You win some, and you lose some

Christmas weekend just ended and it was quite an eventful 3-day weekend. Kinda went through the details in the previous post but that did not include Christmas day itself, hehe. So how did I start my Christmas?

I went to play... *jeng je jeng*... basketball!! Yup, after almost a 2 year hiatus from the game, I reluctantly agreed to go. Not that I hate the game or anything; in fact it is the exact opposite. I love the game, just that I'm not those lucky few ppl who are born with this thing called 'talent' :P It is disheartening when you play it only once a week and don't see any improvements. I'm the kind who probably needs to play it more regularly to actually benefit from it, but time is something we all have a problem with.

Anyway, basketball was fun. Crowd wasn't too large, weather was good, and god was giving me a much needed boost of spirit by forcing in a huge number of my shots... 3-pointers and half court shots included. But it all came at a price; I kinda got too friendly with the opponents lower arm in one of the dribbling runs. Got whacked right at the nose; bled for quite a while. No pain, just blood. Kinda swollen a little this morning. I'm still observing it to see if a visit to the doctor is needed to get it inspected.

So basketball ended with a total of 5 games won out of 5. Nice way to end the hiatus, I must say, haha. But all that burnt calories went for naught because it was followed by a trip to our local bah kut teh stop :P Yup, we were pretty hungry after the game and someone mentioned it... next thing we know we were all happily seated and welcoming our calories back :P

It gets worse in a good way later. You see, it was Christmas! What's a celebration without more FOOD! Lunch was at a fellow friend's place; a regular stop at this time of the year. Home-cooked food is the best. Enjoyed the food, enjoyed the crowd, and enjoyed the lengthy 2hr+ session of Big-2. Oh, did I mention the food was good? I did? Well, the food was good :P

Fast forward by another few hours and its time for... more food :P Dinner!!
Place: Bukit Tinggi
Type: Steamboat
Occasion: Er... dinner? Isn't that an occasion on it's own!? Sheesh :P

Checked out this steamboat spot that came highly recommended. I ain't a fan of steamboat but I must say it was rather enjoyable. The soup was well-flavored and the specialty pork-wrapped-in-fish-ball thingy was quite delicious. Only downside to dinner was it started to drizzle before we got to the noodles-and-egg part. *Sigh* What a waste. It was packed and shipped away to whomever can cook eggs at home... which totally excludes me *sob sob*

Next stop: supper at Jeth IceCream Cafe'. Have I mentioned this before? I haven't!?!?! Blasphemy!! Haha. Anyway, Jeth serves (IMHO) the best chocolate milkshake this part of the world; and my world ain't as small as what some ppl assume it is. Sure there are holes here and there (*ahem cough* Genting *cough*), but it is enough for a basis of comparison. If any of you happen to be in town at night, call me. Let's go grab some chocolate milkshake. *slurp* Topic of the night at Jeth was all about... yup, you guessed it, FOOD! Haha. I'm soooo not gona be surprised if food ends up killing me. But then again, food probably kills a lot of ppl, so no big deal there :P

Christmas pretty much ended there. Well, there was that session of 'Gears of War' at a friend's place but thats just a passing entertainment to a already overwhelmingly exciting Christmas. It was a weekend well spent... looking forward to more weekends such as this :) Lesser the food, more the activities, yes! Hahaha... *shhhh* I'm on a secret diet *lol*.

P.S: Secret diet is defined, as quoted by my closest fren, as 'a diet that never existed if it didn't work or just another diet if it worked and ppl asked'

Edit: Forgot to mention that I almost got rolled over by cars reversing out of their parking spots... 4 times!!! That's a lot in a day (or night). First a bloody nose, then death threats? :P Haha... I'm sooo not looking forward to what's next.

D&D 3rd Ed: Level Drained!

Ok, it's another of those not-so-apparent-and-downright-useless topic posting again =Þ

It is Christmas today! Yippee... Merry Christmas everyone! It's a free, multi-cultural country here and it is as much fun to wish well fellow Christian friends on this joyous day as it is to be a participant of the moment just for the sake of enjoying it. I mean, culture need not be a boundary for celebration. After all, culture is more of the norm within a specific community. I suppose you could say that the diversity of our existing cultures and practices have led to a birth of a new culture, an evolution that transcended religion and race. Moments like this, it really feels good to be a Malaysian cause our culture is defined by the mere nature of our co-existence. Forget politics... when it comes to happy times, we are one. And I don't intend to miss out on that; not now, not ever... hehehe.

So what's up lately? Let's see... it is a 3-day weekend this time. I've been busy at the temple this morning (yup... I actually went to help out at the temple *shocked*). No, I'm still not someone worthy of laying claim to the definition of a Hindu... I'm too Malaysian and non-conformant to be deemed a Hindu =Þ I just thought of helping out mom coz there's this celebration this time of the year. I didn't have much else to do, so I suppose playing my part as a helpful and dependable son would make up for some good karma this weekend *grin*. For the record, I just helped out with the preps for the better half of the day... I didn't really stick around for the celebration itself. Ended up at Pizza Uno and a near 3-hour billiards session for dinner instead. As a matter of fact, I just got home not long ago... and I'm already online talking about it. Talk about over-dependency on IT =Þ

The phone was pretty busy after midnight. Loads of Christmas wishes transferring about. Surprisingly, I got a message from a friend I was least expecting. Been wanting to drop her a note myself, but she beat me to it. Regardless, it was good to hear from her. True... she is a girl, and it shouldn't come as a surprise to be excited to hear from someone who could just be more interesting than the average person, hehe.

Undoubtedly, most would be inclined to assume a leaning towards the romantic side of things when I start talking like that, haha. But I would seriously beg to disagree, though a huge lot would still consider my claims an absurdity. Who am I to care, right? I just need to be true to myself ;) Ooops, going off track...

Anyway, lemme fast forward through the details. Girl meets boy. Boy girl chit-chat on and off. Boy girl get along. Boy finds girl a good outlet to extend the social group. Er.. I can't seem to continue in such simplified terms :P Anyway, as I probably noted before, I think expanding my social group would be a very welcome endeavour. The bulk of my friends are either in the same line of work I am in (namely programmers or standard IT ppl), artist-cum-designers (yup.. I have more friends of this kind than programmers ) , close hometown buddies, and then the rest I'll just put under miscellaneous (just getting lazy to classify :P).

This girl is probably a friend who would fall into a new category of her own. Adding to my assumption (and hopes) that her social side would be quite a bit different from mine, a much needed diversity is among my expectations. I see her as a breath of fresh air, to put it simply. I truly look forward to someday getting to ask her friends and her out so as to spice up the mundane regularity of predictable conversations and thoughts amongst the now familiar group of friends I already have. Mind you, I do not shun them; au contraire, I wouldn't want them to be any different than they already are. I just have this desire to meet some new faces with fresh characters... and I suppose I found the opportunity.

But opportunities have to be taken, and therein lies the problem. Things don't always work out the way you plan... life has a way of making the simplest of plans go awry. I've made a few attempts to socialize with her, however time seems to be in odds with us. Something always comes up after the plans are laid, causing either party to have to call it off. Thus far, it has happened 3 times, and for a while I was discouraged coz the only person who seems motivated to try anything was me. Can't blame her side for it... I'm the one with expectations out of the scenario, haha. Selfish as they may sound, they are for a good cause... so I wouldn't deny the self-centered nature of my expectations. The only way to move forward, however, is to realise that expectations often lead to disappointments... and learning to keep moving forward in the face of disappointment is not always a simple task. Good thing is, I strongly believe perseverance will pay off... friendship is worth the trouble.

Anyway, to all my friends; It has been (and always will be) my pleasure to know you all. We've all been through a lot, and every page in the book that is our life has been influenced by one or many of you. To those I have yet to meet at the moment of this writing, I'm looking forward to how our pages unfold ;)

Always glad to look ahead positively in the light of the upcoming New Year. Merry Christmas everyone, and have a brilliant and promising New Year!!!

Have passport, should travel...

Yup, sad but true, I'm one of those hopeless souls who has a passport that has never been used. I even got it free due to company covering the cost... mainly cause they almost decided to send me to Japan last year. Good thing we fixed the bug before that was needed. Sure, going to Japan would've been an experience, but going there for on-site bug fixes doesn't quite cut it as the kind of overseas trip I've been looking forward to.

So yeah... I shall pre-plan some possible New Years' Resolutions for 2007. Seeing that I've finally fulfilled my resolution of the past 3 years (yes, I had the same unfulfilled resolution for 3 years :P), its time to get the thinking cap up.

