I pray that God will grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to hide the bodies of the people I killed because they were annoying.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Baju & Kutu
Went to Time Square on Friday with Elizabeth and managed to shop for a little bit in Metrojaya. Some of the stuff are ridiculously cheap that I decided I should come again and comb the whole department store!
Deli had to work on Saturday while kakak had a replacement class. I was awake since kakak left for school – which is a rare occasion for me. Started spring cleaning while adik entertained himself with his PSII. Managed to tidy up the kids’ reading place and their den. Did 2 loads of laundry in between. Rearranged quarter of the kitchen before fetching kakak from school.
Bought lunch at Setiawangsa and continued to clean the kitchen.
Deli got home at 6.30pm and we were off to Times Square an hour after that.
I thought of getting some clothes for the kids in preparation of Raya. I know it’s awfully early but trust me, it saves a lot. Especially when the department stores are having sales. This way, I can pretty much concentrate on getting raya cookies and sparklers during Ramadhan. The thought of squeezing through a sea of people in shopping malls and queuing for the cash registers really turn me off.
Shopping should be a breeze. Ample time to compare prices, colors, needs, etc. before actually buying something. Pure bliss.
Anyways, turned out Deli had more on his mind that we ended up shopping for him instead. With a couple of minutes to spare, we managed to get adik 2 Renoma shirts and 2 dresses for kakak. Now I have to find some pants for adik. I don’t really fancy buying him long pants because he outgrow them like nobody’s business! I normally buy him knee-length or 3 quarter pants. That way, he’ll be able to wear them longer.
Sunday came and Deli was whining to go to Low Yatt for his pc gadgets. Left the house at 11am for Low Yatt. Did I mention that I hate this place? It’s always crowded and finding a parking spot is close to impossible.
While Deli had fun getting his gadgets, kakak and I had hotdogs at 1901. Deli and adik joined us a little bit later.
We crossed the road because I saw a Metrojaya there and thought that I should get a spare mattress protector for the kids because one of them keep wetting the bed. I’m not gonna point fingers but we always find her sleeping in the guest room when she did it.
So off we went to BB Plaza and did a quick stop at Parkson. Giggsy called this morning and invited us to her house warming party in the afternoon. Bought her a gift and accidentally bought myself a pitcher for $12. Darn cheap, I tell ya.
Went to Metrojaya after that and managed to get kakak 3 pairs of baju kurung worth $44 each! That’s cheap considering the material and cut. Two nyonya kebaya and 1 modern cut. Bought a dress for Hani Sofea as well. Tried to find something for Natasya but I can’t recall how tall she was. Maybe I’ll get her a handbag or something an 11 years old would need. Any ideas?
It was almost 3.30pm when we were done. Hurried to GE Mall for the monthly supply of cat food and litter sand. By the by, those two are infested with fleas and unidentified kutus. I complained to Deli about rashes and unimaginable itchiness on my legs since the week before but did not actually check the cats for kutus. I noticed however that the cats stopped sleeping on our beds and that Baby Cat kept scratching his face and tummy lately.
By the way, Kechik is now known as Ciku Biku and Baby Cat’s new name is Kabu Babu.
It was a spur of the moment kinda thing. Kakak and I came up with the names while adik struggled hard to remember who is who. Heheh.
So we bought a yummy smelling medicated shampoo to get rid of the kutus, ear drops to clean their ears and hopefully keep the kutus away and a comb especially to comb the kutu out. I know Tok Mak will be laughing like mad when she hears about this. If she does that, I have no choice but to bring up the incident where she had a cat kutu near her ears. Don’t make me, mum!!
Anyways, we were off to Bandar Baru Ampang for GIggys’s party. The kids ate a lot – poor babies. They must have been really hungry. VF was there as well so we managed to catch up on things for a bit. It was a fun event and I finally met the famous Gegirl. Such a sweet gal though adik claimed Gegirl tried to eat him. Yeah, right.
Weekend was great despite being packed with things to do and places to go to. I wish we have longer weekends. Sigh.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Fighting a losing battle or somehing like that
The project I’m managing finally go live on Monday, August 6th. Yey!
Ah, but that was a short-lived sweetness.
I came in the office (yes, on the hateful Monday) feeling enthusiast and energized to start the Technical Test with 10 selected Public Bank branches all over the country. I checked (and rechecked) my schedule and tons of test documents to make sure everything’s in order.
