Intengible

$150 poorer, and more to come

2008-06-07T15:50:00.004+10:00

I was lucky to have a problem-free cat for almost 6 years. Thinking that she will be very well-protected if kept locked up in the house, I've never given her any flea control medication. Now it seems she may have some skin reaction to flea bites. Well, I did let her out for a while out in the backyard recently, sniffing out a whole new world.

Lumps and more lumps had begun to form under and around her neck. I was hoping they were pimples, but really, cats dont get pimples...or do they? Then my housemate suggested they might be cists. Thankfully the vet said it's just some blah blah dermatitis, so 1.5 weeks meds will do the trick.

However, the vet highly recommended that the poor cat gets a dental surgery. She's got a tooth that's completely covered by the gum, a cist on the gum, and to top it all up, gingivitis. The bill will cost me $500. I choked. I only recently went overseas to get my wisdom tooth removed because I wasn't willing to spend that same amount of money on my tooth!

Sigh what shall I do? She's also got a heart murmur, which I've known for a year now. The vet so kindly let me hear her V8 supercar turbo "psssst" sounds through the stethoscope. Oh great.

Those good ol' days

2008-05-31T16:29:00.002+10:00

I feel helpless not being able to help my housemate construct essay-worthy sentences or input real life situations for her to use as examples.

Just fabricate your story, I hear myself say. In a flash, memories of uni days flood through my memory. Times of when I had to make up test results for lab reports, summarise paragraphs where I had no idea what it really was about, and copy a line of code to get the program to work.

Ahhh the good old uni days. I do miss those crazy carefree casual times. But I dont miss it enough to go back to uni. Earning the moolah trumps it big time.

Fun and games

2008-05-29T09:12:00.001+10:00

I am still lingering in holiday mood. Work hours seemed painfully slow. The punchlist is getting longer. My itchy fingers are tempted to click the strikethrough function on some of the bulleted items, but it cant be done if it’s not completed, can it? My colleague jokingly made a comment yesterday that I’m having too much fun at work, that I’m not feeling the pressure. Well I certainly hope it was a joke.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve just booked my next holiday in October. Who can pass on Jetstar’s cheap airfare deals to Malaysia? Not me! They’re going for $78 plus taxes! I’m now on a prowl for cheap airfares to Adelaide right after this trip to visit my brother and a few friends over there.

I’m on a roll. And somewhere in between new years, I might sneak in a Japan trip.

Winter's here

2008-05-26T10:45:00.005+10:00

I'm back down under. And as I've been warned, the cold chill has arrived earlier than expected. I do, however, prefer to live in a country with four seasons than in one where it's just constantly hot and humid. That also means having an overflowing wardrobe to cater for every one of those seasons. But I like. Colourful knitted scarves wrapped around my neck. Knee-length high heel boots matched with a slim-lined skirt. A couple of singlets under my top for extra warmth and that favourite fashion layered look. The occasional beanie on my head, only on bad hair days.

Ouch my nose hurts. I'm wrapped up in a heavy-lined jacket, eucalyptus tissues in arm's reach, warm water in my thermos, and the heater beside me. It is day 5 of a flu, and I'm not getting any better. I feel like going home.

But I love thai food!

2008-05-13T15:51:00.003+10:00

tom yum kung
thai fish cakes
pad thai
lots of other fried stuff

Yes those meals must be the culprits leading up to the viral infection in the throat. Not one, not two, not three, but many ulcers loomed in the darkness of the tube that serves as a gateway to my hungry tummy.

I'm no longer on soft foods. It's liquid diet for now. Rats.

My progress

2008-05-11T11:59:00.003+10:00

I have not left the house in 4 days. My recovery has taken a backwards flip on friday when I threw up my dinner. Either I completely swallowed that takeaway keoy teow noodles wholely that caused some sort of indigestion, or it was just too oily for my poor tummy to handle after 3 full days of plain meals.

I really need a miraculous healing extraordinary recovery divine intervention right now.

It's done!

2008-05-08T19:15:00.003+10:00

It's day two, and I'm already bored. I dont really want to go out either because I'm sighting a lop-sided swollen cheek and really sleepy-looking eyes. I'm sure those colourful pills have some sort of drowsiness effect in them. I would have very much prefered to be high than to be drowsy, as in high on drugs. lol

Up until yesterday morning, I was whining and whinging to everyone and anyone I met - fearing the worst that might happen to me on the chair. Memories of one episode of "My Family" came to mind, where Ben Harper, the dentist, had a dead patient on his chair, to no fault of his own. Oh yes I was that bad, requesting a triple dose of anaesthetics which surprisingly the dentist did administer and with extra care, gently updating me on how much anaesthetics had been injected into my gums.

After about ten fifteen minutes, numbness had set in and it was time to pull out that damn wisdom tooth that had caused me so much grief that I lost 2 kgs in a week due to a gum infection. I now advise friends to pray for one if they really want to lose weight. har har

The whole procedure wasn't too bad at all. In fact, it was much smoother than what I had anticipated, though I had to put up with the ultra talkative dentist intending to calm me down with his stories, which after a while turned into gibberish talk. Before long, the tooth was cut in two, removed, stitched up, and cleaned.

Mum is being very creative with her meals. Today's menu was fish noodles, yesterday's was fish porridge. I wonder what's for dinner.

Talking about revival

2008-04-26T20:31:00.003+10:00

Like wow! It certainly has been a long time since I visited you. Shall I revive you? I'll think about it.

Can't wait

2007-09-11T12:38:00.000+10:00

After stints of scuba diving and skiing holidays, it is soon time to retreat to Melbourne where the phantom roams and the opera house sings.

The Swear Jar

2007-08-24T12:50:00.000+10:00

What do you gain when you swear? Probably only the look-good and feel-good vibe. Most people are unaware how this behaviour influences others around them, especially young children.

I find myself amongst men of various backgrounds and skill sets due to the nature of my work. Everytime that “f” word is said in the office, the sound waves goes flying across the room, causing great pain in yours truly’s ear drums.

Hence, the Swear Jar is birthed. A coin donation is required everytime the unnecessary word is uttered. Proceeds go to buying milk and biscuits supply.

I’m not mean. I insist.

I'm moving...again

2007-08-15T21:46:00.000+10:00

Cardboard boxes fill the lounge room.
There's no room to move.
I'm nowhere near finished packing.
There isn't much time.
The apartment is starting to stink.
There's no point in cleaning now.
The cat is getting annoyed.
There's poo to clean from the bathtub.
The zits are popping out.
There's too much stress at home and at work.

Brownie points for those of you who can guess the correct number of times I have moved.

On the prowl

2007-08-05T14:01:00.000+10:00

It has been a while since I last ventured out of my apartment on a Friday night. The weeks had been long, nights cold and windy, eyes sleepy and tired.

Friday gone was spent with colleagues I havent seen in months. Dinner was of excellent quality, followed by a gig by Jack Jones. I didn't have a clue as to who he was, or which band he performs in, but I was surely impressed by his guitar-strumming-slapping skills and vocals, singing some of his own songs and other pieces by the likes of Jimi Hendrix.

On the wall in the lounge area were framed posters signed by artists like Missy Higgins and Sarah Blasko while on tour. Looks like this hotel is the place to be to catch some of these famous singers up close and personal, and on a casual sitting.

I like.

Lemsip

2007-07-28T20:32:00.000+10:00

Having discovered this flavoured drink some time ago, I had, until recently, been religiously taking this medication at the first signs of getting the flu, and continually until the nose stops running away. I had only thoughts of wonders and miracles for Lemsip, which comes in lemon, blackcurrant and various other tempting flavours in a powdered mix that you have with hot water.

My recent flu bout was a killer, confining me to the depths of my bed. I was feverish too, and naturally I felt I was living in the North Pole. My 6year-old oil-fin heater had a broken switch, something that I'd thought I'll "operate" on when I have the time. Thankfully my previous flatmate left her radiant heater behind, but that wasn't enough to heat up the whole room. So I pinched my flatmate's fan heater. She was in Chicago, and still is. I'm sure she doesn't mind.

I got worse when the bug hit me at full strength. A caring friend called to ask what drugs I was popping, and after a simple diagnosis (she's a pharmacist-to-be, you see) reckons I should throw Lemsip out the window and get something stronger for the flu, which I did when I finally mustered enough strength to change out of my pyjamas and walk to the chemist.

So when you have the flu, have yourself a box of codral and two nasal sprays - one of which is a medicated spray that helps to reduce swollen nasal membranes and helps you breathe, the other is a nasal moisturiser. Oh, the relief! That big bottle of multi vitamins was upon mum's insistence. Oh, and not forgetting tissues that are infused with eucalyptus oil. They are a must. They're gentle on the nose, ensuring you don't look like Rudolph during your sneezy moments.

Lemsip is officially out of my drug consumption list. It's trash.

With child-like expressions

2007-07-24T22:35:00.000+10:00

I had taken countless photos in front of the iconic structure, but never ever been inside because it costs money to place your feet on its carpets. I attended Michael Buble's concert held in front of the building, but didn't consider the option for an indoor event because it costs extra to experience music at its best. And when I was offered a free ticket to see the orchestra inside the Sydney Opera House, I was over the moon. Yes I get excited about little things like that!

So this is where the Australian Idol finals is held every year, I chuckled to myself. Looking around and above me, I saw the unique overhead deco and impressive lighting that made the chamber look oh-so-magnificent.

Ahhh it was certainly a night to remember. A night where we had to gulp down our latte in five minutes, walk a few extra kilometres in the cold to our car because we didn't want to pay premium parking prices, and took numerous photos of the harbour bridge as though we were first timers in the area.

The week that wasnt to be

2007-07-21T16:08:00.000+10:00

I don't remember the last time I have been this ill. Yes, I know I've been down with the flu countless times since March, but nothing as bad as this bout. This time, I had the whole package - sneezy nose, fever, headaches, and joint pains. I would periodically let out screams of pain, frequently crumple up eucalyptus-laced tissues, and occassionally miss my meals. I've been basically spending hours and hours in bed, while life passes by.

Sipping my favourite soy chai latte, I gaze out to sea. Waves are crushing against the rocks, letting out a mighty roar. Eagles soaring up above, wings outstretched. The sky is cloudless, pastel blue. In one corner of the restaurant is a flower stand filled with bird of paradise and gerberas. There is something mysterious about the whole flower arrangement, but the sound of jazzy Michael Buble sweeps me away into a whole new dimension. Champagne in my glass is bubble-sizzling away. Scented candles in the middle of the table are melting gracefully. The chocolate fountain is alive with sticks of fresh strawberries waiting to be dipped. Mini quiches and custard egg tarts look glorious, the smell of pastry is just heavenly.

The drugs are making me delusional.

Oh gravity!

2007-07-14T10:49:00.000+10:00

I'm allowed to be rebellious every now and then, especially when it feels like the weight of the world is sitting on my shoulders. No, wait. That is an understatement. More like pressing down on my body and ain't letting go until I'm six feet under. I heave a BIG sigh of relief, yet I suspect you may have to return to complete your unfinished business. Until then,

I have the utmost respect for you because you always have all the almighty answers with a quick snap of the fingers.
I do hate it when you call for me just when I am about to go home.
I love your humour, I really do, but sometimes I can't make out if you really are in a playful mood.
I stopped offering my share of lunch when all you care is working to your bones.

And so, I survived the last few weeks of occasional torture and misery, oh and not forgetting to mention the frequent snort attacks without being confined to the comforts of my bed.

