Sick..finally

I've been spoiling to fall sick for more than a week now. And finally after a super tiring and hot weekend I'm officially sick. The throat is gone, body is aching, the chest is feeling congested and the head hurts. Funny thing is that I don't actually have a runny nose. My parent's are worried that it could be dengue but I doubt so. Anyway it was nice staying at home and just lying down the whole day. Tried sleeping but could sleep much so ended up watching 3 movies.

1) Lust caution - interesting but crap ending. Certain scenes were a little too graphic
2) Juno - Great show. Funny in a dark comedy way.
3) Penelope - Boring but saved by cute guy. The guy in the Last King of Scotland

Anyway this post is not going too well. The brain isn't thinking and hand mind co-ordination just isn't there. I've had to retype each word at least twice. Shall stop for now. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

Challenging Times Ahead

I don't know whether anyone else is in the same situation as me. It has been a challenging few months for the business. Ever since the election things have been rather soft in the retail sector. It is probably worse in April since taxes are due at the end of the month. And to add coal to fire or more aptly to pour more cold water onto an already frigid economy, inflation is soaring but income remains stagnant.

I guess at times like this it truly pays to be an employee. Being an employer is tough as you always have to think first of others as well as how to react in such uncontrollable and unpredictable situations. So what does it all mean to me.

One thing for sure is that I've begun tightening my belt (unfortunately not due to weight loss but if this persists who knows). No more unnecessary new toys like the centro. No more watches and no more extravagant 5* holidays. Unfortunately, such prudent mentality only further contributes to the downward spiral of the retail trade. So what now?

As always in such circumstances we begin to see the greatness of God and the limited ability man. For in all things and in all circumstances God has a greater purpose that we cannot yet see or recognise. So it does not mean that we resign to hopelessness but we should seize the opportunity to seek God's will and allow Him to use and mold us for the future.

Just like a phrase I read somewhere "all sunshine and no rain causes desert". Please pray for God's will to be clear and that things will turn out for the better in the long run.

Powderful Engrish

As China prepares for the upcoming Olympic games, the government as well as some ingenious retailers have decided to make their signs more tourist friendly. The results are as follows. Totally hilarious. Wonder how much it would have cost them to get professional translators.




Now, who would willingly accept a strangler's invitation


The poor pool boy will have to take a break


Yes, I'll treasure it and keep it safe. China souvenir.


A challenged buffet.


This is where you meet stranglers


If only our rears are that juicy.


Yes, especially those stranglers



Like they say, it is good to tie up loose ends before dying


Users beware. If you insult it, it will turn around and s*%&w you!!



...cooked with a lot of heart :-)



Pregnant women above 70 should certainly get special treatment. Maybe in the Guiness Book of World Records?



Please don't unless you're into kinky stuff.


Be serious at all times.


Hmm..maybe the books contain a detailed description of what LOTR hobbits do in their spare time?



Yes...especially when in China as not everyone is as tall as you.



Huh?


Yes yes, please market this to all the wives out there. Beats saying "I've got a headache dear".


Oh don't be so harsh on the Chinese.....if we had to translate to mandarin we'll probably get it wrong as well.


Safe for export. Who says China toys are poisonous to American kids ?


Please try to be in trouble if not the poor receptionist will be bored.


Drink and be merry. But refrain from sex after that. You may produce cubs.



Who says you need translation to convey a message. A graphic picture says it all.


Think of the kind slip to execute before slipping. Choose the careful type.

Stuck in KL traffic

There are some things that never change and KL traffic coming to a crawl when it's pouring is something that's extremely reliable. Yes I'm caught in horrible peak hour traffic and it's pouring. Good thing that I've got my relatively trusty palm to do some mobile blogging.

Received some great news yesterday. Sue and Jeff are officially together and engaged. I'm so glad that those two have finally decided to get their act together. I'm really looking forward to their wedding.

