The Worst Christmas

I've had, by far, the worst Christmas this year.

On Christmas Eve everything was still fine. I was not hungry in the morning so I skipped breakfast. Then I happily went shopping with my sister. Bought a pair of pants and a nice top. I was still not hungry in the afternoon but I managed to force half a bowl of rice down my stomach. And at night I had dinner, the usual amount of rice and dishes. I was looking forward to the Christmas dinner I was planning to have with my coursemates back in university. I even picked out what to wear.

At night before I went to sleep I could feel something was not right with my stomach. I thought it'd be back to normal the next morning, but it didn't. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling the urge to vomit. So I did. I vomited three times before I went to see the doctor in a 24 hour clinic near my house. He gave me some anti-vomit tablets and medicine for gastric. But those didn't help because before the tablets could be digested in my system I'd already vomit them out. So when I went to see the doctor again, he gave me an injection to stop my vomit. At 5 a.m. I finally managed to get some sleep. Well that's not the worst still.

The next day I woke up at 2 p.m. and the first news that greeted me was, my friends wanted to cancel the Christmas dinner. Reason being that they didn't want to have Italian food. They were suggesting that we go for Balinese food instead. I didn't mind that they want to change place but why last minute? I was the one to organize and call them one-by-one to confirm and then book a table in the restaurant. It's not hard work and neither is it time-consuming but still they could have informed me earlier, couldn't they? So I told them don't expect that I'd organize anything for them again and to go ahead with their plans and then I'd think whether I would attend. Then I spent my whole day feeling discomfort from my gastric pain.

I later found out that they indeed went to have Balinese food, without inviting Zilin and me. I don't know if Zilin had told them off knowing that I wouldn't be able to attend. But it still broke my heart.

The next day I was supposed to go to Seremban and meet up with my high school friends but I couldn't make it as I was still feeling uncomfortable.

So there goes my long weekend.

Christmas present = 0

Christmas gathering = 0

Christmas joy = N/A

Fresh Fruit Salad

The simplest recipe in the whole wide world. If anyone failed making this they should be ashamed of themselves. (Why would anyone search for the recipe when it's that simple???) I personally don't really like salad but... well... just for fun...

Ingredients:

Basically, any kinds of fruits. This time I've chosen the following:

Apples and pears, cleanly peeled (ok maybe not so clean) and to be cut into cubes.

Cherry tomatoes, to be cut into half.

Kiwis, to be cut into cubes.

Lemon.

And fruit salad dressing of any brand.

Procedures:
1.Cut the apples, pears and kiwis into cubes; and cherry tomatoes into halfs as shown below.

2. Cut the lemon into a quarter and squeeze onto the mixed fruits.

3. Add the fruit salad dressing onto the mixed fruit as shown below.

4. Mix thoroughly as shown below. (Action of mixing blurred because hand was moving too fast.)

5. Ready to be served. Wakakakakakkakaakak...

New Layout

An entirely new layout to welcome the new year.

And it's no longer dark and gloomy, just so that in the coming year I would be more optimistic towards life, hopefully. Somehow there's still some "depressing" element in it. I've included a blog header with a lonely cat, which I took during my trip to the Perhentian Island. The picture is kind of sad I think. And also I've chosen this layout with an angel whom I thought is kind of lonely and sad. It's just my opinion. =)

Anyone interested to get a cool blog layout can click here. They have quite a number of layouts for you to choose from.

Anyway, wishing everyone a very happy new year in advanced. =)

Avatar

Avatar

Director : James Cameron

Writer : James Cameron

Length : 2.5 hours (approximately)
Rate (by me) : 8/10

The humans discover a valuable substance on planet Pandora inhabited by a primitive race called the Na'vi, who are rich with their own culture and beliefs. The expensive substance that the humans are after lies beneath the home of the Na'vi, the hometree. The humans have either to gain their trust and make them leave the hometree, or they have to drive them away by force. Thus the human scientists invent the Avatar, a remote-controlled Na'vi figure genetically grown by mixing human's DNA and the Na'vi's. Jake Sully's mission was to use his Avatar to bond with the natives, study them and find a way to drive them out of their home.

The last time I watched a nice film like this was like years ago. Story/script well-written (with moderate sense of humour), good directorship, and excellent actors. I like that the Pandora and the Na'vi race was designed to the very detail, the animals and plants, the culture, the bliefs, the hometree etc. I feel that it's a beautiful culture and religion.

