My week as it was

I'm sitting here in the living room on 31st Dec 2009, Thursday at 5.00pm watching Can't Hardly Wait on tv. I've watched this movie dozens of times since high school. Ethan Embry is so cute. So, in the blink of an eye, this week has gone by before I can fully grasp it. How did my week of shutdown go? Let's rewind.

Monday, 28th Dec 2009
I slept my morning away until 11.30am because my head was pounding like a nail or was it hammer? Then I went for lunch at Passions of Kerala (banana leaf rice) before heading off to Gurney Plaza to look for some gifts. I managed to spend about 2 hours watching some shows after that. haha. But I felt too sick to enjoy it, my head was spinning.

Tuesday, 29th Dec 2009
I woke up today at 9.00am down with flu and cough. After an hour of lazing around I decided to head to office to get some things done. Spent about an hour there and went off to Queensbay for a walk. It was followed by a trip to the bank to settle some discrepancies with my gift redemption and then followed by a reluctant trip to the doctor. My throat was killing me. The rest of my afternoon was just an hour or so of tv time.

Wednesday, 30th Dec 2009
This morning, I woke up at 8.00am! Woohoo....waking up after 10am makes me moody. Thus the woohoo. At the spur of the moment, I decided to go for facial to kill time and zits. Then I had lunch at Batu Lanchang market before heading to Prangin mall for a while. Again, I spent 1-2 hours of my remaining evening to watch Bones.

Thursday, 31st Dec 2009
Today is the final day of 2009. Shouldn't it end with a bang or some sort of celebration of what I may have achieved this year? Yeah...no bang, no obvious achievements anyway. Worked from home this morning and completed it in the nick of time. So, I went shopping for some clothes. Out with the old, in with the new. Make new memories. Which then brings me to sitting in front of the tv watching Can't Hardly Wait.

I guess I didn't rot in front of the tv with the whole pledge of tv series marathon I mentioned in my previous post. It's strange how time flies, I didn't really do much this week as you can see but the hours flew by like a Boeing 747. I figured nothing out and everything is still the same old story. Tomorrow we begin a new year. Happy New Year anyway.

Out of office for a week

I'm gonna be off work for a week. Not by choice anyway but not saying that I would choose to be at work also, yiisshh WTF right? I'm hoping for cloudy days so my plan is to just crash at home and watch endless marathons of shows. I can picture myself at the end of the week, unkempt, wide-eyed, groggy and a little bit stoned. Besides just being couch potato and relaxing with me time at home in the quiet peace and comfort and also bask in the fact that a monkey-poop is out of my sight, so besides that I might just get a few important things done.
1. Call the banks and cancel cards. (I hate dealing with them, douchebag horrible service)
2. Shop for belated Christmas gifts...yea yea I know Xmas is over, shush.
3. Do something with my hair, maybe a whole Kristen Stewart-ish theme.
4. Go to the gym...will try anyway.
5. Have to work on Thursday.
6. Jobstreet, jobstreet, jobstreet.

Basically I don't have much valuable stuff to attend to besides those. I'm just really looking forward to just tv time and sorting out my thoughts. These past couple of months have not been great. All those nights, starring wide-eyed at the ceiling trying to get some sleep but ended up hyperventilating. My thoughts on my career..or lack of, my bleak future, stay or leave Penang, life in general...it's all crazy at times.

Shortnote: My f*cking office pc seems to be turned off, I can't connect and I have to go into office to turn the f*cking thing on. I shouldn't even care at all.

Soundbites

I watched New Moon. Wouldn't miss it for the world. This time around it's a lot of Team Edward versus Team Jacob. I'm loyal Edward follower...all the way...even though Jacob's body is so darn hot. I only begin to start liking Jacob a liiiittle bit in Breaking Dawn.

I watched this movie called The Canyon too. It's not too bad, nothing high profile. It's about 2 honeymooners lost in the Grand Canyon. Only familiar face is the girl who happens to be Sarah, from the show Chuck.

I am so exhausted. That's what I feel inside me anyway. It feels like I have not slept for a week even though I actually did. Every waking moment is so tiring. I wish there is a pill that will just make the troubles go away.

And, only good thing is MU won Portsmouth 4 to 1. Go Rooney! I hope Arsenal burns Chelsea's bum.

Top 10 songs on my Ipod, November 2009

November...going into December then going into a new year. Time is inevitable, deadlines are inevitable, I hate my life already. Nothing worth looking forward to, except for nice songs that will take my troubles away for a few minutes a day.

01. John Mayer - Who Says : It sounds a little different from his past songs. I absolutely love this song, it's so simple yet so mesmerizing. Only complaint is that it's too short.

02. Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway : The rap part of this song is the best. So infectious.

03. Craig David - I'm Sorry (I Just Don't Love You No More) : Thanks Soon Yee for this song. I'm so hooked, it's so emo. I think the word 'emo' is also the most said word by us this month.

04. Lily Allen - Fuck You : I don't think I'll ever make a good teacher in this lifetime because I actually think this song is so good as a kid's song. Because of the upbeat, cute-sy tempo. And wth, those kids gotta learn to defend themselves verbally somehow.

05. Kate Voegele - Angel : This one's got a kick-ass chorus. I love her voice, so smooth and blue-sy.

06. One Republic/Sara Bareilles - Come Home : Another emo emo song recommended by Soon Yee. "Come home, come home, I've been waiting for you, for so long, for so long".

07. T-Max - Fight The Bad Feeling : Ballad version. A korean song from the drama series Boys Over Flowers which I was so freakishly hooked on the past month or so. I've finally finished it and hey, even my grandma enjoyed watching it.

08. Someday - Algoinnayo : Another Korean song from Boys Over Flowers which I think this song is the best of all in the soundtrack. It had been my ringtone for a long time. Just fyi, now my ringtone is the Fuck You song minus the chorus as people might find that offending. I don't want to be bashed up in a coffeeshop or get kicked out from a classy restaurant.

