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