Own Time Own Target

woff~* !

HAHAHAHA! i;ve got my w800i! i;ve got my w800i! i;ve got my w800i!

i'm the queen of delayed gratification, after all, i've lusted after it since it was launched in Sept 05. and i only got it now, after getting a great packaged deal (that required some scheming and wheeling and dealing...) with help from Paddy's lobang. (Thanks! Paddy!)

next step to get a second SIM card so that i can use my treo650 on workdays, and w800i on weekends/ running seamlessly.

and then to get a ton of mp3 to load into the w800i (hint* hint*)

and then to go running!

whoopee!

Labels: to Shop Buy

Have been working late almost every nite this year, and some times lunching in to save time. That means no time for CNY shopping, not for CNY food, clothes, shoes, decorations, etc. argh.

Luckily,
- angie got me foodstuff,
- MIL got me food for CNY cooking (if required),
- i bought new bedsheets in Christmas sale
- bought E all his new work clothes in a JL sales spree
- and I've got miscellaneous clothings for the kiddies stashed away (ok, too big and waiting for them to grow to the appropriate size, which is right now)...
- .........but still I havent got anything for me.

So i had to plan very carefully my shopping sorties to JP where i have lunch out on days that i can get away from the office. am proud to announce that i've made 2 successful sorties in the last 2 weeks:

Date: 21-1-06.
Time: 45min in between end of extra work on sat and before family dinner
Gone/ Got: 4 shops/ 4 tops :D

Date: 26-1-06.
Time: 45min out of 1 hour lunch (15 min on lunch)
Gone/ Got:
1. 4 shoes shops/ 1 pair
2. 1 grocery shop/ 1 bb bottle detergent
3. 1 apparell shop/ 2 Tops for E
4. 2 shops/ 2 bra
5. 1 stall/ 2 sets CNY deco

DAMN! I'm GOOOOOOD!

alrightie, it look like i'm set, except abit more goodies for gifts, i'll do that on sat morn i.e. CNY eve!

Labels: to Shop Buy

the good : i finally had my hair cut last nite

the bad : it took 5.5 hours

the ugly : it took that long becos they screwed up with the highlights and had to correct and redo it twice

groan.

the details:

• the base went on great. no prob.
• the bleach for the highlights was either too strong or left too long, and i was practically blonde in patches.
• they tried to cover the blonde with reddish brown to tone it down, that got mostly brown, no red.
• then they added red. and it turned stephanie sun red
• then they toned it down with more brown. by this stage, i was so so so tired and grumpy that if the color had turned out blue i would still have no more. thank goodness it came out ok. a little too red, but i can live with it.
• treatment to hopefully undo some of the horrific damage to the hair for the repeated coloring
• cut was fast. but not great. i'll have to let it grow out a little and see how.

i got there at 1845 and left at 0030. i clocked them for 5.5 hrs becos they only started working on me at 1900.

had wanted to tip the guys for CNY, but was so grumpy and tired that i just paid the bill and left.

Labels: to Shop Buy

had a dream where there was an electrical outage at home while i was out, resulting in all clocks being an hour late.

so while i woke up at 630am on the alarm clock, it was really 730am, a windfall of an extra hour of sleep. ah~ bliss.

of the course the next part of the dream was all hell broke loss for really having woken up late... and i quickly (really) woke up from this part of the dream.

darn~! it was good while it lasted.

on hind sight, that wasnt such a weird dream, was it?

was at a baby boy's 1st month celebration at lunch. lots of friends and babies and tots in tow. ran into a couple whose girl at 22 months old, is just 4cm and heavier than my 44 month-old. guess it is a combi of both my girl being really on the petite side (like her mommy) and the other girl taking after her parents who are both tall and well-built.

any ways, the star's dad was beaming and introducing all little girls to his boy and inviting them to join the queue for his selection when the boy is older.

and when he came to our table, he took a look at the 2 girls and said "petite is good! i love petite girls", and then muttered "that one! so big, dunno how she's ever gonna get a boyfriend!"

groan.