09. Michael Buble - Hold On : This song makes me feel like wrapping my arms around someone to feel safe.
10. Adam Lambert - Time For Miracles : He is so perfect for this dramatic songs and I can just feel the tempo building up to that end note where he goes to his trademark Adam Lambert high pitch scream.

A toast to this f**ked up day

What a f**ked up day it is. What stupid monthly maintenance downtime?! It is giving people nothing but issues. Everytime there's a downtime, something will go wrong whenever the system is back up again. Am I suppose to follow-up this crap shit every single month? What difference does it make staying with the stupid dinosaur system or this?!
I'm hungry, I'm tired, I'm sick of my life and I just want to eat and I don't f**king care about that weight...this is a grand way to cap a miserable couple of weeks that have been nothing but shit for me. It has been all f**ked up weeks in every aspect!

Time Traveller's Wife

I finished reading Time Traveller's Wife last week just in time before the release of the movie. And I watched it yesterday. 2 words. Loving it. It's a nice story. The book was a bit of a long, merry-go-round read which took me a couple of weeks to finish but at the end, it was worth it. So was the movie.

Top 10 songs on my Ipod, October 2009

The music world has lost a wonderful talent. Stephen Gately. Not many would know him worldwide but he is very famous in Ireland, UK and Asia as far as I know. Boyzone, they are one of the best boybands I've grown up listening to and my favourite member was Stephen Gately.

01. Kate Voegele - Angel : Who's Kate? I heard of her through One Tree Hill. She's a regular guest star in that show as Mia Catalano, a budding singer. Features her songs occasionally. on the show. A pretty good way of promoting her album. This is her latest album (A Fine Mess), and it's really good. The kind of music I love.

02. Gavin DeGraw - Glass : I have heard this song for some time now but it never really clicked with me until they featured it in the background in one of the scenes in One Tree Hill.

03. Heart - Never : They are more famous for their other songs like Alone or All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You. I love the chorus of this song, brings a nice vibe.

04. Justin Lo - 三十日 : Totally got whacked big time by that Gary Chaw. But unrelated to that, I love this guy. Justin! Not Gary...don't even care who Gary was until the news broke about how he bashed Justin up. My friend introduced this song to me. Hooked on it ever since.

05. Nickelback - Far Away : I didn't even know this was by Nickelback. I heard Ace Young (guest starring on Bones) singing it the first time. Then recently I watched Bones season 3 again and this time I heard him mention Nickelback. Oh this is good.

06. Mandy Moore - I Could Break Your Heart Any Day : Not a big fan of Mandy Moore at all. But definitely a big fan of her latest single. I just wanna clap away with the song everytime I hear it.

07. A1 - Living The Dream : Old song from old boyband. A sweet little ballad. This song goes into my special little list. SY, I'll show you the compilation if you are interested. It's still growing very slowly. Haha!

08. Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet : His latest single from his newest album.

09. Elton John - I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues : I don't know how to describe this song. What to do, I love old songs.
- No mood to find a 10th song now...I don't know why my mood changes so suddenly. Shit.

Waiting for the sizzling hot albums to be released soon by Carrie Underwood, Michael Buble, Adam Lambert.

Boyzone's Stephen

Omg...I just read. Stephen Gately has died! One of my favourite members of Boyzone is gone.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091011/en_afp/entertainmentirelandmusic
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/10/11/boyzone.death/index.html

Top 10 songs on my Ipod, September 2009

01. Shania Twain - Nah : Off her Up album. Haven't heard this for a long time? The other day I was playing it in my car and kept repeating it since.

02. Uncle Kracker - Smile : I love this part in the song where he sings the chorus and the background music is all gone "You make me smile like the sun, Fall out of bed.."

03. Pitbull - I Know You Want Me : This song is weird. I love it!

04. Colbie Caillat - Begin Again : Absolutely loving this song. It's off her latest album.

05. Human Nature - When You Say You Love Me : They had this song in the Walk The Tightrope album. Then I wiki-ed them recently and found out they have released a couple of albums since as well like motown hits and stuff. This song was released in the Symphony of Hits album where their songs are remade to be accompanied by symphony orchestra. I love this song and it features Darren Hayes. He made it sound so natural.

06. LFO - Summergirls : Still remember them? It's been so long. This song is so feel good and the video is colourful and nice. Who can resist Rich Cronin back then?

07. Oasis - Don't Go Away : It oddly puts me in a melancholy mood and I'm so hooked on it.

08. Human Nature - Everytime : Awesome love ballad. Also from one of their older albums.

09. Brooke White - Sometimes Love : She released her debut album recently and this is one of the songs in there. The albums pretty good, since I like her style of music. This is my favourite song in there aside from Hold Up My Heart.

10. Daughtry - Pokerface : Poker what? Uh huh...yup. It is theLady Gaga song but I saw this clip of him singing it acoustic on youtube and ...it was sizzling hot!

Those were the days

Do you still remember them? Try looking through the pictures. Maybe you'll find something that brings back some memories. Those times before all the Pussycat Dolls, before John Mayer, before Taylor Swift, before Daughtry and before American Idol ever existed. There were those boybands, Spice Girls and bubble pop times. They were the 'essence' of my school days & adolescence, musically. Some of them have become defunct, some became bona fide superstars bringing sexyback, some just grew up, disappeared from the spotlight or hogged the spotlight with all the bad press and a selected few decide to sing horrible versions of other people's hit songs and etc. Nevertheless, I kinda miss some of them.

