Tobasco Anyone?

If you are like me, there must have been times when you are freaking hungry but was stuck in a massive jam after work when you wished you can have food delivered right up to your car window instead of inching your way back home or to a nearby restaurant. Well, I do the next best thing and I usually order pizza when I am about 15 minutes away from home so that I can have hot pizza waiting for me the moment I reach home. No hassle of having to find a parking space and I can change into casual T-shirt and shorts to enjoy my dinner in front of the TV like any other dysfunctional families do. So, I took it upon myself to write a review of the 3 pizza delivery services I had used lately.

No. 1: Domino's Pizza

This is the pizza delivery service that is in my speed dial list. Service is good and prompt. I often get free stuff like a Banana Kaya Pie/Bread Stix or RM3 regular pizza SMS offer for being a regular customer. It's not much but it does keep me happy to know that I am appreciated as a regular customer. So far, pizzas usually arrive within 15-30 minutes. If they are so much as late by 1 minute then I get a free regular pizza voucher to be used in my next order. I like their Crunchy Thin Crust pizza as it does not make me overly stuff unlike some other types of crust. No hassle service gets my vote.

No. 2: Yellow Cab Pizza Co

Well, this chain only has like a few outlets in Malaysia and mostly in the Klang Valley only. I heard rave reviews from friends about how good their pizza and pasta are so I ordered from them during a recent training session I had with my users. I placed the order at around 12.30pm and they told me that it takes about 45-1 hour for them to deliver as they were short on staff and it was raining. I said OK as some of my users had stepped out for prayers and will not be back so soon.

By 1.45pm when there was still no delivery I was losing my patience so I called them and they said that on that particular Friday, their riders did not come to work so they had the kitchen staff doing the delivery and that they were already on their way. My office is barely 10 minutes away from their shop. By 2.15pm I got a call and went downstairs to the lobby to bring the delivery guy up to my training room. Unfortunately, he apologetically told me that the pizzas were meant for another customer as he was given the wrong package to deliver. He told me that another kitchen staff was on his way with the correct pizzas for me which did not arrive till 2.30pm.

By this time I was already pissed off and called to complain. All their 'Sorry ma'am' did not help the situation at all. I was hungry, my users were hungry. Not good. By the time we finally get to sink out teeth into the pizza it was already 2.40pm. The service sucks big time and the only saving grace was that the pizza and pasta were actually good. I highly recommend the Charlie Chan Chicken Pasta. I'd say if you want to order from them then make sure your stomach is not already growling from hunger and if your patience and tolerance level is high. Well, that person is usually not me and I've thrown away the free voucher they gave me for delivering my pizzas after 2 and 1/4 hours.

No. 3: Pizza Hut

Now, this pizza delivery service needs no introduction here in Malaysia. Many of us probably grew up listening to the annoyingly catchy 755-25-25 song on the TV while we're growing up. Surprisingly, I never ordered from their pizza delivery service before till even the infamous number had changed now. One fine afternoon, my Mom suggested to try Pizza Hut as we usually orders from Domino's so I did. They took  more than 30 minutes to arrive and gave me an envelope which the delivery guy told me was a free regular pizza voucher. I just accepted it without looking.

Few weeks later, I decided to use the voucher but the person on the phone told me that the delivery guy had given me the wrong voucher as my voucher is only valid for take-aways. By right, he should have given me a voucher that can be used when I order delivery service again. So, after checking with her supervisor she called me back to say I can still use the voucher for delivery as it was their fault to have given me the wrong voucher in the first place. 

I ordered 2 regular pizzas, 1 being a free pizza when I use the voucher. Surprisingly this time, the delivery guy appeared in front of my gates in about 15 minutes. However, there was only 1 pizza. Some frantic calls by the guy and off he went to get the other pizza claiming that they had packed the delivery for him wrongly. About half an hour later, he reappeared with the missing pizza but I was suspicious and opened the pizza box in front of him to make sure my pizza was there.

What do you know? There was a pizza but the flavour was the same as the one we had already devoured. More frantic calls ensued and him blaming some other people back at the shop and he said he will be back again with the correct pizza. I called the hotline to complain and I basically told them I would NEVER order from their delivery service again. A lot of lame ass apology and excuses were thrown forward to no avail. I was furious! The 2nd pizza with the correct flavour only arrived like an hour AFTER we had already finished eating the first pizza.

Not only that, we get extremely poor service when we visit their outlet last time, especially the one at KLCC. Then there was the time I was working late one night when our manager told us that she had ordered pizza for us about half an hour ago through their online website but the delivery guy had not appeared. A quick check revealed that the order she placed was not captured. My manager said usually when she orders online it is OK but on that night we were just too tired and hungry to wait. So, after considering all aspects of their service, my verdict are as below.

I have yet to try Papa John's and Canadian Pizza's delivery service. Hopefully they fare better than Pizza Hut.

Goodbye Baby

It's the wee hours of the morning and I can't sleep. It has been like that for the past one month and more. Tears are streaming down my face as I write this. You see, I gave birth to a stillborn about a month ago. Doctor discovered my baby's heart stopped beating during a regular checkup just about a week before she was due. People always say there is a calm before the storm and how true it is. I was so very happy being pregnant. I was so pleased at the thought of becoming a mom for the first time that I was always smiling and laughing. My family was finally going to be complete with the addition of a little bundle of joy plus I knew just how much my parents wanted grandchildren to play with.

I didn't have much complications with my pregnancy to begin with and everything was progressing so great. Hubby and I went for a vacation in Macau and Hong Kong in the 3rd month. I started a new job in the 4th month and by the 6th month, Hubby and Dad had painted the furniture and we had the nursery set up. I was very energetic and active all the way till the end. We were even entertaining friends from overseas in our house just the week before it happened. I had an overnight bag packed by the door ready to be snatched up the moment contraction starts. How could things go so wrong?

