Stressful Day

The time is almost 9.00p.m. and the workers at the house next door are still doing the renovation work. The sound of drill can still be heard. Argh!

Today was one of those days that I was so busy until I could not remember what I had typed in Yahoo Messenger straight after I typed the words. I was not concentrating fully.

At least by lunchtime I had almost finished everything that needed to be signed by the bosses except the cheques for payroll. Only got that done at 3p.m. I will bank in my cheque tomorrow morning before work and withdraw $ to pay for my credit card.

I had shoulder ache by the end of the day. I rarely had that. That was probably caused by too much stress.

While the bosses are away the next couple of days, I may be able to take things slightly easier than normal but there is still so much work to do. Today I could not finish filling all the Occupation Certificate Application forms for two companies, which means the clients can only bring the Kota Kinabalu City Hall officers for inspection next week.

Today I received a phone call from a friend MW who had retired earlier in the year after working in an architect firm for a long long time. So good to chit-chat with her again.

I am definitely going to have an early night, for I totally bushed. Before I retire, I will put on facial and eye masks to rejuvenate myself first.

Indicator/Blinker

Yesterday the office boy helped me to renew the car road tax at the post office. It was going to expire tomorrow.

I dislike drivers who do not put on the indicator/blinker when they want to turn left or right at junctions. People can be so inconsiderate. They do not know that they can put their own and other people’s life in danger.

I am glad this morning I did not drive too close to a car in front of me because out of the blue, the driver suddenly stopped at a junction to turn right without putting on the right indicator/blinker.

Tonight I also saw two drivers did not put on the left indicator/blinker when they wanted to turn in the housing estate.

Coincidentally recently Light FM radio station also keep on emphasizing to the public to put on their indicator/blinker when they are driving.

Meeting Deadlines

Have been extremely busy these two days meeting deadlines. Have lots to do tomorrow as well before the bosses go on leave from Thursday until next Monday.

To ease the pressure, I prepared the August payroll for all office staff tonight at home so that I can concentrate on other urgent stuff in the office tomorrow.

Yesterday Happenings

Yesterday some of us arrived at Canaanland Celebration an hour early to attend Barnabas Team meeting. Breakfast was being provided.

As usual I did not join some of them for lunch at Damai for ‘Pan Mee’ as I was feeling a migraine coming. Instead I went to Karamunsing Shopping Complex and had difficulty finding a parking space. Even the road system outside this shopping complex and Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. had been changed. I had to make a big circle before finding a parking space.

I went to McD to take away my lunch. I only ordered a Fillet o Fish and a regular Sprite. Instead the cashier gave me a large order of Fillet o Fish, Sprite and French Fries. I wanted to complain but resisted as I was sweating by that time due to poor ventiliation inside McD. I just could not wait to get out of the place but alas I had to wait for the burger for a few minutes and the place was jam packed with people queuing up. I had no problem in finishing the large serving of McD. I must be really hungry.

I went to have my hair trimmed, coloured and treatment. My hairdresser Maggie wanted to cut off my hair to a bob style but I refused. I reckon with my skin being on the sensitive side, I need my hair to be below the shoulder so that the hair can cover my neck whenever there are rashes appearing on my neck. Plus after taking so long to grow my hair, I do not have the heart to have it shorten too drastically.

I spent about three hours at the hair saloon and by the time I left the shopping centre to go to 1 Borneo at about 5p.m., the rain was coming down.

There was massive traffic congestion on the other side of the road at Sulaman Road.

This time round my lady boss gave me the RM200 shopping vouchers for Southaven. According to the salesgirl whom I asked, this is a Singaporean shop and most of the clothes on sale are either black or white. The other colours are all light colours.

Since I had lost weight, I found myself being able to fit into more clothes and therefore my choices are more now compared to before. But I could only fit into size M in this shop. I ended getting two black blouses since I prefer this colour to white.

Before I left 1 Borneo at 6p.m., I managed to browse at the Tasty Food Court on the First Floor. The thing I do not like about this food court is that they use the coupon system, ie. you have to buy coupons before you can buy the food you want to eat. The only interesting stalls I found were dim sum and Penang food. I did not check out the prices though.

I had difficulty in coming out from the carpark at 1 Borneo to Sulaman Road. On the way home, traffic on Sulaman Road was bumper to bumper. From 1 Borneo and detouring to fill in petrol on the way home, the total time it took for me to get home was about 45mins!

Before I retired at 11p.m., I watched the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. Once again PRC put on a great show but of course not as grand as the opening ceremony. I like the fireworks of the Olympics rings the most.

Happenings of Last Saturday

On Saturday I did the following.

1. I managed to nearly finish updating the company accounts. Next month end will be the end of the financial year and therefore the bosses want to see the draft net profit figure to see how much they can spend between now and then to decrease the tax to be paid to Inland Revenue Department.

2. I had the car service at the workshop below the office. For a long time the windscreen wiper had been making sound whenever it was being switched on when rain came down. The sound is quite annoying and therefore I decided to get a new one. Now the new wiper does not make any sound.

Last year the mechanic suggested to me to put a layer of window tint at the top of the windscreen but I did not ask him to do that until two days ago.

3. I left the office to come home at 3p.m. The house next to our house was bought over by new owners and since three weeks ago, a contractor has been doing renovation. The noise has been quite deafening for me during the weekends that I have been home with the sound of drilling and hacking going on. That’s why I did not want to come early during the past weekends unless I was too tired to go elsewhere.

