It's a brand new lunar year everyone!

Out goes year of Rat, and in comes the Ox - 牛大哥!


It's been a very fast-paced, long and challenging year for me indeed, with the ending being one of the world's greatest economic crisis that the World have seen thus far, we can only hope for the better; to continue to be flexible, adaptable, persevere and have strong willpower and determination to make things work with whatever we are slapped with, and whatever we have at hand.

Here's to a brand new lunar year filled with abundance, health, wealth and most importantly, LOVE!

Image above taken from thedigitel.com/top-stories/chinese-new-year-g...

Please stop . . .

I so feel like crying my heart out right now.. but I 'yannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn', and I 'lunnnnnnnnnnnnnn'.................... not that I wanted to, but I really don't have much choice.

Is a damn TV more important than a relationship? Is it worth screwing up the whole family's relationship and bond just because things didn't go quite right with the TV servicing?

I have done everything I could from Day 1 when the TV broke down, following up until this date, constantly calling to find out the progress.... the TV has been rendered un-repairable, and currently we are waiting for the replacement TV in which the shipment is still pending to arrive.. the Outlet couldn't provide a definite answer as to when the stock will arrive since Samsung was unable to deliver per their commitment to the Outlet time and again, hence I suggested that they evaluate the value of our broken TV so we may consider topping up for a brand new LCD instead, if we choose not to wait for the replacement Samsung.

Not a day passes by without my mom or my dad pestering me to call them and demand why is it taking so long, and I tried, I really tried my best to be patient and told them what the Outlet told me, and I too, long for the replacement TV to arrive so we could all enjoy the TV once again, but that is about all I could do! Do follow-ups, understand why is there a delay and what's causing the bottlenecks, try to be reasonable and even tried to propose different alternative solutions so we could get this over and done with the soonest - that's ALL I could do...

Why does it have to come to this? Everyone unhappy?! OVER A FREAKING TV FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, I don't know what else I could do to please them, to stop them from making crude remarks about me anymore....

I need some fresh air....

am slowly approaching insanity...............

Ang Pow packets from Gurney Plaza

Saw the "Golden Celebration @ Gurney Plaza" ad on The Star yesterday and the 'Red Packet Redemption' caught my attention... Being an ang pow collector, I definitely couldn't miss getting my hands on Gurney Plaza's ang pow

The red packets can be redeemed from 10th to 20th Jan '09 at Customer Service counter (1st floor), for any shoppers who meet the spending criteria of minimum RM 180 (maximum of 2 combined receipts in a day). However, as HSBC is the official credit card for the string of events, its credit card holders will only need to spend RM 138 to redeem :D and yes, damn right I'm a HSBC credit card holder, for about 5 years now.

I spent about RM 111 at Parkson (as it's Elite card member day today), and combined with Suchi's RM 75 spending at MNG, we get to redeem 1 red packet - and Suchi was kind enough to let me have it all to myself - thanks! :D

Time to check out the ang pows...

The pack we were given... the dui lians (2 strings of good words that wish success and prosperity) were the main theme for the Golden Celebration this year


Opening up the packet reveals the actual pack containing the ang pows...


And let's count how many ang pows are there in the packet....


It came up to the total of 7.. Why 7 and not 8??? Aren't there supposed to be 8 of them since 8 is like THE auspicious number especially for Chinese New Year? And somehow a very wild theory just dashed through the wild mind of mine there and then...

Unless....... the folks manning the customer service counter of Gurney Plaza were to take out 1 ang pow from each of the packs that they were given custody of, so they could save them for their own use!!!! AHA!! Then that explains why there were only 7 instead of 8 of 'em!!!



AM I BRILLIANT OR WHAT???



.... Err... Well ... Anyway.... back to the ang pows.....

There are actually 4 different designs to the ang pows, each of them bearing different auspicious words... and they are:-

如 意 Ru Yi
迎春 Ying Chun
富贵 Fu Gui
吉详 Ji Xiang

The one I got was 如 意 - meaning 'as wished', but I can't help but wonder do the other ang pows come in gold as well? And can I ask for other designs if there is a next time? :P


The back of the ang pow...


My next goal : McDonald's ang pows! With any Prosperity meal purchase :)

My Soft Toys collection! . . . (part of it)

It's time to share a sneaky peek on some of the soft toy collections I have thus far, though it's not ALL of 'em, but I'm just as excited!

