It's a Universal Thing!

A handsome male employee works in an office in this undated photo.

What on earth do you think you’re doing now?

Don’t you feel the slightest guilt of using office time and resources to check on this blog? and to gawk at the good looking fella shown in the picture while at it?

If you answer NO to the above question, chances are (given that you are probably an American) you could well be the top 60 % of no-good employee your organization has mistakenly hired.

Now, do I get your attention?

Yesterday I ran across an article over the Internet that caught my attention. It’s about an interesting-but-hardly-shocking finding from an online survey conducted on American employees. The findings reported that about six in every ten workers admit to wasting time at work, with average employee wasting 1.7 hours of a typical 8.5 hour working day.

Sounds not too distance away huh? Wait until you hear this. ‘Personal Internet use’ topped the list as the leading time-wasting activity (34%) followed closely by ‘socializing with co-workers’ (mengular in our local term) by 20.3 percent.

And the real reasons for that? Hardly earth shattering revelation. 18 per cent of the respondents listed ‘boredom and not having enough to do’ as the main reason for this horrible misfortune and blamed ‘too long hours’ (13.9 percent) as next main factor for these helpless workers to go bad.

Now that we’re talking business, I must say I found this article quite enlightening.

Wasting time at work is no longer an Asian thing like I thought it was. Suddenly I feel like I am not alone anymore in this world. I am no longer feel like an inept employee of my organization. I can now stand tall and feel guided. I have my reasons now.

And so what I did was, immediately after I read it, I printed the article using the ever-dependent office printer and clipped it nicely in my personal file. Someday someone will question my integrity and I will smugly shove her this and say ‘see boss, it’s a universal thing you can’t blame me on something that already in our human DNA. I never did anything wrong. I just got bored and decided to get my own entertainment’.

Of course, that ‘someday’ won’t come anytime soon – or never, but my conscience is clear: I will only turn into the ‘dark side’ if my boss is not around.

And she is on leave today.

Weekend of Sardine

Most asked question on Monday morning, (it’s almost a sacred ritual to some):

‘How was your weekend?’

A customary answer would follow after that:

‘It was great*, how about yours’?

*Option; you can go into details of the event given the person you ask the question shows the slightest interest.

So really, how was mine? Do tell.

Friday night I bumped into Zack and his friends by ‘accident’ and ended up at Pelita Restaurant ‘catching up’ until 5 in the morning. The greatest mystery that night probably ‘What in the world was I doing at Jalan P. Ramlee on Friday’s night with my nightie - alone?’ That’s for you to find out. Anyway it was the best instantaneous moment ever for me in the longest time. I met new friends and had a great conversation. Here are some of the photos as proof for non-believers.

KIKC at best!

Zack's being ignored.

Zack is glad that finally somebody laugh at his joke!

Zack gave a spot on 'sardine's face'!

Speaking about 'sardine', Zack really did provide an inspiration for my next activities.

The rest of the weekend: I ventured into my own little adventures and made my own sardine sandwich – repeat, on my own.

Sardines are a delicious, nutritious way to achieve the goal of good health, and slowing down the aging process. They are rich sources of protein, minerals, vitamin D and cholesterol-reducing omega-3 fatty acids, and nucleic acids. (Courtesy Wikipedia)

Since I am not planning to open my own sandwich deli anytime soon, so here’s the recipe of the ‘Anti-Aging Sandwich’. (I take no responsibility should this recipe shows a reverse effect or leads you to enjoy too much sardines!)

Anti-Aging Sardine Sandwich a.k.a Sandwich Anti-Penuaan
This Scandinavian-inspired spread comes courtesy of my housemate, who offers this tip: This spread is delicious on dense, thin-sliced (sandwich size) bread or whole grain crackers.

Like this.



Ingredients: (serves 1 or 2)
1 canned of sardine (preferably Italian brand)
100 gram sliced onion
1 tsp shredded red chilies
50 gram sliced cucumber
4 slices of bread (sandwich size)
Dash of lemon

Method of preparation:
1. Open the canned sardine and mash them with a fork in a bowl until slightly chunky but smooth.