I remember every little detail of the unfortunate day even though I'd rather not. I remember waking up and having breakfast while chatting happily with my parents who just got back from attending my cousin's wedding in our hometown and remarking what great timing the birth will be as my Godmother from Australia will get to meet the baby while she's back in Malaysia. I remember the drive to the hospital. I remember the doctor asking me how's things to which I reply 'Everything's normal'. I had a funny feeling as I uttered the word 'Normal' that morning for no reason at all.

Little did I know then that nothing was ever going to be normal again. I knew something was wrong when the doctor took just a few minutes longer with the scan. When he told me he couldn't find the baby's heartbeat I didn't believe him. How could it be? Perhaps the machine wasn't working as I felt my baby move just the night before. I was eerily calm in the few minutes after that. We explored the possibilities of errors, of what to do next, etc and when I was finally convinced that nothing can be done to save my baby I walked out with hubby and sat dazed outside the doctor's office.

I remember the dread I felt at the thought of having to impart such bad news to my parents. I remember calling my boss and apologizing for having to start my maternity leave earlier than expected and feeling sorry for my colleagues as I had not pass over my work completely. I sent hubby home to get my overnight bag and then I just lay in the delivery room waiting for the inevitable as doctor started inducing labor. I  informed my closest friends that I was in the hospital saying something was wrong with the baby and not that we had already lost the baby. Somehow putting something into words makes it all seem so final so I clung to the slightest flicker of hope that my baby could still be saved. At one point when I was alone, I thought I felt a movement in my tummy but it was just my mind playing tricks on me. It could be my stomach growling due to hunger for all I know but I prayed for a miracle anyway.

When my baby was born, the delivery room was filled with a sweet scent that smelled oh-so-good but I couldn't bare to look at her as she was already turning blue. When they put her on top of me it was all I could do not to flinch as she was so cold. It was the single most heart wrenching moment in my life. I've never felt so much pain and grief. I wanted so much to hold my baby and love her but instead I just lie there literally shivering from head to toe while listening to the doctors and nurses as they explained to my hubby that there were 2 true knots on the umbilical cord which was longer than usual.

I heard nurses exclaimed at how chubby my baby girl was when she tipped the scale at 3.55 kg and still I couldn't bare to look. Then, just moments before the nurse wrapped her up I told hubby I wanted to take one last good look at our baby girl. Looking back, I'm not sure this is wise as every time I close my eyes now I see my baby but I couldn't resist it. So the nurse held her in front of me as I take in all her features. She was adorable. I gently touched her soft cheek and whispered to her that mommy loves her, always and then she was gone, forever. Just like that and I vomited and vomited till I had nothing left in me. I touched my deflated tummy and I felt empty.

Family and friends came and went. When the nurses turned off the lights for the night, hubby and I were alone at last but I couldn't sleep even as hubby hugged and soothed me in bed. All the What-Ifs questions started growing in my mind like cancer even though everyone assured me it was purely an accident and nothing I could do could have prevented it. Up till then tears had flowed but sometime in the middle of that awful night I just couldn't restraint myself any longer and I wailed with the anguish all parents must feel if they ever lose a child. Nurses gave me a sleeping pill and I cried myself to sleep.

People tell me that I shouldn't cry so much as I'll ruin my eyesight, that I'm still young and I can get pregnant again easily, etc and I tried. I tried not crying but every little thing reminds me of my baby. For weeks I couldn't even walk past the nursery or talk on the phone without tearing up. I was never one to cry much before but now I'm just one big sad story that cries a few times a day at the slightest provocation. I've not been out of the house since it happened and I couldn't bring myself to join friends in social events. I have trouble falling asleep and when I finally do, either I do not want to wake up or I wake up screaming from nightmares. I tell people I'm fine, that I'm better as each day passes by but there's also nights like this when I felt that I've made no progress at all. It seems that for every 2 steps I take forward I'd take one step back every time I cry.

When would the tears finally dry up and when would the horror movie that has been playing endlessly in my head every time I close my eyes finally finish its run? It's almost dawn now.  May Father Time be kind and help lessen the pain. Each new day brings with it new hope and it is to this hope that I cling to and I pray and I pray.

!$%@$#%$@!

It's bright daylight and you can literally cook an egg on the street outside if you so desire but I'm sitting here with the hairs on my arms standing on ends and shivering. Reason being the perpetual middle-aged uber-bitch is speaking very loudly into the phone with her fake 'ang moh' slang. For someone who's usually so 'pasar', this is really unbearable.

Luckily for Green Day to head bang to even though the sounds of my favourite band isn't enough to drown out the hysterical laugher emanating from the same two-faced whore. How a person of such lowlife personality and integrity is still allowed to pollute the Earth with all her bullshit is totally beyond my comprehension.

She's lucky to have live in the 21st century else I swear to God that I would have given her a 'beautiful death' Spartan-style a long time ago. I would then make sure her decapitated head is hung like a reindeer head in my hall for decoration and her skin stretched out near the fireplace for all to wipe their feet on. No wait, I really can't stand that face. I guess I'll just feed her to the pigs.

Anyway, violent wet dreams of mine aside, she recently brought in a young toy boy of hers to join us. Ugly, pouting, good-for-nothing ass wipe. Makes me puke the way he 'polish' her. Fuckface has no shame. She in turn 'polishes' the other big kahunas. Ugh! Everyone I know wants to open a really big can of whoop-ass on him and the 'girlfriend'. My violent level is really hitting an all-time high whenever they are in the vicinity.

God, help me please before I turn psycho. Amen!

A Management Story

I'm angry, really freaking pissed off here. Why? Let me tell you why! I'm just about to inherit ALL the work from yet another colleague who's leaving the company by middle of this month. This is the 3rd colleague whose work had been passed to me prior to them leaving the company! So in addition to my own work, I will be doing the work of 4 persons soon with the puny salary of 1!!!

One of them is even a holding a manager level position while I'm just a lowly-paid minion but I get to inherit his work as well. Great! I can't even take half a day off without my office mailbox exploding. What the hell is wrong with you people! I'd tell you what's wrong. It's the stupid management I'm working for. Actually it's just one person, someone who shall here forth be known only as Fugly.

