ok...

So maybe my previous post about work rant was a lil' immature. I am still not comfortable about it but at the same time I've decided that I have to handle it as patiently and as wisely as possible. I shall not jump into conclusions. I shall not judge a book by it's cover. I shall not be such a baby about it.
p/s: i am STILL craving for green tea soy frappachino!!! :P

Work Rant

I am so not looking forward to work tomorrow. I don't like my new boss. The next few weeks are going to be tough. why oh why.....
That's all for now. Don't feel comfortable ranting in detail about work in this very impersonal atmosphere.
Thank god nobody reads this blog of mine.


p/s: As we all know Barack Obama has become (or rather will become) the 47th President of the United States of America. Congratulations. He will have a lot on his plate. Let's see what is he really made of.

pp/s: I am craving for green tea soy frappachino!

ppp/s: I hate Mondays and I still don't understand cricket.

Girl From Ipanema

Here I am on a lazy Melbourne Cup Day, eating mangoes and listening to probably the best song made of all time.

p/s: i finally bought and SLR. i so like my new toy :)



The first photo taken from my SLR. Nothing great so I hope I will get to learn more and take some great photos :)

Just Like Magic....

So today, towards the end of the day, an email came in at work about the restructuring of the East Coast Finance Team. I knew it was coming , I've been "warned" and yet I couldn't help it but to feel a lil' shocked when I read the email. I guess the email sort of like officiates the reality huh? ;)

Aah, changes......

I can't decide whether I like change or not. Well, I guess it depends on the outcome either way. But change itself? Hrm. Some thought required.

I suppose that while it adds colour to the mundane of the daily routine, most people fear change for the unpredictability of it's outcome. Well, the higher the risk, the greater the reward, right? No pain, no gain?

But like it or not, change is inevitable. we can only keep our fingers crossed.

As so many have rightfully pointed out, what matters is that you live in the moment. The present. Right here. Right now.

Right. Will have to work on that. =)

Another Great Year

I can't help it but to feel so blessed having them as my Friends!
A third year in a row (and many years to come!)........

Cycle 1-My Bday Feb 08

2nd Cycle-Cyndy's Bday-June 08

Grand Finale Cycle 3-Jolyn's bday-August 08

Love you all very much.

I just had to do this......

Happy 50th Birthday MJ!!!
No matter what they say, you are indeed to one and only King of Pop. Too bad your real life didn't turned out to be that great but whatever!
I was finding it a tad too difficult to put his actual photo- was not sure whether to put a black MJ image or a white MJ image :P. So decided to just put his walk of fame photo.
Also,
Congratulations to Barack Obama for being the first African American Nominee for the upcoming presidential campaign. Isn't just funny how Barack Obama made his acceptance speech on the same date when Martin Luther King made "I have a dream" speech. Anyway good luck Mr Obama.
Lastly,
Happy 51st Merdeka Malaysia. With all of the current political/economic commotion, I will also like to wish Malaysia the best of luck. Seriously she needs it :P.
Anyway I am trying to upload a MJ youtube video: Stranger in Moscow but guess what??!-Embedding has been disabled by request. oh no! oh well. It's not really the end of the world.
ta.

Summary

Oh it's a Sunday. Sometimes it's good to have a 'boring' weekend. Just helps you to recuperate and relax especially when you have 4 stock takes coming up in the week :S. Oh and also catching up on that DREADFUL laundry- grrrrr.
The previous weekes have been so so busy, but good and fun sort of busy ;)

First up: Threaddden.
Several weeks ago, Ai Mee forwarded an online link to some Craft website and while browsing through I stumbled upon Threadden. As soon as I read it I thought Mama Jo who always told me that she wanted to learn more design and crafts. When she asked me whether I wanted to join her well, i thought what the heck. So we both signed up for Module one which is basic sewing and learning the sewing machine. Unfortunately on that day of our first and most anticipating class, I was having a super sore shoulder and Mama Jo on the other hand was suffering from severe food poisoning. Despite all that we still went for our class and tell you what folks- I totally enjoyed it! For that whole 3 hours I completely forgot about my sore shoulder! I felt like I was on Project Runway or something :P. Never realised that playing with sewing machine was like so much fun! We ended up making a basic pouch. I don't think mine was great, but it wasn't really that bad either. Well the most important thing was I had fun and it was definitely a nice break from my day time job which requires me to look at numbers and bricks! ;)

