Has anyone ever considered the fact that the guys up there had screwed up BIG time when they declared that we will be celebrating our "HAPPY 50TH MERDEKA" on 31 August 2007?
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Well, sweetheart and I did.
On our way downtown to usher in our supposed "50th Merdeka" last night.
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I mean, it’s alright to say "We have celebrated 50 years of Independance and here’s to another 50 more!" but this celebration is definitely NOT our 50th Merdeka.
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If those big guys did their math and started counting 31 August 1957 as our "1st Merdeka", they will eventually get to the "51st Merdeka" on 31 August 2007. No?
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So, when Tunku went on the platform and shouted MERDEKA seven times on 31 August 1957, he was actually declaring Merdeka # 0? If that was the case, then this year would definitely be our 50th Merdeka. However, I doubt that our beloved Tunku would be happy to acknowledge the 1957 celebration as Year Zero.
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Oh well, when a nation is governed by folks who can’t count the number of Merdeka celebrations, I guess they compensate by building police forces who are damn good at counting the number of ringgit notes waved in front of their faces by traffic offenders. I mean, it takes skills to be able to count how many bills when one only gets a few seconds of glimpse time before those bills get shoved into a black plastic bag or a huge file, okaaay!
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They sure can beat those Kumon methodologies anytime, me reckon.
Archive for August, 2007
50th or 51st?
Merdeka Fantastika
Today is the last working day for this week.
Today is also the day we received good news that our clubbing home will be reopening tonight. Yayyyyy!!!
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Amongst the many actitivies and programs organised to inject some fun into the office environment today, one of them was :
"Write a poem with the theme Makan-Makan Malaysia"
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I wanted to submit an entry but nooooooooo, work wouldn’t give me the chance to stop for even a moment! Con calls after con calls, 1:1 sessions with my team, BoB (Best Of Breed) practise sharing sessions regionally, and blah blah blah…all in the name of GLOBALIZATION. (You Dellians know what I am writing about. That’s all everyone has been talking about and breathing on for the past few weeks).
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And yes, I still love my job.
Was just taking a stop-and-bitch-abt-my-work moment on a late afternoon :p
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Back to the Makan-Makan Malaysia poetry contest.
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They published the winners mid-afternoon today. Some were boring, some were downright silly but one caught my attention. I couldn’t stop laughing when I read it and immediately forwarded it to some good friends whom I know will appreciate the laugh as much as I did (you know who you are!*wink*). Let me share it here.
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"I come to office morning morning
Eat my roti canai with teh peng (iced tea)
After eating I start working
So much work I really boh eng (not free)
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Parts not available I look for Amy
I had lunch with my friend Kenny
We went out to have curry mee
Better be back before my boss goes crazy
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I had some problems with excel
Too much curry I felt unwell
I wish I had Char Koay Teow
But why don’t they sell it at Dell?"
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I couldn’t help picturing the writer’s face when I was reading it and I must say it helped me release some tension built up throughout the day today.
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Thanks, C….for your really funny poem.
It made me laugh today. 
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MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA!
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*titbit of info*
Did you know that Tunku shouted this 7 times on 31 August 1957? 
Melayang Masa
Time flies when you’re having fun
- that’s what we hear all the damn time.
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I must say it’s true. Heck, we all know it’s true. What’s amazing is that it never ceases to continuously creep up on us and then, WHERE THE F**K DID THE TIME GO TO???!!
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It seemed like only yesterday :
- when I took my maiden walk through the only employee entrance at Dell. Today, seven years later (See what I mean?? It just crept right up on me!), there are FIVE employee entrances now.
- when I met sweetheart at Soho’s. That was 2.5 years ago. The strange thing was, nobody introduced us. Our eyes just met across the dance floor. It was only weeks later that we found out we shared many mutual friends. Destiny? Perhaps
- when we drove down to KL for the Nationals and checked into Cititel for the weekend. I got to shop till I dropped while he got busy with the Nats. That was 12 months ago.
- when my beloved SPS (now renamed to the ATG) team presented me with a home-made scrapbook and made me cry reading it. That was more than 2.5 years ago. I loved every single personally-crafted page on that scrapbook. No one can ever replace them in my heart, I swear!
- when I walked down the USM halls for my Masters convocation. That was 6 friggin’ years ago!
- when we were zooming around the small streets of Phuket in our rented ISUZU 4-W and having the time of our lives. That was almost 5 months ago.
- when my heart was broken into a million pieces knowing that I was the catalyst of change in P’s life but not the change itself. That was almost 3 years ago. I have moved on but he will always be kept in a special corner of my heart.
- when sweetheart heaved a HUGE sigh of relief after I rejected the job offer from Maxis in KL. That was 20 months ago.
- when I last visited God. That was…urm…3 days ago! Hmmm….too long, too long…
Scary huh, how time zooms past us like that.
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S’kay, Life’s still good and we can still continue to live it to the fullest. Just remember to stop and smell the roses once in awhile, yea?
Cheating hearts
She : Dear, please don’t lie to me. Tell me, are you sleeping with her?
He : Nope! You know I love you and will never do that to you.
She : Thank God! You can’t imagine how relieved I am to hear that.
*A small sob of relief escaped her and she ran into his arms, happy that their relationship survived yet another turbulent moment*
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Thought to himself :
"I hope I was convincing enough. How can I tell her that I am indeed sleeping with that girl?! She wouldn’t be able to take it. She is not emotionally strong enough for that. What she doesn’t know will not hurt her."
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Thought to herself :
"I am SO silly! He is the bestest boyfriend. How can he cheat on me? I know he loves me. He’s got to love me. Please God let him love me. I cannot bear the thought of him not loving me!"
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Men need to stop lying to themselves that they do love their girlfriend/wife even though they cheat with other women. If they really love their partners as they claim they do, they will NEVER cheat. If they cheated, there is something wrong with their relationship/marriage. Argue till the cows go home but these are the facts.
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Women need to stop believing only in what they want to believe in. They have to come to terms with the fact that there will be certain things in Life that are not in-line with their beliefs. It doesn’t mean they do not exist. If their men cheated on them, there is something fundamentally wrong with their relationship. Face it, deal with it, move on.
