Whimsical tests...

Today was an almost total waste of time at work. At least half the office were already on leave so all I did today was answer some emails, made a couple of phone calls, did my banking... and take some of those silly, whimsical online tests. It was quite fun actually... hehe... some of the results are rather accurate while others are totally off the mark! lol! Here are a few of the results from the tests that I took (and are actually quite accurate, hehe):

What's Your Animal Magnetism?
Ai Ling, you're a Puffin in the wild world of love.

Aww, you sweet Puffin. You probably fall on the more traditional side of the relationship spectrum. Mating to you is more about expressing your feelings and being in love than having a frisky frolic on an island with someone you've just met. You probably take a cue from your puffin counterparts in the wild who are monogamous and keep the same mate for life.You won't be serving many pick-up lines on your menu for romance. But that's not to say that you aren't colorful and playful. You're just more cuddly-sweet than come-hither. You probably would swim the seven seas in search of your soul mate. Once the search is over and you've found that special someone, you're the type to settle into romantic bliss — for good. Your loyalty and devotion are unquestionable. And canoodling with your mate is one of the richest rewards in life to people like you. Essentially, what it comes down to is this: When you find the right one, bye, bye, birdie! You'll be off the market for good.


The Astrology Matchmaker
Ai Ling, you're a Taurus!

Your stars are sending you straight into the arms of a TAURUS. Fiercely determined and relentlessly driven, the bull is your man's symbol. His practical, private demeanor helps to define him as an earth sign. You're attracted to his ceaseless perseverance, which guarantees him success in all his endeavors. Although he shows you his quiet, easygoing exterior, he has a definite feisty and antagonistic side that he likes to keep hidden. He's a stable person who craves security and is, therefore, very resistant to change. He'll want to feel secure and comfortable with you. Being a true Taurus, he has a keen taste for elegance and recognizes the value in all that surrounds him, i.e., YOU. He's admired for his focused ambition and respected for being the most dependable sign in the zodiac.

How to catch him:
This man is sensible and practical about love and relationships. He's not into flings. And he has a complex screening process to find candidates for the long haul. Although you have to dig deep to find his romantic side, it does exist. Once he's fallen for you, he will put you on a pedestal and truly love you. Loyal and faithful, he'll respect you completely. To get your Taurus man, you must be patient. He wants to build the relationship on a solid foundation. Hint: You may have to make the first move. Also, he's impressed by quality, so make sure you show him your good taste.

Sidenote: Is it any wonder that I'm a Taurus as well?? ;o)


Who's the Man of Your Dreams?
Ai Ling, A Secret Agent is the man of your dreams.

Mystery and intrigue — it's not just for action-adventure movies. It's what you are looking for in life and love. From spontaneous weekend getaways to notes stuck in your jean pockets, you love being surprised and appreciate the extra thought and effort that goes into making it happen.That's why a secret agent could steal your heart — he's got what it takes to change the world, but he's not about to go around shouting about it. But don't worry, your secret's safe with us. Shhhh.


Are You High Maintenance?
Ai Ling, you're a Total Middle!

Material Upkeep
Although you definitely appreciate a first-class lifestyle, you don't feel a constant need to indulge yourself. Sure, it's fun to spoil yourself with fancy dinners or designer clothes every once in a while, but you probably don't need everything in your life to be top of the line all the time. Congratulations! You know how to indulge yourself the right way — in moderation.

Emotional Upkeep
Okay, you're either awfully secure in your relationships, or you have very low standards. Sure, it's admirable that you don't need your significant other to give you constant reassurance of his/her feelings, verbally or with actions. But you should be sure that you're keeping quiet for the right reasons. Do you think you don't deserve respect and attention? If not, you probably don't think highly enough of yourself. On the other hand, if you are truly satisfied with your relationship and don't have any unfulfilled expectations, then congratulations — your low-maintenance attitude probably makes both you and your partner very happy!

Personal Upkeep
It's a safe bet that you don't spend much time grooming yourself. Your lack of concern about your appearance means you're either physically blessed or a little messy. The fact that you don't always feel like you have to look your best could be the result of either a super-healthy level of self-confidence or a disregard for others' opinions. Either way, it's no skin off your nose if you're happy with how you look.