Second: Wicked.
OMG after waiting for like 3 years finally Wicked is playing in Melbourne. I first knew about this when I sending my mother to the airport last year and I saw this huge banner that said "Wicked: an Untold Story, coming soon in July 08". I thought GOSH! I don't care what it takes I am so going for that. So I sent out this massive email to all of my friends, convincing them that they should watch this or else they will carry such great burden and regret to their grave when they die, and with that I manage to get hold of 6 of the girls. This was in February. Came one week before the show, guess what?? I could not find the tickets!!! YES! I LOST THE TICKETS TO WICKED! Unfreaking believable! I had to tell the girls one by one. I just felt so sick in the stomach everytime it happened. I was even ready to fork out the money and pay them back because at the end of the day it wasn't about the money but rather the disappointment that have created for these girls. Anyway after the whole commotion and drama finally realised I could get replacement tickets with a penalty attached to it. We manage to catch the show and it didn't disappoint us at all. We totally enjoyed the saw- AMAZING.

Third: Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)
Ever since I set foot in Melbourne, the one thing I have never missed is the MIFF. This year we were close to missing the festival because initially we were planning to watch an MIFF movie after Threadden but Mama Jo was still feeling unwell so we decided to give it a missed. Few days after that Mama Jo emailed me saying she got 2 free tickets to MIFF and she suggested this movie called Little Deaths. It's an Australian (Melbourne in particular) made movie with 10 short films is in it with one common connection- Love. Half way through the movie, I realised that one of the actress looked so familiar and Mama Jo said that she (the actress) use to work at UCMS! Anyway the movie was GREAT. It was an eye opener for me on how talented these independent directors and actors were. Somehow I now have sudden appreciation for such people.

Lastly: Jason Mraz.
2 Fridays ago, Mama Jo send an email at 5pm to us saying "Have you heard of Jason Mraz? Well if you haven't that you better start listening to him coz we are going to his concert this Tuesday!!!" Initially I wasn't really thrilled about it because even though I knew who he was, I was not like a die hard fan of his but hey how can you say no to something free right? Well actually to be honest I only said yes because the whole yuppy clan were going and I always know that everytime I go out with them regardless of the occasion, I always ended up having a ball. It took an hour and half to drive to the city, 20 minutes to find a parking which was at the other end of Flinders st, waited in line for like another 20 minutes or so, got in to the venue and cued for another 10 minutes or so and by the time we got into the actual venue, I was like dead tired! They had this opening act, come girl singing but we couldn't hear hear because no one in the audience were paying attention to her and we had people blocking us. Bumped into Noreen was actually working there, got free drinks and chatted to her and did a quick catching up of all of the latest happenings ;). Finally after waiting for almost 1 and 1/2 hours, Jason Mraz came up on stage and performed! From then on, I don't know what happened to my tiredness, because I was so mesmerised and hypnotised by his voice,his vibe, his performance and his show!!!! I am a newly converted Jason M'raz fan!!! Just sheer brilliance. Worth the wait.

So there you go. Now that the new CPA semester has commenced, I think it's back normal dull life ;). Of course looking forward to some nice dinner at France Soir and drinks after that at Sofitel. Oh and hopefully will be able to do the Second Module of Threadden. Mama Jo, just make sure you don't eat medium rare steak the night before hehee and thanks for MIFF and Jason M'raz ;)
Till then I am going to enjoy the rest of my Sunday.

Stop, Breathe and a little prayer.

