the one with the relaxing weekend

It was a good weekend. A really good Friday and a blessed Easter Sunday.

Took some time off for myself, and to reflect on one of the most, if not most, important event in the Christian calendar. Sometimes church activities can be so overwhelming, and when the weekend is over, there is no energy left to just "being". So much is spent on "doing" that the significance of the celebration is lost.

Surprisingly, even though I was involved with the children's Easter presentation, it wasn't as tiring as in previous productions. Perhaps this time all other teams came together, and we didn't have to do as much. The kids seemed to enjoy the short skit and even cheered when "Jesus" came waving in his traditional costume.

In this day where MTV and the PS2 rule, it can be quite a challenge trying to get their attention, much less get them to learn the lesson for the week. The teachers have to rack their brains thinking of new ways to make lessons interesting enough to last their short attention span.

Oh well, but it was a good weekend nevertheless.

The only indulgence I allowed myself was the MPO outing that I had with my grrlfriends. Couldn't say no to that, it was a birthday gift. It was a different experience from the usual orchestral performances. This one featured a silent film in the background featuring Douglas Fairbanks, with the MPO playing the new soundtrack composed by Carl Davis, who coincidentally was the conductor that night.

Mmm, a good Sabbath it was.

my poor baby

Just had a meeting with the outsourced company this morning, and officially handed over my jobs to them.

At one hand I feel relieved that a bulk of my job is being taken over, and I don't have to worry about it anymore.

But on the other hand, it's as if my baby is being taken away from me. All my hard work, my creative masterpieces, my.. my.. sweat and blood!

Last week, they were modifying a part of the homepage of one of our subsidiary companies, and I must say they just defaced it. I even showed it to one of our graphic artists, and she agreed that mine was better. Heh!

I'm so tempted to overwrite their files and put back my old design.

But, that would be unethical and rather childish. Just have to restrain myself from sabotaging their files. And I might as well strangle myself if I have to ensure I don't do anything like that!

Oh, the pain of seeing your own work being taken away and disfigured by those who don't know any better.

impending disability

I rubbed my eyes. Thought that would clear things up. No difference.

I rubbed again, harder this time. But all around me still looked blur.
What's wrong with my eyes? The sleep still wouldn't come off.

I used a tissue, careful not to cause unnecessary damage.
Still the same. Oh dear, am I going blind?

I blinked very hard. I blinked rapidly. Tried some eye exercises also.

I left it at that. There was no way I could concentrate on driving if I were to do all these eye stunts. Trying not to worry about my impending disability, I continued driving.

Then it hit me. I wasn't going blind. There wasn't even anything in the eye. It was the haze! No wonder it's so blur.

our new first & business class

Music can be pure magic. When you least expect it. It can turn sunsets into symphonies, weave stories into pictures. Add rhythm to a breeze.

It can bring you old memories or help make new ones.

And on a perfect day, the perfect note can fly you across whole oceans.


Watch out for Malaysia Airlines' ad in The Star today. There's almost 20 pages in all, full colour print ads. Very simple & elegantly done. Their promotion on "Our New First & Business Class" speaks volumes of their advertising budget and how far they'll go in impressing the rest of us who can only dream of getting a seat in their "completely redesigned cabins".

Wonder who's their advertising agency...

"i know what you did last Friday night"

I too need weekends to recover from my weekends.


We had a fun time doing the cell group (CG) promotion in church. Rather than doing the usual slideshow or church members coming up to share testimonies on how CG changed their lives, we tried something different this year.

Our initial plan was to do an Oprah Talk Show, but couldn't find an "Oprah" in the church. So we settled for a "Jason Lo" and came up with "Latte @ 10" instead. Our tagline was "I know what you did last Friday night!"

We had an MC guiding the audience with cue cards on when they should cheer and when they should clap and applause. To make it more realistic, there were also props people arranging Coffee Bean-style table and chairs on stage, make up crew putting last minute touch ups to our talk show host's face and musicians livening up the show with some light tunes.

As the MC counted down the seconds left to the show, the musicians played the opening theme for the show, and the lights came on, camera trained on the talk show host. He had the dry humour of both Jason Lo and David Letterman combined. After interviewing the cell pastor, he called up some guests to share about their CG experiences.

