~HAPPY NEW YEAR~

Multi Holiday Tasking

That's my newly created term. And I think this only applies to Malaysians (leaving in Malaysia). There are so many holidays in Malaysia..that sometimes we had to pause to figure out..what holiday is today? This December we've had one holiday on almost every other week.

• 2nd Tuesday of the month - The Selangor Sultan's birthday
• 3rd Thursday of the month - Hari Raya Haji (a Muslim festival that marks the end of the haj pilgrimage period
• 4th Tuesday of the month - Christmas day

I just came back from a one day break yesterday. Today is Friday..this means..TGIF..which also means..mind refuses to work.

Tomorrow is TUNG i.e. the Winter Solstice Festival for the Chinese. Old folks used to tell us that TUNG Festival is bigger the New Year Day..so we Must be home for dinner. I just did a google on this. I am so amazed by this>> article

In summary - As early as 2,500 years ago, about the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), China had determined the point of Winter Solstice by observing movements of the sun with a sundial. It is the earliest of the 24 seasonal division points. The time will be each December 22 or 23 according to the Gregorian calendar. The Northern hemisphere on this day experiences the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After the Winter Solstice, days will become longer and longer. As ancient Chinese thought, the yang, or muscular, positive things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated.

So..I've been enjoying on and off weekday break for the last 3 weeks. Tomorrow is TUNG and also my cousin's wedding. Plus I will also be meeting some old friends on both Saturday and Sunday.

Will be back to work on Monday which is Christmas Eve! Duh..!

Whilst all these are very enjoyable....it can be quite devastating if we are working against timelines. This is where the term comes in Multi Tasking (Between Holidays). A friend told me last week that she expects her suppliers to work during the holidays to meet her timelines. Euwww...I am so close to being a dead meat!

Catching Time

Time seems to be moving quicker & quicker as we grow older. Do you agree? I can't believe that 2007 is ending. It seems like just yesterday that I celebrated the new year. It seems like just yesterday I was scared shit about a possible cancerous cyst. It seems like just yesterday that little nephew Danial was borned. It seems I have just walked into the office this morning but it is past lunch now and in about 4 hours it is end day again ...and I have not done much yet! And yet...I am blogging away!

I have loads of work undone. It's year end...and my brain & body function seems to be reaching it's max capacity. The BJ holiday in Nov didn't seem to have helped me re-charge. I wish I can have another long break to re-charge for 2008. Unfortunately, I can't ...at least for the next few weeks I need to work (or rather seem to be working - like now *wink*)

Time waits for no man. How true that is. The longer I waste time on this ...the more minutes I will waste and the less work will be done today. The longer I procrastinate about other unsolve issues....I will lose more in respective terms...be it time, money, youth, etc.

AUNTY

Have you ever been called AUNTY (or Uncle) for like FIVE times in less than 10 minutes?! I was so pissed by this stupid young lady at the tit tar centre yesterday. She called me AUNTY like 5 times...in less than 10 minutes.

OK already AUNTY...
RM60 please...AUNTY....

AUNTY this AUNTY that...all the way until I paid and walked out of the door.

GRRRRRRRR....

On Facebook again

It's Friday Friday Friday...and I can't get myself to concentrate at work.

This is probably the fifth time I wrote about Facebook...pardon me. I am so happy today that I found some old friends thru Facebook...or rather they found me. It's so exciting to receive a new 'friend request' each time. It's like opening a present..wondering who I will see after the click.

When I first joined Facebook..I decided to start an Old Girls group - an attempt to gather as many old friends possible. It's been about half a year now and there are 59 members now..from different gradauating years. Well, the group may not be as active as those ala Opposition Parties groups...but..I think it is serving a very important function --- it has become a LINK for people to re-contact old friends. Facebook users drops by the group and accidentally discover their old friends in the group..and tra la lala...connection begins!

Amazing eh!

Negotiation with 2 yr old person

Am a bit frust out by some work issue..allow me to entertain myself by sharing with you a 'negotation' conversation that I had with theis 2 yr old little person:

• D: u don't disturb me...(angry voice & closed the door to his room)
• ME: knock knock...can I please enter?
• D: No no...don't disturb me please (still angry)
• ..THE ABOVE WENT ON REPEATEDLY FOR ALMOST 10 TIMES

After several 'failed' negotiations..I pretend to give up..and left the door. He open the door after about a minute..to peep. I pretend to be surprise and started 'begging' him to let me in again.

