A Day at Traders

Sprawling roof of the convention centre.



The function room.


KLCC through the blinds.



Convention centre and the KLCC park.



KLCC in the morning.



Geometry...



Love the plants here.

Life roads are lonely,
The drive forlorn,
A drawn out journey,
Every dusk to dawn...

The destination's different,
The road's the same,
Deja vu moments,
Again and again...

Until you find,
A new reason to drive down a new road...

Dinosaur Trees

(photo courtesy of www.heartpatrick.com)

I looked up in awe,
At the dinosaur trees,
At creatures that once stood tall,
Its prehistoric tendrils,
Reaching up to the heavens,
Towering above one and all...

I can imagine the roar,
And bellow of beasts,
That lives on in fossils of bone,
Creatures that roamed,
And ruled violent earth,
While the tree stood mightily alone...

I looked up in awe,
With imagination spurring,
And I feel so ever more,
Tiny and insignificant,
As I stand in the shadow,
Of the dinosaur trees of lore.

I do not know

I do not know what lies ahead,
Beyond the here and now,
I do not know what promises await,
I do not know, so how?

Do I jump in,
Or rush headlong,
Or take little baby steps?
Do I have guns ablazing,
Or knock on doors,
Or tip toe, tippity tap?

I do not know what lies ahead,
Beyond the here and now,
But I do know that if I wait,
Life will mean less somehow...

Fields of Green

So green the fields,
That carpet yonder,
So vast the wide expanse,

Grass leaves delight,
Stretching out in sight,
So lush, so thick, so dense...

I strained to see,
To peer with eyes,
For a cottontail or two,

Or perhaps long ears,
I quietly peered,
For a flash out of the blue...

A tinge of hope,
Mere possibility,
Fed my gaze as it lingered on,

Through fields of green,
That carpet yonder,
A neatly unkept lawn...

But no rabbits hopped,
No bunnies tumble,
No parade of long furry ears,

Until it dawned,
A warm realisation,
That a cute bunny was always here...

In my heart...

Special days

Some days are special,
Unexpectedly,
They rustle with delight...
Of magical promises,
Enchantingly,
They make the heart take flight...

doldrums...

I'm getting a little overwhelmed and aggravated with company politics of late. As much as I love what I do and where I'm at, I think there's a limit to how much I can tolerate some of the 'people' here. Perhaps it's time to keep eyes and ears out for other possibilities...

Yummylicious

It's chang day and I'm so thankful to Meng for all her trouble in bringing over her Mom's amazing changs! It's so so so good... yums!

Movie Marathon

It's a public holiday! Whoopeedooo! So to celebrate, I watched:

- Kung Fu Panda @ 11am
- Superhero Movie @ 230pm
- Iron Man @ 410pm

and shopped...

Ah....

New toy...

I got myself a new toy :) this little soundbox which plays CD and MP3's and WMA's direct from USB. It's nifty, really cheap, and such fun! I love gadgets...

First time at Batu Caves

My cousin Amanda is living with me for a few weeks as she completes her internship here. So on my day off yesterday, I brought her to Batu Caves. This is my first time there too and I'm glad she suggested we go.



It's a really beautiful place though not a big fan of how certain renovations are made. Overall, it's cool though and a unique way to spend time.



I am not a fan of the outdoorsy so situations like this where I can admire nature with many creature comforts (like stairs) is more to my taste :)



I will definitely come again!

What a riot...

Matter of taste

I used to eat wantan mee for lunch almost everyday, right after school ends. I'll hop on a 5 minute bus ride, costing about 40 cents to Ujong Pasir and get down right in front of the stall.

The stall sells only wantan mee and has put up roof on a sidestreet between two rows of terrace houses. There is a canopy and electric fans which kept the place cool and comfortable amidst the blazing 2pm sun.

Here, I will order my usual wantan mee (big) with a nice cold glass of barley ice. It's a good filling lunch and over the years, became almost a staple.

