Treasures in my box

Yes I did it! I finally ransacked my dish barrel box last night.

I found some interesting 'treasures' that I never thought I had. I discovered I have a biography of Marilyn Monroe, a book with 29 of M.C. Escher's master prints, a 3-D puzzle book, An Intimate Anthology of Louisa May Alcott, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a cloth bookmark of Abe Lincoln that I bought when I was in Washington DC and way at the bottom of the barrel, the reason that I scoured the box in the first place, Clive Barker's Imajica.

And boy, that book is big. I never knew how big it was, all 6' x 9' and 823 pages of it. Certainly not a book for airport reading.

However, among these delightful finds, I also discovered that I have two copies of Clive Barker's Books of Blood and two copies of Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter. They even have the same bloody cover. The only difference is that one of the Barker book is a hardcover and one of Amy Tan's book was a gift. But still!

I've said this before and I'll say it again...

I need a damn bookshelf!


Getting a bookshelf is not a problem actually. It's just the matter of WHERE to put it is a HUGE problem. You know how you will start to acquire more stuff as you live in the same house longer? Well, my family has been living in this house for the past 29 years. Just imagine the amount of twaddle, bunkum, tommyrot, hogwash, stuff and nonsense that we manage to amass in that period of time. I totally agree with what Oprah Winfrey once said years ago, "A house is really not a place to live in, it is actually a place to put all your stuff."

Anyway, I started the activity at 11PM and between Friends and Diari Akademi Fantasia, I managed to pull out the books that I wanted to read, and put the rest back into the box by 1AM. Of course, you cannot start on a book as big as Imajica as bedtime reading so I read The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh instead

But I'm still pissed that I have 2 copies of those books.

Current update - 30/7/05

Why do I do this?

Read: George's Marvelous Medicine & The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl, The Magician's Nephew & The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl: A Biography by Jeremy Treglown
Reading: Nicholas Nickelby by Charles Dickens, The Haunted Dolls' House and other stories by M.R. James, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
CD: None
Favorite song: Dakota by Stereophonics
Playing: Freecell or Spider Solitaire, depends on the mood.
Watching: The Apprentice 3, Frasier, CSI, Akademi Fantasia 3, Arrested Development

*No. of times asked if I have a boyfriend: 3
*No. of times asked when I will get married: 13
*No. of times asked when I will have kids: 2
Note: * Since I started this blog of course. I've been getting these questions lots of times before but you can't honestly believe I would count them, right? I just thought of this lately. It's interesting to know the average number of times a single girl at a marriageable age get that million dollar question. I hope other single bloggers would do the same. Maybe we can write a thesis on it! I also change "ppl" to "times" since one person can ask all three questions.

Other news:
1) Started working at new place.
2) Also got another offer but declined after much consideration.

With aching feet and a happy heart

It's kind of funny when I read Willwolf's comment on my post "It's not like I did it on purpose!" because I actually had the same thought. Maybe it was a sign because yesterday I got an offer from the other company I applied for.

I know I said that I preferred this company (B) but after listening to my friend's advice and after long consideration I decided not to accept it because...

1) It's much further than my current location and the pay is lower so income will not compensate the extra expenses.
2) The current bookstore I'm working in is my favourite.
3) My friend told me that the bookstore location that company B offered to me is ugly.
4) It's bad to up and leave so soon into your employment.
5) I don't need to worry about what to wear everyday.
6) I can save a lot of money by not worrying about clothes.
7) Inspite of the strict rules and the cow thing I feel that I can be happy with this company. They have high expectations but I'm confident that I can meet them. They also keep up a high sense of professionalism which I like. It's like what I heard someone said yesterday -- I would be proud to work for this company.

It's been 2 weeks at my new job and so far it's been good except for the part where I got in late on the first day and my aching feet..

The job is similar to what I was doing before just that now I'm handling bigger stocks and wider range of titles, in other words more tiring. In the 8 and a half hours of work, I only get to sit down for about 1 hour which is at lunch time. Give and take the time it takes to walk to the food place, walking to the table, walking back to work, yadayadayada, I was left with 45 minutes to let my butt do it's job.

I should be so lucky if a customer would ask me to help them check for a book, because then I will get a chance to sit, even though for a minute, to use the computer. But then I'm not really well-versed with the layout of the store and the customers tend to ask for some pretty weird titles. So there's still some anxiety whenever a customer came up to me asking for help.

But I understand that I do need to shelve the books and walk around a lot because then I can learn where everything is. I must say I'm getting good at locating a particular book, provided that the book falls under the category that I'm handling that is.

At the end of the day I will be quite exhausted with great pains on my feet and thighs. Thank God that I get 2 days off every week and I appreciate the fact that the off days are not consecutive. After three days, my enthusiasm, excitement, positive energy and great smiles that I gladly offer to the customers are running out and I walk kinda funny. Can you imagine working 5 days straight? But take away the pain and exhaustion, I'm pretty happy to go back to work the next day. And I expect to loose a few inches from my thighs and tummy.

Tomorrow is the start of my first 4-straight working day. I've had 2 weeks of 'body training' and my legs doesn't hurt that much anymore. But wish me luck anyway.

9 hours 38 minutes to go

He's coming!!!

Zodiac Characteristics of Capricorn Woman

[comments in brackets and in red are by me]

By Pankaj Khanna [Pankaj who?]

Physical Appearance

• The Capricorn women in her early years is normally slender and somewhat weak. Her general demeanour lacks confidence. However there is definitive improvement in her constitution after 16 years of age. [True]
• The nose is generally long and the eyes are deep set. The face bears a forlorn look. The body below the waist is normally on the thinner side. [Not in my case, on the top part I mean. I must say my ass is pretty slim]
  
• Overall appearance of a Capricorn woman is however of a smart and attractive woman. [Mmm... True?]

