All in the name of friendship

One of the best moments in my life was playing a malevolent shark on a tiny stage in front 200 people at a chinese wedding dinner. It was Tom and Shani's wedding at a Cheras restaurant that I personally think its name should not bear repeating. Anyway, it was a good night only because of the purpose that all of us congregated in that small restaurant - to celebrate with Tom his happy moment, his wedding to Shani.

To commemorate this happy moment, we the TJJians decided to do a skit of how Tom and Shani fell in love, and we did this in less than one week and with no practice, just a script and story guideline, and some very talented people who whipped up costumes and props for the rest of us.

The story line was simple: Tom was frolicking with his three monkey friends in the jungle one fine day. All that exertion was tiring and they soon became hungry. They wandered down to the beach in search of food and luck was with them when they accidentally stumbled on a turtle nest. Tom and his friends dug hungrily into the nest and just as one of them was about to gobble down a turtle egg, it hatched! The turtle opened its newly form eyes to the side of a dark cavern bearing down upon it and it screamed! It then begged the monkey not to eat him and instead he told them of a better food to gobble down. It told them of a beautiful sea creature living deep in the ocean that was absolutely an delight to the palate. Tom was intrigue and decided to go find this delicious creature. Tom then dived into the ocean and after a futile effort of asking directions from a school of fishes in class, he went on his own way. At last he found a cavern and he went in to rest. Lady Luck was indeed riding on his shoulders that day as the cavern he chose was the home of the beautiful sea creature that he has been searching for! Tom cast his eyes upon the lovely creature and immediately fell in love with her! The beautiful creature, never having cast her eyes upon a human, thought Tom was the most wonderful thing she has ever seen and she too fell in love with him. Hisdustani smut (read: dancing and singing around the tree scene) ensues and they give their hearts to each other. Suddenly, three sharks, on their own quest for a delicious meal, chance upon Tom and tried to eat him. They maliciously circle around him and took turns taking bites at him. Tom tried to fend them off but they were too dangerous. The beautiful sea creature was bored with this melodrama and decided to end it. She took out her machine gun and sprayed bullets into the sharks, killing them instantly. She saved Tom and they live happily ever after, The End.

Needless to say, we all had great fun making a fool of ourselves in front of Tom & Shani's family and friends! The best thing about this whole thing was that we didn't rehearse at all, we did this sort of impromptu. My costume was a cut-out cardboard shape of a shark fin, with the name "SHARK" printed in marker on it and tied around my waist with a strip of cardboard!

We did a remarkable job and we are glad that Tom and Shani was laughing the whole time. But then there were some who thought we were a bunch of escapees from Tanjung Rambutan from the the look on their faces. A bunch of adults monkeying around on the stage at a wedding dinner! Haha! And we had a tough act to follow: Our performance was scheduled after Tom's nieces' and nephews' little chicken dance, and we were not about to allow some young midgets to upstage us! Hee hee...

It was drinking time after that. Though it wasn't enough for Andy, Violet, Estella, Vijay, Rizal and me, we went to Ivy to continue the celebration. Yeah babe!

Road warrior milestone

Pixt from http://bonusweb.idnes.cz/obrazek

I'm in the office now. I drove myself here, alone, without my sister. I know it is a small thing for you but for me since this is the first time in KL, it's a bloody exciting thing for me. ^_^

Sis is in China and I got permission to use her car while she's gone. The only stipulation from her was that I was not to "ronda-ronda"! Haha. Of course I'm sticking to that. As much as I long to be BAD, I'm not and I'd rather not in this situation.

Hooray for me! *hugs hugs hugs all around*

My life is my work, how sad.

My world seems to revolve around my work these days. If it weren't for the fact that my sister and I work in the same area, and we drive to work together, I wouldn't get to see her at all for a week! I managed to meet up with a diving buddy for Happy Hours Friday night and it was good to catch up with him. However, the plan was to go party at Bar Ivy after but I actually had a headache and I felt drained! Lord, this is a first.

