Things I will miss about work

1. My colleagues' childish banter which I've come to really enjoy. Some recurring lunchtime conversation topics: "What I would do if I won RM16,000,000 in a lottery draw", "How to make a fortune from filing lawsuits against Accenture", "Why it is better to marry a rich man's daughter and live off her fortune than to make your own living", "How to trick your Thai colleague into believing that pork intestine sausages are in fact dog meat", and many others.

2. Hawker food. Glorious hawker food. Today I discovered some really yummy Sarawak handmade noodles, but I won't get to eat it anymore cos tomorrow is my last day and we're going to a Chinese restaurant for my farewell lunch.

3. Playing Scrabulous on Facebook.

4. Er... free Internet?.. I think that's about it. Lol.

Last weekend

So I went to my first jazz gig in KL.

Having had my expectations raised by the fact that the acclaimed jazz chanteuse Anne Weerapass from Singapore would be accompanied by two of Malaysia's most iconic in the scene - Michael Veerapen and Lewis Pragasam, plus the fact that Alexis is reputed to be the jazz venue in the Klang Valley, I guess it was inevitable that I would be let down. The food was disappointing, the sound system left much to be desired, Anne Weerapass' pants were too tight, the music was too loud, too electronic and came off sounding like hotel-lounge-music-only-with-better-vocals. Basically I think I've been spoiled by Ronnie Scott's lah. Lol. Oh and only one bossanova tune was performed that night. )=

Saturday we drove to Bentong - Eng, Em, Chuan, Jin and myself. Pa gave a crash course on 'how to eat your local fruits like a kampung boy/girl'.. we visited Chamang waterfall (it has proven to be an indispensable part of the itinerary whenever friends come to Bentong, haha).. we watched the World Badminton Championships at home.. and other than that we just ate. And ate. And ate.

Yesterday morning I left home at 6am for KL and came straight to work after dropping off my things at my aunt's. It's Tuesday today but I'm still feeling the Monday blues.

Public transport grouses

1. Pole Huggers. People who claim 'pole position' all to themselves, wrapping their arms and legs around the handrail (the vertical type) with no regard for other passengers who are struggling to maintain balance with nothing to hold on to for support.

2. Traffic Stoppers. In KL, the right lane on the escalator is the fast lane (Yes, it says so on the signboards next to the escalators!!). Or not - if you're unfortunate enough to get stuck behind someone who's either inconsiderate or ignorant.

3. Bouncers. In the case of getting on/off LRTs, instead of stopping you from getting in, they stop you from getting out. I don't understand why! It's simple reasoning, really - people have to get out first before more people can get in - the carriage doesn't have an infinite volume!
__________________________

On a separate note, my Spanish Word of the Day email today tells me that the Spanish word for 'mosquito' is... 'mosquito'!

And the journey continues

So I left Malaysia on Thursday afternoon, with a somewhat-heavy heart and most certainly heavy bags. Settling in this time around has been a lot swifter and easier owing to a very fortunate transpiration of events that led up to our 20-odd boxes and suitcases being moved into the storage room inside our flat without us having to lift a finger ourselves! Plus, no boxes of mine went missing this year so that's a plus point... lol. I arrived in London on Thursday evening, and by Saturday night we were pretty much moved in and settled in, most of our stuff unpacked. And lookie here! I've even managed to put up a photo collage in sepia on the wall! (=

Speaking of missing boxes, the other day while unpacking my things I realised that I didn't have my folder with all my certificates with me in London, and I don't remember seeing them at home in Bentong either. Rightaway a dreadful recollection of my missing box from last summer struck me, and I concluded that the folder of certificates must have been in that box for it was to be found nowhere else... and that was a horrible shock indeed because this year I know I would be needing all those certificates to apply for a summer internship. I got so angry at the people who were responsible for it, whoever they were; until my mom called later in the day to tell me that the folder was actually at home sitting in an unopened box in my room. Phew! So... my apologies to the people who took my box/the people who lost my box, for thinking all those nasty murderous thoughts of you (just joking) but if you please, I'd STILL love to have the box back anyhow, thank you very much.

