01. What time is it? 11:44 a.m.
02. Name as it appears on your birth certificate? C a l l i s t a C h u a h H u e i L i
03. Nickname : Shorty, Piggie, Sister Maria, Cinders
04. Parents names: Pa & Mi
05. Number of candles that appeared on your last birthday cake: 24
06. Date that you regularly blow them out: 21 Dec
08. Hair color: Really Dark Brown almost black ... my bio teacher once said my hair's not healthy cause it's not completely black, which is what a 'typical' chinese 'should' have. Makes me wonder if she should really be teaching bio in the first place!
09. Tattoos: none ... yet. Too afraid to get it. Argh! The pain. Maybe one day I'll get my chinese name tatooed somewhere discreet. :)
10. How much do you love your job on a scale of 5? 1 ... I hate the disorganisation.
11. Favorite color: anything but pastels!
12. Hometown: Kuala Lumpur
13. Current Residence: Subang Jaya
14. Favorite food: Assam Laksa, Italian, fast food, cakes, ice cream ...
15. Been to Africa? Nope
16. Been toilet papering? Do not compute! Wha???
17. Loved somebody so much it made you cry? nope.
18. Been in a car accident? Bumped some cars a couple of times (at the same spot) but didn't cause any dents. Nothing major as yet. *touches wood* christ! where the heck do I find wood in an office?
19. Croutons or bacon bits? Both
20. Sprite or 7UP? Hmmm ... 7UP I think.
21: Favorite Movie: Too many to mention! Moulin Rouge, Center Stage, LOTR, Stargate ...
22. Favorite Holiday: Don't know yet! Haven't done much travelling to be able to decide. I'll get back to you on this after I get the chance to travel. At the moment, I like Melbourne. I miss Melbourne.
23. Favorite day of the week: Sunday? but I'm busy then as well so really, don't have a favourite day of the week.
24. Favorite word or phrases: "I don't know." & "Bloody hell!"
26. Favorite Toothpaste: Colgate Gel
27. Favorite Restaurant: Dome's Cafe
28. Favorite Flowers: Gorgeous full bloom red roses.
29. Favorite beverage: Always coca-cola (sing it)
30. Favorite sport to watch : figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronised swimming, dancesport ... (see a pattern here?), tennis & baseball (hardly manage to watch it but I like it)
31. Preferred type of ice cream: Baskin Robin's Jamoca Almond Fudge
32. Favorite Sesame Streetman : The Count
34. Favorite Fast Food Restaurant: Nando's
35. When was your last hospital visit: a few months back
36. What color is your bedroom carpet? deep burgundy (if I had carpeting, which I don't)
37. How many times did you fail your drivers test? once but maintain that it's cause I didn't bribe the guy!
38. Who is the last person you got email from before this? The Selangor Philharmonic Committee egroup
39. Have you ever been convicted of a crime? What ... a goody too shoe like me? Never.
40. Which single store would you choose to max out your credit card? Homelife or a computer shop
41. What do you do most often when you are bored? Watch a movie
42. Name the person that you are friends with that lives the farthest away: Tim in Taiwan (originally from Aussieland)
43. Most annoying thing people ask or tell me: "When can you finish that program?" "Give me a timeline." - People! I'll finish when I finish okay? Get off my case!
44. Bedtime: whenever I get the chance
45: Who will respond the quickest? Don't even know who I'm mailing this to yet!
46. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond? Don't know.
47. Favorite TV show? Buffy, Caroline in the City
48. Last person you went out to dinner with: All by myself (know the tune?)
49. Last Movie you saw : Burn the Floor
50: Time when you finished: 12.07pm

It's gonna be busy this week.

Spent almost the entire day at the dance studio on Sunday. First it was practise for the Shasae dance group from 9.30am till 11am then practised the cha-cha routine with my dance partner, SM, for a bit before class begins at 12pm ... except that didn't happen. Mr L's alarm didn't go off. He just woke up when SM called him at about 12.20pm, so class is cancelled and rescheduled for today.

We continued practising for a bit more and then SM went home with plans to come back and practise some more at 4pm. Feeling lazy, I stayed back at the studio and just hung out. The thought of driving back home and then rest for an hour before driving back to the studio is just too tiring. SM took out his office's Palm and I borrowed that from him to wile away the wait time. I'm hooked on bejeweled now. :) Skipped Yoga to practise cause I think we really need more practise if we are to get beyond the first round of the competition.

After getting home, had to drive mom to the night market and the bank. I was half dead by that time. No Gilmore Girls that night but that's good cause Mad About Mambo was showing on Star Movies. Haven't seen that. It's good. Couldn't stay awake after that so *plop* I went to sleep.

Monday was a whole day at work and then choir practise at night. Loooong day. Dropped off posters and postcards of the concert at TGV Sunway Pyramid and Sunway Pyramid information counter during lunch. Oh, the soloists came in today for practise and I think the soprano's really good. She sort of overpowers the tenor during the Brindisi piece. Hopefully the tenor gets more courage and try to sing louder after more practise. Tired. So tired.

So, tonight, dance class. Hopefully we don't stay back too long for practise. Want to catch Sex and the City on HBO at 10pm.

Plans for the week: Wednesday - choir practise, Thursday - Committee meeting (darn! I have to miss my regular Thursday 4 hour TV series session - Buffy, Angel, Angel and Popular|Dark Angel), Friday - check out venues for post-concert party, Saturday - nothing confirmed, National Choir performance? and the it's Sunday routine again.

Well, managed to rewire my brain circuits to take the alternate route to work this morning *grin* *pats herself on the back*. And no. I wasn't any faster. Part of that route was filled with traffic and traffic lights which made it a little slow and it being a slightly longer route, the smooth passage after the traffic didn't cut down any travelling time. So, I guess it's back to the old route. Old is gold.

Finally got back the PC from the HR Ministry. Sent that PC in for them to test the program almost 3 weeks ago! The plan was to have them test it for only a week. Anyway, I have it back now. Will have to do lots of modifications to the program (due to lack of information when building the program in the beginning! Hear that boss?).

Made a little stop at the new Tesco in Puchong on the way back. Was falling asleep at the wheel and tummy was doing a little song and dance, so I thought I'd stop over to grab a bit. Didn't have much of a lunch before that.

Tesco's not that great. The prices are pretty much the same as Carrefour or Giant. No biggie. Bought a bag of chips and a cup of cafe mocha (from San Francisco's). Spilled some coffee on the handle of my new Elle document bag. Now there's a stain. Wonder how I'm going to get that off. Should I soak it? Will the stain come off if I soak it?

Was thinking of working late tonight but once I got back in the office and hooked up the PC I brought back, didn't feel much like working anymore. Checked my mails, browsed my guestbook and browsed Moby's site; really nice site plus he has a T-shirt designing competition on right now. Only problem is, it's only open to American. Not like I was planning on entering it but that kinda limits the pool of talent a tad, don't you think?

...and now, I think I'll just go home.

Let's try another route.
Need to get to work earlier after that email from the boss.

I chanted and chanted when I woke up this morning.

Ready. Got in the car. Start the car. Reverse. Right. Left. Left. Driving. Driving.

Realization hits!

Bloody hell! Freaking went on auto pilot. Back on the slow, jam packed old route. Bugger it!

My choir's concert. Check it out. Doesn't the poster look festive?

Here's the programme order: CARMEN Georges Bizet (1838-1875) March of the Toreadors ALADDIN music: Alan Menken (b.1949) A whole new world lyrics: Howard Ashman (1951-1991) words: Tim Rice (b.1944) KERAMAT CINTA music: Adrian Lee (b.1958) & Sunetra Fernando (b.1966) Choral suite from Opera Uda dan Dara text: Usman Awang (20th century) IDOMENEO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Go diam la pace Sidonne spondie & Placido e il mar andiamo Scenda Amor DIE ZAUBERFLOTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Papagena & Papageno duet FAUST Charles Gounod (1818-1893) Avant de quitter EUGENE ONEGIN Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Waltz scene LA FORZA DEL DESTINO Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) Rataplan NABUCCO Giuseppe Verdi Chorus of the Hebrew slaves LA TRAVIATA Giuseppe Verdi Brindisi INTERVAL (solo item - Student Prince) THE GONDOLIERS Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) Then one of us will be a queen Once more Gondolieri WEST SIDE STORY Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) A choral selection PRINCE IGOR Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) Polovtsian Dances

Spectacular! Spectacular!

I finally saw 'Burn the Floor' last night. Have heard about it from people at the studio, the rave reviews on my random searches about it and from jason. Then my dance partner said he had a copy but it was with a friend. When he finally got it back, it took him a few weeks to pass it to me. He keeps forgetting to bring it and one time he did bring it but forgot to give it to me. So, last Sunday, he brought it and I managed to watch it last night.

Well, I actually saw a pirated DVD copy selling on the streets of Penang during my holidays last week but resisted the temptation to purchase cause I was gonna get to watch it eventually. Damn my incredible willpower! Because of you I have missed on days of not watching the incredible dancing from the 44 couples on that show.