I do not know how I will fare next week with your absence. Perhaps I will be happier, the joys of freedom unknown. Maybe it won't be a smooth ride without you, as I am now known as the next YOU in female form with the same expectations and infinite wisdom to solve anything and everything. Oh help.

What can I say?

2007-07-07T22:32:00.000+10:00

I'm still busy....with nothing when I have the time to do many things.

I had a checklist of house chores to do today, and I barely did any of them. Instead, I spent the whole day watching Supernatural on dvd and packing boxes of lunch in the freezer.

I had a momentary fear that my blog had been quarantined for being out of action for too long. Don't worry, rebootz, it's still here.

I am about to embark on a new journey. A whole new investment.

I took a long while trying to find where I had parked my car after last night's Hillsong rally. It was 9 degrees, and seriously not funny when you are walking alone.

Why am I even doing this?

2007-06-22T21:01:00.000+10:00

Reading blogs on a Friday night and passing off an invite to watch Ocean's Thirteen may make me seem like an uneventful socialite. I don't mind, really. At some point in time, I need to crash and burn. Oh wait, I think I do that every week anyway.

I don't usually do this, but since I got tagged and I'm home alone, here goes.

Name one person who made you smile last night.
Ray. He wanted to visit Toys'Rus and was uber excited about the Shrek figurines/soft toys and musical toys. For your record, he's in his late forties.

What were you doing at 8.00am this morning?
Sitting in a freaking cold coater room while typing on my laptop.

What were you doing 30minutes ago?
Eating instant noodles while watching Better Homes & Gardens.

What was something that happened to you in 2006?
I broke up with my boyfriend of almost 5 years.

What was the last thing you said aloud?
Speed up and overtake Jeffo! Flash the high beam!

How many different things did you drink today?
Let's see - cappucino, apple&strawberry juice, water, pumpkin&garlic soup - so that makes 4.

What colour is your hairbrush?
Green.

What was the last thing you paid for?
A Hungry Jacks Whopper burger last night for $3.95, and I got the ice cream for free.

Where were you last night?
At Hungry Jacks, then Barbeques Galore, Toys'Rus, then back to the motel in Penrith.

What colour is your front door?
White.

Where do you keep your change?
In my purse.

What is the weather like today?
Slight chill in the morning, heard it was about 5 degrees at 6am, bright and sunny in the arvo, all better than last week's miserable weather.

What is the best ice cream flavour?
Cookies and cream

What is something you are excited about?
Music.

Do you want to cut your hair?
No I don't. I get a professional hairdresser to do it.

Are you over the age of 25?
Eeeks what kind of question is that? And why is it on the list?

Do you talk a lot?
Only with people I'm familiar and comfortable with.

Do you watch the O.C.?
Hell no. Never.

Do you know anyone named Steven?
Yes, my uncle's name is Steven.

Do you make up your own words?
Tengo says yes.

Are you typically a jealous person?
Not usually, but when I do I keep it a secret and deal with it later.

Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "A".
Angela Saik.

Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "K".
Kim Kheng.

Who's the 1st person on your received call list?
A guy from the Melbourne Post Office Money Order Enquiry Department. I hope they reimburse my money from the money order I've lost.

What did the last text message you received say?
Do you want to watch Ocean's Thirteen tonight?

Do you chew on your straws?
No, but when I'm bored I subconsciously do.

Do you have a bath?
No I have a shower. I don't use the bath tub for a bath because Chloe sometimes pees in it when I forget to clean her litter tray.

Where is the next place you're going?
To the bathroom to have a shower.

Who is the rudest person in your life?
Havent met anyone who is that rude yet, but there is a receptionist at the motel I stay who is rather moody.

What is the last thing you ate?
Instant noodles with tuna, and crumbed calamari.

Is marriage in your future?
Yes.

What is the best movie you've seen in the past two weeks?
I haven't had time to watch any movie.

Is there anyone you like right now?
The person I like most has a name that starts with the letter "J".

When was the last time you did the dishes?
Wednesday night.

Are you currently depressed?
No.

Did you cry today?
No.

Why did you answer and post this?
Because I read my brother's blog and got tagged, and I want to do something different tonight.

The latest news

2007-06-07T21:02:00.000+10:00

Time flies extremely quickly when you are busy. At times you wonder where the time's disappeared too, other times you wonder if the time you had was spent wisely. Miraculously I have found time to write, only because I'm on a sickie today. As much as my boss is reluctant to let me recover at home due to the amount of work on my desk, I'm sure the other people in the office do not appreciate my germs. Somehow I feel sorta bad because I'm kinda using these two days to recover before I go on holidays for the long weekend. My poor colleagues have to work on Monday being a public holiday. I suppose even if I wasn't going on a holiday, I would most certainly take them off anyway.

Here's a quick little update:

>> For easter we celebrated with a film-like production, complete with popcorn chicks (erm, I was one of them) and fairy floss. The story evolved around the time when Jesus was arrested, and it was made into a journalist-type genre with the omission of Christian jargons, making it easy to understand. Well done, Creative Arts Team!

>> The week after, we had our annual Ignite youth conference. And boy, did that take off!

>> I have a new housemate. She's from the Philippines. Ironically, she lives in western sydney and is renting at my place to work in wollongong for my company during the weekdays. I, on the other hand, am working and staying in western sydney to work and the only time I see her is for a split second on Wednesday nights when I come back midweek before rushing off to church. But I know this much, that she's a Christian, loves playing with my cat and is an absolute gem! I thank God everytime a new person moves in because they have been the bestest housemates one can ever dream of. Some horror stories with stranger housemates have made me reconsider time and time again whether to continue letting random people stay next door. But I am glad that God is always looking after me!

>> What is it with the month of May? I thought August babies were plentiful, but it seems that May isn't too far away from that statistic. 21st birthday parties were in abundance last month, and they sure rocked!

>> I have misplaced a money order this week that was meant to pay my rent. Surely it can't just disappear, it must be around somewhere. I have asked for a week's extension. Please stop playing hide and seek with me.

>> Spiritual attacks. What are they? And do you know when it happens? Sometimes you're not aware of it, but they are real. Something someone shared last week at small group discussion made me realised that. Last Sunday I was rostered on to play keyboard for worship. But the moment I stood on stage, something was wrong. My mind was wandering. Stupid thoughts raced through my mind. I started slipping and hitting the wrong keys. I lost my focus and confidence. My smile disappeared. It was a spiritual battle. I had to conquer it, not only with my own strength but with God's as well. After the service, I made a quick and quiet exit, reaching home to find myself even more miserable than before. I didn't feel like going for the evening service, but somehow I felt the urge to go anyway. I gave in and went, and the senior pastor preached a word on strongholds - such a spot-on thing! 2Corinthians 10:4 says "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds". Psalms 141:3 (and with my own editing) says "Set a guard over my thoughts, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my mind."

>> I am on my way to QLD this time tomorrow! Yey! One day left to rid myself of this awful snorty nose!

From 18 to 30m

2007-06-01T21:08:00.000+10:00

Having to work tomorrow on a Saturday totally goes against my mission in life of not doing so. But then again, I worked on Sunday just a few weeks ago, so what's the big deal? Just because. And I can.

And what's the main driver? The Great Barrier Reef.

No I have not fallen off the face of the earth

2007-05-27T14:48:00.000+10:00

I felt obliged to write something, anything, at least a word or two on my poor inactive blog that has been long neglected. My cyberspace absence seemed to only trigger a couple of cyberspace police hunting me down for updates. Well I don't really know where to start picking up from my last six weeks of life's ups and downs, since my fading memory always seems to get the better of me.

Pictures paint a thousand words, so goes the all-famous phrase used mainly by lazy writers and those experiencing the so-called writer's clog. For now, this is all you'll get.

>> Friday Night: RockStar-themed 21st Birthday Party

>> Saturday night: Disco-themed yet another 21st birthday party

Well I think that's as much as I can remember, the last 2 days.

Finally spent more than seven hours at home

2007-04-07T20:22:00.001+10:00

I am stuck at home, down with the bug (again!?!) and limited to the space in my unit due to the fickle-mindedness of the clouds today.

To drop my belly of water, or not to drop my belly of water. Hmmm, I'll wait another five minutes, make rain for fifteen, then rest for ten.

Not an ideal long weekend for someone who has worked the extreme hours indoors and her one and only simple wish was to have a sunshiney day to adore, even if it means enjoying the rays from her bedroom window.

Living in the gay bar

2007-03-18T23:35:00.000+11:00

I have returned to the gong. Partially happy, partially sad. My 3.5 week holiday was one of the best holiday I've ever had, though it ate up most of my hard-earned annual leave. But, it was worth it.

As usual, I didn't (or rather, refused to) sleep on the plane. Teng's mentality - watch as many movies as I can in 8 hours and my expensive air plane ticket can partially be justified. Flipping through the inflight entertainment booklet, I was rather excited to find Nada Sou Sou as one of the movies being offered. A friend of mine had highly recommended this Japanese show, so touching that he almost teared when he watched it. Well, thanks to him, I cried bucket loads! Luckily I flew night, so it was relatively darker in the cabin, and the old dude sitting next to me was asleep during the whole duration of the flight. The movie was very moving, but the ending was really sucky. Seriously I had to watch comedies after that show to temporarily forget that awfully sad show.

After touching down, I went for yumcha with some friends, but I wasn't hungry. Felt more like a zombie. I drove back to the gong after a good afternoon nap, only to find a speeding fine in the first letter I opened upon arriving home. My first speeding fine in Australia! How frustrating. I was caught doing 70kmph in a 60kmph zone. I love my welcome home present.

Thanks a zillion to rebootz who is always available to help this damsel fix her networking problems. Distressed as she was, not having her internet for a week, she resorted to desperate measures, pretending not to hear the $100 p/hr consultation-over-the-phone charge, she clicked, and she deleted. Voila! She's back on cyberspace!

Work wise, I have now been transfered to a job in Western Sydney. It's a pretty hectic schedule, from a 38-hour to a 60-hour week! Wah can die from exhaustion - at least initially anyway - or so I think, and hope. My office, shared with eight other males, is passionately known as the gay bar. We carry walkie talkies around to radio each other, and I chuckle everytime someone asks "Are you in the gay bar?".

Health wise, I've caught the big bad bug. In 3 days, I had contact with 3 people who had the cold. I really should have washed my hands and refrained from giving hugs. Too late. I could barely concentrate at work on Thursday afternoon, by nightfall I had the heavy sniffles. Being a considerate colleague, I took a sickie the next day and spent the weekend sleeping, watching dvds, and using up two boxes of tissue.

Sigh I really should go to bed. It's 11.35pm, and I gotta be up at 4.30am. *grumble grumble*

Sawadee Chiang Mai

2007-03-09T05:13:00.000+11:00

Top L-R clockwise: Deep fried tofu with spicy tofu&chilli dip; vegetarian spring rolls; crispy pig skin with spicy pork dip; pork&basil on rice; chiangmai sausage; crispy fried pig skin or kaeb mu; crispy curly noodles with curry chicken or kao soi

Yes we went on a food rampage as soon as we landed in Chiang Mai. We ate everything we could lay our hands on, including bamboo worms, pork burger at McDs, and everything pork! A list of must-eat northern Thai dishes was our mission.

Wat Prathat Doi Suthep was one of the many temples we visited. To reach the temple, we had to climb up a dragon staircase of 306 steps. Yours truly is pretty fit, so the steps were peanuts effort! The golden chedi and the courtyard were pretty amazing sights. Unfortunately we couldn't see much of Chiang Mai from the top of the mountain. The thick haze prevented us from a good view from up above.

