Life is beautiful...

blogging time?...?... :)

2011-12-05T20:40:00.002+08:00

man, it has been so long... I dun remember the last time i spent time to write about something that is not related to work/ serious matter/ something with purpose .. blogging is different, you are free to express anything...just anything...just let your thought flow thru without a second of hesitation ...this is my private garden of words...

the last post was more than a year...thinking of what i have done for this year and what is my new year resolution for next year...

what I like about this year... went to Taiwan for almost 2 weeks, free and easy, very relax trip...My lovely sister wedding in sept, big family gathering... other than that is the regular traveling between PNG-JB to be close to family.

most of the time i am home alone in PNG, hong come back every 2 weeks, so my weekend is quite hectic for every 2 weeks. Many things to be done & can be done when there is 2 of us. sometime, you gotta relax and settling into moment and think about how you have been treated urself lately, are you doing everything for the best thought for you and ppl around you?

this is a big homework for me, I guess for everyone too...
Writing is one way to understand yourself, you are basically having a conversation with yourself, you can motivate, inspire your own self to excel in various aspect. so I decided to communicate with my inner self more...:) making big plan for life and making sure that you are at your best for every possible moment with full confidence, being happy and contented at all times.

be focus and aim right will put you at the place you wanted to be.........

One week holiday

2010-09-17T10:54:00.003+08:00

Time flies my one week holiday is almost coming to the end. Spending few days in Singapore n a few days in JB. It was too sunny in SG we went to sentosa and universal. Under the hot sun for 2 afternoon. Waiting for the ride, queuing for an hour and only played for one min for almost every ride, not so wise. :d many of the ride is still not open, I have visited universal for many times now, some of the ride and movie didn't change for the last 5 years like shrek 4D, water world but these are also the good one to keep because visitors are well entertained with these shows. One big observation in USS is that most of the tourist are from Indonesia, those Indon are different than those we see in Malaysia, those are the rich udon Chinese with branded items all over the body. What a big diff...

I enjoyed overall trip in SG, meet with bro n sis too and ate a lot. :D
Trying to upload photo thru iplhone but couldn't do so, stay tuned.

My 2007 wishlist is granted :)

2010-07-15T18:45:00.001+08:00

A journey

2010-07-05T23:56:00.002+08:00

A Sunday Hike

2010-06-13T12:40:00.004+08:00

Got an sms from a good old friend early of the week for hiking... 730am... :)
i have been slowing down in exercise lately and accumulated enough fats to be shed off... without further thought, i just say let's go...

HP wanted to go to 1200 steps hike at air itam, so there we go, met at 745am, the good and evil yannee is talking now, one said, "yes! time to exercise!:)" the other replied, "why not i just suggest them to go for early breakfast instead :)" haha... in the end, both lines were out from my mouth... so we went for breakfast then to the hike.... hahah... the starting of the hike was from the cemetery... then countless steps follow... super chuan leh.... sigh... gotta admit i am old dy... time to gain back my beloved stamina. after an hour and feel like the longest hike ever, they mumbling in front of me, and then walked towards my direction..."OK! let's call it a day, we will conquer this hike next time"... i hesitate but they insisted, frankly, i seldom give up half way but seems like i cannot change their mind to continue... so we head down. (I knew what happened, guyA told guyB, she has knee pain so let's not stress her too much" :s

SO... we went for breakfast part 2... dimsum and chit chat.................
guess the evil yannee has won.......but not next time ;)

long weekend in penang

2010-06-07T22:07:00.002+08:00

noticed i am having short memory nowadays, can't remember things for long... good and bad...

Saturday... morning activity is fixed, had home visit till 2pm...reached home at 230pm and slept till 4pm. i am always tired these few weeks, maybe i am not doing something i like in the day time, or i like my bed too much, i am slow'ing around... and somtimes i cannot stand myself either. stop wasting time.. gal...

There are too many things i wanted to do... always complain by hong...and in a couple more weeks he will be leaving to singapore...wonder how would i feel then? frankly, i didn't really think much on that, just keep on thinking what i wanna do now. can't change it anyway...he promise he will come back every 2 weeks..hopefully he will keep his promise :p

called my sis at BM to play badminton together...the last game was few months ago...wanna tried out the new racquet hong bought for me... rm50 after 80% disc, sounds like a good deal isn't it? haha, we were losing to my sis and her hubby..hehe...a consistant lost..blek, dun care lar.. as long as we enjoyed the game...the scream and the laugh. catching up with some chats dinner, bath and we decided to head to jusco then a movie.. Prince of Persia, great movie.. it was 1130pm movie, i thot i am going to sleep it away... but it is a good movie, so my eyes was wide open for that 2 hours until 130am. we liked the movie, good choice.. :)

didn't sleep well that night, miss my own bed... i got up early, we went for BF, and went to visit some show unit in BM, wishing so much to have my own house... dreaming... 2 more years to wait...feel that project is progressing quite slow compare to the other similar project at the same vicinity. lunch and catch up some more sleep before a big room gotong royong... can't remember the last time... things are getting easier when u have 2 ppl working together..hehe:) what was my sunday dinner??? hmmm..err... forgot..yes, we ate porridge near macalister road then went to hong's place... he needed to pack luggage for his short trip to sg on tue. traffic jammed, reached home at 1130pm and sleep... zzz

today is the replacement holiday for agung's birthday, we were busy for the whole day 9 to 5pm and got very little done, quite dissappointing with this monday holiday... traffic was busy at georgetown, vege restaurant i wanted to go is closed today, wasted 1 hr in the bank and got nothing done...pissed..continue at bayan baru branch, what a big difference with the timely service by different teller, 30min with everything done compare to 1 hr with nothing done not even offering the customer to take a seat while waiting for her slow service :(... hong is a patient guy and i am not, especially impatient when it is hot/i am tired/bad traffic/facing with indecisive person, it is good to have him by my side, so that to remind me to be more patient...

enjoy a quiet night in my room, with music and a laptop...surfing nets getting updates...missing some old times, carried away with nostalgic memories and tomorrow is a working day... but luckily it is blaze week this week... means a week without meeting, nice *) i get to sleep till 8am no 7am meetings....

there are challenges in day to day life, but how you choose to face it make a difference...same as how you could be making a difference in someone's day....