And they had portrayed well the humanity issue. That it isn't the right thing to do to kill people for money, even when the people are not your own species/race.

I know the story doesn't sound impressive or anything. But you can tell that they actually put in enough effort to make the film and you can feel the characters are alive. And I've totally enjoyed the whole 2.5 hours in the cinema.

Other feedbacks I heard:
- Some of the scenes and the animals resembles those of Final Fantasy X. No comments. Never played that game.
- The human interface machanical gunner thingy resembles those of Matrix 3. Totally agree.
- It steals the matrix concept. Man plugs into machine, man wakes up with a different body. Yeah, kind of. But that doesn't make Avatar a bad idea/story and moreover, it's quite a different concept.
- It shares the same storyline as Pocahontas. Pfft... What the hell? It's two totally different things!!! How can anyone compare a James Cameron's and a Disney??? It's like comparing an apple and a house!!! And I certainly cannot explain how an apple and a house is different pfft... The only thing about Avatar is that, humans discover wealth in a place and they want it for themselves, thus exists war. But this happens EVERYWHERE, not just in Pocahontas (pfft...). I mean, it's something you see from everyday's life. If wanna say like this then Avatar resembles A LOT of other films actually. Well like I said, the originality of the story is not impressive or anything but what has caught us glued to our seats is the sincerity we feel from the crew who made the film (i.e. not like "cincai" made just to earn money from us, the people).

P.S. Individuals views/comments are respected.

Trip to Kelantan

Sharing some pictures from my trip to Kelantan...

...

...

...

According to Mr. Chin, this is some famous landmark in Kelantan...

Driving...

PAS !!!

The street of Kota Bharu... SO MANY Selangor / Kuala Lumpur cars !!!

Went to eat this beef noodles in Kota Bharu town. DELICIOUS !!!

But quite expensive.

RM 4.00

Almost same as price in KL area...

Got dry noodles also. Dry ones are more expensive by 50 cents.

With soup...

KB Mall !!! Haha...

Erm... that's all the pictures I took.

Ya ya I know it's not many.

Because it was raining cats and dogs 24 hours a day.

Couldn't go anywhere even if I want to.

Never mind la.

Next time still got chance.

=)

Lament 2

There are things that you may want to change
But which you can't
There are other things that you can change
But which you choose not to
i'm confused as to which category i should put it in
my temper
my terrible, terrible temper

i try to be optimistic
But i'm positive that bad things would happen
And when it really did
i blame it on my intuition, and how unfair the world can be
And i was glad that i prepared myself for the worst
It's just like process design
You always have to consider the worst case scenario
The highest blowdown rate, the highest relief rate, the biggest vessel size...
 

Deep down i know this would lead me to doom
i would eventually end up in hell
The deepest, darkest side of the world
So what am i doing now?

Dream No. 2

What lay beneath my feet is a newly-paved tar road. The kind that is smooth with dark, black colour. I'm standing near the bottom of a hill. Not far from where I am, at the foot of the hill, there's a pool of murky water. I must stay far from the water, I think. Thus I begin walking uphill, slowly at first, then faster.

But it's like running up an escalator, only the escalator is moving downwards, bringing me nearer to the pool of murky water. It's as if the ground beneath my feet has a life of its own and it's moving. The faster I run, the nearer I am to the murky water. Panic overtakes me. I can't stop, can't even stop for breathe. But strange enough, I'm not out of breathe at all, not even close.

As I'm about to give up, a person comes to me. Who is he? Do I know him? "Don't run too fast," he says.

I slow down. "Here, walk with me," he says to me again.

So we walk side by side, slowly, consistently. "The faster you walk, the faster you will be downhill," he says.

Before I even know it, we are already at the top of the hill... and I woke up.

Me : That's it. That's all. It's all I can remember. The rest I've forgotten. There's something else before this scene about a singing competition or something. Totally weird.
Chin : This is a very inspiring dream.
Me : Huh? It seems pointless and meaningless to me.
Chin : It's a message about your career path. I know it's been troubling you in some way. See, the faster you want to climb up the hill, the slower your progress. But if you take it slowly and naturally, you'll eventually end up at the top.
Me : Ooooooooooo... Yeah... Now it makes sense.
Chin : And the person who appeared in your dream, that must be me, rescueing you from your misery.
Me : No it's not.
Chin : Yes it must be.
Me : Please be rest assured that it isn't.
Chin : ...

