November’s almost gone and December’s a day away.
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Just thinking about what’s in store for us in December is enough to give us migraines - the good ones, that is. Parties, events, teambuilding activities, MORE parties, hosting of international counterparts and the list goes on and on. Let’s just take one weekend at a time, eh?
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It starts with an exciting Food Hunt with some fellow hunters (and Penang food lovers). Check out the event here. Then there’s the upcoming Jazz Festival. Great music, great company and great times. Sparks will fly at Bayview Beach Resort this weekend!
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So much excitement…can’t wait! 
Archive for November, 2007
30
Nov
Here, there, everywhere!
29
Nov
All worth it
Sometimes, it gets really tough.
Sometimes, I feel like giving up.
Sometimes, I wanna put both my hands around their throats and choke the lives out of them!
Sometimes, I wish they’d grow up and be less childish about things.
Sometimes, I pray for Divine intervention.
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Still…
I soldiered on,
I never gave up on them,
I never stopped believing in them,
I continued to invest my time and effort in them,
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Then…I am reminded that it can be worth it. All of it.
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When they presented me with a personally-crafted scrapbook,
Each page filled with personal stories and pictures,
Each telling a story, a chapter, a roller-coaster ride,
Of our learnings, our achievements and our joys.
That will move any hearts.
And yes, it moved my heart…and me…to tears.
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Fast forward 2.5 years,
I found myself in a similar situation.
When she came to me with a hug, a smile and these words :
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"I will never forget all the lessons you taught me, Eleen. I will miss you a whole bunch and I can never thank you enough for showing me the path which I am embarking on. Thank you for being a wonderful manager, advisor, confidant and friend."
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I walked away from her with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes.
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Yes, it can all be worth it.
28
Nov
Elfamorphosis
Yet another long night tonight.
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More con calls and more work to plough through. I am begining to feel like a vampire - except that I do not get to sleep in during the day. Still gotta work like other mortals and then, get to be a vampire and stay up at night for more work. Woohooo!!!
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OK, enough bitching.
Now, unto something more cheerful.
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Thanks to SL, I discovered a really cool way to convey our X’mas wishes to our friends. Funky music, personalized morph and all. Check it out here.
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Less than a month to go….tick tock tick tock!!! :)))
27
Nov
Almost
It is 100% confirmed.
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My Tuesday nights are confirmed screwed. The weekly con call is now a permanent fixture in my Life for at least a couple more months. With a heavy heart, I was forced to accept the fact that for as long as the gym schedule remains unchanged, I will never get to go for another session of Abs & Stretch class on Tuesday nights. :(((
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Work today was totally dissatisfying. Instead of program managing as a PM should, I ended up running around doing other tasks to support the program - something a fellow team member should be doing but because he lacks the skillsets and experience, I ended up taking over the task from him considering the tight timeline we are working on.
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Resolution made at the end of today :
Need to find better skilled SMEs (Subject Matter Expert) to support my program so that I can do my own job as well as I know I can!
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By 5.30pm today, I was so wound-up that any poor souls coming to talk to me would have me biting their heads off. Ya, I almost lost it. Desperately in need of something to destress.
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Decided to go hiking while there’s still light (the sun sets rather early these days) to see my way up and downhill. Really need those endorphins to keep me happy and sane tonight if I am to survive the two long con calls. So, I got my 2nd hike in 3 days…after a break of a year, maybe more.
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Good, I feel.
Happy, I feel
Satisfied, I feel.
Destressed, I feel.
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At times, when I get those endorphins pumped into my bloodstream after a good workout, I almost believed…that…it’s as good as sex. Almost.
26
Nov
Pastamania
Latest restaurant at Gurney Plaza, Penang. Just a stone’s throw from GSC. Being an Italian food lover, I was super excited when it opened its doors recently. Sweetheart’s exact words to me - "I’m sure you’d want to try out the food here before the week is out!"
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True enough, we decided to give it a try last Sunday just before our movie started in the evening. Here’s what we discovered.
- No 10% service charge.
- Service is ala McD or KFC. Customers are to order their food at the counter and pay for their food prior to consumption.
- Fairly big portion.
- Price is standard - not too pricey nor too inexpensive.
- All the waitors are super friendly. "How is the food?", "Is everything OK?", "Thank you for coming. See you again!".
- Looks wise, pretty decent. Refer below pix.
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- Taste wise - waaayyy below average!
We rated it a 2 out of 10 score.
Would I go back?
Nope
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P/S - If I really have to eat something before watching a movie, I’d rather go for the food from Glitter Cafe @ GSC. Many times better than the sorry of an excuse for an Italian restaurant.
25
Nov
Disappointment
Friends DO NOT lie to each other…
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They give each other a hard time,
They smack each other around sometimes,
And they even call each other names,
Yes, they do some darn crazy things to one another.
