".....faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor 13:13

Spontaneous Holiday Escapade (11th - 12th July 2009)

2009-07-30T20:20:00.016+08:00

Almost 3 weeks ago, I had this nice relaxing holiday trip to Damai Laut, Perak. The night before the trip and without telling me where to go, Ald asked me to pack my things. He said it's a surprise as he wants me to be pampered. I only get the glimps of the idea that we are going to the beach! I have not had any holiday trip out of town for the past 3 years. So I was feeling a little exited.

We head out early Saturday morning. It was a long trip and we had a hard time finding the place but it worth the effort. We stayed in Swiss-Garden Golf Resort & Spa which is a very private and exclusive resort near Pangkor Island. The place is beautiful and relaxing. I will let the pictures speak for itself.

After checking in and placing our belongings, we head on to Samsara Spa. I booked an appointment for a massage service. This is what my 'dear' meant by pampering me. I had a very relaxing time enjoying the massage session which lasted for 1 whole hour while he goes wondering around alone. Haha.... The Spa owner recommended me the Samsara Touch massage. The service is good. Before leaving the Spa, they served me some Ginger Tea. It's my first time having Ginger Tea. Never knew that I would like it.....

Dinner on our first day, we had BBQ Seafood Buffet by the sea side. I have forgoten what is the name of the restaurant. After a long day journey and sight seeing, we were famished. So, a buffet dinner is our best option. I kept on refilling my plates with all the grilled stuff, not touching any of the fried rice, fried mee/ meehoon, or any of those normal side dishes, except the chili crab. I lost count of how may plates of food I had - must have put on 2 kg of weight. LOL!

On the next morning (our last day), although feeling sleepy and tired, we woked up early and head out for the complementary buffet breakfast. I couldn't eat that much compared to last night's hearty meal. Well, my stomoch needs some resting (obviously). After breakfast, we head on to the beach one last time and then had a game of snooker and carom. Also not to forget, we had another round of cam-whoring before we left.

Look! I am as happy as a kiddy!

Thank you very much for this wonderful trip! I was delightfully happy.....

Back and again......

2009-07-27T21:11:00.004+08:00

I've been absent from blogging for quite sometime..... Not that I could not really find time to do so. Have been having writer's block for the past six months or so.... I read on a blog (someone I knew) whom had someone shared with her this phrase "I could do whatever I wanted and didn't have to push myself if I didn't want to". Such simple yet encouraging phrase that I think it suits me well. I am those people who tend to push ownself harder than they did to others. I can be such a perfectionist! But I tried not to - thanks to my occasional laziness that creep into my life that stop me from being a living hell to those people around me.

Recently, I've heard from my superior who chatted with my subordinate who are living the company. My subordinate said I am different from the rest of the Team Leader he worked with. My superior sums it all saying that I am very discipline or can be considered strict. So my next question to my superior is... did my subordinate complained that I am too strict? My superior said no just that from what he gathers, I can be seen as a very discipline person. Well, discipline is good right? It has to be..... though my superior said it's good. I am aware that initially it might be hard for those working under me who has to perform or at least match up to the high standard that I impose. I have since learn to be not so rigid and learn to measure others by their own capabilities not my own. I believe I am getting there......

At work, I've been constantly living in the past and yet coming back to the present. Still having the blissful memories of those happy times I had when my friend, Judy is still working here with me. During that time, I was never lonely at work. Coming back to the present time, since I rejoin this company without Judy working here, I've been trying to get my own click but the feeling of belonging seems to never last long no matter how hard I tried. It bothers me at the beginning. Then I noticed that it might be due to some jealousy issues. Then I just bury myself in work and stop bothering. And then I just stop trying..... making friends which having advantage of each other, pulling each others leg, having a poker face are not my motive of coming to work everyday. Having said that, I just realized it's not worth it chasing after those things. After all, what are the use of having colleague-friends who be friends with you without having a genuine or sincere friendship in mind? In work place, there's always power-crazy, advantage-taker, back-stabber, selfish-b***hes/b****rds, green-eye-monsters lurking around in the office trying to do their thing hoping that no one notices their true colour. So, beware!

Culture Unplugged Video

2009-04-16T20:35:00.002+08:00

This is a very touching real story. In the mids of our happy or sad moments in live, this happens to some people everyday but without fail, they give thanks to God no matter how little that they have. You must watch this especially ask your children to watch this. I have to held back my tears watching this but in my heart, I am crying for them.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Save Our Humpback Whales!‏

2009-03-26T21:20:00.000+08:00

*** To support my company's move to bring awareness on wild life endangered species and what we can do to help, I am posting this article courtesy from my company's bulletin.

Let’s play our part...
to know our world a little better,
to contribute a little more,
to secure a better tomorrow.

I would like to share news on the animals that we, humans, are threatening to extinction.
Understand them and what threatens them and we could all make a change before its too late.... not only for them... but for us as well.

Scientific Name : Megaptera Novaeangliae
Habitat : Oceanic

Did You Know?...
Each whale has its own unique pattern on the underside of its tail flukes, which can be used like "fingerprints" to identify individual whales.
Humpbacks produce a wide array of sounds but how it create these sounds is still unknown as they do not have functional vocal cords.

Humpbacks are among the most endangered whales as fewer than 10% of their original population remains. Humpbacks are found in all oceans to the edges of polar ice, and follow definite migration paths from their summer feeding grounds to warmer waters in the winter. The climate change (global warming) has forced these migratory whales to swim up to 500km further and for less food. Shrinking sea ice reduces whale foraging areas and the abundance of the Antarctic krill on which the whales feed. As the krill is dependent on sea ice, less sea ice will reduce the abundance of food for whales in the feeding areas.

humpback’s main food source - krill

What Can We Do?...

Support by turning off your lights for one hour
Saturday, 28th March 2009
From 8:30pm to 9:30pm

You may ask “what difference can one make in an hour?”...
Our question to you... “why not participate and find out?!”
Once you’ve seen the impact,
it would encourage you and the people around you
to be more mindful with the On and Off switches in the future.

Join us to say “I did my part” by signing up at www.earthhour.org.my

Lights Out people!

“Your Switch is your vote - Vote Earth!”

