Keeping up appearances...

I've always wondered... why do some ppl have this perpetual need to portray/present to others, a certain type of front/facade rather than allow themselves to be who/wat they are comfortable with? I, for one, have learnt over the years that no matter how 'well' we 'behave', there will always be some person who will talk and let their imagination run wild over why so-and-so acts this way or that. And there are some ppl who choose to think badly of us no matter how saintly our heart is. So wat's the point of putting on a 'show' just for the sake of others?

FrankIy, I dunno why ppl are so nosy in the first place. How another person chooses to portray him/herself to the public should be of no concern to others as long as the person is good at heart and is not harming others. As for me, I care jackshit abt wat ppl think and if those ppl really wanna know the truth, they can jolly well come and ask me directly rather than gossip abt it behind my back. If they dun, well, they can say watever they wanna say. I'm not abt to live my life based on wat others may be thinking/assuming my actions to be...

Are we progressing or going backwards?

I dun understand how some things are run/done in this country:

1. There is no evidence of long-term planning or proper analysis watsoever when some genius decides to build a public structure:
   
   Case in point #1: Highways. Wat is the point of building soooooo many freakin highways when it consists of a 5-lane highway converging into 2 measly lanes at the exit???! Instead of solving the traffic issues, it's escalating the blurdy problem! Might as well just leave the road as it is in its current 2-lane state! Wat's worse is that we, the tax payers, have to pay for blurdy toll to get stuck in a traffic jam right after getting out of the toll! ARGH!
   
   Case in point #2: LRT/Monorail System. Wat is the point of having KL Sentral when commuters have to walk out of the building, cross a vast empty area, cross a busy main road to get to the Monorail?! Who is the blurdy stupid genius who doesn't understand wat 'Sentral' means?! Do they not understand wat an 'integrated system' means??? And they dare to wonder why ppl complain abt the effectiveness of public transport in the city! It's not like KL is such a ginormous town at that. But we have 3 different freakin rail systems, all of which commuters need to disembark and walk a considerable distance to catch the next one. Geez, it's so absurd that it's not even funny! I dun see why if NYC, S'pore, and even Bangkok can have an effective, integrated rail system, M'sia can't. It just doesn't make sense!
   
   
2. To ostracize one of the most reknowned (if not THE most reknowned) Indian classical figures in the country, if not the region, just coz he's Muslim. Me and Chris were having a discussion over dinner about how Ramli doesn't get any funding watsoever from the *relevent body* to continue his efforts in promoting and preserving Indian classical dance in the country and the reason for this is coz he's a Muslim practising a Hindu art. This is definitely not news to us. In fact, it's a well-known fact. And it is such a terrible shame coz Ramli is such an expert in his art and widely hailed in other countries, even India itself, as one of the foremost gurus of Odissi but yet, our *relevent body* does not recognize this and provide him with the proper funding to continue his legacy. See, if Ramli practised the Mak Yong or some other Malay cultural dance, I have no doubt that he would be given the necessary funding by this *relevent body*. But just coz he's practising something that is non-Malay and non-Muslim, he's cast aside.
   
   After being his student for more than 3 yrs (and still going), I've come to have utmost respect for this man who has such passion in his art. To actually go ahead and pursue his passion even though it meant being ostracized by his fellow men, to me, that is one of the ultimate sacrifices one can make to follow one's dream. And he is so good at his art that each time he does/shows a move during class, I never fail to stare in wonder (though I try to do it subtly, hehe) and think to myself 'man, i wish i could do it half as good as he does!' And the reason why I enjoy his classes and being a part of his dance academy is coz he doesn't include any element of Hindu worship or anything to do with the religion in his teachings, unlike some other places that I know of. Me, being agnostically inclined and religion-neutral, would've hightailed outta there faster than u can imagine if any element of religion had been impressed upon students in the classes.
   
