It's Saturday...

... and I'm currently in the office with my beloved. I'm here on account of a colleague of mine. She has requested that I coach her for her presentation this Tuesday. So, here we are. I have finished coaching her, and am now waiting with my beloved in the office. And while I wait, I thought I might as well write something in here.

Tomorrow, am going to BSC to celebrate a couple of friends' birthdays. My old uni friends. We haven't seen each other since August. A couple of nights ago, went to Uptown to meet up with my best buddy. I haven't been to Uptown in ages, and it still haven't changed a bit.

There were a couple of MPPJ lorries, just waiting for the first VCD stalls to be put up, so that they can tear it down again. My beloved and I was quite looking forward to browsing through the stalls, in search of Chicken Little. But alas, it was not meant to be.

In the end, went to a DVD shop nearby and browsed through the selection. Didn't buy anything though.

Was away in Melaka for five days. Attended the compulsory BTN course. Although now they call it SSM. The place was in Alor Gajah. There were 93 of us. The first day was in anticipation of what will happen to the 93 of us. Well, suprise, suprise, but I had fun throughout the five-day course.

We had to do some physical exercises. We had to run 2km in under 18 minutes. Running uphill and downhill. It took me 14 minutes and 20 seconds. Yes, I know that's pathetic, but I'm not that fit to begin with. After about a 10 minute break, we had to lift a participant in a fireman lift and walk 10 metres, I think it was.

My partner was someone I thought was about my weight. But apparently wasn't. He lifted me just fine. But when it was my turn to lift him, I could barely walk. Luckily for me, the coach called a much smaller guy for me to lift.

The next day, we were forced to abseil from a four storey tower. It was a first for me. So, I was quite nervous about it. After wearing the harness and the rest of the gear, I went up the four flights of stairs, and was shaking in my Adidas-All-Star.

Honeymoon in Sabah

Welcome back to Kuala Lumpur!!! I was on leave for a week. The reason? I was in Sabah!!! With my beloved!!! Arrived last Sunday around 1.00pm, after experiencing a delay in KLIA. Apparently, the runway was full of planes. So, we had to wait our turn. My cousin was waiting for us at Sabah's old airport, and we went straight to my aunty's house in Kepayan.

That evening, we went to the beach to see the sun set. It was beautiful, to say the least. We ate some snacks while watching the sun set. The next day, in the morning, we went to Monsopiad Village, where they have this kind of tour thing going on. It was interesting.

Legend has it that Monsopiad, a warrior from 300 years ago, used to collect the heads of his enemies and placed them in his hut. Our guide said this was to discouraged further retaliation from his enemies. After walking around the place, we went to the main hall, where we saw their traditional dance. And we participated in one of the dance. It was fun.

After lunch the same day, we went shopping at The Phillipines Market. We emerged from the place a couple of hours later, with less money in our pockets and a couple of plastic bags full of stuff.

During the week, we went to Kundasang, the foot of Mount Kinabalu. We went to Timpohon, the entrance to the track to go up Mount Kinabalu. Then, we went to the Dairy Farm, where New Zealand-kind-of-cows were being bred. In other words, they were black and white.

We even managed to stop at Nabalu to do some shopping. Yet again. We stayed at Pines Resort, and the following morning, we sat up after dawn to see the tip of Mount Kinabalu. The morning air was cool, there weren't many people up and about, it was quiet and peaceful.

The few days after that, we went to Gayana Island, near Kota Kinabalu. We stayed at a chalet in the middle of the sea. Well, not really in the middle, but it wasn't on land. It was on the water. The chalet itself was nice.

It was sad to leave Sabah the following Sunday. But leave it, we had to. It was fun. Hope we can go there again.

My beloved just got a phone call from her school a couple of days ago, and they told her that she just received a letter stating that she has been transferred to school very near where I work. We'll be surveying the area soon to determine the exact location of the school.

Today, had lunch at home, since it's so near. Well, at night, it takes around 7 minutes to get from my house to my office. This is without traffic jams, and with just a couple of cars on the road. But during lunch break, it could take up to almost an hour. Seriously.

I have to work this Thursday night. And as usual, we start after midnight. Hope we don't encounter any unforeseen problems. That's basically why sometimes I work till dawn. It's because of these unforeseen problems cropping up at the least expected places. Dang those problems.

Next week, the ISO auditors are coming to my office to audit our procedures. We had a pre-audit just the other day, and I was called into the meeting room to answer some questions. Luckily it only took a couple of minutes of chatting with the auditor. This coming audit is the real deal. This is where we either make it or break it. So, everyone in the department would have to be ready for it.

The first audit was done a couple of months ago, by the company employees, but from different departments. I had to sit in for my boss, since she had to audit some other department. That was quite scary. Until I found out what it was they would be asking. Then after that, it was only routine question and answer.

I hope we bag the certification. That would be something. Well, do wish us luck, kay. Thanks!

Am currently reading Mr Murakami's Kafka On The Shore and Mr Block's A Walk Among The Tombstones. Mr Lawrence Block, by the way. The former I bought at Kinokuniya's with the help of my cousin. Thanks, Girl. And the latter, got it from my bro. Thanks, bro.

Both books are good reads, but I'm going to finish Mr Block's book first. Because, as usual, I like to read Mr Murakami's books slowly. Very very slowly. It's the same when I'm eating something delicious. Sometimes I would just take time eating it. That would usually mean dessert. I remember eating a chocolate-icecream-cake-thingy at TGIF with my family. It was huge. Extremely huge. And extremely delicious.

By the way, I saw Bewitched the other day. The movie Bewitched. And it's quite ok. I mean, it's not that funny. It's just sweet. Yes, just sweet. And I saw The Longest Yard. Now, that's a good movie. Actually, I generally like movies with Adam Sandler. He's fun to watch.

Am now wanting to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Narnia, Doom and AeonFlux. About Narnia, I've read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe a couple of times when I was little. And it was a really good read, or I wouldn't have read it that many times. I think it was my sister's, since my brother didn't admit it was his. And I really can't wait to see it on the silver screen. It looks promising.

I'm currently reading Scott Adams' God's Debris, A Though Experiment. He's the guy who does the Dilbert comics. And the book is quite interesting. It's about a delivery guy was suppose to deliver a package to someone, and ended up talking about everything under the sun with one old man. The topic of their discussion ranges from Delusion Generator to Physics of God Dust, and everything in between. Its an interesting read. And it's free. You can get a copy of it here. I printed a copy and got it binded, so I can take it anywhere with me. Neat, huh.

On another note, Haruki Murakami's Kafka On The Shore is finally out on paperback. Fantastic. So, I plan to pick it up this Friday. I asked a cousin of mine to keep a copy of it for me, since she's working in Kinokuniya. What are cousins for, right!

We went rayaing to a couple of my beloved's relatives' houses. And on the second day, we went to our mutual friend's house. So, mostly, we just ate and ate and ate. It was fun. But tiring though. On the fourth day of raya, we left for KL. We left around 8.30 in the morning. And arrived in KL around 6.30 in the evening. Luckily for me, my beloved drove half way, so wasn't so tiring. Although it still was.

During the following week, went to my relatives' houses. And some relatives came over. It was good to entertain and to be entertained. Then, one night, I suggested to my beloved that we go hang out at one of my old haunts. And so I invited my best buddy and my brother's sister-in-law to join us. And in the end, there were eight of us there. My beloved and I, my best buddy with two of his female friends, my brother's sister-in-law with her Aussie friend and her cousin.