Chiang Mai has a rather small gay scene, but very active. Hence, we decided to experience this open culture by going for a crossgender extravaganza. This cabaret featured an all male cast of she males and transsexuals. It was pretty exciting and outrageous at first, until a performance with a familiar chinese song halted our enjoyment. Guess we were expecting more Thai-related songs and performances. Overall, it was an eye-opening experience of exquisite faces, slender bodies, elaborated costumes, and fake boobs.

The next day, we travelled about an hour north of Chiang Mai to visit the Lisu and Akha hilltribe villages. There wasn't much to see, save for a few villagers dressed in their traditional costumes, dilapidated wooden huts, and a pig under a small blanket that was left to die before being slaughtered for a tribal party later that night. Mountain biking sounded pretty thrilling at first, until the uphill difficulty got the better of us. We were huffing and puffing, constantly looking out for the next downhill for that speedy exhilarating ride. This ride wasn't without much pain and energy. Details will remain a secret.

We also went on elephant rides, which is a must-do in Chiang Mai. Gie and I got an adult male elephant with the biggest private part ever! It looked as though the poor animal had five legs. Van and EL sat on a obviously distracted baby elephant that kept picking up rubbish and splashing dust on its body. The heart-pumping ride started when the elephants walked downhill along a narrow dusty pathway. We were holding on for dear life because our bums were starting to slide out the seats! Van took away the best gift from this ride - elephant snort on her face. har har. White water rafting down the Mae Taeng river was the best! Exhilarating! Lots of bum-bumping work! After this, we were too exhausted and wet to bike back to our starting point. We took the songthaew (small pickup truck with seats along the sides of the covered bed) back instead.

Markets are big things here. They sell everything under the sun and moon. Just be careful you don't get ripped off. Some markets cater for tourists, which explains the overly priced items. After a tiring walk in these bazaars, we indulged in thai massages. Most of the ankle aches and body pains were banished after an hour's work of kneading, pushing, and pulling. I laughed the first time I went for it, trying extremely hard not to giggle by grinding my teeth and thinking of sad memories. It was exhausting! The second time round, I was much more relaxed and knew what to expect. Ahh the invigorating experience of a Thai massage. Highly recommended!

Are you game to try some insects? We had a go at the bamboo worms. Honestly they weren't too bad!

I remembered my dream last night

2007-03-07T22:36:00.000+11:00

I dreamt that my cat wore braces *har har*

My penang trip in a glance

2007-03-06T00:07:00.000+11:00

The red saga continues

2007-02-24T13:21:00.000+11:00

When I received the 2nd call "ARE YOU HERE YET?", I knew I had to somehow orb myself to the party house, but I couldn't.

I was almost two hours late to the abovementioned destination, no thanks to the long queue at the immigration department. Arriving at the office close to 8am, the queue was as long as the longest snake could be, the line starting from the 2nd floor all the way down 2 flights of stairs and along the shops on the ground floor! To join in or not to join in the queue, that was the question. I soon became one of them.

Tucked in the corner was a man happily making profits by photocopying identity cards and birth certificates, as well as a woman merrily snapping away passport-approved photos at ridiculous prices. It's called the convenience price - most people pay for it anyway, including yours truly. The photo turned out rather sloppily because I had no makeup on and no cheek blushers on. And to add to the long-suffering photo I have to endure with for the next five years, the close-up photo accentuated my one-eye-big-one-eye-small deficiency! Yes I call it a deficiency! I shouldn't make a fuss of this, most people do not have two perfect sized eyes. Ahh yes I feel slightly better. Only slightly.

I finally reached SW's house, apologising profusely for being late. Nonetheless, we all had a good time hopping from one house to another, collecting red packets and eating to the hearts' content.

CNY Day 5, and still going strong

2007-02-24T03:20:00.000+11:00

Those were the days

2007-02-21T20:24:00.000+11:00

I have returned, having completed all obligatory visitations, both local and interstate, for the last four days. And with the ushering of the Year of the Golden Pig, which apparently only occurs once every 60 years, dishes such as the suckling pig, roast pork, and anything pork are must haves.

It has been a long while since I last celebrated CNY with great enthusiasm and joy. The time had come many CNYs ago when my cousins were too cool to play chasing bicycles or hide and seek with me and my brothers (dawn, I hope this time will not creep up to you too quickly). The dwindling ooomph factor, coupled with my cousins' new found boyfriends/girlfriends, really made a sucky CNY. I now find myself on the main dining table, talking with my aunts/uncles, about all things adults. No more sitting on the kids' tables and throwing fishballs at each other. No more children shrieks or baby yells. Everyone has grown up. And so have I.

So there we were, in Ipoh two days ago, to visit my maternal grandma. We arrived late in the afternoon, and an arvo nap seemed very inviting since the day was hot and I was tired from driving. My nap was cut short when mum woke me up to say 2nd aunt & uncle would like to see me. I was very reluctant, since I don't have much to say anyway with my broken dialect and mixed Canto/Mandarin/Hokkien sentences, and a few English words thrown in as well.

So there I sat, did all the official greetings and met my new cousin sister and brother in laws. Soon I realised that my cousin sister-in-law was somewhat sitting in the same boat as I was, except that she was further lost at sea at the conversation table. At least I could still understand what was being said, lest I was being mocked and I could stand up for myself! Just kidding. She only speaks Mandarin and English, which was handy for me, so we started talking. Not long after, photo albums were brought to the table and we all started laughing at how we all looked when we were young, how fat/skinny we were, and how mum was the prettiest of all the 5 sisters, which is certainly true! And I must say, I hated the way I looked and dressed when I was a kid/teen! Geez my sense of fashion was atrocious! And no, you are not getting me to scan any of those photos in.

Ahhhh the good old days. Happy CNY to you all.

The gluttony is about to start

2007-02-17T17:43:00.000+11:00

Tonight's reunion dinner menu:

1. Salmon Yee Sang
2. Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Shredded Sea Clam
3. Barbecued Suckling Pig with Jelly Fish
4. Steamed King Garoupa Fish with Wolf Berries
5. Baked Prawns with Egg Yolk
6. Braised Sliced Abalone with Sea Cucumber & Fish Maw
7. Steamed Glutinous Rice with Waxed Meat
8. Deep Fied Butter Roll with Coconut
9. Sweetened Glutinous Rice Ball with Longan

First day observations

2007-02-15T23:58:00.000+11:00

Small head, skinny body still. My brother needs more carbo. Appeareance is smarter, only slightly, with his nerdy looking glasses.

Front page national newspaper grammatical error: "An EPF withdrawal will take just two days once the process is speeded up."

A new sophisticated-looking fish bowl, kindly donated by a family friend. 8 out of 9 fish have died so far. I don't know who to blame on having been jinxed - the family or the fish bowl.

Extremely humid weather. The air conditioner is my best friend.

Bah Kut Teh is still the best in Klang.

Newly introduced Japanese bread variation, with butter kneaded into the dough. RM18 (AUD6.70) for a loaf!

Finding more silent blog readers. You know who you are.

It's not too long now

2007-02-14T00:41:00.000+11:00

One more night's wink, and I'll be home.
Kosong Satu Tujuh - Dua Tujuh Lima - Enam Kosong Satu Dua

You've got no part to play

2007-02-11T16:09:00.000+11:00

This week alone:
- My friend's mum was admitted to hospital in Spore due to fluctuating blood pressure.
- My girlfriend's dad was admitted to a Sydney hospital due to a detached retina.
- Another girlfriend's friend died suddenly in her sleep. She was only twenty and a newlywed.
- On that same day, her sister's friend's dad passed away.

In a way, my situation is nowhere comparable to what some of my friends have been through this week. How the devil enjoys inflicting pain and seeing people in agony! It's funny how so many tragic events happen at the same time our church recently launched a new revolution series, revamped the whole creative arts team, restructured the leadership team, and almost finished renovating the front of the building. Exciting visions and plans for the kingdom of God annoy the prince of darkness to a level he is so uncomfortable that he wants to find ways to discourage us from pressing on and finishing the race. He ain't gonna get what he wants, because we are much stronger and more persistent than we've ever been before. So step aside, S.A. Tan because we are going to claim this world for Jesus!

My valentine's day gift

2007-02-06T23:36:00.000+11:00

My head is spinning. I know I shouldn't stress, but I can't help but worry. The odds are not looking good for me to be selected as one of the "lucky" few. And when I mean lucky in inverted commas, is that the job on offer is different and the fickle-minded, no brainer, running-round-in-circles, management are apparently, or so I hear, looking for senior people to fill that role. So much for their outloud determination to look after the graduates. I hate these crazy politics.

And I will be leaving for Malaysia next Wednesday, and on the same day, the announcement will be made on their preferred candidates, and mind you, only 8 out of 21 will be picked, 3 out of 8 from my group of 13. The unlucky ones left behind, or perhaps lucky since those abovementioned roles are not quite what most people want to be doing as a job, will be shoved somewhere. And if those somewheres are filled up or cease to exist at time of shoving, then it's please look after your own self, thanks for your work, see ya later.

My much anticipated holiday could not have come at a better time.

Today's prayer of the day, as I flipped the calendar page over before I left for work this morning, read "Thank you Lord for being so faithful". My all time favourite chicka had been waiting to hear from a job that she really wanted, one that pays well, is enjoyable, and in a good environment where she can be treated well. She was almost giving up, uncertain about the future and her career. But God is just awesome. After 8 months and 5 days (yes, she's been counting!), she heard back from the company yesterday, accepted the job and resigned from the company she really needs to get out of. The irony of it all, is that round about the same time, my job became uncertain. What a role-swapping experience this is going to be. Sounds like I'll be drawing on her strength instead.

I need to do something, but I'm too stressed out to do anything. I really needed this holiday, but the break isn't doing me any good now. Sleeping sounds good now.

Bono and soy

2007-02-01T17:31:00.000+11:00

I don't usually remember my dreams, but I woke up having a fuzzy memory of U2's frontman holding a bottle of soy sauce. Don't ask me what brand it was.

Water extremist

2007-01-30T23:04:00.000+11:00

It was just amazing. I must have been crazy to have done it without prior experience. Perhaps it was more to do with the fact that I was turning twentysix, coupled with the occassional whackiness during this time of the year. There had been some shark sightings near the bay and a friend's mate getting swiped under the foot by a stingray in shallow waters just days before I embarked on this underwater adventure. I had been warned, yet I went.

As I drove down to Jervis Bay by myself, I was rather disappointed with the heavy downpour. Not that it would matter since I would be underwater anyway, but it was depressing to have this kind of weather leading up to the all important day of my life. The rain had subsided by the time I reached my destination, yet I was not all that happy. After some theory in the morning, we headed to the swimming pool to do some practical work. Before I even got to do anything in the water, I was already exhausted from carrying the gear and the oxygen tank from the ute to the poolside! I was suddenly caught in a funny limbo of excitement and tiredness. Imagine my horror when the instructor told us to do five laps in the pool! I seriously cannot recall when I last did a pool lap. In we jumped, all seven of us in the class, and it was freaking cold. Almost immediately, we were swimming our butts off to warm up. Occasionally I cheated, walking on the shallow part of the pool when the instructor wasn't looking. I did not initiate the cheat, that fourteen-year-old boy did.