Coffee Ritual

It's been a long long time since I've eaten some nice food. And I mean, NICE food. Went to this place near Digital Mall, Petaling Jaya. Good environment, friendly waiters, and most importantly, DELICIOUS food. =)

...

...

...

Coffee Ritual

35, Jalan 14/20, Section 14, 46100 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

03-79561080

http://www.coffeeritual.com/

Monday to Saturday: 10.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m.

Sunday and Public Holiday: 9.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m.

Location: opposite of Digital Mall

...

...

...

Upon entering the restaurant, the smell of coffee bean filled the air.

They have a series of coffee brewer collection.

(Forgive the blur-ness. Mr. Chin forgot to switch the camera mode. Unlike me, He's neither a professional photographer nor a professional blogger.)

...

Feeling ashamed and refusing to show his face due to the blur-ness of picture took.

...

ENOUGH OF CRAP !!!

The main objective of this post is to introduce the FOOD !!!

Mr. Chin ordered a 3 course meal set. For starter, he had a carrot soup.

Totally irresistibly delicious. *dreamy*

...

Bread to go with the soup.

When dipped into the soup, what can I say? Perfect combination. And most importantly the bread was steamy hot. The butter melted completely when spreaded on it.

...

Mr. Chin's... erm... Forgot what's this... Had to add RM2 on top of the price of the set meal.

...

Of all things, Mr. Chin ordered a nasi lemak with curry chicken set. Awkwardly goes with western style appetizer, dessert, and coffee.

The nasi lemak is just okay.

...

Curry chicken looked delicious. Though the potatoes were a bit too hard. Probably because this dish was not ready by the time we got there. It was supposed to be a lunch set but we ordered at 11:30 a.m.

Nevertheless I kind of like it.

...

For dessert, we had plain crepe (how do you pronounce this word?) with vanila flavoured ice cream. This is quite expensive cause had to add RM5 on top of the price of the set meal.

But I feel it's certainly worth its price. One taste of the ice cream and another of the cream I could tell those were quality stuffs. Superb !!!

...

The set lunch costs RM25.60.

...

This is my cuppocino. =)

...

Turkey toast crepe.

There was ham inside. And the sauce tasted black pepper. Don't be fooled by its small portion. This dish is actually quite filling. =)

...

This breakfast set costs RM13.60.

...

Many strange-looking coffee brewer arranged everywhere in the restaurant.

...

And their brand name or manufacturer's name is Tiamo, which means "I love you" in Spanish, isn't it? Haha...

...

When we were looking the restaurant owner (I think he's the restaurant owner) kindly explained to us the function of the equipments.

There was this tall thing that resembled the titration process we learnt back in high school. The owner told us it was to make iced coffee.

...

Coincidently the owner was making some that time. The top flask was filled with ice and its bottom was equiped with this titration thingy that allows the liquid to flow drop-by-drop into the middle flask which was filled with coffee powder.

...

We were told they need 8 hours to fill up the bottom flask. And this was still off the menu. =)

...

No idea what this is.

...

May I say that, this place is totally worth going. And totally can try this out sometime.

...

Am planning to bring Wu Shin'n, SukTeng or ShinTien there whenever they come visit. I'm sure they'll like the food.

叠叠思 (Layers of Thoughts)

A friend of mine wrote a poem.

悄然回首，锦瑟华年谁与度，数秋逍遥梦，斩尽千丝愁；
还此世，千生随，对影形单望相护，秋雾凉风冬雾雪，只羡鸳鸯不羡仙。

For the benefit of those who can't understand or read Chinese, here's the translation:

Looking back,
I wonder who had you spent your youth with,
You had been alone for the past few years,
So now please forget about the worries from the past;
At this moment,
I will follow you for the rest of our lives,
We will be there for each other and take care of each other,
Spring will past and so will winter,
Envying the lovers and not the fairies. The lovers are more to be regard with envy than the fairies.

Oh my God, my terrible terrible translation... Please understand that I've tried my best, especially the last line, as I myself don't hundred percent understand the poem. And to the anonymous author*, please don't kill me...

As far as my understanding goes, basically the poem is about this guy telling his beloved that she should forget about the worries and unhappiness from her past. He understands that she had been alone and unhappy. But now, she has him. He's promising her that they'll be together forever. And they'll look out for each other, for years and years to come. So why would they want to be fairies** when they have each other to spend the rest of their lives with?

It's amazing how a few Chinese words can create a beautiful picture. Its  meaning is only limited to one's imagination.

