A New Year, A New Start

I'm home!

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year

Dear Readers,

I'm off to Phuket and Phi Phi Islands today. I have been slacking alot this year, but when i return, i will fill up the rest of my European excapade - Venice and Paris, Macau, HongKong and most definitely the sights of beautiful beaches and people of Thailand.

Here's wishing all of you a blessed New Year!
Happy Holidays!

She, who resonates in my room

Perhaps you will fall in love with her voice as much as i do.

The Best Mistake I've Ever Made
By Joanna Wang


One step too far
All at once i'm falling
Just like a start, i'm burning for you
Thought i could keep myself from feeling this way
I guess that was my first mistake

Cause suddenly i'm walking
Down a dark street to your door
Wanting you is driving' me insane
And now my feet are standing
Where they've never stood before
Guarded by a twist of fate

If i lose myself with you tonight
Fall apart or hold on tight
Wrong or right i wont be afraid
Cause even if my heart should break
You'd be the best mistake i ever made

I'm in your room
Now there's no denying what's in your eyes
When i look at u
Two shadows talking but they don't make a sound
Words have lost their meaning now
And the air has turned electric
Now i know the time is right
To put myself into your hands
And suddenly i'm shaking
As your fingers touch my skin
I dont need to understand

But if i lose myself with you tonight
Fall apart or hold on tight
Wrong or right i wont be afraid
Cause even if my heart should break
You'd be the best mistake i ever made

And if tomorrow proves me wrong
I swear i don't belong
I know i'll carry on
So i will lose myself and bare my soul
Take this chance cause heaven knows
I'm so far gone, my choice is made
And even if my heart should break

When i lose myself with you tonight
Fall apart or hold on tight
Wrong or right i always say
You're the best mistake i ever made
You're the best mistake i ever made
You're the best mistake i ever made
_______________________________________

This song is from the melody of one of my old-time favourite - I Love You, originally in Mandarin by David Tao. Though, not a direct translation, she has her way of making this version her own.

I Love You
By Joanna Wang

Say we're together baby
You and me

I can only give my life
And show you all i am
In the breath i breathe
I will promise you my heart
And give all you need
If it takes some time

If you tell me you don't need me anymore
That our love wont last forever
I will ask you for a chance to try again
To make our love a little better

I love you
Say we're together baby
Say we're together, woo
I need you
I need you forever baby
You and me

Say you hardly know
Exactly who i am
So hard to understand
I knew right from the start
The way i felt inside, if you read my mind
If you tell me you don't need me anymore
That our love wont last forever
I will ask you for a chance to try again
To make our love a little better

I love you
Say we're together baby
Say we're together, wooo
I need you
I need you forever baby
You and me

Remember when you used to hold me
Remember when you made me cry
You said you loved me
Oh, you did
Yes, you do

I love you
Say we're together baby
Say we're together, wooo
I need you
I need you forever baby
You and me

_______________________________________

Cant get past the similarity to Norah Jones or Corrine Bailey Rae huh. And she's only 19, Taiwanese, who can sweep your feet off with both her English and Chinese songs. I'm not sure if her album is in town already, but if you're looking.. it's called "Start From Here", which is in itself another great song.

All of her own rendition of other people's cover and her originals were removed off her youtube site, but some hardcore fan managed to save some of them here. Enjoy.

Weekend in KB

.Weekends in Kuala Belait is as laid back as one can imagine.

Everything here seems to move in slow motion...

Until Elisa brought a new board game over, Time's Up, where you pick a card and depending where on the board you are, you will either draw, explain or act the clue. We were hooked for 5 whole hours screaming in heavy laughter and suffering from stitches.

Elisa's masterpiece
The line depicts 1 word with 3 syllables.
She started with a moon, followed by a bee hive. Hung solved this in no time.
Answer: Honeymoon

My piece of crap
It didnt hit me that my drawing is worst than a first-grader.
2 words; 1st word has 2 syllables.
I started with a butterfly which my partner eventually got it as "moth", then went on to draw an ugly mathingie that looks nothing like a horse, a caravan with a lady in it. Time was ticking and he still couldnt get the geist of it, so i drew a lady and a crystal ball. He was drowning in confusion! You cannot imagine the words that came out of their mouth, amazingly they could tell it's a horse, "lawyer", "caravan", "bus", "prison", "fortune teller". Muhuuhuu.
Answer: Gypsy moth

Boon's classic interpretation
I should have been able to guess this straight on BUT!
2 words, 2 syllables each.