4. I watched the Russian team won the Sychronized Swimming ahead of Spain and PRC at the Beijing Olympic before having an hour nap.

5. That night my sis-in-law Ros drove her parents and mum to attend a dinner at Ocean Seafood Restaurant while both us went to Yayasan Sabah Auditiorium to listen to The UK South Norfolk Youth Symphonic Band organised by the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu. On the way to Sabah Foundation, there was massive traffic congestion at the Coastal Highway.

The programme is as follows.

First Session

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace – John Williams arr Michael Story

Highlights from Moulin Rouge – Eden Ahbez arr Michael Brown

The Children of Sanchez – Arr Tom Milford

Selection from Chicage – John Kander arr Ted Ricketts

Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder arr Naohiro Iwai

Miss Saigon – Claude Schonberg arr Warren Barker

Second Session

The Cowboys - John Williams arr Jay Bocook

Queen in Concert – Brian May arr Jay Bocook

Selections from The Lion King – Elton John arr Paul Lavender

Irish Party in Third Class – Gaelie Storm arr Richard Saucedo

Pirates of the Carribbean – Klaus Badelt arr Ted Ricketts

Third Session (Combined with Tshung Tsin Secondary School Band)

Four Norfolk Dances by Philips Sparke

Asian Selection II by Mitsuo Nonami

Since the concert was performed by youths, my expectation was not that high. Nevertheless these young people did a good job. The conductor was Mr. Mike Booty, who is also a Rotarian. At the end almost half the people in the hall gave the band a standing ovation.

When we arrived home about 11p.m., mum and Ros’s parents were not home yet. They only arrived home at 11.15p.m.

Kuala Lumpur Public Transport Systems – LRT and KTM

The Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi went for rides on the LRT and KTM yesterday in Kuala Lumpur. After his rides, he iterates that he wants improvements on the services.

Now he should understand how the public feel regarding these public transport systems.

To me they suck big time. Whenever I visited that city for nearly this last decade, I had been taking them so I know what I am talking about.

The KTM (trains) in my opinion are too old and move too slow. More often than not, they usually arrive later than the scheduled time. I am not surprised that people can fall asleep standing up riding on them.

Eventhough the LRT (Light Rail Transit) (monorail) is considered quite new, I find that each of them do not have enough carriages and therefore most of the time there would be so many people ‘sardined’ into them. The air-conditioners inside the monorail may be on full blast until most people would find it too cold.

But it is another story at the station itself while passengers are waiting for it to arrive. The ventiliation at the station is much less to be desired and it is just like a cooking pot with the fire being put to the highest knob. I was always wary that I may faint while waiting for the monorail to arrive because I could hardly breathe most of the time.

Let’s wait and see what improvements would be made to these public transport systems.

Dinner

Tonight we had these for dinner.

Wet Butter Prawns

Hong Kong ‘Kailan’

Chicken Frankfurter

The Wet Butter Prawns still need lots of improvement. The prawns were very fresh though. The sauce was too solid, need to be more watery. Mum knew she had to improve on this as well.

Massive Filing

Last night I finally managed to file the following documents for the last nine months. The last time I did the filing was in November 2007. I have been procrastinating too much.

All my credit card statements along with the corresponding receipts.

Telephone, electricity, rates of assessments and water bills.

I also threw away so many pieces of papers. The plastic bag was almost full with all these junks.

Absentmindedness

1. Besides yesterday‘s date of 20082008 came only once in a lifetime, I knew I forgot something else, until today. Yesterday was also the birthday of my male cousin in UK. I have to admit I am getting old. My brain cannot store as much information as before. Plus I have been too lazy to store people’s birthdays in my mobile phone calendar like what I did with my previous mobile phones.

But at least I had the chance to wish him a belated happy birthday in MSN before knocking off from work today. My cousin is exactly four months younger than me.

2. Today after noontime I ordered my lunch from the nearby coffee shop as the office boy is on leave these two days.

It was only after my lunch had been delivered by the worker of the coffee shop that I remembered I had brought my lunch of fried noodles from home. *DUH!*

Dinner at Restoran Masakan Sedap

Choo Siow Chin is here in Kota Kinabalu for a few days and staying at Ps. Jerry Dusing’s house in Taman Seputeh as Choo is his daughter’s friend.

Last night Sophia Tsen and I treated Choo to dinner at Restoran Masakan Sedap near Hilltop for an early birthday celebration. Both of them have never been to this restaurant before.

The menu was as follows.

Steamed Garoupa Fish

Wet Butter Prawns

Lamb Ribs with Honey Sauce

‘Sayur Manis’ with ‘Sambal Belacan’

The fish did not have any smell and the sauce was really tasty. Sophia and Choo mentioned that they had not tasted steamed fish as good as that for a while.

Sophia liked the prawns the best. The prawns were very fresh and fried until there was the wok taste. The wet butter sauce was well done until Sophia finished the whole thing. In fact it was insufficient for her.

The lamb ribs did not have any smell which meant they were really well marinated but had too many bones. Overall they were ok.

The veges were the worst because they were too old. But they were crunchy though.

Choo was the first one to give up. Sophia and I continued eating until Sophia also gave up. I finished the leftovers.

We were totally satisfied with the meal and the bill came to RM82.10 with a complimentary small bowl of red bean and sago.

