How have you been?

At around 8pm this evening,someone buzzed me over MSN and I was unable to see her name as I did not have her in my MSN friends list.

Her first words to me were "How have you been, my friend?"

Puzzled I tried to recall who she was as her email she used to sign up in MSN seemed so familiar. I immediately asked who she was and there was a pause in her reply, obviously hurt that I was unable to recognize her.

It turned out to be my ex-colleague who left the company and we were close friends. However a bitter argument created a rift between us and when she left the company, in my anger, I did not give her a proper goodbye and proceeded to delete her from MSN list. Silly I know.

Anger does that to me sometimes. It makes me do childish and impudent things that I end up regretting later.

After she left, I thought that was the end of our friendship but pretty soon I no longer was upset with her and felt stupid for not saying farewell.

That was a year ago.A year has passed and now she asks me how i am and again me being me, i made it clear that i had erased her from my MSN list. It's unimaginable to feel so stupid...again.

We ended chatting like old times and about old times. Our weird antics in office and how we would have dinner almost every night after work.

Furious clanking of my fingernails against the keyboard to tell her what i have recently been up to and giggling when we talked about how we were still unable to find any suitable boyfriends made my heart swell with happiness and it provided me a chance to actually rekindle our friendship. It was pretty much like old times when we would sit behind our cubicles and send random jokes to each other on MSN or talk about the latest gadget we would be itching to buy.

"Would you like to catch up?I was thinking of paying a visit to Mandy who will be giving birth soon.." her words appeared in the chat window.

I immediately straigthened up in my chair and typed out an affirmative to the idea. Mandy was our previous Human Resource Manager who left the company as well.

It was obvious we had long forgotten the resentment and anger we had each other.

At the end of our conversation, I told her I had to leave the office.

I said to her , "It was nice talking to you after so long"

"Yeah me too. I'll see you soon"

Her reply made me feel good as I packed up and left the office.

So all in all, besides the datelines i was unable to meet, the nagging bosses and stress i habored throughout the day I went home feeling happy because of a simple greeting from a long lost friend.

Hotlink Anime and Games Festival

I have a love-hate relationship with Sundays. I enjoy Sundays because I usually spend it quietly by being at home. I would do my weekly chores like cleaning my room,washing the toilet (ugh!),doing the laundry,paying the bills and prepping up for the big week ahead. The hate part comes in when I know I am on the verge of having ANOTHER hectic week again and this mundane cycle begins again.

Today however,I pulled myself out of bed and paid a visit to Berjaya Times Square to see the Hotlink Anime and Games Festival.

I really really enjoy going to comic or anime festivals like this. Usually to be awed or cringe at our Malaysian cosplayers. I truly admire these quirky bunch because they really enjoy doing it, parading around in their costumes of their favourite anime or game characters. Even when they look so awesomely bad, they seem to be so comfortable with what they are doing.

When I was in Melbourne, during my uni days I often entertained the idea of cosplaying as an anime character. Alas, I never did cosplay as anyone but I met cosplayers at festivals and they seem cool to be around with. I remember the fat Sephiroth I met in Melbourne's Anime Festival in Melbourne University on a bitterly cold weekend. He was fun albeit tacky fella when he said "Heh, I shaved my chest hair for this!"

Back to the Hotlink Anime and Games Festival. Here are some pictures I took with my new camera.

I am not sure who they are cosplaying as but you gotta give them credit for their costumes design. Girl with giant blue fans won first prize for Best Lookalike Category

(From left to right)Girl (or guy?)cosplaying as male character from some Chinese themed anime, Faust from Guilty Gear,lead character from Detroit Metal City and a Star Wars cosplayer.

Nemesis from Resident Evil

Beautiful Enma Ai from Jigoku Shoujo

I like him (or her?I'm not sure). He looks like real life bishonen.

