This should be an interesting post. Well im taking time from waiting for my mask to dry and i should really be lying down and resting my face muscles instead of squinting in front of my faithful desktop in near-darkness and its kind of hot too and im anticipating mosquitos to be feasting soon. think thats about too much detail for just an introduction.
Well Christmas time is nearing. There was Hari Raya Aidil Adha on Thursday, which i used to spend time in the morning by bringing my housemates to Klang for an introductory or refresher course in Bakuteh. Heaven i tell you. have to try it out yourself really!
then it was my dreaded appointment with a dentist in Klang for my premolars extraction. my previous blog entries refer, i decided to go for extraction of all fours following Esther's suggestion as, i quote " You'll only feel the pain after the anaesthesia is gone" . i dont know if i have actually written about this. so braving myself after a measly meal of Chee Cheong fun - rice sheets and an assortment of vegetables such as Okra, Brinjal and Chillies stuffed with fish paste drenched in sweet sauce and Chilli at my favourite stall at Pandamaran - "cowboy town" its name dearly given for people riding on motorbikes without helmets - kids and grandmothers included. Brought along Jaron for moral support because i was too lazy to pick Esther up even though she agreed to hold my hand during the extraction.
well i waited for 40 minutes despite having an appointment. there was some commotion going on about some parent demanding that his kid's teeth was checked by the dentist even though she couldn't do anything or something like that. then it was my turn. and i got a whole mouthful of anaesthesia - pre injection. reminded me of those Difflam lozenges which i take when i have inflamed throat resulting from a viral fever or something. tasted like berries. bitter, numbing berries. then i waited awhile before the dr did her rounds of anesthetic shots - 2 shots per teeth. the bottom ones were ok, i told Dr. Yap. then she said, well it gets more painful for the upper teeth. and she was right. left me squirming and whining a little at every shot as i tried my best to remain as relaxed as possible. people always say that the more relaxed you are, the less painful needles are. so far it has proven to be true for my past experiences of taking blood tests, vaccination and this. it helps to take deep long breaths and try to think about anything other than the sharp pain that seems to go on forever.
then it was more attempts to stay relaxed as Dr Yap's dextrous hands pulled out my premolars one by one using the dental pliers and i didnt know which because i kept my eyes shut the whole time. she asked me to tell her if im feeling pain anywhere. at her first tug at the first tooth, i said there was a sharp pain, and she gave me another shot. soon after, i did not feel any pain. although i could feel the flesh tearing apart when each upper tooth was removed. i think i should spare my readers its gory details and send you a link
to the pictures i have taken instead! swallowed painkillers right after the procedure. had difficulty swallowing as my lips were numb and it felt like it was as swollen as someone having an allergic reaction being stung by a bee. or Will Smith in Hitch after he ate some shellfish. but Dr Yap reassured me that it was just how i felt, because when she showed a reflection in the mirror of myself, i still look like normal. weird how drugs can alter your mind. im being a drama queen of course!
i had to drive back before the anesthesia took over my physical body, with cotton gauzes on all four sides of my mouth, and before the stream of drool and blood drips from my mouth from me being unable to close and swallow. only to remember that i forgot to take MC for Friday so i had to drive back. when i was back home again the wounds were oozing blood like no tomorrow. Jaron was kind enough to help me change the gauzes till it was all finished. then i went to bed with a towel on my pillow from what Soo and Michelle said about waking up with a pool of blood and drool. it was that for my afternoon nap and the morning after. am i being too graphical about this? those who wore braces would definitely relate to this.
so now its cold food and drinks diet for me. i started eating solids only the next day. didnt want to taste anymore blood in my mouth so was extra careful about the recovery period. stocked up on milk and yoghurt and cleared my fridge of soya bean milk that was begging to be drank for quite some time already. but being me, hunger took over and i just came back from my cousin Julie's 21st birthday party eating Satay and what nots. so yeah. the wounds are itchy from recovering. and im looking forward to eating more tomorrow. and recovering fast before the festive feastings - such a nice ring to those words. bet it tastes and smell nicer too. and i need to stock up before i go for my next appointment with Dr Subra on Thursday.
So its adios and best wishes for the holiday season from me. premolar-less and all;p
Agape,
Jamie
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Deck the hols
I stole this title from one of the shows on Discovery Travel and Living, or was it E!. cant really remember. just got back from a 5 month reunion of close friends. 6 people packed in a faithful secondary school pinafore blue Proton Saga with the license plate BCK 9290 - Sherrene Teh aka Mama Teh's property. Esther, Sherene Lee whom we still call as Cheong for the sake of non-confusion, Ah Joy and Joce. cant' believe we spent 7 hours in Jusco Bukit Raja. believe it or not. that place is packed with familiar faces, being the neighbourhood mall. people who see us walking together probably have the same thing in their minds - wah these girls are still hanging out together? haha. well in a nutshell, I Am Legend was like a future version of 30 days of night. go watch it yourself if you dont get what i'm saying.
Christmas shopping aside - which i have stopped as i bought quite a lot already. More of the excuse to replace all old "frumpy" looking office clothes from yesteryears at University and also overused ones from India. I use the word Replace because it is really good to go but i am holding on to it like a couple who didnt break it clean because my wardrobe has yet to be capable of having the luxury of 2 weeks worth of non-repetitive clothing at work. Guess i wouldn't need any motivation or encouragement from anyone in that area at the excuse of having a need to buy clothes. One thing i would like to note. my friends are crazy over shoes. and i dont want to look at a single shoe anymore for a very long time - think that is unavoidable since i work above a shopping mall but i will try my best - God help me. can still picture those shoes in my head, with them trying them out one by one. Joylynn was kind of tired and bored that she kept dropping shoes at her sister's feet when Sherrene was trying them one by one. think im just too tired to recall the experience. hope i dont have nightmares of shoes stabbing or attacking me when i sleep tonight.
well this can be considered as my shortest entry yet. there's a 3 day working week ahead of me. and thursday i will be going for my teeth extractions. Premolars are what they are called. count the fourth upper teeth from the middle on both left and right sides, count the 5th lower teeth from both sides and its what im gonna miss in a few days time. my sadistic Christmas gift for this year. maybe i should send them all to Tomi. Think he doesnt like the idea of me being so affectionate yet unhygiene. hehe. alright i will definitely update on that. there wont be much activity over next weekend except for recovering from the extraction. pray for no-fever. and a quick extraction-recovery process.
Luke 2:10-14. Peace on the earth, Goodwill to men. Will be putting up Soo's christmas tree and decorations at the PJ house tomorrow night. Will take some pictures to prove that i did it. Good night sekian, terima kasih.
Christmas shopping aside - which i have stopped as i bought quite a lot already. More of the excuse to replace all old "frumpy" looking office clothes from yesteryears at University and also overused ones from India. I use the word Replace because it is really good to go but i am holding on to it like a couple who didnt break it clean because my wardrobe has yet to be capable of having the luxury of 2 weeks worth of non-repetitive clothing at work. Guess i wouldn't need any motivation or encouragement from anyone in that area at the excuse of having a need to buy clothes. One thing i would like to note. my friends are crazy over shoes. and i dont want to look at a single shoe anymore for a very long time - think that is unavoidable since i work above a shopping mall but i will try my best - God help me. can still picture those shoes in my head, with them trying them out one by one. Joylynn was kind of tired and bored that she kept dropping shoes at her sister's feet when Sherrene was trying them one by one. think im just too tired to recall the experience. hope i dont have nightmares of shoes stabbing or attacking me when i sleep tonight.
well this can be considered as my shortest entry yet. there's a 3 day working week ahead of me. and thursday i will be going for my teeth extractions. Premolars are what they are called. count the fourth upper teeth from the middle on both left and right sides, count the 5th lower teeth from both sides and its what im gonna miss in a few days time. my sadistic Christmas gift for this year. maybe i should send them all to Tomi. Think he doesnt like the idea of me being so affectionate yet unhygiene. hehe. alright i will definitely update on that. there wont be much activity over next weekend except for recovering from the extraction. pray for no-fever. and a quick extraction-recovery process.