He started with something that looks like a manhood, and then the female anatomy. I said "vagina", he nodded and went on to draw a cat. "Cat", "kitten" he nodded but it still wasnt the right answer. He kept pointing at the cat and then the vagina.
I was like "WHAT??? vagina?? Cat?? kitten??"
He gave up and moved on to the 2nd word, sounds like pillow. And time was up.

Answer: Pussy Willow
We almost laughed the roof off when we knew the answer. How did i not comprehend??

That was just the drawing. The acting was insane.
This is one good Saturday.

Team spirit

The past 2 months at work has been nerve-wrecking and has put some of our competence to test. I'm the mudder hen clucking workshops, briefings, documentations, deadlines and my little ones has all either met or exceeded my expectations. Even our intern from ITB, Yana, is churning work like a natural.

We have 3 weeks left till we hit the 'big-gong' and i smell success. It's near.
This project is our baby, its excellent performance is not due to any one person, but seriously right down to ownership, commitment and team spirit which no doubt is something every company seeks but lacks.

So we went to Takara for dinner to pat ourselves on the back.

.Some of my pride and joy.

Other lil' ones not in picture are: Peter B, Rosnani, and Afshah.

.This is the mudder of another nest that came to freeload dinner.

I'm a beaming mumma. ;)

Patience

This is me now.

This will be me in 29 days...

I just have to be patient, i.e. if i dont go insane between now and then.

Brain freeze

This is what i do sometimes when I'm burnt out at work. I think there are habits much more pathetic than this. =P

Here i am, sitting at my work desk close to 7pm, dreaming about what's cooking at home. And it suddenly occurred to me that for the month of July, i've had several kind souls that loves me enough to want to prepare/cook dinner for me after work.

I.e. My parrot trace, who made me lunch and dinner several times and even let me nap at her smelly bed and abuse her dvd player. Meowmeow auntie, who makes the yummiest soup and herbal drinks. Karibum babeh, who makes my favourite KimChee soup and fried rice. And the most unbelievable of them all, MKL Andrew who knows i dont eat crabs and instructed his maid to make me spare ribs. =O. Andrew, you are such a wonderful man... Now, what about that erasable pen?? In blue, black and red. Thank you =)

Doing the balancing act

.It doesnt take an acrobat.

My brain is overloaded. I dream images of paperwork, colleagues, clients, deadlines, issues, milestones that sleeping seems like a second shift in the office.There are flashes of thoughts wishing for two of me; one of me would be juggling with the work load and running the corporate race, whilst the other would be enjoying the fruits of sweat, diving, travelling, yumming good food, loving, loafing, and perhaps sometimes livin' davida loca. Then we'll both be mighty happy, eh!

What lies ahead for me is 3 months worth of slaving for the better of our government, and attempts to have a life at least an arm away from my laptop. So here's 20mins of my precious time, though also spent staring at a screen. d'oh.

.What happened in the last 3 weeks.

Signs of being a winner at work and loser in life.
- Eating canteen food and working through lunch for 2 consecutive weeks
- Burning my pocket by buying lunch for the team to work through lunch
- Churning documentations at 3am
- Papercuts and bloody blue screens
- Running to my car in a huge, empty carpark
- Failure to catch the jokes my babes are telling because my mind is somewhere else

.Signs of getting a life back in between.
- Watching hongkong series which i have not for the past donkey years.
- Trying out new restaurants
- Spending a weekend in KB
- Doing totally nothing productive and snugged watching movies with someone you care about
- Watching the 2.45am euro match!
- Eating home-cooked meals by wonderful ladies
- Attending weddings
- Hangovers
- Dancing and bruises
- Hearing fantastic stories of things i did but having no recollection at all
- Planning for my next holiday!

Ahhh. It isnt all that bad.
See some of you on the road this Sunday. I foresee dosages of anagram attacks. Help. . .

Mental

I was scheduled to get a dental bridge today, so that i can remove my lower braces without risking any movement in the alignment of my braces-perfected teeth. I was initially put-off by the idea of having my perfectly-fine teeth on the side of the missing tooth "sawed" off! Oh wait, they call it "recountouring". It's supposed to make it sound less barbaric. But after countless discussions with my orthodontist, i caved in.. it seems i have to have it.

What he failed to discuss with me is how much will it cost me.

