A long lost college friend.. July 27, 2008

Human always needs to interact with other people. Therefore we will definitely make friends along the way from even nursery up till now in our own company that we work. But not all the friends we are able keep in touch over the years. Only a handful that we are closed to, we will still keep in contact over the years. However, now with a website called ” facebook” where somehow friends still able to find some old friends.

Recently, thru facebook, I found the contact of a long lost friend who went for a class with us in 1998 and we have to do a cultural performance before. He was from Jordon and now an executive chef in a hotel in Phuket. He came down for a 3-day course and we manage to catch up on what we up to since 1998. of course being the shy me, he ended up have to do most of the talking. It was great to meet up and he was quite a funny guy had fun going out with him.

Of course being friends, we have our own obligations. Yesterday was quite a busy day, being got to work for half a day and after work I went to one of my friend’s grand openning. She just started her own beauty shop at Cuppage Plaza called Glomax Aesthetics. It was a small shop but size is not the matter as it will be a great achievement for her.. Even though I am that close to her, but I just went to give her the support. I knew her from one of the badminton sessions that I had with my other RE colleagues. She is a happy go lucky girl and I do wish her all the best! It must be a good feeling to be your own boss!

At night, I have to attend a wedding dinner of my ex-colleague. It was suppose to start at 1930 hours but being a chinese banquet, ended up the dinner starts at 2100 hours. We had finished about 3 small plates of peanuts. Since our table, there are only 07 of us, we were only able to finished first 3 course, as we were hungry but after that, most of the dishes were sent back with 3/4 of the entire dish. One of the dishes we even have to pack it up and one of my colleague to bring home. The food are quite tasty but the waiting time was too long. Oh yes, we did finish the dessert as well. It is very tasty – its the pamelo, sago and mango pudding. Eventhough we were very full, but being a sweet tooth, I still kept some space for the dessert! But then, my ex-colleague look really pretty that night. Hope she and her hubby will have a happy and blessful marriage!

It has been a long time I have so much social activities and it was quite fun to have such activities once a while! If not it will be quite boring especially if we just go to work and go home.. There must have more things in life that we are able to enjoy occassionally!

Happy Birthday to Just a Tinkle! July 22, 2008

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to Just a Tinkle! Happy Birthday to you!

I just realized its been a year I have started my blog. I can’t believe that I have been writing my blog for a year though not frequently as I wished. After having 121 or rather 122 posts inclusive of this over a year has been a great accomplishment for me.

I have never expected that I will last this long but has been great pleasure to see some comments from my friends, my dad, my brother and even sometimes I see a couple of comments from other people who somehow stumble into my mediocre blog and has given me some positive comments that did encourage me  to continue.

Even though my dad and my bro has commented on my ”powderful” grammer.. haha.. well.. Will try to improve it.. But hei.. this is not an English composition, or test, we don’t require a super good english to write a blog. But it is the content that counts right? Ok ok.. I know some of the posts might not have much meaning but then I am not writing an encyclopedia as well.. This 1 year, my blog has been a place for me to write about my thoughts, my feelings,  what I do/travel/what I experienced. In future, I might use this blog to reflect the true me… a place where I express my true feelings… hmm.. Not sure if I am able to discribe or able to express correctly though.. will try my best ok?

Anyway, for those friends/people out there who is reading this blog.. Thanks for taking time to read  it.. Got to admit it is not a real fantastic blog or the most exciting blog.. haha.. well.. I never admit I am writer.. But still thanks for reading and hope you will continue so!

Oh by the way for those web friends.. I am a Malaysian  staying in Singapore therefore you will realize sometimes I do add in some malay words or chinese into my blog. So you will find a mixture of languages.. which locally we call it “rojak” (originated from a local food where we mix the fruits, nuts, veg with shrimp paste.. a yummy dish) at times the local do talk the same way as well. But I will put the meaning of the word in bracket next to it so that you will understand what is the meaning I liked to imply. Happy reading!

Ok ok.. yes I know this blog already have grammer/spelling mistakes already.. well.. I am only human.. but that’s also the fun of writing a blog, isn’t it?

A get-togather July 22, 2008

This weekend is when we rest and to recharge our energy after one week at work and to get ready for week ahead. Sometimes, weekend we meet up with a couple of friends for movies or for karaoke session, or we used to go for exercise activities – badminton, tennis, inline-skating. But now due to different schedules, it has been a long time we did not go out for such outings.