Mental Attitude

• You have a strong ability to think and you can understand the human nature the way no one else does. [True but "understand the human nature the way no one else does" sounds pretty strong to me]
  
• You also have the ability to analyse and understand any concept well and shall possess a good memory. Therefore you will prove good at all professions that require analytical thinking and understanding. [False. I must admit I have very bad short-term memory. I always find myself going into a room and forgetting what I wanted to do. I blame second-hand smoking]
  
• The Capri woman also has the tendency to postpone her actions till the time she is able to clearly see the consequences of what she does.[True]
  

General Nature

• You are quite a reticent person that is you do not speak much. It is not very natural for you to just smile & make friends. It also translates - you are not a party animal. You are modest and polite and do not believe in showing off.[Very true]
• You have a deep understanding of human nature and think and understand the concepts of life and human beings well.When a Capri woman makes friends, she keeps them for a life time.[I don't know but I still keep in touch, though not regularly, with friends from Form 4. That's 13 years of friendship for you]
  
• It is not easy to cheat you. You have a very business savvy nature Methodical working, prudence and the ability to carry on even in most adverse circumstances makes Capricorn people most successful.[I hope this is true in my case]
  
• Women born in this sign are great organisers and have enormous tolerance, patience and steady nature.[True] You are capable of building a team in which you will not have any favoritism but shall deal with people according to their capacity to deliver goods.[Never been tested] You are highly tactful, diplomatic, clever, cunning and selfish. [True, yeah even the selfish part]
• However on the flip side, if you allow your negative side to dominate, you can easily transform into a cunning person with the ability to cheat others and use them for selfish purposes.[I'll try my best not to allow my negative side to dominate]

Health

• Depression, discontentment, worries and the tendency to keep yourself extremely busy tells on your digestive system.[On my what?]
  
• Skin diseases, injuries to kneecap and dislocations of joints are the other most common problems that a Capri woman faces.[I have read many readings that include this and it's true. I do have problems with my joints and some minor skin problems. I guess I need to watch out]

Money

• Conservative by nature, prudent and economical - a Capricorn women can amass a lot of wealth in her life.[Wealth? What wealth? I don't see any wealth around here]
  
• You do not waste money but save it slowly and steadily.[Huh? I do?] The investments made by you are those which will give you steady and safe income without risk. [Oh really? I'll keep that in mind]
• However it is also not uncommon for Capri woman to indulge in sporadic spending spree - leading to temporary financial hassles.[Ah... that sounds more like me]
  

Romance And Sex Life

• A capricorn woman loves from heart. You will not tell people about your love, sometimes not even to the person you love. You shall like simple people with simple lifestyles. You develop strong emotional love for your man and are very sincere and true in your relationships. [Never been tested]
  
• Being a practical woman, you do not daydream about romance or involve yourself in casual flings or non serious relationships.[True, not true on the daydream part]
• As you are systematic and organised, you can easily control your desires. You are calm and composed from outside even if inside your heart you are brimming of desire.[Oh really?]
• Your naturalness and desire to rise above the ordinary keeps you a bit aloof but you can be more passionate then other females.[True, I do seem aloof in other words I try to keep it cool] You can be ignited by a simple caress. [Never been tested]
  
• Your hot spots are toes, knees and naval cavity.[Never been tested]
  

Marriage

• You may not strongly want to marry-but you still do. [True] The deep emotional needs of the capricorn borns - along with the need for a stable family life leads to early marriage [what?] and they generally have very stable married life. [Amen]
  
• You are an excellent home maker [I am?] and you like simple and elegant things-not bright colours but softer ones. [True]
• Taking care of children comes very naturally to you and you can contribute significantly in rearing children into intelligent & sensible human beings. [Hehe... I hope so]
• You will have a nature of not generally taking anybody in confidence [True] but you must develop more open relationship with your husband so that he can understand you better and misunderstandings do not crop up. [Okay, I'll take note of that]
  

Ideal Match

• Gemini, Virgo, Taurus and Pisces are most suitable signs for you. [I've had a realtionship with a Pisces - didn't work out. And I did try to have something with a Gemini but we just don't have the chemistry, you know what I mean]

Caution

• You are the one who is equally happy in leading a solitary or a socially busy life. If you are more sure of yourself, you will become more successful. [Taking note now]
• However great expectations from your ownself and life, fear of future and remorse about the past, some times leads to great depressions for you.[I'll keep this in mind]
  
• Plan your life properly and give time to everything and aim a bit low. Try to be contented. That will help you surely.[Aim low? Never!]
  

Lucky Days, Numbers And Colours

• Fridays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are your lucky days.
• 6, 8 & 9 are your lucky numbers.
• White, green and light blue are your lucky colours.

[Yeah, yeah whatever]

Recommended Gemstones

• Diamond, Emerald and Blue sapphire are your lucky Gemstones. The gemstone you should wear should be of a vibrant Aura and should never have been worn before. Its weight shall be decided as per your body weight and age [Heard that? "Never have been worn before." So no hand-me-downs for me okay!
  

To all Capricorn ladies out there, does this ring true for you?

I also have horoscope profiles for other signs. You can drop me a line and I'll pass it to you if you're interested to know.

It's not like I did it on purpose!

Hear ye! Hear ye! Today was my first day at the job and guess what...

I was late


I don't know what happened! Suddenly today of all days, the exit to Jalan Ampng from MRR2 was jam packed! I know that that road can be messy sometimes, but I've never known it to be this bad, the cars were crawling all the way to Pandan Jaya! Anybody can explain what the hell happened over there at 9am this morning? I was like screaming in my car, "Why God? Why today of all days?!?!?!?"

All in all, total late time was 13 minutes.

Of course, just as I expected, I got some reminders and warnings from the HR Admin Asst that met me when I first came in, the Unit Leader that briefed me in the morning, the HR Exec who came to collect my letter offer, the Assistant Head Dept that briefed me in the afternoon, the HR Manager that met me sometime in the evening, and the Assistant Unit Leader of the unit I was to be in.