Soon after we completed our laps, we were told to put on our wetsuits. I struggled big time as I just could not pull the suit past my big hips. Jumping back into the pool didn't aid my getting into the bloody suit. With the help of my American classmate, I tried jumping up and down while he held my suit so that I could slide in. After the whole ordeal, my fingers were already bleeding from all that friction work. Not too long after, I had cramps in my left calf. And I was very cold. The four day course suddenly didn't look all that attractive anymore. I blame it on the summer intern in the dive shop who insisted that the size I had for my wetsuit was perfect. It was obviously a size too small.

Day One finally ended, but I had much to catch up because I enrolled very late into the course and materials could not be sent out to me on time. So there I was, burning midnight candles, reading my pre work, doing Q&A, and watching a video. What a way to celebrate my birthday at the first stroke of midnight. But that's okay. It's something different I chose to do, by myself.

Day Two started off with shore dives and skills practice, and the weather was perfect. I must say I had a lot of trouble with one of the basic skills - flooding and clearing of the mask. A partial flood-and-clear was no trouble at all, but a full flood-and-clear was nowhere achievable, causing me to panic and swallow plenty of salt water to the point where I felt so blotted I could puke. Which I did, on my special day, and that felt good. There were of course no special treatments for me, even on a birthday, that if I could not fully flood-and-clear my mask, I cannot pass the test. I have one more day to prove I can do it.

Later that night, I bought myself a chocolate mud cake. No, that sounded sad. I bought a chocolate mud cake to share with others whom I was staying in the house with. They were all extremely friendly, most of whom are very experienced divers who offered to take me on shipwreck explorations on my next dive. Sick!

Day Three finally arrived and we went out on boat dives. I cannot begin to explain the wonders down under. Like wow. Here are some pictures, even tried to pick (or rather "steal") those similar in colour and size to the ones I saw.

L-R: Wobbegong shark;Nudibranch; Moray eel

I am now officially a Level 1 diver.

The next day, I gave surfing a go. It was on my to-do list for last summer, but a torn ligament in my ankle prevented me from doing so. Mum was protesting, but I just had to cross it off my list. And no, I haven't told her I went scuba diving. She would freak, seriously. But I doubt I'll do surfing again. There's just too much energy involved, paddling, waiting, rolling over, push&jump etc. And when I finally catch a wave, I bodyboard instead of standing up. To get back into the water is too troublesome, especially when the waves are big, and being a beginner you keep getting pushed back to shore or just getting whacked in the face. But it was fun while it lasted.

So there! In my short two weeks holiday over Chrissy and New Years (I know, this entry is so way overdue), I jam packed shopping, Christmas post parties, scuba diving, surfing, and body boarding. I have gone pretty tanned, unintentionally. I'm not quite sure if I like the new me.

Too busy to write

2007-01-23T20:42:00.001+11:00

The Australian Open Tennis is on.

Strikethrough

2007-01-16T20:31:00.000+11:00

It's amazing how many things you can cross off your ToDo list in a day, I mean on a "sickie" day - a slight headache after getting elbowed in the head during last night's netball game is my justification.

Book myself into day surgery due March check!
Enrol in the MAS Enrich programme check!
Hunt for cheap airfares check!
Stock up on painkillers check!
Do some grocery shopping check!
Take the cat to the vet for her vaccination check!
Clear the laundry basket check!
Sort receipts and papers check!
Collect health rebate check!
Sleep early will see!

Day dreamin

2007-01-13T15:18:00.000+11:00

This week has been tiring, simply because, I was tired. And still am. But I have vowed to rid the house of white fur balls and annoying dust mites today. I will prevail, while listening to my current favourite crazy Icelandic song.

Highly recommended:

Sigur Ros's Takk..., which means Thank You. And my favourite song is Saeglopur, which means Lost At Sea - simply an awesome song.

I hate homework

2007-01-10T22:14:00.000+11:00

Why does looking for cheap international airfare always such a strenuous task?

I will be home soon
Big fat red packets, wait for me
Oily stir fry char kuey teow, cry for me
Thai massage and night bazaars, welcome me

Kenshin beckons

2007-01-09T22:03:00.000+11:00

It is still only the second day. I do not expect to recover from my fatigue and holiday mode just yet.

Looking around:
The table is strewn with pieces of paper and receipts.
The travelling bag is still unpacked.
The carpet is full of white fluffy fur balls.
The laundry basket is overflowing.

I am only this messy during certain times of the year. Like now. But I'd rather watch anime than clean up. Please pardon me, after all I haven't really rested.

Currently watching Rurouni Kenshin

The first work day of the year

2007-01-08T22:20:00.000+11:00

Work was a real dread today. I rocked up late to a quiet empty office, except for the occassional out-of-tune singing from the other end of the floor, and left early to have an afternoon nap. Two weeks of jam-packed activities seriously does not warrant an immediate return to a comparatively mundane eight to five job. You've gotta earn the moo lah somehow to pay for the extreme sports I got myself into.

But I had a great start to the new year. Thank you for the lovely cards and text messages that flooded my mobile phone inbox on that very important day of the month. Some were disappointed I didn't reply as fast as they hoped to receive a nice thank you for their thoughts. It would be quite impossible to do that considering I was 30 feet underwater. But I got there.

I have turned yet another year older. Thank you koala, mlooky, rebootz, plyn, bw and sleong for the belated birthday celebs, pressie, unlimited dessert supply and super yummy prawn noodles. I couldn't have asked for more.

Finally, it's Christmas

2007-01-01T23:33:00.000+11:00

This is my fifth year celebrating Christmas without my family. Guess it has become a norm, and I've never been worried at all. This Christmas I got adopted into two families for the celebrations while kindly rejecting a few other invites. I wished I could have attend them all. It's okay to be greedy during Christmas! :)

I spent lunch at one of my best mate's place down in Nowra. It was so good to see her parents again, as well as her four younger sisters whom I dearly miss. I've always been jealous of friends who can share slash interchange shoes and jewellery with their sisters. Having a little brother who is only two years my junior, we were playing car toys, watcing Transfomers on telly and building houses with legos. I didn't even have a Barbie doll unlike other normal girls. But, I like the abnormality - perhaps a very good thing in the end to help my survival in a male-dominant profession.

Dinner soon cropped up, and I enjoyed a tasty sophisticated dinner on a very well decorated dinner table, complete with table runners, bon bons, alternating coloured dinner plates and candles. Conversations on the dinner table were never ending, laughters were almost continuous, funny/disastrous childhood stories were precious.

I love Christmas.

Happy Feet

This has to be one of the best animated film I've seen so far. Though initially a little bit concerned as to how I will be able to distinguish one penguin from the other, I didn't have much trouble after all, a tiny achievement that may slowly help to remove the "sotong" a.k.a. "blur" title awarded to me ages ago.

With big names such as Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, and Nicole Kidman lending their voices, this was one of the much anticipated movies. Before long, I'd found myself moving and tapping to the invigorating music as the crazy singing dancing penguins render their heartsongs. If you are as naive as I am with these fluffy birds that live in the Antartic, you'll probably not only believe that a penguin can dance, but that he can also save the world.

My fav has got to be those jabbering amigos! Love the hilarious small talks! And I didn't expect to jump out of my seat during one of the chase sequences, where Mumble, the star penguin outcast who couldn't sing a single note, was desperately trying to elude a hungry leopard seal. Seriously fun to watch. Spectacular. And I know I should shut up now. :) Go watch those fluffy darlings.

Will write more soon

It's almost midnight and I haven't finished packing nor writing. I'm off scuba diving for the next four days. I'll be back. Oh, and happy new year everyone!

Feliz Navidad!

2006-12-25T18:26:00.000+11:00

Enjoy Jesus, the reason for the season. Have a happy christmas!!

And we gladly bid farewell

2006-12-23T22:18:00.000+11:00

Only five people turned up for MC's farewell at the pub last night. It is to be expected when the dinner is organised on the last working day of the year, two days shy of Christmas Day. Or so we like to think. Some didn't get along with him anyway. Others couldn't care less. The rest had other better things to do than hang out with this man who did not add much value to the group.

I have been one of the lucky ones to re-inherit my own job after handing it over to him three months ago. THREE MONTHS AGO! What the hell has he been doing all this while? Excuses were all he came up with everytime he was queried about the progess of that project. Sometimes I really want to kick his lazy ass. Other times I was tempted to strangle him everytime he sprays his deodorant, polluting the air without much consideration for others.

There you have it. My confession. Some people may be ultra annoying, but I turned up anyway to say goodbye. Fortunately I did, otherwise I would have missed out on one of the most delicious steak. Scotch fillet, cook-it-yourself-on-the-bbq, medium rare, very affordable price! YUM!

I know what you did today

2006-12-22T22:44:00.000+11:00

My boss had only just pulled into the empty car space just as I merrily walked out of the building at 1.30pm today. In his hurry to get out of his car and wished me a happy christmas, he must have forgotten how strong the winds were huffing and puffing at that time. The car door swung open further than expected and knocked into the passenger door of the adjacent car. I was grounded, bewildered at what had just happened. His facial expression was unchanged, closing his car door while mumbling "It's just a small damage". Mind you, the dent was rather obvious.

Should I have written a note to that poor guy to say who the culprit was? I didn't want to stick around work any longer. Everyone else had buggered off early today. No one was in the mood to work. There were a few more chrissy pressies I had to buy. I needed to go. I am now feeling a bit guilty with mixed emotions that I didn't do anything, or say anything.

I guess it's too late now.

'Tis the season for christmas parties

2006-12-19T21:37:00.000+11:00

The silly season is here. And about time too. I can't remember my last break. That is so unhealthy! Perhaps the coming holidays will be much more enjoyable. Woo hoo can't wait.

In the lead up to the all important December day, chrissy parties are popping up like mushrooms I just can't keep up. Some had to be rejected. Some were too expensive while others were random get togethers. Though I can be that extra friendly and make new contacts, I decided to be selective in my "partying". Heh, and no I'm not a big party goer just in case you were thinking otherwise.

Who would have thought that playing lawn bowls would make a good social event? But that was exactly what my department got up to a couple of weeks ago for our christmas party. And I had always thought that lawn bowls and old people were associated with each other. Well not anymore. The moment we stepped foot on that green green grass of lawn bowls was the moment we all got competitive. Together with my partner in crime, Ovo, we were very focused on victory. Our competitors, Tappy and Missey, were tough to beat. We had plenty of laughs, trying to learn how to use the right amount of strength for the distance where the jack is placed. And frequently altering the distance of the jack after every game doesn't help either!

Soon it was time for some finger food and drinks. Before I could fill my tummy with enough chicken bites and deepfried spring rolls, I was handed a mobile phone. "It's the boss", said my colleague. And the first question through the speaker was "How much alcohol have you had?". My instant reply was "Too much to drive, boss!". No way was I going to go back to site and help some random dude who had stuffed up some piece of equipment and had absolutely no authorisation to make changes or had any backup plans. And so we continued on our merry way, eating and playing for a jolly good four hours.

That was one of the many parties I've attended, with the most recent being a food marathon last weekend, thanks to three christmas parties in a space of 24 hours. Unreal.

7am starts

2006-12-15T23:42:00.000+11:00

That's too damn early for my liking. Perseverance was all I had to push through. Just one more week of work.

Officially graduated

2006-12-01T22:13:00.000+11:00

I'm back from a full-on four day residential development program in Moss Vale. This will be our last lavish stay at Peppers' golf resort. The rooms looked stunning as usual, except for the new white rocking chairs near the windows. I wonder what the deal is with that. Oh right, old people come to play golf and miss their rocking chairs. Do I sound mean enough? Great because I knocked my foot on one of its elevated edges. The only consolation was the sheer surprise of finding out that my new travelling toothpaste has dissolvable mint breath strips infused in it.