Like this.

2. Add and mix the sliced onion, shredded red chilies, and sliced cucumber and sprinkle with dash of lemon.

Like this.



2. Spread evenly over the top of the bread or eat it open face.

Voila!

Bon Appetit!

Chef Notes:
You will know Paradise when you have finished this. This was a staple at my house as a kid when I rejected it totally and now loves it. Now that I got to share this enticing entrée with my friends, the feeling is just wonderful.

What a great weekend it was!

So how was your weekend?

See if I care.

Soul And Snow

‘I just love Snow Patrol’ she said while the music purportedly from the band blasted from her PC speakers gotten louder and louder.

‘They are great, don’t you think?’

‘Me? No. I mean they are fine and all but I am more of a Soul Patrol guy”. I said with a little stress on SOUL. She sort of expected my response and decided not to let me go just yet.

‘O yeah you told me already. I can see from your PC wallpaper now’. I cringed. I felt like I was under her microscope. I felt tiny.

Luckily my wits swung by and rescued me. ‘Don’t get me wrong. I am sure they are a bunch of talented guys. Just that - me and rock music don’t gel well. But I enjoy other type of music too. I do listen to Mariah, you know’. Pause. (an image of me putting my right foot inside my mouth suddenly became apparent)

‘Er… I mean I like the old Mariah better. The new one is too slutty for my liking’. Dead silent.I cringed even more. I gave up.

Truth, new music just doesn’t excite me anymore. Sometime when I listen to the top 40 hits on the radio, I hear nothing but noise. Songs nowadays tend to be overproduced and fluffy like hell. I prefer old songs better cause the melodies are stronger and the lyrics are real. Like they say – it ain’t groovy if it ain’t got the soul. (There is no better way to say it!)

That is why a true musician like Taylor Hicks can hardly pass the top 40 hits but for me he’s a breath of fresh air, like a swimming pool on an August day. OK stop.

‘I kinda agree with you, that’s why sometime I do listen to oldies too. Just not that too old’ She said.

Phew. That was awkward. I mean it’s not like I have anything to hide, just that I don’t feel comfortable when people judge me simply by what types of music I listen. Music is universal. It’s supposed to celebrate our differences not to divide us further. For whatever reasons I like a certain kind music is entirely my prerogative and I should not be ashamed about it.

‘Besides Taylor and Mariah, I also enjoy Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston and even Michael Buble. But give me Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Barry White any day, and these granddaddies of soul will meet their match'.

‘You are such an old soul Mus. I guess there is nothing wrong liking Taylor Hicks then. I totally understand now. Old school songs are great - as long as they are not from ’Dreamgirls’ or ‘Grease’'. She laughed hard. Heartily.

I didn’t tend to probe further. I figured it wasn’t wise.

Soliloquy

OMG! Yesterday, my boss did the unbelievable. She allowed me to access to her blog!

How many people can claim that they know their bosses are blogging, let alone giving access to them?

None you say?

‘Jangan lupa baca tau!’

‘O. I wouldn’t miss it for the world, boss’ I said with an evil-grinned face.

Imagine getting access to your boss’ inner thought and deepest desire (wish me luck!). I am thinking a thousand and one devilish things I could do with this little trust, but being a good boy that I am, I won’t. The best part is, I can now play around with her menopausal mood every month: I can pick the best day to ask for extended lunch hour, tricking favorable appraisal review or when not to crack my stupid dirty jokes, and then some other endless possibilities.

Hey, maybe I can check on how she feels about me (or my work performance) since my probation period nearing to end soon. Now that is nerve wracking!

I don’t know what made her to act this crazy but boy, am I complaining?

Anyway, for what it worth now, I think she’s a terrific writer (not that I didn’t notice before). She picks her words well but don’t bother to mince them. Having read most of her latest posting, I felt inspired.

I want to express myself, in words, better, just like her. I want to be simple but effective thinker, just like her. I want to be a fair observant, just like her. I admire the delivery of her thoughts, something that I need to pay more attention to.