I knew that being late on the first day is like a big tabboo and the biggest sin that you could ever commit to your new employer. But come on! It's not like I did it on purpose!

I knew that there would be repercussions. The Asst Head Dept told me that it will effect my appraisal and thus effect my bonus and increment, which is a common practice and quite acceptable to me. But later on, my Asst Leader told me that the staff can be downgraded if he/she has a minimum of 2 (two) lateness within the ENTIRE year (365 days).

You see, the company graded their employees according to their expertise and performance. I guess we are like cows:
A for juicy, tender meat, very punctual and gives a lot of milk
B for good skin, tender meat, great attitude but come into the barn late from time to time
C for little knowledge, sour milk but good leather skin
D for skin only good for cheap imitation products, flesh good for hamburgers, all in all good for firing.

If within that year, a grade A cow were to come in late on two, I repeat TWO or DOS or DUA or ER or 2 days, it will be downgraded to B. Very tight-ass policy of you ask me.

Well, okay I do have doubts whether I can survive this kind of condition but what to do? Of all the companies I applied, they were the only ones who wanted me. Kind of sad if you think about it that way.

However, I still have a ray of hope because after I was accepted into this company, I got an interview with another company. I would prefer this other company since it's bigger and I know the learning experience will be much more different. What if this company is as tight-ass as this current one, you might ask. I won't mind, at least I have the kind of work experience I wanted, working with a bookstore that has a chain of retail shops under its belly. I am hoping that they will call me by this week. If not, then I would have to close that window.

If you have a rough idea which company I'm talking about, just keep it to yourself. I'd rather people not know where I work. It would be committing another great booboo, talking bad about your employer on the net. And if I got caught there would be no excuse because this time I did do it on purpose!

That can only mean one thing

Hehehe... HBO is showing reruns of Carnivale which can only mean one thing...

THE NEW SEASON IS COMING!

The story is the most intriguing that I have ever seen. When you go down to the nitty gritty it's actually about the age-old fight between good and evil. But the question that arises throughout the story is who's good and who's bad.

It's the American dust bowl, 1930s, the great depression. A carnival is traveling around the dust bowl taking with them a mysterious 18 year old boy. Somewhere else, a priest is passionately fighting for the soul of his community but his methods may be questionable. So, who's the good guy? Who's the bad guy?

Is it Justin Crowe (played by the enigmatic Clancy Brown)? A priest gifted/cursed with the ability to make people witness their own sins and see the consequence of their actions. A woman who steals from the charity bowl was made to painfully regurgitate coins from her stomach. She repented and became a very pious follower of the Lord after that. A bar owner who has an unnatural liking for boys was forced to see who he really is. That night he shoot himself in the head and Brother Justin conveniently acquired the bar and turned it into a church. Is he evil?

Or is it Ben Hawkins (played by Nick Stahl) ? A boy who is gifted/cursed with the ability to cure any sickness and even bring back the dead, but not without drawing the life force of the things around him. Everytime he cures someone everything around him dies, be it plant, animals and I guess people too though I never seen him do it around people. Is he good?

One thing for sure, they're destined to meet for a final showdown. But who do you want to win?

Another thing that I love about this series is the Carny Lingo or Carnival Language. Here are some samples...
"Where do you drop anchor?"
Where are you sleeping tonight?

"We're already choking on the nut."
Our overhead expenses far exceed our current income.

"Keep your peepers on the road."
Keep your eyes on the road

"C'mon children, we got dust to shake."
Come on people, let's go.

Even more appealing when said with a southern drawl.

If this is not appealing enough maybe I should mention the Templar Order. You know, the mysterious group that can be traced all the way to King Arthur's time? Any historical mysteries that cannot be explained will surely be tied to this order. it is so mysterious that it has always managed to be intertwined in many fictitious stories. It was mentioned in the movie National Treasure, Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code, the computer game Gabriel Knight: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, and now the TV series Carnivale.

Check out the official website. It's pretty cool and complete. But be careful when browsing around because I accidently discovered who's the man with the tatoo of a tree on his body. Damn.

Update (4 Aug 2005) : I just found out the show has been cancelled! HBO cited financial reasons. Would you believe that? "Financial reasons". Financial reason my ass! But I do hope that HBO would still show the second season here. They better. If not I will 'mengamuk' like hell..

I think it's time

To talk about a reality show again.

Yeah... I hate to admit this too but I caught the AF fever. It sure took a long time for me to caught it. I must have had quite a strong immune system against reality talent shows.

During the first season, all I watched were the final concert and that was only during the interesting stuff like Vince's and Nija's performance. Rest of the time I was just listening to it from my room while I was doing God knows what back then.

Second year, the temperature rises up a little. Apart from the final concert I also watched the weekly concert from to time. But the above condition still applies i.e. most of the time I will just listen to concert from my room and come out when I feel there's something interesting going on. Oh yeah, I also began to Afundi during this season.

This year, I've watched all the concerts from beginning to end, and if I can't help it, I never missed the diaries either. But I still haven't started Afundi yet. Maybe because I still couldn't find that one student I would love to root for.

During AF2, I was so surprised that Zarina went out that I have to jump onto the bandwagon and started voting. Most of the time I voted for Zahid but I threw a few for Fara after watching her performance at the final concert. I don't think she would win but she deserved to be at the top three. When everyone was Afmasuk-ing Linda I was Afmasuk-ing Zarina. Linda may have the voice but I don't think she has the ability to 'work' the audience, you know what I mean? You give her a song and she will sing it well, but throw her a bone she won't know what to do with it. Like the time when two musicians went ahead and upstaged her. Anyway, that's old news.

Let's get back to the present time.

This year, there's something weird going on. While last year it was the Mas phenomenon (can't really sing but still managed to breeze through until the 8th week defeating more talented students like Zarina, Anding, and Edlin), this year the top 2 place are always monopolized by these 2 guys, affectionately called by Cikgu Marlia the "Kembar Siam" [Siamese Twins]; Mawi and Felix at first and second place respectively.