Annoying Phone Calls

2009-03-26T20:52:00.003+08:00

I had experienced (a few times) having someone calling my mobile phone informing me that I had won a free holiday and ask me to go to a certain place to claim my air ticket. I never like to entertain these type of telemarketing calls although it was nice to hear that I had won something. But I have not join any kind of contest so how am I to have won? I am not those kind of people who falls easily to marketing schemes with the exception if it is health related. I am very sure they usually trick you into meeting up with them so that they can coax you into buying something where in turn you have the free holiday/ gifts. Receiving these type of calls few times a month is pretty annoying. There is a website WhoCalledMyPhone enable anyone who wants to voice out their frustrations or warn others about those unwanted phone calls they received. The website is also beneficial to people who wants to finds out who or where those phone calls are comming from.

Save Our Polar Bears!

2009-03-20T20:05:00.006+08:00

*** To support my company's move to bring awareness on wild life endangered species and what we can do to help, I am posting this article courtesy from my company's bulletin.

Let’s play our part...
to know our world a little better,
to contribute a little more,
to secure a better tomorrow.

I would like to share news on the animals that we, humans, are threatening to extinction.
Understand them and what threatens them and we could all make a change before its too late.... not only for them... but for us as well.

Scientific Name : Ursus maritimus
Habitat : Arctic (northern hemisphere)

Did You Know?...
Polar bears evolved from brown bears during the time period that spanned from 1.8 million to 11,000 years ago.
Its coat also serves as camouflage where it can sometimes pass as snow drifts and surprisingly, the fur has no white pigment!

Polar bears are studied to better understand what is happening throughout the Arctic. If a polar bear is at risk, it is often a sign that the arctic marine ecosystem is threatened or imbalanced in some way.

The future of these furry creatures are far from certain with the climate change due to global warming where sea ice in the Arctic is melting earlier and forming later each year. Ongoing research (funded by WWF) finds that polar bears are left with less time on the ice during critical periods to hunt for food that builds up their fat stores, and increased time on land or on ice over deep waters where they have decreased feeding opportunities. As their ice habitat shrinks, polar bears face a grave challenge to their survival.

What Can We Do?...
1.) Use less air-conditioning
Keep temperatures moderate at all times;
2 degrees of difference could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

2.) Switch it “OFF”
Turn off:
- electrical items when you leave a room, and use only as much as you need.
- water while brushing your teeth, shampooing, or washing your car, until you need it for rinsing.
3.) Change a light bulb
Use Compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs wherever practical. It lasts 10 times longer then regular bulbs, consumes two-thirds less energy, and releases 70% less heat.

4.) Drive less and drive smart (Less driving = Less emission)
Tires that are properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3%.
Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

5.) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Need we say more?!

“Global warming is by far the most serious manifestation of the collision, and Mother Nature is making the evidence ever more obvious” - Al Gore

The Awesome Site Award

2009-02-23T20:23:00.004+08:00

I have not been logging on to my humble blog for quite some time now. Oh wait... it has been almost 2 months! Oh dear! That's already 2 months wasted for not recording some interesting/ boring things happening in my life. I blame it on my hectic working lifestyle and my lack of appreciation on having my own space to do my own things. It has been all about typing on my work laptop keyboard and staring at the laptop screen until late at night since I resume my work after taking a 2 weeks holiday during Christmas time last year. It seems like the 2 weeks off has earned me an additional 2 months of overloaded work. Whereas there are some people happily enjoying yet another holiday - New Year, Chinese New Year, and another few other holidays in between for the past 2 months. Where is the fairness in this?

Ops! Sorry, I have been grumbling and talking crap in this blog entry almost unnoticed that I am actually off topic on this blog title "The Awesome Site Award". I am really happy to have received this award from Jo-N who gave it to me not too long ago. Sorry, for being MIA (missing in action) for quite some time and did not respond to this soonest possible. Thank you for remembering me and presented me with this award. It was really sweet of you and it meant alot to me.

Now I would like to present this award to the following deserving real and blogging friends:
Chenille (FairyFeet)
Dad.Mom.Chat (Tot's mom)
firethorn
First Love (Michelle)
Judy
Lolipoops everywhere
Magical Milestone (Sting)
A Moonlight Rendezvous (U.Lee)
Munmun's Trail
My Memories, As Time Goes By (Martini)
This is my life by Osindak

Memorable Perth Trip

2008-12-30T15:16:00.002+08:00

9th Nov 08 (Sunday)
This is the day where I began my travel journey alone for the very first time of my life for a business trip. And it was my first time to Perth. Woke up around 6am to get ready to the airport. I was exited and nervous at the same time. Having the company of a girl from Guangzhou (who worked for my company as our prefered partner) does helped me eliminate all the worries I had about traveling alone. Her name is Tracy. At 9.40am sharp, our plane departed from the Main Terminal of KLIA and arivied at Perth airport 10 minutes earlier than the stated time of arrival at 4pm Perth time. Perth is an hour a head of Malaysian time due to daylight saving time. The flight experience was a blissful one.

We both took a taxi to our hotel called The Outram, located at 32 Outram Street, West Perth. The taxi driver who is a black man that has this weird English accent which sounds nothing like an Australian English, doesn't really know where our hotel is. But he has a GPS system in his taxi so we trust that he will get us to our hotel quite easily. Apparently, every taxi there has a GPS system.

Above photos taken of the hotel. It's small and cozy place. Didn't know that this is a luxury hotel until we saw what was written on the outside (pic with me in front of the hotel). No wonder it cost AUD345 for a deluxe twin bedded room per night with breakfast included. A single room cost AUD315. The hotel located in the city area about 20 minutes walk to the Perth CBD (Center Business District) area.

Our hotel room. It's smaller than we expected as we are sharing a room together. There's a jacuzzi (yippie!), two wash basin and one shower area in between the two wash basin. Enterance to the shower cum jacuzzi area is without doors to keep our privacy. How exiting is that eh? The toilet with a toilet bowl in it has a door to it though. Although there's no door to our bathing area, we kept our modest and made promises not to peep at each other when either one of us taking our bath. While one is taking bath, the other have to stay put sitting in the middle of the room, on the bed watching TV. Well, there's nothing we can do about it so we just have to trust each other. LOL... I am still laughing thinking back on the expression we had when we first discovered the hotel room having no doors to the bathing area. The jacuzzi is there to use but throughout the 5 nights we spend together, neither one of us uses it because it will force the person to "be naken and be seen..." (but I spent the 6th night alone - read below to know what I did that final night). Hey, we're Asian and we both are not that open minded yet, okay. And the room has all the amenities that we had in our basic stay at home.

