Mean Rat

People has always being saying that the older one gets, the more backwards they are from their age. This holds true for my grandmother, who actually got a little black rubber rat and placed it under my bed one day.

It so happened that I was looking under my bed while cleaning the room, and I saw this black little monster staring back at me in the dark.

I was so damn scared just by looking at its size (which looked huge enough to bite), that I went over to the next house to ask for help.

My uncle, a burly big man, came over to my room with a huge staff, and stared under my bed. It took him also some time to decide whether it was real or not.

Finally, he extended his staff under the bed and swept the ugly little thing out from under the bed.

It was just a little rubber toy. But, it did kinda scare the shit out of me. I was afraid that it would bite!!! And imagine the bacterias growing on all its teeth!!!

Nah!!! I'm a mean little creature!!!! Ha ha ha ha!!!!

Learning Material

How do you remember all the muscles on your arm?

Write it on your arm!!!

The live learning material for biology.

Picture

I found a very beautiful picture the other day.

It was drawn by an Indonesian artist, and it was hung on the wall of one certain living room.

I thought I might just get a picture like that for my living room too. But, that was just me thinking.

Bad Table Service

I hated it when the people in the restaurants were careless in their service.

It was considered ill manners to serve food with chipped utensils, to stack the plates up before the guests leave. Recently, I found a new example of ill table-utensil-service.

Giving your guest two chopsticks of different length!!!

Geez, if this was the way a restaurant treated their guest, imagine how they treated the food that was served?

Sze Jun's Wedding

SJ is getting married this Saturday, but there was a reception dinner on Thursday for all her friends and family back home.

I had the honour of being invited to her wedding dinner that night, and the hen's night the night before.

SJ had been a part of my troop when I was leading it at that time. It still amazes me to see them all grown up with careers and families of their own. I guess I would always consider them like I did so many years ago. :)

Congratulations!!! SJ!!!

May your days of married life be a loving and eternal one.

Me Underwater

I believe that many people who know me know that I love diving. Well, that could be an understatement. Diving has become a part of my life, something that I do whenever I had the chance, even if it is in the pool.

Wanna see how I looked like underwater?

Ta-da~~~!!!

Guess which one is me?

I came across this old picture while browsing through my archives. This was taken during my trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in December, 2006. I had a great time there. I guess every experience is unique, and this trip especially, since it was the first time that I really did some hard-core diving, to the extend that I was looking more like a worn-out rag than a diving diva at the end of the trip. :P

That was a trip that I was supposed to blog a long time ago. But given the magnitude of it, the greediness in me to try to put everything into my blog, the whole thing got so huge that I finally gave up the whole project.

Well, not really. I decided that if the pictures did not go in my blog, at least they would be displayed to the public to view, at least for my friends, in Facebook. For those who are interested, you can find me in Facebook using my full name. :)

Or, to a lesser extent, in my Friendster's photo album.

For those who had waited for my blog on this trip, please forgive me. I apologize for the delay of nearly two years. :P I hope it could still bring back some good memories of wonderful times back then. It was really a fun time. :)

A New Friend

I met a new friend when I was in Miri. Cindy introduced us, and I was amused by her name.

Her name is, " Lulu Lu"

Cindy and Lulu Lu

Great name, eh? Never would one have to crack one's head to remember a name like that.

Simple and easy to remember. Her dad is a genius!!!

I was in Miri

I was in Miri city the week after the Merdeka day (Independence day of Malaysia) to do my first round of calls after joining my new company. It was a week of new exploration and also a time to meet up with my mate from Kuching, who had moved to Miri a while ago.

My Area Supervisor came down with me to show me the ropes and the ins and outs of the place. I was glad that he could make it this trip with me. If not, I was afraid that I would have wasted so much time just trying to figure out who to see and where to go in a very limited period of time.

My Area Supervisor noting down in a map all the important people to see.

Besides my work, I guess the next fruitful event during this trip would be to meet up with my good friend, Cindy, from Kuching.

Cindy has moved to Miri since the middle of last year after having decided that she would come and work for an oil and gas company as an accountant. And, being a true accountant, she is very good with figures.

We had spent many nights with other friends in karaokes and happy hours in pubs before she moved here. Since she left us, the gang soon dissipated and continued on with our own lifes. None of us was really sure whether this was due to her leaving, or us having our own ways to go in life. I guess both played a part.

My first night in Miri Cindy came and pick me up in her new silver Citra. I was surprise to see her in her new car. I had known that she was looking for a car back in December last year, but it failed to register in my mind that she could have bought a car months ago.

Cindy and I went to Halo cafe for dinner. I did not even know that there was one in Miri. Frankly speaking, I was both surprised and not. Surprised because I never thought that Halo would actually thought about investing in a city like Miri and not Kuching. Not surprised because I had always thought of Miri for being more productive in terms of singing cultures and bands.

