New hairstyle? For a new year?

I did something totally drastic to my hair! I dyed it light brown and got a new hairstyle too! Now I look like a Japanese school girl! I'm serious! :D Well, I dunno what the reaction I would get from colleagues & friends... and frankly, I'm a little worried. I mean, I might not even be ready for the new me!!! Hmm... Ah well, will just have to wait and see. :) I'll see if I can get a pic posted up. But please be forewarned... do erase that old image of me that you probably have in your mind, so that you won't be totally shocked... ;P

Well, you won't be hearing from me for awhile. I will be off to Bangkok today (yes, yes... for more shopping!), and will only be back after New Years. So to everyone out there... HAPPY NEW YEAR! And may the new year bring in new resolutions, hopes and dreams. And may all of them come true for you! :)

如果．爱 - 张学友

每个人都想明白
谁是自己生命不该错过的真爱
特别在午夜醒来更是会感慨
心动埋怨还有不能释怀
都是因为你触碰了爱
如果这就是爱
再转身就该勇敢留下来
就算受伤就算流泪
都是生命里温柔灌溉
哦爱在回忆里总是那么明白
困惑的心流过的泪
还有数不清黑夜等待
如果这就是爱
如果你当时明白
后来的生命里是快乐还是悲哀
特别在夜深人静时想起未来
是否能平静不会想现在
只是因为你拥有了爱
如果这就是爱
再转身就该勇敢留下来
就算受伤
就算流泪
都是生命里温柔灌溉
哦爱在回忆里总是那么明白
困惑的心
流过的泪
还有数不清黑夜等待
如果这就是爱

The above is the lyrics of the theme song from Perhaps Love, the new musical movie starring Jacky Cheung and Takeshi Kaneshiro. The music and Jacky Cheung's voice is just so dreamy. He should sing more of these kind of songs!

Christmas Spirit...

What happened to Christmas spirit?

I met up with a friend at the Fullerton Hotel in S'pore. The decorations at the hotel was really really impressive. It looked really grand and majestic. The atmosphere there is so nice and posh and sophisticated. I felt so posh just being there!! Haha...

There's also a pretty nice Gingerbread Castle (left) there that took 60 hrs to make. There's plenty of Smarties candies that make up the roof, gingerbread as the walls and sweets all scattered at the foot of the castle.

Here comes the moral of my story: the sweets scattered at the foot of the castle. Plenty of them... tempting sweets for the kids... That's probably why the barrier is there... to prevent kids from slipping in to steal them.

But... they shouldn't have been worried about the kids. The barrier should've been put up for the elderly instead!! There we were, sitting there having a nice chat, when we saw this old lady and her friend slip under the barrier (not even discreetly!) and started grabbing handfuls of sweets and stuffing them into their handbags! My friend and I were appalled! We looked at each other, and tried to contain our laughter and disbelief... and hoped to ourselves that they are NOT Malaysians!!! Hahaha...

Gosh... is that the Christmas Spirit?! Stealing sweets from the Gingerbread Castle? :P

Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas to one and all! I'm currently in S'pore now, after a nice dinner with my aunt's family and downing my only glass of mango-flavoured champagne. :) I'll be taking a long holiday before starting work again on the 3rd Jan... so will be a long break before a another busy period starts again. I'll have to make full use of it!

Well, a new year comes with new resolutions. Some of my resolutions this year were fulfilled, but a lot were not. Guess they will have to brought forward to this year. A week for me to seriously think through what I need to achieve this coming year. :)

In the meantime, have a merry little Christmas! I know I will... :)

Feelings lost?

Refering to a blog message posted by Mikanico's "The feelings lost?", I have the following comment:

Having been on the receiving end of "maybe feeling's lost" comment, I know what you're talking about. For some, they were not prepared to be in a relationship in the first place... they rushed into it thinking it was the right thing to do... because of the initial attraction and excitement of love. At that point, you are willing to do anything to please your partner.

But reality sets in soon enough. Yours and his real life (before you met this person) starts to interfere with the relationship. Your goals in life start to differ (or was never the same in the first place). The person you thought you knew... you realised that you never really knew well enough. Bad habits start to rise to the surface. In short, it becomes difficult and complicated... there are more things to consider than you expected. You start having to compromise. And are those differences actually compromisable? That's for both to decide and talk it through.