I'm thinking that next year I shall make at *least* 3 trips to somewhere... anywhere. Conditions: Must be out of Klang Valley; Must be at least 3 days; One of it must require my passport. There, that should be a decent enough resolution. Shouldn't be that hard to get it 'close' to fulfilling except for the last one.

And yes, that brings me to my first trip confirmed for 2007... Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Yup, January end is all about Kota Kinabalu. I'm off with a gang of friends for a 6-day trip to Sabah, the highlights being a hike up Mount Kinabalu. Then there's water rafting somewhere in the list. God knows what else. I'm trying to keep my self as least informed as possible to increase the surprise, but I don't think that's gonna be possible. Heard some scary survival tips from a friend who just came back from a similar trip earlier this year. Hope I don't have to experience any of the stuff that was mentioned, haha.

*pray pray pray*

Alright, just felt like blogging something tonight. Time for bed now. Adios!

Unanswered

It is said that a kind gesture goes a long way. However, even the best of intentions are susceptible to a mangled perception from another individual's perpective. The hardest part about being honest is when it is seen as dishonesty. Being scorned for true dishonesty seems a far more sufferable position than the former.

I'm trying to be vague (again) with the details mainly to reduce implications of my thoughts. Nonetheless, I somehow find writing my thoughts down (public or otherwise) does have a certain medicative effect.

Being who I am, it is in my ability and position to not just know people, know being operatively used to signify a shallow level of acquaintance. It is in every way possible for me to understand, nurture and direct some of these amazing individuals towards a more definite goal, be it already known to them or somewhat vague as yet. Coaxing, coaching, what-not... call it what you may, but the rewards, though indirect, are worth every bit of effort spent indulging that possiblity.

The crux of it is when there is a need for them to help us help them, yet they oppose the exact same thing that they need the most. Apply that into my dilemma and it goes as such...

I can support... I must support... I want to support...
But my hands are tied as long as the willingness to accept my gesture is nonexistent.

The worst part is, the maturity to even explain why I am tied down... the core as to why this predicament exists; the answer I am denied. Scorned I was... Helpless I feel... Watching as I see myself failing to do that which is my responsibility... Denied the chance to execute that which is my responsibility, and also my belief.

Is that miniscule amount of honesty so hard to provide? The masquerade is paper-thin, it stings to even realise it. For once, I would rather like to be just another stranger in the crowd.

Fellowship of the Food!

Well this is about 2 weeks late, but again; better late then never, right? *grin* That phrase is seriously over-used, I must admit.

Ipoh reached, Ipoh left. That's *really* making a long story short. Went to Ipoh two weekends past. Went on a Sunday morning, came back in time for dinner on Monday. Yup! Nothing beats using your annual leaves for all the good reasons... which is FOOD by the way :P Ipoh was all about food, and I intend to summarize it in a straight stretch. The following are the food moments:

Lunch, tea, dinner, supper part 1, supper part 2, breakfast, lunch-cum-tea combo

Food we had follows (in chronological order :P):

Ipoh Hor Fun + Sotong Kangkung + Popiah, Chee Cheong Fun, 9-course dinner, some shaved ice in jelly and lime, white coffee, DIM SUM... lots of it, more drinks.

Yup, it can't beat my Penang trip last year in terms of variety, but it comes close in quantity and frequency. After all, this was in a span of 24hrs. I was sooo stuffed, I had food withdrawal urges for the next few days. I stuck to healthy sandwiches and milk, haha.

...

Then there was Serdang. I was introduced to a new shop for lunch. Every alternating weekday, they serve tomyam noodles. Take my word for it: this place serves tomyam that has 'Ooomph!'. I'm sooooo disappointed that I didn't discover this spot sooner. Well, better to have found than not at all, eh :)

Then there was Saisaki. Finally managed to check it out yesterday night. Heard loads about it, and finally getting to visit it in person was a welcome indeed. Always nice to move stuff from the 'must go' list into the 'been there, eaten that' list, haha. My take: it has variety, that's for sure. Can't possibly go wrong in that department. However, I was rather disappointed with the 'famed' cheese baked oysters (or watever it is really called). Touted as their specialty and served calculatingly for 1-piece per person, I had high expectations for it. Unfortunately, it must've been my (bad) luck that yesterday's batch just didn't live up to it. Even the regulars among my friends claimed that it wasn't as nice as before. Also, the crowd was huge; which lead to finding the place unpleasantly warm. Word from the wise... wear something light and comfortable. You *will* sweat a little. Overall, it is still pretty decent food. Since it is my first take at Japanese buffet, I have no means of comparison. It was a good start though. Someday, I shall compare it to Jogoya or something similar, hehe.

That shud be enuf food news to summarize the past 2 weeks. There was the tiny part about another Japanese sushi dinner I went to last Saturday at Osaka (the restaurant, not the city :P), but I'd rather skip the details. Can't go wrong with Osaka and their famed black-dragon (osft-shell crab + unagi sushi platter). Niceness...

Well, one thing is for certain... I have a lot of working out to do to lose the unhealthy calorie build-up recently, hehe. Have to keep fit for January. What's on in January, you ask? I'll talk about it in the next post... I hope :P

Photo updates, part deux!

Hopefully I'll succeed uploading the remaining photos in this post. Good luck to me, hehe.

--------------------[continuation...]--------------------

Destination: Ulu Yam.
Hero of the day: Superman *cough cough*

Well, we spotted a good location to set up camp and what better way to announce the discovery than to... er... pose in a distinguishable-unique mark-the-spot pose (!?).

The makings of our barbecue pit. Cute processed charcoal to replace the ancient charcoal blocks. Believe it or not, some people neva knew these existed!

Adventurers get hungry, too. Look at the poor lot of us, desperately waiting for the (still dead) fire to start so that we may start cooking. Actually thi wa just moments after setting up camp, so the fire hasn't been lit yet. So, no, we're not hopeless fire starters =Þ

Whilst the fire is prepared, the others were doing their own tasks. One major survival technique for the masses: nature provides natural refridgeration! Rivers are a good source of cold water for chilling things. Just don't forget to put a leash on the stuff you drop in it. Don't be like my poor comrade who had to chase after a runaway watermelon :P

Note: Scenario explained is purely fictitious. All elements of drama were added for entertainment purpose.

...and then, humans discovered fire. Haha, here are the first round of 'chefs' for the day.

Of course, not everyone is born equal. Some people just aren't meant to cook :P Looks aside, this particular one was just as tasty as the others. Word from the wise: Carrefour provides some nice marinated chicken! Couple that with a good, even fire; and you have a great bbq!

The problem with only having a few cooks is you tend to starve the rest. Eventually things started piling up and more hands came to the grill. Yum yum~And yes, capsicum on grill is tasty.

My mom's specialty: Sour cream potatoes~!! Couple that with grilled capsicums and you have our very own, camp-brewed recipe for a total delight. Lets just say this ended up the highlight of the day. For once, we regret not having enough capsicums, haha.

Of course, being adventurers, all that energy after eating needs to be spent. How else if not to venture into the depths of the... er... river. Yeah, it's disappointingly shallow but refreshingly clean and cool.

There's *always* bound to be some people wanting to pose for the occasion. Here you go with our take at 'The Malaysian Brothers', haha.

Darn, looks like Blogger's et to drive me nuts. I still got 4 more pics!! ince the last 4 aren't that interesting (except a shot of the Volcano from Swensen's), I shall officially give up on Blogger for the Ulu Yam updates. Hope these are sufficiently enjoyable for now :)

La da di di~

Hehe... hehe... yeah I know... it's been AGES =Þ A close friend even commented that I should 'tutup kedai' due to the lack of updates.

Well, long story short; work's been ridiculously heavy recently and was busy trying to get it over with, fast. So, lo and behold, my project's finally done! Yipppeeee~ Freedom! I can smell the fresh air once again, haha.

I promise I will have a more meaningful update next week. Why next week? Coz I'm going for another Ipoh trip this weekend... yahooooo~!!! Expect storie and photos, hehe. And thinking bout photo's, I'll include the much delayed release of photo's from my Ulu Yam trip last month. Enjoy!

--------------------[end of today's post]--------------------

Once upon a trip, to Ulu Yam, we the adventurers made a pit-stop at... jeng je jeng... Batu Caves. Famed for its ridiculously huge number of steps (200+++), it is a nice stop for visitors who're too lazy to workout. Look at it this way; you get to enjoy the visit AND workout at the same time. Talk about combo! And we Malaysians LOVE combos =Þ
















Ignore this suspicious sign that seem to be everywhere in this place. They're just being subtle. You may exercise freely as long as it only involves walking up the stairs. Anything more obvious than that is a no-no. Can't say what they'd do to you were you not to heed this though.





















... and so the adventurers take their first steps into Batu Caves.




















... but look who we met half way up!
















