of cakes and presents

so these are the normal stuff one will get on a normal birthday. cake is mandatory and you will be so happy that you can finish it with the gang who gives it to you on the spot. dun keep the cake for yourself. let's share it together. that is the spirit.

this one is the first on monday morning...from a colleague...it became my morning break snack. the strawberry was already in my mouth ;P

nice eh? chocolate covered. but the sponge cake was so so. this came in the afternoon.

and this one just arrived yesterday.

i wonder who starts this birthday cake tradition on birthday. will a birthday be complete without a cake? or is it a gimmick popularised by bakers to sell their cakes??

and below is the most creative gift i received. what an effort. i have to solve the riddle to break the code. help! the riddle is solved now ...with some help...and i still have no idea what the code is..but hey...one of the nails did not stay on the hinge for long and i could retrieve the gift from the box. hehehehe....i think i appreciate both the locks more than the gift since they are more useful. hahaha

1- look at my face, you see no 13, and now would you kindly follow me around?

2- what is so fragile, that even when you speak of it you will break it?

creative huh? anyone who wants to leave answer for the riddle, you can do so here and i will verify the answers for you.

what an sms day

birthday has come and it has gone.
and as expected it was a really busy day...NOOOO...no partying this time but it was purely work. work, then meeting in the afternoon, then work again till night. and that was the day. voila. i wouldn't have any energy to go out to celebrate anyway. i rejected an invitation to go out at night for a drink. my eyes could not open by 9p.m. already so it was up to the room and snuggled in my bed and watched the second half of sex and the city the movie. the movie was good. and ooohhh the clothes, the shoes and the bags. they are as usual to die for. how i wish i can be carrie bradshaw in the movie but i think i am more of a charlotte.

only one cake yesterday and another slice of cake from my gang of colleague. they gave me a pressie too. and i got a few other pressies. aunt called and a friend called from singapore. nice huh? but that was all. not that i am complaining. the telephone was vibrating off its parts (on silence mode the whole day). this is the first time i finish using the battery in one day. it was nice getting about 90 smses. yes, i counted. haha...
life goes on now and the fatigue continues...

birthday eve

ok....i am really desperate for ppl to celebrate my birthday for me since i am not throwing any birthday bash, therefore i have made a birthday cake for myself.
yeah rite :P
this is the first day cake from sunday's 2p.m. group. thank you very much. they were so considerate and did not get any candles for the cake. i think it will cover the entire cake if they did. the flavour is mocha. not bad. very fresh. we finish the cake already. grandpa and dad also got their share. phew!
heard cousin zhong will drop by today...but i won't be seeing him. i wonder how he looks like now. regards to him.

and this photo if for jet. he wants to see the dog tag. so there you have it. just that red metal there. how to make a beautiful one?? u can make your own 'beanie' tag lah...but that will just be a name tag for the dog. the municipal council won't have customised tag for you. hahahaha...maybe they should start customising dog tags and get some extra cash. everyone is thinking of cutting cost nowadays but are they thinking of ways to increase the revenue???

talking about cost cutting...how is everyone coping with the increase in fuel price? is there any change in lifestyle? i have been using the excuse of expensive fuel price and not making that many trips out of the house. when i have to get something outside, i will accumulate the number of items first and only go out when i really need them. so calculative now. but i am not a fuel guzzler and i wasn't before this. it is just all this talk about saving and cutting on expenditure that makes me do it subconsciously. good lah...lead a simpler uncomplicated life.

tired soul, vibrant spirit

kick me! hit me! punch me! just make me unconscious for one or two days and rest.
tomorrow is a sunday and i have 8 hours of 'work' to do. am i crazy or what??
just thinking about it is giving me the strain. if i dun do my stuff, there is the conscience to answer to and the responsibilty ppl have put on me. sigh...i know, it is the package i have subsribed to.

thanks to those who have started sending birthday wishes either via friendster or sms. one even thought my birthday was today (waikeong).
well they warm the tired soul but the physical self will have to force whatever that is still left of the vibrant spirit inside to hang on there for these 2 days.

going to catch 9 hours of sleep now!

oh my crystal

update on beanie...he will always be popular here.

