The end of the first week. My productivity levels have increased by leaps and bounds. The workstation is not the best in its class, but it suffices, for the moment. Thank goodness pest control came in the week before I started work. My neighbour said it was a haven for my "best friends" before that. So far, I haven't seen any grown ones - just little baby ones I could snuff out with tissue paper. So that's alright. Having downgraded myself on so many physical levels - open car park, having to pay that on my own, a partition-less workstation, no computer speakers, lack of so many researching / brochure facilities - it's amazing how I managed to get out so many reports on time this week. But I guess maybe the lack of those physical boundaries (or distractions) improved my focus? Or, just being put in a new environment did it. My brain juice has been squeezed dry this week. Cannot type eloquently - especially with constant drilling going on in the neighbouring office lot. All those aside, am appreciating the amount of learning I can pick up from the new bosses. It's gonna be a good ride.

Okay, today is November. My one week of being a housewife was fully utilized for housewifely duties. And the house isn't even fully spring-cleaned yet okay. It was just the kitchen cabinets, a store cupboard, the linen cupboard, half my wardrobe (or maybe not even half), the entire 2nd room (which still looks like a store room). Sigh. Being a housewife is a full-time job.

And now that my full-time job has started, housewife-ing can take a back seat. And that goes for the trip photos and travelogues, not gonna happen nope.

Today's first day at a new desk, new office, new parking lot, new boss, new colleagues. It's interesting. I'm happy :)

Watch this space for:-

• Shanghai in early June
• Perhentian in mid-June
• Kota Kinabalu in July
• Phuket in August
• Munich in September

Yes, those are the reasons why I neglected this space, and why I cannot afford to belanja you makan when you're in town.

This year has turned out to be rather (happily) unexpected. Starting off with that whirlwind trip to Angkor Wat in March, and then into several other great trips - and a couple of meaningful life events (I know I'm fat but no I'm not pregnant and yes I shall go to the gym more and eat less but then what's the point of working so hard if you can't indulge?!).

All coming up in mini-spates before November (you will find out soon enough why November is so significant). 2010 is turning out to be an awesome year :)

We grew up with them

Just watched the Deathly Hallows trailer. Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it. Epic, more like. And the fact that it's coming to us in 3D is even more thrilling.
Can.not.wait.

Love online

Now, you tell me. Where do you find them online?

I wonder which poor soul typed that question up into Yahoo Answers.

This weekend I shall be able to fulfill my lifelong dream of eating nasi kerabu in Kota Bharu. Okay, I exaggerate. It's been my dream only for the past 12 years - ever since I was introduced to my first bite of nasi kerabu from a humble gerai next to my university hostel block, I've been hooked. And I religiously search for it at the pasar Ramadhan annually, never being able to find a good one since 12 years ago. I hope Kota Bharu's most famous stall lives up to its name - yay, Kota Bharu, here I come :D [Obviously, nasi kerabu is gonna be more of a highlight this weekend than Pulau Perhentian, which I actually also am looking forward to, just not as much as that great carbo-fix I shall get at the end of all those strenuous water activities]

As Sue Cs it

Because Glee has ended its first season, I shall re-quote my favourite Sue Sylvester lines:-

On her life philosophy

• "You know, for me, trophies are like herpes. You can try to get rid of them but they just keep coming. Sue Sylvester has hourly flare-ups of burning, itchy, highly contagious talent."
• "I, for one, think intimacy has no place in a marriage. Walked in on my parents once, and it was like seeing two walruses wrestling."
• "Me, I never wanted kids — don't have the time, don't have the uterus."

On her nemesis - Will Schuester

• "Your hair looks like a briar patch. I keep expecting racist, animated Disney characters to pop up and start singing about living on the bayou."
• "I just lost my train of thought because you have so much margarine in your hair."
• "I thought I smelled cookies wafting from the ovens of the little elves that live in your hair."
• "You have enough product in your hair to season a wok."
• "I don’t trust a man with curly hair. I can’t help picturing small birds laying sulfurous eggs in there, and I find it disgusting."
• "God, it feels good to finally pop that zit known as Will Schuester."

