New Year 2007

The colour of the Year 2007, according to ICI Dulux is PINK (70RR 54/153)!

Happy new year and may the chinese new year of the pig brings you lots of joy, health, happiness and prosperity!

Another December wedding...

2 days pre-christmas, I attended SJ's wedding. She was my supplier and new sis-in-law of a friend (D)- She is marrying D's brother C. Their's is a very grand affair, as he comes from a very affluent family.

My cousin Simon accompanied me to this wedding. We arrived at 7pm and was greeted at the lobby by a myriad of luxury cars - the bridal car was a chilli red sports car with both their names as car number plate. Very sweet! Beside them are various Mercs and Beemers and also another rolls royce with the couple's name. According to one friend, SC who was one of the chee muis in the morning, the groom's entourage consisted of 15 rolls royce, and 15 other luxury cars.. and 5 or so police escorts. That is one of the most kua-jeong weddings i've ever heard (in KL/M'sia).

The couple is such a lovely couple, despite his stature, he and SJ are one of the nicest, most helpful, humble, sincere and genuine people around. Here's wishing them a fantastic married life ahead filled with happiness and love that is everlasting.

The crap that they spew out these days.

Seriously... flipping through our M'sian newspapers these days will cause much cringing. Especially when you read comments from the "people we have elected to govern the country".

Look at what our Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum is saying about snatch thefts incidents in the country?

THE public is partly to be blamed for snatch thefts, said Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum.
He said snatch thefts usually occurred when the victims were careless with their property.
“Such an attitude gives snatch thieves the opportunity to strike,” he said when replying to a question from Senator Siw Chun Eam.
Earlier, while replying to a question from Senator Datuk Rizuan Abd Hamid on snatch thefts, Mohamad Johari also placed the blame on women.
“Sometimes, women like to carry expensive handbags and wear clothes that invite trouble,” he said.

The full story is found here
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/22/nation/16392067&sec=nation

Does the same logic applies to those VIPs whose house got burgled/robbed recently, i wonder??
Why is he, of all people, justifying the crimes that are committed by these criminals? And you wonder why i don't feel safe living in this country.. and btw, thanks for using the tax money i pay to protect the criminals!
Well done. M'sia boleh.

December Weddings...

DSC00105
Originally uploaded by Tsu Lin.

Attended Jackson's wedding at Sunway Resort Hotel. Jackson's a friend from uni, and from which I knew from college. He so happens to also have the same birthdate as I, except he's a year junior.

I was contemplating on what to wear for the dinner and wondered if I could still fit into this aquamarine peacock-motive Qi Pao that I got tailor-made in China. I tried it on and surprisingly it still fits although the tummy shows. Haha.. it's ok. I can hide it with a pashmina-thingy. Slapped on some make-up, and did my hair with very minimal effort and there I am. All ready!

CG came to pick me up so i didn't need to drive. Arrived there late (True to our lovely M'sian timing - at 8.00pm) and was delighted that some of my uni/college mates were there too!

We occupied half a table and i sat next to Lina. She still looks lovely. The ballroom he occupied seats 1000+ and Jackson had 120+ tables in this ballroom - such a grand affair. It was a very enjoyable dinner - with good company and the wedding proceedings went on pretty well. No noisy karaoke singers..

The wedding favour was a box of chocs - a dark choc and a white choc. I opened my box and found my white choc missing! Hmm... but well, i shouldn't be taking so much sweets anyway. The food was altogether good and they served cute little gold-fish-like pastry at the end. Just too cute!! (Taste average though.. peanuts filling)

Dinner went on and on mainly due to the courses being served rather slowly. We left at 11.30pm!!

Another wedding next week but I'll pass on tht. And another 2 weeks after. BUSY BUSY year end!

Another Tues with N...

classiest
Originally uploaded by tinyredrobot.

Last Tues N & I went out for a chill-out lunch at TSB in Bangsar.