Thru the Years

2010-05-12T22:24:00.001+08:00

I can't remember when you weren't there
When I didn't care for anyone but you
I swear we've been through everything there is
Can't imagine anything we've missed
Can't imagine anything the two of us can't do

Through the year, you've never let me down
You turned my life around, the sweetest days I've found
I've found with you ... Through the years
I've never been afraid, I've loved the life we've made
And I'm so glad I've stayed, right here with you
Through the years

I can't remember what I used to do
Who I trusted whom, I listened to before
I swear you've taught me everything I know
Can't imagine needing someone so
But through the years it seems to me
I need you more and more

Through the years, through all the good and bad
I knew how much we had, I've always been so glad
To be with you ... Through the years
It's better everyday, you've kissed my tears away
As long as it's okay, I'll stay with you
Through the years

Through the years, when everything went wrong
Together we were strong, I know that I belonged
Right here with you ... Through the years
I never had a doubt, we'd always work things out
I've learned what love's about, by loving you
Through the years

Through the years, you've never let me down
You've turned my life around, the sweetest days I've found
I've found with you ... Through the years
It's better everyday, you've kissed my tears away
As long as it's okay, I'll stay with you
Through the years!

after sooo long

2010-04-29T22:39:00.002+08:00

It is a free and quiet night, i have all the time surfing the net...the weekend mood is in the air...although there is still a long to-do list but i choose to something which is not in my list *]
getting friend's update in fb...reading a friend's blog, i like reading her blog and I miss blogging...

so I am back.....after so long.....:)

My auntie "Da-A-Yi"

2009-03-22T13:26:00.004+08:00

I have wanted to write about my auntie, but my bro advice us not to miss her too much during the early time of her departure. It would not do good to her. today is March 22nd, my auntie had left us for 2 months and 4 days. We have sincerely pray and wish her well in finding her after life future and live happily ever after.

She was just 50, a very kind, considerate lady who touched the heart of every single one of us. I remembered it was Jan 17th when i was having a pre CNY new year celebration at friend's house i received a call from my mum saying my auntie went into ICU and may not go thru that weekend. My auntie had been very sick since 1 year ago, she suffered cervical cancer. but deep in my heart i always think that she will recover, I didn't wanted to believe it was so serious even after hung up the phone. I went to saturday Tzu Chi home visit as usual, and i received another call from my mum, saying that the doctor was asking for all family and relatives to pay her the last visit. My family was driving down to KL that afternoon. and I went home pack and took a bus to KL too. I was praying all the while in the bus hoping that i can still talk to her, dun she just goes because i am late. the bus arrived in KL in just 3.5hrs and i took a taxi to UMMC, finding my way to the wad. my auntie's siblings and all my bro and sisters were there at her bed side. I walked towards her and i felt a big pain in my heart, i almost cannot recognised her, i didn't see her for 2 months plus, she had become so weak and thin,her face was as pale as paper, breathing with the aid of the mouth piece. After calling her few times with no success, i was standing still there and watching her, she was in coma. My tears started to pour down uncontrollablly when all of us chanted together, leaded by a monk. Her blood pressure and heart beat was weakening, according to doctor, with that rate, she would only able to pull through ~8pm that night, which was about 2 more hours after me arriving at the hospital. My auntie and uncle had decided to discharge her and send her home, as everybody knows that staying in the hospital was the scariest thing for her. Her biggest wish was to go home and rest. My sister, my 3rd auntie and I together with the ambulance asistants moved my auntie into the ambulance, and i was sitting at the front seat of the ambulance, leading the way back to my auntie place. I dunno since when i become a big crying bum, i cried all the way from UMMC back to subang jaya, I saw how the traffic move out of the way to give way to ambulance, i appreciated all that, moving in the fastest speed with the siren on, my tears continued to wet my shirt. Along the road, i saw my dad's car going the same direction to my auntie's house...

We moved my auntie into her room, setup the oxygen tank and got her in her favourite clothes. We (my auntie's sibling and my sibling) sat around her and chanted for her through out the night. her breathing was weakening, sometimes she breathed miserably, each breath was not easy, she cried for every breath. It was a total heartache to see that and not being able to do anything. She was really strong, we all knew that she was waiting for her husband to return. Her husband is on biz trip to Cambodia and not able to get back until Sunday evening. She struggled and made it through for that night, and my uncle was able to get an earlier flight and was scheduled to arrive at KLIA on Sunday 2pm. She passed away around 1 hour after my uncle arrived at home. I was happy that she managed to wait for her husband return and catch up with the final moment, even though in her coma state. She left a smile in her last breath when my uncle removed the mouth piece.

My auntie funeral was a simple and peaceful one. Beside chanting from monk, all of us, the relatives chanted for her, telling her how much we loved her and how we appreciated everything she did to us and remember everything even though she will no longer be with us, we wished her well, and let go of what had troubling her and all the suffering she had been through so far, rest in peace. "Our best wishes will accompany you to find the true happiness after life."
My brother had briefed us all on how to deal with our feeling, everyone tried not to cry but to feel happy for her. everyone wished her well, showered her with all blessful thoughts.

Time flies, it is already 2.5 months now. All of us, the relatives met again on the 49days ritual, my auntie had arrange all, she told my other auntie to do dhana on behalf of her, donate her clothes, and the arrangement for her personal belongings. Ayi gave me a ring as remembrance. "Thank you, Da-Ayi, i will always remember you, i will cherish every memory i had with you and remembering all the teaching you had shared with me. You are the best Ayi to me, thanks for coming to me when I needed your help & love. Sorry that i never be able to repay your kindness. My best wishes to you and Thank you." I will remember all my childhood sweet memories with her, how she pinched my cheeks everything she sees me, how she trained us to be brave and strong, how she enjoyed listening to us singing on the sofa, the chocolate biscuit that she would bring to us everytime...whenever she came to visit us, how excited when we were allowed to be her little bridesmaids, taking away her newly wed time...staying with her just a week or two after her wedding, all the tasty cakes and buns she had made for us, all the big chat and laughters that we had shared together, and all the priceless advices she had gave me since i was a kid until i am 30 yrs old, our heart to heart talk, gals talk and her smile despite of her pain for the last year....