Was doing some cleaning and wiping of the soft toys I have in my room (there's more in my old room) so I thought I'd snap pics of the family :D

. . . . . . . Tada . . . . . . . ! !


L-R..
top row : Cookie Monster, YoYo, Silent Night hippo, Gingerbread man, monkey, Torto (turtle), Fei Kau (fat dog)
bottom row : Hippo, Rambo (pink elephant), Intel white bunnyman, doggie with mini puppy on top, brown hippo, puppy

Don't the names sound a bit familiar? Look to the right under 'About' :D most of my soft toys have been with me for quite some time now...

From this bunch, I'd say my favourite would be between the likes of these 3:-

Rambo and Hippo.....


and YoYo...


Coz they're just too cute! Rambo is a gift from my dear - bought in Penang, while I bought Hippo myself in KL, and YoYo is a gift from AY - bought in Costa Rica... I love all of them!

Will share the rest of my soft toy family ...

... Soon! :P

p/s : pardon me for the poorer pic quality as my dear was holding my camera as he was on a company trip hence I had to make do with my faithful Nokia 6300's camera capability

Good deeds start small . . .

Been collecting aluminum can pull tabs for quite some time now with the help of my dad and grandma, and have accumulated a whole plastic bag full of them up to date... with no idea where to channel them to?



All I know is that these pull tabs can aid in the making of artificial limbs, but had no idea which organization to give it to... until now :) PChoon knew someone who collects these and donate them to the folks who will recycle the pull tabs for that purpose..

I'm proud of myself, knowing that I just took a tiny step in helping others, and thanks PChoon for helping me help others as well :)

All of us can help too, if we are all just willing to take those small steps in conserving the environment, and I'm particularly fascinated by Dave who happened to just lived a full 365 days WITHOUT THROWING ANY TRASH AWAY! Do visit his blog here to learn more and let's join him in preserving the Earth that we all share.

X'mas pressies exchange!

Ah well, I guess this entry's a bit late, but better late then never heh!

Honey and I exchanged our X'mas pressies at my home on the day of Christmas... it has been a long time since we ever sat down quietly and exchanged gifts.. the feeling's just so nice and warm...

This year, honey bought pressies all from Singapore's Takashimaya mall due to their most recent company trip to Club Med Bintan, and their Director granted their wish to have a day's shopping spree in Singapore!

Due to my current employment status, my dear bought 2 pressies - one for me, and one for himself and his would be gifted under my name to him... how sweeeeeet!! It made my heart melt knowing how thoughtful he is....

I bought him 2 pressies too! How about that? :D

Can't wait to open the pressies!

Line up the pressies first....... (that's right, the one in the black plastic bag is one of the pressies)

Don't forget my other present for honey...

Takashimaya's paper bags and wrappings are soooo pretty!!! It came with gift tags too - we both wrote our wishes to each other

And my gift from honey is.......

Kapo!!!! holding a "Be Mine" cushion that's detachable... awwww~~ thanks dear!!



The gift my dear bought for himself....

a Lanvin slimline wallet that he had always wanted

Honey then opens my pressies...


a CK long-sleeve shirt! Glad he liked it and it fits him well :D

Well, I forgot to take pic of the other gift I bought for honey, coz he opened it later :P

This year's x'mas and new years were among the most meaningful I had for a long time.. all thanks to the company of my dear, and also many friends who spent the occasions with me.. *BEAR HUGZ*

So long 2008 . . . here's to a good 2009 ahead

Looking back at year 2008, I saw myself enduring many challenges which I never would've imagined going through ever.

^ I experienced the uphill climb of assisting in the set-up of a start-up company - trying my best to put chaos into order;
^ struggled to manage the downhill relationship between me and my immediate manager - someone bearing very differing values compared to myself;
^ questioned myself countless times why I am still in such a stressful yet unrewarding job, which demands an average of more than 14 hours' of work time on a typical work day - in night shift;
^ not being blessed by anyone in the family nor my dear in taking up such a dreadful night shift job, posing health and safety risks to myself;
^ most part of my 2008 had been nothing but engulfed in my job - work days, off days, holidays, even days when I'm on leave - never a day passes by without 'work' haunting my mind


On the sunny side of it . . .

