keh keh keh

Ahhhhhh...

Sometimes one needs to get away. A couple of good friends, a whole bunch of strangers who probably think i'm a weirdo with a camera. it's wonderful to be in a place so remote yet so self-sufficient, where you need not worry about chasing time. all your problems get blown away by the winds from the sea, and you only think about what to eat, then sleep, compose pictures in your head, and try your best to make those shots.

This is the most relaxed, rested and content i've felt in a few months. On the way back from dinner, I reminicsed about the last happiest moment I had - a few months ago in a car that was too small to fit five people. Everybody in the car was talking at the same time, when he looked across at me and mouthed "I love you." I just looked back and smiled, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. :-)

heh. will post some not-so-brilliant photos soon!

Property Matters

I bought an apartment about 4 years ago.

It's finally ready, after about a 630-day delay from the promised delivery date.

So I called the office to arrange for key collection...and guess what?

The officer asked me whether I know the amount that I will be compensated. I said, sure, it's whatever that was stated in the S&P, right?

Wrong.

She quoted me a number. It was about half of what I calculated based on the S&P.

Well, she was nice and all, and told me that if wish not to accept that offer, I can write a letter to so and so, the boss of her department. So I said OK, i will write the letter.

I asked her, "How can your company give just 50% of the agreed amount? Do you think that's fair? Coz I feel cheated!"

She said, "Well, that is what the company can afford to compensate."

Can afford? Can afford? Don't developers have any respect to legal agreements anymore? What is the extra money going to be used for? To maintain that big monster house on top of the hill in Damansara Perdana? Please. Give me a break.

I decided to purchase the unit because I trusted the developer's excellent reputation at the time. And the developer has failed me.

No need for me to mention the developer's name in here. We all know who that company is already. Blood-sucking bunch of monkeys.

3B - Banana Boat Berhantu

Yes widz, if u saw an ugly version of the Fiat, it must be mine. hahaha...I can't respray it right now coz it will destroy my cash flow. hehehe..

Anyway, i was parked somewhere in PJ last night while taking pictures by the roadside. When I finished, I thought I wouldn't be so poyo and decided to leave the camera inside the car before I go see my friends at the mamak.

I tried to lock the car, but I heard the spring go off, and the car didn't lock properly. I tried to turn the key again, on both doors, and the same thing happened.

So after 5 minutes of unsuccessfully trying to lock the car, I decided to just take the camera with me and leave the car unlocked. After taking the camera out, I tried to lock the car again, just in case. And guess what, IT WORKED!

Maybe the banana boat was trying to protect me. Dayemm the thing's got a soul, don't you think?!

(i love u darlinnggg) hehehe.

Panning memanning...

after standing for 15 minutes by the LDP, jadi jugak akhirnya... :-)

deer..or something

171 shots at the National Zoo, and I think this was my only good one. I wish there was more contrast between the deer and the background.

mari kita sama-sama laungkan...

...merdeka!!!

...merdeka!!!

...merdeka!!!

after almost 4 months of thinking about not much else other than ITIL ITIL ITIL, i finally finished the 2nd paper today. it wasn't bad. in fact it was easier than the 1st paper. I walked out with a smile, silently praying for a pass.

now I wait. for the results.

if I get distinctions for both papers, i will buy everybody on the floor a cake. hehe...

what now?

finishing my long overdue MBA. the class last night was as expected, lots of work. I must say, for an instructor who claims to be a marketing specialist, he doesn't market his class very well. 4 students registered. 2 iranian ladies, a russian boy and myself. russian boy kinda cute (lari topic sekejap). and one of the first few things he said in class was, "make sure you don't make dates with your boyfriend or girlfriend on Monday nights because my classes end well beyond 9.30pm."

whatever laa dude...nyampah aku.

and for a guy who seems to portray himself as a perfectionist, he sure got spelling mistakes all over his slides. come on man, "paragraph" is not spelled as "paragrapg" and "journal" is not spelled as "jouranl"!!! kerja orang nak quality, kerja sendiri check dulu lah woi..ugh..10 points or nothing konon. blah lah. and then he said to me, "you think you're so smart, right?" maybe i am smart. so?

hehe sorry. emo sikit. i get a bit emotional when i see spelling errors. especially when they are splashed all over presentation slides. sheesh!!

here's one I found while sifting through the slides:
"How would you suggest Internet baking as a solution to the consumer problem?"

