Thursday, November 20

Guide me

My last paper was yesterday. I think I've done badly. But it's don't really matters now, since it's over dy and most importantly, I guess there won't affect much, since it's final semester for me.

But, instead of feeling happy or relieved, a wave of uncertainty hits me. I cant make any short term plan, since I dunno what/where I'll be next week or next month, let alone next year. Work? But landing a job seems kinda hard now, thanks to the crisis. I’ve got my fingers crossed...

Friday, October 31

A walk down memory lane

As I get older, more time was spent on reminiscing the past. 想当年 is a phrase I will blurt out every now and then, just like here…


Kindergarten

想当年, I was a more courageous/bold/brave person than I am now. Whenever seeing my classmates kena bullied or having some problems, I was the one who run to the teachers and report it to them.

想当年, I started attending English tuition class, whom the tutor, Mr Niap, is the husband of the principal of my kindergarten. From the tuition, I was exposed to various children songs. Till now, singing children songs is my forte.

想当年, I was very close with my cousins and we would soak in the bath tub for hours, playing paper dolls, etc.


Primary School

想当年, was one of the chosen Std 2/3 kids to perform for a dunno what event. Each was given a musical instrument. There were drums, tambourines, xylophones, etc… And I was among those who were in charged of the castanets. A minor role, but nonetheless, cannot be left out.

想当年, I always volunteered to represent my class for the inter-class (more correctly, inter-batch) singing competition. And finally, won the second place, with the “It’s a small world” and lost to that Ruth Gong, who later became one of my close friends in high school.

想当年, I signed up for a computer course and stayed back at school every Friday. The course was a waste of money, since what we learnt in the class was only using a card making software to design cards and printing it out using a black-and-white printer. The best part was staying back, playing with my fellow friends.

想当年, we volunteered to perform a dance during Teacher’s Day. Rehearsed for a few days, thus I can imagine how badly I did. I never had that gene in me. Moving, bending, turning, twisting gracefully and whatsoever are still something I will never achieve.


Secondary School

想当年, we participated in a singing competition organized by Nanyang 学记 at the now-defunct Wira Court. We chose the song 真心不假 by 赵薇.

想当年, we represented 4 Arif for the singing competition during English Week and won the first prize. Sang Abba’s Dancing Queen + Mamma Mia + Thank You for the Music.

想当年, went for a prefects camp. The teacher told us to wear old shoes, since we need to go trekking and wading in a muddy pond (with leeches. Urgh...Hate them). But a close friend of mine wore not only old, but a nearly spoilt Power shoes. Ended up, the GPK (as in Guru Penolong Kanan) helped to pulled apart the sole from the shoe.

想当年, collecting certs was my hobby. But it was something I eventually give up, since although with the certs, it got me nowhere.

想当年, was the school’s ping pong representative. Knew nothing about ping pong yet still took part. The prospects of getting certs and skipping class were good.

想当年, loved the PE classes in the afternoon session. Get to play football (and kicking puddles of water).

想当年, we liked Bio teacher class the most. We practically drooled whenever he was cleaning the blackboard (in a tight fitting shirt). =) Girls, in a 100% girls school. It's all we can do/admire.

想当年, recess was something we liked the most. Finishing up the fastest will spare us from throwing the food wrappers.

想当年, misfortune was something infectious. In a day, Ruth lost bracelet/anklet, I lost my purse and WC’s tv spoilt. And there was another time when a series of unfortunate events happened to us. So suey.

想当年, treated SW’s place as resort and WC’s place as HQ. At SW’s place, always hogged the mike and sang like there’s no tomorrow (weird description, right? Nevermind la. Lazy to think of the appropriate word/phrase). I think her bros hate us. Hehe… Meanwhile, WC’s place will always be our meet up place. Till now, we sometimes still go over to her place, even if she’s not around (in S’pore).

想当年, playing badminton was a weekly routine at the sports complex near Summit. And we will always reward ourselves with waffles, from an outlet in Summit which are infested with flies.


Diploma

想当年, travelling back and fro from Wangsa Maju to Subang Jaya/Damansara for almost every week, without any grunt. Well, that WAS the power of love.

