Coffee Break

Yesterday night, I went to Starbucks to yum cha with a friend. Initially we went to Coffee Bean but as the outlet was having water problems, we adjourned to the nearest Starbucks. See, didn't fancy having nowhere to pee when nature calls. Actually, between Coffee Bean and Starbucks, i prefer Coffee Bean's coffee. Still thinks Starbucks coffee is a tad sweet for my taste buds. However, I see most people seemed to prefer Starbucks. Maybe it's cos they have wi-fi?

Anyways, noticed that a lot of people goto Starbucks with their laptops in front of them, making full use of the wi-fi facility (and oso electricity!). Some were with friends, mostly solo with laptops. What i don't get is how those people who bring each of their laptops can share the same table? I mean what's the point? After all both of them just stared at their own laptops wat...Curious, I peeped into some of their laptops to see what they were doing.

Some were actually playing games (appalled!!), some were surfing the net (god knows what websites, probably not porn cos they are in public!), the one next to me was on chat i think cos every now and then i hear a 'ding ding' sound coming from behind my shoulders!! Hmmm....I think it's a very good marketing ploy...offering free wi-fi service. I mean everyone who goes there are most likely to drink at least 1 cup of coffee right? How much does the wi-fi costs? Probably 10 cups of coffee should cover it? See, nothing in this world is free! There's always a catch somewhere...Made me regret not bringing my laptop...uh-huhhh..

Gym Bunny

Ho hum...today i went for freestyle steps. This was my 2nd time and i felt a sense of achievement as i was able to follow most of it. (although the steps seemed much easier today compared to last week) The class was really full (unbelievably so since the instructor also commented that he was surprised at the crowd!) and as i was late, i had no choice but to stand at a miserable corner, where i can't even see the instructor! The lady in front of me sometimes like to do her own thang so i get confused when i tried to follow her and lose my focus...so, i reckon, freestyle steps is really very much a solo thingy...once you lose focus and follow the person in front of you...Wham! you will end up looking like a lost lamb!

Next, i did BP. I took lighter weights than usual since i knew i was going for another class after this. Yeah, really ambitious...this was in a bid to lose some weight before i attend an upcoming wedding! It doesn't seem to be working though i have been going for a lot more back-to-back classes...maybe the fact that i'm still eating like a glutton contributes to the fact..ok, must cut down on food in take. Boy, talking about food makes me hungry now...noticed that we always get hungry once it's past midnight? i wonder why...

Next i did yoga. Today's class was really advanced and it's either i couldn't do a lot of the poses or my limbs were shaking...a lot! And i was sweating like a pig! Which was good...drip, drip, drip, uggghhh...drop down...drip, drip, drip, ughhhh, stretch!! My left and right neighbours were regulars and attempted to try the 'challenging' poses that the instructor did. I tried too but very easily gave up! Hey, i just did 2 classes! I'm tired!! Snigger...Oh, i also did 10 minutes of high-impact..emphasized...high-impact BA! before yoga so it's understandable...after all, i reckon i'm not Hercules wat...hehehehehe

After gym-ing, was famished!! But still spent like an hour cooling off and yakking! By the time i ate, it was around 4 plus so had to eat something light. If i ate too full, it'll spoil my dinner upon which i'll get nagged again! Hmmm, ate some mini buns and bought more bread...

There seems to be bread shops mushrooming in recent times. And those bread are not cheap! Friend recommended a newly opened bread shop in a mall so we went to have a look after "lunch". Noticed that the breads also come in fanciful names nowadays, which i guess is to grab the customers attention and induced them to buy. Today, i spotted one which is called "Good Boy"....hahahaha...filling is cream or something...i bought a "Brokeback Mountain"...which had chicken floss filling with cucumber stuffed inside...i wonder why it's so named...?? Snigger..Then i also got one which is called Alishan Mountain or something...yeah, i do have a thing for mountains i guess....Nah, i just love chicken floss...hehehehe...:D

Car Wash

I don't like washing the car...oh, okie, okie actually i'm just too lazy to wash the car. Well, who in their right mind actually likes washing the car?? or washing anything for that matter?? Except maybe the car-washer?? Hmmm... After gallivanting to the morning market, i stopped by the neighbourhood carwash and sent my car to be cleaned. Uh-huh-huh...I can't even remember the last time i washed it. What will take them probably half an hour to wash the car would probably take me like half a day so i reckon why not just pay them to do it while i shake legs and watched them instead, right. Well, of course otherwise there wouldn't be so many car wash in business. So, i sat down and while waiting for them to finish the carwash, i did my sudoku. I mean, might as well boost some brain power instead of idling, ya....see, my new hobbies will usually lasts me at least 3 days! muahahaha...