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I have asked dozens of my guy friends and they admitted that 90% of cheating men go by this :
"It’s OK for us men to cheat but it’s not OK for our women to cheat on us. It’s our EGO. It’s just the way men are wired."
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Sorry guys, Life ain’t like that. If you have consciously cheated on your other half, please be prepared to find out one fine day that you are being cheated on too. When that day comes around, you have ZERO right to be pissed. You lost that right the day you got physical with another woman.
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And oh, that applies to women who cheat on their men too.
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Tough? That’s Life.
I would like to dedicate the success of last Saturday’s private party to these wonderful people.
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Y*****a (my cubemate)
- Thanks for the recipes. As much as I complained about how complicated they are, I still had loads of fun cooking them. You are so darn right abt India Indians and their love for pressure cookers. Haha!
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Ap****a
- Thanks for making sure I didn’t f**k up the cooking. I wouldn’t be able to manage it by myself. Just wayyy too many herbs and spices; the right amount to throw in and at the right time.
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Sweetheart
- Thanks for the flaming jelly shots. Let’s try playing with colors next time. Use different colored jelly to make them pretty, yea. Muax!
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D**y
- Thanks for the bottle of Absolut Apeach. You know how avid an Absolut fan I am.
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K***y
- Thanks for joining in and making the party a success - as usual.
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H**s
- Thanks for being such a sport. We gals had fun waxing your nipples. Hahaha!!! Trust us, it’s true that guys with hairy nipples are big turn-off’s for the ladies. See? We did you a favor!
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G****e
- Thanks for helping to take care of our friends’ drinks, and helping me clean up. I wouldn’t be able to manage taking care of the food and drinks at the same time. What would I do without you??? :)))
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N**a
- Love your guts to explore the unknown. *wink wink* We are ladies of the 21st century and dreams will never be fulfilled if we are afraid to venture into the unfamiliar sometimes.
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A***t
- Thanks for the entertainment. You really gave new meaning to the phrase "Me got balls" by rising to the challenge. *salute*
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H*m
- Thanks for the interesting conversation we had till 6am while waiting for our drinking king to sober up.
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D*n
- Thanks for not PPK-ing us like you sometimes do :p
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WP aka S
- Thanks for purposely losing most of the card games when we changed the penalties. Heck! We had to come up with other more challenging penalties to stop you from losing..again and again! :p
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V****r
- Thanks for spending your last night in Penang with us. Hope you had a good flight out on Sunday evening. We hope to see you again in November; and hopefully, DR will be with you then. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen him in this part of the globe.
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M****s
- Thanks for being such a darling and bringing your cute friends over. We could always use more cute guys in our parties!
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ML
- Thanks for bringing the pineapple juice over. It was the last mixer we had left after the group cleaned out all my other mixers in the drinking game!
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J***s
- Thanks for taking care of the ice supply and having the hindsight to get more than the 2 packs I originally requested from you.
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K***n
- Thanks for the Coke supply…although we now know that the new 2 litre bottles are NOT enough if the guys wanna play drinking games.
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Hope I didn’t miss out anyone else.
I *heart* you all very, very much! Muaxxx
The Post Mortem :
- When cooking Indian food, ratio of curry to rice must be 3:1
- Lesson learnt last night : Indian is waaaaayyy more complicated to cook than Italian food; but it’s less expensive. - Drinking is only fun if one drinks with friends
- Someone asked me last night if I ever empty out my bar. My answer : Nope, ‘cos I don’t drink alone at home and the supply moves faster than the consumption. - Fantasy turned reality
- While it’ll stay a fantasy for most guys’ entire lifetime, Sweetheart got to turn it into reality. Again. I love this lucky guy. Haha.. - I am not a rubber supplier!
- while I don’t mind taking care of the food, the drinks and even the Activity Room, you folks gotta get your own rubber supply! - Gambling is not limited to CNY
- Some of the guys started this even before we served dinner. Geezzz, the Chinese will always be Chinese. - Threshold
- Found out last night the threshold of some friends. Sorry H, for not knowing where your threshold was till it was too late. Don’t apologise for disappointing me. You didn’t know any better and neither did I. Don’t worry, there’ll always be a next time. - Rocking one’s world
- For some, it’s kissing. Others, it’s S&M. Some learnt it the painful way last night. LOL. - Difference between sexiness & slutiness
- Sexy : When 2 people kissed and it made everyone around them horny
- Sluty : When one kissed almost every guy in the room and the others turned away in disgust - Kissing toads
- It’s a LOAD of FUN to watch 2 straight guys kissing each other when paying the penalty for a card game. We almost died laughing watching the kissee squirm for a full 15 seconds!
- Claim made by kisser : "I’ve kissed a guy before, I will kiss a guy again. Just dare me." Which we did.
- Rule insisted by kissee : "No tongue! Or I kick you in the balls!"
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Thanks folks, for a GRRREEAAT party last night. Till the next one…
Whoops!
Text received middle of last night from a fellow clubbing friend :
"No matter it’s MoMo or SS, without you guys..clubbing is no fun! We went to SS tonight at 11pm and was out of there before 1am. DAMN."
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Then, and only then did it hit me that I forgot to extend the private party invitation to him and his other friend who always club with us.
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Whoops.
Maybe next time eh, J? Tell A we are sorry too for forgetting to email the party invite to him.
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Phai seh…phai seh…
We found out what Sweetheart’s surprise was all about.
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He made vodka jelly for :
- dessert
- flaming shots with gin (Bombay Sapphire)
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Damn, still can’t share pix. Will try to upload them later once the stupid Frienster quota is lifted next week.
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Needlesss to say, the shots were downed fast. I took the 1st shot incorrectly, resulting in throwing it up! Urgh. Sweetheart insisted I took a 2nd shot, which I did and this time, I did it right. It stayed down. Man, it was M-E-A-N.