The morning after

It's Monday, my close friends and brother and sis-in-law have all left or are preparing to return to KL. The feeling is a mix as it seems like the weekend just passed by in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, everyone has left. I'm just sitting here, nowhere to go, no one to meet, no place to return to because I am where I am. It don't feel like home so I spend most of my time in my room thinking about something to do. I need some company, or cheering up...I know! Ice cream! New Zealand Natural Ice Cream...that should keep me up for a couple of minutes.
P/S: See you when you get back from Europe, SY. Maybe I'll make a trip to KL when you guys are around.

_|_

Look what my idiot friend did. So free ah! Hng....adding spiderweb, my blog not that dead kua. 10 days isn't so bad.

Ramblings on life

I never thought of myself as a person who dreads getting older. Years ago, I couldn’t wait to be 21. Now I’m practically drowning in the late 20’s pool and frankly it freaks me out. For one, it feels like approaching 30 is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. I have not achieved what I want to achieve nor do I know what I want to achieve other than the fact that what I want to achieve is definitely not this. Do you get what I’m trying to say? I don’t care if you don’t. :P
These days I don’t feel particularly proud of myself. I see people close to me whom I grew up with & some close friends moving forward in their lives and I admire them for it, going off to places like Australia, KL and other places and making a career for themselves. I’d like to do that too. Recently, I have been wondering a lot about moving out of Penang and maybe to KL, partly because one day my dad brought it up and asked me if I’ve ever thought of doing so (of coz I like Singapore though coz it’s clean and $$ and the system is so much better there! Education here has taken a backward step after the recent govt announcement. But anyhoo…). I told my friend, I wonder about that...just as far as wondering.. but I don’t know when or if I will ever find the guts to do it. I don’t think I’d be able to just go. But it’s a nice thought. That kind of change might be considered as a small achievement. I’m not really that brave to be honest because I tend to think too much, I’m not a change person. Change is good though, I want to embrace change. 
I just don’t look forward for my life to be like born in Penang, study in Penang, work in Penang, start a family in Penang, continue working here until the day I die. Life pretty much shapes into that, freakish but that’s life. Personally for me, my case, and I mean just my own opinion and not comparing with anyone else, not offending anyone else, I feel I got nothing to show and dreading family gatherings coz I’d be the only one who’s still here. Thus, that is why I don’t feel proud of myself anymore and lately it is like I’m having permanent PMS. Maybe I don’t have to think about moving away from here, I guess I could take baby steps and change work environment and find something new with better prospects to do. Maybe I’ve just really been doing this far longer than I really should. That could change my whole perspective.
And thus comes to the end of my post while I go scratch my eyes out looking at codes. It doesn’t feel so bad if I can solve it, but it feels horrible when your mind refuses to work.

Top 10 songs on my Ipod, August 2009

01. Keith Urban - Thank You : Who can get over this song? I still can't.

02. Fan Wei Qi - 可不可以不勇敢 : I heard this song on a Taiwanese game show and with the help of my dad translating it, I managed to find it. Something like 'ke bu ke yi bu yong gan', can we not be brave?' Am I right there?

03. Theory Of A Dead Man - Not Meant To Be : The name of the band is a bit of a mouthful. Can't they just call it Dead Man? Whatever...but it's got a nice chorus.

04. JJ Lin & Charlene Choi - 小酒窝 : My dad loves this song right now and asked me to find it for him. I was told it means Little Dimple. It's absolutely casual, romantic song.

05. Michael Learns To Rock - Out Of The Blue : I haven't been listening to them for a long time until that day they were playing one the songs on Mix FM. I still remember my school days with their songs. This is one of my all-time favourite.

06. Brad Paisley - Everybody's Here : Sad song, good old country style. I'm a sucker for country songs, they tell such beautiful stories.

07. Kristina DeBarge - Future Love : This is a very catchy song. For some reason, I keep picturing cheerleaders jumping here and there like they were on a sugar high. Anyway, it's an infectious tune I can't get out of my head.

08. Sting - Fields Of Gold : I think this is the song I've played the most times this month. It's haunting, in a feel good way.

09. Themesong from Little Nyonya : Been watching this chinese series show The Little Nyonya. It's got a nice theme song.

10. Brooke White - Out Of The Ashes : Remember her? I think she was Top 5 in American Idol (David Cook's season). The one with great hair. I love her hair and also her style of singing.

I gotta keep this post short. Manchester United is playing Birmingham now and they are 1 up. I need to continue watching. I hope there's a 2nd goal, I can hear the commentary from my room and everytime the commentator takes his voice a pitch up, I jump out of my seat.

Real men

How many of you agree with this? I already managed to find 1 friend that agrees with me. :)

Real men don't carry lunch boxes.

Disclaimer: This is by no means meant to offend anyone at all. It's ok if your father, brother, uncle, boyfriend, husband, nephew, grandfather or you carry lunch boxes. Just my own random thought, don't take it to heart.  :P

The day Moses came to town

Moses Chan is so damn hot in real life just as he is on-screen. It was pretty crowded in Queensbay but good thing Peen and I managed to sneak a 60 minute peek at the man himself. I was telling Peen thank goodness he wore a hat because I wouldn't be able to locate him at all with all the people towering above me. We just continued to stick our hand out and snap a photo. I took a couple of short videos too. :P One aunty practically climbed up on a chair beside me and I was kinda worried she would tumble and squash me.

Seeing the man himself, both of us pretty much melted into a pool of...Mel & Peen.

First impressions

Took a quiz in Facebook about the first impression people have of me when they first meet me. Darn accurate!

YOU ARE MAYBE A BIT AGGRESSIVE
You scare ppl!but you are not mean, you are a good friend once people come to know you..just be a bit more open!

I do scare people. People always say I am cold and serious initially and only think I'm less cold after knowing me for a longer period of time. 