• ME: Can I please come in?
• D: please don't disturb me..I want to sleep ..(he didn't seem angry by now)
• ME: I won't disturb you..I just wanted to use the computer
• D: no no..don't disturb
• ME: ok..ok..can I take the computer..I will use it outside
• ..HE GAVE IN AFTER SEVERAL NEGOTIATIONS

I took the notebook and purposely use it right in front of his doorstep. He close to the door..and apparently went to sleep. But...in less then 3 mins he came out...all smiley and friendly mood...sat right next to me...curious to see what I am using the computer for.

I showed him my pic on facebook and asked him..'who is this'. He said "koo koo". He saw the pictures on the friends block and asked me "who is this".

Since he loves fishes...I showed him aquarium on facebook..and showed him how we can add fishes. This got him so hooked! We had difficulty getting him to leave the house for lunch. Again..failed negotiations trying to get him to to leave the notebook behind. So..we had to use 'force'. He ended up crying..poor fellow.

Why...

Why would someone break into my empty new house, didn't steal anything but left a pool of PEE ??? Why can't he/she/ it/ they use the toilet?? The worse thing is..we strongly suspect that the PEE was 'done' on the staircase - so the PEE made its way down the wall to the ground floor. How disgusting!

Why can't they use the toilet?!

22 days to Christmas...

As the Chinese saying goes.."at a blink of an eye, a yr came and went".

It's year end again! It seems like only yesterday I was writing about my xmas present hunting in end of 2005. I can believe that was 12 mths ago. Time is really catching up man. I am indeed thankful that I opted to get xmas presents for selected little people only..the kids. It started when my eldest cousin brother had his 1st child 13 yrs ago. How time has flown...he has 3 kids now..the youngest is turning 9 next year! I've ran out of ideas on what to buy for them. Kids mature and learn so fast nowadays, we tend to get left behind pretty easily.

Tell me..what do teennagers like for christmas? Please exclude Xbox, PS3, mobile phones from the list..I shall leave those to the honourable parents.

I've thought about taking them out for a day and let them choose wthin a budget...but..the thought of losing them in a busy mall scares the hell out of me.

Next...is my little nephew who had also grown & 'matured' very quickly. My last present for him was a lego set & a tricycle. He has almost everything in the world...I'd say...I don't think there is anything I can get him.

Any ideas?

Medical Check Up

Have you done your medical check up this year?

I just did mine (together with dad). It was just a basic check that includes blood & urine test that checks overall organ function like the liver, kidney, your blood counts, etc etc and some basic tumor marker as pre-caution. While we shouldn't rely 100% on these test but it does serve as a most basic checkpoint. FYI, my mom had lung cancer and these test were not able to detect it.

Anyway, both test results of my dad's and mine came put good. Especially my dad, who is 75 and is a Hep B carrier..all his readings including ECG and blood pressure is normal. Except for slightly higher choleterol level, the doctor is satisfied with his results.

Mine was even better - cholesterol level is normal. I am very proud of this cos everybody else in my family has been havign high cholesterol reading for last 2 years. I believe the oats & brown rice powder that I have been taking with my milo during breakfast helped alot!

well..as i said...we shouldn't be over complacent by the results. It's just a very basic test to monitor very general check points. In a way, it also serves a psychological boost...in a way..I felt 'refresh' after confirming that everything is 'normal'. No..can eat more unhealthy stuffs? I think my dad is happy too.

Jip Toi

Jip Toi is a cantonese word that means Foldable Table.

There is this character in a TVB series with a nicknamed Jip Toi because all he does is cuddle up in his blanket & sleep day and night. He will uncuddle to eat (in his blanket) and return to his his sleep after eating. That's why he was given the nickname - a Foldable Table is normally being open up to be used for dinner in small apartment and folded back after use.

Sometimes I do wish I can be like Jip Toi....where I can cuddle up my own world, most importantlyI can sleep day and night regardless of what's happening to the world.

Nice?

ANNOYED!

I've been so easily annoyed. Most of the time the source of the annoyance is the same source. And I seriously think that this source is affecting my overall life quality. Little things annoy me easily..I get annoyed at friends easily...etc etc etc.

