yolk and the whites properly before eating. The end result ? A yummy dish, especially when eaten with rice.
This is another interesting dish. They fry chicken (sorta like KFC popcorn) with dry red chillies, and this is quite a huge basket. The taste is nice, but slightly dry. Goes well with or without rice. This is the one we couldn't finish, and had to tapau.
Lastly, we also ordered their honey-sauce pork ribs. Quite nice, but to me, it was a bit cold when delivered to our table. I would have preferred it to be piping hot.All in all, a very nice delicious dinner, and there are still some other interesting dishes we have yet to try out. The only regret we had was ordering the lemon barley drink. It was really too weird, especially when it's warm. On the plus side, having the lemon probably help in our digestion, because we were so full !

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

2007-07-23T00:37:00.000+08:00

Well, 21st July 2007 is the launch of the final Harry Potter book. I went to Kinokuniya at 5am in the morning, in the hopes of being the first 13 to get a free book. Unfortunately, after parking my car in the carpark, the doors to the escalators were still locked, so I actually went up to the Park entrance, where I saw there were already tons of people going up the stairs towards the 3rd floor.

By the time I reach the 3rd floor, there were like hundreds in front of me. Sigh..... no luck at all.... Just look at all the people ! My colleague was also way in front of me. She came with her hubby. I took my HP Book 6 to read while waiting, just to refresh my memory on what happened previously.

Kinokuniya setup the main entrance like the Gryffindor entrance, where they placed a "Fat Lady" and you had to give her the password to "enter" the store. Kind of fun and nice... The mall also had the Harry Potter theme song repeating. By the time I reach the entrance, it was already like 7:40am in the morning.

I asked one of Kinokuniya's staff to use my K750i to take a photo of me and the "Fat Lady" but the stupid idiot didn't press the button properly, so my photo was not taken at all ! Stupid ass**** !!!!!! And I was so eager to get the book that I didn't check my phone to ensure the photo was taken. AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH !

Anyway, I finally got the book. And I also drove to Carrefour in Sri Petaling to buy another copy, which was RM69.90 only, even cheaper than my copy which cost RM77 because of a 30% discount given. The copy from Carrefour was given to my nieces.

I went home, read 2 chapters and fell asleep, I was soooo tired ! However, after reading and falling asleep a few times, I finally finished the book at 2am in the morning. JK Rowling did a pretty good job on the book, and there were so many deaths. I would have preferred Harry to die though........ he was getting annoying. Hehe....

Visit to KLCC Sky Bridge

2007-07-23T00:11:00.000+08:00

Recently I visited the KLCC Sky Bridge with my brother and his family. Before proceeding to the bridge, we had to watch a short clip about Petronas and the Twin Towers. The show is in 3D, so they gave us these glasses that made everyone look like "The Fly".

Then they took us to the elevators, that goes up one floor every second. So to reach the 41st floor, it only took us 41 seconds ! Fast leh....

41st floor is for the public and 42nd floor is for the VIPs, so the Sky Bridge is actually a two-decker.

From the top, this is what you will see........

Pretty leh........ And here's a photo I took of myself on the Sky Bridge.

Bro Has Left The Country

2007-07-20T11:11:00.001+08:00

Yeah, my bro went back to Australia on 18th July. Aside from his whole family catching flu and colds, I think all-in-all, he had quite a good time in Malaysia, and he must have bought half a shop !

He was laughing at my kucilek, saying it was so small when compared with his huge car in Australia, which not only can fit ALL his 10 pieces of luggage / boxes, BUT also his whole family. Hmmmpph. Next time come back don't lend him my car, see how he go shopping ! Hehehe......

Well, already told him next time I go over, he hafta take the bus to work while I drive his nice huge car around ........

So Sick !!!

2007-07-10T11:50:00.000+08:00

I am soooooo sick. Yesterday morning woke up and was feeling a bit feverish. I took one of those flat termometers and place it on my forehead to check if I am really having fever, but those things seemed to light up almost all the numbers, and I started sweating again (usually signs of no fever lar), so I decided to go to work.

When I reached the office, I was still feeling hot and sweaty so thought I could last through the day, but by 9am, I was already feeling feverish. After the morning meeting, I really couldn't stand it any more. I was not only feeling cold, I was also drinking many cups of hot water just to keep warm.

I told my boss that I want to go on MC and took the LRT back home. Then I went to the clinic to see the doc, who told me that I need to rest for 2 days, thus he gave me 2 days' MC. Went home, took the medicine, then went to lullabye land. It was also diet day, coz all I had was 3 spoonfuls of porridge and 1 cup of tea in the morning, and hardly 1 spoonful of loh mai kai for my lunch.

Well, I woke up around 7pm. then took some rice, vege and fish for dinner. After that, added a small bowl of soup. Normally that meal can't even fill up 1/4 my stomach. Then came torture time. After resting about 1/2 hour, had to take the pills again. I reallllly hate pills, but no choice. So took the pills, then watch Astro until 11:30pm, decided to go sleep.

Unfortunately, probably due to the aircond, until 3-4 am I was still feeling feverish. I took the fever pills again, and switch to fan instead of aircond. After that I felt much better, especially when I began sweating. Never felt so happy in my life to sweat so much !

Well, this morning after breakfast, fever acted up again. I took the pills and am now in the "sweaty mode". Hopefully the fever will not recur, otherwise I will have to go check whether it's denggi ! Scary thoughts.........

Wish me good health ya.

