Friday, July 28, 2006

One Wedding and A Funeral

Two souls,
Shared a lifetime together.
Him bedridden for months,
and she spent her time caring for him.
Suddenly she went away,
leaving him sobbing on his bed.
Nothing we ever say will make it better for him.
We tell him to redha, but he just sobs even more.
All we can do is pray for him to be strong for his loss,
and remind him that it is all in God's fate that she had to go first.
The First Wedding will take place as scheduled,
a mother lost, a daughter gained.
And the world keeps spinning,
as we little beings struggle to deal with our emotions.

May Allah bless your soul, nenek.
Sabarlah atuk.

Al-fatihah.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

home sweet home

arrived home on Saturday to a busy household buzzing with wedding activities. as soon as I stepped through the door, i felt like flying back to Bangkok so I could crawl under my blanket in my big, lonely hotel room. Am not a very big fan of Chaos.

anyway, 2 events down, 1 to go.

i still got a speech to write. dah start panic!

ta.

Friday, July 21, 2006

finito...!

For now. Will be back here again in 2 weeks' time to do the other module.

Went straight to Devarana Spa after my class was dismissed. Absolutely fabuloso, though it was a bit too much indulgence on my part (especially the credit card). But hey, I have to look decent for the First Wedding...which happens to be on Sunday morning. Walking along the polluted streets in Bangkok certainly isn't helping my skin condition. :-)

Am chilling (by myself, boohoo) at the Suan-Lum night bazaar. Attempted to walk around the maze of stalls and gave up after about 15 minutes. My Thai counterparts here say that this market is more organized than Chatuchak. Yeugh, I won't even bother doing the touristy Chatuchak bit tomorrow. Sounds to cumbersome and sweaty...just not my cup of tea. Plus who needs to buy more than two handbags and trinkets at one go? Certainly not me.

So I'm now waiting for my grilled squid at a nearby joint similar to Hartamas Square, while sipping on Thai iced tea. I guess here they just call it Iced Tea, hehe...but it tastes so bloody good. Am going for a second glass later. There's an awful band performing on stage, not worth listening to, but at least it's giving me something to look at.

Can't wait to get back home. Where on earth is my food now! I'm starving!!

La gorn kaa!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Continuous Improvement...

...my ass. My big, big, fat ass.

Seems that my mock exam grades are getting lower by the day. Started with a decent 16/20, then 13/20 and today...10/20! Bugger...It's quite obvious that the weaker the processes are in my real working environment, the less i understand it, and the less points i get when answering a question. Although my average is right smack on the Distinction cut-off of 65%, i think i'm already bordering on dangerous grounds. Passing rate is 50%, but i'm just want to be a super-kiasu and aim high.

OK enough exam talk. I've been in Bangkok for 5 days, and only today I managed to taste of the Thai tomyam. Maybe i went to the wrong restaurant. Should have expected that the food isn't superb when i see westerners eating there. I prefer Viccuda anytime compared to the bland Tom Yam i had just now. Although the prawn fried with onions and garlic was pretty awesome. mm...

Ok enough dilly-dallying. No more walking about wasting time for me tonight. Got a 3-hour mock exam tomorrow, so I better put some work into it. Wish me luck.

La gorn kaa!

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

homesick...

counting my days to go home. 3 more days.

i'm a geek. i'm at a cyber cafe reading Configuration Management stuff.

ick.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Made in Thailand


A picture I took while wandering around looking for dinner last night.

Class today was ok, i managed to do the mock questions pretty well. according to the instructor's grading level, with the score i got, i should be standing up there giving the training. Muhahahaha...cheeewah...eksyen gila!

Anyway, I was shopping around Patpong just now looking for those Thai pants (yang ikat2 belit2 tu), haggling with the vendor to sell them to me for BHT220 instead of BHT230. Then i realized i was haggling over RM1.00..shit. hahahha. Will not do that again tomorrow. But i think i'm done shopping here for the week.

Almost 10pm. need to get back, take a shower and scrub myself clean. Bangkok is one hell of a polluted city...yuck! I was at CentreWorld or something like that, and it was like a haze attack inside the building. I immediately ran for the Exit.

La gorn kaa!

Monday, July 17, 2006

Bangkok Day 1

Training ok. Nothing new other than formalizing what i've learned so far in real-life. Doing discussion work with a bunch of Thais are most frustrating. Yea...carry on...speak in your own language. Don't worry about me who can't understand a single word that's being said, except for Kap khun, sawatdee and chai, chai (yes). Ugh.