I was on leave for two weeks. And for the past three days, I was at Putrajaya for a workshop. So here I am, again. Lots of things have happened. And I hope I can get it all out on this blog. Firstly, I spent raya with my beloved at her hometown. It was a first for me. We left KL on Monday after sahur, around 6.30am. This was on the 31st of October, 2005. The road was quite empty. Meaning, there were some cars on the road, but it wasn't the heavy traffic kind of thing. I drove the first leg of the journey, and my beloved drove the second leg. We finally arrived at her mother's house around 2.30pm.

The raya celebration there was quite different from the ones I'm used to in KL. In KL, open houses would mean, people coming in droves. Non-stop. But in her hometown, people would come in very small groups. So, the atmosphere wasn't hectic. Unlike the open houses in KL.

To be continued...

Had dinner with my family at a nearby shopping mall last night. We had something to eat at home to break fast, then we went shortly before 8.00pm. As we were deciding what to eat, I had a sudden craving for spagetti. As I was quite famished by then, the small plate the spagetti came in was quite a disappointment. But, luckily for me, it was very tasty. After that, shared a plate of french fries with my mum.

After dinner, took my dad to a clinic to check his blood pressure and his sugar level in his blood. Because he's been complaining of a severe headache. The doctor said that its gas. So the doctor gave my dad some medication and told him keep his sugar level steady, without being too low nor too high.

Then, shortly after arriving at home, I had to prepare for an exercise that night. Meaning work. My colleague and I had to update the pharmacy application. And as usual, all the exercises pertaining main applications has to be done after midnight. We managed to complete it successfully around one in the morning.

Got back home around 1 something, and slept around 2. Woke up around 5. And went to work around 6.30am. And had a deparmental meeting at 9. Luckily didn't fell dead asleep in the meeting room. And luckily the meeting only lasted around 1 and a half hours.

Went to Danau Golf Resort yesterday to break fast with my colleagues. Went with four other people in my red automobile. Was caught in the jam on our way there. But finally arrived at the appointed place around 6.05pm. The place was in Bangi.

It started raining around 7.00pm. After having eaten almost everything served to us, we chatted while the rain kept pouring. And around 8.00pm, we left. The co-pilot in the car suggested we used the Kajang route, as there won't be any traffic that way, so she said.

But even before we reached Kajang, we hit tremendous traffic going towards Kajang. So we avoided going into Kajang by taking the Silk Highway. As we were driving along a stretch of highway, we realised that we were the only ones on the road.

Then, my co-pilot sheepishly said that that was the first time she's been on that highway. I was like, what?! But then, since we had more than half a tank of petrol, I wasn't worried. Sent my co-pilot to her house first, then proceeded to sent another girl to her home, and the other two passengers to a nearby LRT station.

Arrived home almost two hours after we left Bangi, feeling knackered. Had a shower. Then sleep overtook me.

I am currently reading David Morrell's The Protector. And I think it's one of Mr Morrell's better books, although I like all his other books, I think so far, this is the best. A really good read, in this genre, that is. I'm about to finish The Protector. I hope my bro has others that I can read. That's where I get most of the books I read.

It's about a protector (a much better term than 'bodyguard') who's been double crossed by a client fearing for his life. This includes getting the protector's colleagues killed by a team of special ops agents. The client is running away from two groups of people. One group is trying to capture him for information while the other group is trying to kill him. And the protector has to outwit both groups to get to the client. A fantastic read.

I can't wait to see Doom. I hope it's as good or even better that I imagine it to be. One of the reason is because Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is in it. So far, all his movies are fun to watch. Unlike those B-grade Van Damme movies. I liked him in The Scorpion King, Walking Tall, and The Rundown.

Just finished breaking fast with my colleagues at work. We had nasi beriyani. And I'm seriously stuffed. Nyum nyum. Next week, we'll be breaking fast in Bangi, and on Tuesday, somewhere in Cheras. Food galore, here we come.

On a more serious note, The Prime Minister’s wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, died at 7.55am today at Sri Perdana, the Prime Minister’s official residence in Putrajaya, after fighting a long battle with cancer. Al-Fatihah.

Am currently reading "The Nanny Diaries". Let me explain why I'm reading this book. First of all, I'm starting to find A Beautiful Mind to be boring. Extremely boring. I should have just watched the movie again. So, after that, planned to kidnap the book my father was reading, The Protector. But alas, my niece brought to book to her friend's house since last week. So, as I rummage through the house, looking for a book I haven't read, I came across The Nanny Diaries. And to tell you the truth, it's hilarious. Seriously. Can't stop reading it.

Yesterday was on leave as my wife was in KL. We spend almost the whole day trying to renew the car's insurance and the road tax but to no avail. In the end, decided to postpone it, as she was getting ready to go back to her school. Waited for over an hour for the car insurance to be ready, when, in the end, the guy said, "Sorry but we can't do it today". Can you believe that. Dang!

Saw Transporter 2 the other day. And it's a whole lot better than the first one. Even the fight scenes are better. But there's one thing I don't understand, why did Frank (the transporter) allow the evil-woman-in-bikinis to enter his bullet-proof car? I don't get it.

Land of The Dead

I saw Land of The Dead the other day. And I like it. It shows what happens to the human race when the whole world is overrun by the dead. Typical zombie story, you say. Well, not exactly. Because you see, the zombies are getting smarter. They have started communicating with one another. I kid you not. And now they have started to fight back. Seriously. It has all the gore and violence of a good zombie flick. And the storyline is pretty cool. On one side, you have the leader of the zombies, taking the zombies with him to extract his revenge on the humans. And on the other side, you have the leader of 'Dead Reckoning', a huge armoured vehicle meant for the annihilation of the zombies. They have their own mission to accomplish and they do it till the end.

John Leguizamo acts in this movie. I haven't seen him in a while. I liked him in Spawn, where he was the demon clown. Yup, that was him. The fat, short and obscene clown. Anyway, for those of you who loves zombie movies, like Mr Blood, you really ought to see it. A different view of zombies, I would say.

My dad was discharged last Friday. I would like to thank all my friends for coming over to see my dad the other day. We really appreciate your support. Thanks. And not forgetting my relatives. Thanks.

At the ward, they were two other occupants. One of them was a very friendly young guy. He was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 14. His mum said he used to drink carbonated drink every single day when he was little. And he's still in the ward at the moment. I might just go and visit him later today.

Just sat for the mandatory government examination. I sat for two papers. The results should come out by next month. Hopefully I pass.

My Dad's Sugar Level

My dad's in the hospital for a very high sugar level in his blood. It started last Friday, when he was complaining of being very tired, and being light-headed. I was at a shopping mall with my colleagues, bowling. But when I got the call from my mum, I immediately left the game. I'm not a great bowler, anyway. So, I managed to flag down a taxi. After about half an hour, I arrived home. Then, my dad was sleeping. So since my mum and I didn't want to disturb him, we let him sleep.

The next morning, I brought my dad to a nearby clinic to do a checkup, and the doctor immediately adviced my dad to go to a hospital for a thorough checkup. We went home right after that to pick my mum up, and went straight to the hospital. There, the doctors said that my dad's sugar level is very high. So, my dad was left resting in the emergency ward with an IV on his arm, and periodic insulin shots.

