New year, new colour

Feel like a change, so I changed the colour of my blog. Have a Happy New Year y'all. Throw away your old unfinished resolution list and come up with a new one.

Words

"It's only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away", comes from a legendary song by the Bee Gees. Words are important, no doubt. Some are said to make a person happy, some are said to hurt, and some are said just for the sake of saying something. It's a God's gift to mankind. The power of speech, the wonders of words.
Too much words can be overbearing too, like my writing..I tend to say a little too much, explain a little too deeply, repeat exaggeratingly. My previous sentence is a good enough example. Many people say the wrong things at the wrong time. Silence really is golden. Some will feel that the words said have a hidden agenda. Did you know that the most powerful words are not the inspirational shit that we hear, or the lovey dovey nonsense lovers talk about? The most powerful words are the words that cannot be forgiven. The ones that hit the hardest. I've heard plenty directed to me or to people I love. Of course, it is worst when it comes from people you actually give a damn about. Some use it to pressure or threaten you coz basically they think they are just so good at talking. At the end of the day, you tell yourself you won't give a F what they say. But you know what, keep telling yourself that. It doesn't work. I won't lie to you. Words f-ing matter, especially the bad ones.
On a lighter note, Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

Christmas time is here

Now playing - I'll Be Home For Christmas

Almost every year I will say the same thing, there's just some thing about Christmas and Christmas songs that puts people in a romantic mood (I meant the walk on the street, smiling and laughing under the Christmas lights kind of mood). Or maybe it's just too much dose of movies over the years. And Christmas is usually linked to winter. I love winter. I've never actually experienced the depressing part of bitter coldness in winter which many people say that it sucks. I don't want that to spoil my fantasy of it. I only know that I loved the cool breeze of San Francisco before the actual bitter cold hits town. I'm no expert about the world, after all, I grew up in Penang, I studied in Penang, I work in Penang, maybe I will breathe my last breath in Penang and my life is just this little island. Don't get me wrong, I love home at times, anyhoo, this is not the point. 2 weeks in Sunnyvale, California don't make me no expert but it doesn't stop me from loving the short winter I had there.
Anyhoo, every year in December, one way or another I will always make it a point to listen to Christmas songs. Recently, I went and bought a Christmas album by Elvis Presley - Christmas Duets (for the sake of the spirit of Christmas) collaborating with a few of country's leading ladies like Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood to name a few. Dueting with a legend that has been dead for 3 decades is a work of modern technology, albeit, a little weird come to think of it. But hey, they could even digitally replay a 3d performance of Elvis on stage with Celine Dion, what can they not do. Heck, Elvis has been dead so long but every time I listen to his music, it is absolutely magical.
P/S: I have a thing for Christmas trees. Only coz they are so pretty...some of them anyway. A couple of years ago when I was in Singapore, I tried to take photos of every single beautifully decorated Christmas tree that I stumble upon just for the 'Kodak' moment feeling. These days I'm just too bummed to care. I look at them, I go 'oooh and aaah' and I walk away. They just don't look as pretty over here as they are over there.

Twilight is coming

I've not been so excited about a movie for some time now until Twilight came around. More so a vampire flick. Twilight is a story based on the novel by Stephanie Meyer about a devilishly handsome vampire who falls in love with the smart girl-next-door kind of high school girl. A tale of forbidden love, everybody loves to have something forbidden eh? The hot vampire, Edward Cullen comes from a clan of vampires who are basically 'vegetarian' by choice (I guess it's not the right term to use, I don't mean they don't eat meat, they just don't suck the life out of humans. Their diet revolves around deer, bears and stuff.) They are the good vampires, in short. And then of course there are the evil vampires, equally hot. I just finished the book, it's book 1 of 4 part series. I'm telling you, it is addictive. I'm now mid way through book 2. It's so sinfully delightful. I'm joining the worldwide legion of screaming teenage girl fans being sucked into this vampirish version of a doomed love...though I must add that I'm no longer a teenager, by a mile or a couple of miles....