想当年, I was the texting queen. That time, my phone never leaves my side.

想当年, yum cha-ing till wee hours, gossiping and talking crap.

想当年, going over to neighbor’s place to de-stress, a place to shop for new clothes.

想当年, playing ‘Chor Dai Dee’ (using phone la), while the lecturer is teaching.

想当年, the place to celebrate any occasion will be the 民歌餐厅.


And the list goes on...

Thursday, October 30

It's random, yet again

1. Viva is something of a past now, but this isn’t the main point. The main thing is, I am literally free now, until my first final starting on the 11th. And in between, I signed up for a 2-day course (Degree++) on total quality management.

2. Went to the library the first thing after viva. Borrowed not 1, not 2, but 5 chic-lit books. Among them was the one I’ve been eyeing on for so long, but seemed to be unable to locate it on the shelves. Haha… Was feeling triumphant then. And I finished the book (Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot) in one night.

3. To rebond, or not to rebond. That is the question.
Now, I’m still struggling, on whether I should get myself a hair rebonding. Sometimes, my shoulder-length hair is the mother of all unruly hair. Yet sometimes, although it’s rare, I might be having good hair days. And there’s no any bushy hair. I’m in dilemma and my sis’ wedding is around a few corners.

4. Later I’m going to sing k and buffet dinner is included. But this will spoil my plan of losing weight, since my part time is being a glutton. Hmm… Maybe go swimming tomorrow. So, tata for now.

Wednesday, October 15

Nicknames

I just changed my profile name from my given name to my nickname. There is reason behind it, on why I changed it. But I’ll spare you guys with the details. Nicknames. I’ve got a bundle. Now let me give you an account on the list and how it originated.

Ah Wan – My family calls me this and I used to hate it. In fact I still dislike it, but I’ve kinda grown to accept it. Well, it’s what they call, resign to fate. According to my sis, my grandmother started calling me when I’m still a toddler and the rest of my family member followed suit.

小 熙 – This is what my maternal side relatives call me. Now only a few uncles and aunts still call me by this name. The rest they have changed to call by my Chinese name.

Ah Shi / Ah Shi Wan Tan Mee – My primary schoolmates called me this, as back in my hometown, we have a famous wan tan mee shop, known as Ah See Wan Tan Mee. In fact, now they have a website. See here.

Ah Noi / Noi Noi – Leek Mei gave this name when we were at standard 5/6. I can still vividly remember how excited she was on the phone, while telling me she got me a new name. Well, at that time, whenever someone asks me where something is, I’ll point it to them, answering ‘noi’. Thus, the birth of the name.

Donkey Tieo Noi Noi / 张 驴– I had this name when we started playing the ‘family’ game back in std 6. My father is Handsome Tieo Shuai Ge (Wee Chieh), my mum is … (I’ve forgotten the name) by Janice, Ruth is Dinosaur Tieo Boy Boy, … Hmm… Next time I can try creating a family tree for this.

惊 喜 / Surprise - Alright, my Chinese name rhymes with this. I never realize the alikeness, until my diploma friends started calling me this. Instead of correcting them, I let them continue calling me by this, till now.

Ok. Gotta stop here and start studying for my Control test tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 8

It's countdown time!!!

From now, there are
7 days --> last test
8 days --> submitting FYP log book
15 days --> the deadline for thesis draft
20 days --> viva
40 days --> last degree finals
49 days --> sis' actual wedding dinner
59 days --> thesis submission deadline
84 days --> 2009
100 days --> my birthday!!

Tuesday, September 23

Monday, September 15

Dad's b-day + Mid Autumn

Went back home last weekend for my dad’s birthday and mid-autumn. Initially thought that, I can savor all the mooncakes back at home, since most of my family members don’t have a penchant for it. Never did I expect that there was none left for me, as my mum has given it to my grandma.*sobs* Actually, still got one left in my home. But it’s green tea de. I must say I’m not a choosy person, especially for anything that’s edible. But, I can’t imagine the taste of the green tea mooncake in my mouth. Yucks… But after I’m back at uni, my frens and I managed to grab the last four pieces of yam snow skin mooncake at Jusco. Haha… Was feeling triumphant when we bought that, as if we’re a few seconds late, the precious small purplish treasure will not be ours dy.