I've introduced Fugly without a name previously in the posting "Lord, help me please!" and more recently in "http://schweeney.blogspot.com/2007/03/blog-post.html". In case you are wondering, Fugly stands for Fucking Ugly. Now for the rest of you who also happens to have the misfortune of reporting to a person who is as full of shit as Fugly, I can only offer you this humourous piece of insight I received off the net. Read on and have a laugh. Stress kills, I know. How sad.

Story # 1

It's a fine sunny day in the forest and a lion is sitting outside his cave, lying lazily in the sun. Along comes a fox, out on a walk.

Fox: "Do you know the time, because my watch is broken"

Lion: "Oh, I can easily fix the watch for you"

Fox: "Hmm... But it's a very complicated mechanism, and your big claws will only destroy it even more"

Lion: "Oh no, give it to me, and it will be fixed"

Fox: "That's ridiculous! Any fool knows that lazy lions with great claws cannot fix complicated watches"

Lion: "Sure they do, give it to me and it will be fixed"

The lion disappears into his cave, and after a while he comes back with the watch which is running perfectly. The fox is impressed, and the lion continues to lie lazily in the sun, looking very pleased with himself.

Soon a wolf comes along and stops to watch the lazy lion in the sun.

Wolf: "Can I come and watch TV tonight with you, because mine is broken"

Lion: "Oh, I can easily fix your TV for you"Wolf: "You don't expect me to believe such rubbish, do you? There is no way that a lazy lion with big claws can fix a complicated TV“

Lion: "No problem. Do you want to try it?"

The lion goes into his cave, and after a while comes back with a perfectly fixed TV. The wolf goes away happily and amazed.

Scene : Inside the lion's cave. In one corner are half a dozen small and intelligent looking rabbits who are busily doing very complicated work with very detailed instruments. In the other corner lies a huge lion looking very pleased with himself.

Moral : IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY A MANAGER IS FAMOUS; LOOK AT THE WORK OF HIS SUBORDINATES.

Management Lesson

In the context of the working world

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY SOMEONE UNDESERVED IS PROMOTED; LOOK AT THE WORK OF HIS SUBORDINATES.

Story # 2

It's a fine sunny day in the forest and a rabbit is sitting outside his burrow, tippy-tapping on his typewriter. Along comes a fox, out for a walk.

Fox: "What are you working on?"
Rabbit: "My thesis."
Fox: "Hmm... What is it about?"
Rabbit: "Oh, I'm writing about how rabbits eat foxes."

Fox: "That's ridiculous ! Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat foxes!"

Rabbit: "Come with me and I'll show you!"

They both disappear into the rabbit's burrow. After few minutes, gnawing on a fox bone, the rabbit returns to his typewriter and resumes typing.

Soon a wolf comes along and stops to watch the hardworking rabbit.

Wolf: "What's that you are writing?"
Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat wolves."

Wolf: "you don't expect to get such rubbish published, do you?"

Rabbit: "No problem. Do you want to see why?"

The rabbit and the wolf go into the burrow and again the rabbit returns by himself, after a few minutes, and goes back to typing.

Finally a bear comes along and asks, "What are you doing?

Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat bears."

Bear: "Well that's absurd ! "

Rabbit: "Come into my home and I'll show you"

Scene : As they enter the burrow, the rabbit introduces the bear to the lion.

Moral : IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW SILLY YOUR THESIS TOPIC IS; WHAT MATTERS IS WHOM YOU HAVE AS A SUPERVISOR.

Management Lesson
In the context of the working world:
IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW BAD YOUR PERFORMANCE IS; WHAT MATTERS IS WHETHER YOUR BOSS LIKES YOU OR NOT.

Introducing Fugly's Namesake

When was the last time you saw something that looked like someone you absolutely despise? Maybe from the toad at Feng Shui World that bears an uncanny resemblance to a nosy neighbor or how your boss looks more and more like a camel everytime you roll your eyes at yet another unoriginal shit to spew forth from the smelly little hole he calls a mouth. Well, as some of my colleagues were asked to change cubicles sometime last month, we found this freaking ugly ball of rubber. It looked kinda slimy and was dirty from all the dust clinging on its rubbery body. Then someone had the bright idea to throw it on the wall and lo and behold, it actually had the ability to stick to the walls! This gross lil piggy ball actually found its niche. It's a good stress reliever of sorts. Till today we dunno who owns the blardy thing but we have been having fun abusing it. We have even christened it Fugly.

What do you have in your office?

Happy Birthday, Stranger

I have been to many birthday parties in my life but never have I been to one so ridiculous I thought my eyes were gonna fall off from their sockets from rolling them too much.

You see, yesterday afternoon, the maggot of a person whom I have always referred to as Fugly in my blog storms into our department and started hauling all the staff into the meeting room. Everyone was looking puzzled. Some thought there’s gonna be a meeting or a briefing. Yours truly was just on the way to the pantry to get a glass of water but was shepherded into the meeting room as well.

Imagine our surprise to find a cake on the long table and a stranger in our midst. Oh, we figured she was a staff as well but from another floor, another department. 90% of us didn’t have a clue who she is or what’s her name. Moments later, Fugly led the way as she made everyone sing the Birthday song. Mind you, we still dunno who the cake is for at that moment.

“Happy Birthday to you”
“Happy Birthday to you”
“Happy Birthday to .......“

At this point in time, the voices kinda faltered as we raised our eyebrows at each other. What a joke! Singing birthday song to someone we dun even know. I hope our clapping drowned out the blank in our singings. I heard some people blurted out the name but was too fast for me to catch it.