Weather report for the four days: day one extremely windy, day two super hot, day three cold as, and day four combo of all three. And I really thought I had left the crazy Melbourne weather behind me. Or maybe it followed me.

As usual there was a restricted selection of unlimited alcohol available from the bar, of which everyone took advantage of. Funny how I absolutely detest beer (except for Corona of course) yet I manage to persuade the bartender to sway from the original list and give us some better tasting beer. Talk about using the influencing skills we were learning about. I'm a fast learner. Ten minutes later, she was spotted minding the front office desk instead of tending the bar.

Food is good, not great. The only thing that the management should probably consider adding to their improvement punchlist is to hire a chef who has a passion for seafood or not have them at all for dinner. The prawns were overcooked, the deep fried calamari were soggy, the oysters served without lemons, boy I can go on but I won't because I was happy there's seafood.

On a more positive note, we met the most important person - the CEO. Surprised honoured blown away. We never expected to meet him, let alone sit around him in a casual manner and just, chat. Yeah we did talk about the golden moment where we can meet he who is so far removed from our level. Like wow. Even the president of our North American business came to present some slides to us. Like wow again. Opportunities like this don't even come close to those old dudes working their lifetime in the company.

Going back to work today after all that intensive training is just not right.

The week that whisked by so quickly

2006-11-26T23:58:00.000+11:00

Salsa is fun. How hard can it be? Three steps, that's all to it.
Sunburns are awful. Thankfully I didn't look like a tomato.
Beach parties are fun. I still can't tan the white patchy spot on my back. *grrr*
Strawberry milkshakes at the north beach kiosk. The best by far!
Borat the movie is awful and disturbing. Do not watch it. You have been warned.
Yes I am single. Stop asking me already. I am just fine.

My first letter

2006-11-20T20:08:00.000+11:00

I was told that the correspondence process would take six months. That was way too long! And patience was something that I didn't have at the time of signing up to be a sponsor. I was excited. After sending off my first letter to my child sometime in July, I had forgotten about the wait, and was only sporadically triggered when I received Compassion's newsletters or various other related publications in my mailbox.

The day came when I was pleasantly surprised to receive my first letter from my sponsor child's parents a few days ago. Of course, Harpy is only six but loves to draw and play with toy guns! Gulp! Hopefully not in a bad way, haha, but like typical boys who like to shoot and play dead. And my beautiful Harpy drew me a love heart. I am extremely humbled by the fact that this family is interested to know more about myself, of which I definitely need more space and more paper than the single-page template letter suggesting that I keep it short than babble on.

So before you splurge on that nice pretty dress or that expensive pair of shoes, think of others less fortunate who will appreciate even your loose change hidden in the depths of your pockets.

No more MIA

2006-11-18T10:01:00.000+11:00

I'm back! Hoorah hoorah after more than two weeks without my broadband, I am now connected back to civilisation.

It is done

2006-10-31T22:43:00.000+11:00

Grey's Anatomy season two has finally come to an end. Personally I thought it didn't have a solid start to the season after a thrilling season one, with the first couple of episodes looking stale. I honestly feared that it would plummet into a pointless soap opera, but who would give up watching McDreamy for Cold Case on channel nine? NEVER! So I stuck to it and am glad I did because each medical challenge sheds some light on the doctors' personal experiences without injecting constant gore or bloody body parts like ER. The funny and witty storylines are just pleasant and hilarious to watch. But I admit, I cried when Doc had to be put down. And I cried when you don't have a choice between life and death. And I cried when we parted ways. A split in anticipation but in denial for far too long. The times we had were good. It is done, but I wish you well.

Listening to...
Chasing Cars
We'll do it all everything, on our own
We don't need anything, or anyone
If I lay here, if I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world
I don't quite know how to say how I feel
Those three words are said too much
They're not enough
Let's waste time chasing cars
Around our heads
I need your grace to remind me to find my own

Just when I can breathe again

2006-10-30T10:18:00.000+11:00

When you are working full time ten hours a day, there's no escaping the caffeine fix. How I got through the last three weeks with minimal sleep, overtime UNPAID work, weekend work and all sorts of disasters is beyond me. My body toiled through the tough times but has now crumbled, knowing that it can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel but is not there yet. Oh well, might as well catch the awful cold now, says the body. And no thanks to a colleague who had the cold, a friend's friend whom I did not know was sick when I generously agreed to put her up in my place, and numerous other people who seemed to be sick all at once, I am now officially on a sickie.

Daylight savings panic
I received Cath's text message at 6.48am yesterday, informing me that she is running late for band practice. Still dazed and confused after only just waking up and having my teeth brushed, my momentary walk on white puffy clouds came to a halt when I realised I had forgotten to put my clock FORWARD one hour. As of that moment, it was 7.48am and I was effectively LATE for practice which started at 7.30am! And unfortunately I wasn't playing at our Wollongong church, but at Shellharbour which takes me 25 minutes to get there. And being extremely sick did not help my panic mode. And I did consider the day before to get a replacement but every other keyboardist is already on duty. And I did speed, only a little, on the freeway until I saw a police car travelling behind me but made a turnoff a while later. I feel lucky.

He is fine
To all my friends, local and overseas, thanks heaps for your text messages during that scary moment in life. He has been discharged from hospital after a three day admission. If you are game enough, check out the pictures of the wreck here.

And my week could not have been worse

2006-10-17T19:30:00.000+10:00

As usual, he was driving home from college. Suddenly, he swerved the car when another car cut into his lane. Hitting the kerb, his car flipped and rolled over a few times.

A few helpful men stopped to help pull him out of the wreck. The Honda's a goner. He was admitted to the hospital immediately with head and body injuries. X rays and CTscans are clear, but he's in a lot of pain.

The news broke during half time of my netball semifinals yesterday. It could not have been so timely. I was extremely worried that my hands were shaking profusely, refusing to calm down.

But thank you Lord for your protection. I am thankful that nothing worse than this has happened. Please watch over this notorious brother of mine with your healing hands and your merciful angels.

If you know Eng, include him in your prayers will ya? And it's a week before his 19th birthday.

Exhaustion setting in

2006-10-15T23:48:00.000+10:00

My dirty laundry has reached waist high. My kitchen is messy. There are cat food scraps on the floor. Worse is the cat peeing in the bath tub. My camping bag is still unpacked. There are clean unironed clothes lying on the floor. The bed is unmade. The floors have not been mopped in weeks. My gym membership is wasting itself away. My meal times are screwed up. Eye bags are appearing.

Why is everything so messed up? That's because I have not worked so hard before in my life - two weekends in a row, at least 10 hours each day for the past two weeks. Afternoon shift work sucks. I hope I will never do another 16 hours work. I got splashed with synthetic resin at work - absolutely saturated. I also got splattered with blue dye. Blue fingernails can be trendy. I am now hating my project. It's messy. And I mean it literally too.

I'm going mad. And I'm tired, sleepy, cranky, the lot. Thank God I have a company holiday tomorrow.

I am extremely stressed out that

2006-10-09T21:39:00.000+10:00

I went in to work on Saturday and Sunday

I scooped laundry powder instead of scooping cat poo

I will get hammered if the system does not bloody work at the end of the day

I am so not looking forward to my first afternoon slash night shift tomorrow

I am tired. Very tired.

What a week!

2006-10-07T23:04:00.000+10:00

Finally, the countdown ended. It has been 15 weeks and 4 days after the last public holiday. Far too long, I'd say. A camping trip wasn't part of my initial idea of a relaxing long weekend, but I tagged along anyway. There were so many stuff to bring, far too many just-in-case items to pack, and just not enough car space to fit them all! And I'm talking about two girls in a red Toyota with a fully filled car boot and back seats just for two nights camping trip.

Moruya Heads was our destination. The caravan park where we pitched our tents was surprisingly very well equipped with tennis courts, volleyball courts, games room and clean toilet cabins, albeit having to move from one shower cubicle to the next if you decide to have a long hot shower. My portable gas stove certainly came in handy, with bacon and eggs every morning and stir fry kebabs for dinner. Mikey, one of the seasoned campers, had an impressive kitchenette set up in his car boot. That was really cool.

The nights were extremely cold. The boys were very effective in setting up the fire every night and playing guitars for Bob Marley sing-a-alongs. In all our laziness after a long drive to Moruya and setting up tents, we hopped on the back of Jono's ute, all fifteen of us, and drove as quietly as we can past the cranky owner's cabin at the front gate while trying as hard not to laugh everytime we rise and fall with the speed hump. The beach was so close yet so far! Such lazy buggers we are, and doing it illegally too. Hah! We ended up playing some sort of tag game, which then evolved into a tackle game. It was all fun playing in the dark and aided by two dolphin torches, until I sprained my thumb while frustratingly attempting numerous times to tackle Dane who runs like the wind. Oh well, at least Naomi and I did a pretty good job as a team.

It was all about the beach and water the next two days. Though it was fairly hot, the ocean was pretty cold. I ended up getting unevenly tanned, frequently switching between putting on my singlet and taking it off. Well, there's fickle-minded thinking for you. We also raided the outdoor sauna slash spa near the swimming pool. And to end our trip, we played water polo, cheater style, no rules. :)

Now it's back to work, stress, farewell dinner, Saturday at work, possibly tomorrow as well, panic Monday (for sure), and afternoon shift work on Tuesday, and I'm talking about a possible 12 hour shift. *deep breath*

"Believe in yourself" were Sam's parting words after Friday's farewell dinner for him. I will truly miss him, having conveniently bugged him for the last two years and seeking help in all my laziness just by yelling out to him across my desk. Don't stress, I can do it.

Skinny no more

2006-09-28T22:46:00.000+10:00

$4 for four bottles of 1 litre milk. Who would resist such a good deal? Hence I got sucked into the bulk buy deal, and decided to pick three bottles of full cream milk, which is the usual, and one bottle of skinny no fat milk, just for the fun of it.

I'm sorry to say that skinny milk tastes awful. As awful as milk gone sour. *yuck*

That's how I like it

2006-09-25T19:36:00.000+10:00

BBQ at the park, sunny beaches

Sunburnts

Trampoline and dance party

Favourite band through to NSW Uni Band Comp State Finals

Birthday party

Four hours sleep

Water baptism

Soy chai latte

Into the morsh pit!

2006-09-15T20:52:00.000+10:00

A day trip down south to Nowra was almost ruined by the heavy downpour. Continuous rainy days were soaking up happy moods and beach plans, but a cranked up Tribal music in the car made up for mad weathers. Liz was a champ, driving me down to Nowra to meet her family. I had suggested to her to replace her windscreen wipers that were obviously faulty as I could barely see the road, no thanks to the rain. And the very next day, one of the two wipers was stolen while the car was parked in front of our church building. I know it isn't funny, but I couldn't stop laughing when I heard that. Sorry!

Anyway, I spent the day with her family and will forever remember how the hostess ditched me with Cluedo and two easily distracted sisters to nurse her headache. Soon it was time to dance to the music of Tribal, a band formed by six of our local boys from church. Sounds Like Chicken, which hails from Melbourne, also rocked Wesley Centre that night with their seven-piece band, featuring a trombone, trumpet and sax! If youthful reggae and melodic hardcore music is not your type, then check out Micah, a bit old school but still sounded great.

