Survival

“This is what reality demands of you.  You might not like it, but you have to overcome it.”

Rosy Business

This is the series which made me snap out of my 1.5 years hiatus from TVB series.  I didn’t totally not watch during that period…more like, I watched every show really slowly (and some even incomplete) cuz it didn’t bring me much excitement.  And I definitely didn’t chase any series as crazily as before.  I thought that my passion for shows was lost forever.  Until I started “Rosy Business”.  It’s reeeeeeeeally good!!!  Although the show is just full of aunties, it has an interesting plot revolving around family politics and good character development.

Interestingly, when I recommended this show to some of my colleagues at work, they showed interest when I told them it’s nice but immediately rejected when I further explained that it’s about family politics.  Haha.  Their response was something like, “Don’t want la, enough of politics around already.“  I thought I was the only one who hated it, who couldn’t cope well enough.  I guess there are others like me who’d prefer a peaceful and backstab-free environment but there will always be the other others who differ in opinion and because of their nothing-better-to-do-but-create-trouble-and-misery-for-others-without-any-reason attitude, we all are stuck in this political world.

I understand that people are selfish and have their own best interests in mind.  Fine, if they want to apple-polish their way up.  But I definitely cannot stand those who step on others to move themselves up.  And I really definitely cannot stand those who do a by the way step on third parties for no reason other than being associated to the people they step on the way up!  Involving innocent people who’re not directly involved in the competition is totally going way overboard.  They don’t need a reason to hurt you.  Now I’m able to appreciate why Jesus said “Love your enemies”…cuz it’s so hard to do!  Refraining myself from getting back at them is already difficult to do.  What more loving them?!  For now, I’d prefer a neutral stand on the surface…it’s the best I can do.

Anyway, I like watching these shows because although the bickering process is frustrating, in the end, the good guys always win.  It brings a certain amount of hope in the midst of a reality where the politic-players always seem to get their twisted ways.  No way to escape it though…not in the corporate world, at least.  Just gotta learn to cope without allowing myself to sink as low as them.

Fun 2 Days

It’s been a busy week.  Worked from Mon to Wed, almost double work cuz a lot of colleagues were MIA due to chicken pox, replacement leave and self-quarantine.  It has been quite some time since I was this stressed at work.  Could once again feel the adrenaline rush resulting from the “so much to do, so little time” situation.   Ah, almost forgot how it feels like…the excitement and challenge.  And this time, there’s no one to watch my back and make sure that everything was done correctly.  I’m responsible for everything I do.  Part of growing up, I guess.

Took leave on Thur and Fri.  Replacement leave on Thur (from working last Sat) and didn’t want to return to work on Fri cuz it’ll be so potong stim so decided to take Fri off as well.  Hehe.  And just when I took leave, my car had to be sent to the mechanic cuz there’s a black oil leakage.  Apparently the engine was almost burnt cuz there was too little black oil (coolant) in it.  No wonder sometimes when I come out of the car I could smell a burnt kinda smell.    Anyway, the mechanic said that it would take 2 days before the car could be returned.  I wasn’t just gonna sit at home staring at the 4 walls of my house when I’m on leave!!!  So I made plans to stay over at Xian’s house on Thur night. 

It was a fun 2 days.  Hung out with Xian, KY and Cheok.  Sequence of events: ate Bak Kut Teh, went to 1U, bought Ice Age 3 movie tickets, had Kluang Station coffee and currypuffs, watched the movie, ate Tau Foo Fah, went to Xian’s house to surf Youtube for silly stuff to amuse ourselves.  Hahaha.  But it was good la.  Yesterday (Fri) was quite productive as well.  In the morning we went to renew passport.  They’re actually quite efficient now…one of Badawi’s better reforms.  We can actually renew our passport in 2 hours!!!  Damn cool, right?  Also went to MidValley to do grocery shopping.  Managed to buy a dress too…heh heh.  Yeah, my company’s annual dinner is fast approaching and I don’t want to leave it till the last minute like last year when I was sorta forced to buy something damn expensive due to time constraint.  Since I saw something wearable and cheap yesterday, might as well just grab it.  Thanks, Xian!  Felt like it was easier this year…  *phew*