Last few days, I've been practising Positive Thinking. Been telling myself repeatedly that "I am Happy", "I should be Happy", "It's nothing serious", "There are many great thigns in my Life" "Forget about this one issue"

It kind of helps for a while. But a while ago..an incident really 'blew my top'. Unfortunately, I am not the type that will blow out immediately..managed to keep everything inside - this explains the rotten feeling I am in now. I must find a way out of this..otherwise...little incidents like this will drain the life out of me.

New Resolution - 1st step taken

In August, I declared a new resolution saying that I shall get my own take away container as a good deed towards being environmentally friendly. I finally bought a container about a month ago. Today I am eating from it for the first time!

Hooray!

Ni Hao

Yesterday, I spent about 3 hours in Mid Valley, mainly to kill some time and to catch up on my shopping. It has been quite a long time since I did a leisure browse shopping here.

I was at the Metrojaya first, looking at swimming goggles, something that I'm buying for the first time. I went to a group of sales personnel who was happily chatting away to ask if I can try these on. The guy which I directed the question to - Totally Ignored me. I asked him again...and he turned to his colleague to inform her that she has a customer. How rude!

My mood was reasonably good so I didn't let that affect my day. I went on browsing in other parts of the mall. At Watsons, a very young pharmacist approached me to ask if there's anything she can help..that's very nice.

At the Jusco...I started to wonder that 'something's missing'. Since my mood's reasonably good, I even tried smiling to some of the staff..but almost no one reacted. Most of the staff are stading around looking bored or chit chatting away. One or two approached me but most of the time couldn't answer my questions clearly.

Eventually, I realised What's Missing! The "Greetings". When I was shopping in Beijing..especially in shopping malls...you will be greeted even though you are just passing by. They will very loudly greet you wiht a somewhat standard greeting in the likes of "welcome...please come in and have a look and feel free to try out anythg that you like". When you are at slightly higher end restaurants..even the cleaning lady greets you. They will greet and greet until you walk out of the door!

We are no where near this level of service man...

Fu Yuen

How do you normally alert a waiter/ waitress in a restaurant/ eatery? I'd normally just wave my hand and signal whatever I need from them. e.g. 'the scribble sign' when I need the bill, 'the pour water sign' when i need water or simply just whisper whatever I need hoping that they can read my lips. I am a very shy person by nature. I didn't even scream when I was on a roller coaster. Neither did I when my neighbour's house was on fire. So..it's a task for me to call out loud at public places.

FU YUEN... - this is a mandatory word that you have to call OUT LOUD when you are in Beijing Eateries. Fu means Service. And Yuan means Personnel. Whenever you call FU YUEN loud enough..the polite ones will answer you immediately by saying - NI HOU - equivalent to 'my pleasure' I suppose.

I find it so weird & amusing everytime Fafa calls out loud FU YUEN. Sometimes she had to call several times due to our 'multiple' requests. Fafa said..she was also very shy when she first got to Beijing. Most of the time she will wait and wait until a waiter/ waitress passes by.

She tried several times to make me call but I very shy...couldn't do it la.

FU YUEN!

Amazing Chinese Architecture

I was most amazed by the amazing architectural creativity and ability of China both historically and current. I read Chinese history in pre-uni days and I've watched numerous TVB series about Ching Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and whatever not. All those never registered..that explains my embarassing grade in my pre-U exam. If I ever become an Education Minister I will make it mandatory for students to go for study tours! Why read lines and lines of texts when you have live & real examples to see and feel? At least make it virtual tours...visuals are always better than texts, right?

KFC vs. an antique street

Some of the many structures of the forbidden city built and created as far as 500 yrs ago!


The temple of heaven - view from the outside and inside.

A place where the emperor comes to pray & perform sacrificial functions.

Typical door that you can still find in older residential settlement called Hudong.

vs. the Echo Wall built about 500 yrs ago. In those days, without walkie talkie and telephones - this is indeed the greatest architectural invention.

Not forgetting the Great Wall

And lastly..the central of Beijing now in the 21st century!

Weather & Food in Beijing

I am back. I have so much to share that I do not know where to start. Let me write some bits by day...until you and I get fed up of talking about it : )

Whilst I enjoyed the trip very much, I am indeed very glad to be back home. Main reason is the kind Malaysian weather and good food! Weather in Beijing was rather cold and soothing, nice to sleep and walk around during day time....unfortunately, the air was dry and not very clean. Hence, I ended being cold on the outside but heaty on the inside.