To her award-winning cheerleading team

• "Nobody quits the Cheerios. You either die or I kick you off."
• "You think this hard. I'm passing a gallstone as we speak. That is hard!"
• "I’m going to ask you to smell your armpits. That’s the smell of failure, and it’s stinking up my office."
• "I’m all about empowerment. I empower my Cheerios to live in a state of constant fear by creating an environment of irrational, random terror."

Jane Lynch is awesome!

Am counting down again - seven and a half more days. My sanity is hanging by a thread. Lack of sleep and banging away on the laptop and calculator is crankiness-inducing, particularly with the prospect of a full working weekend ahead. I want to crawl into a fabled tempurung and hide till the deadlines pass and come out with the work having been miraculously completed. But that's not gonna happen, issit?

Shanghai was a good holiday.

Being back at work - not so good.

Pictures maybe this weekend when my in-tray has been half-cleared.

I picked up sudoku on the trip! Yay, one resolution ticked :)

And therefore, I will be anti-social for the rest of the month because work dictates it is so. Although work shouldn't dictate my life. But it's so ironic that the older you get, the more experience you accumulate, the more responsibilities you start to shoulder, and thus the more work you get, and the more you feel that you have to deliver, just because. Ah well. I'm excited to be going to the biggest "Global Village" ever, really. Travelling the world with the price of a ticket to Shanghai - awesome. Hope the Expo lives up to its hype. And although I don't like that China beat us last night and that more than 90% of our consumer products are made in China, there's no denying that China is a force to reckon with - if not now, then maybe in 10 years' time. They built that massive metro system for the Expo within a few years. And it takes us like 10 years to decide to extend our LRT line. Fabulous.

I know, like sungguh the lama dah.

I had a thoroughly busy Labour Day, joining throngs of people in Mid Valley and throngs of people in 1 Utama.

We started the day early at The Gardens Mall, having I Love Yoo! for breakfast, then collecting our RM 20 voucher from Robinson's and shopping for the man's clothes there. Headed to La Senza, wanted to see their fashion show but the shop was just too hot (why don't they on the frigging air-cond?) so I left. Spent my RM 50 voucher in Aussino on a new bolster - yay, can relegate my 9-year-old hand-me-down to the guest room.

Trooped over to the property exhibition to do my work. Seemed to be mostly the same as those that were there in KLCC's last week. But nvm, work pays for my parking. We went back to Robinson's again - I wanted desperately to get a new handbag and some shoes, but they didn't put any likeable stock out, boo. The man got another shirt. We went to Isetan to try, but no luck for me there too. Had oyster mee suah at Shihlin Taiwan street snacks stall - so yummy - and because we were exhausted dyy, we went home, releasing our precious parking spot to a super-grateful driver.

Got home, dumped the stuff, and plonked straight in for a much-needed afternoon nap. Was supposed to be 5 minutes, ended up 90 minutes. Gosh, that was luxurious indeed. Very nice to just plonk into bed in the afternoon and not care how long I sleep for or whether it's gonna affect my sleep at night in case I need to get up early the next morning - yah lah, I'm a worrier.

Got up at 4pm, felt awesomely refreshed. Bathed and we headed out again at 5pm. The throngs of cars heading into 1U was something I haven't seen before in a long time (because I usually never head to a mall unless it's 10am in the morning). Luckily though, we got a spot quite quickly. Went shopping for my new iPhone at Maxis - they're out of stock, cis. Went to Digi - the same, cis x2. So with no place to fulfill my "want", we went to Parkson and I fell in love with a new brand of handbags I'd never seen before - Radley. I truly fell in love, in a matter of 5 seconds. But the price tags, oh the price! Maybe I could give up the iPhone for a Radley? Hmm ...