I was watching the trailer this afternoon and by golly, the vampires are stone cold beautiful. Based on that, I didn't see much of any gory, sharp teeth, blood-smeared faces or bloody scenes which is a good thing. I'm glad they portrayed the vampires in a 'hot' way. At least I know I won't be getting nightmares if I watch it. *cross fingers* I hope the movie is as good as the book. Finally a serial book-based movie that hopefully will give the super sissified Harry Potter series a run for their money. I never liked Harry Potter, I never read it and I never will, and I've only watched one of the movies. Sucks like hell. Bite Harry, Bite!

Samantha Who?

Recently, I've been watching Samantha Who? It's a comedy series about this girl..Samantha. She met with an accident and can't remember a single thing about her past. Basically she was a mean but successful girl who would do anything to get what she wanted, that was the Samantha before the accident, thus the tag line "She's been a bad, bad girl. Good thing she can't remember." Every episode she discovers different things about herself such as she cheated on her boyfriend, she does her little victory dance when she discovered she is a VP of a firm, she hated her mum, she terrorized her assistant, she stalked a man, drowned her dad's car in a lake and many more. The show revolves around her trying to make amends and being a better person...in all the goofy, unsuccessful ways that I can't help but laugh. It's a really good antidote after those horrible long days. Samantha is surrounded by all these colourful, quirky characters that makes this show so enjoyable from her sometimes-mean mum, to her bitchy lawyer best friend, cute dad, adorable childhood friend, creepy boss and the sometimes-pitiful boyfriend.

David Cook's new single

David Cook has a brand new single from his upcoming album. It's called Light On and it's totally rocking the speakers. Get hooked on Cook. Check out the song here.

Fernando wins in Singapore

Former 2 time champion, Fernando Alonso is finally shining again, though briefly but it's a very good sign. Alonso won the Singapore Grand Prix last night, starting from 15th place all the way up to 1st. (photo courtesy of guardian.co.uk)

Blogging about nothing

Today I attempted to blog about something, anything, a fly at my window if I may or the thoughts that are crossing my mind. Yes, it does seem 'mo liu' but I realised I don't have anything interesting to share at all and neither do I have the mood to.
I'm wondering how much dust can get into my room, I just wiped my table like 2 weeks ago and now it's already caked with a layer of dust. Enclosed room, windows that hardly open..where'd all the dust come from? And now my mind wanders to why I get very disturbed during my sleep especially naps. I keep having the same dream of something wrapping me tightly, I try to open my eyes, I try to move but I can't, I just feel paralysed. Then I start to panic and I dream that I'm forcing myself to wake up or am I really trying hard to wake up but I can't? Zap..I think about my meeting which I need to talk sense and not screw up. I ask myself, why the hell am I worried about it? I tell myself, I don't freaking care, what's there to worry? I worry too much...I totally need to chill. My life is just stagnant, it's not moving backwards, neither is it moving forwards, upward, downward. It's just standing still. Some friends keep coming up to me and asking me stuff like when you gonna get married, when people are bored they should get married bla bla bla. That is a whole load of crap. What kind of reason is that? Bored = Time to marry???!!! Oh the shock! I have so much phobia for that topic now. I never thought I would hate talking about this so much but I wish people would stop saying it like they know it all. Is it a must-follow rule that people who just got married and started families MUST spread the joy? I keep hearing people like they just had a baby, and suddenly constantly they are pestering their friends to hurry up and produce a baby also. WTF?? Is it a case of, ooh I have a baby, it's your turn now, see if you can beat me? What a joke. Thank god my family don't pester me about these stuff, I would totally scream into my pillow. Then I think about the fact that I'm getting fat and really need to follow a strict daily exercise routine at least for the next 3 months before my brother gets married so I can fit into nice dresses. I don't do diets, that's unfortunate for me. I'll die if I don't eat what I like to eat, so I just need to be more persistent & consistent with my exercises. Skipping to another topic, I have a little plant in my room and it's still going strong which is a miracle. I have a history of 'killing' plants by their 3rd month. What?! I'm not born with green fingers!
It's going to be a light lunch today of homemade sandwich. And now I'm hearing the clock ticking away and I gotta get changed. Thank you, God, for the creation of Panadol. Next week is a long week, shutdown and I'm so looking forward to Soon Yee coming home. We can finally meet up again for drinks and a whole load of catching up. I also need to spend some time soon looking for a nice dress or two. Anyone wanna accompany me? SY? Peeno? :)