And we're shrinking again

2006-09-13T17:24:00.000+10:00

He is the walking engineering dictionary, PLC expert and HMI guru. Someone whom I greatly look up to, constantly seek help, and occasionally look silly to. And he has now handed in his resignation to jump ship to a new company. It's going to be tough because I had thought I can rely on his knowledge to help me through a major commissioning work in a month's time.

How now, brown cow? All I see is deep waters.

Where to, now

2006-09-08T21:54:00.000+10:00

Snuggled crosslegged on the chair she constantly fights for possession with that white hissy creature, she props her elbows on the table as head support while she begins her wishful thinkings. The smell of hazelnut latte is aromatic and therapeutic, yet nothing beats a hot glass of soy chai latte at diggies by the beach. There is something beautiful about this place which she has grown to love. The next transition occassionally pops up in her mind, but it is forcefully pushed back. She does not want to leave, not yet. But circumstances sometimes win over what you want.

Confused. Complicated. Crushed.

Crikey he's dead!

2006-09-04T21:41:00.000+10:00

I saw the footage from a helicopter hovering over the waters of the Great Barrier Reef on the evening news. The dark and huge stingray swam below while he snorkelled above. Suddenly, the stingray's barb went up and penetrated his chest.

The wildlife daredevil has departed. A huge loss.

Berry mania

2006-09-03T16:45:00.000+10:00

For months, I have pledged to rid two boxes of frozen berries from my freezer. Jo, my ex-housemate, had one day returned with three boxes of the above mentioned item, given away free of charge. Excited as we were then, we organised a dessert night but to our dismay, the berries were awfully sour to eat by themselves. Serving them as toppings on ice cream did not make the cut either. So we decided to soak it in one of our ultra sweet berry dessert wine for a few days, but still ended up in disappointment.

Having thrown away one box a few weeks ago to make way for other more deserving freezer items, I was super tempted to ditch the last box today. However, an idea struck me and in amongst all my unused kitchenware, I found my blender. So I gathered and blended

> One small individual tub of berry yoghurt
> Frozen berries
> Milk
> Strawberry ice cream

to get some really yummy berry smoothie. A great drink to celebrate the arrival of spring. Looks like I'll be on a yoghurt diet for a while - I still have more than 3/4 pack of now useful frozen berries.

I should have thought about this yesterday as it would have been the perfect cold drink to cure my sun stroke headache. I seriously cannot remember my last visit to the beach, probably the day I had mini sand storms in my face. Yeah that's gotta be the last time before the cold winter months trotted in. After laying on the beach yesterday for a good two hours, with my red bikini and brown shorts, hat propped over face and unsuccessfully getting tanned, I woke up with a massive headache. A good frozen berry smoothie would have been fantastic!

I had forgotten

2006-09-01T22:21:00.000+10:00

I had wished for a holiday today to celebrate the first day of spring. And then, I remembered - it was Merdeka Day yesterday.

I miss home. And sometimes I really hate being by myself here.

The Lunch Room

2006-08-31T22:21:00.000+10:00

Of late, it has been mega difficult to be sitting in our newly "renovated" lunch room. Well, not quite what you think renovated is. All we did for the past few months during our lunch breaks was to clear the crowded area near the lift, throw out 1950s and 1960s Australian standards, relocate unused cabinet files, and rearrange the drafters' precious equipments. And voila! Finally we have a designated area where we can have lunch, and not at our desks where we frequently drop crumbs that remain under the keyboard for rats to feast at night. I'm not kidding. During the colder winter days, rat droppings have been sighted on the desks (not mine, thank god!) that prompted an immediate response to tie food scraps in bags and a corrective action to get a long awaited lunch room up and running.

Well after all that typing above, I have not even dug into what I initially wanted to say. Anyway, I was mentioning how hard it is to be seated in the lunch room, listening to all sorts of swear words as my colleagues went about describing their spicy stories of the past. Seriously, I totally understand how exciting your story is, but cut the crap with the swearing, will ya? Geez. But, I said nothing because many a times, I have the opportunity to talk about Jesus - how cool is that? Among the regulars, one is particularly inquisitive about Jesus. Although he's had two bad experiences at a catholic church, and the only times that he's ever visited a church, he remains the curious cat. I appreciate this window of opportunity I have, and don't mind sitting down at the lunch room every day.

Jesus, be my strength.

Gifts are meant to be unwrapped

2006-08-29T22:58:00.000+10:00

Hello!

I have just returned from a regional leaders meeting at the Novotel, feeling fresh and nourished with new revelations on how to become an effective leader and how not to stuff up as a leader. Leaders need people who are willing, people who are using their gifts effectively and not leave them in their Christmas gift boxes.

Pastor Ashley Evans, of Paradise Church in Adelaide, explained the FIVE mentalities that leaders need to be aware of that refrain people from being willing and available - an important all-time power factor that grows a church.

Mentality 1
I used to be willing, but not anymore.
Bad experiences or encouragement into the wrong area of ministry where people are not actually gifted will put people off.

Mentality 2
I am willing, but there are already other people doing it.
The assumption that leads to people watching at the sidelines.

Mentality 3
I am willing, but don't hurt me.
The truth to know is that we must expect turbulence in close relationships that can happen at church, even in your own family.

Mentality 4
I am willing, but I don't know what to do about it.
The practical side to ensure people discover their gifts.

Mentality 5
I am willing, but I can't see the value
The reminder to nourish and encourage volunteers in the church.

Here are some of the many ways that were suggested to help leaders will people into being willing.
> Be a surgeon - take the slow route in encouraging/developing people
> Be a Moses - make changes slowly
> Be picky, slowly - want volunteers, but never show you need them
> Be loving - smile, touch, remember names
> Be positive - always think WIN WIN

Awesome talk!

And finally, my first NRL game

2006-08-27T23:12:00.000+10:00

A ticket to the footy game is not cheap. If there is a group of four, my friends were scheming to get away with family passes - as if we can pretend to look like parents with kids in their teens. But a few hours before the game started, I found out that we got free tickets! Hoorah!

Imagine not knowing what a try or a scrum is after all these years living in Australia. It's quite pathetic, I know, but you can't blame me for being plain ignorant. Rugby isn't a popular sport in Victoria and I only started picking up these jargons from watching the annual State of Origin game between the Blues and the Maroons since moving to NSW. So that makes TWO footy games that I've watched on telly, and I can't be sure if I even had my bum on the couch for the full game. Probably not.

The view of WIN stadium from the hillside

But it was an insane first live footy game ever for me. It was pouring cats and dogs just five minutes before the game was due to kick off. Thankfully, I had an umbrella but you can't quite keep dry when you are sharing space under one shelter. And then, there was the wear-the-wrong-type-of-shoes-because-you-want-to-look-good syndrome. What was I thinking! To make matters worse, the free standing area was on a hillside. Great! Just the perfect landscape for toe blisters. And then, there was the never-have-enough-clothes-on-to-keep-warm dilemma. On my way to the stadium, I overheard the dee jay reminding people to bring their doonas. I was confused, but found out soon enough why.

But it was all worth it to finally watch a rugby game and madly yelling out in support of the Dragons, whose existence was only known to me the day before. And the fact that they had five straight losses and one win over the past six weeks isn't very encouraging. Everyone wants to support a winning team, and the Dragons did not let me down (18-4 win against the Sharks), save for a ruffle in the second half where one player from each team was sent off. The crowd was just screaming "OUT! OUT! OUT!" the whole time, obviously unhappy with the error-riddled game in the rain.

Well, one of my To-Do list is now striked out. Need to see if I can hunt a free entry to an AFL game.

It was my American friend's first footy game too!

updates

2006-08-21T23:56:00.000+10:00

>> tuesday was thai dinner day with my ex-colleague from melbourne. It was good to finally catch up with him, after months of assurance that he will come visit some day. I don't get many interstate visitors, some of which come as close to sydney but never made the trip down south thinking that wollongong is some ulu place many thousand kilometres away. in case you aren't aware, i am only an hour plus drive away from the fringe of the big city.

>> russell fragar made a special appearance at our wednesday band practice night. he has since lost quite a bit of weight from the last time i took a photo with him five years ago. nevertheless, he's looking better than ever, and has been leading the creative ministry at a church in virginia for the past five years since moving on from hillsong church.

>> finals of the uni band competition took off on thursday. i rocked up at seven only to find out that the band i came to support had been drawn to play last, which means i had three and a half hours to kill. but i was so glad i stayed on, not to mention another half hour wait for the results, none of that mattered because the free agent crew won! more than three quarters of the dance floor was, for certain, jam packed with people like us from church supporting that band, four of which are brothers whom we came to cheer on. it was a good time of hip hop, funk and reggae music. they certainly won by a mile. go boys! they will now progress to the nsw southern region semi final to be played out at uni next month. we've got home ground advantage, so come support!

>> draggy friday - that's what it felt like. combination of sleep deprivation and dateline stress in the name of an active social life. i think it's important, otherwise i'll become stupid. serious. i went out later that night for dinner and drinks with my colleagues - to celebrate and farewell DM who is moving on to a different area of the company. there will be many more farewells to come until the group can shrink to a sustainable level. and what is wrong with cranberry vodka?

>> sunny saturday in sydney. went shopping at bondi junction but shockingly did not buy anything, again. maybe that's a good thing because seriously, i have not finish cycling the clothes i have in my wardrobe. i don't have that many, but have learnt to mix and match pretty well. we hopped over to a friend's housewarming party in zetland after that. it is true that if you space out your food intake, your tummy has the chance to register that and inform your brain that it's close to being stuffed - and all i had was a snag, a small beef steak, three tiny sushi rolls, a few spoonfuls of curry chicken on mashies, and two glasses of coke over a four hour period. oh, and not to mention a very nice cocktail concoction made by the hostess, but still to feel the effects the next day was really, unbelievable. i must do this more often, spacing out my food intake, otherwise i will continue to be an unnecessarily overstocked food vessel.

>> i love sundays. and i learnt about paradoxes today. the bible is filled with paradoxes, which are seemingly contradictory statements that may nonetheless be true. you are richest when you are poorest. jesus died so we can live. give away so you can keep.

>> monday madness happens quite often. i'll be struggling to find my feet, search for documents, remember what i did last week and what i need to do this week. and i found out that my colleague's son had developed chicken pox on saturday. what can i do? where can i run? he could be carrying the contagious virus with him. don't laugh, i have yet to be infected and i don't intend to have any rashes or blisters on me, thank you very much. i hope you get the hint to stay home with your son. and we got badly beaten by more than thirty goals tonight by the top team in the ladder. we aren't doing that bad either - on second. the departure of our goal defender due to injury and the random replacement who obviously did not care less was such a demoralising experience. enough said.

When were you last grateful for a glass of clean water

2006-08-14T22:26:00.000+10:00

He was only six when his Grade One teacher told him that many people in Africa were dying because they did not have clean water to drink. Deeply moved to help build a well, he went home to ask his parents for $70. They brushed his request off, and continued making dinner. Day after day, this child persisted to ask for money and his parents finally consented to give him money in exchange for household chores.

Four months later, he finally earned $70 and brought it to a non-profit organisation to build a well. He later found out that he really needed $2000 to build a proper working well. From there on, his efforts snowballed into a huge project, now known as Ryan's Well Foundation.

Ryan and his family are currently in Australia, specifically Wollongong (ahem!) and at my church yesterday to talk about his work. Some of my girl friends think he's pretty hot, six foot four. And he's only fifteen.

How much water do we use a day?
30 litres of water for a 10 minute shower.
10 litres of water if you brush your teeth with the tap running.
40 litres of water for a normal washing machine load.

