What a weekend...

Life has been pretty hectic of late so it's been awhile since I've watched a decent movie at the cineplex. I managed to find some time last Saturday so I went to watch Spiderman 3 and POTC back to back.

I have to say it wasn't the best of decisions and because I couldn't really commit to the time, I went to watch alone. The movies were long and for such highly anticipated movies, they were kinda lacklustre. I was entertained but I wasn't blown away. And both movies had somewhat unsatisfactory endings. Gah...

Then on Sunday I had my 2nd housewarming. Thanks for those who came bearing food and gifts! It was good catching up though I must say I didn't quite appreciate the ghost story sharing session. Not a great note to end an evening with especially when you have my imagination and are living alone.

When I get my airconditioner installed, let's have more such evenings! :)

Housewarming... literally

I had my first housewarming session last Sunday and it was exhausting but good! It's a nice feeling to be able to welcome friends over but the preparation and the cleanup can be a chore.

There was tonnes of food so am a little worried about my future housewarming sessions. A potluck is a lot of fun but sometimes the amount of food can be overwhelming. There were only 10 of us but we had enough food to feed 40 easily! I'll be eating leftovers for the good part of this week... and that is after food has been doggie-bagged to everyone who came!

Am looking forward to it again this Sunday with you guys. Do dress lightly tho, my place can get a little warm... no aircond mah!

Sleepiness...

I need sleep. On average, I need a wholesome 8 hours to be doing good. Any less and I'll be prone to grumpiness and any more indicates signs of a great day ahead. These days, I can fall asleep standing. I need sleep.

Sneak Peeks :)

Am quite settled into my place and slowly feeling comfortable here. Still a little obsessive with keeping things tidy but am sure it's going to 'really' be home very soon :) Here's some sneak peeks!

My dining area/classroom.



My hall.



The master bedroom.



My kitchen!

Mouse in the House

Caught this mouse at the old house a few weeks back. So cute but it chewed through so much stuff! Released it at the Kelana Jaya LRT station on my way to work :)

Food Day

Food is such an important part of the day :) Breakfast sets the tone, lunch perks the day up and dinner ends it all! Here's a snapshot of a pretty good day food-wise!

Excellent breakfast of fried bihun, yamcake and soy+cincau.



Lunch was pretty funky. Not sure what this is exactly but got it at this vegetarian place near KLCC.



Dinner was at an event launching at the Galeri Petronas. Good food is even better when free!

Moved, settled and satisfied

It's been a long long week but have finally moved and settled into my new place. Everything is where it should be and there's nothing left to do. Am relieved and happy and now look forward to making the place lived in :)

Legally though, still some obstacles left. Last few transactions still pending but am hopeful it will be resolved soon. There is just so many steps to take in buying property that it's a wonder how businesses even get started. Just one delay at one step of the process can wreck the whole timeline. I'm just glad at least the move is resolved!

New is good...

I've finally been to the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas! After years of wanting to, finally took the initiative (albeit motivated by free tickets) the Fri before last with Chun for an MPO performance (of which I dozed off a bit) and last Fri for a theatre performance. The theatre was a traditional Malay play done in Mek Mulung style. It was very very interesting and am glad I went. Am definitely looking forward to more!

I'm also finally moving into my new place. Will be off from Wed onwards to move. Started cleaning yesterday and begun assembling some DIY furniture I bought from Carrefour. I bought two units of a 3-door wardrobe for my humongous and mostly unused pile of clothes (which now literally is scattered in 2 rooms). It took me 3 hours just to completely assemble 1 of the wardrobes. Gosh... not looking forward to the next.

Lots of new projects at work too. With the college, just finished trialling a whole new workshop on learning approaches that used soap, eggs and root beer. Fun fun fun! And come May, I'll be kicking off a Science Scouts project!

So many new things... :) Feels like Christmas almost!

501

This is my 501st post... and it's one done in sombre reflection on the massacre at Virginia Tech. It's hard to fathom the depths to which people can sink in depression and it's frightening to see how minds can be distorted and disillusioned.