The busiest booth at the festival seemed to be the Sudden Attack booth. There were ongoing competitions with Razer merchandises giveaways for the winners. While the competition went on, spectators and gamers alike seemed to circle around the booth to see how the participants fared against AsiaSoft staff personnels and other players.

Swarming around like bees.If you notice the bunch of young men on the left with bowl cut hair, they are actually Korean players that have played Sudden Attack published in their homeland before this.

Boy on left : Damn we're losing!
Boy on right : Chill it's just a game!

After I had enough of the festival I drove home and RM10 poorer after paying the obscenely priced parking charge.

Tomorrow another day...another start to a week of increased blood pressure and looming datelines.

On a brighter note, I'm going to be getting my new Holga camera next week!I'll be doing alot of random snapping of inanimate things in the room and scenery around my area.

But now,time to sleep.

zzz

RM 221 for a new....

....queen size bed sheet set!

I bought this on a whim while doing grocery shopping with my sister in Bangsar Village. Ain't it pretty??

Pretty flowers to sleep on (=3=)

I'm now grinding Bianca to reach A.Expert Skill Rank which is why i'm still a level 54. Dammit....

Okay end of random bimbotic post...

First Night in KL

Yesterday morning my father and i made the journey to KL and i bid my mom farewell. We all loaded all of my stuff into my car and we were about to set off. I hugged my mom and both of us cried. My dad looked teary as well. I guess i felt so terrible about leaving my parents behind but i had to go so we were off.

I drove all the way to my aunt and uncle's house in Petaling Jaya. I was immediately greeted by my uncle because my aunt had gone out and their new 4 month old puppy-dog, Ricky. She was so timid and frightful which defeated the purpose of her being a guard dog in the first place. She still hasn't warmed up to me yet but she loves the toy i got for her.

My father rested for an hour then i dropped him off at Crystal Crown so that a friend of his could pick him up and head back to JB together. Once again i cried...sigh, and being so unfamiliar with the roads in KL i lost my way back to my uncle's place but i managed after 20 minutes of circling round the suburbs and swearing behind the wheel. The feeling of missing home quickly dissipated though (bad of me to say this) when Darren called. Earlier i had sms-ed to Esther and Darren that i had already arrived.

"Wanna meet up at the Curve?I'll pick you at Kerinchi LRT station because i don't know where you are right now"

So i left to meet with him and he brought me to The Curve. Had a nice long chat about random topics at a coffee shop near The Laundry and Esther arrived much later due to the jam coming out from KL city center to meet us there. She looked worn out and a little grumpy because the traffic slowdown was massive. I immediately felt guilty asking her out ...hopefully i can make it up to her.

It's pretty bewildering that night. It's a weekday but yet to me it looked like it was a weekend in JB. There were just alot of people on a Thursday night. Darren said to me that The Laundry would get even more packed. True enough it did. I guess people in KL has the energy to party after work.

We had dinner at Ikea as Esther and Darren went on about the phenomenal Swedish meatballs. It was good and i didn't touch the fries because the meatballs were filling enough already. We talked even more from our phenomenal disasters with underwear, about my recent car accident, friends we have in JB and random other things till someone announced over the PA system that Ikea was going to close. That's only the time we realized we were the only ones left in the deli.

Esther felt that it wasn't safe i took public transport home at that late hour so volunteered to send me home. ONCE AGAIN, i have troubled my good friend as she lived in Gombak which was on the other side of town!!Oh the guilt ><;;

The first night sleeping in proved to be a pretty restless one with good reason. The house has been broken into 5 times already. I kept imagining i would wake up with some robber/rapist in my room. I knew for sure that Ricky would not be able to do the job of alerting us of any danger at the moment so whenever i heard a sound outside i would rip the curtains open,anticipating some robber climbing over the fence. In the end,i finally got some shut eye. ==

This morning, my uncle took me a trial run from the house to my new office in my car. We were all anticipating to hit into the much feared morning jam on the Federal Highway. However there was none this morning which was really surprising. Ku ku (uncle) mentioned that it could be because it's a Friday. I'll make sure to leave for work on Monday at 8!Wouldn't want to be late to work on my first day!