Can't really think of much to blog about. Been having bodyaches and a slight headache all through yesterday and today. I'm hoping it's just a flu bug and not dengue. I'm feeling so tired and would love to crawl into bed but we're recording a new advert today so will have to be at the studio. Oh well..no fun being your own boss.

Current mood: tired and unwell :(

Elmo Is Exactly 4 Months Old

Elmo is exactly 4 months old today. He was born on 19th December 2007. Unfortunately, he doesn't look anything like my profile's picture anymore. But he's still cute as ever. Hubbs and I showered him this morning and boy, has he grown!! I believe he's verging on obese just like his owner. Ok Ok his owner isn't just verging on obese..she IS obese :)

Anyway, here are pictures of him after his shower. Isn't he a cutie?



Elmo with a toy bone in his mouth


Elmo right after blow drying


Hubbs carrying elmo. At the rate Elmo is growing Hubbs won't be able to carry him much longer.

Is Honesty That Difficult?

I've blogged about this before and it pains me to have to blog about this again. Somehow it really does seem as if being honest is extremely difficult for some people. This time around it hurt even more as the person that was being dishonest was someone very close and dear to me. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that the person has lied to me.

Again I ask. Am I that gullible? How am I supposed to trust anything that comes from that person's mouth if lying seems to be a default reaction of the person when stressed? Don't people ever realise and learn that lying catches up with you? It also seems that nowadays feigning forgetfulness or ignorance is a way to salvage an uncomfortable situation when caught lying. Again I ask..am I that stupid?

Why can't people just own up when mistakes have made rather than retreating to the sinful convenience of lying!! Although I've blogged recently on not wanting to have any similarities with a particular ex minister I must say that at least he had the decency to own up to his short comings (no pun intended) when he was literally caught with his pants down.

Lying only adds distrust, multiplies your immaturity and subtracts any goodwill from any relationship. And for those who are inherent serial liars I hope you do realise that apologizing no matter how profusely or how genuinely isn't going to salvage anything until your attitude and approach to being truthful is fully embedded into your very core and nature and unfortunately such "reborn" attitude will last up to the point that you've have been caught lying again. So save your effort and the ears of the wronged party until you have truly decided to change.

People please grow up and be men/women that God intended you to be - men /women of truth and integrity !!

Current mood : very hurt.

New Old Look

Yesterday I changed the look of my blog and today I did something even more drastic. I chopped off my hair! After 6 years of long hair I've decided to revert to my short boy cut. For those that know me more than 6 years, yes helmet head is back. Leslie will be pleased. Hubbs still doesn't know so it's going to be a surprise to him. Hopefully a plesant one.

The benefits of having short hair as wifey has clearly pointed out is that i'll save on shampoo, conditioner, serum and of course water. But the best part is that I get to look like I'm 18 again. Now who doesn't want to look forever young! Let's see how long I'll stay with this new old young look. To my friends out there be kind and try not to laugh ok?

Change of Template

It has just come to my attention that a disgraced ex health minister uses the same template for his blog. As such I've decided to change the template in mine. Although it doesn't affect me in anyway I am not too keen to have any similarities with any politician let alone an unfaithful adulterous man. So here's the new template. Although, it isn't as vibrant as the old template I guess this will have to do for now.

Eyesight test

I saw the above eyesight test on another blog. I'm proud to say that I passed the test with only one look with my surgically corrected eyes. Hmm..so if I have surgically corrected perfect eyesight how do I interprete the results of the test? :) or if my eyes have been surgically corrected and yet my eyesight is not perfect does it mean there's no hope for me? :(

For those unmarried people out there if you are hoping that your 'eyesight' improves after marriage do continue to hope but be warned it may just be a pipe dream :)

Those under age reading this, I hope you fail this eyesight test miserably.

Picture Blog

Testing whether I can post pictures on my blog using email. Here goes.

Elmo's Not as Cute Anymore

I guess there's a day when a parent wakes up only to realize that their kid has grown up into a teenager and instead of being cute chubby kid, they've become an ugly mutt. In my case that day is today. Elmo is officially an ugly mutt.

