According to Fiona

Talent Hub 5th Anniversary Halloween Spooktacular Party

2010-10-08T03:53:00.003+08:00

Wicked Witch? Vampire? Zombie? Scary Clown? Bunny Rabbit?

The options are limitless! Come dressed in your best Halloween costume and join us for Talent Hub's 5th Anniversary Party! Together with Viva Vertical, we've got a fantastic line-up of performances by all our students and instructors.

Food, drinks, performances, games, lucky draw prizes, and plenty of dancing.... it's going to be one SPOOKTACULAR party!

Date: Sunday, 31st October 2010
Time: 3.00pm-8.00pm
Venue: Mist Club, Bangsar
Address: No.18, Jalan Liku, Off Jalan Riong, 59100, Bangsar, KL. (near NSTP)
Tickets: RM40 (adults), RM25 (kids below 12)

Don't wait till witch o'clock to buy your tickets! Book them NOW or the boogieman might catch you!

For more information:

Call: 016-2858353
Email: ask@talenthub.com.my
Visit: http://www.talenthub.com.my/

Lang Tengah - D'Coconut

2010-09-19T23:44:00.027+08:00

Shobha and Paul spent a month traveling some regions in South East Asia. They invited us to join them on any leg of their travels. Not being able to take much time off work, I chose to join them at Lang Tengah for a few nights and so did the rest.

It was my second time to Lang Tengah. The first time was with 28 (!!) friends in 2007. You can read about that trip here. We stayed at a place called Lang Sari. It wasn't too shabby but it surely wasn't a fancy resort either.

On one drunken night, we followed a boatman (who was high on many substances) to a secluded beach. Getting there involved walking through the resort next door called D'Coconut Lagoon, climbing through some dark jungle and almost peeing in my pants out of fear. But as we were walking through D'Coconut, we were all like "Wowwww!" in comparison to where we were staying.

Fast forward three years. Shobha and I had spent many hours in front of the computer trying to choose islands and resorts to stay at. Top priority: Hot water and air-conditioning! We read so many reviews and then picked our favourites from there. Having personally seen D'Coconut (though at 3am in darkness and drunkenness!) I knew it looked nice. At that point in time , it was also the most expensive and lavish resort on the island. Reviews were also pretty good, at worst - average.

And so we booked our rooms at D'Coconut Lagoon and looked forward to it for months! However, the reviews we read seemed like it was for a different resort. The resort in its heyday would have been beautiful and still has huge potential. But it is poorly maintained, under staffed, and run down.

1) Toilet seats were broken and discoloured. Shobha however had a really nice toilet.
2) Water was brown and smelt like pee.
3) Water pressure was bad. Mell and Cheryl had to come to my room cause they had no water to shower one day.
4) The beach is never cleaned. It is full of dead coral and rubbish. Going into the water would have you squealing "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" till you walk to an area without dead coral.
5) The cushions on the deck chairs were torn and thrown around
6) The beach towels were stained and looked gross. So we always chose the dark blue ones. What we can't see won't hurt us...
7) The people at the reception were unfriendly and unhelpful (inside joke for Shobes and Paul: "Ok. Ok." - haha!)
8) If you wanted anything, you would have to ask several times and several different staff before getting it.
9) Mell's shower curtain was moldy and gross. And according to Andrew, their toilet had seen "better days".
10) Housekeeping conveniently didn't clean my room for 2 days!

And the list goes on....

We complain and are disappointed because we expect to get what we pay for. If we paid some cheap rate, we would expect some crappy place. But considering that until recently, this was the best and most expensive resort on the whole island (a new resort called Sari Pacifica has now taken over), we expected a LOT more. For East Coast rates, we coughed up quite a hefty sum (almost double compared to some other resorts!).

There are two wings. The East Wing, and the West Wing. The East Wing had bad reviews so we knew not to stay there. The West Wing was the newer wing with the most expensive rooms on the resort. We chose to stay there. Imagine if we actually stayed in the East Wing?!

The food at least was good. Dinner was always yummy. Lunch was not bad, and breakfast was simple. If the food was bad, this review would have been a lot worse than what I'm giving it.

Like I said earlier, D'Coconut Lagoon has the POTENTIAL to be such a great resort. It has all the elements there! Don't get me wrong. It is not a shabby disgusting place. It is actually nice and the rooms are very big. Its just run down, poorly maintained, and not worth the price. We spoke to the staff one night and he said they are planning to refurbish when they close for the year. Let's hope they do a good job cause it's a shame to see such a beautiful place go to waste.

As I am typing this, I just read some of the latest reviews about D'Coconut Lagoon. All the reviews in the last two months have been crap. Anything prior has been good/fair/average. Some even called it paradise! Did something happen over the last two months or were we just unlucky?

Anyway, the point of the whole holiday was to spend time with my friends and our partners. The company was great and we made the best of our holiday and had a FANTASTIC time! After copious amounts of alcohol, who would notice peeling paint on the walls??

Shobha and Paul were at Redang so they took a boat, Mell and Andrew flew to KT, while BAD, Cheryl and I decided to take a drive! We needed to arrive at Merang Jetty by 11am to catch our boat to the resort. Never having driven this far before, not knowing the way, and putting all our trust in GARMIN, we left PJ around 3am. After stocking up on snacks and petrol, we were on our way for the road trip!

Cheryl fell asleep after 10 minutes. Seriously, she was out cold by the time we hit the Federal Highway! And literally didn't wake up till we pulled into the Jetty! So I stayed awake keeping BAD company by playing silly games.

The drive was long and rather scary at night. Once you get off the highway, you have to drive through the coastal roads which are narrow and have no lights whatsoever. Once it was dawn though, it was actually quite a beautiful scenic drive.

We got there at 8-ish in the morning. Way ahead of our estimated time thanks to BAD's zippy driving! We got there at the same time that Mell and Andrew's flight arrived. We were all so tired, hungry, and terribly grumpy. If we had to wait till 11am for the boat, we might have chewed each others heads off. Just our luck that one boat was leaving the jetty at 9am!

And so began our four days of sun, sea, and fun!

The East Wing

The walk to the West Wing

The West Wing.

Waiting for our rooms and luggage.

All of us crashed as soon as we got to the room. Except BAD who still had the energy to go swimming especially since he had been driving since 3am and didn't get any sleep the night before!!! (He later crashed by the beach. Even the waves couldn't drown out his snoring!)

Shobes and Paul got there around noon so everyone woke up and met for lunch. After that, we spent the rest of the day lazing by the beach.

We brought our own supply of booze and snacks. Wines, Whiskey, Tequila, Rum, lots of Oreos, Tim Tams, Kacang, etc. The resort charged us a corkage for the booze we consumed at the restaurant, but considering how much we had, it really was a negligible fee! We created such a reputation that by the second night, the waiters would bring out the glasses and ice without us even asking (service at the restaurant was the only one that was good).

Andrew got trigger happy with my new camera. He took heaps of terrible shots using the fish-eye effect which made us look like aliens. The boys thought it was hilarious but the girls hated it. Since it was my camera, all those shots got deleted! (Hurray from the girls! Boo from the boys!)

Thumbelina Shobha
Credit to Andrew for the ONE nice shot :)

It was Paul's birthday the night before and we didn't have a cake. So we got creative with Oreos, Tim Tams, wine glass, and tealight candle!

Taboo after a lot of alcohol gets really funny!
(Don't play with Cheryl when she's sober. She guesses EVERYTHING correctly!)

Only play with her after this much alcohol has been consumed.

Mell claims that she was sober on this night. Right..... we reallllyy believe her.

Shobes and her birthday boy

The morning after was spent nursing hangovers by the pool and beach, then after lunch we went for a snorkeling trip.

Behold my beautiful lady

Spot BAD

The snorkeling trip turned out to be quite a disaster. Firstly, they crammed all of us on the boat like a herd of cows. Some had to stand cause there was no place to sit. There also wasn't enough life jackets to go around.

After the first snorkeling site, Shobha and I got seasick. We weren't the only ones. Many other people looked like they were about to hurl too. I didn't get into the water for the second stop and I'm glad I didn't cause there were baby jelly fish and some people got stung.

It took awhile for us to recover once we got back to land. We just collapsed on the nearest deck chairs. Then when we felt better, we invaded the serenely quiet East Wing pool and the fun began! The boys were so embarrassed by how much noise we were making, they pretended not to know us.

Cheryl, Shobha, and I are/were all dancers. However, we failed miserably at our attempt of synchronized swimming!

The Circle

Synchronized Jumping. Fail!

This might look easy but it ain't!

Then the boys gave in and joined the fun!

Evil BAD's bright idea of dropping the girls!

Andrew's splash

Paul's back flip

Andrew's back flip

Spot Shobha

Apparently we're just as bad at synchronized jumping out of the water as we are in the water!

At least we have synchronized landing! :)

While the girls went back to the rooms to get ready for dinner, the boys went for a dip in the jacuzzi. So gay!
(Picture from Shobha's album)

Night Two: More Taboo and more alcohol.
When we got bored of playing normal Taboo, I invented reverse Taboo! Just as fun! But still don't play with Cheryl! She's goooood.
(Picture from Shobha's album)

Lang Tengah is a very small island. You can pretty much explore the whole place by foot. On the third day, we got adventurous and went in search for beautiful spot to chill. And boy, did we find it! Just before Sari Pacifica (the new fancy resort), we found a secluded beach albeit a bit rocky. But the water was pristine! Snorkeling there was way better than the trip we had the day before. Amazing sea-life! Only downside is that there is barely any shade by the beach, so be prepared with heaps of sunscreen and to be about 5 shades tanner!

This is how BAD got 10 shades darker!

I've uploaded this photo twice! It doesn't want to change direction. Grr!

Our holiday had finally come to an end. The next day, we sadly packed up our bags and had to get back to our daily grind.

Shobha and Paul stayed on for an extra night.

BAD and I celebrated our 2-year Anniversary just a couple of days before the trip. Initially we were planning to stay an extra night at a boutique resort called The Aryani before or after Lang Tengah. But plans changed so we canceled the idea. We had to drive past it to send Mell and Andrew to the airport anyway so we stopped by to check the place out. Beautifuuuuul!

At The Aryani.
Now that's what we call a beach!

The drive back was extremely long. After sending them to the airport, apparently we were on a different part of KT, so Garmin took us on a different route home. We went on a hunt for Keropok Lekor then we were stuck in traffic and hit by terribly bad weather. I must give Cheryl credit for redeeming herself and staying up all the way home to keep BAD entertained and awake for the drive. But dear Lord they have boring conversations! From gadgets, to books, to politics! It was my turn to sleep!

BAD and my customary after-holiday-photo plus Cherie!

Despite the initial disappointment with the resort, nothing could dampen our spirits and it was a super fun getaway with my besties and partners.

Till our next holiday!

Overused joke of the holiday: "Do I look T---- now?"

Weddings and Birthdays

2010-08-19T15:31:00.000+08:00

The last two months has been filled with lovely weddings and birthdays. Here are a few snapshots in random order.

Min Hui and Alvin's Wedding

Min Hui a.k.a Nicole, my friend from high school married her college sweetheart Alvin. They had a grand wedding at Sunway Resort Hotel. It was the same night as the MTV concert... which caused me to be stuck IN the hotel carpark for one hour looking for parking!

The wedding was lovely and Min Hui looked stunning!

The stunning bride

Zainal Abidin serenading us with "Hijau"

Anusha's Birthday

Puva organized a BBQ party for Anu's birthday at their new house.

Happy birthday Nushie! Check out cute little Aditya in her hands!

Melanie Abraham's Wedding

A close family friend, and my sister's best friend - Melanie came back from the UK to tie the knot with Rob. The wedding ceremony was held at St. Mary's while the reception was at Saujana. She is one of the nicest people I know, and am so thrilled for her!

Rayn turns 3!

How time flies! My little man is now 3 years old! Old enough to decide on his own where he wanted his birthday party (Jungle Gym) and what cake he would like (Star Wars).

Joanne & Valentino's Wedding

Another family friend and later on college mate - Joanne married Valentino. Their reception was held at KL Convention Centre. I taught them their wedding dance- first a Rumba to "Fallen" followed by a Merengue to "Suavemente". For more photos on their wedding, check out Talent Hub's blog.

Melanie Pillai (now Schmitz!)'s "small" wedding do.

Melanie was my senior in Assunta. I've not seen her in the last 10 years I reckon. She invited some of us for a "small do" at her house to celebrate their wedding. We thought it was just a small party to catch up. You know... home cooked food, sitting on the couch and catching up... that kinda thing. But we should have known better. When an Indian girl (whether or not she's marrying a German!) says "small do".... don't trust her. Wear a Saree or be terribly under-dressed like the rest of us!

Congrats MELEK!

Micheal Chen's Birthday

Right after Mel's party, I went for a completely different type of party. Micheal's birthday at Palette Palette. We've known each other since we were 13, and every year for as long as I can remember, his birthday has always clashed with another party! This year I managed to squeeze in both parties and have photographic evidence that I was there so he cannot hold it against me.

Glenn's 21st Birthday

Becky's brother Glenn turned 21. A few family and friends went over for steamboat dinner at the Harding house.

The "rejects" table

Mother's 60th Birthday

My mama turned 60! So my siblings, BIL and BAD threw her a high-tea party for 60 friends. We booked the whole upstairs of Vincenzo @ One Bangsar.

We decked up the whole place in the theme of Green and Pink and everyone came dressed according to the colour theme too!

Candles, flowers, petals, and a thank you gift for everyone to take home

Photos of my mom with family and friends

Everyone wrote a birthday message for her and hung it on this tree

Rayn and his Popo

What else?

Other than the birthdays and weddings, I've been busy organizing two things:

1) Talent Hub's 5th Anniversary Party.

Date: 31st October 2010.
Time: 3pm-8pm.
Tickets: RM40 inclusive of food and drinks.
Venue: Mist Club

Do come and support me! We've been working super hard to put up a good show so we need all the support we can get!

2) Garage Sale

My friends and I are having a garage sale to sell all our pre-loved items. There are a few other people who are selling brand new items too. So if you've got time next weekend, do drop by! Details are in the post below.

Amongst other things, I'm selling ALL my beloved soft toys. You have no idea how hard this is for me. I keep them for sentimental value. I remember who gave me which toy at which point of my life. I wanted to keep them for my children if I ever have any one day. But apparently that's not cool. It's also not cool that I still have hundreds of fluffy friends at my age. So apparently its time to grow up. Man.... growing up sucks.

I've also gone for some artsy stuff. Watched Sparks of Broadway, Cuci The Musical, My Lingam Speaks, and The Reluctant Saint.

Have a lot of stuff that I would like to blog about including a shop in Ikano that I'm very annoyed by. But will save all that for another time.

Shobha is back from the UK with Paul and we are off to Lang Tengah tomorrow for some sand, sea, and sun! Weeee! Can never get enough! But looking out of my window now... I'm not sure how much sun we are gonna get.

See ya when I get back!

Quote of the day: Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we didn't have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves... for growing up. (The Wonder Years)

Garage Sale!

2010-08-02T16:12:00.000+08:00

*click on poster for larger view*

Japamala, Tioman Island

2010-07-12T00:09:00.016+08:00

My lovely, lovely, lovely boyfriend planned a surprise holiday for us. He didn't want to tell me where but I NEEDED to know cause I've got major packing issues. Already I OVER pack no matter where I go. So not knowing where I was going and what I was going to do would make me pack my whole cupboard!

For the few months prior, he gave me one clue every week. Some of which were:

1) I didn't need a passport
2) I needed to pack light (no way that was happening)
3) We weren't flying from KLIA
4) We would need to take a taxi, flight, boat, taxi (which turned out incorrect!)
5) I needed swim wear
6) We would be shifting rooms
7) There wasn't an ATM
8) There was no phone reception at all (PANIC!!! What will happen to TH?!)
9) It has won an award/s
10) It has a famous restaurant

After cracking my brain a bit, I narrowed it down to 3 places:

1) Pangkor Laut - we talked about going there before. Also, I was told by people that the final mode of transportation was a "water taxi". So maybe he was twisting the clue a bit.
2) Redang - after the news of the government's plan to shut down all the small resorts to turn Redang into a 5-star hotel only island, we said we really should go soon before that happens. However, some of the clues didn't match up.
3) Japamala - from the second we laid eyes on the website, we were itching to go there! We talked about it so much but it is very pricey so not some place we could just pack our bags and say, "Let's go".

Finally, the day had come. Up to the point when we reached Subang Airport, I still had no clue where we were going. Until we checked into Berjaya Air flying to Tioman. Could it really be Japamala???

Boarding the Berjaya plane to Tioman. My first time on Berjaya Air. The plane was quite dodgy. Very noisy and hot too!

We landed in Tioman Island's tiny airport and I was bursting with excitement to know if we were actually going to Japamala or another resort. Then two men wearing Japamala t-shirts came to take our suitcases. Whhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

So we've already established that I'm a major over-packer. But why is BAD's suitcase the same size as mine? *raises one eyebrow*

On board our private boat to the beautiful island!

Welcome to Japamala!

Japamala is a boutique resort in the beautiful Tioman Island. It is the kind of place you would go to just get away from it all. There is nothing to do other than rest and relax. It is not the type of place you would want to bring a child (and your child would be extremely bored with the lack of children friendly activities) and also the honeymooners would not be too pleased with your crying baby. The water is crystal clear (though plenty of dead coral) and all the rooms are tucked away in the wilderness giving each villa complete privacy. If you are one who doesn't like sitting around doing nothing all day, then this is definitely not the place for you. As it is a secluded resort, you are limited to whatever the hotel provides you, including the choice of only two restaurants - which, if you're on a budget, would not be too friendly on the pocket.

