Feeling Sexy...

No, I'm not menggataling again... Just feel a li'l bit vampy :) It's a wonder what an (unfortunately) expensive haircut and a little colour can do to your flagging self-esteem. :p

Am not a particularly vain person. In fact I can be categorised as downright sloppy much of the time, but recently, my propagation of white hair has been driving me to distraction! Flirted with henna at one point, then thought about colouring the whole lot red. The thought of slapping chemicals on my head was a tad disconcerting, so asked at the salon about an approximate cost. The answer: anything between RM215 to 405. OUCH! Ayo.. where got that kind of money la.. Kalau ada pun, it's budgeted for other things. Can't be throwing money around like that!

Later, made another call to the Artistic Director, who is a little buddy2 with me. She suggested just highlighting, the cost, somewhere around RM200 to 25o. PLus 30-40% off. Right... that sounds a little more affordable. But then, campur trim semua, still about RM200, right? Ayoo. Kenot la.

In the end, I bought a box of hair colour and spent a couple of hours working it in and rinsing it out, conditioning... And the result.. hmm.. not bad. At least my white hair not so obvious now. Had trimmed it back into shape a couple of days ago, so it looks pretty nice.. He he.. so happy. Woman, vanity is thy name.. and unabashedly so!!

Forgetting the Fun

It's amazing how we can actually forget to have fun in the midst of trying to get things done. You blank out all emotions and focus on the nitty gritty of the task at hand. And you don't notice how lifeless your article came out until your editor points it out. Padahal you're writing about something that is soo much part of your life, and there are many interesting stories to tell. And all you came out with was some wooden, stodgy bit of writing.. Duh! Sabar ajelah. Rewrite...

What a Weekend!

I haven't had so much fun in a looong time!

Friday morning, I switched the Kelisa for a Suzuki Grand Vitara in Glenmarie. The 'jumbo mama' was to be tested by yours truly over the weekend. Pumped full of petrol, it was a pretty sweet deal.
Other than it's hulking big size, the car is actually very easy to handle. With controls in the 'usual' spots, it has excellent suspension, great audio, audio control on the wheel, great climate control, and lots of storage space. The only reason I won't buy it is because I don't think it's right to use so much petrol just moving the great hunk of metal around town. It's not a 4x4, even though it looks like one. The fuel economy started at 9 km/L, which was bad enough, but for some strange reason, it went down to 4.6 on Saturday night! I was appalled! What did I do??? I know I idled quite a bit while waiting for people and showing off my 'elephant', but it was still quite ridiculous.

I ran around quite a bit over the weekend. On Saturday morning, I took an impromptu spin down the LDP and round the NKVE via Sg Buloh back to Damansara. Well, it was meant for a test drive, wasn't it? It made short work of the journey. Seriously. I couldn't resist showing it off to Loret and made a detour to her place. Chris thought it was his birthday present. You wish, Bear!

In the afternoon, I had to go pick up Graham & Norma, go back to the house and then go over to Aizan's for the nikah ceremony. Coming back, we stopped by Riana Green to say hi to the birthday boy and hand over his gift. The next day, had to go around buying breakfast and collecting a bookcase. The seven foot shelf went into the car WHOLE, I kid you not! Later on, Naz collected us to guard the wedding cake on its journey to the Istana. Then it was back to the house, get ready, send Norma to Putra station and on to the Istana again.

The makan2 was quite normal, but afterwards, it was quite a party! Look at the boys horsing around. Kelakar & riuh giler. Everyone morphed back into the camera whores we were and we had a whale of a time ambik gamba ramai2 and catching up with each other. It was late by the time we went home, but it was a real blast. Great to see you all again, guys.. Missed you all!

I Live in My Own World

Just read a colleague's blog where she was bitching about her minuscule salary and 'crazy work hours'. She even listed her 'saviours' who made life in the office bearable, and not surprisingly, I wasn't listed. I'm not upset or anything, because I feel closer to the much hated 'upper mgmt'.

I put it to differences in age, attitude, experiences and priorities. We're closer in age, my editor was my senior in school, and we work similar hours. We don't have clingy boyfriends to worry about. I see my friends whenever it's convenient and stay home (or office) at other times. We see work as a responsibility and a way to pay the bills. I think the one with the craziest work hours is my boss. I work pretty late, and often work at home as well. Plus sometimes I do overtime when I have a project on my plate.

This girl comes from an affluent family, and think nothing of spending close to fifty bucks over lunch, then complain she's underpaid! Dua ribu normal la for fresh grads. Dulu I start keja, even less than that. Her Daddy dearest pays for the nice apartment and car. All her money goes to shopping and makan2, hair treatments and stuff. Memang la tak cukup!!

Try having a dad yang lepas tangan and expect US to give him money whenever his stupid second hand Merc breaks down. All his money disappears in the hand of his bloody bitch, but he thinks I'm a bad daughter because I kept some family money for the adik beradik. Suruh la bini dia bayar for the car! And the girl thinks she has a hard time! Go figure.

Rindu

Sometimes I miss the old days so much. Carefree days of just going to classes and hanging out with people in college. That was SO long ago. Then there were easygoing days with Wek, Ali & the UM girls. Time when the canoe team always hung out together, had parties and went frogging on a whim. Later, there was the TEKAD gang who are constantly meeting up, having bowling tourneys and such.

These days, most people are married with kids. Even the single ones are bogged with work and more work. Plus family obligations. I guess I miss the camaraderie, the days of just hanging out, swapping stories, trading silly jokes... These days nak gi minum pun kena plan awal2.

Then of course there are people that I miss, people who have moved to the outside perimeters of our relationship, people who used to be a big part of my life. Now it's day in day out with girls in the office. Plus one or two boys. But by the nature of the job, we spend much of our time either running around like headless chickens or staring hard at the computer stringing words together, hoping they won't come back slashed to smithereens by the editors afterwards.