   But see, even with all the accolades that Ramli's received, the *relevent body* still chooses to ignore his chosen art. And though we would never admit it, it all boils down to race and religion. For some strange reason, these 2 topics are very sensitive topics here (why, i dunno, as we are supposed to be a democracy and issues should be able to be openly discussed, ideally). And the fact that we're so 'culturally rich', anything that one does that is outside of the 'culture' that we are brought up in, is immediately deemed as 'delinquent'. Ppl just cannot accept it when someone who is of their own cultural background, chooses to do something out of the norm and out of the culture that they've been brought up in. Can't ppl just understand that cultures are meant to be shared, enjoyed, and preserved by all and not just by the particular group that 'owns' it?
   
   
3. Some groups of ppl have such narrowminded views and the shepherd-flock mentality that it just astounds me to the point where I wonder 'Gosh, do these ppl even try to think rationally and logically on their own?' One example that was related to me was how a friend of a friend, who's a staunch Christian, gave up practising yoga because her pastor informed her that she is practising Hinduism by doing yoga.
   
   Ok... let me first get this straight that I have nothing against any religion and that I like learning and reading abt all religions; I've just never subscribed to any religion in particular. But, c'mon! If u do yoga, u are deemed to be practising Hinduism??!!! I'm not sure abt yoga in other countries, but I dare say that yoga in this country is practised for its health benefits more than anything else. I've done yoga myself and all it involves is systematic breathing exercises and different poses and NO Hindu worship watsoever! And for ppl, and a pastor at that, to say that if u do yoga, u are going against the word of Christ, that is just plain irresponsible! And wat's more scary abt it is that I know a lot of ppl who take the words of their religious leader as the word of God (or something to that effect). Can you imagine wat would happen if some misguided religious leader utters something dangerous, perhaps against another race or religion? Oh wait a min, this is already happening in other parts of the world! *shudder* The repercussions of this, as we've already seen, can be enormously horrific.
   
   Anyway, coming back to the topic at hand... ppl seriously need to be able to think and judge for themselves and not let some religious leader or some other person of authority tell them wat is good/bad for them. It gets really frustrating when I hear of stories like the one above. Just makes me wanna literally shake the person and tell him/her 'Can u pls think for urself? Have some common sense, will u?!'

Sometimes, the things I see/hear/experience, makes me feel like we're moving backwards instead of progressing as a society and as a country. It's quite sad... and absolutely frustrating... sigh...

Phew... I seem to have some sort of verbal diarrhea today. The recent discussion I had with Chris had opened up some floodgates in my mind that have been closed for some time... lol!

*Disclaimer: This entry consists entirely of MY own views and opinions, and is not endorsed by any other party watsoever.

A Prayer for the Stressed

Haha! Got this from Audrey today... I luv it! :o)

A Prayer for the Stressed

Grant me the serenity to accept things that I cannot change,
the courage to change things that I cannot accept and the wisdom the hide the bodies of those I had to kill because they got on my nerves.

Also help me to be careful of toes I step on today as they may be connected to the feet I may have to kiss tomorrow.

When I am having a bad day and it seems that people are trying to wind me up, it takes 42 muscles to frown, 28 muscles to smile and only 4 muscles to extend my arm and smack someone on the mouth.

*ROFL!* Have a good day, ppl! :D

The Vileness of Humans

Canned Hunts = private trophy hunting ranches, also referred to as "shooting preserves" or "game ranches." Canned hunts offer their customers an opportunity to kill confined exotic and/or native species for a price (ref: The Humane Society of the United States: Facts about Canned Hunts)

Last nite, was watching CSI. One of the cases had something to do with 'canned hunts' involving a Zodiak bear and when they played a video of a canned hunt (it was a rhino), it brought back traumatizing memories of the factsheets that I'd read before pertaining to this vile 'sport'.

Humans are such vile creatures. It's not enuf that they make the hunting of wild animals a sport; they've introduced this concept of 'canned hunts' (see definition above). In this 'sport', the customer pays a certain sum of $$$ to the canned hunt operator and is guaranteed a 'trophy' and how this is done, it just plain sick:

1. There is always a fence : unlike traditional hunting where hunters will enter a fenceless designated hunting area, canned hunts will have fences that prohibits the animal from escaping.
2. The animals are semi-tame : they are often bred specifically for this purpose or purchased from game farms and as such, are accustomed to humans.
3. The animals are sometimes drugged to prevent them from running to far from the hunting party.

