combining work with pleasure ....

I was in KL last week - only for 3 nights though. It was a bit hectic coz I was trying to combine both work and pleasure - hehehe. ...

My main reason for being there was to enable us (me, my friend Lina and our boss) to get information for our research and the ever looming final report. The three of us (better known as the donkey master and his two donkeys in certain circle) spent the whole day in the Dewan Penyelidikan at the National Archive, browsing through old (and I do mean OLD) documents - some were dated back to the early 1700s and 1800s ...It was funny coz the three of us never ventured into this "territory" and were clueless as to the location as well as the materials the we need.....Thank God, we have a really efficient Research Assistant ...Wan was the epitome of efficiency...he guided us through the registration process, finding materials, using the search system and so on ....i think we would be very lost is he wasn't there! We ended up spending hours there (instead of the "just 2-3 hours" as originally planned)....but by the end of the day, I have come to appreciate the materials that the Archive have, as well as appreciating the lengths and the painstaking efforts that Wan did in order to get what I want :-))

Anyhoo, despite my tight schedule, I managed to fit in a few shopping trips (Mid Valley, Sogo, Jusco Wangsa Maju, Book Excess-Armcorp Mall), meeting up with Fendi, Fid and Misha (sorry guys - the timing was so bad and being "lost" doesn't help!), meeting my uncle, going out with Lina, Wan and my sister for dinner at Satay Kajang Haji Samuri (Taman Melati's outlet) - though we have to forgo the midnite movie coz a certain someone was so sleepy, dinner with my family at Seoul Garden Restaurant and brunch at Anandur (Setapak). That is an accomplishment indeed considering I have to attend meetings as well ....

The fun doesn't stopped there. I arrived in Kuching around 7pm ...and lo and behold, the padlock to my front gate had malfunctioned. Despite dad's effort to prise it open (you name the tool, he tried then all - knives, hammer, metal cutter, extra keys, master keys, brick), it remained stubborn! I ended up having to pass my heavy luggage to my dad, took off my Donnatello shoes (hey, I am willing to go barefooted than having those shoes ruined!), hitched my pants and climbed, yes CLIMBED, over the gate. And when I was halfway over, I heard my neighbour, Cikgu Haikal shouted to my dad to ask what's going on. Am sure he must have thought I was a burglar or something - or worse, maybe I was running away from home and my parents decided to lock the gate and throw awat the key so that i couldn't go ...hehehe what an active imagination! Fun ending to my 3 days trip of business and pleasure combo...

P/S I had thrown the useless padlock into the bin that very night, and the Trienikens people had come to collect it the very next day!

Lady Cash's Mafia Wars

I got my laptop!!! and am now able to be online most of the time at home..apart from blogging, and doing my work at home (yes, yes I know... most people would switch off their work antenna when they are home!), I am now able to play Mafia Wars at night and over the weekend ...so excited!

I found this game, Mafia Wars on Facebook...i thought it was fun and started to play...but i never did expect it to be THIS EXCITING and ADDICTIVE...I am on level 44 now and my mafia name is Lady Cash, and the game has grown a lot since i first started. A lot of features have been added to the Game - and it's more exciting. Sometimes it is like winning a lottery (maybe I am exergerating here :-)) coz you never know what you are going to get...well, apart from killing the enemies - or even strangers - you can loot a number of stuffs - like fire bombs, armoured car/truck, napalm, C4, night vision goggle, bodyguard, body double, butterfly knives and so on ...the most common (and i think is useless!) is the brass knuckles ...i prefer the other, more destructive stuffs myself...namely the fire bomb, and napalm...

The fun is when you are allowed to kill/attack other mafias, or if you are being kind, you could just rob them! Plus is you are really mean, you can offer your service as a hitman!

So, it is a great stress reliever - you can just vent your anger, frustration online ...and getting up the levels by doing so...see, it's a win-win situation!

I better be off now...going to purchase more properties for my mafia family.

Ciao bella ...

Valentine??? What Valentine???

Tomorrow is 14th February ...a.k.a Valentine's Day...yeah, yeah, the day to express your undying love, to send love gestures to your ones, to share romantic moments, to declare your love to your secret crushes ... so, this is the time of the year where florists are making big bucks out of the hopeless romantics, and restaurants offering candlelit dinners would be booked solid ...people would be so willing to splurge on really cute stuffs - teddy bears, roses, candies and bunch of other stuffs ...even those stingy people! That is phenomenal...

But the way i see it - do you only express your undying love only on that one day of the year - and completely neglect your loved ones for the rest of the 355 days in a year??? is it enough??? Just one grand gesture (be it 100 blooming, fresh, red roses or candlelit dinner in an expensive restaurant) to say you love someone - but only on that particular day??? And you can cheat, you can lie, you can neglect them on any other day of the year??? I may be biased but i would prefer the love of my life to love me every day of the year, in the good times as well as the bad, sharing everything - the ups and the downs ...don't you?

Well, I used to think like that Valentine is romantic - until i found out that the one person whom I trusted with my life betrayed my trust, my heart, my love - on Valentine Day! So, does the roses, the dinner, the holiday and the gifts given to say he love me are enough to make me forgive him for the betrayal? does it give him the license to cheat??? NO SIREEEEEE ...