Rest in peace, my beloved Da-Ayi, Aunty Ivy.

http://oldiesclub.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post.html

Happy 2009

2009-01-11T20:22:00.002+08:00

Hello 2009 :) flash back, flash back and more flash back....
I missed the time when i was a kid when we welcome new year together with family.... mum would scream at us to start with the clean up...we loved it when it comes to big annual house clean up, our house gotong royong is really the big one :)... we would move all our furniture outside the house... pouring water and detergent at every corner and start to "wash" the house seriously + skid around, we have 6 siblings all together, so it was very merry, clean, sweep, mop, splash + skid together, sometimes with some big falls and water fight, sometimes ended up in real fight..it was fun and memorable...we are very close siblings, we will sit together and talk till late night everytime we meet during any holiday when we come back from different places....I am counting down now to go home, in less than 2 weeks time, my flight is on Jan 23rd 10:30pm. :) :)

2009 resolution, i was here in penang during the long year end holiday, was planning to complete a lot of things, but time flies by without me having enough time to finish all to-do list. BIG excuse... :p... I dun have big planning for 2009, be mindful & sincere is my motto. measurable goals? hehe... here: Europe 092009 is something i will spend time on, exercise regularly and eat healthily, having a healthy body is the biggest asset. spend wisely and work with lots of passion :), team building, and also brainstorm business idea which is suitable for me, ahem...soulmate searching :) and collect more donations, continuous active involvement in voluntary work if not putting in more hours. Wish me luck in getting closer to my BIG wish list.. muahaha.....and wishing everybody have a better year ahead. Happy New Year.

Counting down for CNY, 9 days rest, hooray!!! feel happy when I think about it *)

Be mindful always..... cheers ;)
yannee

A second chance.. not always, but it does happened

2008-11-26T23:40:00.000+08:00

Today is my 30th birthday, time flies without me realizing it? How many 30 years do you have and what you had been through in the past 30 years had almost set the coming years if there isn’t a big change in your life. I guess I like to write since I was young, when I feel happy, I will write, when I feel sad, I will write also, when I think I need a little bit of motivation, I will write and when I have little crush on someone I will write also. J Sometimes, my little sisters found my little note and she would disclose it to somebody and sometimes to everybody, haha. So at one time, I stop writing, I tend to keep everything in myself. Just a week before my birthday, my friend suggest me to write something, write about how I feel at this moment and we could exchange our story, nobody would know and we will keep this within ourselves, I dun feel comfortable doing that, he quickly guessed that I been “betrayed” before, haha… I totally forgot about the old incidents until it is being brought up again. It really takes time to build trust with friends, even family member, thus, cherish it.

Why do you have a big scene over this? My friend asked me why the fact that you ran penang bridge is like a big thing to your friends, ppl call and sms to ask about u. do you like being under the spot light? No I am not, but I have no answer for him. What about my birthday, I think I tried to be low profile, some friends remember, at this time, I know who are the friends who always keep me in their heart. Primary, secondary school mates sms and called to wish me happy birthday, can you imagine I am 30 years old already, and these friends are still with me, we are parted since secondary, but we meet up from time to time, some of them, I am not even close with during schooling time, that make me believe “yuan”. It is hard to come by, but again without realizing they are beside you. I am blessed. I can count them really…I am blessed to have the chance to “meet” them again. I meant it.

One friend from secondary, I think I hardly talked to him when we were in primary and secondary. He even remembers that I “look down” on him when he decided to take science stream… gosh, I had no idea what I did? But now he is the friend that always initiate gathering with me whenever I am back in JB, we will yamcha and chit chat as we know each other well for ages. :) Another friend, university faculty mate, we know each other during our first year, we rarely talk, out of the 4 years Uni time, I think we didn’t even communicate 10 sentences, and now after 10 years leaving the Uni, we are good friend, we met each other by coincidence at Penang general hospital, that was 1.5 years ago, then we yamcha, we went to Cambodia together, and we meet up from time to time, he is a real friend, a sincere friend that I cherish from the bottom of my heart, we felt like good old friends. Another one is my current housemate, we know each other since University first year, we were not close that time, we stayed together during our industrial training, what we developed over time till then isn’t lasting, we didn’t contact each other for years. Somehow, we met in US, we become good friends, we can chat and laugh our heart out, and that is after 5 years graduating, isn’t it amazing? It is like getting a second chance to know a friend again, given the second chance, how many ppl wish for second chance, and I got the 2nd chance for some of my friends, isn’t it great? And my big bro in US, I felt relax and like to share my trouble and opinion with him, he is always a patient listener, he always support me without fail, he is truly my big bro, a few of us get to know him together, but I am the one that has lasting friendship with him, count my blessing. Sincerity is the most important thing to me, to me, I think we dun have to chat everyday, I dun need to remember his birthday, we don't care about this little things but I know he will be there when I need him :)They are my friends who gave me my second chance. I am looking forward to more second chance, but I am not depending on a second chance. :)

Grown-Up Christmas List

2008-11-23T20:37:00.003+08:00

SUNDAY

2008-11-16T14:51:00.005+08:00

Today is no usual Sunday... Nov 16 Png international Marathon.. and I am in the game.

to be frank I was not feeling very good about marathon this year, and i didnt plan to go, partly because of the incident in KK and thinking that i should be extra careful with everything if it requires serious stretch on my foot... but, something still happen, even when you said NO... haha
KF asked if i wanna go, she didn;t really persuade me, hmm, ya she is an independent lady, she is not looking for running partner. Then one friday lunch at QB, we walked to the PNG bridge marathon counter, she wanted to signed up for half marathon.. and I was thinking for less than a minutes at the counter and decided to go for half marathon also... what were all the previous reasons for not joining marathon this year? they just went missing in my head. haha... sigh...

that's it. busy days busy night went by, nothing special but just work :S... i have no time for training since Oct 31, when I signed up for 25km half marathon.. I remembered the first time training on marathon is on one of the weekday night, I worked till 8pm, then i started to run around my neighbourhood at 9:30pm, yes 930pm, because i was desperate for some exercise and half marathon is not kidding. i only managed to run 3 times with accumulated distance of 8.2km before the marathon day.