I just dun get it. Wat is the point of hunting if the animal doesn't have a fair chance of escape?? And wat's the thrill in hunting a defenceless animal?? Do these so-called 'hunters' actually get a thrill out of killing a semi-tame, sometimes drugged animal??? I dun get it... I... JUST... DUN... GET... IT!!! Can u imagine how terrifying it is for the animal, to find out that they can't escape from these deranged two-legged creatures coz there's a barrier around all escape routes, and worse, in some cases, the flight instinct is hampered coz it's been drugged to keep it from running away? GAWD! I mean... how much more evil can humans get??!!! And they get a fucking THRILL out of this?!

I've always believed that humans, in general, are the most vile of all living beings... manipulative and always scheming for their own good. But when I hear/read/see things like this 'canned hunt', it almost drives me insane due to the sheer unfairness of it all. Dun even make me go into all the other horrible things that we humans do to these animals...

The animal species has been on the earth for far longer than us homo sapiens but here we are, acting like we're Gods of the earth with the right to do anything and everything we want with other living creatures. It just makes me sick to the stomach just thinking about it... I just hope there will come a day where animals will rule and exterminate all the vile humans from the face of the earth.

Tribute to my crazy, wacky friends! :o)

I luv my SMCK* friends!!! They're fun, sarcastic, incredibly wacky and crazy but most of all, they're the friends I grew up with and the ones who know me for who I really am. We've had our share of spats and squabbles but we always made up and the bond just got stronger after that.

Last Sat, we had a pre-Xmas BBQ at Poh Fei's place... most of the group was there, some with their significant others. Bee Suan, Siow Lan, Steph, Joann, Chris, Li May... it was great to see everyone again. The last time I saw some of them was at my salsa competition a couple of weeks ago.

So there we were, being ourselves, having the time of our lives and being sarcastic to each other (as usual, hehe)... to the casual observer, all the sarcasm might be a lil' too much to stomach but that's how we are all the time and it's all in good fun, never with any ill feeling towards each other. I guess u could say that that's our way of showing our affection to each other... and shows how comfortable we are with each other that we can diss each other and still end up rolling on the floor, laughing our guts out together.

Got a lil' high thru the evening, on vodka mix (I think Anthony - Siow Lan's other half - mixed like, 3/4 of the bottle into the 'punch bowl'!)... after my 3rd cup, was feeling very hot and a teeny weeny bit tipsy... hehe... this is actually the first time I'd drank any alcohol at any of our gatherings, coz I had a backup driver in case the need arose, hehe... so after the vodka, i started on the wines that I'd brought. Loved the wines! They were fruit-flavored, naturally... hehe...i dun like those bitter (or is it dry?) ones... bleeecckkk... loved 'em so much that i was so tempted to buy another bottle when i was at BSC yesterday... hehe...

Played Taboo... haha, when the card for 'Wonderbra' came up and my team was guessing, Li May went 'it's something that i need' and Anthony went 'breast implants?'... and all of us burst out laughing!!! hahaha!! that was soooooo funny! :D

Aaaaaahhh... it was great to be with my buddies again. We've been thru the painful teen yrs together. That was more than 10 yrs ago. Now one of us is married... almost all are securely and happily attached, save for the few of us 'delinquents', hehe. Soon the kids'll start coming... hey, maybe we could be godmas to each others' kiddies! hehe... ;o)

Anyway, i love u gals! U know who u are... :o) We MUST meet up more often, ya... Merry Xmas and an awesome New Year!

*SMCK = Sekolah Menengah Convent Kajang ;o)

wat is their blurdy @#$ hurry?!

Gawd!! Malaysian drivers are so fucking annoying sometimes!!! Especially the female ones! Well, most of them... so as not to rile up my friends who are female drivers... :p

Was at the basement parking at Plaza Mont Kiara just now, backing up into a parking spot when this stupid blurdy biatch in a Honda CRV, couldn't wait for me to get into my parking spot and came soooooo blurdy close to my car to inch her way thru. Wat the fuck, man????!!!! Can't even wait for blurdy 10 seconds for me to back up into my parking spot! Geez... these ppl, all drive as though they're attending to a life or death situation... BAH!