Pork soup and pineapples won't do it

2006-08-10T21:40:00.000+10:00

teng: would you like to help throw the rubbish after dinner?

she: okay, where do you throw the rubbish?

teng: *scratch head* urm, the rubbish bins are outside near the entrance of our driveway. you can't miss them.

she: which bin do we put it in?

teng: there is a unit number on each bin. it doesn't really matter which bin.

And after dinner, she disappears into her room with her guest, and I'm left to throw the garbage, which I purposefully left tied in the bin for four days, along with two of her temporary rubbish bags hung on the pantry door, one of which was leaking. Don't test my patience - today will be the last day I clean the stove you messed up and wipe the dining table you soiled.

And she made the fourth one in a week

2006-08-05T23:15:00.000+10:00

Carrots were awfully cheap today. At 49cents a kilo, I grabbed two bags without second thoughts. Avocados were 49cents each, and so was a whole 2.5kg bag of oranges at an incredible 99cents. In they went into my shopping cart and before I knew it, I had spent a whoppping century figure today for groceries. Mum used to tease my fully-stocked pantry, as if I was preparing for the end of the world. But I like a filled pantry.

My maiden attempt at a carrot cake (well what else can I make? I've got tonnes of carrots now) almost went awry. Seconds after I gleefully closed the oven door, I realised that I had not used the baking powder and bi carb soda! Alarm bells rang, triggering an immediate retrieval of the dough from the oven. Quickly and evenly, I mixed the two missing ingredients into the cake mix and returned the pan into the oven. Thankfully, all was not lost and my carrot cake is yet, another success.

I should also mention that I attempted a roast pork today. Though absent-mindedly forgetting to wrap the bacon around the pork as per the recipe, it scores a pass by my standards. Guess it deserves a photo too.

Freak spout

2006-08-04T21:42:00.000+10:00

We have our own water twister.

Featured on the evening news today was the spectacular formation of a water sprout, mini twister style. It was caught on camera while the news crew was making their way around the La Perouse area. The little menace tore the roof off a Sydney apartment and also happily severed power lines as it ran down the street.

If I can get hold of the video, I'll post it. Meanwhile, you'll have to make do with this. I should also remind myself that I live very near the beach. As a matter of fact, too close for comfort.

The girl next door

2006-08-02T22:42:00.000+10:00

It has been a full four weeks of this new inhabitance. The new resident has a few quirky behaviours - frequently disappearing into her room, constant phone chats, mono syllable answers and inexpandable friendly conversations. I tried. Very hard. Success seems far away.

I do have some expectations around living with other people. It's a natural thing to help out with house chores, don't you think? The stove is not cleaned up after all cooking attempts, dishes are not kept away, and the garbage has never been taken out. No, not once. Don't get me wrong, she's real neat and tidy but only cleans her individual items and minds her own individual space. Leading by example doesn't seem to quite work.

So I evilly schemed a test two days ago by tying up the garbage bag and leaving it for a couple of days to see if it can initiate some sort of conscience. Upon reaching home today, to my dismay, the garbage was still happily sitting in the bin.

I need a better plan.

It's a baking success!

2006-07-29T21:36:00.000+10:00

I had a huge craving for pandan chiffon cake today and found this recipe from The Star's culinary guru. If you, like me, can't find pandan leaves or realise at the last minute you don't have a blender to extract its juice, replace it with one teaspoon of instant coffee powder in 1/4 cup of water to make coffee chiffon cake instead.

I'm baking a second one for church tomorrow. Yumm.

Annoying

2006-07-27T21:19:00.000+10:00

A few months ago, an Indian couple with a young son moved in to the first unit downstairs. The husband knows a colleague who lives upstairs with a Caucasian wife and two energetic kids. This colleague of his looks Sri Lankan, or maybe a mix between Indian and another race of fairer complexion, I dont know. There is also another Indian couple who lives upstairs because I had bumped into the husband in the carpark and his wife usually sees him off. My building is three-storey high with only twelve units, so it's not that difficult to notice your neighbours wandering around.

Unfortunately I can't really tell where this Indian music that is playing right this moment is coming from. I know it's only close to ten but some people do need to sleep early. Sometimes it sounds like chanting. No matter how it sounds, it's annoying the shits out of me!

On a different note, I hear occasional yelling, mostly of a man seemingly scolding a woman who must be real fearful because I hardly hear a sound from her. And it's definitely of Indian slang and words. The supposedly one-sided argument felt like it lasted forever, because those were precious night winks that were deprived of.

I really wonder if I should just mind my own business. After all, these are other people's family affairs. On the other hand, I really feel like going to their doors and politely asking them to shut up. If only I could understand what they were so frustrated about, then it wouldn't be such a mind-boggling thing right now.

It just doesn't feel right

2006-07-25T21:52:00.000+10:00

First, it started with nose runs and consecutive sneezes. By lunchtime, the throat was sore. By teatime, I felt a funny bone on my right arm. Maybe I've been typing too long or exerted too much energy in last night's netball game. I persisted to attend my Tuesday boxing class but left halfway through the session when my nose refused to leave me alone. When I reached home, Chloe ran out the front door and refused to come back immediately when called. Just before I stepped into the shower, I cracked my ankle, again, and it was so darn audible it was bad.

I hate today. And I can't believe myself for bringing work papers home. Perhaps a sign to make myself useful if I decide to take the day off tomorrow.

Make that noise!

2006-07-24T21:30:00.000+10:00

I have been so caught up with soccer that I have completely forgotten to write about STOMP. It was staged at StarCity's theatre and I went to watch it with a group of friends a few weeks back.

STOMP is a famous percussion show with over eleven years on Broadway. You will definitely love this production if you, like me, are those who embrace the sheer joy of banging on things (I do, my colleague always wonder why I keep banging on my keyboard). No speech, no dialogue, no plot. Just the power of infectious rhythm that engaged the audiences and got us laughing heaps. The eight member cast used everything but conventional percussion instruments - from everyday objects like broom, garbage cans and wooden poles to unthinkable items like tubes, matchboxes, plastic bags and Zippo lighters. I was superbly impressed.

There is a similar show by a Korean group featuring kitchen chefs and knives. If you hear about it coming to Aussie, let me know!

Dear BW

2006-07-21T23:55:00.000+10:00

I woke up this morning thinking about what I did last night. And no, I am not sorry for not fulfilling that favour you asked of me. A splitting headache got the better of me, but I did not tell you that. I don't really know why I refrained from explaining myself. I hope you know me well enough to know that I would have never abandoned you in the rain.

Name something associated with mouth ulcers

2006-07-19T22:04:00.000+10:00

S.T.R.E.S.S.

Seriously. I never knew those pestering mouth ulcers had anything to do with stress. And my friend, who is a nurse, probably made the right diagnosis. They have been making constant appearances during these troubled times.

I need to rid them. Want. Must. Oh, go away.

And they say graduates have nothing to fear

2006-07-13T22:11:00.000+10:00

There has been plenty of kerfuffle at work. Plenty of goss. Plenty of speculation. And yet, we are all expected to focus on our jobs.

I can't say that I'm doing very well either. Zits on my face tell it all. To say that I'm not worried is an understatement. Our future lie in the hands of newly appointed presidents who, so I've heard, have big ambitions of relinquishing the idea of external plant engineering services. Others have been quoted as expressing an interest in restructuring and absorbing engineers into the plant instead.

The first step from management is to sniff out any potential happy clappy ones wishing to be made redundant voluntarily. Some are waiting to hear their fate in the next few months, and that would include yours truly. Some are already applying for jobs elsewhere, and that would include 250 others who have already lost their jobs.

Where to from here? I'm not sure. And I have just begun to love doing what I'm doing now. Love engineering? One will never expect to hear that from someone who had a genie wishlist of morphing into anyone but an engineer. Seriously.

Of sewer pits, overhead cranes and diabetes test

2006-07-12T23:18:00.000+10:00

First it was a shit job. Two days later, a dirt job. A week later, a prick of a job.

Butt out

2006-07-11T22:57:00.000+10:00

For a team plagued with scandals, diving antics, and club uncertainties, Italy has triumphed. They will be doubtfully remembered as an outstanding team, let alone hailed as the deserving winners of the World Cup. A disastrous team, I'd say.

Zidane's infamous head-butt incident is certainly unpardonable, however serious the provocation may have been. Had he release a similar temper on the streets, a charge will be laid, that's for sure. It's a strange exit for a player of exceptional skills and fancy footwork on the pitch, though not particularly outstanding in France's first few opening matches, not to mention a suspension already in the bag. But to be sensationally sent off in a World Cup final is the cruelest blow to any professional soccer player wanting to end his international career on a high note.

What is done, is done. The world awaits in anticipation on what the great Zizou will say on that sour gesture that has attracted undivided attention.

I want to dance dance dance in the freedom I know

2006-07-08T23:19:00.000+10:00

It has been a crazy week. I did mention before that I was expecting to enjoy as much ME time as I can. Guess that didn't quite work out as planned when you have to work nine to ten hours a day this week, which is highly unusual for someone who detests overtime.

Hence, I was very happy to be on the bus to Sydney's Olympic Park last night, though feeling extremely lethargic and sleepy. This deficiency syndrome of mine almost caused me to enter into hibernation mode and risk being an anti-social cat. I had no idea where the perseverence to continue chatting came from, but I was sure glad it did not abandon me.

Hillsong's 20th conference ended magnificently last night. I went with high expectations. I wanted to be blessed, but got anointed with oil instead. I wanted to release and be relieved, but teared instead. I wanted to hear my favourite Marty Sampson songs, but got reminded instead with simple words that He loves me no matter what.

On top of that, I accomplished something B.I.G. that I had wanted to do for a long time. As I signed the papers, I felt slightly ashamed that I've put it off time and time again. Now is the time, and I'm already looking to bless another.

Les Blues will win the World Cup

2006-07-08T18:44:00.000+10:00

The France-Portugal game was so not watchworthy at all! Where are the high spirits and skillful manouvres of the gifted thirty-something French men who played such an impressive match against the Brazilians? They were lucky to have received that highly debatable (what's new?) penalty. Portugal, who got in the quarter finals by penalties, continued to trail on a penalty throughout the game. They hardly ever got a proper shot at the goal anyway.

But, I'm happy that France is in the finals. Italy, you're a sure loser.

Glory for Italy

2006-07-05T19:44:00.000+10:00

Finally, some real soccer from Italy in the dying moments of the game, which really looked as if it was going to be another one of those kick-in-a-penalty or forever-be-shamed shootouts. I had strong predictions the Italians will continue their vigorous defence and the Germans will not get penetrated early, and damn right I was, for the score was nil all at the end of half time when I switched on the telly. I saved an extra hour of sleep, which was very much needed after a long day at work yesterday.

But I will give credit to the Italians, no matter how much I want them to lose, with their brilliant turn around in extra time, from boring defend-it-all game in normal time to breath-taking near misses and excellent curling goals after 90 minutes. What I had not expected was Grosso to score. He, who was controversially brought down by Lucas Neill in the previous game, scored a sensational goal to place Italy in the finals. Del Piero made sure the host nation suffer a deeper blow to their cut.

Who will Italy face in the final? I hope France will prevail. No penalty shootouts please.

Chocolate milkshake, anyone?

2006-07-04T21:59:00.000+10:00

It has been a long eleven hours at work today. After lunch, I headed down to the sewer pit to check the boys' progress on the installation work of the integrated pump control module. Yes SEWER is the word and the pit stinks! Imagine chocolate thickshake and brown gravy-like fluid. YUCK!