20082008

(Thanks to LLS & Dr. C for sending this sms to me)

Years come and go… But today is a special day..

¤ 20082008 ¤

Double Match. It happens only once in a lifetime … so .. I wish YOU a very Wonderful Day!

KKIA

Tonight as I was leaving the house to go to KKIA using Lintas Road to fetch my sis-in-law Ros and Alistair as they were coming back from Sandakan on the last flight, the rain started to come down. It was drizzling and is still drizzling right now.

Using the Lintas Road always reminded me of the time when we had to use it and U-turn at the end at the traffic light just before the airport to go to Rafflesia Medical Centre to see grannie.

This was the first time I drove to the airport. I think the new airport is in operation but the problem is cars cannot go in to fetch and alight passengers. I had to drive until outside the old airport where Ros and Alistair were waiting for me.

Hand Protectors

Had been using these hand protectors against the sun for about two years as I drove.



I prefer the new ones bought from the same place ie. Cosway. The design is better and can last longer.

Artwork by Chloe Chong

Game Over

Lee Chong Wei was no match for Lin Dan.

Malaysia had to settle for silver medal.

Colouring

Before my company submits Plans to the Local Authorities for approval, we need to colour the Plans for Civilworks such as Earthwork, Drainage, Road, Retaining Wall, Sewerage and Water Supply. This requirement does not apply to Structural Plan.

As Civil and Structural Engineering Consultant, we are not allowed to submit Building Plans to Local Authorities for shopoffice, housing development, individual houses, commercial development, etc. Only Architects are allowed to do that. But we are allowed to submit Development and Building Plans for warehouse and factory.

Last night I took about 2.5 hours to colour six sheets of Development Plan.

Today I took 9 hours to colour 50 sheets of Building Plan.

Tonight I took 2.5 hours to colour 24 sheets of Earthwork Plan.

Altogether I work 11.5 hours today. Am I tired or not? Rhetorical question indeed.

Colouring can be therapeutic sometimes and to get paid doing it is certainly not bad at all.

The boss told some of my colleagues not to take too much time in colouring as we are not entering into any colouring competition for their masterpiece. But yet they can take forever to do it.

So most of the time in the end I had to pick up their unfinished work and finished it for them. Nowadays I prefer to do it all by myself eventhough the boss already designated the draftslady who joined the company at the beginning of June to help me every Saturday. The boss specifically told her when she signed her letter of appointment in my presence a month ago.

The first two Fridays after signing her letter of appointment, the boss reminded her to help me. But subsequently last Friday and yesterday, the boss did not remind her and so on Saturday she was doing her usual drafting work. I did not want to remind her as I reckon we are all adults. An instruction is an instruction full stop. If I remind her, like all the rest of the things that I have to do in the capacity as the boss’s PA, I am considered too bossy. I will wait until the boss to query me before I tell him the fact.

It is truly a challenge to deal with the Generation Y. They have a mind of their own eventhough they do not know much and they do not like to ask questions.

Another One

This morning before I woke up, I had another dream.

This time I was with a tour group visiting a historical place but I do not know where.

On 6 August this year my cousin in London was asking me when I would be visiting her and the rest of her family. I told her at the rate I am going at work, maybe when I retire.

Am I trying to think too far ahead? Well, I know my life is in God’s hands. Whatever age I live until is in His Sovereign Hands. But I think it is good to plan ahead especially to be able to have money to travel around the world. It would be a pity to have all the time in the world by then but cannot go anywhere.

Ridiculous Dream

This morning I woke up when there was a blackout at 4.30a.m. I did not know how long it took me to go back to sleep but when the alarm went off in my mobile phone at 6a.m., I did not want to get up. Plus waking up and having a cold shower was not something I truly fancy doing early morning. Thank God the electricity supply came back at 6.08a.m.

Before I woke up, I was having a dream. I was in a place like a funfair but it was not exactly a funfair. It was like the design of a sand castle but made from reinforcement concrete, something like a fortified city. I was looking for my pair of shoes at different exits but could not find them. The most ridiculous thing was when I found the left shoe, I could not find the right one but found another one of the left shoe. When I told the female security worker, she said it was quite normal that some people wear shoes like that. What a baloney! Glad it was only a dream. Just imagine wearing your left shoes on your right leg.

Tonight I did not make it for Life Group. I was actually doing OT at home for more than two hours. But before I started on my work, I was chatting throughYahoo Messenger with my ex-housemate. Hi Neth! Good to chat with you again.

Olympic Silver

Just finished witnessing the badminton match between Malaysia’s only gold medal hopeful Lee Chong Wei defeating Lee Hyun Il of Republic of Korea in the Beijing Olympics.

I am glad Chong Wei won as the entire nation’s burden is on him to win. I am sure he is relief he won as well as this is a chance in a lifetime. We do not know whether he would still be playing in four years’ time.

He will meet either Lin Dan or Chen Jin in the finals and Malaysia will have at least a silver medal for this event or more like the whole 2008 Beijing Olympics Games.

Food

On Monday and Tuesday nights I had less than six hours of sleep while last night I had more than six hours. But when I woke up this morning I felt more sleepy than the last two days when I woke up. Another one of those things in my life that I cannot explain. More sleep = more tired, less sleep = less tired. I am not even talking about the ideal eight hours of sleep I need every night.