Luke 2:10-14. Peace on the earth, Goodwill to men. Will be putting up Soo's christmas tree and decorations at the PJ house tomorrow night. Will take some pictures to prove that i did it. Good night sekian, terima kasih.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
backdated entry
i would like to apologize for missing out on my quota of 2 posts per month. that was because i was away at Sabah on business trip. well i was one of the organizers for a forum for process engineers. my initiative to help my colleagues in any event possible even if it means longer working hours to finish the tasks and such. i feel that i should grab any opportunity to go travel to as many places as possible at least once in 2 months. so far ive been to Kerteh, Terengganu, Kuantan Pahang , Genting Highlands and Kota Kinabalu Sabah. all fully sponsored as compensation for the work i have been doing helping out taking minutes preparing participant packs and overall event organization. Sabah was beautiful. and as for now i have yet to upload the pictures i have taken. for those who have yet to go there, please do because i name it as the most beautiful place in malaysia as yet. perfect for those who want to go for honeymoon. there are beautiful beaches, lush rainforests and a whole lot of activities for nature lovers. i stayed at Sutera Harbour Magellan
4 nights there i spent working with fun people organizing the forum and expanding my network among people in my huge company coming from all over the country. the best part was that there was an olympic-sized swimming pool which i made use every evening to do my laps. i only had time for 20 laps because of the forum agenda and i woke early the day i left just to swim and head to town to get souvenirs before my flight back to Kuala Lumpur. sunrise and sunset on the east of Malaysia - Borneo island is 1 hour earlier than back here in the west peninsular so it was bright at 6.30 in the morning already. first morning of the event there was this Pocho pocho dancing where Sabahans taught is this line-dancing type of exercise by the marina boardwalk at the hotel. it was so boring i nearly fell asleep while doing it. speaking of which i seem to have absolutely no problems at all falling asleep anywhere. just this week i actually fell asleep holding the handrails on the lrt on my way to work one of the mornings when neither one of my housemates went with me. talk about being lack of sleep. but its really good to keep up that habit. because during long journeys i get to fill up my time and feel energized after travelling as opposed to others who are tired and grumpy after long hours of journeys.
seafood is abundant at Kota Kinabalu - notice the present tense - am trying to convince everyone to make a trip there. so i had my overdose of lobsters and prawns and fish of all kinds. the last night i was there i went to this seafood place next to Promenade hotel. as custom to all seafood restaurants in Sabah, i quote Farhan saying that it was a mini Aquaria where different kinds of sea creatures - only after they are cooked that they would be called Seafood - an untested theory by yours truly. any debates arising? hehe. i'm still waiting for Ravi to send pictures over from his spanking new Sony DSLR which he used a huge part of his first bonus payoff to buy. perks of working for the company - enough said. he got carried away taking pictures of those weird creatures that it was only later that we noticed a group of fishes were swinging their heads left and right like crazy. Sza Sza said it was most likely because of the flash from the camera and Ravi just snapped another shot and yeah the fishes went crazy again. it was so funny that everytime i thought about that incident i write a mail to Ravi, CC to Sza Sza recounting the experience. i know it sounds sadistic but it wasn't intentional. i admit that im a real hopeful in trying to turn my life into a cartoon series. certain people acknowledge my "sense of humour" - notice the British spelling. And im not naming names to protect their image of not wanting to associate themselves with the lameness. haha
then i have to write about how i helped Esther's colleague - Chan Kah Heng - i hope i got the name right. propose to his girlfriend at the Smokehouse Grill behind Avenue K along Jalan Ampang. Esther was assigned to be the camera person. and she was supposed to also be members of the public who happened to have dinner there. and as part of the coverup, i was invited to join her for dinner - sponsored by Kah Heng, so as to not make his girlfriend - now Fiance suspect why Esther was eating alone at such a cosily romantic - i have to add quite dark place - i was squinting from not being able to see much because of my astigmatism and wrongly matched contact lenses. the place looked really a lot like Tomi's house only on a larger scale. its actually an old bungalow turned into a cosy restaurant with good staff who seemed to be there for ages. old wooden tables and candles and quilts and fireplaces and plush cushions. nice cosy place, food is good also. one has to order the alfredo pasta. its really good.
so back to my story, we ordered and they came and we were seated quite faraway that they didnt notice us. and at the cue where Kah Heng got up and went to the Grand Piano and started playing the song, i was supposed to bring a bouquet of roses while he sang and finished and Esther was capturing everything on video but the lighting was too dark and it was all good and no rejections whatsoever. i think if i actually could hear what they were conversing and the usual so-called anger/surprise over the proposal response from the girlfriend, i would have recounted the experience in a more personal way but it was more of me trying to go nearer to them while he was kneeling with the ring and trying to capture everything in Esther's brand new Sony cybershot - which Tomi decided against to buy and bought the Canon Ixus 70 instead but thats another story. so all is good. congratulations to them both. am sorry i didnt get to know Kah Hen's girlfriend's name. need to ask Esther about it.
so yeah that was about all the interesting stuff that happened towards the end of last month. this month's welcome present was the news that i would need to remove all 4 of my incisors upon Dr Subra's observation and all 4 of my adult molars within a period of 2 years when im wearing my braces. Esther said i might as well just get all 4 out at once since i will only feel the pain after the anesthesia wears off so id rather suffer for a week rather than extract 2 each for 2 consecutive weeks. hope my pain threshold is as high as Esther's. she said it wasnt so bad. that girl is a walking daredevil i tell you. haha. so im planning to extract on Hari Raya Aidil Adha which is on the 20th of this month, take Mc for the next day and 24th - Christmas eve i will take leave because ill be so caught up with the Christmas mood i wont want to go to work. i will also spend my time recovering by enjoying the comforts of being at home with my family and the remote control at my fingertips. on a lighter note, i changed my rubber bands to Red and Green just to suit the occasion. it looks really nice but will be temporarily horrible once i have gaps left by the extraction soon. all temporary. i keep telling myself.
alright i guess i have written enough already. i hope that my readers have not fell asleep or experienced eyestrain from reading this entry. sometimes it helps to increase the font size on your screen. you may go to View>Text Size> - Select own text size. for those who dont know. i usually zoom mine to 150% on Microsoft office applications for that very reason. just a suggestion to make this entry actually beneficial to my readers. else it would be just me retelling my experiences to you in an offline mode but theres always the Comment option where you can still have your say. no obligations whatsoever.
cheers to the season,
Jamie
4 nights there i spent working with fun people organizing the forum and expanding my network among people in my huge company coming from all over the country. the best part was that there was an olympic-sized swimming pool which i made use every evening to do my laps. i only had time for 20 laps because of the forum agenda and i woke early the day i left just to swim and head to town to get souvenirs before my flight back to Kuala Lumpur. sunrise and sunset on the east of Malaysia - Borneo island is 1 hour earlier than back here in the west peninsular so it was bright at 6.30 in the morning already. first morning of the event there was this Pocho pocho dancing where Sabahans taught is this line-dancing type of exercise by the marina boardwalk at the hotel. it was so boring i nearly fell asleep while doing it. speaking of which i seem to have absolutely no problems at all falling asleep anywhere. just this week i actually fell asleep holding the handrails on the lrt on my way to work one of the mornings when neither one of my housemates went with me. talk about being lack of sleep. but its really good to keep up that habit. because during long journeys i get to fill up my time and feel energized after travelling as opposed to others who are tired and grumpy after long hours of journeys.
seafood is abundant at Kota Kinabalu - notice the present tense - am trying to convince everyone to make a trip there. so i had my overdose of lobsters and prawns and fish of all kinds. the last night i was there i went to this seafood place next to Promenade hotel. as custom to all seafood restaurants in Sabah, i quote Farhan saying that it was a mini Aquaria where different kinds of sea creatures - only after they are cooked that they would be called Seafood - an untested theory by yours truly. any debates arising? hehe. i'm still waiting for Ravi to send pictures over from his spanking new Sony DSLR which he used a huge part of his first bonus payoff to buy. perks of working for the company - enough said. he got carried away taking pictures of those weird creatures that it was only later that we noticed a group of fishes were swinging their heads left and right like crazy. Sza Sza said it was most likely because of the flash from the camera and Ravi just snapped another shot and yeah the fishes went crazy again. it was so funny that everytime i thought about that incident i write a mail to Ravi, CC to Sza Sza recounting the experience. i know it sounds sadistic but it wasn't intentional. i admit that im a real hopeful in trying to turn my life into a cartoon series. certain people acknowledge my "sense of humour" - notice the British spelling. And im not naming names to protect their image of not wanting to associate themselves with the lameness. haha
then i have to write about how i helped Esther's colleague - Chan Kah Heng - i hope i got the name right. propose to his girlfriend at the Smokehouse Grill behind Avenue K along Jalan Ampang. Esther was assigned to be the camera person. and she was supposed to also be members of the public who happened to have dinner there. and as part of the coverup, i was invited to join her for dinner - sponsored by Kah Heng, so as to not make his girlfriend - now Fiance suspect why Esther was eating alone at such a cosily romantic - i have to add quite dark place - i was squinting from not being able to see much because of my astigmatism and wrongly matched contact lenses. the place looked really a lot like Tomi's house only on a larger scale. its actually an old bungalow turned into a cosy restaurant with good staff who seemed to be there for ages. old wooden tables and candles and quilts and fireplaces and plush cushions. nice cosy place, food is good also. one has to order the alfredo pasta. its really good.
so back to my story, we ordered and they came and we were seated quite faraway that they didnt notice us. and at the cue where Kah Heng got up and went to the Grand Piano and started playing the song, i was supposed to bring a bouquet of roses while he sang and finished and Esther was capturing everything on video but the lighting was too dark and it was all good and no rejections whatsoever. i think if i actually could hear what they were conversing and the usual so-called anger/surprise over the proposal response from the girlfriend, i would have recounted the experience in a more personal way but it was more of me trying to go nearer to them while he was kneeling with the ring and trying to capture everything in Esther's brand new Sony cybershot - which Tomi decided against to buy and bought the Canon Ixus 70 instead but thats another story. so all is good. congratulations to them both. am sorry i didnt get to know Kah Hen's girlfriend's name. need to ask Esther about it.