A lunch that was after our short (but very "fruitful") shopping spree. We dashed into the store and bought a load of stuff, with mine including another pair of pearl earrings! (But its lustre was just so good)

Feeling contented (but ouch! on the wallet), we dashed across the street (more like sauntered) for our lunch. Lunch turned out to last almost 2 hours. (i said ALMOST)

From the sandy beach...

Blue skies, tranquil sea..

This was definitely a lazy weekend for me. A much appreciated weekend with no work, just rest & relaxation.

The dept's annual away day this year was held at Avillion, PD. This is my 2nd trip here and although this isn't much of a real resort, it was still a very good getaway mini sea-side resort.. if you're just looking for a quick getaway from the busy KL-crowd. (Only a 1.5 hours drive from PJ, quite pleasant, i might add)

FRIDAY
We left Fri afternoon for a 3D2N getaway. We had a morning meeting in the office and after lunch of healthy "yong tow foo" with the 2Ms, BT and N.. N and I proceeded our journey halfway down south. But first off, we had to "check out" the Clark's warehouse sale held in Shah Alam. Our itinery was carefully discussed the day before, should we go, should we not? "Of course we should", chirped me! My motive was made clear to N, i simply NEEDED to get a few pairs more of comfy flatter shoes. I can't wear most of my other shoes cos they are all high-heeled. These few months i was switching between my brown bata shoes & the black Ferragamo's! Upon arriving, we scouted around for size 5s (not realising that i am actually a size UK4). Anyway, I managed to get 2 pairs of leather shoes, I didn't even bother checking the price, so elated by the fact that I managed to find my size.

Upon reaching Avillion at 4.30pm, we promptly checked in and settled down. Dinner was scheduled to be at 7pm so we thought we'd watched some DVDs first. N brought along her collection of Grey's Anatomy and House. Both our favourite series! We started watching GA. And managed to finish 3 episodes from the 1st disk. Then break for dinner. I brought her on a mini-tour around the place as this was her 1st time here.

Dinner was at the hotel as most of us (the dept colleagues) were just too lazy to venture out. It was mediocre.

After Dinner, N and I continued our DVD session with the rest of disc 1 of GA and then proceeded to House. Halfway through... as expected, I fell asleep.


SATURDAY
Woke up at 9am and got ready for a swim at the pool. Afterall, what's the point of being in a (mini) resort but not using the facilities? N wasn't feeling well so she just sat by the pool reading her mag while i dipped into the pool for half an hour. It felt good to be swimming as I have not had much opportunity to swim for a long time!
We then headed for breakfast (at 1015) and lounged at the cafe till 11am! We headed back to the room and watched more HOUSE!!! (What else?)
Lunch was at 1.30. Our colleague 1M (and his wife), brought us for some yummy chinese food. I did control my food as i did not want to eat risk eating the wrong food. They ordered 'seong tong lala'(Lala in soup) which looks absolutely delicious! I just had chicken, vege and steam egg.

After lunch, we went for a short sight-seeing session. N and I wanted to buy kites to go fly 'em. I had story-ed N about the joys of kite-flying and she was mesmerised! So we picked out a kite for ourselves. She found a happy-fying rainbow-coloured kite while i went for an orange gold-fish kite.
We planned to fly the kites this evening. The bumble-bee reminded me of hubs - he bought the exact same "scarecrow" (in the guise of a bumble bee), intending to scare the pigeons off his balcony. They (the pigeons) were hanging out too often in his balcony :-D

Sunset..

Evening came and we trudged out of our rooms to the nearby beach (as seen above). Sadly there was NO WIND for our kite-flying session. So much for that! And while I was on the phone talking to Maxis' customer service personnel (i needed to activate my MMS service), i managed to make a heart-shaped sand-mark (?!)...

Thinking of my love, the hubs while lounging by the seaside watching the sunset

Noting how "sweet" I am (See, i'm not the most romantic person but i came up with this??).. N proceeded to make one for her "sayang" as well. Since she is making a bigger heart, I made up my mind to write hub's name on the beach, deciding to declare to him that I am thinking of him eventhough I'm here - by the balmy seaside (mini) resort watching the sunset... (And the hubs, in the cold winter morning, on his way to Liverpool to watch a match with the BIL).
After taking shots to prove this, we went back to change for dinner. Sands in our slippers and shorts, we walked back, dumped our kites and changed. Dinner was so so mediocre!

