Super Kids

Kudos to Kakak for being brave and not complaining for one bit when the dentist extracted 2 of her teeth last Saturday.

Not to forget, bravo to Adik for being a superhero and letting the dentist take a quick peek at his teeth.

Yey to me for having 2 wonderful kids whom are not afraid to see the dentist and have such obsession towards their toothbrushes and toothpaste!

Work is crap

I guess I can understand why the Dutchman said that I*G is not a good place for career advancement.

In fact, they suck at it.

Last week, my boss mentioned that the VP wanted me to take on risk management and on top of that, HCD requested for me to become their Project Manager for PS Project.

First thing first, what was the VP thinking - dumping me with risk management stuff? What’s with my boss agreeing with her on that?

It used to be a portfolio on its own and was managed by a dedicated Manager until she left late last year.

In a week’s time, I have to choose between:

current project portfolio & risk management or,
current project portfolio, risk management & HCD PS project

I have too many things playing in my mind at the moment.

Like, what’s happening to the plan of reporting straight to the CFO? If that’s gonna happen, then why am I doing risk management?

If I take on the risk management thingy, what am I suppose to do with it? I don’t have a mentor coz the so-called experienced person has left. If I’m to start from scratch, then it would take some time before I can be good at it. I can’t be advising people on risk management while I have zilch experience on the subject. How would people react, given that info in hand? It’s just ridiculous.

I was seriously thinking about HCD but history has proven that it’s not a very conducive department to be a part of.

At the moment, I’m stuck. If I wanna be doing what I know best, it would be at HCD. However, I’m starting to like project management no matter how taxing it could be most of the times. I just hate reporting to Strategic Planning and having to comply to their nonsense. It’s just crap.

I’m still stuck. I don’t know what to think or do.

I’m not crazy, I’m just a little unwell.. – from the song Unwell by Matchbox 20 -

Pep Talks

These past 2 months, I have been contemplating the possibility of ending my tenure in the current department and offer my skills and talent (what’s left of it) to another department that I have been eyeing on for quite some time now. I even thought about leaving the company altogether if I won’t get to do what I’m good at or at least have the tiniest bit of interest in.

I have been talking to some friends and most of them support my decision to move away from the boring job scope that the VP has bestowed upon my boss and I.

I guessed someone slipped their tongue about my intention of leaving to my boss and from what I heard, he’s not inclined to let me transfer to another department.

The VP called me in last Tuesday and hinted her intention to move me to Risk Management section because of my ‘attentiveness to details’ and my ‘spot-on reporting’. Whatever those things might mean. To my ears, it’s DEATH SENTENCE. Simple as that. I have no interest, let alone talent in things concerning risk management. I’m not a fan of taking great risks anyway.

I spent the rest of the 45 minutes chat, nodding my head in false pretence of agreement to her every statement. That’s it. She has officially killed what’s left of my interest in working for her division. Murdered and slaughtered brutally.

Spoke to my boss about it and he was surprised that the VP didn’t even bother to ask or talk to him first before telling me about her plans.

He then explained that he’s requested to report to the CFO directly and not to the VP any longer. He detailed out his plans for our department and I liked what I saw and heard. The thing is, the request would only be finalized in June and it requires consensus from both parties. There is still a possibility that the plan will not work.

Yesterday, my boss and the Dutchman discussed some serious stuff about our roles as project advisors and consultants. That was when my boss mentioned that he’s giving me a new project to handle. I was surprised but it was one pleasant surprise. I see this as his way of saying that I am capable and he trusts me.

If this is confirmed, I’ll be managing another half a million ringgit project. That’s a total of 1.2 million ringgit project under my belt!

I don’t know if I should shed tears of happiness or terror!!

Okay. Back to work.

The Long Overdue Update

I know it's been centuries since my last entry. I have no other excuse. Reading other blogs are much more interesting than updating my own. At least that's how i feel for the past one month.

Then again, reading all those entries were not as satisfying as jotting your own thoughts.

So here i am, with nothing but my thoughts with me.

Err, actually.. i kinda lost track of what happened when and etc but will compensate that with lots of pictures for your viewing! Heheh!