Hate M'sian drivers... they're the only ones who are capable of making me resort to profanity... gggggrrrrr!!!

when will i ever learn...

...that I can never ever pls everyone??? Geez, u'd have thought that I'd learnt from my previous experiences but nooooooo, i had to go and try and do good by everybody but end up pissing off someone or other. Hmph, next time, maybe i should just be a sponge. Just absord anything and everything that is told to me... but dun do anything abt it. Either that, or just be totally self-absorbed and just focus on the best for myself... at least I'll know if I'm pleased with my actions and the outcomes, and know that the only person to blame is myself... hmph...

Navel Rings!

I'd finally plucked up the guts to change my navel ring last nite! Or rather, very early this morning. Was talking to Brian after class and telling him how I still haven't gotten over the quesiness of handling my navel ring... so when I got home, I decided, 'Heck, I'm gonna change it now!'... and I did!!! And it wasn't bad at all! I tried on the flower first, then this morning, I changed it to the butterfly. Results:

It's those tiny, innocuous things...

Oh my, it seems that I've ruffled quite a few feathers recently without even realizing it! It's amazing how those small, tiny, seemingly harmless events can be misconstrued and result in such monstrous reactions (ok, maybe monstrous is a lil' exaggerated... hehe) but still... a much bigger reaction than expected anyway...

Well, just so it's known, if anyone EVER has any gripe abt me or a bone to pick with me, pls do come to me directly so I can straighten it out and tell my side of the story rather than complain or gossip abt it with other 3rd parties. I really DO appreciate the honesty and straightforwardness. And to those who've done so, I really do thank u and will take ur comments into serious consideration. Those shortcomings of mine which I can fix, I most definitely will (but pls dun expect overnite changes!)... but others which I can't fix, well, if u're a true friend, u'd be able to accept me for who I am coz none of us are perfect... and a lot of us are not mind readers either ;o) And I'd like to maintain that, anything that I've ever done, it's never ever out of any ill intentions so if the idea ever comes into ur mind, pls PLS check with me immediately and get the story straight! I'm not one to mince words so I'm usually direct and blunt sometimes (too much so, sometimes) so maybe things that I say dun come out rite and some may take offense. It's scary how easily words/actions are misunderstood and get twisted out of proportion, and ppl who are supposed to know u well enuf suddenly think the worst of u just coz of this misinterpretation... *shudder*

Anyway, I think that most (if not all) recent misunderstandings have been cleared up and hopefully, things'll return to some sort of normalcy soon *crossing fingers* Well, another lesson learned here for me...

Nice bonus???

Had my yr-end appraisal last week. The boss seemed reasonably pleased with my performance and says she's gonna give me a 'nice' bonus and a slight increment. So am eagerly waiting for this mth's paycheck to see wat her definition of 'nice' is... hhhmmm... I'd prefer to get a larger increment and a smaller bonus coz then it'll take effect every mth instead of one-off but then again, I shouldn't complain. Let's hope the bonus is really nice... *praying really hard*

Apparently, they're expecting a few large projects next yr and the boss told me that I can choose either to manage the local project or join the team who'll be handling the overseas expansion. But the details are still fuzzy as of now... so she'll let me know more in Jan. It all sounds quite exciting but am having my reservations coz somehow, things dun normally turn out the way they're promised.

Chronicles of Narnia...

I liked the movie... more than I did Harry Potter. I especially liked how Aslan was portrayed, both visually and character-wise. They did a pretty good job in making him to be the magnificent and wise creature that he was in the books. I can't remember how the kids were in the book... but I wished they'd made Peter more of a man in the movie... he seemed rather wuss-y. And Lucy is quite adorable, liked the huge eyes... hehe...

All in all, it was better than I'd expected... and I quite enjoyed it :o) Must go dig out the books and read them again...

It's over!!!!!! Next????