We even had "Peter", all dressed up in traditional costume running up the stage, happily addresing everyone with greetings of shalom. Peter had his first sip of modern coffee, complete with an actual Starbucks foam cup. The host took a jibe at him by commenting how in the olden days, the disciples only had water and wine. He went a step further by poking fun at Peter's denial of Jesus.

Peter was gracious enough to acknowledge that, and added that CG was for everyone, regardless of who they are. That's where everyone should feel welcomed and belonged, even with their flaws and weaknesses. And eventually, where cell members feel comfortable enough to share their spiritual journeys with those around them.

We ended the show by having the host walk down to where the audience was sitting, and picking someone out to tell of his CG story. But of course, we had already "planted" a cell goer somewhere in the first few rows and the host had to act as if it was random.

As the host reminded the audience to catch his show the next week, the ending music came on, lights dimmed, props people hurried to remove the furniture from the stage. It was a good effort, everyone liked the skit and enjoyed themselves. Backstage, we congratulated each other for the job well done. All glory to God. :)

p/s : a note of thanks to superchow for his jazzy jingle.

music so divine

"There is something very wonderful in music. Words are wonderful enough; but music is even more wonderful. It speaks not to our thoughts as words do; it speaks straight to our hearts and spirits, to the very core and root of our souls. Music soothes us, stirs us up; it puts noble feelings in us; it melts us to tears, we know not how: it is a language by itself, just as perfect, in its way, as speech, as words; just as divine, just as blessed."

- Charles Kingsley

zanyness

Things are getting better.

I brought some cute stuff which I got for my last birthday to brighten up the cubicle. One of my favourites was this quirky coaster-and-mouse-pad set.



I can dismantle the little pieces from the coaster to make smaller game tokens and play 4 different board games on the printed mousepad. This is just one of the many innovative stuff from Zanif's Hand-in-Hand Collection.

Definitely zany! Wanna play? :D

Guess what? I got some kewl pressies from my mum for my birthday. It's big news, coz my family aren't big on birthdays. So our usual routine would be to celebrate it outside with a nice meal.

I wasn't really expecting anything from anyone, but this year, my brother (who actually remembered my birthday!) actually wished me. And I was thoroughly surprised to see a nicely wrapped pressie on my table one evening. I could barely contain my excitement as I carefully unravelled the Dior embossed ribbon.

Beneath the glossy crimson wrapper lay these -> Dior me, Dior me not and a set of Dior Kiss lip glosses!

It was really really sweet of her, coz my mum's not into cosmetics or perfume much. She hardly uses make up, only for the rare special ocassions. And the fragrances that she has, are mostly from me.

So you know what I did? After trying out the EDT and admiring the glosses in their brilliant colours, I carefully put them back into their original package and rewrapped the whole package! Hehe... :p

You could say that, it cheered me up lots, especially when circumstances haven't been too rosy lately :)

the one with the restructuring

The past few weeks have been trying on me.

As I mentioned earlier, I really thought I was going to lose my job, thanks to the lack of tact from my boss when she made the announcement. If your boss said, in a meeting with other managers, that the chairman decided to outsource your job to one of his subsidiary companies*, how would you react?

With much poise and as if you have already known about the news, of course. It was all I could to stop myself from strangling her.

Anyways, there has been ongoing restructuring within the company for some time already. It was just a matter of time before it hit our department.

But God, Him being such a darling, was faithful as always. He turned the situation around for me. And you know what? It looked like I was more than wanted after all. I was given 3 options.

After thinking and praying about it, I decided that the last option was the best. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but looking at how things turned out, I guess it was the best for now.

So I'm gonna try out my new role, and I got to stay back in the same department, which also means I get to keep my benefits. 3 of my colleagues got transferred out, so I was needed to take over one of their responsiblities.

I remember somewhere a phrase which said that God will never ask you to do something which He has never prepared you for. I've been assisting this colleague from time to time, like when she was on leave or away on events. So I roughly knew what I was saying yes to. I guess, it was His way of showing me that He prepared me beforehand for this role.