SUNDAY
Woke up even later and went straight to breakfast. Then, it was time to leave. Goodbye room...

Lazy weekend that was not to be...

Saturday
The Father-In-Law (FIL) is in town on his way from London to Mel. He went to London with the BIL for a holiday, staying at the hub's pad intermittently while they go on journeys in and around Europe. I brought him to my once "best in the world" char-siew place in Tengkak Tung Shin. Wanted to bring him there a few times prior but it's always closed. Today it was open. Lucky us. I haven't ate here for a long time, must've been more than half a year. The place is still the same - shophouse in a period property is charming, together with the grime, and heat should always whet our (M'sians) appetite! *_* Unfortunately, the char-siew this time around wasn't as good. Has the standard deteriorate or that my taste-bud had just simply changed? Well.. FIL said the char-siew tasted different. I guess it isn't as great as it used to be anymore!

After lunch, i sent FIL back to his apartment and he passed me pressies from the Hubs! Hubs got me this ...

Actually he brought it back in Sep during the wedding but we did not manage to unlock the phone as the shops here just didn't have the software yet. (It was still very new then) So he brought it back to UK to unlock. One thing i love about the phone is the camera (3.2 Mega Pixels yo!). Besides that, i really can't get used to the size - too petite for my big hands! Plus, i am just too used to my old phone with BIG SCREEN. I like not squinting to read texts, play games.. thank you very much! But besides that, it's packed with awesome features (feaures that I appreciate and need, not the Nokia-aesthetics type). I would silver, but Vodafone UK did not have that alternative colour. Bummer. Anyways.. it's time for me to get used to this demure phone. (Mind you, it's too demure for me).
I played their games till 2am... my eyes!!!!

I went for a pedi with EC in the afternoon. It was her birthday and i treated her to a pamper session at my usual pedi-mani place. She's an excellent company and we went for a drink afterwards and chatted more. I wish for more girly times like these... Actually just having a drink and catching up with good friends are my favourite pastime during the weekends. She is one I absolutely enjoy being in the company with. (Being an INTP, I noticed I get along very well with people who are like her - ESFPs)


Sunday
Woke up this morning REALIZING that i direly need to finish up my Category Plans for 2007 for tomorrow's meeting. I have decided to prepare only 2 out of my 5 or more categories. The reason being is that the rest is just too small a cat to plan for.
But the body is tired and hungry.. my breakfast ended up stretching till 11am, in bteween, i even managed to nap for abit! o_O

After lunch, i decided to do some analysis in prep... and realised i have too many slides to do. Anywhoo.. i went to work and did not stop till 5.30 when hubs called. We chatted for abit before i decide that I was too hungry. We hung up and i went down to devour half the Chocolate Indulgence (cake) that I bought in the afternoon. I am going to savour the other half for tonight incase I decide that I need to burn the midnight oil on this :(

Boohoo... wht a weekend. I absolutely detest having to work on a weeked. But well.. i'll just look forward to this Fri when the dept's heading to Avillion for our weekend family away day - NO WORK INVOLVED, just relaxation!

OOPS.. look at the time! Still have another cat plan to prepare for.

Catching up...

Had lunch with the gang today. WS is back from the US of A and we thought of meeting up. ES couldn't make it with us this time around. WL suggested Puzzini Pizza in DU. This is a swedish-italian place. Makes sense? No? Well, they serve mostly italian dishes (and a handful of swedish dish too) but with loads of cheeze! (That's how they spell cheese in their menu)

As i'm lactose-intolerant, there is no way i can escape the food, unless I go for the spaghetti marinara. But today i didn't feel like tomato, nor do i feel like seafood. So, i chose their pizza dish. It's said to be 'covered with alot of cheeze!'. Oh wow, Blimey!