We had breakfast at Mid-valley and i showed my relatives the new office block where my company was situated.

For lunch, i had Bak Kut Teh near the house with my previous company's KL branch staff. I want to keep in close contact with them because they would have alot of contacts on suppliers and contractors in KL that would be beneficial to my future job.

All in all, i don't really miss home much and i'm excited with my new job, the people i am going to meet and the experience of living in KL.

Hopefully by next month i can move into a place of my ownand . Darren recommended me a friend of his who owns a house and is willing to let out some rooms.It's kind of expensive though being the house located so far from my new office. I guess i'll have to wait and see.

Bye bye Jay Bee

Image courtesy of Airasia.com

Farewell to all of my family and friends in JB and Singapore

To all of my girlfriends, Ee Vynn, Joy, Ruby, Linda, Joanne, Andra, Shee Kei, Elaine, Pohlee and the others, thanks for being such a great group of friends and I'm so looking forward to Linda's wedding!We're gonna scream "Yam Seng" even louder and 'shrillier' this time!!

To all mah Singapore peeps....Justin, Nurul, Jo, YJ and so many others. Transformers screening night was the best! I'm so gonna catch the sequel with you guys again and this time i'll scream even louder!LOL!!

Valentine, thanks for being a great pal and keeping me company. I'll definitely call you when i get back.

Kim!Omg...i could talk to you for hours on DBSK. I'll keep you updated on their upcoming concert in KL. We are so going and see Changmin upclose!

My fabulous colleagues at my previous company....i'm gonna miss you loads....

Susan, i have faith in you and don't give up!!

To all of my dedicated staff at our restaurant...thanks for making me fat these past few days. Haha. Gonna miss you guys and the food!

My parents....sigh,thinking about them being alone in JB makes me teary and weepy....i'm going to miss them.

All in all....goodbye Johor Bahru!

Final days in JB

Spent my Monday with Joy at Jusco Tebrau City shopping and catching Transformers The Movie. This would be my third time watching it and honestly speaking i can watch it again.....Ratchet and Ironhide were a joy to watch bickering like old men....

Today i went to the office for the last time just to have lunch with them one last time. Susan, who has been my confidante and gossip partner in the office cried when i hugged her before i left.I felt like i was abandoning her of sorts and i cried too...ai,i can feel my nose sting and eyes well up with tears just thinking of her face all scrunched up and red while tears streamed down her face....

Susan,HWAITING!!!You will get a new job soon!!

But there are also good things happening right now.....what's great spending my last few days in JB is....the food!People have been treating me lunches and dinners before i leave. I am VERY happy indeed which goes to show i can be easily bribed with good food.

Yesss...i had a fantastic Korean lunch courtesy of my boss at a house turned restaurant, owned by a Korean family. I ate to the point i felt like a pregnant whale...













See what i mean?


That is excluding the big bowl of ginseng chicken soup that came in later.

One thing absolutely great about having your own family running a restaurant is that you can eat all the delicious food without paying a dime and getting the chefs to cook what you want and how you want it......so as a farewell dinner for me leaving to KL my chefs cooked up a storm of tantalizing delights just for yours truly....



Black Chicken Soup - my absolute favorite soup


Fish slices in egg white - perfect for dieting but i wasn't dieting....uh yeah..


Prawn with Laici - something different from the usual...delicious as always


IT'S A PIG!Omelette fried rice in a shape of a pig since my Chinese zodiac is the year of the pig. Absolute love..

Last but not least.....

Deep fried banana slices later drenched in honey and cold water...the way it melted in my mouth, i died and went to heaven XD


I SO need to go to the gym in KL. Hopefully i can get a partner to motivate me to go.....right now though...i am contented,full and extremely drowsy.