Until i got a reminder call yesterday. And when asked, the nurse casually told me it'd cost me 1500 pieces of big bucks. 500 for each tooth. wtf. I had a heated call with Dr.J today. He's a real nice guy, but i got really cheesed off at the fact that he didnt think that the cost of something is worthy of discussion. So i'm supposed to walk in, get it fixed, then get caught by a fat bill by surprise. What if i didnt bring my credit card? What if i didnt have that much cash on me? Maybe i should have asked at the very beginning, but still....

Then I had to cancel my appointment due to work commitment which i inevitably cannot run away from.
Dr J: "Grumble, lecturing....But it's your teeeeeeeth"
Lee: "But it's my job... that's paying for these teeeeeeeth"

I think deep down he wished he didnt have a patient like me. But again he's a wonderful doctor who seriously cares about his patient's welfare. Though that hasnt stop me from wanting to strangle him sometimes :P

.Had a long poooofy day at work and i think i need a good hearty laugh.
.Maybe a kick-ass kungfu black-n-white chubbs can help.

While mama is away...

my old man automatically assumes the role of father and mother. Whilst my mama is enjoying the cool sunshine with family in China, my old man is busy buying fruits, walking our dog, plucking the odd sprouts, making sure i have my face towel in the bathroom and calling to check if i want any tapaos. 

.He just cant sit still!.

He is obsessive about cleanliness and he must spend every free time he has doing something productive... well, 'cept for early mornings when he has to watch those stupid taiwanese patpor debates that always end up in fist fights and a plateful of foul language, cracks him up he says. 

Sometimes parents can really get on your nerves, sometimes they are simply amusing.

Last Sunday.

Me: "Mama, where are you?"

Mama: "We are at Shenzhen airport, waiting for transit to Hang Zhou."

Me: "Ok. Shenzhen nice?"

Mama: "I m at airpot lah! Not outside. But airpot very big. I message 1 time 0.80 cents. I have $4 only. You tell daddy oh."

.Faint. I laughed like a nut.

On Monday.

Me: "Pa, forgot to tell you mum is already in Hang Zhou"

Old man (while ironing his shirt to pass time): "Ohya, she sms me today. I asked her if Hang Zhou women are beautiful."

Me: "Hah.. crazy fool.."

Old man: "You know what she replied me? She said i dont know about Hang Zhou women but Hang Zhou men are very handsome. Looks like she's learnt my style. Wahahahaha.."

Me: "Behhhhh tahannnnnnn u!!!!"

.I laughed all the way to my room and i can still hear him giggling.

I have a clown at home. A clown who has a gawd-damn sarcastic sense of humour but i like. =)

Gawd

I was admiring a picture taken by Reeda at BAAA's function last week and WTH!

My hands are so much darker than my arms!!!! How much more bida can it get..

.The effects of wearing rashguards.

.I must remember to apply sunblock on my hands!.

Jellybeans

Yesterday, the poo offered me some jellybeans;

Poops: "Pick one, and i'll tell you what flavour it is"
Poops: "i think the most disgusting one is popcorn"
Me: "No way, i hate jellybeans, they taste so artificial"

She then brought it to dinner at a friend's and guess who tried one and ended up picking in the bag the whole night?! Yea, me....

She passed it round the table and made everyone pick one, then went on to tell them what flavours they got. It's insane. Packed with 50 flavours, they have strawberry cheesecake jellybeans that actually taste like strawberry flavoured cheesecake. Peanut butter, MMmm.. Imagine the goodness of tasting stg that is free of the thousands of calories that comes with it.

Some got crappy ones and were very reluctant to taste another one. So poops made them a pact,
"I'll eat whatever you're eating, ok?"

So Deitri and Poops popped a yellow-coloured jelly.
Poops: *chewing* - her expressions turned sour "Erhbleh, i think this is popcorn..."
Poops: *more chewing* "Yea.. It's popcorn"
Deitri: "WHAT POPCORN!??!, IT TASTE LIKE OLD SOCKS!!!"

Pissy mood

Today is such a friggin' bad day.

• Been waiting for my gears to arrive from HK. And my BCD finally did but without the rest of my orders, dry bag, gloves, mask cover.
• Went to my orthodontist hoping he will remove my top braces, but got myself more rubbers in my mouth.
  