M ordered a whole lot of cheeze-infused dishes. And i just have to try them .. afterall.. I do like food! She ordered a swedish dish which name i can't pronounce. I like the potato (covered with more cheeze!). WS & WL ordered swedish dishes as well. All rather nice, i was led to believe. When LL & BY arrived half hour later, we were already eating most of our food. And we all just digged into each other's food...

I must admit i didn't totally enjoy the lunch but heck, everyone else did! I do however, like their freshly made buns. Mini in size but taste absolutely delicious. Needless to say, i came home with a very bloated stomach.. and luckily did not let out any gas during the short ride back in BY&LL's new car - their Alfa 146. :P

Married!!

In anticipation... originally uploaded by Tsu Lin.

Meng & I got married on a sunny and very memorable wedding service on 30 Sep in Melbourne. Subsequently, the KL wedding was held the next week on 7 Oct.

Here, the picture shows the single gals waiting in anticipation during the flower throwing moment ... held at the garden of my house!

Double Happiness

Jade-Happiness4
Originally uploaded by Tsu Lin.

.....Getting closer to the big day. In less than 3 weeks in fact.

FOUND : Happiness and Prosperity

Jade-Prosperity1
Originally uploaded by Tsu Lin.

Owing to workload these past couple of weeks (coming to work @ 745am, not leaving till 8, 9, sometimes 10pm).. and whatever free time (weekends) that I hv are busy preparing for the big day, I've neglected to exercise. To compound this, I have been indulging in too much food! (Look out for the phat bride!)


Then last w/end, my friend S and I went to a jewellery fair where we spent 4 hours looking around and marvelling (read: salivating) at some rather awesome stuff. At the end of the day (night), my wallet became lighter... and I became cash-poorer. But the heart is happy with the stash of unique finds I managed to get. I got a ring (setting without a stone) for a steal!


Also found this (see picture above)at the last hour before going home. Cutting a long story short, I could've got it for a bargain but did not. But then again, jewellery is almost all about the quality and the value it holds to the owner.


Right?


Right.

Who says you can't buy happiness?

Starlight cinema experience

(Sentul Park, taken from 2nd Flr of KLPAC)

One good thing about working in this industry is getting invites.. In just a week, we got invites for Starlight Cinema, which was held in Sentul West, and also getting invited to the launch of a tea drink, which, coincidentally, was held at KLPAC in Sentul West. (But missed our chance of a 2-min fame on tv! Haha)

N and I went for the first day of Starlight Cinema event - a by-invitation-only movie. They were showing "The Click". We jumped in joy upon getting the tix. She and I carefully planned our time so that we can leave the office by 5.30pm to brave the traffic to get from the office to my house (after dropping off another colleague, C, who hitched a ride from me that day) and then to Sentul. Traffic was miraculously smooth. We sang to the tunes of "Stars are blind", we laughed, we were having a great time.

Arriving there, N parked at the KLPAC area so that we could meet with her friend who works in KLPAC. While waiting there, we had a glimpse or two of M'sian theatre scene actors (I shall not name names).. and actresses. We then proceeded to enjoy the surrounding that is Sentul West. The new Sentul, i must add. YTL did a good job developing this area, to becoming a higher-end housing development.

We traipsed into the Japanese Garden. Walking inside, I felt i was transported into another country (Japan to be exact). Only the heat and the mosquitoes reminded me that I'm still in hot, humid KL! Walking past the rock garden, we were greeted by a pond filled with koi fish. N & I were bowled over by the enormous size and beauty of the kois! I want, i want! The soothing sight and sound made us decide to eat at the Japanese Restaurant here.
(The Japanese Restaurant fronting the koi pond)

That wasn't a good idea. I wish they'd put more effort into creating this place, they have all the hardware but lack the software - one suggestion : Get an authentic Jap chef to be stationed at the restaurant to make it a destination eatery. It's disgusting having to eat at a sub-std place amidst a fab locale like this. Just underdevelops the whole experience.