Notes:
*The author of this poem wishes to remain anonymous.
**In Chinese belief, the fairies live... erm... luxuriously, carefree and they're immortal.

Walk For World Pink - Epilogue

A quick post for sharing. Went to claim my hamper (worth RM500) from Estee Lauder's office (in Mid Valley) today!!! Yeay I'm so excited!!! Couldn't wait to open this hamper.

The lady apologized for the packaging. Haha... Said that they had to transfer it back from KL Tower to the office. That's not really a problem to me. What's important is inside...

It has my name on it. Actually I was supposed to bring the receipt to be eligible for the claim but I told them I threw it away and asked if I can tell them my IC number instead. They said OK. So lucky. =)

Sean John perfume for men. I assumed it's for men cause I remember I've read somewhere that Sean John is a men's perfume brand. (Forgive the bad photo taking skill.)

Unforgivable... What a cool name for a perfume. I mean, it's better than J'adore (which means "I love" in French, it's not so cool once you understand it's meaning...) etc. etc., isn't it? The guy's perfume smells better than this one actually.

Lotion for women. According to my mom, the perfume smell stays longer if you apply lotion after the perfume. Will try it out.

Yup, that's about it I wanna share. =)

p/s: The blogspot photo uploader has been upgraded. It's more user friendly now. Will use it more frequently. Hmm... And it has additional function too. Will check them out later. =)

Lament 1

I had no idea how lonely one can feel despite many people are standing by and accompanying him. Until now.

p.s. I suddenly realize I lament so much that I should have them numbered. Thus the title.

Walk For World Pink

ATTENTION !!! THESE ARE NOT COUPLE T-SHIRTS !!!

Yup !!! We went to this event. Organized by Estee Lauder and some very famous brands. =) It's a breast cancer awareness thingy. The theme is, of course, pink. And the T-shirts are given, that's why all of us were wearing it.

Date : 3rd October 2009
Time : 5:30 p.m.
Venue : KL tower
Walk Distance : 3.9 km
Fees : RM30 (not inclusive of RM3 processing fees if paid online)
Objective : To raise breast cancer awareness
Reasons to invest RM30 : free T-shirt, goodie bag worth RM100, all-you-can-eat cereal + milk and milo... Wakakakakakaka...

YES !!! 3.9 km !!! We were supposed to walk 3.9 km around KL tower.


While waiting for the walk to start...

Notice my stiffness/numbness when taking pictures...

A sea of pink...

Yes, we learnt how to check for breast cancer...

Even Mix fm was there. They were distributing Estee Lauder perfume samples. I got one !!!

Who is this Mix fm deejay ???

The walk is about to start...

Are you ready ???!!!

Get, set, GO !!!

Pink people, rush forward !!!

On our way we passed by Hard Rock Hotel. Even Hard Rock is promoting breast cancer awareness. So cute !!!

Finally finished the loooooooooong walk... The sky was already dark...

Wanna go Luna Bar (on the roof of Pan Global building) !!!

Illuminated KL tower...

We've got goodie bags as reward for finishing the walk. I've got this Estee Lauder night essence thingy for preventing aging. I guess I should start now. *scared* I checked online and it's worth RM100.

Mr. Chin got this. And of course he doesn't need them so they're mine.

We finished the walk at about 7:50 p.m. There was a lucky draw at about 8:30 p.m. but because Manyee wanted to go back to Seremban so she can't stay too late. So all of us walked with her back to her car and initially we planned to go back for the lucky draw. But tiredness and hunger got better hold of us so we decided to go to KLCC for dinner instead. HAHA !!!

And then today, an amazing thing happened !!! I got a call from Estee Lauder and they told me I won a lucky draw that day !!! I was so surprised. I mean, if they don't get anyone onstage to claim the prize wouldn't they just re-draw it? Well I guess in this case they didn't. And they asked me to go claim the prize. It's a hamper from Sean John (forgive my ignorance but what brand is that?) worth RM500. But because I was to claim it from the Estee Lauder office so they're only available on weekdays office hour. Am wondering what should I do. Probably will go on 16th October since my company is giving that day off due to Deepavali celebration. Yeay!!! So lucky right? =)

Total investment : RM33 + RM33 = RM66
Goodie bag : RM100 + RM100 = RM200
Perfume sample : RM20 (approximately)
Lucky draw : RM500
Having to spend quality time with good friends : priceless