Labels: to Laugh

didnt get to cut my hair last evening afterall, got caught up in some last minute urgent work (arent they always?) and had to cancel. ended up staying till late and reached home only after 2330 :(

bummer

back at work now. on a saturday with clear skies.

bummer

Woke up this morning from the weirdest dream i've had in awhile...

was cycling from some posh building to a destination estimated to be at half an hour away, and i wasnt familiar with route. it was clear and cool day. I was looking out for landmarks, and the route brought to dreamy landscapes of gardens with fountain features and flowers in bloom on one side, while the other side of the road was heavy dusty noisy constructions.

and came to sudden realisation that i was cycling without a helmet and started worrying about being cautioned by the police about it (but actually not required by law to wear helmet on a bicycle right?) and then started being really bothered with the flying messy hair.

the next thing i knew, i whipped out a scissors and started cutting my hair in the middle of the road, and just about after the first 2 cuts, i knew i've cut too much and was upset...

and i started getting a bad teeth-clenching headache.

argh~

and then i woke up, with a bad teeth-clenching headache. so bad that i couldnt get out of bed (later diagnosed as migraine with flu at docs.)

so is it a case of life imitating dream, or dream imitating art?

and oh, i will be cutting my hair this Friday ;)

Labels: to Laugh

Still swamped, but hey! that's nothing new ;)

OK... but i woke up middle of the night with diarrhea, and went and went. causing me to miss 2 hours of work this morning (more if not for E sending me to work... :* )

dont know whether it was:
- the oysters/ slipper lobster that i had on Saturday nite at Marina Mandarin buffet, or
- the laksa with extra hums that i had on Sunday for lunch, or
- the slightly undercooked chicken (it must have been, otherwise how do they make it so succulent?) or the extra helpings of ginger + garlic dip i had at soup restuarant
- the chilli from chicken rice when the canteen near work yesterday?

could have been a mixture of all 3!

didnt have time to see doc, only managed to down 2 tubes of baojiyuan, so i'm no longer going and going and going, but i still go, and have a growling (GROWLING, not GROWING... sheesh~!) stomach.

but back to being swamped, had to redo almost all the work i rushed through last night becos i had a different understanding from the boss of the system how we are implementing will work. ok, he won, and i redid the whole thing. and this time it was approved. thank goodness.

then somebody had the nerve to ask me to book his air ticket, yeah, right, i'll send you to timbuktoo on a 1-way tix. but i gamely waved surrender and told him i have too much work, plus there is SOMEBODY else who is handling this, i'm NOT the replacement for my colleague-on-maternity-leave for goodness sakes.

oops. no more instant noodle, i had the last 1 last evening.

gotta go. by the time i got home last nite, kiddies were already sleeping :(

oh gosh, i need some time to regroup, run some and read some.

but when?

Labels: to Despair

oh good grief, had only a day of work in the office last week, and am swamped today!

plus colleague didnt hand over properly, and simi travel warrant lah, simi leave form lah, simi application form lah, ISO doc lah, authorise payment lah, what doc to keep original, what doc to copy and who to pass on to lah, what lao, all these type of nitty-gritty operational matters, i have absolutely no interest and i dont want to care, but now all my parsar.

somemore, boss monthly claim form, travel claim form also my problem.

i havent even got down to starting on my trip report, schedules and claim forms. poor people like me every cent also much claim okay?

damn, even asked me to make chinese tea.... grrrrrl. now kena tea lady, but at least he faked a few coughs and told me he no voice very kor-lian first...

and ask me to call other pp and transfer the call to him, now kena switchboard operator.

1001 things to do, and 101 email waiting for my reply, all no chance to start yet, ok, i did manage to reply to THREE emails.

tonight have to camp here liao. let me check, still got 1 instant cup noodle. at least i wont starve...

pout* pout* pout*

Labels: to Despair

was in Jkt just before the New Year, and then KL and BKK last week for work.

Jkt was alright but culture shock becos of:
- my first sighting of real extensive shanty-towns where the homes were built with waste wood, planks, taupalins, anything every which way. and kids running barefoot and bared torso, cant help but think how lucky kiddies are to have so much, and that killed my appetite to buy them more toys from the airport
- was chauffered around, and i couldnt believe my eyes when i found that the media of choice in cars is the humble cassette tape player.

KL was alright too but i was extra wary becos of all that negative reporting. thankfully nothing happened to me, unless you count the terrible room they put me in PJ Hilton. it had lights that will not turn on and i was groping in the dark half the time, and cabinet lights that will not go off so i had to sleep with them on, and aircon that was freaking freezing cold (companion said hers were too warm). had to sleep with a t-shirt plus sweater plus track pants under double blankets, my first in a tropical country. at least i earned double krisflyer miles in hilton... sniff* ah-choo*!


In BKK,
- i realised that 1 should not wear sleeveless clothings, and if it is too hot, pair a sleeveless with a jacket. was "molested" by a staff from subsi office when we shook hands, and his left hand conveniently patting my shoulder and that same hand glided down my arm. EWWWWW~* phui phui phui.