Hubbs woke up early to shower him today. Usually after a shower Elmo is at his cutest and I was looking forward to seeing him in his cuteness when I woke up. But today when I saw him after the shower he didn't look like Elmo anymore. He's begining to look more like a grumpy old man that's stuck in a boy's body. I'm sure you can imagine how disjointed he looks now. Isn't that so depressing?

Well I guess just like any parent we will continue to love him no matter how ugly he becomes. But it won't stop me from bringing out all his younger photos and begin to wish "if only...."

Mobile Posting

I've finally figured how to blog on the go. Thanks to gmail (the only email that I'm able to access on my palm centro for the time being). So here's my first posting from my phone!!

First Gynea Visit

I had my first gynea visit to day. I was rather worried about it but I guess it turned out ok. All I can say is that I'm glad I decided to consult a female gynea compared to a male. It would have been so awkward. The doctor, Dr Tang Boon Nee from SJMC was super excellent and I guess she made the whole experience much easier, no pun intended :-). She's probably one of the friendliest doctors I've ever met in my few doctor encounters (thank God) and she doesn't make you feel like you're asking stupid questions. Best thing is that she bothers having a conversation with you rather than a Q&A session. I would strongly recommend her to anyone looking for a female gynea. However, as with any gynea, be prepared to take half a day off if you plan to see her. Anyway, I'm back on medication and hopefully things will be better in a month's time and I won't have to go for a minor operation. So please keep me in your prayers!!

Rusty Is Better!!!

I happy to report that after 4 days from having super diarrhea to being super constipated, Rusty has finally pooped normally tonight. His stools are back to the usual brown colour albeit a little runny. I guess the make-believe vet in me reckons that it's a good sign and that he's on the road to recovery. So glad that I can stop feeling guilty and worried mad about him being sick. Thanks to all for prayers!! Boy sent me picture evidence of his poop but I don't think anyone would appreciate me posting the picture :-)

New toy!!

I've got another new toy. After 2 months of contemplating whether to get the new Palm Centro or in the very first place whether there's a need for a new phone, I finally got the Centro yesterday for RM1399 including a 2G micro SD card. I must say that it was extremely daring of me as this was the first time in my "toy" buying history that I've bought something before even laying my hands and my eyes on the actual thing. Although, I must say that the Dopod hanging on me the whole of yesterday gave me the additional push to get a new phone. Prior to yesterday whatever I knew about the Centro was either through talking to people or the internet. Nevertheless, I'm glad to say that I'm quite happy with my impulsive purchase. Apparently it was launched at 6pm yesterday and I got it at 6:30pm :-) Talk about "kiasu"!!



Phone and Box


After using the Centro for 24 hours I will say that the phone is quite easy to use. Certainly very straight forward to setup and configure as compared to my previous Dopod. I guess it helps that I'm not new to the Palm OS. The other excellent thing is that now as compare to the palm handhelds that I've used previously, this can sync with MS Outlook. So I don't have to go through the hassle of figuring out how to convert the Outlook files to Palm Desktop. The size of the phone is a big plus factor as I can now carry the phone in my pocket and not have to put it in my handbag all the time. Helps especially when I have to help out at the restaurant.

However, because of it's small size the QWERTY keypad took a while to getting used to. At times I've had to use my nails to press a key. The size of the keypad was one of the "maybe not" factors in deciding whether to get the phone. Someone told me that the small keypad wouldn't be an issue unless I have giant fingers but Hubbs actually saw it in the US and said not to get it because the keypad was hopelessly minute. I figured that I don't think I have giant fingers hence the purchase yesterday. But seriously, I would advice the guys to really have a test drive on the actual phone before buying it. What is lacking in terms of text input is that it would have been great if it came with a predictive text input function. Helps prevent cramming of thumbs.