Today I thought the boss was going to attend a meeting at 10a.m. But at 9.45a.m. he had not moved, so I reminded him but he said the meeting was cancelled. I was planning to write out some cheques for another sister company but my plan went down the drain. Have to do it tomorrow when he is attending a meeting.

My colleague NE and I were talking about how fast this year has just gone by. This year has been an extremely busy year for all of us. It feels like we had just been paid and it is already mid August.

Was on the phone with Mimie who works in a Quantity Surveyor’s firm. She told me her boss FT was telling her that an architect YTC whom we all know like to scold his staff. So one day when FT was at YTC’s office and after witnessing him scolding his staff, FT told YTC not to scold his staff and his reason was, ‘Please do not scold them. Of course they will make mistake and know less than you. If they know more than you, then they would be in your shoes and not your employees.’ Very well said FT and I totally agree with him. YTC is famous for being a very impatient person.

Before I came home this evening, I found all these food in the pantry/refrigerator. One thing good about not having JE around is that we get more of our share of food to eat. He does not leave any food he can see alone. I am not trying to demean him but it is the truth. I would not be able to capture any of these photos if he is around.

Brought back from Kuching by colleague who went there to attend her brother's graduation


Inside this container are mini prawn crackers (keropok)


Lolly and biscuits


Dried Mangoes from the Phillipines


A box of mooncake given by contractor


A packet of Hershey's chocolates


'Papaddum', biscuits, a quarter of a mooncake, slices of bread


Dried Pork Jerky - Garlic Flavour


'Char Ko' made my boss's mum


Strawberry Jam and Dark Chocolate Sauce

Sleeping Time

I had less than six hours sleep last night and thank God I did not feel sleepy when I woke up. It is good to know I can still survive and not being a walking zombie with insufficient sleep.

Usually I am the only one who likes to have a nap during lunchtime but today most of my colleagues who did not go out for lunch were having a nap after having lunch. This is the first time I caught the sight of something like that after being in the company for almost ten years.

Finally I managed to finish filling in all the forms for the Occupation Certificate application for two projects. I have been delaying in doing them for a couple of weeks simply because they are not urgent. There are still minor works to be completed at the project sites and therefore I could take my sweet time this time round. Plus I would say the clients are more civilised and patient people as compared to others.

The boss was busy attending three meetings today and therefore I had time to catch up on my work. I wrote cheques for all the bills that are due this month including EPF, SOCSO, etc.

I arrived work at 7.10a.m. and left at 6.10p.m. Now that I do not watch any of the Hong Kong series for the 6-8p.m. slot, I do not need to hurry home to ‘chase’ after the series. I can take my time to leave work. Three other colleagues also left at the same time as I did tonight.

Happy Birthday Jeff

In honour of your birthday, we are having the following for dinner tonight. :) (just kidding for the first part, second part is for real).

When I arrived home from work just now, there was a red Myvi parked outside our house. I do not remember Aunty Shirley's car number plate but true enough, I found out she's here to join us for dinner upon entering the house. James and family with his parents-in-law are here as well.


Baked Salted Chicken


Fried Fish


Veges


Ladyfingers (from backyard) with Fish Cake


'Siew Yuk'


Tofu with Minced Pork and Mushroom


Fish Maw Soup


Boiled Rice to the Max.

As for your request through FB late last night for abalone when you come back at the end of this month, I need to find out which restaurants serve it hopefully before you arrive back.

Supper

Had these for supper at Mr. & Mrs. Chew Chong Bin's residence last night.


Chocolate and Prune Cake


Longan and 'Leong Fun' Drink

Wrong Lane

Tonight went to Mr. Chew Chong Bin’s house for Canaanland Celebration Committee Meeting.

On the way there as I turned in from the traffic light at Tuaran Road to Likas Bay Road, there was a car waiting to turn into Tuaran Road going to the direction of Kota Kinabalu but it was on the wrong lane!! That was supposed to be the lane I should turn into.

Thank God there was a side lane for cars from Tuaran Road turning into Likas Bay Road. The car behind me honked the car which was on the wrong lane but I doubt the driver knew his/her (I did not manage to see the face) error.

On the way home after the meeting I stopped by the petrol station I usually go to, to fill in petrol. One of the cashiers who is not working tonight wondered if I was going to Kota Kinabalu. He wanted a lift from me since there is hardly any public transport late at night.

I think he is just trying to kid with me because I think he has a motorbike. Anyway, I told him I am so tired and could not wait to go home, let alone go to Kota Kinabalu.

Today’s Happenings

Woke up at 8.15a.m. this morning after having about eight hours of sleep. Had Cantonese styled prawn noodles for breakfast.

Was about to go out from house when stomach ache struck.

While I was in Jalan Kolombong, a big green truck was behind me. At the time I was doing 75km/h and this truck overtook me. In front I saw a man wanted to cross the road and when he saw the truck approaching, he had to run quickly across. Pretty scary scene.

Thank God I was still early upon arriving at Canaanland Celebration. Rev. Lee preached on prayer and all of us had corporate prayer after that. At the end some people being ministered to for financial and health problems.

Dropped by Giant Kosan on the way home. Bought a 2L Marigold Peel Fresh OJ and marble butter cake. The OJ in a plastic container cost RM7.99 while a 1.89L OJ of the same brand in paper carton cost RM8.99. Really cannot figure that one out since both OJ will not be expiring soon.

Came home and made sushi for lunch. Watched a bit of the Beijing Olympics Games and surfed the internet before having two hours of sleep before dinner.

