oz mini updates pt. 1

so far what i have done (in no particular order) :

• met man lok. quiet ok kinda chap.
• ate loads of malaysian and asian food.
• did wine and cheese tasting at yarra and bought some
• ate pie in the "pie in the sky" place @ olinda which a yin raved about so much. it was ok.
• had cones of ice creams which made me sick later. i'm not so lactose tolerant. u know gas and all. ha ha ha.
• had fresh oysters with yin @ lake entrance
• see some lakes at gippsland
• sat like a hundredth time on the free tram circle. ideal way to bum around mel
• saw the penguins @ philip island
• fed the wallabies and kangaroos
• walked the 90 mile beach
• seen the tassie devils, platypus, wombats, etc.
• bought and ate easter eggs chocs
• braved the fairy caves in buchan. gotten meself a small souvenier - a scratch on my palm but no fairy sighting, haiz...
• visited the victoria market, ate the best brownies ever!, bought some vinegars and more wines
• caught captain cook in his cottage
• walked the treasury gardens and the fitzroy gardens.
• caught some swans (in the camera) in albert park
• saw some "unique" animals and an escape artist in healesville
• amazed myself with the tall trees in dandenong and black spurs drive
• bought a nice wool sweater
• met his brother and family yesterday

tiring...

today started quite badly.firstly get a call from mom informing me about vodka!... he was continuously vomiting and was so sick that he wasn't wagging his tail as usual. he didn't even budged when they waved his fut-fut (his fave toy). cried a little as i remembered bronte last days.... not again...then when reached office, had to face numerous sarcastic emails from my business rep which i suspect issues caused by users themselves as later he confirmed issue resolved mysteriously.saddest news was the passing away of a relative of my close friend.
very trying day ...

my great oz (victoria, actually) escape - itineraries

at last. the rough plans are drawn out! i just love plans especially if they turn out as planned. phew... now, i have to worry about my budget...
01-Apr Sunday
Yarra Valley day trip
- Yarra glen
- Healesville (santuary??)
- Black Spur Drive
- Marysville
- Steavenson Falls Walk (2 hours)
1800 dinner and snooze time
02-Apr Monday
island escapade! (3D2N)
- nobbies
- date with the small guys in tux
nite @ cowes
03-Apr Tuesday
island escapade! (continue..)
- up & personal with the koalas
nite @ cowes
04-Apr Wednesday
island escapade! (continue..)
- lepak
05-Apr Thursday
St. Kilda??
Lepak melbourne??
06,07-Apr Friday,Saturday (4D3N)
life's a beach! - Gippsland
get high! - Alpine
08-Apr Sunday
to the race!
- run with the devils at mornington
- back to gippsland
09-Apr Monday
life's a beach! - Gippsland (continue..)
10-Apr Tuesday
to the ranges
- belgrave
- dandenong's tuesday market
- puffing billy
- etc?
11-Apr Wednesday
the great expedition
- nite @ Apollo Bay
12-Apr Thursday
the great expedition (continue..)
- nite @ Port Fairy
13-Apr Friday
the great expedition (continue..)
- head back to melbourne via inland
14-Apr Saturday
golddigging (not the nose thingy la) day
- ballarat
15-Apr Sunday
0000 leaving on the jet plane

Why British think 80% of M'sians coming to UK to study law?

UK Immigration Officer: Purpose of visit?
Visitor: I'm here to study law, sir.
Officer: You know, you must have a lot of lawyers in Malaysia .
Visitor: Why do you say that?
Officer: Well, i've been here for a good twenty years, and I'd say 80% of Malaysians I see here say they're here to read law.
Visitor: Oh, really? That's really something i never knew. Hard to believe in fact.
Officer: Just you watch, then. You just stand here until the next Malaysian comes along, and I'll bet he's here to read law.
*Visitor waits for 5 mins, Ah Chong from Malaysia comes to immigration counter*
Officer: Mr. Ah Chong, purpose of visit?
Ah Chong: Study lorr...