Anyhow, at 8pm, we had a slow walk toward Starlight Cinema. There was a constant breeze and the rain earlier made the temperature cool and nice. Since we went in late, we had to walk around looking for a good spot to lay the carpet down. We spread some newspapers on the wet grass before putting the carpet on top of it. Kicked off our shoes and the movie started shortly.

I totally enjoyed my first ever starlight cinema experience! Too bad we wasted all of the other movie tickets that were given free...

Tuesdays with N..

Today, colleague Nurah and I went to *bucks to discuss planno range review. We always choose *bucks or the location nearby since we can enjoy the free internet. Ordered our drinks and sat down to work till lunch. We were working feverishly without realising how fast time flies, as we are supposed to have lunch at Alexis with some suppliers. (We didn't intend to go too early anyway, as N said this particular supplier is quite the pain in the ..well, bottom) But well, we DID manage to get there half past 12 for lunch. After some small pleasantries, we ordered and continued chatting. I used to love Alexis in Jln Telawi for their Tiramisu (glorious tiramisu) and never really minded their food. Well, i have to say i've changed my mind - the food is getting horrible and no amount of "ambience" is gonna make me like the place more. Nurah ordered last but got her food early, the other girls (our suppliers) ordered before us but got their food last! tssk tssk..

Had a rather bland (goes for both the food and the companionship) lunch, coupled with small talk abt the business and our incentive trip (Cruise to somewhere, sometime..).. and we were off. N will be getting off scott free (she is right, they are quite an annoying bunch) as I'll be having a Biz Review with them on Fri in Malacca (which only means we nd to drive thr early and come bk late). After all tht, N and I went shopping for a b'day gift for a fren's birthday today.. which set us back more than we expected but we really liked the gift - an elegant costume ring. We sure hope Sherin will like it!!
:)
We did find it cacat, though.. that the shop wanted to charge us for the gift box. Pfffttt! You'd thought tht we paid so much for a silver accesories that our ring would be nicely gift-wrapped! Yeah, just because it's in Bangsar doens't mean you have to charge for every single thing. Baah! Oh, but i did spot some nice chilli red earrings which is so so sexy!

After that, went bk to the office and was rushing to get e-mails done as I'm expected to be in a meeting with the whole team at 2.30pm. I got gastric halfway and went home early today :) Yayy*!

(*Yayy!! cos i got to go home early but Boohoo cos i was suffering like mad in the meeting with the gastric.. popped 2 charcoal pills but it didn't help much. I refused to take the gastric pill cos.. well, maybe cos i didn't hv any to begin with. Which makes the whole sentence kinda redundant)

Poooooh....

I've been busy today. Busy spending alot of money. Retail therapy always work!

Today i bought a dress, cheap accesories (flower brooch), some clothes for sis, a bridal magazine (RM18, looks like it's got some lovely pictures..).. and lots of eating!

Met up with a friend whom I haven't seen in ages and 'twas great to catch up with this high-flyer! And so much to catch up, we did! Spending most of our time at *bucks, amidst the background noise - They were having a fashion show at the concourse of The Curve. Too loud!!

I also bought Dunkin Donuts. Wanted to buy RM13 orth of products but the guy behind the counter told me that the RM10 voucher I had, can only be used to purchase RM10 or less worth of products, i can't buy anything more - not even if i want to top up the RM3. Ridiculous.. i tried reasoning, but on hindsight, perhaps it is better - save me my RM3!

Silly things....

Found this from a blog i usually read. While I don't quite believe in such things, I do like to take part in silly quizzes.. *\(^-^)/*
Have a go if you like.

Your Birthdate: March 31

You're a pretty traditional person. If it's lasted, it's probably good. You seek stability - both in your career and your romantic relationship. In return, you're very loyal and predictable. Which is usually a good thing. Without a partner, you feel lost.(tsulin begs to differ) Being with someone is very important to you. Your strength: Your dependability Your weakness: You hate being alone (highly inaccurate) Your power color: Midnight blue Your power symbol: Shell Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Look.. I don't even like midnight blue. Most of it aren't true. But how scary about the "power symbol" bit!! (WHAT is a power symbol anyway??)