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When they get mad and emotions run all over the place,
They may say things to hurt each other sometimes,
But deep down inside, they know
That they still believe in each other.
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Above all,
Friends trust one another,
They do not mock each other’s intelligence,
By feeding lies that would not even fly with kids,
Yeah, for sure…
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FRIENDS DO NOT LIE TO EACH OTHER.
24
Nov
Super Duper Saturday
It was one of the most ‘balanced’ days I’ve had in awhile. A balanced day of love, sweat, aches and satisfaction.
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Had lunch at Sweetheart’s place and played around with his nephew for abit. Then, while his family was kept busy by the kid, we got a little busy ourselves. *wink wink*
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After that, it was off to Penang Hill for my first hike in months. In fact, I think it was my first hike for the entire year! Have been exercising indoors since my outdoor buddies packed their bags and moved away from Penang. Decided it was time to put my fitness to test when a fellow colleague suggested a Penang Hill hike over the weekend.
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Although 2 folks PPK us (‘Pang Poey Kee’ - Hokkien term for ’standing us up’), we still enjoyed a very satisfactory hike to Point 84.
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Here’s the happy trio looking totally satisfied and pleased with ourselves upon reaching our planned destination in 80 minutes. There was one more thing my hiking buddies were most enthusiastic about - the free cuppa black coffee served at every pit-stop. Good ol’ Penang! 
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I was pleasantly surprised by my personal performance. Definitely not as fit as when I was doing it weekly in preparation for our Kinabalu hike but not too bad at all. While I was not surprised by T’s agility, I was VERY impressed with Y’s fitness level. For someone who is an a-pack-a-day death-stick addict, he still managed to make it up to Point 84 without having to crawl towards the end. Salute, my friend! 
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I realised that I’ve almost forgotten how happy I get when I leave the sights and sounds of the city for the serenity and freshness of Nature. I was reminded of how some little things can make my heart sing.
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Like this for example.
A monkey giving me de eye while I sucked H2O from my CamelBak.
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And the pair of stray (and VERY fit) dogs that accompanied us for a good distance as we made our descent. It amused me to no end when I found them stopping - with their tongues hanging out - as and when we stopped to give our knees a break.
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Yes, there are many routes to go down the hill and for this time, we decided to take the one that’ll take us back to the Botanical Gardens. When we got to the bottom and were walking around the Gardens to our cars parked at Youth Park (about 15-20 minutes’ walk), I realised just how long it has been since I was last there. I was like a tourist going "Wow! There’re tea-houses here!" and "Yoh! When did they put up this trail of Botanic Walk? Sooo impressive. Makes me so darn proud to be a Penangite!".
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Am definitely gonna make this activity a more frequent one (weekly perhaps?), now that I have found myself some hiking buddies. Next time, we go all the way to the top, ya!
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The wrap-up for the day?
An evening of dancing and drinking with some friends. Sweetheart had abit of ‘extra’ fun which had some of our friends’ eyes almost popping out of their sockets. Me? As I’ve always said : As long as I get to watch, baby!
23
Nov
First Of May
Initially, it was the Bee Gees. Then it was Sarah Brightman.
Yet, when I heard Emi Fujita’s melodious voice singing the same song, I fell hopelessly in love with the combination of the song and her voice. I couldn’t get her haunting voice out of my head for weeks.
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Here’re the lyrics to the song.
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**********************************************************
When I was small, and Christmas trees were tall,
we used to love while others used to play.
Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by,
someone else moved in from far away.
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Now we are tall, and Christmas trees are small,
and you don’t ask the time of day.
But you and I, our love will never die,
but guess who’ll cry come first of May.
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The apple tree that grew for you and me,
I watched the apples falling one by one.
And as I recall the moment of them all,
the day I kissed your cheek and you were gone.
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Now we are tall, and Christmas trees are small,
and you don’t ask the time of day.
But you and I, our love will never die,
but guess who’ll cry come first of May.
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When I was small, and Christmas trees were tall,
do do do do do do do do do …
Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by,
someone else moved in from far away.
************************************************************
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Listen to it here and you’ll know what I mean.
22
Nov
Happy Thanksgiving!
Stuff to give thanks for :
- Health (physical, mental & sexual)
- Parents (for bringing me into this world)
- Job (for the reason I get out of bed every morning)
- Friends (for the laughters, tears, loves and fears)
- Sweetheart (for the yang in my ying Life)
- God (for reminding me to believe at times when I almost give up)
Lastly, importantly…
- The trials and tribulations that make me stronger each passing day.
21
Nov
Diver’s 3rd Degree
The 3 P’s to ask divers :
- What if you need to Pee?
- What if you need to Poo?
- What if you need to Puke?
Answers I get :
- Pee
- "Hold it till I get back to shore!"
- "Just pee lah! Warm warm wan…"
- "Dunno…never tried before." - Poo
- "I usually clear my bowel in the early morning before I head out to sea."