Her subjects are mostly her family, friends and work just like mine. And she keeps everything simple and not too specific just like mine. She keeps things in perspective and goes easy on things but at the same times not afraid to state the obvious.

I feel honored to be among those people she trusts. Come on, how come you don’t feel a bit flatter if someone you respect to open up this close. We are talking cyber ‘diary’ here people.

Now time to return the favor.

‘I takder blog lah Kak. Takder masa”

She gave me this do-you-think-I’m-stupid look.

‘Yeke?. OK. If you ever decided to blog, let me know. I’ll be your biggest fan’.

You bet.

My Right Foot

I was on leave yesterday. I wasn’t feeling so good and needed a little rest. After so much of running around, climbing stairs and kicking so many butts the day before, my feet aches. I mean really bad especially the right one.

For friends who might not know the real account, I’d be happy to fill up the blank for you. I fractured my right foot two years ago as a result of some tragic heroic misadventures. I tried to save some kids from drowning and got bitten by a giant catfish on the leg and then…….OK OK so I lied. It wasn’t exactly happened like that but it definitely felt that way.

If you must know, it happened in one gloomy Sunday afternoon. I was jogging (yes, you read it correctly!) alone and was minding my own business when suddenly I accidentally stepped on the iron rods that cover the big monsoon drainage. And for some ‘mysterious’ reason it snapped and the next thing I know I found myself helplessly slumped inside that now-historical sewage. The rest is history they say.

Since that unfortunate episode of my life, my right foot always gives me problem whenever I push it a little harder. I have consulted with many doctors and specialists about my quandary and guess what, they seemed to agree on one thing - that this footy situation ain’t going any way if I don’t control my ballooning weight.

Talking about quirk of fate.

I jogged because I wanted to lose weight (I was hefty then) and injured myself in the process. Now that I can no longer jog, doctors ask me to lose weight nonetheless. It’s a cruel cruel irony don’t you think?

I know that discussing about your deformed limp or your weight issue on a blog like this must be the saddest thing anyone could do but I guess it is worth the shame. I have come to realize, maybe the pain and agony I am feeling right now can be the inspiration of the new and better me. It’s like a sign from my body that saying ‘stop gobbling the entire population food resources and get that fat ass of yours moving’. I want to be lighter so that my feet won’t suffer.

Sigh. I am a man with many flaws but I try to be thankful of what I am or what has happened to me. It’s hard to swallow that sometime but I’ll pull through. For now, I just can be happy to know that my momma is still going to love anyhow, regardless of what I come back to her as – limping or not, fat or thin.

Ain’t it that most comforting feeling?

Note: I would like to apologize for the offensive graphic display of my swollen foot or my unkempt toenail above. The pictures meant for education purposes only and not as a way of raising donation as previously reported.

Floral Orange Monday

After months of meticulous and painstaking preparation, finally the moment that we’ve been waiting for arrived in spectacular fashion.

I’ll let these photos speak for themselves.

Saturday. I checked in at Traders Hotel KLCC.



a small but cosy room



Sky Bar, hotel swimming pool/bar probably is the best hotel pool in KL with a spectacular view of KLCC. Sadly, this picture simply couldn’t do justice to what I’ve seen.

Sunday. Rehearsals



I pay a lot of money, people, so better make it right!



Aren’t you supposed to be in school on Monday?



Ayati Tasrip Keroncong Group practising very hard not to disappoint me.

Monday Morning. Moment of truth.



What it looks like before the arrival of guests. So orange my eyes hurt.



Orange people



Choir people in their cool get up while ‘butchering’ the song.



Happy ending deserves a happy goodbye right?

Considering that this is my first time doing this, I’d give myself a cool 3 stars, out of 5



Copious amount of sweat, blood and tears have been splattered to make this event a successful one but I don’t regret wasted a single drop. I thank you all people who helped/guided me throughout the preparation, rehearsals up until the Big Monday (especially my team) and you know I could never thank you enough.

Would I do it again?

Definitely.