# I had the privilege of knowing and working with some of the best talents that I didn't know existed - your wisdom, commitment at work, support for me, and most important of all, FRIENDSHIP - had made me feel tiny in many ways - to all my fellow co-workers, you have made me see many beautiful values that a person could have, and refreshed my faith in true friendship that is possible, and is free from politics at the workplace
# my bf of 6 1/2 years proposed to me on my pre-birthday celebration with a bouquet of roses and a card bearing the golden question
# the relationship between my bf and I have been closer than ever, despite our distances, and we cherish every moment that we get to spend with each other dearly, though we still have our fair share of differences in opinions and arguments, end of the day, we cherish each other more than ever
# I feel very blessed and grateful to know I am always surrounded with people who truly cares about me, be it rain or shine in my life - I don't have to name names, you know who you are and I want you to know how important it is to me to have you in my life - Thank You... you make me realize that all hope is not lost when I've made the harsh decision to quit my job in Nov, under such rough atmosphere of global financial crisis
# I am finally taking a big break, resting and doing things I enjoy - spending time with my family, catching up with friends, enjoying new-found freedom, blogging, establishing a new blog, enjoying a healthy lifestyle with frequent work-out, one that is also free of illnesses and migraine strikes
# we finally found our future home in an area we really liked, at a price that is considered reasonable enough for us to commit to

X'mas & New Year eves...

What I did on X'mas eve...

~ py picked me up & we headed for lunch @ Sakae Sushi (Gurney Plaza new wing), I offered to pay but was declined as he claimed this meal to be an x'mas present from him
~ after lunch we did some shopping within the plaza - what a shopper he turned out to be :| buying more than me.. I myself bought a set of 3 pieces of baby clothings for my newly-born nephew (Dec 23 '08); a CK long-sleeve shirt that was on sale for my dear, and last but not least, a 3-quarter casual pants for myself
~ we had a short yam cha @ Segafredo's as well - also on py (I prefer to believe this to be due to his generosity instead of pitying my current employment state :P)
~ py dropped me home at about 4.30pm and I handed him his x'mas pressie together with some pressies for my ex-cols which needed his help to hand over on x'mas day
~ Got myself ready by 8pm, picked up by Cody with a car full of friends I haven't been hanging out for quite some time now - BH, HL and his gf Rachel
~ we headed for Fettes Park Western Food only to find out that the area's out of electricity :S what an x'mas eve dinner it was
~ we still proceeded to dine 'romantically' in the darkness only lit up by a candle on each tables
~ Food was fabulous as usual
~ my dear arrived shortly - all the way from KL - he had Cordon Bleu while I had Fish & Chips
~ we made our way to Gurney Place afterwards and hovered like a hawk over a table of folks until they can no longer 'tahan' our stares and offered us one out of their 2 tables for us :D @ Coffee Bean
~ we were not only entertained by the live band on a stage set up near Dome, but also from a guy so into his own dance moves just beside our table, Cody even offered him party packs and glow sticks
~ witnessed fireworks lit up along Gurney Drive from where we were seated after the X'mas countdown
~ left for home about 1:30am