so yeah that was about all the interesting stuff that happened towards the end of last month. this month's welcome present was the news that i would need to remove all 4 of my incisors upon Dr Subra's observation and all 4 of my adult molars within a period of 2 years when im wearing my braces. Esther said i might as well just get all 4 out at once since i will only feel the pain after the anesthesia wears off so id rather suffer for a week rather than extract 2 each for 2 consecutive weeks. hope my pain threshold is as high as Esther's. she said it wasnt so bad. that girl is a walking daredevil i tell you. haha. so im planning to extract on Hari Raya Aidil Adha which is on the 20th of this month, take Mc for the next day and 24th - Christmas eve i will take leave because ill be so caught up with the Christmas mood i wont want to go to work. i will also spend my time recovering by enjoying the comforts of being at home with my family and the remote control at my fingertips. on a lighter note, i changed my rubber bands to Red and Green just to suit the occasion. it looks really nice but will be temporarily horrible once i have gaps left by the extraction soon. all temporary. i keep telling myself.
alright i guess i have written enough already. i hope that my readers have not fell asleep or experienced eyestrain from reading this entry. sometimes it helps to increase the font size on your screen. you may go to View>Text Size> - Select own text size. for those who dont know. i usually zoom mine to 150% on Microsoft office applications for that very reason. just a suggestion to make this entry actually beneficial to my readers. else it would be just me retelling my experiences to you in an offline mode but theres always the Comment option where you can still have your say. no obligations whatsoever.
cheers to the season,
Jamie
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Metal Mouth Confession
I'm blogging because i am obligated to update on past events ever since the not-so-popular Manage Your Money post. well, will prioritize events and attempt to keep it as short as possible so as to not waste the precious time of my loyal readers - which i can name only a few such as Davin, Fabian, Shireen and Nasa. Here goes.
First important event that happened was i got braces fixed on my teeth. It is under the directive of Mr Tomi Entaban, who requests for straight teeth prior to marriage. well, im just using it as an excuse. i happen to come from a deprived childhood - Teenagehood where all my close friends had braces during secondary school days and i didnt get them for two reasons, one being it was too expensive to go to a private Orthodontist and i was too lazy to wait for Government's help. so i am up to the idea of dedicating 2 years of my life to constant pain and discomfort and not to mention forgoing the experience of biting on an apple, guava or other items that require me to use my front set of teeth. and not forgetting increased frequency of brushing my teeth and longer mealtimes.
so lunchtime during work days is dedicated to only Eating, which takes up almost 1 hour of my time and i have to get back to the office 5 minutes earlier if i have a meeting right after lunch because i take about 5 minutes to brush my teeth and make my braces sparkly clean again. as weird as it seems. i actually enjoy brushing my teeth and keeping them braces shiny and food-free. so i dont really mind the hassle. but i have yet to get used to the embarrassment of brushing my teeth at shopping malls after meals should i be there for long hours in a day. so my new addition to a growing list of "items i cant leave home without" is a braces toothbrush - different from the normal toothbrush as it has a curved middle to fit the braces and its already fraying, showing the signs of frequent use and im attempting to prolong its lifespan by brushing lighter than i am already. also, an Interdental toothbrush which looks like a miniature milk bottle brush to clean between the brackets. and toothpaste of course.
then there's also the once-every-morning-and-night mouthwash and floss for braces - the normal floss just splits when i use them between the wires (obviously). to benefit the readers who have absolutely no experience whatsoever with braces or even knowing someone close enough to describe of their experiences, it actually looks like a finer version of those sparklers that kids burn as fireworks and all one did with it was to twirl it around and round and look at the flame until it forms an after-light in your eyes way after you took your eyes off it. hope i am making sense.
well about the cost, its RM5k for the entire treatment, which i paid RM1.5k during my first appointment and the remaining amount i pay RM200 every visit for the next 17months. the entire duration of treatment is about 2 years, depending on "how obedient your teeth are at moving" - i quote from Esther. i told the dentist to speed things up as "i wanted to get married in 2 years time". Why the large sum of money? well i happen to go to a renowned Orthodontist which is conveniently located right opposite my office. i was considering cheaper alternatives around Klang area but i opted for David Specialist Orthodontist because i didnt want to spend my entire saturday waiting around with a bunch of people at the dentist every once a month. at David's i can go during lunchtime and i can go every 3 weeks once to speed up the process.
wait i havent finished justifying why i needed braces. well according to the RM60 consultation that i paid for prior to fixing those braces, i begin by explaining that my front set of teeth is not aligned with each other. one with perfect set of front teeth are those that have both their upper and lower 2 front teeth rightly connected with each other where there would be a straight line from top to bottom. then there's my front set - upper and lower teeth actually slants forward instead of being adjacent to my jaw. then there's my left inner teeth which is not functionally correct in terms of having a right "bite". to explain, its like youre supposed to have interconnecting upper and lower teeth to grind food properly.
plus, all my adult molars need to be extracted. and the bottom two are actually growing horizontally into my current set of teeth. thats really uncomfortable even now so having braces on isnt much difference in terms of the pain that i have already been feeling ever since i was in India. those bottom two need surgery where, the dr explained, a flap in the flesh need to be cut and the teeth destroyed into smaller pieces before extracting the root out. it will cost me RM500 per tooth. so that will come from my ING insurance. meaning i can operate once a year because i am entitled to rm500 on dental per year. it is better than Esther's where its rm200 for dental and optical. funny how these people compensate their employees.
as i write, Soo is still recovering from a similar surgery, took her 1.5 hours to remove but the root was left in the mouth because it was just too difficult to get it out. and her mouth was swollen after the procedure and shes baby-fooding for the next week, meaning we all have to eat baby food as well since we split weekly groceries and shopping at my house.speaking of which,i save quite a bit on food after moving into the house at Taman Bahagia and not to mention healthier, giving me opportunities to perfect my humble cooking skills. i specialise in "cincai" cooking. trial and error for those unfamiliar with the terms. and am always looking for people who are willing to give my cooking a try. as cliche as it sounds "seeing people enjoying my cooking motivates me to cook more and better" haha.
i suppose thats about all i have on braces. between now and my next appointment on Nov 15th, i am attempting to eat as much as possible because post tightening, i will be unable to chew for about 1-2 days, leaving me really pissed and hungry from only filling my stomach with porridge and oats. i get pissed because im hungry and unable to eat anything else. well to conclude, this experience is making me really appreciate everything i eat. in terms of enjoying the experience of eating, despite my teeth being terribly inefficient in grinding food as there's a whole lot of treasure hunting in my mouth between a few mouthfuls of food since a whole lot will get stuck between the brackets - tiny metal things stuck to each of my teeth, except the 4 incisors - dracula teeth that may or may not be extracted, depending on "how well my teeth moves".
i still owe a blog on my recently started hobby of running. will keep that in my obligation list. if there ever was a term in the first place. so much for keeping it short and sweet:S
First important event that happened was i got braces fixed on my teeth. It is under the directive of Mr Tomi Entaban, who requests for straight teeth prior to marriage. well, im just using it as an excuse. i happen to come from a deprived childhood - Teenagehood where all my close friends had braces during secondary school days and i didnt get them for two reasons, one being it was too expensive to go to a private Orthodontist and i was too lazy to wait for Government's help. so i am up to the idea of dedicating 2 years of my life to constant pain and discomfort and not to mention forgoing the experience of biting on an apple, guava or other items that require me to use my front set of teeth. and not forgetting increased frequency of brushing my teeth and longer mealtimes.
so lunchtime during work days is dedicated to only Eating, which takes up almost 1 hour of my time and i have to get back to the office 5 minutes earlier if i have a meeting right after lunch because i take about 5 minutes to brush my teeth and make my braces sparkly clean again. as weird as it seems. i actually enjoy brushing my teeth and keeping them braces shiny and food-free. so i dont really mind the hassle. but i have yet to get used to the embarrassment of brushing my teeth at shopping malls after meals should i be there for long hours in a day. so my new addition to a growing list of "items i cant leave home without" is a braces toothbrush - different from the normal toothbrush as it has a curved middle to fit the braces and its already fraying, showing the signs of frequent use and im attempting to prolong its lifespan by brushing lighter than i am already. also, an Interdental toothbrush which looks like a miniature milk bottle brush to clean between the brackets. and toothpaste of course.
then there's also the once-every-morning-and-night mouthwash and floss for braces - the normal floss just splits when i use them between the wires (obviously). to benefit the readers who have absolutely no experience whatsoever with braces or even knowing someone close enough to describe of their experiences, it actually looks like a finer version of those sparklers that kids burn as fireworks and all one did with it was to twirl it around and round and look at the flame until it forms an after-light in your eyes way after you took your eyes off it. hope i am making sense.