mom said that he lost his appetite to eat the first two days after everyone had left (uncle kam, yeelin and jet). can u imagine the glutton dog not eating? he did not bark nor wag his tail when it was meal time. he was not excited to see mom coming out with his bowl of food. he just slumped outside the kitchen door when it was opened. his breakfast lasted until lunch. mom had to pick out the dog food from the rice and handfed him! yes, to that extent. if she did not handfed him, he wouldn't even touch his food.

so poor thing. i guess he knew that everyone had left and there was no one to play with him. when i came back as usual he wanted me to caress him. but i am not one who will play so crazily with him like jet and uncle kam. he had dug a big hole outside the garden and mom just scolded and beat him. he dared not reliate. and oh, he has got his doggie tag. i think jet registered him before he left.

now my turn to WWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAA!!!! (BAWL!!!) do i need to say more? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my giraffe charm from swarovski. i dun think i will ever get a replacement because it is no longer in production. WWWWWAAAA!!! i guess i was not careful. blame myself. i hooked the charm to my bag and the bag was just put on the floor. everything was in a pile on the floor and i guess some heavy thing just hit or dropped on it. i will not be a messy person again after this lesson.

this is such a nice charm and my heart aches when i see the photo. even if i glue the broken piece back, it will still be imperfect because the crack is very obvious. if anyone see this charm being sold anywhere, please please please help me to get it!!! or tell me!!! i will be sooooo grateful.

aladdin's carpet

am i getting older or my workload is increasing by leaps and bounds??
i can think of so many words to describe this one week and also for the coming week.
i will be fatigued, exhausted, strained, tired, lethargic, weary, worn-out while my days will be hectic and busy.
have been starting my days since 6a.m. and the day officially ends at 10p.m. with hardly any breaks in between. there are so many meetings to attend to either in bidor or outside. and after the meetings, it is straight back to work until 10. some of you will say, i ask for it myself right? hahahaha....but if i dun do it, where will the income come from?
seeing some money in the bank account is a delight...who doesn't like money. and the mind if flying everywhere of things i can buy with them. what a shopaholic. been doing quite a bit of online shopping recently. got 2 shirts from saks and crystal from swarovski...all on sale. i dun buy at retail prices. everything is so accessible with the internet and having friends overseas help too.
oh, i have to work on saturday mornings as well. 2 consecutive saturdays already confirmed and more will come. sigh...
is there any magic carpet that will come by way and bring me to an exotic location for this weekend just so that i can escape??

birthday...birthday...birthday...yippee...yippee

JULY is here and it is birthday month. hahahaha...how can i forget my own birthday?
do you believe it when ppl said they have forgotten their own birthday??

they are quite many i know whose birthdays fall in this month; uncle chin poh and mom, just to name a few. and i have a few colleagues' whose birthdays fall in this month as well.

i already have someone asking me if i am going to have a party (coming from a 14-year-old). the answer is 'no'. last year was fun while it lasted...but it was quite a lot of work planning the big 3-0 birthday bash. the planning, the ordering of food stuff, the furniture, the barbeque pit and the cleaning afterwards. i dun wanna repeat the hassles this year. it is just going to be a quiet affair for me...but....if there are some ppl out there who want to throw me birthday parties ...hahahaha...it would be sooooo fun. (is it obvious that i am giving a hint??)

i had some nice surprises at work place a few years back. it was so nice to see ppl remembering your birthday and putting effort in preparing it. but when it does happen, i will start wondering if i really deserve all that. guilty pang will set in and i will ask myself if i have treated them well enuf to deserve that kind of celebration. gulp!

well, i will be alert and my tentacles are up and ready to receive signals. hahha...who doesn't love birthday? the thought of getting one year older is not even there.

keep my fingers crossed. disappointment might set in instead...when it does, you will see all is silent next week. ;(

how i miss you

gift from atticus.

i really like the presents and having 4 cousins here soon 1 more it is really fun but i really really
reallllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyy
miss you you were one of the best waaaaaaaaaaaaaa, lah
your ):missing you:( cousin
atticus

ahem...see how my 11-year-old cousin is buttering me up. he is sending so many mails to me in a day. whether he is telling the real truth or not, only he knows lah. but i will judge how 'sincere' he is when he comes back in september. if he misses me, he will not annoy me. if he misses me, he will not irritate me. if he misses me, he will not make me angry. ;)

agree??