Before I go on, I would like to say that I am going to give a very fair review with the pros and cons. It would be easy for me to point out all the wonderful parts of the resort and what a great time we had. But, for a resort of this stature and price, bad points need to be pointed out too. People are very forgiving with minor bad points. Nothing is perfect. But if it is bad enough to affect your holiday mood, then yes, it should be pointed out.

1) Food prices - which we knew already and don't mind paying. But food MUST live up to price expectation.
2) Flies at breakfast
3) ANTS and bugs

I will elaborate on these as I go along.

Getting to your villa is a real trek! Not for the physically unfit! Word of advice, make sure you take everything with you to the beach so that you don't have to trek back to get your sunscreen!

Tamarind Terrance

Swimming pool which we never used since we had crystal clear sea water! The purple daybeds around the pool is where breakfast is served every morning.

Lounge with books and magazines

Swing!

For the first night, we stayed at the Treetop Chalet. All the rooms are built around nature to minimize any environmental impact. No rocks were moved and no trees were cut. As such, each room is unique and different from the rest. Nature is all around you, and unfortunately, so are the bugs (more on that later!).

Open concept bathroom where you really hope nobody can see you through the trees when you shower!

BAD enjoying our verandah.

It was a nice and sunny day so after a bit of exploring, we got changed and hit the beach!

While BAD had gone off snorkeling, I tried to get some sleep. Just as I was dozing off, something fell on my head. I thought it was a leaf since I was under a tree. Didn't open my eyes and just brushed it off. Then it happened again. And again. Then something wet fell on me and I pounced up thinking it was bird droppings! The culprit?

This bugger! He was eating some fruit from this tree and my golly he ate a lot! Whatever skin or seed that he didn't want, he conveniently disposed of it on my futon!

After soaking up the sun all day, we went back to the room to find some sundown snacks waiting for us at the verandah. Every evening they would bring us an Asian sweet snack which I thought was a lovely touch (though they forgot our snack on the last day! Maybe cause our next room was at the highest peak and the dude was lazy to deliver it?)

To truly get us into the holiday mode, we went for a scrub and massage at the Samadhi Spa which is built high up on the hill over looking the sea. The spa session was divine! They scrubbed every inch of our body followed by a relaxing aromatherapy oil massage that left our skin feeling baby soft. I highly recommend the spa!

That night we had dinner at the Tamarind Terrace. If you've been to Tamarind Springs or Tamarind Hill in Kuala Lumpur, this is the same - serving Thai, Indo-Chinese & Malay cuisine.

Food was very good on the first night and we absolutely over ordered.

After dinner we took a stroll around the resort then chilled at the lounge for the rest of the night.

Chocolates are left on the bed every night to "explore your nesting instincts".

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast by the pool. There's a buffet with the regular grub (cereal, breads, fruits, cold cuts, etc) then you order your choice of main course. What I loved were the juices and smoothies. Very yummy and gave us a great boost to start the day! What I hated? The daybeds were swarming with flies and ants trying to eat my breakfast. Since we were surrounded by nature, bugs are part and parcel of the whole experience. But really, eating my muffin with one hand and shooing away flies with the other made a lovely breakfast rather unpleasant.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing nothing at all by the beach! Water is brought by the staff to wherever you're lazing to rehydrate which was another lovely and personalized touch. I liked the fact that they didn't charge for water and didn't limit you to the two bottles of complimentary water that is given in normal hotel rooms. During the evening turn-down service where they light candles and aromatherapy around the room, they also fill up a jug of ice cold water beside the bed.

In the early evening, the staff came to get us from the beach to show us to our new room. The Hillside Plunge Pool Sarang, a gorgeous double-storey room!

Downstairs was the TV area where we spent our nights watching trash TV

Our bedroom upstairs

Half of our large bathroom

Outdoor shower

After settling into our room, we ditched the beach cause we had our own private plunge pool!! Love it!! We soaked till our whole body turned pruney.

For dinner we wanted to try Mandi-Mandi which is their western restaurant that is built on stilts above the sea. However since it's an open concept and the weather wasn't on our side, we had dinner at Tamarind again.

The rain cleared up by the time we finished dinner so we went to Mandi-Mandi for some drinks under the millions of stars.

Not wanting to be swarmed by flies again, we had breakfast at Tamarind instead of the poolside the next morning. No flies. Which is weird. Cause Tamarind is right next to the pool and also open air. So how come the flies didn't attack us there? There must be something on the daybeds that attract the flies. Whatever it is, Japamala should do something about it cause having breakfast on the day-beds is very nice minus the flies.

Once again, we spent the day lazing by the beach and snorkeling. The coral closer to the resort was all dead but you still get to see many pretty fish. For the more adventurous, swim further out closer to Mandi-Mandi where there is colorful coral and more exciting sea life! We bought water shoes before going on this trip and it was a great investment. As the water closer to the beach is too shallow to swim, you have to walk out. That might be a very painful experience without water shoes as the dead coral blankets the ground. Water shoes allowed us to walk further out into the water where we could swim comfortably.

Though there are about a dozen rooms in the whole resort, there are only THREE Beach Pavilions. EVERYBODY wants a beach pavilion. It is like a coveted prize. And people are KIASU. They would wake up early in the morning to book the pavilion by putting their stuff there. Once they get it, they don't let go of it! Although we wanted a pavilion, we weren't that kiasu.

But during the day when we saw one of the pavilions vacated, we RAN for it!

Yay! Finally!

I was extra happy to get a pavilion on this day because it seemed like the ants were out to get me. They were biting me all over as I was lazing by the beach. I think they must have been attacking the remnants of fruit that the squirrel left behind.

Ants were really my enemy during this trip. On the last day, I discovered my whole suitcase infested with tiny ants. I don't know why cause I didn't have any food in it. But again, we are in the jungle living in their natural habitat. I had to empty my whole suitcase and brush out the ants from every single item in there.

To be a little indulgent on our final day, we went for another spa session! Thai Massage followed by a long soak in the jacuzzi during sunset. Divine!!

When we got back to the room after the spa, there was a power outage throughout Tioman Island. It lasted about an hour. BAD and I really think we are jinxed cause there was a power outage in Sabah too! Why don't hotels have their own backup generator?

There was supposed to be a BBQ which we were looking forward to but for some reason that was canceled. Since we didn't get to eat at Mandi-Mandi the night before, we had dinner there on our final night.

Waiting for our table

Dinner however, was rather disappointing. Dining at either restaurant is an expensive affair to begin with. RM40 for a soup and prices go up from there. BAD ordered the seafood platter for RM70. We expected a delicious platter of seafood... maybe grilled or cooked in some yummy way. What we didn't expect was a heap of deep-fried battered seafood and vegetables. If they had labeled it as appetizers to share, then fine. That would have been acceptable. But as a main course... it wasn't. I had some chicken dish which was ok but not great. Being foodies, we don't mind paying whatever price for good food. But don't charge a bomb and give us oily batter!

BAD's horror of a seafood platter

Our room had a little dining area on the balcony so we got breakfast delivered to us on the final morning. No flies!! Nice!

Then we sadly packed up.... and left our little paradise.

Bye bye Japamala!

Ikan bilis! Yum yum!

Tioman Airport is TINY so checking in took less than 5 minutes. We had time to spare so we walked 1/2km to a duty free shop where we saw this on the way:

BATS! Hundreds of them on this tree! Scary!!!

Overall it was the most relaxing holiday both of us ever had. Japamala has a great vibe. It is truly rustic jungle luxury. You instantly fall in love and feel any stress get washed away with the waves. The surroundings are beautiful, the staff are friendly and helpful, and the personalized touches here and there made the place extra special. Other than my issues with the ANTS, flies, and expensive oily battered food, I loved the holiday and the time we spent together. Can't wait for the next holiday!

Our sad-after-holiday-photo-tradition

Thank you BAD for the loveliest surprise holiday and being the bestest boyfriend!

Quickie

2010-06-10T23:59:00.006+08:00

BOH Cameronian Arts Awards

Before going to Sabah, I went for the very last BOH Cameronian Arts Awards. It was the final one because Kakiseni is closing down. It was such sad news and I only found out just before attending the Nominees Party at Alexis a couple of months back.

The arts industry in Malaysia is very small. Everyone pretty much knows everyone... and everyone knows one thing... we don't make money in the arts. Most people do it for the passion. They do it for very little money. Sometimes, they do it for no money at all.

It was heart breaking to hear that Kakiseni was closing down mainly due to financial reasons. Nevertheless during their run, they provided a great portal for everyone to get information about what's in and what's out in the arts industry. And of course, the yearly glitzy affair to award all those passionate people who put up fabulous shows for our enjoyment.

What's next after the Cammies? We'll have to wait and see....

This year's theme: Gamble

Unlike previous years, this year's after-party was held at Sultan's Lounge. And I must say, it was the best after-party of all the Cammies I've been for!

BAD's Birthday Present

Many of you might have heard me complain about how I'm rubbish at buying presents for BAD. Most of the time, he would choose what he wants and I would pay for it. He on the other hand, is EXCELLENT at buying gifts for me and has managed to surprise me over and over again.

After cracking my head a year in advance, I finally decided what I was going to get him. I managed to keep it a secret until the day he opened the BIG shampoo box filled with newspaper.

Needless to say, he LOVED the Wii!!!!

And I am now a Wii-dow.

The first night, we spent HOURS playing Wii Sports! Tennis, Bowling, Baseball, Golf, and Boxing.

He kicked my ass at every damn game and was so damn cocky about it! Victory dances were aplenty.... *rolls eyes*

Whatever... I LET him win anyway.

Ha!

Pole Stars

The finals of Pole Stars was held at The Opera, Sunway. The theme: Glam Rock.

The standard of some contestants was very impressive! I was once again a Judge so I had the best seat in the house. There were three categories - Exotic Pole, Fit Pole, and Professional. Miko, our Pole Instructor won for the professional category and she was u-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e! The muscles on that girl is seriously unreal.

Just a quickie post cause I'm off to another holiday tomorrow morning! I know, I know... I just came back from one. But BAD planned this holiday all by himself and it's a surprise (I told you the boy is good with surprises!). Besides, if the boy says he's taking me on a holiday, I ain't gonna say no! He has given me a clue every week and I THINK I know where we're going. But he might just be throwing me off track so I don't guess the real venue.

Since I don't know where we're going... I've majorly over packed. MAJORLY. For 4D/3N, I've packed 6 bikinis. You reckon that's enough?

Oh, and apparently there's no phone reception there. What kinda place doesn't have phone reception??!! Maybe he's taking us camping! GASP!!

I'm hoping there's at least wifi so I can check on Omar (my assistant) to see if everything is ok at the Hub! Eeeeeeek! *Repeats to self*.... I trust Omar.... I trust Omar... .I trust Omar.... I trust Omar....

Anyway, will blog all about it when I get back. I'm sooooooo excited!

Enjoy the weekend peeps!

Sabah

2010-05-28T00:34:00.003+08:00

Though BAD and I had planned our trip to Sabah months ahead, the timing couldn't be more perfect. I was exhausted from work and needed a break badly while BAD had finally resigned from his job that was burning him out. Having said that though, our phones were still constantly ringing with work calls. Turn off my phones you say? Well that's kinda like a self-sabotage when I run my own business don't you think? Easier said than done.

Since we did Sarawak last year, Sabah was the pick of the year! Islands, mountain, city - a bit of everything!

Me, BAD, and Homer waiting for our flight

We started looking for accommodation last year. BAD and I love boutique hotels. After some research, we couldn't find any that tickled our fancy. The ones that seemed nice also had bad reviews. So we gave up the idea of a boutique hotel and thought we'd stay at either Shangri-La or Le Meridien. If we were rolling in cash however, we would have LOVED to stay at Gayana or Bunga Raya.

However, earlier this year as I was browsing Trip Advisor, I was taken aback to find a new (boutique!) hotel ranking #1 of 75 hotels in Kota Kinaballu. I read the reviews and they were all excellent! Told BAD about it, we checked out the website, and booked our stay immediately. Good thing we did because with their great reviews on Trip Advisor, the hotel is fully booked for months!

And so after our 2 & 1/2 hour flight, we checked in to Hotel Eden54.

If you're a traveler (not backpacker) like us wanting to explore Sabah and only need the hotel to sleep and shower, then this place is perfect for you. Don't expect 5-star luxury or 5-star facilities. In fact, don't expect any facilities at all. You get a clean cozy room and bathroom, and that's it. There's no restaurant or swimming pool. But... you are smack in the middle of KK town. Walk five minutes to your right and you are at the Jesselton Point to take your boat to beautiful islands. Walk to your left and you have markets, shopping malls, bars, restaurants, etc. Next to the hotel is a nice big supermarket with everything you need. Having no breakfast at the hotel only meant that we had more chance to try the local cuisine. As with most boutique hotels, it is the service of the staff that makes the place special. The staff were friendly and helpful arranging everything we needed and giving advice on where to go/eat/see.

If you are traveling with your family/small children, or you want a relaxing holiday where you spend your day strolling the beach or dipping in the pool or having a waiter bring you a Mai Tai while you work on your tan, then go check into the Shangri-La. This place is NOT for you.

Our Studio Room at Eden54

How many shoes do two people need for a 5 day holiday? :)

After checking in, we freshened up to have lunch and stroll the town. We barely walked 5 meters from the hotel when it started raining. It was SUNNY an hour prior!

We didn't have an umbrella so we crossed the street quickly to a big shopping mall called Suria. What we didn't know was that Suria was brand new and barely had any shops open! The only thing that was open was the food court at the top floor which overlooked the sea.

The FIRST stall we saw..... 'KL ROJAK'.

Sitting next to each other having lunch. Him on the outside, me on the inside. Separated by a glass wall. We give "sitting next to each other" a new meaning.

The sun was kind to us and appeared not long after we finished lunch. We took a stroll around town to get acquainted. The center of town had a mix of old and new. You will find old markets selling everything from salted fish to fresh seafood, and across the street - big shopping malls selling your latest apparel. Restaurants, bars, shops, and more shops.

At the Esplanade

View from The Waterfront

Juice Up to rehydrate after all that walking

Walking.... we did A LOT of it in the 5 days. Because we were so central, everything was at the very most, a 20 minute walk away. Taxis are very expensive. They don't use the meter. The one guy that did use the meter charged us RM16 for a 3 minute drive! (it was late at night so not very safe to walk) Any short distance is usually RM10. There is NOTHING less than RM10. You could ask the cab driver to drive two shops down and it would still be RM10. A fifteen minute distance would be about RM20. Asking the restaurant to call us a cab after dinner one night cost us RM30. By Malaysian standards, this is pretty steep!

That night we went for dinner at a place called Little Italy. It was highly recommended on many websites so we were expecting a good dinner. Unfortunately, we were disappointed. It wasn't terrible (though I'm sure BAD would strongly disagree), but it was below satisfactory. The Mediterranean Salad was over-dressed and the pizza which they are famous for was hard. There's nothing worse than hard dough pizza. The only thing I really enjoyed was the crepe filled thingy below. Can't remember what it was called.

It was the eve of BAD's birthday so we had some quiet drinks by the Waterfront. We chose an Irish Bar called The Shamrock.

BAD ushered in his birthday with some of his favourite things. Satay, Leffe.... and me! Hey it rhymes!

BAD wanted a relaxing birthday. Nothing says relaxing like doing nothing on the beach! So on our second day, we went island hopping. The staff at our hotel recommended that we only do two of the nicer islands - Sapi and Manukan.

We went to the supermarket next to our hotel and packed a little picnic. Stuff to make sandwiches, fresh fruits, and drinks.

BAD looking like a Japanese tourist at Jesselton Point where we took the boat to the islands.

We were told that Sapi is less commercialized compared to Manukan. They advised us to do Sapi in the morning, then hop on to the boat and spend the rest of the afternoon at Manukan.

However, Sapi turned out to be ridiculously crowded. Throngs of people and this huge luncheon set up on the beach for what I'm guessing is a tour group. We chose the quietest corner we could find and it was lovely.

Manukan is commercialized in the sense that there was a resort built there. But it was so quiet and peaceful in comparison to Sapi! And a lot bigger too.

What's really sad though is that there is quite a lot of garbage in the water. It's still pristine and clear, but every so often you would find a Coke can floating, plastic bags, etc. Not just at the beach, but we could see all of it floating in the middle of the sea as we were on the boat to the islands. I don't understand how people would want to throw their can drink into the beautiful ocean. It's not the lack of education. It's just common sense. Very sad.

These rocks are so retro!

Can you see all the fish?

Where are we?? London???
The English boy couldn't resist.

I managed to keep his birthday dinner venue a secret. KK is very small and there are very few fine dining places. After some research, I decided on @mosphere. It's a revolving restaurant in the tallest building in Sabah. I thought the view at sunset would be magnificent, and a revolving restaurant would give us a great look of Sabah from the top. In theory anyway....

On the way to the "secret" venue.

What I was disappointed to learn however, was that the revolving restaurant wasn't revolving. due to maintenance. It kinda took the highlight away from the restaurant.

We pretty much had the whole restaurant to ourselves and the staff over compensated by giving us service that was TOO efficient. We barely had time to finish one course when the next would be whipped out. But the food was delicious so that made up for it all.

At the start of the night, the staff took a picture of us together on their camera which already sent alarm bells ringing for BAD.

When dessert was served, they brought this out. Sweet... but wait till you see the other side...

A super stretched picture of us! Someone needs to teach that person to pull from DIAGONAL and not from up/down/left/right! Hahaha!

After the waiters left us alone, BAD said, "Thank goodness this is a quiet fancy restaurant and all the waiters won't come out singing happy birthday and playing the guitar or something. I would be mortified like how I was at Westin last week".

Two minutes later, "Happy Birthday" by NKOTB (when they were actually NEW Kids On The Block 20 years ago!) was played on their sound system and all the waiters came out with a birthday cake! I almost died laughing at BAD's expression!!! He could have cried!! Hahahahhahaha! Classic I tell ya.

Happy Birthday BAD!