Oh Roy

Roy Chiu (Roy Qiu). One word... "sigh". So handsome. Happen to watch this Singaporean series show Yours Always and saw this angel on earth. *melt*

Check out the link. The song is very nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ1My2lEvdM

Top 10 songs on my Ipod, July 2009

Why does time fly by so fast? It was like I just posted the June list not too long back. It is kinda depressing seeing the time ticking so fast, watching my life slip away, dreading the ever-dreading. At times like this, what's a girl like me to do but to turn to music... I will dream to make a music room next time in the distant future. My escape room where my walls will be covered with book shelves and CD shelves. I will paint the walls a maroon red or sky blue with marble tiled floor. And a comfy sofa in the middle of the room, giant headphones. In the corner will be my computer table and a hifi set. The 4 corners of the room will be 4 Bose speakers hanging on the wall. The room will be dimly lit when I want to relax and side table lamp where I can read. All that would be missing is a fireplace, seeing that Malaysia is a sauna by itself...I can pretty much forget about sitting curled up in front of a fireplace sipping hot chocolate. Now back to the list...
01. Martina McBride - Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong : Catchy song, cool lyrics. Once you hear it, you can't forget it.

02. Martina McBride - I Just Call You Mine : Took me a while to find this song. I heard it a while back on the radio and I kept thinking it was Faith Hill or Le Ann Rimes until recently I made a lucky guess.

03. Adam Lambert - Want : This is NOT his new single by the way. I read that this is a song he recorded before all the Idol hoopla.

04. Rick Astley - She Wants To Dance With Me : A very old song that kinda strikes a chord. I never really noticed it much and it has been playing on the radio for a long time now until suddenly, one day, maybe because of my mood, I heard it again and it just sucked me in.

05. Tinted Windows - Dead Serious : Btw, Tinted Windows is a super-group (this how they call it if it's a combination of well-known artist from different bands collaborating to form a band, I think). The lead singer is Taylor Hanson from the Hanson brothers band..still remember them? The Mmmbop fellas. Another member is someone from Smashing Pumpkins and they have other members from some other band which I frankly I don't even care. This song is infectious. It's one my ringtones too.

06. Peter Andre - Mysterious Girl : Not sure if you still remember this guy. Famous for this one song and keeps prancing around topless in his videos. He's got a good bod, I admit but that was the 90s.

07. Jessie James - Wanted : I thought Jessie James was a guy until I heard this song. Yeah it's a girl. It sounds like a mixture of Christina Aguilera in the 90s plus some modern feel in this single.

08. Keith Urban - Thank You : Yeah yeah, I'm still hooked on this. Who can't be? Makes me want to be in Nicole Kidman's shoes.

09. Adam Lambert - Mad World : Gosh, Adam in a trench coat singing this song. He is so HOT. I don't care if he's gay. He's hot.

10. Human Nature - Midnight Train To Georgia : Listening to this cover version makes me want to take a midnight train to Georgia.

Bali

4th June 2009 (Thursday)

The clock struck 5:15pm on Thursday and I would need to go home, get ready, leave for dinner and be at the airport by 8:00pm. Where am I going? Well KL of course and the next day...Bali.

5th June 2009 (Friday)

Let's fast forward to Friday 3pm or so. The check-in line was crazy at LCCT. The system was down and everyone was queueing up but no one was moving and no one was manning the counters. After much back and forth, my brother finally found someone to process our boarding pass and all 8 of us rushed to the gate just as it was closing. Whew!

It was a little less than a 3 hour flight and surprisingly it went by quite fast. Before I knew it, we were touching down at Denpasar, Bali. Talking about Denpasar, I didn't even know this is Bali...when we were boarding, all I could think about was, why are we going to Denpasar? It was dark already when we landed and the time was only 7pm, after much waiting at the immigration, finally we met our tour guide and were heading for an Indonesian dinner.

I don't remember the name of the restaurant but the food was really delicious. An Indonesian rice set dinner. So after dinner, we went to our hotel Adi Dharma Cottage in Kuta town. A pleasant, old-fashion designed place which felt real cosy. As usual, 1st night in a new place...sleep was hard to come by for me but someone was already snoring away within 5 minutes while I tossed and turned. iissshhh...

6th June 2009 (Saturday)

The first morning in Bali started off early. We were leaving at 8:30am for a cultural show (Barong dance) that starts at 9:30am.

After this visit, we took a brief stop at a silver shop before heading to the volcano which was some what of a long journey too. Our tour guide, Pari, was really good and wow, he can really talk about anything under the sun. From history to different types of rice. There were many interesting things to see along the way, it seems like different locations specialise in different stuff like silver...along the whole road, all I can see were shops selling silver. Then came wood carvings and then stone carvings. I must say, there are A LOT of statues in Bali and they are beautiful. Almost every round-a-bout, there is a statue and a huge one too, mostly of religious statues or historical ones. Did you know, approximately 90% of Balinese are Hindus. I came across one really gigantic statue at a round-a-bout and luckily managed to snap a photo of it. Amazing stuff.

Finally, we have reached the spot that we can enjoy a breath taking view of the volcano. There were some young kids selling souvenirs to tourists like us. It was pitiful to see these young kids coming from poor families, out there on the road side trying to make a living.

After taking our buffet lunch overlooking the volcanic scenery, we made a stop at a coffee plantation and tasted some coffee, cocoa and ginger tea. I bought some too. When we were done with that, we went to a souvenir shop to browse around. Lots of handicraft stuff, key chains, wooden carvings and what not.

At about 4pm, we were taken to a market-type of place which sells souvenirs also, t-shirts, cheap stuff that we must bargain for. It was interesting to bargain. I'm no expert but I learnt a thing or 2 from there.