Farewell...onto better things...

It was my last day of work today. I took on much delight reminding my fellow colleagues that i was going to leave for something better but of course all in the name of fun...

Speaking in the name of fun, my colleagues thought it would be truly amusing to hide my farewell gift (which i anxiously wanted to get my hands on) and made me find it by making me play this mini treasure hunt in the office. I was close to strangling one of my artist because i wanted my gift now and the clues weren't exactly easy!! My whole office found it very amusing to see me frantically running around with my clues in my hands and questioning everyone where the location of my present was. I however found my patience thinning.....

In the end i found it and i burst into tears seeing all the lovely messages they left for me in the card. I really am going to miss my colleagues. They were much fun. But life moves on ne?And i took it into stride as i walked out those glass doors.

I took one more glance at the building of my previous company with it's paint peeling off and the faded acrylic colored sign that spelled the name of it.......my eyes squinted with tears and i smiled. So many memories...so many great people i met and some left already....so many tears and smiles and laughter.....

I stared alittle longer. Then i turned and walked towards my car.

I never looked back......

Movie of the Year?Hell yeah....

Went to watch Transformers last Thursday in Singapore for a special screening for Singapore Transformers fans. I can definitely say with confidence that IT IS the best movie of the YEAR.After this i do not need to watch anymore movies for the rest of the year. Seriously, out of 5 stars i'm willing to give it a 10.

Upon the movie opening with a narrative of Peter Cullen's deep and commanding rumble i could feel my eyes water as his voice brought back so many fond memories of my childhood watching boxy looking Autobots rolling out and saving the day from Decepticons. I had been waiting for this moment for nearly 2 years the minute i heard that they were going to make a live action Transformers movie.

Throughout the movie i was cheering,clapping and hooting like some soccer fan at a game. When Bumblebee appeared to save Sam and Mikaela from Barricade i screamed like the little fangirl i am. Lol.

Kudos to Michael Bay for keeping elements from the original series in the 1980s while integrating elements that made the movie current, entertaining and action-packed that would appeal to people who weren't familiar with the franchise.

Bumblebee was truly adorable(as usual) and i liked how Optimus Prime in the movie was very much like himself from the original cartoon but abit more human-like in the sense that he seemed alittle bit impatient.Seriously. Very amusing to watch.

Ratchet was great as well but there were hardly much scenes of him. Jazz was alittle too ghetto for my liking ("Little bitches?" WTF??) but still enjoyable to watch.

I really liked Ironhide's new update of himself.Although i did miss his original Southern drawl, his new slightly peppered of a British accent voice is very sexy. Prime called him his weapon specialist and it showed throughout the movie as he took whatever opportunity to show off his big cannons.

By the end of the movie i could hear the general clamor of the audience going "WE NEED TO WATCH THIS AGAIN!!"

Overall, the CGI was mind-blowing (the OMG-THAT-WAS-EFFING-AWESOME transformation scenes), the music that accompanied the scenes were great(alot of industrial,nu metal....yum), the jokes were funny and the flow of the movie was alright although they could have drawn out the fight scenes more. I do see some room for improvement but hopefully those issues will be addressed with the rumored sequel.

All i can say is....i want that sequel.......NOW!!

Maybe Michael Bay will bring in the Lambo twins and Dinobots.......i would die a happy fangirl.

A new chapter in life...

Indeed.....in 2 weeks i'll be moving up to KL to start a new life and a new job :D

I am looking forward to it ....i know i'll have to make some major adjustments to my life and it'll probably be tough but i am pretty confident i'll get through it.Clients,friends and family alike is giving me tons of support and tells me that this change is for the better so i'm taking this as a very good sign as well...either that or they want me out of the state and out of their lives LMAO

Right now i'm packing some of my clothes in a huge suitcase (my closet looks so empty now) which my uncle has volunteered to bring up to KL when he comes down for a visit. I still have to take into consideration my shoes/bags/makeup/accesories/gadgets/documents and miscellaneous items but i'll stuff all of these into my car when i drive up myself.

