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/

How to kick start a brand new year

Now playing : The Click Five - Addicted To Me

1. De-motivation
It's coming to 3 weeks since we stepped into year 2009. Everyone is pretty much affected by the economy, everyone is talking about the economy, everyone seems to know everything but I guess I can't tell you how the economy really is gonna affect and I don't think every Tom, Dick and Harry is such an expert in this, everyone is just saying what everyone else is saying. It's happening to everyone, it's true, we understand it but it doesn't mean we like it, it's just something we gotta accept. Misery loves company. Hadn't really felt the painful pinch yet until I found out what might happen to my income. It feels like the serial killer in the Scream movie just slashed his hook across my guts and spilled it all over the floor. What a way to kick start the new year.
2. Elevate unnecessary issues
Wouldn't it be nice if problems of past years can be left at the door of year 2009? Basically like how yearly entitlements are reset to 0, problems should be reset to count 0 also. Everyday that passes, it just seems to elevate further. Sometimes I think, hey, I think things are working out again, feel could be happier than before and bang, it's not true. Things are not happy after all. Drop a bombshell and kick things down a notch.
3. Bills
Don't you wish the credit card bills can also be reset to 0 across the new year? WTH! Credit cards are evil, there's no denying it. Don't loyal, timely paying customers get any rewards? I guess not, all they can say is F it, you know?

Oh, and finally...Monday mornings suck!

When reality sinks back in

I am so tired, I really don't want to do this anymore. Totally dreaded waking up yesterday morning and this morning. Hate the thought of going to work and seeing all those items pending for me. Test scripts, OT system, dinosaur system, SAP IR8-freaking-A, UAT UAT UAT... This dreading hadn't cross my mind for a couple of weeks now, but since now that more important things are settled...I'm getting all these mixed feelings again. It's 7am and I'm wishing today is the day the earth stood still.

:)

Today will be a busy day, but it will be a fun day. I'll be learning something new, seeing a lot of people and possibly eating a lot of food. Tomorrow, too, will be a busy day, but it will be a happy day and I hope for a happy, breezy, sunny weather to top it off.

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~!