Luckily the movie partners called us, and the man whisked me off for dinner. Yummy Chili's, love that place - the triple play is awesome as always, and the mushroom fajitas was yumminess. Can you believe they've got bottomless Milo now?

We then went off to watch Ip Man 2. Great fight scenes. The drilling of the "Chinese spirit and integrity" was a bit much - but I guess that's what is needed for such an alpha male show.

Went home and watched an episode of Criminal Minds before falling to bed - was exhausting having to fight the throngs of people okay, me not young anymore, when I used to be able to spend entire weekends pacing the malls. And now I'm up early - must be the long nap. I wonder what I shall do today - besides work :P Damn I can hear Radley calling ...

Siem Reap in March 2010

Q : Why does AirAsia have to time its flights for take-off so superbly early in the morning?
A : So people can fork out a hefty surcharge for cab fare to LCCT or maybe stay the night at TuneHotel, and then arrive at LCCT even before Starbucks has opened, and then join the long queue to check-in luggage when we've already web-checked in ourselves the night before, and stare forlornly at the "normal check-in" queue which is non-existent.

But doesn't matter. Getting up at 3.45am for a holiday is still a holiday.

And it's nice that these days AirAsia has assigned seats - no more rushing like kiasu-maniacs onto the plane.

So we got onto the plane, and tried to sleep, but couldn't, because some ang moh guy in the row behind us was trying to make clever conversation with the ang moh girl seated one seat away. Pity the poor ang moh guy in the middle between them. And pity us in our sleep-deprived state.

Luckily, the Siem Reap airport is quite civilized. Sorry no pictures, too early in the morning. And at 8am (Siem Reap time), the immigration officers didn't seem to have had their coffee yet. Slow line. Small but better airport than say, Yogyakarta's. Lots of stones and wood and solid natural materials. I liked the feel. And I liked the dry toilets.

Collected baggage and walked out. There was a civilized taxi counter. Where we got a civilized looking young man to be our cab driver. He calls himself Tea, as in "coffee or tea". Speaks good English. Drove like an old man all the way to our hotel - apparently because the country's road laws are that way (20km/hr or something like that).

Our beautiful hotel The Angkor Riviera was quite nice. Lobby was large and clean, new and modern. Unfortunately our rooms were not ready. We left our luggage with the bellboy, and Tea offered to drop us off at the Old Market area (about 5 minutes' walk away).

Roamed the Old Market. It's a real market, sells all kinds of stuff you expect in a market - and alot more stuff which you usually see in Thai souvenir markets. Then we trudged back to our hotel an hour later.

The room was lovely. Or maybe it's just because we were tired. We freshened up, and walked out AGAIN to the old market area for lunch. Went to Khmer Kitchen. Great food. I love Khmer food - it's like Thai without the chilli. Popped by The Blue Pumpkin (great bakery) and then trudged back to hotel room for a bath and nap before our sunset tour.

View of the hotel pool / courtyard from our room window

KF taking a picture of the hotel - I took this from the lobby through the big picture window which I really liked ... and I love the pandan leaves!

Tea picked us up at 4.30pm for our Tonle Sap sunset tour. On the way, we passed this really big water-lily plantation.

Water-lily plantation

The entrance fee to Tonle Sap was quite expensive - US$20 per person, I think. It includes the boat fare.

Boats departing from the jetty for the water village on Tonle Sap

The 2 young boys manning our boat

Close-up view of some boathouses we passed

The boathouse village

Where crocodiles live with people

Sunset at Tonle Sap was awesome

Little kids with no mode of transport have to paddle round in wash-basins to get to their friends' boathouses for play time

Sunset at Tonle Sap was a good experience

Tonle Sap was the most memorable experience in Siem Reap, for me. After sunset, all the boats raced back to the jetty about 30-minutes away, trying to beat the darkness. And because silt (or something) occasionally gets stuck in the boat engines, the 2 young boys manning our boat always had to get down into the water to fix the problem. Happened to other boats as well. I wondered if any of the $20 we gave earlier reaches these boys - they did an awesome job bringing us to and fro.