“Happy Birthday to you!!!”, we sang as we ended the song. Then as the haze of confusion was lifted from the room, What’s-Her-Name in out midst went forward and blow out the candle. She was smiling and thanking us. Then as usual, annoying Fugly was laughing her fake irritating laugh as she made one of us cut the cake for the birthday girl or middle-aged aunty if you want to get down to specifics. I still couldn’t get over the absurdity of the situation as I grudgingly ate the piece of cake that was handed to me. The birthday aunty didn’t appear to migle with any of us except Fugly, who is another middle-aged aunty herself (only a lot uglier) so I assumed Fugly must have set this all up by herself. No, they are not relations.

Now, I don’t understand why anyone would ever want to celebrate their birthday with a bunch of strangers. Even if I did, I don’t think my face is that thick to even go near the cake. Everyone was complaining once the party was over. We had to give credit to Fugly, she had surpassed herself again in terms of how much more she can do to make us hate her.

Luckily she didn’t make us chip in for the cake else she would have really overdone it.

Colleague from Hell

Example 1

Scene : Inside the car on the way to the doctor as I was having gastric pain halfway through work
Present : Me and hubby

Handphone rings and a familiar, groan-inducing, eye-rolling number flashed on the screen.

Me : (grimacing with pain and sounding weak) Hello.

Wanker : We need to talk about ABC. I need a timeline.

Me : As you already know (through numerous emails), the project had been handed to XYZ, please liaise with him.

Wanker : I really need to know when the project can be completed.

Me : Look I really can't give you the timeline for someone else's project. Besides I am on MC today. Can you please call XYZ?

Wanker : Can you just give me a date.

Me : You really have to speak to the person in charge for this.

Wanker : How about a tentative date?

Repeat above conversation x 10 times over the next 10 minutes with a good deal of eye-rolling.

Wanker just can’t seem to understand English.


Example 2

Scene : Meeting Room
Present : All members from my section

Suddenly, there was a knocking on the door and who else do you see but the most annoying, thick-faced, cant-take-no-for-an-answer colleague from hell from another division is standing outside the door and gesturing she wants a word with the Head of Department (HOD).

She opens the meeting room door uninvited and pops her head in. Wanker then proceeded to shine forth her best smile as she knows HOD likes her. Important note : HOD is also a woman but that's another story.

Wanker : Hi HOD, can I have a word with you?

HOD : (Trying to look fierce and irritated) Yes, but we're having a meeting right now.

Wanker : (not defeated so easily) Then can I meet you after the meeting?

HOD : I have another meeting after this.

Wanker : Then can I meet you after your next meeting is over?

HOD : I dunno what time my meeting is going end.

Wanker : Nevermind, I wait for you. Please call me when the meeting is over?

HOD : (is actually annoyed at this point) If I remember...

Wanker : Nevermind, I will call you then.

Wanker hesitated a moment but leaves the room anyway. Everyone was still quiet as we watch her go and HOD commented at how rude she was to interrupt our meeting.

Now the person from both examples is the same person actually. There were more but I just give the more recent examples. I cringe at the sight of her. I actually feel my blood pressure rising the moment I hear her voice. She is someone who calls you and asks “Have you read my email?” when she had just sent them out a nanosecond ago and gives you 20 missed calls if you don’t pick up her calls because either you are in a meeting or at home sick or God forbid dead. She would actually tailed you around if she gets the brushed off.

I don’t get it. Why does someone behaves this way? Doesn’t she know common courtesy? I get it that she wants to get things done but going around pissing everyone off is surely not the way to work in the long run. Jeopardizing her relationships with her colleagues will only slow her down as no one wants to support a nightmare case like her. I say all the nagging mothers, whiny children, pesky salespersons and insurance agents combine still lose out to her. Bravo, psycho!

The File Forwarding Saga

Now the below really happened sometime ago... read on readers.

June 29

Help Uber-biatch do data matching using 'vlookup' in Excel file. I added a new column to indicate 'Found' and 'Not Found' in the Excel.

Jul 7

Uber-biatch requested to do another round of matching on the same file which contains about 7K plus records.

Aug 14

Uber-biatch called to request to split the file into 2 list - 'Found' and 'Not Found' claiming she doesn't know how to do sorting nor auto filter hence she cannot calculate how many records are under 'Found' and how many are under 'Not Found'. At this juncture, I must point out that her position carries the word 'Manager' while mine only carries 'Senior Executive'.

Sep 1

Uber-biatch request to do another round of matching on the earlier unmatched list which is about 3K records in size now.

Sep 2 10:30 AM

Had meeting with Uber-biatch and vendor. Uber-biatch agreed to forward the file to vendor for further checking.

Sep 2 12:17 PM

Email from Uber-biatch that reads "Hi, can please forward the file to vendor today. The file is very big, thanks." followed by an SMS that reads about the same. I ignored. Forwarding file on behalf of someone that I am not even reporting to that doesn't even work in the same department nor the same division is not part of my job scope.

Sep 2 3:29 PM

Uber-biatch's email to vendor with me in the loop that reads "Hi, sorry the file is too big. I will get Schweeney to send to you ASAP". Again, i ignored.

Sep 2 6:38 PM

My reply to Uber-biatch's email "The file has already been sent to you by XYZ on 1 Sep 09. Could you please use that and forward it to vendor instead? Thank you!"

Sep 2 7:00 PM

Uber-biatch SMSed to tell me she accidentally deleted the file while cleaning her mailbox so can I help to forward it to vendor. Same shit, different medium.

Sep 2 7:34 PM

My email to Uber-biatch "Resending since you lost it."

Sep 2 8:35 PM

Uber-biatch SMSed again saying "Hi. Can you pls fwd d file directly to vendor. Its 5MB and I can't send it out. My mailbox is already max out. Tks."

Sep 2 9:07 PM

Me replying Uber-biatch saying "Sorry mine as well after sending to u". Hah, how you like your own medicine now.

Sep 3 10:30 AM

Uber-biatch called my staff to get her to forward the file to vendor giving the same bullshit about the file being too big and her mailbox being too full. Yada-yada.

Sep 3 11:09 AM

Uber-biatch finally sent the file to the vendor on her own.

Sep 3 12:28 PM

Uber-biatch emailed my staff again while leaving me out of the loop saying "Can please send the file to vendor. I have sent it to him and deleted it after that, rgds."