After about five hours, the doctors said that my dad was to be admitted because they couldn't get the sugar level to go down.

I've been tagged my petite friend, Mrs Derek a.k.a Rinie. Thanks Rinie. So, here goes...

Seven things you plan to do before you die:
1. Perform the Hajj with my wife.
2. Send my parents and my mother-in-law to perform the Hajj.
3. Have kids. At least two.
4. Travel the world.
5. Buy a house.
6. Buy another car, an X5 hopefully.
7. Become a doctor of philosophy.

Seven things I could do:
1. Do my Masters. And soon.
2. Start working out to lose weight.
3. Buy yet another Haruki Murakami book.
4. Buy a new phone.
5. Watch a movie, any movie.
6. Talk less. Listen more.
7. Learn a new language.

Seven celebrity crushes:
1. Natalie Portman.
2. Gwen Stefani.
3. Kristin Kreuk.
4. Jennifer Connelly.
5. Gillian Anderson.
6. Bjork.
7. Salma Hayek.

Seven often repeated words:
1. "Banyak la..."
2. "Well..."
3. "... kot..."
4. "I think so..."
5. "Not sure..."
6. "Dang!"
7. "Hmmm..."

Seven physical traits I look for in the opposite sex (which my wife has, but of course):
1. Petite.
2. Fair skinned.
3. Cute.
4. Slender fingers.
5. Big round eyes.
6. Nice lips.
7. Basically how my wife looks like.

Seven tags go to:
1. Blood.
2. CikLi.
3. Mokozomo.
4. FunneeBunnee.
5. Dils.
6. Saiful.
7. Nieza.

Wasn't in the office yesterday. Went to a seminar at Renaissance Hotel. The seminar was about CA's new product, BrightStor r11.5. The whole seminar was about storage and backup management. Representatives from Hitachi Data Systems and IBM had a session each. Overall, it was very informative. And luckily for me, I bumped into two former colleagues. Well, actually, I was busy filling out an evaluation form in the hopes of getting an iPod, when somebody nudged me from behind. I turned and there they were. So, we sat in a row and chatted while waiting for the seminar to start. Which took longer than I anticipated.

Earlier in the morning, after I had just registered for the seminar, I went to the IBM booth to ask about their range of products. I talked to a guy about what they had to offer. And after a while, and lots of questions, he finally said that his colleague would be much more capable of answering my questions. After that I went and disturbed the guy at the Hitachi booth, and I got a small notebook for my trouble, and an evaluation form. Then I proceeded to find a place to sit in the sea of banquet chairs. It was then that my former colleagues found me.

It was fun to hang out with my old colleagues. One of them was my ex-boss. So we chatted about the good old days in my old department. Most of my colleagues have since resigned. Once upon a time, it was truly alive with all sorts of people. It was fun, because we were all around the same age. Those were the old days.

Now, in my new working environment, I'm surrounded by the same age group as well. Which is to say that, we have fun here too. Though everybody's busy with work, nowadays.

Work Related Stories

The other night, had to come to work to solve a backup problem. Apparently, one of the backup policies doesn't work. So, there were, around midnight, trying to solve the problem, by reinstalling the database agent into two servers. And lo and behold, it didn't work. So, we are going to dismantle the whole RMAN configuration. But when and how, still hasn't been determine yet. Will have to wait and see, won't we.

Moving along, I am still reading Mr Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. And as I said before, it's simply good reading. Extremely good. I can't decide whether I like Dance, Dance, Dance or this book better. This will also have to wait till I finish the book. Then I can decide.

This morning, my friend came to my cubicle and started telling me ghost stories. And it had to be about our department. And especially about the room my cubicle is in. And to tell you the truth, the stories are quite disturbing. After hearing her stories, now something makes sense.

The other day, as usual, I would arrive at work before 7, and on this particular morning, I bumped into my colleague at the escalator as I was coming out. To say she was startled to see me emerging from the escalator would be an understatement. Then she turned to face me, and said that she wanted me to accompany her to her cubicle, since there was no one else around. So we went straight to her office. There, while she was getting ready for a seminar that morning, we chatted about work and stuff. Then, once she was ready, she left the office and I proceeded to go to my cubicle which was across the corridor. All the while I was wondering why she was so afraid to go into the office alone, as it was already morning. And now I know why.

Apparently, this particular colleague of mine is the one they disturb most, according to my other colleague. Once, while in the ladies, she heard someone calling out for help coming from outside the window, in the voice of our colleague. At first, she thought it was a prank, and as she realised the truth, she ran out of the ladies, face white with fear. And another time, as she was alone in the office late at night, she heard the sound of a baby crying at the main office entrance. These are a few of the episodes that she had to endure.

Myself, while working late at night, especially after midnight, I would hear sounds like people typing away at their keyboards. I would then venture to see where the sounds were coming from. Only to find there was no one in the room but me.

From Here to There and Back Again

Am currently feeling extremely sleepy. Eyes feel really heavy. Am actually comptemplating whether to sleep the rest of the day somewhere quiet and cold or to actually do work today. I really need a cup of thick black coffee. Although I'm unsure whether coffee has that kind of effect on me. Just need some shut eye. That's basically it.

On Saturday, went and picked up my wife from her apartment way yonder. From there, we went window shopping for raya clothes. Then, we went to my sister-in-law's house in Subang Jaya, where I chatted with her husband about him continuing his studies. He's currently taking a course on transport and logistics. After showing of our wedding album to them, we went walking around Carrefour, window shopping, yet again. After that, we headed home.

The next morning, went to Great Eastern Mall to meet up with my old friend, along with my wife, of course. My friend wanted to give us our wedding present as she didn't go to our wedding reception a few weeks ago. She's currently preparing for her wedding as well.

Speaking of weddings, this year alone, a lot of my friends are getting married. A colleague of mine will be tying the knot in five days time. In November and December, there will be a couple of weddings we will be attending. And also in those two months, will be planning to have our real honeymoon. So we'll just have to see and wait for the where and when.

After getting our wedding present from my friend, I proceeded to sent my wife back to her apartment, way yonder. Sad. So sad.

Books... lots and lots of books...

These past couple of weeks saw me reading a couple of books. Read Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. It was quite an excellent book. Seriously. Just couldn't put it down. A really good book. Then after that, read a bit of A Beautiful Mind. Quite an interesting book, to say the least. But before I could finish reading it, I misplaced it somewhere in the house. I hope I can find it, since it's not mine.

My wife bought me Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. And I bought Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. I've just finished reading The Da Vinci Code, and it's excellent. I think Dan Brown just might be one of my favourite authors of all time. Am currently reading Mr Murakami's book. And as with all of his books, I'm reading this one ever so slowly, to savour it.

Yup, I savour books. But only books by Haruki Murakami.

The Start of Something New

The last couple of weeks has been quite memorable. It started of with me picking my beloved from her apartment and sending her to the airport. A couple of days later, with the help of my best buddy, we drove to my beloved's hometown with my parents, where the next day, I was married. With just a simple sentence, I became someone's husband. The next couple of days was spent at my wife's hometown. Then, I had to fly back to my hometown to prepare for the wedding reception.

I would like to thank everyone who came to my wedding. I'm glad all of you came. Thanks so much.