About an hour later of shopping, we stopped at a family's compound which houses several members of a family and the place was open for the public to visit and see their living conditions. As night falls, all of us took a walk along the road of our hotel and the Saturday night life there is lively. There were pubs, discos and lounges all packed to the brim. It was a really long walk and by 9pm or so, our feet were ready to cease functioning. So we went for a foot reflexology...at 60,000 rupiah for an hour. There were cheaper ones but this one looked more impressive. Worth it. Felt really good after that. At the time, the night life in Kuta had just begun. People were packing into pubs and so on and dancing and drinking.

7th June 2009 (Sunday)

Today, we were headed to Tanjung Benua to look at turtles and along the way, ride in a glass-bottom boat so we can see the corals and seaweeds and rubbish under the sea. The beach there, honestly, isn't very pretty. It just looks normal..nothing breathtaking but the boat ride was nice because it was windy. The wind blowing in my face was comforting on a hot day. When we arrived at the turtle farm, it was already getting cloudy. There were a number of animals there, cocks fighting, snakes, birds, bats and of course, giant turtles.

After that, our next stop was Tanah Lot to visit the temple and also for some bargain-shopping. Weee! Things were so much cheaper at Tanah Lot compared to the market we went the day before.

And the view..ahh..the view of the cliff was exhilaratingly beautiful.

Next stop, Jimbaran beach for a sunset dinner.

We spent some time playing with the water and writing nonsense with our toes into the wet sand. Then we settled down for a sumptuous seafood dinner whilst the sun set in the background.

By the time we reached the hotel and were getting ready to go for a walk along the shops of Kuta, I was already caught in a sneezing frenzy. Took a pill and slept like a baby.

8th June 2009 (Monday)

Woke up early today and feeling all cured and strong again, we were prepared for an exciting morning of...wait-for-it....water....wait-for-it...rafting!! The rafting cost about 230,000 rupiah which is about RM70+ and worth every dollar. The journey to the rafting station of Ayung River was a long and winding one. I was already half baked in the van from the sun shining in the window. We started the water rafting at 10am and it lasts for 2 hours down the Ayung River of 9km journey from start to finish. There were basically 4 commands we must know, forward pedal, backward pedal, stop and the important one, BOOM BOOM.

It means that's when the screaming and yelling starts. Seriously...it means when we are about to hit a rock or slide down the gap between the rocks like a mini rollercoaster. Man! Was it fun!

The whole episode finished after lunch and we headed back to the hotel for a short rest before meeting up at 4pm again to go to the Uluwatu temple for the Kechak Dance. A cultural, historical dance show performed by the locals.

9th June 2009 (Tuesday)

Today is our own time day. We are free to do whatever we like and it started off with Ding and I walking to the Kuta Beach to watch some hot surfer dudes. Well fine, I was watching the tight-ab-surfer dudes surfing (like I can help it! They are everywhere!). Kuta Beach has got a better view, it's cleaner and damn, it's hot.

Sticking my feet into the sand is like baking them. After I was done with all the oogling, we decided to walk to Discovery mall because our malfunctioning senses were telling us it's nearby. It wasn't. We never reached it by the way, so we continued walking, melting and walking...bought some stuff along the way and ended up in front of our hotel. Fate huh. After a short rest, we went for lunch at Mama's German Restaurant and then we walked somemore. Having given up on Discovery Mall, we decided to walk along the shops at Kuta and buy some souvenirs. I wanted to buy a fridge magnet and we ended up with Ding getting pulled aside to buy surfer shorts, Bintang singlet and we came out feeling a little bemused with all the persuading and insistence of the 2 brothers competing to sell us their whole shop.

Finally, we went back to our hotel at 3pm to pack up and check out at 4pm. We weren't leaving for the airport until 5:30pm so we went for another walk and stopped at a juice shop to rest and sit in front of their gigantic fan for about 45 minutes. Before leaving for the airport, Ding and I managed to squeeze in some last minute shopping where he bought an imitation Liverpool jersey for 60,000 rupiah and me, a black Man U Rooney jersey for the same.

That's pretty cheap considering we can't find one at that price back here in Penang. Then it off to the airport!

10th June 2009 (Wednesday)

We touched down in KL just after midnight, reached my brother's place and slept at about 2am. We slept and we slept till 10am. Ding and I were flying back to Penang on the 4pm flight and then that was it. That was the end of the vacation. Now I'm back to rot. I don't even look forward to go back to work. It's just so demotivating. But reality awaits right...

All in all, I had a wonderful Bali trip and did many firsts on this trip. My first foot reflexology, my first water rafting, my first real bargaining expose, Ding's first fake tattoo (it's fading by the minute), my first Japanese girl style hat(or so that's what I keep telling myself), my first experience of watching people surf in real life. It was awesome!

Coming soon

To my friend who has been 'challenging' me to post updates on my Bali trip, it is coming soon. Within the next couple of days. As you already know, June baby's attributes include 'tends to delay'.

Most popular news

I’ve come to a conclusion that people are generally horny. Almost daily the kind of news that will appear at the TOP of the Most Viewed/Most Popular/Most Read list in online papers are sex-related or nudity-related news. Above is just one example. I’m not saying it’s wrong. I mean, Hey whatever… that’s human nature, we humans are curious creatures. Horny too, no doubt. It's just amusing though, isn't it? To see how the probability adds up. If you have the time, check out the online papers for the next couple of days. Chances are, these kind of news are always the most popular pieces.

Darn it

Maxis and Apple, please be clear with your instructions on upgrading iPhone to OS3.0!! FYI, not everyone has done this before!

Thanks to your unclear and inaccurate steps provided, I have screwed up my dad's phone and all his SMSes are gone. Not only did I have a hard time finding the items that you mention in your thin little booklet, it's also misleading, lacking on precautionary measures and there is INSUFFICIENT FREAKING WARNING! Wait, I stand corrected, in fact there was ZERO WARNING on the adversities of it!

Apologies DID NOT HELP me as well, sms-es are gone.