Annual Dinner 2007

2007-06-25T13:28:00.000+08:00

My company held its Annual Dinner for 2007 at Menara Yayasan Tun Razak on 15th June 2007. It was a nice dinner, and much more enjoyable as compared with the previous year, as the MC this year (Dee) made the event much more lively and enjoyable. Main thing is, at least we can catch the jokes !

This was the backdrop for our Annual Dinner. Makes you think of Halloween Theme right ? Well, actually, our theme was Tales & Fantasies ! Vast difference huh ? The Annual Dinner had a great opening show. Bit blurr here....

My whole office participated in the Staff Variety Show. All 10 of us (including my boss) had a role to play. We did a sketch on "Legend Of The Moon Festival". Aside from the hiccups from the lousy sound system, I think we did a pretty good job, even though at times we forgot our script ! Hehe.... Here is a group photo taken where we were all in costumes. Nice ? Ms. Flinstone is not in the play, but she was our Props Master and Make Up Artist.

Guess what ? We won 3rd prize ! Yeah.... we got RM500 for our effort ! Even though during the process there were the normal bickerings and such, in the end, we came together and did our best. Here are some other photos of my other colleagues who came in great costumes that day.

These bunch were in a play about Mermaids.

Here's me with Batgirl, who is my lunch partner, and the rest are my friends in the Corporate Office.

Red Riding Hood, Sailormoon, and Captain Jane Sparrow

And this year, I had a great surprise. I, who usually goes home empty handed, actually won a lucky draw ! And to me, it was a great prize. The prize was RM500 Jusco Vouchers. Hehe.... I can get what I like from Jusco ! Hahahahahah..........

This year I really enjoyed myself, having won the lucky draw and also because our group won 3rd prize in the Staff Variety Show. My colleague is already thinking about next year's show !

Mutant Lychee

2007-06-13T15:19:00.000+08:00

Last week, I was enjoying some nice lychees when I saw this weird-shaped lychee. So, I took some photos of it, as compared with a normal lychee. Actually, it's a "twin", but the 2nd lychee didn't get to grow normally, so it just grows like a siamese twin in the 1st lychee. Weird leh...

Normal lychee

Mutant lychee

Comparison view

Not only is the mutant lychee about twice the size of a normal one, it is also lopsided. When I peeled the lychee and ate it, there were 2 seeds inside, one small and one big.

Think I will turn into a mutant after eating the mutant lychee ?

Stick-To-The-Wall

2007-06-01T13:15:00.000+08:00

As I was walking towards my car in the office carpark, I saw this !
The car was TOUCHING the wall ! I stared at it open-mouthed for about 1/2 a minute, then I decided that I need to put this in my blog. Must be company car lar.... otherwise where got anyone treat their cars like this ? The thing is, he or she actually left it like that without even thinking of moving it forward slightly.

Growing Up

2007-05-23T21:44:00.001+08:00

My "fatt choy" tree is growing nicely. Now, the new shoot is even taller than the older one ! Bring me luck.... bring me luck........

Here's a side view of my tree......... Here's a view of the nice new branch. My ah ma also jealous my tree growing so nicely, hehe.

Well, hopefully it will grow to be strong and healthy, like its owner !

My Ferraris !

2007-05-16T21:56:00.000+08:00

From 3rd May 2007 until 2nd July 2007, Shell Malaysia is offering a Ferrari model with every RM40 worth of Shell petrol, purchased at either RM3.99 (with V-Power Racing) or RM7.99 (Shell Super). And altogether there are 6 models.

My kucilek Kancil can only hold a MAXIMUM of RM40 full tank, that also the tank have to be reaaaaalllly almost empty, otherwise it will stop around RM37 or R38. So in order for me to collect all 6 Ferrari models, it will probably take me around 6 - 8 weeks, coupled with having to risk running out of petrol in order to be able to fill up RM40 ! Luckily, I have family members (my sis and bro-in-law) who have cars that consume lotsa petrol and have a big petrol tank.

So, within 4 days, I actually got all 6 models. Hahahahahahaha........ And here they are....

WARNING : DO NOT DROOL, DO NOT THINK YOU CAN STEAL THEM.

Full collection of the Ferrari models

Another view of the full collection

Ferrari 360 Spider

Ferrari F430

Ferrari F2005

Ferrari Superamerica

Ferrari Enzo Sport

Ferrari F50

Looks Like I've Got Greenfingers After All ......

2007-05-16T21:44:00.000+08:00

During CNY 2007, I brought a small pot of plant to my office. It's a "get-rich-tree" (fatt choy shue). Well, after some time, I noticed that the back of the leaves had some black spots. I asked Mom and she said that probably the plant is having some sort of disease, and may die soon. Well, I decided to let it determine whether it wants to live or die.

Anyway, as adviced, I only water it like once a week or in five days, depending on my mood. Sometimes I put in a lot of water, until the holding plate is full, other times I only pour some into the soil.

But then, few days back, I saw a new shoot growing from the middle, and yesterday, leaves started coming out. Hahaha...... so today I took some photos of it. Hopefully, like its namesake, it will make its owner "FATT", not "FAT" ! Hehehehe.......

How true

2007-05-10T12:28:00.000+08:00

Someone sent me this through an email, and I find it to be true....

" Apples & Wine

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy.

The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Now Men.... Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with."

Hahaha.... don't you all agree with me ? Share this with all the apples and grapes that you know.

