Sunday, April 26, 2009

Introducing - the Yellow Belts

Alhamdulillah.

Both adik and kakak are now yellow belts.

Congratulations to them both :)

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Books Galore

We went to Amcorp Mall on Saturday, following a tip from a colleague of mine about a great bookshop.


It's really great and cheap!


You'll see prices as low as $17 for novels and shelves upon shelves of childrean books. The kids literally sulked for not being able to buy 3 books each.

They didn't carry Jodi Picoult books (or I couldn't find them?) so I settled with some true-stories instead. I had to stop looking at the titles and practiced some self restrain. Otherwise, I might end up with baskets upon baskets of books.

Adding to the purchase, they're giving away a free book for every $20 spent. We ended up with 5 free books. They were of limited titles and mostly of not-so-popular authors. Kakak was happy that most of the books are about horses. She has developed so sort of fascination towards horses lately. I'm just happy that she's not so ga-ga over Barbie anymore. Thank God.



If you are interested, the book shop is at the same level as Kenny Rogers, located near the escalator.


I'm just happy with my books :)

Friday, April 24, 2009

MAC Pavilion - Oh so rude!

Earlier this evening, Yana and I had a little GNO with a very specific goal in mind – to shop!

Yana wanted to get a black bag, a croc shoes and a MAC lipstick/gloss. My part in the fun game was to talk her into buying stuff, make the best choice and unofficially offer her my hands and shoulder to sling or carry the day’s catch. Or catches? Heheh..

I was not looking for anything in particular and had no issue playing the role of BFF for the evening.

The quest to get a MAC lipstick/gloss was supposed to be the easiest. Instead, we were in for an unexpected and unforgettable experience.

I didn’t know if we looked like we couldn’t afford anything they’re selling or that I was wearing just t-shirt and jeans. Maybe it’s the fact that we are locals and deserves no attention or that we didn’t pick up a lot of stuff from the shelves.

My not-so-classy looking t-shirt

The cashier walked a few feet away from the counter and started re-arranging stuff while continued on ignoring us, standing like idiots in front of the cash register.

She knew we were there. I could see that she was watching us, probably scared that we might steal a thing or two from the counter.

Yana and I stood for a good 5 to 8 minutes before someone actually came to us and asked if we needed help. Well, duh!

Yana launched to her bitchy mode and started yakking in excellent English that left the cashier and the salesperson baffled. They apologized, not profusely but that didn’t stop Yana the Warrior Princess from yakking even more.

The cashier was upset, judging by the way she shoved the bills Yana handed her into the cash register. I hope she got blisters while doing so.

My catch for the day.

Funny thing is, that was not our first time. We seriously think that they looked down on people like us. Let’s face it; a customer is still a customer regardless where they’re from, how they dressed or even if they didn’t buy a thing from your little shop. A satisfied customer might lead to more sales. A disgruntled customer might blog about the experience and smear mud on your business!

By the way, it was MAC at Pavilion.






Sunday, April 19, 2009

Quest for the Yellow Belt

Today, the kids had their first taekwondo exam. If things go well, they will be branding yellow belts next week.

Deli and I stayed to witness the whole exercise. We were as nervous as they were! Heheh.

Some pictures of the champions in action.





Till then - haiyah!!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Red Eye

I've had red and teary eyes for a couple of days, each lasted around an hour or two.

Today however, it lasted for 6 freaking hours! I couldn't stop rubbing my right eye and kept checking the mirror for any alien stuff that might landed in it.

The freaky look I donned today. Pict from Wikipedia.

Tried napping in hope to reduce the swelling but it didn't work. Tried rinsing it with Optrex - not working either.

To make it worse, I have this wierd thing about poking my eyes. It's a big no-no. So there I was feeling a little hopeless and not knowing what to do before deciding to see the doctor.

After a series of questions, the good doctor told me that I have something called Allergic Conjunctivitis. He suspected that it was the reaction to the cat's mites of the sort. Need to google more about that later.

I did a little bit of grooming for the cats around noon and was all teary eyed a couple of hours after that.

My poor four-legged-babies will have to be groomed by some other people from now on. By other people, I mean adik and kakak. Heheh.

I'm off to pop some pills and give the eye-drops a try. Aiya-yai.. wish me luck!

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Switching to Fighting Mode

I thought things are better than it first started.

I've made peace with the task assigned.

I attended the Compliance training with a cheery mood.

Peoples say that good things won't last long (or forever?).

After lunch, I was told that Jay has tendered his resignation. I was sad to lose such talent but at the same time, happy for his soul. I have told the Dutchman over and over that I think Jay will not be content staying with nothing much, let alone challenging things to get his hands on. It's a waste to have such enthusiasm but nowhere to channel it to.

After the training, I was told that we (Jay, the Dutchman and I) were to perform clerical work at an operations department for 3 freaking months instead of the assignment of proposing process improvements in 1.5 months.

By clerical I meant removing staples from proposal papers and stuffing papers into brown folders.

So there I was, shocked to learn the news while the Dutchman's cursed and swore fluently.

Yes, I am really, really upset right now.

I have every right to feel used and betrayed.

I have every right to march into HR office and talk about this though I know they will not do a thing.

I have every right to escalate this matter to the CEO, if need to.

Then again, I must have done something really bad to be deserving such fate.

Monday, April 06, 2009

The Champions & Patients

The kids had their school's 34th sports carnival on Sunday. This year, both of them were on the relay team while adik had another event of running solo for the 75m sprint.


The opening ceremony.
My champions.

They both bagged a medal each. The more reason for me to get another glass cabinet real soon to house their winnings.

They were very reluctant to go to their taekwondo class in the afternoon. Both were too exhausted to move but the thought of their upcoming exam injected some enthusiasm.

So today, both of them are at home - with a fever.

Mummy chose to be at home with them instead of work.

Daddy decided to be sick as well, claiming to be affected by the epidemic. Heheh..