9am
Business PM called to say that one of the team member was on leave. I was shocked because I didn’t know about it. The team knows very well that they need to update me on their leave days to avoid things like this from happening! Darn.
So that person was on leave and there’s nothing much that we can do about it. Told the BPM to take over the missing member’s role and I’ll back her up. Probelm solved. Hopefully.
3pm
The exercise commenced and we started getting calls 10 minutes after that.
Major problem – nothing worked!
BPM called to update me on the status. The escalation procedure require me to contact the IT PM and I did. I told him the problem and asked if the Solution Leader was able to advise on the root cause. To my surprise, he was also not in the office!! Great. Just what I need.
BPM and I tried to handle the calls and complaints. Our phones rang non-stop and we were like 2 headless chicken, trying to do what we can to manage the situation.
Disaster!
4.30pm
We stopped the exercise. Nothing was working as they were supposed to. Nobody was there to check on the issues as well so why bother.
The Queen Bee (who happens to be a bitch – excuse my French!) sent out an email on her frustration and disappointment. For the first time, I couldn’t find suitable words (read: non swearing words) to reply her mail.
I feel sick. No medicine would be able to cure it. I just feel sick to the bone.
What have we been doing the whole afternoon then? Playing catch?
I’m too pissed to even think right now.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
A Merlion Weekend
It was a fun event and we enjoyed ourselves despite it being a short vacation with lots and lots of rain.
Bought Aeroline tickets for Friday at 6.45pm but we were still at home by 5.45pm. Deli called numerous times for a cab to take us to Corus Hotel but couldn’t get any. As the last resort, we walked to the main road with luggage and the Dutchman’s 3 pillows (he bought it for our visit) in tow. Lucky us, we managed to get a cab after mere 5 minutes wait. The journey to Jalan Ampang took forever! The road was badly congested. We reached our destination with a good 10 minutes to spare. Phew!
Ah, but the thrill has yet to end. The Dutchman and Elizabeth were nowhere to be seen. I called Elizabeth to learn that they were stuck in traffic opposite of Ampang Park but they’re getting off the car and walk to Corus hotel. The cabin crew was kind enough to spare those two a couple of minutes before they close the door and leave for Singapore.
The whole journey was interesting to the kids because they have never traveled by bus before. We were served spaghetti for dinner and watched Click before stopping at Pagoh rest area. The Dutchman lend the kids his laptop and they watched Home Alone 3, trying not to laugh so hard and disturb other passengers.
We reached Singapore at midnight and boarded 2 cabs to the Dutchman’s place. Everyone slept a little past 2am that night.
It rained heavily on Saturday so we stayed in and prayed that it’ll stop raining soon. Well, it didn’t so we decided to go out anyway. Left the house around 12 noon to Faber Hill.
Bought tickets for cable cars and places in Sentosa. Adik was quiet the whole journey and held tight to Deli and the window. No prize in guessing how scared he was. Hahah.
Apparently we bought tickets for tour groups. I always thought tour groups are for old people who’s lost some of their sense of direction. Now I’m one of them!! Wahahah.
The tour guide was a Malay lad and our first stop was the Underwater World. The kids went crazy at the sight of colorful fishes and beautiful corals. They had a tank of sting rays where you could buy a pack of food (no idea what it was) and feed them. I’ve never seen how a sting ray uses its mouth. It’s simply amazing.
There were a lot of interesting creatures in there including white tip sharks and a dugong. Not to mention various kinds of crabs from the smallest of them to gigantic ones that stand as tall as kakak. There was one creature called sea angels and as the name suggests, they are marvelous creatures. You’d be mesmerized just by looking at them.
On the way out of the Underwater World, there were pythons that you could put on your shoulder and take pictures with. Kakak was brave enough to pet the baby python while the rest of us shuddered and stayed as far as we could from the snake booth. Eww.
While waiting for the bus, I saw this.
Yup. It’s Ben & Jerry’s. Goodness gracious. It’s been so long since I last had their ice cream. They have it in Cold Storage but it’s damn expensive and the flavors are far from what I fancy.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to buy any because we were rushing to catch the bus. I waved goodbye to Ben & J’s and left with a heavy heart. I made sure that the rest know how disappointed I was to have missed the opportunity to satisfy my cravings for Ben & J’s. Sobs.