It's also a reminder on how life is unpredictable. Start the day right, live it well, and end it counting our blessings. There's really too much to be thankful for to let the inevitable hiccups ruin it all.

Must See

TOKITSUMUGI - The Grain of Strands From Some Moments
Bustle gallery
10 Apr 2007 - 13 May 2007

GALERI PETRONAS and the Japan Foundation proudly present TOKITSUMUGI - The Grain of Strands From Some Moments, an exhibition of kinetic sculptures by Japanese kinetic artist and 3-4 dimensional space designer Masato Tanaka . Showing for the 1st time ever in Malaysia from 10 April to 13 May 2007, the exhibition presents a unique display of 12 moving sculptures which combine art and technology to create free movement, dubbed a 'scenic movement presentation'.

GALERI PETRONAS and the Japan Foundation present this unique exhibition to the public in celebration of Malaysia's 50th Year of Independence and the Japan-Malaysia Friendship Year 2007.

Feeding Optimism

I've been quite in the dumps of late. Life has been beleaguered with challenges (sounds nicer than problems!) and I've been stressed more than I can remember. My mood has been bleak and I've been rather whiny at times.

An obvious 'challenge' is the house of which moving into seems to be a dangling carrot always beyond reach. Things should resolve within a month but the pessimist foresee more problems to come. Then there's issues with relationships of which a lot is left in limbo. Heart break and stress does tend to magnify things into a narrow perspective. Then there's work which has my workload quadrupling.

I've been so narrowly obsessed with these that life became for the first time in a long while, a chore. Until yesterday that is when I had a revelation again.

We had a gathering at work yesterday and a colleague whose dad recently passed away went up to stage (all new staff have to sing) to sing a song. I can't remember the title but it's something about smiling even though there's nothing to smile about. And it struck me I guess.

I have 'challenges' yes, but there are really good challenges! I have problems with a house but eventually, I will have one! I am able to afford one and no matter how difficult, it is a problem that I really should be thankful for. Relationship issues are always touchy but I've known love. Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all! And work? For all the stress, I love my job and it pays me well. I can still remember the interview way back then when I was hoping so much to land it.

When things get tough it's easy to forget optimism. I am thankful that I remember to be thankful! Life isn't easy but thankfully my problems are not about paying bills, getting shelter or finding food even. I have really good problems and for all the crap I've yet to face, I'm thankful so bring it on!

Hmm...

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart. In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you. You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is comforting. You crave a relationship where you always feel warmth and love. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

F1 Fever? Nah...

F1 is back in town and those who know me will know I'm unfazed. Anyways, point of this is that right now at the KLCC Concourse, there's an F1 roadshow with lots of merchandise on sale and if any of you guys are planning to buy them, well, bring me along for discounts! I get 30% off BMW Sauber merchandise and 20% off Petronas F1 merchandise. You know how to reach me.

This is a public service announcement.

Finally!

It has been a long but interesting 6 months but finally, I'm confirmed :) Woohoo!

Ye Olde Comfort Zone, Closed

It's April and I've yet to move in to my house. I'm definitely not too happy about it as I've planned stuff such that by today I should be in my new place but there have been legal delays that I have no control over so moving in will not take place for another 2-4 weeks. Gah...

So I'm now living in a house with almost every thing in a box. And being me, I labelled none of the boxes so I've been buying stuff I already have because I'm too lazy to open up boxes to search.

Worse still, I was and still am feeling sick and malaise these past week. It's a terrible feeling and it just drains the energy levels. Am still adjusting to a lot of changes but thankfully have been meeting up with friends who have helped.

What capped it all was when I went to Borders yesterday, I flipped through Lillian Too's predictions for my Chinese sign this year and it said that for March, I should expect delays in projects and energy levels will run low due to poor health. My gawd, how on earth can she be right? Was compelled to buy the book but afraid to learn more. Did sneak a peek for April though and it's supposedly a great month where things will finally fall into place and energy levels will be up. So guess I'll definitely be moving soon!

Wonderment...