If there’s anything that I’ve learn from the past few weeks or even months is that sometimes, it’s good to just stop and breathe. Yes, just breathe and enjoy the simplicity of life. Last week I felt like I was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown or some sort of major anxiety attack due to a series of challenging events. But I didn’t- thanks to a few kind hearted souls that God has blessed me with in this life of mine.
Sometimes I wonder what is it that I’ve done to deserve such great friends like them. People who have been with me through thick and thin. Last Friday Mama Jo send me an email at work and in that email towards the end she wrote a prayer for me! A prayer for me! That instantly put me into tears- tears of joy and relief. Of course to the Queen whose uber kind words and devoted support never fail to comfort me at the worst of times.
Anyway yesterday was just a prove of all of that. Met up with Mama Jo for some superb lunch at Shoya and later on watched the ballet/musical- Edward Scissorhands. After that we did some unexpected vintage shopping at Retrostar ( I think that’s what it was called). I am glad Mama Jo liked the vintage bag that I got for her ;). Later on that night I went over the YL’s place and she made me some yummy udon and miso soup while waiting for Queen. The three of us just could not stop laughing our heads off. It was just great.
Next week there’s thread den to look forward too and hopefully Wicked as well *wink*. So exciting!
Despite the few bumps that I am currently going through, life is still beautiful.
Going to end this post with some long over due photos. Cheerios!

a little piggy brooch thanks to Mama Jo ;)

Yie Wei in Melbourne.

Kay's Bday at Robbie Burns

Ai Mee's Bday at some Mexican restaurant.

Mamma Mia after dinner at Automatic.

Cyn's Bday at Mamma Vittorias-Cycle 2!

Ya lah ya lah I know we like to eat-ALOT :P

Keling

A heart felt poem written by Sheena Baharuddin.

7 a.m.
cool breezey,
me looking as muslim as muslim can be when:

She sees me,
points at me
roots me out from my solid ground
"are you a keling?"
she asks me accusingly.

Funny how seconds stretch into eternities when one is under the scrutiny of a thousand eyes giggling, laughing, demeaning-
me.

Funny how
in one word short
she undermines the sufferings of my grandfather,
him chained to the feet in a land
he was brought to slave in,

him making sounds that would soon define who he is

Kling kling kling,
goes the sound of the chains
kling kling kling,
goes the sound of me.

in one word short,
she forgets that her ancestors and mine
shared the same blood line and faith
we used to revere together at the breasts of
Shiva, Ganesh and Kali

Yes Kali, the mighty goddess who
crushed
a thousand armies
with the beat of her violent dancing

kling kling kling,
goes the sound of her anklets
kling kling kling,
goes the sound of me.

Suddenly:
7 a.m.
hot scorching,
me looking as keling as keling can be
a crying girl was all
that was left of me
yes

that WORD became me.

I Have A Dream

So today, while reading the papers on my lunch break (yes,yes, I know, how very old skool of me to be reading the newspaper while everyone else reads the news online :P) I came across this cartoon sketch from the Opinion section of the Herald Sun:

I don't know about you but this sketch to me is an indication of revelation.

When I was about 10 years old, I was watching a documentary on TV2 (Saluran Emas, oh boy! Now we are getting really old skool here) with my brother about March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. I remember asking my big brother while pointing to the TV,“Who is that guy ah?”. My brother who was only 13 at that time explained to me who he was and what he did and why he did what he did. Is my brother so smart or what?? The dude always knew so much in general knowledge I tell you. Ok let’s not stray away from the topic.

Anyway then my brother went “Shhh, listen this..” And there I was, listening to Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” for the first time. All I could think to myself at that time was “WOW” mainly because at the age of 10, my vocabulary was limited :P, but to say the least, it was the most inspiring thing that I have ever heard, ever!

“………

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my friends - so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification - one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

……..

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring - when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children - black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics - will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

He had a dream…….

....and perhaps Barack Obama is close of being the living proof of that dream.........

Too hard to think of a title

Hello, I am alive. Believe it or not.

I think I am going through one of those phases again. You know, that phase. What's it called?? Ahhh yes- The Transitional Phase.