The guys minus Lance are at the moment keeping themselves occupied with the Playstation 2 - I hear boyish yelps, bursts of laughter and other assorted noises every now and then - Melissa and Lance have gone a-swimming and so that leaves me all alone to my muse, while listening to jazz - just the way I like it. (=

Autumn term of third year is going to be a time of attending career talks, filling in application forms, revising and re-revising my CV, doing online tests/assessments and going through interviews and the heartbreak of being rejected, which leaves much to be desired, really. Time to think about my future, to put it very plainly.

But moving on to more cheerful things - I'm looking forward to more 'kau yook fan' sessions at Oriental Canteen with Chuan and Zhon, Starbucks Fridays with the Chem Eng crew, karaoke sessions with the gang, Steve Tyrell at Ronnie Scotts, watching Kung Pow with my fellow Kung Pow-crazed housemates Alan and Yew Vern, and cooking up yummy dinners every night in our kitchen. (=

Anyways, more piccies of the house...

Our bedroom

Close-up of my desk

Ravioli hanging pretty from our bedroom door

Our kitchen

And the hallway

For lack of a better title..

So I got my first paycheck today, albeit minus RM19 X 3 for the three days of leave I took after my LASIK surgery. Oh and it wasn't actually a check cos like my brother says, they probably pay me out of the Petty Cash account or something like that, lol. This being my first real work experience (helping Miss Lim teach theory to the kids every Saturday during my Form 5 days does not count, though I actually earned a great deal more per hour than I am earning right now, hmmm), I have to say it feels quite satisfying to finally be earning my own wages, modest though they may be. *pats self on the back*

Recently I have discovered that there are a few questions that I am repeatedly asked, by different people, and which I've grown most tired of answering.

FAQ about May:

1. "Why are you so skinny?" has got to be the ULTIMATE eye-roll-ughh-not-again-oh-just-kill-me-bleargh-inducing question of all time and I suspect will continue to be so for quite a while.

As the cute little Korean auntie (we call her 'Ajima'; incidentally, I only just found out that 'Ajima' isn't her name, it's Korean for 'auntie') who regularly drops by my aunt's place, ever so eloquently and animatedly puts it: "Many many rice! No fat! Very gooood!!!!" Unfortunately the average auntie/grandmother/distant female relative/envious female friend often fails to see this incredible phenomena the way dear Ajima does. Instead of being impressed at my apparent ultra-high metabolic rate and my ability to dig in without putting on, they tsk-tsk and shake their head with disapproval at what they perceive to be my unhealthy appetite and/or obsession with staying thin. And this does not even exclude people who are close to me, who ought to know that I have no such tendencies! I mean... Hello?? Do you not SEE the amount of FOOD on my plate?!?! For the last time, I love my chow and I. Am. Not. On. A. Diet.!

2. "So you know how to make Panadol then?" (referring to my work attachment at GSK). Answer: No.

3. "How many years are you bonded to serve the government, you poor girl?". Okay I know this is actually a very valid question but I've been asked it one too many times and am getting tired of repeating the whole lengthy explanation on the differences between a Biasiswa Penuh and a Pinjaman Boleh Ubah. So people, I am not bonded to the government because mine is the latter scholarship (convertible loan) and at the end of my studies, I need only pay back a certain percentage (interest free instalments) of whatever the government has spent on my education, depending on how well I do. Okay? Okay.

4. "Eh how come you celebrate Chinese New Year? Aren't you Christian?". Not to be racist but most of this kind of questions come from my Malay friends.

5. "Which town did you say you're from again?" (often accompanied by a snigger). Bentong. And that's in Pahang, not Johor, not Sarawak, and most certainly nowhere near Timbuktu, nor anything like it!

girl with the bulging wallet,

-may-

Hanging on in there

..if only by a thread.