As I was watching the show, I first picked the cha-cha, samba, rumba sequence which was dance to a very industrial sound. The dancers looked like they came out of some futuristic movie. Y'know those where everyone looks like they're in rags with googles on their head and living in the sewers with steam puffing out of vents all over. Very Mad Max. Or is it Total Recall? Anyway, it was so cool. A total change from the flashy latin costume and shoes and into a modern clothes and sneakers. If I hadn't been watching carefully, I might have just missed that they were actually dancing the cha-cha, samba and rumba. It looks like any other hip-hop, modern day dance. Great sequence!

I thought that was going to be my favourite sequence ... up until the swing number came up. I have always had a soft spot for swing dance and music. In fact, I have several swing and rockability albums in my collection. Would actually be more if I could find them in the local stores and they didn't cost above RM75 a piece! Oops! Digressed ... As I was saying, I love swing and all the dancers looked very hep. I wanna learn to swing! Oh, they added a little bit of jive into the sequence as well. They danced to 'Jump Jive an' Wail', 'Transylvania 6500' (I think) and the classic 'Swing, Swing, Swing'. There was also a piece called the 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' with three girls singing in old time bikini. So chic. :) I like the sound they made. Great voice arrangements.

So, those two sequences are currently tied as my favourite.

Fave couples from the who show would be Jason Roditis and Tonia Kosovich, which is featured on the cover of the VCD, and Matthew Cutler & Nicole Cutler.

Some pictures from Club Nite back in April 20th

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones was much better than Star Wars: The Phantom Menance. The script was still pretty corny and filled with dialog trying to inject a little humour into the film but it wasn't as bad as Episode 1. Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker was just a tinge better than the little boy who played Anakin. Actually, I can't say that I like Anakin at all. It's no wonder he went bad. So, whiny. What in the world does Padme see in him? His good looks? His incredible potential of being the greatest Jedi ... ever?

Eesh! For lack of a better sentence, he sucks!

Funny parts, ... Padme running through the fields of Naboo. Looks like a scene from The Sound of Music. I can just imagine her bursting out in song. My sister couldn't stop laughing when we were watching that part and I sang (silently), 'The hills are alive, with the sound of music'. :)

Next up, after Ani found his kidnapped mother and she was lying there dying, she went 'I love ... *cough* *choke* ... I love'. Aunty Kool, sis S and I completed it with char kuey teow, chocolates and laksa, respectively. Don't know why we can't all feel sad and serious about that whole scene. Why do we find it funny? We're just plain cruel and unfeeling people. That or the scene wasn't convincing?

Throughly enjoyable film though. Wouldn't mind watching it again although I didn't like a lot of things in it. Probably the things that I did like made it bearable. Padme's wardrobe, gorgeous Naboo, Ewan McGregor ...

The drive back from Penang to Kuala Lumpur was less torturous than the drive there. Mainly cause everyone else has gone back to work on today (Tuesday) after the long weekend. Managed to have my assam laksa, my durians up in the hill, and some (all of 45 minutes) sun bathing done. Made myself sick by eating too much. Cor! What torture. I didn't know overeating can cause such pain. Felt dizzy, was sweating and even threw up a little. Felt better after the purging though. All of this plus some time for packing and cleaning up the apartment took till about 3.35pm before we left for the cemetary to place flowers on my grandfather and greatgrandparents's graves. Was feeling better by that time although I could still feel the food in my stomach.

Black sheep sister was suppose to meet up with us, she was staying with friends, but she didn't show until we were in our cars and getting ready to leave. She went with brother and company for lok-lok (raw/pre-cooked food on sticks sold from a van which provides pots with boiling water in which you cook the food) while the rest of us left straight for KL. Bought some guavas and mangoes on the way back but besides that, it was a smooth non-stop ride back. Slept most of the way. Managed to influence Aunty Cool into listening to Josh Groban. She likes. :)

On holiday

Hey, hey. I'm on holiday. In Penang. The drive there was so long. Originally, the drive up north was suppose to take only 4 hours but this beeing a long weekend, Awal Muharram on Saturday and Wesak Day on Sunday with a Monday holiday, the traffic was attrocious. At every toll on the highway, there was a massive jam. Every toll! Therefore in the end we got to Penang at 7pm. EDT was Saturday 11am.

We're staying at my dad's friend's apartment which has an incredible view of the sea. The apartment is of a good size; three bedrooms, a large hall fully equiped with television and a radio, a small kitchen with no stove, and two bathrooms. Nice. :) There's also a gymnasium downstairs (the apartment's at the 14th floor) and two swimming pools.

Didn't do much yet this trip. Basically just lazed around at the apartment watching DVDs. Saw Zoolander and Ocean's Eleven this morning and half of Lord of the Rings last night. Did a bit of swimming this evening as well ... all of 20 minutes I think. Heh heh ... not a lot. Haven't been to the beach yet, haven't done any sun bathing, haven't had my assam laksa from my favourite assam laksa stall in air hitam ... haven't done much of anything!

Did go to Gurney Plaza this evening though. Visited British India Home, it's a shop, to check if they still have the purple bedsheet that I wanted to buy but didn't about six months ago. Nope. Not there anymore. Serves me right. The rest, sister, brother, aunts and dad, bought some clothing from F.O.S. (the visiting aunts from UK's fave shopping outlet).

Staying at my Penang aunt's place now cause I need internet connection. I have an article for adequacy that I needed to send out.

Right now at this very moment, am waiting for the JDK to finish downloading. *sigh* only 11% done. 89% more to go. It's gonna be a long night.

See, I promised my colleague that I'd work on the e-mail module that he needed over my holidays (I took the whole of this week off!). So, to be able to do that, I'd need a network connection to test the module. My PC doesn't have a modem at the moment so I need to install the JDK and other modules to do my work on my dad's laptop. It has internal modem.

So, here I am now. Waiting for the thing to download. *sigh*

"Why are you going shopping have you forgotten that you're a man?"

That's the first line of a radio commercial for a local hotel cafe.

As Cher Horowitz in Clueless would say ... AS IF!

If that sentence have any semblance of truth in it, all single men would be walking around stark naked and starved to death after they've move out of momma's house. That's assuming the man's wife/girlfriend does his shopping for him and feeds him. Well, the stark naked thing might prove interesting watch for us ladies and same interest males if those men took care of their bodies. ;)

Christof Lauer & Jens Thomas: A Review

Christof Lauer - "One of the most important saxophonists on the European jazz scene and a "musician's musician"!
Jens Thomas - "The Jimi Hendrix of the piano"!

That's what's written in the flyer that was handed to me on entering the music hall of the Asian European Institute at University Malaya. Earlier that day, I had managed to scan through an article in The Star about the duo prior to dashing off for work.

Remind me to never believe anything said in print! If I read something and tell go, "Hmmm ... this sounds interesting. Wanna go?" Just give me a hard smack at the back of my head.

A more wasted evening I have never know, this one's almost as bad as the 4 Men and a Woman dance drama I saw, I think, two years ago. All this creative improvisation things just doesn't suit my palate. It's either I'm terribly dense (a huge possiblity) or the music was that bad!

The duo did their rendition of Sting tunes. Starting off with Roxanne, followed by a piece written by Mr. Thomas, Synchronicity #2, another Thomas creation, Every Breath You Take, Dar (Thomas original), Desert Rose, Synchronicity #1 and the encore 'Be With You" or was that "Be With Me". All in all totally unlistenable except for maybe Dar and the encore piece where there is a hints of melody them.

I only recognised Roxanne because while waiting for the start of the performance, I read the handout given at the door which stated that they did a CD covering Sting songs. Therefore, I was looking/listening hard to try and recognise the song. The part of the song that goes "Roxanne", for those that are familiar with the song, was the only recognisable part. The other part was a bunch of Thomas banging wooden on the interior of the baby grand and plucking at the piano strings. Oh yes. I feel asleep in the middle of the first song.

Every Breath You Take fared better in that the tune was quite recognisable, although not completely, and there was less sections where Thomas started playing with the innards again. Desert Rose was absolutely not in evidence except for maybe twenty seconds almost towards the end of the song. As for Jen Thomas originals, most of the were a bunch of banging on the piano, banging on the inside of the piano and fast finger works and excellent breathing technique by Mr. Lauer. All of which culminates to a bunch of noise.

Saving grace of the evening would be that the duo are actually excellent musicians. You can hear the incredible piano playing of Thomas which reminded me in parts to the song 'Study for Three Hands' by Ennio Morricone for the movie 'Legend of 1900'. Lauer plays a mean sax and the tremoloes? that he does sounds simply out of this world. The duo should really start writing that includes more rhythmic melodies instead of experimenting with banging which lays their talent to waste.

Anyway, it seems that there are people who actually likes this sort of music. After their last piece, as I was aching to get out the hall as soon as I can, some guy behind me cried out for an encore and the duo obliged. Shoot! Stuck for another song! Later getting out of the hall, I actually saw people buying their CDs. I was about to yell, 'You freaking pretensious freaks! A baby could make those noise. Want me to gather some kids together?!". That and I was trying had to suppress my disbelief of the people around me.