When we arrived at the jetty, Tea told us that he'd dropped his key in the toilet, and he only had his remote with him. In the dark, somehow or other with the help of some other locals, after about 30 minutes when the entire place was really dark and already devoid of tourists, he managed to get his car started. Phew. I can't imagine what we'd do as this was a secluded location with no cabs nor tuk-tuks (which I don't relish the idea of on the dark road all the way back to town). So anyway, Tea dropped us safely back in town.

We had a really good dinner at the Dead Fish Tower, with live band and natural timber surroundings and all. Then walked around town - the Pub Street was closed off to traffic and was really happening, plenty of ang moh around, enjoying their 50cents draft beer. Then because we were quite tired, and tomorrow was an early start again, we went back to the hotel quite early.

The next morning, the hotel packed us a breakfast box each, because we left at 5.30am, before the buffet line was opened. Tea brought us to Angkor Wat where we purchased tickets (they take photos of you for your ticket which is very modern-looking). Then we walked in with the rest to wait for the sunrise.

Waiting for the sunrise ...

... which rose behind the clouds.

Still, the obligatory picture. I don't like my flat hair.

The large group of tourists waiting for the sunrise, mostly made up of Japanese

My cute Superman juggling his gear

The Apsara dancers

The steps we did not climb - it wasn't opened till 8 am

I liked how the light fell on this - no Photoshop wan ok!

More Apsara carvings

The very serene moat outside Angkor Wat

I really liked the way the haze and morning sun casts a dusty curtain on everything

The well-trodden tapak kaki of a hard-working elephant

Angkor Thom South Gate

Angkor Thom

One of the faces in Angkor Thom

Finding inspiration and serenity amongst the old stones

The Elephant Terrace

By the time we were done with the Elephant Terrace, we were dead beat. And it was only 10am. Tea decided to send us back to the hotel. We slept till lunch, or not exactly, can't remember. The hotel's tv has got like 80 cable tv channels! Went to Chivit Thai for lunch. Slept again till 3.30pm, when Tea came to pick us up for the highlight of Angkor - Ta Phrom, where Tomb Raider was shot. I've got no more pictures here onwards because I didn't bring my camera. But KF's got some lovely shots, so wait for his.

After tomb-raiding, we went back to Angkor Wat for sunset. Didn't want to climb the steep steps on Phnom Bakheng. Sunset in Tonle Sap still beat the one in Angkor Wat, maybe because I'm a water person. Still pretty awesome though.

We had Happy Herb Pizza for dinner - with extra happy. But we weren't feeling the happy. Ah well. We roamed around the night market - which is an excellent place for souvenirs, if you haven't been to the Thai markets. Had awesome ham baguette somewhere near Hotel de la Paix. Then it was late, and so we went back to pack for the next morning, which would be another early one.

We checked out at 6am, had breakfast at the hotel's buffet line which was really good. Tea picked us up at 6.30am to go to the airport. And a couple of hours later we were home in KL. And that is what I call a great whirlwind weekend.

Sunrise in Angkor Wat

My early-morning crawls out of bed never seem to be rewarded by a proper sunrise - ever!

A spur-of-the-moment weekend getaway to a destination I never really thought I'd go to (but being me, can go anywhere also I'll be happy la). More pics when work's not so stifling.

A house built on values

The other day, I was talking with some girlfriends and we were moaning about what the Internet has done for women these days - more to the point, what the Internet has done for sexual perception these days, and the lack of traditional values in modern relationships.

And I stumbled upon this article in the latest issue of Time : TigerText: An iPhone app for cheating spouses? Come on! I mean, it's a very interesting article to read and it's really ingenious technology. But seriously, do we need to make the lives of cheating spouses easier?

It doesn't help that the papers these days are filled with celebrity scandals of what a "role-model" golfer did to his model wife, or what a prominent footballer did to his really hot singer-celebrity wife, or what a relatively unknown Hollywood actor did to his Oscar-winning wife - you get the picture.