After keeping our luggages at the hotel room, we headed down to the Club Lounge to have our complementary dinks. The hotel's complementary drinks is served dalily at 6pm - 7.30pm free of charged. There are selections of liquor, beers, champagnes, wines and very few non-alcoholic dirnks. Those who likes to drink would love having this free drink everyday. After quickly had our drinks, we head out of the hotel to have our first day tour around the area. The sky is still bright and sunny at 7pm or 8pm. We had a bit of a culture shock as the streets and main roads looks deserted. It was a Sunday and so most of the shops and restaurants are not open on Sunday. On weekdays, shops/ restaurants closes between 5pm - 6pm (just like office opening hours). Around the hotel vacinity, there are a lot of private specialist clinics, lawyer services and accounting firm who uses buildings that looks like bungalow houses turns into an office building. And there's a lot of luxury service appartments and high class condominiums too. I think this area is a rich man's shack.

The evening was quite windy, we walked towards the CBD hoping to find a nice restaurant where we can have our dinner and we welcome the cool breeze throughtout the journey. We were not sure of the way but the small little map provided by the hotel is very helpful. We got lost a little but we could easily find our way back because the road structures are very systematically built. We walked all the way on foot. Because it was a Sunday, it was hard to find a car passing by, hence no taxi/ buses around. Hard to find a people walking around too. Anyway, we prefer to walk so we can enjoy the beautiful scenery. There is quite a lot of churches around. Would love to be getting married in one of those beautiful churches (picutres above). We walked and we walked and we walked until the sky turns dark and we were very hungry then. Unfortunately, most of the restaurant not open on that day. The first restaurant we saw operating were Tony Romas. Oh no! We determined not to have that no matter how hungry we were as there's Tony Romas back home. So we walk further up to the CBD and found a whole stretch of fast food joint situated next to each other. They are McDonalds, Hungry Jack's and KFC at William Street. It's already 9pm so we were left with no choice but to have fast food as our first meal in Perth. Among the three fast food joint, we had choosen Hungry Jack's. You bet we were hungry!

We both ordered Grill Chicken value meal (small size cost AUD6.80 only). It was one of the best fast food I had so far. The grill chicken meat is really tasty with the savoury sauce. There are quite a lot of people in there. Three good looking guys sitting next to our table. One of them is really good looking (Ryan Seacrest kind of looks). They had the courtesy to say goodbye when we left. We just smiled and walked away because they look so silly doing that. By the time we went back to our hotel it was already 10pm. I spent a few hours preparing training material that I had not had the time to do before I came to Perth. I wished I don't have to go to work the next day.

10th Nov 08 (Monday)
Woked up early to allow time for breakfast at the Club Lounge in the hotel ground floor. They do not serve buffet breakfast but they have the same breakfast menu everyday. The service is quite slow but maybe I am not used to the laid back Australian lifestyle. However, the breakfast contains very healthty selections and is always very tasty.

We both had Homemade Toasted Grain and Nut Cereal, Mango and Yoghurt Parfait. Don't be fool that it looks like a very small portion. It was actually very filling due to the creamy yoghurt taste. I can still taste this savoury dish as I speak. Too bad we could not slowly enjoy our breakfast as we have to rush to work starts at 9am.

The office located very near where we stayed. Just 2 minutes walk from the hotel. We could even see the office building from our hotel balcony. The first day of work in the Perth office is not as bad as I thought. The staff are all very friendly and helpful. Both me and Tracy were there for different agenda. I was there for observations, meetings and conducting training whereas she was there to attend training (different sub division). We had our lunch at a cafe called IN2GO located just right below the office. I ordered Bacon Fritata with Garden Salad (AUD9.50) and English Breakfast Tea (AUD3.80) for my drinks. The food is really yummy! I was too shy to take a photo of the food because of having office colleagues around. Hehe...

Tracy was sick on our first day of work. She had fever hence she went back early to the hotel for a rest. And I finished off work quite late, left the office around 8pm but the sky were still so bright and sunny so I didn't realize how late it was. People there went home really early and it's very seldom to see them work overtime. Around 4.30pm we can see people leaving the office. If they came in for work early, they can leave the office early too. By 6pm, the whole office seems almost empty and looking out the streets at 6.30pm I felt like I'm all alone and the streets looks deserted again.

Back at the hotel room, Tracy had already ordered Mutton Curry and Green tea from the hotel room service. It was a very large portion, so we both shared a meal. The curry doesn't taste like real curry but I had that anyway. After dinner, I continued on with my work in the hotel room. Went to sleep at the wee hours in the morning, same as the night before. I was very tired but can't leave my work behind.

11th Nov 08 (Tuesday)
We woke up half an hour earlier than the day before so to have more time to had our breakfast before heading off to work. It was a very nice sunny weather same as yesterday. I can see most locals wearing sun glasses. Noticed a lot of good looking Australian guys around too. Was it generally guys there are better looking or was it because of the sun glasses? Darn! I was too overwhelm to be there to notice the difference. Everything looks too nice and clean to me.

For my 2nd day breakfast, I ordered Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs on Toast and Asparagus. The smoke salmon taste is really yummy! Instead of tea, I had mix fruit juice. What a healthy meal to start off the day though I wished they would add in more than one piece of asparagus.

Tracy is still sick so she ordered this Seasonal Fresh Fruit with Ginger and Lemongrass Syrup. I love the deco and the colour combination. It taste as yummy as it looks!

2nd day of work was a pretty busy day for me. Whereas Tracy had quite a relaxing one because her trainer was too busy completing a project that she doesn't have much time for Tracy. We went to a near by chinese restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is small and packed with people. Maybe this restaurant is quite popular to people working around the area. For the rest of the day, I had been very busy and worked overtime again. Left the office around 7pm. As usualy, most of the staff already went home.