Internet baking? Internet baking????

i am sooo going to fix all those errors before i print the slides out.

ok la. relax first tonight. PS2 time! tata!

backyard safari

i found myself doing a backyard safari at my grandparents' house during the long raya break.

a hungry cat we call Milo, and a giant baby biawak.

yawn

i am tired

- less than 24 hours till my ITIL thang is over and done with.
- what to do after i finish tomorrow.
- where did i put my D50 eh?
- this library is the worst library on the planet.
- shit the marketing class is in 20 minutes.
- i better go.

ta! wish me luck.

argh pt 3

i was driving back from cyberjaya (yes, to fill up the form) and these thoughts were in my mind:

- when I could get the keropok lekor from Lan
- SLM terms and their meanings: service catalog, service level agreements, SL requirements, etc etc
- expanded incident lifecycle
- my mba class which is resuming on Monday
- if i'll ever be able to reach Cyberjaya by 6pm every monday and thursday
- T and myself and the whole situation we're both in at the mo'
- what to have for dinner
- maybe i should head back to KLCC and have dinner with some friends
- if i'll ever manage to study tonight, and keep my hands off the PS2 controller
- if i passed the Service Support paper last two weeks

when suddenly the mobile phone rang. i looked down for a split second to see who's calling when

BAMMMM!!!!!!

i knocked the car in front of me.

nice one Nadd. reaaaal nice.

now the banana boat looks like a rotten banana.

I'm ok though. The proton saga i hit went off unscathed.

maybe i shouldn't kutuk the banana boat so much. (i luv u darling..hehehe)

argh pt 2

dang.

I have to go all the way to Cyberjaya tomorrow to fill in an add/drop form at a certain school's MBA center.

The officer emailed me to ask me to come over and fill in the form.

I told her to email the soft copy to me so I can fill it up and fax it to them...since driving to Cyberjaya to fill in a form is a bit moronic from my point of view.

She said, sorry..they don't have a soft copy of the form.

ok...what kind of university calls itself the Multimedia University and do not have the soft copy of a form?? now registering for my classes will cost me about 25 bucks for gas and 1 hour on the road instead of 0 cent and 5 minutes of my time.

talk about cost inefficiency. bargh.

argh

sometimes u get yourself stuck between two people who have such strong feelings towards each other.

when another person's smallest words or actions give you such strong, uncontrollable reactions, could it mean that love is still in the air?

because to me, i can keep denying my feelings. but for as long as i care about every single detail that is happening in the ex's life, i am not over him. for as long as i want to find out how he feels, i am not over him. for as long as i take everything he does personally for or against me, i am not over him.

how the hell did i get stuck here? I am supposed to be learning about ITIL stuff, and I'm nowhere near ready at this point...and the exam is on Tuesday.

argh dah dah dah....!

letting go of burdens

sometimes i think just because i managed to overcome leukemia, I can get everything to go my way. hihi

this sounds so familiar. have i written about this before? if i have, too bad.

one example is my banana boat. it's my favourite car in the world. when i found out that i could actually afford it, i saved up for a year so i could afford the downpayment. when the money was enough...i went and got the car.

it gave me problems the first day i drove it. once that got sorted, i was really happy with it for quite some time. then it started breaking down again here and there. and i continued to put my effort and money into making the car work again.

it will work for a couple of months, then i'll face another problem. this year it became more unstable, going into the workshop almost every month. i never really complained, i told myself that i love this car...i'm going to make it work unless one day the money becomes a major constrain.

but lately the unreliability of the car has started to bother me more. i drive it around constantly wondering if it will break again soon. people tell me to just sell it and get a new one, but i entertain that idea with a heavy heart. i love that car. it's what i've always wanted...i reply to all my friends.

i have a feeling the car is going to disappoint me again soon. and i'll continue giving it what it needs, like a possessed lover.

wait...

the car can't disappoint me.

I disappoint myself with my choices.

Maybe one day i will come to my senses.

a song dedicated to my banana boat...taken from Radzlan's Smelly Pillow Ballad.
"lucky i'm lucky...to have met you...
maybe just maybe...you know it tooooo..!

someday...i'll drive you up into the ocean,
then would you believe in me...?"

hahaha.

Crazy Salesguy at Camera Shop

Was at a camera shop in DU on raya eve, looking for a UV filter for my zoom lens. Then I saw the SB800.

I asked him how much for the SB800 speedlight...knowing the market rate is plus minus RM1300.

He said, RM740.

I said, "What? Really?" and caught myself. I tested him. How about RM700 for the filter AND the SB800?

He said, "aah can can.."