quirky quacks

let's play spot the quacks. ok. so i am being wu liao. he he. it has been someday since the last entry to the blog. so i thought why not share some of my fave stuff with ppl.
although some ppl thought photography is my recent craze with the new slr and all but they are gravely mistaken. those who knew me way back then would know better. i love taking the shots (hee hee, literally and figuratively, actually) and not being shot (which depends on the company...). if you have seen my travel photos, you would know. which my mom still doesn't understand why i prefer to be behind the camera.
besides feeling a little wu liao, i need to use my e500 to stop from collecting dust :), so i took some shots of the recently cleaned bookshelf. yup. after a tedious day cleaning and re-stacking my books (this time in category order) i decided then to decorated it with the rubber ducklings i bought in kekloksi (of all shopping places, rite ?!). so now you might have guessed my top pastimes. DUH?! cleaning shelves??!!! are you nuts. reading of course :). and shopping for them, of course!. which gal doesn't love shopping?
so what stuff i read. ANYTHING! that i fancy. chic lit, historical stuff, lovely dovey romance, classic lit, pulitzer winners, etc. you can gather from the pix. erm. actually there's one collection that was suppose to be phui's pressie. it came late from online order and it laid in the shelf since the day it arrived. i thought it was a neat piece. corny but i think every bookcase should have one of this...
and if you scrutinized even closer. you will spot the 2 decks which i enjoyed a lot especially during cny. so far there are my income "ka chang" during this festivities. hee hee.

online shopping
well, what can i say. I LOVE online SHOPPING! i mean, it's shopping rite?!! besides being sOOoooOOOoo easy and accessible, some of my purchases are not available in msia e.g. certain book collection and %discounts to boot. ok. some of you scary cats. safe? of course, always check their creditability first. don't just plunged and purchase from the first site u come across, silly! check your credit card statement carefully and often after any purchases.
some sites i shopped and recommend :

• 
  
  books - http://www.acmamall.com : this site is great. they offer up to 26% depending on the promotion. each month will have different category on offer. free shipping for purchase over myr200. free stuff u get when shopping - precious!
  
  
• 
  
  music cds - http://global.yesasia.com : my fave dig-out for k-pop. ok. i don understand korean but doesn't mean i cant enjoy them... start clicking this site for those hard to find kpop albums. customer service is good as response is extremely fast. just splurged on another purchase recently. hope they will arrive before i leave for mel.
  
  
• 
  
  flights - http://www.malaysiaairlines.com : for oversea trips. come here to book. prices are lower than those in travel agent. REALLY! cos they are encouraging ppl to book online. purchases might be around myr10-30 cheaper.
            - http://www.airasia.com : for low fare promo. check here often. you might get free flights! i got mine free to philippines...
  
  
• 
  
  hostel - http://www.hostels.com : only did a booking once for a bunk in edinburgh. great place to check out oversea hostels.
  
  
• 
  
  hotel - http://www.asiawebdirect.com : booked some local hotels and service is quite responsive and good.

hoi kong!

first day at work. first day night shift. dont quite like working in the command centre as the place is not as comfortable as my own cubicle. but the whole place decorated festively. however, due to same area with the service desk ppl, quite noisy as some of them tend to speak their lungs out and worse in spannish. imagine how irritating that can be.

gong xi gong xi

tuan nian fan
i only managed to leave for mcca around 0930 on cny's eve. tg the traffic was not too bad. was only delayed for around an hour. however mom decided to have tuan nian fan dinner and not lunch. erm. bad move cos this means less time for digestion. i immediately had tummy upset after dinner. lots of lots of air in tummy and cant fart nor burp. ha ha. what a condition to start the new year. guess for chinese it suppose to be good kua. i mean full mar....
gong xi FATt chai
gong xi gong xi.... tis a quiet cny. with the strict ban and high fine for red crackers, no more cny bing bang mood d. first thing i did when i wake up after wishing gong xi fatt chai to mom, i dashed to my room to try my new clothes. aaa. lucky man. with my bloated tummy and all, i still can fit into them. ha ha.
ban ban
ha ha. puak kiao. my fave activity during cny. it was receiving ang pow but as you get older... luck didn't pick up in di koo's house. must be something about a-girl sitting next to me... however, luck picked up the next few days and yee ha!
peer pressures
ooh ooh. so cute. yea. reunion with friend and their babies. sooo cute all of them. but i only managed to take some ellie's pics. one of the aunties suggested that i get married soon to have one cutie myself... erm. i countered "erm... no need get married to have one, auntie. just a willing donor, rite?" she was stunned. so any donors? anyway, many of my ang pow giving friends has became scrooges!!! come on, there are only a few of us singles, er, rite? winnie and siewping were cornered by us singles and "willingly" gave us those lucky red packets. siewping turned the table by remarking "make sure this is the last time, ok?" yea. ok. erm. sure.
reunions of friends
one of the many reasons i always looked forward to during cny is meeting up with friends. some were anticipated while there will be a few delightful meet-ups. one of my best catch-ups was with winnie (based in suzhou with hubby, kintat). this woman is still as captivating and loud as all of us :) especially when us chabos and peter only gathered. phui looked more like a tai tai now with her long curly locks. siewping! our papan monitor... i think 2 years i haven't met her! still rosy cheeked with endless legs. sharon - our very own grey's anatomy was a little tired but immediately perked up during the puakkia session. who says docs don't take chances?! others were and i hope still are as lively and lovely as ever :) seems like we don't aged, huh?!

