New Year Party at Yeoh KK's

Last night, I attended a pre New Year party at Yeoh's place in Springfield Condominium. There were 12 of us - Yeoh & wife, Oia & wife, Cass & bf, Chun Meng & gf, Lam, Wei Keong, Shing Wei and myself.

Since Yeoh moved into this place about 3 years ago, New Year party is an annual event. Throughout these 3 years, there are only 3 constants to this party - Yeoh, myself and the alcohol.

The party started off with a short mah-jong training session and barbeque. Yeoh & wife made all the food. There were Devil's eye, salad, barbequed ham/bacon with "kai lan" stem, chicken ball and others. Good food. Thanks Yeoh!

Wei Keong also bought some cheese cakes from Secret Recipe. There were good and my favourite is apple crumble cheesecake. I hope I got the cake name right. Thanks Wei Keong!

Later, as the girls were enjoying themselves at the mah-jong table, the guys adjourned to play "in-between"card game. I was not very lucky and always "kena tiang" and seems to be eagerly distributing my wealth.

By 11pm, after 4.5 bottles of Tiger beer and half-pint of cognac with Chinese tea, I was already pissed. In the next minute, I was already sleeping soundly on the sofa, leaving the gang to battle it out in the game.

I left slightly after 12 midnight.

Final night in 4 Lintang Delima 12

Finally, I finished packing all my stuffs. In another 12 hours, I will load everything into my car and drive back to Ipoh.

I am now sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by a large space, trying to figure out how am I feeling. A lot of thoughts are running through my mind at the same time.

And I just don't know what to write ...

Exercise your right

You may check you voting details here: http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/daftarbi.asp and if you have not registered to vote, you can do so at the nearest post office.

Watch out! Bombs coming through!

As I was preparing to retire last night, I was bombed. Not just one, but two, and just two weeks apart. Both were from my beloved coursemates in UTM and coincidentally, both are housemates.

Bomb#1: Margaret. This petite girl (still?) has a karate black belt. She looks tough, but she's funny. She's creative, and I still remember she can wrap a present in multiple ways without using cello-tape. Currently does programming as a living.

Bomb#2: Wai Mun. This tall girl (as tall as I am, so I'm short if she's on heels) is a high scorer, not in basketball, but in exams. She's funny as well, and helpful. I once borrow her PC for months to go online for a project. I think she does programming too.

Congratulations to both of you. Wishing you Happiness All the Way and stay pretty.

Back-to-back frustrated days

This seldom happens, but I had bad days at work since yesterday. I know, I know. Pikaping warned me not to discuss about work here, but I have a point to drive through at the end. Please be patient.

Both days started off well, but things began heading south after lunch. This afternoon, I received a pretty nasty email. And the last sentence read "I cannot accept your attitude for ...". What the heck!

No worries. I wasn't upset or anything. But I have to apologize to TY though, cause I was a bit rude in responding to him as I was concentrating on "loading" my bullets and SHOOT. Sorry!

I started off my email rather decently. But my last sentence was "... and I am very displeased with your accusations". Can you guess how is it like in between?

Minutes later, I was laughing it off with my boss (our cubicles are just separated by a partition). Well, obviously she was aware of what is happening and that person deserves it.

Apart from the laughter, she mentioned something that means a lot to me, "I must train someone to be like you". How nice.

So what's my point? I am someone worth being cloned. Ha ha!

My first Christmas e-card

Today I received my first Christmas e-card for this year. I was not in the best of mood then, but The Original Very Cute Bear is so adorable, it made me laugh. Ha ha.

http://www.foreverfriends.co.uk/pages/ecards.php?code=nadevbihex&action=view

Thanks Wei.

Britain's Got Talent

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM THAT HAS BEEN HIDDEN BEHIND NEGATIVE THOUGHTS SOMETIMES ADMINISTERED EVEN BY OURSELVES? GO OUT ON THE EDGE AND MAKE A MOVE TO BE WHAT YOU WERE BORN TO BE! AS A MAN THINKETH SO IS HE. HOW POWERFUL IS OUR THINKING!