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The rest of the night passed in a blur. Amongst the drinks that were passed around :
- Vodka redbull
- Chivas green tea
- Sour apple vodka with bitter lemon mixer
- Sex on the beach
- Kwaifeh Lychee Liquor with Sprite (nicknamed the ‘Chick Drink’)
- Peach Schnapps
- Butterscotch Schnapps
- Absolut Pear (this is YUMMY! For some sweetness, mix with Sprite)
- Chivas Coke (the usual)
- Vodka lime (the usual)
- Swing Coke (another usual)
- Chilean Red Wine - some guys decided to go for wine halfway through the night. Got tired of the hard liquor, they claimed. Yea right….they went right back to them hard liquor after downing the red wine in minutes. What a waste of my good wine! Hmpf!
Some of the folks passed out for an hour or so, woke up and continued drinking! Madness.
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Even our drinking king, the guy who claimed to have only gotten drunk 3 times in his entire lifetime despite the amount of drinking he has done…puked for the 4th time last night. Another to-be-added-to-A’s-book-of-drinking-records moment. Rrriigghhhhtttt…
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The last one of them left at 7.30am. Man, what a night!
How to cook Mutton Kurma:
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Grind Ingredients (A)
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1 pack of Allagappa kurma powder
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½ tspn jirra (cumin) powder
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½ tspn kas-kas
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Pinch of black/white pepper
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3 green chillies
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3 pudina leaves
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1 small serai
Grind Ingredients (B)
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Kerisik (grated coconut)
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Almond nuts
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Cashew nuts
Other ingredients
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Mutton (leg is best)
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Sliced onions
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Grind garlic and ginger
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Yogurt
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Ghee
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Coconut milk
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Kismis
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Coriander (daun ketumbar)
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Pudina leaves
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Pandan leaves
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Curry leaves
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Fennel seeds
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Cinnamon, cloves, star anise
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Lime
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Tomatoes
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Potatoes
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Step 1
- Pre cook mutton in pressure cooker
- Put 1 tblspn grind ginger, 2 tblspn grind garlic & ½ cup yogurt, 1 lime juice
- ½ cook it till mutton is soft (test in running water so that it is soft)
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Step 2
- Pan fry sliced onions in ghee
- Put aside
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Step 3
- Saute Fennel seed, cinnamon, cloves, star anise & pandan leaves
- Put in sliced onion and sauté till brown
- Put 1 tblspn grind ginger, 2 tblspn grind garlic – sauté
- Put in (A) and saute over slow fire
- Put in pre cooked mutton and cook over slow fire
- 15 mins later put in potatoes, tomatoes & kismis
- 15 mins later put in (B) & coconut milk
- Once mutton is soft, stop the fire
- Put in coriander leaves, curry leaves, pudina leaves & fried onions
- Close lid
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The mutton kurma was gone in a jiffy! Looks like the 1.5 kg of mutton was insufficient for ‘em hungry pigs. Hehe…
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Since I cooked 2kg of briyani rice, there was still ample rice left. Guess it’s true that most Malaysians like their rice ‘flooded’ with curry. Mental note to self : make thrice the amount of curry next time!
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Solution to the kurma/curry situation :
Drive out to a nearby mamak to replenish. Of coz they don’t taste as good as home-cooked kurma.
Ingredients for Briyani Rice
- briyani rice
- sliced onions
- grind garlic and ginger
- ½ cup yogurt
- Cinnamon, cloves, star anise
- Pandan leaves
- Ghee
- kismis
- Coriander (daun ketumbar) & Pudina leave (only leaves not the stems)
- Almond nuts
- Cashew nuts
(Grind coriander leaves, pudina leaves, almond and cashew nuts in food processor)
Step 1
- Wash rice & soak in water for 20mins with 1 tblspn lime and 1 tblspn sugar
- Sieve after 20mins (drain all water)
Step 2
- Pan fry sliced onions in ghee
- Put aside
Step 3
- Put 4 tblspn ghee in hot wok
- Saute cinnamon, cloves, star anise & pandan leave
- Put in almonds, cashew & kismis in - saute
- Put in sliced onion and sauté till brown
- Put 1 tblspn grind ginger, 2 tblspn grind garlic – sauté
- Put in grain and dry fry over slow fire till grain absorbs all the ghee (do not let the it burn)
- Put aside
Step 4
- Prepare water; 5 cups water & 1 cup water with ½ cup yogurt together & salt to taste
- Place in rice cooker and put in the pandan leaves
- Let it boil & put in grain prepared in step 2 (taste for salt)
- Close lid and let it cook
Step 5
- Once cooked, take a chopstick & push a small space in the rice and pour in 1 tspn coloring in a few areas of the rice (to add color to the rice)
- Put in coriander & pudina leaves and close lid
- Put fried onion for garnishing
- Garnish with the remaining kismis, almond and cashew nuts
What??! You got up at 8am this morning??? We only parted company at 4am…which means you only slept for less than 4 hours?? Again!? If it’s not hunting activities, it’s something else. I swear, Eleen, you are mad!
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That’s exactly what my friend said to me earlier today when I told him that I got up early to buy mutton from the wet market this morning. Well, I don’t really have a choice, do I? I wanted the mutton to be fresh and not frozen. So, can’t buy it days earlier or from the supermarket. Hate frozen food. What can I say? I am darn picky when it comes to cooking. I just gotta do it right, in my books anyways. ;p
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Thanks to the very detailed recipe from my cubemate’s mom-in-law, I managed to dish out a mean dish of mutton kurma and briyani rice. Am darn exhausted after slogging over the stove for 3.5 hours. Not sure how my friends are gonna find it later but heck, sweetheart was going on and on abt how he could smell the food all the way from my carpark downstairs! "Good smell or bad smell?", I asked him. "Good lah, of cozz!!" Phew….
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Of coz I can’t take all the credit for myself. A friend helped and thank God for her assistance. I wouldn’t be able to go through it by myself. It’s too darn complicating (add a dash of this spice, that herb and those leaves) for me to manage it on my own. I have always loved Indian cooking (my 3rd love after Italian and Jap) but after today, I now appreciate it a whole lot more!
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Since Friendster is still f**ked up and won’t allow me to upload any more pix for this month, I will upload them in my other blog space and share the link later. What’s a post on food without any pix of the food, right? ;)))
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Now, to get some zzzzzz’s before my friends start showing up.