What Gets You Whipped?
Ai Ling, you're whipped because he's Smart.

Hey, smarty pants. We're not gonna try to slip one by you. Dedicated and driven, you work hard for what you want, and that's why you always get it. Even though you tend to follow your head, that doesn't mean you ignore your heart.It's easy for you to fall for a guy who's quick and bright and can keep up with your varied interests. With your maturity and patience, you'll have no problem finding that perfect fellow who is resourceful and bold enough to win your heart. Brilliant!


Haha! Hilarious! In total, I did 22 tests. THAT's how I spent my Friday before CNY eve! :D

GONG XI FA CAI to all!!

Wat's with our fascination with...???

Wat is it with M'sians and their fascination with anything/anyone that has even the remotest connection to the country? Case in point : was reading yesterday's The Star and on the front page was this woman's pic, Miss Georgia (as in, the US state) and first runner-up in the Miss America pageant. The reason she'd gotten front-page mention? Her father is M'sian. U can just picture me rolling my eyes here and saying "SO WHAT?!" It's not like she even lives here or contributes to the country; she's practically American, having grown up in the US. And she gets to be front-page news in one of our major local newspapers for being a RUNNER-UP in an American beauty pageant?! For gawd's sake! Can't our newspapers find more newsworthy stuff to write about??? And this is not the first useless piece of information that is published on front-page news. I've come across many similar articles... someone who manages to accomplish some major/minor feat, who's somehow tied to the country just coz his/her father's uncle's wife's cousin's husband is a M'sian. Geez! And each time, I think "Why the hell is this stupid article taking up precious space on the front-page?"

There are tons of Malaysians in the country right now, who are working their butts off to contribute to the country in various aspects - economic, conservation, human welfare/rights, etc. - but do they get any mention in the media, let alone be front-page news? Well, not as much and as often as I feel they should. The good people at the SPCA, who are working their asses off to get people to stop dumping their pets and be more responsible for their pets don't. The professors and volunteers for the SEATRU (Sea Turtle Research Unit) project don't. When are our newspapers gonna stop printing useless pieces of information and start writing more stimulating and newsworthy articles???

CNY Shopping

Was at 1U on both Sat and Sun last week. The place was packed! Looked like everyone in town was doing last min CNY shopping. I like the festive atmosphere at the malls but I think I got a lil' too much of CNY songs! lol! It got on my nerves after a while. I'm almost done with my CNY shopping... spent abt RM700 *gasp!* on clothes from Miss Selfridge and Cats' Whiskers. I think I'm making up for those yrs that I was too lazy to get new clothes for CNY, haha. Now I just need to get a pair of nice CNY-ish shoes to go with my CNY outfit.. hehe. Unfortunately, easier said than done... sigh... :o( Had a look at the shoes at Nine West, Isetan Lot 10, Eclipse, Nose, and a few other boutiques but nothing seemed to catch my eye. Saw one that I liked at a boutique in Lot 10 but just my luck, they didn't have it in my size... gah! How annoying! Oh well, if I can't find anything that I like, I guess I'd just wear one of my old shoes though I dun think I have any that matches my outfit! :o(

Was at 1U last nite to meet up with Tiara and Shanty. Tiara's going back to Oz next mth and I haven't seen Shanty since the Stamford days! Had a good time catching up with them. While I was queueing up to pay my parking tic, there was this Chinese man with his 2 daughters who was in front of me. The daughters were abt 3 and 7, I think, and they were like, fighting to put in the money for their parking tic. Gawd, the way they were going at it, I'd have smacked them right there and then! And the dad wasn't even doing anything to keep them in check! Dun understand why/how some parents can stand their kids misbehaving in public! Sheeesshhh... if/when I'm ever a parent, my kid's so gonna get it if s/he misbehaves, especially in public!

Fried sotong...and infections...