- "Ermmm, never had to do it."
- "Good question. Will let you know when it happens to me." - Puke
- "It never happened to me but I know a friend who kena. That greedy pig whacked too much at breakfast. Ended up puking in the boat all the way out to sea. As a result, he had to sit out that particular dive."
- "Yoh! Don’t even want to think about it. Disgusting ler!!!"
Wonder what other "P’s" they have to deal with. Will hafta hang out more with my diver friends to find out. Or take up the sport as per my original plan years ago. Sometime soon, I hope.
20
Nov
Bollywood Style
Under a tree,
Somewhere across the sea,
With the early morning light dancing in our eyes,
Cheekily we decided…
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…to steal a kiss!
19
Nov
Just Engaged! - Part III
It took us awhile to realise that the wedding cake is not plastic. It looked and felt like plastic to the touch….but it’s actually made from royal icing and brought all the way from KL back to Padang Serai. What totally blew our minds off was the ring casing. It was delicately craved from royal icing too. The details were really impressive!
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Here’s how gorgeous it looked (and its taste is as sweet to the mouth as its vision is to the eyes). To many oooohs and ahhhhhhs, the happy couple fed each other with a HUGE mouthful of the sweet icing.
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Then, there is the ring exchange ceremony.
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I thought I had more pix of the happy couple but it looks like these are all the pix I had of them. Lotsa repeat shots. 
Will hafta wait till the other (more professional) photographer downloads the pix she took on her professional cam.
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Lastly. how could the day be complete without The STUD posing for pix with each and every one of the hot girls there.
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P/S - CONGRATULATIONS, Amirt & Geetha!!! *Muax*
18
Nov
Totally KO-ed!
Too much excitement the night before and on D-day. *lol*
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Thankfully, these guys were back to their usual selves a couple of hours later.
17
Nov
Just Engaged! - Part II
For weeks prior to the day, lotsa plans were made to prepare us all for it. From picking the color theme to the shopping trip at Little India, it was a blur of activities. Even Sweetheart got sucked into it all and was excitedly shopping with me for his green ‘jippa’.
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Despite the previous night’s full drinking session (3G will never be the same again!), they still managed to pull themselves together for their brother with just one-hour’s sleep. Me impressed.
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Last chance to call for advice before taking the BIIGGGG step ahead.
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Uh-oh….too late!
The ladies were streaming out of the prep house with the gifts.
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*side-track*
Check out the hot gal in the light blue saree (standing 3rd in line from right to left) - that’s the groom’s sister. The guys were all drooling over her and I had a good time dancing with her at the following night’s clubbing session. Conversation between us on that night.
A : Weiiii, cannot hit on my sister ah!!!
Me : Why not?? She is sizzling HOT what…!!! *sticks tongue out*
A’s hot sis : Yea, why not?? She can hit on me for all she wants.
All I had to do then was to grin smugly at him before proceeding to continue dancing with his hot sister.
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Back to D-day’s update.
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We were greeted with a beautiful kolam on the front porch. Jo and Mel couldn’t resist posing for a picture with it.
Then, there’s the must-take picture with the happy couple. Had stiff jaws after this pose from having to hold the smile for too long a time. Just too many cameras clicking away. Hey, what I can say…we made a good looking group!
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As usual, the cam-whoring opportunity was too darn good to resist.
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While the happy couple were kept busy with relatives, we got busy stuffing ourselves with delish Indian spread catered by the famous Sri Ananda Bhawan (although the below picture had none of the food captured in it, just contented and happy friends of the couple).
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I’ll end this post with my favourite picture taken that morning. It managed to find its way into our mobile phones as the wallpaper/screen saver.
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Next part will be all about the happy couple. :)
16
Nov
Just Engaged! - Part I
The day started out super early.
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Both Sweetheart and I were lamenting the fact that we got up earlier than our regular workdays. My phone alarm went off at 5.45am and the excited groom-to-be texted us shortly after. "A few more minutes!" we promised each other. Indeed, those extra few minutes were most precious and appreciated. More time for cuddling and then some! It was close to 6.30am when we finally got our asses out of bed. By 7am, we were already on the Penang Bridge heading towards SP for the engagement celebration in Padang Serai. I must admit, despite not being too esctatic about having to wake up so early, we were rather excited about the morning ahead.
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Map provided by the groom-to-be helped us get to the destination in 40 mins. We found ourselves to be the first guests to arrive. Rubz and I were then led to the prep house (a few doors away from the bride’s place) to be dressed up in our sarees. Little did we realise that was the begining of our ‘early morning adventure’.
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The Indian aunties were shocked to discover that we were not planning on wearing the regular saree tops with our sarees. "No! No! No! You cannot wear a saree without the saree top!", they aiyoyo-ed. "Yes, we can, Auntie. We have worn it many times before. We just cannot remember how to make the folds and tie the saree cloth around us, which is why we need your help - to make the folds and tie for us." - that was my answer to them.