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P/S - Sweetheart’s up to something with the drinks for tonight. He took all my shot glasses and headed off with my bottle of Absolut Vodka, telling me that he’s got a surprise for us all tonight. Hmmmm….hopefully, whatever he is coming up with will give us all multiple O’s tonight! *lol*
Sad sad sad…
It’s Friday again.
Folks were asking since mid-week on whether MoMo is going to be reopened this weekend. Lots of "I hope so" and "Should be lah" was going around. I got tired of the speculations and decided to seek confirmation.
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Email sent to MoMo management :
"On behalf of all the MoMo supporters, I would like to request for an update on the status of MoMo’s ‘temporary closure’. Is it confirmed that our ‘essential clubbing place’ will be open for business this Friday night? Appreciate your prompt response as we need to plan our weekend nights accordingly. Thanking you in advance, yet another MoMo supporter."
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Their reply :
"Very good question. On Tuesday night (21st Aug), we are pleased to advise that MoMo’s lights were turned back ON after closure for nearly a week. The mgmt is rushing and trying their best as we have yet to obtain green light to reopen from the Council. Pls stay tuned for further updates."
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What the ???!!? We don’t care that the lights were turned on or the resident cat has given birth! We only care abt getting INTO the darn place with the usual great music and drinks. F**k the lights! Heck, even if the lights are not turned back on, we are completely cool with that. Just make sure the AC is working ler….hehe…would be uncomfy clubbing with no AC.
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Then came the devastating update late yesterday :
"Thank you for your continuous support. This is indeed a very difficult time for us. Due to delay by the Council, we have to delay the reopening till next week."
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Damn damn damn damn!!!
Looks like we have to club at one of those bleh places tonight, again. Urgh.
Help!
Things I did tonight after getting home from work:
- vacuum floor
- mop floor
- wipe all surfaces that could potentially be dusty
- do laundry
- wash toilets
- clean balcony
All NO FUN!
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I lost my weekly maids. 
The maid agency called me earlier this week to break the devastating news. She can no longer send maids to my apartment anymore.
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"..but I am more than willing to go pick them up and drive them home after they are done cleaning up my place!" I protested.
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Nope. It seems my ’schedule’ is too darn inflexible. Most maid agencies prefer to send the maids over during the daytime on weekdays. If weekends, minimum 4 hours.
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Heck! I work on weekdays and need my gym fixes on weeknights. Except Thursdays. I don’t mind allocating Thursdays for apartment-cleaning. Weekends? The days and nights are just too damn precious to be spent waiting at home for the maids to clean up my apartment! There are pampering sessions (spa/pedicure/hair treatment/etc.) to go for, clubbing, catch-up sessions with non-clubbing friends, precious time with family, and of coz, not to mention the snuggling-in-bed time with sweetheart.
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Chaaaammmm…I need to find another maid agency FAST. Me no likey cleaning house.
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:(((
For me, or for you?
Each and every one of us have our fair share of bad habits.
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Some are trivial, some are so darn annoying that you feel like throwing a brick at the person and then, there are some that are potentially life-threatening.
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I have my list of bad habits too and I am not proud of them. Everyday, I endeavour to drive them down. Some I succeeded in kicking, some I fail…but give up, I do not!
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Today, my dad made me and my mom worry again. Had to go for a minor Op to clear some blocked valve in his heart. Thanks to the 3 packs of death sticks he burns up everyday. My bro consoles himself that he only burns 1 pack a day. "Me not as bad as daddy ler" Yea, if you say and think so, bro.
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I know it’s an impossible feat for my dad now. To kick a habit that has been there for more than 3 decades of his life. (I know you death sticks supporters out there will defend him to your deaths) Sometimes, I just wish….oh well, never mind…
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To really kick it for good, I know it has to come from within. No amount of nagging, jesting, coaxing or blackmailing can make a person quit unless he or she REALLY wants to do it - for himself or herself.
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That, is a fact.
Accept it. Embrace it. Live with it.
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Or move on.
Strength = Weakness ?
We like to believe that our strengths help us move forward - to be better at our jobs, our personal lives, and generally, to be better human beings.
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Have we stopped to wonder…that those very same strengths can also turn out to be our biggest weaknesses? Hmmmm…?
- If your strength is your compassion, will it turn to be your weakness when you find it hard to draw the line on when to stop being compassionate and when to start being indifferent?
- If your strength is in your dreams, will they blind you to the realities of Life till you lose focus of other important but basic things?
- If your strength is your ability to drive for results, will it limit your flexibility when you’re faced with Life’s ambiguities?
- If your strength is your great people skills, will it stop you from being tough when you need to be…especially with really difficult folks?
We can’t help but wonder, eh?
Weddings
General observations on Malaysian weddings :
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Chinese weddings
- varies depending on the families. Can be from very traditional to very contemporary.
Muslim weddings
- the couple gets to be "Raja Sehari". So, there’ll always be a grand centerpiece at the stage/main area for the couple to sit and receive well wishes of their guests.
Indian weddings
- lots and lots and lots and LOTS of gold! The poor bride goes through a hard time trying to keep her head and self up with the amount of gold necklaces, bracelets, nose rings, hair accessories, etc…showered on her.
Mamak weddings
- mixture of Indian and Muslim. Really grand event with splashes of colors in sarees and baju kurungs. Easily blows one’s mind away - foreigners and locals alike.
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So what about the non-Malaysians? Will hafta ask M about how German weddings work. A French friend was with us at the mamak wedding we attended last night and here is what he has to share on how a typical French wedding will be like.
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Firstly, It will be a whole day event.
Morning
- Church events. Light brunch afterwards.
Noon till late afternoon
- Head to luncheon (venue is dependant on the couple’s budget)
- Lots and lots and lotsa drinking with family and friends
- Dessert and more drinking
- Speeches, poem sharing, story sharing, and other FUN activities!
Evening
- Dance (usually ballroom dancing) at a nice venue
- More drinking
*no dinner as most will still be stuffed from the whole-afternoon-long-lunch*
- More drinking and dancing till everyone drops off
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T : I really don’t understand you Malaysians ler…all dress up to attend and celebrate the wedding of a friend for dinner only, which means for only a max of 4 hours.
Sweetheart : Haha…that is the way it is here lah. Unless you are close to the couple and are invited to the morning session as well.