I was nervous and scared the night before, can i do it arr? maybe i really need to take sweeper bus, man... i definitely dunwan to go that path. and i know i will not withdraw last min...and i know it is gonna be tough, leaving myself no choice, just do it lar. I got in bed at 11pm and i think i only slept after 12am :(...and woke up at 3:30am on the next day.

the running part wasn't easy really, thank god it is over now. i tried not to stop at the beginning, it is really a mind game, and i didn't win sadly, i stopped running when I reached png bridge. Looking at the bridge, u know there is long journey ahead, man, run-walk-run-walk is my strategy, i was following the lamp post counting my running distance, then i changed strategy, cutting over ppl, then i was counting the white strips on the road to advance, water spot is another big attraction...looking forward to the turning point back to png island, running to the checkpoint...brisk walk through the nvr ending "hike" to the png bridge...ooo...watching out for queensbay mall from far and lock the target destination.

I had muscle pain before even enter the bridge... at that second, i was thinking should i turn back, but that will be pointless because i need to wait for my friends anyhow. so I continue. i could hardly run after 3/4 of the journey. I see the same ppl cutting over the same ppl.. and i finally understood that your hands would actually swell when running long distance, last year, when i did fun run and ST did half marathon, she told me that, i was wondering why would that happen, now i experienced it and i knew how bad it felt. muscle pain starting from calf to thigh to butt to feet... i did time myself for main checkpoint, so i will know if i can make it on time in 3.5 hrs. I set my target to exit bridge by the 3rd hour, but i only left the bridge at 3.07. With my optimum running speed, even 4km will take 35min, so i know i won;t be able to make it and by the time i exit the bridge, i really couldn't run anymore.. i walked under the hot sun and felt my feet was burning, how much i hope it will end now...yes now. i walked with the hope that i can finish the run, i dun care about the time, no cert, no medal, nvm..finally i reached the shop office along the road near to queensbay, finish point is 300m away. Then i saw something, and this is the first time i smile through out the whole 24.7km. I saw the sweeper bus arriving and stopping in front of the shop, the bus was full and I wasn't on the sweeper bus, this is a big achievement to me :) hehe.. when i saw finish line is 100m away, i started to run again.. and there i went, counter E, getting my cert and medal... hahaha... i reached the finish line in 3 hrs and 45min. yay yay, I did it... with lots of sweatssssssssssss..... cheers :D

and now i walk like a penguin, tomorrow is gonna be worse...
this is definitely my biggest achievement in sports... bravo yannee!!! ;)

My all time favourite :) I dun love you by My Chemical Romance

2008-11-09T23:56:00.003+08:00

Well when you go
Don't ever think I'll make you try to stay
And maybe when you get back I'll be off to find another way
When after all this time that you still owe
You're still, the good-for-nothing I don't know
So take your gloves and get out
Better get out While you can
When you go Would you even turn to say
"I don't love you Like I did Yesterday"

Sometimes I cry so hard from pleading
So sick and tired of all the needless beating
But baby when they knock you Down and out
It's where you oughta stay
And after all the blood that you still owe
Another dollar's just another blow
So fix your eyes and get up
Better get up While you can Whoa, whooa
When you go Would you even turn to say
"I don't love you Like I did Yesterday"
Well come on, come on

When you go Would you have the guts to say
"I don't love you Like I loved you Yesterday"
I don't love you Like I loved you Yesterday
I don't love you Like I loved you Yesterday
===

I like the music a lot, very rich and powerful beats...

Simple is good

2008-10-20T21:01:00.002+08:00

Sometimes I hate to think, isn't it good if everything is just straight and simple...
then you will have a lot more energy saved for something more important, i suddenly miss writing so much...went to KL and my uncle reminded me that i am used to be a blogger, where have you been...

for the past few weeks, things are moving so fast and i was having my long vacation... are you refresh and ready for more after the long vacation? I guess so...seems like this is again not a straight answer. Leaving US on the 2nd, had a 5D4N trip with my beloved sisters at Hong Kong, back in PNG for 2 days, and flew to KL, drove to kuala terengganu for the 8D7N SEATRU programme. I have so many photos to arrange now :)

Life at Chagar Hutang is so boring, that's what i thought for the first 2 days, i felt that i am all alone, no one to hang out to have heart to heart talk. i was desperate for companionship. On the following days, I was getting better, i learnt to enjoy the moment on my own. Sometimes, you learn new things with friends, but there, it seems like you are going to explore the inner world on your own. Seeing the life cycle of the sea turtle, learn to appreciate the mother nature, fresh air, sun rise, sunset, listening to the waves, nap on the hammock, staring at the sky, watching out for shooting stars, admiring the full moon which can lit up the whole shore without any artificial light, the twinkle stars in the dark sky, stroll on the soft sand shore at the middle of the night searching for sea turtle, world without electricity, no reception for cell phone, no fan, no stranger, playing the games that we used to play during our childhood, beach volleyball with no rules, no blanket, no pillow... the list continue, that is what i had for the 6D5N... i think the trip could be better if i have a partner there with me... sharing our stories and our thoughts, we all know, nothing is perfect, i have no complaints.

I continued my trip to KL, visiting my auntie, there is no way for you to understand how a patient feel, i can only sit beside her, holding her hand, tell her how i have been and know more about her world. No words can describe the pain that she has to go through, comforting her by saying i understand how you feel is just bullshit, all I can said is be strong and dun give up...talk about other things to distract her attention from feeling the continous pain and at the same time, learn some life lesson from the experienced ones. How could you complain boring life at Chagar Hutang when you think of any patient who can only lying on the bed 24x7, you are the real loser...My best wishes to you, get well soon, counting your good thoughts and blessings at all times.