The next morning, my in-laws came over for breakfast. Luckily for my wife and I, they came around 10am, so we managed to sleep a little longer. I mean that literally, of course. After breakfast, went to my aunty's house for lunch in KL. Then went to Subang Jaya at out mutual friend's house for tea.

The very next day, we went for our mini honeymoon...

Pain

A couple of weeks ago, my department was subjected to an ISO audit by 2 internal auditors. It went smoothly, well, not that smoothly, but it sailed, nonetheless. The thing is, the preparations we took for the audit was tremendous. We not only had to create procedures, and create forms to go with them, but we even had to clean our place. Which by the way, is something I don't do very often. But because of the upcoming audit, I actually cleaned out my workspace, and I've got to admit, I like the new look. At least my desk's not clustered with things anymore. Although I don't think the new look will last very long. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we.

Last weekend, had the worst toothache ever. And that was while helping my dad and my brother around the apartment. It hit me suddenly, the pain. Felt like punching the right side of my face to a pulp, just to drown out the pain. Seriously. After taking some medication for the pain, slept till after 9. Then, went to look for something to eat. But the pain started shortly after that. After a while, it was gone. Momentarily. It came back a while later, but somehow, I managed to sleep through the pain.

Don't mess with toothaches. Ever.

7 Seconds

Saw a Wesley Snipes' movie recently. 7 Seconds. Am not sure whether it was a new movie or an old one. But a colleague told me it was an old movie. Basically, the movie starts with the leading man sleeping with the leading lady. Then, immediately after that, they hijacked three armoured trucks full of money. Then, one thing lead to another, and suddenly, Snipes was in the hands of the bad guys. And as usual, he managed to kick his way out of whatever mess he's in. In the final confrontation, we see him and his sidekick battle about 20 to 30 bad guys. And win. Seriously.

I'm starting to find Snipes a bit boring. I mean, I like his fighting style. But his movies are getting to be just a bit too simple. And repetitive. I mean, in his movies now, he will certainly be captured by the bad guys. And as usual, he escapes. And as usual, someone will surely save his ass. Ooopppsss, am I allowed to write that. Anyway, 7 Seconds is ok, but like I said before, it's very predictable. And the storyline is the same. Whether its the Blade Trilogy, Art of War, 7 Seconds, or whatever, it's all the same. Nuff said. Peace. I'm out.

Malaysian Idol

Last night, I actually went to see Malaysian Idol in Shah Alam. Got tickets from my best buddy's sister. Thanks best-buddy's-sister! Anyway, yesterday was quite fun. Woke up around 10 something in the morning, then had a really delicious late breakfast consisting of nasi lemak with ayam rendang. And a mug of coffee, I think it was. Then, went out to pick up my pictures, and went and had a hair cut. Now I have really short hair. Almost like the army's buzz cut. Almost. After that, had a late lunch with my dad and niece. We had nasi beriyani... (and I wonder why I'm getting fatter, huh). After the late lunch, I took the LRT straight to Kelana Jaya, where my best buddy was waiting for me. It took me exactly 29 minutes from KLCC station to Kelana Jaya station. Luckily for me, I brought along Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. A very interesting novel, to say the least. It's about the Illuminati. And before I knew it, the 29 minutes journey ended as soon as it began. Cool huh.

After arriving at the station, we went to Starbucks. Had a Caramel Machiato. And my best buddy had something else. We were there with his friends. So, there we were, drinking coffee and talking. It was fun. Made new friends that evening. From there, went to Shah Alam. The Malaysian Idol studio is quite small actually. We managed to sit behind the judges. And I may have appeared on live television. After the show, went back home. It was a tiring day, but couldn't sleep, for some reason. Finally dozed off after 1.

Fantastic 4

On Saturday morning, woke up around 10-ish. The plan for the day was to clean out my room. And what that meant was, to take out all the boxes from my room, and to hide it all over the house. My brother came over to help, and so did a woman helper we call 'Aci'. We started shortly after Zuhur and ended around 6-ish. It was good hard work, with a lot of lifting. But after a while, that changed to dragging. As the boxes were getting heavier by the hour. After that, sent Aci back to her house, and bought some supplies.

That night, went out with my uni buddies and saw The Fantastic 4. I never really liked the comic. But the movie was, well, it was Fantastic! Seriously. A friend, and former room mate picked me up at home. And on the way back, we had a drink at a mamak stall near my house. We started talking about relationships, as he was trying to find the one for himself. It was good fun seeing the guys. Got back home after 12. And slept.

The next morning, went to KLIA and picked up my beloved. She went back home for the weekend to buy some very important stuff. After having a very late breakfast, we went straight to her apartment. Arrived there around 4-ish. Then, I started the journey back home, alone. It's getting very difficult for me to leave her there. Truly.

Jam-Packed KL

Had a hectic weekend. Picked up my beloved from her apartment on Friday, and went straight to KLCC. There, we brought along my wrapped gift. We went to the same counter man-woman to ask her to re-wrap the gift. The moment she-he saw me holding the gift, she-he said, "Did it tear, love?", and proceeded to take the gift from me. Then she-he said, "You go on now, walk around, and come back to get this, ok?". And as we were walking away, my beloved said, "Love?! Who does she-he thinks she-he is?!". I laughed and said, "But dear, she-he's not even a real woman". But that still didn't abate her anger.

While we were walking around, she said she wanted to get something for her niece, as her birthday was coming soon. So she bought a teddy bear for the birthday girl and the birthday girl's sister. And I bought my beloved a teddy-bunny. Yup, she wanted one as well. Then, she said she's been meaning to get me a new shirt, so we went to the men's section and she bought me a Snail's Original shirt. A red short sleeve shirt. Nice. Very nice.

After that, we took the gift from the counter man-woman and proceeded to go to Ampang Park for a pizza. It was after that, that the whole of KL was stuck in the biggest jam I've ever seen. No one was moving. Seriously. After ten minutes of moving ever so slowly, we went back into Ampang Park and took the LRT to KL Sentral, with her luggage. From there, we took the ERL to KLIA, where her flight was waiting. We just barely made it. By the time we got on the ERL, I was perspiring profusely. But it was all good.

After seeing her off, went back to KL, took the car from Ampang Park, and drove home. Had a bath, ate dinner, got dressed, and went to the office for a SAN exercise. It ended around 2 something in the morning. By then, I was dead tired. The vendors I was working with asked me whether I would like to join them for a drink at a nearby mamak stall, and I said I was too tired to. So I drove straight home, changed into shorts and a t-shirt and slept like a log.

Not Without Incident

Equilibrium

"No... not without incident!"

That scene truly defines the hero. Nuff said!

Funny & Cute

Patches

Last week, saw the darnest thing. My mother and I was sending my aunt and my cousin to the lift, to send them off. As the lift doors were opening, my aunt gave a small shriek. We saw that a cat was lying in the lift, minding its own business. My aunt was terrified of it. So, I went in the lift and started scratching the cat behind its ears. It started purring, and as I was then sure that it won't attack my aunt and cousin, I stepped out of the lift. It was funny. Seeing a cat lying in a lift, without a care in the world. Funny and cute. Just had to write about that.

Constantine

Finally saw Constantine till the end, yesterday evening. And I must say, I like the movie. A very interesting take on religion, on heaven and hell. Very very interesting. Besides that, I bought some new dvds. Who watches vcds any more, anyway? Not me, for one. Hehehe. Like my brother once said, "Once you've watched dvds, you won't settle for anything less". And he's right. Now, I watch only crystal clear dvds. I bought Sin City but haven't had the time to actually watch it yet.