well about the cost, its RM5k for the entire treatment, which i paid RM1.5k during my first appointment and the remaining amount i pay RM200 every visit for the next 17months. the entire duration of treatment is about 2 years, depending on "how obedient your teeth are at moving" - i quote from Esther. i told the dentist to speed things up as "i wanted to get married in 2 years time". Why the large sum of money? well i happen to go to a renowned Orthodontist which is conveniently located right opposite my office. i was considering cheaper alternatives around Klang area but i opted for David Specialist Orthodontist because i didnt want to spend my entire saturday waiting around with a bunch of people at the dentist every once a month. at David's i can go during lunchtime and i can go every 3 weeks once to speed up the process.
wait i havent finished justifying why i needed braces. well according to the RM60 consultation that i paid for prior to fixing those braces, i begin by explaining that my front set of teeth is not aligned with each other. one with perfect set of front teeth are those that have both their upper and lower 2 front teeth rightly connected with each other where there would be a straight line from top to bottom. then there's my front set - upper and lower teeth actually slants forward instead of being adjacent to my jaw. then there's my left inner teeth which is not functionally correct in terms of having a right "bite". to explain, its like youre supposed to have interconnecting upper and lower teeth to grind food properly.
plus, all my adult molars need to be extracted. and the bottom two are actually growing horizontally into my current set of teeth. thats really uncomfortable even now so having braces on isnt much difference in terms of the pain that i have already been feeling ever since i was in India. those bottom two need surgery where, the dr explained, a flap in the flesh need to be cut and the teeth destroyed into smaller pieces before extracting the root out. it will cost me RM500 per tooth. so that will come from my ING insurance. meaning i can operate once a year because i am entitled to rm500 on dental per year. it is better than Esther's where its rm200 for dental and optical. funny how these people compensate their employees.
as i write, Soo is still recovering from a similar surgery, took her 1.5 hours to remove but the root was left in the mouth because it was just too difficult to get it out. and her mouth was swollen after the procedure and shes baby-fooding for the next week, meaning we all have to eat baby food as well since we split weekly groceries and shopping at my house.speaking of which,i save quite a bit on food after moving into the house at Taman Bahagia and not to mention healthier, giving me opportunities to perfect my humble cooking skills. i specialise in "cincai" cooking. trial and error for those unfamiliar with the terms. and am always looking for people who are willing to give my cooking a try. as cliche as it sounds "seeing people enjoying my cooking motivates me to cook more and better" haha.
i suppose thats about all i have on braces. between now and my next appointment on Nov 15th, i am attempting to eat as much as possible because post tightening, i will be unable to chew for about 1-2 days, leaving me really pissed and hungry from only filling my stomach with porridge and oats. i get pissed because im hungry and unable to eat anything else. well to conclude, this experience is making me really appreciate everything i eat. in terms of enjoying the experience of eating, despite my teeth being terribly inefficient in grinding food as there's a whole lot of treasure hunting in my mouth between a few mouthfuls of food since a whole lot will get stuck between the brackets - tiny metal things stuck to each of my teeth, except the 4 incisors - dracula teeth that may or may not be extracted, depending on "how well my teeth moves".
i still owe a blog on my recently started hobby of running. will keep that in my obligation list. if there ever was a term in the first place. so much for keeping it short and sweet:S
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Manage your money NOW!
This i have to write about, as i feel that it is very relevant and applicable to all those who have just started work recently, or even for those who have a fixed amount of income every month(scholarships, PTPTN loans, parents allowance, etc.), or even those who have been having troubles saving money living in a country where pay is low and expenses are high compared to developed countries like the US, according to Soo Hooi, where pay is 3.5 times more but expenses are the same as us here.
Well as an introduction, Soo Hooi's mom came over for the weekend and made dinner for us on Monday night, followed by a brief yet educational sharing on financial planning. For those who think they seem to be only barely surviving to make ends meet, with rent and transportation and food expenses taking up most of your salary, and entertainment expenses are difficult to compromise to maintain a healthy social life. its very interesting to identify what is necessary and unnecessary, and how to make your money last for you and prepare for emergencies. Here's the guideline on how to breakdown your finances. see if you are adhering to it. its a sample of my current budget against the guidelines, which is flexible, depending on how much you value certain things in life. below is the actual amount i spend, and the percentage is based on my current Net salary.
Rent 145 6.53%
Utilities 30 1.35%
Transportation 120 5.41%
Prepaid 100 4.51%
Tithes 251 11.31%
Food 345 15.55%
Parents 500 22.53%
Total Expenditures 1491 67.19%
Savings 500 22.53%
Total liquid balance 228 10.27%
The guidelines are as follows:
1. 60% expenses (rent, food, transport, entertainment, income tax, travelling, shopping, etc)
2. 15% children education(without children then can split between expenses and investment)
3. 15% investment/retirement fund(unit trusts, stock market, ASB, must be 8% return on investment to be worthwhile, usually short term return on investment at 5 years)
4. 10% insurance (36 illnesses, savings)
Before you embark on any investment, you start saving on FD first. you should accumulate 3-6 months expenditure, like me, RM1491*3, to put in FD, just in case i lose my job or unpaid leave then can cover my expenses for 3 months, or more depending on how much you want to put in FD. FD rates are low, and if you withdraw earlier that the stipulated date then you lost the gain from interest. so best if you open a few FD accounts with different maturity deadlines so can minimise the loss since you'll never know when you will need the money.
then insurance is separate from the coverage you have with any company, one example is the plan that covers 36 critical illnesses where if anything happens to you then you get the cash lump sum amount unreceipted, meaning if anything happens to you, once doctor certifies as such, then you get the cash without any questions asked.
insurance can also be used for savings, but not for investment purposes because elsewhere, the ROI is higher.for those who dont know what ROI is, its Return on Investment, simple explanation is for an amount you choose to invest, the amount you will gain from it. as a guideline, any investment is considered profitable and worth pursuing if it gives a return of 8%. meaning for every RM1 you invest, you gain 8% on top of your initial investment. In the insurance case, the guideline is that you opt for the longer duration and larger amount, since the earlier you start on insurance, the more you gain in a sense you pay less in a long time, which is OK because youre paying off the money at a fixed inflation rate. hope it makes sense, that was what i understood and digested throughout the whole session, more information ahead.
Then comes investment, where there are such "instruments" as unit trusts, ASB, Stock market. whatever the investment, depends on how long youre willing to wait. ASB actually doesnt really offer that good rates, because its called Simple interest calculation, since you will need to withdraw all your money and buy again the next time it opens, if im not mistaken, so technically youre only earning between 4-5% keuntungan as opposed to the current inflation rate of 3.5% (if youre getting 9% interest from putting into ASB), when you can gain about 8% on unit trusts or other investments, which is actually not as risky as you think, just that might take longer than usual to get your returns.
So that's about all the information i have for now, which i am compelled to share about as i understand how difficult it is to make ends meet when you're just starting out and we're all officially not supposed to be financially dependent towards our parents already. the goal of financial planning is to be financially independent, which has different meanings as listed below:
1. being able to support yourself without anyone's help
2. being able to manage your expenditures with your earnings regardless of the size of your paycheck.
3. being able to sustain yourself in emergency
4. being able to gain from your investments without putting much effort - goyang kaki dapat duit!
5. being able to live comfortably way past retirement, while providing a comfortable life for your family and dependents.
so yeah i hope that everyone should get started on planning your finances, as it would be easier to manage small amounts( also for those who were lucky to start off with a significantly large paychecks), while taking advantage of our current situation where majority of us are without commitments and we can leverage on the time for our money to grow since we're still so young(my juniors beg to differ on this statement:S) and it also applies for those who are still studying. the earlier you get a headstart and make a habit out of it, the better off you are in being good stewards of God's blessings, which are what we are called to do when we're here. here's all i have to say for now. all the best in planning for your future!
p.s. i just realised that this blog ignores whitespaces no matter how much you tab. i it is because (prepared for some IT indulgence) that HTML ignores whitespaces so even if you put a single word by pressing the "enter" key many times it doesnt come out as you want it to be, you need to include "<""p"">"<""/"p">" to form a paragraph and insert your text into the "p tags" to make it like this:
i had to insert double quotes in the p tags to make it visible else it would not appear on the page. when using them, disregard the quotes.so much for being of help. haha, enjoy!
Well as an introduction, Soo Hooi's mom came over for the weekend and made dinner for us on Monday night, followed by a brief yet educational sharing on financial planning. For those who think they seem to be only barely surviving to make ends meet, with rent and transportation and food expenses taking up most of your salary, and entertainment expenses are difficult to compromise to maintain a healthy social life. its very interesting to identify what is necessary and unnecessary, and how to make your money last for you and prepare for emergencies. Here's the guideline on how to breakdown your finances. see if you are adhering to it. its a sample of my current budget against the guidelines, which is flexible, depending on how much you value certain things in life. below is the actual amount i spend, and the percentage is based on my current Net salary.