Top 10 songs on my Ipod, June 2009

01. Keith Urban - Kiss A Girl : He performed this song live with Kris Allen in American Idol finale show. Keith Urban looks so hot with his guitar and of course, that makes the song so much hotter. Or was it the other way around?

02. The House Martins - Caravan Of Love : Very acapella. It's an old song which is nice for easy listening.

03. Keith Urban - Thank You : You've got to listen to the lyrics of this song to be able to feel the emotions of it. Very touching ballad.

04. Lionel Richie - Just Go : He's old...I guess, but that's not relevant. The song is pretty nice for a vacation.

05. Pink - Please Don't Leave Me : My favourite part of the song is when she goes "da da da da...da da da da" at the beginning.

06. Shinedown - Second Chance : Is this a new band? I've never heard of them before. The introduction part of the song is real cool..chorus not so much.

07. The Corrs - Heaven Knows : Any of you still remember the The Corrs? One my favourite band of all time. This is a pretty old song from their first album but listening to it got me hooked once more.

08. Kiss - Beth : Kiss sings ballads too? Their makeup is so darn scary. All it takes is for Adam Lambert to sing this song on the show and suddenly I'm looking for the original version by Kiss and, man, it's worth the time.

09. Daughtry - No Surprise : I mentioned this before in May and I'm still hooked on it.

10. Lady Gaga - Poker Face : I can't help it! I was already over this song. But they played this in one of the episodes of Ugly Betty showing Mark strutting in to the room with this song in the background. It's so perfect. Mamamama...

Holiday mood

I'm already in a holiday mood. Somehow some things manage to creep in and spoil it. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. I think I have better things to take care of than that. I used to think I would try anything to prove myself but this past 2 years I have some how lost my way, grown disillusioned. Anyway, I hope I get lucky.

And the American Idol is...

Two words....

ADAM LAMBERT

Ok...I'm just kidding. Kris Allen is the new American Idol. Believe it or not...but I think Adam deserved the limelight so much more so in my heart, Adam won. Cutey pie guy-next-door Kris is the new American Idol (with a dash of disappointment but it's good either way). I guess Adam's gothic-ness is too hot for AI. *sizzle* Anyhoo, better Kris than Gokey. I'm looking forward to Adam's and Kris's debut albums.

*Updates..btw I took a listen at the studio versions of the winning song 'No Boundaries'. This song was so totally made for Adam, it fits him. I hated it when I first heard it live but the song is slowly growing on me the more I listen to it.

EPL Champions once more

Manchester United are English Premier League champions once again! Awesome-ness!

Adam vs Kris

I love this finale!! Both of my favourite contestants are in the Top 2 but I love Adam the most. If I understand correctly, it seems like Kris got more votes but good for him, he deserved it.

Next week will be a great finale to watch, 2 of the most creative and original Idol contestants this season vying for the crown. 

Top 10 songs on my Ipod, May 2009

When I have nothing to blog about but desperately want to say something, the next best thing to talk about is music. Listening to music is a little like shopping for your favourite things. It's therapeutic, the only difference is that music doesn't leave me starring shell-shocked at the credit card bill 1 month later. These are the songs that I've been very hooked on for this month in no particular order.

01. Daughtry - No Surprise : I first heard this last week on American Idol when Daughtry was performing. Damn...he's so rocker yeng! One of the best rock songs I heard these couple of weeks. Very Daughtry-ish, a little Nickelback-ish.

02. Survivor - Can't Hold Back : An old song which I heard in the movie Mall Cop. It's got all the classic 80's-90's rock feel plastered all over it.

03. Kelly Clarkson - I Want You : This song is so totally addictive. The chorus is so cool that I can't help but want to sing-along to it in the car. Her cutest song in her new album. You you you you you you , I I I I I want you..

04. Adam Lambert - If I Can't Have You : This song was originally done by Yvonne Elliman and featured in Saturday Night Fever, if I'm not overly hallucinating. Adam totally stripped down the song into a heart-breaking ballad. Love it!

05. Demi Lovato - La La Land : This is the kind of teenage-y pop song that gets my head bopping. The video is pretty cute too.

06. Marit Larsen - If A Song Could Get Me You : Yeah, I talked about it in one of my previous posts and right now, I'm still hooked on it. It's got a sunny-day-picnic-in-the-park aura, not that I've done any picnic-ing before or sat in a park without being attacked by flies and mosquitoes. It always looks better on TV.

07. Plain White T's - 1234 : One of the most creative lyrics I've heard this month. "There's only 1 thing, 2 do, 3 words, 4 you, I love you." The song itself is pretty laid back and good for easy listening.

08. Jesse McCartney - How Do You Sleep : I heard a slightly different version on the radio which stripped out some of the beats at the back and that version is nice. Catchy chorus!

09. Adam Lambert - Tracks Of My Tears : I can't get enough of this guy. I loved the live version of this song which he sang on the show. 

10. The Saturdays - Up : Girl band, girl power alert! I don't know how to describe this song except that it's got a groovy feel to it.

Go-live Announcement, Apple & Bali

Congratulations to everyone who is part of the SAP Time project team for a job well done. It has been a stressful 6 months for each person involved because everyone of us had our own individual tasks to fulfill for this project. Finally, it has been 100% live on 25 April 2009 regardless of whether pay computing has successfully started or not. I still see it as a completion of major milestone. The rest will come when it comes.
I've waited so long for this day. I've done bits and pieces of little things as a reward to myself such as getting myself the Apple keyboard on which I am gleefully typing away, a trip to Bali as a good vacation opportunity that somehow just fell on my lap without much planning needed..haha! (Thanks to my dear brother and sis-in-law for inviting us along! It's gonna be a good break where I really want to relax, have fun and not having to stress about anything at all). As egoistic as it may sound, I think I deserved it. It is MY time for once, don't nobody take it away from me.
But somehow, I've not had all the personal celebrations that I imagined. Despite all the novels I've saved up for this day, I still haven't read them. Despite the Wii, waiting for me to play but not much in the mood still. I'm thinking of what cool gadget should I get as a reward. I'm hoping if I get a good recognition ($$$) reward for our 'hard work' in this project, I might go out and get an Iphone (nah, it is good to look at, good to touch, but not so flexible to use)...or maybe Sony Ericsson Idou? It's so pretty..or maybe a phone with a keyboard. What the hell is up with me and keyboards... I'm still hoping for the $$...It's all about the $$. Yeah, stupid fantasies. I should get back to reality. Go Adam Lambert~!!