Another downside to the phone is the fact that it doesn't have wifi and doesn't run on 3G nor HSDPA mode. It only has EDGE. Hubbs reckons that I've downgraded by buying the Centro because the Dopod has all the above plus GPS. However, I must say that the net surfing speed on the Centro is just as fast or I dare say maybe slightly faster than on the Dopod on EDGE. I reckon this has got to do with Blazer being more efficient than IE. If only it has wifi...

Prior to buying the phone I've heard die hard palm users touting the stability of the Palm OS. Maybe it's just my luck but in just 24 hours of owning the phone, it has hung on me no less than 5 times. Of which I've had to soft reset twice by removing the battery. (Centro doesn't have a soft reset button) As I said maybe it's just my luck but other than that, the speed of switching from one application to another is certainly faster and not as lagging as WM6. I'm hoping that the "hanging" experience today was just part of the "getting to know you" process and would actually stabilize once we've gotten to know each other better.

Overall, I'm happy with the phone. I'm glad I bought the phone but I wish the nagging feeling of having downgraded will pass with time :-) For now, I'm still carrying my Dopod on a prepaid Celcom line just in case. ;)

Rusty's Not Well

It's officially the end of my 1 week break and somehow I feel that I need another break. Maybe I'm suffering from work depression. Is there such a thing? I bet there is and I'm sure a lot of people out there also suffer from this type of depression. Think of work get depressed. Work depression!! :)

Yesterday was eventful. Rusty and Elmo got re-acquainted. It was nice seeing both of them trying to out do each other for food.

Elmo and Uncle Rusty waiting for treats

Rusty unfortunately ended up with diarrhea today. Had to rush him to the vet because he vomited as well. I can't figure out exactly what upset him but according to the vet it was most likely the mixture of too many new types food. He refused to eat so we had to mix some chicken breast meat and Prescription ID into his usual vegetarian meal. I'm so upset with myself and I am truly praying that his bout of diarrhea will get better in a few days. Currently the Vet has put him on replacement salts, antibiotics and some kind of digestion pills. So please help pray that he gets well soon.

As for Elmo, his diarrhea is still persisting but the vet reckons it could be due to the deworming pills we fed him on Friday. So, no fun today. Both dogs down with diarrhea. Hopefully the week ahead is brighter.

Disc Prolapse

According to my online medical consult, I've got Disc Prolapse. Apparently the layman term for it is a slipped disc but I would imagine mine isn't too severe since I've managed a month without much complaining. Anyway, I was given 3 options to resolve the problem 1) take pain killers, anti inflammatory meds and see a physio 2) See a bone doc and get 2 jabs in the back 3) Surgery. I think at this moment option no.1 seems the most attractive. Ok....ok before anyone gets funny ideas, I would like to emphasize that this back pain has nothing to do with my Hubbs being back. He is not the cause of it, so no funny looks or questions ok? Anyway, thanks msnMD for the free consult.

Well, it's already Thursday and my week off has nearly ended. Unfortunately, I've not been able to sleep in as planned. I guess once you reach a certain age, the luxury of sleeping in goes as your inner clock just wouldn't allow it. Nevertheless, it has been nice waking up early, having breakfast with Hubbs (today I had pork ball noodles soup and chee cheong fun, yesterday was ttdi nasi lemak) and not having to rush anywhere. We have also been letting Elmo out of his room more often so that he can roam around the house. He getting cuter by the day. Now if only we can fully toilet train his pee-ing then he'll be easier to let around the house. Today we watched "I Am Legend" (crap show) and "Why Did I Get Married" (excellent show) - a must for couples. Don't worry guys, it quite a balanced guy/female show. Even Hubbs being sooo guy reckons its a good show.

As you can see the week has been a week of sloth and gluttony. My appetite has return (not that it was really gone in the first place) but I seriously doubt that's a good thing. Note to self, have to start walking Elmo so that I get my exercise as well. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day of running around so I'm going to enjoy the rest of today ending with AKC's yummy popiah!!