what an sms

getting an sms from your brother is always a good thing because it shows that you are in touch with your siblings. BUT GETTING ONE AT 12AM TELLING YOU TO 'CALL ME NOW' FROM YOUR BROTHER WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE ON A PLANE TO MELBOURNE AT BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS A NERVE-WRECKING THING INSTEAD!
yup, that was what i was treated with yesterday...and i only saw that sms at 6a.m. when i woke up. it really got me anxious the whole day wondering what could go wrong with him.
after all, it was his first time catching a flight on his own...and the fact that it was not a direct flight. so there i was with all my guesses:
was he stranded at the airport?
was he stopped from going into the plane?
was he delayed in his flight?
did he forget his hand luggage at the terminal?
and more....

i only managed to be pacified when an sms to my sister confirmed that he had landed and was out shopping for a desktop because it was the last day of computer sale.
then mom called at about 4p.m. and explained everything. phew! i am such a worried sister.

the reason why the sms came?
well, he bought a bottle of liqour (jack daniels) at klia duty free shop and it was confiscated by the bangkok international airport officers before he boarded his flight to melbourne that night. it was three against one there.i mean how could they? we know about the no liquid rule on board, but with duty free goods, as long as they are sealed in the transparent plastic bag, they are allowed right? those airport officers must have bullied him and taken the bottle for their own use. jet, you better write a letter of complaint to the airport authorities. don't let them get away with it. this is the first time i hear such experience. but before doing so, better check the airport rules yeah...just in case. go to the bangkok international airport website.

i am glad he has reached and i received mails from ATTICUS giving his assurances that he would take care of my brother. hehehe.e..... so cute.

atticus, you just leave your messages here and ppl will read them too.

and everyone says they miss beanie. hmm....the dog has a more important place in their hearts. beanie now will have to stick back to mom for all his daily routines. poor doggie...no more playmate.

to jet's caretaker in melbourne

dear atticus,


the dog is subdued and the house is quiet. jet has finally left for melbourne this afternoon.
things seem a bit strange now. his things are still lying around the house and they are in a mess...but deep down i realise that the person is no longer here.

not that he is going to a far far away place...after all he is only 7 1/2 hours away and with air asia launching their flight to melbourne soon, i might get to see him sooner.
but it was still hard to choke back on those tears. gosh...i din think that i would be so affected...seeing him changed into his travel clothes, reminding him to bring his stuff and he finally saying goodbye to ah gong and ah ma.

i guess spending so much time with him at home at weekends for these few years had brought us closer. there was always someone to laugh with at silly antics, silly movies and sillly jokes we encountered which we shared with each other. we also fought over portions of junk food and drinks and wine. now that he is no longer here, eating junk will not be as fun...no...it won't be fun at all.

so atticus,
the responsibility to look after jet is over to you now. remember what you told me? you are going to bring him to the jogging track, to the football pitch...and i bet you will be doing lots more things with him.
you are so lucky to have so many cousins with you over there now. you guys can have sleepover weekends and bully each other. hahahaha...but remember to update me about things happening down under ok? you can always e-mail me with your progress. i heard you are coming back in september right? well, i look forward to seeing you again. until then...take care and send my love to everyone...EVERYONE!!!!

love,
escape

bye bye jet...i wonder if beanie realises that it is his last glimpse of jet. WAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

:"""""""""""""(

when will i see you again.....

(my eyes are red and i am sniffing away. but i bet at the airport mom's eyes will be redder than mine. no one sees me up here...phew!)

beanie with uncle kam

yee lin and jet say uncle looks like homer simpson ;P

the more they look at him, the more they see the similarities. jet had been catching episodes of the simpsons online, so i guess when the 'person' walks in, the idea sorts of hits him.

uncle has been pampering beanie a lot too. beanie only looks for him. and beanie has been coming into the house a lot! uncle kam will just let him in and plays with him with his treats. he bought a packet of meaty liver for him. that's what beanie is offered in the video.

he knows how to get on the stairs now. we know why he is there...yeelin's bowl of soup.
and this picture?? eer....u have to decide for yourself what u think beanie is up to. he only seems to be interested in doing this to yeelin. i guess yeelin brought with her the smell of her dog in germany (max) thus the attraction. well, in 2 days time it is bye bye to yeelin as well. so beanie, all your play mates are gone now. uncle kam is leaving tomorrow, and then it is yeelin next. the house will be so quiet the next weekend i come home. lonely... i am so lonely...