Now, what we don't understand is, if the file is SO DARN BIG as she claimed, then we would have the same problem sending it out. And if she can send the file to us, I don't see why she can't send it out to vendor. Also, if she had been cleaning her mailbox as she claimed she did, then her mailbox wouldn't be full anymore. I smell something fishy going on here. What is it about the file that she can't send on her own to vendor? I'm not even supposed to be liasing with the vendor so we ignored her request again. I wonder how long this saga is going to last. Uber-biatch has been relentless in this.

Bug Scare in Putra LRT

Date : 25 August 2009

Time : 9.20am

Venue : Putra LRT

I was wearing a short skirt and blouse for work last Thursday morning when I sat down on the last empty seat in the train. Both my thighs started to itch very badly in no less than 10 seconds after they came into contact with the seat! I started to scratch as the itch was getting unbearable and to my horror, I found that there were many tiny bumps on them not unlike mosquitoe bites. I jumped off the seat but cannot see anything on it that could have bit me although there were black stuff on the nooks and corners of the seat.

 First day

Anyway I rushed all the way back to office and showed one of my colleague. Apparently, she experienced the exact same thing just a few weeks back. I washed then applied sanitizer and then medicated oil to both my thighs and the itch slowly subsided but the tiny bumps had swelled and joined together to form one huge bump on my right thigh. The left thigh was not bitten so badly so I had one small bump there. They itch less as the days goes by and the bumps also became smaller. I counted and there were 13 bites on my right thigh alone.

Second day

Till today I don't know what happenned but after relating the incidents to friends, I'm surprised to find out that many girls in skirts had experienced the exact same thing at one time or another. This is how 'clean' our LRT is. An article came out in The Sun newspaper right after my unfortunate encounter and the girl related the same experience as well. Read it here or see the pictures here from her blog.

One of my friends helped me write to Rapid KL and below is the communication. For all I know, the reply we got is the standard reply to all complaints relating to cleaniness.

Anyhow, I'm not convinced of their commitment to keep the LRT clean so I vowed never to sit in the LRT ever again. Ladies, you've been warned.

Proposal from a Stranger in Facebook

I first heard of Facebook sometime in early 2007 from an acquaintance while holidaying in Hong Kong. Only a handful of my friends were in Facebook when I created my account. By now, I am sure every other computer savvy person in this world has a Facebook account already. Probably half of them addicted to it I dare say. Half of whom should also get their finger chopped off for poking or sending invites indiscriminately. But how many people actually propose to strangers through the web? Now hold that thought and imagine my surprise when I got the below in my Facebook’s inbox.

My first thought is “Is this a hoax or a scam?” or a person so desperate to have someone to call his own for Valentine’s Day. As a value my privacy, my full profile is only limited to friends so I am not sure where this guy claimed to have seen my pictures from other than the small thumbnail of my profile picture. Also, if he’s seen my pictures, he would have realized that I am a happily married woman. Curious as I am, I dared not reply as replying would open up my full profile to his view.

Supposing for a second this is a genuine proposal, I still cannot fathom the sensibility of someone proposing to a complete and utter stranger through the internet. Sorry but I don’t subscribe to the whole love at first sight idea. Moreover, falling for a picture measuring no more than 2cm x 2cm? Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.

Feeling Jaded

With the New year and only a few more days before Chinese New Year, I am feeling really glad for a lot of things in my life now.

I’m glad my beloved grandmother is now staying with me so that I can take care of her.

I’m glad for my loving family and good friends.

I’m glad I’m finally recovering from the slipped disc I somehow got myself.

I’m glad I’ve been to the one place I’ve dreamt of going since I was child.

I’m glad that I got that long-awaited promotion.

I’m glad that I now have my own cozy home to go back to everyday.

And the list goes on…

So, why is it that I sometimes feel so jaded, even out-of-place? Ever since I went to Egypt and back, I have lost most interest in catching up on daily news. I cannot bear to watch the news or turn the pages to read about yet another death or suffering or petty issues. I used to find the current political changes in Malaysia riveting but now it’s just getting really old. Sickening even. I’d rather spend my time reading movie reviews. (The Star has some really funny reviewers by the way and they crack me up every time. Kudos to them.)

Anyhow, it is not just limited to the news. I find that I sometimes drift away when in conversation with certain people. There so many things I don’t give two hoots about or are just plain old boring to me. I find so many topics to be irrelevant somehow so much so it is getting really sickening if I had to endure yet another conversation about it. I just tune myself out to avoid from rolling my eyes or sniggering. Mostly I just stifle the yawns.

I was updating my address book the other day and I realized that I had accumulated a lot of contacts over the years. About 5% of whom I do not even remember anymore so I just delete them off. I think it’s the same with life. Over time, some things will stop being a great deal or like a pearl, they lost their luster. I find myself getting bored with things that used to be fun and I do not know why. Have I changed or has they stopped being fun? I have no idea.

Encounter with the Idiotic Kind at the Food Court

Yesterday was a lovely Sunday morning and since my grandmother is in town, me and hubby took her out for breakfast with us. She had taken a liking to the char koay teow (fried koay teow) in the food court of my local marketplace so off we went. It was still early so there were plenty of seats available. We found a nice table and Grandma started pulling out a chair as she reminded me to order her plate of char koay teow minus the prawns.

As we were having this conversation, a man came and started laying his hands to pull out a chair opposite of the one Grandma was pulling out. I looked straight at him and he looked away. Thinking that he would understand, as civilized people normally do, that we were at the table first and were about to sit down, I turn to leave my Grandma to place the order. Imagine my surprise then when I saw him waving his entire family over, about 10 of them and one by one they started sitting down their fat asses! At least, some people have the courtesy to ask if they were not sure.

At this point, my hubby just got into the food court after parking our car and he asked me why Grandma and I were standing around without a seat when they are so many empty tables around. I replied in a loud voice while glaring at the idiot, ‘Oh, actually we were supposed to sit here but SOMEONE took our seat!’. Either the imbecile didn’t hear me or he pretended not to hear me but boy, was I pissed.