My poor NB gym sneaker has turned from clean white to grey. Poor NB..it has not work so hard before this. At most one hour of indoor gym or a short walk at the park.

The trees are beautiful though. It's now between fall and winter..so you will see different colors. Check out the persimmon tree on the left.

FOOD...in conclusion..not very impressive. I shall conclude that I enjoyed watching & feeling Beijing's development (both historical and current) more than it's food. The best is of course the one and only Peking Roast Duck - which I do not have any pics now. Secondly, I personally like their more subtle & plain snacks like pao, man tao, their 'crepes' etc.

this is some sort of 'home made' yoghurt drink. Must try if you are a yoghurt drink lover. This one beats Nestle or Dutch Lady hands down!

This is a typical street vendor selling the 'ping tong woo lo' (honey coated plum skew..i hope translation is right) I did not try the 'original' version. I tried one with mega sized kiwi slices. Found it a bit sweet and too much hassle to eat cos the honey coat is frozen n hard..and it sticks and poke all over your face when you are trying to bite into the fruit.

Most of other food that I tried had pretty strong taste. Some sort of standard spice that they put in. And serving size is H U GE. Check out that bowl of noodle - it costs RMB4 ( about 2 ringgit). Three of us took 2 small rice bowls and there were about half left still. We watched a typical local man SLURP everything (same size and with spicy soup) within 5 minutes!

Dim sum and steamboat was nice too. Thanks to fafa for taking us there! Sorry, no pics here.

Check this out too. These are Peaches. We actually bought some of these and some persimmon to take home by wrapping each fruit with paper and hide/ stuff each fruit in between clothes in the main luggage.

I thought I smelled char kuey teow the moment I entered KLIA. Went for Wan tan mee n kopi ping for lunch...never thougth that tasted so good. Roti canai, teh tarik, nasi lemak, bak kut teh, steam fish...........yummy...I missed you guys.

2nd day in BJ - shop shop n shop

we spent our 2nd day in a portion of Beijing downtown..main objective is to SHOP.



Breakfast was hot salty soya with yao cha kuai, beef noodle, and egg wrap yao zha kuai. tasty hot sweetened soya is also available.
the person withthe red flag is a traffic co-ordinator
Shopping begins on the 4th floor Xiushui Silk market - where all the jade, pearl, and stones are. Don't ask me how genuine they are..no idea. Was there the longest tho from 10.45am to 1.45pm! Mich managed to get some jades (quite a few) and fafa got herself a pearl necklace.

What amazes me is their language profiency. Most of them speaks fluent English and some even speak other European languages. I believe some of them speaks better English than me.

This place is top class in terms of variety , environment & service..compared to our Petaling Street!!

Lunch was 'stew wok' ..step 1: cook chicken in wok
step 2: add special sauces
step 3 : main chicken dish is ready to eat.

step 4: take out chicken..add hot water to wok..and add other ingredients..like tao foo, vege..etc to make a soupy dish
after a heavy lunch..dinner was a simple one at a simple eatery for locals..
in conclusion..their cooking smells the same..no matter where we go. and it's very very oily...
the day ended after more shopping for bags, sun glasses, underwear...etc etc etc

spot the error?
cooling drink..wong lo kat...is actually from china?

1st day in BJ : Forbidden City & such

1st1st thing in the morning..fafa discovers such a cute guy in the neighbourhood selling fried pancake..isn't he cute..one of the most charming male so far. unfortunately we only notice now - 12 hours later!Outside the Forbidden City..It is amazingly huge..the walk was almost never ending

but..every building seems to look the same..A closer look at one of the corridors..does this remind of some of those TVB series scenes

Door looking thru another door..and another door and another door..the biggest carved stone steps in the city..every single pillar/ balcony / wall has some sort of carving/ designeven the roofs..every single roof..has these little 'ornament'..and each and every one has their own meaning n fucntion. it's amazing that all these architecture took place as early as in the 15th centurytaking a closer look at the door .. some historical artifacts displayed a scene of the imperial garden..the trees here are beautifullast but not least...our most memorable discovery. toddlers in china has special pants. see the 'opening'. It's for convenient toilet training...the toddler only needs to squat & pee - totally hassle free. Do you want some for your kids? We are ready to take orders.. See..so much orders coming in ...ORDER now..while stocks last.