When I told my friends that we were going to Sabah, they asked me, "Are you going to climb the mountain?". I stared at them and exclaimed, "Did you just meet me yesterday?! Seriously?! Do you guys not know me AT ALL?!"

For those reading who really don't know me at all.... I don't do climbing. Or jungle trekking. Taking days to climb up a damn mountain just to see the view? No thanks... I can see the view just as well from the airplane. Really not my cup of tea.

BUT, going to Sabah and not seeing Mount Kinabalu, that's just a shame. There are treks to follow for the non-climbers.

Our hotel booked us a private car (which turned out to be a van) and a driver for the whole day. At RM350, it is quite a hefty price to pay. It would have been very reasonable in a big group. If you have seven people to fill it up, it would just be RM50 per head. Anyway, we're glad we did it even though it was just the two of us cause it was a long 2 & 1/2 hour journey each way, we could do it at our own leisurely time, and didn't need to be squished with other smelly people after a sweaty trek.

Bright and early, the driver picked us up and took us for breakfast at an apparently famous coffee shop. They made their own noodles and it was yummy.

Then the journey began to Mount KK. He stopped us halfway at a point that has the best view of the mountain. Unfortunately for us, the clouds were not on our side. Still beautiful anyway.

Got to Mount KK and paid for the guided tour. Our guide was more unfit than me! She was panting after 2 minutes! She could barely speak until she took a few breaths to calm down. Funny. The guided tour took about 45 minutes where she explained the different flora and fauna. After that, we went on our own little trek and explored the Botanical Garden too.

This bee or whatever it was would not leave BAD alone! It just kept coming back to sit on his head no matter how many times we tried to get rid of it.

My Japanese tourist boyfriend with his Lomography Fisheye Camera

40km away was our next stop - Poring Hot Springs. We were really looking forward to it, thinking it would be one big "lake" looking thing. What we found however, was an open air bath tub complete with blue tiles and heaps of people. I was quite disgusted. I'm guessing all these individual tubs were built for hygiene purposes. Instead, it looked dirty and gross.

This was the public area for free - meaning it attracted people from all walks of life to have a dip in the steamy sulphur water. Majority of them FULLY CLOTHED! You can't see it in this photo, but there were fully clothed kids jumping in from tub to tub. If you wanted a private tub in a chalet, you have to pay RM20 or something like that. What do you get in this chalet? A bath tub. Like literally, one of those big maroon bath tubs you could find in homes.
N-O-T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U.

This is the Rock Pool (with cold water). I was expecting this for the hot springs but in a larger scale.

There was a Caucasian girl at this pool. She was wearing a regular brown bikini. The young Malay boys all around the pool just sat there ogling at her. I felt bad for her. She was doing what was natural for her. You go into a pool, you wear swim wear. Not jump in fully-clothed! As a result, have all the young boys stare and have dirty fantasies about you.

All was not lost at Poring. If it was only the weird hot springs, I would have been sorely disappointed. One of the highlights is the Canopy walk. But before you get to the canopy, there's a whole lot of trekking to do! Then several scarily shaky canopy walks. I'm scared of heights! It was fun but extremely tiring! I was sweating buckets when we were done. A much harder trail compared to the Mount KK one actually.

View of the waterfall from the canopy walk

As if on cue, it started chucking down just when we were done at Poring. Ran back to the van and slept through the 2 & 1/2 hour journey back to KK town.

Kerry Ann is from Sabah and mentioned to her parents that we were there. Her dad called me and said it was a cardinal sin if we went to Sabah and didn't have some good seafood. So that night, Kerry's parents and grandmother took us to this massive Chinese restaurant for seafood. I don't eat seafood but the food that I had was just as good. From the sounds that were coming out of BAD with every bite, I can only assume that the seafood was deliciously fresh.

After dinner, they dropped us back at the hotel. The night was still young so we went to Hyatt Hotel for some cocktails and to watch the game (Chelsea and something.... I forget. You can see how much attention I was paying to football...)

Early the next morning, we woke up for.... get ready for this.... CHURCH! Uh huh! We thought we'd be good kids and fulfill our Catholic obligations. We went to Sacred Heart Cathedral about 10 minutes drive from the hotel. It was very big but very hot!

Rushed back after mass for my favourite activity... Shopping! Gaya Street Fair is basically a Sunday Market selling everything from fresh produce to arts and crafts to accessories to live animals. We only managed to walk about ten meters before it started raining. So we went to a nearby coffeeshop to have brunch and waited for the rain to subside. By the time it did, it was noon. The market is held from 6.30am - 1.00pm. However, many shops were already starting to close at noon. Maybe because of the rain? I don't know. But we had one hour to do some speedy shopping on the very wet streets.

When I was still happy before it started raining.

Some reflexology slipper that does not look at all comfortable. We cracked up laughing when we read the fourth circle from bottom right. Teehee!

When all the shops closed, we walked to the handicraft market. One thing Sabah is famous for - cheap pearls! And I went crazzzyyyy! Almost every shop at the market sells pearls. How do you chose and where do you start?! We took a general walk around first just inquiring about prices and learning about the different types of pearls and quality. After several shops, we got the hang of it and understood the general pricing/quality, and how it is sold.

We chose a shop with a friendly sales girl and parked ourselves there for the next two hours. After choosing, haggling, sweet talking, haggling some more, we walked away with a whole lotta pearls and a whole lot poorer.

BAD told this girl that I was a celebrity and she excitedly agreed that she thought I looked familiar and she must have seen me on TV before. She told us to tell all our friends to buy from her. So here, the next time you go to Sabah and want to buy some pearls, look for this face. Go to Pintu A, second shop on the right. The things we do for a bargain!!!

All these men sat outside the handicraft market with sewing machines, altering anything you want from trousers length to missing buttons. Bizarre!

On our walk back, we noticed this kitty cat on top of this sign board. We thought he was trapped but he was just chilling. The next day, we saw him there again! Must be really comfy up there....

After all the walking, haggling, buying.... we sat down for some Ben & Jerry's and 'admired' all my lovely purchases. The pictures speak for itself....

That evening, we went to Tanjung Aru Beach. There was major overcast so we told the cabbie to drop us at Shangri-La Tanjung Aru. We plonked ourselves at Coco-Joe's by the pool and waited for the rain to subside.... which took.... very... very.... long.

When it did finally stop at sunset, we took a long walk along Tanjung Aru Beach.

That's my pareo he's using as a scarf!

Famished from the long day of activities, we had buffet dinner at Le Meridian that night. We ate obscene amounts. Obscene. BAD was bewildered by how much food I could put into my body.

On our final day in Sabah, we took one last stroll around town and admired all the interesting graffiti on the buildings.

Stopped by the market again to buy some forgotten gifts! (any excuse to shop!). Went back to the same girl of course. She took out some pearl studs and said, "Kakak pilih satu lah, daripada saya". I felt so bad that she was giving me free earrings but we also probably made her sale quota for the week!

Went back to the hotel to shower and pack our bags only to find out that the power was out! BAD braved the cold shower but I absolutely could not. The hotel was kind enough to let me shower in another room that did have electricity.

Kerry's parents picked us up for lunch and took us to a place that had the best Tom Yam noodles. It was yummmeeeeehhhh!! It wasn't super tom yam spicy.... it was just perfect.

They took us for a drive then dropped us off at the airport. We looked at the screen to find our flight number to check in. It wasn't there. I double checked all my flight details - date, time, terminal.... everything was correct. We went to information and asked them about it.

The lady replied, "AK5123 sudah berlepas pagi tadi"

WHAT?! So when in the bloody world would Air Asia have liked to inform us that our flight changed?

Went to another counter to change our flight. She put us on a slightly earlier flight. Great! Then it started raining. And all flights got delayed. So we ended up leaving at the same time we were supposed to leave anyway!

Feeling blue at the airport...

Aside from the daily rain that spoiled some of our plans (but we're used to that anyway living in Malaysia), it was a fantastic holiday. It was the company that mattered and we found many ways to amuse ourselves.

Advice for anyone planning to go: Take an umbrella!

Comparing Sarawak last year and Sabah, we like the diversity of activities in Sabah, but the old charm of Sarawak.

Things I learned about BAD on this trip: He has utmost patience for my shopping.
Things BAD learned about me on this trip: If the TV is on, I cannot function!!

Now I'm back to the daily grind and counting the days till my next holiday!

Socials and Such

2010-05-11T15:28:00.000+08:00

I received a message from Shobha today on Blackberry Messenger. She said, "Fi I think it is about time you updated ur blog!!!!!!!"

I promised her I would do it today. So here I am, at 2.25am, updating my blog while simultaneously sending out Talent Hub's e-flyers which usually takes me days to complete. Blogging should take me another 4 hours at least considering broadband speed in Malaysia is slower than.... you know what? There's nothing slower. Nothing.

*my prediction of time above was completely wrong. It took me two days to finish this post because the uploading process of photos took FOREVER.

Here are some random snapshots from the past month. Or two months? I forget. Been awhile, hasn't it?

MAP

Becks and I went for the opening of a new artspace in Solaris Dutamas called MAP. We got there rather late so we missed quite a lot of the action. There were very interesting art pieces all around the foyer and in the White Box, and some bands playing in the Black Box.

I like this piece. Funny.

In the Black Box

First Dance Social @ Talent Hub

When I grew up dancing, I went for a lot of socials. Every Sunday we would have a "tea dance" and every few months there would be a fancy Dinner & Dance.

When you learn social dances like Latin American, Ballroom Dancing, Salsa, and even Swing, you need somewhere to dance. You need to socialize with different people and dance with them. Dancing with each person would be a completely different dance experience.

I'm trying to cultivate this social dancing ____ I can't think of a word other than attitude___ in our students. I want them to experience social dancing outside of a clubbing environment.

Many dance schools already organize socials for their students. Most of them charge a "entry by donation". Just a small fee to cover the cost. For now, I'm organizing all our socials for FREE. It's a small price out of my pocket every month, but if it successfully introduces our students to a social dancing environment and they enjoy it, then mission accomplished.

Our first social had a mix of Latin American, Salsa, and Ballroom Dancing music.

Dad's Birthday

We had a small birthday-do at my sister's place for my dad's birthday. Food from Fatty Crab, birthday cupcakes, and two little boys to keep all the adults busy.

Ilyas sleeping in his basket

Rayn helping Grandpa blow out all his candles. His saliva sprayed all over the icing!

Potluck Dinner at Anu's new home

Anu just moved into her gorgeous new home!

We had a potluck dinner there with yummy food to celebrate three birthdays. We were careful to be on SLIGHTLY better behavior so as to not ruin Anu's brand spanking new furniture. We tried to be quiet cause the two babies (Leroy and Aditya) wanted to sleep but we all know that is just impossible, so the babies were rather unhappy with us. But at least we know Baba makes an excellent baby-sitter!

April Babies : Macho, Becks and Rach.

Becky's Birthday

We had dinner at Vineria in BSC for Becky's birthday. There was an Italian waiter with a sexy Italian accent and all the girls were swooooning. He was cute... not great looking, but the accent... oh the accent!

Mell and Andrew were having an argument on how to pronounce 'Pizza'. They've been having this SAME argument since they started dating years ago!!! One said 'pit-za' and the other said 'pee-za'.

Any excuse to call the Italian waiter over to our table! Rachel waved him over and asked him probably what would be the dumbest question he has ever been asked.

His reply, "Peaaatttzaaaa, peaaatttzaaaa".

So technically, "pit-za" won the argument.

5 minutes later, the waiter returned.

Try reading this with a strong Italian accent. Much funnier when said with expression and hand gestures.

"Peaaaaatzaaa is the food-a. You eat peaatzaa. Pisaaaa is the towwwerr".

HAHAHAHAHA!

It was also Sanjeev's birthday that night. We went up to TwentyOne for some drinks. I was shocked. Since when did Sanjeev have so many friends??? Surprisingly, I don't have a single photo on my camera. Sanjeev took heaps on his camera. But as I type this, Mr. Superstar is in SPAIN and too busy to upload photos.

Joseph threw Rachel a surprise birthday party the next day at their apartment. And boy was she surprised! However, the surprise party was two hours delayed. So when Rachel arrived, I had 15 minutes to gobble my food and rush to Quattro where I was judging the competition below.

Pole Stars Semi-Finals @ Quattro

Dressed in the theme of leather and lace, I judged the semi-finals of this Pole Dancing competition.

The finals will be held next week at The Opera. I still haven't figured out my Glam Rock outfit! Eeeek!

SEWO Talent Time

Judging yet another competition, my old school asked me to be a judge for the SEWO Talent Time. Funny how they couldn't wait to get rid of me in school and now they ask me to come back?

I had to remind myself that these were young kids and to be kinder with the scores!

Look at how I'm trying to control my laughter!
(Photo courtesy of Deborah)

The kids took this competition very seriously. Some of them were so upset they didn't win first place, they STOMPED OFF THE STAGE! I told the other judges that our cars were gonna be egged.

At the end of the event, they invited all teachers, Alumni members and judges on stage to sing the school song. O...M....G....! They made me stand in front next to the current headmistress and Sister Enda. I tried to squeeze to the back row but the teachers pushed me in front. Haiyoh! If you don't know, Assunta School song is VERY LONG. I went blank! Would let them sing the first word of every line to jog my memory. Not too bad. I bluffed my way through.

FREE CLASSES @ Talent Hub

Feeling generous, I offered a full day of free classes for anyone at Talent Hub on Labour Day. Response was fantastic and we were fully booked for all 17 classes offered!

A big thank you to my little team of helpers!

Bubbly Brunch @ Prego, Westin

Our yearly Easter celebration of Bubbly Brunch had to be postponed a few weeks later. We turned it into a mini birthday-do for BAD (of which he didn't know of course) and an early celebration as he embarks on a new chapter of his life.

Bubbly + clown nose + good food + funny balloons + more bubbly = lots of cam whoring.

As much fun as I have every year, and this year was no less of it.... BUT.... I think we need to look for a new Bubbly Brunch venue.

Prices have gone up. Significantly. And that's fine. We don't mind paying the price if you give us more. Not if you give us LESS!

A few years ago (3-4 years ago maybe?), this is how much alcohol I parked at any one time:

This time, they limited not only the amount of alcohol, but also our choices.

The picture above had the YUMMIEST Apple Martinis and Lychee Martinis ever. You can also spot some house pouring drinks in that picture.

This year, we were only allowed to park TWO drinks at any one time. We also only had a choice of bubbly, red or white wine, beer, and Bellinis.

I understand why they are limiting how many drinks you can park - to avoid wastage. Fine, I get it. Though wastage is something I do not believe in. Trust me and anyone who has ANY meal with me can attest to that.

Is that enough to get us stupidly drunk? Of course it is. Is it a problem that they only allow you to park 2 drinks at a time? Not really, just means we have to down our drinks faster if we want another one.

But at a whopping RM268++ per person, I think I would prefer to be given more choices, and not for it to be limited even more with every visit.

Also, charging us for water is just stupid.

BAD and I already have our eye on the next 'new' thing to try. Possibly at the end of the month. It looks quite exciting! Can't wait.

Sunsilk Co-Creations

My dancers performed for the launch of the Sunsilk Co-Creations with their hair expert Yuko Yamashita. Going with the whole Japanese theme, the dancers were dressed in Harajuku inspired costumes and performed to "Harajuku Girls" by Gwen Stefani.

CLEO's 50 Most Eligible Bachelors 2010

I trained the boys again for their dance performance this year. Initially we were supposed to have 10 boys but many of them couldn't commit to the dance rehearsals so we kept it to 5 of them who were consistent. I'm glad we did!

This year I made it into a bit of a joke. Cleo team wanted a medley of two songs and asked me to recommend something. After bouncing off some ideas with my friends who know songs (I don't listen to the radio so have no idea what's playing these days), I decided on these two songs:

1) Nobody - by the Wonder Girls
2) Single Ladies - by Beyonce

Even though I live in a cave sometimes when it comes to music, even I know these two songs are famous and almost everyone has watched their music videos with rather distinguishable dance steps.

If YOU live in a cave and have never watched the videos before, then watch it below.

And so after many hours of pressing repeat on both YouTube videos, I learned the steps, broke it down to easier movements, re-choreographed, and had the bachelors prancing around Talent Hub wearing boxer shorts and wife-beaters. Mmmm...mmmm...mmm.......

Oh yes I love my job!

After all those weeks of training, it was finally the BIG day to see all my hard work paid off. You can imagine how gutted I was to discover I was TRIPLE booked on that day. After juggling all 3 events... I had to make a sacrifice. I was with the boys at Zouk for full-dress rehearsals in the afternoon, but I had to give up the finale that night. However, I did send two students from Talent Hub to be my spies and to take videos/pics!

The boys were dressed as nerds for the first song "Nobody".

Then with some 'magic' (read: Velcro) they stripped into barely anything.

Izra managed to get a really good video for me but it would take me a gazillion years to upload. So I found a video of the performance on YouTube posted by some random person. It's a little bit dark but I'm sure you'll get the gist of it :)

Enjoy. And ermmmmm.... turn your volume down if you're watching this in the office!

Swing Social

So what did I have on that was so important to miss my boys prancing around in their underwear?

Talent Hub's first Swing Social. Not just any social. Our first social with a LIVE BAND!

Could it have run without me? Of course. But I had to weigh priorities. And this one won.

The band (THANK YOU!) did a fabulous job and everyone had a swinging good time!

The Band

I'm not sure what they call this but it's like Swing Line Dancing and it's crazy fun! I think it's called the Shim Sham?

Theme: Tartans, Tweeds, Checks, Squares or Plaid

Salsa Social

Yet another Social? Yes... I went a bit crazy.

We were convinced nobody was going to show up for the Social because everyone was calling/texting to say they couldn't make it. At that point I really wasn't too bothered cause I was exhausted and all I could think of was my bed.