... and look who we brought along with us! See the resemblance?
(I'm soo dead if he see's this)
















At the peak, the adventurers gather around to do their war-pose. Picture taken courtesy of some random visitor that we intimidated =Þ


Oh no... I have 14 more images but Blogger is screwing up again. Can't seem to upload the remaining :( Shall try again in a future post. Mind you, our next stop after Batu Caves was Ulu Yam, so there's more pics on that. Pics with fooood~

Chiaoz for now.

To summarize, or not to...

Its been a month++ since my last official content-laden post. Good news is that life has been rather eventful... bad news is, I'll need to squeeze 'em all in a post (or two?). This will inadvertently lead to a tediously longer-than-the-usual-long posts. So let's see.. where should I begin... *taps fingers on desk*

Sometime during September end, I had the honour of attending my colleague-cum-closefren's wedding. Even had to play host to his wedding reception dinner, but that's a disaster story I'd hate to revisit. Let's just say the restaurant management sucked big time and stomped all over our planned itinerary and such. Anyway, the highlights of the occasion were:

• It was held in Ipoh
• I was part of the 'collection' team (explained later)

The Ipoh part is simple... haven't been there in ages, so it turned out to be a splendid eating experience. Fun, too; thanks to the fun-loving bunch of guys that made up the convoy from Cyberjaya :) Furthermore, I left it to my close fren to fully dictate my 'look' for the event... did shopping for a shirt AND went to a hair stylist to try out a funky new look: spiky-cum-messy look. Apparently seemed to have turned out ok; either that or everyone was being too nice and not tell me it looked horrid :P

Now, what about the 'collection'. I'mnot sure the term they use but among the Chinese, in the morning of the tea ceremony, the bridegroom and a group of guy escorts must customarily pick-up the bride from her 'home' (in our case, it was jut a hotel room). I think they call them 'heng tai' or something... dun blame me for the bad Cantonese :P It's not as simple as it sounds. The catch is that we can't just 'pick-up' the bride... the poor groom and gang will need to go through several 'trials' that will be set-up by the bride's side (consisting of close frens and family members of the.. er.. bride :P). This may sound normal to all you Chinese out there, but I'm no Chinese... and to get the opportunity to go through this stage of a Chinese wedding is truly an honour. It was different, downright fun, and educational. I've always wondered what happened before the tea ceremony... now I don't wonder anymore :) Wouldn't wanna go too far into details 'bout the trials we went through, so I'll summarize:

• Eat fresh, large-tomatoes
• Separate the kacang hijau and kacang putih (they were mixed up in one glass)
• Sing songs (almost had to sing an indian song... *almost*)
• Do push-ups
• Er... mouth-to-mouth passing of roses (yup, between guys... no contact of course *phew*)
• Bribery (haha, yup... a lot of ang-pau had to be sacrificed to 'buy' the opposition)

Some of my friends said that our trials were rather simple as opposed to what some other (devious) people may have come up with. Simple or not, I think the fun factor really depends on the crowd. If people don't get into the mood of the moment, even the most well-planned event would turn out boring/mundane. I'm glad to say that regardless of what we really did, we all definitely had a fun time that morning.

There's a lot of tiny details about the Ipoh trip that I'm gonna skip over. There's still a months worth of info to talk about, hehe. Moving on... fast forward to... 10th October. Activity: Travel and Food!

Well, a bunch of us decided to use the holiday on the 10th for a trip down to Ulu Yam (somewhere near Batu Caves). Barbeque was the main plan for the day, but this is how the schedule really looked like, hehe:

• 0800-0830 - Breakfast (Part 1), Teh tarik ONLY!
  We had to wait for the arrival of the 2nd car. This was just a 'snack' while waiting :)
• 0830-0930 - Breakfast (Part 2), Dim sum!
  The *real* breakfast plan. 2 cars, 1 shop. Dim sum in Damansara Uptown. Not bad I must say.
• 1000-1100 - Batu Caves
  Pitstop en-route to our real destination. Most of the others haven't been to Batu Caves before, so it was quite the eye-opener for them.
• 1200-1700 - Ulu Yam
  We set camp and began our barbeque session. Food was good, crowd was better. Its an outdoor spot alongside a river. Icy cold water, crystal clear and clean. By 0300, we were all dipping in the water; mostly relaxing but with sporadic sessions of splashing and chaos :P
• 1730-1830 - Ulu Yam town
  Headed for early dinner. Our objective was to check out the famous Ulu Yam 'loh mee'. Not too sure if its really as famous as claimed, but it sure tasted different than the usual 'loh mee'. Its prepared with quite a bit of vinegar, giving the soup a distinctly identifiable hint of sourness. Also had some blackpepper udon... a dish that seriously seemed devoid of any blackpepper :P Most of us also had a helping of whatever chicken wings leftovers from the barbeque. *slurp* Satisfaction guaranteed :P
• 19:30-2100 - Berjaya Times Square
  Yeah... WAY off the general direction for the day :P It *was* a holiday and we were hunting for the nearest Swensen's spot that doesn't reside in Selangor. What better place to go to than KL. But why Swensen's? They have a 50% discount on the Earthquake on Tuesdays :P And, we wanted to celebrate a friends birthday. Btw, I *seriously* think the Earthquake should be called a Volcano.

And then it was the trip back. A day full of food and fun activities. Not to mention a mini-roadtrip, haha. Truly enjoyable for a rather impromptu outing plan. Would love to have a similar activity again in the very near, foreseeable future ;)

Then there was paintball 2 Sundays back. Since a whole bunch of them were bringing along their own friends, I invited a friend of my own... who unfortunately had a prior appointment and couldn't make it. Anyway, nothing fancy about it... went to this place in Subang. Played roughly 5 games I think. Was fun, no doubt. Too bad the guns they provided us were the shorter-range variants. Definitely kills the fun for those used to the longer-ranged variants. Got my fair share of bruises, and dealt some myself :) I got unofficially nicknamed the 'stealth guy' coz 3 of the games I managed to actually sneak past the enemy and assault them from their rears :D Well, we ended the day with hopes of doing this more regularly... considering the participation, it is definitely possible for a bi-monthly attempt perhaps.

Phew... quite a load of events (excusing some intentionally skipped details). Right now it's the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Deepavali (or my preferred term: Diwali) was about 3 days ago. Had a small gathering of the closest of frens. Mom gave a quota of 8-10 people for me to invite. Had to judiciously choose who I should call. Thankfully for me, I believe I called the right people. Everyone loved the food, mingled along well, and actually stayed around longer than I'd anticipated. Was worried sick that the guest's wouldn't be able to mingle/entertain themselves. After all, I haven't hosted a party/dinner at home in years. Still wished I could have invited a few more close friends. Some couldn't make it anyway due to some existing plans, whilst a few others I had to put on lower priority. It really tough when you have to pick and choose among friends. But alas, I'm not the one doing the cooking :P Who am I to complain, eh? :P

Before I sign-off, just wanna mention that there's a roadtrip down to Malacca tomorrow (2nd day of Raya). 1 car, 1 day... just going around and spending some time with a bunch of close frens from home. Looking forward to the trip... need to get some rest now. Its gonna be an early day tomorrow.

PS: Sorry, no photos. Photo's for most of the events mentioned here were taken by the others. Have yet to browse through the photos they gave. Shall post up some interesting shots, if any, in the next post (yeah right :P)

Oh no.. it's LOST

Ok, no thing to do with the TV series. This post is to test whether my blog is back up. Apparently my blog doesn't exist anymore, although I can login and check all my posts (which are still valid btw).

Delayed telecast

Hehe, gomen ne~ Took longer than I'd have liked to post an update. Not feeling too well right now. Having a mild sore throat with a cough and flu combo thrown in. Good to know the weekend is here. Shall take a good rest... just what the doctor ordered.

Mainly wanted to post up photos of a makan-makan outing I had on Tuesday last week (yup, about 10 days ago =Þ ). I left my data-cable in the office, so I couldn't download the photos off my phone until today. Better late than never, right?

Destination: Las Carretas Restaurant & Bar (USJ10 aka Taipan USJ)
Type: Mexican food *slurp*

Ok, so we went to this Mexican restaurant to celebrate my fellow teammates birthday. It was her belated birthday, but any excuse for a makan-makan is a good excuse :P So first come the food... enjoy:

Freebies *grin* - Nachos and salsa dip

Crispy and cheesy~ Chimichanga!

I call it the 'soft' cousin of the above... Burritos!

Self-served value-for-money... Chicken Fajitas!

There was another dish that night... the Lamb Shank. Unfortunately, the photo turned out too dark to identify *what* you're looking at, haha. Generally, the food is good. I found the serving for my dish rather small, but I'd say it depends on the dish itself. Judging by the lamb and the fajitas, I'd say heavy eaters should go for the larger stuff OR try a variety of the small stuff.