These days, I still do enjoy a bowl of wantan mee now and then. Sometimes it's over-priced and over-hyped at places like KLCC, other times very casual and down-to-earth from cooks who appear to be doing this for years on end. However, no matter where I eat it, I will always compare it to the one in my memory.

Every new variation, new place, new style will be subjected to comparison with the stall of my school days. No matter how much better, or tastier, or even healthier the wantan mee available to me now can be, what I sometimes want is just the one I am used to.

In life, I guess, sometimes we just want to have things the way we are used to. However imperfect it may be.

Now this is a mango!

My colleague gave me a mango and it was a whopper! The yellow one is the regular sized mango and the green one is my 'gift'. Can't wait to eat it!

Delish...

My sister just came back from a trip and she got me this as a souvenir. The combination of mango, cayenne and chocolate seemed a little funky but after one bite, I'm sold! It's such an amazing mix of rich dark chocolate with sweet tangy mango cream and a dash of peppery bite! Yum!

Finding any reason for cake!

My colleagues were badgering me for another shindig so I caved in and decided to celebrate Labour Day! (seemed appropriate). It's the first time I had a Labour Day cake and a bash to commemorate the occasion. Perhaps this could be a new tradition!



Potluck this time went well thanks to a little organising. Food choices were nicely spread out and very yummy! T'was a good day.

Yum Yum Yum

My students had a food fest yesterday and it was an awesome event! Best ever yet :) Here's what I had to eat:

1. Nasi lemak - RM1.20
2. Mango juice - RM1.20
3. Lemang and curry chicken - RM3.00
4. Fried mihun - RM2
5. Lime juice with pandan - RM2.00 (2 cups)
6. Kuih bolu - RM2.00
7. Fruit rojak - RM2.00
8. Chocolate muffin - RM2.00
9. Special chocolate muffin - RM3.50
10. Kuih bolu takeaway - RM15.00
11. Ice cream - RM1.00
12. Taufufah - RM3.00
13. Soy milk - RM1.00
14. Soy pudding - RM4 (3 bowls)
15. Longan dessert - RM4 (2 bowls)
16. Mangoes - RM2
17. Watermelon - RM1
18. Ice lolly - RM0.70
19. Fruit in a cup - RM3.00
20. Candies - RM1.60
21. Super duper nasi lemak - RM1.20

Grand total - RM56.40 for one heck of a lunch...

I am stuffed... and broke...

Fiscally interesting...

The rest of April is going to be somewhat of a personal challenge for me, fiscally anyways. No thanks to income taxes being paid... of which this year I paid 40 times what I paid 3 years ago and definitely no thanks to my spendthrift habits, I started the month with just about enough cash in hand to survive till next pay day.

And that was before my kitchen sprung a leak and I had to call the plumber.

So, as usual, a blonde headed plumber came and got the job done at an astrocious price so now, I'm left with half of what I had in cash. It's a little reminiscent of my first couple of years working, and very reminiscent of student times. I literally have zero savings (though whole lotta credit cards) so it's going to be very interesting to see how the next 2 weeks shapes up :)

I really should save but then again, why bother leaving money behind when I die? :)

Ouch...

It's income tax season... and like many other Malaysians, it's time to reach deep into the pockets and pay what I owe the country. I really don't mind paying but I do get a little peeved when some friends mask their earnings with very creative accounting.

Anyways... just a few days after paying what was due, I fell terribly sick. Coincidence or not, who knows but I was down with terrible laryngitis for almost a week. It's awful having no voice and barely able to swallow.

I'm so glad that's done with...

And this is what I do during meetings...

There was a spate of meetings, workshops and teambuilding camps this month and last at my workplace. I've been to 3 outdoor camps that required me to do scale walls, crawl through muddy tunnels and all sorts of other physically demanding team activities. And there's always the workshops and challenges held indoors for the complete holistic teambuilding experience. It's exhausting but, but, but... being at so many different hotels and venues gives me the opportunity to do what I like :) which is looking at pretty light fixtures and admire beautiful buildings...

Here's a few snapshots of my favourites...