Managed to do 2.5 hours of OT tonight. Very happy and rewarded myself with three pieces of sushi as my stomach was getting hungry.

Happy Birthday Ros

Eventhough last night I did not finish watching the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, I did not sleep until after 1a.m. That was because I went to bed way past my normal bed time. And as a result I had a slight insomnia.

This morning needlessly to say I had to force myself to get out of bed.

Work was pretty slow today but I managed to get some work done ie. the MOA between MOE and us. But I have not completed everything yet. I left work at 2p.m. to come back to rest eventhough at first I was planning to stay until 6p.m. I did bring back some work to do. Hopefully I can get them done tomorrow night.

I had porridge for lunch and mum told me to put a bit of oyster sauce. She was correct, it tasted yummy.

Today is my sis-in-law’s birthday and tonight my elder brother treated all of us for dinner at WK Restaurant.

The menu is as follows.

Hong Kong ‘Kai Lan’

Fried Tofu

Pork Spare Ribs with Grapes

Ostrich Meat with Ginger and Shallots

Dried Buttered Prawns

Everything tasted right tonight and we finished everything. All the adults liked the Pork Spare Ribs the most. The veges were very crunchy. Have not tasted this veg so good for a long time. Alistair liked the Fried Tofu. Barnabas liked the Ostrich Meat. Chloe liked the Dried Buttered Prawns. We were each given either a complimentary ‘pandan’ or coconut pudding.

Complimentary ‘Pandan’ Pudding

Fish in the Aquarium at WK Restaurant

After coming back from the restaurant, we had a piece of cheesecake. The cheesecake was given to Ros by Shelley Chew’s sis-in-law who shares the same name as Ros. Both of their four years old son are good buddies and they usually have brunch together after attending church on Sundays.

Watched some highlights of the Olympic Games on Astro at my brother's house before coming home just now.

Gr8

Saw the gr8est show on earth last night. It was superb as the IOC President described it.

China’s 5000 years of history condensed into an hour pageantry of sight and sound that left every single person be it the live or tv audience gobsmacked.

Would London in 2012 be able to come any closer to match this most spectacular show on earth? I do not think London should even try. Why? Because I am sure the Chinese have blown their Olympic budget to excessive proportion by staging the opening ceremony and the Games.

And with Beijing covering with smog leading up to the opening ceremony and even today, I think the amount of fireworks displayed last night was unnecessary. (And by the way I had seen even more spectacular fireworks than those of last night ie. when Sydney turned 200 years in 1988).

Let the Games Begin

Today is a special day: The opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics Games at 8:00pm on 8 August 2008 – a total of four eights which is supposedly to be an auspiciously good day according to the extremely superstitious Chinese. But the Chinese forgot that today’s date is based on the Gregorian calendar and not the Chinese calendar. But then, any 8 is good for the Chinese for it symbolizes wealth or prosperity.

The Olympics mascots have been blamed for the recent calamaties occured in China including the Sichuan earthquake. Human beings like to blame others for bad things that happened to them and these mascots are not spared. The irony of the blame is that The Fuwa (Olympics mascots) literally means “good-luck dolls”.

One of my colleagues was born on this day thirty three years ago but she does not celebrate her birthday because her religion does not allow her to do that.

Twenty years ago today one of my male cousins got married but tonight we are not invited to any anniversary dinner to commemorate the occasion. Instead my elder brother, sis-in-law and mum would be attending a wedding dinner at Shangrila Tanjung Aru Resort. And in mum’s own words ‘I have to miss out on the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics!’ *shucks*

Monican Reunion Class 1980

I have not seen most of my ex-classmates and schoolmates from primary school since we left the school at the end of Primary Six. After all of us left St. Monica’s Primary School, most of them went to St. Michael’s Secondary School while some girls went to St. Cecilia Secondary School. Only a handful of us (six to be exact) went to Sung Siew Secondary School.

I have lost touch with all of them as I did not even get to do my SRP in Malaysia. But I bumped into one of my ex-classmates and a schoolmate from primary school at the same time when I went to Giant Kolombong Foodcourt to have lunch a few years back. That was when Bestmart had just opened and both of them were working there. I am still in touch through work with the schoolmate HL. At the end of July 2007, HL told me that our ex-classmates and schoolmates had a reunion back in Sandakan on 7 July 2007. After that a couple of them sent me photos taken during the reunion. On that night, they had already planned in advance to have another reunion on 9 August 2008.

On 5 March 2008, I bought a round trip airticket back to Sandakan. The details are as follows. I did not care whether I could make it for the reunion or not.

Flight RM19.98

Airport Tax RM15.00

Administration Fee RM42.00

Fuel Surcharge RM32.00

Total RM108.98

Up until last week I did not plan to go back anymore because I cannot afford to take even half day leave this Saturday since I am swamped with too much work. And that was what I told katsmew (ex-schoolmate) through MSN Messenger.

On 31 July 2008 I received a sms from an ex-classmate : Dear Fellow Classmates, Monican Reunion Class 1980, 9 August 2008, Saturday 630pm Sabah Hotel Plantation Café buffet, etc at RM50 per pax, pls inform others & confirm attendance Tq from Henley Liew

This morning when two of my colleagues handed me their leave form for this Saturday, I thought maybe I could take the half day leave as well since I managed to do more work than I expected this week. For a while there I really thought I could make it for the reunion and was really looking forward to it.