Mellim Spicy Tomato Spaghetti

Now playing : Daniel Powter - Next Plane Home

On Thursday, I spontaneously decided to try out my cooking skills again...or lack of. This time I ventured into the wonderful world of italian/asian/chapalang food. I had with me a can of Prego's Spicy Tomato spaghetti pasta (btw, did you know Prego's is under Campbells, I didn't know until recently, thanks Soon Yee), a packet of spaghetti, some sausages and an egg.
I sliced up the sausages and fried them till they turn from pink to brown and crispy. Then I fried an egg. I intended to make these my deco toppings. I made too much of topping, you'll see at the end.
Next, I boiled some water and cooked some spaghetti. The packet says 8-10 minutes, but by 10 minutes, my spaghetti hadn't transformed into edible form yet. Maybe the water wasn't boiling enough. So I waited another 10 minutes.Voila, final step, I heated up some Prego Spicy Tomato sauce in the microwave. Poured it onto my cooked spaghetti. Sprinkled...no...dumped the big lump of toppings on it. As you can see, the toppings had blocked out the sauce.
The verdict from yours truly, ME. It didn't look as good but it sure taste quite fine. The sauce is a bit spicy but it's very nice. I recommend you buying this sauce. Another flavour that is nice is Prego Cheese & Herbs. I haven't tried others but soon, I will.

Verdict from 2 of my 'lovable' friends:
LK says "From photos , doesn’t really look nice , yat pek yeh like that. But may b the taste might be okay ?? I am not sure . If Chyna and freeman not die after eat , let me try next time haha. Don’t b angry my fren , just joke for the day :p"
A couple of hours later, she decides to take a 2nd look at the picture and said "I try to relook the photos again and would like to say something to cheer u up. But i really couldn’t say something good about its outlook muahhahaahhaaha. Soli"

Thank goodness one of my best friends in the world was more encouraging with her verdict so I won't cook this and force you to eat it the next time you are back.
Soon Yee says why didn't I make some for her. (Sorry dear, I would have if you were in Penang but are you sure you want to, no regrets?)

Along the way

"When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life. I see so much magic though I missed it at the time." (Jamie Cullum - Photograph)
Do we overlook so many things in life that might matter? Do we really? All I know is I spend most of my days moaning and complaining about my day. With all the focus on the superficial things in life, I believe I would have dropped some balls along the way. But as life states, everyone has their own distress to pour out that nobody would really be listening anyway. (except for my friends who always lends me an ear.)
It's been weeks and weeks of unsteadiness and confusion. And then I saw the light, things just kept pushing me and pushing me until I realized I can't do this anymore. Now, most of my days are just spent waiting for good news. I hope it will come soon.
Today, I listened to this song by Jamie Cullum. I must say that I bitch a lot about work but at the end of the day, I truly appreciate those simple things in life such as love, family, friendship, health, a roof over my head and my non-sensical dreams. So I look back at my ordinary life and I realise, it may be ordinary but for a fact, normalcy is all that I wish for and life is a miracle. Thank you for being a part of my life.
But I ain't gonna stop bitching about things that piss me off until I get it right. Life is ALL about fulfilling satisfaction. Cheerz~!