THANK GAWD IT'S FINALLY OVER!!! Phew! The nite of the Conlay Salsa Championship finals was one of the longest freakin nites of my life! My dear lucky pardner managed to pick the last number for us i.e. #12. Hehe, before D-Day, I was telling him 'eh, try ur lucky hand at getting us the last spot again, k'... and he really did!! But boy did I regret it when we had to wait so dumb freakin long for our turn to arrive!!

As there were 12 couples that nite, how the organizers arranged it was for the first 6 couples to do their General Dance and routines... then the next 6 couples in the same format. So we waited and waited... and waited some more till our turn finally came for our General Dance. And let's just say, this was one of my worst nites coz (1) I couldn't follow for nuts! I think I must've gone onto the dancefloor with my brains left behind or sumthin coz I just couldn't get the leads (2) Had a wardrobe malfunction where my shoe heel got stuck to my skirt and it pulled the blurdy thing down! ARGH! The horror!! I was just soooooo glad that we were at the back at this time so the judges (hopefully!) didn't see it. Gawd, one of my worst nightmares! It was so freakin embarrassing!!!! ARGH!

Done with the General Dance... waited and waited and waited some more till it was our turn for our showcase. By this time, I was almost ready to collapse from exhaustion. According to some, we looked really tired during our showcase. And I stumbled a lil' at one of our new moves. But managed to hang on till the very end. Gosh, the sheer relief when we were in our final pose and the song ended!

Anyway, more waiting coz the judges were apparently calculating the scores. But from wat I've been told, they needn't have bothered anyway since the majority of the judges were apparently from the same 'camp' and would've probably already have pre-determined the winning couples and obviously, our HE couples did not score very high.

The Results?
The champions were students of the organizer and the 1st runner-up is the brother of one of the judges. Kenneth + Wendy only managed 2nd runner-up... WTF?! I've seen most of these ppl perform and their standard of salsa is nowhere near as smooth and groovy as Kenneth + Wendy!!! And the other HE couples, for that matter! I knew we probably didn't stand a chance of winning top 3 after I'd screwed up the General Dance and I didn't really care abt winning coz of the stupid T&C that came with winning (i.e. winning couples are bound to represent Conlay for a year or sumthin). Of course, it would've been nice to win but me + partner had already set our expectations before the finals so we weren't too disappointed. But honestly! The results are such an insult to the salsa community! How the hell do they expect to raise the standards of salsa in KL/M'sia if this is how they judge competitions?! And guess wat? We managed to win Best Costume and this was apparently coz the judge remembered that I winked at him during the routine *rolling eyes* sheeessshhh... Read my sis' review of the results. Anyway, to all HE couples, regardless of the results, u guys are ALL WINNERS!!! Great job! *BIG HUG* :o)

Anyway, am just glad it's over. Overall, we had a lot of fun learning the new moves and me + partner managed to not kill each other throughout the process. I still maintain that he has the patience of a saint! lol! The entire process was a great learning experience for me and I'd like to think that it's made me a lil' wiser.

Now, on to the next event..... The Night of Elegance i.e. HE-organized salsa NY party!!!! Woo hooo!!!! :o) We're performing for this event and we're planning to put in at least one lift into our routine (we'd wanted to do this for the competition but the Amateur R&R prohibited us from doing this as we had to keep one foot on the ground at all times). We'd already picked out a couple of lifts to try out... hehe... so let's see how it goes... ;o)

Common goal, partnership & teamwork...

Am decidedly happy and satisfied with our preparation and attitude for the salsa finals tonite. Me and partner have established a common goal and we have a mutual agreement on wat we wanna achieve from the competition... something which is neither too high nor too low, something achievable, and most importantly, enable us to have fun! :o)

Seeing that it's usually difficult for 2 ppl or more to agree on something as 'big' (depends on how u see it) as a competition, I think we're doing pretty fine in the partnership and teamwork area. And I'm not as cranky as I was previously! Haha! This could be due to the massage I treated myself to yesterday... hehe... ;o)

So... it's on to the finals for us... watever the outcome may be, we're just gonna kick ass and have the time of our lives! :D

Coolness factor???