Am munching on fried sotong that I'd bought from Penang. It's amazing how I get hooked on some types of food (especially the junk ones!) and can't seem to stop once I get started! I keep shutting the container after taking out a piece, in the hopes that I'll stop after eating this piece but I keep thinking "it's ok, i'll take another one and that'll be the last" HAH! Yeah, right! ok ok... just finished my last piece (for now) of fried sotong. I shall put away the rest of the fried sotong and keep it for teatime, or when I need to munch on something to keep awake... hehe...

Went to the doc to get my blood test done on Sat. Man, the no. of ppl at the clinic!!! It was as if everyone decided to get a checkup in time for CNY!!! It was abt 2 hrs before my turn arrived so after waiting for abt 30 mins, I got bored so asked the nurse how long would it be before my turn, she said 1 hr so I got CL and we went to have brunch... was starving coz I didn't have anything to eat in the morning. Funny thing happened when we were walking towards SS2. Was passing by RHB when I remarked to CL "Oh, do u know if there's an SBB in SS2? Need to transfer my money over to RHB" and as we rounded the corner, wat do we see but an SBB branch! LOL! I love moments like these! My question answered in an instant... haha!

Went back to the clinic after lunch, had another 5 ppl ahead of me so we waited and observed the other patients. One of them had a bill that was RM500+.

CL : I think I should be a doctor. Can charge so much for fees. This guy's bill was RM500, the one before was RM300+. I'd be a millionaire in no time! And dun need to work long hrs either.

Me : Err... before u can charge exorbitant amounts, u'd have to work like a slave for dunno-how-many-yrs and establish a name/reputation for urself first. Oh, and I think u'd need to specialize in sumthin too (my doc's an endricronologist) coz GPs seem to earn pittance. By this time, u'd already be old and grey!

Was so engrossed in our conversation that I missed the nurse calling my name a couple of times... how embarrassing! lol! I've apparently put on the weight that I'd lost last yr after my bout of illness during CNY. Was 49kg in Jan 05, 44kg in May 05, and 50kg in Jan 06. Man, I better stop junking! Doc was asking me abt my activities and whether I do sports. I mentioned I danced a lot and he said "oh yah, u mentioned it before. wat kind of dance do u do?" and I said Indian classical and salsa. At this point, i was on the examining table and he was checking my heart rate and he noticed my navel piercing:

Doc : So did u do that for ur dancing?

Me : No, i just did it for fun. Oh, um, do u know wat's this thingy here?" (proceed to show him a small lump thingy at my piercing)

Doc : It's infected. Take it off.

Me : Huh??? Do I have to?? (i paid RM160 to get it done. Am not abt to give it up, unless there are no other options!)

Doc : It's either u take it off or I'll give u a course of antibiotics. If it doesn't go away after 5 days, u better take it off.

Me : ok ok... I'll take the antibiotics...

Sigh... so much for taking so much care of my piercing. It was fine for 6 mths plus, until a week ago, hmph...

Flash of inspiration

JFK dropped by the office just now. She's been busy, setting up her own business and such after leaving the co. She looks really good, like she has a glow about her. I guess that's wat happens when we get to do wat we really like/want.

We (JFK, Charm, myself) got to talking and how we wanna do something on our own as well, and not get stuck working for others our entire lives. JFK had some good ideas when I mentioned that I wanna do something more creative and work with my hands e.g. something to do with makeup, nails, etc. and how I'm thinking abt taking up a course to do proper makeup. I need to do something creative... no intention nor desire to climb further up the corporate ladder anyway. Her ideas just came spilling out on wat I could do and how I could expand my services to manicures/pedicures, hair braiding, face painting... WOW! My brains finally had some work to do today! lol!

I'm quite inspired to look into this avenue coz I feel very stagnant at my current job and if I dun do something soon (i.e. get another job or find something else interesting to do), I really think I'm gonna rot...

Hhhmmm... time to get those rusty wheels to start working... ;o)

mindless doodlings...

I am so bored!! I feel like mold's gonna grow on me if I sit here any longer... hmph... that'll be an interesting sight... AL with greenish-gray furry stuff growing off her arms and face and any uncovered part of her skin... hmmm... and tiny mushrooms as well... hah...