Lazing & grazing

2007-05-02T14:11:00.000+08:00

These past two days, I've been doing practically nothing except watching tv and sleeping. A perfect waste of a holiday when I should have been working on my thesis. Yes Ange, I will start it.... soon. Sigh..... no motivation to work on it at all. Sigh....

And when I wanted to login to Blogger just now, it went all Japanese on me ! Didn't know what to do at all ! Luckily, I checked around the site, saw a link for language and went in ! Changed the settings back to English, so now I can "understand" what it says ! Sheeeesh.... duno why the setting suddenly switched to Japanese ! Must be coz I was reading Ange's blog. ALL HER FAULT !

I should have been happily munching on snacks and all sorts of fried things these two days, but unfortunately, a sore throat is preventing me from doing that. Like I said, what a waste of a holiday !

Anway, tomorrow it's back to the grinding stone. Tons of work, nothing done yet. Sigh......... And last month was pretty bad too, what with my PC going psycho on me and losing my sunglasses ! Sob sob sob ......................

sob sob sob sob sob

2007-04-24T21:20:00.000+08:00

HOU CHAM RRRR !!!!!! I lost my sunglasses !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Yesterday morning was still wearing it, then when I reached office carpark, I put it back in its case and return it to the dashboard drawer.

This morning when I opened the drawer, IT WAS EMPTY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UUUUUUUWWWWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No more sunglasses ! Can't look cool when driving d ......... !!!!!!!!

If I find out who took my sunglasses, I shall

GASP ! It's.... it's...... IT'S ALIVE !!!!!

2007-04-15T15:29:00.000+08:00

My PC has returned from the DEAD !!!!!!!

Today, I finally decided to take a look at the PC, and began stripping it naked of all the outer covers..... hehe......

Then I used a straw to blow away all the dust that was gathering at the nooks and corners and in the fan of the CPU and graphic card. After that, I just tried my luck, plugged in the power cord and turned it on.

LO AND BEHOLD, the monitor began to glow and the Intel Mainboard picture came up. I kept my fingers crossed, and the Windows ME logo started appearing. Wahliao.... I was soooooooooo happy !

I've already restarted it twice, and it seems to be working okay, but I'd never know, maybe tonight when I try to start it, it will not work again. Pray for me that it works !

High In The Sky

2007-04-14T23:46:00.000+08:00

I was high up in the sky on 12th April. I went for a ride on the Eye On Malaysia. It was a launching by HP on their AMD server & notebook, and they held their launching at Titiwangsa, where they treated their business partners (us lor.....) to some nice food (so-so lar..), ice cream and even popcorns.

They also had a lucky draw, with the prize an AMD notebook. Unfortunately, yours truly as usual, was not lucky enough. It went to a guy who looked about as excited as watching the flower grow when they announced he won the lucky draw. Just don't understand why it was him instead of me !

There are also some artists there drawing caricatures of the attendees. My colleagues and I had a nice one drawn for each of us. We wanted him to draw one with all of us in it, unfortunately the artist was surrounded by a lot of people waiting for their drawings. HP even supplied us with a frame for the caricature.

Anyway, it was a rainy day, raining before the event and after the lucky draw, and we didn't bring along our umbrellas, so we decided instead to take a ride on the ferris wheel. HP gave each of us a ticket for the ride.

Each of the gondola is air-conditioned, and can take up to 8 person, although it will be a tight squeeze. There is also a couple of VIP gondolas fitted with a bar and duno-wat-else. Anyway, more information can be found at www.eyeonmalaysia.com.my.

On the first turn, we were almost to the top when the ferris wheel suddenly turned the opposite direction, and we were going back towards the ground. Then it went up again. When we were at the top, it stopped to allow us to take photos. There was a problem taking picture from the gondola of the ferris wheel, because it was still drizzling, so there were water drops on the glass.

All in all, the ferris wheel is supposed to turn around 4 times. But maybe because of the initial hiccup, ours actually went around about 5 times. Hahaha...............

This is a view of the ferris wheel from the ground.
Another view of the ferris wheel.
This is where we queue to get into a gondola. Ladies wearing heels with sharp pointy spikes will have to be careful not to get it stuck on the steel flooring, which had a lot of little holes.
This is a view from right below the ferris wheel, which I took while waiting for a gondola to stop in front of us.
These are some of my colleagues.
That's me with another colleague of mine. Next to us is another guy, who must be feeling reallllly out of place since he is the only odd one out. Haha... poor fella.
This is the best view I took. Notice the water drops on the glass, giving the picture a blurred look.

Well, aside from the rain, it was a really fun day and a nice ride on Eye On Malaysia.

VRRROOMMMM VROMMMMMMMMMMMM

2007-04-08T22:50:00.000+08:00

Sepang F1 Circuit ! Sepang F1 Circuit Grandstand ! That's where I was this afternoon.

This is my ticket to the Turqoise Stand which is directly opposite the Toyota pitstop paddock. I got this ticket (worth RM1100 !) courtesy of my niece who works in UMW. Some of their customers didn't turn up, so she called to say she has 3 extra tickets. Great luck huh ?

So after lunch, Ange, Evelyn and myself made our way to Sepang. We were supposed to get a parking ticket after the toll. Guess the price of the Sepang F1 Circuit parking ticket. It was RM50 !!! FOR A PIECE OF STICKER !

Unfortunately, try as we may, we got stuck in the jam to the circuit and couldn't make it in time for the start of the Grand Prix. Just look at all the cars.