The Dutchman and his wife left for the mainland coz the Mrs had a vocal class to attend. The brood, Elizabeth and I stayed on and looked for a place to have lunch. We settled for pizza and to our delight, adik really feasted on the food. He finished his and a piece (or two?) from Elizabeth’s. Way to go adik!! It’s really hard to see him eat that much and in occasion like this, we’re more than happy to accommodate his appetite.
We queued for a 3D show but due to some technical glitches, we had to endure 3 opening speeches. Darn. Finally, we get o sit on the simulation units and the show was a total fun! The kids sat with Elizabeth while Deli and I sat in front of them and I could hear them screaming and laughing their hearts out. No amount of money could ever compensate those screams and laughs. I’m just blessed that I’m able to provide them the experience.
They couldn’t stop talking about the show and nobody admitted that they screamed but I know their voices too well. Heheh.
Next stop was the Dolphin Marine but unfortunately the next show was 1.5 hours away. So we boarded the bus (again) and this time we managed to get on a double deck bus and secured seats at the very end of the open top deck.
We stopped by Singapore’s famous landmark – the Merlion. Half mermaid and half lion statue stood proud on the island.
We left half way through the show to catch the dolphin show. It was fun but the place was a bit too crowded with rude people. I managed to catch some pictures and they turned out great. How often do you get to see pink dolphins, right?
So off we went to the cable car station to end one memorable and fun day in Sentosa Island.
Got off at Viva City mall to be greeted by the Dutchman and his wife. We thought we were about to head home but they took us to the Night Safari instead. The kids could not contain their excitement even though they had no idea what was waiting for them in the Night Safari. The cab driver was a bit of a maniac and was definitely at par with KL cab drivers’ F1 performance. Scary!
Bought the tickets and was about to find a place for dinner when I saw the one place that I really, really want to be.
There it was. A Ben & J’s stood in front of me while I stared ‘jakun’ly with saliva dripping out at the corner of my mouth. I think the group had fun toying with me by dragging me away from Ben & J’s to had dinner. A group of man wearing nothing but loin cloth who passed by didn’t ever deter my longing for a cup of Ben & J’s. Saliva still dripping though – both for ice cream and the group of half naked man. Elizabeth was fumbling for her glasses. She didn’t wanna miss the ‘show’ either. Hahahaha.
Somehow the chicken rice tasted like strawberry & kiwi ice cream. I wonder why.
We queued for the tram (still no ice-cream – sobs) and waited for 15 minutes before boarding on one. We traveled in the dark with nothing more than the guide’s voice accompanied by sounds of the jungle. Most of the animals were let loose and you could touch them if you stick your hands out. We get to hear a real life roaring from 2 mighty lions. Amazing!
The whole ride took 40 minutes and we enjoyed every sound, sight and stench. Didn’t get to watch the animal show because it was another long queue and everyone was pretty tired by then. We walked around and took more pictures before they finally led me to the longed for Ben & J’s ice cream parlor.
I was in HEAVEN when I saw strawberry & kiwi ice cream!! Nobody else cared for ice cream so I took my time savoring the flavors before ordering a cup of strawberry & kiwi ice cream and a berry smoothie. Kakak feasted on the smoothie while I had the ice cream. I would have bought a bigger cup or more than a flavor if I wasn’t coughing my lungs out every other minute.
Kakak slurping on berry smoothie
Reached home a little after 11pm feeling all worn out – except for the kids. They still had the energy for a Harry Potter movie before calling it a night. By the way, the Dutchman and Elizabeth were not into Harry Potter and threatened to burn my book when they saw it on my table a couple of days back. I purposely asked the kids to bring Harry Potter movie to annoy those two. If the Dutchman decided to burn his laptop because it was stained by a Harry Potter movie, I want to be there to witness the burning. Hahah.
We left for Vivo City mall the next morning. The Aeroline counter was in the mall as well so we stashed our bags there and scoured the rest of the mall.
We bid goodbye to the rest and left Singapore at 1.30pm. Adik slept right after lunch, all the way to KL. They showed The Devil Wears Prada but none of us really cared. We slept most of the time.
Reached KL at 6.30pm and took a cab home. Everybody was tired but all of us agreed that we had a great time in Singapore.
Many thanks to the host. We will definitely come back for a longer visit.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Weehuuu!!
Went to see the GP again yesterday but no blood work needed coz my temperature has dropped. Cool. Why do I feel so unwell still?