Getting into the car, switching on the radio, the familiar soothing melodious tune of 'Truly Madly Deeply' was a much needed reprieve. God bless the radio. God bless commercialism!

Hurrah! Just went to the photo shop to collect the roll of film I sent in yesterday evening. They all came out. I wasn't sure they would cause that roll has been in the camera for more than two months.

The pictures came out great. Well, not all are great. The one I took of Miguel Ayesa signing my program is though. I'm such a great photographer. Haha ... self praise. :)

Right. Now, to get my hands on a scanner then I can place some of the pictures I took of the F1 race at Sepang, me in my latin competition costume and the pictures with the cast of FAME.

Gosh! It's been a week since my last blog. This is turning out to be more of a weekly entry instead of the original daily entry.

Anyway, not much happened last week, which was probably why I didn't make any entry in here. Monday is much the same as most of my Mondays, work and then choir practise in the evening. However, prior to practise, I met up with a guy, Ram, at San Francisco? Starbucks? who's searching for people to make up a band. He's already in a band and is looking to have a sideband. I told him I could sing. Did a three liner of Letters To Cleo's I Want You To Want Me. He thinks I can sing. So, yay. I might be in a band. Haha ... so teenagerish.

As for Tuesday, the choir committee had a meeting. The tentative date for the press blitz of our Opera Di Tutti Frutti performance is Monday June 3. More talk about posters and postcards and programs. There isn't much that I'm assigned to for these issue. However, there are plans for an after show party after the performance. That would be where I come in.

The rest of the week was just work. Then on Saturday, went to watch Ram's band jam. They're pretty good. Sounded better live than on their home made CD recording.

Later that day, I went to stalk the cast of FAME to sign my program after their matinee show. Very successfull outing. I managed to get almost everyone's signature. Only one missing, Leah's. I heard she has a twisted/busted ankle so she wasn't at Istana Budaya (the venue). They're all so very nice. Especially Miguel Ayesa. Deonne Zanotto got overly excited when I asked her to sign my CHICAGO program. She was in that show as well about a year and a half ago. In fact, everyone got excited over the CHICAGO program. All of them poured over it like they've never seen it before.

That was great! Of course, I had to go back after their evening show cause I didn't manage to get them all after the matinee. Had to miss the second half of the BBC Proms being relayed live over the KLCC park to go back but I'm glad I did. Otherwise I'd have to go back into the city the next day. Don't want to do that if I don't have to.

Fab! Fab! Fab! Can't wait to get the pictures developed. Hope they all come out well. I'll have them scanned and the posted after I do.

Still slightly buzzing from watching FAME - The Musical last night. The energy. The enthusiasm. It's incredible.

Reminds me so much why I wanted to have a career in music theatre when I was young. Of course now, older and jaded, I don't believe that dream will ever, ever come true anymore. Should it ever materialise however, THAT'S the sort of musical I'd like to be in.

Back to FAME. Great voices and great dancing. Maria Mercedes's voice is just incredible. So powerful and rich. Besides her, I also like Simon Gleeson's voice. Dance wise, I like Deonne Zanotto aka Carmen Diaz. She can really dance! Wow!

I usually look among the supporting dancers in musicals such as these for that one person with that extra presence, that extra bounce that catches my eyes. Sometime I see it and sometimes I don't. This time, that person is Kane Bonke. He just seemed to have the extra bounce to his steps. My eyes were trained only at him from the moment I spotted him. Very arresting. Later, I saw him and some of the other dancers at the side exit while on my way to the car.

Darn! Where's my pen when I needed one?!

I might go back one day just to wait for them to come out so that they can sign my program. Hopefully will be able to catch Maria Mercedes and get her to sign my Chicago program. Just realised she played Mama Morton in the Chicago musical that I saw in Singapore two years ago. Oh! And Deonne Zanotto as well, she was one of the dancers in the Chicago production.

One of my friends asked me whether musicals with Malaysian cast will ever be at this standards. Pessimistically, I said no. If you'd just read the bios of the cast in the program, you'll see that these people have been dancing/acting/singing since they were practically toddles. Most performers in Malaysia seem to have cultivated an interest only when they are in their teenage years or adulthood. How can you compete with years and years of training? Dancers, maybe cause people do place their children in dance classes although they do not really encourage their children to grow up to become a dancer ... or maybe that was just my parents?

I'm currently in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer crave. Have been pouring through various Buffy sites reading spoilers and fanfics.

Spike is yummy. I think it due to his bad boy image and British accent. I've always been a sucker for accents. Aussie, British ... whatever. Found some gorgeous Spike wallpapers and WinAmp skins. Didn't download the wallpaper cause I still like the idea of a calendar for wallpaper (I have the whole set of LOTR calendar wallpapers). Might change the wallpaper for the PC at home, maybe.

This is so funny/odd. Last night, I stayed up watching a slew of Sex & the City episodes till the wee hours of this morning. I think it was about 2.30am when I finally went to sleep. Astro was having a Marathon Sex & the City thang prior to airing the new season ... or at least I hope they're gonna air the new season. Aidan is so sweet. Such a perfect boyfriend. Yum.

Anyway the weird thing is that I usually dread waking up and will postpone waking for almost an hour after my alarm rings. But this morning, I didn't mind. Felt like I had enough sleep but I actually had less. My usual sleep hour is about 12.30am. Why's that? Was yesterday's weather more condusive for deeper sleep and therefore resulting in me feeling more refreshed this morning? Or is my required hours of sleep less than the norm?

I have heard/read that each person have their own amount of hours that they require for a good sleep. Too much and you'd feel groggy and too little, ... well, sleepy.

So, should I start experimenting sleeping later and getting up earlier?

Oh, on Saturday, I shifted the furniture a little. I've moved my be so that the side of the bed is against the wall instead of the headboard. Ever since that day (which is two days ago), I haven't woken up on time. I almost missed dance practise on Saturday and work today, if it hadn't been for my mom. Maybe the change was bad feng shui. Or something cause this morning I woke up feeling sickly.

Slight throbbing in the head, achy shoulders. Felt like skipping work actually but didn't think I was sick enough. Skipped choir practice though. Spent the extra hours watching Malena. It's great. I'm convinced that any film of the Giusseppe Tornatore and Ennio Morricone collaboration is good.

Saturday: Spent the whole day in KLCC. It's the monthly credit card paying outing. Every month, I'd go pay my credit card in the city. After dropping in the fast cash deposit envelop (this takes about 5 seconds), I'd take the 10 minutes walk to KLCC. Then hang around there till about 6/7pm when it's time to go home for dinner.

This trip was pretty good. I managed to get some design work done; not much but better than nothing. Sad, isn't it? Working at a shopping mall? I meant, when you're suppose to be there to enjoy the shopping experience, not when you're hired to work in the shops. But I think it's great. Away from the distraction of the telly and internet, I managed to get things done. Plus, I don't look so stupid sitting at Dome's alone waiting for my ordersto arrive and starring at people all around. Actually, I love people watching. However, I'd like to watch from a corner, where nobody know's I'm watching. People watching is great fun.

Okay, besides working, I actually got myself a pair of heels from Vincci; a black strappy concoction of about 3 inches high. Have been looking to buy a pair of heels forever. Something with ankle holds so that I don't have to worry about my shoes flying when I go dancing. Then, forked out RM62 buck for the April and May copy of Wired.

Watched Blade 2 on VCD. What a let down! I absolutely enjoyed Blade but Blade 2 was a dissappointment. Not much of a storyline just a lot of slashing. Bleargh!

Sunday: Dance practise and class as usual in the morning. Minor change to the cha-cha routine. Changed from a Natural Top and hip twist to lots of spins. Minor stuff. Nicer I think. I never did like Natural Tops.

Watched Vatel on DVD in the afternoon. My DVD copy's kinda screwed! Lips and sound does not synchronise. Quite distracting actually. That aside, it was a pretty nice movie. Amazing what they go through just to gain the favours of the King. My favourite actor, Tim Roth, didn't get enough screen time but that's mostly cause his role is just that, small. Very much like his other villainny roles which he seems to excel at. He's deliciously bad.

Later in the afternoon, watched the Keanu Reeves film 'Hardball'. Feel good movie, sad ending and wooden acting by Mr. Cool Breeze. The kids were great though and Keanu's got a great smile when he so chooses to display it.

Gilmore Girls @ 10pm. This is the episode where Rory's dad Christopher came back for a visit. The guy playing Christopher reminds me a lot of Cameron Daddo, who I first saw as a photographer in Aaron Spelling's Model's Inc. Cute. As usual, lots of laugh in this episode, thoroughly enjoyable.

Possible Breakdown

Near miss on Tuesday; almost knocked down a motorcyclist when he was coming out of a junction. This happened when I was on my way home, just a few more meters away from my house. I stand firm that this incident is in no way my fault. I had the right of way. It was clearly my road. I was going straight. He was coming out of a junction. He didn't seem to be watching where he was going, seemed to be staring up the hill on his left. He didn't even pause at the junction!