Well, we finally arrive around 3:20pm. With the RM50 parking ticket, all I get was to park at a used palm tree plantation area ! Don't even have nice tarred roads or marked parking spaces ! Anyway, my car had no gas, so the aircond wasn't working properly. It was HOT ! HOT HOT HOT ! Reaaaaaaalllllllllllyyyyyyyy HOT ! And after parking the car, we still had to walk quite some way to reach the main entrance. Again, HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT !

Anyway, long story short, I finally managed to get into the main area. Nice ya. Of coz, I was probably losing as much water as the F1 drivers in their car, since I was literally oozing water from all pores. The noise was already becoming too loud to bear, so we had to wear the given ear plugs.

This is the entrance to the Grandstand. The noise was really deafening, especially when the F1 cars drive by. When they enter the pitstop, the noise is even worse.

That's the pit stop paddocks, and there's a Red Bull car getting ready to pit.

This handsome gwailo photographer is trying to capture a nice pic. Just look at the size of his lens !

These are some of the F1 cars that I managed to capture with my handphone camera. You think it's easy ? Most of the time, the pictures have no cars in them because they zoom by so darn fast ! Every 15 photos only get me ONE with a car in it !

These whole bunch of cameramen waited here to try and capture the photo of the Grand Prix winner, which was Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

One of the spectators bought this cute cow that can dance and it had a little Toyota flag.

This is what the Turqoise Grandstand looks like.
That's the aircond area. Not sure whether meant for spectators or for their team members.

See how cute the supporters are ?

Going home was another nightmare. We were stuck in the darn carpark area for more than 30 minutes, because none of the cars were moving ! Yes, aircond still not working ! I almost fell asleep. The other two ? They were FAST ASLEEP !

Anyway, we reach home 2 house and 15 minutes later ! Hot, tired and sleepy. But all in all, it was a really interesting day. How many people get to sit in the F1 Grandstand ? So, to Ade,

My PC DIED !!!!!

2007-04-08T00:39:00.000+08:00

ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!
MY PC WON'T START UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was making cranking noises a few days back and I knew something was wrong, but since the startup had no problem, I thought everything was okay.

Unfortunately, while I was surfing a website, the PC suddenly hung. I had to go out so I just shut down the power and went off. When I came back in the evening, I switched on the PC, and it just stopped at the boot-up screen.

I even took out the RAM just to see if that was the cause of the problem, but aside from some beeping sounds, nothing happened. I put the RAM in again, and this time, the monitor remains a plain, blank, empty, nothing display. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Elek. Boh. Mei you. Mau. Tara. Mou.

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How am I supposed to live without a PC ? Without being able to check my emails ? And worst of all, WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO DOWNLOAD HEROES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What I Think Of Japan

2007-03-31T23:34:00.000+08:00

Hmmm......... time really flies. I've already been back in Malaysia for a week now. The past week has been really hectic, what with having to do a lot of catch-up workwise, and also having to sort out the souvenirs.

Overall it was a really great trip that I had in Japan, thanks to my niece Ange. Without her, I wouldn't be having some of the most tasty food around Kobe, and also won't even be able to catch a ride on their trains ! EVERYTHING is in Japanese, EVERYONE speaks Japanese ONLY. It's like I suddenly became an illiterate person !

Most are over polite, speaking to me in Japanese even AFTER I have spoken to them in English, saying that "I'm sorry, but I don't understand Japanese". They will nod their heads, then continue their level best to try and explain to me about something. And they REALLY like to queue. Whether it's for paying, boarding train, washroom, food, check-in, traffic lights, they will queue. As you know, we Malaysians seldom do that, so it was a bit odd.

When the Japanese drivers reach a traffic light junction at night, they will turn down the lights so that it is not glaring for on-coming motorists or people crossing the road, which seems like a good idea. What I find odd is that when you are on the escalator in Kansai, you have to stand on the RIGHT and walk on the LEFT. And yes, ONLY in Kansai.

People there are very "stick-like" because most of them are thin. Can't even buy clothes there. Nothing fits. All for those thin Jap girls. And they really pile on the makeup before leaving the house. Even those 60-80 year olds are dressed to kill and had on makeup, and they looked better than me !

Another funny thing is that most of the tables, chairs, washing basin and even their toilet bowls are so LOW. Initially, I thought the one in Ange's house was meant for kids ! But the weird thing was, the bathtub was darn tall ! Almost had trouble climbing in, with a darn small space for the bathroom. I wonder how old folks are going to climb into that bathtub.

It's a nice country, because it is reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaallllllllyyyyyyyyyy CLEAN. And everyone is environment-friendly, with plenty of rubbish bins at the train stations that sorts plastic bottles from normal rubbish. Also, although there are no rubbish bins anywhere on the road, people there do not simple throw rubbish on the road. Instead, they will take the rubbish home to throw.

They are also disabled-people friendly, having many amenities for the blind and the lame in most places, and they allow guide dogs to accompany the blind people, even into shopping malls. And yes, they really love their dogs. They have many shops selling clothes and toys for their dogs. Some of these clothes, collars, doggy bags (to keep pooches in), toys and even dog bowls are more expensive than the clothes or shoes Ange buys for herself !

Their standard of living is so much better than us in Malaysia, which is why they can afford nice stuff. Their 100 yen shop sells quality goods, and with the salary that they are earning, Japanese can really live comfortably, unlike us Malaysians.