I stomped my family off to the next table across the aisle and took the photo below as a reminder that there are still many Malaysians out there who deserves to have my foot up their ass!

Never Say Die

Last weekend, a certain middle-aged male stranger at a certain mall event caught my attention. Not because of his good looks or anything of the sort. I have never come across any Pierce Brosnan look-alike middle-aged man yet for that matter. Mere mortals like you and me hardly age as well as Tinseltown folks. Anyhow, this mall was organizing some Crime Prevention Campaign and was offering free packet drinks to passer-bys who could answer the questions they were throwing to the floor.

I was watching the event from one floor up and at first, I was surprised when the MC refused to accept answers to his questions from this ‘Uncle’. Then only I realized that this uncle had already answered a few questions before and was carrying a plastic bag of free packet drinks he got earlier. The greedy fella wanted more!

I hang around for a bit and was amused when uncle raised his hands to answer EVERY single question. Goodness, give other people some chance. The MC was annoyed and he kept uncle waiting at the sidelines with repeated retorts such as the below:

“Mei tou leh ar, uncle” (Not your turn yet, uncle)

“Lei mm hor yee seng yat kei hai tou geh” (You can’t just stand here all the time)

I mean, this uncle had no shame. I was cringing in embarrassment on his behalf even though I was watching from one floor away. I would have been red like a tomato in the face if I was him. He would raise his hands to answer a question and sheepishly cup his face at the side when the MC rejected him but in another 30 seconds or so his hand would be up in the air again waving in the MC’s face.

This went on for a good 10 minutes or so. I didn’t know how long he actually tried his luck in securing more free packet drinks as my movie was about to start and I reluctantly went away to the cinema to watch Ip Man. A terrific movie by the way and when this comes from one who hardly watches any Cantonese movie, it means the movie is real good.

Anyhow, back to the uncle, embarrassing and cringe-worthy as he was, I actually salute him for his persistence!

Egypt Tour : Day 1-2

For as long as I can remember, I had always been fascinated with the ancient Egyptians and everything else to do with it. Even as a kid, I made a childish vow to myself to visit Egypt one day and see the wonders for myself. To me, it is like THE place to visit I die or something similarly corny. I finally got my wish granted 2 weeks ago.

It wasn’t even a planned vacation. When I heard that my friend was looking for travel partners, I just jumped right in and signed myself up a few days before the closing date of the tour. Always one to travel on my own, I have never joined a tour group before but looking back, I have never made a better decision in my life. No regrets at all as Egypt is as beautiful as I’ve always imagine it to be and so much more.

We flew Gulf Air and had a one night stopover in Bahrain. I went around town with my friend and a couple of new-found friends. We went window shopping in one of its spanking new malls. What strucked me about Bahrain is that the city lacked imagination. Everything looked sterile to me somehow. However, to be fair, I didn’t had enough time to explore the city and the anticipation of going to Egypt the next day kinda clouded my judgement.

My first sight of the Pyramids! Wee!!!

Arriving in Egypt the next day, we were all in high spirits. To me, it’s as if I’m a child who had been let loose in a candy store. We were met at the airport by our Egyptian guide, Walaa. I was secretly thankful that he speaks excellent English and that he isn’t bad looking either. Sure helps with the concentration for yours truly who is a little short on attention span. Our first destination is to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. I was a bit disappointed and worried that we would not get to try out Egyptian food but that proved to be baseless. In tune with the infamous mad schedules of a guided tour, we were whisked off to the Citadel of Saladin straight after lunch.

The Citadel of Saladin

Being a Friday, the traffic was smooth as Egyptians had the day off but the entrance to the mosque was jammed pack with local and overseas tourists all eager to enter after the Friday afternoon prayers were over. While waiting in line, I realize that a whole line of Egyptian schoolchildren, presumably on a school trip, were staring at us and giggling away. It’s as if they had never seen Chinese people before! I smiled at them and a bunch of them waved back. So adorable and friendly! One parent or teacher came over and asked if we mind taking photographs with some of the kids and we obliged.

Throngs of tourists crowing the Citadel's entrance

By the end of the day, me and my friends had been approached by numerous groups of tweens all asking to be photographed together with us! Man, I felt like a superstar! Everywhere I turned, there’s a group of tweens either smiling at me or waving at me or waiting to take pictures together. If I’d known, I would have prepared some autographs! LOL! *kidding*

The Alabaster Mosque

The Citadel is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cairo today. Legend has it that Saladin chose this site because of its fresh air. Apparently, meat would spoil within the day anywhere else in Cairo except for this site. Walaa said this is BS as the site is simply a great location to build a fortress due to its higher grounds. Within the Citadel is the Grand Mosque or also known as the Alabaster Mosque as this material is used to cover its interior and exterior walls. This mosque also housed the tomb of Mohammad Ali, who is considered to be the father of modern Egypt.

Tomb of Mohammad Ali

It rained a teeny bit while we were leaving the Citadel and a beautiful rainbow can be seen. What a beautiful sight to greet us for the first day of my Egypt tour. We were then driven away on our bus to the town of Alexandria which is 3 hours drive away from Cairo. Arriving after a 3-hour bus ride, we sat down to a sumptuous seafood dinner. Each person was served 2 whole fried fish for the main course. Boy, I was full looking at the fishes alone. Fried fish really ain’t my thing.

A rare sight of the rainbow after a few precious drops of rain

Stiff from the flight earlier that day and also the long bus journey, we were more than glad to reach our hotel, the Hilton Green Plaza. However, seeing the places, me and my friend felt rejuvenated again and went around exploring around the hotel as it has many shops and restaurants surrounding it and even a cinema nearby. People are always looking at us and throughout my bus ride, people are just merrily waving away. I must say I didn’t expect such warmth and friendliness. Everywhere I look, men and women of young and old age are greeting me with a smile or a wave. I’ve never felt so welcome anywhere else. Mama, I am home...