So.. we had CNY party at VF's place. It was a small crowd and we got to see her cooking and hosting skill for the first time ever! Way to go VF and VF's mom. Hahaha!

A couple of days after that, we went to Bukit Tinggi for a quick retreat. The kids enjoyed themselves so very much that Kakak literally said 'I'm very happy'! It kinda knocked me hard on the head for a bit. Deli and I have been working late hours for the past few months that we forgot that the little ones were unintentionally neglected. Yeah, of course we spend time with them at home and all but we didn't actually SPEND TIME with them. Sometimes, the simplest phrase such as 'I'm very happy' means a lot more than it really is.

It's totally a lesson learned for Deli and I.

Here are some picts to prove that they were indeed happy!

The happy lot.

Okay. Couple of weeks after that, Kakak had her first Sports Day at school. Apparently, she did not (not in the long term, i hope) inherit any of my passion and ahem, talent in sports. So here's what she did:

Yep. Sat on the ground and occasionally help to cheer for her fellow house mates.

Other than that, in summary:

1. Kakak had her March exams 2 weeks ago. She assured me of rainbow-colored results.
2. It was on the same week Deli went to Toronto. No prize in guessing where i was that week.
3. The kids are now in Johor and told us that they missed us every single day.
4. They also decided that they want to spend another week there. Fat chance kiddo!
5. I had to bail someone out of jail - for the 2nd time in his life.
6. It had to happen while Deli's not around. I'm still upset with that person.
7. We just bought a rice cooker that can do more than cook rice. I just baked a cake in it. Wow!
8. I miss the little devils like crazy!
9. Work has been mad lately. My blood is about to go upstairs.
10. I vowed to leave the office at 5.30pm everyday and no later. If i can.

Okay then. Guess that's it for now. I know i have written something in my pda but i'm too lazy and get it connected to the pc and stuff. Yep. Too lazy.

Later y'all.

Last Week in a Nutshell

Monday - Feb 12th
On medical leave due to my coughs and flu. Fetch the kids from school and they kept me company the whole day.


Tuesday - Feb 13th
Back to work with a lot to do. First thing first, we had to do some retest for BDM project. Unfortunately, it took us longer than expected. I thought we could finish everything in a couple of hours but we ended up spending the whole day doing 3 rounds of test due to technical problems! I was concerned that we still have this sort of problems when we're 2 weeks away from going live.

Had an ad-hoc meeting to discuss this and we all decided to have another round of test on Wed.


Wednesday - Feb 14th
Today is actually the planned go-live date but due to issues regarding DC migration, we had to postpone it.

Started the test early and we had one of the IT girl to tag along with the testers to keep a close eye on anything and everything. We were done by 5pm and I had no choice but to close an eye and nod my head in agreement to conclude UAT.

Then comes the preparation for Project Board Meeting. The Dutchman helped to prepare the slides while i get my hands dirty on some documents to be signed during the event. Stayed back till almost 10pm with him and Syam. Went back feeling all tired and sicker than ever.


Thursday - Feb 15th
Today's D-Day. Project Board Meeting was scheduled at 10am and i have not seen the slides for the presentation. The Dutchman ran us through the slides 20 mins before the meeting and i didn't have the time to properly think about the things i wanna say to the Project Board. Oh well. What will be, will be.

Yep. What will be, will be. The meeting was fine albeit the endless questions from the Board. 2 out of 3 documents were approved and signed on. Presentation went well. Project Board were happy and i didn't faint or cough like a mad person. Yey!

Had lunch with the project team courtesy of the Project BE. We had dim sum buffet at Istana Hotel and of course, yee sang for the coming Chinese New Year celebration. After all the hard work i've put on this project for the last couple of days, i would say this treat is well-deserved. Everyone left the restaurant feeling full and content.

Syam feasting on dessert. Little did he know that he'll need to slave till late to finish my test script. Hahah!

Another late night for the 3 of us. The Dutchman walked me to my car and bid goodbye while Syam went to dinner with his friends.

I went home tired and nothing close to better.