Miracle is...

.. having found a carpark right infront of the shop I want to go to in Bangsar. Twice in 2 days. DURING PEAK HOURS!

---------------

Now, for something less miraculous..

So, it's Friday today. Fridays we get 2 hour lunch break but good ol' me got back in 1 hour flat. Well, it gives me time to "relax", surf the internet, the sorts. Right now, my table at work is in a mess - products everywhere, papers strewn around. I will get around cleaning this mess, I hope. Gosh.. just hate looking at it but really have no choice (sounds like an excuse but it's not ;P) as I've inherited some rubbish (documentations), and I am a rubbish creator myself too.. so everything just adds up. Anywhoo.. Fridays also mean it's one day nearer to the weekend. I absolutely LOVE weekends. Weekends to do MY THINGS.

See how messy this table is!

Yeah, that's a super antique phone on the left hand corner **roll eyes**

Pretty Petals

WFB27-11 Originally uploaded by FlowerHaus Wedding Pics.

It's getting warmer in London.. spring has finally arrived and I heard the weather's fantastic.

Over in KL, I've been busy preparing the finer and more interesting part of the wedding - Choosing the bouquet! since the most important part of the wedding has been settled.

There are a few in mind and they are not these 3 shown here. :) No preview lest it spoils the fun! But my hand bouquet will most likely be in the warm hues of gold though.. **happy happy**

STUCK..

That feeling of being in the rut.

Never thought I'd complain about work.

Now i truly truly understand what is this thing people say about "not having job satisfaction".

Feb 2007 .. please come soon and end this.. please?

28 April 2006

A little baby was born to his proud parents!!! Congrats Ekk & Daphne!

Busy Busy...

It feels good to be back at work. Now after 3 weeks of working, and weekends spent going around looking at venues (I have seen at least 9 places so far).. I am only looking forward to the next holiday. When M comes over to visit in April, I would take a few days off work to spend some time with him,.. and also to sort out all the wedding stuff: Rings, photography and everything else.

Yesterday, (without consulting M) I made a deposit with a photography studio for our wedding photography session. I took the most basic package (it was a good deal on promotion) consisting of like 42 poses, x-amt of dresses, blabla.. When I told M about it, he didn't put up a resistance (hehe). I hope he'll be able to stand the heat, and torture of the actual outdoor photography come April. And pray that I am using the right photography studio for this very important photo session.

Will probably only make 1 dress. One that is designed by Yen, with some inputs from me actually. (Thanks Yen!) Looking for a tailor is such a challenge.. hopefully I'll find one that will be able to transform the design into a spectacular piece of dress!

What is..

red and yellow and rhymes with bell? The company that i am starting work with on Monday! After slightly more than a year of "career break" dispensing my time in London, I have found myself a new job (with an old competitor, none less) and I am more than ecstatic about this role and the company. Yayyy!! Ok.. meantime I need to run all my arrands before Monday. 1. Perm my hair (?) 2. Banking 3. Make appointments to look at venues ah hem.. if you'd excuse me I need to get started. Someone is gonna be very busy!

2006 Chinese New Year celebrations in Thean Hou Gong

Tomorrow will be the last day of the Chinese New year celebrations. The last day is also a "lover's day", the chinese version of the Valentines Day.

During the 1st day, my family and I made the annual ritual of visiting the Thean Hou Temple for prayers.

The lion dance at Thean Hou Temple... !

The Story of the Pink Elephant...

.. hand-delivered all the way from Thailand/KL.