With this kind of 'freakish' consistency, I'm thinking that Akademi Fantasia 3 now has become a competition, not for the first place anymore, but for the third place among the remaining students (currently 7 of them: Akma, Ekin, Marsha, Amylea, Yazer, Aidil and Kefli).

Though I admit that Mawi has a great voice I don't think that he deserves to be the champion. I want Malaysian entertainers not only able to belt out great songs but they must also be consistent, multi-talented, savvy, and smart. Mawi has a great voice, but unfortunately I don't think he's savvy enough to survive the industry. After 5 performances I don't think he's consistent. He forgot the lyrics in the second qualifying concert, he forgot the lyrics and messed up the melody in the first concert and he lost his timing in the last concert. It's quite a shame really. He could have delivered Beautiful Maria beautifully but he blew it. M. Nasir even gave him the thumbs up but I guess it was premature since he messed it up in the end.

His inconsistencies may also be caused by overwhelming emotion due to the great screams from his fans everytime he came up. But that just shows another weakness. If he can't appreciate his fans' enthusiasm, how will he give his best to them in return?

Felix on the other hand is the one that I won't mind seeing driving the car in the end. He may not have the dynamics but he still has great vocals and consistently gives great performances every week. Should I add that he has great personality as well? Previous years we have Vince and Zahid, this year's funny-man is Felix. I don't know if it's just a coincidence but funny-men tend to win people's hearts so I guess Felix could win this. Yeah, Mawi is funny too but I think it's more because of his awkwardness rather than his sense of humour.

This Mawi phenomenon is really outrageous. It has become a fight of who's the fanatic. They insisted that they're not and very eager to deny it whenever someone even mentions the word 'fanatic'. I mean, the people could be talking about fanatic for Akma or Amy or Aznil but they will be quick to deny that they are not a Mawi fanatic. However, if you leave messages like...
"Mawi World!!!!!!!"
"Mawi is the Best!!!!!"
"Afundila Mawi!"
in a thread about M.Nasir, then I think you have a serious problem.

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject--Winston Churchill

I do hope that Malaysians in general would just stop and think rationally for once. And I hope that supporters of the other students will not give up and start bringing in the votes in busloads. I think it is unfair to allow these 2 students to monopolize the whole competition.

As for me, I think it's time to start voting again. I do like Felix but I want to give another student a chance for once. I think Amylea deserve my vote. Who cares about recent events. She got the talent, she's very consistent, and you can expect nothing but the best from her. She has the making of a great entertainer.

Go Amylea!


but I don't want Yazer to go out either...

I hate to admit it

But it's true.

(From a forwarded e-mail)
******************begin e-mail*********************
Girls are still girls!

BF : What do you want to eat??
GF : Anything will do......
BF : Ok, chicken rice then.
GF : But I don't feel like having rice leh....
BF : Ok, mee goreng then.....
GF : Don't want, too oily.....
BF : Fishball noddle soup....
GF : Yeeeee...So plain....
BF : Then what you want???
GF : Anything lor......


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

Me: What do you don't want to eat? Rice or
Noodles?
Wife: Er..don't want rice
Me: Ok, so anything with noodles is fine?
Wife: Yes
Me: Soup or dry?
Wife: Anything

In the end, we still couldn't find out what she
really wants.


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

Another scenario when going shopping with girl,

girl: (holding up two clothes) which one is nice?
boy: the blue one looks nicer
girl: is it? I thought the black one is more classy
boy: I agree, take the black one then
girl: But then, the blue one looks quite nice too
boy: yeah
girl: which one is better ?

if boy answer 'black', girl will say he keeps
changing his mind and never shows sincererity and care

if boy answer 'blue', girl will say, " told you that
the black one looks more class"

But no matter what the boy says, the girl will
eventually choose the one
she has already decided beforehand. A lot of the times,
the girl might even put the two clothes back (after
extensive trying) and
says not interested anymore. really don't know what she
wants.


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

This is quite true but not totally. Not all the time girls are
like this.

AGREE GALS OUT THERE WHO ARE READING THIS?!!

******************end e-mail****************************

Kampung Gal : But I try not to be this type of girl cause I myself find indecisive people annoying.

"Free at last! Free at last! God Almighty, I'm free at last!"

Need a change of air?

2 days to go!

Need a change of air? Follow this simple procedure...
Please note: This procedure will only work if you are currently breathing in some uncomfortable air and not shaking legs planting grapes (aka "menanam anggur")

1) Buy paper everyday and check out the classifieds section first.

2) Cut out interesting vacancies.

3) Update your resume and write the best letters that you have ever written in your life.

4) E-mail/mail out the letters and resumes.

5) Wait.

6) Once invited for interview arrange for leave.

7) Think about what to wear to the interview.

8) Prepare your answer for 'the' question "Tell me about yourself"*.

9) Outline some questions you might want to ask them (try not to talk about benefits)*

10) Go for the interview.

11) Wait.

12) You can call them to check your application status or wait some more.

13) If invited for second interview follow step 6 & 7.

14) Do some research on the company background that's interviewing you.

15) See step 10 to 12.

16) Repeat step 6 to 15 with other companies if you want.

17) You got an offer, you don't have to agree immediately. Tell them you will consider and call them back in a few days*.

18) Informed your employer of your wish to resign. Try to negotiate notice of resignation.

19) Once, everything is settled and agreed upon with your current employer, call your prospective employer with the earliest date that you can join them. (Note: You can negotiate benefits and remuneration here)*

20) Write letter of resignation and submit to your soon-to-be ex-employer.

21) Take the friend who gave you the tip out for lunch.

22) Collect your letter offer from future employer.

23) Say goodbye to ex-colleaques and hello to life-long friends.

24) Blog about it. On second thought, feel free to blog about it at any step of the way.