Now i am back to my routine life, i know it is going to take me some time to get back to the state before i left, everybody is moving on while you are asleep, nothing will change for you, but you can make a difference, it starts from you, no others but you.

Home Sweet Home

2008-07-17T12:42:00.000+08:00

Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree

2008-07-05T22:02:00.003+08:00

So enjoy while listening to this song... super relax....
catch it twice in life FM..1973 oldies...thumbs up!! :)

The story behind...

2008-07-05T15:01:00.002+08:00

There must be an inspiring story behind....
will the story unveil to me? maybe yes...maybe no...

My Kota Kinabalu (KK) Trip

2008-05-12T23:11:00.004+08:00

I decided that I should write about my KK trip. It was a trip that was full of surprises, tough times and sunny day in the end :).
I have wanted to hike KK since I am avid about hiking, hobby which I have picked up back in the US. Thus, I started to look around for friends who are also interested to do the same thing. Coincidently, ST told me she, her family and friends are planning to go KK in Apr 2008, without giving a second thought, I have signed up for the trip and managed to get very cheap air asia ticket. But it turned out that we were not able to get accommodation at Laban Rata and thus the hiking trip is called off. CV and I decided to go by ourselves but making sure that we will hike mount Kinabalu and there it goes, a trip was booked and confirmed which is on May 6th to May 12th 2008. We didn't go into serious training for MK, because we were all busy with work and other off-work activities, the same old excuses, not a good one. Few days before the trip, we shopped and gotten enough checklist from friends on things to bring, almost the whole world knowing we are going for the SEA toughest hike, being exaggerate here. :) Finally, the day has come.
Greeted by our tour guide, Sam, local Kadazan, he fetched us from the airport and check in to the Tourist hotel. First day was easy, no real plan, it is all by ourselves. We just went around the town area and went for sunset at the waterfront. When we were having fun with all the picture shooting, I found my camera not behaving the same way, the shooting mode dial is not working, it is only working for every alternate shooting mode and so unfortunate that all the remaining shooting mode are those I don't use at all, manual and Av is out, the only choices for me are Tv and A-dep, god I dun even know what was A-dep that time…Come on... 1st day of the trip and you are telling me my camera is just giving up on me??!! I was not shooting sunset anymore, sitting at a corner trying to fix the camera, getting friends help to tell me what actually went wrong. I had no luck on fixing it and decided to bring it to the nearest camera shop, and the answer is “yes, please send your camera for repair”. Sob… sob…. after grieving for a moment, nothing can be done, so just accept it.. Then we had dinner at Warisan Square. Experience at tourist hotel wasn’t good either; we hardly rest because there was a group of ppl occupying three rooms in the narrow corridor together with ours. They sang, slammed the door, banged on the door and making too much noise throughout the night….

On day2, we went to Sapi Island for snorkeling. That was my first time, haha… it was a lot of fun. I guessed the common problem for all the first timer would be breathing through the nose uncontrollably. I was doing that at the beginning and luckily I have a very patient “instructor”, CV. I was holding her hand for the entire snorkeling, haha and I pity her BF that he had a big light bulb to deal with… hehe… we were talking under the water and had a lot of big laughter, too exciting seeing that many fishes so close to us. :D and now I really believe that it is us “the human” will try to touch the fishes and the fishes will try to avoid us, they are very agile. Then we tried seawalking in the afternoon, we were 5m under the sea and you will get to see the real under water world BUT with a big and heavy mask+cover on ours shoulder, I don't think it was very “fun” considering the limited movement we can do, the unbearable underwater pressure, and the heavy thingy on the shoulder. Overall it was good, we got the chance to feed the fishes, touched the NEMO :D, so cutie and watching lil’ bit of show by the diver. After BBQ lunch and a lot of photo shooting at the sea side, we were heading back to KK again. After some good rest, we went for dinner behind the Tourist hotel and the worst thing happened. :( I fell down right after standing up leaving the dinner table, and I almost flipped the dinner table next to me :(:(. What’s wrong? I was able to stand up, but when I lifted my leg for the step, my entire leg has no strength to support myself and it had no feeling at all, thus I fell down as I put my foot down. This has scared the crowd in the restaurant and at the moment, I know that’s it, I will not be able to hike MK anymore, I was moving slowly back to my hotel and started to urut my foot. There was no good feeling about it, my foot had swollen and blue black right away. That was the biggest disappointment I felt, it is only day2 and what had happened so far… very unlucky for me. I called my family and friends and they insisted me not to hike Mt KK anymore. :( I was sitting at a corner of the bed and staring at my foot for the whole night. I also woke up in the middle of the night to urut my foot, hoping for a miracle….

See my "new sock"?
Everything still happened per plan; we were heading for KK Park on day3. Our guide, Sam knew about the incident and felt bad for me; he brought me to a Chinese sinseh and I got myself a “new sock”. Not many ppl noticed about my injured foot, as the bandage really looks like a normal sock. Many things crossed my mind that time, where should I stay if I am not climbing, all the transportation I have arranged to get myself out from Mesilau to meet them at the end point, how should I spend my 2 days over here? Nevertheless, I was still enjoying the good view from KK to Mesilau. We can see the peak of MK clearly; it is so high up in between the clouds. I had to keep re-iterate this to myself that, “Yan Nee, don’t be too disappointed, you will come back again, enjoy whatever you have/ whenever you are”. On the other hand, CV was all quiet in the van, she was too stunned to look at MK I guessed :p. At night, CV & SJ were busy packing for their hiking gears, and I was busy talking with the Mesilau staff to get all the answer for my questions. I am considering myself very very lucky to meet with the nicest ppl in Mesilau. Mr Irwan, he helped me with the room check out, showing me to my new place Bishop head 1, it is dom style, sharing room with strangers, helping me with the 2nd night check in, check for rental car availability among the staff as well as from Ranau town, bring me to the Sabah Park to check for any morning trail I can follow and finally suggesting me to go with Mesilau summit trail just for some of the spectacular views and get me a hiking stick. My morning breakfast was a spread, they almost filled up the whole table with food for me, ya, just the breakfast, and then they sent me the packed lunch for the hike.

