of ice-creams and aphrodisiacs

For as long as I can remember, we've always had ice-cream in the fridge. I grew up eating ice-cream after dinner, on hot summer (which is all year round in Malaysia) days, and sometimes as special treats.

So it was kinda weird when I had friends from uni over and they marvelled at the variety of ice-cream that was arranged in the freezer compartment. Sometimes we had ais krim potong (the kind that is eaten from a satay stick), ice-cream from a tub, ice-cream in cones and those that you have to slice (like Wall's Vienetta). But always, some form of ice-cream would be there.

Ice-cream would be on the shopping list whenever we ran out of supply. Ice-cream would greet us whenever we opened the fridge door. Ice-cream was especially delicious when sprinkled with raisins, corn flakes, chocolate rice and even oatmeal.

I watched in amusement as my friends slurped and enjoyed every bit of the ice-cream. Suddenly ice-cream looked like luxury. A form of treat that my family have been indulging for years. It wasn't the Haagen Daaz type or those that you slowly eat because you traded your gold for it. But just normal ones like cendol & red bean ice-cream, Cornetto Cookies & Cream and the latest see-through-tub Green Tea from Wall's.

I think I shall treat myself to some later... :))


By the way, Cornetto is promoting their Aphrodisiac Limited Edition range of dairy ice-creams, namely : Mint-Choc Chick Magnet, Coffee Come on Baby, and Vanilla Love Potion. Check out their "What's your ultimate aphrodiziac?" quiz.

to shop or not to shop?

Today is the 2nd last day of the malaysian carnival sales. I haven't done much shopping this month. Werk's (almost) drowning me.
Should I head to Midvalley to check out what's on offer? :D

me and my n-gage

Taken one rainy evening when Adri came by to show off his techy gadgets. I must've been so absorbed in playing the monkey game on his N-Gage :D

to look forward to...

To be thankful for : My appeal for my compound went through! Instead of paying RM300, I only paid half the fine. Thanks to my friend who helped me draft out the letter, and also the mercy of the police officer hehe...

And also, my boss approved of my draft design! It has been a crazy 3 weeks trying to squeeze out creative juices just to come up with something decent. Thank God she gave me the go-ahead to continue with the design.

Truly a weekend to look forward to :)

of the recount

It's now 5:13pm and the final results for the state of Kelantan is still not out. At last count, BN and PAS have an equal share of 20 state seats each. 1 seat got captured by an Independent candidate, and that leaves 4 more seats in question. Previously BN claimed victory over Kelantan, but the whole of today was spent on recounting the votes.

Personally I am quite indifferent to whether BN or PAS wins over the Malay heartland hehe. Well, I was there for 4 years and I kinda liked the slow laidback lifestyle there. But things gradually changed for the worse after I shifted to Penang. Seems that they banned the cinema, open-air cultural shows and had separate check out lanes for men and women in shopping complexes (among other rules).

On one hand, if BN rules, there would be anticipation of much (positive) change and development in the state. Women would not be asked to cover up whenever they go out. Instead, they could if they choose to. They would not be shunned upon if they're deemed prettier than their colleagues at the workplace.

Heck, the only benefit (I can think of) of having PAS as a ruling state government would be to provide a check and balance (albeit a minor one, says IreneQ) to the ruling federal government.

A friend of mine who works under Petronas in Terengganu messaged me at midnight yesterday: "P4S* P4Ssed away in T'ganu"

*(Will IS4 look for me for posting this??)

of the VIP toilet and the little chat

I never doubted that God has a sense of humour.

He called me to the VIP toilet one morning for a little chat. It was still early and I didn't want to stare at the PC at 7:40 in the morning. So we talked a little and after deciding that staying in the toilet too long could be hazardous to my health, I said "God, please give me an easy week. Nice people to work with and make it less stressful for me. Thank you."

Guess who I bumped into when I came out of the VIP toilet into the pantry?

This particular colleague, who seems to be at odds with me.

Not that we can't stand each other. Just ... at odds lar.

"Very funny, Lord."

goodbye, goodnight

Listening to "Goodbye, Goodnight" - If I Left The Zoo, Jars of Clay


Used to play this in campus, one of my favourite lullabies :D

of green tea on a sunday night

Note to self : No drinking of green tea at night, unless I plan to have all night prayer.

Sunday's birthday do was refreshing. The highlight of the week (which started out unexpectedly and went on a hectic pace) proved to be therapeutic. I really needed to unwind and was looking forward to what my friends had planned for me. Nothing extravagant, but the very thought that they cared was fuzzywuzzy enough. Heh!

I'd give Tokyo Garden an average rating, say 3 out of 5, for food, ambience, service and authenticity. It was quite a popular place with Subang families, and we were soon settled down figuring out what to have for dinner.

My friends (whom I shall call Lok, Reen and Q) gave me really lurvely pressies. Q, probably knowing my penchant for quirky practical stuff gave me this coaster-and-mouse-pad set. Upon further inspection, this zany set can even be broken up into smaller pieces to play 4 different board games! A definite for those who travel light.

Lok was original. He took out 3 photographs from his shirt pocket to reveal beautifully taken shots of a sunset over Taipan. He aptly titled it "Plane piercing clouds" (or something to that effect). To personalise it, I had him autograph his masterpieces in case he becomes a famous photographer one day.

Reen was expectedly grrly with her gifts. The brown teddy came in a matching gift box. On top of teddy was a smaller gift box. In it was a pearl-like pendant with pressed flowers. I was about to ask her about the same necklace she was wearing that night when she explained that she bought it in a pair. Sweet!

But of course, my main issue is about the green tea. I have digressed way out of topic. Over chats and laughter, we were served green tea again and again. Refillable. Forgetting momentarily that tea keeps me awake just like coffee, I happily downed at least 3 cupful.