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Finally, they relented. "Ok, Ok, we will try to tie for you, but we have never tied sarees this way before. On tube and tank tops instead of the regular saree tops, imagine that! AIYOYO!!!"
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Complete the task, they did. It took all of 30 minutes. The result : Magnifique!
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Here are the pictures of the guys looking like Bollywood stars in their ‘jippas’ and the gals looking HOT in their unconventional saree styles.
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Thank God the weather was kind to us. No rain and it was not too hot either….but towards late morning to noon, it did get kinda humid.
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Stay tuned for more pictures and updates of the event.
15
Nov
Yet Another Saree Affair
At the eleventh hour, a thought hit me.
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"I have NO safety pins!!! How to tie saree tomorrow without any safety pins?!?!"
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Only after 10pm tonight, it hit me. Way too late to walk into a store to purchase some. Too late to go bug friends to supply some. Been just too damn busy with work the entire week to remember those darn safety pins. No way am I gonna survive tomorrow without my saree falling apart if there are no safety pins to the rescue!
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Before I hit too high a panic mode, I decided to call for SOS. Thank God for the happy bride-to-be, the day is saved! :))) The safety pin supplier will be there ready for our arrival tomorrow morning. *Phew*
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Smilingly, I sit back to clear my remaining work so that I don’t get bugged on my day off tomorrow. Will be driving to Kulim for a pair of dear friends’ engagement celebration. Theme for the day is seablue and green. Can’t wait to get dressed up in yet another gorgeous green saree, thanks to my saree supplier. *muah*
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Hopefully, we will get to sleep early tonight (before 2am!) considering it’ll be an early start for us tomorrow…but then again, Sweetheart seems rather frisky today. HhhMMmmmmm……oh well, I ain’t complaining. No such thing as too mucho doh doh!
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P/S - Will share the pix from tomorrow’s happy affair. Stay tuned!
14
Nov
My Saviour
Situation : Had a grand total of 3 hours sleep last night.
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Consequence : Grouchy all-day long.
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Possible Solution # 1 : Get a quickie to pump some endorphines into my head.
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Possible Solution # 2 : Leave at halfday and try to get some sleep in the afternoon.
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Reality : Non-stop meetings the entire day.
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Actual Solution : A sweetheart who knows the perfect remedy - Cuddling Time!
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*smug grin*
14
Nov
Fishy Encounter
Went for food tasting today for lunch at EQ.
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All 10 of us went through the 8 full course of dishes. Living up to the Dell way, we had LOADS to feedback about every single dish. Rejected some, requested for change on others and loved a couple.
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All of us had generally similar feedback about the dishes except for one : the fish dish. It was a gigantic deep fried siakap in some interesting sauce. As each of my fellow food tasters bit into the fish, I watched their expressions and listened out for their comments. Most went "Mmmmm! Good! Love the special sauce. Something different from the usual lemon sauce."
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I took my first bite. Crunchy. "Ok, the deep fried bit is done right." Now, to find a soft meaty bit and check out its taste and freshness. Questions filled my mind. "Good? They say this is good?", I thought to myself. Confused, I took another bite. A powdery taste filled my mouth. "This fish was totally frozen and NOT fresh!".
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I turned to E sitting next to me. She has gotta be the most respected EA in the entire organisation. I have known her since Day One. I raised an eyebrow questionably at her. She caught my look, took a bite, chewed very slowly…and after a few seconds, frowned and returned my look. No words were exchanged between us but we knew what each was gonna write on our respective piece of feedback paper about the dish.
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Much later, in the car on the way back to the office, E and I discovered we share similar acid testing rules for fish. Too bad our fellow food tasters today didn’t share our view.
- Tip # 1 :
- Best way to test the freshness of a fish is to have it steamed, never fried. Frying is the best way to mask the unfreshness of a fish. - Tip # 2 :
- If it’s freshwater fish and yet does not have the ‘mud’ smell, it’s been frozen for too long prior to being cooked. - Tip # 3 :
- If it takes too much effort to remove ALL the meat from the bones, it’s not fresh. Fresh meat comes off the bone easily, leaving the bone squeaky clean. - Tip # 4 :
- Don’t bother checking out the eyes. They can easily be masked by the way it’s cooked. Best way is just to taste the meat. - Tip # 5 :
- Bite into the fish meat and chew slowly to taste. A quick chew and swallow will only give us the taste of the sauce coating the meat, not the meat itself.
I ain’t exactly a fish lover, prefer my red meat…but still, I’ll never be able to resist good food. Sweetheart’s favourite phrase - "Hey, we are proud Penangites and we KNOW our food, GOOD food!"
13
Nov
A Plea
There are a few things in Life that hurt me. One of them is seeing people I love at loggerheads with each other.
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So, why do they not get along?