(Forgot one step - E-mail all your friends about it)

25) Say hi to new colleaques, new bosses and new problems.

Note:
a) If you are not progressing at any level of this procedure, repeat step 1.

*Tips learned from Job Interviews for Dummies

Ni kira apa lak ni

4 days to go!

I can't believe that I could be so excited to leave my job at the bookstore that I have to count the days. Don't get me wrong, I do love working there but lately it's not as enjoyable as it used to.

If you've been following this mediocre blog of mine, you can guess that the main reason would be the 'secondment' to my boss' brother's office. If you're not a follower let me give you a brief history of what happened the past few months.

It started in April. It started with some small tasks that was passed to me by my boss. He would usually give me some documents and my job was to type it up in the computer. It could be letters or a spreadsheet. One day, he said to my manager (who shares my frustration with his work ethics) that I'm supposed to follow him to his brother's office. What I thought to be a one day stint turned out to be quite a nighmare. Read more here.

In May, my manager broke the news that I will be posted at this brother's office until end of the month. I took the news with a heavy heart but what can I do. He's the one who signs the cheques so I have to do what he says. For the whole month of May I was forced to do some mundane job of typing, coming up with spreadsheets using Excel, filling up application forms, and in between those tasks, develop the skill of staring at the computer and try to look busy even though I'm not doing anything.

1st June, I e-mailed my manager about my future with this company and she said that she will discuss this with the boss. The next day, my boss and I had 'the' discussion. He said that there's not much for me to do at the shop now that he only has one. Before this he had two shops in KL and I took care of the branch. But then he had to close the branch since it was not doing so well (from no fault of mine which is a God's honest truth!).

Ok, back to the discussion. So he said that there's not much for me to do at the shop and that at average I'm only needed 20% of the time. In the meantime, he thinks it is best that I come here and "earn some money" (a direct quote). He even said that there's not much for him to do there either. For him, the bookstore is not really a booming business and it's just a hobby for him. That's why he's here to help out his brother and "earn some money" for himself too.

"Well, if that's the case I want to ask you something," I said. "In my letter of employment it was mentioned that I need to give 3 months notice if I were to resign. Since you said that I'm not really needed at the bookstore, I was wondering if I can get a shorter period."

"I'm flexible. If you find a great offer, or you find a job at other bookstores I will consider. I can talk to my brother. It'll be okay."

So, that's how I got to give only 2 weeks notice of resignation instead of 3 months. And there's only 4 days left, and that's only because I overused my pro-rated annual leave by two and a half days.


PS: My broadband connection is ok now.

A late night SMS conversation

5 days to go!
-------------------------------------------------------

One night not so long ago, a phone went... beepbeep!
It was an SMS from a friend.

Akum, pe khaba. Lama x dgr cete. Sihat tak. [Greetings, how are you. Long time haven't heard from you. Are you well]

Sihat. Cite ada tapi tunggu................ [I'm well. I have news but wait....................]

Wah wah. Gamaknya dpt le mkn nasi myk thn ni...................... [Wah wah. Can eat oily rice la this year..................]

Malam buta ni tak tidur lagi ke? Nasi minyak? Sape nak masak nasi minyak? Bila? Mana? Bestnye [Late night still not asleep? Oily rice? Who's cooking oily rice? When? Where? Bestnye]

Eleh.. Wat x tau lak. Key le g tido. Sng nanti cal le. Jgn senyap je. Kad jgn lupa anta. Adios.. Gd nite. [Eleh.. make like don't know lak. OK go to sleep. Call when you're free. Don't forget to send the card. Goodbye.. Goodnight]

Current update - 30/6/05

Why do I do this?

Read: Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck, The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, The Unknown Errors of Our Lives & Vine of Desire by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory & Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
Reading: Nicholas Nickelby by Charles Dickens, The Haunted Dolls' House and other stories by M.R. James
CD: Hopes and Fears by Keane, Seal Best 1991-2004
Favorite song: Best of You by Foo Fighters, La Tortura by Shakira
Played: none
Watching: The Apprentice 3, Frasier, CSI, Akademi Fantasia 3, Arrested Development

*No. of times asked if I have a boyfriend: 3
*No. of times asked when I will get married: 12
*No. of times asked when I will have kids: 2
Note: * Since I started this blog of course. I've been getting these questions lots of times before but you can't honestly believe I would count them, right? I just thought of this lately. It's interesting to know the average number of times a single girl at a marriageable age get that million dollar question. I hope other single bloggers would do the same. Maybe we can write a thesis on it! I also change "ppl" to "times" since one person can ask all three questions.

Other news:
1) After many, many interviews I finally got an offer.
2) Ended up getting a new mainboard for my PC. Now I'm stuck with this big thing that's called a CPU.

The last straw

I am so unlucky when it comes to machinery or electronics, like cars and computers.

My car always makes some strange noise like now I will sometimes hear a sigh when I press the accelerator or the break. Sounds like my cat asking for food. And I always manage to find some new scratches now and then. Meanwhile, my computer keeps dying on me no matter how careful I am with it or how much I upgraded it or reformat it.

Last week was the last straw.

Someone banged into my car, unhooking my front bumper and folded it out for about 25 degrees. Though I managed to 'fold' it back in and secure it, it will come off sometimes and dangle like a loose tooth. I have to tie it with 'tali raffia' now. The guy gave me RM150 by the way, so no biggie there. But then I have to go without my car for a few days to get it fixed.

Just my 'luck', I'm having a break next week between my current employment and the new one. So I won't mind leaving my car at the shop for a few days. A good time to fix some other bumps and bruises as well.

Then, my computer which used to spit and sputter every three months has finally drawn its final breath. I sent it to the regular shop (if it's a clinic, it would have a big file on my computer) and told me that I need to replace my motherboard and in the process change the processor, the casing and the RAM.

Which is totally not the right time for me. Not only do I need to fix my car, my paycheck has not been that prompt lately (will tell you why in later post). This throws my whole budget off.