By the way, guess what I got for my dad as birthday present? Originally I was thinking to get a couple ring or watch for my mum and dad. But I never know that you can barely get that with a RM 200 budget. I’m not kiam. I’m a qiong xue sheng, ok? Anyway, while wandering in the mall looking for presents within my budget, a brilliant idea came to me. I really admire myself sometimes. Haha… I know. Stop being narcissist all the time. Anyway, I got my dad (and mum, since I haven’t buy her any present for her bday last month) a hand-held massager from Ogawa. Osim is too branded (pricier) for me. The original price for the massager I bought was RM 399. Then, they have a Raya promo and thus they are offering RM 199. Good bargain leh. But this is still not the best. Then, by hook or by crook, I managed to get a better price. Haha…

On that very day, we (dad, mum and I) went to Katerina Hotel for buka puasa buffet. Yup, this hotel was the one in the Dr Chua scandalous video. The buffet was so-so. Worth mentioning is the chicken. I know we are in Batu Pahat, but there is no such need to cook it until it’s as hard as stone. Sigh… No satisfaction feeling at all, although I can barely walk or even sit straight when I leave.

Sigh… This blog looks so dull without pics. With pics, I don’t have to type so long and people say picture paints a thousand words. Shit… I’ve painstakingly typed so long but it’s still not equivalent to a picture. Not even half. I give up. When can I get a camera? Now the money I’ve saved is spent on other things, which is kinda unwilling de, but I wasn’t given any other options. Like the phone I mentioned previously and now, the laptop AC adaptor. I laughed too much at Choo Meng on his ugly and bulky adaptor and this is the karma. I wanna go pray dy!!!

Monday, September 8

A very long post

Am running my simulation for FYP while writing this blog. Dunno have to wait for how many hours to complete the meshing, and to obtain the results. The last time was half day and it happened to have error, ‘A vortex crosses the pressure opening’ and I dunno what it really means and the causes. =(

Anyway, been a long time since I updated. Too lazy, as usual. Ok, let’s backtrack to 30th Aug, a day before Merdeka Day. That very day, I went to casino cruise with my friends. It’s not the gambling that tempted me, but the free buffet. Hehe… The initial planning was quite tough though. There were insufficient information regarding to this, but luckily a friend of mine had seniors who went there before. After asking around, we managed to get to Pasir Gudang Ferry Terminal. An agent approached us and offered to sell us tics at cheaper price. Instead of paying RM 50 each, we paid RM 40. Haha… What a bargain. In fact, no bargaining is needed. Apart from cheaper price, we were given tics for next visit, which is valid for a month and can be used on Mon-Thu. Not bad, right?

The cruise from afar

We missed the lunch went we reach the cruise. But nevermind. At the gambling area, there were still fried noodles and black glutinous rice tong sui for us to savour. The tong sui was superb. There are also cup noodles and a variety of drinks, which are FOC. All the food served in the cruise was quite nice. Below were the pics we took before the dinner buffet starts. We’re salivating while waiting and taking the pics. Hehe…

An array of food awaiting us


Jellyfish, right? I'm loving it


Cakes. Notice the one with the dollar sign? I think the gamblers will like them.


The restaurant crew who happily posed for us.


We're like hungry ghosts. A waiter even came to tell us that every food taken, must be finished. Haha... He underestimated us. That's only the first round.

Then, there was also supper waiting for us. No pics as we’re rushing out of time. But, thumbs up again. This time they served seafood congee, soup, and not-so-heavy food.

The facilities in the cruise include gym, basketball/badminton court, ping pong table, bar and disco. Too bad the disco was under renovation. So, we only went to the bar. Although the prices are in SGD, I think they are still reasonably priced. A mocktail and a mug of beer cost 4 SGD each. And the perk is, we get to sing k too. So happy…

Anyway, for those who are planning to go casino cruise, in our case, Leisure World Casino Cruise, you can visit here for more information. By the way, it will be better to bring SGD as all the transaction is in SGD. You can still use MYR on the cruise tough, where they will convert it and return your change in dollars.