Funny people

There are people in this world who thinks and preaches their holier-than-thou speech but are blind to the fact that their selfishness and stupidness causes the very chain reaction that leads to the person that they claim they love so much to suffer the consequences of their actions.

The one who suffers may not admit so but we worry every single day for the well-being. When is this holier-than-thou person going to wake up and see that one's own selfishness to fulfil their whims and fancies but disguises it under I'm-doing-this-for-you speeches. I can't do anything about the fact that everyone is on this supposed holier-than-thou person's side but seriously, how do you sleep at night? You are a wicked, wicked, selfish person who tells lies and more lies for your own heart's benefit and is indirectly influencing the person you love to accept your point of view and willingly suffer in silence because you syok.

Heaven at the fingertips

Today, a wonderful little parcel arrived at my doorstep. It is my very own Apple keyboard. The world is so much more interesting, so much more sexier with Apple. This slim little piece of gadget oozes with awesome-ness. Yes, Apple stuff are so pricey but it sure is worth every cent. Everything is done up with such great detail. Take a look at this cookie..

Snippety snippets

Just sharing some snippets on what's been happening and what I've been up to lately.

• I am head over heels hooked on this song by Marit Larsen called If A Song Could Get Me You. It's cute and everything. *Here it is, here it goes, I could try rock n roll, change your life, forever too, if a song could get me you*
  
• The front end system that the team and I have been working on for the past 6 months has finally gone live on 16 April 2009. Hurdle no. 1 has been crossed, the next major hurdle is next Saturday. Wish us luck!
• It's American Idol fever all over again. I'm totally loving Adam Lambert (he is so hot but my dad refers to him as 'pondan' coz maybe due to his nail polish) and Matt Giraud (thank goodness the judges saved him). Well I like Kris Allen too but more an on-off thingy.
• I've been farming a lot on Facebook. I wasn't much of a facebook fan, I never go in to update anything. Now I go in almost everyday but the only reason is to play Farm Town and occasionally Restaurant City.
• I haven't filed my income tax yet. :( Procrastination is taking over, man! I really gotta get finished by end of this weekend.
• I've been eating hell of a lot for the past 2 weeks, so naturally I'm afraid to weigh myself but after much dilly dally, I weighed.. and I just found out that I went down 2 freaking KG! Wooo hoooo! Being stressed sometimes ain't so bad after all...
• I'm very happy that Manchester United's Champions League dream is still alive for now. Btw, I miss Owen Hargreaves so much...where is he???
• Starting to get a little hooked on Mario Kart on Wii. I guess I get hooked on anything as long as I start winning and I get to crash into others in the process.. and btw Wii tennis is fun. I'm going to try the Sims on Wii once my project has officially gone live. It really feels like exams, you can't really enjoy anything until it's over and passed.
• True Blood series on Cinemax. One word - AWESOME! If you like vampire stories, this is a good one to watch. It's not overly scary so it suits my lack-of-guts persona and it's intriguing in certain ways.
• Time to go hang my clothes to dry...cheers!
  

Typical Sunday

My favourite part of the day is the morning. At the moment when the sun is just rising and the coolness of the night still lingers in the air. But mornings go by too fast. Before you know it, it's high noon and the heat is unbearable. For some reason, Sundays feel excruciatingly depressing eventhough tomorrow I won't be working as my office is having a shutdown, but it still feels like the typical Sunday. By the time it hits 4 o'clock, everything gets very gloomy.
I'm not looking forward to tomorrow whether I work or not. I may not be physically working but all I can think about is work. All I can think about is SAP, attendance, job schedules, interfaces bla bla bla as I see things spinning out of control. I'm almost at the tipping edge where my confidence level is at the lowest. Actually, things are not as bad at work as the way I put it (I exaggerate, that's all I do) but I cannot help feeling this panic washing over me that something would go wrong. It's a big deal. This month is a huge deal. It's either do or die the way I see it. I don't feel like I even have time to really sit down and focus on getting my side of things ready when there are so many distractions.
And then ...I really hate Sundays. I hope it rains tomorrow. I just wish for a cooling day where I can relax and maybe get my thoughts together and really really figure out how I'm going to make the best use of this final days leading into *shudder* go-live. A big part of me really absolutely totally want this thing to go-live. I feel so ready to celebrate, throw the dinosaur out the window and feel that sense of achievement I've been missing for so long. I hope it comes true. And now we're back to the typical depressing Sunday afternoons. I hate Sundays...and I just heard thunder.

Now playing : Gavin DeGraw - Stay

I can't sleep. Or maybe I don't want to go to sleep...

My 1st pedicure

On Saturday, I went for my first pedicure ever with Peen. I thought of taking a photo of my pedicured feet but then again, it's just plain weird to post that. The actual experience of letting someone scrub my heels and file my nails, I must admit, was really awkward at first. I guess I'm not used to people tending to my feet..sticking my leg out towards a total stranger. But anyhoo, it was interesting..the experience of a pedi. I would totally go again but some place else this time. In fact, Peen has already made plans and ...even thought of her colour already. Haha!