Razzle Dazzle 'Em

By the time you read this, it would be less than 24 hours from ‘the biggest event ever held in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Monday morning’. (Quoted from Rachel Tan, Coodinator Executive, Convex Sdn Bhd) – Anugerah Khidmat Setia 2007.

As I’ve bragged before, I am in charged of the entertainment aspect of the program and yes, that means to stun and to dazzle our guests with non stop delights or anything startling for the senses and nothing less.

This year chosen theme is Flora.(Don’t ask!). And was decidedly run during office hour (yet another of staff many perks)

To turn the event into a memorable one, me and my team have something ‘splendiferous’ up in our sleeves and just couldn’t wait to see the reaction.

Now let see how I spent the RM25K budget. The entertainment line-ups for that much-awaited day are:

Opening gambit – Bunga Hutan, Traditional dance
Sajak – Segalanya Ada Di sini
Choir – Corporate Song and Bunga-Bunga Cinta
Bunga Melur – Traditional Dance
Bunga Tanjung – Traditional Dance with Vocal
Angklung soloist
Keroncong – Singing Performance by 14 year old girl (whose name yet to be identified)
Zapin Fusion – Fusion dance?

And just to make sure that this event run smoothly without a glitch, me and my team even drawn out 'contigency plan', just in case the event run below the projected time.

They are:

Bunga Malaysia - Yet another traditional malay dance (just so you know, we hired people from Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Warisan Kuala Lumpur, so apparently this is the only type of dance they know. I would hire a three ring circus if it was up to me, but you know, I am just a small fry here).
Back up Choir - Bunga Tanjung
Or,
Ventriloquist performance by me! (cross everybody's fingers!)

Hmmmm……I smell Emmys already.

M!

Mariah Carey is the number one selling female recording artist of all time as far as musical hits are concerned, and it looks like she carrying the same success over to her perfume line.

Following in the foot steps of other musicians turned fragrance designers such as Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce Knowles, Mariah introduces M by Mariah.

Mariah launched the new line on Monday. She didn't do this one on her own. She recurited the help of Carlos Benaim and Loc Dong from the International Flavors and Fragrances.

- Mariah Archives

Hairspray

Congratulations!

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

Desperate Housewives • ABC • ABC Studios
Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo

Ugly Betty • ABC • ABC Studios
America Ferrera as Betty Suarez

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series

Ugly Betty • ABC • ABC Studios
Vanessa Williams as Wilhelmina Slater

Outstanding Guess Actress In A Comedy Series

Desperate Housewives • ABC • ABC Studios
Dixie Carter as Gloria Hodge

Desperate Housewives • ABC • ABC Studios
Laurie Metcalf as Carolyn Bigsby

Ugly Betty • ABC • ABC Studios
Judith Light as Claire Meade

Ugly Betty • ABC • ABC Studios
Salma Hayek as Sofia Reyes

Outstanding Comedy Series

Ugly Betty • ABC • ABC Studios
Producers TBD

Big Giant Orange Monster

I cant't believe they actually asked me to wear this next monday!



Are they out of their fregging mind?

'.......but Puan, I can't wear this. Orange batik doesn't go well with my complexion'.

'Suck it up, Mus. Don't you think I have to wear that too?'

Damn those AJK 'Tema dan Protokol'.

Now I have to go and get a matching shoes.

Best Thing I Could Have

For an umpteen times, my friend asked me ‘Are you doing OK?', while the other emailed me 'How Friendship Break'. Some even dedicated two posts, full pages in his blog to talk about me.

I can’t help but wondering if anyone of us is dying or it was just a way to mess up with my mind. Either way I was disturbed.

At first I just dismissed as another ‘I’ve-nothing-to-do-so-I-bug-Mus’ fillers and was about to e-bin them but then it wasn’t felt right. I suddenly caught the drift. My guilty conscience kicked in and I started asking questions.

Am I really pushing my friends away? Were my friends trying to give me a sign? That I wasn’t me anymore? Or was I?

I checked my ego outside, and I have this much to say;

I’ve never changed and I am not pushing anyone away nor did I disown any of my friends. I just need time.