My working days at GSK have in the recent weeks slowed down to an excruciatingly painful crawl. Today, in particular, has got to be one of the absolute slowest days I have experienced in a long long time, even the 3 hours of cold-sweat-panicking-and-trying-to-recover-from-my-black-out-during-Separations-Processes-paper-experience pales in comparison. My immediate supervisor is having training from 9 to 5, and the rest of the office is either on leave or away on training too. There's no one here to give me any work to do. I hate the idleness. I hate it with a passion. (notice I didn't say "I hate my work" or "I hate GSK") Being idle is one thing, having to pretend to be busy and useful is another. It feels almost demeaning.

If anything, this 'practical training' experience has helped me discover what are the criteria I seek most in a job - work satisfaction, motivation, and a friendly, conducive working environment. Which is something to be thankful about because last year when I did a Graduate Employment Survey and was posed this question, I had absolutely no idea at all. It's funny how sometimes going through an experience teaches you something other than what you were looking to learn, but is just as useful and valuable.

At this juncture I feel I should mention though, that I have lots of other things to be thankful for, regarding this work attachment at GSK. Perhaps just a little putting-into-perspective needs to be done. (=

The past one week for me has been nothing short of hectic. My last thought before drifting off into a much-needed reposeful sleep last night was that since last Monday, I have gone out every single night of the week bar none. Very unlike me, if you know me well enough. Everything chose to just... happen.. last week. Birthdays, farewells, lunches, dinners, visits from friends, even a memorial service. And alleged terror plots. But it was a good weekend. I have finally put Bentong on the map for my Singaporean friends, nevermind if it ranks lowest in Yuyong's atas-ity survey, lol.

at work?

-may-

5:55

5:55 am is the time I set my alarm clock to ring at every morning. Not because I actually want to get up at 5:55 but because it takes on average about 5 snoozes for me to actually get up. Each snooze lasts 9 minutes, so by the end of the fifth snooze it's exactly 6:40 am. And I reluctantly (but a little less reluctant than I was 45 minutes ago) drag myself up out of bed.

And yes, Jenny, I SO agree with you that thinking of titles for blogposts can be quite tiresome.

yours groggily,
-may-

Nothing much to say but

I thought it'd only be good courtesy to leave a (long overdue) post just to say that I am back in Malaysia, safe and sound and ever so glad to be home... (= And the reason for my apparent disappearance from the blog-o-sphere is because I am now doing an 8-week attachment at GlaxoSmithKline in KL, and I don't go online at my aunt's place in Ampang where I am tumpang-ing. Oh, another quick update: I finally did my eyes and am now seeing with near-perfect 20-20 vision through my naked eyes! I thank God for a safe surgery and no post-op complications, thanks also to everyone who prayed for me. (=

Yours truly, in her sunnies,
-may-

Jom!

Click here!: Sunset and seafood at Bagan Lalang

I'm looking for company and transport to go there, any weekend in July or August, or anytime in September. Anyone up for a good makan? (= I'll make good company in the car, I promise, and I won't sleep while you drive! Hehe.

Roots

Sigh. Am I being a little cruel - not understanding enough, perhaps? - to feel angry at my little sis for feeling so dissatisfied about school and her life in Bentong? Here I am missing home and Bentong and Malaysia so much, wishing that if I thought about it hard enough I might somehow be teleported back home and leave all these exams, cares and anxieties behind. And there she is telling me "I rather be in London". "What am I to do during holidays in a small town like this?". "Maybe Bentong was a little better during your time". I cannot help but feel betrayed. I love Bentong, no matter how much I myself playfully diss it about being backward and ulu and un-happening. I'll never forget where I came from, even if I never live in Bentong ever again for whatever reason; never ever forget my roots as a smalltown girl/country bumpkin. I know that my sister might just be going through the growing-up pains, being the 14 year old girl that she is, and being flooded by the MTV culture left right front and behind. And I definitely don't deny that the pressure was perhaps to a lesser degree during my time as a schoolgirl. Maybe I'm just being overly sentimental. I don't know.