Fortunately for him, I saw him nearing the junction. I was going 30km/per. I managed to break in time. I saw him put up his hand in apology. Had he not done this, I might have wound down my window and screamed and yelled at him like a fisherman's wife (no offence to all the fisherman's spouses, tis just a common phrase I've seen used).

Labour Day today is depressing.

Met up with Shawn for lunch. Haven't seen him for quite awhile now. Last time I talked to him, he was working in Singapore. He's back for good now. New job. Now here's the depressing part, at least for me. They are going to pay him RM5500 a month! That's almost double my salary. I've worked almost the same amount of years and I'm earning chicken feed. Is the pay for a Software Developer and a consultant so vastly different?

Plus, I just realised that I'm close to having a breakdown with regards to my work. I don't know what I'm doing, I have to develop a product, I have to lead a project as well as design and code the bloody thing and I find that I don't have time to do all this at the same time and keep up my schedule of dancing and singing.

I'm not, however, prepared to give up those leisure activities cause if I do, I think I'd go mad. I know me and if I don't do those, I'd just be sitting in front of the telly and not doing any work anyway.

I need to focus more on work I think. Put more importance on what I have to do and not just doing it for the pay. Need more passion for work.

Therein lies the problem. I just can't seem to feel passionate for it.

P&P said that I should take time to think about what I want to do. Do you want to continue in the computing line? Do you have something else you'd rather be doing? Do you have any idea what I want to do? Should you pursue your interested in dance & song?

I don't know. Nothing that I know of at this moment. No. No cause I know that I'm not extremely talented in those and those things just can't support my lifestyle.

What do I want? If I quit the computing line, I can't think of anything else that I am capable of doing.

First step - Tomorrow (or in a few hours time), I plan to lock myself in the meeting room and think up the design for the project. I hope that this will at least map out what there is to do for the project so that I can distribute parts of the development to the others. Maybe after that, I won't feel like it's such a big thing.

Then, I can see if I can make time to extend the email module that TL's been pestering me about. If I feel that I can't, I will just have to tell him that I can't at the moment but if he needs it, he can always look into Java Mail and do it himself. I wrote the bloody module a year ago so I'd probably have to relook the Java Mail APIs again anyway.

Hope this works. My plans never seem to work. Most probably cause I tend to postpone anything serious and unpleasant eg. actual work.

Right. This is for when I get home. http://www.tonos.com/app2/articles/business_of_music/jsp/foster_in_studio.jsp. Firewall at work doesn't allow most RealMedia streaming.

I would like to write a review on 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' that I watched yesterday afternoon but my friend accidentally took my programme. So, with no names to rave or critic on and no song list to guide me, I can't. I'll probably be able to get it back tonight and will write the piece when I do. In the meantime, do go watch the show. It's hilarious and highly entertaining. Plus, Chef Wan wasn't that bad in it.

Not bad but not good either.

P.S: This was the musical I auditioned for.

Just submitted my monthly article to Delusion of Adequacy. The Editor sent a mail reminding me of the dateline a few days ago. I didn't know what to write about so I think I submitted quite a useless piece. Click on Dateline--Malaysia at http://www.adequacy.net/columns.shtml. I don't think I'm cut out for this article writing thing. Just don't know what to write about. Feeling the pressure and this is only my second piece. :={

Affaire Française

The coronation was a non-event ... at least for me. Did they indeed install a new King that day? I guess they did from the front page picture on most of the newspapers around. But for me, it was just another day off. Didn't glue myself to the television watching this event happen live from Bukit Jalil. Had instead a nice family outing.

Started the day with a nice brunch at a chicken rice shop at Jalan Gasing. Yummy rice, very small amount of chicken and quite expensive as well (it's kampung chicken that's why). That was nice, would have been even better if my parents were able to answer my questions directly (about why the shop's location is) instead of trying to tell me where to go.

You see, I have been to the shop before it's just that I forget how far into Jalan Gasing the shop's located. Therefore, I need to know where to turn in from the road parallel (the one which passes Amcorp Mall) to Jalan Gasing (I can't go straight into Jalan Gasing from Federal Highway!). Why can't they just tell me if it's at the beginning or the middle or at the end of that road? They always want to tell me what to do. Shit! Just answer the question!

Oh yes, that and my grandma keep asking if her precious grandson know's that we are here and if he'll be joining us. We just saw him get all dressed up for work and walk out the door prior to departure. Gosh! Focus! Now, that's bad of me. She is quite old. I should just indulge her and tell her he has to work and being the goody too shoe that I am, told her that her precious has gone to work, albeit sarcasm was dripping like liquid honey.

Next went home and just sat for awhile before heading out to Bangsar with Stef. She wanted to get her belly pierced. It cost a heck of a lot! RM100 just for the piercing and another RM80 for a normal stud with no gem or RM90 for a stud with one gem and RM120(?) for a stud with two gems. She only brought RM150 so she didn't have enough cash then. Besides, it was expensive and I advised her to go check out the pricing in other places. So, we went down and into a clothing store just next door. Her still torturing herself thinking whether or not to just get it done cause she's been wanting to do it forever and me being absolutely non-supportive. My reason being she hasn't checked out other places. They might be cheaper! Me the el cheapo. Hah!

Anyway, she finally decided to have it done anyway and I spotted her the extra dough she needed. Her belly is well and truly maimed now. Looks alright. The stud's kinda plain though. Saw some cool looking ones at the shop which made me think if I should get my belly maimed as well then I get to use one of those fancy belly studs for my latin competitions. Would look très cool doncha think?

Then it's off to Midvalley we go. It's off to MidValley we go. Hey ho the derry oh, it's off to MidValley we go.

Got my movie tickets - Meilleur Espoir Feminin and The Count of Monte Cristo. The French flick was good. Saw a similarity between the daughter-father relationship with that of my sis and papa. Stef and I joked that we should get them to watch the movie and see if they see it as well. Better yet, make them come watch it together! That should be interesting.

Count of Monte Cristo was lavish. Good as well for someone who has not read the Alexandre Dumas classic. I had heard from someone that the movie wasn't so good but that person has read the book. Maybe the book was better? Sort of how I feel about Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone I guess. Lots of scenes chopped off from the book.

So, Thursday was good. Yesterday was boring. Work and then dance practise. *Yawn*

Argh! Christ! I knew I shouldn't have made that coffee or at least shouldn't have drunk(? - excuse me if that's the wrong tense, my tenses are quite weak but I am not going to invest anytime to improve that) it. Now my stomach's churning. Will have to get home and to the loo quick before it explodes!

Tomorrow's a holiday. Yay! Coronation for the new Agong (King).

This will give me a chance to go watch 'Meilleur Espoir Feminin'. Have been wanting to watch it since it first started showing but never had the chance. More so now that it's showing only once a day in the afternoon when I am at work. Pm's seen it and she wants to watch it again so it should be good, no? As for tonight, ballroom class and after that latin practise (SM called during lunch asking if I could practise after class). Then if I feel like it, maybe, Spiral with Az.

Eyes red and dry, I finally finished porting the app. Minor modifications made and repairation to stuff that I missed out earlier. Time to say goodbye to this project and continue with the next.

Urgh! I dread starting that other project. Don't know where to begin. To just code? Or to design first? Obvious and ideal answer would be to design right but that's such a drag. But I will have to since I have to break it apart so that I can assign it to others in the team to help me with it. Ah well, this my first project (well, first big one anyway) that I'll be heading. I just hope I don't screw it up too much.

Righto ... lets talk about what I did the past couple of days.

Club nite on Saturday was a success (my opinion anyway, others might have thought it a complete bore). Almost everyone who confirmed their attendance actually attended. The food was really good (I well and truly stuffed myself). However, my singing that night was atrocious. Atrocious doesn't even come close to describing it. I was too soft when duetting (unpractised) with Cris on 'I Know Him So Well' and started too low when I did 'On My Own'.

So embarrassing!

But it was lots of fun. Better towards the end when a few of us gathered around the piano and belted our hearts out. Then Suzan and I did 'I Still Believe'. I actually sounded quite ok. I should practise this song more often. It seems to be within my range, whatever my range is.

It was about 12am Sunday morning when I got to Avanti for Soon's little birthday gathering. Danced some but not a lot cause they closed at 1am. During one song, 2 of the waiters went on the dance floor and started dancing - they weren't any good, whoever gave them the idea that they were must have been intoxicated. One of the waiters, not the two on the dance floor, told me to join them cause, his words, ' ...[I] dance well'. Ermm ... gee thanks. Compared to those two, I probably do. Haha ... good stuff for my ego. Should visit this establishment more often. :)

The next morning, had to wake up early for dance practise at 9.30am. Bleargh! Didn't practise too hard that day cause SM was trying to figure out some steps. After that, SM and I had our lesson. First one ever after my competition debut; which was slightly more than a month ago. Wow! That's really long. We did the basic, which I have never learned, technically correct version of cha-cha and spins. I still can't seem to get the shoulder thing right. So frustrating. It feels odd. Not natural. Like I'm just doing it cause Mr. L tells me to. Need to practise more I suppose.