The service was fast and definitely friendly. Cheerful bunch they are... even tried to swindle my money for taking shots of the food, but all for the sake of entertaining :) Definite plus plus from me. As for environment, the place has this 'wooden' sense to it, and the lighting is just right... not too dark, nor too bright to make you squint.

The place has 2 floors. The ground floor is brighter and the bar is more accessible. Good for medium to large groups due to the table arrangment. The upper floor promises a more private hangout area for small groups, or so it seems. I didn't really explore the rear section, and judging from what the waiter said.. the 'crowd' hasn't come in yet. I'd say the top floor may be the more 'happening' spot for the late crawlers. Shall make it a point to check it out again in the future to confirm this.

Anyway, to cut a long story short... I loved the food. And since I got to try a bit of everyone's food, I must say each one is enjoyable in its own right. Can't wait to go there again and check out the rest of the menu. So please, if you're out and about in Taipan and you're looking for something different to try, do check out Las Carretas. You can even Google for it. Apparently, I ain't the first person to blog about it, hehe. Enjoy ;)

Reflection

First: Food talk :P Checked out a yong tau foo place somewhere in Bukit Puchong, yesterday. I remember visiting a shop in the same vicinity like, er.. 4 years ago? Not sure if its the same owner, coz what used to be a house-cum-shop seems to have transformed into a full-blown shop. Anyhow, it was way better than the ytf spot my colleagues and I went the week before. Why the craze for ytf? No particular reason... purely coincidental. In fact, we're getting more adventurous for lunch nowadays. My team members are as gung-ho as I am and are willing to go the distance (if necessary) to get better/different food as opposed to what we consume in Dengkil regularly. Yay~

Upcoming news: weddings! No, not mine *thank heavens!*

A friend from university-days is walking down the aisle (ok, its an Indian wedding and has no aisle... but you get the point) this Sunday... that's about 11 hours away. First among my uni-batch to tie the knot. Then there's a colleague-turned-close-fren who's tying the knot sometime next month. Oh, did I ever mention that I'm gonna be MC'ing for his wedding dinner in Ipoh!? I didn't? *feigned shock* Well, now I have :P

Anyway, stuff like this usually gets me thinking (I can just imagine my colleague going 'you think too much') about time, people, and events. Sometimes I wonder whether time changes things, or things just change in time. Or perhaps both. Regardless of that, it is common sense to adapt to change. However, no one said adapting requires you to forget how things used to be. Sometimes the past seems idealistically sufficient as compared to the here-and-now. The irony is that we could also remember seeing those moments as less-than-ideal when we were living it. Haha, the ever-dissatisfied nature of being us. We truly appreciate things only when they're beyond our grasps. Ahhh.. nostalgia~

Actually I didn't have a point to the above :P It's an on-going train of thought. Probably gonna get me nowhere, but I'm bored.. so at least it's energy spent on *something*, hehe. Oh... just got an sms from a close fren whom I've not seen in months, though we live like 400m's apart. He works shifts, so its really hard to get the timing right for any outings. *Note to self... meet up with the gang within this week*. Yup, I'm sorely missing my Klang bunch. I think the phrase 'so close yet so far' would be spot-on. I need to find some fun activities that I can do when I'm bored and alone. Can't always expect company especially at this time and age. Perhaps activities that allows me to meet people? *scratching chin* Ideas anyone?

Whoops... stomach's growling. Darn, I'm thinking of food again :P Oh... the Pork Team will strike again this 26th. This time we're headed to Kanna's; my favorite banana-leaf rice shop. Yippeee. That, and might be going for dim sum in Sri Petaling sometime within the week. Plan to also go check out at least one movie within the next 7-days; else I'll officially need to proclaim 'stagnation'. Haha. Looks like an eventful week ahead *grin* I guess I've had enough restful weekends to warrant the need to get some energy burnt.

Sorry, no photo's again this time. If makan-makan outings turn out according to plans, you bet I'll post some. Till then, chiaoz~

Apocalypse is here

Ok ok.. I ain't a doomsayer, so for those who're screaming religious rants against (or for?) me; you can cut it out :P

I'm talking about X-Com 3: Apocalypse! Yup, its another one of those posts where my gamer-self takes over. Anyway, after countless (failed) attempts and various different approaches at getting it to run on my current system, I finally struck gold this morning at 1:03am. Hehe.

Yay~ yay~ yay~

Finally, I can kick alien a**e... again! This is one of the few strategy-cum-action game that I've played over and over and over againg without getting sick of it. Well, only a few more hours before I get to head home and blast some aliens :P Nothings gonna stop me... muahahaha

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unless my client calls me up NOW, of all times, to finally give me the details for my next project. He's already late by 2 weeks to begin with. I wonder...

Randomness

Well, can't think of much to write about. Weekend was rather mundane and tiring, but nothing I'd consider interesting. Closest candidate would be my 'new' badminton session outing. The previous group was dwindling due to ppl becoming workaholics OR getting a life.. so the few of us decided to join up another group of enthusiasts. New place is nicer in many ways... lighting is better, surface grip is good... balanced off by the fact that its also much warmer.

Oh, btw, over the weekend I did manage to pig out on ONE meal :P I had my super combo: Burger King French Chicken + Broiler + Crispy King. Yup, my appetite's pretty much back... provided I can bear with the food :P

Then comes the news about a good fren who officially flew off to Berlin for a 6-month internship there. Great news indeed coz its a huge leap towards exploring ones' options. Sad part is that this good fren happens to be my an 'avid' chat companion of mine, haha. Yup, us chatting was like a constant in life (yeah, there ARE other constants in life besides change :P). Gonna have to get used to some 'silence' if she doesn't get online access over there. C'est la vie~

And finally, for my dear friend who expects me to make him miss home by indulging him with my 'savoury' lunches each day... jeng je jeng... here goes my lunch for today:


Well, you saw the first half of my desk the other day, so here's the other half. (PS: This is to the left of the monitor)

So yeah, I'm literally surrounded by my desktop and frequently swivel left and right to gain access to either systems. This btw, is my development system. Most of our work gets created and tested here (insert: sound of amazed audiences) :P

Oh yeah.. lunch. Well that's my lunch today; a cup of Milo 'kao' and a pack of yummy Chipsmore. It's definitely not my usual lunch-style but as long as its enjoyable, anything goes.. right? Oh, that Milo had 7-teaspoons worth in it, so it was as thick as it gets... or was it? Shall try even more Milo next time, haha.

Btw, having a background like that ain't particularly motivating to on-lookers (read: team mates) coz.. er.. I'm their leader :P Talk about taking things in the wrong direction, haha. And that small hand that crept into the photo... that's one of my teammate happily surfing the web over lunch. She had leftover pizza for lunch.. *envy envy*.

So Mr. Befuddled, sorry that I'm not getting any nice shots of proper food from this part of the world. Haven't been on any makan-makan outings since a week back. I foresee good ones ahead, though. So wish me luck ;)

Darn.. I'm all out of Chipsmores! Time for a Milo reload, hehe.

See... 'customer' feedback is good :P

Ola~

Well, I'll skip right through the main details. The only interesting stuff over the past week were 2 food outings. *Why am I not surprised :P* For starters, went to check out some Thai food last Tuesday. That was seriously nice for it price. Can't say its REALLY good, but it definitely was enjoyable. Too bad it felt like I didn't have enough of it, but wouldn't dare order anymore coz everyone else 'retired' for the night when I was still digging thru the food :P *yeah, I'm a pig... can't tell, can you*

Then came Saturday lunch! Oh, before that... Saturday morning: Mandarin class part sì! Well. it's the first session that got complicated... thats the boring part. Interesting part (to me, at least); there were 8 ppl in class, 7 were girls =Þ It also meant I got picked on knowing my shy attitude with so many girls around *cough cough*.

Ok ok.. lemme cut the crap. The REAL highlight of the day was, you guessed it, LUNCH! Went to Kanna's Curry House (or something... can't remember the real name). Summary: Banana-leaf meals, freshly fried tender chicken, crispy crunchy fried squid rings, perfectly fried fish, wonderful mutton curry, spicy and fresh prawn sambal, yogurt... and papadams! It was a feast.. sorta. The occasion was really as a farewell lunch for a close fren who's about to embark on a 6-month trip to Germany. Since she loves food equally as much, if not more, than I do... lunch sure was enjoyable from every facet. Kudos to the Saturday lunch! Yay!

Then comes the part where I'm supposed to actually realize the title of this post. So.. jeng je jeng... here goes.