New Look for My Blog

After 5 years looking at the same old layout, I finally took some time off to update the look and feel of this blog and viola! How do you guys like the new look?

Before

I know, I don't have those bluish-greenish eyes like the sexy lady in the pictue but hey, I do have long dark hair and I'm fair-skinned. OK, so my nose isn't as sharp and my eyes aren't as big but I do have well-defined eyebrows.

After

Ooo, did I mention my lips are just as kissable? :p

Movie Review - Babylon A.D.

Yesterday, me, hubby and a group of friends rushed through the massive jam in the city after the heavy downpour to catch the premier screening of Babylon A.D. We won the tickets through an online contest so imagine our surprise when a girl jumped out and were practically shoving a bunch of tickets in our faces before we even get near the booth to collect our tickets. “Take them, they’re free tickets”, she was saying as she displayed the tickets like a magician would with a deck of cards. That ought to have triggered alarm bells that the movie is just a whole lot of bullshit.

Initially, I wasn't really interested in going when I saw that the male lead is Vin Diesel. Anyone who is nicknamed after a petroleum-based fuel can't be that good an actor to start with. Vin Diesel was actually just playing a role that he has played so many times before. A tough guy hit by a sudden conscience out to save the world. How many times have we seen that? I was yawning 15 minutes into the show.

"I'm SO tough I eat nails for lunch! (Nah, it's really just bunny meat)"

Set in the near future, the story basically revolves around the mercenary Toorop (Diesel) and his job of getting a package (young pretty blonde thing - Melanie Thierry) accompanied by her 'nanny' (played by our very own Datuk Michelle Yeoh) safely from Mongolia to America. What he doesn't know is that the girl carries within her a virus that could threaten all of mankind. Oh shudder.

"Do we look like we spend nearly all our lives in an isolated convent?"

Apart from the action-sequences, which can actually be very headache-inducing at the best of times, there is nothing else worth spending your time and money on this particular movie. Adapted from a French cyberpunk novel by Maurice G. Dantec called ‘Babylon Babies’, the movie version is just a mesh of stupid storyline, no plot, lousy acting, corny dialogues and a most exasperating ending. All of us were like 'Huh?' when it ended. That's it, motherfuckers? That’s the end?

I can almost hear the director shouting to the cast and crew, 'Hey guys, let's wrap this up quickly, we only got 5 minutes left. I'm running out of film!" I mean, the ending really leaves the audience baffled as to what just transpired. According to Wikipedia, director Mathieu Kassovitz has expressed outright disgust with the distributors, 20th Century Fox, for removing the movie from his control and altering it significantly. He described the film as "pure violence and stupidity" and that "parts of the movie are like a bad episode of 24." I couldn't have agreed more.

This has got to be the worst movie I have been to this entire year! Ptuit!!!

Who's That Girl?

Writing the previous post, I was reminded of an incident which happened 12 years ago which coincidentally is the previous Rat Year for the Chinese. I just finished high school and was working part-time to earn some extra moolah while waiting for my SPM results. Me and then BFF found a job in a local supermarket as cashiers.

Being a supermarket, the staffs are required to work in shift. Me and BFF usually tried not to be separated although we were usually assigned different counters. Then come this one fine day when I was to work in the morning and she was to take the afternoon shift.

Imagine my surprise when I saw her at the counter when I get in that morning. Still, happy to see her, I bounded over and greeted her. She beamed back at me. The scene still plays vividly in my mind till today. The conversation below is not exact but similar. After all, this is 12 years ago.

Me : Hey, I thought you are working the afternoon shift today?

BFF : Yea but they changed me to morning shift at the last minute.

Me : Oh great! Then we can have lunch together today. I'll come down and meet you at 1pm.

BFF : OK! See you!

Me : See you!

I went up to my own counter after that short conversation as work was about to start. A little after 1pm, I went down to get her but I couldn't find her. Back then, we don't have the luxury of mobile phones like kids do nowadays. Feeling a tad sad and confused, I resigned to eating with other colleagues that day. But as I left the office for lunch, I was surprised to see her coming to work from the direction of her house wearing different set of clothes.

As it turns out, she was working the afternoon shift that day and just got in to work. She was nowhere near the supermarket that morning and no one else saw anyone that even remotely resembles her that morning anywhere near the supermarket. I know she wouldn't play a joke on me so I was dumbstrucked.

We both quit the job soon after and I never did found out who or what I spoke to that morning. Spooky.

I Hate Rats!!!

People say that those that are born in the Year of the Horse of the Chinese zodiac don't get along well with those born in the Year of the Rat. Being a Horse, predictions say that it will be a bad year for me this year. Of course, the Scully in me pooh-poohed the very thought of it but now that almost 2 months had passed since Chinese New Year, I am not so sure anymore.

You see, I had been suffering from backache since early March. The first doctor I went to told me to sit tight and if possible, get myself chauffeur-driven to and back from work if I do not want to end up in a wheelchair. She said my nerve is causing the backache. It got so bad that at one point I can scarcely walk let alone use the staircase. The muscle-relaxant and painkillers do nothing to improve my situation. I had to kiss my high heels goodbye.

A couple of weeks or so later, I went to another doctor who told me that I had problems with my bones. She said I probably had the wrong posture when I sit or walk and that is causing the pain. More muscle-relaxants and painkillers and even physiotherapy didn't help. I was getting worried at this point as I was scheduled to go for a holiday with my hubby in Bali at the end of March. We can't reschedule as everything had been paid for much earlier. I decided a break would do me good after all and so we went.

Luckily, the pain started to subside a little and I was able to walk around with relatively minor discomfort during my holiday there. Alas, it wasn't going to be the holiday I had in mind as it was raining from the afternoon that we arrived. So much fun sloshing your way through murky muddy waters in temples and the market of Ubud with your jeans soaked up to your knees in search of souvenirs I tell ya. Nevermind that too, I didn't even manage to see the famous sunsets of Bali even though I went to Tanah Lot on Day 1, Jimbaran on Day 2 and Uluwatu on Day 3! It was just too cloudy. However, Day 4 was a bright sunny day but it was also the day we were scheduled to depart. Now if that wasn't down to bad luck I don’t know what is.