New Year's Eve

* Woke up at about 9am again, received sms from Dorene asking me out for yam cha as they're on half day work only
* Left home earlier than planned at about 1030am, to the bank's to withdraw my overdue FD
* got impatient at the bank's for the long wait time (and that being my second trip due to long queues the day before)
* when it was finally my turn, got more pissed when I was told by the teller that I had to go to the HQ office to withdraw my FD, that I couldn't do it at that branch. When questioned why the FD slip did not state the exact branch of the FD, the teller pointed at a row of what seemed like gebrish code to me and said that that's the HQ code. I then questioned the teller again why the branch name could not be printed in English on the FD slip itself just like other FD slips I have with the same bank? Was questioned back by the kurang ajar teller "don't you know which branch you have the FD opened with?" And that set off my hot button and I told her in the face "How am I supposed to remember all the opening branches of all my many FDs??" She then offered to update my FD but I said "No thanks, this is not helpful at all and mind you, this is the second trip i'm making here in 2 consecutive days" and marched off
* Went home and complained summore to my mom and by bf (over the phone) how I would never ever open anymore FDs (not with the stupid bank anymore anyways)
* Had a nice mommy-cooked meal for lunch at home
* Went and met up with the folks at GT office, exchanged some silly jokes and laughters
* Driven by Dorene to Starbuck's at New World Park where we had Dark Cherry Mocha Frap - on Dorene again (buy 1 free 1 too), talked some more crap, exchanged Happy New Year wishes and went home at about 5pm
* Did TaeBo workout from 6pm - 645pm
* Allowed some time to cool off and got ready for NY eve outing with the girls at 7.15pm
* Waited . . and waited . . for Mun to pick me up . . supposedly at 7.30pm :P
* While waiting, opened my credit card statement mail, only to find out I've been charged a good RM 26.09 for finance charges and got so mad that I picked up the phone and called them to interrogate
* while doing so, Mun called as she had reached my house
* Got Jasmine, the agent who answered my call, to mail me the freaking finance charges calculation as well as waive off the RM 26.09 before ending the call with an exchange of Happy New Year :)
* Had an unusually smooth and traffic-jam-less ride from my house to Gurney Plaza with surprisingy ample parking spaces at the basement car park at about 9pm
* Met up with Ling and her hubby Suu at Kim Gary's for (late) dinner
* Experienced our first ever Kim Gary dining experience up to the moment they officially ended their business for the day
* Proceeded to head to Gurney Place downstairs via the lifts, but they seem to not be working, so we used the stairs instead
* Shocked to see the massive crowds of people already packed at Gurney Place at about 1040pm
* Couldn't find any seats in any of the outlets there, continued to move ourselves and lucky us, managed to seat ourselves inside the recently-redecorated Dome at a table marked 'Reserved' - shows how VIP we were heh? :P
* Chit chatted at Dome until countdown time
* all of us rushed outside to witness the fireworks adorning the sky right on top of Gurney Place - I took some pics and a video of the fireworks as well as the huge crowd
* By the time we returned to Dome after what seemed like forever, Mun paid the bills already, the waitress also cleared our tables accordingly. Problem is, I was supposedly to still have 70% of my iced chocolate *sobz*!
* we were surprised to chance upon the weird 'dancing to himself' guy yet again (the one from x'mas eve)! He was doing none other than dancing, this time, right in front of the stage, all by himself!
* Mun and I parted with Ling & Suu about 1230am, and we headed for QE II where my sai low was at
* enjoyed another relatively smooth slightly traffic-jammy ride from Gurney to QE II
* tried to call and sms sai low when we reached but he's most prolly too drunk to respond
* we then paid for the entrance - I ordered Vodka lime while Mun had Tequila; we then tried to navigate our way thru the packed place but no signs of him either
* hung around summore at the front with our drinks and finally he called back
* the moment sai low saw me, he grabbed me by the hand and wanted to lead me to the table but I had to call Mun and get my drink as well ma...
* after making sure I got Mun and our drinks, he led me through the crowds by the hand, to the table where him and his friends were hanging out - around the centre area of QEII
* Mun was literraly 'under attack' by the buayas there - but it was practically one of the guys who was the most annoying
* I then complained to sai low and ask him to get his friend not to disturb Mun anymore
* buaya kept going and 'harassed' the kelian Mun who's still seated
* another guy went to her rescue, with sai low rescuing her once as well
* witnessed very gross 'dance moves' by sai low and his friends - 3 guys dancing with their hips together, some face-to-face while some face-to-back :S
* I danced with one of sai low's friend Chris - who happened to be a pretty cheeky but okay chap
* sai low offered me beer a few times
* Chris took pics for me and sai low, he also took few pics with me with his mobile
* Mun declined a few invites to dance as she wasn't comfortable dancing with folks she just met the first time and not familiar with
* sai low, drunk like hell but can still keep dancing and dancing like the Duracell bunny, haha!
* we bid Chris and sai low goodbye at about 2:50am
* I wanted to visit my ex team who're still working but didn't manage to get hold of Dz via call or sms - wasn't sure if my ex team or another team was on that night
* reached home at 3.15am
* cam-whored in my room while waiting for Mun to call indicating she's reached home safely
* sai low and some other people's sms-es finally came in at about 4am - very much delayed! :O
* called Dz and wished him happy new year and asked him to help convey my new year wishes to the team :D

In all, it had been quite a while since I had the opportunity to spend my X'mas and New Year's eve outside of work - and it's ironic that the only time I can enjoy both occassions is when I'm not employed :P