*Sigh* Next competition's in July. Hope I get enough practise before that.

Well, I tried to installing the app but ran into some problems.

Firstly, it seems that the PHP on windows is more sensitive to unset variables ie. just referring to $aVar without assigning it first will print out an ugly error message in your view page. Yucks! Or maybe that has to do with Apache on windows. I don't know. Either one, I will now have to go through my codes and do an isset() on places that might involve unset variables.

Secondly, my colleague who set up Apache and PHP on that machine forgot to install the mhash function. So I can't get pass the login page cause all following pages requires that. Ah well, left him a message on his mobile. Hopefully he hasn't gone back to Malacca this weekend and would be able to come in tomorrow or something to install it. I'd do it myself except I have never installed PHP before and installing that function might require some sort of compilation. I don't want to screw up whatever that's already working.

Now I must go home and collect the stuff needed for tonight's club nite and head over to Ivy's and await the caterers.

Woo hoo! Tis done. All files transferred.

On another note ... Craps! Have to come back to the office tomorrow to install my, just finished, application in the client's machine. Must have that ready by Monday. The boss wants it.

After this, it's back to Java and CRM.

Now that my home computer have speakers, I think it's about time I take all the mp3 files that I have managed to download over the office's speedy lines. There are almost 200 files there; more or less. I wanted to do this earlier on but I thought that since I don't have speakers to listen to them, what would be the point? Plus my dad didn't have his laptop then so, how was I to transfer all those files home? I don't have a zip drive nor do I have a burner at the office.

Wow! The transfer's pretty fast over the network. I hooked up the laptop to one of the network ports around. Lots of them around now since everyone's gone home.

Might take me ages to transfer it to my PC when I get home using a parallel port. No network card at home. Again. No point in having one.

Hmmm ... not done yet.

Hey! I think they've switched off the air-conditioning! Getting warmer in here.

Of friends and sushi

Yesterday while having lunch with Jen, I noticed that we don't really seem to talk to each other. We got to Genkhi Sushi and sat around the sushi belt. Ordered our green tea and then just sat and checked out the offerrings on the belt. Picked some plates and started eating.

I felt a bit weird so I tried to make conversations; I haven't seen her for a few weeks, close to a month.

"So, anything new?" I asked.

"Nah! Not really. How bout you?" came the reply.

"Nothing here either."

Then silence and more eating.

Is it normal for people who've been friends to have nothing to say to each other? Nothing to talk about? Nothing that they'd like to share when they meet? Y'know, to catch up on the week(s)/month(s). Do friends tend to have the same conversations over and over again? Questions like "Anything new?", "When will you be quitting?", "I thought you wanted to quit?", "Have you seen [movie name]?"

I don't know. It just felt weird.

My friends and I usually go out and do something - movies, pool, bowling, eat (all time favourite) - and even if we don't go out and just hang out in P's place, we'd watch a movie. All activities not requiring minimal communication skills. When we do find ourselves in situations where we actually have to speak to each other, the topic usually centers around work (boring) or if I'm talking to P, what shows/musicals would we like to go for next.

Hmmm ... I'll have to pay more attention to whether this is true for every occassion our clique meet up.

Maybe it was just yesterday. A one time thing.

Maybe it was the sushi ...

Bad me. Scolded papa earlier cause he said he couldn't get the USB to Serial converter driver installed. Turns out it wasn't his fault. The driver for Windows XP wasn't included in the CD and the one for the other Windows version doesn't work. Luckily their site is well updated. Managed to download and install the latest version; no problem.

Sooooo, sorry pa.

On a totally different note, went for my first ballroom class at 9pm earlier. It was alright. Still manage to catch up even though they were in their fourth class. I seem to be having the same problem most latin dancers suffer as well, the heel-toe instead of toe-heel thing. Keep lifting my feet off the ground as well. Was told by Soong that I'm not suppose to do that; she taught me the basics so that I could catch up with the rest of the class. Pretty fun but have to wait in turn for guys to be available to practise the steps. As usual, the class is desperately lacking in guys. Well, not so much but it's a ratio of about 3:1. So, the guys should get pretty great in no time huh, since they're getting so much practise. :)

Right. Nitey nite.

Note to self: Remember to make calls to the Immigration Department (passport renewal) and Banana Cafe (increase number of heads for Club Nite) tomorrow!

The personality test

BUSINESSMAN
(Dominant Extrovert Concrete Thinker )

Like just 3% of the population you are a BUSINESSMAN (DECT). Hide the children and protect the bunnies, basically. In ancient times you would be a deadly barbarian. These days, you're perfect for Wall Street. You prefer concrete thinking to a more creative style, and your direct modes of thought and action help you succeed in whatever you may try to accomplish.

Your forceful and outgoing personality can make you seem like a hothead, but because your mind ultimately rules your heart you rarely let your emotions get in the way of your goals. By the way, think of Genghis Kahn buying seven million pork bellies on the trading market, and then eating half of them, and you have yourself. Good luck.

Congratulations, you're Elizabeth Bathory!

Hailing from sunny Transylvania, your first blood-related incident was when you stabbed a servant girl in the face with a pair of scissors for underperforming. Some of the red spray landed on your hands, and as you washed it off, you noticed that it left your skin fresh and young looking. From then on you were convinced that the blood of young girls was the secret to eternal youth.

Rather than killing girls outright by stabbing them or slitting their throats, you enjoy torturing them for weeks on end by pricking them with needles or prodding with sharp spikes - all to bathe in their blood. You've killed over six hundred women, all without raising a peep from the authorities.

If you wish, you can proudly tell the world that you bathe in virgin juice with the following fine graphic:


Which Evil Criminal are You?

La ... soon as one problem's solved, another one pops up. My computer is now audible. I've taken the ATP3 out of it's box and connected the components together. Sounds terrific.

Once done, I was gonna dial-up to post this happy event. Only to find that the power LED of my modem is off. Oh no!

I unplugged the USB and plugged it into the other USB port. Still no lights. Next got pappa's laptop to check if it works with it. No luck.

The modem's probably fried. I wonder if there's a warranty card lying somewhere for this modem. If I can find it, maybe I can send it back to the manufacturer to have them check it out. Maybe they'll replace it? I have heard however that most manufacturers don't replace modems spoiled by lightning strike.

But first ... have to find that warranty card. Now where did I place that modem's box?

Peer to Peer Review

I got reviewed by Mizerable/Zuleikha. It's all part of the peer-to-peer review project by two guys, Rasmus and Beau.

She says I don't blog regularly. :D I know. I know. Just can't seem to get myself to write in it day in and day out as I did when I first started out. I guess lure of a new toy's gone now. I will try and get myself to blog more often. There have been several things that happened the past two weeks that I should have written down so that I remember that those event actually happened. Lets see if I have the strength after choir tonight.

Confession time. I didn't do my review. I received the email for my assigned review blog but it just came at a period when was swamped. Am still kinda busy right now but not as much. So, I didn't do the review and the deadline's came and gone. Should I still do it?

I'll just place a plug to my assigned blog. Maybe I'll review it later ... if I can get myself to do it.

Indulgence

Made my first non-essential peripheral purchase yesterday at PC Fair. I bought myself an Altec Lansing ATP3. Have been telling myself that I need to get speakers forever and I finally did.

The drive to the fair was almost dangerous. Started out with cloudy skies, then a little drizzle, then full blown storm where I can't even see the car in front of me had they not turned on their lights. The storm lasted about 20 minutes, I think. Halfway though it, I was wondering if I should go on to the city or just make a detour to MidValley Mega Mall where my friends said they were gonna be bowling. But, I presevered through the storm and made it to the fair in one piece.

I wasn't sure what to get when I made myself go to the fair. Should I just get an el cheapo set with just two satelites with no subwoofer or pay more to get something that sounds at least halfway decent?

Walked about the fair (which was quite small, I wonder if there's another section that I've missed!). Getting bumped and pushed by the crowd, I looked around to check out the options. How is anyone suppose to look at things in this crowd is quite beyond me but I tried my best to get to the stalls that carried speakers/sound systems. Quite easy to spot those. Just follow the sound of the blarring music. Did this for about an hour before returning to the first stall that I visited.

They had speakers by Altec Lansing and microlab. Playing around with both brand of speakers, I finally decided on the Altec Lansing ATP3. The microlab ones were cheaper and I was really thinking of getting those. However, the sound of from those sound a little frayed and more so as I turn the treble knob higher and higher. Since I listen to stuff that has more treble than the booming bass, I thought I should take this into consideration. So, I decided on the ATP3 as it sounded more solid.

The packaging for the speakers was huge. I didn't expect it to be so big. Had to drag that all by my little ol self to my car across the street. Heavy but not overly so, I managed.