Working on this Heineken account is really time consuming. It's not that I don't enjoy my work, I do, even more so than when I was at VNM, it's just that I'm not used to not spending time with my family. Yesterday, I only had 3 hours to spend with my mom and my nephews at my other sister's place before I had to come in to work again.

When I got here, I discovered a real problem - the backdrop that Production mounted for me yesterday had huge bubbles marring the perfect poster! It must have been the humidity of it being left in the office overnight and then the downpour late afternoon. Called the production guy for help and all he said was "So? What do you expect me to do?" What the fuck? I was pissed off! It's his job and he didn't do it well and it's up to me to fix it? Anyway, what can I do but rant and fix the problem myself. So I did. I couldn't save the old poster and I didn't think that mounting one again will solve the bubbles problem. So I got a fresh poster and made a frame for it like a painting, with strips of mounting boards glued together for reinforcement. Then I glued the frame to the back of the poster. This way, I think it solves the problem of humidity and bubbles, enough that it will last and hold up for my prize presentation in two hours time from now. I came to work today and it was OK. My work was OK. No thanks to the production manager.

After the prize presentation at Bangkok Jazz, I have to head over to 1 Utama for the Nokia roadshow. Looks like it's another working day for me.

Ok, gotta go. Take care peeps!

Driving to work...

Driving to work today,

1. I saw my blind neighbour's pick-up of the week waiting patiently for him outside the house in this tiny Kancil with his legs on the opposite dashboard.
2. I remembered to put down the hand brake this time. @_@
3. There was roadkill being picked at by a flock of hungry crows.
4. I think the roadkill I saw was a puppy.
5. I noticed that cars were driving faster than usual
6. I noticed that the MyVi has a blinkers on its side-mirrors
7. I added that extra point to my list of MyVi vs. Iswara list
7. I kept thinking about my appointments today and my TO DO list
8. I decided that will call a reporter friend for teh tarik whilst I'm out
9. I had a horrible "tail-gator" who kept hounding me to drive faster but didn't want to overtake me
10. I set my speed to 70kmp but exceeded it to 90kmp but slowed down just to frustrate the hounder
11. I realised that I'm actually driving to work today!

^_^

Lydia's birthday party @ TSB

It was a good night of good company and good music for the very special occassion of Lydia's birthday. Lydia finally had time to send a pic over. From left: Estella, Lydia and me. September 2, 2005.

Haha... I'm a blue person through and through =)

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere. You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant. From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

A fun-filled green night minggling with the media

Jo, me & Sharon at the Heineken Greenspace Media Launch at Courtyard Garden. We all had to wear the Heineken tees... My tee says "Change your view 180 degrees" upside down. How's that for cool?



It's been a crazily busy month for me what with the Heineken Greenspace Media Launch last Thursday. But it was good busy and on Thursday out of the 40 media people we invited, 38 turned up. How's that for good PR? Nah, it was the lure of free beer too. Hee hee. Who can blame them? I would too, plus we had prepared good food that had unpronounceable names and guess who had to come up with those names? Yours truly. And I had to learn to pronounce my unpronouceable food names. It took me 6 hours on the net to check and verify the spelling and pronounciation of the food names that I'd come up with. Ahem I know a little french now. ^_^ Then I later double checked on the pronounciation with the Head of Creative who spoke French. Thank god, I only got 2 pronounciation slightly wrong.

Anyway, the event kicked off smoothly and the media went home happy, literally. Some of them were even singing on their way out. The last journo left about 11pm and the PR team, with the help of another colleague and intern, packed up. I consider this event a success not only because of the final attendance list but alsothe fact that I got the chance to mingle with the media, all in one place, instead of having to visit them one by one as I've been doing the past two weeks.

I'm so glad it's over and now we will have to concentrate on the next big event at the end of the year at Zouk. It's gonna be a majorly huge event with us booking the Main Room, The Loft and the parking lot to carry out the Big Heineken year end Bang. So be there people, this Dec 14 at Zouk!