Friday - Feb 16th
Quiet morning - ICW meeting was canceled and that gave me more time to work on the test script. Spent the whole morning with Syam, trying to get the test script updated and ready to be signed by 2.30pm.

By the way, a wisdom tooth decided to make an appearance and caused me nothing but throbbing pain. By lunch time, i could not even eat like a normal person. To make it worse, the school called and the damsel in distress had missed her ride - again!!

So off i went to fetch her and this time around, launched my bullets on her for missing her ride! I had less than an hour to brave through Friday-lunchtime-traffic and still make it in time for my 2.30pm meeting. I was 10 mins late and as expected, i was among the few people to be there almost-on-time. We had a good discussion about implementation and the rest of the meeting was more of a happy chatting rather than business talk. This is what you get when you have a meeting prior to a long break.

Anyway, i'd like to wish you all a Happy Lunar New Year and to those not celebrating, enjoy the long break.

Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Someone missed her ride home

Date: Feb 9, 2007
Time: 12.40 pm
Venue: My cube, the orange building

Boss: Have you had lunch?
Me: Nope.
Boss: Let's eat. We'll go to the nearest mamak stall.
Me: Okay. Gimme a sec.

Half a minute after that, the phone vibrated and rang. Michael Buble's voice was as yummy as ever. Deli was on the line.

Deli: Kakak missed her school bus. Her teacher just called. Can you go and fetch her?
Me: Huh? She missed her bus? How did that happen? Is she okay?
Deli: She's fine. She's at the canteen.
Me: Okay. I'll call you once I've picked her up.


Me: Sorry Boss, i'll have to cancel. My daughter missed her bus and i have to fetch her from school.
Boss: Okay.


Venue: School canteen
Time: 1.15pm

Kakak: Hi mummy!
Me: Kakak, what happened? How did you missed your ride?
Kakak: (in a very soft, pity-me-it's-not-my-fault voice) I was thirsty so i went to the canteen to get something to drink.
Me: What happened to your Ribena?
Kakak: Earlier on, i saw a kitten and he looked sad. I gave him my Ribena and some fried rice during lunch and he finished off the rest of my Ribena. He's such a cute kitty, mummy.
Me: -speechless-
Kakak: Mummy, i'm starving. Can we go and have lunch?
Me: Yeah, okay.

I tell ya, she's really good at this. Sneaky girl. Using an innocent kitten as a cover-up. How can i nag at her about feeding a stray kitten when I know i'd do the same? Sigh.

Apparently the bus left when she was busy getting some drinks at the canteen. When she got to the assembly point, her friends told her that her bus has left. The brave girl didn't panic or cry - considering this is hre first incident and she's only 7 for crying out loud!

She went to the school office and told the staff that she missed her bus and gave them Deli's crumpled business card from her bag. They called Deli and told him the whole story.

We are proud and amazed that she could stay calm and know what to do in such situation. Most importantly, we're thankful that she's okay. Somehow i have a feeling that there will be more of these episodes. I just do.

The damsel in distress.

Go home!

That was exactly what my boss said to me today, at 2.50pm.

I have been sick for a couple of days but the worse part of it was that i had and still have, bad coughs. Bad, deep, congested with thick phlegm coughs.

I was minding my work when i suddenly had an itchy and bad urge to cough. So i went to the wash room and sent my whole lunch down the toilet.

When i got back to my place, he was standing there with his arms on his waist and said, 'Go home!'

I said i will go at quitting time, which was like 2.5 hours away. Besides, i have tonnes to do for my almost-half-a-million-quid project.

Instead, he said 'Pack your things and leave. I want you out of the office in 10 minutes. I will take care of things!'

But of course, i refused - saying that i will go at 5.30 and no later.

He said 'go', i said 'no', he said 'go now', i said 'but..' and it went on and on until finally i surrendered, pack my things and left the office at 3.15pm.

He didn't know that i had saved docs that i need to work on in my thumb drive. I'll still be working from home and be able to complete the things that i have planned to finish today. Haha!

Got home, took my meds, start working on the docs and soon enough, i was dozing in front of the pc.

The meds did what they were supposed to do.