Water, water, everywhere...

Sunset at Tanah Lot

Lunchtime at Kintamani looking over at the still active volcano in the distance

Tourists with brollies

Sunset at Jimbaran

I was barely back to work after my trip before a severe bout of food poisoning from a buffet dinner to celebrate birthdays in the office landed me in bed for 2 days straight with diarrhea and fever. I went to the toilet 6 times on the first day so much so that my knees tremble when I tried to cross my legs. Poor, weak me lost 2 kilos in those 2 days which was so hard for me to gain in the first place. Sigh. Damn the catering company! 'Best' caterer's the name to avoid, good people.

The very next, I received a call midday through work that my mom got into a very bad accident. It was so bad that her car now is to be declared a total loss. It is a miracle she survived with only a bloody lip and minor scratches. I cannot believe so many unfortunate things can happen consecutively in such a short period of time. I think I need to soak myself in Holy Water or something. And to think that Mickey and Minnie Mouse are so deceptively cute is just too scary a thought to entertain. Even Ratatouille.

By then, I had been on medication for more than 1 full month so I decided enough is enough and I finally went to a chiropractor last weekend who came very highly recommended thanks to my relatives. After he fixed my back, I thought "Hey, this isn’t so bad". That’s when he gave me a strange look and told me that he noticed my jaw is not aligned properly and needed adjustment as well. What am I now? A car which needed alignment?!

Anyhow, I am now only supposed to eat non-solid food for the next 3 weeks but porridge day in and day out really makes me miserable so I resorted to eating "soft" food that doesn't require much chewing. That’s not all, I am forbidden to laugh loudly or yawn too widely. Let's see what happens to my backache and jaw after my follow-up visit to him in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I shudder to think there's still about 9 more months before the Year of the Boar arrives. Pray for me!

Malaysian General Elections 2008

With the General Elections just over, many Malaysians like me all over the country are feeling ecstatic with the outcome. It is so exhilarating seeing democracy at work. I don’t remember being ever so hyped up about elections in our country before this but this time around, I can literally feel the winds of change blowing even before the campaigning had even started. My family and I stayed up till the wee hours of Sunday morning to cheer and boo as the election results were trickling in on the television screen.

It is of no secret that many Malaysians had been generally dissatisfied with the ruling government. The government was either both blind and deaf not to realize or they were just pretending that nothing was wrong and hope the anti-establishment sentiments it will blow over in time. Either way, it did not do them any good not to listen to the voice of the ‘rakyat’. The Malaysians voters had matured over the years and we are not a child so easily pacified with a candy anymore.

I may not be any political analyst but even I can tell that we will be seeing an extremely exciting era in the government pretty soon. I personally feel that the Indian community will be even more dissatisfied with Samy Vellu for not being gracious enough to offer his resignation ala Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon even after MIC suffered such a huge humiliating and embarrassing defeat at the polls. Enough is enough already. The guy just can’t seem to take the not so subtle hint from the people he is supposed to be representing. Honestly, I feel not an ounce of sympathy to see him going down.

Also, any less than honest outgoing officials of those states won by the Opposition are now cowering in fear as it seems that Opposition supporters are hell-bent of digging up any past corruptions details or wrongdoings. I predict that more skeletons will be coming out of a myriad collection of closets in the months to come. Its drama time and I can’t wait for the premiere. I hope to see that no more politicians will be off the hook with just a slap in the butt even when they built a mansion illegally and that no more bills will be passed or changed in the Parliament without a closer scrutiny.

The loose alliance of DAP-PAS-PKR will face tough and challenging times ahead of them as government seeing as to how most are tasks with the job for the first time. They better do a kickass job if they want to get re-elected for the next term. After all the fiery ceramahs, Malaysians would not expect anything less. I however wish them all the best and pledge my full support for them because when I woke up this morning, I felt than the sun was just a little bit brighter and the birds singing were just a little chirpier knowing that check-and-balance is now present in the government.

I say we ‘yam seng’ to a better, fairer, more transparent and accountable government. YAM SENG!!!

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

Many moons had passed since I last posted in my blog. Now, I know many of you are asking why I stopped writing. Well, the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

The story started many months ago when I tied my Blogger account to my Gmail account, or so I thought at the moment. You see, when we tie a Blogger account with a Gmail account, we had to key in our Gmail address and also provide the correct password to the Gmail account. After a successful tie-in, you only had to key in the Gmail address and the password to the Gmail account to gain access to your Blogger account therefore making away with a separate username to the blog.

Say for instance, my gmail is AAAbbb@gmail.com with the password ‘ccc’. I remembered the username wrongly and I keyed in bbbAAA@gmail.com with the password ‘ccc’ and voila, it goes through. I didn’t suspect anything was amiss since I hardly use the Gmail account anyway. After all why should I since I can provide the correct password.

Many months had passed until one fine day I discovered that I can’t login to my Blogger account anymore. I then proceeded to try to login to the bbbAAA@gmail.com account and discovered that I can’t login either. Just out of sheer curiosity, I tried AAAbbb@gmail.com and when I see my own inbox it finally hit me that I had tied my blog to a total stranger all these while. A stranger residing in another country with a similar name as me but not quite me.

This stranger must have changed the password and with that, I can’t access my blog either. Holy crap! I tried emailing Google for help but to no avail. I also tried getting help from forums and discussion sites but to success whatsoever either. As a last resort, I even emailed the owner of the bbbAAA@gmail.com account for help but the bitch wasn’t responding. What’s a bad ass chick to do?

So last weekend, after half a year of frustation, I decided that all avenues had been exhausted and decided to do the unmentionable. All I can say now is, it feels good to be back! Hip hip hooray!!!