Last weekend I met up with Vin & KY for movie. We watched ” Red Cliff” which stars Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Lin Chi-ling. This is about the final days of the Han Dynasty where the bad Prime Minster declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance. From this movie, you get to learn some of the battle strategy where they test each others strength in both on land and on water. It is quite interesting to see how they think, strategize their troups and how to guess what’s their enermy thoughts and strategies. However, this is just the 1st part of the movie, therefore it left a feeling of “unfinished” feeling as you do not know who will win the battle of the red cliff.  Since this movie is based on the real history of China, before the 2nd part is out in the cinema, I still have some time to do some research..

But when you think bout it, in some days, we do require such strategies as well in our daily life. How we try to predict what our consumer needs, how they think, what strategies we should apply to make sure that the customers will sign the dotted lines, and sometimes, its not just dealing with customers, with colleagues, bosses. I guess sometimes, this is what makes the job interesting isn’t it? Then every client, you have to think of different strategies and sometimes just one client you have to think of several ones!  Of course the strategies will not be  the tortoise or the goose formation! We are just waging a different type of war in the modern working world.

Then in the evening, SP joined us for Karaoke session. It has been a long long time, I went out with them for karaoke, was quite good to meet up once a while.   ssh… I always use these karaoke session to update my latest chinese song knowledge. haha..

Getaway Trip – details.. July 14, 2008

Normally if I have visited the place, I will try not to visit the place again unless the place is very huge and I have not covered the place. But somehow, I ended up going to Batam – three times but all stay at different hotels. 1st time – Holiday Inn, 2nd Time: Turi Beach Resort and 3rd – Bintan View Hotel which I just stayed last weekend

Most people that goes Batam will go for the spa, shopping, water sports and many more. We took up a package that includes of a night accommodation (twin sharing), lunch, 3hours spa treatments, seafood dinner at Kalong and the next day breakfast. It was a just a rest and relax  trip for our section.

It was very fun as it was our first trip with this team with my boss and our GM secretary. We stayed in the standard room with balcany and was facing the sea. The view was really superb! They even gave us a fruit basket as well.. It was probably they knew we were from another hotel, so have to give us a good image of the hotel.. even the GM came out to welcome us… wow.. like VIP like tat.. But the fruits are quite pathetic as the bananas like can’t make it anymore.. but the gesture was greatly appreciated.

It was pretty fun as right after we arrived and checked in, we went for lunch at their coffee house. Food wasn’t up to our expectation but their beef rendang was quite delicious. Due to my colleague’s miscalculation of time, all of us are late for our spa appointment. So instead of 3 hours treatment, we only have 2 to 2.5 hours. But we had body scrub with steambath, massage, mini facial and followed by herbal bath. After the long spa treatment, we feel so relax and so clean!

We proceeded to our colleague’s room for some chit chat, beer/champagne drinking session. In this session we had a brief history lesson of our hotel as our GM secretary was with the hotel for a very very long time!

When the day turns dark, we proceed for our sumptious dinner at Kalong restaurant. We had black pepper crab, prawns, vegetables, calamari, tom yam soup as well as we added gong gong (seashell) and fried rice. Yumm.. Pictures as below to make your mouth waters.

Once our bellied are filled, we had a slow stroll back to the hotel and rest and relax at the lounge. It was there we had some drinks and a couple of us played pool, some went explore the hotel, while the rest just rest and enjoy the live music.

Around 11pm, we decided to go back to the room, some to bath and to get ready for the 2nd drinking session. Amazingly, my boss fell asleep and since we are unable to bring back all the bottle of wines and champagne that we brought from SIngapore, 5 of us continue with the session. To speeden up the process, we played cards and the losers have to drink. That night, we finished 1 bottle of red wine, 1 bottle of white and 1 bottle of champagne. Once the alcohol had been consumed, all proceed back to our own room to catch up on our beauty sleep!

The next day, we woke up just in time for breakfast before they cleared the food away. I just had some toast and fruit juices as did not have much appetite after the last night alcohol. To take advantage of the facilities, 3 of us changed to our swimming attire and decided to go for a dip. The remaining 04 persons relaxed at the shade.

That’s when the fun begins, with the help of my boss, we managed to throw 2 of my other colleagues who has no intention of getting wet into the pool.. and needless to say, we threw our boss in as well! How can we not to, right?. But there was a funny section when we were trying to line up to take a group photo, my colleague wanted to change the sequence of the line, and she lost her balance.. We had a glimpse of a slow motion of her going into the pool. It was really funny.. seeing her flapping her arms, trying to find her balance in order not to go into the pool but ended up a splash!

After the fun at the water, some of us went for spa, some had a friendly game of mahjong before checking out and taking the ferry back to Singapore… It was a really a memorable trip for our section! hmm.. wonder will we have more of such trip? Hopefully the next one is a sponsored one as well.. haha.. hoping.. hoping.. hoping..