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For the simple reason that they cannot communicate with each other effectively. Finger-pointing becomes the favourite activity for them. "It’s the other person’s fault for not playing ball/listening to me!". It’s always easier to point to someone else, eh….but what they seemed to have forgotten is something I shared with them eons ago.
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"When you point a finger to someone else, you actually have 4 other fingers pointing back at yourself."
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No, they do not remember this anymore. All they can see now is the frustration, the dislike, the annoyance. Dig deep and all one can find is a pothole full of dark emotions.
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Please….open up your minds and hearts if you find yourselves knocking against a wall. No point ramming against the wall ‘coz that’s not gonnna get you through it. Be smart and pool your efforts together to get over the wall together. Ultimately, it’s a win-win situation when both are aligned with expectations of each other.
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I love you both and want to see you both reach the STARS! I know you are capable of that…and sooo much more!
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P/S - Sweeping them all under the carpet does not make it ok. Running away doesn’t fix it either. Face them head-on and fix them. You both know I am more than happy to help/advice if you need any. All you need to do is ask. Until then, I will be here waiting.
13
Nov
Random Thoughts
Things that zoom through one’s mind when caught in back-to-back con calls till past midnite :
- NOT happy that gym has to be compromised for these damn calls.
- Damn connection to work server gotta be better than this turtle-ish speed!
- Hey, I get to clear my Inbox since most folks in this part of the world are asleep or at least chilling for the evening. Me likey…
- My back is killing me! Need a massage BADLY.
- Why can’t those folks on the other line hear me??? Must I shout to be heard???
- Hey, some regional gaps are identified and that’s always a good thing. At least that takes us a step closer to *real* globalisation.
- Why are the files in the shared portals taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R to be opened up???
- Why does that guy talk funny? He’s speaking English but I can’t understand what he’s trying to say….darn….articulate your words properly, mate.
- Oh, I need a cuddle reeeaaalll bad.
- Ok, time to call it a night!
‘Tis gonna be some exciting weeks ahead, all the way till Christmas. Woohooooo~~~
Some months ago, I wrote about this and of late, my mind has been pulled in the direction of the same topic. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that someone I know is going through one of the most important event in her Life (not the happily-ever-after story, the other one).
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As she reached out to me for advice and solace, I found that I was only able to offer the latter. Due to lack of personal experience, I was unable to give her the advice she truly needs. So, I did the next best thing I could think of : Seek professional advice from some friends in the legal field. The things I found out from them reminded me of the harsh realities of real Life.
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It confirmed one thing for me, though. Getting a divorce is NOT cheap! A simple, straightforward one will cost about RM3K to RM4K while a more complicated one will cost about RM6K to RM7K. That’s just the legal fees. There will definitely be other miscellaneous costs. The good news is, there is hope for those who don’t have that kinda money stashed away. This flicker of hope is called ‘Legal Aid’. To quote their site, Penang Bar was the pioneer in legal aid. Thankfully, they are just a phone call away @ 04-2617451.
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Without meaning to rain on anyone’s parade, here’s my personal checklist prior to taking the big step forward.
- Be mindful to look past the haze of fairy tales and romance novels. It’s really true that we can NOT survive on Love alone. The promise to each other needs to be nurtured with trust, tolerance and honesty … amongst others.
- Put all cards on the table. Hang your emotions at the door and sit down to talk about your career and family plans, your aspirations, your faith, your sexual preferance and most importantly, the direction you want to take in Life. Do your paths point to the same direction?
- Heed the fact that you will have to live with all his perks and quirks. The perks are easy. It’s the quirks that will make or break you. Never, ever think that you going to change his annoying habits after you have his ring on your finger. You will only be kidding yourself.
I do not claim to be an expert on this matter. Heck, I am still learning new things everyday on how to be a better partner to my Sweetheart. It’ll definitely be one step at a time for us. No leaps nor jumps only to find ourselves in expensive sh!t-holes. :\
11
Nov
BR
That’s for Baskin Robbins - my favourite ice cream in the world.
Not even Haagen Dazs comes close to it…well, to me anyways.
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Mint Chocolate Chip & Jamuca Almond Fudge. I would trade-in many things in life for either (or both!) of them. With Christmas around the corner, they have a new flavor specially for the festive season : Egg Nog. Yum Yum! Methinks it’s time to start preparing some homemade egg nog to share with family and friends. The one we made last year was kickass…and this year, we should add more rum for some ‘extra’ kick! *grin*
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So, what makes yummy ice cream yummier?
To lick it off the man/woman you love!
10
Nov
English, anyone?
Over a couple of iced Ume-Choya (Jap plum alcohol) recently, I learnt some interesting facts about how other Asians master the English language.
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Halfway through our chilling time, my mobile rang and my Korean counterpart cocked his ear to one side in the most peculiar way. A few minutes later, after I ended my brief call, I just had to ask.
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Me : Hey Andy, why did you look at my phone in that weird way when it rang just now?
