*YAWNS*

Sleepy Monday mornings are such a chore... zzz... type type... zzz...

~

Return of The King: Final Instalment of the LOTR Trilogy

Watched the movie last Friday night. Wasn't as hyped as I thought I would be, probably because I was mostly sleepy. Watching the endless stream of trailers before the movie didn't quite help either. Honestly, I was very intrigued with Prisoner of Azkaban and Torque, then ROTK. Some trailers can really just blow you away.

Anyways, movie was as expected :) Highly entertaining, great story telling. Granted there were some artistic licenses but a great movie nevertheless. Fitting ending for a superb epic. Although once again, I really could have done with less of Frodo's wide eyed drugged looks. Gandalf and his spotlight staff is a little more macho as well. But the hero of the movie for me is definitely Eowyn. Fuwah, that girl rocks!

I really wonder what would happen if the trilogy was undertaken by a Malaysian studio. We probably would have a rock song, Arwen will be played by Erra Fazira and Gollum would be someone from Scenario. Hmm...

~

A little belated but Happy Birthday Beng! :) Been somewhat of a hectic week or so for you but hope things have settled.

~

Decided at the last minute to take Friday off for an extended weekend. Got house painting to do. Every door, grill and gate is now orange, thanks to Dad's choice of colour. It's really a little erm, bright, but definitely won't have any problems giving people directions to my house now. Hahaha...

Enjoy the week ahead and a Merry Christmas in advance.

I have just sent off my gazillionth job application. Not to say I'm desperate, yet, but nothing has clicked so far. This might be of some interest to some of you but I've also applied for a tutorship position at our 'favourite' university. Felt like a change of pace and it's a good reason to do a Masters. Hmm...

Some good news though, you are now looking at the new part-time lecturer (contracted for 1 semester) at The One Academy. :) I won't tell you what subject I'm taking on, just that it's a minor and it's unexpected. Should be fun though.

Will be watching Return of The King tonight. All hail THX! I just hope I won't fall asleep (yawns) or have an achy back. (I am looking forward to see Eowyn take on a Nazgul). :)

On other news, newbies in the office is driving me nuts, especially a mutual friend of ours. You should never work with a coursemate you never liked AND be his superior. Been very nice so far but almost came to a shouting blow. I've honestly never felt the need to shout at someone so strongly. Some people don't seem to take hints very well.

Anyways, Christmas is coming, so's the New Year. Best to stay in the positive and bask in the glow of goodwill :) And may the Watermelon Monster go to Singapore this year. (hehehe).

Goodbye weekend, sob sob, till we meet again. Oh, Monday, it's you...

Welcome back Saw and Chun! I gathered Bali was great :) Tell us all about it once you've slept it off!

Had a great dream last night. I was on the Starship Enterprise (with a twist). Am not going to bore you non-trekkie fans with a dream narative, but let's just say it was great fun! :)

LOTR:ROTK this Wednesday. Probably catching a Friday show. Not much hype since everyone knows what it's about and it's bound to be visually pretty as before. Just need closure I guess! After Revolutions however, I'm sure this will be more entertaining.

WOOHOO!!! Survivor 7 Finale tonight! :) WOOHOO!!!

Facts of Joy - by Dan

#1 - IT'S A FRIDAY!!!

#2 - Boss is away! For 2 weeks!

#3 - It's tang yuan time! NYAM!!!

#4 - It's close enough to Chinese New Year that a mental countdown can be started!

#5 - I don't have to travel to Penang for work anymore!

#6 - IT'S A FRIDAY!!!

(happy weekend everyone)

I love the INTERNET!!! :)

This past week or so, I've:

~ Sent Christmas cards to my US cousins using Hallmark.com for USD 3 a card. That equates to RM 12, including a great card, personalised note and posting. If I were to buy a similar Hallmark card here, it will already set me back RM 12 minus the post. (plus with Hallmark.com, it'll get to them within 3 days :) )

~ Bought a book, Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy that I've been wanting to read for USD 0.75. Shipped it to aunt at marginal cost of USD 3 and she'll bring it down to me during Chinese New Year. RM 16 for a book? Woohoo...

~ Did the usual stuff of managing my online banking accounts, checking my online credit card applications and etc. Bliss...

~ Tried to buy ties from Amazon.com priced at USD ZERO. Only eligible for one tie per customer so wasn't worth it. (I tried to buy 50).

I wish Malaysia catch up with this trend. It's a hassle shopping online with Malaysian sites.

It's Tuesday and for the 2nd time this week, I'm at the office by 7.30am. Why you may ask? Two reasons really...

1. By leaving the house 20 mins earlier, I cut my travelling time by half. Instead of the usual 40 mins, it's only 20 mins to get to work. :) Of course the only drawback is the psychological barrier of waking up before 7, but it's only for 2 months and then I'm off to new shores (hopefully closer ones).

2. By reaching the office at 730'ish, I get to sneak into the nearby parking area free of charge since parking attendant guy comes in only at 745. Hehehe, this way, it saves me a long walk to the car and speeds up my going home time by 5 mins.