Haha... just got a testimonial from Andy this morning on my Friendster. Apparently my 'cool' factor is dropping coz I listed Hanson and Yanni under my fave music... hehe. First of all, I wasn't even aware that i had the 'coolness' factor, haha!

This brings to mind, for the umpteeth time, the 'coolness factor' topic. Have always wondered:

1. Wat is defined as cool;
2. More importantly, WHO defines wat is cool

U know how when we were in school, there was always the 'cool' group where the girls (i say girls coz I came from an all-girls school) are usually regarded on a higher plane coz of:

1. Wat they wear/carry on their being (usually funky, branded stuff... or distasteful but attention-grabbing garb);
2. How they behave (loud, rebellious, i-dun-give-a-fuck-abt-respect-and-authority);
3. How they look (the pretty ones, the 'macho' ones) ;
4. And interestingly, their race (the 'lain-lain' category seem to attract more attention)

And though I hung out with the so-called 'cool' group towards the final yrs of my high school, I'd never felt particularly cool coz I:

1. Never subscribed to the entire 'cool' concept coz it never made sense to me;
2. Was neither exceptionally pretty nor macho (haha!) nor loud nor rebellious... just ur average prefect and good-girl-next-door who just happened to have great friends who were in the 'cool' group (i must say that my friends never intentionally did anything that promoted their 'coolness'. They are how they are and the other girls just seemed to think it's cool, haha);
3. Preferred to be in the background, observing interesting and weird patterns in human behavior... hehe...

Even now, in our adult world (or at least, some of us are trying to act like adults, hehe), I've noticed this 'cool' factor come into play, though perhaps it may not be as apparent as it was when we were in our schooling days. Some of us have this perpetual need for approval from our peers and would constantly strive to maintain our 'coolness' factor, be it in terms of material things or intangible, behavior-like areas. And the extent to which some ppl would go to to obtain this 'approval', astounds me sometimes.

This sort of pack behavior, so to speak (coz the 'cool' ppl usually travel in packs/groups), never fails to intrigue me, especially in uni... where certain race/nationality/social groups would sport similar hairdo/dressing that u'd be able to tell wat/who they are or to which group they belong to from a mile off. And u can tell that they think they're cool coz of the way they carry themselves (speaking, walking, etc.). I know some sort of uniformity is supposed to portray and enhance unity and all that but heck, do they all have to have the same hairstyles?! lol!

Anyway, I'm a firm believer in NOT conforming to certain societal norms and to watever the mainstream definition of 'cool' is. Not that I openly flaunt my different-ness... I just choose to stay away from/ignore things that I dun fancy, including those that are considered cool. So yeah, I enjoy Hanson and Yanni... and if this makes me uncool, who cares?! If I enjoy their music, I'll listen to 'em. Like i've always believed, 'coolness' is one of the MANY things that are man-defined... and I have an aversion towards most things defined by man... haha!

Big hair and psychedelic clothes...

The co. had our IPO dinner last Friday at the Equatorial in KL. The theme was Retro. I'd initially planned to rent a poodle skirt from the same costume store that I'd rented my salsa outfit but when I checked it out, their selection sucked big time! Can u believe that they dun even have a proper poodle skirt?! Geez...

So anyway, had to change my plans... so decided on my white mini, sleeveless turtleneck top (which I'd bought from Express in the States but never worn), leopard print headband (thanks, Brian! ;o) ), and funky earrings. And the result -->

That's me and Celine. Got a few comments that I looked really good (hah! obviously it's a tremendous diff from my regular work clothes!). But wat really took the prize was our IT boys! They took the effort to dress up! Was quite impressed, hehe. They went to the very same costume store and rented some really funky outfits! Kelvin came as Austin Powers, complete with wig and big glasses while Nizam came in another funky flourescent green outfit and afro wig. Me and the boys <--

The Big People (i.e. management) came in more subtle outfits. Datuk was there as well, with a few other VIP guests. All in all, it was a pretty informal affair. Dinner, karaoke contest (MNC Idol), games...