The Mummy 3

I loved the Mummy movie franchise. I could never get enough of The Mummy 1 and 2 regardless of how many times I’ve watched it. Everything was just right, the chemistry, the scenery, the suspense, the jokes. I could never get enough of how oddly shiny and white The Rocks teeth are in a hot, dusty desert during a flashback moment as the Scorpion King. Most importantly, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz were just perfect for the roles.
Needless to say, I was very excited when The Mummy 3 aka The Mummy : Tomb of The Dragon Emperor was released. But bummer, it lacked the suspense and thrill that the first 2 movies delivered. Firstly, Jet Li wasn’t scary enough as the baddie. In fact, I wasn’t at all anxious as compared to the Egyptian mummy in the first 2 installments. Apart from that, this time around Rachel Weisz was replaced by Maria Bello. That’s too bad, Weisz was really perfect for the role as Evelyn. The new Evelyn kind of lacked the enthusiasm and the curiosity that Weisz’s Evelyn portrayed. Maybe should have just killed off Evelyn’s character and replaced with a new character, maybe then, it wouldn’t feel so out of place. And there was serious chemistry lacking between the new Evelyn and Rick O’Connell. Something was missing.
Besides that, Rick and Evelyn’s son was played by some actor (I didn’t even bother with his name) whom I think looks too old to be their son. The whole family thing just felt out of sorts. No chemistry, nothing. It was deadbeat relationship.
Nevertheless, the visuals were pretty cool and I loved the Yeti(s). I liked the movie as a whole. I just wished the characters had better chemistry. Looks like I’ll be watching re-runs of the Mummy 1 and 2 again to remind myself how much I still love it.
I read that there will be a Mummy 4, set somewhere in Latin America. Ooo, I hope it will be much improved.

I Kissed A....

...a frog? a hot surfer dude? ...oh oh...I know. A GIRL! I Kissed A Girl. *silent pause* Oh don't get your intestines in a knot, that is a name of a song. I didn't kiss a girl, ok?
Recently FlyFM has been playing this song a lot by Katy Perry (it's a nice song by the way). Funny thing is, they block out the word 'girl'. So the song goes like this, "I kissed a ****. And I liked it, I kissed a ****" yada yada yada. Seriously, what's the point in that when you already announce the name of the song before and after playing it. It's interesting to know that the word GIRL, is actually a vulgar word that they have to censor out. Gosh, now I can't go around telling people that I'm a 'girl'. Oops sorry.
Hi, I'm a nice ****. Sorry, I can't say the G word. It's foul language. *rolling my eyes*

And the winner is..

SPAIN

Euro 2008 Champions

Copy cat Simpson?

I recently found out that Jessica Simpson will be releasing a COUNTRY album. OMG! She's gonna kill country. To be fair, Jessica Simpson was quite a good singer. Her voice is powerful, but also shrieky and painful to the ears but she can sing. So now she's gonna go country, is this her way of emulating Carrie Underwood?? Wow..she's got a long rocky way to go. She's got the guts..she sure doesn't have the talent. It doesn't mean that dating Carrie's supposed ex makes her an on par rival to Carrie Underwood. I heard one of Jessica's new 'country' song, Come On Over. I thought it might be nice..I was damn wrong! Honestly..it sucks.

If you guys are looking for really good country sounds, check out Jewel's new album. It's called Perfect Clear and there is NOT a single bad song in there. It's all good. 5 star quality. My favourites are...well it's hard to pick a favourite. All the songs in there are pretty nice.