In your example, one party decided to call it quits. The other had to suffer the consequences. And when one was not even aware of the problem makes it even worse and heart-breaking.

But we must always remember that it all happened for the best. That was the way that it was meant to turn out. There's no point in holding on when there's nothing substantial to hold on to. When both are not ready, it's just a waste of time and emotion. We all deserve better. :)

After having a failed relationship, the next one will require more thought and consideration. The next one will not be based on that first attraction anymore. As Kurios mentioned, knowing what you want and letting your partner know before you fall into love is important. Focus on the goal, people. And aim for the best... :)

Hunting madness...!

Well call me mad/crazy/out-of-my-mind/insane/bonkers/cuckoo/bananas/deranged (didn't I tell you I had hunting madness?? Hahaha....), but I actually went to two hunts over the weekend! The first being an overnight hunt to Melaka on Saturday and another on Sunday in Klang Valley. So what I had to do after staying overnight in Melaka, was take the bus at 9:15am back to KL so that we could rush for the Sunday hunt that was scheduled to start at 1pm in the afternoon. Haha...

It was a good weekend. The Saturday hunt was a toughie. A lot of the Masters hunters were there, and because it was an NPC (National Press Club) hunt, there were some big sponsors (namely Celcom and Nestle), so prizes were pretty good. But unfortunately, our team was not in form that day and just didn't manage to secure any prizes. Missed out on the Top 9 standings by about 6 points. Sigh...

But Sunday proved to be a much better day! I was able to think much better yesterday, and though we thought we were a little tight on time, we managed to get in on time and also solved a lot of questions. In the end, we managed a 3rd position. Well, we could've gotten 1st if not for a stupid spelling mistake I made on one of the answers. :( But luckily the cash prize is still the same as the first 2 positions, so I didn't get 'scolded' much by my team-mate. Hehe...

What was more satisfying was that we beat the scores of some of the teams in the Masters category! AND... some of the Masters actually acknowledged our presence, came over to congratulate us and invited us to join them in the Masters category next year!!! Man... that is SUCH a privilege. :P

What is LOVE?

Love is not blind
Love is not at first sight
Love is not criticising
Love is not silent
Love is not judgemental
Love is not passive

AND...
Love is kind
Love is patience
Love is tolerance
Love is understanding
Love is acceptance
Love is compromise
Love is honesty
Love is trust
Love is reassuring
Love is speaking what you mean
Love is being consoling while speaking what you mean

Right or Wrong?

Life is full of choices. Everyday we make decisions. What time to wake up in the morning; what to eat for lunch; what to do at work today; what time to go home after work; what to do after work... Well, you can say that these are the easy choices.

But there comes a time when we have to make more important decisions. A choice between two options that will take you into two seemingly opposite directions. So which is the right choice? And which is the wrong one?

Which takes us into the issue of right and wrong. In life, there's no definite right or wrong. It's all a matter of opinion. What we perceive as being 'right' or 'wrong' is a result of upbringing, societal pressure and morality. But what's to say that those going against these principles are definitely wrong?

Sometimes, I feel like there's too much expectation placed on us. There's so many external pressure to do what is 'right'. For a long time now, I've been trying to do what is 'right'... but is it really 'right'? I don't know. Were they things that I really wanted and happy to do? I don't know.

But from now on, I will try to do what seems 'right' to me. It may not be 'right' to others or follow their expectations, but heck... it's my life, right? As long as I don't hurt anyone along the way, that should be alright. Life is short, and you only get to live this life once. So we have to make full use of it. :) Let's not care what others think of us and we will all be much happier people.

Here's your change...

I don't know if you find this fact I'm about to reveal unnerving, but it baffles me sometimes... but before you wonder what in the world I'm talking about, let me explain...

I was in BreadStory buying some 'energy' food for tomorrow's treasure hunt, and when I went to pay, the cost came up to RM6.80. So I proceeded to take out my wallet and handed her RM50. Then I thought to myself... hmm... instead of getting loose change of RM3.20, I'd much prefer to have a crisp RM5 note. So I started to dig through my wallet and managed to find an extra Rm2 in my wallet. So I handed it over, together with my RM50 to the cashier. The girl just looked at me like I was mad, and shoved the RM2 back at me. I mean... WHAT THE...??

