Many many things to talk about and post about so I’ll do this in bits and pieces! I’m only free to write again because it’s only the 2nd week of August, but I’ve managed to fulfil and gone beyond my monthly KPI! 
(We have to do 4 programs a month, I’ve got 10 racked up!)
“Females With Expensive (Coffee) Tastes”
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The other day, Sifoo Wong asked me, “Eh, why do females like to go to those expensive coffee places to eat? Like, one cup of coffee is RM4, but at the kopitiam you can get it for less than RM1.” At first, I thought he was talking about Starbucks / Coffee Bean / the ilk, because to ME, those are the “expensive” coffee places. So I denied that all females are like that and that he was over-generalising. In the end, he was talking about places like Old Town Kopitiam, Papparich, etc. Hahaha! And in that case, I have to say I’m guilty as charged. It’s not to say that I dislike cheap places or I’m haughty and picky about the places that I eat at, but it’s actually RARE to find those cheap kopitiams nowadays. :p Besides, if I’m alone, I would prefer to sit in air-conditioned Old Town than to sweat it out in a kopitiam, reading my books. It’s usually cleaner, nicer choices, you actually have a menu (and not something pasted on the wall, written in chinese on some mahjong paper)… Why do YOU like those places? 
Further irony comes in the form of L bringing me to Papparich the day after Sifoo Wong mentioned it. And now I like Papparich soooo much as well. Heheheh. The variety of noodles there are very good! By the way, I would say that I prefer Papparich, followed by Lorong Seratus Tahun (in Taipan, USJ) and I would not go to the Old Town in USJ if possible. I think there’s something wrong with the food in that branch.
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“GPS Problems”
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For my dad’s birthday, my sister bought my dad a birthday present. A Garmin GPS navigator! Like all men, my father was very happy with his new toy, but my sister suspected that he actually didn’t use it very much, and was only using it to “syiok sendiri” whenever the GPS navigator is able to tell him how to get from Subang Parade to my house. -___- (it’s like 10 minutes distance only). Therefore, my sister came up with a plan to find a restaurant that is really REALLY far away, and then have my dad lead everyone to that restaurant. The place? Somewhere in Kampung Subang la (near the Subang Airport).
On an auspicious Sunday night, my sis & bro-in-law came over to the house, and unbeknownst to me, there was some conflict happening in the car where my mom, dad and brother were in (sis & bro-in-law was trailing in the beemer behind us). I didn’t know what was going on earlier as my dad asked me to re-park my car. When I finally go into the car, there was some shouting going on. What happened was that my dad asked my bro to key in the address into the GPS, and my brother refused to because he was of the thinking that my dad should do EVERYTHING as this was supposed to be a familiarisation task for my dad. My dad just yelled at Andrew, which of coz made my younger brother pissed off.
Then my dad also was cheesed off, so he started driving towards Kampung Subang, but we still hadn’t keyed in the coordinates into the GPS. As luck would have it, the address that my sister gave us was not recognised by the GPS, and it pointed us to some place in Kuching, zomg. -__- Me and brother were frantically trying to find the place, and then I called my sis to get more clues on what to do, my father shouted at me also (I am SO innocent and ‘mou ku’ ok!) because I said, “Maybe we should stop at the side and figure this out instead of continuing to drive…” and my dad shouted, “I’M ON THE HIGHWAY NOW LA!!!” wtf..
Anyway, my bro-in-law claimed that he would know the way to the place from the Monterrezzo (sp?) golf course, so we could key in Monterrezzo instead. Luckily, the GPS knew, and then we were well on our way. My mom refused to hold on to the GPS (she was seated in the passenger seat) and my dad had no way to put the GPS in front, so I, at the backseat, had to hold it up. My dad is super paranoid and scolding the GPS all the way, e.g:
“In 110 meters, make a left.”
“F@#$ GPS, how do I know how much is 110 meters?”
Then I would have to be HUMAN GPS and count down for him, ie: “110 meters, 100 meters, 90 meters, 80.. 70… 60.. 50.. 40.. turn turn start turning nowwwwww!!”