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

the flight routing for KL and BKK was terrible cos we had to save $400 per tix by going on MH via SIN-KL-BKK-KL-SIN. but had to waste a WHOLE day on BKK-KL-SIN on home leg. at least i got to buy duty-free liquor cos KL was only transit. :D


MH Service comments:
- food was terrible. on our KL-BKK flight we were given a choice of fish with noodle or chicken with rice. i chose fish with noodle after seeing the passenger on the next aisle opening his, not that it looked good but it looked like something i can bare with. my companion chose chicken with rice after seeing the same, and when she opened hers, "oh gosh, just as bad" kekeke.

- boss was in biz class on KL-BKK flight, switched off his happening nokia phone when it rang just before take-off. sat in his seat the whole 1:45 hr flight. got up when touched down and realised that phone wasnt in his pocket. thot no prob just look around the seat and floor. NOTHING! */^%(#*$! got air hostess and crew to strip the chair and still NOTHING. crew rationaled that phone must have fallen off boss pocket onto the floor before take off, and had slit down (on take off) or up (on landing) and somebody must have picked it up. fantastic logic. now explain the bit about cheapo biz class traveller who keeps a dropped phone to me please?

- SQ girls have a training module on make-up and company prescribed colors and style, i wonder if MH has the same? if yes, why do they use that garish plastic pink lipstick?

- The ultimate was in the BKK-KL leg. was feeling cold and sleepy (too much to drink the nite before, 'nuf said) and asked for a pillow and blanket. Air hostess with plasticky grin(mace) came back with pillow, and snapped "I will come back with your blanket in a minute" to my query. she passed by again with nothing and my companion asked a blanket too, but she went away so quickly without acknowledging the request that we wondered if she heard it. We thot that she didnt when she came back with only 1 (crumpy not plastic wrapped goodness knows who was using it before), and the plasticky fake smile said "sorry mdm, due to limitation of supply, can you please SHARE?" faintz


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

KLIA comments:

- Stupid touts and advertisement (CHEAP TOUR PACKAGES! BUDGET HOTELS! EASY CAR RENTAL!) plastered every which way right outside the imigration / airport limo counter. So aggressive and the touts actually wear official-looking plastic tags that makes unsuspecting visitors think it is alright to go with them. shudders. and the "normal" taxi queue is so so so far away. thankfully there were 3 of us and we took the really official airport limo. [postscribe: read that this matter was raised in their local newspaper forum pages too, and the powers that be do not have authority to stop the touts. heh. money too good say lah]

- Those stupid sign boards for departure times and check-in rows!
--->The one facing the grand entrance were too high up and too small to read properly.
---> the ones on the ground had only 2 screens and flashed every 10 sec, and since there were a total of 10 pages, you had to wait for 90 sec to go back to the page that you didnt get to read finish to confirm your flight information. not so important if everything were normal, but mine was delayed and the boarding gate changed.
---> the ones with all the screens were situated in the centre of consoles and were not convenient to go to

- BK serves drinks that were filled to the brim of the cups, no wonder the cleaners were cleaning up every 2 minutes when somebody spilled their drinks. and they dont have bbq sauce for chicken tenders :(

- went to Malaysian Local Produce to buy some foodstuff to bring home. Aisles were narrow, dumb. NO baskets for you to carry your purchases, dumb. Things were piled up unsupported, dumb. Tried to pay with visa but the stupid machine couldnt call through the transaction, only after 5 min did they realise that the phone jack had fallen off the visa terminal, DUMB. they managed to connect and still it didnt work, paid with cash.
- Companion bought stuff there too, and after she paid with cash while waiting for my transaction to go through, the staff went to the shelves to pick up 1 each of all the stuff she bought. i thought "wah, got buy 1 get 1 free ah?" only to have them use the scanner to scan the price lables and print a receipt for companion, and then place the stuff back on the shelves again. what to do? labour cheap mah.

Labels: to Travel

gosh~ i just ran into boss making his own tea!!!

giggles.

hmmm.... after posting that overwhelmed at work entry, i was suddenly thinking, darn, so overwhelmed already still want to blog.

and then i realised that i actually feel more collected and have a better plan to survive this chaotic day.

blog good. :D

argh! colleague gone on maternity leave with loose ends not handed over, and for operational issues that i no longer bothered with (ah~ the joy of delegation) and for things that were really so operational like factory maintenance (getting the grass in the compound cut etc) that i never ever had to deal with.

now i'm supposed to play the MD's secretary and make his ever-changing travel arrangements on short notice too. *#(*&%+* and to make things worst, i'm leaving for KL and BKK on short notice too, mountains of reports to read, prepare and double-check. not to mention the "company dinner" in KL that i'm not looking forward to. sigh~

gosh~ i'll still have to deal the the overflowing in-tray of my colleague.

damn. i just hope that my boss is not going to ask me to make his tea....