If you've never seen or heard me defend my hometown Bentong with the ferocity of a tabby cat protecting her kittens, try me right now. There could not be a better time.

Mid-May syndrome

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go

Home. Papa, Mommy, Hau-kor and Ning. Lazy evenings spent at Wai Gong's watching Wah Lai Toi. Wai Po's deep fried pork fats cooked especially for her pork-starved granddaughter. My Petrof piano. The cold marble floor that's so inviting to step onto after coming in from the sweltering midday heat. Dragging myself out of bed on Saturday mornings to eat pork noodles at the Chinese Town Hall with Mommy. Hot chu cheong fun tapau-ed home lovingly by Papa. Going to DUMC with Hau-kor and the chats we have on the way there. Ning's more-than-occassional thoughtful little treats of fried potato sticks she buys from school just for me. The KL skyline by night. Cruising down the KL-Ampang elevated highway listening to Light&Easy. Natalie and Ashley. Driving out to Kampung Baharu with mommy just to buy some Malay kuih for teatime. Khai Ma's weekly drop-by's to chat while waiting to pick Jane, Amelia or Eugene up from tuition. That delicious feeling of relief you get when you step into an air-conditioned shop after being out in the hot sun. Browsing to my heart's content at MPH and Kinokuniya. Brunch at OUG with Ah Yee's family. Lazing around at Ah Yee's place in Seri Petaling reading Tracy's inexhaustible supply of Seventeen mag, lol. Discussing the latest fashion fads with Ah Yee and Tracy. Garlic cheese naan at Steven's Corner with a hot cup of teh tarik. Curling up on my favourite couch with a good book while listening to Light&Easy on the almost-vintage family radio. Falling asleep on the couch with the dim lights on. Tinkling on the piano whenever I feel like it. Afternoon naps that last 3 hours. Watching MTV alone at midnight while the whole family is fast asleep. Shopping. Bintang Walk in all its glamour and trendiness. Admiring the swanky hotels on the way there. Tom yam at the Thai lady's shop in Perting village. Solemn Sunday services at CMC Bentong that turn into a lively family reunion by the end of service. Agape feast every first Sunday of the month. Feeling like I belong in church. Being pampered and treated like a princess (for the first few weeks at least). Not wishing I was somewhere else.

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I'm lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmm, I've got to go home..

Cars - means of transportation, or luxury items???

Give this video clip a watch, especially if you are Malaysian and even more so if you own a Kelisa. The following text is an email reply I wrote on the spur of the moment after receiving this clip from a friend. (hence the lack of punctuation, sorry!)




"lol. i have to say, i found these clips more offending and senseless than they were funny... (strange, i never thought i was so 'patriotic'.. hahaha) the dude obviously has something against cars that are made without 'spirit' or 'passion', as if they were made by a corporation wanting to make money, and not one PERSON who wanted to make a great car... but by saying that he's ignoring a huge category of people who own a car as a means of transport, as something necessary, instead of a luxury item or a hobby... if everyone could afford to own a merc or a ferrari then well, yeah, maaaybe what he said was justified.. but the fact is not everyone can, in fact most people can't!! who is he to judge perodua for making cars that are more accessible and more affordable to a greater market of consumers??? even if perodua's intention was to make money, but hey... perodua makes money, less affordable folks can own cars - fair and square if u ask me!!

and besides, that blatant annihilation of a brand new car (though it may just be a humble malaysian-made kelisa) to prove his point was simply uncalled for, if u ask me"

What do you guys think? Was that a fair criticism at all?

I'll Be Home For CNY

I'll be home for CNY
You can count on me
Please have ba-kua and kuih bangkit
And my pockets full of ang-pow

Nin chor yat will find me
Shivering in the cold
I'll be home for CNY
But only in my dreams....