Okie, now I have to go off and get ready for a wedding dinner in Seremban! My colleagues wedding.

A girl from Ipoh took me to The Girl From Ipoh play

At 15, she asks, "I go to a Malay school. I don't speak Chinese. Am I still Chinese?" Then she decides with zeal, "Maybe I shouldn't be a Chinese then!"

It was an enjoyable night when Estella, and a bunch of colleagues and I went to see the play The Girl from Ipoh at KLPAC. The play is directed by Low Ngai Yuen, and starring Carmen Soo, Lee Swee Keong, Season Chee, Tony Eusoff and LiT Performers, with Penny Low front lining as the Music director. Considering that we paid RM48 each, we got pretty good seats. I was seated on the third row from the front but to the side - it was not too shabby from Seadevilyn. ^_^

I'm impressed by the KLPAC. The looming letters of "HOME" with blue and green spotlights highlighting it against the dark night serves to welcome visitors into the premises, with promises of creativity in abundance. We were not disappointed. Before reaching the KLPAC, there's the Colonial Mansion and they have done well to cast lights onto this amazing buildings. Upon reaching the KLPAC, visitors are greeted with a huge green leafy manmade structure that begs the question: What is that building? Did they cast shadows in shapes of leaves onto the walls or are those painted on? Whatever the application, the effect was spectacular. The decor in the theatre was modern with very comfortable and plush seats. The only thing I didn't like was the walls - one side of it was covered with white blocks of all sizes, stuck onto the walls like handholds and footholds as though encouraging the audience to climb it should the play turn out to be horrible and unbearable.

The stage was set with a black and white theme, which I can only surmise represents the two warring sides of the heroine's personalities. She tends to sit on the white side when she's still innocent but after entering the KL side of her life, she tends to lean towards the black side. I'm not sure if my observations are correct or if that is the director's intent, I think that's a pretty clever and subtle way of reminding the audience that the western side of our adopted culture is blacker than we think, and that the white side is when we grow closer to our asian roots.

"The play explores an issue that plagues many-a-Malaysian - when is a Chinese person not Chinese enough? Does speaking English without sounding Chinese make them a traitor to their culture? Or does speaking 'mat-salleh' sounding Chinese make them an abomination to the race? Does liking everything Western mean a degradation of everything that is Asian?" ~ Kakiseno.com ~

Carmen Soo looked like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast in Tiffany's with her big eyes and hair coifed up with short thick fringe covering a head filled with ideals that is prevalent in all cultures, be in Asian or Western. But Wong Mei Lee wanted to be like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast in Tiffany's. One day a good looking man with non-chinese looks, and perfect English spoken in a deep voice, came to her father's HorFun shop to eat and she fell in love with him for all of two weeks. This good looking man was played by none other than the affable Tony Eusoff who showed that he really is a performer by transforming himself from a hunk into a geek in a matter of seconds, in accordance with Wong Mei Lee's daydreams of what her perfect man should be like. The audience laughed when Tony buttoned up and covered his manly chest only to put on a pair of geeky glasses and suspenders to play the foolish geek with some very hilarious moves that is a cross between the act of fornicating and 80's dancing. But later on, she finds out that her HorFun hunk was married and spoke flawless Mandarin to boot! Her dreams crumbled and she moved on.

She strove to separate herself from her grass roots, dismissing it as not being green enough for the likes of her. Carmen did a good job of portraying the innocent Wong Mei Lee from a little town (and us) who had forsaken her roots in order to attain what she thought was the perfect life - life in the big city, living together with her boyfriend and having money to fund her dreams. But all she got in the end was a bun in the oven with nary of the baker in sight. And in the end she went back to Ipoh, with her baby, to live under her father's roof again. Lee Swee Keong was very convincing as the hardworking, no-nonsense, strict chinese father who only wanted the best for his daughter. His portrayal of the Mei Lee's father echoes the hardship that all our fathers went through in order to make a better life for us. I didn't expect to see Lee Swee Keong without his dancing sleepers but I'm glad I did.