I've decided to amuse myself by conducting a one-on-one interview with myself by answering some mindless questions that I've made up (yes, I'm THAT bored):

1. Wat's my favorite phrase at this point in time?
Absolutely evil prescription drug (try saying this 5 times, really fast)

2. Who is sleeping on my bed now?
Ummm... my kats, I think? Oh, and my stuffed toys - Sylvester, Eeyore, Bedtime Bear, Cheer Bear (I think?) and a few other nameless cuties

3. Where is my happy place?
On my bed! When I'm sleeping :D

4. Wat part of my body did I last scratch?
Both my arms... last nite. Got bitten by HUGE mossies at Sutra. Gotta remember to bring my Mopiko the next time I go for class, hmph...

5. How long is my hair?
Gee, never occured to me to measure it. But since I just got it cut, it's significantly shorter than it was before the cut.. haha! :p

6. Wat was the last movie that I saw?
King Kong... it was reaaaalllyyyy draggy...

7. Wat is my favorite Shakespeare character name?
Titus Andronicus... there's a cool twang to it, not to mention lots of blood and gore in the story itself... yuuummmmm... *evil cackle*

8. Wat are the most common adjectives that ppl tag to my being?
(a) Cute - yes, I still get this, at my age! Ugh... how utterly mortifying!
(b) Snob - sorry, I can't help it. My nose just likes the view of the ceiling.
(c) Impatient - very much so, especially when ppl ask stupid, obvious questions.

9. I like...
(a) Being hugged
(b) Driving fast, in a Beemer, on an empty highway
(c) Leaving work on time
(d) Being asleep on my bed
(e) India
(f) Twirling my hair (fringe), knotting it and letting it unravel
(g) Fridays... coz it's the start of the weekend

10. I dislike...
(a) Waking up for work in the mornings
(b) Sunday evenings... coz it's Monday the next day
(c) Carrots and tomatoes... but more so carrots. They taste nasty... bleecckkk
(d) Being the only one getting bitten by mossies
(e) Guys chewing gum when they're salsa-ing... very unattractive

11. I need to...
(a) Spring-clean my room and my car coz it's getting too messy and disorganized... plus CNY is on the way
(b) Spend more time with my family and kats
(c) Work harder on my goals... and get a more interesting occupation that doesn't require me to stare at the PC the entire 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week
(d) Stop talking so loudly, especially at work
(e) Hold my nose lower so I seem less like a snob
(f) Save $$$ so I can shop in Bangkok
(g) Be more patient with ppl who ask stupid questions coz obviously, to them, their questions are not stupid

12. Wat was the last living thing that I'd killed?
A baby roach that's been living on my work desk the past few days, which had been eluding me all this while but not anymore... SQUUUIIISH!!! *evil grin*

Bernard's Surprise B'day!

Last Saturday, the ex-MNC gals (namely Winnie and Annee) planned a surprise b'day do for Bernard's 25th b'day (young punk! lol!). All of us, save for Bernard i.e. Jean, Chris, Winnie, Celine, Thiam Teck, Jason, Annee, Chelsea, ERICA (no no, i didn't forget u! u la, came late!) and myself, met at the Friendster Cafe (yes, it's the same name as that ever-famous website) in Damansara Perdana. Bernard was supposed to pick Winnie up at her place, which was very close to Friendster and she was to go to the cafe with him, meet Jean and Chris (this was part of the plan) and the rest of us were to pop out and yell 'Surprise!'.. haha!

So the time came for Winnie to head back to her place so Bernard can 'pick' her up... and the rest of us hid somewhere while Jean and Chris made it look like they were waiting for Winnie and Bernard. We lit up the candles but they took so long to arrive, we had to put out the candles coz they were burning down too fast!

Here's a pic of the b'day boy. I think he was quite nicely surprised, hehe...



After dinner, we headed over to Songbird in SS2 for a nite of karaoke. Got home only abt 3am... yaaawwwwwnnn...

More pics here, courtesy of Chris Chin.

I am...

• ...sooooo bored and sleepy... it's now 5:47pm. Almost time to go home...
• ...trying to get a new job, hopefully within the 1st quarter of the year...
• ...gonna take a break from salsa lessons and continue again after CNY...
• ...gonna have to organize my financials and stop spending so much! :o(
• ...gonna stop procrastinating and get my blood test done before CNY so I'll know if I'm overdosing or underdosing myself with thyroxine (no symptoms of either yet, except that I'm tired a lot these days...hhhmmm...)
• ...trying to figure out wat to eat for dinner tonite...