rise dragon rise!

ok. botched biscotti aside, i braved myself to bake another new cookie for this cny - loong pheng aka dragon biscuit. hey! what do you know - they turned out well. erm. after toiling for loooooong hours due to incorrect apparatus. i had some marks imprinted on my palm while using the ill-fitted icing pump. i even had muscle sores for like 2 days!! last resort, i had to roll the dough into short rounded strings and slowly inprint them with lines using the kuih siput's moulds. ha ha. inovative ler! well it turns out more like seh pheng. cheche said it looks like cacing pheng. but i was happiest when one remarked "eh! loong pheng!! didnt eat one for looong time! and this tastes good". aaa.

here's my loong pheng's recipe :

• 
  
  150g butter
  
  
• 
  
  80-90g icing sugar
  
  
• 
  
  3 egg yolks
  
  
• 
  
  1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  
  
• 
  
  1 egg white, beaten
  
  
• 
  
  1 whole egg + 1/2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
  
  
• 
  
  2 tbsp uht fresh milk
  
  Sift together:
  
  
• 
  
  350g corn flour
  
  
• 
  
  2 tbsp milk powder
  
  
• 
  
  20g flour

method

1. 
   
   cream butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy.
   
   
2. 
   
   add yolks one by one, beating well after each.
   
   
3. 
   
   add in the 1 whole egg, vanilla essence and uht milk. mix to incorporate well.
   
   
4. 
   
   fold in sifted flour and mix until a soft dough is formed.
   
   
5. 
   
   put dough into a cookie press and press out dragon shapes.
   
   
6. 
   
   dot the eyes red then bake in a preheated oven at 180 ºC for 15 mins (erm... depends on your oven heat distribution.) 
   
   
7. 
   
   DO NOT bake till brown. the cookies are suppsoed to be white or yellowish. (if u like crunchy instead of melt in your mouth, then bake till really light brownish...)

[01 Mar 2007] : grt news! left less than 1/4 tong now.

a toast to health and memories

3 more, 2 more, 1 more...

at last i made up my mind to signed up with a fitness first in puchong. why?

1. 
   
   the curves in the right places had evolved into bulges and migrated all over.
   
   
2. 
   
   haven't been feeling well lately due to #1
   
   
3. 
   
   desperately needs the booze up my "happy hormones" by exercising after all those depressing shopping trips
   
   
4. 
   
   office gym equipments too derelict to be efficient and choices are boring
   
   
5. 
   
   loads of equipments and various classes available in ff
   
   
6. 
   
   my fave sauna and stream room available in ff
   
   
7. 
   
   the horrible sauna-like showers in office
   
   
8. 
   
   paying-$$-therefore-must-utilise motivation
   
   
9. 
   
   slimming centres are way too expensive and short term. and only works for some.
   
   
10. 
    
    etc

i went over on saturday to try out and was pretty impressed with the alice the membership consultant. firstly she was quick to response to my queries via phone, immediately booked me for a tryout the next day. although i was a little annoyed when she was not there when i reached there 10 mins late (apparently she was stuck in the traffic ... hmm...). but quickly forgave her as she had already arranged a trainer to guide me. i was pleasantly surprised as i've been to tryouts in summit's ff and was not offered a 1:1 trainer (the snobby consultant explained there's no 1:1 for tryouts...).

it started out quite smoothly. and no i did not flew off from the treadmill or tripped and fell. after brisk walking to warm up, shawn or sean the trainer guided me on the weights training and exercises targeted to tone specific areas. ok. some exercises were embarrassing e.g. i could not lift my legs for the abdominal exercise. it looks so simple when he did it... i was like grrrrr~~~ but legs still not up. it was hilarious, i even laughed at some of my disabilities but tg! he didn't which was quite professional as i would have had laughed my belly out! or perhaps there were loads of similar cases b4 me?

after the session, had a membership consultation with alice. she was definitely friendlier that the snob in summit. membership consultant should be as friendly as can be as anyone could be a potential client. she informed me that she had seen me b4 and correctly guessed in PU which she frequently visits her uncle. erm. i guess i am too big not to be noticed :)

the didn't get a waiver on the joining and admin fees. however with my jj card i only pay a rm20 for joining fees and free for the first month. i was told admin fees cant be waived? and i will have 2 more 1:1 sessions. she explained that the tryout session i had with sean was actually hers which she admitted she is always working out to keep fit. i was actually impressed and she certainly didn't need much persuasion to convinced me to join.

besides the being satisfied with the pretty good services so far, i was delighted to noticed that this branch actually has out-of-shape members. hahaha. meaning i can blend in easily without being stuck out like sore thumb in midst of already-perfect-bodies working out. well, no i was not disappointed there were no hunks around (ok. scanning is a intuitive and spontaneous action) and it wasn't in my agenda to find one in the gym. also, i think me huffing and puffing will definitely NOT be a turn on.