Too bad Tracy was still not feeling well and she doesn't want to go out for food hunting. I was "forbidden" to go out alone at night so I am stuck with her in the hotel room odering room service again for our dinner. I had Prawn Risotto. Tracy ordered House Garden Salad which looks like a pile of green leaves pluged from one of the bushes outside (picture above). I didn't expect the Prawn Risotto to taste any better but it taste nice. I finished the whole dish and continue on to do some finishing touch to the training material that I am preparing for the next day. The night is late, but I got to presevere to make a good impression. After all, I am representing my office to conduct the training to the team in Perth.

12th Nov 08 (Wednesday)
It was the 3rd day going to work there. I was amaze at myself for still having the energy to go to work after two tiring days and having three nights lack of sleep. But I was really looking forward to have the breakfast because the breakfast served at the hotel is really tasty and appetizing.

The above picture is Tracy's breakfast. It's called The Outram's Express Breakfast. It contains Homemade Toasted Muesli with Athena Youghurt, Fruit, warm breakfast Tart, and a choice of tea or coffee in a ready to go box.

I ordered this hefty breakfast meal called The Outram. Contains Eggs cooked to my liking with Bacon, Mushrooms and slow cooked Tomatoes on Sour Dough Toast. I ordered this with poached eggs (the white ice-creem looking thing on top of the bread) and Mix Fruit juice for my drinks. This was the best and my favourite beakfast dish there. I decided to have this again on my last day in Perth.

My stomach still feeling full during lunch time after the heavy breakfast. So, I bought some healthy snack bar and fruit juice to eat during the afternoon.

After two days of sickness, Tracy finally had the mood to go out for dinner. We had Thai food at a near by Thai restaurant called Tim Thai Cafe located on Hay Street. I had Spicy Chicken Fried Noodle and Tracy had Sweet and Sour Chicken with a bowl of white rice. The noodle is really spicy and has a really nice flavour. I didn't know that Thai food here in Perth is that spicy. I love the amount of chilies and spicy sauce that goes well with the noodle.

13th Nov 08 (Thursday)
I hate waking up so early in the morning. By now I noticed that the only thing that I am most looking forward to in the morning is having my beautiful breakfast down at the hotel Club Lounge.

I am drooling at this food picture as I recall how good it tasted. This is Poarched Egg Choukchouka Pot with Grill Bread and American Style Bacon. The soup in the pot taste like tomato soup with some carrots and some other ingredients which I can't recall. It taste good and very appetizing. Nice to dip the toast bread in the soup. Having the eggs there make this quite a heavy breakfast. But I love it till it's last bit. Tracy having the same breakfast ordered from the day before, The Outram's Express Breakfast. I guess she has found her favorite too.

After breakfast, off we went to work of course. While enjoying our walk to the office, I saw there's people jogging or cycling along the pathways - things where I can't see here in KL. The air and the environment in Perth are so clean has made it very conducive for people to enjoy outdoors there. I would like to just skip work for the day and sit down at one of the coffee shop, buy myself a cup of local coffee while enjoying a fresh bagles, looking at the morning scenery of local blitz. But of course this is just a wishful dream that can't be made a reality while I am there for business purposes. So, back in the office is as busy as usuals. Due to the heavy breakfast I had in the morning, I had a light lunch for the day - Teriyaki Chicken Salad bought from Take Away Yamato Japanese Cafe located at Hay Street, just a few shops away from the office building. Picture on the left taken durig lunch hour. There's many cars parked at the side of the road and many people walking around - a sight that you can never see along this road after 6pm or during weekends.

For dinner it's at the hotel again because Tracy do not want to go out again. Sigh... I hoped she were more adventurous. She ordered Creamy Prawn, Bacon & Pesto Pasta and I ordered Beef Lasagna. We both got a complementary Custard Pudding for dessert. The food is not very nice because the cook is not working at that time so the staff just reheat whatever the cook had already prepared. No wonder the food served during dinner time is not as good as the food served during breakfast.

14th Nov 08 (Friday)
Friday always feels refreshing to me. Our colleagues in Perth will be treating us for a nice lunch later that day so I have choosen not to have a heavy breakfast.

I had a Savory Breakfast Tart whereas Tracy had Toasted Sour Dough Bread with a Selection of Condiments. The tart is very small in size but it's yummy.

As mentioned earlier, our colleagues there brought us out for a nice luncheon that day. At a TableSeventyEight Restaurant we had oysters, 2 starter dish (I don't know the name of the dish), and each of us ordered our own main course meal. I had Steak Sandwich (very large portion) with my favorite french fries, the best sandwich I ever had so far. I was too busy chatting and savoring to food so I have forgoten take any photos.

Later that night Tracy's friend, Tony, who is working and staying in Perth, brought us out for dinner and a tour around the city at night. Tony introduces us to this popular Korean restaurant, Tookbegi Korean Restaurant located down the east side of Hay Street (Hay street is a very long, commercial and famous street which stretches a few kilometers). We had to wait for about 30 minutes before we had a place to sit. The restaurant is quite small but it's very popular because it is opened by a Korean. So the food taste really original. I had Hot & Spicy Tofu Soup with mix veggie and seafood (the dish with red colour soup is mine). I can't recall the name of the dish which Tracy and Tony had but it taste really nice as well. The seafood omelet or they call it Korean style pizza is very tasty too. The seafood with prawn and squid is really fresh. This is the best dinner I had there. The long wait is really worth it.

Picture of the three of us (looks like we are wearing uniform due to coincidentally wearing almost the same colour outfit). Later that night, Tony sent Tracy to the airport for she had a flight to catch. She went back to Guangzhou via Sydney. So, I were left alone for another night. I do not feel scared at all being alone there as I had quickly acustom to living in Perth. I was feeling ecstatic to be left alone for that short little while in a foreign country.....

After the nice dinner and back to my hotel room alone, I finally get to enjoy my self indulged spa treat. I had enjoyed the jacuzzi and bubble bath using the expensive L'Occitane products provided by the hotel. When I saw the brand of soap, shampoo, conditioners, and body lotion they provide in the hotel room, I was in like.. Wow! I don't even dare to buy myself such expensive product except The Body Shop brand which is not that expensive compare to L'Occitane. No wonder it's called a Luxury Hotel. It was the most relaxing and fun bath time I ever experienced. First time taken over an hour for my bath... haha. After my relaxing bath, I spend time watching TV and only went to sleep at 3.30am because it was my last night in Perth.