Rent 145 6.53%
Utilities 30 1.35%
Transportation 120 5.41%
Prepaid 100 4.51%
Tithes 251 11.31%
Food 345 15.55%
Parents 500 22.53%
Total Expenditures 1491 67.19%
Savings 500 22.53%
Total liquid balance 228 10.27%
The guidelines are as follows:
1. 60% expenses (rent, food, transport, entertainment, income tax, travelling, shopping, etc)
2. 15% children education(without children then can split between expenses and investment)
3. 15% investment/retirement fund(unit trusts, stock market, ASB, must be 8% return on investment to be worthwhile, usually short term return on investment at 5 years)
4. 10% insurance (36 illnesses, savings)
Before you embark on any investment, you start saving on FD first. you should accumulate 3-6 months expenditure, like me, RM1491*3, to put in FD, just in case i lose my job or unpaid leave then can cover my expenses for 3 months, or more depending on how much you want to put in FD. FD rates are low, and if you withdraw earlier that the stipulated date then you lost the gain from interest. so best if you open a few FD accounts with different maturity deadlines so can minimise the loss since you'll never know when you will need the money.
then insurance is separate from the coverage you have with any company, one example is the plan that covers 36 critical illnesses where if anything happens to you then you get the cash lump sum amount unreceipted, meaning if anything happens to you, once doctor certifies as such, then you get the cash without any questions asked.
insurance can also be used for savings, but not for investment purposes because elsewhere, the ROI is higher.for those who dont know what ROI is, its Return on Investment, simple explanation is for an amount you choose to invest, the amount you will gain from it. as a guideline, any investment is considered profitable and worth pursuing if it gives a return of 8%. meaning for every RM1 you invest, you gain 8% on top of your initial investment. In the insurance case, the guideline is that you opt for the longer duration and larger amount, since the earlier you start on insurance, the more you gain in a sense you pay less in a long time, which is OK because youre paying off the money at a fixed inflation rate. hope it makes sense, that was what i understood and digested throughout the whole session, more information ahead.
Then comes investment, where there are such "instruments" as unit trusts, ASB, Stock market. whatever the investment, depends on how long youre willing to wait. ASB actually doesnt really offer that good rates, because its called Simple interest calculation, since you will need to withdraw all your money and buy again the next time it opens, if im not mistaken, so technically youre only earning between 4-5% keuntungan as opposed to the current inflation rate of 3.5% (if youre getting 9% interest from putting into ASB), when you can gain about 8% on unit trusts or other investments, which is actually not as risky as you think, just that might take longer than usual to get your returns.
So that's about all the information i have for now, which i am compelled to share about as i understand how difficult it is to make ends meet when you're just starting out and we're all officially not supposed to be financially dependent towards our parents already. the goal of financial planning is to be financially independent, which has different meanings as listed below:
1. being able to support yourself without anyone's help
2. being able to manage your expenditures with your earnings regardless of the size of your paycheck.
3. being able to sustain yourself in emergency
4. being able to gain from your investments without putting much effort - goyang kaki dapat duit!
5. being able to live comfortably way past retirement, while providing a comfortable life for your family and dependents.
so yeah i hope that everyone should get started on planning your finances, as it would be easier to manage small amounts( also for those who were lucky to start off with a significantly large paychecks), while taking advantage of our current situation where majority of us are without commitments and we can leverage on the time for our money to grow since we're still so young(my juniors beg to differ on this statement:S) and it also applies for those who are still studying. the earlier you get a headstart and make a habit out of it, the better off you are in being good stewards of God's blessings, which are what we are called to do when we're here. here's all i have to say for now. all the best in planning for your future!
p.s. i just realised that this blog ignores whitespaces no matter how much you tab. i it is because (prepared for some IT indulgence) that HTML ignores whitespaces so even if you put a single word by pressing the "enter" key many times it doesnt come out as you want it to be, you need to include "<""p"">"<""/"p">" to form a paragraph and insert your text into the "p tags" to make it like this:
these are lines of nonsense where i am trying to use to make a point
There's another tag you can use to get the text aligned exactly as how you want it to be but i forgot its name so you need to google and find out yourself.
i had to insert double quotes in the p tags to make it visible else it would not appear on the page. when using them, disregard the quotes.so much for being of help. haha, enjoy!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
4,10,20,40
I spent the whole of last week at the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur accompanying Tomi as it was his first week at Schlumberger and they had an orientation course there. It was nice having to walk 10minutes to reach my office. sheer bliss i tell you. and there was an olympic sized pool that i managed to explore, and the title of this blog signifies the number of laps that i managed to swim each time i was at the pool. with the last day i was there, having an actual holiday on my own. it was Saturday when i replaced Tomi to go for breakfast at the restaurant. And he had his international driving test to attend.
Then i rushed to Taman Bahagia via LRT from Dang Wangi, which was a 5 minutes walk from the hotel, to meet Grace and show her the new house that we moved in on Oct 1st with Soo Hooi, Ling, Thana and a boy named Ralph who's studying in KDU who's sister was the former tenant of the house. more about the house later, this article is dedicated to my own holiday in Kuala Lumpur.
I just showed Grace around the house, then moved my things that were lying in the hall into the room, which Ralph used to occupy but i couldn't put my things in the last time i was there because he was still moving his things from his old room(our new room, Our meaning Thana, Grace and I) to his new room downstairs, which is as small as the store room in my Klang house, because of its huge built in wardrobe. nice boy, being able to keep the house clean, so we're not complaining. he even allows me to call Tomi using the landline he paid for when using Streamyx, which is best for me using iTalk after much dissapointing survey on IDD rates to Qatar. back to my holiday in KL, which i havent had time to elaborate.
after putting things away to welcome the others who were about to move in, we left the house after 1/2 hour and i went back to the hotel, still thinking of how good breakfast tasted, which leaves me time to elaborate further, for the benefit of those surveying and sourcing out places to eat or to spend a night in Kuala Lumpur if you happen to have the means to indulge in more luxurious accomodations, or it could be as simple as one person surveying the next place to stay when visiting KL on business trips;p hope this would be beneficial to my older circle of readers who are now still excited over the business travelling activities that may come rarely for some people and very frequent for others, leaving some sense of envy but i like the term "dengki" which means the exact same in Malay. back to my story
Breakfast was, in the order of arrangement, an array of dimsum, miso soup, hongkong porridge, bacon, pancakes, waffles, sausages(like those we ate at Chennai, for those who went with me), bacon, leftover Sahur food like fried noodles, vegetables, nasi lemak, baked beans, omelette station, muesli and cereal bar, fruits, cheeses, juices, milk, an array of yoghurt and assortment of bread and pastry which i dont really fancy, rather be stuffing myself with Nasi Lemak, which i seem to always have a craving for, especially early in the morning, accompanied by a cup of steaming coffee, 1 teaspoon nescafe, 2 tablespoon creamer, and half a teaspoon of sugar. blissful i tell you! would have loved to stay longer, but i had to fulfill my obligation of meeting Grace, where it was 45 minutes later than i promised in the first place.
i reached the hotel, did my devotion and went down to the pool to prevent myself from being depressed alone in the room, thinking of Tomi's departure the next day. it wasn't that sunny to begin with, and i didnt bring my sunblock to slather myself with, so i settled for my daily faceblock only. then i dipped into the cold water and chilled there munching on apples along the way when i took rests from each 10 laps. there were all sorts of tourists there, enjoying the sunny malaysian weather, where Malaysians try their best to avoid, unlike certain people like me, who think getting a tan is more beautiful than spending tons of cash on bleaching your skin in one way or another. think its just to accept the way you are and eventually there's the inner beauty that makes every girl unique. that's what Dove is trying to buy is with. haha.
all in all i spent 2 hours by the pool getting a nice tan and body aches from swimming too much but it was fun and therapeutic and better than being couped up in the room in tears.Tomi came back 1 hour later and we went about doing last minute errands before making our way back to Klang via KTM komuter, bags and all, part of the experiences that we cherish dearly, as i seem to take the mundane and unconventional events in life like taking public transportation and roughing it out in the jungle or backpacking to be one of the most romantic things that you get to do with the person you love, or even friends, but that would not be rendered as romantic but mere fun. haha. I still owe a blog on farewells. See if i have the inspiration the next time. enjoy!
Then i rushed to Taman Bahagia via LRT from Dang Wangi, which was a 5 minutes walk from the hotel, to meet Grace and show her the new house that we moved in on Oct 1st with Soo Hooi, Ling, Thana and a boy named Ralph who's studying in KDU who's sister was the former tenant of the house. more about the house later, this article is dedicated to my own holiday in Kuala Lumpur.