T : I know lah…but still. I don’t understand ler.
Me : No need to understand. Just accept that it’s just culturally different. As you can see, in Malaysia itself, there are already a few different types of weddings. That’s what makes Malaysia unique lah.
T : Yea yea. I agree lah. Malaysia is truly unique.
Sweetheart : Abo then…!!!
T : Only one thing I cannot accept altho I have been in Malaysia for so long. After makan, everyone just leaves. So rude!!!
Sweetheart & me : Hahahahhahahahahaa!!!!!
T : Not true meh???
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True, my dear T, true.
That’s just what makes us all truly Malaysian. :)))
There are 4 broad categories of treasure hunts.
- Motorized hunts
- participants will drive along the defined route in cars and it ranges from 50-odd km (one or half day) to several hundred (several days) - Walking hunts
- participants traverse their route on foot. This type of hunt is often held in parks, business districts or shopping malls. - Armchair hunts
- these are usually multi-day hunts where participants are required to solve questions based on a list of possible answers provided. - Cyber hunts
- these are run off the Internet and generally involve the participants to surf websites for answers.
I’ve only tried (1) and (2). Am keen to try out (3) and (4) now.
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Important things to know abt treasure hunting.
- Tulips
- Route questions
- Treasure questions
- Puzzles (i.e. i-spy)
Tulips
- They are graphical descriptions of directions used to indicate the route which a hunt team must travel. These directions are crucial as Route questions are asked based on the areas defined by these Tulips. So, knowing how to read Tulips is a vital part of any treasure hunt. Most of the time, the navigator of the team will be the one responsible for reading the Tulips to guide the direction of the team.
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Route questions
- these are asked based on locations defined by tulips along the set route.
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Treasure questions
- these must be solved in order to find the treasures required by the points. Treasures can be anything from a used bus ticket to a can of coke. How ‘interesting’ (or weird) these treasures can be are totally dependant on the creativity/imagination of the organiser.
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Puzzles
- these are usually solved for bonus points. One popular type of puzzle is the ‘I-Spy’ Challenge. Participants are given part of a logo/emblem/any graphic item found in a specific hunt site and are required to identify the exact location of the given graphical clue. It ranges from easily-visible ones to some really tough hidden-in-some-obscure-corner ones. This is all about your observation skills.
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Roles of participants
- Drivers - Drives the vehicles. Often also act as a spotter as the driver and front passenger have the best view from the vehicle.
- Navigator - Provide directions to the driver based on the provided tulips. Also responsible to alert team members when route questions are indicated in the tulips.
- Spotter - Responsible for solving and locating answers to route questions. This task usually requires ALL members to contribute.
- Researcher - Responsible for researching clues and facts from reference material.
- Word Play Master - Responsible for solving anagrams and word puzzles. All team members can contribute to this.
- Time keeper / Pace setter - Responsible for maintaining the pace and alerting the team if they are running late. Some hunts have penalty deduction (or even disqualification) for teams who are late to the finish line.
- Writer - Responsible to write down the answers to solved questions and puzzles on the answer sheets. Must be able to write in clear, legible handwriting.
- Checker - Responsible to check the answers for errors and omissions. Wrong or incomplete answers may result in point deduction or in some cases, lose full points. Trains one’s skill on eye-for-details.
Some obvious benefits of taking part in treasure hunts:
- expanding your general knowledge
- an opportunity to meet people from various professions and industries
- a means to learn/improve your teambuilding / leadership / strategic thinking / time management skills
- have FUN!
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It is indeed a unique experience. Me likey. 
2nd Hunt - Part I
I have been bitten. Bad.
I am not ashamed to admit that I believe I am now addicted to hunting. :)))
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Went for my 2nd hunt today. Similar to last weekend, I had a grand total of 3 hours’ sleep prior to this morning’s hunt. What can I say? I am greedy with my limited weekend hours and REFUSED to give up my other weekend activities just to accomodate my newest passion.
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Due to the fact that this hunt is open to the public, its standard of complexity is waaayyy higher than last weekend’s Dell hunt. There were a few veteran hunters amongst us. I was the youngest (in terms of hunting experience AND age too) in my team of 4.
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The hunt was split into 2 :
1st half - At SKJH (Sekolah Kebangsaan Jalan Hamilton)
2nd half - At QB Mall (QueensBay Mall)
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Results? Turned out that we got 3rd placing from a total of 37 teams. The total score of the top teams are friggin’ close that it’s so not funny.
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3rd place - 81 points (our team)
Prize : RM 300 cash
2nd place - 82 points
Prize : RM 700 cash
1st place - 84 points
Prize : RM 1000 cash
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Frustratingly close, huh???
Me damn ‘pek chek’ when they announced the top 3 winners. Oh well, at least I picked up some very good tips from the veteran hunters in my team. I must admit I gave myself a few good pats on the back (hehe..) for helping to solve some of the really tough questions and locating most of the i-spy graphics (will explain on this in my later entries).
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Will share more of today’s exciting hunt later. Need a nap now in order to survive the rest of my Saturday. Gotta go support a friend who’ll be guest-singing at Audees tonight.
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P/S - Last night was wild! Sweetheart got soooo excited when R switched her attention from the RAAF guys to me/us. Now I know that she’s so darn good with her tongue! *LOL*
Huh? The week’s gone???
Can’t believe how the week just flew by like that…and it’s Friday again! The entire week has been work, gym, work, gym, work, planning for Sat’s hunt, work, quality time with sweetheart, work, and work some more.
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Am sooooooo glad it’s Friday.
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Had abit of a scare this afternoon. Turned away from my laptop for a short discussion with my colleagues, turned back and saw 20+ emails on the same subject. Thought I was a victim of an email spam. When I looked closer and saw the subject, then only did I realise it was the clubbers’ Friday afternoon madness.
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IM message from a fellow clubber went something like this.
MoMo Fan : Without Momo, we are lost
MoMo Fan : Please help me to the right path
MoMo Fan : So where are we going tonight???
Me : Sighhhhh…
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Sad, huh? When your weekend life is affected by the temporary closure of a club. Hehe….
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Oh well, good dinner and good company followed by an entertaining movie is always a good way to start off Friday night. What happens afterwards, we will just hafta use our creativity.