Hubbs is Back

We've entered the 2nd quarter of 2008. I'm not sure about you but I find that 2008 is flying too fast . Good thing is that Hubbs is finally back. I didn't think that I would be so happy to see him since the last time when he was away for 2 months, I didn't really miss him that much. This time I felt the same before he came back but seeing him today made me realised how different life is when you've someone special to share it with. It's great having him around!

I guess the many gifts he got for me from the US helped as well :-) Hubbs got me a new watch for my birthday (the Hamilton watch that I've previously blogged about), a new digital camera - Canon powershot sd790is (10mega pixels), 2 belts from Banana Republic, 10 packets of eclipse chewing gum- to chew till my teeth drop off and 4 oral B battery operated toothbrush (can't find anymore here). I will try to take pictures of all my US gifts using the new camera and post it here when time permits. Thanks so much Hubbs for the lovely gifts!

Elmo too was so excited to see Hubbs. Hubbs got him two new toys as well. It has been a eventful day for Elmo. Hubbs showered him and later in the evening, we took him for his very first play date. We took him to Boy and Wifey's place to meet uncle Rusty. Elmo had a blast and I think Rusty really showed him who's boss although it was rather obscene seeing Rusty trying to hump Elmo. :-) As Boy and Wifey's neighbour clearly pointed out "so gay". But I'm sure everyone enjoyed seeing Rusty chase Elmo and Elmo constantly retreating to the DMZ - safe zone. ( small fenced out area in boy's car porch) When Elmo got back he was so tired, all he could do was pee and then he just "plopped" himself down and refused to move. He could barely open his eyes and Hubbs had to carry him into the back room.
I've taken some pictures of Elmo using my new camera. Enjoy.


Elmo taking shower


On the way to Boy and Wifey's place (elmo has scarey green eyes)





Uncle Rusty and Elmo (both taking a breather from playing)

Finally on Leave!!

(this posting was supposed to be up on 31st of March but my streamyx line died mid way)

Today’s the start of my 5 day leave. Finally I’ve managed to take some time off after 15 months of wanting to do so. It was weird seeing the today screen on my phone being blank without any upcoming appointments. Now my phone looks rather naked J Unfortunately, I had to go back into the office for what I thought would be a short meeting but ended up stuck in the office for half a day. Nevertheless the highlight my day was lunch with SY and Noe at LeMeridien’s Middle East restaurant. Food was interesting but the company made it excellent. I wonder how often I’ll be able to do this weekday lunch thingy. Would I ever be lucky enough to become a “lady that lunches” aka “tai tai.? Hmm….got to stop dreaming!! Don’t think that will happen anytime soon for a few reasons. Firstly I don’t think Hubb would be able to support me and secondly, if today was any example, by 5pm I was totally bored and didn’t know what to do with myself. Nevertheless, the 2 hour illusion of being a “tai tai” was fun.

Here’s a question for those that know me. Do I come across as being a “spoilt brat”? I was told today that I am. I would appreciate honest comments as to whether I am and why. The reason I’m asking is that I was told I am by someone who apparently knows me well that I do come across as one. Please help post either a comment or a message in the Cbox ok? Ok..ok..quote examples other than the fact that I cannot live with a dirty toilet ok? Which by the way is a phobia that I seriously think medically falls under the category of having OCD.

On a separate topic, Hubbs will be back in 10 hours. We’ve been apart for 5 weeks ( not the longest, last year was 2 months and in yr 2001 was for 3 months) and I must say I’ve kind of enjoyed being alone minus the drama with my parents. However, since he was gone for so long I think I’ve moved from being a “slight” extrovert to being quite very introverted. Oh well, if he goes away longer the next time I think I’ll turn into a hermit J I am really looking forward to spending the next 4 days not doing anything and chilling with him. Let’s hope and pray that nothing comes up in the office. So far I’ve managed to wiggle my way out of 2 appointments that my boss would like me to sit in. Hopefully for the next few days my phone will be silent!!