When I was there, it was really cold and had low humidity, thus although having to wear the multitude layers of clothes were cumbersome, at least while Ange prodded me with a stick to climb stairs, hills, wait for buses / trains, walk a few miles, I didn't really sweat. Hehe... okok... I'll admit it, she didn't prod me with a stick. The only problem is food and drinks also become cold very fast, thus one meal at home may require the microwave to be used at least 5 times !

Another thing I like is that there are no mosquitoes or flies or cockroaches or lizards. And the crisps, biscuits or popcorn that we open to consume stays crispy for days ! Being able to sit in the living room with no mosquitoes using me as blood bank and not having to switch on the aircond to feel cold was great.

My only regret was that the sakuras only bloomed AFTER I left ! I only managed to see ONE single tree with sakura blooming, in Himeji castle. Sigh...... but then again, when the sakuras bloom, it means that the weather has turned warm, so I'd be sweating like mad. Well, win some, lose some.

I really went to quite a number of places during my visit there. Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara and of course, USJ. Although my poor back and legs were "complaining" so much, in the end, I still managed to accomplish quite a fair bit. Ange had to adjust her "walking speed" to accomodate me, but hehe.... old oledi ma.... watodo......

Anyway, it was a fruitful trip for me, and I really enjoyed eating ALL the delicious food ! Korean BBQ, Cheese Fondue, Ton-Katsu, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, parfait, haagan daz, custard bun, and not forgetting, their really really really really delicious puddings ! Hehehe... never liked the pudding in Malaysia, but those in Japan, YUMMY ! Even those cheaper ones sold in the convenience stores were sooooooooooo nice ! And of course the nice souvenirs I got for MYSELF to remind me of this Japan trip lar.........

Back on home soil

2007-03-26T13:29:00.000+08:00

Yes folks, I am back in Malaysia, KL already. Reached here 6pm on 25th March, after the plane got delayed 30 minutes due to some idiot who checked in but didn't turn up at the gate. They had to search and remove the luggages that were checked-in earlier. Sigh..... some people !

Anyway, I am still tired from my trip, and anyhow, I'm already back at work. I will summarize my trip to Japan in another post later, and also some pictures of my extremely smart niece who just graduated her Masters ..........

Nara

2007-03-24T12:13:00.000+08:00

The last city I visited in Japan was Nara. The place we went to was the Nara Temple, where they had deers running ALL over the place. The deers are mostly fat and not afraid of people at all. There were stalls nearby selling food (or rather crackers) that we can buy.
Some had pretty backsides... hehe.... also, there are these people going around cleaning up their feces, which actually looked like little pebbles.
This is the temple entrance

These people are lighting up joss sticks to give thanks to the buddha.
Pretty ya ?
This is where people are allowed to wash their hands after touching the deers.
This is the biggest bronze sculpture in the world. It was HUGE.

This is a beautiful replica of the temple. Wonder if it is also coated in gold since it was so shiny and bright.

This hole is for people to crawl through, especially if you have any wishes to make.
People buy these plaques to write down their wishes
Both Ange and myself had a go at getting a "chim" from this. It was in English so I could understand what was written. I got a "Good Luck" and she got a "Best Luck".
People with sickness are supposed to touch this idol, depending on where your pain is, after which you are supposed to be healed.

Ange lighting a joss stick.

Plum blossoms in full bloom
Close up of the deer
A lake with one or two ducks

We bought home some ingredients for Ange to cook. Why not me ? Hehe... I dunno how to cook.

Fried veges.....
The salad she made was YUMMY
She also fried beef cubes.
Lastly, she made lobak soup.... yummy meal... Was so full that night.

Next Stop : Osaka

2007-03-22T16:02:00.000+08:00

We went to Osaka to visit the Osaka Aquarium and also to take a ride on one of the world's biggest ferris wheel. However, before going there, Ange had to collect her air ticket from the agent in Osaka. After collecting it, we went for Korean food. This is "bibimba", rice in hot stone bowl. Quite nice.
Haha....this is me in the ferris wheel on the way up to the top.
This is the Osaka Aquarium. It's home to fishes, ducks, pengiuns, whale, sharks, stingrays, beavers, seals, dolphins, crocodiles, otters, and many many more. Better than the aquarium in Singapore.
Here are some lazy seals lying in the hot sun, resting. Don't let their bulk fool you, they are really great swimmers in the water, graceful and FAST.
These are the pengiuns, which were HUGE. There are some "kids", who still have their fur. It was feeding time, and it was fun to watch. One of the pengiuns kept harrassing the keeper to feed it... hehe.
After that, we went to Dotonburi in search of dinner.

These fellas are making okonomiyaki in the open. Japs like to eat okonomiyaki and taroyaki.
Ange took me to a shop that sells okonomiyaki. We sat in front of a "hot plate" and once they bring the okonomiyaki and other food, they will place it there to keep it warm for us.
We went back to to Umeda and took a photo of this ferris wheel that is waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy on top of building.

Whole Day At Kyoto

2007-03-21T02:01:00.000+08:00

After a day of "rest", Ange took me to Kyoto to see all the famous temples. The one below here is Kinkakuji or Gold Temple. This whole temple is coated with gold, hence its golden look. Can't even get near to scrape some home... hehe.