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P.A.S.S.I.O.N.
Tonight, I was reminded of an important driver in my life.
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Work passionately,
Play passionately,
Club passionately,
Hunt passionately,
Argue passionately,
Kiss-and-make-up passionately,
Love passionately,
Live passsionately.
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PASSION.
Yes, that is what drives everything in my life.
Women’s Intuition
For some unexplainable reasons, women seem to have this super ability to sense things. A lot of times, many shrug it off as insecurity or being downright silly.
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Me, I have always believed in it. I tell my close friends ALL the time to believe in their intuitions - as silly as they may seem to be sometimes.
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Let me illustrate:
She had an intuition awhile back..that told her something was not right about their relationship. Somehow, it seemed like he did not care enough, and was less enthusiastic about spending time together. At that point, she felt silly and maybe abit crazy for thinking those thoughts and feeling those emotions. (After all, he was the perfect boyfriend) I knew then as I know now - that she was SPOT ON. He didn’t know how to tell her that he had been unhappy in the past few years with her (he had his reasons, he claimed. I could only advise him that it’s wrong but really, they need to fix the shit that’s been swept under the carpet all those years). However, it was not in my place to tell her. Guess there are just some lessons that needed to be learnt the hard way. Or maybe some folks prefer to live in denial in order to avoid the truth…until it hits them right in-between their eyes. Sigh, the harsh reality of Life.
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So guys, never make the mistake of underestimating women’s intuitions. Sometimes, they can be really strong and can hit so close to home that it’ll scare the shit outta ya!
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Girls, believe in your intuitions. They will serve you well in times of obscurity (and save you some heartaches too!).
U jerk!
Habits when asleep :
- snore
- drool
- grind teeth
- talk (to folks they have no balls to talk to when awake, I guess)
- sleepwalk
- you-know-what
- jerk (not "off"), but as in the body jerks/twitches
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On a few occasions, I have been woken up by sweetheart in the middle of the night with a jerk of his arm/leg/body. It usually occurs right before I lose consciousness. Then, I am fully awake for another few minutes before my eyelids start to feel heavy again. Sometimes, we switch roles. I do the jerking and he does the waking up. Hehehe… I then realised that it only happens when we are both SUPER tired (from clubbing, or working out at the gym, or whatever).
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I decided to look it up and this is what I found out.
It is called a Hypnic Jerk.
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As per Wikipedia, it only occurs to really exhausted folks or to those who slept off in an uncomfortable position.
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I like this, taken from WiseGeek :
Sleep studies have shown that hypnic jerks affect around 10 percent of the population on a nightly basis. Almost 80 percent of people are affected occasionally and 10 percent are rarely ever affected. So when the person falling asleep next to you on the bus suddenly twitches for no reason, you may well be justified in calling them a hypnic jerk.
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I guess it’s harmless as long as we don’t jerk too much till we fall off the bed or hit the person sleeping next to us, eh? Hehe…
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P/S - I’d say I actually don’t mind being woken up by this hypnic jerk. I remember being woken up years ago by a different kinda jerk and I must say, me no likey! :\
No Pics :(((
Can’t share any of the treasure hunting pictures ‘cos stupid Friendster is f**ked up.
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I got this error message when I tried to add pictures in my posts:
"You have uploaded 50 photos this month. You have a limit of 50 photos per month. Upgrade your account to be able to upload more photos to your Friendster’s Blogs account"
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Total BS!
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I know for sure I have not uploaded 50 photos in the past 2 weeks. I believe it’s just their trick to make folks pay, and I will NOT pay! 
Here’s some sharing from the long list of puzzles we had to solve during the hunt.
- A lair for beautiful Malaysian Datuk singer, I hear!
Clues : ‘I hear’, lair, Datuk singer
Answer : DENSITY
Logic : Lair = Den, ‘I hear’ = sounds like, Siti
. - An alcoholic drink that mixes up our Merdeka year?
Clues : Alcoholic drink, mixes our Merdekay year
Answer : Guiness 1759
Logic : Pretty straightfoward, this one.
. - At this neighbourhood, you can find man staying inside Perak town.
Clues : Neighbourhood, man, inside Perak town
Answer : Taman iping
Logic : The word ‘MAN’ inside ‘TAIPING’, Taman = neighbourhood
. - NEP’s rural development project in southeast Johor has solid business here.
Clues : Project in Johor, solid
Answer : KEJORA Padu Enterprise
Logic : This one requires some general knowledge on Johor’s development plan = Kejora, ‘Padu’ = malay word for ’solid’
. - Sounds like what you may say to Selangor MB if you want to be included.
Clues : ’sounds like’, Selangor MB, ‘want to be included’
Answer : Mitutoyo Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
Logic : Selangor MB = Toyo, Want to be included = Me too = Mitu
. - Swap the leader with ass for the winner of our One In A Million.
Clues : swap leader with ’s’, winner of One In A Million
Answer : Yuki Hair & Beauty Saloon
Logic : Winner of One In A Million = Suki, Swap ‘S’ with ‘Y’ = Yuki
. - "Gemilang", without local itch at a technology place?
Clues : without local itch, technology place
Answer : Gel Computer Center
Logic : Itch in local language/Malay = Miang, Remove ‘miang’ from the word ‘Gemilang’ is left with "Gel", technology place = computer center.
. - Dell arranges national gathering in east Sarawak. Start to get heads involved.
Clues : start, heads involved
Answer : Dangies Salun Rambut
Logic : start of each word = Dell arranges national gathering in east Sarawak, heads involved = hair saloon
. - Langkawi head enrols in our Malaysian examination for electrical staff.
Clues : Malaysian exam, electrical, langkawi head
Answer : SPLM Electronics Sdn. Bhd.
Logic : Langkawi head = first letter of the word ‘L’, Malaysian exam = SPM, electrical staff = electronics shop
. - A heavenly body that has our National Service?
Clues : heavenly body, National Service
Answer : NS (New Star) Electromart
Logic : heavenly body = star, National Service = NS
. - Our transport minister initially looks better here.
Clues : transport minister, initial, looks
Answer : CKC Optical Group
Logic : transport minister = Chan Kong Choy, his initials = CKC, looks = optical
. - Replace the first with Elle to see a famous Malaysian singer who just passed away.