So weird. So annoying. So exciting. All at the same time. It's a reoccurring phenomenon that we just can't run away from. Someone once told me "Comfort zones are not meant to be permanent. Once you know you’re in a comfort zone, it’s time take the next step and move on. That’s what life is really all about”. Well I guess that’s what I am currently doing. Won’t elaborate on it for now. We shall leave that for another day or at least when I, myself have digested it well enough to spit out on a post.

For now I do apologise for the senseless gibberish.

Anyway do like my new banner??? I took that picture today, yes today I say, while I was waiting for the train. Mind you I DO NOT HAVE PHOTOSHOP. So this was done using ms paint and ms office picture manager. Given the time span of 30 minutes, I would like to think that I have done very well.

I choose to call this banner the “Transitional Banner”. This means that it may not be permanent, like everything else in life.

Nite.

Snail Mail

Having a blog definitely helps sometimes. It is possibly the best excuse that I have to not
(i) study, (ii) do the laundry and (iii) cleaning :P

Anyway remember the postcard swap that I took part in last month. You've seen what Karen's card is like now you'll get to see what did I make for her :P

Photo from Chookooloonks
As you can see mine looks ok only compared to the other cards that she's received :P. It's the one with the red arrow pointing at it

And just went I thought the snail mail frenzy was over look what I got again:

Another Snail Mail from Espana *weeeee*

It's a letter come recipe all the way from Spain.
So cute!

So can't wait to try it out. Probably will try it on this upcoming long weekend :). This is vegan dish because Fon's a vegan but tell you what, when I was reading the recipe I was like almost drooling. If only I had a personal chef, I would ask him/her to make that for me instantly!

Fon's sketch attemp of the Portabella Mushrooms; though it does look more like a Big Mac to me hahahha ;)

Hopefully I won't be lazy to take some photos and update on the recipe :P!

On a different note, here are some blogs that has unintentionally become my daily blog surfing routine (apart from my close friends blogs that is):

Chookooloonks
Rebecca Woolf
Shutter Sisters
Matt Bites
Jenifer Altman
Martha Stewart

OK so you if you're looking at Martha Stewart's name and going "what da", well I happen to like her and her works, so bite me! :)
Anyway that's all for now. I'm hungry and so am going to have some instant noodle-YUM!

I will.....

[WoW! 4th post for the month!!!- Now that's something we've not seen in awhile aye? :P
I use to take blogging seriously but now I guess you should realise that this space is here for my blues and pimping stuff.]

I will find it in myself to not be so angry. I will find it in myself to not be so sulky. I will find it in myself to not worry so much. I will find it in myself to be hopeful, optimistic, forgiving and happy, and I will find it in myself to sleep on things before I take drastic actions. Most of all, I will find it in myself to not regret the things I do ( good or bad), and to learn from them.

P/S: How many of you are still in par with your New Year's resolution(s)?? Man! I am finding it EXTREMELY difficult- but I am not going to give up just yet. I mean come on! It's only February for Pete's sake :P

Postcard Swap: The Love Edition

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

I just got back from (a tiring day at) work. I went to my snail mail box and there in a pile full of boring mails and bills I saw this envelope addressed to me in bright pink writing!
And it came all the way from:

Texas-U.S.A

A few months back I stumbled upon this AMAZING photography come blog called Chookooloonks. Tell you what- I am so in love with it- the blog that is ;) Anyway sometime last month the author of this blog; Karen had organised this thing called postcard swap: The true love edition. I thought the idea was so cool that as uncreative and boring as I am, I should give it a go and emailed her expressing my interest to be apart of it. A couple of weeks later, I didn't hear anything from her and it turned out that she didn't even received my email to begin with. Anyway I emailed her back saying that it was ok and that hopefully I will get a chance to participate in the next postcard swap.

She replied back saying how sorry she was and said that she will send me a card instead! What a serious act of kind gesture :)

She's such an amazing photographer!

After seeing her card, I now feel like really bad for that card that I made and send to her :S. I mean seriously mine is just so crappy compared to hers. I am not even sure whether has it reached safely at Texas.
If you're reading this Karen- I'm So Sorry! :P

All I have to say for now is Thank You! This has definitely put a big smile on my face. *HuGs*

Two to the Five at NOBU

25!