This is a place where you can make a wish and throw money into the bowl. Didn't waste my money here coz the Jap God wouldn't have understood what I meant.
Next we went to see Ginkakuji, or Silver Temple. The rooftops are all made of silver, but compared with Kinkakuji, this one looks more simple and rundown.
However, there were some interesting sand sculptures around this temple. Yeah, this HUGE thing was totally made out of sand.
Also interesting were the moss around the temple. They even had this sign here with a display of all the moss in the temple. Cute leh.......
Then Ange took me to see Kiyomizu Temple, where I had to CLIMB all the way up a steep street. Luckily there were plenty of things to see to distract me from the ardous task ! The climb was worth it though. The temple is really beautiful.
As we came down, we met some geishas. Not very pretty though.... but EVERYONE wanted to take photos with them.
We went to Kyoto Station and took photo of the Kyoto Tower, another KL-Tower thingy. To me, it looks like a donut on a stick, or an UFO that crashed down on a tower. Hehe..... not that our KL Tower looks any better lar......
Lastly we went to Gion for dinner. This is the old district of Gion, where there are many "okiya" that houses geishas.

Conclusion ? A well-spent day, but my poor poor poor poor legs were sending me signals that I overused them ! They decided to rebel and by the end of the days, I was almost crawling home instead of walking.

Easy Day

2007-03-21T01:51:00.000+08:00

By the 4th day in Japan, I decided that today I need to "rest" my legs coz they felt like they will be falling off any time. I told Ange that she can ship them home and order new ones if we continue walking like the past few days. Anyway, she took me out for parfait in Sannomiya and we bought home some ingredients for steamboat.

See my satisfied look while enjoying the delicious parfait. Hehe. These are some of the things we bought for the steamboat at home.
We bought lots of mushrooms (yummy, my favourite) and dumped everything in. There's also nice local beef (from Kobe) and pork slices. We also bought some sashimi clams, which can be eaten either raw or dumped into the steamboat.

Having steamboat in such a cold environment is really enjoyable, since the hot soup and heat from the stove kept us warm. A great meal, and my compliments to the chef (Ange lar..)

Himeji & Tarumi

2007-03-21T01:06:00.000+08:00

Went to Himeji the day after USJ. My legs were totally in pain with all the walking ! My God, the people in Japan can realllllllyyyy walk ! But I decided to ignore all the pain. I didn't pay for an expensive air ticket to sit at home !

So here I am, with Ange my niece, in a train on the way to Himeji. Yes. Change trains again here and there, until I blur.
It was a nice blue sky. Looked like a fake picture doesn't it ? It was also sunny. I didn't realize that I loved the sun so much. It made me warm. Haha. When I'm back in Malaysia, I'm going to complain about the sun again, but for now, I LOVE the sun.
This is the entrance to Himeji Castle. I was asking, how can all these people in the olden times walk up and up and up and up and up just to go see the king then ! Don't their legs ache ?
Beeeuuutiiifullll leh !
I was told that Himeji is even more beautiful in April, when all the sakuras are blooming. Guess what ? I actually had the luck to see ONE single tree blooming with sakura (cheery blossoms).
Close up of the sakura.
This is the view from the top of Himeji, which had 7 stories that I had to climb up. It nearly killed me ! And the steps were wooden, and steep, and also certain areas I had to bow down coz the beam was just too low.
After Himeji, I was taken to Tarumi, which is where I can take pictures of the strongest hanging steel bridge in the world.
This is the sunset view at Tarumi. We almost froze out there taking the pictures, coz it was SOOOO cold and the wind was blowing HARD. I thought I turned into an icicle.
Another tiring day in Japan, what with the late nites, early rise and all the walking walking walking.

2nd Day - USJ

2007-03-19T02:34:00.000+08:00

On the 2nd day in Japan, I went to USJ. Hehe... not the one in Subang lar.... USJ means Universal Studios Japan. We had to wake up early, then change trains here lar, there lar, until I was totally lost. And everything is in Jap ! Written ka, spoken ka, all JAP. How to understand lar......

Took a picture outside the ET Adventure with the popcorn that I bought. Hehe... see the Hello Kitty ?
See all these people ? We were in the line, waiting for our turn on the Spiderman Adventure, outside in the cold. If you think that's all to the line, you should know that it snakes around inside as well. We had to wait 70 minutes to get on the ride ! But it was well worth it. Very exciting !

Saw this Coney Island Hot Dogs "van" and just had to take a picture. So nice.

This is the car from Back To The Future. Yes, another 50 minutes before we got on the ride.

This is the Jurassic Park ride. Can you see all these people getting wet ? I decided not to go on the ride, since there was a long wait, and also it was darn cold, so didn't fancy getting wet at all. Instead, my niece queued for the Big Huge Turkey Leg they were selling nearby. Delicious !
After that, we managed to catch the 4pm show in Waterworld. These fella were great, riding water scooters, and hovercrafts in this area. Those in the front rows got really drenched ! At the end, there was even a plane that came "crashing" into the area, and fire everywhere ! Fantastic show.
This is the Land of Oz. Pretty leh..... me. Hehe.
Cute or not ? Snoopy meal.

See my new car ? Sportish and bright. Blind also can see me on the road.
Night view of USJ, after we saw the Peter Pan show. It was c....o....l....d !!!!! VERY VERY COLD ! My ears, forehead, nose, cheeks and lips were almost frozen, coz the show was near the lake !
Also dropped by Hard Rock of USJ to buy some souvenirs. For myself. Only. ALL MINE ONLY.
Was hungry after all the excitement and only a turkey leg for lunch, so stopped by to have some tako-yaki. Bit different from those made in Malaysia. No veges in these "balls".
All in all, a great day at USJ. My only grouse ? EVERYTHING WAS IN JAPANESE ! Shrek, Spidey, ET, Back to the Future, Terminator, EVERYTHING ! Didn't understand a SINGLE word ! Sigh......