Andy : Ohh…I was just intriqued by your ring tone. I didn’t know they have "Sex In The City" theme song turned into a mobile ring tone.
Me (in amazement) : Huh??? You knew it’s from "Sex In The City"??? You’re the first guy I know who has recognised my mobile ring tone. I must say I am impressed!
Andy : Oh! During my early Uni days when I was trying to pick up the English language, that was the movie I was watching daily to master the language.
Me : Reeeaalllyyy??? For me and most folks I know, it was "Mind Your Language" with Mr. Brown.
Andy : I picked it because it’s backdropped against the busiest city in America and I thought I’d pick up some business lingo.
Me : *LOL* So, was it helpful in your efforts to pick up the English language?"
Andy : Well, if you consider the words "Fuck" and "Sex" as the English language, then YUPPP…I’m a Pro now! *grin*
Me : ROFL!!!!
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Methinks it may be time to dig out my DVD set of the movie and try to ‘improve’ on my English.
09
Nov
7 Deadly Sins
Today, I seem to be binging on online quizzes.
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From a neverending list, this one caught my eye and I decided to take it to see how I fare in my sins. The results? For me to agree/disagree and for you to ponder on.
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| Greed: | Medium | |
| Gluttony: | Medium | |
| Wrath: | Low | |
| Sloth: | Medium | |
| Envy: | High | |
| Lust: | High | |
| Pride: | Medium |
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Take your own test here and see how accurately (or inaccuratley) it describes you.
09
Nov
Cocktail of the Century
I know this is kinda like stale ‘coz almost everyone I know have taken this personality test eons ago, but hey, it’s still lotsa fun! I did mine and didn’t quite like what it came back with. So, I edited it abit and came up with my own concoction. Just as complicated as the person.
ENJOY!
| How to make a Eleen Por |
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Ingredients:
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| Method: Add to a cocktail shaker and mix vigorously. Add lovability to taste! Do not overindulge! |
Here’s where you can get your own cocktail if you have not gotten it already.
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Remember…it’s all in the name of FUN and be mindful not to let it depress/annoy/piss you off if it comes back with something you don’t like!
08
Nov
Martini Cafe
Been driving past this newly-opened place in Gurney Drive on our way to gym. Decided to check it out tonight since it was still early by the time we were done with dinner.
- Love the interior and the soft lighting.
- Love the apple green and white combination for their furniture.
- Love that they serve food too. Not just finger food but also some simple main dishes. (We didn’t try them though. So, dunno if the food’s any good)
- Love that they have Hoegardenn on their beer list.
- Don’t like their concept of allowing patrons to light up indoors.
- Don’t understand why they have so many tables outdoors yet allow the indoor section to be smoked up. Non-smokers like us for sure don’t appreciate that.
Their price list for drinks and food is reasonable. We had a lychee martini (a combination of vodka, lychee liqueur & apple juice), a mocktail (can’t remember its’ name, it was nothing to shout about anyways) and a Hoegardenn. Bill came up to about RM60.
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We found out they have nightly themes from Sundays to Thursdays.
Sunday - Bingo! Night
Monday - Jazz Night
Tuesday - Ladies Night (comp drinks for ladies)
Wednesday - Classical Night
Thursday - Bingo! Night (again?)
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Service was nothing to shout about.
Would I go back? Maybe but only if it’s not up to me to decide.
08
Nov
ECCO Cafe
Some weeks ago, a friend made my day when she came to me with this news :
"Hey Eleen, I read your post on cannelloni and I’ve got great news for ya. I know of a place in Penang that serves a pretty mean dish of cannelloni. Go try it out!"
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So I made Sweetheart drive through Chulia Street on gym nights (coz those are the nights we go downtown on weeknights). It took us a few drives up and down the street to find it though. The restaurant is rather inconspicuous and one has to really look out for it to locate it. If you are driving from Penang Road turning left into Chulia Street, the restaurant is on your left.
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Tonight, I decided to check out this place and boy, was I in for a super surprise! A good kinda surprise, that is. Thanks to Rosalind, I got to enjoy a good Italian (and inexpensive) meal right in the middle of Penang’s old town.
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The thing I love most about it is the rustic, old Penang-feel one gets upon stepping foot into the place. It has a grand total of 7 or 8 small tables (maybe 10 at the most). Here’s a picture of my dinner mates, Em & Dan, waiting hungrily for dinner to be served. Wait time was decent. We were just super hungry when we got there.
Gigantic menu displayed outside the restaurant.
Upon scanning the menu, I couldn’t find my cannelloni dish! My heart dropped to my feet and immediate thought in my head was "Gotta tell Rosalind the bad news that they took cannelloni off the menu already". Then, at a corner of the place, I saw this :
Yipppeee!! They have cannelloni! My dinner mates were like "It better be good if you are THIS excited about it!".