Quite a number of people turned up in the end and it was loads if fun. We were dancing and chatting till 1am (social 'technically' ends at 10pm!). Now we really need a disco ball for Talent Hub.

Bachata has also been given a new name. Bruschetta.... or Dance Humping....

We played a card game and Omar lost. He had to go round and round this stick 10 times. It was hilarious!

Mother's Day @ Vineria

Food was good. Italian waiter served our table. I had to be well behaved cause BAD was sitting next to me. He made me read the menu out loud to distract me while the waiter took everyone's orders.

Before dinner I ran up to Times to buy my sister a Mother's Day card. My mother doesn't appreciate cards so it would have been a waste of money on her anyway.

Picked out a simple card and it cost 19 bucks. For a small Hallmark card. The next card with a cheesy poem was 24 bucks. We're not talking giant size here. We're talking small regular sized cards with nothing fancy on it.

RIDONCULOUS!

Happy Mommy's Day to my sister and mommy. Next year I'll make you a card with crayons.

Mommy's Day but everyone is busy entertaining Rayn.

Although the food was good, service was atrocious. We asked about 4 times for bread. We ordered 2 pizzas for the middle so everyone could share as a starter. Guess what? It never came.

Even cute Italian waiter with the cute Italian accent couldn't make up for the bad service. Potentially great place if service can be improved.

Oh well.

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

I'm off to buy BAD's birthday present all by myself! If you've read my previous posts, you would know that he has always chosen his presents. This time, it's alllll me. He's so curious and has been bugging me everyday about it. Am giving it to him tomorrow night, then on Thursday, we are off to Sabah for a MUCH deserved getaway. Yayyyyyyy!!

Quote of the day: Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry gets the best of the argument
(Richard Whately)

FREE classes at Talent Hub!

2010-04-12T16:29:00.002+08:00

*please click on image for larger view*

I used to have a social life.

2010-03-26T01:31:00.014+08:00

It's kinda tragic that I just sat here for ten minutes, staring at an empty screen, realizing I actually don't have much to blog about.

Strange... when I used to have SOOOO much to blog about, it would take me DAYS to finish writing and uploading photos for ONE post. And now I sit here blank.

*blink*blink*

That doesn't mean I've been cooped up at home watching reruns on TV in my smelly jammies though (as much as that sounds VERY appealing!). As I mentioned in my previous posts, work has consumed my life. And I don't like writing about work. Cause that's boring. Work is work.

Since work is all I do these days, Talent Hub's blog gets updated more regularly than mine. My work blog is more happening than my social blog. Now that's tragic!

Speaking of that, I'm working on Talent Hub's new website. Well, technically I'm working on the copy and Lyck is working on the design. I've officially given up on Site Builder which is the program I've been using for Talent Hub's current website. You know what you can do with Site Builder? JACK ALL! It's useless. U-S-E-L-E-S-S!

The new website will incorporate everything including the photo blog and all other info currently not available. At least I hope it will....

The hard part is going to be Lyck attempting to teach me how to maintain it on my own after that. She said its easy peasy. But she's the graphic designer and I'm the dance instructor. It's like me telling her Tango is easy. As much as I would like to believe that I'm quite savvy, I'm really a techno moron.

Like my sexy red external hard drive for example. My hard drive comes with some files already in it. And the manual (yes, I read manuals) says "DO NOT DELETE THESE FILES". It keeps the hard drive running I assume? Anyway, I accidentally clicked on one of those folders the other day thinking it was something else, and discovered it had a virus! GASP! Anti virus pops up and telling me to move it to vault. So I move it to vault and it disappears. Thinking if one has a virus... maybe the rest have viruses too! So I clicked on the other folders. And as predicted, it had a virus! Move to vault, move to vault, move to vault!!!

Then I realized.... CRAP! All these folders are now in some vault, but I'm not supposed to delete them from the hard drive!

I proceeded to call all my more savvy computer friends. None of them really understood what I was rambling on about.

"Does it still work?" - Yes it still works.

"Then I guess it's ok?" - I guess so... but not-supposed-to-delete-files are gone!

"But it works?" - You don't get the point!

So their conclusion, just continue using it until something really happens. Then take it to the shop.

I'm convinced this is bad advice.

I blame this on my assistant, Omar, who is the only other person who uses my hard drive. And he openly admits that his laptop has a lot of viruses. He must have transferred it to me. And when I told him this, he smiled meekly at me! Bleah!

So now I have a hard drive with missing 'important' folders. And it bugs me cause I'm anal that way.

I really shouldn't be so anal.

Like the other day, I was playing Lego with Rayn, and was building a house. So he helped me pile the Lego blocks to make the wall. However, my 2 and a half year old nephew has a mind of his own. Some bricks weren't piled on "straight". As in they were "sticking out" of my wall. Now, some out-of-the-box-thinkers might have just accepted this as part of the architectural design of the house. But nooooo. Anal Godma would not. So I removed his brick and straightened it out. Rayn watched me do this, very unhappy that I messed with his masterpiece, so he took it out again and placed it how it was originally meant to be.

Was I going to lose to my nephew who is not even 3 years old? Heck no. So I said, "Oh Rayn, we need a long piece for the wall. Look for a nice long Lego piece in the box".

And so he rummages the box for all the other Lego pieces. With his back safely turned, Anal Godma straightened out the Lego piece to make her perfectly straight wall. And when short attention span Rayn turned around again, it was like nothing happened at all.

Poor Rayn is going through a major jealousy phase though. Think he finally realizes that Ilyas is here to stay. And he will have to share everything including attention (wait till Ilyas is old enough to share his Lego!!).

Ilyas is such a cutie pie. He just turned a month old. Chinese confinement was over so they were allowed to go out for one day. They visited both grandparents houses then we all went for lunch at Alexis, BSC.

I just noticed I don't have a picture of Ilyas when this was his day out!

Being vegetarian, I ordered the Angel Hair Aglio Olio. Who would have known that it came with these huge lobster looking things??? And I don't even eat seafood on normal days anyway!

After that outing, it was back to confinement again for another 14 or so days.for Ilyas and my sister. That's what happens when you have to follow two culturally different confinements!

Little Aditya has also turned a month old. Went for his one month old blessing ceremony the other day. He's so cute! His hair is so thick it feels like velvet! Still so strange seeing Anu as a mommy.

Last week I met up with a bunch of friends at a new-ish restaurant in BSC called Vineria. The food was really good! Good comments all around the table.

Pictures below courtesy of Brenda (as I'm sure you can tell from the much better photo quality!).

Gnocchi

Linguini with Basil Pesto and Prawns

My yummy vegetarian pizza

Portofino Salad

Seafood Linguini

After dinner we wanted to go to WIP for drinks but it was ridiculously crowded so we went to TwentyOne instead (which also became ridiculously crowded after a few hours).

Our famous friend had a FULL PAGE picture in New Man magazine (and like a 4 page write-up!). We tried to use it to our advantage to get a table.
It worked :)

Yeah.... so that's as far as my once-used-to-be-happening social life goes. And as I type this, I am home on a Friday night, while the happening people of KL are literally going mad in their hats at Zouk's 6th Anniversary Mad Hatters Party. Was there last year... was there the year before... and the year before... maybe the year before that too. Now I can't even imagine wanting to go for it while I sit here in my jammies (fresh, not smelly) typing away to my depleting readers caused by my inconsistent blogging. Ah... how life has changed.

Quote of the day: I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm (Roosevelt)

Bring on the change

2010-03-10T14:54:00.007+08:00

From the start of the year till now, I've received news of death after death. I reckon on average, a death a week. That number is so scary. I’ve been left wondering who is next. I might not have known all these people personally, but they were related to the people around me in one way or another.

Someone told me that all the deaths needed to be “cleared” before entering the year of the Tiger. Well, that’s rubbish cause I heard of deaths throughout the Chinese New Year period anyway.

Becky and I had a conversation earlier today about something she saw on Oprah (weird that Becky was quoting something on Oprah when I am the HUGEST Oprah fan and not her!). Maria Shriver was Oprah’s guest and Becky couldn’t remember the exact details but it basically involved someone who died, then either Oprah called Maria, or Maria called Oprah, and said “I Love You”.

It's just a simple lesson of how life is too short, and we are reminded to appreciate or say those words to the ones we love before it’s too late.

As I type this now, it is 2.40am. Becky just called to say “I Love You”.

My immediate response was, “Who died?”.

True. Yet another death. A father of our friend from school.

Someone else told me a theory about this "ship of death". When you suddenly notice a lot of deaths happening all at once (such as now), it is because there’s a ship of death that needs to sail. So the ship has to be full before leaving.

I didn’t think much of it when I heard about it. But now when I actually put some thought into it… that’s pretty morbid!

But whatever the theory, the Tiger year has arrived. Hopefully it will bring some good luck. Though on Day 2 of CNY, I was already down RM500 from gambling. BAD decided to ban me from gambling anymore throughout CNY. I sheepishly obeyed.

My luck was seriously bad! We had a gambling session at my house one night. After losing money on the “big” table, I decided to move to the “small” table where they were only betting RM1, RM2, and a maximum of RM5. Tell me how I could lose RM150 on a SMALL table???

Reunion Dinner

As usual, Reunion dinner was held at my Aunt’s place where each person brings a dish or two – potluck style. I was a bit lazy this year so I thought I’d tapau some Satay. What I didn’t expect, was that every damn Chinese person in Kota Damansara had the same idea. Cars were pulling up to this small satay stall every 5 minutes with huge orders! And this ONE satay lady who seemed to be the only stall open, was fanning satay frantically. She had no one to help her pack, no one to help her cut ketupat… just her… and too many orders. I waited one blinking hour for my damn satay (of which I just realized, I had NONE that night!).

Nevertheless, I made it on time for Reunion Dinner with my very Muhibbah family.

Chinese New Year

We had a delicious CNY lunch at Chynna @ Hilton. My sister was going to pop in a couple of days, so whatever the lady was craving, we had to give her. Next year if you have the chance, you must try the Yee Sang there. DELICIOUS!

Rayn with his sunnies, talking to Aunty Becky on a Blackberry. He's only 2 & 1/2, and already a heartbreaker.

My sister & I, two days before she popped. Ilyas looks hilarious in this picture. Think he was doing some acrobatic stunts in there.

King Rayn and all his favourite slaves.

The rest of CNY was actually very quiet. Maybe because I was on baby-sitting duty. But even then, I do think it has been the quietest CNY I can ever remember.

Marisse & Rayn
"Hellloooo..... is it me you're looking for?"

Babies!!

With all the deaths, there has also been a burst of sunshine. We’ve got two BEAUTIFUL new editions to this world. My nephew and second godson, Ilyas, and Anusha’s first son, Aditya.

Ilyas was born on 17th February 2010. While my sister and BIL were in the hospital for a few days, I stayed with Rayn. We had to do a lot of prepping... to make sure Rayn was ready for this new addition in the family and even worse... someone who was going to share all his toys. But almost everybody who came to visit, bought Rayn a toy as well so he was VERY happy! Bribing a kid? Sure... whatever works!

Syed Ilyas Hussein Albar

Koko Rayn meeting Baby Ilyas for the first time.

Rayn opening his present "FROM" Ilyas!
The funniest comment by Rayn's Uncle Naqib, "Baby Ilyas got so much money Rayn... he bought you LEGO!".

My second Godson/Nephew!

A few days later in the very same hospital, Anusha gave birth to her first son! I still can't believe that Anusha is now a mommy!!! But she'll make the best and funniest mommy ever. Am so thrilled for her as she embarks on this new journey with her little bundle of joy.

Aditya Subenthiran

Look at his full head of hair! So cute!!!

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

Baaaaaahhh! So much more to blog about!!!

Everything above that line was actually written a few weeks ago. I’ve just come back to it and realized there’s SO much more to update. But... I’m not going to....

Been having a lot on my plate recently. Making lots of plans for Talent Hub – trying to take it to the next level. It’s hard work, but if I don’t push it, no one will. I’ve got about 5 new projects to work on – this is on top of all the regular stuff we already do. Wait… make that about 7 new projects… All that I'm aiming to implement within the next few months.

On top of that, I also have some plans to start a new business. Something completely unrelated to the Hub. It’s still an idea for now but I’m very inspired by it and very excited! Have been using any spare time I have to research and try to make it happen within the next 6 months. A lot of R&D needs to be put into it and I've already started doing some research. With Talent Hub, I was already in the industry for a fair number of years. I more or less knew what I was getting myself into. This however, is completely new. Completely different. And I have no clue what I'm getting myself into. But I'm loving the idea, loving the change, and loving the possibilities.

Whether these projects and ventures will be successful, only time will tell. It’s been a bizarre year so far, and it’s only March. Lots of changes. Not only for me, but for the closest people around me too. Good or bad, your guess is as good as mine...

Quote of the day: Change and growth take place when a person has risked himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life. (Herbert A. Otto)

SWING! 4-week course at Talent Hub!

2010-03-09T17:17:00.005+08:00

Brand swinging-new at Talent Hub!

Ming Pang from KLSwing! will be kicking off our first SWING dance classes.

Lindy Basics is a 4-week series that will cover the fundamentals of Lindy Hop plus some variations and break away jazz steps to spice things up.

Lindy Hop is the granddaddy of all swing dancing and was created in Harlem in the late 1920's. This exciting dance incorporates footwork based on the Charleston, Boogie Woogie break away steps, freezes, and 6-count and 8-count traveling steps. It's an energetic, swingin', happy partner dance that can be danced to slow or fast swing music & everything in between.

So what are you waiting for?!

Call 016-2858353
or
email ask@talenthub.com.my
to sign up now!

Limited space available so HURRY!

Welcome to the world Ilyas!

2010-02-17T22:11:00.003+08:00

Syed Ilyas Hussein Albar
17th February 2010
10.48am
3.42kg

Welcome to the world!

What's up with 2010?

2010-02-08T23:13:00.008+08:00

2010 isn't off to a very good start. I seem to be receiving more bad news than I have good news. Being half Chinese, I've got one more new year to celebrate in less than a week. I'm being optimistic and hoping that maybe the year of the Tiger will bring better luck. And just around the corner, 3 new babies will be making their grand appearance into the world. Let's hope that the year will make a turn for the better.

Anusha's Baby Shower

Puva was convinced that his baby was going to come out early, so we decided to surprise Anu with a baby shower at their house instead of going out. The girs met at the carpark armed with food, balloons, cookies, cupcakes, drinks, games, and presents. And then ambushed her!

*photos taken by Corrinne as my camera wasn't fixed yet*

We made our own concoctions of Mocktails. This was Savi and my creation that we aptly named "Sunrise Delight". Don't ask us what we put in there... we have no idea either. Our next attempt at Virgin Mojitos were much better though.

Corrinne brought some of her son Leroy's diapers that he has outgrown. We turned it into little hats!

Was a fun day of stuffing our faces with heaps of food, showering Anu with presents, and playing the silliest of games.

Anu is due any time now... But we received some bad news today. Puva's mother passed away suddenly. It is so sad that Aunty won't be able to meet her grandson.... May her soul rest in peace.

Ming Yin's Birthday

Ming was back in KL for a couple of weeks. For her birthday, we went to Leonardo's for dinner and drinks. Leonardo's is located on Jalan Bangkung in Bangsar. If you've been to The Attic before, Leonardo's is what has taken over. In fact, they've taken over two floors. The upper being the bar/lounge area, and the lower is the main dining.

The menu is non-halal and quite unique, adding things like Chilli Padi in their pasta dishes.

Ming's flaming birthday dessert.

The Breakfast Club

Bad and I were invited to attend The Breakfast Club organised by Heineken. It was held at Public in TTDI Plaza. I absolutely have to say - fantastic event. So simple, yet so good.

Imagine this... lazy Sunday morning (organisers were realistic. Event only started at 10.30am), good weather, dressed down in your Sunday casuals, big sunnies to hide the dark eye circles from too much partying the night before, great food, refreshing smoothies made with Heineken, games (if you wish), live music.... what else could you ask for?

It was a by-invitation-only event, so each guest received a picnic basket filled with goodies! Heineken (but of course!) and Monin to make yummy beer cocktails, Kellogg's, and some other goodies. Great touch and so cute!

Now I know it sounds absolutely awful. And it might look a bit weird in this picture too since we drank half of it and didn't bother stirring the glass before taking this shot. They served these Heineken smoothies (the white one had cucumber and something... and the left one was passion-fruit and something. I forget). Yes, it sounds disgusting. But it was REALLY good! Honest! You could barely taste the beer. It was like a smoothie with a kick. Nice!

I love breakfast.

That day was "date-day" for BAD and I. After the Breakfast Club, we went shopping, shopping, shopping, eating, watching movie, etc... nothing out of the ordinary, but somehow, we both thought it was one of the best days we've spent with each other. It was lovely. I could do more of those days....

The Mole

I've got hundreds of moles. Seriously, hundreds. If I got a dollar for every mole I have, I would be rich. One mole in particular is on the top of my right cheek. It was slightly protruding, light brownish shade. It didn't bother me since I've had it all my life (growing slightly bigger over the years). It only bugged photographers whenever I had a photoshoot... especially a close up shot like the one of my SK-II advertisement where they photoshopped my mole out of the picture.

Over the last month, this mole was growing at an alarming rate. It doubled in size in the span of one month. Even my closest friends or people who saw me everyday at work would say, "Err... have you always had that on your face?". To make it worse, it didn't grow smooth. It was rough and looked rather gross.

My mother was convinced I had skin-cancer. BAD was convinced I had a wart.

Whatever it was, it needed to be removed.

This photo was taken at the doctor's office just before it got removed. Terrible photo, but we didn't want to act like jakuns by taking more.

BAD followed me to see Dr Ruban Nathan in Damansara Heights. He took one look at it and told me it wasn't cancerous. Did I want to remove it? Yes? Shall we do it now? Eeeeeeek! Ok... *looking around like a scared mouse*

The injection to my face was flippin painful!!! How the hell do people do botox????