Temples (Penang Part 3)

Day 2 in Penang was spent mostly lazing around... and sleeping ;o) In the late afternoon, we went to the Kek Lok Si temple. Wow, it's been years since I've stepped into a temple but the smell of incense brought back a sense of familiarity (we used to have an altar at home). They were doing some major renovations at the temple... additions of new buildings and refurbishing as well.

After the temple, we went back to the hotel to get in a swim before dinner. I was halfway soaked in the pool but couldn't make it fully in coz the water was sooooooo blurdy cold!!! Since my nose hadn't fully recovered, I decided not to risk it and got out. My teeth were already chattering by then... blurgh...

Showered and drove out for dinner. We were looking for a seafood place so we drove around a bit. CL remembered there was a seafood place somewhere in Batu Ferringhi so we drove towards that direction. Passed by loads of hotels/resorts... this is where the nicer, posher hotels are coz the nicer beaches are at Batu Ferringhi. We also passed Lone Pine Hotel, which is a boutique hotel we'd initially wanted to stay at but unfortunately, we couldn't get a room there :o( it was fully booked. Around this area, it was like a mini Bali or Petaling St, with stalls selling trinkets and souvenirs and such. I bet they charge exorbitant amounts since the place was teeming with tourists (i.e. mat sallehs). We drove on (the road seemed to go on forever!) till we came to a tiny roundabout and there it was... the "End of the World" restaurant... lol! Which seemed quite apt as it felt like we were driving and driving and not coming to the end of the road, hehe...

The food at the restaurant was nothing spectacular. We ordered a fish, fried squid (lousy! they didn't clean the squid properly...yucks!), mixed veg, and prawns... and were expecting the bill to be RM100+ but it came up to only RM67!!! Ok la... food wasn't anything special but didn't complain as it was cheap and the portions were big for 2 ppl! :o)

Drove back to the hotel. Since it was still early and we had nothing to do, we took a walk on the beach. Wow, the beach was quite happening! A few groups of ppl were hanging out at the beach, with couples dotted here and there. Saw lots of crabs scrambling up and down, a kitten scrounging for food. Sat down for a while to check out the stars but as we were getting to be mossie bait, decided to head back to our room for good ol' slumbertime! :o)

Next morning, woke up, had breakfast, checked out and headed to Gurney Drive coz I wanted to stop by the shop that sold halal tambun biscuits. Bought a few boxes for mom, sis and a few ppl back home. Stopped by at another temple on the way out. It was quite a nice temple... large grounds and very peaceful and serene. I could've stayed there for a couple of hrs, just walking and reflecting, hehe. There was a fish pond there and we spent some 20 mins or so just checking out the fishies. There were carps and a HUMONGOUS catfish (at least 1 big fella)! And the fishies were all sooooo fat!! ;o) Next to the pond, there was this oscillating bowl feature, on which each individual bowl was printed things like "Prosperity", "Good Luck", "Happy Marriage", etc. and ppl were supposed to throw coins and see if they managed to get the coins into any of the bowls (I think there were abt 8 bowls in total). I did pretty ok, managed to get my coins into "Good Luck", "Success", and..umm... I forgot wat was the last one. Anyway, 3 outta 8 ain't that bad, haha!

After the temple, we headed off to wat I thought was the Penang Bridge. We seemed like we were heading to the bridge but then when CL drove up a ramp, I was like "ooooooo, we're taking the scenic route!!" i.e. the ferry! Haha... well, almost the scenic route la.

Got to the mainland and began our journey home.....