 

spring cleaning

woo hoo.. what a tiring weekend. baked some cookies and did major cleaning especially my room. i was sneezing and had runny nose as i was cleaning my room. yea :) that was how dusty it was. hee hee. took me half the day for that alone as spent most of the time going thru some "nostalgic" belongings i hoarded and recollecting forgotten memories.

found my little "black" book. haha. i carried it with me almost everywhere i went b4 i had the mobile. i cant recall some of the names in the book. well i'm pretty bad with names...

and there was a torn paper containing the lyrics to "sometimes when we touched". aaa. this i remembered. it was when i was burning the midnight oil for one of my college's projects and a guy called in the station which i was listening to and belted the whole song! his voice's not honey but it was so full of sincerity and intense passion!! guess the girl he sang for would have fell for him, i.e. if she was listening. like there was this one time i heard a lady dedicating a song for her husband who was on the plane coming back from china. duh...

then in my old pencil case, found some old receipts of my college fees and a folded note. hmm. a note apologising on some missed calls and came looking for me but i wasn't home which i totally have to recollections. erm. guess it is ok. it was at least 10 years ago!

spent more time looking thru my big album - laughing out loud and wondering how some of my friends are doing now. it had some pretty interesting photo collages especially the f1's pages. then updated it with some photos i found while cleaning up. aaah. i love sweet memories.

the aftermath...

had a lovely sleep the nite on the gym day. felt a little muscle aches over the abs and arms. but after the "intense" sweeping and mopping, i am aching all over now. and i am tired but just cant snooze off - hence i am writing this... hope to catch some after i signed off.

yadda yadda

sleepy but cant sleep. insomnia? nah. i slept late the nite before, after baking pineapple tarts and skimming thru the itil notes. yea. had an exam after more than 10 exam free years. haiz. tat long d, huh?

planned to get up at around 4am yesterday to continue skimming and i actually did! but .. i ended up using 1/2 the time to book my flights to mel. matf is on, ppl! grr.. i was so pissed as i had to take the midnite flight back from mel. actually had the next day afternoon flight but i when round checking stuff. gosh! it was just a 10-15 mins lapse! tickets snapped up! who in the world books ticket @ 4am... i mean... other than myself? well, good in a way. cos if i take the afternoon flight, then i will reach kul quite late at nite. next day i will be working. hehe. it'll be kinda tired. what to do ... kiasu. so now it's midnite flight, so i reach kul on sun morning and will have a day to recover. so flights booked n paid. *kaching* another hole burnt. however, i saved around rm4oo compared to previous rm2722 fare! yipee!

next on my checklist : serious surfing for oz trip

happy new 2007!

happy new 2007 year. erm. yea. i know it's late but it's better late than never, eh? next. happy new 2007 starts with happy news.

..wedding bells..

a-yin's is planning to tie the know with manlok!! AAAaaAAaaAA!! it is scream of joy, ok. but mom has mix feeling. guess she just cant let go. they planning to make it legal this nov. that is if mom finds a rite date. haiz... then next year they coming back to msia to have small dinner yada yada and later in hk. yin-na hope things turn out well for you! aaa. feeling a little heavy hearted. my little kutchy bratty yin-na settling down.
p/s: cousins... keep 2 yourselves first ok? not sure when mom wanna tell a-ma. so don spread. else i kena from mom dearest. hmm.. i'm taking a risk publishing this.... eh. hey... why is that noose...

..itchy feet..

finally i've booked my flights to mel for my 2007 break in apr. rm2722. best fare so far. not sure the mitf thingy will offer cheaper? but normally it's 2 to go. erm.. hey- this discrimination to singles... anyways.. planning to spend the majority 2 weeks in melbourne and surroundings. hope to make an overnite trip to phillip isl. u know how much i love those birds in tuxedos. maybe couple of nites in syd. not so interested in cityscapes. some asked me, why not tasmania? well, i guess 2 weeks not enough to cover tasmania. those who know me will understand, eh? especially phui... me lazy traveller. although planned very thoroughly, but sometimes skip a day or two just lepaking around - soaking up the atmosphere (erm and culinary delights!). if missed a thing or 2, i'll be heading downunder later in nov. but that will be a short break. why? for a-yin & manlok's dinner, silly.