Labels: to Despair

drizzling the whole day, and stupid wipers and aircon fogs up the windscreen and doesnt clear away the rain water properly. but good thing was i worked late (good thing? *#$&%#*) and managed to leave only almost 9 and traffic was light.

got to PIE without incident, but got caught in a jam before bt. timah exit where there was an accident on the right most lane and traffic slowed to a crawl.

got to upper serangoon exit and while i lined up properly, closer to the exit i saw that the road turned to the "wrong" side from what i remembered and i thot "die, wrong exit", tried to turn out, and very much nearer to the exit saw that it WAS the right exit, and turned back. siong. luckily nobody honked.

E was bushed from holiday trip and i drove all of us home. everything ok except a taxi managed to mount and got stuck on the bus stop divider near SK. he was probably travelling too fast and wasnt following lane markings, or it was simply too dark and wet to see properly, and in that case, definitely travelling too fast...

got home safe and sound, not a scratch on the car.

phew. 3 trips and totalled about 70km today, my longest drives yet.

was thinking of putting up a "??? days of driving with no incidents" but thot better since that might really jinx it.

will drive safe all the same.

Labels: to Drive

was my longest independent drive today, from home to work, about 33km. mostly on high way. was late getting out of the house so the traffic was just off-peak.

kept to the middle lanes, and speed between 80~90km/h (and luckily too, cos a cop came up behind me on one long straight stretch of BKE where the limit was 90km/h. and they showed absolutely no interest in me and overtook me on the right.) heng* cos i wasnt displaying my triangle P plate :p

the challenge now is getting back via PIE where the traffic on Fri evening is a killer.

deep breathing, deep breathing. In, Out, In, Out.

Labels: to Drive

edited 6-Jan-05

Chiro Session #1

Chanced upon a chiropractor at SCSM expo a month earlier, and took up an offer for a full review at a discount.

the first appt was a full review. first using a paraspinal scan (by passing a current to each spinal sections and taking a reading from it) and then a hands-on by the chiro on all other joints, when standing, sitting and lying on front and back. what is being checked are joint mobility, alignment (front and back, left and right), and spine curvature
- i have a slight curvature on my lower spine
- my right hip alignment higher than left side, causing my legs to be of 3/4" different in length! Ahh~HA!
- and confirm that i got bad over-pronation on left foot (thats the foot where i had pain in the instep when i ran, and the ankle which i twisted twice on SCSM. I keep wondering if the SCSM had made my over-pronation worst?) and normal over-pronation on right foot.

then supposed to take xrays to checked out the curvature at lower back and upper neck.

Chiro Session #2

i went back to the chiro today but was having bad flu and sneezing all the way so i only took the consultation of my previous test and xray results, and not the hands on treatment.

x ray was alright, showing some degeneration of the neck, but no curvature at lower back, and no other major prob. sorta fishing for sympathy and assurance, i asked if it is "normal" for pp my age to have such degeneration:
- the bad answer: "no, it is not normal for pp of any age to have degeneration"
- the ugly answer: "for pp your age, it should look completely normal. however, this level of degeneration is more common for pp in their 40s and 50s"
*groan.

i was given a handout to read abt the science of chiropractic, and it seem to suggest everything can be made better with their help (i'm a little skeptical of this, i mean, EVERYTHING?)

but the way i understand it: the spine is the core of the whole body, and if misaligned, it will cause problems such as imbalance, poor posture (cause AND effect) and body stress, which may lead to faster degeneration of the spine (shudders*), fatique (using too much energy to hold yourself up), higher chances of injury (weak core) etc. so i do believe a strong and balanced core can only be good.

i also asked abt difference between muscle massage and chiropratic, and i was told that the former deals with muscle tension/ circulation and body fluid drainage, the latter deals with spinal column, nervious system and body structure.

anyways, they recommended treatment for left-right misalignment, muscle weakness in some areas, and muscle over-stress in other areas over a course of 35-40 sessions over 3-4 months for me. More scans will be done after several treatments for more objective comparison of "before" and "after".

Each session is $80 normally (1st consultation + 1-time registration + 1st treatment should be $200 if i'm not wrong), packages are available bundled with free sessions, eg. 10(paid)+2(free), 20+7, 40+23, 80+80 etc to bring the unit cost down. for the latter 2 packages, it can be shared between family members. still... even if i take up the 20+7 package, it is $1.6k

as a last note, i had always believe you can never know too much about your own body and health. i had gone for the consultation with the thoughts of understanding what's going on in my body, and then to make an informed choice of WHETHER, and then HOW and WHEN to treat it. (and whether i got the $ to treat it... kekeke)