Sometimes I wonder why things like this happen to me. I also ask God if there is something to be learnt from this experience. I don't think I'll be able to see the big picture, yet. But I'm trusting in His providence and wisdom in whatever I'm going through. It ain't easy, I've had many a tough time accepting it too. And deep down, I think God has a wicked sense of humour la :p


* one that barely survived if not for his kind interference

the one with the surprise birthday

This year, my birthday came early. When I think about the people who've invited me out, I feel very happy. Very blessed, actually.

Like yesterday, I was looking forward to a one-to-one date with LiShuan, and it turned out to be a big surprise for me and EeWei, whose birthday falls a few days after mine.

As some of you know, work has been pretty hectic for me lately. For someone who has never used the word "stress" and "work" together in the same sentence, using it now means something! Taking on the job of a colleague who got transferred out, and another who was away in Langkawi for a corporate event, and still having to finish my own jobs mean I am taking on the responsibilities of 3 people.

But it's been great somewhat, learning so many things at once. I've never pushed myself like this before. The feeling of being wanted, of juggling many with limited resources, and meeeting new people - it's all part of the fun!

So as you can imagine, I was half dead by the end of the week. So I was looking forward to a quiet evening with LiShuan to end the week with. She took us to Devil's Crab in Taipan and it did feel quite odd having crabs for 2 persons.

But I wasn't too concerned about that, it was the fellowship that mattered. When we walked into the restaurant, I saw a table with a reservation slip with her name on it, and it was a huge table for 8! I started panicking.. Oh dear, I thought, there are others coming as well.

So I quickly psyched my mind to be ready for the big surprise. I tend to operate on a more expressive mode in bigger groups. More people means you have to talk louder to get to the person opposite the table. And I obviously didn't want them to see me half dead like that. So when she quietly mesg the rest (who were already waiting across the street) to quickly come in, I was telling myself, you can do it, just smile more and act more excited!

I didn't want these people who have planned for my birthday to see a zombified me. In my half dead mode, I can be mistaken for being aloof and nonchalant, even if I'm actually jumping for joy inside.

Then the rest came in and walked past our table, pretending they happened to be in the same restaurant. I was really pleasantly surprised they did this without telling me. I didn't expect the iB camp committee to celebrate it for me, since it was a wee bit early. But because it was so last minute, and almost all of them came, I was feeling quite delirious already. I just had to push myself to express what I really felt inside, haha!

The food did the trick, and halfway I was quite myself already. EeWei was as surprised as I was, and was more quiet than usual. So at least I wasn't alone :D

We had cakes and pressies. Both of us got a Body Shop lippy each, and the colours chosen were just perfect! I really wanted to cry already, coz it was all so beautiful. It didn't really matter if their original plan didn't quite work out or we didn't have candles to blow the cake with. It's the thoughts, and how beautiful those thoughts were.

i'm officially restructured :p

Today I'm officially not doing what I've been doing for the past 3.5 years. :D

3 of my colleagues, including my now former boss, are in the midst of moving up to the Holdings company.

I'm supposed to be packing and shifting my stuff to my colleague's cubicle, but I'm so darn lazy! I have very good reasons not to move.

Where I am now, I get to be surrounded by people in front, at the back, on my left and right. Where I'm supposed to shift to, I only have 2 immediate colleagues to talk to (though I can always holler across to reach the rest!)

Where I am now, I get direct access to the console where we're doing the Plasma TV project. Where I'm supposed to shift to, I have to walk at least 3 times the distance to monitor the project. Exercise is good, but not too much when you're wearing heels!

Where I am now, I'm sitting in the middle of where the hype is. Almost everyone who comes to see us will pass by my place, or whenever there is the latest juicy bit, my metrosexual colleague will relay it to me. Where I'm supposed to shift to, it's practically a lonely corner, and I'll be so disconnected from the rest of the world! :p

So I'm a sanguine, and I love to be among people and all things happening. Anything new is hype. But because I'm sanguine, I have no problems finding something positive about this move.

I'll get to sit nearer to the window, meaning I'll have access to lovely blue skies and white fluffy clouds. I'll be suffering less because the warmth from the outside will melt the icy temperatures within.

I'll have more privacy, meaning more freedom to YM and blog! HAHHAAHAH... :D

I'll get to learn new stuff and put my otherwise stagnant brain to work. 3.5 years doing the same thing is quite a bore I must say. So it ain't so bad after all.

We'll see if I survive this move ya.