The laser part didn't hurt since my face was numb. But the burning smell from the laser was horrible and psychologically made me think it was painful.

The mole is gone now. But it has been replaced with a big red wound. The scab is starting to form then it will eventually fall off. Can't wait to see it when it heals. I hope there's no scar...

Early Valentines

Most "realistic" couples don't celebrate Valentines day anymore. Simply because it's too commercialized, etc.

True.

I would hate it if BAD bought me a bouquet of flowers that was triple in price because that would just be ridiculous.

But there's no reason to be a party pooper and not enjoy the day for the mere cheesiness of it either.

Since Val's Day falls on the same day as Chinese New Year, BAD and I celebrated one week early.

He took me to Prime at Le Meridien. If you like your meat - be it steaks or ribs - then go to Prime! Meat cooked to perfection! But be warned that you should definitely go to the ATM before hand, or make sure you've not maxed out your credit card limit.

Let me show you why....

I had this. Delicious Lamb cooked in three different styles.

BAD had the Beef, also cooked in three different styles.

Those two dishes plus a bottle of Rioja, came up to a whooping RM600+!!! Insane, yes. But delicious-melt-in-your-mouth-meat, also yes.

Anyway, we walked into the restaurant and was ushered to our table. Much to our surprise, Shaun and family were seated at the very next table from us celebrating his mom's birthday!

After we finished dinner, we met Shaun and Ric at Vintage Bank @ Hilton for some drinks. It was a Sunday night. Why my boyfriend thought it would be a good idea to order a bottle of Swing? I would never know... but let's just say the rest of the night was rather hazy for me... and the RM600 meal didn't stay in my stomach for too long.... Oppppssss.....

Oh, and huge points for BAD! He got me a custom made designer clutch! So there's only one in the world and it's mine! Yay!!

Me on the other hand... I'm a failure. I have no ability to buy BAD any present. Seriously, I suck big style. Every time I find something, I second guess myself and worry that he would hate it. So in the end, I always take him shopping and buy him something that he wants/needs. This time around, we went to buy him a Prada namecard holder which he really needed (though it took us 6 hours of shopping to find it!). His namecards look like "ham-choi" (chinese salted vegetables) whenever he gives it to someone.

I need to go for Boyfriend-Present-Buying-101. Seriously... I need lessons. He has surprised me over and over and over again. And I can't even give him a wrapped present without him knowing what it is. HELP!

I do have an idea for his Birthday in May though...! It would be my first successful bought-on-my-own present. And I've warned him that if he even dares say "I knew you would get me this!", I would burst out into tears. Even if he's joking. I swear I would cry.

Smashed Windscreen

It was truly a terrible morning. First I woke up with a blinking cold sore on my lip, then received the bad news about Puva's mom, then discovered that my back windscreen was totally SHATTERED!

I was so pissed off! We've got a feeling it must have been the grass cutters cause they were there this morning. A stone must have flew and shattered the glass.

It's weird how things work... This is my first car that I've bought so I'm obviously not too well knowledged about the details such as insurance. A few weeks before going to pay for my car insurance (around November last year), my friends were having a conversation about car windshields. I had no idea that insurance does not cover windshields and if you want it to, you have to pay more. So when I went to renew my insurance, I paid extra to get my windshield insured as well. Thank goodness.

BAD had to take the day off work to help me sort out the car. I felt really bad that he had to miss work but his girlfriend is really a damsel when it comes to these things.

I know that it must have been an accident. Cause nothing was stolen from my car. I had money, sunglasses, presents, clothes, Touch & Go, Garmin (GPS), and a bunch of other things. Nothing was touched.

I'm pissed off... but I guess there's nothing much I can do about it and should just be thankful that nothing was stolen and nobody was hurt.

Quote of the day: When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. (Alexander Graham Bell)

This quote is a reminder for a certain friend... you know who you are. Look for the open door. It might be a window... but it's open.

Much awaited photos from the 4th Anniversary Party

2010-02-02T00:11:00.006+08:00

The event that robbed days and weeks of sleep away from me. The event that stripped me of any social life what so ever. The biggest event I have organised for Talent Hub. Months of planning. Over in a matter of hours. Was it all worth it? I hope so.

Two months overdue, but the photos are finally uploaded onto the blog. We had hundreds. We chose just a few to give you a preview of what happened that day.

As you know, my internet connection at home is so painfully slow that I rather watch paint dry. So I won't be double uploading the photos onto two blogs.

Do click on Talent Hub's photo blog to view the photos.

Enjoy!

Pssstttt..... if you missed this year's party... SHAME ON YOU!

Politically motivated?

2010-01-28T11:27:00.012+08:00

What a waste of a pig head. Honestly, the people who did this should have just chopped off their own head and attached the pig head to their neck instead. Because CLEARLY, a pig's brain is much better than their own moronic one at this point.

What's next? A human body? When will this stop?

It is an outrage. Malaysians are furious. Some by how stupid these people are, some with the government, and others turning racially against each other.

The conspiracy theorist are out everywhere.

Is this being orchestrated? Has someone been hired to carry out these acts? By whom? By UMNO? By an opposition political party? Why? To put the government at the edge of their seats (literally) and show the public how they will react under these circumstances?

Is this a game of tit for tat? You bomb my church, I throw a pig at you?

Or is this being carried out by the same people? The racial card of the church bombings was a bit obvious. Not pointing fingers at anyone, but hey, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

But now severed pig heads were found in mosques. It's open game. Who could it be? The Catholics in retaliation? The Hindus? The Buddhists who have been safely kept out of this fiasco? OR... is it the same people who threw those bombs? The same people so that attention would be differed from the initial crime. To throw the authorities off track.

Let's play Devil's Advocate here for a minute....

If a non-Muslim were to throw a pig head into the compound of a mosque in retaliation to the church bombings, wouldn't they just grab the pig by the ear and throw the whole pig head in so that the blood of the pig would splatter the holy grounds of the mosque? So that the flesh and blood of the 'dirty' animal would be smeared all over?

But then why was the pig head wrapped up in a plastic bag? Defeats the purpose, no? I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but this seems a little suspicious to me....

Whatever the theory, this whole situation is getting ridiculously out of hand.

This country proudly proclaims to be tolerant of race and religion. Multi cultural. Multi this. Multi that. Please... we're just a big joke to the entire world right now. We're like clowns at a circus.

It is ALL politics. It is an attempt to destabilize the country and shift the votes.

Is it working?

I have never liked politics. I have always remained politically neutral - a stand which many of my more politically involved friends did not understand. More so, in this past elections. It was the topic on everyone's lips. Who were you voting for? If BN, then why? If another party, then somehow... people didn't seem to ask why. It was as if it was 'cool' to vote against BN. Like being a rebel against the system.

I stayed out of it. I remained politically neutral. Because it didn't affect me. Yet. The government had not done anything to make me go against it. Yet. So why question the government? Why put our country in the hands of people who have never run it before? Will this country crumble in the hands of a new party? It has survived this long with the current party. Why change that?

For the first time in my life, I'm finally questioning myself. For the first time in my life, I have seen how this country might not be as peaceful as I thought it was. For the first time in my life, I have seen how the system is being manipulated for political gain.

And I'm not sure I want to remain politically neutral anymore.

Quote of the day: Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is. (Mahatma Gandhi)

In A Nutshell

2010-01-20T00:28:00.000+08:00

So... everyone has been bitching that they have no idea what I've been up to in the last 3 months since I've barely properly blogged since the beginning of OCTOBER. And for those abroad, by me not blogging means they don't know what everyone else in KL has been up to as well. Helloooooo.... Facebook?!

In a nutshell: My birthday, Talent Hub's Anniversary Party, Rachel's Hen Nite then wedding, Shaline and Mohan's multiple wedding parties, Christmas, New Years, lots of performances, TOO much work, many random parties, redecorating my room, Clothes Swap Party, birthday parties, death, renovations in Talent Hub, sprained ankle, new fish, broke beyond belief, baby showers, baby births, and a whole bunch of other things.

I've got some photos from the month of October. And I've got lots of photos from Talent Hub's Anniversary Party at Zouk but won't be uploading that cause the files are hugeeeeeeee and would take me months. And then after December... I've got none.... because Rayn killed my camera at Christmas. I know... gasp! But it was an accident and I'm not angry. He's a kid and didn't realise it. Just sent it for fixing today but will take a few weeks before I get it back.

So here are some photos to keep everyone SLIGHTLY updated. Talent Hub related photos have been uploaded on Talent Hub's photo blog so if you're interested in that, you can click here cause I won't be double uploading.

Shaline and Mohan's Wedding

In October, Shaline and Mohan had a Bollywood themed party at Shaline's house after their Hindu blessing ceremony. The garden was transformed into a Bollywood paradise! Truly amazing! And everyone was dressed in their full Bollywood gear.

Shaline and her bridesmaids came to Talent Hub a couple of times to learn a simple Bollywood dance to perform that night. Most of them only had one lesson.

The men however.... had a 5 minute crash course just before their performance!

The ladies did fantasticaly well. The men? If I wasn't wearing a saree, I would have been rolling on the floor (in true Bollywood style of course!) laughing at how they literally ambushed the performance! Haha!

The amazing decor that transformed her huge garden into a Bollywood Paradise.

The beautiful couple

Fast forward 3 months.

Last Thursday was their pre-wedding cocktail party at Westin. Lots of drinks and food. I had way too much red wine. It was my first proper drink in 2010 and I got a bit excited by the taste of good wine. I regretted it the next day.

On Saturday was their church ceremony at St. Mary's Cathedral. Shaline looked STUNNING! I absolutely LOVED her gown! There was a luncheon after the wedding with wine served, but the after effects of Thursday's binge had yet to subside so I declined the many glasses that were offered to me.

That night was an equally amazing Black-Tie reception held at Shangri-La. The decor was beautiful and so classy. I loved the personal touches in everything. For example, the food was a recreation by Shangri-La of what Mohan had cooked for Shaline on the night he proposed to her.

I cried at the church when she said her vows, I cried at the speeches. It was so very sweet!

I wish BAD could have been there with me but he's mourning and it would be bad luck for the couple as well if he went for their wedding so I had to go solo. Well, not quite solo. Rouvin was my date! And we were a riot. Well, he was a riot. I was quite well behaved.

Wish I had photos to show you of the beautiful wedding, but I have none. I only have one blurry photo of us that was taken on Rouvin's iPhone. My date cleaned up pretty well I must say....

My Birthday

Had a quiet-ish Sunday lunch do at Meatworks in Solaris. Meatworks is owned by a friend of mine, and I only found out after I made the booking!

Sunday afternoon drinking - awesome. Except the afternoon turned into night. And by night, I was not walking very straight.

Viji HATES Bombay Sapphire. But a few months ago, he tricked me into driving to Genting. So to punish him, he needs to down 5 (or was it 6?) shots of Bombay Sapphire before I call it even. He did one that night since it was my birthday and I was a bit drunk and would cause a scene if he didn't do as told. I like having birthday power. So fun.

Some Alpha thingamajig

Good friends would do anything for each other. Including going for some strange Alpha dinner that Cheryl BEGGED us to attend. None of us knew what Alpha was or what we were going for. Ah... we soon found out. Seriously, the things we do for friends!

Possibly the most exciting part of the night was when we tried to convince Dianne to hold up the number for the auction. Just for the thrill of it cause someone would definitely out bid her anyway (and if they didn't, she might be a few thousand bucks poorer). She chickened out.

Second most exciting part (more funny than exciting really) was when we discovered that Cheryl's dad was bidding thousands for some limited edition SPOONS! The look on her face was priceless. She's going to inherit some very expensive spoons one day. Haha!

Rachel's Hen Nite and Wedding

In December, Rachel's Hen Nite theme was Angel and Devils. Can't divulge information so here's the most decent picture of us:

Her wedding was on 2 January 2010. Unfortunately I couldn't attend the reception since BAD's dad passed away the day before. Thought I couldn't attend the church as well but plans changed last minute. I woke up early to pack my bag for Taiping. Sister and BIL offered to drive me there so I wouldn't have to drive alone. Called sister and she said we would only be leaving around lunch time. I literally ran into the shower, got dressed in 10 minutes, and zoomed to church. Was half an hour late for mass, but at least I got to watch them get married. Heard the reception that night was great. Sorry I missed it Rach! But from the pictures, you looked lovely!

Earth, Wind and Fire.

Went for the Earth, Wind and Fire concert at Sunway. Compared to Black Eyed Peas, their concert seemed.... not so full of fire.... Maybe the wind blew out the fire. Was good fun anyway.

Tracy and Roshni's Baby Shower

The two of them are expecting their babies a week apart from each other (next month). So when Rosh came back from London, she invited all of us over to her house for the usual get-together makan. What she didn't know was that we hijacked the party to turn it into a Baby Shower! She was out shopping, we went over to her place, and transformed her house.

Tracy on the other hand, knew about SOME of the plans but thought it was all for Roshni. Little did she know that it was a joint party.

How cute is this cake?!

Cupcakes for everyone

Tracy: "Huh? The party is for me?"

Roshni: "So let me get this straight. You guys are hijacking MY party?"

The preggie mommies.

Talent Hub's 4th Anniversary Party

It was the biggest event I've organized so far. 400 people, 60 performers. It took MONTHS of preparations and no matter how much early planning I did, there was still SO MUCH not done at the last minute.

I had no social life. No sleep. No time to eat. No time to do anything. The event consumed my every second.

I've got mixed feelings about the party. On one hand I know it was a huge success. On the other, there were things I wish didn't happen. I should have had more control of the situation. But with so much on my plate already, I couldn't oversee every detail.

I guess I can't please everyone. At the end of the day, all I wanted was a REALLY stiff drink. I stayed at Maya Hotel that night (across the street from Zouk) and passed out. Went to Enery Day Spa the next day for a much needed full body massage. The following week, I was comatose most of the time. I needed to catch up on sleep badly.

I'm glad it's over and I swore to everyone that I won't do it anymore. But we all know I will....

Many said I won't be able to top last year's party. Is that a challenge?

Christmas

I'M BROKE.

By far the most expensive Christmas ever.

I got some awesome gifts too though!

New Years

Booked a private room and we had dinner at Nerofico and then drinks and fireworks at Lavi and Dinesh's place. It was a quiet and rather sober one for me.... but I'm glad it was. Cause the last thing any of us needed was to be hungover to receive the bad news...

Taiping

I was in Taiping with BAD and his family for two weekends. The first weekend was rather uncomfortable. I didn't know his extended family. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know anyone else. At the same time, trying to be strong for BAD and his family and juggling emotions.

The second weekend was better. Uncle's ashes were buried above his parent's grave. They also took some of the ashes to scatter at a stream that the family used to visit in happier days.

There's still the 30th day Mass to organize at the end of the month.

Fish

I've got new fish. Guppies that won't jump out of their bowl like Samseng my Fighting Fish.

Their names are Starsky and Hutch. I like them.

Broadband

SUCKS. I can't get any work done at home. Right now, I'm sitting at Old Town Kopitiam, eating Dry Curry Mee (don't try it!), while using their wifi. What is the bloody point of paying every month for service we do not receive?! It sucks!

THANK GOD for my Blackberry otherwise I wouldn't even be able to check emails.

Anyway, I'm outta here. The stools here are mighty unconfortable and I've already been here for 2 hours. The staff are already mopping the floor and the other stools are on the tables. Also because the guys on the next table are talking rather loudly and seem compelled to use the word "Fuck" after every two words. It's as if they replaced "the" or "a" with "fuck".

Now that I'm done with this nutshell post, hopefully I'll be more regular with my blogging... You guys don't believe me do you?

Song playing right now at Old Town Kopitiam: Jai Ho

The A-word has led to this?

2010-01-08T14:59:00.005+08:00

I am disgusted.

I am appalled beyond belief.

I woke up today to the news that three churches were bombed. One damaged. Another didn't explode. And the third... in my church. The church I go to worship God every Sunday.

Committed by moronic-pea-sized-brained-fucking-retarded-idiotic-dickheads (from here on referred to as Imbeciles).

Over what? The use of a WORD? The use of the word Allah? Who in the world claimed that word to be theirs?!

Before I go on, let me say this.

I am not racist. I am not religiously intolerant. I am of Chinese and Indian parentage. My brother-in-law is of Arab descent. My sister is a convert and my nephew is Muslim. I am Catholic. I dated a Hindu man for almost 6 years. Half of my Chinese family is Buddhist.

I would never attack a race or religion.

My anger is directed at the Imbeciles who threw those bombs. It is unfortunate that they fall in the category of a certain race and religion and therefore will be attacked as a whole. My anger is towards the government who "condemn these acts" and "view these matters seriously" but are so fucking slow at taking any action.

What has happened to the people who dragged a Cow head and stamped on it in protest of building a Hindu temple in a "Muslim-Majority" neighborhood?

1Malaysia my effin' arse!

Let's reverse roles here. If someone were to walk into a Mosque today with a Pig head or maybe throw a bomb into a Mosque, what would happen?

This country would go to war instantly.

But if it is done to another religion, we are supposed to "stay calm" and to let the authorities do their work? We are not allowed to voice our opinion or to show how angry we are that our house of worship has been attacked?!

This is what they want. The people who did this heinous act want us to react. How are we supposed to just sit back, exercise restraint and act dignified?

As I write this, I just got word that cars are being smashed and scratched around Bangsar if they see a Rosary or Cross or Bible in the car. I don't know how true this is. I've heard it from several unrelated people already. It could just be a rumour. And I really hope for this country that it is nothing more than a rumour.

Nonetheless, I am so angry and upset.

"We will continue to voice our feelings in protests today because you cannot stop the outflow of feelings on this issue," the group's president, Ibrahim Ali, told AFP. "I think it may have been because of restricting Muslims from voicing their anger and fears that the church attacks took place. You must understand that if Muslims are unhappy, I'm sure there will be no peace in this country."