But the price to resuscitate my computer was not that bad. It sure beats buying a new computer.So I went ahead with the procedure and you could say that I have a new PC, what with the new processor, RAM and less than a year old hard disk.

Since I've also replaced the monitor and the mouse, the only original parts that are left from the day I bought this set are the floppy disk and the keyboard. The rest are practically new or borrowed (like the old monitor that brother gave to me). I even have to buy a new speaker. I just hope that this will survive until I have enough to buy a new one.

Okay. I got everything done yesterday. I was so excited to use this 'new' PC. I'm getting a clear view with this old but still working monitor, I got my new bigger, bulkier CPU hogging my table, I got the new speaker that belts out less-than-desirable quality sound from the new Seal CD I just bought. I was so ready to blog again. And then... what the %&^$^!!!! I can't get into blogger?!?!?!?!?

So I called tmnet but they can't resolve this through the phone. They have to fill in a report, they need to send a technician over (some help he was). I still can't access blogger (plus a few other important websites as well). And yet, when I try my dial-up connection, I can get into blogger. So now I'm using my 56K dial-up connection to blog. Can you imagine my frustration? You know what they say, once you go broadband you can never go back.

So if you're wondering about my absence from the blogosphere, this is my story. And I just realized that I cannot live without a personal computer.

Talk about a revival

Man! Now that the juries out, I guess all the songs are out too. On Wednesday i swear that the radio was playing a Michael Jackson song every hour. I wonder what happens if the jury found him guilty. Will they all throw out his CDs out of the station's window?

Time for some other mediocre news and updates....

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Yes! I did it! I went out and bought Keane's Hopes and Fears. It took quite some time for me to arrive to this decision. I'm afraid they will be another Coldplay. I borrowed their first album from a friend and after a few listens I just got bored with it. I was not too excited about the songs that were playing on the radio at that time anyway (But I still like Trouble).

As for Keane, I've heard 5 of the songs featured in this album and I love them all. So might as well buy the CD. It has a bonus DVD anyway. Thanks to all the stations who played different songs from their album instead of airing the same song over and over again. I'm listening to it while writing this, I can't believe that the simple combination of vocals, drums and keyboards can be so interesting.

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I also rented A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. I hope it can explain my infatuation with the movie.

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Dear Lionel,

Imajica was not that tough. It was too intriguing to be tough. I never heard that story before and I don't think I care actually. Who cares what he was eating, digesting or inhaling while writing Imajica? It sure was one hell of a story.

I read it like 8 years ago so I'm sorry to say that I cannot give a very eligible synopsis. All I can say is Imajica is Barker at his best. If you haven't read any of his works, he is known for very twisted, beyond horrifying visions with a dash of eroticism. Who else can envision those terrifying Cenobites or imagine that in a single yarn of an old carpet lies a whole village with its own residence, and the whole carpet is a whole new world altogether.

In Imajica he used all his secret ingredients and exercised all his special skills to present an interesting, well-balanced soup for the imaginative soul. It has adventure, mystery, thrills and even a love story. His special interest has always been that beyond this world we exist in there is another, maybe more worlds that we are not aware of. This theme is apparent in Weaveworld, The Hellbound Heart and his latest book, Abarat. It is also the theme for Imajica. This time we are faced with the possibilities that there are 4 more worlds out there and these worlds in addition to ours are supposed to be connected. However, something happened so long ago that our world (the one that we're living in) is separated with the other four. While the people from the other four Dominiins are free to travel through the four Dominions, we are left alone, ignorant and oblivious of the existence of these other worlds. They were all waiting for the day that all the Dominions will be together again but they must find the Maestro first for he is the only one who has the power to achieve this. I can't wait to red it again.

If you're still doubtful I suggest you rent or borrow instead of buying. If you find that it's not your cup of tea, you won't feel that it's such a waste.

This is the best that I can do for you, Lionel. I do recommend the book highly, if you are into the horror genre and won't mind the erotic element. What's wrong with Amazon anyway?

Thanks for visiting my blog and hope you'll come by again.

Yours sincerely,
Kampung Gal

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I got a job offer!!!! Woohooo!!!!! Might be interesting to post about all the steps of changing your employment, wouldn't it?

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That's all the news for today. Till we meet again on Kampung Gal in the City.

Reading inside the box

Wah... now in cyberspace also can play tag.

But this is a historic moment. This is the first time Kampug Gal has been passed with one of this thing. Along said that she tagged me.because I "work in a book store and DEFINITELY reads a lot of interesting books." Check out the caps in 'definitely'.

I don't know if I DEFINITELY read interesting books so I'll let you guys judge for yourself. Here's my side of the story...

1) Total number of books I own
Let me see... I have one dish barrel, three 11inx13inx13in boxes, one 11inx10inx12in box, one Recall box, all filled with books, a few in the cupboard, some stacked on the floor...oh yeah I got some more on top of the dish barrel... so that makes about... I don't know... 500? 600? Most of them are inside boxes hence the title "Reading inside the box". All I can say is it's still growing.

2) The last book I bought
The last book I bought was actually a bunch of books I got at the Times warehouse sale. But if I want to really name the 'last book' it would be the Pullman's Trilogy because those are the last few books that I selected to add into my pile. For the full list click here.

3) The last book I read
Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck. Just finished it last night. I'm truly amazed by this woman. She's an American but she can depict a traditional Chinese family with great detail and depth. Ok she may have lived there most of her life but this is unbelievable. She wrote about a poor family in The Good Earth and then she wrote about a very old, wealthy and influential family in Pavilion of Women. I was expecting an inter-racial love story after watching the movie but it was deeper than that to my utmost pleasure. Will talk more about this in future post.