I said, "ok...i'll go to the bank to take out some money. u wait ahh"

As i was leaving, he chased me, he said, "Miss..soli...it's not RM740, it's actually RM 1040"

I said, "Ok..RM1000 for the filter AND SB800"

He said OK. I went to the bank and came back.

I tested him again, "My friend said RM1000 expensive la. RM850 can ah?"

He said, "aaa can can.."

Was this dude for real?

So i said, OK lah....pack it up boyy! I couldn't believe my luck. heeheehee..

Then he took the flash from the display cabinet, and informed me, as if our conversation in the past 15 minutes never happened, "ok miss, RM1599."

Nevermind the fact that the RM80 Hoya filter i came in for turned out to be out of stock and he showed me an RM40 alternative which he said was more expensive. (???)

When I reminded him what he agreed with me, he pursuaded me to pay using my credit card.

I told him to stop wasting other people's time and walked out empty handed. No flash, no filter. Just a wad of cash that ended up back in the bank.

He got a good scolding from him supervisor who profusely apologized to me.

aaah well. it was too good to be true anyway. haha.

Selamat Hari Raya, Crazy Salesguy!

Louis II

Test shot with a Nikon D80 and SB800 speedlight. Puas ati...

Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin from Nadio.

btw, the paper i sat for last Tuesday was tough as hell. argh!

Sleepers

The future lay sparkling ahead...

...and we thought we would know each other forever.

Paper 1: Service Support

I.am.a.nervous.wreck.

I'm aiming for a distinction.

My brain is saturated with info that I'm not even sure I can recall when the time comes.
- KPIs and why
- possible challenges and how to overcome them
- issues to consider when planning for implementation
- process benefits, costs and possible problems
- process relationships

My biggest scare is that I give the perfect answer to the wrong question. Argggh!

I can't wait for this to be over.

Bonne chance, moi!

Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough

I was knee deep in sample examinations, process benefits, costs and possible problems when suddenly this song by Don Henley and Patti Smyth started playing in my head. And now i can't stop singing the tune despite how sad it sounds to me. Hopefully this tune will help when i get stuck answering the Service Support questions next Tuesday. Due to the lack of anything to write, i'll just copy and paste the lyrics to the song here. hehehe....sedih beb lagu ni! Dang...karaoke best jugak ni..hihi

Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough
- Don Henley & Patti Smyth

Now, I don't want to lose you, but I don't want to use you
just to have somebody by my side.
And I don't want to hate you, I don't want to take you
but I don't want to be the one to cry.

And that don't really matter to anyone anymore..
But like a fool I keep losing my place
and I keep seeing you walk through that door.

But there's a danger in loving somebody too much,
and it's sad when you know it's your heart you can't trust..
There's a reason why people don't stay where they are,
Baby, sometimes, love just aint enough.

Now, I could never change you, I don't want to blame you,
Baby, you don't have to take the fall,
Yes, I may have hurt you, but I did not desert you..
Maybe I just want to have it all.

It makes a sound like thunder
it makes me feel like rain..
And like a fool who will never see the truth,
I keep thinking something's gonna change.

And there's no way home, when it's late at night and you're all alone,
Are there things that you wanted to say?
And do you feel me beside you in your bed?
there beside you, where I used to lay?

And there's a danger in loving somebody too much,
and it's sad when you know it's your heart they can't touch,
There's a reason why people don't stay who they are,
Baby, sometimes, love just ain't enough..

Baby, sometimes, love... it just ain't enough.
Oh, Oh, Oh, No

Honey Cornflakes

I got tired of reading about Capacity Management and decided to make some of these. The first batch burnt but through continuous improvement, the subsequent batches got better and better.

:-)

My Thumb

This is my thumb. Ugly, innit?

I've had that rough patch for years, and I never really manage to let it heal properly. I pick and bite in an attempt to make it smoother, but I never succeed. Once in a blue moon I get the discipline to put on some lotion and gloves to let it heal. Then when it's about to heal, I get the itch to start picking on it again, and I'm back where I started - ugly, semi-bleeding thumb. And I tell myself, "nevermind, i'll just start again tomorrow." It's a really bad habit I haven't been able to kick out of my system for many years.

I am fully aware that I have to stop doing this to myself. I need to just let the dead cells form that thick crust on the rough patch so that it can fall off one day and reveal the beautiful, healed skin. But for me, waiting for it to heal is the most difficult thing to do.

I hope someday soon I will realize that leaving it be is the fastest way to make it better.

Moral of the story:
Sometimes it is much better to leave things as they are, rather than try to mess with them and make the situation worse.