A big thanks to the bunch for this. They got me a Jim Thompson silk elephant soft toy. JT is a reknowned American-Thai, and till today, the brandname under JT is well-known for the quality of their product - their thai silk shirts and clothes are lovely! Even their plain cotton shirts are wonderful too. Pink elephants remind me of my childhood. When I was young, I used to go for music lessons (YUCKS! I hate going for organ/piano classes) at Yamaha, and we have music books with pictures in it.. and I would used to colour the pictures. There is one page, it must be a song about some elephants.. (hehe), and I asked my mom what colour should i colour an elephant? She said, "Let's try pink!". From then till I was 16, I always thought there were elephants in pink. When i found out otherwise, i was crushed! -_-" My mom.. she hasn't been teaching me the right things. (Or maybe she was just trying to cultivate some creativity in me? Doesn't seem to work though)

So, anyway, pink elephants bring luck.

GONG XI FA CAI!!

You know I am...

.. a Malaysian when I heat up my cooked salmon (cold, from the fridge) for lunch.

("Ready to eat" Salmon slices from Marks & Spencer)

M bought this salmon from M&S because he thought i'd like it. I had it for lunch today. Just that, instead of taking the "Ready to eat" too literally, I had to make sure that my salmon is "cooked" (warmed up). I heat up the pan and pan-fried it. I'm so Malaysian, I tell you. Lucky I didn't have chilli around me or else I'd cut them up and pour soya sauce over it and dip my salmon into it.

I realised that I will never be able to enjoy cold Western food.. like how they are meant to be. Cold sandwiches? Pfffft!Not in M'sia. When I was in-charge of the food service of the company, all our sandwiches were served in chillers (4º- 6ºCelcius): Most customers come in, grab the sandwiches and stuck it into the microwave and press 10secs. We like our food hot/warm/piping hot. (My food service manager cringes whenever someone eats a warm meat-sandwich) Haha!

I am so Malaysian, I tell you.

Meanwhile, in “tidak apa”-land...

(Photo taken from Jeffooi’s Screenshots.)

Two similar activities, but with one major difference. In Malaysia, this policeman seems to be nonchalant about his (and people around him) safety. A blatant disregard for safety in M’sia is not uncommon but it is (in my opinion) totally not acceptable.

Three years ago, we experienced a likely bomb-threat in the office. Because we were on the next building to the Twin Towers, the bomb-squad, fully equipped and clothed in proper masks and body suit came over to handle this crisis.

“Our HR Manager received a suspicious looking package wrapped in brown paper. On it, was without a return address and was addressed to him - his name was not spelt correctly and in the wrong sequence. As we were given a safety briefing a few times, esp since 911 regarding handling of suspicious packages, he called the building safety manager and reported this to him. The safety manager then proceeded to do the suspicious package protocol –Call in the national bomb-disposal team. In about half an hour, the floor was evacuated, the packaged carefully transferred from the building to the park below. With a good open space, they did three controlled explosions.

Bang Bang Bang! The package blew up, and out flew a black piece of plastic-like material. When it was safe to do so, they removed the pieces of “evidence” and showed it to the HR manager who looked at it and recognized the piece to be part of a video-tape.

Something crossed his mind: Could it be the video-tape he has requested from the London HQ for HR-related training? ”

(Witnesses’ account –who happened to be my ex-colleagues, told me excitedly)

Umm.. it was! I missed out this drama that unfolded on that day, but I got to speak to the HR Manager, he told me that it was indeed a video tape that the London head-office sent over. And because the western naming-convention is different from the Asian’s, his name was spelt and organized all wrong. We laughed about it, but I thought he did the right thing, nonetheless.

So, how come the Butterworth bomb-disposal unit has no full attire to do the job, I do not know. But it is not a reason to risk one’s life going near to a suspected article.

Maybe it’s due to my four years of working under the company which preaches, practices and have a framework for HSSE (Health, Safety, Security and Environment) issues. But in my everyday life, I do obey strictly to some safety precautions: ie

• No talking on the handphone while driving. No, driving and talking on the handphone is NOT cool, it does not make you look important and busy. You might feel important and busy but it is extremely dangerous. In my previous company, this is a sackable offence (especially if you’re driving a company car or on work assignments).

I also try to always put on my seatbelt if I am a back passenger.

Oh.. a personal story.