This was my lunch for Monday, 31st July 2006. Yup, good ol' Malaysian char kuay teow direct from Penang...

Honestly, it came from a shop called Penang House but for the sake of a bored Cyberjaya worker, play along :P

So what do we have here then? Well, you can see my lunch box there.. watched over by the Toon Reaper! Nobody messes with my lunch... I got the Reaper himself to guard it, mwahaha!

Well, actually I hoped somebody would mess with my lunch. The prawns were great... but the meal was seriously on pepper-overdose. I've eaten this same dish there several times in the past and it was good, so I'll let it pass this one time.

Anyway, that's my desktop in the office. Beeaautiifullll 19" (or was it 20?) LCD screen and.. er.. nothing much else to be proud of. Heck, the screen ain't much to brag about anymore since all the newcomers are getting Dell's 24" widescreens. *sigh* *envy* C'est la vie~ Well, since these ain't gaming machines, I guess I can drop the envy =Þ

Introspection

It's been a rather nice week. Nothing special, yet nothing mundane. Appetite's been getting better, though I've opted to skip out on ome lunch outings for specialized reasons that I shall not get into :P

Been introspecting a lot lately; something I have not done in a while. I remember a long time ago I used to do it a lot to keep myself in check. Some people misinterpret introspection as inward negativity, but negativity is only a perception. Some people remain who they are. I'd like to believe that I had quite a lot of control in who I've become as opposed to how I was. Fact is people change whether they want to or not... I just prefer to help myself along consciously more so than others, perhaps. The problem is, I think I forgot to do that in a while. Kinda scary to realize that stagnation is somewhat present, and there are things that can be worked on to rectify it.

That's an awfully long winded way to say a simple thought, really... haha. I read the much recommended 'Who moved my cheese?' book last weekend, and it partly contributes to my present train of thought. My cheese IS moving, but I haven't been moving along with it at the same pace that I remember I used to. What's my cheese? That's for me to know and none of this blog's business :P Just felt like putting the thought down in black and white so as to remind myself where I stand and where I want to be.

Probably makes little sense to anyone but me... but I like what I'm feeling ;) That counts for something, if not everything. Time for bed... zzzzzz.

Rojak Masala, Part Deux!

Well, time for a mixed collection of updates yet again =Þ

Last friday went out for a game of pool in Subang with my teammate. He and I both apparently enjoy the game, but since our 'regular' bunch of frens aren't available, we decided on playing amongst ourselves instead. Game was ok considering how rusty I've gotten, unfortunately it was short-lived. Fren suddenly got a flu/fever attack by the time we got to our 4th match.

But the night was still young... drove to TGV, got 3 tickets to Superman (midnight show), went home, took an enjoyable shower, and headed back to the cinema with mom and sis. Show was darn long (considering that I expected a 90-minute show and got a 120++ session instead). I'm an old fan of the Superman movies (and yes, even for a fan, I hated episode 3 with a passion), so it was refreshing to see an interesting take at the title. Definitely worth the watch, and commendable for all the tiny details they occasionally slipped in to remind us of the Superman legacy that the late Mr Reeves left us with :)

Then came Saturday. Though it wasn't an uneventful day, it was boring. The only thing worth sharing is a tech update: For all you ppl who love playing old games, do NOT throw away your pentium3's (or older). I love old games, and I've always resorted to dual-booting into Windows98 to play some of the better classics that refuse to run on WindowsXP. Apparently, my current gaming rig is so up-to-date that it doesn't have any driver support for Windows98. Arghhhhhhhhhhhh~
And here I was, hoping to be playing XCom Apocalypse all over again :( Virtual PC rejected it, DosBox too, and now Pure Windows98 gave me the 'fatality'. *sob sob*

Then came Sunday. Went to the Doulos (Star Cruises Terminal, Pulau Indah) with a bunch of frens. Interesting book sales there... decent pricing, nice selection of books depending on what you're looking for. Don't expect new releases though. Still worth a visit, though. Take my advice, check it out on a weekday if you can. Weekends are just packed with people, and with Klang's humidity and heat... it ain't pleasant :P
Had seafood for dinner at Telok Gong. Pretty funky trip considering I had no real idea how to get to the 'famous' Coconut Flower restaurant. Turned out rather simple really coz the new roads kinda make it a no-brainer to find it. Food was decent, though I think we got conned with the fish. Note: Always take a person who knows his/her fish before going to a seafood restaurant. Really got stuffed, and the crowd was fun too.

And then came Monday... need to get back to work =Þ

Rojak Masala~

I'm probably not gonna be talking about a consistent topic, hence the rojak title *grin*.

Weekend was great. 2 frens came down from Penang; one on Friday, another on Saturday. Friday was a bit unfortunate because I was wasted by the time I got to the meet-up. Only lasted less than an hour, but it was an hour worth staying awake for. Saturday fared better. Managed to meet up with not just the Penang VIP but also 3 other old frens I haven't seen for ages. Went for a game of pool, too. God I miss that game!
Btw, Kahlua Blackcurrant tastes VERY much like Ribena. Also, the new Honda Civic is really quite a nice car. Oh, and Thailand seems like an affordable holiday option. Told ya I'm gonna be jumping topics :Þ

Well, Monday came and Tuesday's almost half way through. Relatively uneventful week thus far, aside from work going very much on schedule. Purposely decided to make it to office an hour later than usual today. What can I say, the weather was soooooooo conducive for a nap *grin*. Felt fresh on my way to work, too. That's what good sleep does to you :P However, the journey wasn't all that fun coz my Linkin Park CD kinda died towards the later tracks... darn scratches.

Just came back from lunch actually. About to take my usual 20-minute office nap, but decided to postpone it for this post. Why? Coz lunch was disappointing. Not becoz of the food, heck the food was actually quite nice today. It was the crowd. The office 'veterans' aren't really going out for lunch anymore, so I'm stuck with the newbies. It's not really a bad thing usually, but today it was .. stressful? I haven't felt so alienated in a while. You have any idea how bad it feels to be in a 10-ppl strong group and 9 of 'em are speaking in an alien language. Well, take my word for it.. it sucks. I don't even know what expression to put up without looking too disappointed. Hope this doesn't keep up.

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Ok, time for nap :P

Super mini-post, Part Deux~

Due to popular demand *cough cough*, I've added a chatterbox to this blog. Go gaga~

Independence Day!

Not... we're not in the US =Þ Well, couldn't think of a title.. so anything goes.

Nothing much over the past weekend. Quite a well deserved, restful weekend. No freelance (though I actually had a minor thing to do, which I forgot until Monday :P), no household chores, not as much driving around. Just plain simple, lazing away at the idiot box.

Oh, there was my first Mandarin class. Not bad, though I wished they taught more in the first class. Most of what was taught has already been drilled into me by frens over the years. Lets hope next week fares better. Oh... no chiqs either *sigh*. Well, there is one but she looks intimidating *shy shy* :P

Its a Tuesday, and had a pact with 2 colleagues to lug our cob-webbed guitars to the office for a night-time hangout session. Fingers feel darn rusty (not that they were greasy back when I first started anyway). It's sad that I neva ventured far enough to make it a habit to play regularly. Who knows.. with the right crowd, it might just happen. Hope tonight will be fun ;)

Ooo.. lunch time. Time for some grub.

The prophecy fulfilled...

Haha, 'prophecy' is probably too grand a term but I guess I was right in a way. Monday came, and right now it's a Thursday... sure enough, I have no mood to eat. I actually had only ONE meal yesterday. Hope this doesn't last too long.

I had plans for Monday lunch though. The night before, I bought me a loaf bread, some tuna spread, turkey ham, salad, self-made salad dressing (olive oil with grounded almonds some spices), and cheese spread. These were supposed to be the raw materials for my Monday 'bento'. Good news is, the meal was satisfying *mmhmmmm*. Bad news is, the meal occured on Sunday night itself :P So yeah, Monday was back to boring Dengkil fruits :P

On another note, a friend recommended a broadway soundtrack for a show called 'Rent'. Odd that I never actually heard of it, but he shared some samples from the soundtrack and I'm truly enjoying the songs the more I listen to them. Wonder if it's available locally. Time to go checkout a music store this weekend, hopefully.

Alright, better get back to work :P Wonder what the boss will think if he knew that bloggin' was happenin' durin' office hours. *I wonder*

Food galore~

Though I can't honestly claim that my appetite's back on track, I *can* claim that I had 2 nights satisfying meals. Had Japanese food on Friday night with 2 close friends; you have no idea how good it felt that night. It was probably the first meal in weeks that really 'touched the soul', haha.