Clues : famous singer who just passed away, replace first with Elle
Answer : Yoga
Logic : Famous singer who just passed away = Loga, switch out first letter = loga = yoga
. - A former lover in Malaysian highway sets up business here.
Clues : former lover, Malaysian highway
Answer : PLEXUS
Logic : former lover = ex, Malaysian highway = PLUS
Other than these puzzles, there was also the ‘Treasures’ we had to pick up from stores and the ‘Merdeka Challenge’ questions we had to tackle.
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‘Treasures’
- we had to unscramble some words and work through anagrams to identify them. Only managed to figure out and find 3 out of the 4 treasures though. One of them made me and my other team member dash from our car into Jaya Jusco at QB Mall to grab the damn "Harimau Kuat" dishwasher paste! Sunday morning shoppers were giving us weird looks.
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‘Merdeka Challenge’
- our 5th team member helped alot with the these questions : identifying who amongst our PM’s was the ‘Bapa Pemodenan’, ‘Bapa Perpaduan’, ‘Bapa Kemerdekaan’, ‘Bapa Pembangunan’ and ‘None of the above’. It was amusing for us to find out that our current PM (Pak Lah) was ‘None of the above’. *lol*
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- one challenge in this category that we could answer easily : List down all the Rukun Negara.
Years of chanting those 5 rukun’s at school assemblies helped, I guess. We just regurgitated them out! Hehe…
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Final sharing:
Theme for this year’s 50th Merdeka Celebrations = Malaysiaku Gemilang
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Did you know that?
"Keselamatan jalan raya, tanggungjawab bersama"
"Berhati-hati di jalan raya"
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We were flagged off with these messages from MKJR (Majlis Keselamatan Jalan Raya) early Sunday morning. Waaaaayyyy too early, if I may add! :\
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As the navigator for our team, I had to ensure our team doesn’t get lost and losing precious time. Therefore, reading the list of ‘tulips’ (the equivalent of a regular map of directions for the entire hunt) well and accurately was a crucial task for me. Prior to that morning, I have always thought that tulips are refering to those gorgeous spring flowers. Now, I know it has another definition.
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Sweetheart was the appointed driver. He had the additional task of ensuring our vehicle was going at the right speed - not too fast nor too slow. Fast enough for us to make it within the given time and slow enough for us to lookout for clues. Of coz there was the occasional "Slow down!" and "Go! Go! Go!" here and there, but overall, I think he did a pretty good job.
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We had to cover a total distance of 55km and had 34 puzzles to solve, each picked up along the way. Our other 2 team members were great team players. Our ‘unofficial 5th team member’ (you know who you are!) did a great job web-surfing for whatever information we required to solve some of the puzzles. We found out later that most of the teams had an ‘unofficial 5th team member’ too. Hehe…
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I’d say we did pretty well in the 1st leg of the hunt but midway through the 2nd leg, the lack of sleep from the night before was taking its toll on us. We were taking longer to solve the later puzzles. Granted, the complexities of the puzzles were higher towards the end of the hunt. One of the final puzzles was a real red herring. We found ourselves knocking our heads on the table during the answer-sharing session!
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Overall, we had a ball of a time! In fact, the activity ignited so much interest that I gave the organiser (an external company by the name of "Paradigm Shifters Event Management") a call today to find out more about other hunts happening in Penang and all over the country.
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Would I do it again? Yeah!!
Will this potentially be one of my new weekend activities? Maybe
It has been a crazy but totally FUN weekend.
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Unlike other regular Sundays, sweetheart and I didn’t have the luxury of sleeping in and snuggling in bed till past noon. After about 3 hours of sleep, we had to drag ourselves out of bed by 6am on Sunday morning. Why? Because we were taking part in an exciting company event organised in conjunction with our upcoming Independance Day.
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It was our first attempt at treasure hunting and I must say we are rather proud of ourselves! There were 23 teams altogether and we came up 5th! Not too bad for first timers, eh?
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I have LOADS to share on all the exciting things we did throughout the 6 hours of driving all over Penang today. However, I am soooo tired from such a loooonngg weekend that I don’t think I will do justice to the entry.
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Therefore, I have decided to keep this short and will post a more detailed sharing tomorrow.
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What I need now is some zzzzzzZzzzzzzz’s…
Happy Birthday, Girlie!
This post is dedicated to someone very special.
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We have known each other for years since high school but we lost touch after graduation. She went on to take up courses in a local college while I moved on to a local Uni. Years later, we bumped into each other at a club and we have been doing lots of fun things together since then!
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Yesterday, we celebrated her birthday with some close friends. Great wine, good food, and fantastic company : a sure-win combination. It was followed by good clubbing times (although not at our usual, favourite clubbing spot).
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Here is a sharing on how she has evolved into the sexy, gorgeous woman that she is today.
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2005 birthday celebration
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2006 birthday celebration
2007 birthday celebration
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Pics of birthday gal taken with some good friends.
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And lastly, group picture.
Happy faces, happy friends.
Happy Birthday, girl!
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May you have many, many more of this great celebration and may you get hotter and hotter each year!
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*muax & hugz*
WTF ?!?
Time check : Slightly past midnight.
Thought to self : It canNOT be a police raid. It’s too damn early for that shit! And it only happened last Saturday. 2 raids in a week??? Something smells fishy here…
Deejay announcement : "This is a routine police check. Ladies, please move to my left and guys to my right."
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What the…. ?!?!!??
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Me : Hey R, what the hell is happening here? They cannot be here to check for drugs or shit…it’s too damn early! The night has only just begun for these party people.
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R : Yea, J is not in town these few weeks. Their big boss wanna cari pasal lah.
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Me : You cannot ‘kautim’ them meh??? This can be really detrimental to your biz leh. I brought at least 50 colleagues here tonight after our company dinner and some of them are first timers to this place. How do you think they will think abt coming back here lah???
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R : I know I know…and I am reeaallly sorry but at this point in time, my hands are tied.
