Friday....friday.... Ho Ho Ho!!!

Thank God It's Friday!

Heck! What am I complaining about anyway... I've had a good week. Boss out of the Country, work all cleared, salary paid. Must be the lull... ah well, it always the calm before the storm.

October's budget month. That's where I'm gonna start scrutinizing the long list of costs and profits for the past 4 years, and forecast 2006. Snap of finger, like looking at a crystal ball (As if crystal balls are real, sigh). Would be nice to have Trelawney around at this very moment. Or what's that half man half horse's name? Fire sumthing...

That's right, folks. Harry Potter's back. Am I a fan? Kinda, I suppose. For a guy who grew up reading British literature, HP's certainly a nice relaxing book to lay back and spend the weekend on. One of my staff's totally crazy about that show. Think I'll give her an challenge. Movie pass would be nice...

That's me.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Heya!
What a weekend I had... I had a marathon plethora of shows these past 2 days.

First up was FlightPlan. True to form, Jodie Foster did her panicky-mother-out-to-protect-her-daughter role to amazing finese again. This movie reminded me of Panic Room, one of the movies that Jodie made quite an impression on me. No doubt, FlightPlan had it's dull moment, which at times really made us believing that Jodie's mad. The growth of the Air Marshall character was shallow to me, though I supposed it's intended to be, as some sort of subplot to showcase her acting talent.

Today, it's Stomp, the stage performance of everyday-things' percussion. With a cast of 8, the whole hall was filled by rhythmic tempos of varying speed and loudness. It's interactive, and keeps the hearting beating harder and faster every moment. I especially enjoyed the notes made by the black rubber hoses, which had a certain sweet hollow sounds to it. Of course, I must also mention that main highlight was very engaging and captivating. Trash cans, water drums, oil drums, wash basins.... the lists go on and on...

Thanks, Hsin Yee, Terence and Siew Keng for a really good day.

Dinner tonight...

I'm attending Mavin and Amii's wedding tonight. That's the wedding gift I'm giving them. Sometimes, I still believe the best gift in any wedding should be personalized.

It's going to be an exhausting night. Drunken, even.

Walk.. walk.. walk..

Amazing, simply amazing!
I spent my day window shopping @ 4 major shopping centres today. Well, some of shopping centre.

The day started with dropping JD off for a groom. He's gonna enjoy a "blissful" 2 hours of snipping scissors vibrating shavers. Boy, did he bark his tail off when I walked out of the shop. I know he'll thank me later, after the weight were taken off his back.

Breakfast. Ah... my favourite part of the day. My sis and I had dinner at a place called "Pat Kin Pat San" (Never leave, till we meet). It's a HK concept eatery, serving many beverages and food with names that are common in the former British colony. I must say the dishes were good, even if it's only toasts and sandwiches.





With the stomach well filled, we headed to Ikea. Found my desktop pad, finally. Been looking high and low for a wallet-friendly piece. There's simply so much interesting furnitures and knick-knacks there. Pity they don't really last. Some DIY with raw materials would have gotten me the same.

Ikano's next. I must say, the ladies around this part of town is real pleasing to the eyes. Nope, I ain't roaming and seeking. Just appreciating beauty when I see one. Best part of Ikano, the pet training centre. The maltese is soooo adorable.

Dinner was with my parents at Kim Gary, Sunway Pyramid. Yeap, another Hong Kong concept store. Heard they had a new menu, something about sizzling meat. The recommendation's good! Must try the lamb with herbs, in garlic sauce. Lip smacking!

Me dad got him a new phone tonight. A nice little Nokia, with Bluetooth, MMS and colour screen. He didn't want a camera phone, so no talking him into a higher end unit. Still, it's a good buy. Nifty little unit. No match for my O2, hehehe...

Took mum to Carrefour after that. There's this raffle going on, where lots and lots of people were in queue every night, trying their luck for the week's grand prize. Up for grabs this week is a RM10k cash voucher. No luck, but we got ourselves some mystery gift (laundry washing powders).

That's there. 4 major shopping outlets, all in a day. No wonder my sis's upstairs, massaging her sore feet now... hehehe.



There's JD asleep. See, told ya he'll appreciate the snips. So much neater now...