I just showed Grace around the house, then moved my things that were lying in the hall into the room, which Ralph used to occupy but i couldn't put my things in the last time i was there because he was still moving his things from his old room(our new room, Our meaning Thana, Grace and I) to his new room downstairs, which is as small as the store room in my Klang house, because of its huge built in wardrobe. nice boy, being able to keep the house clean, so we're not complaining. he even allows me to call Tomi using the landline he paid for when using Streamyx, which is best for me using iTalk after much dissapointing survey on IDD rates to Qatar. back to my holiday in KL, which i havent had time to elaborate.
after putting things away to welcome the others who were about to move in, we left the house after 1/2 hour and i went back to the hotel, still thinking of how good breakfast tasted, which leaves me time to elaborate further, for the benefit of those surveying and sourcing out places to eat or to spend a night in Kuala Lumpur if you happen to have the means to indulge in more luxurious accomodations, or it could be as simple as one person surveying the next place to stay when visiting KL on business trips;p hope this would be beneficial to my older circle of readers who are now still excited over the business travelling activities that may come rarely for some people and very frequent for others, leaving some sense of envy but i like the term "dengki" which means the exact same in Malay. back to my story
Breakfast was, in the order of arrangement, an array of dimsum, miso soup, hongkong porridge, bacon, pancakes, waffles, sausages(like those we ate at Chennai, for those who went with me), bacon, leftover Sahur food like fried noodles, vegetables, nasi lemak, baked beans, omelette station, muesli and cereal bar, fruits, cheeses, juices, milk, an array of yoghurt and assortment of bread and pastry which i dont really fancy, rather be stuffing myself with Nasi Lemak, which i seem to always have a craving for, especially early in the morning, accompanied by a cup of steaming coffee, 1 teaspoon nescafe, 2 tablespoon creamer, and half a teaspoon of sugar. blissful i tell you! would have loved to stay longer, but i had to fulfill my obligation of meeting Grace, where it was 45 minutes later than i promised in the first place.
i reached the hotel, did my devotion and went down to the pool to prevent myself from being depressed alone in the room, thinking of Tomi's departure the next day. it wasn't that sunny to begin with, and i didnt bring my sunblock to slather myself with, so i settled for my daily faceblock only. then i dipped into the cold water and chilled there munching on apples along the way when i took rests from each 10 laps. there were all sorts of tourists there, enjoying the sunny malaysian weather, where Malaysians try their best to avoid, unlike certain people like me, who think getting a tan is more beautiful than spending tons of cash on bleaching your skin in one way or another. think its just to accept the way you are and eventually there's the inner beauty that makes every girl unique. that's what Dove is trying to buy is with. haha.
all in all i spent 2 hours by the pool getting a nice tan and body aches from swimming too much but it was fun and therapeutic and better than being couped up in the room in tears.Tomi came back 1 hour later and we went about doing last minute errands before making our way back to Klang via KTM komuter, bags and all, part of the experiences that we cherish dearly, as i seem to take the mundane and unconventional events in life like taking public transportation and roughing it out in the jungle or backpacking to be one of the most romantic things that you get to do with the person you love, or even friends, but that would not be rendered as romantic but mere fun. haha. I still owe a blog on farewells. See if i have the inspiration the next time. enjoy!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Indulgence for a Romantic Dinner
This is a long postponed entry which I am obliged to write because its always compelling to share my experiences which I assume that, given normal circumstances, others would love to read about as much as I enjoyed experiencing it myself. Or, on another perspective, might be due to me writing it in such a way that it’s more interesting reading rather than experiencing. I leave this judgment to my readers, if there are any in the first place.
Well, the topic brings me to my graduation dinner at Ipoh with Tomi’s family and extensions (me included, with Nasa’s boyfriend Davin, who happens to own the very first Mitsubishi Sedan Lancer in Asia, which I got to sit in, leather still smelling new). Reservations were made at Indulgence, apparently the nicest place Tomi could find that was suitable enough to commemorate the occasion of us both graduating and also Nasa’s belated birthday celebration. Also, Tomi wanted to go there because we never went there before, despite so many couples retelling their romantic nights doing dinners there during Valentine’s, anniversaries, courtships or even “Just because its Wednesday”s. For those who do not appreciate subtlety, it is suffice to know that certain couples enjoy expressing their love to one other on any day for no apparent reason for celebration. Whether or not it is because money isn’t an issue to them or whether they love the spontaneity without considering the cost, or for those who manage money more competently, already budgeted for in their “dating expenditures”.
I am no spoiler about the place. For those who have never been to Ipoh, just a background on the place where Indulgence is a nice restaurant serving modern fusion food that is creatively prepared by Chef Julie Song and her team. Why I say it is creative, well, as if going through the many pages of its menu was not confusing enough, a waitress(might have another name for the person which I am currently unaware of, too lazy to google to find out), brought a blackboard to our table sprawled with chalkwritings of today’s special, which had really weird sounding delicacies like geoduck (think its pronounces as gee-duck) and fish names that would even put Jaron into confusion despite him watching so many animal documentaries on television. Whoa that was a long sentence. Haha. The setting of the restaurant looks like Delicious by Ms. Read. Am not sure whether there are any relations between both restaurants.
For the food review, Tomi and Uncle Watt decided to go with the easiest course which was steak. But it was disappointing when it came, due to its size. Mine was called Mirabello, such a nice name with a nice paragraph of explanations but it turned out to be fancy fish with tempura batter that had vegetables in it, and accompanying chips and salad. I was hoping for something more interesting, given such a nice name. Asun and Aunt Kirsti’s crowne chicken had nice presentation as it was served in a small pineapple. Davin had some weird bird-nest looking pasta alfredo style which he didn’t finish coz he was either too tired from driving, or he was occupied in talking about anything and everything. But dessert was really awesome with me finishing off the very last piece of Tiramisu for the day. Asun and Aunt Kirsti ordered the same dessert of Berry Surprise, funny name given the fact that it sounds very similar to Ah Bengs trying to pronounce a similar word, “Very”, and from the fact that Ipoh is overpopulated by them, no offence.
Click here for pictures.
All in all, it was a nice dinner since it was spent with the entire family. My family was missing from the picture because they chose to spend the night at Lumut since Ipoh hotels didn’t have a swimming pool for mum and a jetty for Jaron and my dad to occupy their time with fishing. On other unrelated matters, they actually managed to catch 2-3 puffer fishes (ikan buntal) which they let back into the sea (no cruelty to animals reports here). Besides toasting to us making it thus far and entering into worklife, I couldn’t help but feel like a romantic because it was my ideal night of family and friends and being treated like the youngest in the family, since I’m always acting as the eldest in mine. For every family, there’s something special that sets it apart to be called our own. And these moments are one of them. I am also thankful for my family where dinner doesn’t have to be lavish but laughter and good food is always abundant. I am hoping to share the same joy with this family in the future.
Well, the topic brings me to my graduation dinner at Ipoh with Tomi’s family and extensions (me included, with Nasa’s boyfriend Davin, who happens to own the very first Mitsubishi Sedan Lancer in Asia, which I got to sit in, leather still smelling new). Reservations were made at Indulgence, apparently the nicest place Tomi could find that was suitable enough to commemorate the occasion of us both graduating and also Nasa’s belated birthday celebration. Also, Tomi wanted to go there because we never went there before, despite so many couples retelling their romantic nights doing dinners there during Valentine’s, anniversaries, courtships or even “Just because its Wednesday”s. For those who do not appreciate subtlety, it is suffice to know that certain couples enjoy expressing their love to one other on any day for no apparent reason for celebration. Whether or not it is because money isn’t an issue to them or whether they love the spontaneity without considering the cost, or for those who manage money more competently, already budgeted for in their “dating expenditures”.
I am no spoiler about the place. For those who have never been to Ipoh, just a background on the place where Indulgence is a nice restaurant serving modern fusion food that is creatively prepared by Chef Julie Song and her team. Why I say it is creative, well, as if going through the many pages of its menu was not confusing enough, a waitress(might have another name for the person which I am currently unaware of, too lazy to google to find out), brought a blackboard to our table sprawled with chalkwritings of today’s special, which had really weird sounding delicacies like geoduck (think its pronounces as gee-duck) and fish names that would even put Jaron into confusion despite him watching so many animal documentaries on television. Whoa that was a long sentence. Haha. The setting of the restaurant looks like Delicious by Ms. Read. Am not sure whether there are any relations between both restaurants.
For the food review, Tomi and Uncle Watt decided to go with the easiest course which was steak. But it was disappointing when it came, due to its size. Mine was called Mirabello, such a nice name with a nice paragraph of explanations but it turned out to be fancy fish with tempura batter that had vegetables in it, and accompanying chips and salad. I was hoping for something more interesting, given such a nice name. Asun and Aunt Kirsti’s crowne chicken had nice presentation as it was served in a small pineapple. Davin had some weird bird-nest looking pasta alfredo style which he didn’t finish coz he was either too tired from driving, or he was occupied in talking about anything and everything. But dessert was really awesome with me finishing off the very last piece of Tiramisu for the day. Asun and Aunt Kirsti ordered the same dessert of Berry Surprise, funny name given the fact that it sounds very similar to Ah Bengs trying to pronounce a similar word, “Very”, and from the fact that Ipoh is overpopulated by them, no offence.
Click here for pictures.