Pic 1 : MNC Management

Pic 2 : Me and Jas (CEO and my boss!)

Pic 3 : Jo, Me, Lionel, Tony, Chris (ED)

Pic 4: Me & Charmayne

Pic 5 : Charmayne, Jo, Me

The Year That Was...

Thread inspired by Chin Lai's entry in his blog.

Can't believe that 2005 is almost over... gawd, time does indeed fly by when u aren't looking or when u're too busy to notice.

Wat have I done this year and wat events that have been encountered that added to my book of experiences??? Hhhmmm... and the list goes...

1. Performed in the annual Alarippu to Moksha series for Odissi and Bharatanatyam for the very first time this year. Our very first paying audience! :o)
2. Got a promotion (sorta) and a 15% increment.
3. Visited India... the most amazing and memorable travel experience EVER thus far!
4. Got to know an amazing bunch of friends from salsa.
5. My birthdate was 05/05/05... a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence which will never again happen... until yr 3005... ;o) by which I'd be long gone, unless I get reincarnated in some other form and if the Earth hasn't disintegrated/combusted by then...haha...
6. For the very first time, been told that I look arrogant and stuck-up! (Fyi, I just LOOK it... am actually very very down-to-earth, hehe)
7. My entire dept (CSI) team members left and I was a lone-ranger for about 4 months. Have now been transferred to Sales & Marketing (yeecckkss... thank gawd I'm still Project Manager and not responsible for selling).
8. Moved seating location at work, 3 times in less than 1 year... I HATE moving!
9. Busted my ankle at a client's place and had to lay off dancing for 3 weeks and was in agonizing pain each time I went for my massage therapy (torn ligament, apparently).
10. Co. got listed and I stepped into Bursa Malaysia for the first time in my life (it wasn't as I'd expected... I'd imagined it to be like the NYSE but it was nowhere near!)
11. The entire work experience this year has been mostly positive. Though I complain abt it a lot, I will give credit where it's due... it's taught me to be more independent and confident of myself and I'm much more assertive now, thanks to all that I've been thru with my work.
12. Turned down an attractive job offer coz it wasn't wat I'd wanted to do...
13. Entered a salsa competition and managed to make it to the finals!!!!! Woo hooooo!!! Never ever imagined that I'd be entering any sort of competition, let alone a salsa competition... hehe...
14. Had 2 crushes/infatuations after 1.5-yr drought... 1 was a lost cause (thank gawd!)... the other was given up as a lost cause but there may be a slight hint of light at the end of the tunnel... but this remains to be seen :o) Perhaps I shouldn't call it as an infatuation, am rather old to have infatuations, no? haha! In conclusion, no concrete prospects in sight...
15. Discovered Joe Satriani, guitarist extraordinaire... great music...

List to be expanded as and when more events come back to my mind...

Dose acting up but... WE MADE IT!!!

oooeeerrr... I think I'm getting too old to stay out late... haha (i know some ppl who'd strangle me if I use the 'old' word... lol!)... Was at Conlay last nite to watch the final 2 HE couples compete (they were awesome, btw) and only got to bed at 3am. And am paying for it today coz (1) the dose is running (2) the head is clouded (3) the eyes can barely keep open... all from the lack of sleep... ugh... and wat's more, have got my co's annual dinner to attend tonite! ARGH! Am gonna look like a freakin zombie!! Oh wait..... i ALREADY look like a freakin zombie!!! *WAAIIILLLLLL!!* :o(

But anyway, WE MADE IT TO THE FINALS!!! All 4 HE couples made it to the finals! How cool is that?! But this means back to intensive practice sessions again coz the finals are next Thu! ARGH! Couldn't they give us more time to work on our routine?? Sheeesshhh... We gotta go get a red shirt for my pardner, who'd borrowed one from Martin during our heats but as Martin's gonna be in the finals as well, and he's wearing the red shirt too, my pardner'll have to get one for himself. Loads of things to do, so little time!!! *running around in circles*

shucks... sumthin tells me my head's gonna start pounding by midday. I had better go get some Panadol on standby... ugh... :o(