• I cant stop eating.
• My teeth's aching, i cant wait to get home, then i hear this on the radio:
  

M: "What do you think you're good at?"
J: "What do i think i'm good at?"
M: "Yea, what are you good at?"
J: "What am i good at?"
M: ".... there's a cat with wings"
J: "cat with wings..."
M: "... stg stg interesting night"
J: "mm interesting night"

J, you give me road rage! I think it's the time of the month.

Some of us could use a good laugh.

If only that's what it takes to amuse me.

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My Kookie Side

Marul: I tagged you for the quiz, answer ahhhhhhhh
Me: i hate quizzesssssss! Grrrrrrr
Marul: Hahaha, must do!

I dont really have a choice. So "Those who get tagged must post 6 weird things about themselves in their blog and state the rules clearly. At the end of the post, you must choose 6 other people to tag".

1. I dont eat steak, but i eat beef thinly sliced.
2. I only drink H2O if it's chilled.
3. I will drive all the way home to wash my hair if i find it a tad bit oily in the midst of work.
4. I have a strange tendency to anagram signs or shop names that catches my attention everytime i drive. I blame NBT's treasure hunt.
5. Before i sleep, i HAVE TO read a book or do a crossword puzzle.
6. Thought i was really weird until i read Bev's No.1. Toilet sheets for me has to be torn from the bottom! It's a battle for me everytime i'm at a friend's and have to physically restrain myself from turning it around. Though there are times when i grin to know someone likes their sheets roll the way i do. ;)

I must not tag anyone.
so i went down to the canteen hoping to get an egg sandwich only to find it closed! Daym. So BH suggested we go over to the payment unit 'cos they sell more variety of food there. So imagine this, 2 kooks walking into the payment unit in MOF, passed their counters into the back office, approached a lady who's diligently typing away at her computer who then looked up at us, and

Me peeping over her cubicle: "Dimana jual makanan?" shyly.
Lady: "Oh sebelah tu.."
Me: "Arah pensions unit ka?"
Lady: "Ya"

Head over to pensions unit. Look around, turn left and a-hah! a notice on the pantry that reads stg like "Jual makanan, blabla, 7.45am...", enter to find rows of fried food stacked on top of each other; curry puff, spring rolls, nasi lemak, mee goreng, kway teow, burgers, kuih-muih, peanuts, anything and everything but egg sandwich! I was gonna settle for mini burgers then i saw an egg sandwich the one and only left, grabbed it and now who do i pay? So happened someone walked past and i waved the sandwich at her and shrugged. She yelled out 'liaaaaaaa....' then a head popped up over a cubicle, the officer-cum-retailer came over, put my purchase in a plastic bag, took my money and "terima kasih".

How difficult was that? I got myself an egg sandwich.

For fellow Pisceans

I'm back

Things has slowed down a fair bit after all the clicky clackers of Chinese New Year.. down comes the red lanterns, the lion heads stacked back to their dusty shelf, emptied angpows, and back to slogging days. With workload piling up by the day, i've almost forgotten how it feels to be busy, the days of 6 msn windows, surfing and reading blogs are near gone.. Sobs.

Here are some snippets from CNY.

.The rummy fanatics.

.Feeling nostalgic.Cheongsam Night.
.'Yu Sang' (CNY salad) with the sweetest divers.

For some reason, during CNY this year, i actually miss CNY. Everytime i light up a sparkler, i get overwhelmed with emotions, emotions from those days... I miss being a kid, miss the excitement of choosing lanterns, miss sitting behind my mum for hours watching her play mahjong, miss playing cards till sunrise with my brother and cousin, those were the days.

Another wonderful moment for me this year is my birthday. If it was left to me, it would have been a quiet day, but i had an amazing week. Much love to you, my friends.

Scrapaholics, each talented in their own way.

L-R: My favourite colour from Jess, and digital scrap from Tina. Notice in all photos i was fiddling with my camera. Yes, i love my camera.

Besides being busy at work, i've also been "working out" Hehehe. My evenings are spent playing a minimum of 5-10 rounds of bowling.. on the Wii. I swear, my butt cheeks ached for a few days, my arms and shoulder blades are so friggin' sore it's not funny. After a game of boxing, i plopped back on the couch catching my breath like i had just hiked up a hill and sweating a up a storm. It's just madness. So for those of you lazy buggers that cant leave the comfort of your own home, maybe the Wii can trim some love-handle off. And someone is INSANE enough to prove it.

If i could draw up my thoughts right now, this is exactly what i'm dreaming of .