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So, here are our choices for dinner tonight.
- Starter : Focaccia bread with pesto dip (3 slices). Priced @ RM6. Em went over the hill with this!
- Communal : Louisiana Pizza (salami, tomato, onion, olives, tabasco sauce). Priced @ RM14. We asked for extra mushroom topping. That was an additional RM3. Its taste? Crisply Italianny!
- Main # 1 : What else? Cannelloni! Priced @ RM18, it was really good. The one I had at Mizi’s in New World Park pales in comparison to this (Mizi’s burnt their cannelloni dish!).
- Main # 2 : Homemade squid-ink pasta in tomato sauce. Erm…don’t know how much this one cost as it’s not on the menu and was a today’s-special. My experiences with squid-ink pasta had always been with white sauce and this was my first try with tomato sauce. The verdict…YUMMY! Love the combination of black olives and squid in the dish.
- Main # 3 : Truz. This is a *really* unique pasta dish. According to the friendly server, this was the brainchild of the chef’s Australian friend. What’s in it? Cajun spiced chicken, cream sauce and bananas! Yes, I thought the combination of pasta and bananas would be weird but surprisingly, it was really good! Dan loved it to bits. Priced @ RM13.
- Dessert : Crème brûlée. This French dish’s good! Not too sweet but in my humble opinion, will be yummier if the custard is more chilled. Em loved it though. Price is unknown coz it’s not on the menu and silly us didn’t check its price when the bill came.
- Drinks : Their fruit juice rocks! It’s pure juice with no sugar syrup or added water. Need a good thirst quencher? Order their orange-apple-pineapple juice. The combination is out of this world!
Total cost : RM99.50
Pretty inexpensive considering we ordered so much food AND drinks (between us, we had 7 drinks!) for just the 3 of us.
*Note to self*
Must remember to turn on phone cam’s night mode to take better shots. Not too happy with these grainy pics.
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Information on ECCO Cafe :
Location - 402, Chulia Street, Georgetown, Penang
Opening hours - 1100 hrs to 1400 hrs (for brunch & lunch), 1800 hrs to 2030 hrs (for dinner)
Opening days - Everyday except Sundays
Contact # - (04) 262 3178
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At the end of the night, we requested to speak to the chef to pay him our compliments and found the man to be a really nice guy. None of those haughty chef attitude. Good looking too!
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Finally…No, I am not getting paid or bribed by the owner for this post. Being a foodie, I just love good food and love sharing food discoveries with my friends. :))) Also, I’ve always appreciated good customer service and this place definitely measures up.
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Will I go back for more? You bet!
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Next time, I’m gonna order the pumpkin soup (the table next to ours ordered it and it looks…what else, GOOD!). I got so excited on discovering the cannelloni that I forgot to order soup. Duhh…
07
Nov
A for Amirt
Have something really interesting to share on how some Asian folks learn to speak English…but gotta rush off to the gym now and then to a movie date. *grin*
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So, here’s something quick to share :
Happy Birthday, dude!!!
2 very important days in a span of slightly more than a week. You must be sh!tting in your pants now!
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P/S - I’ll post the English-learning sharing tomorrow.
06
Nov
Did you know…
Of the many usages of garlic?
- Cooking
- Keeping the vampires away
- Making our breath stoink (quoting the Hitz.fm deejays)
- Instant removal of hickeys
Waitaminit….
How does the last one work?
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Remarkably, it seems.
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A close friend came up to me last week and shared this piece of interesting information. The kinda information that is totally useless if you’re not in a specific predicament and wonderfully useful if you’re in it.
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Method :
- Remove the skin from the garlic
- Cut it into 2 halves
- Take the first half and rub the cut end to the affected area for 15 mins - non stop!
- Once the raw garlic is not as sticky anymore, discard and use the second half to continue rubbing on the affected area.
- Repeat daily for 15-mins each session
*Note*
For a ‘not-so-deep’ mark, one needs to repeat the above for 1-2 days. ‘Deeper’ marks will require some more work. Perhaps 3-5 days of daily 15-min session to totally remove the mark.
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Doubt if I will ever find this information useful but hey, more information is always good!
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NOW I knowwwwwww.
05
Nov
Pain(T)ball FUN!!!
Ok, this post is like SUPER late but hey - "Better late than never!"
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Date : 1st October 2006
Time : 11am - 1pm
Organiser : Mudtrekker
Venue : Kuang, Sg. Buloh
Participants : Eleen, Sweetheart, QM, CK, Dave, Mark, Wai Kee, Derek, Jackie, Pat & Benny.