This is a story about a guy, like most of us, common, questioning his existence, measuring himself to others, never believing in his abilities or his worth.

Then one day, his passion outgrew his fears as he stepped onto a stage, a stage that took him to a place beyond his self imposed prison.

Watch the faces of the judges as this guy walks out on the stage. You can almost see what they're thinking as they pre-judge this guy based on his looks and the fact that he's a cell phone salesman.

Then their emotions truly engulf them.

Maybe this guy stopped believing in what people told him for so many years and ultimately started listening to his passion.

http://www.maniacworld.com/Phone-Salesman-Amazes-Crowd.html

Getting ready to move out and on

Today is Sunday. But not really an eventful one for me. I spent time packing up as I will be moving out coming Thursday. I hate doing this!

Well, I segregated my stuffs into two groups. One, to bring home to Ipoh. And two, to bring over to Ker Harn's place. I will be staying with Ker Harn for the coming month.

As I was packing up, suddenly it strucked me that time flies. I didn't realize that I stayed at my current place for 1.5 years. And close to 6 years in Penang!

In another two months, I will be heading to an unfamiliar place. And guess what I need to do - pack!

Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat

Just now, I went for dinner with Hock Lai.
.
I have known Hock Lai for 9 years, since our university days. We went for holiday together after finishing 1st year, to Redang Island. Redang Island, back then, was not developed yet, so the surroundings were still pristine.

We had quite an adventure getting to Zi Wei Yuan. I obviously don't know the way and Hock Lai got the map in his brain. Anyway, we made it to the restaurant after an hour.

Zi Wei Yuan serves steamboat a bit differently. There are three soup base to choose from: fried fish, steam fish and normal soup. Can you guess which we chose? And there are yams in the soup. This is the specialty! The soup is heated up with charcoal instead gas stove.

.
And here is the bill:




Hock Lai, don't forget Burma Road char koay kak. Next week?

Winter Festival Celebration at Boon Thai's

Firstly, I need to apologize to my supporters for not posting yesterday. I was at Boon Thai's place, celebrating winter festival (冬季). It was my first time to his apartment in N-Park.

When I reach at about 8.30pm, Chee Leng, Kim Lean, Kevin, Boon Thai and two other guys (sorry, I forgot your names) were having dinner. The dishes were cooked by Boon Thai (can you believe that?). From the guests' feedback, it was a good meal.

The main activity was to make glutinous rice balls (汤圆). It was such a funny moment as everyone was trying to give ideas on how to do that. Well, in the end, we managed and 1.5 hours later, we were enjoying the delicious 汤圆.

Next, we broke into two groups: karaoke and "mah jong". Well, as usual I am in the "mah jong" team with Chiew Kh'ng, Kin Mun and Kim Lean. Finally at about 2.00pm, all of us head home.

I enjoyed this gathering a lot and I believe the others too. Why not? as we get to relax, eat, sing and gamble.

Padas River - Mount Kinabalu - Sipadan Island

Another of my close friends left Penang for Singapore today. This makes me recall the time we spent together, especially those sweet memories while travelling together with the rest of the gang. You see...

The seven of us - SY, Ober, PS, JH, CT, BH and myself - went for vacations together for the past two years. Although CT ffk the rest of us for the last two trips, he did participated in the planning stage. CT, we forgive you for this.

The very first trip was really an adventure. It was a 8 days trip to Sabah, East Malaysia. We survived the wrath of Padas River, we conquered the magnificient Mount Kinabalu and we charmed the beautiful Sipadan Island.

More on our memories of this trip here, thanks to BH.

CT and SY, I miss you already...

Life can be unpredictable

As I was driving across Penang Bridge on last Friday night, my friend, TY got a call. The conversation over the phone didn't sound pleasant and I was thinking something awful must have happened. And I was right. His best friend, Peter, passed away, at age 23.

Fast-forward to today. TY sent me this link: http://mybuddypeter.googlepages.com/home, which is dedicated to Peter. I browsed through this in the office and found that there is nothing much to read about, except for some condolences and pictures of Peter and friends. So, I packed and I went home.