Am currently reading Mr Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart. And as usual, am reading it ever so slowly, so I wouldn't finish it too fast. Yesterday was hectic. More hectic than usual. Because of the SAN exercise I was involved in on Saturday night, the HIS database was down for the weekend. So on Monday morning, most of my colleagues were asking me when the database would be up and running. And while I was working to get the database up, I had to attend a meeting, and had to see to another server which wasn't running as well.

Yup, it was pretty hectic. Finally managed to get the HIS database up and running before lunch, as promised. And managed to solve the other server's problem. Alhamdulillah.

S l e e p y I n K L

Went home after Subuh on Sunday. But before heading home, went for breakfast with a colleague of mine and the vendors. We ate at Dhurbar's. Then drove home to find that my family were still sleeping. So went about my business quietly. Phoned my beloved before going to bed that morning. And as usual, while sleeping, got a couple of phone calls. The first one was a number I didn't recognised. I was so sleepy then, that I unconsciously hung up on the caller. Then my beloved phoned, wondering whether I was already awake. After that, my best buddy phoned to ask me to accompany him to sell off his scooter. I told him that I just got back home from the office and needed sleep badly.

I finally woke up around 11am. I was quite refreshed by then. After showering, mopped the house, then went to 7-e to get some stuff. After that, had an early lunch and waited for my mum's friends to come to the house to discuss some stuff. When they arrived, they had a late lunch and after that, one of them took my measurements for a new baju melayu.

At around 3 something, went to KLCC to meet up with my best buddy. We walked around and chatted about the usual stuff. Then, we went looking for a few items I was looking for. Found most of it, and bought some of it. After that, went to Starbucks for some snacks. I had the apple crumble while my best buddy had cheesecake. They were delicious.

Then went home around 7. My brother came by to the house later that night and gave my dad a cap and a card, signed by his wife and their daughter. I got my dad a collared t-shirt and a card.

Vampire Scream

Am currently in the office, and dead tired. Started my Saturday by waking early in the morning to have an english breakfast at my office's newly renovated cafetaria with my parents and niece. I had a turkey-and-cheese sandwich with coffee. And it was truly delicious. I'm not trying to promote my office's cafetaria, but it is really nice, and you ought to try it. After that, went shopping for stuff with my family. Then, after much shopping, they had a light meal while I only had two glasses of sugarcane juice.

After sending them home, went straight to Astro to pick up an old friend of mine. Then, we shot to Bangi for our friend's wedding reception. Luckily, we managed to sit down with the groom, while eating, because we were extremely hungry by then. Sent my friend back to Astro for his car, and went home. There, managed to changed into something different and went out again with my dad. We went to KLCC to catch Mr and Mrs Smith but ended up with Pontianak Menjerit or Vampire Scream.

Yes, I actually queued up to buy movie tickets for that kind of movie. And yes, I'll admit it,I did have fun watching it. I mean, at first, when I bought the tickets, I thought that I would just sleep throughout the movie so I won't suffer. But then I thought again, my dad wanted to see it, so the least I could do was to try to like the movie, and to not have preconceived ideas about the movie.

As we were walking towards TGV, my dad said that we must support the malaysian movie industry, because if we won't do it, no one will. He continued by saying that if we support it enough, the movie industry might actually become bigger and better. With better movies. I can only hope. But in the end, I truly enjoyed the movie. Shame on me.

After the movie, went for dinner at Asian Flavours, and met up with my mum and her friends. Then headed straight home. But before that, I managed to buy Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart. Just wanted a new book desperately.

Currently in the office, we are connecting the new ILMS server to the Storage Area Network. And we would have to format some disks. This is because we are taking some storage space from the old server, called E3500.

B A T M A N

Am quite sleepy at the moment. Saw Batman Begins last night with my best buddy. Yesterday, after work, waited at home for him to pick me up. Suprisingly, when we reached KLCC around 7 something, the queue in TGV wasn't all that long. So, after a few minutes of waiting in line, and making remarks about people around us, and laughing about it, we got to the counter, and bought two tickets. After that, had an early dinner. While walking towards the table with a tray of food, suddenly I heard my name being called. I heard someone called out "EL! EL!". I looked around and saw my brother's friend. A composer. So, after setting my food at my table, I scooted back to my brother's friend's table. He was with another composer. So, there I was, chatting with two renowned composers. Cool, huh.

Now, about the movie. I think it's one of the best Batman movies ever made (so far). It managed to capture the essence of Batman. It goes to show how Bruce Wayne became Batman, and how he learned the martial arts to perfection. And his nemesis in the movie is someone who might not be as famous as 'the Joker', or even 'the Riddler'. His name is Ras Al Ghul. And another enemy that's in the movie is Dr. Crane. Or Dr. Ichabod Crane. If you still don't know his other persona, then go watch the movie, you Batman-fan-wannabe. Hehehe...

And another thing that I noticed about the movie was, its loosely based on the graphic novel "Batman, Year 1". It has Commisioner Loeb, and Detective Flass. But the James Gordon in the movie is not as physical as the one in the graphic novel, where he single handedly beat the crap out of a bigger Detective Flass armed with a baseball bat.

I seriously love the movie. Because I've been a fan ever since my brother bought me my first Batman graphic novel. And he's bought me a couple more Batman graphic novels and merchandise ever since. Thanks bro. If it weren't for you, I would be collecting Senario's merchandise instead.

Movie Reviews

Just read through this blog http://www.verskinny.blogspot.com/ looking for the movie reviews that I asked for. For those of you who loves movies like I do, ought to drop by the blog for movie reviews. You can even request any movie reviews that you might want to see, or just for an opinion from Mr. Skinnee. Am now interested to watch Four Brothers. If you want to know why, then scoot on over to that blog.

Last night, my best buddy came over to my house for dinner. Then we went to Melawati to meet up with my uni friends. We arrived half an hour earlier than the agreed time, and just sat there, drinking iced tea and chatting. When my friend arrived, he said that we have to go to Sri Gombak to meet up with his other friends. So off we went. But before we left Melawati, I bumped into a shopkeeper who remembered me from when I stayed in Melawati in form 4.

Once in Sri Gombak, sat and listened to an MLM business plan involving prepaid cards. The plan seemed ok, but am not interested, because I just heard about an even better plan. So, might look into that.

Today, my colleagues are going for an interview for a permanent post. There are five of them, plus another roughly fifteen other candidates, fighting for three openings. I wish them luck. Good luck, people!

I'm currently listening to Michael Buble's Sway. And I seriously like this song. I'm actually moving my hips in time with the music. Cute, huh. Anyway, last week, I was quite suprised by a number of events happening, almost at the same time. First of all, one of my uni friend messaged me to say that her grandmother was admitted into ICU. I tried to contact her after that but to no avail. I went passed the ICU ward a couple of times but couldn't see any of her relatives that I recognised. And I didn't know her grandmother's name, so I couldn't actually ask the nurses for her. Then finally I managed to contact her, and she said she would be at the hospital during visiting hours. I managed to see her grandmother. After that, spent a couple of minutes talking to my friend. I was quite worried for her, because she was very close to her grandmother. But I know she's strong. Very strong. Her grandmother passed away on Friday morning. Al-Fatihah.