Life is pretty good, but somehow it lacks the exhuberance of youth, something often reminded to me by the pretty young things that share our sphere in the office. But then, change is inevitable, and who knows, some other things might change for the better tomorrow. All we can do is hang on, and make the best out of the present... Amin.

The Struggling Writer

People always think it's cool to be a writer. Truth is, it's not an easy job. Especially if you're writing for a publication. There are always 'rules' to be adhered to. Your pieces need a certain voice, a certain feel to it. It must always reflect the image of the publication. Then there is the need to find certain people for interviews, and photos. If you can't get someone, you're stuck. You can't sleep and your life is miserable. Until the day you get a scoop, you redeem yourself and the sun shines again...

Such is life :)

Adventures

I was being a total hermit on Saturday and never realised there was a landslide in Bkt Antarabangsa until I came down to watch TV that night. Immediately texted my Tai Kor who lived in the area and was assured that he and the family are fine. They had to abandon their condo and he's now looking for another place to rent/buy. He described having to plough through the jungle to get to safety. At that time, the cars had to be left behind. I didn't ask where they stayed that night, but must be hard on them with baby and all.

It's scary because just recently I mentioned in passing that I was looking for a place and he recommended his area. I said I loved his place because it was nice and breezy, but I wasn't keen on the area because it was prone to landslides. He negated this, saying that his side is safe, built on solid ground, etc. In a way, i suppose it's true because his condo is still standing, but you know how nature works. If one area has been dislodged, the areas behind will be at risk. Nobody wants another Highland Towers tragedy.

I vaguely remember a conversation with an Ampang Jaya official a few years ago. She told me that the whole area rested on a layer of clay (?). This means that heavy rain would saturate the upper layer and make them prone to sliding off the lower layer i.e. a landslide.

Now some people are blaming a 3 storey bungalow being built on the hill for the slope failure. It seems possible to me. After all, people have lived there for 20 years without any mishap, there must have been some kind of change that triggered the tragic event. Did the bungalow have proper permission to build there? Were all the procedures adhered to? Was there any dodgy dealing involved? Sadly, I must say it might be possible, because many departments are run by people who decide things based on financial gain and perception instead of hard facts.

I'm just glad that there were very few fatalities in the tragedy. Somehow, I wish we could change the way things are, because right now, too many things are being done wrong. What, then, would the future of Malaysia be?

Relief

After days of stuggling with the computer, thankfully I can work on it again. The system has stabilised, even though I'm pretty sure there's some kind of malware still lurking in the background. At least the ENTER key works again. Have you ever tried to type paragraphs without using the ENTER key? A clue to the malware: if I key in inverted commas ("), they won't appear until I hit SPACE. If I key in " and then type enter, it becomes ënter. See the two dots over the E? That's just a few wonky things that happen. If it's allowed to get any worse, eventually the keyboard gets a life of its own and starts new lines as you type, breaking up paras, even words, if you're not careful. One night, I left a document open when i fell asleep, the document was a few hundred pages long by the time I woke up! Even worse, trying to open up any document will result in LOTS of them being opened up at the same time, rendering the computer totally useless as you helplessly try to stem the tide of extra files! It's still blipping as I work, so I know the bad stuff is still in there.

It's something I picked up when I borrowed someone's computer for a job early this year, and the bleeping thing made it impossible for me to get any decent notes for the meeting.

On the other hand, I just managed to get a WIndows XP SP 3 and the latest Zone AV update, so I hope it can finally get hold of this menace and get rid of it once and for all. It was 2 days of installing, scanning, adding on, jamming, restarting, scanning again to get to this point, so I REALLY hope this works. Touch wood.

Barred

Doesn't it suck when something goes wrong and you know you share a large part of the blame? I had missed my phone bill deadline by a couple of weeks, mainly because my documents were a mess, and the laptop was acting up. Finally paid up before work yesterday. I thought it would be all right la, since the new bill tak dapat pun lagi. And then suddenly my line was barred this morning. Yeesh! Dah la I ada assignment. Kalau ada emergency nak contact ke, kan susah..

Called up the call center and asked them why it was barred. Rupanya the payment via M2u belum clear. Sheesh. Biasa sekejap je dah clear. Wanted to argue jugak, pasal bil baru belum dapat dah kena bar. But then, I realised it was me who refused to increase the limit, so logik la, my line was cut when it reached the call limit. Grr.. leceh sungguh. Dah tu they won't unbar until i gave them the transaction ref no. Masalah la plak nak bukak M2u just so they will unbar my line.. Hrmph.

Baru semalam buat resolution to be ladylike - which includes not being grumpy and not scolding people, especially those poor call center guys. Sheez. Tolak markah...

This is Why Babies Should Be Strapped In!

Malaysians have always been degil when it comes to strapping in their babies in a moving car. My ex-sis in law even lets Aina sleep on the front seat without any harness. Kalau eksiden, orang lain la yang salah... Please la people, invest in a child car seat. It can save their lives...

Infant dies in freak accident

MALACCA: A 7-month-old boy was killed in a car accident on the Alor Gajah-Malacca-Jasin road near Batu Gajah on Saturday.

Muhammad Amirul Rashidi Wahyie Abdullah was thrown from his mother's lap when the car they were travelling in crashed into the divider, spun out of control and strayed into the opposite lane at 5.30pm.

At some point, the left rear door was believed to have opened, and Amirul was flung out onto the road. He died on the spot from head and body injuries.

Seven others in the car -- the baby's parents, grandparents, and three cousins -- were treated at Malacca Hospital for minor injuries.

The family was believed to have been travelling from Muar to Port Dickson.