And what? If the Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and other religions are not happy, this country will be peaceful as long as the Muslims are happy????? Idiot.

Again, I repeat, my anger is not directed at Muslims or Islam as a whole. I have Muslim friends who are equally as disgusted by this whole fiasco. They are educated people who should not be put into the same category as those swines. My anger is directed specifically at imbeciles who commit such heinous crimes, racial and religious intolerant bastards, and people of power with supremely stupid statements.

Have these imbeciles forgotten their Prophet Muhammad's promise to the Christians? Or maybe they were never aware of it.

"This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)."

There is going to be racial tension in Malaysia. There is no doubt about that. Let's just hope that the government will take the right steps to rectify this situation. But the government alone cannot solve this. All religions teach us to act with love, kindness, compassion. We each need to be reminded of this and not attack one another.

I pray that Allah will grant this nation peace. I pray that Allah in His own time, will punish these people for committing such crimes for it is a sin against Him more than it is to us. I pray that Allah will keep us all safe from evil and danger. I pray that Allah will remind us, that there is only ONE God.

A sad start to 2010

2010-01-05T00:46:00.003+08:00

The 'Happy' New Year lasted all of 15 hours....

BAD and I ushered in the new year with some of our close friends. Dinner at a private room in NeroFico, followed by drinks and fireworks at a Lavi and Dinesh's place.

Never would we have imagined that 15 hours later, things would change when BAD received that shocking phone call.

BAD's father had passed away suddenly from a heart attack.

Uncle was in Taiping with his family having a lovely new year's day lunch with them. He died with all his loved ones around him.

BAD left for Taiping immediately with the rest of his family.

I packed my bags and joined him the next day. My sister and BIL wanted to pay their respects so they drove me to Taiping. I'm glad they did cause I would never have been able to drive there alone. They stayed for a couple of hours then drove back to KL. I spent the night in Taiping.

I met BAD's extended family. All of them saying that they wish they didn't have to meet me under those circumstances. I wish I didn't have to either.

The last I saw Uncle was early December, when we had dinner together at Souled Out. It was hard to believe that was going to be the last time. I still have his Christmas present in the boot of my car which BAD went through great lengths to buy.

I'm not good at dealing with death. I really didn't know what to do in such a situation. All I wanted to do was to be there for BAD. I can't imagine the pain he's feeling and there is nothing I can say or do that would take away that pain. But I hope my presence there provided him with at least some comfort.

The funeral was the next day. BAD gave a beautiful Eulogy that sent tears streaming down my cheeks and many other faces. I prayed in my heart that he would have the strength to finish the speech. And he did. I'm so proud of him for being so strong and I'm sure his dad is too.

Later that day, BAD had to drive his dad's car back to KL. I had to drive his brother in-law's car which is a lot bigger than what I'm used to. I was dreading the heavy traffic since it was the last day of the school holidays. What I didn't foresee however, was the terrible weather. Pouring rain for about 4 out of the 5-hour drive back home. But we've all made it safely back to KL.

Being the only son and the eldest, BAD has a lot to tie up in the coming weeks. I pray that God will grant him the strength to pull through this hard time and will hold his hand to guide him along the way.

Rest in Peace, Uncle Anthony....

Intentions

2009-12-31T18:57:00.005+08:00

Do you have any idea how long it has been since I've properly updated my blog?

By 'properly updating', I mean writing about my daily life. The last 5 posts or so have been about specifics - my dogs dying, the Crackberry, etc.

So let me tell you how long it has been.... 3 months.

Yup.

3 months.

I've not told you about my birthday. Or about the beautiful weddings I've attended. Or about the parties I've been going to. Or about Talent Hub's Anniversary party at Zouk. Or about the renovations at Talent Hub. Or about how I sprained my ankle. Or about how I've redone my room. Or about the chairs I've upholstered. Or about my new fish, Starsky and Hutch. Or about the babies that have been born. Or about... a lot of things really.

3 months is a long time and too much has happened.

Today I told myself I will update my blog. It's the last day of the year and I wanted to summarize the last 3 months with some photos and such. So that tomorrow, the New Year, I could start afresh.

But it is now 7pm as I write this. I was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half coming back from work. Talent Hub looks like a war zone after the renovations. Studio reopens on Monday and it is in no state to reopen! New Years Eve dinner is in one hour. I'm covered in dirt and dust. I need to shower.

So no. My plans of updating my blog has once again failed.

But I just wanted to tell you that I had the INTENTION to. And how I also have the intention to do so next week.

Like how I will have the intention to blog daily or every other day. Or maybe twice a week at least.

Like how I will have the intention to stop procrastinating next year.

Like how I will have the intention to drink more water and eat healthier food.

Like how I will have the intention to exercise.

I think normal people call these things Resolutions.

Ah. Screw resolutions. That is so last season.

Have intentions. So much better.

Through everyone's Facebook status, Twitter, blogs... I gather that 2009 hasn't been very great for most people.

I'm undecided about how it has been for me.

I don't want to look back and reflect cause then I would get upset about how much I have not accomplished. Sure, there are things I should be proud of but there are also so many things left undone.

But you know what? It doesn't matter.

Growing up has made me more cynical. It has made me more skeptical. But it has definitely made more more realistic.

So now I know, that in about 5 hours, I will be the exact same person. I will do things the same way I have always done it. I will speak the same, walk the same, act the same. I will have a glass of wine in my hand and will be wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

But nothing would have changed. Except the date. Change takes time. It takes persistence. It takes perseverance. A date isn't going to change old habits. A date isn't going to change attitudes. A date only changes what calendar you're using.

But hopefully with good intentions, I might be able to accomplish more in 2010 than I did this year.

So here's wishing you a Happy New Year.

May all your intentions be turned into actions that will lead to reality.

Malaysian Today | Dancing Queen

2009-12-17T13:52:00.004+08:00

This write-up is in Malaysian Today (literally, today!).

Grab a copy or click on this link.

It's the end of the year and Fiona Gomez, 27, is in a flurry of activity. Her all-in-one creative arts school, Talent Hub, is closing for the year and she has barely a moment to breathe. There is work to be done, but when passion is the driving force there is nothing to it - and guess what? It all began with a phone call, and a kind stranger.

Malaysian Today: Take a moment to share with us your background.

Fiona Gomez: I started dancing when I was six years old. As with most young girls, I started off with Ballet classes. Later, I moved on to Latin and Ballroom Dancing. But I didn't study dancing - I studied Communications and Marketing from HELP College/University of Iowa. But while I was in college, I started performing and teaching dance part time to support myself. I am a Petaling Jaya gal born and bred, and youngest of three.

Q: Where did Talent Hub begin?

A: Of course, as with everyone, I went out to the big bad corporate world to look for a job after I graduated, but dancing has always been my true passion. Talent Hub came about when a friend of mine offered me the space to start my own studio. It was all very exciting at first, but when I got deeper into it, I realized I might not be fully cut out for it. Where was I going to find the money from? I had no experience in running a business. How was I going to be different from the rest? How was I going to gain the trust of parents to send their kids to me when the principal of the school was only 22 years old?

Q: Those are hard questions to answer, but how did you finally take that first step to Talent Hub?

A: I had received a call from one of the companies I had gone for an interview offering me a job, and (laughs) for some crazy reason I told the lady on the phone my dilemma. Can you imagine? Telling my possible future employer that I might not want to take the job because I might want to start my own business?! But instead of saying, "Ok, make your decision and let us know", she said, "Girl, you're young and clearly passionate about dancing. Business opportunities don't come about often. I think you should go ahead with this business idea. Try it out for a few years, and if you ever fail, you can always come back and get a 9-5 job". I have her to thank, because after that conversation, I made my decision and Talent Hub was born in June 2005!

Q: Walk us through what Talent Hub is all about.

A: Talent Hub's a Multi Arts Centre that offers Dance, Drama, Music, and Martial Arts classes to both children and adults, all under the same roof. The idea came about when I noticed parents had to ferry their kids to multiple places for their arts and dance classes, so I thought, why not have a place that offers everything under one roof? I did some research and discovered that there were hardly, if any, places in KL that offered a variety of different art forms at the same place. So now Talent Hub makes arts accessible to them without having to source for it at different venues.

Q: What do you love most about your job?

A: Five years ago I thought, "Wow... big boss. Make lots of money. Just sit around, ordering people to do work". *Three and a half years into my own business now, I can tell you that it is not nearly as glamorous as I would have liked it to be. Sure, I am the big boss. But I'm also the person you will often find with a toilet brush in my hand, scrubbing the toilets, and picking up rubbish after everyone. Glamorous isn't it? Adding to that, I am also the person who went without a salary for 2 years to pay back the capital investment and to make my business work. But NOW, yes, the best part is that I am my own boss! It takes a long time to finally be able to say that, though.

*Correction!! FOUR and a half years!!!

Q: What keeps you going?

A: Watching them (the students) shine and show off their new found skills makes me proud. These people once walked through our doors with two left feet and now they are gracefully sashaying on the dance floor.

Q: What were some of the hardest parts of starting out, and how can you use that to advise young people seeking the same career path?

A: I did not have any experience whatsoever! All I knew was I had to grab the bull by the horns and hang on for dear life! (laughs) And that is my advice to everyone here who is thinking of starting their own business. Just do it. Find that something that drives you. Something that excites you. Be passionate about it. Grab that bull. And if you fall off, go work for someone else. But at least you tried. It takes a lot of hard work, determination, perseverance, and faith in myself to trust my gut and instincts.

Talent Hub's Christmas & Year-End Potluck Party!

2009-12-15T14:18:00.004+08:00

Ho Ho Ho!

'Tis the season to be jolly and we're gonna do just that!

TALENT HUB will be closed from 21st December 2009 - 3rd January 2010 to enjoy this joyful holiday season. So before the year comes to an end, let's have one last party!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a fantastic New Year to all!

A final goodbye to my two dogs.

2009-12-08T01:31:00.005+08:00

A couple of days after Rusty passed away, Scout went blind. He already had cataract, so I guess I knew it would happen eventually. But to see it actually happen, was heart-breaking. He was like a timid little puppy when it happened, taking tiny steps, not sure where he was headed. He kept banging into walls, stepping into his water bowl and tripping, even tripping on a tiny one inch step on the porch. He was so scared and totally disoriented. I knew it was bad when he pooed around his sleeping area instead of his usual spot. To make it worse, Scout's hearing had also deteriorated over the past few months. So now he could only use his sense of smell and touch.

I did some reading online and was relieved to know that he would get used to it. I followed some of the tips given by other owners with blind dogs, and hoped for the best. He did get used to it after a few days. He knew where his sleeping spot was, and he knew where to pee and poo. He wasn't so afraid if he hit something. He would just go the other way around. And he got used to that one inch step and didn't trip on it anymore. He used it as a guide cause he knew that one inch indicated where he usually would sleep.

But I noticed he wasn't drinking much water. I was worried that maybe he didn't know where his water bowl was. So I would take the water and hold it up to his face. He would appease me by taking a sip, but that's about it. Which means it wasn't that he couldn't find his water. He just didn't want it. So I incorporated water into his diet. I would put a whole mug of water and stir it up with his rice and meat to make it into a soupy dish. And he lapped it all up.

My brother had gone to Penang for the weekend with my mom. So I was the only one tending to Scout. On Saturday night, I went home and fed him his dinner. He licked every single grain of rice. He even drank water from his bowl so I was quite pleased.

A few friends were over at my house that night so I was awake till rather late. At 4am, I heard Scout making some sort of scratching sound. I went to check on him and realized he had difficulty standing up. In his old age, his paws were starting to lose grip. He likes to sleep on this plastic mat thing which is rather slippery and couldn't get the grip to stand. So I went outside and helped him up. I was so worried that he might have the same problem as Rusty before she passed but after helping him up, he walked absolutely fine on his own. So I took a soft carpet door mat and placed it at his sleeping spot so that it would give him more grip to stand. Watched him for awhile and he went back to sleep comfortably on it.

The next morning, I woke up and got ready for work as usual. As I walked out of my front door, I saw Scout lying sideways in front of the gate panting heavily with his tongue hanging out at the side. I rushed to him. He was burning hot from the sun. My dad helped me carry him into the shade. I didn't know what to do. I took some water and poured it on his tongue hoping he would drink it in case he was dehydrated but he didn't respond to me and kept panting. I took some water in my hands and rubbed it on his hot body hoping to bring down the temperature.

Called our regular vet but I think they are closed on Sundays cause nobody answered the phone. Called my brother in Penang and he gave me the phone number of another vet in Kota Damansara. They were open so I rushed Scout to them. I was slightly peeved cause I ran in and told them it was an emergency, but they took their own sweet time...

Eventually they attended to Scout after I filled out some forms. They gave him two injections to bring down the fever. Then they said he needed drips to stabilize his condition. They couldn't tell what was wrong with him, but suspected that he was in shock. What he was in shock from, I don't know....

They asked me if I wanted to run a blood test. I told them that they were the vets. Do whatever they thought was best to save him. Money doesn't matter. Just do it.

They carried him away and said they would call me later.

For the rest of the afternoon, I was lying on the floor. It is something weird that I do when I'm sad, worried, angry, etc. I curl up on a small carpet on my room floor, and just lay there. Unable to do anything. Feeling helpless. Sometimes I lay there for hours on end without the fan or lights on. I know it's strange and I can't explain why I do it.

And so that's where I lay all afternoon. On the cold hard floor. Waiting for my phone to ring. The vet closes at 4pm on Sundays. I waited and waited.

Just before closing time, they called to update me. Scout had been stabilized. He couldn't stand up, but he could consciously lift his own head up and he wasn't panting as heavily anymore.

Good news though they would still need to keep him there that night.

I got off the floor and could resume my day. I went for mass and prayed for Scout.

The whole night, I was feeling guilty and worried. Scout was all alone. All alone in a small kennel with tubes hooked to his legs. Confused, I'm sure. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear. I felt so guilty that I couldn't be there with him though I knew that was impossible, but the feeling lingered.

First thing in the morning, the vet called me.

Scout had passed away.

They found him in the morning, already gone.

The guilt has been eating me up all day. I wish I could have been there for Scout when he took his last breath. I wish he didn't have to die in some foreign kennel with tubes stuck to his body. I wish he wasn't alone. I wish I could say goodbye...

I still don't know how he died or what happened. They were going to do the blood test in the morning. Maybe he was dehydrated. Maybe he hit his head and fell. Maybe he was lonely and heart broken from missing Rusty. Maybe he wanted to pass away on his own, to save us the hurt from seeing him die. Maybe he was just old and his body was shutting down. Maybe, maybe, maybe....

In just over two weeks, my family has lost both our dogs.

We buried them next to each other. I hope Rusty was there in heaven to greet Scout and they are happily chasing cats and squirrels.

I will remember the first day we got them, how they were running around like maniacs in our huge compound back in Section 12. I will remember how they didn't ever understand the game 'fetch' when they were puppies. I will remember how they would be so pesky and would disturb our big German Shepard, Bobby, who was also in his final days back then. I would remember how they would always run out of the house for some adventure and not come back for hours till they had traumatized all the cats in the neighborhood. I will remember how they would proudly produce dead animals left on our front door as a 'gift' for us. I will remember how Scout and Rusty loved to kiss each other, licking each others tongue. I will remember how Rusty could skillfully open a Rambutan fruit using her paws and mouth while Scout wouldn't even bother but would try to steal the Rambutan after Rusty was done opening it. I will remember how Scout would like to bite Rusty's bum. I will remember how Rusty would sleep by the gate everyday waiting for Scout to return when he went missing in the drain for 5 days. I will remember how Rusty would love to sunbathe in the sun while Scout would look for the coolest corner, far away from sunlight.

But most of all, I will remember how much joy these two lovely dogs have brought me and my family for over a decade.

Goodbye Scout and Rusty.... I will miss you two mutts dearly....

Rusty (brown) and Scout (black) in their happier, healthier days.

Scout - DOD: 7th December 2009
Rusty - DOD: 21st November 2009

Rest In Peace... Rusty.

2009-11-24T16:45:00.005+08:00

Between 1994-1997, I went to the UK several times. When I came back home from one of those trips, I was greeted by two hyper active puppies. Brother and sister. One black, and one brown. We named the black one Scout, and the brown one Rusty.

We can't remember exactly which year we got them. But it was between those few years. My sister believes it was 1995, but I'm pretty sure it was 1996. Whatever year it was, we've had them for about 12-14 years. Assuming we've had them for 13 human years, that would make them 91 years old in doggy years.

Though siblings, born in the same litter, brought to us on the same day, fed the same food, played the same games, lived in the same houses, walked the same amount, and pretty much done everything together all their lives - they are completely different in personalities.

Scout, as most of you have read before, is always getting up to something. He would kill any cat, squirrel, bird, rat, or any other animal that so much as dared step foot into our compound. Proudly displaying his "catch" on our front door mat in the morning. He's also had so many health problems. First left ear infection, then right ear infection, then maggots eating his paw, then maggots eating his testicles, then skin problems, then running out of the house and getting lost numerous times, then falling into a drain and was stranded for 5 days before we found him... ALIVE, then now in old age he's rather deaf and blind. Though very playful, he is also quite a temperamental dog. Alpha male maybe. He will growl and bite if he doesn't like something so we tend to be extra careful with him.

Rusty, was the COMPLETE opposite. Don't get me wrong, she had her fair share of getting up to mischief with Scout. She was his accomplice in all those murder cases of neighborhood cats. One time, the two of them even murdered our neighbour's dog who was their arch enemy for many years. That beautiful dog somehow dug a hole to our compound through the fence and the dogs got into a massive fight. 2 against 1. It was a losing battle.

But otherwise, Rusty was the sweetest, most gentle dog ever. She wouldn't ever bite anyone. You could pull her tail, take away her food while eating, pull her ears to make funny faces, and she would let you get away with it.