All in all, it was a nice dinner since it was spent with the entire family. My family was missing from the picture because they chose to spend the night at Lumut since Ipoh hotels didn’t have a swimming pool for mum and a jetty for Jaron and my dad to occupy their time with fishing. On other unrelated matters, they actually managed to catch 2-3 puffer fishes (ikan buntal) which they let back into the sea (no cruelty to animals reports here). Besides toasting to us making it thus far and entering into worklife, I couldn’t help but feel like a romantic because it was my ideal night of family and friends and being treated like the youngest in the family, since I’m always acting as the eldest in mine. For every family, there’s something special that sets it apart to be called our own. And these moments are one of them. I am also thankful for my family where dinner doesn’t have to be lavish but laughter and good food is always abundant. I am hoping to share the same joy with this family in the future.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
S.H.I.T Part 1
The acronym above stands for how i feel right now which is So Happy It's Thursday! I have been away from office the whole of last week, firstly because i finally attended my graduation ceremony after 8 months+ wait since December last year. It wasn't much of a ceremony unlike those in the US where people got to display their various personalities and stuff they were passionate about but its the usual Malaysian ceremony with really long speeches and not much commotion when graduates received their scrolls. there were a total of 846 of us, a small number consisting of those from Civil, Electrical and Electronics, Mechanical, Chemical, ICT and BIS faculties, including a small handfull of Masters degree receipients. N1 La0hia fared quite well since Jalen, Grace, Ken Li and Chan Yet won the Rector's award for their faculties respectively. Mien Pin won award for Chemical Engineering and the most celebrated receipients were Ken Li and Chan Yet yet again receiving the honorary Chancellor's award, which is the highest award granted to graduates for being all-rounders with outstanding achievements both in academic and non-academic fields.
I was there since Friday after work since there was a rehearsal the next day in the afternoon. Was supposed to stay up the whole of Friday night at church catching up with juniors after their daily prayer meet and Friday night movie nights but I was so tired by the time we reached plus the fact that my bedtime has already been set to a routine that I sleep by midnight latest so I skipped the night watch and woke at 5.30am for Dimsum breakfast at Ipoh with them instead. After rehearsal, Saturday night was spent having Ipoh’s famous Taugeh Ayam Kuetiau with Tomi’s family and dropping by at Bercham to meet those juniors with Grace and Chanyet, and later N1 La0hia at some mamak around greentown area. Its funny how our batch is different in a sense that going out drinking is not part of our activities. Its either because there’s just too big of a group to go out or no one’s really THAT interested in a night out clubbing(such a cliché word) and would rather prefer going to a mamak to watch EPL while catching up on latest gossip here and there from Yee Fong or me mostly, or teasing Tuck Fai of his latest pursuits since Dougie has already secured Winnie for himself (nearly typed winner, haha). I’m glad that most of us have secured jobs within Petronas, meaning that we are all part of a huge family and keeping in touch is easy. But for those whom I have yet to keep in contact with, do keep reading my blogs or at least drop a Hi at jamietan84@gmail.com so we can network our way up the corporate ladder, or start populating the earth with the way we know best;p
After all the hype of graduation, when flowers and teddies were received and mortar boards(square hats that people wear during graduation, overheard some girls getting confused by the name and mistaking them for “Murtabak” instead) were thrown into the air while camera shutters kept snapping away, the uncomfortable truth that there’s absolutely nothing else to look forward to except for retirement as we enter into the unknown hits us all. For me, since I spend a lot of my time in the LRT, always wonder when will I get a place of my own, and where it might beI’ve mentioned my dream of buying one of the old houses on the hill around Jalan Gasing near Pei Yen’s house where I would knock down its old structure and build a completely new, modern one. Well no harm dreaming. For now, it will be walking to LRT and putting aside cash till I see a need to move out to a nicer place or get my own car. In the meantime, there’s no necessity for me to buy a car. Partly because of the fact that I’m trying to champion for Global warming, and also I am more confident when taking public transportation compared to driving in KL. Well, can’t say that KL traffic is that bad compared to crazy Indian drivers.
Seems like connection is really slow at the workplace so I will just include my usual link to my Graduation pics. Last but not least, many thanks to those who have made my graduation a memorable event, N1 La0hia, my family, Tomi’s family and my beloved juniors whom I wish I could have stayed around longer to make your lives miserable by reminding you guys of how I vaguely remember terms like Assignments, Tests, Finals and all other related terms and would need them to explain what that means to me now;p
I was there since Friday after work since there was a rehearsal the next day in the afternoon. Was supposed to stay up the whole of Friday night at church catching up with juniors after their daily prayer meet and Friday night movie nights but I was so tired by the time we reached plus the fact that my bedtime has already been set to a routine that I sleep by midnight latest so I skipped the night watch and woke at 5.30am for Dimsum breakfast at Ipoh with them instead. After rehearsal, Saturday night was spent having Ipoh’s famous Taugeh Ayam Kuetiau with Tomi’s family and dropping by at Bercham to meet those juniors with Grace and Chanyet, and later N1 La0hia at some mamak around greentown area. Its funny how our batch is different in a sense that going out drinking is not part of our activities. Its either because there’s just too big of a group to go out or no one’s really THAT interested in a night out clubbing(such a cliché word) and would rather prefer going to a mamak to watch EPL while catching up on latest gossip here and there from Yee Fong or me mostly, or teasing Tuck Fai of his latest pursuits since Dougie has already secured Winnie for himself (nearly typed winner, haha). I’m glad that most of us have secured jobs within Petronas, meaning that we are all part of a huge family and keeping in touch is easy. But for those whom I have yet to keep in contact with, do keep reading my blogs or at least drop a Hi at jamietan84@gmail.com so we can network our way up the corporate ladder, or start populating the earth with the way we know best;p
After all the hype of graduation, when flowers and teddies were received and mortar boards(square hats that people wear during graduation, overheard some girls getting confused by the name and mistaking them for “Murtabak” instead) were thrown into the air while camera shutters kept snapping away, the uncomfortable truth that there’s absolutely nothing else to look forward to except for retirement as we enter into the unknown hits us all. For me, since I spend a lot of my time in the LRT, always wonder when will I get a place of my own, and where it might beI’ve mentioned my dream of buying one of the old houses on the hill around Jalan Gasing near Pei Yen’s house where I would knock down its old structure and build a completely new, modern one. Well no harm dreaming. For now, it will be walking to LRT and putting aside cash till I see a need to move out to a nicer place or get my own car. In the meantime, there’s no necessity for me to buy a car. Partly because of the fact that I’m trying to champion for Global warming, and also I am more confident when taking public transportation compared to driving in KL. Well, can’t say that KL traffic is that bad compared to crazy Indian drivers.
Seems like connection is really slow at the workplace so I will just include my usual link to my Graduation pics. Last but not least, many thanks to those who have made my graduation a memorable event, N1 La0hia, my family, Tomi’s family and my beloved juniors whom I wish I could have stayed around longer to make your lives miserable by reminding you guys of how I vaguely remember terms like Assignments, Tests, Finals and all other related terms and would need them to explain what that means to me now;p
Saturday, August 18, 2007
another week to salary
3 weeks into worklife and things are beginning to pick up. being in an organization where career development and progression really depends on taking own initiatives and exploring things on your own(not to mention pace or not), i made myself sit as an observer to a workshop organized by my department for technical professionals who were responsible for assessing more junior executives who want to be promoted. had a good laugh watching them act out how their candidates would react. some of them should get part time jobs acting. haha.
well im beginning to see where my role is in my department, which is mainly to manage data of level 1 and level 2 executives from various technical skill groups. when needed, i would be coming up with reports for analysis on where our organization stands where human capability management is concerned. i.e. how many people should we hire in the near future to replace those who are retiring, etc. since i am familiar with graphs and charting for analysis(did that for internship and for my final year project), this gives me a chance to dedicate my brains to creatively coming up with new ways of representing data. seems like so far so good.
meanwhile, i am looking for opportunities or paths that i can take to go forward within the organization. Ai Pheeng suggested that i do CFA (when googled, Certified Financial Analysts and not Cat Fancier Association which was the second most popular hit). but from the site i require a US bachelor's degree and sufficient working experience. its still too early to tell but the idea of managing money is quite interesting at the moment. maybe its because i just started out and everything has to be planned and spent through a budget. however, i really do need to make myself more marketable within the organization since my IT skills will probably be insignificant as compared to working with a software house. all in God's will as i always say.
on other non-work related matters, i started jogging at the KLCC park, much to my colleagues' amusement, leave the office around 5.30 and do 1.2km rounds which takes me 10 minutes per round. its not much but at least i get to sweat quite a bit and head back to my rented room, tired, shower, head to bed and count down to the weekend again. so far since the last two weeks i have managed to run 4 rounds in the first week and 6 rounds on the second. hopefully the 10 round target is achievable but Grace, my roomate would need to find something to do while waiting for me to slowly finish my rounds.
for those who are wondering, there are rarely any hot girls running around at the park. they're probably working out profusely at the gym. for 2 weeks in a row i met Asun jogging at the park. i only passed him twice when i ran 4 rounds so im not THAT slow i guess. its either that or he left earlier and i didnt meet him anymore. haha.im not planning to join a gym until im really settled in the company and work and all first. in the meantime, i go back to office after running and change into work clothes again before taking the LRT home, sweat dried off by then.
still think there are more readers when i post on Friendster. but i include this in here as well. feel free to checkout my picasa page at http://picasaweb.google.com/jamietan84. Enjoy!
well im beginning to see where my role is in my department, which is mainly to manage data of level 1 and level 2 executives from various technical skill groups. when needed, i would be coming up with reports for analysis on where our organization stands where human capability management is concerned. i.e. how many people should we hire in the near future to replace those who are retiring, etc. since i am familiar with graphs and charting for analysis(did that for internship and for my final year project), this gives me a chance to dedicate my brains to creatively coming up with new ways of representing data. seems like so far so good.