 

A Short trip to the neighbouring Island.. July 12, 2008

This is going to be just a short and sweet one.. After all the hard scheduling me and some of my colleagues with my boss manage to make a short trip to our neighbouring island – Batam.

Even though this is my third time here but in all these trips I stayed at different hotels. This time round, we stayed in Bintan View.We took up a package which includes stay, dinner, lunch, dinner and 3hour spa treatment!

Now I am sitting on the hotel lounge enjoying the songs by the singer and the pionist after our sumptious dinner and our 3 hours spa treatment. It was a fabuluous experience and most of us find it the spa is still a little short. Obviously good things have to come to and end.. Well.. Let’s shall enjoy the rest of this getaway. Will write more in my next blog when I am back to the mainland.. How dreadful..

Influencing People.. July 11, 2008

Everyday whenever we meet people, no matter what they say, what they do, and just by their mood, it might let it affect you. We are easily get influence by other people’s mood, feelings, thought. If you want to stay happy and positive, you have to mix with those that is giving out happy and positive energy. If you mix more with people who are down, demotivated, sad, angry or just plain negative, slowly you tend to be like them!

I always tries to be more positive and always try to see the positive side of things. Of course being humans, there are times when I tend to see toward the negative side of the situation or people. Recently, my colleague has just sent an email which I think it is quite true and meaningful, it’s called ‘The Law of The Garbage Truck’ It goes as below:

GARBAGE TRUCK
Jul 8 2008

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood? Do you
let a bad driver, rude waiter, crude boss, or an insensitive employee
to ruin your day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're
probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful
person is how quickly she can get back her focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a
New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and

we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right
lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space
right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded
and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident,
whipped his head around and he started yelling foul words at us. My
taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And, I mean, he was
friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined
your car and sent us to the hospital!" And this is when my taxi driver
told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage,
full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As
their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let
them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't
take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.
You'll be happy you did.

So this was it: The "Law of the Garbage Truck.” I started thinking,
how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do
I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home,
on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do anymore."
I began to see garbage trucks.

Like in the movie "The Sixth Sense," the little boy said, "I see Dead
People." Well, now "I see Garbage Trucks." I see the load they're
carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I
don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well,
and move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did
this every day on the football field. He would jump up as quickly as
he hit the ground after being tackled. He never dwelled on a hit.
Payton was ready to make the next play his best.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good
parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school
with hugs and kisses. Leaders and parents know that they have to be
fully present, and at their best for the people they care about. The
bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take
over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life,
starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by? Here's my
bet. You'll be happier. Life's too short to wake up in the morning
with regrets, so.. Love the people who treat you right. Forget about
the ones who don't.

(c) 2008 FoodForThought

 

 Just something to share with all of you and hope you will all enjoy life in a more positive, cheerful and don’t let people to dump their rubbish on you and affect your life!

Footy.. a guys game? July 1, 2008

In the 1900s Football can be safely said as a guys game. Only guys are interested in playing or watching football games, some will place bet on it or some watch for the sports. As time goes by, the trend starts to change, nowadays, more ladies are into the game – probably not into the physical part, but they do watch football matches as well even come to the extend of staying back late at night just to watch the match – I know one my lady colleague did that just recently!

As for me, I am a Manchester United fan. Ok ok.. let’s admit it.. I started supporting because of Beckham for the obvious reasons.. he is so good looking, so arrogant in the game.. But after that, I started to like the team more. So even though Beckham has been traded to other team, I am sticking with the red devil. So now I am supporting the team as in how they play and not whether the team got any handsome guys or not … ok..  as someone just said i was still at the Beckham era.. I am not supporting the team just because of handsome guys ok.. ehem! haha.. ok ok.. yes Ronaldo is quite good looking as well so it makes it nicer to have some good looking player in the team, makes the match more exciting .. ermm. for those of his fans out there.. no offence meant ok?

Well, Eurocup was just overed and Spain has won against Germany 1 nil.  Many has predicted that Spain will win and I am sure that there are many Germany fans will says differently. As for me, I am more on a neutral grounds here, since I do not have a favourite team in terms of country wise.

Shall wait for the next Premier League that is starting from 16 August. How I wish I am able to watch the matches.. but then.. I shall just continue reading bout it through the newspapers .. how boring.. sigh.. since my aunt is watching the TV and not able to watch the match late at night, then I will have to opt for the 2nd best by reading bout it the next day.. no kick at all.. Anyway, Go for it.. MU!