But my daydreaming was short-lived when my boss told me I had to complete the MOA between our company and the Ministry of Education by this weekend. I have not done much and so I have lots to do. My boss had asked the lady boss to assist me since I am busy with so many other things but she did not want to help.

As I was thinking about what I was going to miss out during this upcoming reunion, suddenly I received a forwarded sms from katsmew : REGRETS: Dear Fellow Classmates, Monican Reunion Class 1980, 9 August 2008, IS CANCELLED Tq from Henley Liew

Apparently a lot of people are just like me, too busy with their work to fly back to Sandakan this weekend. So another one of my airticket is going down the drain (this is not the first time - the previous airticket I bought to go to Tawau during Harvest Festival last year, I ended up having to work OT at that time). As I work OT during this weekend, I would be able to recover back the $ spent to buy the airticket. That is not too bad at all.

Snail Mail

I started calling all mails through the post office snail mail after I first encountered email in 1993.

I used to look forward to receiving snail mails especially when I first came back from Down Under. My friends and I sent so many of those mails to each other because most of us did not have internet access at that time. But now even with email, we hardly communicate anymore due to the busyness of working and family lives.

I do not know how long my brother or his wife had not been to the post office lately. Last night as I was about to go to sleep, Chloe knocked on my bedroom door and handed me nine different mails.

None of the snail mails were personal mail but nevertheless I was still glad to receive so many at one time. They were sent from:-

1. Bonuslink (Shopping Loyalty Programme) - 1

2. Statement from Investment Company - 1

3. Shiseido Camellia Club – 2

4. RBC Resource Centre Berhad – 1

5. Kota Kinabalu City Hall – 1

6. ING Insurance Berhad – 3

I think this was the first time I received so many snail mails at one shot in my entire life.

Today’s Happenings

My brother was having his business partner (PC) from Peninsula Malaysia staying in his house for quite a while before his parents-in-law came over for a visit since two days ago. So PC had to stay in our spare room downstairs since two nights ago. He does not join us for dinner. He goes over to my brother's house for dinner.

(I haven’t been properly introduced to PC yet. I only saw him on the night I was going out for dinner with Paul Lok and gang on 25 July 2008 and he came over with my brother’s family to join mum and her guests for dinner)

I did not sleep well last night. At 1.30a.m. I suddenly woke up and when I looked through the space underneath my bedroom door, I could see that the light downstairs at the front of the house was still on.

When I went downstairs, I saw that the guest room door was still wide open. I unlocked the front door and did not see PC’s pair of shoes. I closed the front door and locked it again. On the table next to the front door, I saw a bunch of our house keys.

I came back upstairs and was debating on whether to call my brother to check with him where was PC but since the time was already early morning, I decided against it. I did not want to wake him up unnecessarily. I was thinking maybe PC was out somewhere with some other people besides my brother.

When I woke up again at 2.30a.m., I saw the light downstairs was off. I was relieved.

As a result of being awaken twice last night, I did not want to wake up when the alarm on my mobile phone went off this morning.

The officer from Statistics Department finally came today to collect the duly filled Survey Form and apologised for taking so long to come.

Since two days ago, the nearby coffee shop had finally increased the price of the economy rice for one meat dish and one vege dish from RM3 to RM3.50. The portion stays the same as before.

So today it is back to Jawa style economy rice for me at the same price of RM3.50 for one meat dish and one veges dish but the serving is more than the chinese shop. Of course having this also depends on whether the office boy is in the office at lunchtime to takeaway for us and himself.

At 4.00p.m. there was a heavy downpour and by 4.20p.m., there was a blackout in the office. The boss announced that we could go home early if the electricity supply did not come back but he did not spell out at exactly what time. At 4.35p.m. I realised I could go home because I started work at 7.30a.m. and therefore could go home at 4.30p.m. eventhough my official office hours is 8a.m. to 5p.m. Normally I do not go home since I do OT from 4.30-6.00p.m.

I quickly called home to see whether there was any electricity at home but no one answered the house phone. I called my brother’s house and my nephew told me there was electricity in the house. I also talked to my sis-in-law and told her the situation I was in last night. She said PC and my brother were out for business meeting until after midnight last night and when they came back home, they were working until early morning. This morning when my sis-in-law opened her front door, she saw PC’s pair of shoes. She thought that he slept on their couch. We laughed. Actually he wore my brother’s slippers to come back and left his own shoes at my brother’s house.

So I left work and brought home some work to do and managed to do it just now. I am glad it is done and tomorrow I can concentrate on other more urgent work. I have not had time yet to write out the cheques due to Inland Revenue Department which will be due on Friday. I hope I could get to do it tomorrow.

Tonight was the finale of the TVB show ‘Always Ready’ on ntv7. Since the weather was not that great, the reception for this channel was bad. Most of the time we could not see anything but can hear the conversation. So the maid suggested to take out the 12” tv from the guest room to watch. Mum was surprised that the reception of the small tv is better than the big tv. I told her twice that her maid has been watching tv in the room most of the time when she does not like what we are watching but both times she could not hear me properly because the volume of the tv was louder. Yes, the maid can be the boss sometimes but since she is not my maid, I refrain from saying anything. I just have to tolerate things.

Perks

With JE not coming to work in the meantime, if I am the earliest to arrive at work, then I will have the shaded carpark next to the boss’s carpark.