When such beautiful women are subject to such nonsense from their men, you start to wonder what could happen to normal people like us. Then, you can only pray that our men are not tainted by the "loose cultures" of the celebrity world, and that we are somehow still "protected" by our "traditional values" of loyalty, fidelity, and true love - hopefully, not the superficial kind.

But I guess you could argue that if all women were to dress in old ugly drabs and not bother about make-up or hair mousse, would such scandals even happen?

Somehow, this article in The Malaysian Insider hits the nail on the head.

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So now women are supposed to be porn stars, too? by Dina Zaman

MARCH 25 — For all this talk about women’s progress, why are we constantly being bombarded by articles and information on how to become a porn star? Isn’t it enough that we must know how to juggle finances, have a glass ceiling-breaking career, wear the latest and most expensive clothes and accessories? And now, we are expected to have about 50 lovers before we hit our 40s and know how to perform sexual acrobatics just so our men won’t leave us for a teenager?

As someone who volunteers for a children’s shelter and has activist friends who work in the fields of HIV/AIDS and children’s rights, when I hear that someone is still a virgin or has had very few sexual partners, I feel relieved.

I’m tired of reading headlines in women’s magazines, which are supposed to make my peers and me feel better about ourselves, which prompt us to have tight abs, be able to perform sexual acrobats even the Kamasutra has not invented and that if we didn’t have Botox, there’s something wrong with us. And how it’s normal and better to date younger men who may still be feeding on their mothers’ bosoms. If I date any younger, I’d be a certified paedophile.

It is not just Western magazines that promote sexuality and sexual gymnastics, even the Malay magazines tout the latest jamus to tighten your Miss Cheerful (I found out in Kosmopolitan Indonesia, a woman’s vagina is called Miss Cheerful) which will please your husband.

I’ve been quite tempted to buy those jamus, to be honest. These herbal supplements promise humongous breast growth, harmonious relations with your husband, end endometriosis and turn you into a sylph.

Add to the mix that to be a Perempuan Melayu Teratai Melayu, she has to be an isteri and anak solehah too. The thing is, our society may be conservative, but we live in very sexualised times.

This is to the detriment of our values and relationships/marriages. Principles like respect, love, compassion fly out the window because we place so much value on sex and performance, we don’t see the forest for the trees.

Allow me to relate to you an anecdote. A former colleague recounted her counselling sessions with a group of young men who came from semi-urban areas. This was during my days of working for a public health NGO. She asked the young men why they were divorced at such a young age, and why they remarried so fast.

With the advent of the Internet and technology, pornographic materials are easily accessible. For these young impressionable men, all they know of sex comes from these sources.

Because they are expected and do marry young virgins, or at least very inexperienced young women, they are disappointed to find that their wives “… tak reti nak layan nafsu saya.”

After a few months or so, they divorce and remarry. The cycle is repeated because these men do not relish the idea of marrying “experienced” young women or divorcees.

Let’s not even talk about sexually transmitted diseases. Even before we talk about condoms and religion, we need to go back to the basics — why are you having sex? Are you emotionally and psychologically mature enough to have sex? Are you strong enough to deal with non-romantic relationships?

For the urbanite, this may come off as prudish, but for the rural/semi-urban young person, the repercussions can be tremendous.

If the urban sophisticate already feels burdened by the standards of sexuality the media foghorns, what about their less exposed brethren who may not have the tools and knowledge to handle such matters?

My former colleague said to the young men, “Surely in a marriage, intimate matters are learned. That’s what marriages are about: getting to know each other, learning what works and what doesn’t.”

“Takde masa la, Kak. Pagi-pagi dah kerja, balik dah penat. Kalau dia tak reti nak romen, cari bini lain la!”

Ah, yes. We also forget that time is short these days. What’s enduring love? Sex, even within the confines of marriage, is basically fast food for the body.