*sigh*

P/S= Despite my love for good lyrics, this is really the best I can come up with.... haha

Of Christmas, and home

Just the other day after lectures and as we were packing our notes and things to go home, I suddenly had this.... vision?- of me going to the Chinese Town Hall in Bentong for pork noodles. Lunchtime on Fridays, with mom, pa and Ning. It was so vivid - not just a vision, but a feeling as well. A looking-forward, an anticipation. The feeling was so..... real, I was taken aback once I'd snapped out of the whole 'illusion'.

Which brings me once again, to one of the deepest longings of my heart - to be home, celebrating Christmas with my family.

Here we are, as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more

Yet Christmas is more than that. More than nostalgic Christmas songs, more than yet another a holiday season, more than the company of friends and family over a Christmas dinner, more than just warm, fuzzy feelings. How many times have I had to remind myself about that in the past couple of weeks. Christmas is about the baby Jesus and the hope, joy and peace He brought - which He offers yet to the people He loves. And that is me and you.

Christmas isn't Christmas
'Til it happens in your heart
Somewhere deep inside you
Is where Christmas really starts
So give your heart to Jesus
You'll discover when you do
That it's Christmas
Really Christmas for you

Each one of us has been given this wondrous gift - are we going to leave this gift unopened, year after year after year? Why not open it this year? (=

Faith like a child

Reading a passage in Mark 10 about childlike faith being a prerequisite to enter the kingdom of God reminded me of once upon a time ago when I was eight years old and had newly come to know Him through Saturdays at church school. I remember this big and gruff yet gentle man Cikgu Yusoff, my then class teacher, who also taught us Pendidikan Moral. He had just taught us about the different religions practiced in Malaysia. After the class I went up to him and after having proudly proclaimed that I was a Christian, oh-so-naively demanded, "Tuhan mana yang betul?", being ever so convinced in my childishness (childlike-ness?) that he would reply Christianity was 'it'. Now on hindsight I cringe to think I had the 'nerve' to ask such a question of a Muslim adult, but in his kindness he had replied to me "Tuhan ada satu sahaja," which is verily so the politically correct answer to give.(= Til this day it warms my heart so and I appreciate his graciousness and sensitivity in not wanting to hurt my feelings or put me down when he could have so easily done so.

A dream

Last night I had a dream about laundry.

We were still living in our old house in Taman Hussein. In my dream I saw myself lugging our big laundry basket full of damp, freshly-washed clothes up the stairs as I normally do every other evening. Just about after dinnertime, eight-ish. Our washing machine is downstairs in the wet kitchen whilst our clothes are hung to dry in the upstairs balcony, you see. I have to stop to rest for a couple of seconds every 7 or 8 steps because the load is rather heavy. After clumsily heaving the laundry basket into my parents' room, I let it down with a sigh of relief, and turn on the lights. I remember what my parents' room looks like. The parquet flooring. The blue clock with a picture of two puppies, hanging on the wall above the queen-sized bed. The light blue wooden door, with the white iron grille behind it, leading to the balcony. Before I start my chore, I turn on my mom's old Panasonic radio and jack up the volume so I can hear it from the balcony. 105.7FM. I was always a Light&Easy fan, even since late primary school days. Sometimes 94.5FM - Aldeena's Love Songs and Dedications. Don't know if they still have that nowadays. Anyways. I take the keys to the iron grille from a green tray on my mom's dressing table - this green tray has since then been transferred to my brother's room in our current house, and now holds all my contact lens solutions, cosmetics and whatnots on a small table right next to me as I type this.

I unlock the iron grille. It doesn't make a loud, clattering noise like the one downstairs does and the key turns with ease, also unlike the one downstairs. I can almost feel it right now. A smooth, clean turn; noiseless except for a soft click.