Come on, how many times you got into a fight and vowed never talk to each other, then someone came into his senses and everything will be just the way it was. (Well of course, if you found out your friend was actually a Zionis mole bent on world domination, then that will be a totally different scenario!)

My point is; friendship is always going to be like that. No matter how hard you try to understand the other. People change. They grow up. Their priorities shift and suddenly you see them less and it bothers you, but you simply can’t stop that.

I know I can no longer be with you guys all the time like I always did but that doesn’t mean we should stop connecting. That’s why, I decided to blog – to share my stories and to make up for the lost time. I even got a little chat box at the corner so that we can check on each other everytime.

I believe the best thing anyone could have is a friend who always checks on you, shares each other joy with you and wishes for the best for you. And that’s why I shouldn’t be complaining if my friends started asking question about me cause I’ll never know when they going to stop asking.

The Last Gathering

Yesterday afternoon I was in my best mood. My ‘adik-adik’ invited me for their farewell- do and I was the guest-of-honor. FYI, they just completed their year long Management Trainee Program and will be started off as new staff in the Bank next week.

Though I just knew them for a few months only, but they were kind enough to invite me for a farewell speech. Of course I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t even remember the full name of some of them and here I was standing to talk about memories. But since food was provided, so what the hell.

Anyway I spoke a lot of things (rambling is my forte and that should be a breeze) but one thing I remember the most was when I said something about ‘explore all options, make the right choice and pursue the dreams’ and it hits me. Suddenly I saw myself in them and felt the very same burning desire I felt 7 years ago and got carried away. I talked on and on about how I was when I was their age and the dreams I once had.

They seemed didn’t mind at all but then I stopped when I realized what I was doing. I felt embarrassed. I just opened up to 18 total strangers and whining about my failed dreams instead about them and their best memories here.

I paused and looked around.

‘They are some of the brightest, smartest young graduates I know. Of course, they don’t need to be told what to do. They probably have planned 5 or 10 years ahead of them. So what was I thinking?’

At the end, one of them came up to me and said ‘Encik Mus, are those stories real? Hardly believable, maybe because they were coming out from you’ she giggled.

‘Anyway, I thought you were doing great’.

I just smiled. What a sweet sweet girl.

Idiot Box

I was madly in love with Susan the same time I found myself attracted to Lynette. Still, I tangled with Edie, Bree and Gabrielle. And then came along Betty. And so how it ended? Lived happily ever after? Not.

Sounds like I have taken a cue from a bad episode of Venezuelan soap opera or that I am suffering from acute case of schizophrenia.

Or am I in deep denial of self-acceptance?

For those of you who’ve been living under a giant boulder or who just migrated from a far far away planet from outer stars, those are the names of main characters from the two of my most favorite dramedy ever shown on TV. And if you are still inside the dark hole of total ignorance, I was referring to TV series, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, you tuna head.

For the benefits of boulder dwellers, space aliens and tuna heads I mentioned above, I was kind enough to link the main website of the series with this page. So kindly click on the links below, under the head ‘the obsessions’ to know more about the series and see why I put them under my ‘obsessions’ list.

Anyway, last night I watched the two series back to back as they ended their seasons in a bittersweet-yet-outrageously-scandalous fashion (as they always did). I slumped on my bed afterward thinking how the hell am I going fill up the void after this. After 23 weeks and 46 hours of pure joy and blissful make-believe, it just dawned to me my only laugh on weekdays nights has been robbed unceremoniously.

‘Betty’ and ‘Wives’ are like, the closest thing for me to the world of escapism. The series make me feel OK to dream sometime without stepping away too far from reality like Hindi movies tend to cross. They provide antidote of the disappointments I faced every week.

Also, I think I was kinda drawn to the characters because I could easily draw the similarities with mine: kind hearted but flaws, clumsy but lovable and naïve yet capable of surprises. Though, someone told me they tend to be over the top, but that’s just good TV and how you can blame that. In fact I found it profoundly enlighten sometime I see them as my own little window of happiness.