Then there was Saturday, and the 'Pork Team' strikes back =Þ Yeah, I know it's a lame name, but at least we have one. Oh, the team includes my colleagues and me. We are trying to have a general food outing each month (if possible), and yesterday marks our 2nd outing. Location: Tanjung Harapan, Klang. Food: Seafood, Klang style (read as cheap and delicious, hehe). Man I was stuffed that night. I need to eat more seafood *drool*.

I just dread Monday *sigh*. Something tells me my lunch is gonna go back to routine 'urk, dun feel like eating' mood. We need good food in the green desert of MSC... desperately so.

Holy yikes~!

I was checking out this site today: http://bash.org/?random

Do check it out... some of these 'quotes' are really hilarious. Anyway, I happened to come across one about driver's license. It struck a note that compelled me to check my license... and to my horror, I learnt of a sorry truth.

It expired 3 months ago! =O And I was oblivious to it, thinking I had a whole year left =P Need to renew it first thing tomorrow morning. Let's just hope no 'uncle' in uniform decides to say hi to me tonight. THAT would be utter coincidence, OR someone cast 'Drain Luck 100 points for 12hrs' :P

To accidentally go where no man should have ever gone before...

Just a thought. Probably best left unsaid =Þ

Don't think, just act!

I've personally used that line a few times too many in my daily life. Now that I think about it, can't say that I've been following my own words much... at least not in recent history. I guess it's due time I took some proactive steps to spice things up in life again. After all, I remember times when I did what I wanted... and it felt good :P

For starters, I called up a language center this morning. In fulfillment of 2-years worth of New Year's resolutions that have gone unattended, I've finally taken my first step to fix that problem :) What about? Simple: Mandarin lessons. Since I have a HUGE number of Chinese friends, it would be socially (and professionally) sound to pick it up eventually. Enrolled in an introductory conversation lesson to be held sometime this coming July. I quote a friend:

Yi hou ke yi gen ni jiang hua yu le.

Hehe. Too bad I can't claim that I can recite the above correctly due to the intonation mangling that romanization causes =D Not yet at least :)

What else? Let's see... a colleague(s?) dared me to chat up with the *only* indian girl in the office. Trainee under a different project. Neva found her interesting, but the rest of 'em don't seem to leave it at that. So sure, thought I could shut 'em up at least... and who knows, she could be interesting... or so I thought. Let's just say my impression before and after the conversation didn't change much. Same goes to the other 2 trainees who were with her. Why? I have no idea... I usually go with the 'aura' excuse. Some ppl just don't exude the 'aura' that grabs your interest. But the point is, I initiated a conversation with someone I probably wouldn't have ever chatted up with under normal circumstances.

Oh, I asked a close friend out for breakfast. It was a meet-up that was 3 years delayed, no thanks to our clashing schedules and various other lame excuses :P Was fine and dandy with all the quick planning and single-tracked motivation of getting it dealt with. Unfortunately, even with all that effort, it didn't work out coz friend had last minute rescheduling of work. Probably gonna postpone it a week or two... shall hope my determination doesn't fizzle. Momentum of 'just act' feeling is strong at the moment, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Well, I guess 3 'motivated' acts for 3 days is kinda uplifting. Hopes there's more to do next week, hehe. Alright, it's now 2am on a Sunday morning. ZZZzzz...

Being brief...

6:30pm on a Friday, and no plans for later. Need the rest, so its fine. But the weekend is a black void for now. Hope I can come up with something interesting to make use of the time. Shall write more when something worth mentioning pops up in my head.

Another weekend flew by...

Just got home from my weekly badminton games, got my shower and am snacking away at what I would deem a 'light' dinner (by my standards). Just a burger and a few nuggets. My colleagues would probably be screaming blasphemy at this and I bet they'd (predictably) respond with "Where're the other TWO burgers?". *sigh* Well, I'm happy with my meal right now.

Tiring weekend, it was. Saturday was the most tiring day I've had in a while. Had to drive to and from Sitiawan (Perak) for a cousin's wedding. Being the 'appointed' driver (felt more like slavery), I also had to drive my aunt back to KL on our way back. All in all, that was 600+ km in a day... and all on my expense. I actually didn't mind the trip itself; I just hate the driving part. Unlike my sis, I don't enjoy driving. I absolutely *hate* it when I'm driving alone! Which is why I really don't mind driving if there's company. But long distance is still a no-no UNLESS it was my idea or I'm eager to head somewhere. *cough* holiday *cough* =Þ

Today was pretty eventless aside from the huge amount of catching up I needed to do for a freelance project and preps for a product demo on Monday. Having lost my Saturday, unday sure felt like it was speeding past me unnoticed. I did encounter one moment of revelation close to lunch hour, when I was out in town sending mom to wherever she needed to go to do whatever she needed to do... Yup! Thats my standard Sunday morning schedule. Anyway, it went like this:

We were headed to a florist, but the shop was on the other side of the road (They're ALWAYS on the other side of the road!) and we needed to make this redundant turnabout. While stuck in queue at the turnabout, I happened to notice this elderly man pedalling his mobile drink stall towards the town. He was old, no doubt, and the load was definitely heavy. His pace was slow, and you could just feel the effort needed by looking at him. I was somewhat... inspired. It's rare to see such diligence and drive for survival. Sure, ppl would say it was just a drinks stall... but I'll argue that for that man, that stall could be his only means of survival. You don't even know whether he has a family he can depend on... what more a family that he alone may need to feed? I don't know why but that few seconds of observation triggered severe neurological activity in my head.

Well, that's just the intro :P I still had to take the turnabout, which means I was sure to pass the elderly guy again. Which I did, btw, but he wasn't cycling anymore by then. He had the unfortunate mishap of probably going over a pothole or something (I'm guessing) coz half of his stuff were on the road. He was picking them all up as I passed.

Our stop was quite a distance away. While mom does her purchases, I usually sit it out in the car. This time, I was distracted. I was seriously compelled to go give assistance to the old chap. I could barely get a glimpse of him from the rear-view mirror, but I tried anyway. I only got half the distance before he managed to get back on-the-road. Well, couldn't be a good samaritan today... but then I also managed to observe the harsh reality of our generation (or younger?).

It was close to the heart of town, and many people frequent the area. There were at least 2 groups of healthy, young human beings (notice I'm not using the generic 'people' term) who happened to pass the old man... just like how I passed him earlier, but they were on foot. The disappointing thing was no one BOTHERED to even offer the guy a hand. Heck, from my vantage point, I could SEE them looking at him the same way the average M'sian stares at anything remotely intriguing (mind you, the M'sian definition of 'intriguing' seriously needs reconsideration). Some things don't need thought... everyone keeps mentioning that we M'sians are a caring society. I will admit that there are several occasions I've seen this 'care' that gets proudly lauded about, but I've seen more instances of the exact opposite. You see it in the public transport services, you see it at banks.. heck, anywhere there's a crowd! True, some ppl actually DO have a thought crossing their minds to actually help, but for some odd reason... they won't act upon it.

As I was saying, it doesn't take much thought, if any at all. Maybe I'm blowing it out of proportions, and maybe I was just disappointed I couldn't get to the old-timer in time to help him... I still think it was heartless for them to not even offer.

And all that thought... just from observing a complete stranger and the microscopic events that revolved specifically around him in what would be an inconsequential ordeal over the macroscopic bustle of the town.

Ok, I'm at my last Chicken Tenders =Þ Time to get back to work, hehe.

The unknown

It's half past one, and I'm a bit sleepy from lunch and boredom. Would love to take a nap, but not sleepy 'enough' to actually benefit from a nap. Perhaps in a moment's time *grin*.

Feel rather peculiar. In fact, I've felt rather odd over the past 2 and a half weeks. My appetite is not what it used to be, that's one. I *love* to eat, so it comes as a surprise that now, even when I'm hungry, I just can't stomach the meals (is that considered a pun?). Point in fact: I've had 2 lunches this week in which I did not empty my plates. Heck, I left at least half of my meal unfinished. Why? I have no idea~

I'm not going through any emotional state of mind, nor am I stressed out from work at the immediate moment. Work is work, for now. Family's all fine; Income seems steady; Friends are in touch; Movies have been watched; I mean, nothing seems out of the ordinary... except for this eating disorder. Kinda ticks me off that I can't put a finger on it, that's all.

Well, hope the day doesn't get held back by it. Need to get my nap now :P

The weekend's over!?

It's Monday, 1am. In 7 hours from now, I'm gonna think back to this very moment and curse my stubborn-ness for not getting in to bed sooner. As much as the average working person dreads a Monday, it comes as a surprise to me that I can't get a good nights sleep... especially since we actually WANT to sleep more just because the chance won't come again for another 5 days *sigh*.