I had my company annual dinner last night at Shangri-La and my gawd, was it an eye opener! First of all, the theme was 'Bedtime Wonder' which is a fairly open-ended yet quite suggestive theme. I was actually quite surprised that they chose this theme considering the organisation but gosh, the people here are darn 'sporting'!

The event had beds and pillows on the stage and the foyer. The shows included girls in really skimpy lingerie prancing and dancing, and the host was just hilariously naughty! Some of my colleagues went in their sarong's and nothing else (no top even) and there was a point where the performing girls 'went down' on the guys on stage in an act. For a moment, I thought I was in Bangkok instead of KL!

Everyone had a lot of fun and the energy was high! Everyone didn't care about hierarchy as much and bosses mingled and buddied for photos and laughs throughout the night!

4 people in my department won best dressed awards in 3 categories. In the 'Young & Outrageous' category, both male and female were won by colleagues in my department, the guy in nothing but a bedsheet and the girl in pink boxers and a white men's shirt. In the 'Romance' category, a guy in my department won for his blue satin pyjamas that oozed 5-star luxury! And in the 'Out of This World' category, I WON! Woohoo! :) I wore a Spongebob t-shirt, Spongebob boxers (yes, boxers) and Spongebob slippers while carrying my stuffed Spongebob. It was great fun :)

Stuffed

The past week has seen all the gym effort go down the drain! I had workshops and training and it all inevitably ends up with great buffet lunches and endlessly sumptuous breaks and breakfasts!

It started last Saturday with a hi-tea at The Summit. Was invited to the VIP table (thanks to ex-colleagues) so had a pretty good meal including ice kacang!

Monday and Tuesday was at Maya Hotel, an amazing boutique hotel right opposite Zouk that I would recommend to everyone! The aesthetics is right up there and the food, my gawd! The quality is incredible and the choices will leave you literally breathless if you want to go try everything. But the best part of all is the dessert spread which includes Movenpick ice-cream... deliciously sinfully orgasmic (quoting the words of my colleague).

Then on Thursday, it was a remarkably classy buffet lunch at Mandarin Oriental. The spread is just so good and the service is top notch! It was a sumptuous and no one could work once we were back at the office.

Finally today (Saturday), it's another day long spread but this time at Hyatt Saujana. The landscaping and scenery is gorgeous and the food, not as great but good nevertheless.

I'm stuffed... and I'm off to Melaka from Monday to Wednesday so it's more buffets! Gosh...

Home Improvement

It's been a crazy month but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! Work on the house is reaching the end and I can't be more thankful. Been going crazy with shenanigans of odd-job workers and my gawd, everything costs serious money.

Anyways, here's a sneak peek before furniture comes in :)



The Kitchen!



The Hall



The 1st Floor



Doors to the rooms



The Master Bedroom



My bathroom sink!

Taggerama!

I have been tagged and to continue the honor of this game, I have tagged six people which can be found at the bottom of my list. The rules are as follows: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 idiosyncrasies (abnormal behaviour, habits etc.) as well as clearly stating this rule. After you state your 6 weirdness you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their multiply id / blog names / nicknames at the bottom of your blog. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says "You’re tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means."

Tagged by Kotakkosong

1. I need to sleep with 3 pillows. One for my head, one to hug, and one to rest my feet on.

2. I carry a torchlight wherever I go. One for every keychain, three in my car, two beside my bed, and a few all over my house. I am not really afraid of the dark but I feel secure having them!

3. I get grumpy when my hair is long. So I get a hair cut about once every 3-4 weeks.

4. I sit/stand at almost the same place every morning and evening on the LRT. Routine comforts me :)

5. If ASTRO or Streamyx is down, I don't know what to do.

6. I go speed crazy on the highway but I am usually so rule abiding I have personal conflicts about parking in a non-designated parking space.

Phew... that's over. But not before I tag YOU!

1. Jeremy
2. Jason
3. Meng

and sadly... I have no one to tag who's not been tagged!

Roadtrip

Am off to Ipoh from Monday to Wednesday. Any requests for Ipoh goodies? :) SMS me.