Unlike Scout, Rusty had no health problems. She was always healthy with a thick coat of fur. Only last year in her old age, did she have an incontinence problem (meaning she couldn't control her bladder and used to wet herself) but that was soon solved with some medication by the vet. Other than that, she was a healthy fatty doggy.

Until last week. Monday.

My mom called me at night when I was at work saying that Rusty couldn't stand up. I went home and helped her up. She could walk when already standing, but she couldn't lift her own weight to stand up on her own. I helped her walk around for awhile to have a pee and poo.

The next day, brother and I were tending to her around the clock. Every few hours we would take turns to get her walking.

On Wednesday, we took her to the vet. She said Rusty had arthritis due to her old age. She taught us how to do some physiotherapy on her and to massage her body and legs to get the blood circulating.

We told the vet that we were worried about her bloated stomach. She doesn't usually look that fat but might be because she hadn't pooed much. Doctor started checking her then realised Rusty's gums were white. Then she got worried.

Anemia.

It can kill dogs.

Very, very quickly.

We took a blood test and were told to come back on Saturday for another check-up along with Rusty's urine sample.

Blood test came back. Her red blood cell count was 22. That is very low. If it didn't improve, she would need a blood transfusion, but in her old age, that might not have been advisable.

Wednesday night, we bought some chicken liver and cooked it for her which was meant to increase the red blood cell count according to the vet.

Thursday night, she threw up all her food.

Friday, she threw up all her food again and didn't want to eat. I did some research online and was shocked to discover how many pet owners had experienced the same thing. Most of their pets died within the same week that the Anemia was diagnosed. I was terrified.

Friday night, I went to buy Beef Liver which apparently is even better for Iron supplement.

It was past midnight. Rusty had denied all food we tried to feed her. She didn't want anything. Scout and her weren't getting along. They were growling and barking at each other constantly. It was late at night and we didn't want them to wake up the whole neighborhood. I kept going outside to get them to stop quarreling. It was very bizarre behaviour. They finally settled down about 4am. I wonder if Scout knew something that we didn't....

At 8am, I jumped out of bed cause Rusty started whining. In my pajamas, I ran down to help her. Took her to pee and my brother collected her urine sample. We were supposed to go to the vet at 10am with Rusty and the urine sample as soon as the vet opened.

My brother said he was going to the shops nearby to have breakfast and as soon as he came back, we would leave for the vet.

I went upstairs intending to shower and change out of my pajamas. But before I could even reach my room, Rusty started whining again. So I went back downstairs. For over an hour, I was squatting next to her. I tried to get her to walk a bit more but she didn't want to. So I massaged her body and legs, hoping to ease some of her discomfort. Every time I stopped touching her, even for a second, she would whine. So I continuously rubbed her body.

At about 9.30am, she didn't look good. Her panting was really heavy and she seemed really weak. I shouted for my mom and asked her to call my brother to rush home immediately. The vet wasn't open till 10am, but at least we could be there as soon as they arrive.

Then I had to witness the most traumatizing sight ever. I knew I was losing her when she let her head drop and her tongue was sticking out at the side, drooling all over the floor. Her eyes started looking very dilated. I didn't know what to do other than to continuously stroke her and call out her name and tell her what a good and beautiful dog she was.

Then she stretched her whole body backwards. I don't know why, but I knew that was the end. Maybe I've seen it on TV before. I don't know. But I braced myself for the worst. She stretched all the way to the back, almost like doing a back bend. Then released... and stopped breathing.

My hands were still on her and I could still feel her heartbeat.

My brother came home and ran to us. He could feel her heartbeat too. She kept having these spasms where her whole head and jaw would jerk up. She did this several times. I was so confused cause I knew she stopped breathing.

In those last few moments, we thought we'd still try to take her to the vet. I stood up to go open the gate while my brother tried carrying Rusty. What I didn't realize was, in the last one hour as I was squatting over Rusty, both my legs had fallen asleep. When I got up and tried to run, I tripped and sprained my ankle. I was in agonizing pain and couldn't walk for the next 15 minutes.

But Rusty was gone. We didn't make it past the front gate. Her vet appointment was at 10am. She died just before that....

Her whole life she was a healthy dog... and within one week... LESS than one week.... Anemia had taken her life.

Strangely, though the experience was traumatizing, I'm glad that she went that way. I'm glad she died while I was there stroking her body. I'm glad she... or God... decided when it was time to go. I don't believe in Euthanasia. Most people believe it is the most humane thing to do. To put your dog to sleep. But the guilt of euthanasia would eat me. Because a human would decide that another life was not worth fighting for. A human would to decide that another life was in too much pain and maybe death... death that none of us know... might be a better option? In extreme cases, yes, maybe euthanasia is the answer. But if you don't try your utmost best to nurse someone or something back to health, is euthanasia still the most humane thing to do? Or is it the most selfish?

Whatever the case... I'm glad I was there in Rusty's last moments. The images will haunt me for life... but she was a good dog, and I hope she is in a much happier place. A happy place where there are lots of squirrels and cats and birds for her to chase....

Rest in peace Rusty... you will be missed.

Rusty
DOD: 21st November 2009

The forgotten

2009-11-19T13:33:00.002+08:00

I forgot I had a blog. Seriously. FORGOT. My reaction one minute ago was, "SHIT! MY BLOG!"

The past month has been CRAZY. If I ever said crazy before, it was never as crazy as this.

It was like driving at maximum speed, with no brakes, and the fuel indicator blinking RED. The only way to stop was when the fuel ran out... or I crashed.

Thankfully, neither happened. Though it was a very close call on both. My friends literally had to call to remind me to eat something!

October was insane with so many events. November was a race to prepare for Talent Hub's 4th Anniversary Party.

I was surviving on minimal sleep. Everything that used to be a priority had to take a back seat. No matter how much early planning I did this year, the last two weeks was as if I did NOTHING for months. So many changes, so much to do.... All the early planning down the drain.

I'm now catching up on other work that has been piling up.

My dog, Rusty (Scout's sister), is also ill. She can't stand up due to arthritis, and she also has anemia which might be deadly. Am devoting as much time to her as I possibly can to hopefully nurse her back to health. Say a prayer for her please.

Will try to update this poor forgotten blog over the weekend. If I can...

Talent Hub 4th Anniversary Party with Viva Vertical!

2009-10-28T11:51:00.003+08:00

LAST WEEK TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS! HURRY!

Call 016-2858353 or email ask@talenthub.com.my to get your tickets NOW!

See you at the party!

The CrackBerry

2009-10-16T17:43:00.008+08:00

As I’ve written before, I tend to use things until it literally breaks or dies on me. For years, I’ve been using my trusty old Nokia phone. The housing had broken and I held it together with a rubber band (a classy black hair-tie rubber band. not the brown ones that you get from your tapau. but nonetheless, a rubber band). And my phone worked perfectly fine. Used it for months that way. Until one day BAD needed to get something from Digital Mall. Since I was already there, I thought, ok, I’ll get a new housing. They didn’t have the original silver one, so I settled for a plain sleek black one. Little did I know that the paint would start chipping from the very next day. A blooming waste of RM60.

I’ve been using my phone like this for almost the whole year. Paint chipping. Bit by bit. Every time I use the phone, I would have tiny bits of paint stuck to my hand. Or face. 95% of the paint has now come off, revealing the original silver housing. There is still some remnants, but I’m sure it will eventually come off. Eventually.

I would have been absolutely fine to continue using this phone if not for the fact that I needed a phone where I could access my emails and browse the internet. Why? That's what a laptop is for, right? Oh please let me get started on this one!

BECAUSE BROADBAND IN

MALAYSIA

ABSOLUTELY SUCKS.

We started off with Streamyx which got progressively worse over the years. It would take me 20 minutes to open ONE email. As my friend Mell Saw pointed out last week, I’m too patient for my own good. She has said this to me many times, but this one came after I told her that I had been trying to send out an email with an attachment for an hour. Every time it failed, I would take a deep breath, and press the send button again. Over and over and over again.

At one point, I couldn’t connect to the internet for about 2 weeks straight. I run my own business. I’m a one-woman-show. I build and maintain my website, I’m the only person who replies emails, I do all the marketing, and I do everything else to keep the show running. So not having access to my emails for two whole weeks is almost catastrophic in a less dramatic way. How many times a week can I sit at a random coffee shop to do my work while using their wifi?

So, after putting up with way too much bullshit from Streamyx, we terminated their service. Let me not take any credit for this decision. It was purely my brother’s. My brother works in IT for one of the bigger technology companies. His job literally revolves around the computer and many times, he can work from home. So with ridiculously slow and unstable internet service, this infuriated him.

When a guy works in IT, customer service should not insult him by suggesting that he “checks the wires to make sure it is connected” and other such moronic suggestions. My brother made so many complaints that it went up to higher management and they sent someone from the HQ to personally service our house. They changed the cables, they fixed this and that, they narrowed it down to this or that problem, but nothing worked.

So my brother decided to explore P1WiMAX. After a few hours of joyous fast internet service, he made a harsh call to Streamyx saying that he is terminating their service and will not pay any outstanding bills for a service he did not receive in the first place.

And so for a couple of months, we enjoyed relatively fast and stable internet connection. I was so pleased with it that I decided to sign up for another one to be used at the Hub. I signed up for a 2 year contract. Good thing is, they gave me a 7-day trial period. After day-2, I pretty much decided that I was going to return it. The signal strength said “Excellent” but the connection was super duper slow. It definitely wasn’t worth a 2 year contract.

Totally off topic, I went to Digital Mall last week to buy a birthday present for Stephanie. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by the sales guy who sold me the P1WiMAX. He said, “Hi Miss Fiona”. I was totally taken aback. To recognize me is one thing, but to remember my name after over a month was another. Maybe I was his first ever sale or something. Too bad he wouldn't be getting a commission from my sale.

Anyway, the good internet connection at my home was short-lived. As I type this on MsWord, I haven’t been able to connect for the last 5 hours. Over the last few days, I also haven’t been able to send out any emails with attachments. Not big attachments. Just small documents. It’s very frustrating. This blog is a hobby. If I don’t update it, no big loss. My loyal readers might be gutted, but it’s not at the top of my priority list. However, aside from Talent Hub’s website, I also keep a photo blog of what happens at the Hub. I would like to update this maybe every couple of days to keep things current but haven’t been able to do so because of this sucky connection. My list of things that I can’t do can go on forever.

My patience is running a bit short. There is only so much I can put up with.

Now, let me move on to the topic I started with – a new phone.

I needed a new phone for two simple reasons:

1) So that I could at least access my emails without having to rely on unstable internet connection.

2) BAD is a gadget guy and was embarrassed every time I proudly whipped out my chipped-paint trusty ol’ Nokia.

So we decided he shall buy me a new handphone for my birthday (cause God knows if you leave it to me, I’ll never get around to doing it until this Nokia breaks into half!).

The choice was between the obvious two - the celebrities of smartphones: a BlackBerry or an iPhone.

Let me start with the BlackBerry.

My first introduction to the ‘effects’ of the BlackBerry was through my ex-boyfriend and his circle of friends. I really didn’t know what it was all about other than being a fancy and expensive phone. My shock and horror came when the ex’s phone bill started escalating up to the 4-digits. What the blinking hell was this BlackBerry thing anyway?! I really didn’t know much of what he did with that phone other than check football scores CONSTANTLY. If he wasn’t on Everton FC, he would be on some other football site reading about the latest news and scores.

Still, the effects of the BB didn’t dawn on me then.

Until I met BAD. Then not only did I learn about the BlackBerry, I discovered why it is infamously nicknamed the CRACKberry.

It is an addiction. It really and truly is. BAD is practically glued to his phone. He checks his emails, BBM, SMS, and Twitter, a-l-l-t-h-e-t-i-m-e. It gets to the point where if I am out with him, I would have to confiscate his phone in order to get some crack-free-minutes with him.

I classified him as a “Social Retard”. If there was a club, BAD would be the president.

Social Retard because people addicted to their BlackBerry would forget that they are in the social company of people. They would forget their social manners and only pay attention to their phone – therefore, being retarded in a social environment. When was it socially acceptable to check your email, or even worse – REPLY, when in the company of friends? Are the Twitter updates so much more important or interesting than what your friends in front of you have to say?

Replying an SMS or taking a phone call is of course acceptable in all social standards today. Don’t do it when in a meeting, presentation, funeral, places of worship, or the likes. Other than that, you’re not really breaking any social rules or manners.

I guess in this modern day and age, replying an email is just like replying an SMS. And so is the very addictive CHAT - GTalk, MSN, Yahoo Messenger and now… BlackBerry Messenger. Is it rude, socially acceptable, or tolerable? Done in small doses, I guess it shouldn’t be a problem. As long as you don’t forget that present company exists. But being glued to it like a child glued to his Nintendo, yes, that IS a problem.

As such, when it was suggested that I get a BlackBerry, I was more than hesitant. On one hand, I knew how convenient it would be. On the other, I knew of its addictive nature.

And I, with no will power whatsoever, could very easily be addicted.

I start my day by turning on my laptop. I’m on my laptop all afternoon doing work. I switch it off when I get dressed for work, pack it up, and take it to the Hub. I turn it on as soon as I get to the studio. No internet at the Hub, so I do administrative work on it if I’m not teaching. Pack it up, go home after work. Turn it on to see what has happened in the cyber world over the last few hours. Go to bed. Repeat same process.

One could then say I am already addicted to my laptop. Yes, I would in fact say that I am.

Imagine if I had something that could do all the same stuff, but could fit in my pocket?

Addiction? Definitely.

My second choice: The iPhone.

The iPhone definitely has the WOW factor. If one word had to be used to describe the iPhone, it would be “Cool”. And they seem to come up with cooler ones every time.

I have some very privileged (read: RICH!) kids who are my students. They all have fancy iPhones. They are less than half my age.

I had lunch with some ladies of leisure not too long ago. Rich women with rich husbands and fancy cars and expensive handbags. All of them had one thing in common… an iPhone. A-L-L of them. Whipping it out and tapping their touch screens to call their drivers.

I came home and complained to BAD. I want to be a Tai-Tai. I want to be a lady of leisure who has high-teas with her lady friends, carrying huge Louis Vuittons, being driven around in massive cars by my driver, going to the spa, having nail polish that will never chip and roots of my hair highlights never showing. I am, as one anonymous troll pointed out, "Prestige" after all.

But until I can one day achieve that status, I will remain a TIT.

TIT you ask?

Tai-Tai In Training.

Until I become a full-fledged Tai-Tai, I shall remain a TIT. I need to take baby steps to achieve my Tai-Tai status. Baby steps. “We’ll start with an iPhone”, I told BAD.

He didn’t object to the iPhone. He loves everything that Apple produces. But he did very casually point out to me that he knows me too well and I would be bored out of my mind if I was a Tai-Tai.

It is true. I would be. But let’s not get him used to that fact shall we?

Let a girl dream. Let me dream that I will one day be a Tai-Tai. Though it would be short-lived, and 3 months later, I would be bored out of my mind, and will find something better to do with my time than to stare at my pretty perfectly manicured nails.

And so, the debate of the geeks began. Was it going to be an iPhone or a BlackBerry?

After putting some thought into it, I realized that I am totally not an iPhone kinda girl. I am all BlackBerry.

I will not use fancy applications, I will not play with games. I’ve already got an iPod and so will not use the iPhone for music. I do not download things. Not music, not my favourite TV series. If I want something, I would usually ask a friend who has already downloaded it and will get it from them.

I liked the iPhone for the fancy look, the wow-factor, the uber coolness, the one-step-closer-to-be-a-tai-tai aspect of it.

But it just wasn’t me. Contrary to popular belief, I am practicality and functionality over applications and trendiness.

As someone pointed out, “You’re a business woman. You need a business phone. Not a toy”.

I guess that really put things into perspective for me.

BAD claimed that he knew that from the very start, but wanted me to decide for myself.

And so the BlackBerry won.

One fine morning last week, BAD was speaking to me on the phone while driving to work. I had just woken up and was still in bed talking to him. He had another call so he said he would call me back later.

I rolled to the other side of the bed where my laptop was and switched it on. Checked my emails then was just about to go brush my teeth when BAD called back.

BAD: Would you like some Nasi Lemak?
Me: Yaaaaaaaaaa…..
BAD: What would you do if I tell you I’m outside?
Me: *scrambles to the window to see BAD sitting in his car outside my house waving at me* Eeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkk!!

We were halfway eating our Nasi Lemak. I needed to show BAD something on my phone but didn’t know where I left it. Went to the kitchen, it wasn’t there. Went to my room, it wasn’t there. Went back to the living room and found it on the shelf. Was about to take my seat again when I saw something on my chair.

My new BlackBerry!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you BAD for my early birthday present! I loveeeee it!

I have spent the past week keying in phone numbers one by one by one because the BB somehow doesn’t recognize numbers on my SIM card. Though it is tedious, I’m glad I’m doing it cause I can finally cleanup my phone book. I’ve got numbers of people I don’t AT ALL recall. I’m staring at their name and saying out loud, “Whoooo?”. Even all my current friends, so many outdated phone numbers that I just never bothered deleting.

I’ve only finished up to P yesterday. So if your name starts with any letter after P and you call me, please don’t be offended if I don’t know who I’m speaking to.

Like Katrina who called me on the first day I got my phone. Although I usually recognize her voice, for some reason I didn’t on that day.

Kat: Yayyyy! New BlackBerry! Now we can BBM each other!
Me: *nervous laughter* Haha… yah… we can.
Kat: So, so, how is it?
Me: ………… *silence* Ok lah, actually I have no idea who I’m speaking to.
Kat: YOU DON’T HAVE MY NUMBER??????!!!!!!!!!!
Louisa: *her voice shouting from the background* She doesn’t have your number??!!
Me: No, No! I’ve only keyed in phone numbers up to B!!!