Another thing I learned, the word ‘dramedy’ itself was coined from two words - drama and comedy – literally means drama in comedy or comedy in drama (depends on how you see it). I personally subscribe it. I love to believe that in life, if you look hard enough, you can find comedy in dramas. And that’s kind of life I want.

Till I’d be able to see that, I am gonna miss my ladies.

Hey Mr. DJ*!

Human are funny creatures. We only want to see/hear what we want to see/hear and the rest are just inconsequential to us. The funny part is that, the things we wanted to believe so hard sometimes are the things inconsequential in nature itself. So what do we do? We recreate and reinvent them so that they turn into epic.

I know there’s nothing new about that but I just feel compelled to share my amusement on this particular work of our (evil) minds.

The root?

Premature assumption, pre guided opinion, or downright slander, are the result of what our minds tell us to believe in based on the limited experiences and impartial knowledge we have about certain things or people. Most of us don’t even bother to check the facts and worst it all, let the emotions to envelope our judgments.

Case in point, I am labeled ‘a total mess up DJ*’.

Guys please, for the love of the God, I am not a DJ!. I just got my priority upside-down sometime and that’s about it. And if being accommodative and nice to a friend, especially, to a housemate earned me the honor, so be it. I’d be happy to wear the medal (complete with the accompany cap) but please understand, I am not grading my friends. I am sure I’d treat you guys exactly the same if you were my housemate.

Apart from what has been said, there’s nothing more substantial for me to say here but just for the record, I never cook anyone dinner/lunch nor did I buy anyone expensive gifts nor did I open joint saving account nor that I plan to adopt a cambodian baby. I just drive him/her around.

Err….

OK, maybe I am a little ’DJ’, but trust me, I have been trying my level best not to hurt/annoy anyone’s feeling. I hope you guys can see that and if in any circumstances I did not make you happy or comfortable, I sincerely apologize.

Anyway, back to what I was saying, this is not to say that I am free from unfair assumption (against anyone else) but neither I say I am proud of it. I am learning now to put boundaries on putting in my opinion on certain issue and try not to over react in making comments, cause I know I can be wrong and boy, doesn’t that happen all the times!

Just be careful of what you think is true, cause your mind can play trick on you and before you know it you’ll awaken the monster within.

*Pushover but not necessary a victim.

A Troubled Weekender

Here’s a twist. I hate weekends. I mean I really really despise Saturdays and Sundays. It’s a 48 hours of total unproductive, superfluous, colossal waste of time.

Shock? Unthinkable? Read on.

You might think I just being crazy for saying this but I never felt so sure about anything before (except that Taylor Hicks would sell 100 millions album and win 11 grammys). So calm down people, as I do have my own valid reasons and I have a good feeling that it would soon come dawning to you too, gullible people.

Weekend makes me fat. Not that I don’t eat at all on any other days, I just tend to eat more during weekend for the obvious reason -- the universal term of ‘hanging out’ with friends means involved ‘a lot of foods’ and boy, how am I ever to turn down glorious offerings and still insist for accompany? . It’s rude.

Weekend takes out too many of my life saving. It’s so damn costly. Don’t believe that? Try doing something fun i.e watching movie, meeting friends, karaokeing, going out with girl/boyfriend, swimming or even jogging without spending a ringgit. Chances are you’d be burning a hole, a size of football field, in your wallet. Even calling friends for get-together and making your car moves cost a whole lot of money. Spending is not an optional here. If you don’t have the dough, most likely you would spend your weekend doing laundry or cleaning windows panes. How sad.

A certain someone I care about has to work on weekends and that already taken the ‘fun’ out of the 'fun-filled' weekends that I hoped for. Doesn’t that having a good time largely means you spend it with people you care?

Weekends always put me in a pricky situation. There are too many planning involves to pleasing many people in so little time. Too much pressure, in term of energy and time, to prioritize what activities to do and whom should I spend the time with. This surely put a damper on the holiday excitement. At the end of Sunday afternoon, I simply cannot escape the feeling that I should have more time to do what I want, given that I’d bust my ass five days a week.

Having a good weekends mean you have time for your much needed rest, unwind from work stress related while having fun with the loved ones and not stressing out about weekend planning so that you won’t miss anything.