On the other note, I went KL with Sze Chen last weekend to attend Pei Shan’s convo. Khai Joo also met us there. It was eons since I last saw them. We arrived quite late on Friday night. Went to had ‘pan mee’ at a stall full of people. Was kinda disappointed with the food, so I wondered why so many people still patronize it. Hence, I concluded it with two reasons. The more famous ‘pan mee’ stall beside it was closed and this one is cheap, at RM 3 per bowl.

Then the next day, we fetched KJ from the commuter station. Then we headed to Bandar Utama for breakfast. First, we went to a dim sum restaurant, but there was a long queue. As we don’t have enough time, we shifted to another place, to the so called ‘hoi sum mee’, which we dunno why PS and her frens called it since looking at the signboard, there isn’t any word that can be linked with ‘hoi sum’. Anyway, the people in BU get up earlier and again, the stall is packed with people. After waiting for quite sometime, we gave up as PS and her frens need to attend prize giving and press conference at KBU, as they graduated with first class honors. In the end, KJ, SC and me went to One Utama Coffeebean for breakfast.

Then, after the ceremony, we went to Matta fair before going to Pavillion for late lunch. We lastly chose DainTi hill (代官山), where their theme is 'east meets west'. What shocked us is the price. The overall price was RM120++, and we asked if there is any discount if we pay by cards. The waiter said we’re entitled a 50% discount if we use Citibank card. We were like, he definitely can’t pronounce correctly between 15 and 50. We were proved wrong when he came back and the receipt amounts to RM 60++. Haha… We shouldn’t have suspected him.

That night, after picture taking at the studio, we went back to PS’ place for porridge steamboat. Another feast, another few kgs gained. After dinner, we went to Mines as I was planning to get a new phone. Sigh… I was so suey. My laptop’s adaptor cable went sot dy, followed with my trusty Nokia 3100, which cant receive signal most of the time. So, I ended up buying a Sony Ericsson K220i for RM 199, which is a bit over my budget, because my initial budget was a mere RM 150. And I’ve to pay more as later I have to get a US-to-UK pin converter (dunno the exact term), earpiece and cable/infrared port. So, I have definitely over-budgeted. Now, dear camera, you have to wait.

Forget bout the stupid phone. Back on my KL trip. Sunday was the convocation. It was held at One World hotel, which is located just beside 1U. The ceremony starts at around 11 and ends very early. We, excluding PS, only reached there after the ceremony ended about half an hour. Apart from picture taking, we sneaked into the dining hall, where they served food and dessert. Again, I gorged myself mostly with chocs cakes and cookies.

Now I am back in my own uni and left with heaps of dirty clothes to be hand washed. No more washing machine, cz I’m on tight budget since I wanna get myself a camera. The most, if I’m still lazy to wash, I’ll bring it back to BP this weekend. Hehe… But I guess my laziness is not up to that extend. And for the time being, to shed away the extra weight, I think I should go fasting too, but I think I would end up sahur all the time. Exercising? Wonder when was the last time I really exercised. Where has all my determination gone? Well, I guess I never had it in the first place.

P/S: Thanks, guys. My simulation is ok dy. In fact, after consulting my supervisor, he said that it's acceptable for vortex to appear. Haha.. My own fault for not finding him for bout 2 months. Anyway, now I don't have to worry about extending.

Thursday, July 17

My training days

Pre-training – How am I going to endure 10 weeks of training?
Post-training – Can I have another 10 weeks?

Of course, another 10 weeks minus the working part. It’s just that I can’t bear to leave my nice colleagues who treat us well. Two of them already went back to Sarawak and Penang respectively to continue their studies. Although 10 weeks is kind of short, we managed to build a strong bond among us. Initially when Meng and me just entered the company, we merely go out with them for lunch. Then, as time goes by, we started to meet up for dinners, movies and etc. We had lots of fun together and we are all quite close, like we have known each other for years. I’m really grateful to know all you guys. We have been through all thick and thin to have such a friendship. Anyway, picture paints a thousand words. So, I’ll just upload the pics here to remind us the good time we had.