Apparently that wasn’t a valid excuse as I got a bloody earful and a half from both sisters.

I’m mighty pleased with my new phone. I can check all my email accounts at a push of a button. Facebook and Twitter to add to the fun.

Am I addicted? Most definitely.

Am I now classified as a Social Retard? Not yet, but I might be a borderline case.

I'm sure the novelty of it would soon run out and I would eventually return to normal. I hope.

I’m convinced this is BAD’s elaborate master plan… to get me hooked on it so I never have the right to confiscate his BB ever again. He’s a sly one, isn’t he?

Once you try Crack, you never go back!

I eat out too much

2009-10-06T00:07:00.011+08:00

Hope you all have read the poster below in my previous post? Talent Hub’s 4^th Anniversary Party with Viva Vertical is coming up in November. Lots of performances, lucky draws, food, plenty of dancing, and heaps of fun!

My stress levels are rising as each day passes. So much to plan. So much to do.

To reduce my stress levels, you can all BUY TICKETS and come for the party and that will make me very happy! :)

Contact details to purchase your tickets are below. Spread the word to all your friends! Pretty please!

DBKL

Round 1: As I mentioned previously, lasted 5 minutes. I went there, they gave me the forms, told me I needed blah blah blah documents, and that was it.

Round 2: It was the Friday before Raya. I went early in the morning to return my P1 W1MAX after the 7 day trial because it sucked. The signal strength said ‘Excellent’ but the connection was soooooo slow. Definitely not as slow as the Streamyx bullshit that I used to put up with but still very… very slow. About 10 minutes to open one email. However, on some days it was reasonably well behaved. On other days it wasn’t. So I decided it wasn’t good enough for me to signup for a two year contract.

Unfortunately, there was quite a line and it took me ages to return it. Also, I need to wait 45 days for my deposit refund.

By the time I was done, it was noon.

Had lunch and thought I would go after to DBKL, but everyone convinced me not to go since it was the Raya weekend. 1) I would be stuck in traffic, 2) Everyone would probably leave work early and no one would attend to me at DBKL.

Round 3: Raya was on Sunday. Most people went back to work on Tuesday. I waited till Friday just to be safe. Left my house early in the morning, went to PJ to fetch Becks, then we went to the bank to withdraw money for the deposit, then we went to Damansara Heights to fetch Embie, then we went to DBKL. After going round and round and round the damn parking lot, we discovered we exited in the wrong building. Never mind, it was just next door. This whole process from the time I left my house took about 2 hours.

Got to the security, signed in, THEN saw a sign on the wall….

THEY WERE STILL CLOSED FOR HARI RAYA!!!!!

I was sooooooooo annoyed. I had wasted my whole damn morning.

Round 4: First thing Monday morning, they had better be open!

They were so I submitted all my papers. Then I was told that I would have to wait for it to be approved, then I would have to go back AGAIN to make payment.

DBKL REALLY NEEDS TO CREATE AN ONLINE SUBMISSION. DO THEY KNOW HOW MUCH MORE EFFICIENT THIS WHOLE RIDICULOUS PROCESS WOULD BE? AREN’T WE IN THE ERA OF TECHNOLOGY?

Breakfast at La Bodega

After DBKL, Becks and I met Adam at La Bodega for breakfast. For a Monday morning, the place was really buzzing! Everyone from the tai-tai’s, to the expats, to the business men, to some local celebrities. The uppity-ups. And then we strolled in looking like we just rolled out of bed.

They say for a healthy diet, the one meal you should never miss is breakfast. You can miss lunch or dinner but breakfast is very important. I hardly ever have breakfast. That’s too bad cause I really love breakfast. If only I had it often enough. And I’m not talking butter and toast. I’m talking proper breakfast! I guess that's why I love places that have All-Day Breakfast. Mmm mmm mmm!

Arthur’s Day

Arthur’s Day was awesome! BAD and I had VIP tickets so we got lots of free booze!

But here’s a confession… I don’t drink Guinness. *looks down sheepishly*. My only other option was Shandy. So I had to drink Shandy! So shy!! I drank Shandy when I was like… what… 8 years old?? But BAD drank enough Guinness for the both of us so that made up for it.

The rest of them didn’t have VIP tickets so we went down to join them where all the fun and action was.

We got there late and missed most of the pre-acts of Malaysian artists. Didn’t really matter cause we were only there for Black Eyed Peas anyway!

Check out the crowd!

Was it me or did Fergie look a bit ‘high’? Actually… so did the rest of them.

None the less, I thought it was awesome!

After the event, we went to Steven's Corner for supper. We were all done with our meal, just sitting and chatting. Then I pointed out that there were so many cockroaches near the drain (about 10 feet from us). Everyone turned to look. At that point there were about 5 of them just 'playing'. Then there were ten. In a matter of SECONDS... there were easily 50 cockroaches that came FLYING out of the drain and scampering around.

It was a scene out of Joe's Apartment (the movie).

We grabbed our bags and ran for our lives!

I've never seen so many roaches before... it freaked the shit out of us.

The Ugly Truth

Becks, Mell and I went to watch The Ugly Truth. I got out of the car first to go buy tickets while the two of them went to park the car.

The screen said, 'Selling Fast' so I practically ran to the front of the line. When I got there, the dude told me it was sold out. I told him the screen said 'Selling Fast' and he just looked at me blankly.

Movie was at 11pm. Reserved ticket bookings were open to public at 10.30pm. We had about 15 minutes to spare and I was hungry. Everywhere was closed but we managed to convince the guys at Juice Works to sell me a Vegetable Wrap that was already pre-made in the fridge. Beggars can’t be choosers. It really wasn't very nice.

At 10.20pm, we went back to the line. There were heaps of people lining up. But no one was at the counter. Everyone was just standing in line. We didn’t understand at first. So Mell cut the line and went to the counter to buy our tickets. The guy told her it wasn’t opened yet. Then we understood that all those people were standing in line waiting for the reserved tickets to be opened.

Mell, the hero that she is, just stood around in front of the counter, pretending as if nothing was wrong, making conversation with the ticket guy. Hahahaha! Becks and I still stood in line, half shocked that Mell might be able to pull this stunt off.

As soon as the counters were open, everyone RUSHED to the front of the counter! It was a hilarious sight and I couldn’t stop laughing cause no one said anything about Mell cutting the line of at least 10 people in front of us!

Told the guy we wanted 3 tickets. He looked at Becky and said she can’t go watch the movie cause its for 18 years and above. Becky the monkey, didn’t bring her wallet with her so she couldn’t prove that she is way above 18 years old! We tried to convince him that she was of age. We could have almost lost our tickets because of this silly thing! If another counter clicked it before us, we would have killed Becky!

But we managed to get it! Thanks to Mell who is thick skinned enough to very innocently cut everyone’s line. Woo hoo!

So glad we managed to get the tickets cause the movie was really good! Very funny! I’m forcing BAD to watch it with me the second time.

The Boat That Rocked

Another movie that I watched recently is called The Boat That Rocked. Freakin’ hilarious! Set in the 60’s before Rock music was allowed on the radio in the UK, and how these guys on a boat operated a pirate rock radio station. I wouldn’t go as far as BAD to call it the best movie of the year, but a must watch for a good laugh.

Steamboat

Had Steamboat with sister, BIL, Barry, Baby Ad, BAD, and Rayn at the Waterfront @ Desa Park City.

For the first time EVER, Rayn called me “Godma”. Unprompted by anyone! He just randomly looked at me and called me Godma instead of Gaga! Awww!

Black & Gold

It was our Street Jam instructor, Vivian’s birthday. Street Jam students threw her a little party at Talent Hub. The theme was Black & Gold. It was also my student Raisha’s farewell before she returned to the UK.

I’ve posted all the pictures on Talent Hub’s photo blog so do check it out there.

Earth Quake

Did you feel the tremors of the earthquake?

SCARY!

I was in the Hub. Rhythmic Gymnastics was going on. There were two Pole Dancers in the other room.

My whole table started shaking. At first I thought maybe my leg hit the table. But it kept shaking. It took me awhile. I stared at everything on my desk, questioning myself whether I might have jerked and caused everything to move. But it went on for about a minute then I knew it wasn’t me.

There was a parent sitting on the couch but she didn’t say anything. So I went to the Pole Room and asked the pole dancers.

Me: Did you feel the whole building shaking?
Them: No. When? What shaking?
Me: About a minute ago. Didn’t you feel it? My whole desk was shaking.
Them: Maybe you imagined it.
Me: I couldn’t have imagined it! Everything on my table was moving!
Them: Maybe it was the construction nearby.
Me: Hmm… maybe.

Ten minutes later, I-Lin called to tell me her whole office was evacuated because of the tremors.

I knew I didn’t imagine it!

Called my sister and she told me about the earthquake in Sumatra. She felt it too.

When Gymnastics was over, I told the parent and the instructor about it. The parent felt it too! She said the couch was moving and she wanted to ask me about it but since I didn’t say anything, she didn’t say anything either.

It’s so scary how powerful nature is. What’s happening to earth? Tsunamis, Typhoons, Earthquakes…. All within the same month.

My heart and prayers go out to all those suffering from these natural disasters. Thousands stuck under the rubble. It is so sad…

2012

So, I’m not one to believe in predictions and stuff like that, but the Mayan’s theory of 2012 is coming a bit too close for comfort. And with all these natural disasters happening all at once. Could the Mayan’s prediction be true?

Magnificent Fish & Chips Bar.

Went to Changkat Bukit Bintang for dinner at the Magnificent Fish & Chips Bar with BAD and Shaun. I don’t eat seafood cause I’m mildly allergic to it. Squid causes me to scratch like I’ve got ants on my body, and other types of seafood usually gives me a milder effect like itchy ears and an itchy throat. But I seem to be fine with fish so I eat it, though not often.

Ordered Butterfish. It was two pieces of white fish that was served with asparagus and potatoes. It was very yummy…

But little did I know what would happen 24 hours later.

Here’s a warning… the next few paragraphs are DISGUSTING. Truly it is. It’s a case of TMI (too much information). So if you are easily grossed out, then I suggest you don’t read the next paragraph. If you're reading this during your lunch break while stuffing your face with your tapau-ed Kai Fan, then I also suggest you stop reading. It is possibly the most disgusting thing I've written... ever.

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

HOWEVER, to save you from the possibility of Butterfish side effects in the future, I really had to share this. My friends who heard me rambling on about it on the phone are now reevaluating our friendship.

24 hours after my fish meal, I had to go to the loo… for, well… a big one (did I not tell you that this would be too much information?). Anyway, while I was at 'it,' it felt kinda weird. I just though… you know… it was a bad one.

When I was done, I stood there staring at the toilet bowl for the next ten minutes. What I saw freaked me out.

You ready?

My poo was filled with OIL. Orange looking oil. Seriously, circles of oil. Like what you would see after deep frying something in a pan.

I can hear a simultaneous “Ewwwwww!” from everyone reading. Haha!

But yes, it’s true. I pooed OIL.

I kept cracking my head trying to figure out what I could have eaten that would have caused that. I didn’t have anything too greasy so I didn’t know what would have caused it.

I sent BAD a text describing it in detail (he’s my boyfriend! Of course he needs to know explicit details). He was of no help whatsoever. He just replied, “Eyyyeeerrrr!”

Not helping my situation, I turned to my source of all information - Google.

Much to my relief, hundreds of people have experienced the same thing. All of them describing it in frank, candid, and rather graphic details.

The cause?

BUTTERFISH.

Or also known as Escolar.

Like its relative the oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus), it cannot metabolize the wax esters (Gempylotoxin) naturally found in its diet, which accumulates to give an oil content in the muscle meat of 18–21%. These wax esters may rapidly cause gastrointestinal symptoms following consumption; however, these effects are usually short lived.

The gastrointestinal symptoms, called "keriorrhea", caused by these wax esters may include oily orange diarrhea, discharge, or leakage from the rectum that may smell of mineral oil. The discharge can stain clothing and occur without warning 30 minutes to 36 hours after consuming the fish. The oil may pool in the rectum and cause frequent urges for bowel movements due to its lubricant qualities and may be accidentally discharged by the passing of gas. Symptoms may occur over a period of one or more days. Other symptoms may include stomach cramps, loose bowel movements, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, and vomiting.

To minimize the risk of symptoms, strict control of portion size is recommended as well as preparation methods that remove some of the oil. Grilling will greatly reduce the heavy fat content in the fish making it edible without ill side-effects. Portions should be no greater than 6 ounces.

(Source: Wikipedia)

I guess I'm lucky to have only pooed oil. I would have been HORRIFIED if I passed gas and stained my clothes with orange oil!

So... you planning to have Butterfish any time soon? It's really yummy! :)

Long Bar

I went to join Becky and her brother’s friends at Long Bar in One World Hotel. I’ve been there before, maybe about a year ago, and it was a lot classier then.

Now? It has 3 poles, with dancers wearing skimpy clothes and humping the poles. I wouldn’t call them Pole Dancers because they didn’t know any Pole Dancing at all. Only one dancer could do several Pole tricks. The rest of them just gyrated around the pole.

Maybe they should come to Talent Hub to learn some Pole Dancing. Then they can do much cooler (and classier!) things like this:

Chic Pop

Zouk was turned into a Street/Flea Market. Organised by Tongue in Chic, the two day sale was called Chic Pop and had all sorts of funky clothing and trinkets.

I bought something which I thought was slightly over priced at point of sale. But I bought it anyway cause it was unique and I liked it.

Went home and checked out the website to see what other items they sold. And then I saw it.... and I was pissed off. They charged me 1/3 more than the original price of the thing I bought. The original price which I thought was totally appropriate for the item. Am pissed not because of the extra money that I paid. It’s just the principal of it. I feel cheated.

I actually liked some other items on their website and would have considered buying it. But now that I know their daylight robbery antics, I shall not! And neither shall I tell you what the company is called. Any publicity be it good or bad, is still publicity and they do not deserve it. PAH!

Pink Sage

BAD and I went to have breakfast (at 4pm) at Pink Sage, a diner that is owned by a fellow Assuntarian and her partner.

It’s a cute little place located at the end of the Cap Square road. A really nice lazy Sunday place with my favourite – All Day Breakfast. Styled like a Californian diner, it has booths for you to sink into and free flow of house coffee, just like on TV.

My Stacked Breakfast

BAD's Cheese Burger

La Bodega @ Pavillion

For dinner that night, we went to La Bodega at Pavillion after some shopping. We ordered 4 tapas to share, and BAD had one beer. The bill came up to over a hundred bucks. I thought that was ridiculous!!! The portions were tiny (it was tapas after all) but totally not worth the price tag. And the most promising sounding dish (some lamb skewer thing) turned out to be not very promising at all. BAD called it awful, but I think it just wasn’t that great.

Delicious @ MidValley

As I’m writing this, I just noticed that I’ve been having some pretty fancy food these past two weeks!

Had our weekly meal again with Rayn. One of the first things he said to me was, “Nak kick Gaga”. And he would say it with a cheeky smile on his face with his head tilted to one side.

He doesn’t really kick anyone. He just says it. Maybe he means kiss and not kick?

He didn’t call me ‘Godma’ again. So I think the first time was a fluke.

Café Chulo

Though exhausted from a long day at work, Becks asked me to join her, Steph, Embie and Timmy at Café Chulo in Jaya One.

The bar downstairs was crowded with people cause it was football night. We hung out upstairs at the roof-top which was quite cool and chilled out. With nobody else there, I took off my shoes and made myself comfortable… horizontally on the sofa. Ahhh… Think I'm getting old?

Chilly Pan Mee

Food again?? Yes food again! This time though, a negative review.

As you might know, I’m quite a fan of Chilly Pan Mee. The best is from Kin Kin tucked away in the streets of Tunku Abdul Rahman. However, be warned of bad service and no urgency whatsoever. If you are hungry, well too bad. You can wait. Or leave. They don’t care. In fact, customer service is so bad that they might even scold you if you complain of their slow service. Yes, you the customer will get a telling off.

In second place would be a stones throw away from where I live in Kota Damansara. Some would argue that this place is better than the original, but I politely disagree. This outlet has opened another branch in SS2. However, I was very disappointed. It just didn’t hit the spot. In fact, I struggled to finish the bowl.

I tried to figure out why. Becky said it was the chili. But Steph and I thought it was the density of the noodles. Light and fluffy noodles will make you want to have more (like Kin Kin). This one made you full after two mouthfuls.

So if looking for a quick Chilly Pan Mee fix, I wouldn’t recommend the SS2 branch. Sorry, just my opinion.

Kanye’s stint at the VMA's.

So, am I the only person who thinks this whole Kanye West – Taylor Swift- Beyonce thing was totally staged? I smell a scam.

I can’t believe people thought Paris Jackson’s speech at her father’s Memorial was staged, but they don’t think Kanye’s was??? Or maybe I don’t watch E!, and I don’t read celebrity gossip websites so I don’t know what other people are saying.

Kanye is now taking some time off from the public eye to "analyze how I'm gonna make it through the rest of this life and improve."

Here's my prediction.

In this “time off”, he will approach Taylor Swift to do a collaboration and they will come up with single that will hit the #1 spot on the charts.

After that, he will launch his new album that was written when he had all that time on his hands while he was resting. And because now everyone loves him again after his single with Taylor, his album will also go platinum.

Oh and Beyonce? She will continue selling millions of records because she’s an ‘angel’ and totally innocent in this whole shenanigan.

Do I have a seconder? :)

Quote of the day: We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.

Talent Hub 4th Anniversary Party with Viva Vertical!

2009-09-30T02:46:00.006+08:00

*click on poster for larger view*

Call 016-2858353 or email ask@talenthub.com.my to purchase your tickets!

Would love for all of you to be there. Do come and show your support, and please pass the word on to all your friends!

(Blog Buddies, feel free to re-post this in your blogs).

Hope to see you there!