As i feel ecstatic on leaving, i also feel immense anxiety for my parents....they'll be alone here in JB. Although they have given me their blessing to further my careers prospects but i can't help but feel that i'm abandoning them.Right now this feeling of dread haunts my sleep at night...

Hopefully i can come down as often as i can. I'm sorely going to miss them,my cats,my friends and the usual (although boring) haunts for me and my friends in JB.

/breathes out a long sigh

Oh well....i'll distract myself from my woes with food i guess

the smell of beans and peals of laughter

When i was in Melbourne, i took on a job as a waitress with just a meager pay of 30 Aussie A DAY on weekends at Peggy's family-runned cafe in the suburbs. Some of you must be wondering as to why i would even consider working there considerin the pay. But it isn't about the money and i was poor back then.

In all honesty i wouldn't mind working there for free...

I got to spend time with my bbf(bestest best friend) and the best times of my uni life was spent in the that cafe with the constant smell of coffee beans that permeated throughout the place. I would even smell of beans after i left.

I would work with Pegs on Saturdays. I took the train and arrived at 1030. I would come in late most of the time and peggy would have already set up the cafe for business for the day. Our usual client in the morning,would be a weird old lady who has the worst eating ettiquette i have ever seen on a woman with bits of food falling onto her blouse and the sofa. We would mutter curses at her and Peggy would tell me past experiences of this lady who would often make unusual and ridiculous demands ("Could you heat up the tomato slices in my sandwhich?"). After she leaves, we were burdened with the task of cleaning up her mess. Even other customers found her alitte....off.

Then there were the regular normal few.....the only ones i remembered,a gay man who used to hit on the cafe ex-chef(always latte with soy milk), a china student (regular coffee on the go),some indonesian couples or families with their dogs....

But it was never overpacked with customers and it wasnt always too empty. If it was which is usually at the end of the day Peggy and i were left doing nothing and that's dangerous.

We would come up with all sort of weird and disgusting coffee conconctions, sneak bites or sips on the cakes or cookies or beverages, experiment with matches and aluminium foils (we made mini-rockets) but we were usually talking and roaring with laughter till we choked or when Peggy's mom would reprimand us via the intercom. My best times laughing or crying behind the coffee making machine counter in that small cafe in the quiet suburbs with sun shining through the tall windows and that delicious smell of coffee beans.

All i worried about back then was whether we managed to get all the slugs out of the cabbages we were assigned to chop to how much carrots i could slice up within the hour or whether there was enough milk in the fridge!

How simple it was back then....

My poor feet

My daemon is a white ferret..........................I hate ferrets.They're destructive little critters.

Mindless test I took from the Golden Compass movie website. The movie is due to be out in December starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.

Nothing today. Just that i was so busy that the minute i got into office i did not even have a chance to sit on my chair.....ALL DAY. Just running around in heels like some frantic headless chicken.

I did however feel extreme frustration with a colleague of mine. I guess there's a saying...when you want things done you gotta do it yourself.

I asked for that bloody quotation last week and she still hasnt given it to me and i have dateline to meet. I asked her politely on the status of the quotation. With an irritated look she says in a huff "You have to wait ,you know?".

I thinned my lips as my patience plummets like Malaysian shares . Instead of snapping back at her, i pick up the phone and i call all the media owners. Guess what happened...i got the quote in 3 hours top!While it has taken her 3 days for her to not get these things done and tell me to wait!

YOU NEVER TELL YOUR COLLEAGUE OR BOSS TO WAIT WHEN THEY ASK ON THE STATUS OF THE JOB

pfft

sorry,let's start over (LONG POST)

I'm 24 this year. I'm unhappy and dissatisfied. And there's only one reason why i feel this way....and that is me. It's starting to dawn on me how much time i have wasted being bitter and sad about myself. This in turn has hindered me from truly enjoying life. Today was no exception....