complaints before bedtime

i am going to go into complain mode now. ate till too full and can't go to bed now. yeah...i know...i am lucky because i get to eat...all 3 meals were complete for today. breakfast: toast and coffee. lunch: sushi king with yeelin (and u know how much she loves it because she can't get them in germany...so both of us WHACK!!!). dinner: fook mun lau restaurant...maaakaaannn....uncle kam paid although grandpa said he wanted to buy both yeelin and jet their dinner before they leave for australia.

but i guess this is one dinner everyone will remember. freak storm came all of a sudden and there was no electricity for half the time we were there. the main switch tripped. when the first dish arrived...everything was dark and we started our meal in the dark.

and as the dinner progressed, we were given some light...i think they are cubes of sugar. they had run out of candles.

hahaha...we can still eat without the lights right as proven by this photo. the handphone flash captured them at this moment. the chopsticks can still perform and the mouth will take in whatever is pushed in. only the lanterns outside had lights.

ohohoho....just wanna share my happiness that i finally got back my swarovski bangle from parkson in klcc. i sent it for repair when one of the crystals dropped out. that is the advantage of buying from a reputable brand i guess. they provide good after sales service. yes, swarovski replaced that missing crystal for me free of charge. actually this was the second time i went for the collection. the first time i went, they replaced it with a wrong colour crystal (how could they do this!!!) and i told them they would have to take it back again. even the counter salesgirl agreed with me. and now i am a satisfied customer. so if you want to get something from swarovski...you can do so and it is better if you have ppl living in germany to help you get them now. yes, the online sale! buy those stuff they have onsale and the prices are definitely cheaper. if you wanna buy those normal priced items, go to their united states website. the currency exchange rate favours the low dollars. i have set my eye on one of the pendants...so if anyone wanna buy, then only i will buy since you need to get 75 euro to get free shipping.

and this set of hello kitty pajama comes from yeelin who got it from h&m in germany. very sexy...hahahaha. the size is s...ngam ngam fit fit. not sure when i will wear it yet...not so soon...likes the idea of knowing that i have new clothes in the wardrobe.
din get any today in kl...phew! zara sale sucks this time. had no time to go to mng's. with uncle kam following, we only get the necessities. hahaha...we din dare to go browsing for 'unnecessary' things. yeelin said she will do her shopping next time she is back without her dad. and...my swatch ring with the missing pearl bead? no after sales service from swatch. sucks!! moral of the story, either dun buy from them or you better be extra careful when u have them on. WAAAAAAA!!!!!!

p/s: do you realise that if you do not complain about stuff, there will actually be nothing to voice out? your thoughts will be empty and there will be no blog to fill. hahaha...but i guess that is what makes ppl peaceful, calm, tranquil and serene. oooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmm

self torture

uncle kam said, 'when yeelin come back, let her eat as much as she wants and get her revenge.'

but, when i come home on friday, i was the one who attacked and devoured a container of durian. i guess they had had their share before i got back. i think it is only the beginning of the season and dad got someone to get these from cameron highlands. 3 durians- rm80. expensive hor? but it is from a good species lah...kucing something.
they opened the durians there and let you check, then transferred them into a container for you and sealed it in a plastic bag. how efficient.

but now i am suffering. waaa.....soooo full and uncomfortable...but of course you dun think about that while you were eating right. the durian was really good but the heat also got to the body very fast. took two glasses of glass jelly drink and 3 green herbal pills. can feel a bit sore at the throat already and the lips are swelling. wonder how i will sleep tonight.

going to meet yeelin and uncle in kl tomorrow. they are already there. klcc is our destination and zara is on sale! bad news for my wallet! swarovski online store for germany is also having its sale. damn,...euro is really high now...so have to think 5 times before buying anything.

i feel so tired. wednesday at work was torturing and someone smsed me asking to solve her crossword puzzle...that took the whole day. then thursday a meeting in ipoh in the afternoon. it was pouring cats and dogs on the way back with the storm joining in the symphony. and i still haven't recovered from the fatigue yet. better finish that bottle of water now and head to bed.