Saturday was quite an eventful (and blazingly hot) day. My youngest cousin brother had a church wedding. Simple and short, just the way I like it. Crowd was not bad... not too large, not too small. Too bad I didn't know half the ppl there; most were his church friends. Made an acquaintance with a lady named Ester. Chatty woman in her early 50's (I'm guessing). She sure didn't hesitate to invite me to her church, haha... and that was before we even exchanged our names. Awkward, that :P Oh, did I mention that the bridesmaid was HOT!? I don't mean in a slender, sensual, and drop-dead-gorgeous kind... more like elegant, sweet, regal, etc. She had a beautiful nose, too (yeah, I have this 'thing' for eyes and noses).

Then came the dinner. That was NOT the best of events for me; kinda spoilt the end of what could've been an interesting day. Seating arrangements were messed up big time, no thanks to Malaysian civility. I was supposed to be seated right up front with the groom's family (we're the closest to his family, hence the honour). Imagine my surprise when we got there and our table was taken by god-know-who! Didn't wanna make an issue out of it since a lot of people have apparently been 'ousted' from their rightful places.

Then there was the MC who kept making lame jokes. The audio system was appalling... way too loud on the higher frequencies; paired with mid-range speakers, and you get the perfect disaster. The audio-guy (anyone knows what they're called?) had a poor taste of songs for the occasion, plus his volume control 'sense' needed major tweaking. I had a feeling someone forgot to tell him the obvious: It's a WEDDING dinner, not a disco party. Food was cold, servings were small, plus they weren't particularly delicious. Disappointing, considering it was a hotel-organized dinner.

Thank heavens for some close friends who decided to go 'mamak'-ing later that night. Was hungry, but my appetite was dead... so only managed to join them for drinks and friendly chatter. Feels good to meet... with the recent spree of work and more work, it was a refreshing assurance that the simpler thing in life are indeed more satisfying than the lavish :)

Nothing much to be said about Sunday. Boring, hot, and... oh god! I forgot to wash my car today *slaps forehead*. Looks like gotta wake up earlier a bit to give it a quick wipe. Oh, one last thing. Mom made vegetarian muffins~... Yes, vegetarian coz it contains no eggs! Turned out really good I must say. She makes cakes frequently, but I'm not a fan of standard butter cakes, however these muffins were a sellout to me. Shall brainwash her to make more of them, hehe.

It's 1:40am. Monday...

Work can be a Pretzel

Well, I gotta hand it to myself that I'm posting twice within 7 days. Quite an achivement, for now.

Anyhow, its gotta be the most messed up week in a while. Had all sorts of meetings that I neva knew existed; or I just ignored their existence until now. It's amazing how people get any work done with so many meetings getting in the way. Someone should make it a global policy that reads 'Less meetings, more l33t-ings' =Þ Ok, that was lame... but I defend its intention. Striking a balance between the two is a SERIOUS consideration that I wonder how many people actually take into account.

Boring stuff aside, just finished a rather private discussion (during office hours... man, this is screwed up) with a close colleague of mine. It's a 'she', and no, I'm not interested in her in 'that' sense. Thought the topic of discussion was the small gossip going around the office about just that. Can't a guy and a girl be close friends? Sheesh... and to think grown-ups would have some sense of maturity. I'm just glad we were both fine with the gossip since we get the last laugh. Since from my point of view, she's the 'unknown' equation, it would have sucked if she took it personal and caused things to go awkward in what is a simple, satisfying friendship. I feel so nice having so many easy-going, understanding friends. I only wish more would follow suit and grow-up (IF a colleague ends up reading this by some god-forsaken strike of luck; yeah I'm talking 'bout YOU!)

As for the fact that it's a Friday evening and all I have in plans are to head home to a vegetarian dinner and do some freelance web-stuff, and do a bit more Flash application prototyping... HOLY COW! Putting it in words sure puts things in perspective: I NEED A LIFE :P

Btw, neva realised that KLIA is only 50 minutes to-and-fro my office. Useless fact, but just thought of ending this post with something totally unrelated :P

Pattern grows... two-fold!

The previous post was about being 1-month overdue. And guess how long this post is overdue? 2-months! See a pattern, yet? Hope it doesn't stay a pattern. Been reading a lot of blogs lately, so it struck me odd that I wasn't really getting motivated to post even after all the self-expressionism that's flourishing out there in the World 'Wild' Web :P Guess that thinking about how unmotivated I've been kind of motivated me to drop a note here. Probably will turn out lengthier than usual... coz it's a Saturday noon, I'm dead bored, and there's this huge mess in my head.

2-months is a long time indeed. Heck, I've given up posting photos of my Langkawi trip. Odd thing is, I have them edited and ready to be uploaded... just not so keen on writing *about* the photos. Why? I have no idea. I'm as dumbfounded as anyone else who's actually even looking forward to the update... which actually might be no one at all *shock*. Its ok. I think I'm my personal greatest fan to my blog :P

Works been hell lately. What else is new, right? Not that there's lots to do... just that taking lead of an actual team of developers who are fresh as fresh can be gives me the chills. I'm not really worried about the members... introspectively I'm actually not confident 'bout my ability to lead. Funny that I hit this kind of wall, coz I've always been forward and confident in much of what I've done. It's all probably nothing and temporary anyway... could all just be nervousness with trying to cope with the entire software process that we implement in the company. As a normal member, much of the overhead of the process is transparent, so it doesn't bother you. Sure, everyone went through the training and deployment of process updates, but whomever claims rights to the term 'easier said than done' is a genius. I'm appeasing myself by telling me that this is gonna be like the incident a long, long time ago in my childhood where I leapt from the 1st floor of a house under-construction. For a 11-year old, that was mighty scary. The stuff going in your head at that moment:
Can I make it? What if I break my leg? Hell, what if I pee'd in my pant before I even leapt? My friends will NOT forget that one for ETERNITY!

That's the thing bout childhood innocence. Even with all these questions, we seem to go the Nike way~; Just Do It. And yes, I took the leap... landed on a pile of sand, shocked but unscathed. Then the excitement kicked in and it became a regular activity over the next few weeks. *sigh* The good old days.

So now I'm thinking, maybe this whole nervousness and lack of confidence is akin to that moment before the leap. Unsure. Fear of the next moment. All I need to keep telling myself is to make the jump, cause the feeling at the end of it will be worth every moment.

Well, that's work life for me.

Then there's life. Not much of it I must admit. Haven't been socializing much over the past month. I'm lucky I'm even set for a movie outing tomorrow. Major catching up to do; and no I don't mean catching up to the latest movies (though that should be in my list, too). Catching up with frens I've lost touch.

The saddest truth about my current state of life is the lack of social contact. Excusing colleagues, I don't see close friends as frequent anymore. Some say it is part and parcel of working life, but I think it is something very much in our control to avoid. I haven't even gotten to the part about MAKING new friends. I haven't met a new social contact in ages. Long term contacts. Interesting people. Interesting girls!

On that last note, many a colleague have been rubbing it in lately. I know it's easy for them to say it... but reality to me is, 'it's not that simple'. Wish I could beat that fact right into their heads. Its not like I don't want to be in a relationship, but it's also not like I *have* to be in a relationship at this point of time. If opportunity permits, I'll meet interesting individuals. If its worth the try, I'll make my moves. But it's still my choice to make. The same way about how people react when the topic of going after someone already attached. People treat it as a taboo. Always strikes me as odd. I'm not against the idea, nor am I all for it. Its a matter of conscience and value, not virtue. If you think someone deserves more than what they have, and you're sure you can be that person... why not, right? Just as much as it is our choice on whether to make a move on anyone, it is our choice to consider other ppl's moves on us. In that respect it is pretty similar to be on both sides of the argument. At the end of the day, it is the same question: Is it worth the trouble right now? Going after someone, being someone's interest, or being stuck in the middle of a complicated situation... it all boils down to value of outcome. Do you think it is worth risking your current position for something whose outcome can be gratifying, or equally, disappointing? Choice... our greatest, yet dangerous, ability. So do I think I want to be in a relationship now? No... for the simple reason that I don't know anyone to take that step for, yet.

With that out of the way... what's next? I'm thinking... travel.

I NEED to expand my horizons, literally. I need to go travelling. I need to get my passport stamped. I need to get away from the mundane 'normality' of Klang Valley life. I need to do something different. I need to have some new fun. That kind of sums it all up. Am actively looking into intereting, value-for-money spots to go to. Would love to hear suggestions, but based on the state of thi blog lately, I doubt I'm gonna get any =Þ Here goes to hoping *pray*.

God... it has been an hour. Time for lunch. Over and out~

Whoa... 1 month overdue

Ok, ok. I'll probably be stoned to death if this place even had a following. Guess I'm glad it doesn't, hehe. Man... 1 month+ and no single updates. And to top it all off, the last post was about a trip to Langkawi for 3 days. How could I NOT have things to say *knocks head*.