15th Nov 08 (Saturday)
I woke up very early in the morning dispite that I do not have to go to work on this day. I had planed to do some sight seeing before I left for the airport. Thank goodness got a later flight back to KL which is at 5.30pm (Perth time). So I have about half a day to enjoy my last day in Perth. Not to waste any time, at 8.30am I quickly had my favorite breakfast in the menu, which is called The Outram (till this day, I had tried almost all of the dishes in the breakfast menu). Checked with the receptionist, they could not extend my check-out time because the room were already booked for the next occupant. I've got to checked out by 11.30am. So, after my breakfast I went to the famous Kings Park & Botanic Gardens which only takes me 10-15mins walk from the hotel. I plan to take some pictures there during the day time as I had went there for a very short while during night time 3 days ago, I did not managed to take that many pictures during the first time I was there. For my sight seeing, I have had everything planed out already.

Below are some of the pictures I took during my trip to Kings Park & Botanic Gardens.

The landscape of Kings Park & Botanic Gardens is very large. I only managed to visit about 20% of the place. I think it probably need at least half a day to fully explore it. There is a tourist bus that you can register when you are there, to take you for the tour. Too bad I did not have enough time to join that tour.

(Night and day scene) Dedicated to the memory of the men and women of the Australian defence forces who served with the British Commonwealth occupation forces in Japan from 1945 to 1952 and to those who died as a result of that service.

There are a lot of monuments and memorial statues being built around the park. I only managed to snap a few pictures of it.

Victoria, Queen and Empress (1837 - 1901). During her reign, Australia was colonized and federated.

Along the main enterance road to Kings Park, there's Trees of Fraser Avenue (read the information on top left picture). There's Conservation Garden and the Western Australian Botanic Garden. Really beautiful trees and garden they planted there. Unfortunately, I do not have enough time to go in to see more of the majestically beautiful garden. So, I only managed to take pictures of the infromation board at the enterance to the gardens.

There's Lotterywest Federation Walkway where you can take a walk in the treetops. Too bad, I really do not have time to take a walk in this walkway. Now I can only read through the internet review about the spectacular views that can be seen along the walkway. I would really love to come back here for a visit again to fully experience it if I had the opportunity in the future.

(Left picture) Aspects of Kings Park, a very small shopping mall where I purchase most of my souvenirs for my love and family. I spent AUD190 on the gift purchased here. Things sold here are quite expensive but it's worth to buy it for all those dearest to me. (Middle picture) Fraser's Restaurant, it's a high class restaurant. (Right picture) A nice garden just outside of Fraser's Restaurant and in between Aspects of Kings Park.

I saw many people taking their dogs out for a walk in the beautiful park. This reminded me how much I miss Jojo (my beloved dog). I am sure she would love having the opportunity to have a walk there and she will sure be very happy and contented about it.

(Left picture) A beautiful mansion along the left side of Kings Park enterance and a nice beautiful house which I would love to own (Right picture).

Just some random shots taken while I was in Kings Park. There's the Swan River in between the settlement (middle picture).

Night and day view of Perth city. I purposely went back to the same spot where I took the picture of the night view 3 days before. Really spectacular view can be seen from Kings Park.

I hurriedly went back to the hotel for check-out and had my luggage taken care by the hotel concierge after visiting Kings Park. Around 11.45am, I head out to another destination which is to the Perth CBD, Murray Street and Hay Street Mall. Every states in Australia has a CBD. It's were the center hub for all public transport is located and so there is where the center commercial and business area lies too. I went there all the way by foot in the hot scorching sun. It was a very long walk, took me around 30 minutes to arrived. Throughout the journey, I had enjoyed looking at the buildings architectures and shops along the way. As I walk towards the city center, I can see more and more people and cars on the roads. As it was a Saturday and it's near Christmas time, there were many people shopping and out for leisure with family and friends. Though the city looks busy as it may be, the place will be quite empty again after 5.30pm on Saturday as most of the shops and restaurant ended their operating hours by then.

Below are some of the pictures I took during my trip to Perth CBD, the well known Murray Street & Hay Street shopping area.

Restaurants, malls, individual shops, all located along both sides of Hay Street Mall and Murray Street Mall intersection with Barrack Street at one corner. There were season sale going on. I was really tempted to go for shopping there but I was running out of time.

This picture of me taken with the statue of Percy Button. He was a local street entertainer and one of Perth's best known faces from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Christmas decorations along the streets all around Perth CBD area.

The Jacaranda trees can be widely seen almost everywhere in Perth. Purple is my favorite colour that's why I love this trees too.

After a walking and sight seeing, I stoped by Dome Cafe to have a break, drinking Chocolate Shakes and eating a dessert which looks like muffins called Sour... something (I forgoten the name) which has some kind of strong spices in it. I did not finish the dessert because I do not like the taste. Actually this was my lunch for the day.

After my light lunch, I headed back to the hotel to wait for my pre-arranged taxi to take me to the airport. The taxi came very punctual at 2.30pm sharp. I took one last look around, trying to capture and remember every details I had experienced, vowing to kept it as a memories not to be forgotten.

Checking in for departure at Perth International Airport.

Waiting for my 5.30pm (Perth time), MAS flight back to KL at Gate 5. Goodbye Perth...

Memorable photo taken with my colleagues in Perth office. (from Left to right) Mark, Jai, Gil, me, Daphnie and Shane. They are all wonderful people.

Bling Bling Jewelry

2008-12-30T14:07:00.002+08:00

Every girl likes wearing fashion jewelry once a while if not everyday. I think shopping online is quite a hit right now. There is more and more online shopping website exist now because many people find online shopping convinient and fun as well. If you are interested to do shopping online but afraid that you will buy a wrong item without the sense of touch and feel, then I think buying jewelry online is a good place to start. Sometimes you may find most products sold online is not available at retail store and prices can be much cheaper too. During festive season and sale period, there is always free shipping services for online purchase too.