The LiT Performers were flawless in their portrayal as Wong Mei Lee's conscience by belting out and humming songs according to her moods. They were very much the highlight of the play as they performed fantastically by entertaining the audience with memorable numbers as well as some hilarious one. My favourite would have to be their rendition of the Pussycat Doll's "Doncha" into "Doncha wish your horfun was smooth like me, doncha wish your coffee was hot like me...!!!" They performed the number complete with sexy moves which was just gregarious somehow! And the effect was as desired. ^_^ The audience roared their approval.

After the performance, I went down to see Tony and congratulated him. I knew he saw me in the audience and when I went to congratulate him, he greeted me with a hug. I missed being hugged by a broad-shouldered man. Hee hee. Anyway, we chatted for a while, just catching up when a fan interrupted to ask for his autograph. The lady was at least 40+ and she loves Tony. *grin*

Congratulations to the people in The Girl from Ipoh on a play well-done.

Online Metamorphosis

It's a long holiday, 6 days to be exact, and I'm back in Kelantan for the Deeparaya break. We took the first flight out of KL and checking in at KLIA was an ordeal as there were lines forming all the way to the front entrance when we got there; and we thought we were early... Anyway, we got landed on Kelantan soil at 8.50am and my mom picked us up and took us for brekkie of Nasi Dagang at the riverside. It was goooood.

When we went home, the moment the car stopped, Patches got up and seemed alert. The moment I stepped out of the car, he ambled over and started sniffing me vigourously and rubbing his head against my legs. He knew it was me and he was happy. All the while I was unpacking inside the house, he sat outside with his nose pressed against the moquito-netting, peering inside, looking at me and waiting for me to go out and play with him. He is soooo adorable. Eventually, I finished what I was doing and poor thing, the first thing he got from me was a patting and a bath! I scrubbed him good and he loved it. The last time I was back, I noticed that he was very itchy all over. So this time I bought him a anti-itchy shampoo and conditioner. He hated the water but he put up with it as he got a very good all-over scrub. After he dried off, he was all frisky and animated, doing it butt-wriggle after a shake. =p

But I did notice that he has more lumps compared to a month ago. I fear for him. Dr. Leong said those are tumours and there's nothing I can do for him but just keep him happy. I plan to do so.

As you may have noticed, my blog has had a revamp. Yeap, all thanks to Midnite Lily. She took note of my lament one day of not being able to change the look and she did it for me, last night, all night. She's not midnite lily for nothing. Uh huh, she's nocturnal and that when she is at her most creative. Thanks girl! Love the new look, especially my whale shark & marine header! How wonderful is that header I ask you? Fantabulous! ^_^

I'm not just home for Patches. I'm also home to go through all my old things in preparation to bring some down to KL when we eventually move into a new house, maybe not the Puchong house though, but eventually lah... Lord, I have so many things! Mostly junk that I once thought were precious heirlooms. *roll eyes* I'm trying not to be a hoarder here. I have no space for junk. Threw so many things away today and I still have 4 more boxes to go. Most of my clothes I gave to Patches to sleep on (my dresses, t-shirts and shorts), my letters I read through one by one and kept only the meaningful onces, my little knick-knacks I kept some and threw some, found my precious stamp collection and coin collection again. Don't have much time left seeing that I'm leaving for KL on Sunday.

So many junk... *sigh*

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Pictures from my Perhentian trip in September 2005

These are the divers from my recent perhentian trip in September. First row from the left is Kong, me, Andy, Violet & Gan, our instructor. The ones on the top from the left is Elvin & Tom.



This is Violet and me, accidentally wearing the same outfit and inevitable ended being called the Beer Girls. Hah. Violet's the hottie in the group. And she's super nice.

This next one is of me and my diving buddy Kong. Just one for the camera! Say "AOW!"

Look at the crystal clear water. Now who wouldn't want to dive into that divine experience?? I miss Perhentian already!!



Well, this picture... err... kodak moment for the guys' beer bellies. Guess which bump is which... ^_^