A man of 40 dreams

Have you read this piece of news in the papers recently about this guy getting the nod to take a 4th wife. Recently, there’s ANOTHER update on his life saga (seriously, stop publishing idiotic news like these. As if the world doesn’t have enough of heart wrenching news that you have to give us an eye sore news as lame as a guy wanting 4 wives and targeting 40 offsprings…duh!)
Anyway, he says he wants to hit the target of 40 children and already has 25 from his first 3 wives. He doesn’t want to burden his 3 wives anymore. *choking on my own saliva*. So, ok…in order not to burden them, he wants to pump up another woman who’s 30 years of age so she can bear him another 15 kids in order to reach his quota. Basically, what I think is this poor lady will be very very busy for the next 15 years in order to bear her highly ‘ambitious’ husband his offsprings before she hits the age where having kids is considered risky business.
Anyhoo, one's personal life is none of anybody's business..I get it, I get it. Nobody's business..so why is it in the newspapers? Get it?
Such news being published in newspapers is beyond my wildest imagination. Please, spare us the damn details of his goals. We really do not want to know anymore about his revelations and resolutions. It makes me want to throw up in my mouth.

Top 10 Songs You Should Have In Your iPod

The self-proclaimed legendary joint-post project is back.
This is my Top 10 list of songs that is a must have in my iPod. Just so you know, I hit a bit of dilemma between David Cook’s Always Be My Baby and Mariah Carey’s Touch My Body. Finally, I decided Touch My Body didn’t make the cut. *pretending to look devastated* There's all kinds of genre in my list. Got country, alternative, spanish song, folk rock and others lor... You might not even have heard some of this songs before, which is a good thing coz sometimes the non-hit singles could be the best. For some, I just love the guitar sounds. If it's nice, it goes into my iPod. ~Dope! Anyhoo, it's cool to share my favourites. Let's see what a vast difference it is with our tastes in music.

1. Carrie Underwood - I Told You So (Listen)
2. Jason Mraz - Love For A Child (Listen)
3. Evan & Jaron - On The Bus (Listen)
4. Brad Paisley - She's Everything (Listen)
5. John Mayer - Vultures (Listen)
6. Meatloaf - 2 Out Of 3 Ain't Bad (Listen)
7. Luis Fonsi - Eso Que Llaman Amor (Listen)
8. Andrea Corr - Ten Feet High (Listen)
9. Michael Buble - Everything (Listen)
10. David Cook - Always Be My Baby (Listen)

Story continues..with strategic alliance
Top 10 by Soon Yee
Top 10 by Zeek

Pile of shit

This morning I was about to go to work when I found this unpleasant surprise from one of my neighbourhood resident's cats (or illegitimate offsprings of this bloody cat a.k.a. strays!) ON MY FRICKIN DOORSTEP! If one does not have the frickin mental capability (a.k.a. common sense/akal) to keep one's frickin cats inside their frickin house so that the frickin cat can't go out and shit at other people's doorstep or if one does not have the frickin brains to bloody neuter their stupid cats in order for it not to go hump other cats/get humped.....DON'T FRICKIN HAVE ONE!! Hey cat owner, I really hope your frickin dinner looks like this. So have a shit feast on me!

The Special One says...

This is a wonderful quote taken from ESPN soccernet news with Jose Mourinho on Chelsea's loss. It's pretty funny and after seeing MU win the double this season. Every MU fan has the right to slap mud in Chelsea's face for as long as it's rightfully possible.

'In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football 'almost' means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling Cup, almost won the Champions League and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.'

It is...but..

It's a triumphant day today but not due to personal triumphs. I celebrated watching MU beat Chelsea's ass in the Champions League. And then I watched 2 hours of very enjoyable American Idol finale. Despite all the things I cheered for, I feel a heaviness in my heart. It doesn't feel nice when glory is overshadowed by looming black clouds.

Manchester United triumphs!