On Thursday morning, got an sms from a very old friend. Actually, she was the daughter of my parent's friends. So, I got to know her when they had an open house years ago. That was when I was still in secondary school. But we still contacted each other all these years. She went to Ireland to do medicine. I went to Bangi to do IT. So, she was saying, she was meeting up with another mutual friend, and she wanted me to join them, as I haven't seen my other friend in ages, as well. So I said, definitely! But, there was a small thing to consider. I had to attend my cousin's tahlil. So, I told my friend that I would be free after that, but I would be with my parents. So, since both my friends were familiar with my parents, the three of us, (my parents and I) went to meet up with the two of them. It was fun. We talked, listened and talked some more.

Then, on the next day, which was on a Friday, went for breakfast at the main cafetaria, and my cashier friend told me that her sister, whom I know from my old office, has given birth to a healthy baby boy. She even told me which room she was in. So, that morning, after the monthly deparmental meeting, I went straight to the room where she was in. There, I met her and her husband, both of whom were my colleagues in my previous office. It was extremely good to see them and their baby. I haven't seen them in ages. Seriously.

So, that was what happened last week. Met up with a few really old friends.

Sleep.... sleep.... sleep....

On Saturday afternoon, my Mum and my niece went to Sabah. They went with their friends. My Mum with her friend, and my niece with her friend. After office, went to a new mamak place to have lunch with my Dad. The beriyani was nice. Then, slept at home all afternoon. Went to Desa Pandan for our dinner. After that, I went to the office for an exercise on the Pharmacy database. But lo and behold, the network was down, so I couldn't do anything. The network was down because they were trying to fix the network. So, there I was, sitting around and watching them do their network thingie. Then, around 4 in the morning, the network was up, so I quickly transferred the data over into the server, and started the procedure that would update the database. After that was done, had to go to a client PC and update from there as well. After successfully implementing the update (I hope it was successful, anyway), went back to my desk to wait till morning before driving back home. As I was about to surf the internet, the network was down, once again. So, I just slept, sitting in my chair, and waited for Subuh.

After the Subuh prayer, drove back home, checked on my Dad, and since he was still sleeping, went into my room and slept like a log. That was around 7 in the morning. As I was sleeping, my phone rang. It was my Dad. He didn't know where I was. I think I mumbled something into the phone and went back to sleep. After a few hours, my phone rang, yet again. And when I checked, it was already 11.30 in the morning. It was my beloved. That really perked me up. Although I spoke to her in my 'sexy-just-woke-up' voice, I was actually quite awake. But she insisted that I go back to sleep. Which I did. But around 12.30 in the afternoon, my phone rang, yet again. It was a friend of mine asking whether I was going with him to our friend's wedding. I said I was. So, I sat down, feeling groggy, and managed to stand without falling back down.

I then realised that my Dad wasn't at home. He must have gone out, I thought. As I was about to take a bath, my Mum phoned from Sabah. She said she was having a fun time, and that my Dad was out, buying groceries. Amazing, huh. My Mum from Sabah seemed to know more about what was going on in the house than me. So, anyway, after the shower, I waited for my friends to pick me up.

The wedding itself was simple and nice. My friend looked lovely beside her husband. And beside her brother and his wife. After eating nasi minyak twice (I was hungry like crazy by then), we went to see the couple, and after taking some pictures, left the place.

Midori

Yesterday, went to Amcorp Tower in PJ to pick up my certificate for attending one Oracle training. Made an appointment with the guy, but when I reached his office, the people there said he wasn't around, and they weren't aware that I was coming. So, I waited for them to find my cert. While waiting, I read Norwegian Wood. Luckily for me, I bring a book to read anywhere I go. So I didn't mind waiting. About the book, I like the character Midori, the most. She's cute, adorable and extremely naughty. The last part's the reason I like her so much. Midori is the hero's best female friend, well, one of his platonic friends, at least.

Speaking of which, I used to have a couple of close female friends along the years. The first one I think would be the one I had in uni. We used to meet up everyday and chat about stuff. We used to go out for movies too. I liked her as a friend, but I don't think we could have been a couple. I don't know why, but I just wasn't attracted to her that way. Then one day, we broke up, as friends, I mean. Or, actually, I just stopped contacting her, after uni. This was after I found out she was telling people that I broke up with my then girlfriend to be with her, which wasn't true. She told everyone she was shocked that I would do a thing like that. I was like, whuh?! So, since then, I stopped contacting her. The last I heard, she was working in KL, but that was a couple of years ago.

Then, I got close to a blogger friend. I really liked her as a friend. I still do, actually. But things were made complicated by certain things, which I won't elaborate here. The thing is, I really appreciate her friendship, and I for one, do not want to lose that friendship. We used to be quite close. Now, it's as if, we are living in different worlds. I still care for her as a friend, and I would still go to her blog and leave comments there, and that's about it, for us, as friends.

Then, last night, something happened which made me feel confused and sad. I seriously don't know what I did wrong to get blasted the way I did. I didn't even say those things to that person, but apparently to her, I did. I still feel hurt by that. I just hope she can find it in her heart to forgive me.

After getting the cert from Oracle yesterday, went to KLCC to claim my DVD Player for signing up for a credit card. And while on the way through KLCC, I passed the concourse and saw that they were having a promotion on Armani's perfume. There, I smiled to myself as I recalled something which happened a few years ago. I was with my best buddy, and KLCC was promoting another perfume at the concourse.

And as we were crossing the concourse, a sales guy approached us and started his sales pitch. He was on the soft side. After telling us of the offer, he suddenly leaned closer to us and said something which my best buddy thought was "nak f**k", meaning "wanna f**k". My best buddy was shocked but when he saw that I didn't react to that, he knew the guy said something else. After that, I told my best buddy what he actually said, and we laughed like crazy about that. And in the end, neither of us bought the perfume. Better luck next time, dude.

Star Wars 3 : Revenge of the Sith

Went and saw Star Wars Episode 3 : Revenge of the Sith last week. It was on a Thursday night. It was fun, hanging out with my old uni buddies. After Isyak, went straight to a friend's house in Taman Melawati. From there, we went to Desa Melawati in his car to pick up our other friend whose car was dead, due to him leaving the lights on for 7 straight hours. After having a light supper, which consists of maggi goreng mamak for me, mee goreng mamak for my friend, and roti canai for my other friend, went and tried to jump start his car by using my other friend's car. After a few tries, we managed to get it to run. Then, we drove to his apartment, where he took a bath (I think) and changed into clean clothes, as opposed to the sweat soaked shirt he was wearing previously. After that, we went to one other Taman to pick up his friend.

It was around 11pm at that time, so we made haste and went to MidValley. But along the way, we got lost. But we still managed to arrived at half past 11. There, met up with more uni friends. And one of them brought his fiancee along. While chatting with them, I saw a girl walking past us, and I thought that she looked darn familiar. Then it hits me, that was my cousin's friend! So, I excused myself from the group (I did no such thing!), and proceeded to go towards her. She was with an Indian guy. But as I reached them, the guy went to get some popcorn. So, we started talking, while waiting for the guy to return. She said that we always seem to be bumping into each other in the cinema. After a while, the guy came back and I introduced myself as eL. I think he said his name was Viyan. I can't be sure.