Anyways, the boss sat down beside me and started chatting. Me, not wanting to be seen impolite layan him a bit lar. But when he started interogatting me and told me that he recognised me cos i always pumped petrol at the petrol station and knew i stayed nearby, it gave me the creeps! But i told myself to relax...he's probably being sociable and friendly. When he produced his namecard to me and told me that he also has other 'businesses', my suspicions were confirmed. Haiya, tu orang trying to network lar....aisehhhh

An Apple a day keeps the doc away!

Whoa, i finally visited the doc yesterday! Head was really heavy in the morning and i was feeling really lousy and the thought that i had to go work again made me even more 'sickly' so i decided to visit the doc and get an mc for the day. (though have to confess that it was probably also due to hanging out late at the mamak late yesterday night had something to do with it...) After all, i figured it was only for half a day so i reckon my boss wouldn't miss me that much, ya. Anyhow, it was not like i take a lot of mcs too. (an angel comes to mind!!! hehehe) So, off i went to the nearest panel doc and hoped that i wouldn't need to wait for more than half an hour like the previous time that i went! Which is why i dread going to see the doc, that and taking the med of course...Usually, when i get the med, i'll take it religiously for the first 3 days, after which i'll just let nature take its course and let my illness heal by itself.

When the doc heard that i had been sick for 2 weeks already, she voluntarily blamed it on the haze!!! Hahaha...lucky me! She told me to wear a mask next time when i go out which i nodded my head in agreement but secretly thinking...yeah, rite, like i'm going to wear a mask out, looked like an alien and become a laughing stock!! Not in a million years or at least unless the haze was so bad that i had no choice!!! Suddenly noticed that the doc was sniffling as well and had a runny nose....hmmm, in my mind was beginning to doubt her doctoring abilities....Anyways, I got the mc for the day (hurray!) and immediately felt better! Noticed how miraculously we seemed to 'recover' at the thought of getting off work for the day! chuckle...And so, instead of going straight home to take the med, i decided to go to the local dvd shop to get some dvds since it meant no gym-ing for the day so i will become a couch potato instead!!!

Unfortunately, the dvd shop was not opened...hmmm, but there was a pasar pagi nearby wor. So, being gatal, i went to jalan-jalan in the market instead and hoped maybe to grab some grub along the way. As i traipsed through the market, a lot of dead ducks, chicken and fish and wat-nots stared at me from the stalls...oh, right, there is also the stench!! uggghhh...drat, now i know why i don't fancy going to wet markets!!! When i was younger, i followed my aunt to the wet market and the experience wasn't urm put it this way...that memorable lar! The first few times i went willingly cos i was curious, after that it was an absolute No, No, No....

Right, after passing the poultry section, i saw some people buying fried 'yau char kuey' and suddenly craved for it. Hmmm, noticed that we always craved for food that are bad for us and especially when we were told not to eat them? Waiting patiently in line for my turn, there was this aunty who suddenly just barged in front of me and started picking all the fried stuff that she wanted including the ones that i've set my eyes on. Hey, aunty got manners or not ar? Eyes rolling in disgust...i consoled myself that civilised people like me do not fight with these uncouth people. After the yau char kuey seller tah pau the rude aunty punya pack, she layan me. Munching happily on my "fries fatty breakfast", i spotted a dvd seller! Hurray! All is not lost after all...hehehe...hmmm, do you know that they actually sell tvb serials too nowadays besides the usual korean and english tv serials and boy, are they cheaper than renting it...and the shiok part is 1 dvd has many chapters!!! Talk about a lazy couch potato's dream come true!!! So, i quickly rushed home, take my med and proceeded to watch my newly bought dvd...so much so that i actually got a headache from watching too much tv!!:D

The Roots of it...