4) 5 books that mean a lot to me
The Neverending Story by Micheal Ende. This book I can truly say the first book that entered my all-time favourite book list. I think I was in Form 4 or 5 when I first got hold of it from the school library. Years later I saw it at a bookstore and I bought it straight away and read it again. It's a beautiful book and very unique. The chapters starts in alphabetical order, meaning first chapter starts with A, second starts with B and so on. Each letter is also intricately illustrated at the beginning of every chapter. I scanned a page for your viewing pleasure.



Imajica by Clive Barker. The book that made me fall in love with Clive Barker's mind. I was already a fan of Hellraiser the movie which leads me to venture into his books. I happened to choose the biggest book that the rental bookstore has. I must have been pretty bored at that time. This book turns out to be my favourite Barker book and it still is. I've always wanted to read this again but it's in the dish barrel and I can't reach it. I need a bookshelf!!!

Little Women, Good Wives, Jo's Boys and Little Men by Louisa May Alcott. I know this is 4 books but I can't talk about one without mentioning the other. Louisa May Alcot gets me every time i.e. she can make me cry reading her stories. At first I thought it was because I saw the movie so I had that mental picture to get me in the mood. But then I also cried when I read Jo's Boys and Little Men. She just has a way to touch my heart.

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. My favourite Dahl book. It's about this wonderful father-son relationship. What amazes me is Dahl grew up without a father but he was able to embodies what a great father should be. But I don't think it's limited to fathers. I think it also talks about how to be a great parent. A very sweet book, suitable for both boys and girls.

Remedial English Grammar and Usage. Hehe.. I know, this book seems out of place but it is dear to my heart because it was the prize for getting the third place at a short story writing competition at my school. I also won the second prize the previous year (I got a book about household tips) which lead me to believe that I may have a knack in writing. But this one is more meaningful because I think my teacher was trying to drop a hint. He once pointed out in front of the whole class how horrendoes my grammar was in my first story, which I got the second prize for. So I guess a year later, there was no improvement. I'm sorry to say Mr Andrews, my grammar is still horrendous but I promise you I will improve myself.

5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out on their blogs.
I thought I don't want to play tag anymore but I'm curios as to what these people have to say..
Eyeris - He's the eye on books. Of course I want to know what he has to say.
The Visitor - I'm sure this guy will DEFINITELY have read some interesting books. I hope I can get recomendations on good horror books.
The Social Cafe - just want to see if they read any books between the drinking and cussing. Anyone from the gang will do. Or they can compile a list between themselves.
Kenny Sia - also want to see if he reads between the testng of new condoms and measuring his balls

Ok guys, ignore this tag if you've done this before but do give me the url of the post, orait?

Cover Me - The Good Versions

Definition
Cover song : a song rerecorded by another artist. Most times involve new musical or vocal arrangements with the hope of banking in on the original song's popularity or wanting to show that they can do better than the original artist.

I bet there are thousands of cover songs out there that it’s difficult to cover them all (hehe... get it? Cover song? Cover them all? Ok sorry for that attempt to sound witty)

I must say that I'm not trying to be the set myself up as the authority when it comes to music. In fact I don't know much about it. When it comes to trivial knowledge I like to consider myself the 'expert' on movies above all else, then there's knowledge in books, tv shows, then music.

So when I first thought of posting about the world of cover songs, I started to list down a few that I like, some that I don't, a few that are not bad and so on. I find it difficult to recall a collection of songs to make a presentable list. I tried to enlist some online help but I guess they don't really care about cover songs. What can I expect? It's certainly not a steamy, xxx exciting, not even a controversial subject. So I have to rely on the radio to maybe inspire me to recall some songs that could into my list and it kinda work. After a while I managed to compile a respectable number of songs that can be put into different categories.

Like I said before, there are many cover songs out there so I have to limit my list to those that I'm passionate about. And I must have heard the original version so that I can truly make a comparison.

Now that we got that out of the way, let's start with my favourite cover songs. They are not in order of preference. It's difficult to rate which one I like best.

1) Have a Little Faith in Me - Mandy Moore originally performed by Jewel
I was a bit shocked that Mandy Moore would chose to cover a Jewel song. I hated Mandy Moore the singer when I first heard this. There's just something about her mouth that I find annoying. She likes to bend it, pout it, twist it in an unnatural way. In other words "macam buat-buat" [faking it is the closest translation that I can think of now]. So I was very determined that this is a bad rendition more so because this is my favourite Jewel song. But after a few more listens (on the radio, I just try to avoid seeing her sings on tv). I find that it's not that bad and I'm not sorry to say that it's better than the original. The cover has more dynamics compared to Jewel who I think intended it to be laid back and soothing for her rendition. I must say that I prefer this version.

2) I Got You Babe - Chrissie Hynde & UB40 originnaly performed by Cher
I'm not much of a fan of 60s and 70s era which includes the music that were churned out in this era. So of course I prefer the Hynde-UB40's version of this simple and uplifting song. But I believe that any song that's reggaed-up always works. Just check out the soundtrack of 50 First Dates.

3) Sekuntum Mawar Merah - M. Nasir & Hattan originally performed by Alleycats
David's vocal is always dramatic. It just works work with any song that he sings. Alleycats songs are so great that it takes two moguls to make their song better. They slow it down, makes the vocal more raw and voila you get the best cover of a Malay song of all time.

4) I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston originally performed by Dolly Parton
What else can I say. An R&B version is always better than a country version to my ears.

5) Time After Time - ? originally performed by Cindy Lauper
Ok, I know I'm making a reporting booboo - writing without doing proper research. I tried looking for the name of the group/singer who covered this Cindy Lauper classic but I can't find it. Actually, I don't even have the slightest clue who the singer is. It's not even a tip-of-the-tongue thing. All I can say is that the singer is female (duh) and she has this soft, lilting pitch in her voice. The cover is smoother, softer than the original. I must say I really like this version. It has quite a good run on the radio waves. If anyone has a clue to who this is, I welcome the help.

6) Bizarre Love Triangle - Frente originally performed by New Order
Acoustic version of a techno. Very well done.