Departures

Watched the Japanese movie “Departures” on Thursday.  Was an impromptu thing.  Called a few friends, made some arrangements, went after work, lined up for tickets, had dinner and went for the movie.  These days it’s so hard to plan ahead cuz something will tend to pop up and mess up the plans…sometimes it’s easier to just go instead of plan.  The movie was quite nice…interesting and unconventional.  It’s about the ceremony before a funeral.  It’s about doing something that no one else wants to do.  It’s about having passion in your job.  It’s about believing in what you do.  It’s about professionalism.  It’s about the road less taken.  It’s about a guy who thought he had talent in playing the cello and he pursued his so-called dream but turns out that dreams do not feed him nor clothe him and things didn’t turn out so he was forced to look for another job whereby he stumbled upon the funeral job in which he didn’t like at first and struggled to cope but at last realised that he actually loves it.  Triggers me to wonder, does security or passion comes first, in the event that you cannot have both.  Going to work without passion is like being a zombie.  Chasing after a passion by compromising security is dangerous.  Ah, the irony of life.

Wet Hike

Went to Gasing Hill for hiking today with 2 friends.  As we started our trail, the weather was good, though a bit hazy.  Then as we reached midpoint, we could see that the sky was getting dusty and kinda dark so we started hurrying a bit.  On our way out, it started drizzling so we hurried even more, jogging whenever it was flat ground instead of our usual walk.  Passed by a hut but decided to carry on because we were afraid that the rain might last for hours and we’ll be stuck there.  Then it started raining quite heavily and although at first we didn’t really feel it cuz the trees were protecting us, but after a while we could feel the full force of the downpour. By the time we finally completed our trail and reached the car, we were like, drenched.  Like, wet inside and out.  Like, dripping wet.  Basically, really very very wet la!    Immediately took cover in my car…so my car was pretty wet too.  Although subsequently I managed to retrieve waterproof seat covers from my boot, my car seats were already kinda wet by then.Well well…what to do.

So we went home first for a bath (I managed to squeeze in a 30-min nap) and met again for banana leaf rice lunch.  Was good!  And then I went to check my eyes cuz although I just got my specs 4 months ago, I feel that it’s a bit blur and my power has changed.  So I went to this expensive but professional optician who really does thorough eye-checks and sell high end optical products.  Turns out that the power for my left eye went up 50 degrees…in just a mere 4-month period!  Am kinda getting worried.  Think it’s caused by the nature of my work where I’m required to stare into the computer everyday and do tedious assignments of checking lists with many columns and fine print.  *faints*  Will only be changing the lens cuz my specs is just 4 months old.  Sigh…

The Overlap

Melaka Trip

Went to Melaka yesterday, it was a 1-day trip.  Going to Melaka is no big deal…but when you do touristy things, it’s still considered a trip!  Hehe.  We set out in the morning and first thing we did was to eat chicken rice balls.  It’s a must, somehow…even though I think it’s similar to the normal chicken rice.  Then we went to her uni to collect some stuff and thereafter headed to Jonker Walk to shop, gulped down Cendol and went to Melaka Zoo!  Haha…the weather was so hot that my friend was melting and it made her face damn long.  Gotta give her credit for being so obliging, though.  Thanks.  As for me, I was just…sticky.    Luckily after a while she started to enjoy seeing those cute (and smelly) animals so it made me feel less bad.  *phew*  Overall, it was quite fun…got to see cool animals, smell their dung, hear their roars and burn some fat!  Maybe got a little tanner…but not much cuz we had an umbrella and though we look like aunties holding it, opening it when it’s sunny and closing it when we’re under the shade of the trees, we were never more thankful for its invention.  *nods*

After we finished walking through the whole zoo, we went for dinner…Baba & Nyonya food!  Went for Melaka River Cruise.  It’s a simple boat ride, just looking at nicely lit-up buildings with the breeze against our faces.  It was quite a long boat ride so after it ended, we rushed over to Menara Taming Sari but on the way there, we got distracted by lights tied to wires in the shape of animals.  In short, animal shapes made by lights lah.  Yeah, we might be easily amused but we had fun so who cares.  Menara Taming Sari is something like KL Tower plus Solero Shot.  We sat in something and it brought us up where we can look down and see the whole of Melaka town.  And it revolves so we don’t even have to walk!  Haha…talk about lazy.  Our trip ended with a drink at Geographer.  I had their special cocktail made using honey dew.  It was quite nice and unique cuz I haven’t come across cocktails made with honey dew before, not to say I’m very well-versed in cocktails lah, but still…

So tall!