Adik finally surrendered and suffered high temperature as well. Poor lad.
It was such a struggle to drive myself to work today. I can barely concentrate or keep focus.
Went to see the doctor (again!) coz I really felt sick and weak. While I was on my way to the clinic across the street, the Business PM called and complained about a Team Leader being difficult to get some UAT stuff done. I promised that I'll talk to the Team Leader before lunch. By the time I got to the clinic, I nearly passed out. Spent an hour (darn!) in the clinic. There's a lot of sick people nowadays. Got another day off but i just need to clear some stuff and talk to the Team Leader before I head back home.
Okay. Talking sense to the Team Leader was not that difficult. I guess when you use the right tone and be a little understanding, you can talk things through. Mind you, I did all those talking with a splitting headache and ridiculous pains in the joints. Help... i think i'll pass out any time soon..
When i got back to my office, the Dutchman called and asked about a training that was scheduled to take place at 3pm. Darn! I forgot all about it and I don't have anything prepared for the session!
So instead of packing (uwaa!!) I had to prepare the presentation slides. Took me an hour plus to get it done. At this point, all i had was a cup of teh tarik and nothing else.
The Business PM did the presentation and we had quite a session. Little did i realized, it was almost 5pm. There goes! A wasted day off.
Anyway, i was really, really hungry. There was still some vege and fishball soup from last night so i just had that with some rice.
Oh my goodness! I can eat normal again! I'm not vomiting anymore! Weehuuuu!!!!
Half an hour after that, I pooped! Hahaha.... it's been days, people!! I'm just happy that I'm not vomiting anymore and i can start 'decorating the ceramic' again. Yeyyy!!!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Epidemic
Deli was sick since Tuesday and Kakak got it on Wed to this very day.
I started feeling sick and giddy since Thursday and yes, till this very minute.
Adik seemed to be the only one who's not affected by this epidemic. That being said, he is the honorary nurse on duty. He'll hold your hands for the frequent loo trips and offered massages to your aching body. Such a lad.
We had to cancel a trip to a birthday party on Saturday but couldn't cancel the plan to watch HP's new movie with VF. Kakak and I were coughing & entertaining our stuffy & runny nose. I swear it sounded like a bad orchestra. We braved through the movie & headed straight to the clinic.
The GP said, it could be viral fever and he'll need to do some blood work if we're still sick on Monday.
Well today's Sunday & i don't feel any better. Kakak neither. I did not even leave the bed till
Anyways, i have tons of things (reads: work) lined up for Monday & i hope all of us will get better soon.
Meanwhile, go & watch Harry Potter. It's a good movie.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
M's Glorious Wedding
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
A Few Grey Strands
Happy Birthday to you!!
A year older and wiser (i hope - hahah) too. We love you so very much!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Phuket Revisited - Day 2
Woke up as early as 7am - that's pretty early according to my vacation standard. I couldn't believe it myself. I was always among the last to leave the bed.
After several attempts to make the brood open their eyes, we managed to get ready for breakfast with a plan to hit the beach soon after.
Breakfast was great. Wasn't a large spread but there weren't that many people either. Again, we had to explain to the kids about halal and haram when it comes to food. We did a quick round of explaining while having dinner the day before but they were too starving to pay attention.
This time around, we took our time to explain to them and after several series of questions, they managed to understand the essence of the concept.
So off we went to the beach. It was scorching hot and the sea breeze was alternately warm. I did not jump into the Andaman Sea or I'll attract sharks from far away (get it? Heheh). The beach was just across the road but the hotel did not provide any amenities - which as pretty strange at first coz we saw endless lines of lounge chairs and colorful shades. We learned later on, that the chairs and shades were owned by private individuals. We paid TB200 and were allowed stay as long as we liked.
The kids had fun in the sea with their dad. I napped and napped and napped. There were people coming to you to sell various stuff from wrist watches to Thai silk. They were quite cheap, judging by the amount of watches bought by the Americans not far from where were seated.
Judging by the position of the sun, we were at the beach for quite some time. None of us bothered to look at the watch. Nobody really cared coz we were having so much fun under the sun.
The kids retired to shore and started to build sand castle only to find that they didn't have the right set of 'equipment'. So they resorted to burying Deli instead. While being buried, Deli told me that he saw a topless girl at the beach. Let's just say that he's not happy with what he saw. I couldn't agree more. There's nothing much too see when you don't have your glasses with you now, do you? Hahah.