Jojo's Birthday

2008-12-29T12:46:00.001+08:00

December 21st is Jojo's birthday. She is 3 years old this year. In the picture above, she is resting cozily in her favorite sleeping place. There's where she sleeps at night too. She chooses that spot since she's a small little puppy and has been sleeping there ever since. She likes to sneak in underneeth the pillow when she's cold. She's good at climbing up and down the bed. Something she already master it by the age of 5 months old. Although she's small and tiny, she got really strong legs to jump around. In the middle of the night, she will jump up and down the bed to go to the toilet or do whatever she want to do without my help. She's such a good and obidient girl.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOJO! Thank you for lighting up our life for these 3 years.... We love you~ MUAKS~!

Busiest Month of 2008

2008-12-29T12:29:00.000+08:00

December month of year 2008 is the busiest month of the year. My year end has always ended with mild and relaxing work schedule but this year is an exception. Due to added job responsibilities and new plans in the company, none of us were spared from being tied down with work to rush out for delivery and meetings/ conference call meeting. It was the first time in the history of my working life that I have to attend to so many meetings in a day, and have at least one meeting almost every single day. Although some meetings is schedule for 1 hour, sometimes it takes longer than that.... I begining to resent meeting now because it usually piles up my work and discrupt other important things which I have to attend to also immediately. It looks like I will still have to deal with this hectic schedule for the first quarter of 2009.

Beauty Jobs

2008-12-29T11:51:00.001+08:00

There is a new web search engine called BeautyJobs cater for job applicants and employers in the United States of America beauty industry. Just like any other job search engines, it provides the functionality that connects job applicants with saloon and spa owners or those who has salon, spa, beauty or cosmetology jobs to fill out, all free of charged. There are so many people obsessed about beauty and physical outlook perfection and beauty industry is always growing over the years, creating a strong work force. There is always a job vacant somewhere for someone looking to venture into beauty lines, so it is good to know where you can find it. Just hit into BeautyJobs search engine and you will be able to find out if there is any beauty jobs that suites you in the vicinity. If not, you can also easily find vacancy in other states before you hit the road. Current popular beauty job searchers are spa job, salon job and beauty job.

2008 Annual Dinner

2008-12-15T21:22:00.012+08:00

I had missed out last year company annual dinner event. Feeling unenthusiastic about it during that time and so I gave myself an excuse for not going. But this year, for the very first time I had willingly submited myself to the hassle of presenting myself to the event. I call it a hassle because I would have to look for a dress, shoes, accessories, or any mumbo-jumbo stuff to suite the annual dinner theme (i.e. need to spend more... duh!). The worst part is if they force you to do silly on-stage performances or play silly games. Those are the part which turns me down the most for joining the event. However, after giving much feedback and opinions to our company social committee who organizes all sorts of company events, there is a big improvements this year. We were not forced to participate in on-stage performances nor were we forced to play the games if we do not want to. The best part about the annual dinner is free food of course! Haha... this year we had International Buffet dinner.

This year annual dinner theme was The Masquerade. Held on the 12th December 2008 at One World Hotel. I think there are quite a few company in KL who was having the same theme too. Actually this is the 2nd time in our company's history of hosting annual dinner having The Masquerade theme. I don't know why it is so popular and so many people voted for it. After all, it's not that easy to get a nice mask for the occasion in our country. I was so busy with work, having no time for lunch hour so at the very last minute, just about 1 week before the event date I searched frantically for my ideal mask. Tried looking for it through Ebay but it was too risky to purchase one online due to the fact that I got only 1 week time to order and wait for delivery. There are just a very few shops in KL selling mask and none of them that I like. I hate it when even though I got so little time left and I am being so stingy about a mask.

Thank goodness I have a friend who recommended me ordering a custom made mask from a girl who posted some of those beautiful mask she made by herself on her blog. Her name is Evon and she's a model with an artistic mind who has a knick of designing and making mask. I like her mask design and instantly fall in love with it. Trying out my luck, I emailed her to enquire about whether she can make me one and the price tag for it. The cost is really pricy. But out of emmergency and I really like her handy work, I decided to buy her service. She provided very fast, eficient and professional service by giving colour suggestions to the little discriptive design I requested. I confirmed my order on Sarturday and I receive the completed mask (photo) she emailed to me for approval on the following Tuesday morning. The next day the mask was hand delivered to me.

My mask (front and side view). I wanted it simple yet elegant and it is actually attached to a wand as I requested. Whether it worth the price I paid or not, I really love it!

Throughout the whole annual dinner event of the night, the highlight is the mask of course. But we had some good time watching some of the performances, chearing those who participated in games, galloping foods taken from the buffet tables, goofing around taking pictures of each other, some drink and get drunk and be merry.

Just arrived. We were a little late but the event has not started yet. Picture with our mask on. Guess where am I in the picture?

Picture without our mask on. Now we know who is who :P (Left to right: Kelly, me, SY, MYeen, YF, Jenny, MYee, ST, & Cora)

It was already almost 8pm. We were waiting for our dinner to start. That explain ST (second from left) sour face and my weak smile.

Another group photo with our mask on. We managed to hide our hungry face with our mask. hehehe....

OMG! I look so fat in this picture. There's another one which I look even fatter (not going to post it here). Well, we meant to took a picture for just the three of us but suddently V came by shouting "I also want to take a pic" and slot into position *uninvited* as none of us actually knows her that well. Oh and the "thorn" in the middle? Well, never mind the thorn though we don't really mind having a thorn in an all girl's picture. (Left to right: Me, LL, Alan, KH, & V)

My favorite photo of the day! Me & KH. Darn! I look fat in this picture too. I had another picture of this taken half length but I thought I should post this with full length view so to remind me not to neglect my eczema spot when it itches and scratch non-stop. Eczema scar is hard to hide when it was left untreated for too long. I probably need a year for the scar is fully disappeared.

Just me. Hmmm... apparently I do not have enough makeup on. This is the result of only putting on makeup for less than 5 times a year. LOL....

Gifts for boys

2008-12-15T19:46:00.002+08:00

Today I would like to talk about gifts for boys. You may think it is a lot easier to buy gifts for girls because of the wide range of toys, clothes, beauty products and accessories fit for every girl available in the market today, this has cloud many people's judgement on how easily to find a gift that fit mostly every boys too. How about wrapping up a baseball set as a gift to your son, or cousin, or nephew, or friend's son, or neighbour's son, or whoever's son for a Birthday/ Christmas gift for a change? Baseball set is a great gift especially from a father to a son because it promotes special bonding of father and son when they could have fun enjoying the game together. A basket ball is a nice thoughful gift for boys too.