It's not just a book, it's a story

Since the start of 2009 I have read 3 books if I checked correctly. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson and Marley & Me written by Josh Grogan. These 3 books are really good buys and it's gonna stay top 3 for this couple of months till I can find others to challenge it. They have something in common, they all managed to inject realistic jokes and humour in the story that made them so enjoyable. Just 30 minutes ago, I finished Marley & Me (you know, the book about a family and their crazy dog), at first with the sole determination to know the story before I watched the movie. But after a couple of pages, I was instantenously hooked. It's everything in one story- funny, mischievous, touching, romantic, cute, tear-jerking madness and sadness. I'm not surprised that it's such a popular book because pet owners relate to it somehow. There's definitely at least one familiarity in the story that one has experienced while raising their dogs. I can't help but feel a sudden urge to want to give my stinky dog an extra hug or a head rub everytime I put down that book. I'm slightly embarassed to say that I actually laughed (softly) to myself while reading it and towards the end, basically I shed real tears as I kinda know the feeling of what the author was telling in his story. Not as if I can control my tears..*going on the defensive*..it just overpowered me out of the blue.
My fellow girlfriends, you girls wanna read it? I think you'll love it. You'll devour the book like how Marley devoured everything in its way. P/S..yesterday I bought Confessions of A Shopaholic, because I wanted to read it before the movie reaches our shores.....and also because it was on sale (30% discount!).

Signs of boredom

This is how bored I am. The result of starring aimlessly at my pc screen to kill time.

Quick run through

Now playing : Sugarland - Stay

I've finally finished Breaking Dawn early this morning at 12.30am. It's kinda sad that it already came to an end so fast, I just couldn't get enough of it. Anyhoo, it's a good book, a good series. Time flies by just like that, I didn't have to put much effort into reading it. It just grabs my attention like an addiction. Almost cried a little at the end because it was a little touching at some parts. Never expected a bunch of vampires would make me teary-eyed...with joy anyway.
On a different note, on Sunday morning, I went to watch the Thaipusam procession. Walked from polo ground all the way to the Waterfall temple (not the one on the hill, I doubt I would make it up there). The road was closed and jam packed, good thing the whole road was shaded by gigantic trees.
Now it's Tuesday morning. This week is going to be another hectic week and I'm still not in the mood to get started with it. There's just so many things that is so disillusioning with work and outside of work. Waking up each day without a thing that I look forward to. Or maybe it's the weather that's making me cranky. I'm still waiting for Klaatu to come and make the earth stand still.

Procrastination rules my days

*Updates: I did not reach office after all. Lost my mood just before I even reached there...so freaking screwed...*
Imagine how fast time flies. It's already Friday and next week I will have to return to work. I had plans for this shutdown week. Namely to finish some unfinished business but I came to realise working from home for me does me no good because I could never get started. Too many distractions like Astro, internet, food..to name a few. Basically I have successfully procrastinated the whole week away idly. I think I gotta get into office to settle some stuff, I really don't know what I have left to do but I just have this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that something is not done. Or maybe it's just to settle my nerves.
I just finished clearing some old books and donated them to the nearby library. My next plan is to clear some old clothes but thanks to my bad planning, it's already Friday. I guess I have to spend my afternoon in the office just to be sure I didn't leave anything to regret. Ciao!

The puzzle is complete

I have finally found the missing piece of my Twilight book series puzzle. I had Twilight which is the first book and also finished reading New Moon (book 2). Then I bought Breaking Dawn which is the final book of the series. Just one tiny little thing missing - Eclipse...book 3. Obviously I couldn't proceed without reading the third installment and I spent probably close to a month looking for it. The books were sold out everywhere and I thought it was only because Penang is so small but Soon Yee said it's sold out in KL too and even in Singapore! Soon Yee managed to get the 4 books after placing orders with the bookstore and I was still bouncing around looking for Eclipse. So was Joanne in Singapore. We were both trying to find the missing piece and miraculously, about a week ago, I found Eclipse in Popular at Tesco where I so happened to visit there for lunch. I believe on that same day, Jo also found her Eclipse. I have just finished reading Eclipse last night. I agree with you, Jo. I do not like Jacob as much as I disliked him in New Moon. Good thing Bella came to her senses at the very end. Do you think Bella would become a werewolf in the finale? Imagine the extreme forbidden-ness of this already forbidden love. 2 sworn enemies in love with each other. Or would she stay human or decide to join the dark side of bloodsucking...

My joy in all it's glory:

Once upon These Days

I need a different now,
Where we can wear each other,
For a while,
And I'll lend you my tears,
If I could borrow your smile,
And we'll get through tomorrow,
Some other day,
Happy after once upon these days..
(Chantal Kreviazuk - These Days)

A wonderful wedding

My brother's wedding to his first love and girlfriend of 12 years (now my sister-in-law) was 2 weeks ago and it definitely was a joyous occasion full of colours, laughter, food and angpow. It was fun to see so many friends and relatives attending the ceremony and dinner. It was fun getting to dress up, people making up for me, wearing nice expensive clothes, spreading the joy. Our family and friends were all there to help in whatever way they can (it was great and I appreciate it a lot), that being the first time holding a wedding ceremony at our place, so everything was a bit new to us but it was cool! Do visit the link below which is the photographer's blog site for some snippets of photos and at the end of that is the slide show they prepared for the day ceremony. I must say that the photos are a burst of emotions, unique and funny at the same time. The 2 photographers were very professional and very good at what they do. Their observation to detail is simply breathtaking. They really have a good eye for creativity and imagination. I really enjoyed looking at the photos, I can't wait to get the rest of them. If I get married, I'd definitely want them taking photos for me. I'm not advertising for them, I'm just stating the facts. It's just something really different from the usual.
http://blizzconcepts.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/wedding-of-andy-choon-lay/