I ordered spaghetti and Cindy ordered something that looked like nachos, but not entirely a nacho. I was quite doubtful about the food, and hesitated in putting them into my mouth.

Cindy with the spaghetti from Halo cafe, Miri.

There was a stage where young people, mostly students, would come by and sing for the night. There is a romantic notion to the idea of singing in one of the cafes like Halo. It is something that a student would think of doing to be romantic while earning some bucks for the semester.

That night, three boys performed on stage. They looked like they were in their late teens. One of them can actually sing very well. The guitarist seemed to like to echo whatever his other mates had just said. It was rather amusing to listen to them talk.

Cindy and I started to send in our dedications after dinner. It was fun seeing them trying to fish out the lyrics for some of the songs that we had asked for, and others they had to cover with other similar songs, since none of them knew how to sing it. I liked the voice of the percussionist. I thought that he had a better voice.

Cindy and I talked about our friends back home, and how each of us had fared since our departures. She is doing pretty well now, and I am simply glad and happy for her.

Anna W. et. al.

29 August 2008, Friday

Anna W. came back on Friday, and we went out for dinner that night.

Fridays have always been quite hectic for me, as I will always have to rush for things to be done before the weekend, especially when I have to leave for other places the coming week.

But Anna came back, and she texted me for dinner. I had a lot to finish before the coming week, and three full days of activities waiting for me come weekend, but I just could not refuse her. She had been an angel to me when I was in K. L.

I picked Anna up at around seven from her place. Kelly, Anna's sister, came with us too. I felt that something was up since the moment she told me that she would be back home for a night, but I did not ask much. It was then that she told me her true purpose of being home, and that took the wind out of me.

That was a little dramatic, to take the wind out of me, but literally, I was about to throw up, after the stress of the day, and now this? The excitement had worked my body to the extend of almost vomiting. I will not disclose the true purpose of Anna's reason being home, for she had made me swear to total discretion. Furthermore, what better blackmailing material do I have on her than this?!!! I was more than delighted to know and not to tell. Hehe....

Anna and I had dinner at Bla Bla Bla, which served us huge dishes of chinese food fused with a western touch. I could only managed a small portion of it, and left the others for the rest of the table to finish. Anna was trying to get me to eat more, which I refused. There were two other guys with us, they could take care of that.

The dinner was a long and mundane one. None of us wanted to be there in the first place. I felt like leaving the place just half an hour of arriving there. Friends were waiting for me in another place.

The relief was immense when the dinner was called to an end. Anything to get out of there. Little did I know that it was about to continue on for the rest of the night.

We proceeded to R. K. for a drink. My intention in the beginning was actually to bring Anna along to meet all our old friends from our high school days. Her appearance was meant to be a surprise for them. It did create the impact, but sadly, she was not able to join the gang as her parents were with her as well. Oh, well, I was thinking, let them be. It was not everyday that one gets to be joined by their parents in a pub.

I was sitting with Anna and her parents, upon her insistence. Nick K. texted me from the other side, "You looked so bored..." There was no better description of me then. And my reply was equally boring, "Imagine having to sit with parents..."

"Haha.. Kesian..."

The night ended uneventfully with the parents taking off, and I thought I could steal Anna for another hour or so. Knowing that she needed a break, I took her driving up to the beach. It was dark there, and I dared not leave my vehicle. We sat locked in the car, listening the the quietness of the night. It was a peaceful night, with very little stars in the sky, and the tide far out at the end of the beach.

We spoke very little, listening more than talking. She was fine, a little frustrated and worn out, but fine nevertheless. She needed a break, and the only way that I could think of getting her one, was actually to let nature help her.

We both got home around sometime after two. I cleaned myself up before hitting the pillow. Her last text came in, telling me that it was not in her intention initially to get me involved. But I understood. So, it was not a problem at all, I told her.

Good night, she said, with a smile.

Good night, I said to her. I went to sleep. Tomorrow would be another long day.

Johnny's Going-Away Dinner

L to R: Ai Fern, Nick K., Wesley, Teresa, Johnny, Edward, Ah Nong, Edward's wife, Lucas, C. S., Valerie, Henry, Kim Leng

28 August 2008, Thursday

Johnny has finally graduated from Swinburne University of Technology from his engineering course.

In celebration of his graduation, and for his time with us in Kuching, the gang met up in Koreana for a joyful dinner.

It was a fun night, and Mrs. Kim, the owner of the restaurant, joined us for a chat too. She is a very wise woman, with deep insight with regards to the current Malaysian society and government. The young ones left the place that night with renewed respect for the lady.

But, at the end of the night, Johnny was still the main character. :) Therefore, Johnny, we wish you a great journey ahead, and don't forget to come pay us a visit anytime soon. ;)

Adios, amigo!!! Best wishes for all!!!