Choh Samui Neh !

2007-03-19T01:34:00.000+08:00

Yes, people, I am in the Land Of The Rising Sun, aka Japan. After having only about 4 hours of sleep for two days, I boarded the plane heading for Japan at 11:55pm on 14th March. Did I sleep on the plane ? No. I watched Casino Royale and Happy Feet. Around 4:30am, they came around serving "breakfast". Hehe. Never had such an early breakfast before.

After having that (eggs and potato, which doesn't taste nice), I looked out the window and saw that the sun was rising, so I took a photo of the horizon from the plane. Those white stuff you see on the window ? They are FROST.

Why did I take this ? Why, to show you that I was actually in a Rolls Royce of course ! As we were landing, I was so scared, coz all I could see was WATER ! Turns out that the airport is out near the sea. Gave me a terrible fright !
Anyway, I finally arrived at 7am Kansai time (6am in Malaysia). I saw all these fellas wearing their thick jackets and putting on scarves, so I followed suit. It was cold. I made my way to the immigration counter, and just as it reach my turn, I suddenly heard a loud "bump" ! Guess what happened ! A fella who was also walking towards the immigration counters (Japanese fella) suddenly fell down flat on his face. I don't know why he fainted so sudden, but there was an older man with him (maybe his dad) who called for help. I only understand "hayakku, hayakku", which means "faster, faster".

So I went downstairs to collect my baggage and saw that there were some guys with a stretcher and medication making their way upstairs to help that poor soul. While waiting for it, there were several Golder Retrievers taking turns to check passengers and the luggages for drugs. Wanted to pat them, but they were "working" so I decided against it.

I collected my bag and went in search of the transport counter where my niece already booked a seat for me to her place. When I reach there, they spoke to me in Jap and I spoke to them in English. Chinese say "chicken and duck talk", meaning, useless conversation ! Anyhow, I managed to tell them my name, and they say "Ah ..... soh", then pointed me to some seats nearby.

I waited until they called me, then off we went to a van that had several passengers. Midway, I had to change van. The buildings that I passed by on my journey from the airport to her house were boring. All same same design and colour to me. They are either brown, beige or grey. And also sea everywhere !

I only reached my niece's place around 9:40am. She already told me the night before, the building will be doing lift maintenance at 9:30am. Since I was late arriving there, I had to CARRY the luggage upstairs to her place, which is on the 3rd floor ! Luckily it was cold, otherwise I would have been sweating buckets.

Her apartment overlooks the Kobe Oji Zoo and Park, where they have a Ferris wheel. The zoo is only located 3 minutes walk from her place ! Yet I have not heard of animals whining, etc, nor are there any smells emanating from the zoo. Since I was already there and didn't want to waste time, she took me to Sannomiya for lunch and to walk around there to shop. First stop after getting out of the train was to a shop nearby for nice, yummy, fresh, mouth-watering sushi. Nice leh.......... How much ? 1000 yen, roughly RM30. But look, the fish covers the sushi rice, unlike those in Malaysia where the rice is bigger than the fish. One word. YUM ! And yes, no wasabi, coz my niece say that if I ask for it, I will be insulting the chef. Touchy fellas.
This is Motomachi, the shopping district in Kobe. See those trees at the back with the blooming white flowers ? Beautiful. I almost thought they were fake trees. Just to confirm, Yes, It was Darn Cold ! When have you ever seen me dressed up with so much clothes, topped with a scarf ? It was C..O..L..D !!! Samui !! The weather was about 9 degrees on that day.
Then we walk past Kobe's Chinatown. There are shops selling Chinese pau and other food. Nice and hot ya.... wanted to go warm my hands, which were freezing. Hehe. But I didn't lar...
Heh... saw this fella outside a shop, and I couldn't resist taking a picture with it. So adorable !
This is Kobe Tower. Nice and tall, something like KL Tower, but red in colour. Yes, also near the port.
We walked around and came back to take a night shot of the tower. Lovely ain't it ?
My niece bought some nice strawberries that day, although they had weird shapes, but they are nice, big and sweet. She also cooked dinner that night. Slept around 1am that day, and we were to go to USJ tomorrow, coz she said that if we go on weekends or public holidays, the place will be packed. Where is USJ ? Read the next article.

3 hours more

2007-03-14T21:01:00.000+08:00

3 more hours until I depart from Malaysia and go on my journey to Land Of The Rising Sun. Haha....... YEAHOOO ! Apparently there cold cold, but as of now, I am HOT HOT !

Getting Ready

2007-03-13T13:29:00.000+08:00

Today I felt sluggish. Why ? Well, coz I was packing my clothes to get ready for my trip to Japan tomorrow. I was supposed to pack MINIMAL stuff so that I can help to bring back some things, but then one because of this equation :

Me 1 t-shirt = Others 3 t-shirts

by the time I was done, the WHOLE luggage was already full ! (Ange, if you're reading this, you better be prepared to SHIP everything home). Sigh...................

Am I excited ? I think I'm too tired now and also have too much work to be excited about the trip. Moreover, tomorrow I have to give training. S.I.G.H..........................