Had an extremely busy day. If I had started work at 6.30a.m. and left 12 hours later, my work table would still look like a hurricane had just landed.

Different clients have been calling me asking me re. their respective project and therefore my desk and its vicinity is littered with files and documents everywhere. It is not a pretty sight at all.

One of the clients Mr. Cheng who works for a telecommunications company, told me he wanted to fly over from Kuala Lumpur to collect the documents personally from me as well as to invite me for a meal to thank me for all the assistance I had rendered to him so far in his job. I told him he does not have to or rather his company does not have to waste such kind of $, I will get the documents scanned and email to him.

Clients from Peninsula seem to be more daring and I am glad we are separated by the South China Sea. Most of the time they would tell me to call them if I am visiting Kuala Lumpur so that they can bring me out. I have never taken up on any of those offers. It is hard to judge a book by its cover so to speak. If I accept an invitation and if their intention is really only to thank me then everything would be fine. But if they have ulterior motive, then I would not know until I am out with them. Most of the time I am not prepared to take the risk. Call me a chicken if you have to. I am too wary of people.

Mr. Cheng used to have a colleague (an Indian fellow who died a few years back) who whenever he came over to Kota Kinabalu would invite me to have a drink with him at the pub. I was glad each time my boss would entertain him instead of me.

If I do not accept the invitation, I would appear to be snobbish. And if I do, something may happen to me. Truly I cannot win both ways.

So far working in the company for ten years, the most generous person I have ever met is a contractor, Mr. Wong. He had given me RM200 red packet for CNY as well as invited one of my colleagues and I to join their company for their annual dinner feasting on individual serving of shark fin soup, ‘yee sang’, lobster, other seafood and high cholesterol food.

Most of the time when clients and contractors invited me out for lunch, I declined the offer. Sometimes they will give me mandarin oranges or hamper for CNY, and mooncakes for Mooncake Festival. I may accept those gifts but if they only give them to me and not my boss, then I will give to the boss to let him decide what to do with those gifts.

Yesterday one of my colleagues bought me a raisin bun, a curry puff and a chicken bun for afternoon tea. I was thankful for that but if I eat all these everyday, I am sure I would not be able to fit in my clothes anymore.

I believe if we treat people well, most of the time people would treat us back kindly. But sometimes even if we take the initiative and make extra effort to do something, not all people would appreciate our effort especially the rich people. They think the whole world owe them and just because they have $ and high pitched voices, people will have to automatically kowtow to them, which to me is a lot of hogwash.

Today I asked the office boy to assist me in some tasks but he said he was busy to go to collect the boss’s pair of shoes under repair at the shop. I could not believe my ears. When I told my colleague NE about it, she asked me what kind of shoes is so important until helping Spinxie is not important at all. To maintain my sanity, I had to crack a joke before I go crazy with all the stress. So I told her ‘Cinderalla’s crystal slippers which will turn into a pumpkin if not collected by 5p.m.’

Finally …

About three months back, the bludger of the company (JE) told the lady boss verbally in the absence of the boss that he wanted to resign at the end of June 2008 or should I say take unpaid leave indefinitely. He wants to look after his newborn baby, due that same month since he and his wife could not find a babysitter. His wife does not want to resign from her government job at the hospital. Otherwise she will lose her gratuity at the end of the day.

(My colleague NE bumped into JE’s elder brother recently and JE’s brother told NE that JE has found another job as a car salesman)

At the end of June 2008, the boss held a farewell lunch for JE and my temporary assistant (UMS student) plus welcoming a new draftslady into the company. On the way to the restaurant, the boss asked JE (we were inside the boss’s car) about his resignation. He told the boss that since he had a relative to help him to look after the baby in the month of July, he would still be working.

NE and I were extremely annoyed on hearing that. If he wants to resign, just resign. Do not allow the matter to drag on. Plus isn’t it his courtesy to inform the boss no matter what his decision is and not wait for the boss to ask him. But that is the kind of thing that is expected from a bludger, someone who is extremely slow in his work and never pro-active but when it is the time to eat, act as if he just came out from prison ie. work the least but eat the most.

Last month when the boss said he would review our salary, JE was adamant that he was not going to leave anymore. He also told other colleagues that since the boss was so nice in giving us vouchers to spend, he would definitely be staying put.

Last Wednesday when our colleague was treating all the office staff to lunch at Restaurant Kim Fah, the boss once again asked JE whether July would be his last month and how long would he be taking unpaid leave, he avoided answering the questions. The bosses also requested him to leave on last Friday instead of last Thursday and he obliged.

Last Friday when the Resident Engineer (KL) asked JE whether that day was his last day, JE told KL he would still be coming to work today. I quickly told the lady boss after KL told me what JE told him. At that time the boss was attending a meeting outside. Once again my colleague NE and I were extremely annoyed in hearing that.

That Friday afternoon when the boss came back to the office, he summoned JE inside his room. I do not know what he told the boss but the lady boss told me to prepare JE’s salary for him.

When JE left on last Friday afternoon, no one bothered to say goodbye to him. I guess everyone was hoping that he would not turn up for work today.

All of us were very happy when we did not see his car when we arrived at work today. Even the male colleagues are happy. We hope he would take longer than one week off.