So, yay. I have speakers for my PC. Now I wonder when I'll get my procrastinating butt to open the packaging and put it together.

Cor blimey, I taste like Tea. I am a subtle flavour, quiet and polite, gentle, almost ambient. My presence in crowds will often go unnoticed. Best not to spill me on your clothes though, I can leave a nasty stain. What Flavour Are You?

My other flavour is lemon. Which I think sounds more like me.

Mmm, I am Lemon Flavoured. I am bitter and twisted. Expect from me acerbic humour and sharp commentary. While I may seem nasty at first, I'm actually quite good company if I like you, so long as you don't mind a bit of cutting to the chase. What Flavour Are You?

take free enneagram test

My complete test scores.

type	score	summary
1	22	Ones are idealistic and strive for perfection. Morals and ethics drive them. They live with an overbearing internal critic that never rests. They are always comparing themselves to others and are overly concerned with external criticism. They can be very judgmental and others perceive them as too uptight.
7	20	Sevens are optimistic thrill seekers that see life as an adventure. They are always thinking of new possibilities and adventures. This constant zest for life can become escapism. Once things lose there fun they are no longer interested, so many projects go unfinished. Essentially, they avoid the difficulties of life because they fear being overwhelmed by them.
5	19	Fives are basically on some level estranged from the rest of the world, consequently, their mind is usually their best friend. They like to analyze things and make sense of them (that is their anchor), this makes for great inventors, philosophers, and visionaries. The immense inner world of fives can cause them to lose touch or interest in reality.
4	15	Fours are all about being unique and creating their own distinct culture. They experience the highs and lows of life more intensely than other types. This makes them great creative forces (artists, writers, filmmakers). Fours often feel like misplaced children, and they long for a sense of real family.
3	14	Threes derive self worth from success in the external world. They are highly skilled at adapting themselves in whatever way necessary to achieve success. This external success driven image often comes at a price of having a personal identity and they often are uncertain of who they really are.
8	14	Eights are natural leaders. They are straight forward, direct, large personalities, that are unlikely to back down to adversity. They have a talent for motivating others. They have a strong sense of justice and are often protectors of the weak. However, they also have short fuses and can become domineering tyrants.
9	12	Nines are calm, laid-back, and optimistic. They are able to see everyone's point of view, and have a natural desire for making peace. Consequently, they are effective mediators. Fearful of conflict and separation from others, they can be too accommodating and unassertive.
2	7	Twos are defined by their empathy of other people. They are uniquely gifted at tuning in on the feelings of others. This makes them great networkers, but being too caught up with other people can cause them to lose track of their own personal well being. Two charity is really a projection of how they want others to care for them.
6	5	Sixes are overly alert and anxious. They are skeptical of the statis quo but are also fearful of being on their own. They satisfy their need for security and belonging by establishing strong friendships and/or loyally backing a cause.

Keep getting a NullPointerException! What the heck is wrong?

Update [5:39pm]: Couldn't even get this crummy text only post up!
Update [10:18pm, April 13]: Now it works! But I didn't do anything. What happened blogger?

I find it frightening sometimes seeing how much some of my friends/school mates have changed since we were last in school. Not physically of course, but the way the were then and they way they are now seems to be completely 'transmogified' (hmmm ... am I spelling that correctly? Calvin & Hobbes fans?).

Two most obvious ones were one prefects in our school, even though they weren't exactly boring nerds at school, they were just not the wild child that they have turned out to be; heavy drinking, chain smoking, promiscuous little bitches (or at least that's their boast)! Seems like their sojourn to UK/America really changed them and I'm not entirely sure if I envy them their free careless ways. However, they're my friends (thank god!) wouldn't want to be this other girls, also an ex-schoolmate, that they're forever bitching about. I actually thought that girl was actually a pretty close friend of theirs! Man! Was I wrong.

Another thing I notice during last Saturday's BBQ was that these people are not my crowd when I was in school. Of sure, we nod and say hi and have short little conversations but we were not close; not even what I'd call friends, just school mates. It's weird that I hang out more with these people now than with my close friends from school. I haven't seen my 'close friends' for some years! minus the chance meetings in a restaurant/mall/market. Must call these people up one day.

Also noted was, I was almost the only Chinese among all the Malays. Maybe it's a race thing. These friends that I hang out with (tee hee ... 'hang out' that sounds so teenagery) are all Malays. I used to hang out with a crowd with a large Chinese majority. I'm Chinese and I'm bad with calling up friends and meeting up with people. Others would usually take the initiative to call me up for a meet but I would usually meet up unless I had a prior engagement. So, maybe my friends are like me. They say, 'birds of a feather flocks together'. Except we can't really flock together if we don't meet up now can we?

Hmmm ... a totally haphazard rambling. I'll have to read this entry later to see if it makes any sense. My minds travelling in a million and one direction and I'm not sure what was written down and what's in my head.

Talking to Stef last night just reminded me of what an absolute geek/nerd I am. She was feeling a little guilty after lying to mum about a stomach ache so that she could ditch school. Thinking that she has food poisoning (due to some things that she lied about), mum was super nice to her.

Me ... I have never done anything like that to skip school. The only time I did was after I got to school, only a handful of us actually came for class and the teachers didn't even bother to come in anymore. This was the period approaching the final exam of secondary school, SPM. My friend and I got sick staring at the four walls of the room and left school after a few hours and went to her place.

That was the only true ditching that I did. Pretty pathetic huh?

Other attempts were school related. Inter-school cross-country at some rural school, inter-school squash competition that we managed to pester a teacher to enter us in (mainly cause most of the state players were in my school, yours truly included), choir competition and other stuff that I can't recall right now.

I wonder why a shining example like me has had absolutely no impact on the behaviours of my two younger sibs? A bit of a bore of course following rules and doing what you're suppose to when you're suppose to ... but, if you're suppose to do it. Why wouldn't I? I didn't have a life.

a depressed server. please go and console it.

thanks rednax for the adorable link.

Made my debut in the world of latin american dance competition last Friday. A pretty successful debut I must say. Didn't win but I did manage to scrape my way into the semi-finals.

I was pretty calm when the time came for us (my partner and I) to go on the dance floor. I didn't think I'd be, calm that is, cause from my experience, whenever I have something important coming up, piano exams, ballet exams, exams in general, whenever it's time for me to perform and be judged, I'd get the jitters when I'm suppose to perform. Not even during preparation would I be nervous but only at that exact moment when I'm seated on the chair or standing next to the bar, I'd suddenly blank out, cold sweat starts forming, fingers cold as ice, my mind going a million directions trying to search my brains for what I was suppose to be doing ... but not this time.

It felt like just another practise. When I was on the floor that arvo, I just did whatever I did when I was practising ... trying not to fall off the slippery floor and getting all the steps in.

I think this has a lot to do with the lack of pressure. We knew that we'd not be winning anything although if we did it would be a plus but to me, I had it in my mind that hey! it's my first time. I'm not expected to win, right? So, I guess that explains why I wasn't nervous. I didn't care too much what the result would be. Unlike exams when there's pressure to pass as well as get the venerable distinction.

I had fun and was totally awed by the competitors in the amature category, especially by couple number 12, Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova. They caught my eyes during their heats and I barely looked at other couples whenever they were on the floor. I'm just so wowed! If I was fortunate enough to get half as good as them, I'd be a happy puppy.

P.S: Jason, if you're reading this, sorry I wasn't looking out for you cause I didn't know you were gonna be there. I've only just read your posting. Sorry mate. Maybe the next competition alright?

Note to self: The next time you have your form submitted although the javascript function returns a false, check whether you've passed in the correct parameter(s) for that function. Exceptions can't be caught like in java and values other than a false returned would successfully submit the form. Silly empress! Another waste of a few hours wondering what the heck happened.

I've got my license. My real license. Bye bye probation license. Bye bye 'P' sticker. I was really surprised at JPJ's efficiency though. Thought I'd take me more than an hour to get the whole application done but it only took about half an hour; including the wait for my number to pop up on the prompter. The actual processing and making of the license took only 5 minutes. Silly me wasted half a day's leave to get this done. Doh!

new record: After months and months of trying, I finally beat my old Minesweeper record. New record now is 118 seconds for the expert level. Need to shave off 19 more seconds to get into the world record!

VisualStudio Launch

Note to self: Watch "The Screen Savers" Wednesday, March 20, at 7 p.m (US time). Story regarding Stay-At-Home Secretary.

sun, speed and babes

A half an hour drive, a detour to purchase a $50 parking sticker and a bus ride later, I was finally at gate K2. The entrace to what hopefully would turn out to be an exciting, thrilling race.

It was only half past 10 when Stef and I got in but the place was already packed. We immediately made our way down the slope searching for a comfortable spot with a good view of the track. Good view was easy enough to find as the whole area overlooks the 2nd and 3rd corner leading to the 2nd straight stretch.

Comfort, however, was hard to come by. The slope was bumpy but we made do as best as we could.