I woke up at 4.45am and quickly stumbled to my computer to check the final results of the Champions League finals between MU and Chelsea. Gosh! Stalemate fulltime at 1-1 with a goal each from Ronaldo and Lampard...I thought I would get a result by now. So I went back to bed for 15 minutes and got back up as my dad switched on the TV to see the 2nd period of extra time. The supremacy of it boiled down to a penalty shootout. All fans would have been stricken when they saw Ronaldo's spot kick saved by Cech. As I watched Terry stroll towards the spot to take the kick that might have ultimately handed the trophy to Chelsea. He smugly adjusted his captain's armband as if saying that he will be a hero captain. He wasn't! He missed the goal by a mile as MU's hopes came back alive. Level again. Terry sat sobbing in devastation. Finally, Anelka steps up and the hero of the day was MU's Van Der Sar as he saved the kick at the crucial moment and Manchester United are champions. Every red shirt ran towards the goalkeeper in joy as the camera focused back on Mr Chelsea, Terry, still sobbing uncontrollably as I did a little victory dance in my head.
Finally, the Champions League trophy is back in MU's hands after a long time coming. Football, the game where big men cry and bigger men defy the odds to lift the crown. Hurray MU for the double.. Premier League champions and Champions League kings!

Chuck

Chuck is a new tv series currently showing on AXN every Monday night. It’s a hilarious, action packed show and the leading guy starring as Chuck (Zachary Levi) is so totally adorable…in a geeky kind of way. Geeky yet cool. And the girl, Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), is a new actress from Down Under…I like her too. Those 2 characters look cute together. One is nerdy and panicky whilst the other is a tough chick. And of course, Casey, the bulky, serious-looking NSA agent. He sure tries very hard to look scary.
It’s about this regular guy next door, Chuck who works in Buy More and happens to stumble upon government secrets which also happens to have been lodged into his memory. Sarah is a CIA agent and Casey is an NSA agent sent to ‘protect’ him because he now holds valuable information and I suppose everyone wants him dead.
Eventually, Sarah started working undercover in a hotdog shop and Casey took up a job in Buy More, both to keep an eye on the clumsy, ditzy Chuck. As you can imagine, all kinds of action-packed yet comical events start occurring to the 3 of them (and each of them probably has some dark past) as they try to dodge numerous danger that falls in their path while trying to discover the secrets that Chuck holds. I must say that, Morgan who is Chuck’s best friend, is one hell of a pain in the ass. He is so irritating. Anyhoo, totally loving this show!

Glory, glory Man United

The 2007/2008 Barclays English Premier League CHAMPIONS goes to Manchester United.A 1st half penalty coolly taken by Cristiano Ronaldo and a stunning pass from Rooney to allow Ryan Giggs to score the 2nd goal was enough for MU to clinch the Premiership title. Next up, I hope they kick Chelsea's A** in Moscow.

Bring On The Wonder

Now playing : Susan Enan - Bring On The Wonder

I heard this beautiful song while watching one of the episodes of Bones. It's called Bring on the wonder by Susan Enan. It sounds so soothing and the chorus kept playing in my head all night long.

**Bring On The Wonder**
I can't see the stars anymore living here
Let's go to the hills where the outlines are clear

Bring on the wonder
Bring on the song
I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long

I fell through the cracks at the end of our street
Let's go to the beach, get the sand through our feet

Bring on the wonder
Bring on the song
I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long

Bring on the wonder
We got it all wrong
We pushed you down deep in our souls for too long

I don't have the time for a drink from the cup
Let's rest for a while 'til our souls catch us up

Bring on the wonder
Bring on the song
I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long