It can roar really loud...effortlessly.

Big Butt

Poser

It looks bored.

Porcupine

Melaka River Cruise

Jonker Walk at night.

Animal shaped lights.

Maritime Museum and Menara Taming Sari

Warranty

My external harddisk was spoiled so I sent it for repair about a month ago.  It was still under warranty so I only needed to pay the runner fee to the shop in Low Yat for them to send it back to the supplier for me.  What to do…wanna claim warranty then gotta wait for ages lor. They notified me a few days ago that it was ready for collection.  So I went to collect that day and when they returned it to me I realised that it wasn’t the original one I gave them.  It was slightly bigger and squarer, which means bulkier (actually not much difference but there’s still a difference! ).  But since it was a new one, I figured I shouldn’t be so fussy.  All my data was lost (mostly shows)…sigh.  Before I left, asked them to plug it into the computer to check if it’s functional and it was detected to have 250GB of space…that’s more than double my original HD size.  YAY!!!  Turns out that they didn’t bother (or couldn’t) repair my HD so they decided to give me a new one but ran out of stock so they had to upgrade and give me a new HD with more storage space.  I shall go transfer shows now…  *wide grin*

Have You Ever…

Have you ever been betrayed?  Have you ever given your trust to someone, only to find that person walking out of your life?  Have you ever felt played, toyed with, and then thrown away?  Have you ever looked up to someone and then realise that that someone looks down on you?  Have you ever smiled at someone but is greeted back by a frown, a look of disgust, a gaze of irritation and a stare of despise?  Have you ever reached out sincerely from your heart but all you get is lukewarm response and a don’t-bother-me answer?  Have you ever tried to mend things but receive only rejection and non-reply as a response?  Have you ever wondered what did you do so wrong that you deserve being treated like that?  Have you ever tried to get rid of once nice memories which are now like daggers stabbing into your heart?  Have you ever tried to forget but everything reminds you?  Have you ever thought so much that you dream of it often?  Have you ever felt so hurt you just wanna shut everyone out?  Have you ever used anger and hatred to overcome confusion and longing?  Only to find that the sadness is real, despite whatever you do…because a friendship is lost.

60 Years Old

It’s my mum’s birthday today.  She’d be 60 years old if she’s still alive.  Sigh.  But wow…60.  Quite a big number.  Ah, I miss her.  Usually we’d visit her but I had to work full day today so I thought we’d make it another day.  But work ended early at about 4pm so decided to drop by and make a lone visit as the weather was good and cloudy (hazy, actually).  Drove there all the way from my house, got jammed at certain parts and then finally reached the cemetery.  As I drove in, I saw a Malay guy on a motorbike with his cangkul sticking up and as I passed by, he started tailing me.  So I purposely drove really slowly so that he would pass me by…and he did.

Parked my car and went down, carrying an umbrella with me, just in case.  As I walked up the stairs to the grassy area, I saw the Malay guy parking his bike nearby…he had turned back!  He then followed me up the stairs and from the corner of my eye, I saw him holding the cangkul.  Yeah sure, he might just be trying to earn a living by offering his services to clean the weeds around the grave for people who’re willing to pay him do it.  But still, it’s scary to be alone at the graveyard, being followed by a long haired (though neatly tied back) suspicious male who’s holding a damn long weapon.  So I just walked a round on the grassy area (I couldn’t turn back cuz he was following me) till I reached the stairs again and then walked down back to my car and drove off.  What the heck…I can’t even spend time with my mum in peace!  Sigh…