Is it that difficult to do the math for that? All she has to do is key in RM52 into the machine, and it would calculate out the correct change! And I would get the RM5 note I wanted!

Does anyone else get annoyed with that? Or is it only fussy ol' me?!

What kind of girl are you?

I went to my friend's Miss Match blog, and there was a post that links to a quiz that will tell you what kind of girl you are. I love quizes and personality tests of any kind, so I decided to go give it a try. And the results show that I am a hybrid of:

(1) GIRL NEXT DOOR
(2) PROGRESSIVE GIRL

Get more info about what these two personalities are by clicking on the links above. I think I'm more towards "Girl Next Door" than "Progressive Girl". I checked out the other personalities on the website and found that I have some Indie Girl in me too!
To try the test yourself, just click here.

Tuna Cheese Spread

After more than 3 years since my uni days and not having been in the kitchen scene for quite some time, I suddenly had the urge to make use of some of my much neglected kitchen utensils. :) One of my favourite recipes back then was the tuna cheese spread, probably because it is so easy to make and yet extremely yummy to eat! So on Sunday, I went shopping for the ingredients and got down to business on Monday night. ;)

Ingredients
1 can of Ayam Brand Tuna Chunks (either in sunflower oil or brine) - drained
1 small sized block of Philadephia cream cheese
small celery leaves/stems (finely chopped)
1 chilli (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
half an onion (finely chopped)

Recipe
Well, the recipe is easy. First mix the tuna chunks and Philadephia cream cheese together and blend using a fork. When it is relatively well mixed, add the finely chopped celery, chilli & onions, together with the mayonnaise. Continue mixing it until they are all well mashed together, and look like a spread.

Easy enough? I tell you, it really tastes very good... especially with Julie's cheese crackers or with bread.

Well, here's a picture of me hard at work... ;)

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Finally bought the Friends DVDs that I've been dying to own!! :P So far, have only purchased 3 seasons, but I am so stoked to own these three that I'm definitely going to go get the rest too! Haha... Already started watching it today, and it's such a fantastic series! I just love the whole ensemble. Each and everyone of them has their own quirky sense of humour and unique personality... something you can identify with. And the fact that they've been friends for so long, sticking to each other through every crossroads in their lives, every heartbreak, every success, through all the tears and laughter... it's just really inspiring. I can only hope that my group of friends stay with me till the end of time. :)

I still remember the time I was first introduced to it. A friend from hostel (S'pore) asked if I've heard of this series.. and this was like back in 1994. Then I never even thought of watching it. Now I don't think I can live without it!! Haha...

Also, quite funny what it's called in chinese... <六人行>. :P

As for the character I like most... that would be Chandler. :) I think he's such a sweetie, and goofy too! I would want to find a bf/husband like him, coz it's obvious he loves Monica so very much (obsessive compulsive nature and all!). Back in 2001, I took a "Which Friend are you?" personality test on http://web.tickle.com/tests/friend/index.jsp , and results show that I am most like Rachel (though I don't look as good as her, unfortunately!!). :) But I think I have a bit of the obsessive compulsive nature of Monica. Haha... Go take this test, if you're a fan! :)

One more month to the end of 2005...

Already December... only one more month before the end of the year. Seems like the year has just whizzed by, just like that. This year has been an exciting roller-coaster for me... lots of things to learn, to experience, to try out... Some good, some bad... but at least I can say it's not been boring. :)

Had a pretty busy day at work today, but felt quite productive. Which is always important to me. Otherwise, I'd feel like I wasn't contributing at work at all, which really demotivates me. I hate feeling useless at work. So it's nice to know when your opinion counts and is valued. :)

Anyway, that aside, just want it noted here that my actuarial exam results came out today. And unfortunately, I didn't pass... either of my papers. Sigh... It's not been a good streak so far. Already failed three exam sittings in a row. This is not good. Next round, I will be attempting two papers... and am gonna hope to pass both of them. By hook or by crook...!! :) Please wish me luck and pray for me! And also, maybe remind me once in awhile to study?! Haha.... :D