Batik cloth spread, hats on head and sunglasses firmly on, we proceeded with the next best thing to do while waiting for the race that was scheduled to begin at 3.15pm; get a tan. So off goes my spaghetti top (I had on sports top ... of course!) and on goes the globs of sunscreen. 'Bad Girls Guide to the Open Road' in hand, I proceeded getting comfy and looking cool reading my pink vinyl covered book. Smilling intermittedly at the witty words of Miss Cameron Tuttle. Probably looking like and idiot doing that but hey! Who's watching? Concentration should be on the track right?

Several minutes later, a bunch of loud, non-stop talking quartet of thirtysomethings parked their asses next to our spot. Blocking my view of a totally cool looking guy sitting a few feet away. But that's fine. They were really funny and friendly. Had some laughs. Good fun.

Later, as I was coming up the slope back to my seat, I went closer to the fence, closer to the track to get some pictures of the driver's procession (I'm expecting the pictures to turn out badly. They were too far away and I don't have a zoom camera.), I heard someone say my name and lo! and behold! I saw my ex-schoolmates. They were putting up a shade/tent thing. (Now why didn't I think of that? I forgot even to bring an umbrella!) Said 'hi' and everything and continued back up the slope to my spot.

The atmosphere was really great. People everywhere lazing on the grass. Talking, laughing, drinking eating, sunbathing, whatever. All out having fun. Most of them decked out with their favourite teams colours, painted or worn. Large flags (mostly the reds of the Ferraris and grey Mercedes) flying and flapping. Perfect race day weather.

After a tediously long and boring traditional performance (mostly due to the fact that nobody on my hill can see it) and the lackluster air show performance by the RMAF, the race begins.

The race itself was quite boring actually. Nothing happened at this end of corner. No crashes. No swerving off the track. No smoke coming out of the back tail. Just some passing and over taking at the turns. I was cherring for our local boy Alex Yoong in the Minardi. Not for him to win, I have to be realistic, but just to at least finish the race in front of his Aussie teammate Mark Webber. There's a whole bunch of people cheering for Michael Schumacher and he has been having a nice long winning streak so I don't think he need anymore support! He did have to pit after the first lap though, he lost his front wing when he collided with Montoya's Williams in the first corner.

I guess I will say that the best part of the race was towards the end when Michael Schumacher overtook Jenson Button's Renault. The poor boy must have felt the thrill of his life thinking that he'll have his first podium finish before it was dashed at the last minute by the incredible Schumacher.

You have to give credit where credit is due. Schumacher really is amazing. To come back up all the way to a podium finish from 12th placing halfway into the race with 3 pit-stops must surely be an incredible feat. It's no wonder he's been winning so much!

Wow! A very enjoyable day. I've never been a big fan of F1 racing but I can see now how it appeals to the masses. It is rather thrilling.

Stef and I am thinking of going again next year. The next time, must remember to bring large umbrella, several litters of water, camera with zoom, binoculars with larger zoom to see the large screen display, food, ...

To go or not to go ... that is the question

The Malaysian Grand Prix 2002 will start tomorrow and I have tickets. Well, actually my dad has tickets cause he's on a project for KLIA. He gave the tickets to me though, I did ask for them. He's not interested in going. I wanted to see what it's like, the race ... live.

Except ...

I didn't want to go alone. I was hoping that they'd give him more than one ticket, so that I could at least go with my sis, and that the ticket was for the final race day not the first day practise session.

So, now, I'm not sure if I'm still going. It's a good ticket though, corporate suite. Expensive. But still, alone. I'm not sure yet.

I'm listening to Virgin Radio and they just had an experiment to prove a survey that Neil Francis found which says that only 20% of women knows how to change tyres compared to 97% of men. Well, it was close as the 6th caller managed to get it right. Would have proven the statistics right if it had been the 5th caller but one caller difference is not too bad, me thinks. Now here's the good part. The caller who got it right, she's a computer person. I couldn't really hear what exactly in computers but yeah, she's a computer person. She was spot on. Yay! Computer gals knows how to change tyres. I do as well and I was looking for a chatroom at Virgin Radio's site, before the 6th caller came through, to see if I could type in the answer but there isn't one.

Hmmm ... maybe they should do another study to find out the percentage of computer women who knows how to change tyres.

Found this from EvHead's blog. Isn't this gorgeous? Check out the review at kicksology.


Too bad they don't sell And 1 shoes here. I might just buy this. Have been looking to buy a pair of sneakers for a long time. Haven't found one that I like just yet. It's probably cause I want the shoe to look good as well as function as my general excersize shoes, not that I excersize much these days but I like to have a pair of shoes for the times that I do. Of course, I'd like it to be cheap or at least affordable. Don't want to pay mega bucks just for a pair of shoes.

Speaking of shoes, Irene from Superdances just called to say that my new gold dancing shoes are ready. Hurrah! And it only took them eight days to finish my shoe. Hope it fits. I tried on a size 6 when I was at her place but I really needed a size 6(B/wide), since I have wide forefoot. Took a chance and ordered 6(B) without trying. Have to look for a studio with unwaxed floor to try out my spanking new shoes.

So excited. New shoes. Whee!

woo hoo! I'm Storm!



Which Star-Crossed Marvel Lover Are You?

I got a tie. Talk about multiple personality disorder!

See which Greek Goddess you are.

See which Greek Goddess you are.

Read this article in the papers back in March 5th. I don't read the news in the newspapers only lifestyle, sports section, comics, movie listing and the tv guide. And usually just breeze through those as well but this article caught my eyes.

At a time where everyone is putting in mucho hours, making things happen fast, making money fast, these people come up with "Slow Cities". A spin-off from the slow food movement, the main objective 'slow cities' is to get us to enjoy life. Quality life.

The idea sounds wonderful but I do wonder if someone like me would be able to fit in a city such as that. Someone who's restless. Someone who gets bored easily. Someone who need something to do, to move, to jump and prance ... okay, maybe not jump and prance exactly. Someone who after 8 hours of work seeks other activities/classes to fill up time between after office hours and bedtime.

I mean, what would you do if you went straight home after work?

Dinner and shower? Sure. Fine. But how long do you need for that? One hour max. What next? Plop in front of the telly? Read? Good and fine as well but that's just so boring! Plus, not extremely good for your health. Lack of movement/exercise. A body needs movement.

Even if I could stand having minimal activities, you need beaucoup bucks to enjoy good food, good clothes, good homes, even good/clean air! Only thing that would be free would be good friends. People to enjoy it with.

Would be ideal if I didn't have to worry about money. Then yeah! I'd definitely live in a "slow city".

In fact, I try to have a slow city at least once a year. It's in a city called Penang. It's an Island really but it's a small island. All I do when I'm there is eat, sleep, eat, sleep, watch the telly, read, and laze on the beach or on the pool (if I'm staying at a seaside hotel).

Slow island, anyone?

A glove that allows you to touch things virtually. Not an extremely new idea. TechTV's story yesterday 'Computers Get Touchy-Feely' reminded me of Johnny Mnemonic. That futuristic movie starring Keanu 'cool breeze over the mountain' Reeves which I thought was a total flop ... so did thousands in the world. But, in that movie, I remember a part when Johnny puts on these VR goggles and glove and starts doing things like taking things, openning boxes and typing on a keyboard without those things there physically. I thought that was cool. Hopefully things will go far for "virtual touch" and more people, besides USC's Integrated Media Systems Center will look into haptics technology, the technology behind "virtual touch".

I still look forward to the day when wearable computing will be possible and I think the "virtual touch" would be a great tool for it.

To Where You Are

Who can say for certain
Maybe you're still here
I feel you all around me
Your memories so clear
Deep in the stillness
I can hear you speak
Your still an inspiration
Can it be

That you are mine
Forever love
And you are watching over me from up above
Fly me up to where you are
Beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight
To see you smile
If only for awhile to know your there
A breath away's not far
To where you are

Are you gently sleeping
Here inside my dream
And isn't faith believing
All power can't be seen
As my heart holds you
Just one beat away
I cherish all you gave me
Everyday

Cause you are mine
Forever love
Watching me from up above
And I believe
That angels breathe
And that love will live on and never leave

Fly me up to where you are
Beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight
To see you smile
If only for awhile
To know you're there

A breath away's not far
To where you are

I know you're there
A breath aways not far
To where you are

i lifted this lyric from ellen's site. the site's all in chinese, i think. all i see is weird symbols but you can see things that are written in english. i followed those and voila! i've got the lyric.

doesn't it just sound sad and beautiful? i remember the first time i heard/saw josh groban sang this song. saw it in a tiny little window in media player sitting in front of my computer at work. managed to find it from one of josh's micro site over at welovesarah.com. it was a snippet from the christmas episode in ally mcbeal; season 5 episode 7 entitled 'Nine One One' to be percise.

i remember sitting there, listening to the song and as the song goes on, my eyes started tear-ing. so sad. i think i've written about this before but i don't care. after so many time of listening to it (i have the cd now and am listening to it even as i write), it sometimes still make me a little teary.