Switched off the pc, took a pillow and slept till 7pm.

Guess i need the rest after all.

Making a Long Story Short Part III

More picts for your viewing.

Had breakfast with Kakak just after she had her placement test at school. She was thoughtful enough to buy some mini sausage rolls for adik.

Kechik giving his best shot for Cat Fancy magazine. Judging by the sexiness of the pose, I'd say he's going for the centerfold!

Here's another look. He's missing Deli (he was in Japan then) so very much that he telepathically told me to email this shot to Deli.

A snowman on top of One Utama shopping center. Adik took this pict.

Deli feasting on 'real food' after 2 weeks of nothing but Japanese food.

Adik striking a pose at Mid Valley's center court. The decorations are awesome!

Kakak and the Christmas tree. Looks heavenly delicious!

Celebrating VF's 28th birthday (i think!!) at KFC. Kakak helped her favorite aunt blow the candles. Note to VF: Why are you wearing VS shirt? Why? Why? Why?

Making a long story short Part II

Okay. Here comes Part II.




I've always loved the decorations in GE Mall. They had colorful lights and hangings all over. This pict was taken a couple of days before Christmas 2006.


Deli France organized a Dress-Your-Gingerbread-Man at GE Mall in conjunction with Christmas. Kakak tried her hands with some colored icing and M&Ms. Look how handsome her gingerbread man is!


Here's my fat but macho cat, Kechik. Posing away in front of the pc. Guess what was under his fat belly? Yep - the mouse!



Kechik was helping me to clean Mimi's crib - not! He's fascinated by Mimi's graceful strokes - forgetting that he's staring at his otherwise fancy lunch! By the way, Mimi has now rest in peace somewhere in the dumpster. I'm not gonna point fingers but there were traces of cat fur around the crime scene. Let's call the CSIs!


Kakak trying on my new shades. Looking great there, babe! Now take it off already!


On the way back to KL after attending my mom's cousin's wedding. He's my age by the way. Anyways, kakak got bored coz adik was sound asleep. She decided to give it a go with self-portrait-photography.


Posing with the Power Ranger SPD at Sg Wang. I would say it's worth my $10! Heheh.


Dinner and ice-cream at Swenson's. Yummy ice-cream and a lot of 'kakak@abang' waitressing there as well. Go figure. Harharhar.

Okay then. More picts to come soon. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, have a good weekend!

Making a long story short

Hmm. It's been way too long since the last entry. Have a lot of excuses but most of them pointed back to the fact that I was too darn busy to update my blog.

Apart from that, life has been good.

Let the pictures tell my story (not in any order).

Here's a pict of my new cubicle. Can't remember if i have posted this in my TA which by the way was closed for some weird reason. Anyways, i need to pay TA if i wanna have my pictures back. Screw TA. I can post my pictures some place else.

Anyways, this is my cubicle. It's small, yucky and stuffy. I don't really fancy sitting here but have no choice but to accept this as a temporary workstation before moving to level 18 (i think).



Kechik was in the hospital again. His claws grew so long that it actually hurt his paws. The vet had to literally use a plier to cut them off and safely bandage his legs.



Kakak had a fun time during her graduation ceremony. Seen in this pict is the girl herself performing the handkerchief dance. She was clad in a Korean attire that costs $35 and refused to put it on again. Don't ask me why. She's at the rightmost of the pict.



Deli and I posed for the camera. Adik was the backup cameraman during kakak's recital. It was a very long (5 hours!) but entertaining event.



I sprained my ankle one Friday, on my way to Sg Wang with friends. Luckily we were only a block away from the office. My ankle was fat and ugly for more than a month. It still has a weird shape to this very day.


My brother's wedding was an event of love, hate, heartache and pain. Go figure. Seen here are the kids after the whole thing was over. By the way, my sister and her husband put the dais together. They have never done it before but it turned out great. It was simply gorgeous.


A mini house that was put together in the office foyer. It was decorated for Christmas 2006.


This pict was taken when Deli and I had a quiet dinner together at a friend's restaurant called Tjampuhan. Food was nice and the ambiance was just great.


Okay. I'll post more when i have the time.