For 40 minutes!
The ironic thing is that on the way to the golf course, we passed by the road that looked like the address that LY had given to us earlier. But we followed the initial plan to go to the golf course first. In the end, indeed the restaurant was located at the address we passed by. So we drove an additional 30 minutes for NOTHING. Hahaha.
After the excursion, I think it made my dad HATE the GPS! Because Andrew became so angry at him, and I re-told this story at the dinner table and kept saying that I got scolded for no reason. Hehehe… well, I hope that it doesn’t deter my dad from the GPS! I think he can take it with him to Penang! (My parents like to go there during school holidays.)
As for the dinner, my brother-in-law paid for the seafood, and it was pretty darn good. 
I also bought a bottle of Choya to be shared with everyone. Choya was introduced to me by L, and it’s a wee bit like the fruit enzyme thing that everyone is very much into. The RM95 bottle I got from Shojikaya was just enough for the 6 of us, with exactly one umeshu per person. Good for digestion…
Choya! I wants more of you!
Simple kangkong belacan
The restaurant’s “jiu pai” spare ribs.
Steamed crab!! Long time haven’t eaten crab, so this was super syiok. 
Tofu and “tau kan”
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iWhore
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L got himself and iPad, and as cool and nifty as it looks, as tempted as I am to get it… I shall not! Cos I really don’t have a use for it. What I need right now is a laptop that I can do programming on, and I don’t think I can do that on an iPad. iPad is good for people who want to surf on the go, listen to music (it’s like a giant iPod video), read eBooks, give very personal presentations (your clients will have to sit very near to you, no?), but I still need a laptop! A laptop can do all that and more. But I do agree with L when he says that Apple changes and challenges the convention of things.
I’m not an Apple fan or hater, but this is just my two cents about it. And also, trying to make those Apple fans jealous by posting this pic, hahaha:
[[That's me reading some free comic L downloaded called 'Bottle of Awesome' or something like that]]
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Inception // Despicable Me // Predators
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That’s basically 3 movies that I watched recently. Predators is so-so.. unbelievable that Adrien Brody is acting in an action flick like this. And Laurence Fishburne too, actually. Anyway, maybe he wants to increase his acting repotoire. Nothing super good about the show, and by the way, the twist is so NOT a twist la. You so know that the doctor must have some kinda psychosis, otherwise, why would he be on the same alien planet as them!
Despicable Me was watched in 3D, and it was the first time that I watched a 3D movie in the cinema. Short 3d flicks in places like Disneyland or Seapark doesn’t count cos it’s only for 30 minutes or so. It’s a very cute movie, and I think I cried, hahaha. The funniest part for me was not the “It’s So Fluffyyyyyy!” part, but the part where our wannabe-villain sticks his nose in to make it a pretend unicorn’s horn. Hahahahaa! So cuteeee la.
Also, thanks to United International Pictures, I won the original soundtrack to the movie! Haven’t synced it to my iPod yet, but will do so soon. I’m *really* slow in syncing songs to my iPod because I’m always downloading new stuff. I rarely use my CD drive! It took me nearly 1 year to sync in DMB’s “Big Whiskey & The Googrux King” album … and I FREAKING LOVE THAT CD now!! Hahaha, got a lot of nice songs, but still slowly appreciating it now…
Again off-topic before I continue with movie reviews, but I also won an Elizabeth Arden perfume from a Cleo contest! Sooooo happy with that, because I remember dropping off the contest form and I was thinking that I SO SHOULD WIN THIS! Because I’ve always been a great supporter of Elizabeth Arden’s green tea range… seriously, it was my go-to perfume for work (it is now some Victoria’s Secret perfume). Not like Elizabeth Arden knows about my ARDENT passion for their perfume, but I think it’s justified that I can now try the latest perfume in their green tea range. ;p
Ok! Now about Inception! A lot of people are comparing it to The Matrix, solely because they are both movies about alternate universes / realities. And they say that Inception is far better, but may I say that I still prefer the Matrix? And no, not because of Keanu Reeves? I just think the whole storyline of the Matrix was way way way way way more fully fledged out compared to Inception (of course, unfair comparison as Matrix had 3 movies). Even Christopher Nolan admits to borrowing a lot of ideas from other movies, so in fact, Nolan borrows terminology from Matrix, Matrix is still the original lah. ;p
As for the ending, I have to say “hanging endings for you to come up with your own ending” is so overdone. I won’t be one of those people who keep on debating and debating over what REALLY happens at the last few minutes of the movie because that is a (dare I say it?) cheap trick that the director uses to make his movie so “talked about”. Basically, you come up with something you feel happy about, and that’s that la. I like happy endings, so I choose to believe that Leonardo’s totem will fall over at the end. Because if it doesn’t, then what?