7) Belaian Jiwa - Innuendo originally performed by Carefree
I don't really like Innuendo but I like this song.

8) Lately - Jodeci originally performed by Stevie Wonder
It's live, it's soulful, it's dramatic. Who can beat that?

Damn, this thing is getting long. So I'll just drop a few more down here...

Don't Dream It's Over - Paul Young originally performed by Crowded House
I Drove All Night - Celine Dion originally performed by Cindy Lauper
Kasih Berubah - Ferhad originally performed by Flybaits

Well, that’s it for now. Stay tune for more of “Cover Me”...
Cover Me - The Not So Bad Versions
Cover Me - The Bad Versions
Cover Me - Don't Ever Try to Cover Versions
Cover Me - Ones That I Like to See Anyone Try to Cover

I still welcome any thoughts or comments or any song you would like to nominate for my list. Great thanks to Eyeris for his feedback. Truly appreciated.

I won't apologize for any spelling mistakes anymore. I'm using Word (magnified to 150%) and then copy it to Blogger. So any spelling mistakes in this post is all me.

Current update - 30/5/05

Why do I do this?

Read: The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester, Roots by Alex Haley, Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer, The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
Reading: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck, The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
CD: none
Favorite song: Work by Jimmy Eat World
Played: none
Watching: The Apprentice 3, Frasier, CSI, Six Feet Under, sorry to add this but I have to say Akademi Fantasia

*No. of times asked if I have a boyfriend: 2
*No. of times asked when I will get married: 10
*No. of times asked when I will have kids: 2
Note: * Since I started this blog of course. I've been getting these questions lots of times before but you can't honestly believe I would count them, right? I just thought of this lately. It's interesting to know the average number of times a single girl at a marriageable age get that million dollar question. I hope other single bloggers would do the same. Maybe we can write a thesis on it! I also change "ppl" to "times" since one person can ask all three questions.

Other news:
1) My monitor konked out. After 3 weeks still not fixed. Damn I really miss writing.
2) Got a new member in the family, a boy, the 12th grandchild and the 9th grandson for the lovely gransparents. Enough to form a futsal team complete with reserves. 2 more to go and we can form a football team.

Revenge of the Kaki Movie

It's been three motnhs since I last went to the movies. What better purpose to pull a movie-goer out of her hiatus than to see the final instalment of the Star Wars saga.

I just got back from watching ut and I had this feeling of satisfaction to see the story finally come to its end.. no wait its.. erm... conclusion, no that's not it....welll whatever it is that Lucas was trying to achieve.

One thing bugged me from the moment I found out Padme will die in childbirth. I remember in Return of the Jedi, Luke once asked Leia if she remembered her mother, her 'real' mother. And she said that she was sweet and kind or something like that. How can shee remember anything if she just saw her mother for a split second after her burth? In fact I don;t think she even had her eyes open then. Oh well.

All in all the movie is good. Even though I look forward to see Padme-Anakin scenes, I dreaded the words that will come out of their mouths. And when Darth Sidious gave the order to execute Plan 66, it was the saddest thing I have ever seen. That was certainly the end of an era.

I wonder if there's a book/cartoon/comic that telsl the story between Ep. 3 and 4? There's about a 20-year gap there. Should be interesting to know what happened in those 20 years. Something like Clone Wars. That thing s great man, even though I only watched the first half only . I blame NTV7 for not giving any indication that they will continue Clone Wars the next day and not next week like I assumed

Pardon the spelling mistakes if any. My monitor is still in the shop.

Who's the criminal here?

You are stealing!
It's against the law!
You are supporting the Ah Long!
For the price of one pirated DVD you can help a child in need!

Or so they say.

I totally understand and I admit that I'm a criminal, I don't know where my money goes, and I could have put my money to better use. But yet I don't care.

But I think living under the strict and constantly exercised scissors of the Censorship Board justifies my life of crime. I don't understand. How can we censor art? Because when it comes down to the nitty gritty that's what a film is -- art. Can you imagine putting a black bar on Mona Lisa's smile? Imagine the Sistine Chapel with that amazing painting on its ceiling. Now imagine it with streaks of black here and there. Terrible right? And imagine having a baby-shaped cut-out on a painting because baby Jesus is not wearing a diaper. So, who's the criminal here?



So that's my first justification. I like to see art in its entirety. I don't like edited scenes and edited lines. I like to see them as the artist envision it to be seen.

Another excuse that the public usually gives is the price. Pirated vcd/dvd are much cheaper. So how come I don't buy pirated CDs? One obvious reason -- the packaging. When you buy a pirated CD, you'll get a very high quality copy of the original front and back cover, the lyrics maybe and if you're lucky some additional songs will be put in there as well. When you buy the original CD, you'll get the original front and back cover, lyrics if they want to give them to you, and some pretty good additional photos and original art layout that the artist/producer intended it to be. Which I think is worth RM40.

In contrast, when you buy a pirate vcd/dvd, you will get the discs, front and back cover for RM5/RM10. However if you buy an original vcd/dvd, you will get the discs, front and back cover for RM19-90/RM99. So which one do you prefer, the RM10 or RM99? Why pay more when you can basically get the same thing right?

What really pisses me off most of the time is that the quality of the original vcds are terrible. For example, I bought West Side Story. It's a musical but the sound of that cd is so bad that I can't imagine playing that movie ever again. Everytime the singers reach those high notes (which happens a lot in this movie) you will here a screeching sound like running your fingernails across a blackboard. Another example, I bought The Wizard of Oz (I can't remember how much but it was not RM5) supposedly original. I saw at the back that this CD has some additional scenes. I think you might guess already, it doesn't. So, who's the criminal here?

And that's my second justification. The packaging is horrendous. I can get the same thing for a fraction of the price.

So, until I can see any films without any treatment by the Censorship board, I will stop buying pirated products. And until I can get my money's worth, I will buy original vcds/dvds. For now, let me ask you this...

Who's the criminal here?