I am a Hainanese by default. That is cos my dad is a Hainanese and mum is a Hakka but as we all know, we usually follow our paternal side, bloodline, surname and wat-nots. Unfortunately, I think the Hainanese dialect is dying. Most of my cousins either don’t speak or don’t know the dialect at all, like me. Snigger. It’s not that I am renouncing my roots but the dialect itself is not easy to learn. Heck, it’s not even comprehensible. Unlike Hokkien, which I can still decipher some parts or try to make a good guess.

There was once where my family had dinner with my grandaunt. She speaks limited Cantonese and usually conversed in hainanese with my dad. So as usual, me just sat there and ate like a glutton and tuned off since I don’t understand a word that they were saying. At one point, my dad nudged me and chided me for being rude as my grandaunt was talking to me and I just looked at my food and continued eating making her looked like a dungu! Hey, it’s not like I pretended not to hear her but I didn’t even know she was talking to me mah!

People often tell me that the “pure-bred” Hainanese guys are very good-looking. I don’t know how true this is since my brother and my cousins are all rojak already! However, i did come across some really good-looking guys before, whether they are Hainanese guys i don't know...Hehehe...Of course the other myth that 9 out of 10 hainanese are wacko, and the last one is crazy, I can’t confirm either since I am not a “pure-bred”….(probably in denial here too) since i can't admit to being urm, sane...hahahaha

I spent the first few years of my childhood with my aunt, who is my mum’s sister so I can understand Hakka, most of it anyway and used to be able to speak the dialect but since it’s been many moons since I last conversed in it, I doubt I can still claim to be able to speak the dialect now. It’s funny but I have always thought that the Hakka people are really gregarious by nature and they conversed very loudly as though they were having a shouting match!! Hahahaha...let’s not even talk about when they were playing mahjong!! When I speak to my aunt on the phone, I make sure I hold the phone at least 2 inches away from my face!

Kiddie Tales

I love my childhood. I reckon it was the happiest time of my life…those were the carefree days, where you only need to think which tv programs to watch each day once you wake up! No need to go work, no need to do housework, no need to exercise, just laze around, watch tv, eat, sleep, watch tv again, eat, sleep and there goes the whole day. Of course, this probably went on till kindergarden, where I played for another 2 years! The memories are getting a little hazy, all I can remember from my kindergarden years was that I used to play this kiddy game of ‘masak masak’ where we just threw some stuff onto the small plastic kuali and pretended that we were great chefs and cooked some really fancy stuff! Oh, I also learned how to climb trees here as I was mixing with the boys. At home, when I was old enough to discover fire and matches, I used to collect all those dried dead leaves, gathered them in a heap and burned them…like what they do at campfires…even plucked my own hair to burn before. Did you know that when our hair gets burnt, it emits a nasty smell? It smells like plastic burning…..

I was very close to my sister when we were younger, probably cos there was only a 2 year gap between us and we went to the same school. So, I was her little tag-along, everywhere she goes, I go too, whether it was school, tuition, shopping or parties. And I had to wear her hand-me-down clothes as well! That was the not very nice part. Or else, we wore identical clothes so a lot of people thought we were twins. Our parents usually bought us the same tops, albeit in different colours and as we shared the same wardrobe, sometimes we kinda get confused which belongs to who. Anyways, there was this particular top that both of us had. One was pink and the other was yellow. We spent god knows how many hours arguing over the pink top belonging to whom. In the end, my sister produced an old photo which had both of us wearing the 2 tops to prove her point. Hahahaha…that was hilarious!

We also shared the same room when we were young and as I was the talkative one, we used to talk every night before we go to sleep. Of course, I was doing the talking mostly, and sometimes, I would end up just talking to myself when I hear the snoring sound next to me!!! That is when I started keeping diaries to pen down all my thoughts and dreams when my sister became too busy to listen to me. I supposed that's where i get my literary flair (or literal crap) depends how you see it...