2 days @ 48 hours time to do all those things is simply not enough, don’t you think?

Wait. Didn’t I say I hate weekends?

Good Life is..........

Cool ride.



Great people.



Cosy hangout.



Fantastic foods.



A lot of foods.

....More foods.



Plenty of laugh.

And me loving it!

So what more could I ask for?

p/s Guess where I've been to?

Man and Monsters

I am beat and yet I cannot believe I went through it without a scar. I mean I am glad nobody hurts in the process. (Though I can’t really say the thought of hurting someone never did cross my mind).

Yesterday got to be one of the longest days of my life and I must say I am still riling from the exhaustion and mental burnout. God, being audited must be the most joyless, taxing and torturing interrogating process of them all.

Imagine you are facing a bunch of man-eating monsters to gnaw you into bits, and that was not even half of the agony I was about to face. Armed with lame rehearsed excuses and finger pointing skill I learned, I planted my feet firm on the ground (or carpeted floor, whatever you’d like to call it) and ready to take on the bullets.

For the first 15 minutes, I knew it was going to be a very long long day. I was asked to take out 15 files from yesteryears and to my horror some of them were even missing. So there goes my precious 4 afternoon hours explaining where the files went. (It turned out that they were all well at the old building, yet to be transferred). And O my good people, this is just the beginning.

They were moments of unsure but lucky me, I still got my good look to charmed my way out.

Come to think of it, I think, I’ll take my chance with the man-eating monsters.

You see, I am not the bad guy here I am just a klutz that happened to be trapped between 'following the procedures' (lame rehearsed excuses) and 'mitigating past non-compliance' (finger pointing).

If there was any kind of redemption, I think, I kinda like how it ended. I wish you guys could see how I made my compassionate plea of ‘membantu meningkatkan kawalan kualiti dan usaha penambahbaikan yang berterusan ’ to the auditors. It was a heart-wrenching moment that for a flee second I thought I saw one of the auditors had tears rolled down his cheeks.

For what it worth, I am glad this is over now that I can look forward for my ‘yet-to-be-planned-but-I-am-gonna-have-a-blast’ weekend!

The World's Most Pampared Pop Star

You can imagine when a celebrity might need a man with an umbrella while posing for a photos. Like, for instance, if it was raining. Which it wasn't in Paris when Mariah Carey came to visit. But maybe she fears the premature ageing effects of the sun, you say? Nope, not a single ray to be seen. Mariah has a reputation for being the biggest diva in history, ever - and we can see why. Get over yourself, lady.

(Heat Magazine - Mariah Connection)

......And there is me.

Rhythm of Life

“Are you ready, Mus”

“I guess so”

“Good, cause if you are not, we are here to back you up ok? After all we are team right”

“Right”

Feels like a heavy load has been taken off of my back. I spent all afternoon yesterday to get myself totally ready for this.

I arranged the files,
I sorted all emails,
I have gone through the procedures,
I labeled all forms,
I tidied up my place,
I rehearsed excuses.

There. I think I am going to be just fine.

“After all they are all human right?”

“Right?!”

O Crap!

Heck. They can be shape-changing-man-eating-monsters from outer space for all I care, but so long I know all good people (whom I called friends) in this office are here for me, I’d be happy to send the scum back to where they’re belong.

Sigh. I am sure glad to be surrounded by people who really care that much for me. When times are good, happy and sad, there are always people who I can count on to. Be friends in the office or home and my family, I know I am loved.

In the rhythm of life, we sometime find ourselves out of tune, but as long as there are good people around us to provide the melody, the music plays on.

How true….

The Greek Goddess, The Fairy, The Pilot and The Bodyguard

.....And they live happily ever after...

Call Me Irresponsible

8.00am.

Damn I feel sleepy. I went to bed at 12.00pm last night and woke up at 6.30am and yet I feel like as if I haven’t slept all night. Heck, I am 30 for God sake and still 8 hours uninterrupted sleep feel like not enough. Don’t get me wrong. I love my job. I just hate waking up in the morning and feeling sleepy in the afternoon.