I've just turned a quarter of a century old on Chinese New Year this year!AND would naively like to take that as a sign of some sort of great prosperity coming up my way ;) ha-ha!

My journey from 24 to 25 has been a life lesson that no money can buy,no book can teach and no degree can gain. The older I get, the more that life has thought and reminded me of what's important for me. Although for now I can't really say that I have found my true calling, however, there's no doubt in my mind that I am getting closer to it. It's a gut feeling.

As much as I am not keen to admit this, I am now an adult. I have responsibilities that I try to carry them out as well as possible. I have to make decisions that may not always favour me or to the people who are close to me but it is the best possible solution to the situation. I have learn to face problems with courage and strength. Life cannot always be fair to me or be served in a silver platter.

All these years, when I woke up on in the morning of my birthday, I always wished, wished for things material and non material. But this year I woke up not wishing for anything. Instead for the first time in my entire life I said Thank You. To me, that was sign that I was no longer a child or a teenager but an adult who is eagerly looking to forward to what life has to offer.

OK. Enough of the sentiments :P

I didn't do much on the actual day instead of going to work and later in the evening decided to treat two of my closest friends in the whole wide world to dinner at NOBU!!!!

Let the Snap shots do the talking:

With Miss Gooi

Jol and Cyn- sharing the Birthday together for the 3rd year in a row!

First meal of the day: Tacos (Japanese style)- Salmon, Lobster, Crab and Tuna

Mocktails: Laici and Lime-S0 refreshing!
New style Sashimi: I swear I could easily have a giant bowl of this :P!

An all time favourite: Crispy OYSTERS!
The Oyster Monsters :P
The Black Cod: YUM! is all I have to say.
Moreton Bay Bugs with Jalepino

The best shushi and sashimi platter ever! The soft shell crab sushi was AWESOME!!!!

Desserts:

The only thing that didn't amuse me at all. God knows what it was.
This one on the other hand was a pleasant surprise: Can't go wrong with chocolate can we ;)
The green tea ice cream was so far the best that I've had!!!!!!!
The (very) contented Birthday Girl :P

And what better way to end the night then shamelessly cam-whoring :P

Ha-Ha :)

I also had another small celebration last night with a few more other friends. I didn't bring my camera (though this shall not be a problem in the near future :P) so I have wait to be tagged with the photos on Facebook (hopefully soon) and I will blog more about that FUN & AWESOME night!!!!!!!!!

In the mean time- you have to rely on this
Love you all.
Nite Nite!

12 Embarassing/Weird/Quirky/ No-So-Proud-of Facts about MOI

[Now if you look closely to your screen (at this blog of mine), I bet you can see one or two cob webs. Seriously.]

1. I H-A-T-E ironing. I hate it with a passion! I am now trying various washing and hanging tactics that will result in less ironing.

2. I am addicted to cook shows and BBC.

3. Given me the chance I would have instant noodles like everyday. Every time I go to the Asian Grocery, my shopping basket will be filled with instant noodle from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Korea. I would like to consider them as my form of comfort food.

4. I would like buy a house in 12-18 months so that I will have a place called Home.

5. I would like to go to New York. So far the plan is to go by 2009.

6. I haven't cut my hair in almost 12 months because for some strange reason I can't get around to doing it.

7. I have a silent passion for photography but still have a lot to learn. By the time no.5 comes I would want to own a nice SLR camera ;).

8. I'm turning a quarter of a century old next week :S.

9. I've learned that life is too short to be in an unhealthy relationship (romantic or otherwise)

10. I can't stand people who are so picky with food. Why can't they just be thankful that have food to begin with.

11. Bookstores (Readings, Borders) are my place of refuge.

12. I love sea food! Just had 12 chili mussels and damn they were good!

P/s: My recent trip back home was absafreakinglutely fantabulous!!!! It was such a joy to have met up and spend some quality time with all of my family and friends. What a blessing I tell you.