I used to have vivid and surreal dreams. Mostly, it doesn’t seem to make sense but I penned it down anyway. One day, I chanced upon my sister’s diary. As usual, curiosity killed the cat, so I read her diary and even wrote some comments inside! Hahahaha…when my sister found out, she didn’t scold me but replied on my comments and told me not to read her diary anymore! I offered my diary for her to read in return but she refused as she knew I have told her whatever I wrote in my diary already! :D

Sick Cat

Oh great, now my flu virus has mutated…so now instead of a runny nose, I have a blocked nose!!! Right now, I am alternating between breathing like Darth Vader or opening and closing the mouth like goldie the goldfish…(mumbling incomprehensibly)…I still find it hard to wake up this morning as my body seemed to have grown some roots and strapped itself to the bed…well, the truth is, actually, my body is still aching. I should really visit the masseuse before my arms and legs detached themselves in protest! Yesterday afternoon, I was determined to skip gym for the day and go shopping instead, in a desperate attempt to prove to my friends and (myself) that I have a life besides gym. However, come evening, I was “swayed” into going to the gym again! Sigh! What can I say? I’m a softie who is easily persuadable… And just now, my colleague just told me that I looked very ‘charn’ and sick cat today…Ouch! That really makes me feel on top of the world right now!...not….Hmmm, to see or not to see…that is the question? The doc, I mean…oh well, will see how it goes by nightfall perhaps…*sniggering and snorting*…

After gym-ing yesterday, we had a little fiesta not unlike a pot-luck thingy though the food was provided by one person only! Well, there goes my resolve into abstaining food after gym…again! Had some lemang, curry and rendang chicken (which I love and which I also know is very fattening) Anyways, I reasoned I did the entire class and I didn’t slack too much (which is a denial statement to console myself cos I did slack due to knee pain), so I can afford to indulge a little…oh, the cookies were heavenly (not sure whether it was cos I was hungry or otherwise)…very buttery and stuff…like M & Ms, they just melt in the mouth (before it has the opportunity to melt in my hands, I may add) hahahahaha… One of the gym members was busy helping himself to some ketupat (most of it in fact) and I chided him for being such a cheapskate and treating the ‘little makan’ as his dinner!! Now, I know why I love going to gym so much…mostly, it’s the “company” and friends that we love to gather (and gossip about other people) after exercising. Of course, the exercise itself has to be enjoyable too otherwise I would have given up 3 months down the road…which was what happened to me at my previous gym.

Bean Counter

I’m pretty much a fun-loving person who believes life is simply too short to mull over the trivial things in life. Actually with my vivacious nature, I reckon I’m in the wrong profession. See, when it was time to further my studies, I thought about becoming a psychologist but then my parents banned the idea as they think that there are no job opportunities for this so-called profession or maybe deep down inside, they were just scared that I’ll become wacko!!! (not like I’ve turned out any saner) So, one profession was deleted from my lists.

Next, I thought I should get into the IT line since I love playing pc games so much. I remembered playing pc games since I was 13 and after the games, I could never sleep as my brain was too active and began to think of ways to break my own high scores!!! But, I rationalize since my sis was in the IT line, I decided not to join cos that’ll mean being compared to her again! As if my whole childhood was any different, sigh!

I couldn’t do sales…no let me re-phrase that…I can do sales but it’s just that I hate doing it. The thought of begging or apple-polishing people to buy my products…uggghhhhh….eyes rolling…can’t stand it. See, I’ve done it fleetingly when I was a volunteer in a school thingy and though I managed to sell the stuff in no time at all…it’s just too ‘fake’.( no offence to all the salespeople, ya) So, that narrowed down my choices for a profession. Well, like my tutor used to say, the accounts people are needed in all companies and they are almost always the last to be fired! So, I guess job-security do count after all…at least in my parents eyes…though I must confessed that I actually change my major 3 times while I was in uni!! :D

Any name will do

Why did I choose this nickname? Well, actually there’s no fancy story behind it and neither am I a fan of Ultraviolet (though I secretly aspire to look like Milla Jovovich…nah, just kidding…hehehe). Anyways, it just so happened that I had just watched the movie right before I started posting in a forum and due to lack of creative thinking and imagination, I decided to adopt the name as my nick. On hindsight, the nick is pretty cool as it also means UV rays, which excessive radiation can cause skin cancer though I would like to think of reading too much of my posts will lead to brain damage onli….hahahaha…so beware!! Anyways, you can read more about it from this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet

Post-Hols Blues..