damn that rodent

i wanna be a terminator now!!! damn rat, you messed with the wrong person.
i am on a quest to get the office to buy a rat cage to trap that greedy and glutton rat.
my packets of biscuits with green tea are all gone...gone from my table after only being there for one day! they were all in another plastic bag...so i guess it made it easy for the rat to just drag the whole plastic bag away and find all complete for tea.
it is a choosy rat. it won't gnaw on any documents but just food and food containers. those plastic containers are also not left alone. it must have damn strong teeth.
then my colleagues all also started rummaging through their drawers because someone found food packet that was not his in his drawer before. and voila, one of my male colleagues found a packet of my julie's cheese biscuits in his drawer.
now work stress is further increased with the appearance of this unwanted visitor. can we put rat attack in the occupational hazard list as well??

back to short one

i am simply not good at waiting for my hair to grow long. yup, another trip to the hairstylist (this sounds more glamourous than the old fashion 'barber') was inevitable and bye bye to my not-so-long hair.

it is back to a hairstyle which needs an attitude to carry (ahem). a bit punkish once you once you make them stand. (ok, i can hear the question now: when is she ever going to look feminine?)

but when your hair started having a life of its own, going wherever way it wanted to go without any indication, you know it is time for you to go and find the scissors. now, i can style my hair whichever way i want and the hair clay is utilised again.

plus, the scorching weather nowadays does not permit one to have long hair or hair to grow till shoulder length because the heat is simply unbearable. no more hair sticking to the neck by mid-morning and suffocation. aaaahhhh....

are we experiencing a heat wave or what? what about those experiencing summer now? is the summer hotter this year? those experiencing winter- is the winter milder??

happy anniversary

you must be wondering what anniversary there is to celebrate at this time of the year eh?

well, today is 18 june 2008 and i am now officially starting my 8th year in this profession i have put myself into. gosh, can you believe it? eight freaking years with teens in a small town called bidor. a town whom everyone tends to pass on the way to bidor and only stops unless they want to get some guavas, chicken biscuits or duck-brothed noodles.

so is there any champagne in flute for me? i deserve a toast right??

my evaluation? well, i think i have done a good job although i sometimes will show my frustrations with the systems and the administration. and i have learned to 'close one eye' on certain ppl. there is no point feeling frustrated over ppl who dun wanna be helped. it is better to make 10% of improvements than to make the whole bunch suffer with the 5% buffoons.

so here's to another year.
(i am already thinking of the end of the year now and wondering what i can do in that long break? any part-time job offer to contribute to my holiday fund?)

beanie's lost teeth

a new lesson learnt this week: dog does lose its teeth like human.

and last week we thought he had been very naughty biting on hard stones.

we dunno how many beanie has lost but jet managed to get two. i read that some dogs swallowed their baby teeth. his new teeth are already in their places and there is no empty gaps. thanks to his healthy diet. he has shiny strong white teeth and clear brown eyes (ok i am bias).

the week in passing

it was full gear this week after 2 lazy weeks at home and what was the outcome??

the week just flew in a twinkle of an eye. i am exhausted now. come to think of it, whatever i read in the newspapers did not even sink in. it felt like i was just reading the words, watching them passed by, from one page to another, then that's it. the mind was too numb to decipher the content. how i wish whatever food we take in can be flushed so easily.

next week will be as numbing plus the trip to kuching in the weekend. yup, flying all the way there for my ex-college roommate's wedding (siawwee). that is how great i am. hahahaah...bought the airasia ticket at rm184 return.

talking about wedding, this is one website all planning to get married can use...ourweddingday.com
i just got a mailer from that website because another friend (sing thian) who is getting married at the end of the year (november 8 to be exact) sent me that page. you can upload your photos with your spouse, details of your courtship, and stuff. it is one way to save on wedding invitation card and save the world at the same time eh? but, in my friend's case, there will still be the wedding card to remind you when their special day comes.

random questions

why is there this talk about car road tax rebate??
why can't they just restructure the whole road tax scheme?? does it look good to give the motorists a rebate? that they are actually receiving money???

come out with a new price structure lah...and problem solved.

dog post for the week

back to work soon. bye bye holidays. so here are some postings of the dog. he is ever efficient at this instruction- hand. every obedient dog can do this i heard. calm him and he will listen to you and his paw will come to you.

this pose, you dun have to teach him. trying my best to get away from him. he just sat there patiently not moving at all waiting for you to throw him some food.
cute huh??? to sleep or not to sleep?

a missing tooth! ....err...two actually. jet found another missing one at the back but can't see from this photo. from gnawing too many hard things like stones! glutton dog!