-> he is still in the lowest realm of dream states, his mind is lost, super duper unhappy ending.
OR
-> he did come out, but as it is still spinning, it means that all this is a dream (indeed it IS a dream.. it’s Nolan’s dream. After all, where do you find dream extractor and inceptors in reality?)
Anyway, case close for me. Still, very good acting from everyone, all around. Love to see how Joseph Gordon-Levitt has grown since his “3rd Rock from the Sun” days. ;p I used to have a poster of “Tommy” on my bedroom wall! XD
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Martha Stewart Yet Again!
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I did so much cooking recently! Am really inspired and full of need to feed! Hehehe! The list of things I made recently :
-> low fat cherry cheese cake
-> lemon cupcakes
-> carrot cupcakes
-> pressed turkey sandwiches
-> rosemary & buttermilk fried chicken
-> fruit jelly
All thanks to Martha Stewart! The occasion? Merely someone’s birthday and I was trying to make a picnic-ish spread. However, not everything turned out super duper good la. The low fat cherry cheese cake took nearly 2 hours to bake instead of 1 hour (the recipe lied to me! Either that or something wrong with my sister’s oven.. hmm..), taste-wise it is quite nice but I think the mini cheesecakes I made earlier this year was nicer.
The lemon cupcakes were quite nice IMHO (I am a sucker for citrus), but also gave me a headache because I needed to bake it for 30 minutes more than what the recipe required. I like how it tastes la! Citrus-y and cheesy even though it has no cheese (thanks to buttermilk!). The carrot cupcakes was a disaster though! Either too much butter or I didn’t drain my grated carrots well enough, it was soggy! Hahaha. However, after about 5 days of “sitting” around in a tupperware, it has firmed up a little and tastes fatteningly satisfying when washed down with a glass of OJ. FYI, both cupcakes were recommended to go with frosting, but I’m lazy + not a fan of frosting, so I refrained. A lot of people I know love to draw stuff with icing, and they are really good with it! However, I’m counting calories nowadays, so none for me, TQVM.
The pressed turkey sandwiches were a total success though! I love the discovery of ciabatta bread, and now I’m very much into making pressed sandwiches. What are pressed sandwiches and why they are superior to your average sandwich? Well, when you “press” the sandwich together, it blends in the ingredients together, and it also makes the sandwiches easier to eat as it is nice and compacted. I did not hold back with the ingredients, there was lettuce leaves, turkey salami & turkey roll, yummy organic tomatoes and a special kick in the form of sundried tomato pesto. Very nice la!!! I am now dying to make my ‘smoked salmon ciabatta roll ala Coffee Bean’, ahhahaa.
Oh yeah, while baking, my sister served me some tequila with lime or some kinda alcoholic drink… I think she’s super heavy handed with the alcohol, I only had one glass and felt like the whole room was swimming! That woman has a very nice set-up of lime-juice-ice-cubes and had some special recipe for that intoxicating pink drink. I think the lesson to garner from here is not to drink and bake at the same time…
((pictures next time as I haven’t had the time to upload… gah!))