Besides sport items, you can think of giving away collectibles and memorabilia too. I know at some point of every boy's age, they are crazy about some collectible cards, or action figures collections, or comic books, or any collectibles item that you can think of. So, it would be great if you know what they obsess about during that time. If you are able to get those collectible items for them as a present on special occasion, they will think you are awsome and remember you for life. It is one of the way to capture a boy's heart.

Another cateogry of gifts for boys that you won't go wrong is video games of course. Who doesn't like playing vidoe games? Even grown ups does. There are many selections of video games in the market now. There are home console type video games, or the handheld systems such as PSP or DS Lite game system. If you are particular about the brands there are Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and other smaller brands to choose from. Or if they already has the video game system in place, you can buy them the some new and hip vidoe games card for them to add into their own collection of games.

Data solutions

2008-12-15T19:30:00.000+08:00

Managing a large scale of client database can be a very costly to your company's financial resources. There are ways to cut back those cost by finding a cost-saving solutions for your business critical data. You just got to know where to find it. Data solutions company such as Syncsort Incorporated develops, markets, and services high-performance software for data management and data protection. They are celebrating their 40 years of cost-efficient software innovation. This ensure you that they are reliable, provides good services with good reputation which are built over the years. Visit their website www.syncsort.com for more information about data integration software, data protection solutions, disaster recovery software, and their selection of Syncsort software.

I'm back from Perth

2008-11-17T21:30:00.004+08:00

Last week I was on business trip to my company's office located in Perth, Australia. It is a very nice place to work and stay, in my opinion. Although many might say it's a very boring place to live in, I beg to differ. Will tell more in another blog post I will prepare when I have time later. This is my first business trip out of the country and I was feeling pretty exited about it. Given the opportunity to stay and work there for a week is really worth while and a heck of an experience. I have had a very hectic schedule and tons of things to look after on on-going projects in KL office altough I am not around. Was a little dissapointed that the operations of my team in KL office here cannot go on smoothly wihout me being there. Sigh... when will they learn to work thing out without being fully dependent on me.

Well, today was my first day of work after back from Perth late last Saturday night. And I can see all my work piling up to the ceiling. So, not more relaxing and slow moving paste for me for the next 1 month before I go have my 2 weeks well deserving good holiday during Christmas week and the week after. So, wish me luck on getting all my workload clear up on time! When I can steal some time, I will surely post all the nice lovely pictures and tell a long story about what I did in Perth. Stay tune.......

My Fruity Lunch

2008-11-04T20:38:00.000+08:00

Mix Fruits

Once a while I only have fruits for my lunch during working days. This Mix Fruits stacked into a medium size plastic cup from MBG Fruit Shop located at a setup booth stall in The Gardens, Mid Valley, KL is my favourite fruit stall. Although the price tag for all the many selections of fruits there are a little bit expensive than the norm, but this Mix Fruits that I always bought is value for money compare to the cut fruits sold in an individual pack. And all the cut fruits sold there are fresh and clean. Cut fruits sold in individual pack price ranges from RM1.30 - RM4.50. My favourite Mix Fruit choice cost me RM3.50 only. It usually has red apples, green apples, pears, tomatos, grapes, and sometimes with kiwi, watermellons or strawberries. Great to have this for lunch when I am not hungry but want to have something light and healthy.

What blood type are you?

2008-10-30T20:21:00.034+08:00

This is a fun way the author put into explaining the characteristics of a person associated with their blood group.

By the way..... mine is type B. What blood type are you?

Two Less Lonely People

2008-10-23T21:58:00.005+08:00

Is it true that when you fall in love and the person you fall in love with loves you back, there will be two less lonely people in the world? I believe this is true in a sense that a couple in love is no longer lonely because they could always have each other in mind and stays true in each others heart. But the biggest difference between infatuation love and really love someone and getting the love in return is there exist the source of love so pure that no matter how far or distance they are apart, they lost the sense of loneliness that they felt they have never felt before they met the love of their life. This is also true when I found my fist love many years ago. But I was lonely again for a while until I found my current love of my life.

Two Less Lonely People In The World by Air Supply is a very lovely song which my current lover dedicated to me sometime ago. I had wanted to post this sweet moment of sharings for quite sometime now that I find the time, I can never forget how sweet he has been to me although at times he can be very hard to cope with. Well, that's how love is. There is sweet and sour moments but this is what makes it so original and make life colourful in it's own way.

Below video clips of the song Two Less Lonely People In The World by Air Surpply. You can also view them at YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHnYRK27RNE. Hope the rest of the people enjoys it as well as I do.

Lyrics taken from Best Lyrics
Words by Howard Greenfield
Music by Ken Hirsh

I was down my dreams were wearing thin
When you're lost where do you begin
My heart always seemed to drift from day to day
Looking for the love that never came my way
Then you smile and I reached out to you
I could tell you were lonely too
One look then it all began for you and me
The moment that we touched I knew that there would be

CHORUS
Two less lonely people in the world
And it's gonna be fine
Out of all the people in the world
I just can't believe you're mine
In my life where everything was wrong
Something finally went right
Now there's two less lonely people in the world
Tonight

Just to think what I might have missed
Looking back how did I exist
I dreamed still never thought I'd come this far
But miracles come true, I know 'couse here we are

CHORUS
Two less lonely people in the world
And it's gonna be fine
Out of all the people in the world
I just can't believe you're mine
In my life where everything was wrong
Something finally went right
Now there's two less lonely people in the world
Tonight

Tonight I fell in love with you
And all the things I never knew
Seemed to come to me somehow
Baby, love is here and now there's

CHORUS

Movie day out

2008-10-16T20:54:00.005+08:00

On 14th October 2008, just 2 days ago I went for a movie with my sister, David, my dad and two of our church friends at Cathay Cineplex Damansara, beside The Curve. David had 6 exclusive preview screening for Max Payne movie tickets by Cinema Online. Max Payne is not in cinema until today the 16th of October 2008. The best part is... we get to watch it FREE even before the movie opens for official viewing!