So happy with my small achievement, KM0.5 :p

I started with Mesilau summit trail at around 10am, I took my time, walked slowly and enjoy the scenery along the way, Mesilau trail is superb, you got the view every meter, as my foot was hurt, the park ranger suggested me to end my trip at KM1, where you can overlook the whole mountain and valley. It was tough for me to hike actually; I was straining my knee and upper thigh in order not to hurt my foot further. I was so happy with every step ascend to the Mesilau trail; I stopped so frequently to take picture, and taking deep fresh breath from time to time, even saw a squirrel running cross the tree. This is such a beautiful place…man..i was overjoyed when I reached KM0.5, haha, I took picture of myself at the check point and continue on, believe me, you just feel like you want to continue on and check out what lies ahead, the view. :) Sadly, i don't think many of the MK hikers can really enjoy the splendid view while rushing up to Laban Rata, there are too many constraint set, like the food will be gone at this hour, the heater will be shut off by 7pm or so. How nice if we can hike and camp along the way. I was actually keep talking to myself during the short hike, as it is too beautiful and it is so much beyond my expectation, nice weather with great view, what else you wanna ask for? Then, I reached KM1, wow… wow, you can really see the whole mountain view, and the other side is the valley, blue sky, white clouds, like a painting…. :D…

Lunch views:

I am so so happy that I hiked 1/8 of MK Mesilau summit trail, I stopped at Pondok Schima then I chose the best view point as my lunch stop, just a couple sandwiches, but I am truly contented. It was 1pm when I was back to the starting point again. Now I went to look for my 2nd trail walk which will start at 2:30pm. This time, I met Mr Sukaibin, we were going for the Nepenthes trail, he is a very nice guy too, he offered to be my hike for my coming trip to MK, he is fast hiker, his best record is 3.5 hours to Laban Rata, and normal ppl will take 8 hours. Together with Raymond and Jill, visitors from South Africa, we completed our 2.5 hours Nepenthes walk, seeing 5 different Nepenthes species. It was fun and I am meeting new ppl again, all of us, 4 including the guide decided to meet again on 8am the next day to go to the other side of the village to check out more pitchers plants. And I am invited to join Raymond and Jill for dinner at 7pm. That was a long dinner, we just hit it off with any topic, and I learnt some history/back ground about South Africa, more interesting places in Sabah, also sharing my traveling experience with the couple, viewing their Sabah trip picture, lots of good shot, both of them owns SLR and I am sure I will visit Sandakan in my next Sabah trip, Kinabatangan definitely one spot we shouldn’t miss. Also, both of them are once Scuba diving instructor. We talked a lot…and only went back for rest at around 10pm ++.

Fungus, I dunno it can be so big... wow and colorful
Nepenthes Rajah

It was heavy rain and very windy on the next day, but we sticked to our plan, going to another site for more nepenthes. This was no easy trip, the place was muddy and we were basically walking in the bushes under the heavy rain. Mr Sukaibin had to clear the path for us, yes, he was bringing a small parang with him, and so we can see the nepenthes that were hidden behind the thick bush. Everything turns out perfect, and I really love the people there, they treat you like their family and you dun feel alone or being like an outsider even though you are now in an unfamiliar place. Nice job, Sabahan!!! That’s all about my Mesilau trip, and then we left for Kundasang, for me to meet up with Sam to go for a couple more places before meeting up with CV & SJ at the end point. I was planning my own itinerary for the day; I went for Rafflesia blooming site, Poring hotspring, canopy walk, and then back to KK Park. I managed to see two 1-day old Rafflesia, that was lucky… they are still fresh and not smelly at all. According to my guide, you will only smell it when it is on day 4 or 5. haha, this is interesting, my Rafflesia guides are little kids, 9 year old Juniva and 10 years old Erica. They are shy kids. :p Finally, I met back CV & SJ at Timpohon end point at around 2:30pm. They are exhausted after the long hike; they didn’t go up to the summit due to bad weather, there won't be sunrise view according to the guide. I think they are in very good shape and salute to them… reaching 3800++m. CV, you did it, I am very proud of u :)

The young guides, Juniva and Erica :)

There comes the last day, Padas river rafting, it was exciting and lots of fun. We were using 4 different kind of transport to complete the entire rafting course, which are vans, trolley, raft and speedboat and that is due to the recent train accident happened at Padas River. That limits the total visitor they can accommodate in a day. For instance, they were just taking our group (6 persons) for the whole day. That was extreme, as all the guides are in the raft with us, total 11of us in the raft, 5 of them are expert, and another 3 of them is outside kayaking act as rescue team. You will feel so safe if you are joining that trip. Haha… in short it was fun fun fun… with the people, with the jokes, and throwing ppl (expert vs expert) out to the river was funny. We traveled 20km with the raft, the longest course, normal course is just 9km and the entire event was recorded. :)Anyway, the Padas river rafting is great, not too dangerous; it is mild comparing to my rafting experience at white Salmon River, the 5 feet drop, phew…

We travelled for 7km on this trolley, :)

A raft-full of people...

So what do you think about my KK trip? Haha, is it full of surprises, ups and downs, I experienced “wu chang” in this short trip, friends and family support is definitely a big help (thank you :)) and I am happy that I bring back lots of good memories with me. :D :p

What is on your mind?

2008-04-30T23:27:00.002+08:00

It is too busy to monitor..
It is even tougher to guess what is in ppl's mind...
What is the something that is always in your mind? What are the thought that keep coming back to you?
Can you spend a little bit of time to take care of the regular thought, whether it is house work, laundry work, meet up with friends, overdue task, something you wanna say to someone special, anything, just do it.
That's the most important housekeeping everyone should do, even important than brushing your teeth or shower, physically clean doesn't represent a healthy mind.
Just do it and now the traffic in your mind is getting under control, you can concentrate on more important stuff and not boggling your mind with "something you need/want to do but "hasn't" got the chance to do", that is just a lame excuse.