My colleagues were guessing why JE was trying to act as if he’s so indecisive. We can only come into one conclusion. He did not give a black and white re. his resignation so that he can prolong the matter as long as he wants so that the boss would not give him much work thinking that he would not be around for long. But too bad the whole thing backfired on him and he only had himself to blame.

Christmas is Early This Year

Today we received increment in our July 2008 salary.

On top of that, I have been good this year. Haha! Santa Claus (opps! I mean the boss) is so nice in rewarding me for my 28 days of untaken annual leave. Yes I sold back that amount to the company and got $$$ plus EPF for it. It is as good as having bonus. Woohoo!

I have six days of annual leave remaining for this year and I have not planned to go anywhere. By 1 January 2009 once again I will have 21 days of annual leave.

BCCM Likas Formation & Installation Celebration

This morning I had a dream before I woke up. Sophia Tsen and I were visiting John Lee in Melbourne and he was driving us around a surburb looking at houses. Sophia and I were talking and waiting for him to come back to the car. Then I woke up. Strange dream but at least not a nightmare.

Had Yeo’s Chicken Curry with two pieces of bread for breakfast. I was running a little late but I still had to switch on the pc to print out the attendance list for Canaanland Celebration for this month before having my shower. I should have done it last night but I forgot.

When I arrived at Kyrugma House, Monica Leong and Mimi Quek were starting to prepare the elements for Holy Communion. I counted 60 pieces of bread.

Today we had an invited guest speaker and he is Rev. James Wong. This round though the topic was ’40 Days of Fasting and Prayer’, he shared a lot of jokes.

His sermon can be summarised as follows.

Why 40? (mid life crisis haha)

- Noah’s life – 40 days in the ark.

- Moses fasted & prayed for 40 days and after that God gave him the Ten Commandments.

- David and Goliath. The Israelites was threatened by Goliath for 40 days before David came to the rescue.

- Elijah was fed by God for 40 days.

- Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days before He started His Ministry.

It usually takes 21 days to develop a new habit. Rev. James shared that when he first came back to Sabah after his Theology studies, he was posted by the Bishop to UK. No, not the UK we know but ‘Ulu Kunak’ (haha). There was a family there who had never brushed their teeth. So he challenged them to brush their teeth esp. the kids before they could visit his house. After their visit to his house, they found that he did not have many toys. A few weeks after that when they met again, he asked them how come they don’t brush their teeth anymore. They replied by saying because we had visited your house already (ie. there was no more motivation to cultivate the habit again).

Purpose of Fasting and Praying

1. To Intensify One’s Prayer Experience

Matt. 4:21

2. For Spiritual Warfare

Mark 9:29

3. For Getting Closer To God

Luke 2:37

4. For Spiritual Cleansing

Joel 2:12

5. For Special Divine Intervention

Esther 4:3

6. For Releasing Power In a Person’s Life

Daniel 1: 8-21

7. For Divine Direction

Acts 13:2-31

Today some people signed up for the Canaanland Retreat to be held on 30 August to 1 September 2008 at Perkasa Hotel, Kundasang. The speaker is Rev. George Ong from Singapore.

I came home to have the sushi I made last night for lunch. After my shower, I only had 40mins to rest before I got ready again to attend the BCCM Likas Formation & Installation Celebration at 3p.m. at Kyrugma House.

It was a grand celebration and the occasion was graced by Bishop Rev. Dr. Thomas Tsen (Sophia’s uncle) and his wife, Rev. James Wong, Rev. Chung Hee Min, a lot of other pastors and VIPs.

After the celebration, we were all treated to refreshment of fried noodles, fried rice noodles, fried wontons, fried chicken wings, cakes, buns, and sausage, cucumber & fishball stick. I did not take the fried noodles but the rest of the food were delicious and more than enough for everyone.

I also managed to talk to some people that I have not seen for a long time. They were Peter Chu and Dr. Mandy, Kenny Lo, Chong Voon Fah, Chan Kok Woh, Mrs. Chia (Vivian’s mum), Shirley Chee and an ex-colleague Tay Teng Chi (Kian Fui’s uncle).

On the way home, I dropped by Tong Hing Supermarket and bought some sandwich ham. After that I went to Recipe House and bought a bottle of Kikkoman Soy Sauce (have been using Teriyaki Sauce to dip the sushi recently), a tube of wasabi, a small bottle of sake and a pack of 10 slices of sushi sheets.

I ate slightly less for dinner tonight.

Long and Tiring Day

Lady boss only passed me all the office staff personal file late yesterday evening. So I can only do the payroll for July 2008 today. I had to remind the part time colleague to fax me his claim.

I bought some noodles the maid cooked yesterday to work today and reheated the food in the microwave for lunch. The weather was extremely hot outside so I did not want to leave the office after lunch.

Mum called at 4p.m. to tell me she and Chloe would not be eating dinner at home tonight and so I had to fend for my own dinner.

I felt very tired but thank God I had the energy to work until 5.30p.m.

As I was leaving the office block, at the corner of my eye I could see that one of the office lights was still on. The new colleague had forgotten to switch it off. This is not the first time she had left the lights on before going home. I can summarise the Generation Y into a single word – hotshot. It's pretty annoying because I had to make one round and drove back to the office to switch off the light.

I came home after dropping by Khidmat Supermarket on the way home.

It’s amazing that I still have the energy to make sushi for dinner tonight while watching the TVB game show on TV2.

Dinner

I had last night's leftovers for dinner tonight including the following. Yummy!



Thanks a million mum!