R.I.P. Chirpy

Now playing : LFO - Westside Story

3 days ago, a squirrel sneaked into my house and I saw it bouncing around in my living room as I was getting ready to leave for work. Naturally I tried to open the front door so it could find its way out but naturally..also...it freaked out and dashed to the back of the house. I spent about 10 minutes snooping around trying to find it when I heard some sounds behind the curtain. I knew I needed assistance so I got my dad and we both opened the doors hoping it would go out. We tried to 'guide' it out the right way which probably to that squirrel, we were 'scaring' it. It dashed into the kitchen and disappeared.
So I snooped around again and noticed a unclosed gap in the wall behind the door and suspected that it has got to be in there. Well, nothing we could do but just leave it alone hoping it will come out by itself when no one's around. I told Soon Yee about this squirrel story and she has 'affectionately' decided to name the squirrel, Chirpy.
2 days on and suddenly I smelt a foul smell around the house. First thing I went to that hole and sniffed around. It was coming from there, no doubt. Next day, we got someone to come around and dismantle the box that was covering part of the hole and whadya know, a dead squirrel. Chirpy died. It got stuck in there and didn't know how to come out. I realise from the way I explained it, it seemed like I'm being ignorant about that but no..I do feel a bit pitiful for it. I believe Chirpy had another squirrel friend out there somewhere because I remember seeing one dashing across the road that very morning that Chirpy went into the hole. And when my dad said that Chirpy's friend might be looking for it, I felt a sudden wave of sadness for it. That thought makes me a little sad but well...may Chirpy rest in peace.

State of inconvenience

Didn't anybody teach them some common sense that it is an absolute no-no to block people's entrances just because they can't walk their million-dollar asses a few steps further? I take that back, sorry, why should I give them credit...I don't mean million-dollar asses, come on any Tom, Dick and Harry on the street nowadays can own BMWs and Benzs and what not. Let me rephrase, they can't walk their 2 cents worth of asses a few steps further?

Exhibit 1 shows you how the cars are park so 'conveniently' that it blocked the road and blocked entrances to people's homes. *smack head* BMWs, Benz..big freaking deal. Anybody can own one.
Exhibit 2, oh what's this...a car slotted so beautifully in front my house gate that ...wow..nobody can go in or out. I can't even drive into my own porch. I would have no problems at all with this if I had no plans to go anywhere but it so happened that we just came back and are trying to get into our own house. DUH! I was about to honk till my windscreens cracked had my dad allowed me to do so. He didn't allow, so things settled peacefully.

Daydreaming

Now playing : James Blunt - Carry You Home

These past 2 days, I've been reminiscing about San Francisco. Although, like what I told my friend today, I've only seen like probably 5% of San Francisco during my 1 day trip there but I fell in love with it, 5% of it anyway. I mentioned that I regretted not taking more miscellaneous photos while I was there, watching a man jogging with his dog, a couple roller skating, the cool breeze blowing in my face, the cosy-looking terrace houses along the roads - each uniquely painted and decorated and the view overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. As I didn't capture the moment, I have to constantly think about it because I didn't want to wake up one day and not remember what it looked like. *chuckle* That moment in time. I remember what I saw as I walked along the streets that was lined with tall narrow houses, each house with it's own Halloween decoration...again I didn't take a photo of that.

I remember strolling from one street to another and then finally turned back to Ihop (waffle/pancake shop). These days I've been having a horrible time at work, when I feel stressed out, I tend to daydream. Sometimes my mind will take off into its own realm I'd imagine myself living there. How cool it looked in my head. Then the phone rings, people wanting answers and solutions and I'm dragged back into that hole called reality.

Sleepless nights

Now playing : Matchbox Twenty - Leave

I hardly slept a wink the night before last night. The end result was a panda-eyed zombie sitting in the office the next morning, wide eyed, mind in outer space, tongue numb to the point of throwing up thanks to horrid torrid tasting lozenges, motionless and stifling the urge to cough uncontrollably. I coughed out a lot before I went to bed last night to relieve the feeling of phlegm stuck in my throat causing me to want to clear it every few seconds. I coughed to a point it started to hurt and I thought I had scraped the walls of my throat. At that point, I pictured myself grabbing my throat, yanking it out and scrubbing it with a toothbrush till it sparkled and re-assembling it back…in my sadistic dreams maybe.