..a burning hole..

so. i managed to tick off another item from my never ending "things i wanna get" list and burnt a hole in my shallow pockets. yea. got meself an oly dslr e500. some said wrong choice. some said u go gal. me say - love it! erm.. but got loads to learn. shutter, apeture, etc. still very hazy... like the photos i've taken with it so far. vodka love it too. haiz. already got his fur on the lense today. well, my advice for those thinking of upgrading from p&s to dslr, think real hard cos dslr comes with a lot of overheads which some costs from a malatov to a plutonium bomb. heheh. and cant just throw it around like my faithful c750uz which is currently sitting prettily on one corner of my bed :P

..load,cost,close??..

new year. new team. new boss. but same old shitty pay. learnt a few new applications supports and works. not deep yet as all of them seems to be pretty busy. been doing some simulations for ap countries, loading, costing, etc. let see how it goes.. btw. did i mentioned i'll be on shift starting march?

2006 last day @ work

yea! last day @ work for 2006! office is so quiet this whole week as most of ppl is off for the holidays. and i am so bored. hightlight of the day is a nice lunch in hay teen @ sri kembangan with the gals for 2006 sau kong chao. ha ha.

-- HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL --

a nite in bali

aaa. at last we get to meet shane for a birthday dinner in bumbu bali. and of course she's there as it was for her :) . gapi, shane and myself had a great time catching up and laughing our heads off - thanks to the beer and coconut. gapi la. insisted she wanted toddy and the closest we can get her is the coconut. ahahha.

although the food was not as good as before, we still enjoyed it very much especially the pasta. the brownie was fudgy but ice cream tasted cheap. should get a richer vanilla ice cream to compliment the lovely brownie. the staffs were surprisingly friendlier that nite but was stingy - cant even give free scoop of ice cream for the bday girl. ok. they provided a free candle. they should improve on their service as it is the first restaurant that didnt conjure up something when i announced that we were celebrating a birthday. even kfc and mcd gave complimentary set of meal when i did the birthday stun.

shane - welcome to the 3-0 league!
psstpsst : shane... when will you be bringing us in your spanking new civic??

attempted break in...

not sure when it happened but just noticed yesterday when i was sweeping the floor yesterday. someone attempted to break in to my house!! 2 holes were drilled in 2 of the glass doors... not sure what the burglar trying to do but thank god, the attempts were abandon else i wont be writing this now. made a police report and the police who came to survey the crime scene was just as perplex. according to him, in his 3 years of pecah rumah cases he investigated, this is his first encounter with a break in drilling such perfect holes. must be some canggih equipment. he also pointed out that it might be using some water as we can see water traces after he dusted the marks with those finger print detector powder. unfortunately no finger prints were lifted. guess i have to be more vigilante now on...

santa claus is coming to town

yes... he is coming to town dancing his butt off. after bridget's wedding ceremony, and since the day is still young and as kaki jalans, swee n me decided to go SHOPPING in pyramid! managed to grab some stuff that were on sale and also the latest vibration on chin toi for bridget's n hubby's pleasure. the ground floor was decked with xmas goodies and had quite a festive mood. but i was most attracted to the dancing santa..

you better watch out,

you better not cry,

better not pout,

i'm telling you why

santa claus is dancing in town ...

bridget's BIG day

finally.. bridget traditionally tied the knot. it was a simple but happy event. i went totally trigger happy - shooting and suggesting poses for bridget's photographer (who is quite cute actually...).

swee and me became 2 of her chi mus - passively as we were in the room with her until chim braved all the obstacles. unfortunately, the other chi mus squandered our share of the lai see - grrrr. ha ha. luckily bridget promised to give bigger ones to us later :)

my battery ran out in bridget&chim's house.. bugger... these pictures taken using my booboo hp camera which was set to smallest size ... bugger...

... my photo shooting @ klang ...

cute pie siang siang

had dinner with khaishen and family in a nyonya-thai restaurant, bibi wok. food was so so but atmostphere quite nice. siang2 the new kid on the block is such a cute pie.

my virgin photography contest entry

nope it got nothing to do with breaking of the hymen or stuff. it's my foray into photography contest... i received an email invitation to enter a photography contest jointly organised by national geographic channel and nikon (http://www.ngcasia.com/nikon/eng/index.htm) - "yellow to me" theme. so i thought why not. the prizes are good. a nikon d80! but yellow? hmm. thought of taking a photo of company's van or something since it's so yellow but what's so passionate it's to me. besides looking forward towards the end of month, currently i'm not really excited working. hmm... unless i describe the photo as "yellow to me" is ... $$ = life = happiness. ha ha ha.
so i dig around. aha! i got many many sunflowers photos which are so yellow... well i love flowers. and i have loads of flowers' photo from my garden. i even have a photo of a siamese sunflower that i had grown... but decided against it as the photo quality isnt that great and nothing much to tell about it.