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Annual Dinner 2010
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This year, I took part in the company annual dinner as an usherette. Initially, I was already involved in the theme awards (you get prize $$ if you win in any category if you dress according to the theme), but my friend roped me in to help as an usherette as they will reimburse you the cost of the costume. I had already bought my costume last year (last year’s annual dinner was cancelled due to the Tan Sri’s health, but Thank God he is now well), so there was no issue for me. I am admittedly sometimes a money minded person, so I did it so that my profit margin would be bigger. Another reason to take part is because people who partake in theme awards get assigned seats during the annual dinner, while everyone else will have to rush into the banquet hall for a seat like “kerbau masuk kandang” once the doors are opened. In the end, this year they had a change whereby EVERYONE got assigned seating, felt like such a waste, haha.
Anyway, the theme was “Meditteranean Fiesta” and I went as Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love (Greek). As mentioned in the previous entry, I was happy with my blonde wig and costume, but my friend Cindy kept insisting to me that competition is stiff, and I need a headgear, or something to carry on my back, etc. So that’s why I was busy making a pair of angel wings and fashioned some leaves and flowers into headgear. -___- This had a total additional cost of like RM25, but it was worth it as ok la, looks a BIT more outstanding, but it was such a pain in the ass! I’m no handicraft woman, and for me to fashion the angel wings was like spending all my nights on weekends or whatever I could scrape up on weekdays to fashion the wings. And at the last minute, I could not think of an ingenious way to wear the wings… and luckily right after judging the wings fell apart… -___- But the blonde wig was super outstanding, I think. And that’s how I wound up getting top 5 most seductive prize, hahaha. The subsidiary prize is only RM300, but the public affairs division also paid us back RM310 for the costume + “allowance”, so ok la, got quite a good profit.
Throughout the night, couldn’t even go very far, as I had to be on standby to do ushering duties. I came very early to Mines Convention Center to learn my steps (the day before, I couldn’t make it for practice as I was outstation) and then did my make-up. Ok, I’m super proud of my make-up as the organizer for the usherettes asked me to take Shu Uemera make-up for RM160. Being a stingy feller (and also because I already had a make-up ‘scheme’ in my mind), I said I would do my make-up myself. This raised eyebrows, but in the end, I think my make-up was quite good la. No doubt the Shu Uemera make-up artists did a fantastic job for the other usherettes, but hey, I didn’t need something super outstanding as I already had a blonde wig. My biggest worry was how to make my eyebrows lighter only, lol! The other usherettes got super nice fake eyelashes from Shu Uemera though, but at the end of the day, I don’t wear stage eyelashes often also. Maybe on my wedding day la! And the PAD bigwig saw me and actually said, “You look good… do you feel good?” When I said yes, he said, “After this you can go for your wedding.” HAHAHA. Then he motioned for the professional photographer to take a photo of the two of us. Hehehe. So since the “dai lou pan” also has no complaints about my outfit + make-up, I think I did my job as an usherette.
But seriously, didn’t get to eat anything the whole night, and I am a natural worrywart, I always worry about screwing up or something, so I think next year I won’t give myself undue stress. I will just wear nice gown and sit quietly and enjoy my 10 course dinner. On another topic, I thought all teams had a great showing for the staff competition this year. A bit sad that our IT division did not get top 3 placing, but it was a very good show. Very good visuals. Thumbs up to my young colleagues who took part.
I will also remember this annual dinner as the annual dinner where I made my IT director carry my doorgift for me! Hahahhaha. Long story, but basically he wanted my picture, I was rushing off, and I said he could take a picture if he looked after my doorgift for me. He said, “I’m going to charge you for this later, LC!”
To end, there’s something that’s really burning in my heart to write about, but I think it’s premature for me to write about it. It’s something that I want to shout about, but I have to temper this urge til I can write about it in an elegant manner. It’s nothing bad, in fact, it’s all good. It’s something that has opened my eyes to new things, that has enabled me to meet new, caring people, to re-connect with old friends that are so happy to see me that they hug me right away. I feel so contented in a way. I will tell you more… stay tuned.
Pictures of the annual dinner under the cut.
Note : all the pictures were NOT taken by me… they were circulated around the office from one of our colleagues in the head office. I will duly credit the person when informed.
(more…)
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