Now, I am remembering Valentine Day - and using it as a day to appreciate myself, to pamper myself ... furthermore there is a saying which says that before you love anyone else, you should love yourself ...makes sense really ...and now, every Valentine - i would buy something for myself...Valentine 2006, I bought myself a car - which gives me freedom and and symbolises independence and empowerment; Valentine 2007 - I made up my mind to buy a house - which i did 3 months later - further strengthen my independence, Valentine 2008 - i went for holiday with my family and tomorrow - I am going to buy myself a laptop ... and i can spent time blogging and catching up with my family and closest friends online - that is my version of expressing love and appreciation to my family and my friends ...356 days a year, and not just on 14th February ....

Hit and run (and I'm the culprit!)

I feel so bad today ... i just can't shake the feeling coz I know I am guilty... i didn't mean for it to happen, but, unfortunately, it did ... i'm sorry cat ...

I finished work a bit later than usual. I left the office at half past six, and it was starting to get dark. My usual route was a bit congested coz of the school children going home at the same time - so i was already frustrated having to drive at 20km/hour ... so, when all the lanes are cleared, I was able to drive a bit faster till i managed to overtake all the cars, motocycles and lorries ..(i am not exaggerating here - there are lots of lorries ladden with soil, construction materials, and sands - using this particular stretch of road!)..any how, when i was near SK Muara Tuang, a cat suddenly ran in front of my car ...i couldn't avoid it coz i was driving a bit fast, couldn't brake on time...and the sound of the tyres "crushing" (well i am assuming the poor thing is crushed!) the cat is horrible...i can still hear it...and when i looked back at my rearview mirror, i could see that the cat managed to get up and move to the next lane (and i was thanking God for small mercies), before it felt and stop moving ...i am assuming it is dead ...

i didn't mean for it to happen...i don't like cat, but i did not intentionally kill one...i'm sorry cat (whatever your name was), may you rest in peace (please don't haunt me in my dream!) ... i hope whoever owned you managed to find you and gave you a proper burial ...

i really wish the tales about cats having 9 lives is true ...and i hope that the cat is actually ok ...and that it wasn't moving because it is trying to get back its breath ...who knows, after i drove off, feeling guilty and all traumatized by the events, someone actually passed along and help the poor thing ...yea, wishful thinking, i know...but wouldn't it be a nice ending compared to what really happenned????

my 'lost weekend"

I am back! I wasn't well for the last couple of days...but am on the mend now. Not fully recovered but very much better than I was before. My GOD! I hate being sick ...well, i don't know anyone who like being sick :-)) hehehe ...anyway, i was so sick that I couldn't get up... my head is spinning and my asthmatic conditions certainly doesn't help the situation. So all I did was sleep, sleep and sleep ... and lost a few days because of it. I had no recollection of what I did over the weekend in my medicated state!


I was given 5 different types of medication - and i dont like taking medicines...Dr Hajijah gave me Salcodyl (???) - it's a mixture of cough syrup and ventolin (asthma medicine) ... and, wait for it, I had to take 3 TABLESPOONS 3 TIMES a day ....i hate medicines, and i really hate liquid medicine!!!! Plus antibiotics, ventolin tablet (in case I had asthma symptoms but didn't have any cough problems), flu meds, and one thing that I cannot identified... imagine how much chemical was being pumped into my veins over the last few days! and i am yet to recover fully from this flu/asthmatic conditions...


It all started when I went to a field trip to Sri Aman, Betong, Kabong, Saratok, Pusa, Beladin and Meludam ... a 2-day trip to collect data for our research. But our timing couldn't be worse - we chose to do it during a really wet and pouring week! But then again, that was the only time we were free to do this trip...it rained from the moment i set out from my house on thursday morning and didn't stop (am ignoring the few minutes of sunshine here and there) till i reached home at 10pm on friday night...the trip was quite successful ...and it also has an add-on value .... a few of us coming back with a cold/flu!!!

Life as I see it ...

Sometimes, it is our nature to take things for granted. We just ignored what we have...we don't appreciate what we already have, the opportunities that were given to us... and we often wish we have more of this, more of that ...bigger house, bigger car, bigger paycheck, less workload, less stress, less criticisms...the list can be endless sometimes...

but once in a while, it is good to stop and take stock on our own life. I saw this one guy during my last field trip. He is a few years younger than me...and from what I can see (maybe I am being judgmental here) his life has been wasted or limited in a way ...in and out of rehabs ...doing chores just to get by ...and I feel really sad when I look at his life - something inside me just clicked and I was reminded about how lucky I am... I have a good job, a good pay, i have opportunities to improve my life, I have love and supports from my family and close friends - and yet, there were times when I just felt life was unfair...that life was being unkind towards me....and always have the "why me??" questions ...

Now, looking back, I know I am privileged ...i was given opportunities ...when one door closed and life seemed to be against me, a new door opens up ...and for that I am thankful ...the only way to appreciate it is to live life to the fullest ...we may encounter obstacles along the way, we may feel restricted, we may be judged by others - one thing for sure, we have the power to determine our own paths ... we determine our own destiny ...don't look back, but it would be nice to stop sometime, and smell the roses ...and to appreciate what we already have ...before it is gone...

The flu bug ...

I am down with flu since Saturday ...it is awful. I caught the bug during my fieldtrip...it was wet, cold and miserable....Now, I am down with flu...accompanied by frequent sneezing and runny (and red!) nose. It is no fun at all. I was told by my parents to steer clear of Airell ... and was banished upstairs most of last weekend. Today, my cold is worst ....

i hate having flu! I hope my mum had already prepared chicken soup by the time I get back home later ...