so i decided to submit the macro shot of the sunflower. gave it a catchy title - stigmata. dont know what to put for "yellow to me is...". well, life kua since i am submitting a flower with it's sex organs enlarged... description... hmm... read some where on meaning of yellow. so "copied" the idea.. yellow is earth where life sprouts ... then i continued yellow is the sun with it's life-sustaining rays (or something like tat)... the picture depicts the sunflower reproduction system which creates life and needs both the earth and sun? hmm.. sounds corny but hey, cant blame a gal for trying....

balls or guts

some organisation culture : story of the 5 monkeys

e4 e4 e4...

tsk. so sway. my last day as primary support also get an e4 call. luckily i slept early today - thanks to a spliting headache. had a great snooze before being distrupted by the call.

am i lonely?

the chinese radio dj were blabbering loudly as i drove to our lunch destination. bridget was curious why i was listening to a chinese station. hmm i dont know... recently, i love to hear obnoxious deejays chatter and the 988 has loads of them. ok. i admit sometimes they were pretty funny that is if i understood what they were talking. she said probably i was lonely and needed to hear someone talking. what did she meant? i have vodka! when mom's not around. she pointed out the obvious - vodka! doesnt talk. erm. maybe not the way human does...
oh well. so i am lonely. am i? i dont know. let see. here are some meaning of lonely :
destitute of sympathetic or friendly companionship: definitely not deprived of sympathetic companionship! i mean who wants to be sympathised? friendly companionship. aaa. then this is different. yea. i missed that but again not deprived. i still have loads of friendly companions :)
lone; solitary; without company; companionless: ok. almost 1/2 of my days after work, fortnightly i have limited human company. but there's vodka! and korean drama of course. well, so i dont live a solitary life.
remote from places of human habitation: come on! i stay in a typical malaysian taman. nuff said.
let see. so i guess i am not lonely. and if i really am, i am not alone in this loneliness. ha ha.

gun-totting fun

ok, the title might get some hate-mails from anti-arm groups but paintball rocks! erm. especially if it was paid by the company. bwahahahah. getting up at 0600 on a saturday morning really sucks and i was still contemplating whether should i go. however, knowing that i might change my mind last minute, i committed myself in car-pooling with swee and eric to sg buloh paintball facilities. so there was no way out and oh boy! i would regret loads if i had skipped the event.
we arrived and breakfast was waiting us. yum. someone told me lunch was at 1400, so i stuffed myself silly.. i mean it was just around 0900!! then we would be running, shooting and sweating around. i need the energy! ha ha. i was actually quite impressed with the number of turn outs. i expected less as the venue was at sg buloh... well ok. there was a small bunch of us that was quite disappointed it had to be in sg buloh.
after the briefing and quite a messy reshuffling of teams the matches began. i was up against eric's team which had several big sized guys. i was thinking ha ha - easy targets. how very wrong i was!! with a very sound strategy, my team went out to get them to only be beaten in less than 5 minutes. i was like - hey!! it's over already?!! then i felt a stung on my thigh... urgh!! i got shot! (it is a mass of purple,red,green,yellow patch now...). we lost one more match and decided to go all out. since we will not be progressing to the next stage, might as well finish out pellet allocated to us. final strategy - be trigger happy! yeeha! we managed to salvage some pride by trumping the final opponent. at least we broke our little egg. ha ha
eric was hurt pretty badly during his second match with one over-zealous team (which my team exact revenge on later). he was sent to the nearby clinic to be treated as he received several really close range shots on his arms and neck. swee not missing out on the injury list got her bums shot. ha ha ha. one on each cheek! hmm i wonder who was the cheeky guy....
since none of us (swee,eric and me) will be involved in the next stage of the game, after hanging out to watch one match, we decided to head home. injuries aside, it was really a great day

note: the author of this blog is not a beauty queen but believes in world peace and is against violence & possession of harmful arms....

vodka!'s day out

vodka! had a fun foaming time in yesterday's dog carnival by pet-n-you/eukanuba. we reached central park around 0830 and it's already happening :)
vodka! became an instant star the minute he steps into the field. everyone was snapping him. cos he is a handsome boy and unique. we ran into the camera crew and they were so interested in him. i proudly said he is goldendoodle! a mix-breed. the lady reporter (or something) was shocked as it is her first time hearing n seeing this breed. she thought vodka! is a giant schnauzer . when i register to get the goodie bag, the man there was also shocked. he told me vodka! is the first golden retriever / poodle mix. i informed him that goldendoodle is a really famous designer dog. a lot of kids, when we pass them by, they exclaimed excitedly to their parents - "hey! it's shaggy dog!"
finally i met lee wan, whiskey's owner. whiskey is a really cute beagle. he has those eyes that would melt any heart. and he is so padat!! ahahha. the whole family was there with another beagle owner. the 2 beagles and vodka were all foaming at the mouth.. ahah pretty scary sight.. but i guess it is because they are excited.
note : thanks lee wan for your photos.