This morning it was hard waking up…mostly, it was cos I didn’t sleep well yesterday night due to my flu, which was getting worse and the fact that my brain was actively thinking of new ideas to blog. Right now, I’m actually contemplating seeing the doc since my flu, which I caught 2 weeks ago in Lumut showed no signs of recovering. It’s really troublesome especially when I’m gym-ing halfway and I get a runny nose, which I then had a choice of letting other people witness it flowing down and my desperate attempts at vacuuming it back to my nose or make a beeline to the locker room which hopefully the instructor didn’t notice, ‘pau my wantans’ ie blow my nose and run back in…hmmm, anyways, between a cough and a cold, I would definitely choose to have the cold…it takes me ages to cure my cough! Well, if the doc asks, I shall blame it on the haze, since the weather has not cleared over the long hols and not due to me not abstaining from cold stuff and heavy gym-ing instead of resting at home….*evil laugh*…

After the long break, the brain is really slow (like the car engine, the brain needs some vroom, vroom time before it slowly picks-up and run smoothly, of course in my case, regardless of whether it’s a 1 day hol or a 1 week hols, I’m still brain dead!!!) and so, I’m sticking to more mundane tasks like checking and casting rather than going into those things which need brainworks at the moment. Gees, am so looking forward to lunchtime now….yeah! been nibbling on my cereals since 10 min ago…which is how I reckon my sore throat never got well, which directly affects my flu of not getting any better…right, who says we need the doc? Bah, I can very well do my own diagnosis…*blowing nose happily*

Kiasu to The Bone!

Boy, oh boy...My first post on my blog...gees, not sure what to write. See, i have always wanted to write my own blog but was stumped on the topic to write on and so have actually procrastinated all this while. Created a blog space some time back but have since forgotten the address...Hahahaha..

During the last few days of the deeparaya hols, was supposed to start writing and do some work which i happily brought home on the pretext of doing it and going off early on friday...snigger...but of course as usual, ended up gym-hopping instead (not to mention killing myself in the process!!) and not doing much of anything basically....So, was supposed to start working just now when i switched on the pc but ended up surfing the net and chatting instead...and now posting on my blog...yeah, like what's new huh?

Alrighty, the Deeparaya hols have been very productive as far as gym-ing is concerned...i have not done so many back-to-back classes for ages and now it's taking an absolute toll on my body! Talk about being kiasu to the bone! Today i did BC and BS (well, half of BS actually since i was in and out of the class mostly) and probably 10 minutes of yoga since i couldn't wake up on time (and also cos the instructor sucks...well, she couldn't make up her mind what to teach, alternating between basic poses to the really advanced poses when she gets a brainwave...eyes rolling!)....so now my knees is hurting like hell due to the over-enthusiasm and excessive combo of BA-BC-BS-BP-Pilates-Yoga over the course of the past 5 days...must curb enthusiasm in future!

On the weekend, i visited Borders and spent a couple of hours browsing through the bookstore. I actually love bookstores and used to loiter in MPH for hours! But the thing about reading in bookstores...i don't get it how people can actually spent hours reading in a bookstore especially when it comes to sitting in an armchair. Mostly, i just end up dozing off and buying the book i was supposedly browsing. So, i was a really dedicated book-reader...no, make that book-buyer (i have tons of books which i thought i needed and will read when i had the time, which of course had not materialise to date) when i was previously working in the thereabouts of a certain shopping mall....heck, i was a dedicated shopper as well....i could practically see my Jusco points rising by the day!! Of course, this has now been curbed ever since i changed jobs and is now located at some god-forsaken place....which was kinda good too, less temptation to shop, less to buy...

Anyways, back to Borders...i bought a novel, a crossword dictionary, a sudoku book (yeah, crazy addicted to it now) and a female mag. So, right now, besides heavily gym-ing, i was waking up and falling asleep with my little sudoku book by my bedside!! Hmmm....i wonder whether my brain power has been boosted these couple of days after doing so many sudokus? hahahaha...yeah, fat hopes right....oh gees, it's coming to 11.00pm...already? What a bummer...have to work tomorrow...ughhhh...drat drat drat.....i hope i can get up!