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We actually had LOADS of great shots from that day. Dave doing the ninja-crawl, Sweetheart doing the victory lap, CK being attacked by the trigger-happy gang, Derek with his crafty attack strategies and us girls with our cunning ways to get the guys to do all the work for us. Unfortunately, a certain ’someone’ reformatted her laptop and lost all those priceless pictures! Yes, I will not cease to give you sh!t about it, girl! :p
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We did manage to get some pictures from the other cameras but most of the action-packed shots were taken by that certain ’someone’. (again :P)
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Here’s a picture taken from Pat’s camera of the gang AFTER the games (and pain!). Notice how Dave’s shirt was all stained. The orange spots were those areas that got hit with the orange pellets. He is a brave man and I was darn glad that he was on MY team!!! We found out later that he played a LOT of paintball back in Austin, Texas. I was EVEN more glad that he was on my team!
Standing at the back (l-r) : Dave, Sweetheart, Derek, CK
Squatting (l-r) : Pat, Eleen, Jackie, QM
Lying on the floor (monkeying around as usual) : Mark
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Some other pictures…these were taken BEFORE we all got down and dirty.
Once we started, we were so totally into the game! The time just flew by and before we realised it, we have ran out of pellets. "Another 100 more for me!" Derek shouted and I think one or two others called for more pellets. Since I wasn’t that trigger-happy, my pellets lasted me throughout the entire 2-hours. We played a total of 3 games and our team won!!!!! *smug grin*
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They have shower facilities in their grounds; so we managed to clean ourselves up before leaving the place. After that, it was off to a really good Thai restaurant nearby for late lunch. Thanks to Pat and Benny for taking us there. I’ll never be able to find my way back there, though. Me totally lost in Sg. Buloh.
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It was during lunch that we started examining our bodies. Most of us had some minor bruises, a cut on the thumb, or a bump on the back. Poor CK got the MOST injuries. He was doing such a great job trying to grab the flag for the his team but somehow, he seemed to be the favourite target for the trigger-happy folks that day. We managed to get a picture of one of his MANY bruises..and this was one of his lighter ones.
Despite the bruises and all, we had LOADS of fun! For some of us, it was our first time. For others, it was their 2nd or 3rd (I think) time. All in all, we had a BALL (pun intended) of a time!!!
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More than a year has passed but that day is still vividly etched in my mind. Thanks to the great company, I will remember that day for a long time to come. :)))
05
Nov
Happy Birthday, QM!
Today is a special day for someone very special to me.
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This time last year, she was doing this.
In fact, we were all there to share this special day with her last year.
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This year, she is celebrating her special day Down Under. Me jealous!!! Save some of those Aussie hunks for me, k?
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QM and I came from very different family, education and social backgrounds. Basically, we grew up in 2 totally different worlds. However, our personalities are crazily similar! Finishing each other’s sentences was our part-time hobby. At times, it freaks me out. Other times, I am amazed outta my mind. Most times, I thank God for bringing her into my Life.
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It was way back in mid-2000 when she graduated from UK and came back to Malaysia to start her career as an engineer. Hailing from KL, it was an exciting opportunity for her to move up North to Penang when Agilent offered her a job as a Product Engineer. When she moved into our rented place, Mark and I took an instant liking to her. Ever friendly to everyone and anyone, she has a face so sweet that’ll melt any hearts - young or old, men or women. I soon found out that her charming (killer) smile was her secret weapon on the guys!
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She was like the sister I never had. I was able to talk to her openly about anything and everything without being judged or lectured on "Why do you always have to be so different?!"…coz she was so different herself too! It was most refreshing for me to be able to talk to someone who understands and shares my career goals, my dreams, my loves, my life, my hopes, my fears and most importantly, my aspirations. We are the pillar of strength to each other. Yes, we had 2 of the world’s most wonderful guys as our boyfriends then but we provided each other the emotional support we need from our gal friends.
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The 5 years that the 4 of us spent under one roof were the best years of my early working life. Conquering Mt. Kinabalu, rafting on the rapids of East Malaysia, kayaking, rock-climbing, jungle trekking, discovering the beauty of old town Malacca, laughing at the crazy antics of the actors on live shows, having a ball at concerts, exploring the beautiful corals in Mataking and trying to ‘kill’ each other with paintball pellets in the outskirts of Selangor - they were amongst the many exciting things we did together. I will always cherish those wonderful times.
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Then, there are the girly times we spent. Shopping, night out with the girls, watching and/or sobbing over Hindi movies, drooling over the hunks, experimenting with herbs and spices in our cooking (making our boyfriends our guinea pigs) or just plain yakking the night away. We did many crazy things that no one we know will *ever* dream of doing! Even someone as open-minded as Sweetheart is amazed at the things we are both game for.
We may be hundreds of miles away from each other now but there is a bond that ties us together, through time and space. When we get together, it’s like the time apart just melt into nothingness. We were once again enjoying each other’s company - the laughter and tears just come on their own.
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Thank you for the wonderful friendship, QM….and for just being you! I hope that all your dreams (as crazy as some of them may be) will be realised and may you stay as HOT now and forever!
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Happy Birthday, girl!!!!!! *MUAX*
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