A Lazy Sunday

2008-02-17T14:22:00.009+08:00

so relaxed right now... listen to my fav music by Kenny G...sentimental, the moment...
it was a great night yesterday, we went to georgetown to join the CNY carnival at lebuh Acheh, this year theme features all chinese festival throuhout the year, i.e. new year, qing ming, dumpling fetival, ghost festival, lantern mooncake festival..etc etc the event is so huge, and we didn't cover all stops, and it was so crowded. We, "the photographer" ;) love this kind of event. :) My camera is in action again.

All pictures i took recently was family photos during CNY, we went to putrajaya, whole family ran on the field, including my parents, we were all kids again together with my niece and nephew. fun!! Family reunion is always the best, my bro was also back from Japan for a week. we were in JB only on the 1st lunar day, and travelled up to KL on the 2nd day to visit our relatives. and my mum accompanied me back to PNG on Sunday, so lucky that we didn't stuck in any jam, travel time is ard 4 hrs door to door. Managed to bring my mum ard in PNG, and tasted a lot of good food here. started to like PNG more and more...

back to yesterday carnival, the station i like the most is the Khoo Kong Si, OLD penang stop (see the pictures above), i am no penangite, but from everything shown along the street it really unfold us the history and bring back lots of the old memories of our parents times, i believe, and i was so wanted my parents to be there to enjoy the on street music, all the 1950-60 oldies... and my uncle will love it too... to be frank, while i walked on the street, i really wanted to congrats the committee as they had succesfully bring out the theme, I can feel that it is tranforming myself to the 1950 times...at the end of the street it brought you to the ever famous Khoo Kong Si with the magnificient lights ON and also chinese martial art stage shows. nice...

I reached home at 12am, slept at 1am, and woke up at 10am.. :D

Tonight we will have our first photography class at Grand Continental Hotel... Keep rolling...

Happy Chinese New Year, we have been through a blessful PIG year and let us live better in the RAT year.

New Year again, 2008!!

2008-01-31T22:29:00.000+08:00

hello all, it is new year again... missing blogging a little bit :) (I guess i love talking rather than writing) ;) Jan 1st is over for almost one month, ya ya i am talking about chinese new year, one of the longest holiday in a year. will be out for the whole ww06. no laptop, is that possible? i don't think so...

do you have any new year resolution set? hmmm... nvm, mine hasn't up yet :)
how do u feel about this year...i think it is going to be a challenging year.
any trip plan for this year... yeah my KK trip which will be in May, a lot of training yet to come..besides KK? hmmm, bangkok?? japan?? bali?? mulu?? EUROPE??? I dunno..............business trip?? not sure :)

ah..ha, yesterday i wrote my first "30" in the lucky draw contest form at the toyota service center...i skipped the "age" column till i finished up all the rest of the info, after thinking for a couple seconds, i wrote "30" and that is the time when the attendant got back in front of me :S... ya ya have u watch "13 going on 30", guess it is lucky to be at 30 :D :D, and one of my guy friend said he will insist not to write "30" until 2009, haha..I guess my second "30" will not be that difficult already :p

going home this Sat, and my bro will be back this Sun, and it is family time again...ho ho ho... ya and i forgot to said, i miss xmas atmosphere so much, didn't get to listen to all the good xmas music on FM or in the mall... and they started to play CNY song during xmas time, gosh....that is the time I miss US a lot.. and my friends tot i am crazy...

OK lar.. i hope everyone will enjoy this properous new year and enjoy all the family times and together we grow old and become a more intelligent & better person :p

i think this is good...i am sticking this little note right infront of my desk...

不求身体健康, 但求精神敏锐
不求事事顺利, 但求毅力勇气
不求减轻负担, 但求增加力量

My photo link

2007-12-10T00:04:00.000+08:00

something new, my photo link :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yanneetoo

Comments from my teacher :)

2007-11-12T23:32:00.000+08:00

王雁妮:

构图精致有趣，兵主分配得宜，亦能表现出空间距离，落款平稳。
用笔的技巧尚算成熟，虽花卉的用笔显得规矩，但在聚散大小的安排都处理得不错，小金鱼的用笔亦表现出有下过功夫。
彩色的布局取前淡后浓，与一班的安排相反，亦能表现出其巧妙的心思，可喜可贺。
属特优之作

沈瑞山
2007．11．10

hooray...我又要毕业了，12月9日，于静思堂

人生无常。。。

2007-10-30T13:57:00.000+08:00

最近在我们的心莲个案里，在短短的两个礼拜多，有四个案主往生了。心里感到很不是滋味，感慨生命无常，能健健康康的活出每一天，不是必然的。。。。
对他而言，要继续活下去。。其实是那么的辛苦。那是一个奢侈的欲望吗？

十月二十五日~静思语：
人生不論長短，都要努力讓這輩子沒有遺憾，無遺憾的人生才有意義。

十月二十六日~静思语：
人生來來去去並不重要，最重要的是要將心照顧好；來時盡本分，去時了無遺憾，人生就有價值。

WW43 updates :p

2007-10-28T20:25:00.000+08:00

This is a home alone week, ok lar, i have survived the one week home alone experience in Penang, JH went for 1.5 month biz trip in US, CV went for family trip in China. It is OK lar...I am not sit-at-home type of ppl, so not too bad and i leave one light ON everyday...hehe...

This is how i passed my time:

sent off CV on Tue noon, yoga tue night, dancing lesson on Wed night, 共修 on Thu night, colleugue's farewell on Fri night. Voluntary work on Sat half day, movie and yam-cha on Sat night, georgetown tour on Sun morning, drawing exam on Sun afternoon and just finished washing my car on Sun night...and CV is coming back tomorrow night.. ha ha ha... i think it is quite tired actually, and you know what, I like Monday :)... because no morning meeting, Monday is always like another Sunday to me, I can wake up late on Mon compare to my Sat and Sun, Monday is always easy except chairing my own team meeting....I like Monday. For ppl who deal with US closely, Monday is always a good OOP day :) unlike my sis, she hates Monday... she always tell me she is floating in a DEEP BLUE SEA on Monday....she is cute and funny.