Weird part is, by the time everyone starts coming in the office, I feel like I've been here forever. Too bad I can't go home dramatically earlier as well.

Wah... Monday again...

Weekend was like living life in slow motion. If I wasn't sleeping, I'd be watching TV. And that's about it. Really took it easy. Did a lot of thinking however, so it wasn't a total waste! Hehe...

Spent 2 hours on Saturday talking to college kids at One Academy on online advertising. Very receptive crowd and my worries about not being able to talk so long was unfounded. Had to reduce my slides to two thirds otherwise I'll probably take 3 hours instead! Went generally well, I hope they call me back :)

Have a good week ahead.

Oh my gawd...


Power Rangers Movie!


What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Traffic is hell again. Ah well... looking forward to when GPS technology come to our shores.

Read a report yesterday about fuel lasting only 50 years or so. I would assume a lot of that will be reserved for the military and aviation so we're looking at consumer fuel for 3 decades or so? Kinda makes buying a car a pointless affair. Should save up for hybrid vehicles. Hmm...


You are Google. You are always on a quest for more
knowledge, a hunt for more connections. You are
intelligent and driven, and don't forget your
sense of fun from time to time (love those
holiday logos!) Just try not to let your quest
for knowledge get in the way of your friends...
take some time to just ... be.

If you don't get the reference, check yourself out
at http://www.google.com/


What Internet phenomenon are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Oh nooo.... back to work! wwwwaaaaahhh..... (kinda feels like Monday tho, minus the traffic)

Raya break was pretty decent. Went visiting a colleague and had good Malay food. Wished I had more open houses to visit tho. I need ketupat and rendang!

Also got myself Magic the Gathering: Battlegrounds for PC! WOOHOO! YAY! Took me quite a while to search for it and so darn thrilled to find it. SADLY, my stupid PC cannot play it. Darn 3D requirements. So went to shop to realise that notebooks can barely be upgraded. GAH! You know, it just never occured to me that notebooks come as is with little upgradability. I just assume with all the advances in technology, how hard can it be to upgrade a notebook? GAH!!! Sigh...

Anyways, so I sneaked into the office the 2nd day of Raya to play the game on my office machine. After clearing my mails and finishing the long installation, I was all ready to start when who walks into the empty office on a holiday but MY BOSS!!! ARGH!!! Ended up working for a couple of hours involuntarily and quickly left. SOB SOB... I want to play my game!!! :(

And oh, I ate a whole Chocolate Top Sundae Cone from McD. Whole meaning the with paper thingy that they put the cone in. Didn't realise it was there. Figured it out when I found myself chewing awfully long. I hope it's non-toxic. :)

First up, Selamat Hari Raya to all muslim friends :) And to all the rest, HOLIDAYS!!!

This week is so bad for working. Totally demoralised and just dreaming of ketupat and rendang. Gonna just be visiting one colleague tomorrow, no one else seems to be doing an open house thingy. Darn...

Weekend has been laidback. Did some crafts and some other stuff. Played Magic the Gathering on PC. Love the game! Watched lots of TV as well. Such a pig I tell you. Oink Oink!

Tis a rambling blog but it's a rambling type day... lalala... which mall should I visit for lunch today... hmm.... (boss isn't around)....

I've either been asked, been subjected to in a conversation, or listened to this one singularly grating topic: marriage all in this past week. Everything so far revolves around:

1. We are getting older and need to consider getting married so we can have kids by 30.

2. You can't buy that car! How are you going to fit your future children in?

3. Marriage is inevitable what... we all have to do it.

Since when is marriage inevitable? Death yes lar, maybe even the cancellation of Charmed, but marriage? You know, I'm not a big proponent of anything forced and although marriage is all good and pretty, it's not something you do because you have to. It should be something you do because you want to! I mean, the world has changed so much, what is inevitable is the fact that the institution or concept of marriage needs some changing too.

This is all personal obviously, but I feel that marriage is an option. You can be as happy dating, single, playing the field all the way to your deathbed I am sure. And let's not even go at how 'happy' marriages can sometimes be.

All I'm saying is, when you meet people like me, who really couldn't be bothered to choose a car for future children or starts saving vigorously for a wedding, take a breather to understand why. :) Please don't force down age-old propaganda that marriage will make your life complete, just like you have to work very hard when you are young to enjoy life when you are old. (Why can't we enjoy in moderation everyday?)

Imposing principles on others is something that I have a tough time with I guess. Within acceptable limits, and especially if you do not hurt or endanger anyone else, I truly believe we should be able to do as we please.

Marriage... bah humbug.

I'm giving a 2 hour talk at The One Academy on December 6th. My talk will be about 'Getting Your Message Across The Internet:
E-Learning Approaches to Online Advertising'. A little nervous and slowly prepping up presentation slides but should be an interesting experience. I hope they allow public members to sit in so I can force all you people reading this to come and ease my nervousness. What on earth do I know about online advertising? ARGH!