Paperworks are piling up on my tray and how I wish I could vanquish them with my super laser beam eyes, (while at it, an added super x-tray eyes would be neat). My phone is ringing, emails are popping up and I am feeling hungry. Damn the clock for slowing down on me. Suddenly I see everything look blurry and move in slo-mo.

“Mus, fail ko dah ready ker? Besok audit nak datang”

Wait. WHAT?!!!!

(Silent. I am in a very dark room with dark clouds hanging over me. I then slowly lie down waiting to die in peace)

O My God! What am I gonna do now? What am I gonna do? (OK, this is the part where I totally freak out, Britney-style!)

What am I gonna do?!!

Think.

Think.

Die!

Die!

Calm down. Take a breather. Think something calming. Think about housemate. I am calming down. OK. I am calming down.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Ok. Now what?

Well for starter, I could vanquish the auditors with my super laser beam eyes or I could choose to pick which tooth to be removed tomorrow.....

Hey.

Call me irresponsible, but never a coward.

Illusions: The Butterfly Within

October 11, 2007.

Resistence is futile.

Midnight Train to Georgia

I had a quiet weekend. Very quiet. My friends abandoned me. Luckily I have my housemate to depend on to. But then, he also had to work.

I was all alone again.

In an act of desperation, few ‘bore busters’ circled around my head, is it going to be swimming? Or jogging would do the trick, how about ironing? washing? cleaning? chatting?….nah!..

Instead, I grabbed my keys and headed to the office to clear up some works.

In my car, while driving, over the radio, I heard ‘Midnight train to Georgia’ by Gladys Knight & the Pips. I was super exited. You see, I just looove the song. I mean I am so in love with the song that I once attempted (read: struggled) over one karaoke session with friends. (Go tell them Bad!)

Anyway as I hummed along the tune carelessly (I was told my singing posed danger to Malaysian traffic), I gradually realized ‘this is such a sad song’. It’s about broken dreams, picking up pieces and going back to the arms that love who loves you.

L .A. proved too much for the man
So he's leavin' the life he's come to know
He said he's goin' back to find what's left of his world
The world he left behind not so long ago

He's leavin' on that midnight train to Georgia
Said he's goin' back to find the simpler place and time
I'll be with him on that midnight train to Georgia
I'd rather live in his world than live without him in mine (very the DJ kan!)

The song really set me back to my own frail existence and how suddenly I felt so affected by it. My dreams were shaken and the reality crept in.

He kept dreamin' that someday he'd be a star
But he sho' found out the hard way that dreams don't always come true
So he's pawned all his hopes and he even sold his own car
Bought a one-way ticket back to the life he once knew

Questions pounded my head.

“Will I be ended up like this poor guy?”
“If dreams don’t always come true, what should I believe in then?”
“When should I know it’s time to stop trying?”
“How do I know if I am in the right path?”

As I was driving lazily in a rainy Sunday afternoon, suddenly I became wary of where I was heading.

It's Out!

This is the true meaning of "happiness" I was talking about....

The Pursuit of HAPPYness

"I've got the world on a string
I'm sitting on a rainbow
Got that string around my finger
What a world, what a life, what a wondeful feeling!"

'I want to be happy. I want to feel good about myself. In fact I'll be just as glad as a bouncy little puppy if someone come to me and say hello'.

And then my prayer was answered.

I received an e-mail from a friend from office,

“Mus, I am sad now and I need some lighten up, share me a joke, a good one”

After a moment, I typed away a good joke I knew and suddenly I got smart.

I PS-ed “Think about sharing not the joke".

And then, it got me thinking,'hey, its not hard to be happy'. Happiness is not something you've created. It's not something you even need to pursue hard. Just look for friends to share their joy and it will linger.

So, share your happiness cause sharing is happiness itself. I am happy now cause I know I have done my part.

Note: Friends, and this is why I chose to open up (this blog) to you guys. I want to be happy. I hope by sharing this, I'll know the true meaning of happiness and hope I'll be as much help to you too. So please link your blog and share your stories because I really do care.