Recently i DREAD to go to work compared how i was a few months ago where i would literally jump out of bed and get to work with excitement thrumming through my body. Now my colleagues actually know how i hate working because it shows like bright neon lights. One of colleagues is leaving end of the month and the management has decided to pass on her major account to me. If i was in the right state of mind at the time of the news i would have felt honoured! The company actually recognizes me as a senior staff.Not the bumbling,green junior i was 2 years ago but actually someone who is capable. Capable enough to handle the account which is huge.

Instead, me being me i gave my manager the blackest face in existance that it could suck in galaxies and God himself...wherever he is....ANYWAY!TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR!But i was being so incredibly bitchy about it and my manager knew.....

"Cynthia,i know you're aren't happy because i know how busy you are already..." - ah!she was actually being accommodating!!OH THE GUILT~!!!

And to add salt and pepper and paprika and green chili padi to the very infected wound she invited me to attend an expo in Singapore with her.....

LIKE EFFINNNGGGG PAIN!!

I have to rectify this!I HAVE TO!STARTING TOMORROW! I will come to work ON TIME (actually...i never come to work on time..NVM!!), there will be a giddy skip in my walk, i will intensify the burning passion and desire to WORK from the way i talk and walk!

First step in being happy - BE HAPPY ON THE JOB!!

/goes and eat cheese slices with teh tarik

DBSK at MKMF winning best group of the year

Oh mah babies won Mnet.com Award, Mobile popularity Award,Best Group Award and BEST ARTIST OF THE YEAR!!

And Sunday came rolling in....

My Sundays are never productive...just the thought that i have to go back to work the next day makes me want to leave myself brain dead and just watch my k-boys on youtube.

What i wore to Sunday mass



I have to be very careful with this dress!I can fit into it alright but my ass is really fleshy,ok big so its alittle tight there when i wear this. This has resulted me into sitting/squatting/kneeling very very slowly while i have to bring my legs together closely.......i hate my damn ass.

Later i decided to go do some shopping



Oooohh Mac makeup : Mac Studio Fix Fluid Foundation and Mac Studio Finish Concealer

Christmas is also round the bend and i have already thought of what i would really want but inevitably will never get .... =_=;;


Marc Jacobs Snow Ivory/Black Grosgrain


a.v. max Locket Charm Earrings
So cute!

Okay...i'll start with what i did today......exciting,ne?

Ruby,Ee Vynn and me went to watch Happy Feet today. I must say it was a pretty good animated movie. Loved the soundtrack and Ramon, the little Argentinian accented adelie penguin just killed me......he was too funny.

Recently i've been seeing how right now the most trendiest thing to wear is colored stockings....as in BRIGHT colored stockings. I always loved wearing knee high stockings but i could still remember the taunts on how "china-girl" looking i was when i donned them on and THAT made me steer clear of them. So NOW, i'm on the hunt of getting maybe a pair of fuchsia colored ones. But i would also need a pair of shoes to go with it since my current shoes collection are not colored within that color pallette.

So off i went shopping for a pair of brightly colored stockings. I stepped into Sox Shop to see if i could find what im looking for but i stop short of my search when i hear loud sobbing(accompanied by the occasional hiccups)behind me.I turn around and what i find disturbed me. I see a man probably in his early twenties squatting down in front of this girl (i'm assuming is the sales girl) sitting on a low stool, with tears running down his face while he sobbed like a little baby. The girl however was totally unfazed by his behaviour and her face looked like it was carved out of stone. Wah....i'm guessing hor, the boy is getting dumped by her and instead of moving on he decides to squat at her workplace till she takes him back. Painful to watch and i felt like i was intruding i left the shop. WITHOUT GETTING MY SOCKS!

painnnn.....

yorosh-kuuu~