During one of my business trips coming back from KLIA, I actually reprimanded the driver of the limousine company that my company uses (yeah, the KLIA limos are not deemed “safe enough” for the staff to travel on) because he was driving above the permitted speed-limit, and was answering his handphone while driving. Not sure how the reporting goes, but a few days later, the GM while grinning, casually asked me “Are you really passionate about HSSE issues?”. Apparently, the driver informed someone in his company and my GM found out. I replied him honestly "Yes". Besides, the drivers have been sent for rigorous defensive driving lessons and given HSSE briefs.

So, yes, no “high risk” activities for Tsu Lin, thank you very much. That rules out sky diving, cliff jumping,even roller-coasters.. and .. etc.

The daredevils out there will probably exclaim : “How… utterly… boring.. you are”.

Heh, indeed. Haven't you heard about what they said about engineers? (even non-practising ones)

Year of the Dog!

A Happy New Year 2006 Originally uploaded by yamaken.

Chinese New Year is around the corner! I love this time of year, no... not because of ang-pows (red packets filled with money), but I simply love the atmosphere.


Dog 2006
Originally uploaded by Dirk Rösler.

Relatives will converge together in our house. My close relatives live in HK, Taipei & KL. And as my dad is the eldest in the family, everyone comes together at our place . We would have reunion dinner on the night before the first day of CNY, just like most traditional Chinese families would do. Grandma would cook her specialty- Hainanese Chicken.. and we'd have a great time catching up.


year of the dog
Originally uploaded by dog's age.

When I was younger, (and before they outlaw the playing of fireworks in the M'sian households) my siblings, my cousins and I will be out infront of our yard to lit up fireworks. I love it!!


[year of the dog]
Originally uploaded by vinka*.

Around midnight, the whole neighbourhood would be roaring with the noise of the fireworks. I ABSOLUTELY love this.. !! Hahahahaha.. I know most people detest it and find it an intrusion. Not me. I find it gives a sense of "festivity". Ahh.. But of course, it should not last for too long, they should stop after 10mins after midnight, and for the first and last 2 days, hmm...

I'd be back to M'sia for CNY this year. Can't wait!

ps: Aren't those dog-decorations cute? Some of them do look a little like cats though..

2006 A New Year promises new beginnings!


My New Lens
Originally uploaded by konaboy.

The last day of 2005, M & I invited a couple of a couple of our close friends over for a small steamboat feast at our place. M's friends came over from the west side while my friends, the chip-pea couple, came all the way from Northampton.

We started heating up the steamboat pot at 7pm and the dinner lasted for almost 2 hours. Balls of all kinds, prawns, wanton pieces, vegetable and since we could not get Shabu-Shabu, we got some rather thinly-sliced meat to dip into the soup. Although almost full, we still had some leftovers.

After that, M enticed the rest with a Mahjong game. And some of them got hooked. Tssk tskk!

Before the clock strikes 12midnight , we stopped the game and watched various countdowns around the world. We counted down watching the London countdown at Thames where London Eye is. Such spectacular fireworks displays this time around!!
(Someone told me it is in preparation for the Olympics 2012).

I counted down with close friends around me and M beside me. What a lovely way to start off a brand new year. What matters most to me is spending a memorable day with people closest to me, enjoying each other's company..
This is one of my happiest and most memorable New Year's eve!

Most people reflect on life in 2005. I don't have much to reflect on although i did make one of the biggest jump in my life- Quitting my job and trying to start out in a new country thousands of miles off the equator with M! 2005 was filled with travels around Europe and that kept me happy, for i have always loved travelling. There is something missing for me in 2005, and if there is one wish for me in 2006, it is to get a job here in London.

I never make resolutions for the longest time. I believe if I set out to do something, I should be able to follow through with it, so no point making new year's resolutions just to break it a month into the new year. I make decisions along the way in different chapters of my life and go with the flow (so cliche!)...

Goodbye 2005, Hello 2006!
Wishing all (and myself) a year of happiness, health and prosperity!
May this be a new beginning to good things.