So, after chatting with them for a few more minutes, we said our goodbyes and I went back to the group, only to be stopped by my old school friend. He said he saw me from afar and thought I looked familiar. He said he was with some other Johannians, but by that time, we were running late, so I told him to sent my regards, and scooted off with my uni friends.

The movie was quite a disappointment for me. I like the story line, and the fight scenes are amazing, but there wasn't any climax. Or if there was, it was so gradual that you didn't feel the impact of it. I was waiting for the climax throughout the whole movie, but alas, I was deprived of that one thing that I sought for most. I like the parts where Obi Wan Kenobi fought General Grievious, Mace Windu fought Darth Sidious, and the fight between Yoda and Darth Sidious.

Overall, it was a good movie. But nothing great. They did explain how all the jedis were killed, and why Yoda and Obi Wan were the only two surviving Jedis. And they even went and put in Chewbacca, Han Solo's buddy. But no Han Solo or his parents. Odd, to say the least. Well, not odd, just another lose end.

Kuala Lumpur City Centre

Am currently in the office. I came in this morning to start an export of the ILMS database. Then, I went to KLCC with my best buddy for lunch at Chillies. I had Monterey Chicken while he had Mushroom Jack. And for appetisers, we had, what was it called, I can't remember, but it was filling, to say the least. It had this nachos with cheese and pieces of meat. I still can't remember its name. It might come to me, eventually. I hope.

Anyway, after lunch, went to Kinokuniya when suddenly, everyone is looking for me. By everyone, I mean my colleague and my boss. I phoned my colleague to ask about the problem. And he said that the users have been complaining about unable to access the ILMS database. Then I told him that I restricted their access because I was exporting the database. I said it the export wouldn't mean anything if the users are still using it, while the export is going on. Then he said that he thought today's exercise was just a test run. It isn't a test run, I told him.

Then he gave me some of the users who complained and I told him I'll phone them directly to inform them about the exercise. The users were polite, and were willing to wait patiently (I hope) till Monday morning at 6.00 am. I told them that after 6.00 am Monday morning, the system would be up and running (I hope, yet again).

So now, here I am, just copied the dump file over into the new server, waiting for the copying to be over. Waiting. Still waiting.

It was good to meet up with my best buddy. We seldom meet up nowadays. He's busy travelling Malaysia, while I'm busy with work in the hospital. He told me about his latest love interest. And as always, it was interesting. Hope something will bloom with this one.

Bumped into my cousin at KLCC. She was with her boyfriend, and both of them looked suprised to see me, and embarassed. But with their hand firmly clasping each others. They look good together. They said they just finished watching Kingdom Of Heaven, and they recommended it highly. Will try to find the DVD, since I'm sure I won't have the time to see it in the cinema.

Norwegian Wood

Finally bought Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood and am reading it slowly to savour its rich aroma of surreal writing. I absolutely love the way Mr Murakami writes. Seriously. Am planning to watch Star Wars Episode 3 : Revenge of the Sith next week. It looks promising, but I hope it won't be a disappointment like the first one was.

My plans this weekend is work, and more work. Actually, I'm currently in the office. Tonight, we are going to update the Pharmacy's MIMS' database. So, here I am now, around 6 hours earlier, because we need to do a backup before we do anything to the database. If you are wondering, MIMS is a database where we get a list of all the medicine that we have, and the interaction that happens between drugs. Neat, huh!

Then, tomorrow, we are going to work on the ILMS database. This is the system where doctors order lab tests such as blood tests, and cholestrol tests. We are going to migrate the database over from the old IBM server to the new IBM server. Hope everything goes well. Been working with an Australian guy for this exercise. He reminds me of Johann, my cousin. I think all Australians are alike. The way they talk, and the way they make jokes. Being serious about something, but actually joking about it.

XXX2 : The Next Level

Saw XXX2 : The Next Level. Thought it was Vin Diesel. Was quite disappointed when I found out the new XXX was Ice Cube. I mean, I like Ice Cube as an actor. But he's not Vin Diesel. He's not even The Rock. But the movie was seriously action-packed. Saw the movie with my dad, and he really enjoyed the movie. To tell the truth, I enjoyed the movie too. But I would have preferred it more if Vin Diesel was XXX. Oh well, Can't have everything, right.

I am currently reading J. G. Ballard's Super-Cannes. Courtesy of my brother. Thanks bro. It's quite an interesting read. Am in the middle of it. And am planning to buy another Haruki Murakami book. Miss reading his books. Might buy Norwegian Wood. Haven't bought a book in ages.

Moving along, work is fine. Pretty much the same. Am taking leave this Friday, for personal reasons. So, I have to finish up my workload before going on the one-day holiday. And have to study at the same time, because I have an exam next week. Three papers.

Skype!

I've just heard about a new thing called Skype! I don't know how to pronounce it. Some people say it rhymes with 'hype'. And others say it rhymes with 'pee'. I don't know. The only thing I do know is that it helps me a lot with my work. Last week, while I was undergoing my induction course, in the evenings, I would receive conference calls via Skype. And it's free! So, there I was, wearing the headphones with the mic, and talking away to a someone in Singapore. And the connection is clear, with no static whatsoever.

So today, I took Skype one step further. I bought some air time, in order for me to dial other numbers via Skype. And it works. It really does work. And I am satisfied. Now I can call anywhere, anytime, via my computer. Isn't that sweet. I know VoIP is an old thing. But I'm still excited about it. And I think you ought to think about it too.

I just can't find the time to blog nowadays. It's not that I'm extremely busy, I mean, everyone's busy, right. But it's just that, I didn't have the right mood for it, I guess. Now, I am trying very hard to write something here, since one of the reason for this blog, is to improve my writing skill. I am now undergoing my induction course here in the office. And it has been quite interesting, so far. On Monday, there was this freelance motivator, he gave a talk on 'values'. He was so funny, I bursted out laughing till I cried. Seriously. Too bad he only has that one slot to share with us. Met a few old aquaintances, and made some new ones. But it isn't over yet. Tomorrow is the final day, and on Saturday is the exam. Wish me luck, ya, people. Well, gotta go. The course is about to start.

Before I leave, a very dear friend of mine is in the Lion City at the moment, and I hope she's having a wonderful time there. I left a comment in her blog, and I wonder if she knows who I was talking about. Oh well. Take care, dear friend. And do have a safe journey back to Malaysia. :)

The past few days was quite uneventful. On Saturday, went to KLIA to pick up my parents and niece. They went to Sabah for a week. In the car, my mother was regaling me with tales from the Land Above The Clouds. It was fun. They went with two of my mother's friends, and their respective family members. My mother was saying how I should have gone with them. And I was tempted to, I mean, before they went. But then again, I seldom see my beloved, so I opted to miss out on the trip to Sabah, and went for a trip to Pahang, instead. They bought me a shirt from Sabah and a mother-of-pearl bracelet for my beloved. Spent the rest of the weekend at home, chatting with my parents.

On Sunday, a friend asked me to go to the F1 circuit for the concert, but I had to decline, since I wanted to spend time with my parents, and my niece. But saw the race on the tele with my father, and we were quite suprised by the results. Way to go, Renault! And way to go Toyota! In the evening, my brother came over to see my parents. And there we were, sitting around the dining table, listening to our parents talking about their adventures over in Sabah. All over Sabah, actually. The next time they are going, I'm going with them.