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*At this point, R’s bodyguard interrupted our conversation with a string of Hokkien vulgarities. Whoah, looks like he’s really pissed with those party poopers*
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Me : Or izzit becos the Ramadhan month is around the corner and they need some ‘help’ to work through the Ramadhan month???
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R : Heh..looks like you seem to know how it works around the clubbing biz eh? Yea, that’s part of the shit we have to deal with when we get into this biz.
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Me : Crap! *this time, it was my turn to swear* *&R$%#$%%^&^&*
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R : I think you better take your friends somewhere else for the night. Don’t think we can ’settle’ this in an hour or so. Will need to make some major nego with them tonight. J’s flying in from Singapore to take care of this shit.
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Me : Alright, alright. Let me know when these jerks are outta here and this place is ready for us to party, ok?
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R : I will. You go have fun and I’ll call ya soon. Promise.
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OK, where to next? It’s too damn early and most of my clubbing friends refused to call it a night just yet. Suggestions people…
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QEII : "No dance floor lah"
SS : "Sound system leaves much to be desired"
S3 : "Only if you enjoy Chinese pop/rock"
Chill Out : "Errm…maybe 5 years ago…"
Glo : "Errmmm..crowd kinda kiddish leh." Sweetheart snickered. Some other guys had their faces all shrivelled up.
Ok fine fine….that leaves us with just Soho. Nods in the group.
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So, off to Soho we went and there we stayed for the rest of the Friday night. Birthday celebration continued there and birthday boy was soooo high he was dancing non-stop the entire night.
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Me? Yea, I had fun towards the end of the night when I found myself dancing with this hot gal with really soft, kissable lips.
Sweetheart? Heh…he had fun too, and he agreed those lips are darn soft and kissable.
M? High as a bird on his fav JW Black Label.
G? As usual, dancing the night away and causing all the guys around our table to nose-bleed.
J? Hot, hot hot!
The rest? "Potong steam lah. We had been looking forward to clubbing at Momo!"
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Oh well, the shitty politics of the authorities.
Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! - Yea, right.
Weekend Life
Did you clubbers make a pact to pop out of your mommies’ tummies in the lucky 8th month of the year?
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I just realised today that a lot of my clubbing friends are August babies. In just 2 weekends, we already have 4 birthdays to celebrate…and it’s not the end yet! The weekend is only just begining and I am already worried that I may not be able to cramp all my weekend activities into 2 days :\
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I am already shuddering thinking of the crazy partying for the next 2 nites. (I know I know…I shudder now, but later when the action kicks in, I forget all the exhaustion and can only be guided by the beat of the music and the language of love) It is alllllll good.
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Folks ask me all the time "Eleen, don’t you ever get tired of clubbing every weekend?"
My answer to them : "Only if I am with a boring crowd but hey, ever heard of the phrase ‘Birds of a feather flock together’? So there you go : FUN people hang with FUN people! And there are enough of them to hang with for awhile."
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Of coz my weekend life is not just about clubbing and more clubbing. I try to squeeze in some ‘Pamper Eleen’ time here and there. Be it a pedicure session, an aromatherapy session or a couple of hours at the spa. Then there is the time allocated for family too (although my parents are still complaining that they do not see enough of me). Sweetheart? He is an everyday activity. :)))
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Then, there is my other favourite weekend activity : Cooking.
QM and I used to do alot of this before she moved back to KL. *sob sob* I miss her…
However, I just found a new friend who loves to explore cooking as much as I do too (you know who you are! *muax*). So, I forsee that some weekend times will be spent exploring some exotic dishes. Yum Yum.
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Also, another friend just bought a new place and is requesting for some help to do it up. No problemo, buddy. It was FUN doing up my apartment and I would be more than happy to help you with yours. I’ll help you turn it into a reeaalllllyy sexy bachelor pad that girls will be begging to spend their nights at your place, ok?!
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Thank you, every one of you…for making my Weekend Life so darn good!
Mainland Awakening
Like most Penangites living on the island most of our lives, the only route we are familiar with when getting on the Penang bridge would be heading down South to Ipoh, KL or Singapore.
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Tonight, we were humbled by the fact that in some aspects, the mainland has a lot more to offer us islanders than what the island itself has.
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There is this new mall on the mainland that is called Sunway Carnival Mall. With some time to kill before the wedding dinner (who organises a wedding dinner on a Thursday nite anyway?!), we decided to check it out.
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To our surprise, this new mall has waaaayyy more to offer than Queensbay Mall (QB) on the island. Forget the size, it’s not that big but man, it is damn impressive! I don’t remember feeling that impressed the first time I walked into QB. The floors were sparkling and almost blinding. The toilets were dry and clean too. The part that impressed me the most was the fact that they had numerous digital LCD screens serving as floor directory for the place! I don’t remember ever seeing a decent directory at QB. Heck, even Gurney Plaza does not have LCD screens for directory.
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For those shoppers out there, this is definitely one trip across the bridge that is worth making. Folks like me who wouldn’t make trips to the mainland just to shop (I did it becos of the wedding dinner tonight), if you find yourselves on the mainland with some time to kill, go check out this new mall. It’s a stone’s throw from Sunway Hotel.
Tarzan & Jane
Men can generally be divided into 2 main categories.
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Group (1) : Those who care about their underwear.
They are the ones who will always insist on ‘good’ underwear. By ‘good’, I meant decent-looking (meaning NO HOLES!), or sexy, or inexpensive, or just plain comfy.
Group (2) : Those who do not give a shit.
They are the ones who don’t give 2 hoots abt what they wear underneath their pants. Guys who like to go commando fall under this group too.
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I will not reveal which group my sweetheart belongs to but those who know me will know which kinda guy rocks my world.
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Then, there are their partners.
Group (1)
Those who don’t give a damn which group their men belong to.
Group (2)
Those who cannot tolerate their men wearing the ‘wrong’ underwear (could be not sexy enough, or too uncle-ish, or too cheapo-looking, or whatever).
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Logic for Group (1):
"Hey, they all look and feel the same underneath. It’s what they can DO with what’s underneath that matters, right???"
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Logic for Group (2):
"Look, I wouldn’t want my man to have his HOLEY underwear exposed to others should he get into an accident *touch wood*, and the paramedics had to remove his pants to save his life or something!"
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Which group do you belong to?
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