Matrix seems to be a divided topic, people either love it or hate it, get it or don't. Personally, I wished I had my money back. Effects and all is really nothing to blah over now, since it's really something expected than out of the norm. Story wise tho, well, I believe in communicating a clear message. I have no idea who they are trying to target. Only die hard fans willing to sift through the metaphors and analogies can probably surmise a version of the story. Since hardly any versions are alike, who's to say what the heck the original story was? Well, coming from someone who enjoys low brow brainless romance comedies, (hehe), I guess the Matrix isn't something I easily appreciate. Movies that works best for me are the ones who play me out exactly, with feel good all over. :)

Oh no... I'm a... VAMPIRE????


You are Form 9, Vampire: The Undying.

"And The Vampire was all that remained on
the blood drowned creation. She attempted to
regrow life from the dead. But as she was
about to give the breath of life, she was
consumed in the flame of The Phoenix and the
cycle began again."

Some examples of the Vampire Form are Hades (Greek)
and Isis (Egyptian).
The Vampire is associated with the concept of
death, the number 9, and the element of fire.
Her sign is the eclipsed moon.

As a member of Form 9, you are a very realistic
individual. You may be a little idealistic,
but you are very grounded and down to earth.
You realize that not everything lasts, but you
savor every minute of the good times. While
you may sometimes find yourself lonely, you
have strong ties with people that will never be
broken. Vampires are the best friends to have
because they are sensible.


Which Mythological Form Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Monday morning... bluergh.

Weekend was good. Went back home and just chilled. Relaxing... :)

Landlordy got me a new fan! Yay! Now I don't have to freeze every morning since new fan can oscillate. Old one was so twisted out of shape that it falls if I oscillate it. :) Yay!

I'm leaving current company at end of January. Quite a way to go still and office dynamics has changed. 3 new staff today. Lots of new faces. Changes! At least my last few weeks will be intriguing :) Boss has kindly extended an offer to return to the company whenever I like to. Mighty nice of him but I hope that's one offer I won't have to take up. Please please please let there be another job for me! :)

Feeling way better now. No more nausea and diarrhorea, yippee... but allergies all a flaring. Couldn't resist a junk food session last week. Sigh... darn food chemicals. Grr...

Happy work week everyone.

Woohoo... Friday. :)

Back to work after a 2 day hiatus, thanks to the public holiday on Wednesday and sick leave yesterday. Got hit with another dizzy spell (thanks to some inner ear imbalance). Gone now thankfully. Doc said that if it doesn't go away with meds, he'll need to do a brainscan. Spooky.

Today in the office is rearranging tables day. 3 new staff coming in on Monday so got to make room for them. Bluergh... it also looks like I'll be leaving end of December instead of mid-January. Long story that but I guess it'll be good to go. Job hunting still in process, not too much success yet.

Gonna spend this weekend making lamps for colleague who's going away and sis birthday present. Anyone wants to order one? :) Cheap cheap... let me know :)

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!

Bluergh... I am unwell...

Stomach was crappy all through Monday so I took sick leave and spent the day finishing 'The Bear and The Dragon' by Tom Clancy. It's such a great book, and so compelling that I even forgot to take my nap. Hehe...

Thought all was well today until halfway through the journey to work I get overwhelmed by nausea. Thank goodness I don't eat breakfast until after I reach the office otherwise I'll be puking in the car. Bluergh... anyways, contemplating another sick leave but we'll see if this clears up.

I hope I'm not allergic to work! Muahahaha...

Let's say this together, FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY!

Things sure are changing in the company. We have 3 new people coming in by mid-month. Lots of seating rearranging and transitions to do. And I will be passing on my workload slowly to the new staff. Changes man, and I'm somewhat excited with the prospect :)

Next 2-3 months will be somewhat different though. I'll probably be grounded to the office once new staff comes and I wonder how the dynamics of resigning staff and new staff will be like. I also wonder what my boss has told them about me and my reasons for leaving and what I should say should the new staff ask me? Hmm... will probably let it all glide. So Dan will be a grinning and a looking stupid until he leaves for CHINESE NEW YEAR for one LONG LONG BREAK! YAY!

Happy weekend everyone!

Woohoo! I am free! Free! Last day of work: January 20th 2004. YAY! Hooray!

(boss was so hyped about a new 'million' dollar proposal that he couldn't be bothered about my departure. works for me just fine.)

YAY!

(dan now available for employment. anyone out there wants me?)

Over the weekend:

1. Decided to resign from job. If I can't get another within my 3 months notice, so be it. HOLIDAY!

2. Had constant nightmares of boss. This is seriously neurotic. Decided to dream of the Charmed Ones instead... (bliss).

3. Craved food non-stop. Am (yet again) on a new diet. So far so good this time. Lost 3kg. For my sanity, don't mention food when you're with me.

4. Met an old friend. He said he suspect he's schizophrenic. He's been hearing voices. Darn my friends are weird.


And today:

1. Boss isn't here. Darn... gonna delay my notice giving ceremony. How am I supposed to reschedule the band? Sigh...

2. Contemplating dropping by Ikea during lunch. Need to get present for Dad. Calculating the time it will take. Hmm...

3. Can't wait for the weekend.