Now I am hanging out the clothes to dry on the big white-and-red clothes rack thingy. It is old and rickety, tilts at an angle and doesn't run very smoothly on its four wheels. Much like one of those trolleys in Heathrow airport. You push it in one direction but it refuses to go in that direction. There is a smaller clothes hanger - the 'umbrella' kind - with about 12 spokes to hang stuff on. I can't remember what colour it is. Was it pink? Or green? My sister's smaller items of clothing and the family's undergarments go there.

I don't know why I've written so much about some seemingly insignificant and irrelevant dream about doing laundry, but this is the only dream about my past, my childhood/younger days, that I've had in a long long time. And that is why it is significant to me. (=

Random thoughts

Yesterday night must've been one of the worst nights of my life. I don't know what made it happen but I was suddenly struck by a really really bad fever - my body temperature must have been like 60 degrees celcius or something. Hahaha. Can you believe it, I was wrapped up in my blanket, double-layered, and still trembling from the cold. Well, the fever's subsided now but my body's still feeling a bit queasy. Blame it on the durians, lol.

Here's something I read in Ha Jin's Waiting which I found rather amusing:
She took a bite of the pear, which was juicy and fragrant and reminded her of a banana she had eaten many years ago.
Makes you go, hmmm....

I've been back for about 3 weeks now and my mom's already complaining that she doesn't get to spend much time with me coz I'm always away. Been to KL four times already and was in Penang for a couple of days as well. I have promised myself that I will not leave home for the next 2 weeks unless it's with my family. Me = good daughter. Hehe.

The thing I love most about an optical mouse is that you can use it just about anywhere, even on your thigh. =P Hahaha.

Reflecting on that email from Professor Shah, I now wonder to myself, since when did PASSING an exam become such a big deal to me? *sigh* I think I've developed Mastery-phobia, and to think I will have to go through it every year for the next 3 years! Oh dear.

Oh. Here are some pics taken in Malaysia so far. =)


Barathy and me


Traffic lights! Teehee.


Yamcha-ing at our favourite stall in Bentong. And yes, they are twins.


Me and Chewie!!!! *hugs*


In Penang. A showcase of ****'s bad parking skills. Hahahaha


At Gurney drive


Alan scratching his armpits; Justine, still the hiaoster; Alvin and his fifty-cents smile; Lay Ping looking good in her bronzy tan!


Yay! Now we have the same bag! Bought one for Barathy too, hehe.


Bunch of lamers. Tsk.

Good morning, London!

38 days more to home. Papa, mommy, Hau-kor and Ning. Guilt-free and currency-conversion-free shopping. Riding in cars. 323 Taman Bentong Makmur. Chu cheong fun. Mommy's ABC soup and nasi lemak. Sunny's Blueberry cheese tarts. My queen-sized bed. All my Agatha Christies. Piano. Bintang Walk, KLCC, Sunway Pyramid. Redbox. Barathy Rani Ramasamy. Skimpy (relatively... =P) clothing. Mini skirts and sandals and heels. Christ Methodist Church and everyone who is a part of it. Generous aunties and uncles and grandparents and adult friends *dollar sign lights up in eyes*. Forgotten yet familiar roads, faces, sights and sounds. Being pampered and treated like a princess. Piano. Ampang Point's Taiwanese noodles. Man Lo's one-hour hokkien mee. Penang beaches. Dome, Chilli's, Kim Gary, Sun & Surf, Coca. Milo, teh tarik, teh-o ais limau. Mamak. Maggi goreng. SS15. Ridzuan Condominiums. Barathy Rani Ramasamy. ASTRO. Tanjong Golden Village, Golden Screen Cinemas (suddenly Gold Class seems oh-so-temptingly within reach...). Coconut trees, sweltering midday heat, the background sounds of chatter in Malay and Cantonese.

Papa's welcoming arms, mommy's teary eyes, Hau-kor's wide smile, Ning's mischievous grin.

Feeling loved. Very.