Camp @ Berkelah Waterfall

It's been 4 days since I got back from the waterfall in Pahang. How'd I got into that? Thanks to some really good friends, and getting better friends, of course. It was quite an adventure for us.

The day started around 5am. I had to make the rounds to pick up 4 yound lasses from their homes, and met up with the others (known, and strangers) along a highway. There's going to be 20 of us.

Ah Teck & Ah Fei, our 2 guides, who're very familiar with the terrain; Ravi & Mai; Az & Jane; "Hero" and friend; 3 young lasses known to us as Siu Wan, Siu Kat and Ann; big guy Heng; Gwen, Bernice, Lina, Wai Mun, Joyce, David, Alvin and myself. The time spent together were so short that we didn't even really got to know each other well enough.

It was to be a 3 hours drive, eastwards. Upon arrival, Ah Teck went off to get us a truck (1 ton lorry, to be precise).


Took 2 trips to get the lot of us in. Once all got to the foot hill, we began our 3 hours trek upwards. The initial stage of the journey was idyllic enough. Cooling shades, river by the side. A little past an hour into the trek, the terrain turned rocky (boulders) and we were practically roasted on those rocks. Needless to say, there's much bruises, scratches, and curses that day.

The waterfall was excellent. It comes with 3 pools, each a little above the other.


We spent a night there. Me, I slept in the open, snug in my sleeping bag. Partly, the tent was too small for 3 guys. Also, the night view was simply too lovely to miss. My sleep was accompanied by a constant rush of cascading water, about 10 metres away.

We spent a better part of the time in the water. For the courageous, it's diving, exploring and what have you.

Needless to say too, parting was difficult. We closed the event with a full course Chinese dinner, and made promises of more climbs to come.

Right now, I'm in the office, reliving the memory, while the skin peels off my back around the sun-burnt patches.

This is me, and the happy furry bundle that greeted me at the front door

4 hours straight and still on the go..

I'm back. 4 hours of flashing lights and highspeed cruising on the North-South expressway. As usual, the drive was a tranquil experience, spoilt by the occasional road hogs that drive at elderly speeds on the fast lanes. Can't they see the bright lights from behind? Must they hog the fast lane when there's no one on the slower ones? Maybe, just maybe I'm the selfish one, wanting the fast lane all to myself. The selfish one, who believes everyone's slow and should make way. I think road courtesy has a long way to go in this country. For the devil drivers, and lambs going somewhere...

The Grand Plaza Parkroyal in Penang was quite a pleasant resort to stay in. Good food. They only serves buffet breakfast, while the rest are ala carte. This ensures food freshness and the best of quality. I especially liked Tiffin. Excellent tomato soup. The view's great (I'm not referring to the beach only). Those lovely ladies sunbathing, wow! I love it!

It was great catching up with old friend from Indonesia. I only wished that we had more time to spend with each other. I really wanted to take them out and catch the local views a little. I think I'll send them something to thank them for their visit. A way of saying I'm sorry too, for not taking them around town.

One more rest day, and it's back to the daily grind. I've got some best practises in my belt. I sure hope it'll make a good difference.

Anniversary dinner...

Happy National Day yesterday! Yeap, it's this Country's 48th celebration of independance. After 48 years, the excitement somehow had wane considerably. Understandably, everyone's feeling the effects of inflation. Mana ada mood?

On the other hand, I had a private celebration of sorts. It's a belated birthday cum "anniversary". I splurged a little here. Bought her a lovely diamond pendant and necklace. I think she likes it, though she was expecting more of a ring? Sigh, wouldn't be right, isn't it? After all, we've said our goodbyes and had our share of flowing tears. Still, I miss her. Took her to a fine dining Italian restaurant. She had a seafood soup, and goose pate with fillet steak. I had lamb racks. Excellent dinner. Boy, I think that's the most expensive dinner I've ever spent on anyone. She's worth it. The smile on her face says it all.

Sending her home was the hardest part though. I held her as long as I could. Wouldn't even want to let go, until we reached the doorstep. Wished I could hold on to her the whole night. Last night, I had the sweetest dream of her, in my arms, like before. Think this dream will not be visitting me anytime soon again. Wishes...