musn't make it too much of a habit. have been turning off my phone alarm and not waking up when i should. only woke up at 8 this morning which left me with 30 minutes to shower, dress and drive to work. an impossible feat and therefore not worth rushing.

and so, i took my own sweet time. had a bowl of cereal, drove my neighbour who was going to school for her library duty and got to work at nine. only half an hour late. not too bad.

should really try going to bed earlier so as to be able to wake up when i'm suppose to. even if it was to get to work and do more testing and debugging on that bleeding trigger module which is slowly driving me insane.

somehow, some of the things i've tested a few weeks back didn't seem to work today. it's completely mystifying. received a 'value conflict occurs' error. supposedly, this error occurs if the method used is not supported by the database driver, in this case the oracle jdbc driver. if anyone has ever encountered this error, please tell me how to fix it. i don't know how. if it is the driver, then why did it work the first time i tested the function weeks ago and not today? i've asked around and everyone says that nobody's done any tweaking or updating to the database nor the driver. so, i'm puzzled as to why this error should occur now.

these are the relevant lines which triggered the error:

resultset.updateString(column, data);
resultset.updateRow();

updateString() didn't cause any error. updateRow() is the culprit here.

calling all java guru, please help empress in her dillemma.

alright, after work, got home and before i even sat down for a little rest. my dad goes on again that i should go get his serial-usb converter for him ASAP. "oh and while you're there, get a new colour catridge as well."

so after dinner, i trod (trodded?) along to pyramid's IT center to get the stuff. got my dad to give me the dough before i came. thought that the RM300 that he gave me would be more than enough for that two item but i was wrong. it wasn't more that enough. it was just enough. the converter costed RM130 (although it said RM150 on the price tag) and the catridge costed RM120 (again the price tag read RM135, if i'm not mistaken). i wondered what the point of placing the price tag there if you're not going to sell it for the price that was printed but ... hey! i'm not complaining. i got the goods at a lower price and low price is always good. why pay more?

when i got home, my dad had another job for me. installing software. i've practically installed his software on both the machines that's in our house and now he wants it on his laptop as well. hopefully once he starts uses the laptop then he'll leave my pc alone. then i can delete all his files and programs and regain disk space. then find out why i can't open a large *.jpg file without my computer saying that i don't have enough disk space. there was over 500MB of space when i tried opening that file. a colleague says that it has something to do with my swap file. ok. fine. "so, what do i have to do to my swap file to make it work?", i asked. "i don't remember." was the reply.

installed the software, made sure internet was setup for my dad and then off to bed.

hey, check this out. my picture's being used as a background of one of my uni's tour page. Ain't it cool? :)

i've got free banner free web hosting at empress.digitalrice.com

... wait! wait! wait! ... before you start clicking on to the new site, i have to tell you that there is absolutely nothing there as yet. i'm thinking of maybe using greymatter or MT for this site. are there any greymatter or MT users reading this? if so, what do you recommend?

besides that, i'm thinking that i should really come up with a theme for a design before publishing that site. i've been saying that i need to design a look for this blog forever but i've never gotten to it. so, before the new site comes, i really want to have a design up. problem is, i don't have much idea on what i want. sugesstions please?

basically this blog is a call for recommendation and suggestions ... so start blogging back! i need feedback.

how cool is this!


Which Angelina Are You?

---

not sure how cool this winona result is as i haven't seen the movie. the description sound okay i suppose. not as cool as the angelina result! ... I AM LARA CROFT! HEAR ME ROAR!!!

Which Winona Are You?

---

YELLOW You are very perceptive and smart. You are clear and to the point and have a great sense of humor. You are always learning and searching for understanding. Find out your color at Stvlive.com!

it's official

come 29th march, i'll be competing in the malaysia millennium 2002 competition.

i have three costumes to choose from. two of them are of the same style; it's a simple dress, one shouldered and short (not that short for me cause i have short legs). one's pink glittered and the other is black with gold glitters. the other costume is a two piece yellow concoction. the top has gold sequins (the top itches) and the skirt is short and tasseled.

of those three, i think i look best in the yellow costume. the other two seems to make me look really big; especially the pink costume plus that shade of pink just doesn't seem to go with my skin colour. my partner loves that costume though. keeps pressing me to wear it for the competition.

haha ... not a chance. not going to listen to his opinion on this matter. his fashion taste is simply ... how should i put this nicely? ... not good. closer to terrible if not horrendous.

it's either the black or the yellow. everyone, except my partner, seems to agree that i should wear the yellow. so, maybe i'll be wearing the yellow.

i've placed a last minute order for a new pair of dancing shoes yesterday. simple design, all gold in a material called 'madonna glitter'. i've also ordered it a half inch higher than my usual practise shoes. i hope that won't affect my dancing too much ... if it does, preferably for the better and not for the worse.

right! so, from now until friday the 29th, must squeeze in as many practises as possible. will be having practise later tonight after choir practise. hope i still have energy after a long day at work and two hours of singing to dance.

nothing much has been going on so no blog ... unless you want the usual boring blogs that i used to write about my everyday life.

anyways, new entry in the auditions page. check it out you wannabe actors.

bad news. mph has switched their wired magazine supplier. no more wired magazine at RM 24.90. they now sell at the same price as all the other newsagents, at RM31.

good news is mph will have the current issues at the same time as the newsagents. i used to have to wait till the end of the month to buy that month's issue.

"Hollywood uses a handful of clichés to denote villainy. The bad guys are Nazis, Asians, Soviets or Arabs. They wear black clothing and they speak with accents.

Now there's a new one: The baddies use Windows PCs."

club review: nuovo, kuala lumpur

situated opposite the still standing and frequently refurbished emporium club, erected in a spot where this writer have often passed and never knew was large enough for a building, stands the latest night spot to hit the hustle and bustle of the city of kuala lumpur. my first impression of the building is that it must have been quite cheap to build as it looks as though it has been built using aluminium foils. lacking further inspection, this writer was unable to verify this observation. however, the walls does look solid enough from the inside. so, it just might be something stronger than aluminium ... might.

the club's divided into two sections. r&b on the ground floor and rave/house/trance (i still haven't figured out how to tell the difference between those). at least that was how it was on the saturday that i was there. whether or not they have a varying themes on other days is something that this writer will have to find out in a future date.

with full length glass windows surrounding the section facing the main streets (it's in a corner so there are two streets) and sliding doors at the main entrance and at the side, as well as a sidewalk the width of approximately two small tables, the ground floor gave a feeling of space ... until you enter the club. an medium sized island bar, lots of tall tables and plush sofas splatter around the club and a small dance floor takes up the space of the ground floor. it was well lit, although not overly lighted, with a light reddish lighting that i think was quite appropriate for an r&b club. i can't explain why i think reddish lighting seems to fit; it just feels right.

the clientelle in this floor is a pretty good mix. mostly locals with a healthy dose of expats. equal mixture of ethnicity and a good range in age as well. not as young a crowd as, lets say bali in sunway (which rumour has is will be closing down real soon) or the r&b club or*nge on jalan kia peng. working adults mostly, i think.

okay, onward to the 1st floor.

following the counter where you pay your cover charge (around RM30-RM40, must have this confirmed as well since i got in through my friend who bought a bottle), is a spiralling staircase leading up to the second dance area. my friend like the red tinted windows that offers a street view across to the beach club on the wall in which the stairs was placed against. i on the other hand thought it might have looked better in blue. even more so after seeing the room in blue light with white furnishing after a short dimly hallway that greets the end of the staircase. this is a room for people to just sit and have a few booze, similar to a room i've seen at movement. all of the table was reserved that day. we were told to get our bottle from the bar at the dance area which adjoins this blue room so we left that room.

so, we shimmied our way to the dance area. from the entrace, you can see that it was actually a two level space. a staircase on the left of the entrance leads you to a members only section. it has more tables and chairs and a bar plus you have a great view of the dance floor. the dance floor is of a medium size and only starts filling up at around 12.30am but fill up it does way up until the club closes. again, the crowd is mixed although mostly young working adults with a smatterring of older folks about and there were also fewer expats around.

all in all, a satisfying and rather enjoyable trip. would definitely come back to nouvo the next time i need to party and booze.

am at work. finally going to catch up on work. have been slagging off the past few weeks. even the idiot's noticed. asking me why i'm so slow these few days. even told the big boss i looked tired and must have been burnt out when big boss asked him where i was the time i was sick.

didn't do much the last two days cause of the meetings i had to sit in. i felt that it didn't involve my department/company much as the project had more to do with setting up network and hardwares than softwares; which is what i do, softwares. so i've just been sitting in. contributing little if any to the meeting. what a complete waste of time.

managed to weasal my way out of the meeting at 3.30pm yesterday and got some work done. still think that the company should really implement the flexi-time practise. then i don't have to 'stay back'. if they did, i think i'd start work at 1pm and leave at 8pm. my ideal working hours.

i'm a night person.

brain doesn't work in the morning. waste of hours spent in office in the morning. never get anything done. wonder why that is.