Thankfully, at 6.30pm we got the pumps running correctly. There are just some minor hiccups with the indication lights, which I can easily fix tomorrow. Otherwise, I think my boss will have my head on the platter. Or maybe not. He didn't even bother to check if I was going all right with this critical job - either he has full confidence in a lowly-paid graduate like me or he simply doesn't care. After all, he is only in a temporary position as boss.

Every new day

2006-06-30T23:57:00.000+10:00

Busy week nights are always good. We won our netball game. Girly girl chat at life group. Band practice. Extended band practice for Fusion, our annual youth event. Fusion tonight, finally, and boy, did we ROCK!

And then, there will be no night activites next week. Absolutely none planned. I like. I need some ME time. No netball because we have a bye, which means I get to spend ME time with Grey's Anatomy and don't have to eat dinner at unearthly hours. No life group, because it's once a fortnight. No band practice because of the Hillsong conference. No extended practice because Fusion is over, which then gives me the only thing to look forward to next week:-

One ticket to the Hillsong night conference on Friday.

By the way, my job is on the line. Big news yesterday sparked nationwide shock at the closure of the tin mill. At least 500 jobs will be lost. There will be talks on restructuring my department, maybe redundancies somewhere down the track. Perhaps I should run away while I can.

If that was a penalty, then there are kangaroos in Italy

2006-06-27T23:09:00.000+10:00

Cruel. Devastating. Unjust.

It was so undeserving to see the much loved Socceroos exit the World Cup in this manner. But hey, Australia made it to the last sixteen. That is an achievement by itself. And we are proud.

The last minute penalty may have been hugely questionable. Lucas Neill did what he had to do. The Spanish referee saw his version of event, and did what he had to do. Fans of the Socceroos had the benefit of seeing the replay, and did what we had to do. Protest, though in vain.

And did anyone see Totti put his thumb into his mouth after the goal? My immediate thought was that he was mocking the Socceroos, a sign of "Hah, you suckers!" but said later in an interview that the goal was for his son. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but will certainly hate him for life if it had been otherwise, no matter how good looking everyone else thinks he is. Bleah.

Ooops

2006-06-25T00:26:00.000+10:00

Apologies to those who were led astray by my convincing statement that Lucas Neill is from Wollongong, where in fact, it was Scott Chipperfield I was referring to in my previous post. It was purely a mistake driven by disorientation of the mind due to sleep defiency syndrome.

Here's something hilarious to redeem myself - a video made for Mother's Day. Thanks Cheryl. I certainly remember being at loggerheads with my brothers. :)

It's not too long now before the Germany-Sweden match...

Good enough

2006-06-23T22:14:00.000+10:00

The alarm for 5am rang but was quickly muted. Opening my eyes, I let out a quiet groan. The mind and the body was in serious battle with conflicting intentions. I don't quite recall what happened after that, but I was almost certain I heard the neighbour's television and a subtle roar some time later. Quickly nudging my friend who had bunked over, we dragged our bodies and the doona into the living room only to be greeted in horror with the scoreline of one nil, Australia trailing! An extra five minutes of winks had cost us dearly.

Thankfully, a penalty was awarded before the end of the break. Penalties are the things Viduka misses, and I was sure glad that Moore stepped up to it instead - and he did not disappoint. I later found out that Viduka's sloppiness in the first minute of the game was the main cause that conceded that foolish but amazing freekick to the Croats. The Australian captain has not captured my fancy, and probably never will, for he is unable to dribble the ball for more than five feet before wrongfooting himself, let alone net in a goal. I certainly hope his presence in the starting eleven provides a pillar of strength and confidence to the boys instead, and not the one to look for to deliver the goals in times of desperation.

My excitement was shortlived the moment Croatia tucked in a harmless looking shot soon after the restart and regained the lead. I just could not believe my eyes. Just minutes before, I was re-enacting to my housemate, who had just woken up during the break, how the nervous Kalac had earlier missed catching the waist-high ball in his hand, and missing it again at its rebound. He has my eternal pity, because it is a moment Kalac will find difficult to forget, and probably never forgive himself if Kewell had not found the late equaliser that has placed Australia in the last sixteen. Italy awaits us on Tuesday 1am AEST.

Oh, and have I mentioned Josip Skoko is my Croatian friend's cousin, and that one of our best defender, Lucas Neill is a Wollongong boy? :)

Freethought

2006-06-22T20:23:00.000+10:00

My little pansy wansy is blooming. Hoorah! Five pansies at once, each with two overlapping violet petals at the top and three violet with a splash of dark purple, almost black bottom petals. However, it's starting to get a bit leggy and squashy at the bottom. The leaves seem to be fighting for space in that little pot, looking slightly overgrown. Should I just pluck away the leaves, like trimming a plant? I don't know. Is it time to transfer Viola to a bigger pot? I hope not. Gardening is certainly not my forte.

Infectious period

2006-06-20T21:09:00.000+10:00

Up until a few hours before the anticipated match, I was still childishly insisting that we play netball. Only because. I have been repeatedly told, as a child, that playing soccer equals nasty injuries.

Word of a soccer match after church was passed around, and when we gathered in the field at the appointed time, we had eleven man in each team. How rare is that! I was very impressed, though many would think a gathering of exactly twenty-two young and middle-aged people is pure coincidental and insignificant, that I couldn't wait to play my first ever soccer game.

And my verdict? Watching the World Cup is fun, but playing soccer is heaps fun!

And my advice? Wear proper soccer boots. Toe blisters are nasty.

For claudsy

2006-06-17T18:41:00.000+10:00

I love bargain buys. And I love beads. That newly-opened accessories shop at the mall has 50% off! Weeeeee! And so I treated myself to three pretty necklaces, not even thinking if they will match any of my clothes in the wardrobe.

But they certainly came in handy today. Matched a slightly low-cut black top with one of the beads, finished with a light brown flarey type skirt and brown boots. I finally got to wear my boots, having kept them in the wardrobe for godknowshowlong. It has made its debut Wollongong appearance at a wedding, only to momentarily stuff up the bridal march I was playing - extra high heels means missing the pedal by inches and causing hiccupy transitions. *argh!*

The wedding service was over in half an hour, how good was that. Of course, there was another half hour waiting for the bride's arrival, but that was most quickly forgotten. The groom teared. The bride glowed. It was beautiful.

Of round balls and Harry Kewell

2006-06-14T21:03:00.000+10:00

Almost two weeks of hiatus was totally unintentional. I must be forgiven for not writing. The World Cup, is after all, only once every four years. The first round group matches are almost over, with the extraordinary feat from the Socceroos on Monday beating the Asian champions in a game that Australia seemed destined to lose until the last few minutes. My Japanese friend who was watching with me had her bets shortlived. With only eight minutes left on the clock including injury time, the two late Aussie substitutes netted in three superb goals!!

In contrast to that, the Brazil-Croatia match today was totally unworthy of my 5am presence in front of the telly. It was such a frustrating and lazy game by the Brazilians. After the Kaka goal, I retreated to continue my interrupted sleep.

Bad belles of the past

2006-06-03T20:43:00.000+10:00

I wanted to sleep through my alarm, fully knowing that the weekend is unplanned. No girly girl dayouts or chai lattes by the beach today. Looking out my bedroom window, the sky is superbly uninviting, and has been for the whole week. I didn't want to plan anything only to be disappointed later by the rain. I hate that.

No plan is sometimes a good plan, for I stumbled upon a christian book store today while strolling home after a tiring combat class. The book store is quietly tucked away behind a church which I eversooften have conveniently walked past. I was tempted to check it out, and I bought a new book called BAD GIRLS of the BIBLE. There are still unread Max Lucado and Phillip Yancey books in my library, yet I was drawn to pick up this book from the shelf. I will tell you how I go with the book, for I am infamously known to buy books, read the first few chapters and eventually lose interest. I was never able to do any justice to those books, having refrained from book shopping for a long period of time.

Goodbye for now as I embrace the smell of newly printed papers and freshly turned pages.

Say thank you

2006-06-02T21:32:00.000+10:00

It was freaking cold when I left my house at 6.30 this morning. And when I left the south beach function centre two hours later, just for the record, it was 8 degrees. But the extra effort was worth it - I got a free sausages-bacon-scrambledeggs-mushrooms breakfast which I hadn't had for a very long time.

I was there to support an event that my church was hosting - a Lord Mayoral National Day of Thanksgiving breakky. Sounded really important but I wasn't aware if the Lord Mayor was there. Possibly some very distinguished guests were present.

It's officially tomorrow, but go thank someone for making a difference in your life. It's nice getting appreciated, but even more wonderful to appreciate.

Countdown to the World Cup

2006-06-01T23:48:00.000+10:00

A guy friend sent this to me and I thought it was really funny, not!:

An extremely important advice and recommendations is to be passed on to wives, girlfriends, fiancés, mothers, sisters, daughters, etc.(to all women in general) These rules are to be communicated prior to the World Cup in June/July this year.

RULES:

1. From 9th June to 9th July 2006, you should read the sports section of the newspaper so that you are aware of what is going on regarding the World Cup, and that way you will be able to join in the conversations. If you fail to do this, then you will be looked at in a bad way, or you will be totally ignored. DO NOT complain about not receiving any attention.

2. During the World Cup, the television is mine, at all times, without any exceptions. If you even take a glimpse of the remote control, you will lose it (your eye).

3. If you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game, I don’t mind, as long as you do it crawling on the floor and without distracting me. If you decide to stand nude in front of the TV, make sure you put clothes on right after because if you catch a cold, I wont have time to take you to the doctor or look after you during the World Cup month.

4. During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute, unless I require a refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the telephone, or pick up the baby that just fell from the second floor... it wont happen.

5. It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on, and please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV between 12am and 6am, unless they replay a good game that I missed during the day.

6. Please, please, please!! if you see me upset because one of my teams is losing, DO NOT say “get over it, its only a game”, or “don’t worry, they’ll win next time”. If you say these things, you will only make me angrier and I will love you less. Remember, you will never ever know more about football than me and your so called “words of encouragement” will only lead to a break up or divorce.

7. You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me during halftime but only when the commercials are on, and only if the halftime score is pleasing me. In addition, please note I am saying “one” game, hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy excuse to “spend time together”.

8. The replays of the goals are very important. I don’t care if I have seen them or I haven’t seen them, I want to see them again. Many times.

9. Tell your friends NOT to have any babies, or any other child related parties or gatherings that requires my attendance because:

a) I will not go,
b) I will not go, and
c) I will not go.

But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Sunday to watch a game, we will be there in a flash.

10. The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying “but you have already seen this...why don’t you change the channel to something we can all watch??”, the reply will be: “Refer to Rule #2 of this list”.

11. And finally, please save your expressions such as “Thank God the World Cup is only every 4 years”. I am immune to these words, because after this comes the Champions League, Premier League, Italian League, Spanish League, etc etc.

12. Thank you for your co-operation.

Regards,
Men of the World

Miscellaneous Reflections

2006-05-31T23:02:00.000+10:00

I was very upset when the rain decided to cry for five minutes, just hours after I had washed my car. It was horrid. Mud smudge. But then, yesterday's downpour for about nine hours gave my poor car that little bit of dignity back.

//

An urgent meeting was called at short notice today regarding pay structure for the next financial year. I didn't attend but received a letter re the matter. I'll have questions once the changes sink into my saturated brain.

//

Make the most of your Queen Esther moment. Jesus says "I am King. I will lead". Thank You Lord for reminding me today.