Work today was quite hectic, and this was only in the morning. Then, at around 11am, a former classmate of mine phoned and said that she was here to see me, with a friend of hers. By former classmate, I mean the Oracle training we attended last year. She's currently working in Time, and wanted a change, so she was here to ask me about the job opening here. She came with her husband and their 3 year old son, and her friend came with her husband. We spent an hour talking about the position, and the questions likely to be asked if they were shortlisted to be interviewed.

Now, time for lunch. I might or might not continue after this. We'll just have to see, won't we. Till then, tooddles!

I went to ASEAN Avaya Connect 2005 yesterday at Hilton Kuala Lumpur. They were talking about VoIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol. It was quite an interesting seminar, with speakers from all over the world talking about VoIP. They were talking about IP telephony, migrating to Converged Communication, and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). It was all very interesting, but it still didn't stop me going nodding off and at certain points in the seminar, happily sleeping. And I even managed to have some dreams. After one of these fitful sleep, I woke up to find a lady and a man sleeping in the row in front of me. I nudged my colleagues and we had a good laugh. By the way, that was before the first morning break.

During the break, a colleague told me that she was suprised to see me asleep, because she thought I was concentrating on the seminar. She said, "You can sleep with your head straight, huh". "Yes, can't you?". Well, that was that. The food was nice. We had a morning break, lunch, and tea. So, what we did, or what I did was to eat, sleep and mingle with the crowd. Met a few old aquaintances, and made some new ones. It was fun.

After that, went to a shopping mall I never knew existed. Went there with a colleague right after the seminar. It was a nice place to shop. But nothing out of the ordinary, really. I don't think I would bring my beloved there, anyway.

Speaking of my beloved. Picked her up on Saturday morning, and we had a few fun filled days. On Sunday, went to Tampin for a wedding. We went to all our usual haunts. And ate at almost the same places. It was fun, actually it was more than fun. It was fun-tastic! And now that I've sent her back to her hometown, I'm not really in the mood for anything, other than being with her. Yup, in the kind of mood at the moment. Don't mind me. Just blowing off steam.

Am wanting to watch Constantine but haven't had the chance. Hope I can go see it soon. Looks promising, don't you think.

Aliens

Last week was one of the worst weeks of my life. With only a couple of phone calls, I felt extremely alienated. It's not a feeling I like, at all! I was quite depressed by it. But, somehow, we managed to settle the disagreement, which was a relief for me. Just wanted to get that off my chest. My big hairy chest.

Am currently reading Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas. Just started recently. It's an interesting book. But it reeks too much of Koontz's Midnight thingie series. It has that same atmosphere. But it's a good read, so far.

Been busy with work, lately. I have this database which I need to take care of. And it's been quite hectic, with other things to do. But it's fun. I like being busy, because if I don't have anything to do, I'll be tidying up my place, which is still in a mess, but not as bad as before.

Things To Be Said

I am currently reading Iain Bank's Dead Air. Quite a good book, actually. It's about a radio DJ who has problems with women. Actually, I wouldn't call it a problem. It's more like a gift. It's funny, the book. Bought it cheap at Alamanda, Putrajaya. Was there with my beloved. I picked her up from her place and spent the next few days with her before sending her off to KLIA. Now she's back there. Sad, am I. :(

Am busy with work this past week. Just settled three of them. A gazillion more to go. Actually, can't say I've finished the third one, because that is an ongoing process which will probably never end, although it might slow down once the project has finished. Well, have to get started on the next one.

But before that, let me just type a few more sentences, then I'll be on my way. Am feeling quite down at the moment. It's not the workload, it's about something else. Something that just doesn't feel right. How is it that I feel differently about one big issue enveloping me at the moment? I mean, at one time, I would look at it from this perspective, then, at other times, I would see it from another point of view. And it's not helping. I wish I had someone to talk to about this. But the thing is, I seldom talk to other people about my problems. Even to my beloved. I don't know why, but I find it difficult to express myself in front of people. Once in a while, I would just dump everything on an unsuspecting soul, but even then I wouldn't or couldn't tell the person the whole story. It's just the way I am, I guess. But sometimes, just sometimes, I find I can't carry the burden anymore, and I would just sag in my chair and feel tired. Really really exhausted. I still wouldn't tell a soul, though. Sometimes I would. But very very seldom.

Well, that was me telling the world (or whoever reads this blog, anyway) about my problems. Although it's very cryptic and all that, it sort of helps, I guess, to let it all out, well, not all, but at least a bit. A really tiny bit. Thanks for listening. Appreciate it.

Marche

Just got back from PD. We had a workshop there on ISO. It's no small feat, to get certified. That much I know. Each department presented their procedures, and a consultant gave comments on the procedures. Other people started giving comments and asking questions, until somebody said that we wouldn't be able to finish discussing the procedures if there were too many questions. So after that, we manage to sail smoothly. Not that smoothly, but almost. I presented department's procedures, and there were a few questions raised. I answered what I could, and my colleague and my boss would back me up whenever I stumbled. It was an experience, to say the least. But I guess I'm getting used to being asked irrelevant and hostile questions whenever people know that I'm from the IT department. Only when we present stuff that this happens. We stayed at Corus Paradise. And I have to say that I was impressed. The hotel is seriously beautiful. And the room is nice. Seriously nice. But the food is mediocre. I was quite disappointed with the buffet spread.

Yesterday went to the Curve at Bandar Utama to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday. We bought her a perfume she wanted. How did we know she wanted that perfume? Well, my mum asked her. It was Polo Ralph Lauren's Romance. At the Curve, we had a late lunch at Marche (pronounced Mar-shay). It's a new concept for me. The whole restaurant is made to look like a marketplace, where they have everything from steaks, to salads, to tom yam mee. And all we have to do is to get a Marche passport, then proceed to any stall, order what we want, get our passport stamped, wait while they prepare the food, then proceed to walk back to the table with the food. Like I said, it's a new thing for me. The food there is nice. I had a bowl of salad, ribeye steak, carrot juice, and orange juice. Thanks bro.

Resurrection

Am currently reading Mr King's Bag of Bones. And once again, it is one of King's greatest. Not that I've read lots of his books, but I've read a couple, and I feel this is one of the best. It's so good, I can't read fast enough. Seriously. I kid you not. I actually jump a few paragraphs just to know what happens next, then I would start from the top of the page again. Weird, huh. Well, this is another book I can't put down.

Mr. King's Desperation is a good read. A really good read. Sad, though. With a happy ending. If you can call that a happy ending. It ends happily for the readers, though. But not for the characters. Weird, yet again.

I am a year older. Am I wiser? Am I more mature then before? Have I changed for the better? I don't know, though I hope I have. There are a few things I need to change about myself. Well, actually, there are lots of things I need to change about myself. Lots! And I need to start now. Slowly, yet surely. It must be done.

My parents bought me a model ship. And I love it. I always thought of getting one. Thanks mum and dad. Actually, it's mak and abah. Heheh. And my brother said he's bought me Mr Murakami's Wild Sheep Chase. Thanks brother, AbangIs. And thanks Kak Nana for the picture message. Though I'm still waiting for the real presents. Hehehe...

And thanks so much for everyone who wished me via sms, e-cards, and all the other modes of communication. Really appreciate them. :)

By the way, the entry entitled Patches was just a test. I just wanted to see what it looks like to put a picture in my blog using Flickr. I might start putting pictures in here. Though I won't be putting naked pictures of myself in here. Sorry ladies.