Maybe tomorrow afternoon or evening I'll be damn excited, but for now, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Crocodile Farm Visit

2007-03-11T16:48:00.000+08:00

Before we went back to KL, my colleague and I stopped by in Sg. Rengit for lunch. We went back to the same shop where we had dinner the previous night. After lunch, we went to a shop nearby and bought some lobster crackers, at least that's what the owner claims lar.... Can be prawn crackers for all I know.

This is the road leading towards Sg. Rengit. All trees. Almost feel asleep. We also stopped by a crocodile farm on the way back. The entrance fee was RM4, and you can drive through. It's a drive, stop, walk, take picture, continue driving, with no guide. When I saw this sight, I thought they were drying out crocodile skins. Hehe...... went nearer and realized that it was a whole bunch of crocs resting in the shade.

This huge fella was hiding beneath a fallen branch. Some of the crocs, we can only see the tail since the head is hidden deep beneath the waters. Scary thoughts.
This small fella was basking in the sun with it's mouth opened. Must be thirsty. Hehe.
Seen here is actually a HUGH fella. The picture doesn't do it justice. Wouldn't like to have this fella loose and after me ! Here's another fatty. It's small beady eyes were gleaming when it saw me. What, thinking I was a big fat lunch ? Think again !
These are small cuties. Wanted to touch one, but was afraid that they bite.

Here's an even smaller bunch of crocs. Cute leh.... Another fella basking in the sun with the mouth open. But this is a BIG fella.
Scary ? I was scared ! Had to be careful, in case he decides to run up and snap my hands off while taking the photo !
On the way out back to the highway, we passed by this view.
The jetty where the fishing boats come in.

I reached home about 7pm, and was tired out. I woke up this morning, and my WHOLE body was aching, topped with having a slight headache. I think I will have an early nite tonight. Otherwise, I dunno how I'm gonna get to work tomorrow morning.

Yahoo ! Going back hometown today !

2007-03-10T09:14:00.000+08:00

Yes Yes Yes ! My work in Sebana is done ! I'm going to be back in KL by today ! Yahoooooooooooooooo .................. KL, dear KL. I miss you so.... Well, here are more photos I took yesterday in Sebana.

That's the view of the Marina from the pier. Nice ya.

Here's another view of the marina from the lobby.

This is Movenpick strawberry ice-cream. YUMMY !
See these stairs ? I had to climb up to the "tower" in order to check a couple of PCs. By the time I reach the top, I was panting like a dog ! See ? THIS is the tower that I had to climb up to ! It was SOOOOOO high !
Took a few photos from the tower. Here's a bird's eye view of the pier.
And of the marina.
This is a sunset photo taken from the pier. Nice leh.... the sun reflected not once, but twice.
Another view of the sunset from the tower top.
A view of all the boats in the marina.
I took this photo using 3x zoom, so not that clear. There are monkeys there, playing by the bins.
Should be back in KL by this evening. I am SOOOOO happy !

(ps. I was supposed to post this yesterday, but the internet gave me problem, so I'm only posting it now.)

SC Times

Bandung Trip 2nd to 5th Oct 2009

Sad, depressing, bleak, pathetic, stressful life

You're cured !

My Operation - A week later

My Operation - 30th April

My Operation - 1st & 2nd May

My Operation - 29th April

Decision made

Hong Kong - 1st Day

Hong Kong - 2nd Day

Hong Kong - 3rd Day

Hong Kong - 4th Day

Hong Kong - Last Day

One Year Older

The Day Is Drawing Near

Stampede !

How am I, you asked ?

Toyota Classics 18/11/2007

10 Years' Bond

My Ah Yee Very Terror

Weekend At Malacca – Sunday Part 1

Weekend At Malacca – Sunday Part 2

Weekend At Malacca – Sunday Part 3

What the Modern Woman Wants

Weekend At Malacca – Saturday Part 1

Weekend At Malacca – Saturday Part 2

Weekend At Malacca – Saturday Part 3

Weekend trip to Malacca

My Leng Chai Is BACK !

Popeye Is Back Home !

Right or Left ?

Poor ole Fungeline

Tis Not A Good Month

Sore Petpet

Awoooooooo !!!!!

Phone-less & Bluetooth-less

My Leng Chai Is Sick !

Popeye, Here I Come

Popeye's Save For Now !

Kurang Satu Kaki Lunch

To Do Or Not To Do, That Is The Question

Major Trouble - Part 5

Major Trouble - Part 6

Major Trouble - Part 7

Major Trouble - Part 8

The Gardens, Mid Valley

Major Trouble - The Beginning

Major Trouble - Part 2

Major Trouble - Part 3

Major Trouble - Part 4

Malaysia International Fireworks Competition

The Merdeka Eve Incident

Malacca Trip on 23rd August 2007

Missed the Blood Moon !

Simpsons - The Movie

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

Dinner at Sri Siam

Dinner at Dragon-i

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

Visit to KLCC Sky Bridge

Bro Has Left The Country

So Sick !!!

Annual Dinner 2007

Mutant Lychee

Stick-To-The-Wall

Growing Up

My Ferraris !

Looks Like I've Got Greenfingers After All ......

How true

Lazing & grazing

*sob* *sob* *sob* *sob* *sob*

GASP ! It's.... it's...... IT'S ALIVE !!!!!

High In The Sky

VRRROOMMMM VROMMMMMMMMMMMM

My PC DIED !!!!!

What I Think Of Japan

Back on home soil

Nara

Next Stop : Osaka

sob sob sob sob sob