I tossed and turned in bed as the cough and phlegm attack kept me up and the clock ticked away hour after hour, 1am…2am….3am…4am….I missed 5am, I think fell asleep finally and awoke again at 6.15am (alarm clock rang). The something-stuck-in-my-throat feeling still intact. I stumbled out of my bed and prepared for work. The drive to the office was possibly the slowest morning drive I’ve made as my mind wandered from one thought to another. Strangely, I didn’t feel sleepy at work, I just felt absolutely restless and on the verge of losing my temper trying to control the urge to cough. The nearby operations people were speaking loudly into their speaker phones as I tried to hold myself from hammering him to death whenever he said the word ‘deliveli’ (he meant ‘delivery’ by the way)

Last night, I had another sleepless night. I was so tired but I couldn't sleep. The moment I was about to doze off, I coughed, over and over. It was damn right annoying, I sat in the kitchen at 4am sipping hot water and I ended staying awake till 5am. Thank goodness I'm on leave today although strangely enough I feel quite energetic this morning.

Ushering in a new year

Here's wishing you a happy and prosperous year of the rat / rodent / mouse / tikus / hamster / mickey / minnie / ...

Where was I...oh yes, wishing you a Happy Chinese New Year and may all my dreams...oops...and your dreams come true. Cheerz~!

Happy Belated New Year

Now playing : M2M - Give A Little Love

It's nearing the end of January 2008. Funny thing is I started this year writing out a draft for my blog on the highlights/'lowlights' of 2007 and what I'm looking forward to in 2008. Whadya know? I wrote the draft 3 times over, 3 versions and threw them away (well virtually). I couldn't write one that I liked. I would start off nicely and it will slowly spiral downwards into a bitter piece of pathetic post.
It had been quite a busy start to the year. There had been many tasks piling up but somehow, miraculously I've managed to take them all in my stride. I stressed over deadlines but miraculously again, things seemed to work out at the end of the day. Well, there's more to come so I better not get too happy. Brings to mind this advice that an ex-boss gave me years ago when I was doing my training. He said 'There is no such thing as no solution. Everything has a solution, you just need to find it' Of course that was said to someone else in a different context but I remember it till now. It always makes me feel a little better when I run it through my head. Aside from these routineness of everyday work, that's just how it is... I've come to be quite bored and resentful of it. I've always known programming and software support is never my thing. It's strange though how I can do it for 4 years. I guess that's a perfect example of procrastination. This crossroad in my life has got me thinking that it's almost time I ..hmmm...maybe follow in my dad's footsteps. Who knows? I might just do that... :)
On a personal front, to be honest, things have been up and down like rapid waves and so melodramatic sometimes. Sometimes we have to play peacemaker, sometimes we have to put a fake smile on our face so not to hurt others that hurt us and we can't show the hurt because we don't want to hurt them (complicated...yes), sometimes we need to be ignorant and thank God for the creation of mp3 players and headphones (ignorance is bliss, but frankly it's easier said than done). 2007 had been a year of petty chaos and this past 1 month or so hadn't been any better. Sometimes I feel ashamed at myself for being over-sensitive and sometimes I feel ashamed of the people around me that make a big fuss out of nothing. These past month I feel pressured for no obvious reason. Now I go to sleep fearing the future and fearing what people expect of me which I can't fulfill. All this pressure and worrying I'm putting on myself really takes a toll and at times I really don't know what to do but just think of nice shoes and sleep it off. Sounds melodramatic as well.
Anyhoo, Chinese New Year is coming. It's a time of eating, watching tv, eating...oh well, that's like what I do every day. *blush*

Heath Ledger...dead

Heath Ledger, the Australian actor has died so suddenly. I've only watched 1 of his movies, which is none other then the teen flick, 10 Thing I Hate About You. My favourite part of that show was when the character which Heath played sang the song 'Can't Take My Eyes Of You' to his on-screen love played by Julia Stiles. Subsequently I got pretty hooked on his version of the song. Now his dead..rest in peace.

Photo of the week

One of my 2008 to-do list is to post my favourite photo of the week each week (assuming I took any photos). This one is my dog with her new squeaky toy. Can also be found here (http://mellim82.multiply.com/photos/photo/7/18)