Sleepless nights: Dejavu all over again...

Life is funny, life is unpredictable, and life is not fair...the most common things people say about life. One of my ex-lecturer, whom I admired very much, always say "Who says life is fair?" when we complained about our assignment loads ..emm being a planning student is synonym with overworked with assignments, burning midnight oils, not enough sleep - just to name a few! I remembered those days very well - we were in our studio from 8 am till 8.00 am the following morning - just to finish whatever projects we were doing at that time. But, don't get me wrong - it was kind of fun as well coz were we surrounded by friends who were also in the same boat! I really hate my drawing board, my Rotring set, my T-square when I was so overwhelmed and stressed- which was more often than not...but at the end of the day, we graduated (June 1996)...yipeee...


and i looked back at all those experiences and stress and pressures to succeed with a bit of nostalgia and fondness. It has made me strong...and now I kind of doing the same thing again, staying up late - to prepare for lectures, to mark assignments and exam scripts. I was frequently reminded how hard life is for a student - struggling to pass an exam, doing assignment last minutes (am guilty of this so many times over the years!), having a blank moment during exams...and i am thankful that during my college days, I did ok and also had the time to enjoy myself! That, I think is the most precious experience one can have...

My favourite guy...

Meet Al, the favourite guy in my life right now. Isn't he sweet? He is my nephew, who just turned 1 last July. I am bias (me think!) but he is just so adorable...


I have great plans for him, hahahaha....the new CEO for SALCRA in the making (if I have my way!). I know his dad does not like the fact that I always give in to Al's demand. The case in point, Al was with me last weekend and for a little boy, he is very bright. He knew I am a sucker for sweet smile and always demanded me to carry him around. Which I did! and this really annoyed my brother ...hehehehe sorry! I tend to give in to his every whim ... i know I shouldn't be I cannot help it ....

Here's more photos of Al


This was taken last May, when he was admitted for mild pneumonia....so frail looking isn't he?

Samarinda - the photos (finally!)

One the the shopping malls in Samarinda, located at the "better" part of the town. Sadly, I only went here on my last day there!




Street cleaners working at 3.00am at Soekarno Hatta Airport (Domestic Terminal) - never seen anything like this anywhere else!















I found out that Samarinda (or KalTim to be exact) is very much influenced by Dayak design/motifs - very much similar to the Iban of Borneo...cross-border communities and inter-ethnic relations sprung to my mind!





The view from my hotel room!

Nasi ayam penyek ... at Samarinda Central Mall















On the way home - at Bandara Sepinggan, Balikpapan

Stuck in a lift in Samarinda!

I was in Samarinda last June - attending a conference. It was a great (although tiring) trip. It was my very first trip to Kalimantan, despite the fact that I live in Borneo! An eye opening trip in many ways for me...

The journey itself was long and at times seemed like forever. Our flight took off from Kuching just after midnight and arrived in Jakarta at 2.00am. We had to spent the night at the airport coz our connecting flight to Balikpapan was at 6.00am...and from Balikpapan we had to take a cab to Samarinda - a 3 hour ride which costed us Rp250,000. The ride itself was scary - I am shocked at the way they drive -ignoring traffic lights, honking hons everywhere, and people crossing the roads without looking left or right...

The Conference itself was fun! Trying to catch what the presenters were saying was quite hard - they presented in Bahasa Indonesia...and some of the terms were really unknown to me...for example, i was reading a paper on "perencanaan wisata" and it turned out to be a paper on "tourism planning"! Meeting people and networking ...as one does in any conference kept me busy. But most of my free time were spent in the shopping complexes!

But the most memorable event for me was the fact that I was stuck in a lift during a blackout! I was in the lift for 15 minutes before they rescued me! But i have to say that the hotel staff was very nice and calm during the whole thing ...i was the one who nearly went berserk! but then again, so would you if you were in my place!!!

Will upload some of my photos in Samarinda in this blog later!

Thank God the Conference is over!

I was at a conference last week, and it was a really hectic week. As part of the Organising Committee we were constantly reminded to always smile and not answer a question with "Sorry, I don't know..." Throughout the conference, I had my "plastic" smile ready and (hopefully) with a friendly look ...i felt that i qualified to work as air stewardess after that! Good morning sir, madam, prof, doc ....can i help you? yea...i'll show you to your seat ...or, i'll be back in a moment and get the booklet for you ....no, sir you cannot present your paper today because your were supposed to present yours yesterday ...hahahaha ...a bit hard to maintain a perfect (albeit fake!) smile when you are facing funny and silly requests most of the times. Yeah, it is an international conference and the participants also have different requests - although most of them are really sweet and endearing, but there are a whole lot who are just plain demanding, bossy and with an attitude to match! Granted that they are the leaders in their own professions, but still, a little bit of politeness can go a long way!

I also had the chance to catch up with old friends at the Conference - Asmah flew all the way from Melbourne to present her paper, and Wan the jejaka few from KL for the same purpose. Sadly, the new mummy couldn't make it - we miss her!!! Plus there were other people whom I have met in previous conference in Samarinda as well as previous colleagues. All in all, it was a great conference - my paper was presented on Wed 6th August - with lively discussion afterwards, initiated by the Dean himself! I was so nervous before that but thank god, things went on smoothly ...though, on hindsight, I should be more prepared!

a week of upsets and misery!

I had a tough week last week. Things didn't go to plan last week. I am a trained planner, and am well known for my organizational and planning thing. My week was screwed because a person whom I hope to make me a "free person" decided to use his 5-min earlier than anyone else's watch ...and resulting in me being upset...very upset because I already plan my celebratory dinner hahaha, that will teach me never to count my eggs before it hatch!

I am cranky the whole week, and my weekend was not at all nice. But one thing for sure, despite my crankiness, life goes on. I still have to attend a committee meeting on Sunday...all work, work and more work. Work as a panacea for all my misery?emmmm, maybe, perhaps...and today, again we have to attend a meeting, and the much awaited conference will start tomorrow. So, it'll be a busy week for me! I am presenting my paper on Wed afternoon, and as of now, I am yet to prepare for my presentation!!! Dont know why, but i am taking a very laid-back attitude this time. Normally I would be preparing like mad by now...maybe coz Moi Lina is not here to push me???

I hope i wont be too tired tomorrow......we are supposed to be at the hotel by 7 am ...and that is very early by my standard!

Searching for rainbow...

I was scratching my head thinking of a title for my personal blog. I wanted it to reflect my life, my personality - hence, my past, my present and my future. I wouldn't be where I am today without my past, and what i do today will definitely affect my future...

and the phrase "searching for rainbow" comes to mind...we are always looking for something in life. ...Searching for that one person for us, searching for the most suitable job for ourselves, searching for happiness, searching for something for the perfect life...i felt that this is an apt title for my blog coz I am in that stage of my life, where things have stated to unravel, and am searching for something - and to be honest, right now, I don't know what I am searching for ....and it could be a very long journey..and this blog will be where I can share my hopes, my dreams, my frustration...in striving for what I am looking for...

Does that make sense? I hope it does ....