地獄少女

"闇に纏いし哀れな影よ。 人を傷つけ貶めて罪に溺れし業の魂 ・・・イッペン　死ンデミル？"
"O miserable shadow clad in darkness! Hurting and disdaining people, a karmic soul drowning in sin... Would you try dying for once?"
— enma ai.

plot synopsis
rumor has it that somewhere on the internet there is a website accessible only at midnight -- the hotline to hell -- where people can ask the hell girl to take revenge on people who have wronged them. however, when one person is cursed, two graves are dug, for if the hell girl fulfils your request, when you die you too will be consigned to the pit of hell when you die. would you untie the red ribbon and sell your soul to the hell girl for vengeance?

hauntingly hooked
i guess those who are on the anime block will be familiar with the haunting phrases from 地獄少女 , Jigoku Shōjo. i waited for weeks for it to be aired in animax and actually missed 8 episodes of it due to the long holidays (balik kampung tanam jagung... no astro). although, sweet trap, 甘い罠 was the first episode i watched in the series and i was hooked on it.

i love the colors. vivid and ghastly in a spooky way. when the red string if untied, ai will ascent into the living world in flowy kimonos adorned with flowers or butterflies which are extremely captivating. she speaks softly but commands the attention of the audience with her unnerving aura and unblinking red eyes. however one can almost feel the sadness lurking behind those fearful eyes. the story lines were simple and the reasons leading to the need to summon the hell girl somehow believable. personally, i think good soundtracks lifts any show a notch higher. jigoku shōjo scored top marks here. the dark, melancholy background melodies enhanced the mood for the scenes.

align="justify">really did enjoyed it and ai's haunting promise "when one person is cursed, two graves are dug" is still echoing in my brain.

road·kill

roadkill : animal(s) killed by being struck by a motor vehicle.

it was a beautiful morning, last monday. i woke up earlier than usual and left for work right on time. the minute i hit the main road towards the toll (puchong to cyberjaya), horrors unveiled themselves in guise of ROADKILLS!

roadkill #1 : a small furry critter just infront of puchong’s petronas. not sure whether it was the left over of a cat’s head or a small puppy. The fur was soft cream color and still fluffy. reminded me of golden retriever puppy…
roadkill #2 : a light brown mongrel. from the carcass, looked like the unfortunate event just happened not long.. this is just after the flyover towards cyberjaya.
roadkill #3 : a small reptile. i think it was a monitor lizard. head's gone.
roadkill #4 : another mongrel lying very dead on the curvy road back from cyberjaya connecting to the LDP.

i prayed for every single one of them. as a firm believer of reicarnation, i prayed for their soul to be reborn in better condition. let their sufferings end this cycle. sadly, except for roadkill #1, the others were still lying on the road. where is the mpsj or whatever mpxx when we needed them. especially roadkill #2 which was lying just next to a road repair. unless they werent working that day. and as a matter of fact, for many many days as the road repair was blocked since 2-3 months ago! it is really sad, as for several days i noticed how the lifeless form stripped off their flesh, slowly reveiling their inner layers. besides, this it was quite a dangerous situation for drivers who might not notice them earlier and try to make an instant swerve to avoid going over the carcass. i wished i could end their lifeless misery, however, i will only but myself in grave danger – i might be one of the roadkills statistics! fortunately all the carcasses were removed by end of the week.

these roadkills reminded me of one of my form 6 classmates. he is a quiet, studious looking chap. however, he has a violent streak. in one of our daily conversation he softly but gleefully admitted his passion of driving over kittens and cats. not sure whether he was making it up but his graphical recalls were very spooky. met him years ago in one of the cny outings. he was doing very well in some graphical animations of some sort of weird fantasies (or something like that...), etc in uk.

this morning, i witnessed another kind of roadkill. well, no life was concerned so it couldn’t be consider a kill but it was upside-down which looks like a roadkill… a TRACTOR. first time i see a traktor, lying exactly on it’s roof. so, i guess this was a mechanical roadkill :)

on the way back from lunch, then i found out there are more roadkill pychos…. ha ha.. bridget, my colleague confessed she always has this drive to go over or hit any birds that’s in her driving path… i really don't know how the birds owed her in her past life.

the moral of this blog entry : i am really glad that i am neither a furry nor feathered critter.