*THE END*

Bagan (Penang Part 2)

The Bagan, Bar & Restaurant... is just off Gurney Drive (I think... or at least, very close by) and it's a converted colonial bungalow. Soft lighting and some easy chairs greet u as u enter the place... then u'll see stairs leading to the bar at the center, dining area to the left and chillout/live band area to the right. The place is BEAUTIFUL....sigh... very cosy, very romantic... very very nice, classy place to hang out. Check out more info here. (This is Bryan's site, one of the Penang salsa ppl... from which we'd gotten the info abt Bagan)

When we arrived, there was a live band on... actually, it consisted of a man on the keyboard and a lady singing. She had quite a good voice. I think they were singing some bluesy songs. We got a table in the bar area, ordered our drinks and checked out some of the other ppl there who were salsa-ing.

There were abt 6-7 ppl, I guess... and their style is more Cuban. As there was no salsa music on yet, we sat and watched while the others danced. Apparently, the salsa music gets played around 12am, after the live band gets off. Someone joined the salsa group and CL remarked, "hey, that looks like, um, wat's her name..." I looked up and replied "oh yeah, i know her... but i dunno wat's her name either" Lol! Turned out, it was Tsu Mae (hope I got her name spelled correctly). She was back in Penang for hols. Chatted a bit, she introduced us to the rest of the salsa ppl there. While we were chatting, the band finished their session and the first song that was played was a bachata. Obviously we didn't need any pushing to get onto the dancefloor, hehe!

The next couple of salsa songs that came after the bachata were quite slow... and I realized that it's actually quite difficult to dance to slow songs coz i'm so used to dancing to moderate-fast ones! Tsu Mae asked CL if he had any salsa CDs and he went to check in his car. Came back with 2 CDs but he didn't know what songs they contained so he just handed them over to the staff there. The first CD wasn't exactly salsa so we got them to change to the 2nd CD. The first few songs were still rather slow but by that time, we were already getting antsy and just wanted to dance so we did... haha...

Well, the nite was quite pleasant. As mentioned earlier, I didn't ask the Penang guys to dance coz I was too worried abt my nose dripping so I didn't get to see how good they were. But it was a nice experience and the place is just so cool. Even if there wasn't salsa, I'd go there anytime just to chill out.

*Part 3 to be continued.....

Relaxing holiday... and now it's back to work! (Penang Part 1)

Another yr's passed... it's the 3rd day of the new year and we're all back to work. Time for a whole new set of proposals, quotas, targets... I've got one waiting for me to work on right this very moment but am still in the holiday mood so have not started on it yet, except for the template, hehe...

Went to Penang last week. It's been yrs since I've been there... dun even remember the last time I was there! The weather was cool and not rainy, at least, not during the day. But the first day was horrible coz I woke up with a terrible cold and I was sneezing and my nose was acting up all the way from KL to Ipoh to Penang to the hotel, while swimming, during dinner, even during salsa! How absolutely mortifying! That was the reason why I didn't ask any other guy to dance, coz I was soooo afraid that my nose would drip in the middle of the dance and that would be so horribly humiliating! :o(

Anyway, we arrived at Penang around 2pm, I think... checked into the hotel, I got some sleep coz the nose was really bothering me and I thought maybe I could try and sleep it off. Woke up and the nose did feel a lil' better so went for a swim at the hotel pool. Oh maaaaan! The water was soooo blurdy cold!!!! GAH! And I didn't bring along my goggles so I was practically blind. But anyway, managed to make my way around the pool without any major casualties... hehe. After the swim, we went for dinner. The original stalls at Gurney Drive have been temporarily moved to another location nearby after the tsunami. Wow, we had prawn mee, char kuey teow, popiah, chee cheong fun, wu tao kou (no idea how to spell this! but my mom makes it sooo much better!) and fried sotong. Gawd, wat gluttons! lol!

After dinner, we went to the Island Plaza coz I had to get some moisturizer and some meds for the nose coz it still was as bad as it was in the morning. Pharmacist recommended Clarityne coz it has more antihistamine content. I was just eager to take something that would stop me from sneezing and my nose from dripping! So there we were, walking around the practically empty mall... me still sneezing my head off so we decided to go back to the hotel so I could get some rest before we headed off to Bagan for...... SALSAAAAA!!! Haha, yeah... can't stay away from salsa, even when we're on holiday ;o) and it so happened that there was salsa nite at The Bagan Bar & Restaurant, which was around Gurney Drive, quite close to our hotel...

*Part 2 to be continued.....