Made our way back to the hotel when it was too hot to even step on the sand. Freshened up and decided to let the kids nap for a bit before venturing out again.
Had a late lunch at a little restaurant nearby the hotel. Food was good and cheap. Kakak happily ordered seafood pizza. She was amazed to find a squid with tentacles still attached to its body. She spent more time ogling rather than eating it.
After lunch, we visited Karma again. Kakak and I had foot massages while Deli braved for a Thai massage. Adik didn't want to get any and ended up playing games on my mobile. One and a half hour later, we're all set for more adventure.
First stop - the nearby plaza. By plaza, I meant rows and rows of tents with all sorts of merchandise. Mostly branded clothes, shoes and bags. The kind of stuff that you can get in Petaling Street. Didn't get anything except for a nightgown for kakak and Cars t-shirt for adik.
We walked to Karon town, totally drenched in sweat. It was not that far but it was not a breezy afternoon. There were a lot of tailoring shops in that town, not to mention money changer booths. Walked around and stopped by 7-11 for snacks and anything Thai-ish to stare at. I liked the Marlboro packs and thought they'd make great souvenirs for the 'dragons' back in the office. Deli talked me into buying the packs at the airport instead so we left 7-11 and went in a mini market called Big Ten. They had nice souvenir items and the prices were quite reasonable. We bought some stuff for family and friends. I found a couple of shot glasses that I fancied. They were cheap!
We walked to the hotel, again drenched in sweat but this time around, managed to pass through some cool clubs along the way.
One thing I forgot to mention - when we were walking to Karon town, we heard buzzing noises coming from the lamp posts. Imagine our surprise when we looked up and saw endless electrical cables entangled among themselves, looking overloaded and about to snap anytime. It's all over town and what a scary view it was!
By the time we reached our room, we were too tired to move a muscle and resorted to calling room service. Took them less then 20 mins to deliver our orders which was the fastest room service by far (according to my experience). We ordered seafood fried rice, tom yam kung (a must!), steamed rice and fried rice noodle with prawns. We were immediately transported to (food) heaven!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Phuket Revisited - Day 1
I was proud to say that I managed to keep it a secret. He knew we're going to a beach but that was just about it. I told him he need not worry about a thing. All he had to do was call for a cab to take us to LCCT and of course, be our walking ATM while we were there.
The cab arrived at 8.50am. We hauled our bags and happily boarded the cab. I switched on my phone to text my sister and mom that we're on our way to the airport. That was when I saw a message from Air Asia.
Our flight was delayed to 3.15pm.
It was a reflexed action - I handed the phone to Deli and he read the text out loud. So we made a deal with the cab driver to send us back to the house and for him to come back at 1pm.
I didn't want to use my O2 for this trip, so I used my old SE K750i instead. When I switched phones, I must have forgotten to switch it on. Otherwise, I would have noticed the message from Air Asia sooner.
Potong stim betul.
When were back in the house, I realized that Deli had officially found out.
He was all smiles though I was not too sure if it's because he finally found out or because he approved of the destination. Heheh. Too late to change practically anything dear!
Finally at 1pm, we hauled our bags and boarded the cab (again). Took us an hour to reach LCCT. It was our first time there so we were walking around trying to figure out where to go and the sort.
Checked in our bags soon after and headed to McDonald's for lunch. It was packed with people. Full to the brim. We stood for a good 20 minutes before finding decent seats.
Waited for a half hour before boarding the plane. The ride was fully packed with exited and chirpy people. We couldn't help but join the merry atmosphere. It's been a while since we last had a proper vacation.
On the flight, the kids were occupied with books and crayons. Deli was engrossed in killing little people (I think) with his PSP. I did nothing but silently pray for a safe flight and hopefully, a great vacation.
We were among the last to leave the plane and ended up at the end of the immigration queue. Fortunately, a kind immigration officer showed us to the express lane for elderly and special cases. One special case coming right up! Heheh.
We were asked to surrender our passports and had our pictures taken for security purposes. The kids actually stood in front of the camera, all smiles and posed appropriately. They did what we told them to do without the usual why, how come, how, etc. Fantastic!
We ordered a couple of dishes - one of them was tom yam kung. I have never ever tasted a yummier tom yam kung than this. It was simply divine. It made all the tom yam kung i've ever had in my life tasted nothing more than water. Believe me. I never, ever kid about good food.