As I was deciding what to blog about for the past 30 minutes, I visited the dedication page to Peter again. This time, I noticed that there are links to other blogs at the bottom of the page. Out of curiosity, I clicked on each link...

They are posts from Peter's friends. After going through them, I realized that Peter was very highly regarded by his friends and he touched their lives in one way or another. A good chap. And that got me thinking...

How am I in the eyes of my friends, or so-call 'friends'?

RIP Peter.

No-Eye-See

As I was packing to leave the office this evening, I still do not have a topic to write on today. So, I turned over to Theng Theng, sitting two cubicles away, and asked "What should I write in my blog today?".
.
And she effortlessly responded "Write about no-eye-see lo". I totally agree with her, having gone through a crappy meeting earlier. I was a bit disgusted with how some people behaved. Well, lets not get into that.
.
Have you ever come upon situations at work where you decide that no-eye-see is the best policy? No? Don't lie! I'm sure you do. And when should this policy be applied?
.
One, when you disagree on an issue, but are powerless to object due to pressure from higher management. No-eye-see.
.
Two, when a decision is made, and you are just 'FYI'ed and assigned to carry out the work, although you don't see the point. No-eye-see.
.
Three, when you see a bad judgment but no one listens to you. Well, you can't help if someone decides to dig his/her own grave. No-eye-see.
.
Four, when you comment, feedback, complain multiple (x100) times but things just can't be changed. No-eye-see.
.
And five. When you resigned and happily counting down to the last day. This is a definite - No-eye-see!

Now, do you SEE?

Alex & Emily - the Wedding

Once I entered the hall, I can feel the warmth and sweetness of tonight's setting. Everything is mostly in lilac and the backdrop at the stage was decorated simply with Alex & Emily. Simple and nice. This is the wedding reception of my cousin brother, Alex, in Syuen Hotel, Ipoh.
.
I assigned myself as one of the photographers of the night. It has become a habit of me taking pictures during weddings, farewells, gatherings and other occasions. I am not really a good photographer, but just for the fun of it. I own a Canon S2 IS.
.
It was a fun night. And I am really happy for Alex. He is a fine young man, recently obtained a postgraduate degree in UK. Emily is sweet, sporting and has a charming smile.
.
The fact is, Alex and I only meet probably once a year (I don't even know he is known as Alex until now). And for the past two consecutive years, we met in London. He studied there, and I was on transit during my business trip. Despite that, we remain pretty close. But next year, probably we will meet somewhere else, other than London.
.
Alex & Emily, may you live happily ever after.

Blood donation at Penang Hui Yin Seh

I have been donating blood regularly since my university days. To date, I made 14 donations, with the most recent being this morning.
.

Today, I arrived at HYS at 9.30am, after 'squeezing' my car through the narrow alleys. I was slightly early, so there was no problem finding parking. Two things are a bit unusual though.

.
One, Yee Ping's mom was standing by the road-side, sort of directing traffic. I thought that is her assignment for the day, a change from her usual ushering role, but apparently that is not the case.

.
Two, Yee Ping was not at her usual position in front of the PC, busy printing certificates. Instead, she was running around aimlessly. Later only I know that she was due to give a speech during a cheque presentation ceremony by Lions Club. I missed that. Too bad!

.
Anyway, I went ahead for registration, then have my blood pressure and blood type checked. Everything seems normal and got a nod to proceed with the blood donation. Found a bed at the Lam Wah Ee Hospital section, waiting to be drained.

.
Many asked, aren't you afraid of the needles? Not at all! In fact, it is quite enjoyable to me. Huh? You will get an idea after viewing the below.

After losing 450 ml of blood and quite a heavy brunch, I left HYS feeling contend for my effort. Well, this might be the last time I ever step into HYS again. Good bye and thanks for the memory!

Theng Theng's Euro Bungy Adventure

Footprints in the sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,

other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed

that during the low periods of my life,

when I was suffering from

anguish, sorrow or defeat,

I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord,

that if I followed you,

you would walk with me always.

But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life

there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”

The Lord replied,

"The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,

is when I carried you.”

- Mary Stevenson -