~ oh my goldendoodle ~ (left me a puddle of muddle)

yes. vodka! is a goldendoodle or fondly known as groodle by oz. with him around, my days are filled!!
woof woof... i wanna pee pee
yes. he is my four legged walking alarm clock. he will kacau me around 0630 and if by 0700 i didnt respond to him... he will jump on my bed and sometimes stand on me - ON ALL FOUR!! haiz... thank god for mattress protector. i ignored him today... come on it's a holiday! i dont want to get up until 8am. i'm not asking too much, right? wrong. he just let go after pestering me for around 15mins. yes. ON MY BED... this forced me up. which was a good thing also. i kickstarted by house chores that i had put off on sun.
who needs the gym?!
yes. who needs them when u got a hyperactive pup, a lazy brother and messy me.

1. clean up pee pee mess -> 30 mins, climbed 3-4 times stairs ****
2. put soiled stuff into machine, find more stuff to wash -> 15 mins, climbed 2-3 times stairs **
3. play, feed, etc for vodka! -> 60 mins **
4. bath n groom vodka! -> 45 mins **
5. wash car -> 60 mins ****
6. sweep n mop house -> 90 mins ****
7. wash porch -> 20mins **

basically, the hours i spent, equals to a week of gym. guess i can skip my gym sessions now. yeah!

bukit tinggi trip

cheche and me decided to bring mom to bkt tinggi as a birthday gift trip. we booked the 2d1n package which costs rm138 pp. we stayed in colmar tropicale, a french-themed resort which is in the village itself. besides the name and some not so facsinating french facade, nothing much frenchie i assure you. they have pasta shop but that's italian. ok. a bakery but i cant find even one authentic french dish on the menu. we ended up eating in the japanese restaurant nestled in the botanical garden. the tables were dusty and some dead insects lying about. food was not so good and price quite high. we still enjoy it la. it's the company and the weather was nice. the japanese garden is small but clean and fresh. again. not much japanese about it. mom enjoyed looking, touching and feeding the japanese carps in the pond. tip : bring some fish food. they were selling a small wee pack for rm1.
the weather was cooling and it rained in the evening. due to the heavy rain, our room's windows leaked and we had to change room. the second room was huge! unfortunately it leaked too but not as bad as the previous room. later we had to wait for nearly an hour for them to fix the hot shower. after settling down n cleaning up we headed down for the buffet dinner. it was quite a disappointment. food was rather bland, bbq chicken looks more like charchoal pieces and the service - bad. we didnt spend much time outside after dinner as it was still raining. so we headed back to the room to retire for the nite. it was still raining next morning but cleared just before breakfast - which was so so. after breakfast we invaded the rabbit park which was rather pathetic. there were a few sick rabbits left untreated in the corner. all in all, the trip was ok but be prepared to entertain yourselves as there is nothing much to do.
bukit tinggi photos

かみちゅ!

at last anime is shown in malaysia without the irritating bm dubbed voices. "tooooonggkaaat saktiiiii" in very high pitched irritating voice... ha ha ha. of all my current fave is definitely kamichu! / かみちゅ!
it is light-hearted and entertaining. bountiful of kawaii-ness without being overly silly. great colour and excellent graphics. winner of the Excellence Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival 2005 said it all. it's almost like spirited away minus the creeps and angst. every turn there are some little surprises and imaginative charaters. highly recommend to catch this anime. かみちゅ! http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5356
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/reviews/display.php?id=996

frac‧ture /frak-cher/ –noun

frac‧ture  /frak-cher/ –noun

1. the breaking of a bone, cartilage, or the like, or the resulting condition.
2. the act of breaking; state of being broken.
3. a break, breach, or split.
4. the characteristic manner of breaking: a material of unpredictable fracture.
5. the characteristic appearance of a broken surface, as of a mineral. –verb (used with object)
6. to cause or to suffer a fracture in (a bone, etc.).
7. to break or crack.
8. Slang. to amuse highly or cause to laugh heartily; delight: The new comic really fractured the audience. –verb (used without object)
9. to become fractured; break: a mineral that does not fracture easily.
   ---source---
   fractured. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). Retrieved September 05, 2006, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=fractured&x=19&y=16

yes. this month is not my lucky month... it was just like any other fridays except for a dramatic acrobatic act : tripped-flew-fell which i ended up with a fractured arm. so embarassing!! felt so touched as my work mates rushed to help me up especially bridget.