meanwhile, i am looking for opportunities or paths that i can take to go forward within the organization. Ai Pheeng suggested that i do CFA (when googled, Certified Financial Analysts and not Cat Fancier Association which was the second most popular hit). but from the site i require a US bachelor's degree and sufficient working experience. its still too early to tell but the idea of managing money is quite interesting at the moment. maybe its because i just started out and everything has to be planned and spent through a budget. however, i really do need to make myself more marketable within the organization since my IT skills will probably be insignificant as compared to working with a software house. all in God's will as i always say.
on other non-work related matters, i started jogging at the KLCC park, much to my colleagues' amusement, leave the office around 5.30 and do 1.2km rounds which takes me 10 minutes per round. its not much but at least i get to sweat quite a bit and head back to my rented room, tired, shower, head to bed and count down to the weekend again. so far since the last two weeks i have managed to run 4 rounds in the first week and 6 rounds on the second. hopefully the 10 round target is achievable but Grace, my roomate would need to find something to do while waiting for me to slowly finish my rounds.
for those who are wondering, there are rarely any hot girls running around at the park. they're probably working out profusely at the gym. for 2 weeks in a row i met Asun jogging at the park. i only passed him twice when i ran 4 rounds so im not THAT slow i guess. its either that or he left earlier and i didnt meet him anymore. haha.im not planning to join a gym until im really settled in the company and work and all first. in the meantime, i go back to office after running and change into work clothes again before taking the LRT home, sweat dried off by then.
still think there are more readers when i post on Friendster. but i include this in here as well. feel free to checkout my picasa page at http://picasaweb.google.com/jamietan84. Enjoy!
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Visited Sarawak Year 2007
This year’s trip to Kuching, Sarawak was planned since January after the advertisement for free flights offered by Air Asia, recently awarded world’s best low cost carrier by SkyTrax. Since I always had the luxury of a place to stay when I’m at Kuching, I planned my travel risking the fact that I might have been working somewhere by July. All I had to lose was the airport tax amounting to RM180 if I couldn’t make it for any reasons whatsoever. Little did I know I ended up living in India for 4 months since February.
Wonderful memories aside, Tomi booked another one way ticket returning from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur wanting me to spend more time there with his family. Since I was supposed to notify Petronas that I back and available for work again, I thought I would not get a job till at least September since Petronas will take time to process my application and such. However, as explained in my previous blog entry, I was expected to report for work on August 1st after much persuasion for a 2 week postponement, enough for me to savor all that Kuching has to offer.
I was on the same flight as Juliza, not before we managed to be one of the first few in Malaysia (all other people would either be working or at school) to watch Harry’s 5th movie. It was fun getting excited and trying to remember the plot twists since it was more than 2 years ago since I read that book. In addition was the fact that what was written in the book did not tally with what was shown in the movie. Jules and I dozed off in the plane despite its narrow seats and constant noises coming from flight attendants trying to sell souvenirs and that one person who bought nasi lemak and ate it that everyone that didnt had their mouth watering and hoping that the aircraft will land as soon as possible.
I was welcomed by Chin, Siang Yeek, Douglas, Tuck Fai and Tomi in his new Avanza, just in time to bring our batchmates around sightseeing and such. I tried my best to stay at arms length from each of them (except Tomi) after the initial hugs because i did not want them to get a whiff of myself not having a shower since early morning. We met the rest (Roy, Freddy, Ravon (Ravin and Evon from this point forward), Thana, Fish ) at a nearby 24 hour hawker center for Teh Si Peng (iced tea with Ideal milk) and dinner since i took a late flight. Didnt sleep much since i was decidedly hyper from the caffeine in the drink.
After saying Hi to Tomi's parents who are currently busy renovating around their house to build a nice patio, we head off for lunch and then Jong's crocodile farm and Annah Rais Longhouse and Homestay. It wasnt new for me but i was sure it was a nice experience to have when visiting Borneo for my friends. Had to play travel guide since it is the 4th time i have been to Kuching.
The first weekend i was there was spent at Sarawak Cultural Village at Santubong, host to the 10th Rainforest World Music Festival. Can't describe how refreshing it is to totally be immersed in music from various parts of the world, this year namely Celtic, Latin American, South American, Russian throat singing, hip shaking that would give Shakira a run for her money from Madagascar, A Capella singing from Zimbabwe, American skiffle, Sape music and lots more.
This year's ticket sales hit an ultimate high of RM1million in value. The place was packed with people mostly enjoying music while sipping(or chugging alcohol) with the beautiful rainforest as the background. Organization of this event always seem like a trial and error process. But i dont really understand why it is still so after 10 years of attempting to get it right. Hope the situation improves next year. But i usually forget about its setbacks immediately when i listen to the music that these people churn out. My favourite this year would be Hun huur tu and Malerija from Tuva, Russia, Shannon from Poland and Shooglenifty from Scotland (hope i got the spellings right). Managed to see Denise Keller but didnt have any camera so it was a mental picture i made for that moment.
Can't upload any pics from the RWMF website so feel free to browse http://www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com/
The next few days were spent recovering from the weekend at the music festival and driving friends around sightseeing Kuching town and not to mention a whole lot of eating and discovering new "famous somethings" places. after dropping off these people one by one, Tuckfai, Tomi and i decided to attempt to climb Mount Santubong the next Saturday. there were 15 checkpoints in which i decided to give up after the 5th. Had lots of persuasion to move forward and i managed to scale the peak after a 3.5 hour climb primarily by adrenaline (the usual climb was 3 hours) and coming down took longer because there were many parts where i actually just sat there and tried controlling my tears from not wanting to go down anymore. And not to mention us diverging into a denser path away from the summit trail. Thank God for His protection else we could have ended up in another episode of Discovery Channel's I shouldn't be alive:SI am really amazed by the fact that i reached the peak, and the pain after coming down was real enough to prove that i made it. Since i was always making excuses especially when i climbed Mount Kinabalu last year. I was already making up a story to explain why i didnt reach the peak this time if anyone were to ask me, but i didnt have to this time! Tomi got to realise his dream of becoming a mountain guide by being so patient with me even though i was either tearing, screaming, cursing or being really quiet all the way down.
A day after that saw Tomi and I heading to Bako National Park, 45 minutes drive from Kuching town and another 20 minutes boat ride. It was where Nike filmed a football ad with people like Ronaldo kicking by the beach. This park is known for the home of all the species of wild animals available in Borneo, although sightings really depends on your luck. Trekking in the jungle was a piece of cake if you climbed a mountain a day before. We managed to spot Proboscis, macaque, and gibbon monkeys, squirrels and bearded pigs that had wisker-like beards similar to walruses just right outside the hostel where we stayed. too bad it rained the next morning before we left so we could not spend more time exploring other trails.
Click to view my Bako pics from Tomi's camera
The last few days i was there were spent at Tomi's house watching TV and i had a chance to cook for his family. my family would have laughed if they tasted my cooking since my dad cooks so well it would be impossible to even match, let alone be better. And i took a flight home alone to attend David and Cheryl's wedding, which was beautiful from beginning to the end. Congratulations for those two. So that marked the end of my holiday in Kuching. Do try to make it a point to visit. Don't jus take my words for how beautiful Borneo is.
First Day for the next 9 years
Today marks my very first day at work, after going through some bouts of feeling down having to end my holiday and move out into a crappy house and no amount of consolation from myself and others seem to help. The day started out good so far with Grace and I managing to get some sleep at the new (old) house that we spent almost the whole weekend cleaning up with parents and others who were willing to lend a hand. Both of us slept with the anticipation of moving out only after having spent a night there. But convenience is definitely a plus point since it only took us 5 minutes to reach the LRT station. Since it’s the first day for both of us, we planned to head home at 5pm(official end of working hours at Petronas) to go look for other places to live in preferably around Asia Jaya area where it is also conveniently located near another LRT station. So far I’m unable to say much about work except that I am situated at Level 44, Tower 1 of the majestic Petronas Twin Towers a famous landmark for those outside Malaysia. My boss’ office has a very nice view. Am writing this while waiting for a briefing since morning when I reported for work and I’m lucky to get a nice Dell workstation with flat screen monitor so as to prevent anymore eye problems. Can’t wait to go to the clinic to get my long postponed Hepatitis B booster jab and a visit to the dentist since I receive full medical benefits from this day onwards. So far am trying my best to remember the names of my colleagues. They seem like a nice bunch of people. Brains dont seem to work well this morning. Really trying hard to keep my head up and not fall asleep.
sitting in front of the Pc really made me reminisce the times at Infy where i had Jaya to disturb and to help Amalina or Aisyah to break their own high scores at Text twist. Then there was the beautiful hotel room that Grace and I shared. Sigh. Those experiences really proved to be valuable that i doubt will be able to go through anymore. Now i am left with 2 more hours to kill before lunchtime where i can resume my count on the number of UTPians stationed at KLCC whether for internship or for work.
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