Before the movie started at 9.15PM, we had our dinner at Sakae Sushi located at The Curve. I ordered a Sushi Set and a steam egg (forgoten what they called it) as side order. It was yummy and very filling. I was too hungry to remember to take a photo of the dish. Because it was a working day and with traffic jam in a rainny day, we reached there pretty late so we have to quickly have our dinner and walk over to the Cineplex for the movie.

This movie came from a video game called Max Payne. In Malaysia, it is rated 18PL. Having lots of action pack scenes due to the story based on detective investigations with a twist of religious notions such as angels and demons. I have not heard of this video game before this. So, I am clueless as what the movie is about before I watched it. It turns out quite to my liking. I like how the story was twisted, leaving no clue as to who is the actual bad guy is, not until the end. Sometimes when you watch a movie, you can somehow able to guess or pin-point who is the bad guy but in Max Payne story, it's quite unexpected to those who have not encounter this video game before.

The movie ended around 11PM. There was a long queue when paying for our parking tickets. On the way home it started raining very heavily. I reach home around 12AM. Tired but it was a nice ending for the day.

Love Q #23 - Brains Or Brawn

2008-10-16T11:37:00.000+08:00

Previous Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem.

Given a choice, would you rather date a man with brains or brawn?

My answer:

I prefer men with brains. I have always potray myself being with a man who is intelligent, knowledgeable and charismatic. But I don't mind dating a well built man with reasonably nice propotion of muscles ratio on his body. However, if he shows any sign of utter stupidity, then it's a big turn-offs to me. And also man with heaps of muscles and very manly physique scares me. Probably due to watching a few wrestling or Mr. Universe show on TV when I was young, had me irking at the physically built, extra large bulky muscles protruding out underneeth the skins. The idea of having me touching them... EE-YEW!!! Sorry, that's just how I felt about very muscular man. In conclusion, I shall say intellegence good looking man will interest me in going out on a date with him.

Previous Love Q: Partner Resembling Parent

Cartoon: Difference between man & woman

2008-10-01T10:27:00.013+08:00

A friend of mine forwarded to me this funny yet true cartoon illustrations telling us how different we are with the opposite sex. I wonders who created this cartoon. Kudos to you whoever you are. It's brilliant!

Guys, so now you know why we woman hate it when you do not tell us in advanced on the date and time you wanted to bring us out. And don't complain why it takes us so long to get ready because it's our nature to look good. After all, you guys do not like being with a sloopy unkempt woman do you?

Love Q #22 - Partner Resembling Parent

2008-10-01T09:35:00.003+08:00

Last week's Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem.

Does your partner looks like your opposite-sex parent in any way? Which particular part of the face are the features similar, if any?

My answer:

My partner does looks like my father in some way. However, the similarity is nothing physical but it is more towards personality wise. His temper, his strong headedness, his over controlling nature and two of his bad habits is very similar to my father's. Back when I was a teenager I used to read an article talking about woman tends to end up marrying a man resembling her farther and man tends to end up marrying a woman resembling his mother. I was sceptical about what's written on the article until I actually ended up with one (well, soon to be). Sometimes it's pretty scarry thinking of it - having ended up with a live partner similar to my father. Scarry in a sense that when I was remembering having those bad moments with my father during my teenage years, I did made a vow to myself not to find a husband like him. Not that I really meant that. You know, almost everyone of us goes through that stage in life where we kind of hate our parents? So, when I look at a better picture of my life now I can see my father's tiny little image still lingering close to me eventhough we are not living together because those things lives through my partner. Pretty ironic huh?

Previous Love Q: Being Friends With Your Ex

Souvenirs from the East

2008-09-25T22:39:00.001+08:00

Yesterday I receive some "yummy" souvenirs from two of my nice colleagues. They had just got back from their holiday trip.

YF went to Hong Kong again for a holiday. Currently it is typhoon season there. She was lucky that it wasn't bad on that few days she was there. Else her holiday and plane ticket must have been wasted. She bought back some goodies and one of them she shared with me is this delicious sour plum flavor (in Cantonese is called "shuin mui") jelly (pic below). I didn't know it's sour plum flavor because I do not know how to read the chinese words on the packaging until I tasted it. One bite from it I immediately know it's made from sour plum. Right at the last bite, there is the plum seed in it. This is my first time eating sour plum flavor jelly. It's pretty creative that they came up with this idea. The taste is a good mixture of a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of sourness from the plum. Yummy.... I think kids and adults alike will love it!

Sour Plum Jelly from Hong Kong

PL went to Taiwan for a holiday. And bought this yummy cakes (pic below) which she shared some of them with me. Pretty nice of her provided we have only known each other for 3 months. The two cakes although in different shapes and sizes, they taste alike. It's pretty yummy. I can really taste the butter, honey and eggs flavors all blend in well together. And the textures is not oily too. Love it! I think I can have 5 of these when I am hungry.

Delicious cakes from Taiwan

It's really nice to have such colleagues who thought of us who are working like a bull while they were able to go enjoy their holidays.

Love Q #21 - Being Friends With Your Ex

2008-09-25T20:59:00.000+08:00

Okay, this is last week's Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem.

Is it advisable to maintain a great friendship with an ex? Would that friendship be worth it or would it complicates matters?

My answer:

To the first question, my answer is a strong no. Because you have once loved him/her before, and you might still be secretly loving him/her now, or you might fall in love with him/her again which could be a disaster if both already attached to some else. Further to that, if you are already dating or married to someone else chances are your partner or spouse might not like the idea of having their love ones still keeping in touch with their ex. Furthermore, not many people can be so open to accept their partner still seeing or talking to their ex eventhough it is said they are not romantically attached to each other anymore. Therefore, it is not advisable to maintain a great friendship with an ex. Well, unless you plan to stay unmarried for the rest of your life. And I think eventhough people decided to keep the friendship with their ex, I don't think it will be worth it because it definitely will complicates matters. Like I said earlier, if you are in a relationship, your partner might not like it and it might create trouble in the future. No matter how understanding and tollerant your partner is, he is just human. To continue on being friends with your ex will put the sense of trust in jeopardy, don't you think so?

Previous Love Q: First Impression