With Ophelia, the belle of the company. The first time to the company for interview, she was the only one Ah Kong and I noticed. Tall, fair and pretty. Shocked to know the fact that she’s married and is a mother of 2.


This were taken at Xie Shaoguang’s vegan restaurant, on Ophelia’s last day. Still don’t believe she’s now a mother? Well, obviously, the kid in this picture is her son.


This is Ah Chin, the first one we met (after Mr. Johnson, our training supervisor). He is the envy of most girls. Despite having the height of 1.78m, he weighs a mere 47kg and has a 27-inch waist.


The woman in the middle is Joyce. She is the wife of our 3rd boss. Also a mum now. Thinking why the 30-something ladies in our company are still so attractive? We’re wondering too. Btw, heard that Joyce was the Marketing Manager for Body Shop and Xixili before this. She really awed us for willing to work in the dusty control/production room and initiated the ‘spring cleaning’ there. But it’s kind of wasting effort, since control room will never be dust free (Well, at least for this time being).


Dr John, the Senior Technologist in the company. He’s from Myanmar and a daddy-to-be. I was assigned to assist him in the QC during my training.


Me and Meng. The guard been asking if we’re siblings. Do we looked alike?


The two trainees, Choo Meng and Low-Sim, at UTM. We came to UTM as Meng needs to submit her report in order to graduate on time. So, we brought them to UTM and let them admire the beauty
of UTM. Hiakz… Beauty? Looked more like a haunted place.


I really can’t stand CM. Was bursting in laughter when he was posing around in this angel-like halo. Looked like a transvestite but that was funny.


Yeah. It has been a long time since I last took neoprints. Guess how old is the little girl? She’s 11. According to her, she grew less than an inch since kindergarten. Anyway, she’s the daughter of a friend of my dad. We stayed at their place for 2 weeks as we’re nearly homeless that time.


This blur photo was taken outside CM’s new home at Kota Tinggi. We had a BBQ there. A rather special one. Why? Coz it was a vegetarian BBQ. I was kinda a vegan while working as CM is a
100% vegetarian. So we followed suit.


Yup, you’ve seen it correctly and explanation is unnecessary. They truly love each other. Love is without boundaries, and love is blind.


With Helen, WT’s purchaser who just resigned, and her family. Her son has long lashes. So envious. If you see him in person, you might think he used his mum’s mascara and eyeliner. No exaggeration here.


Our farewell dinner with our lovely and superb (ex-) colleagues. The guy in white is 'HOWK'. His aim is to go Australia to show the ang mohs his super six packs. Too bad CM and LS weren’t there. If not, more crazier stuff will happen that night.


Anyway, that's all. Guys, thanks for all the great times. Take care... Keep in touch, always...

Thursday, June 5

Addicted...

What I wrote in my previous post becomes past tense. I will not recommend anyone else (unless it is someone I hate) to work there, despite the lucrative allowance for interns. Pressure is always there, which I think my roommate suffers more of it than me. Cooping in our small room is what we do everyday, after we come back from work. With laptop, all we can do is to online. Hence, after sometime, we are addicted to online shopping and bidding. So, eBay is the site we frequented. Bidding and winning is such an accomplishment. It makes our day. I just won myself a tube dress for only S$ 7 (kinda dirt cheap, but hopefully the dress don’t differ much from what I saw in the pics) in an auction.

I even asked Wee Chieh to help me to transfer the money to the seller and I even asked the seller to send it to her place. What are friends for? Hehe... Thanks, WC!!! Muakz...

By the way, I realized I'm becoming more and more like a cow. Now I’m okay with the idea of having veggie salad for dinner and before this, I don’t think I can accept eating something like this for dinner as I preferred something more solid. And most of the working days, my lunch is free from meat, as a colleague of mine is a vegetarian. I think few weeks later, I'll be eating the product produced by my company, rumen bypass fat, which is meant for the cows. Moo… Time for me to go grazing.