Bangkok is a total bore when you're on your own and when the training requires you to do reading and coursework at night.

When i get my masters certification...siap lah...Muahahhahaa....!

Tata..

Sawatdee kaa...

At the point i'm writing this, i'm having my dinner at the hotel sky restaurant. The seabass i'm attempting to finish could easily feed a family of four back home. I'm stuffing myself with coriander like nobody's business. Yummy!

Arrived in Bangkok around 5.30pm today, the first of a series of trips i have to make here over the next 3 months. My hotel room is too big for one person. It's nice, but there's a dingy quality about it. Cigarette stench from poor ventilation, condom packs (unopened laa...) etc. Hehe.

I start my training tomorrow morning at Dusit Thani. A whole week of it, on my way to becoming the Jedi master of ITIL.

OK, i'm going to finish my seabass and go back to my room to study the Bangkok map. Boy, am i missing T a whole lot. But i'm here to pursue my dreams (as a process consultant? haha..) so i better put my mind to it.

Will post pictures when i get back. If i can find the time to take any, that is.

La gorn kaa..!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Day +365

I just realized that today is my one year anniversary post transplant. Alhamdulillah.

I want to celebrate, but I'm stuck at home with no car (rosak lagi), reading my ITIL book. So I ordered dinner from Room Service Delivery and ate on my own in my room. But that was before i realized it's Day +365, so I guess that doesn't count. Maybe I'll celebrate when I'm by myself in Bangkok next week. Heh.

Thank you mama, ayah, brothers, doctors, family and friends. Sometimes people (a.k.a. me) dwell in the things they have lost that they forget that there are things around them that keep them going.

Times flies, doesn't it? Everybody at home is now too busy preparing for the First Wedding. Here's to good health, and another 365 days..yay!

Cheers!

Monday, July 10, 2006

Italia



Italia has won the Germany 2006 World Cup. Between nodding off and waking up again, I missed Zidane's headbutt. I'm extremely happy that Italy won, but not too extreme-lah, because it's not like i played. So chill lah..hehe.

Yahoo! The World Cup is finally over, so I think tomorrow we can expect the Hot.fm DJs to stop naming themselves after soccer players. Which means I can go back to listening to their annoying banter in the mornings...(lagu dia sedap!)

Btw, Zidane's penalty was absolutely awesome! And Inzaghi still looks hot as ever. hehe.

Ok la..nak tido sat. Cau.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Baby

Test shots of Baby, shot with a Nikon 50mm f/1.8D lens. huhuuu!



for more test shots, visit my fotopages.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

The First Wedding

We are ramping up the activities as the date closes in. Not that I get myself involved that much. It's the first wedding for my mum, and all i'm worried about is what i'm going to wear. Bwahaha!

My little contribution consist of preparing dad's speech and my own. I used to be good at writing emo speeches. I think i've lost my mojo. Need to interview the groom a.s.a.p.

Things are well, healthwise. I can't seem to stop munching on junk food these days. Gotta stay slim for The First Wedding. Measurements have been taken...can't afford to have fat bulging out of my baju during the function(s).

Why am I sounding like a shallow biarch?

Perhaps because I've been worrying all afternoon about how much I will get charged by my mechanic this time. I shouldn't have told the mechanic to "service the banana boat, and fix whatever that needs to be fixed." I hope he heard me adding at the end, "if anything gets too expensive call me first."

Or perhaps it's because I'm going through something so exciting right now but i can't really share, so I divert to silly wishy washy stories like the wedding and my car. Everything's fine, don't worry. :-) Life is fine, work is fine, health is fine.

Ciao. My ride home is here.

ps: can somebody call Fifa and ask whether they could have the ITA-GER game on Friday instead of Thursday? next day working day la...susah betul..heh.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Baju Kurung Blues

I'm finally ready to go, after scouring my mother's and my own wardrobe for a baju kurung to wear to my boarding school friend's wedding.

Those big shoulder pads didn't seem much of a problem when I had long hair...but now they all make me look like a rugby player with a small head.

After half an hour, my mother brought out a pair that was folded. I tried it on, and although still a bit big, it is the best among the other ones i tried.

Yes, I'm wearing my baju kurung prep. To a boarding school mate's wedding. Hope nobody notices.

ta!