That kept me awake the whole night. When I told this to Q the next day, she suggested that maybe I was too delirious over the whole birthday do. Perhaps. It was a happy event after all.

who?

One of my grrlfriends, J called to enquire about a particular uni-mate whom we have not seen since graduation.

J : Hey, just wanna check with you on something. You remember KS?
Me : Ya, he just got back from Australia.
J : What's his surname?
Me : Hoo.
J : KS... what's his surname?
Me : Hoo.
J : Huh? Who? KS... do you remember him??
Me : Yes, his surname is Hoo. H-O-O.
J : Oh, oh!! I thought... hahaha...
Me : I heard you the first time!
J : Sorry, I thought you didn't hear me just now.
Me : Well, at least his name is not Hoo RU.

:)))

what the...?

"I am having so much fun -- it is such an honor and privilege I can't believe I'm getting to do this, and it so feels like me," Robinson said. "After you feel the call, there is always a measure of doubt in your mind -- is God really calling me to this or am I just making mischief with my own mind -- and this just feels so right, as hard as it is."

i wonder whether he really heard from God... what a load of crap!

what a way to start a birthday...!

i was supposed to be off to work today after dropping my mum at her workplace. so there i was turning out to the main road at jalan gasing. since it was a 2 lane road and the one to my side was free, i slowly turned out. manalar tau, some crazy fella swerved into tat lane and banged my car at the side. my first thought was "what a way to start a birthday!"

since i was getting late for work, i told him i'd pay him for the damages. but he insisted on making a police report. he was making such a big fuss out of the whole thing. my bumper and lights were damaged while his car only sustained minor scratches and some dents on the side. i could have easily paid him off with the rm300 i had in my purse that time. since he didn't want to compromise i had to go to the police station to lodge a report. and later i found out he didn't exactly tell the truth in his report, and there was no way i could verify it since there werent any witnesses around (except for those who have driven off by then).

so i had to take half day to settle that, and get some claims form from my dad's insurance company. i told myself that since half the day was already ruined by this... $%&^*&@# (i wanna use all the curse words i can think of) and i didn't have any mood to go to work, i asked permission from my AM to take the whole day off. she was sympathetic, and even sms me to "let my hair down and release my tense" once this was settled. was i relieved when i read that.

so off i went for lunch wif one of my grrlfriends. she treated me to a simple italian meal at taipan. then we went to visit another one of our friends who (sneaked out of work and) brought us to secret recipe for some cheesecake for tea. it was really really comforting to know they were there, and tried to cheer me up. so i guess, the day didn't go so bad after all.

boys and grrls, 2 lessons to learn :
1) take leave on your birthday and enjoy yourself
2) grrlfriends are essential in life. don't live life without them :D

happ...

..y birthday to me!

Time to count my blessings.
Today I had TWO birthday celebrations, and it's not even my birthday yet. Lunch with my colleagues at Chilli's Midvalley was good, followed by sinfully delicious Walnut Apple Crumble Cheesecake (or so I thought). Then later after CG, we celebrated with Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake (no wonder I can't remember cake names, they're getting longer and longer!) for the March babies :D

And my weight increase is maintained. This is truly good news, well, to me. So please don't get jealous yea, March is a happy month for me :D

i'm back!

Yippeee!! I'm online on yahoo again.

I had almost given up hope of ever using yahoo messenger. I automatically click on the icon after logging in to the office computer. And this morning, it came on, like usual. I couldn't believe my eyes, I stared at my messenger list for awhile, wondering whether I was dreaming (you knowlar, I ain't a morning person).

Still cautious, I clicked on the name list, re-configured my settings and display, and tried messaging some people. Lo and behold, they replied... I'm back! Connected! Not isolated anymore!!

Better not be too gay about this, they might just detect my connection and re-ban me :P But what they hey, this is good news anyhow. I think I shall celebrate laterz....

to acknowledge or do something else?

Let's say you see someone you know, say an acquaintance, at the office lobby. Maybe a colleague from another department, but not some close buddy. You are about 50m away from him, and assuming both of you have reasonably good eyesight, are able recognise each other at that distance. Do you :

a) Smile at him until he smiles back, then look elsewhere (like at your shoes or the cute guy walking behind your acquaintance) until you pass by each other?

b) Smile for awhile, then look somewhere else, then smile again until you are close enough for him to hear you say hello?

c) Look somewhere else until you are getting closer (say 10m away) and then smile and do some small talk?

d) Pretend you didn't see him in the first place, reach into your purse and fumble for some non-existent object, then suddenly look up until he's like right in front of you, then say "Oh hi, I didn't notice you just now"?

e) Pretend he wasn't even there, and get on with your life?

some PR on cyberspace

Someone asked me why I don't write much in my blogs. Write about what the characters said, what they wore, what I felt, etc... you know, the details.

I had earlier shown her the URL to my blog when she asked me what I did for Valentine's Day. She was curious why I had not included my thoughts about some of the events. I told her that I wrote the same stuff, but with all the above, in my personal diary. I think I write on paper at least twice as much, if not more, of what I usually post in my blog.

It just feels so natural to let the thoughts run when I'm writing. What so-and-so said, how I reacted to what so-and-so said, how I felt when it happened and my view of it all. But when it comes to my blog, I unconsciouly feel like I have to edit what I type so that it becomes readable". So much editing and a lot of "should I include this in my blog?" comes to mind.

I guess if no one I personally know read my blog, I'd probably be a lot braver in baring myself. If I write about what I really think of Bengie, he will come after me! (Bengie : just kidding! I'm trying to give you a little publicity here) Or even that guy who asked me out for V-day, he might just find out about it through our network of friends.

But then again, what's the point of blogging if not for an avenue to pour out your rants and rambles? And a little PR on the cyberspace? :D