We have so many things to do: work, the big deal to chase, sending the kids to school, our in-laws. There’s very little room for love in the 21st century. We not only live in sexualised times, we also live in an era of disposable relationships.

How does one harness the media for responsible writing on matters dealing with sexuality? At the end of the day, bad news and sex sell. It’s all about the bottom line. It’s all well and good to say editors and advertisers have roles to play in managing perceptions, but the reality is that, this may not happen.

In the meantime, we will still be bombarded by these articles and headlines. Perhaps a boycott of these magazines is timely.

-------------------------------------------

I am fortunate to know many good guy friends who actually have very good values and wouldn't dream of hurting their women. And I fervently pray and hope that the Internet and the media do not taint the pure hearts of these few good men.

Lunar exuberance

The lunar new year used to mean vegetarian noodles in the morning and angpau's from the parents. It now means white rice for breakfast and giving angpau's to little kids.

It used to mean taking a leisurely drive on KL's roads and revelling in the peace within the city. Now, it means battling the PLUS highway jams, and then battling the out-of-town traffic in Ipoh.

It used to mean an annual family trip to the cinemas for a CNY movie in malls crowded with foreigners. Now it's a huge boisterous family gathering in one of the auntie's houses with many funny noisy stories.

We used to wait anxiously for our friends to return from their balik kampung trips, so we could traipse around from house to house together. Now, we're the ones who balik kampung and the city folk wait for us to return.

Growing up, getting a new extended family, celebrating festive seasons differently - all part of growing older. I'm loving every bit of my life now, and looking forward to another great year. The big 3-0 in the year of the tiger is going to be grrreat! :D

Have a fantastic lunar new year, guys - kung hei fatt choy - and the diet can start after chap goh meh, eh? ;)

Capoeira

I could almost do these cartwheels last night - ALMOST. After class, I felt like I grew longer - I felt so stretched! And this morning (actually even after class last night), I started aching in places I never knew I could.

But, I like the fact that I could do an ALMOST-cartwheel. There's something about tumbling round and getting dizzy that makes you feel young again.

The essence of my job

Over the long weekends

Christmas eve : Craft Brews with the gang.

Christmas day : Drove down to JB to hang out with KF's extended family. It was very nice to drive around Taman U and re-visit my student house and recognize the various restaurants we used to eat out. The roads have gone completely cuckoo in Skudai with flyovers here and there, running over numerous McD's and Burger Kings.

Boxing Day : Took the bus over to Singapore - what a long and exhausting journey. Met friends. Then trawled through all the new complexes in Orchard - Ion, Somerset 313, Orchard Central as well as the older ones Robinsons at Centrepoint, Wisma Atria, Takashimaya. And settled back at the massive food hall in Ion to have tea with Belinda Chee and her parents (yah, we sat on same table - but I'm too old to ask for an autograph or picture but she is prettier than on tv). Then we trawled through Geylang for beef noodles, frog porridge, soy bean with yau char kway. Boy was this an exhausting day, thank goodness for my trusty Reeboks.

Post-Boxing Day : Headed to Pek Kio market for KF's must-do prawn-mee pilgrimage. Yumms! And headed back over the Causeway to continue hanging out with KF's extended family and finally stepping for the very first time into Jusco Taman U. So small that place.

Monday the 28th : On leave. Still in JB anyway. Dropped KF's cousin off in Batu Pahat and had yummy yong tau fu there. Then got home finally.

1st day of 2010 : Trawled Mid Valley and The Gardens until my tapak kaki sungguh pedih. Had dinner at Buonasera in SS2 - so authentic and yummy.

2nd day of 2010 : Drove to Bentong with the gang. Played with golden retriever puppies. Saw "Holland" chickens. Realized that Bentong is a very nice place - rolling hills amongst clouds. Yummy dinner in Bkt Tinggi. Awesome way to start the year!

This year, I intend to :-

• Eat one good wholesome food a day
• Take up yoga lessons
• Submit my TPC
• Take one trip with mummy

It's gonna be a good year - up to me to make it so ;)