In all honesty, yes there are stuff to tell. Stuff to show, too. A lot to show and tell, in fact. But I haven't sorted out my photo's yet so can't show much yet. Let's leave it as episodic updates (yea, right) to cover all that has happened in this past month and a half. First the sad stuff...

Project leader's been off to Japan for on-site bug fixes, and I'm delegated to lead on his behalf. Blood pressure probably went up; today especially. Preparing for release, keeping a 'dungu' in check, and following up on another colleagues test reports. Oh, not to mention training a new member to the team who's been assigned directly under my supervision. Thank god she's quite a chiq =Þ Anyway, that all kept me from any social surfing (chatting, news updates, blogs, etc.).. WORK I mean, not the chiq.

Then thinking back, there was the Langkawi trip. Nothing great about Langkawi, honestly. Seriously overrated, but thats a ranting for another blog. Suffice to say that I'm lucky I had some fun colleagues around to add some adventure to an otherwise mundane trip.

Then there's my sister's wedding. It was GREAT to be rid of the whole planning and preps for the wedding now. But the whole experience is kinda memorable, no doubt. And I was MC for the reception dinner, hehe. Haven't been doing public speaking for ages, so I believe I was more nervous than usual. Just don't expect honest compliments during the event.. I wouldn't know who meant anything for real. I'm still wondering how I actually did *sigh*. Oh no... just thinking of the wedding... and here I though I got over the fact that I'm BROKE *sob sob*

What else is there to say? Erm.. oh yea, my office moved. Still in the green desert named Cyberjaya but in a larger office space. Roughly twice as large in area, thrice in terms of employee capacity. Sad part is, we share the building with BMW. Yes, Bavaria Motor Works.. the same old BMW. Apparently all new purchased BMW's make a pit-stop at that building, so we see 5-s and 7-s like how most people see Proton's on the road. It also doesn't make you want to drive to work anymore coz you're parking amidst cars at least 5 times your own car's value. Even my boss in his Civic said he doesn't feel like a boss here, hahaha. But it is secure here. Real, pure-bred Gurka guards who salute and greet you without fail. I feel inferior to the other cars around, but at least I feel just as safe as an executive class 7-series :D Can't beat the deal!

Okie, that turned out longer than the 'summary' I originally intended (but what else is new when it comes to me writing). Dinner time is approaching, and I'm still deciding what to have. Shall sign off now to contemplate further =Þ

G'nite~

The Day After Tonight

Cheesy title alert~!

Well, I couldn't think of anything better. Anyway, just a bit excited. It's a Thursday afternoon; the day before my company trip to Langkawi~ woohoo. Can't wait, can't wait. I believe the remainder of today will be 'very' productive *ahem ahem*. Can't blame me... I'm just human; and excited humans usually ain't very productive... especially when it's an excitement for a vacation :P

Not much else to say about life. Been busy with work... and Excel. Yes, it surprises me that as a programmer, I actually find Excel quite challenging to master. Not that it is difficult, but rather the fact that you tend to want to do all these amazing stuff that you think Excel either can't do it, OR (most likely) it can only do it by means of some convoluted manner of scripting and workbook planning. I kinda welcome the challenge... but it's irritating that it's consuming so much more time than I initially anticipated.

Alrite, gotta sign off. Oh, hopefully I get some nice pics to share from my trip :) I ain't an avid photographer, so don't blame me if they turn out like crap (IF they even turn out in the first place :P ).

I am *so* broke

*sigh* its the time of the month again. No, I don't mean THAT time of the month. I'm a guy... get over it :P Anyway, I'm talking budget updates, and I just realised its been a heavy year to begin with.

Expenses have been rather high, with my sis' engagement and my (surprising) expense on my b'day dinner. Then there's the 'accidental' purchases of tech stuff. Then there's the upcoming 40k-milestone car checkup. That's gonna cost me a bomb *sob sob*.

Then there's my company trip to Langkawi next Friday. Woohoo, I get to go on a plane for the first time in my life! (Yes... I am 'ulu' :P). BUT... since it *is* a trip, there's bound to be requests for souvenirs... and in the case of Langkawi, they'll probably be more like order checklists *sigh*. Urk... I'm sooo broke.

Well, either way, I'm just excited for next week. Langkawi! First time to the island, hehe. Can't wait, can't wait. *dream dream*

The unblog-like blog

Last I checked, blogs were meant to be regularly updated with relatively short, concise paragraphs to highlight whatever that was worth mentioning. In respect to that, I'm obviously doing a marvellous job at being the exact opposite. Lengthy lines, most likely uninteresting content, and definitely updated far too irregularly. *sigh*

Well it's been a month, and I reckon it should be quite a long talk if I covered what's happened throughout. Lets skip a huge amount of the details; I was busy with preparations for my sis' engagement/wedding. Too bored and tired to discuss that topic :P

Real news for my techie-frens: Dinosaur de-commisioning completed. I have a healthy gaming machine at home and kinda spoilt for choices in terms of games to play. What can I say... I have at least 3 years worth of great games to catch-up on, hehe. I'll skip the detailed specs for a time when we meet up. Now I just need to figure out how to properly dispose off my sis' dinosaur since I've decided to give away my uber-powerful dinosaur to her instead. Apparently, it is quite the challenge to find decent ways to get rid of an ancient system. Heck, I'm still looking for options... ... ... *sigh*

Chinese New Year of 2006 was probably the 'tamest' I've ever experienced. Number of ppl celebrating has dwindled... but my cough and flu wasn't helping either. I had to forego a dinner invite to an old fren's place due to the unrelenting cough. *stupid cough* Supposed to go out clubbing at Zouk... also had to forego. *stupid fever* Arrgh... and I only got a grand total of...

jeng je jeng... RM10 for angpau~ Ok, it was RM12 coz my HR officer just gave me angpau yesterday :P Still, that's probably my all time low *sigh*.

Aside from that, the only thing worth mentioning is probably the fact that this year was probably my most 'celebrated' birthday in years, haha. Well, actually it wasn't even celebrated (as usual) but I admit my house was loaded with 150+ people that night. Sure, they were there for my sister's engagement ceremony, but having over-zealous cousin sisters doesn't really help in the 'keeping a low profile' business. It was fun though seeing how they did what they did... they'd go around reminding people that it was 2 events in one that day. And they don't quit until my other cousins turn pale in embarassment for forgetting (not that they ever remembered :P).

I initially had plans on taking a few very close frens out for dinner sometime this weekend to 'mini-celebrate' my quarter-century milestone. Not sure if I can keep to the plan... may need to go out-station. Trying to snake my way out of the travel plan. Either way, still can't think of a nice place to eat. We need nice, new, refreshing places. Being me, i'd rather plan nothing than venture into a been-there-done-that celebration.

Btw, over the hols, I have decided the following things I need to do more:
1. Play more pool
2. Go mamak more often (not for the food though.. just to hang out)
3. Resume my work outs
4. Play even more pool
5. Read more books
6. Sleep early (gamers have a tough time with this)
7. Update this blog more frequently

Why the list? I have no idea. It just crossed my mind. Not sure how effective I'll be in achieving these... after all my new year's resolution for the past 3 years hasn't been achieved yet either :P So what could be a good motivator to get me to live up to my own expectations? I wonder...

*yawn* -stretch stretch-

been a long while since the last update. No wonder ppl say blogging is meant to be done daily if possible, else the details are gone :P But it's pointless to cry over spilt milk, so I'll try to summarize whatever I can remember.

A close fren came down from US for a visit. Was great meeting him up again, and we even went on a small trip up North to where the food is (go figure it out). There we met up with another old fren. Unfortunately for me, as much as I enjoyed the trip, I contracted some minor case of indigestion the moment I stepped back home :P Well, at least it didn't happen during the trip *grin*.

Aside from that, been busy with preparations for my sisters' wedding. Mostly, this involved painting different parts of the house. Divide-and-conquer style... one weekend, one segment. The rain ain't helping though, and it's inadvertently leading to delays in completing painting of the house' external compound walls. Hope the weather eases up within the next week.

For those tech-geek-frens out there, glad to inform you guys that I'm FINALLY de-commissioning the dinosaur that was my PC for the past 7 years. Hehe... the gamer in me is counting down (probably a few days more) to the moment he is unleashed :P Actually, I was hoping I would be typing this from the new system, alas I have to delay the purchase for a few days due to inavailability of some very specific components in my list. Let's hope the next time around would fare better.

So, anyone up for Battlefield 2 multiplayer, then? *grin* Get the original, guys. And lets play... soon ;)