Today's Georgetown city walk is quite fun, first time walking in Georgetown city area, if it wasn't my friend, HP, i dun think i will do it by myself. :) It is quiet on Sunday, not many ppl...we walked leisurely on the street and tasted some of the best local delicacies recommended by HP. I got to admit that Penang has its unbeatable charms, a lot of historical building, very rich culture, and to me, this place is full of questions marks??? We visited a lot of places, one highlight of today's city walk is the visit to KuanYin temple (dunno the actual name :p). I was surprised that this place is so so crowded on a normal Sunday morning, ah-ha, then i recalled that tomorrow is KuanYin's birthday, so I joined the crowd...*tears*tears*tears*, can you imagine.... According to my tourguide, this temple is built since 1800, unbelievable. Thanks a lot to HP for being a very good host to me... :) ^o^

and... ha ha.. another hilight of the day... exam day...my chinese painting drawing, personally i think it was funny, a lazy student, what do you expect. managed to capture my work before submitting my paper. We are required to chose 1 out of 6 drawing title, and this is what I have 鱼戏知春， i think the caligraphy is the best part... other than that, i have no comment, as I draw, i also noticed that i have defocus from the original title i chose, and started to draw something closer to the other title which is 万紫千红总是春. There are no clear color tone change among the fishes, and I know that is the weakness of this drawing, and I cannot "repair" it anymore, it will become worse if you redo the stroke or if you add more fishes. In the end, I actually spent some time to think which title i should write beside my painting, as you can see, I finally chose 鱼戏知春, but when I submitting my paper, my friend ask me if i am drawing 万紫千红总是春, GOSH.... sorry lar teacher, that's all I can do... dun fail me.

我毕业了！：）

2007-10-15T00:55:00.000+08:00

Property survey in the island

2007-09-23T19:54:00.000+08:00

This weekend was a busy one. Went to property fair and mooncake party on friday, voluntary work on Sat, karaoke and drawing class on Sun :p. Penang property is the something that keep my mind very busy this weekend. With just a short 1-1.5 hr stay in the property fair, i have got enough property brochures to look through, ranging from 75k apt to 2.7 mil moonlight bay bangalow at Batu Feringhi. Among all, these are the couple i am interested in, interested doesn't mean i can afford it nor i wanna buy it :) dream of owning your very own place? haha, me too..

1) botanica.ct @ Balik Pulau
1700sqft 296k
This property features its greenery concept, Quiet Township by the river yet easy access to the city. Orchard plot for enthusiastic home builder as well as "affordable" landed property in penang definition are on sales.

I drove to the construction site on Sat, the road to balik pulau is not as bad as I think, a lot of road construction is going on to make it less winding. but journey before the winding road has taken big chunk of travel time, bayan lepas through teluk kumbar to balik pulau... i counted that the whole journey took me about 1 hr. :s Balik Pulau is a small town, and you have to pass through long stretch of malay kampung road before reaching the site. The size of landed property there is OK, i thought the semi D is small :/, for landed in penang, i guess you cannot ask for much with the offered price. English exterior design, the quality of workmanship is good, apart from the journey and the kampung road, i kind of like the place but i still thinking whether i am suitable to stay in place that is only accessible through small kampung road. On the other hand, this place is near to teluk bahang, batu feringhi, mountain and sea, close to the Mother Nature is the big plus.

2) Birch the plaza @ Penang timesquare
1050sqft, 332k
Located at Dato keramat - the heart of Georgetown, Birch the plaza is designed to become your home where you can work and play under the same roof. Also planned as one of the coming monorail station.

I visited the show unit along dato keramat on Sunday, very comfy, good living room, nice bedroom size, but only 2 bedrooms with an open kitchen so i dun think it is suitable for family, but i like it a lot :). Again, the location is another problem, the brochure said, strategic location at the heart of georgetown...ehem, i am not sure if i am agree with that. Basically, i don't like the traffic there, too busy, too many one way streets, and jam packed with people. with the current traffic and people flow, i wonder you will get peace of mind staying there for long term, furthermore, the whole concept is about happenning place = Timesquare, shopping, dining, commercial area, monorail are all under one roof. , which means people and traffic is just going to increase over time. So i dun think i am a city gal either. :p

Finally.....
3) Baystar @ QueensbayFreehold low density luxury condiminiums opposite Queensbay with breath taking views. large glazed windows provide an unobstructed 180 degrees view of topaz skies and aquamarine seas stretching beyond the horizon. Only 4 unit per floor assures enhanced privacy, and each unit are build with semi-D concept.

Isn't it great? i just love it :p...there are some good future development/planning along this waterfront city. I like the large glazed window concept and its strategic location..here comes the BUT...the smallest unit is not facing the sea :(, smallest unit is 1500sqft and this unit is already selling for 451k....condo facing the sea is 634k onwards and it is big, around 2200sqft, can you imagine how much you gonna pay for the service fee??? Clearly, this property is not tailored for me, BUT i still plan to go for its show unit at level 8 Queensbay mall. :p

These are the 3 properties which caught my attention, what about you?

what an "extraordinary" morning

2007-06-29T08:50:00.000+08:00

alarm clock went off at 5:50am... I have meeting at 6am which i planned to call in from home. got off the bed, and without turning on the light, I tried to call in to the meeting, but no audio bridge setup for the meeting, and my passcode to call to US intra phone was not working... I had to make my counterpart call me thru my cell.

When I thought everything is setup and plan to "station" in my bed for this 2 hour meeting, I tried to grab my laptop and cell phone to my bed, but the laptop is not "following" me because of too many wiring, ended up i accidentally "smacked" my 3 days old cell phone on the floor... arrggghhh... the battery fell out from the phone... and I got to ask them to call me again... then the wireless connection dropped and my laptop is keep giving me blue screen, cannot boot up for more than 30 min... OMG... I think my laptop is as as lazy as me. sigh.... blah blah blah, 2 hours gone.....

On my way to office at ~8:20am, I had close up experience with fellow cows... they were doing some sort of early morning walk at Jalan Kenari Sg Ara..hogging the not-so-big road... haha... quite scary as there were 5 of them...i don't think this is happening so frequent, at least this is the 1st time in the past 4 months :)

Penang Bridge Marathon

2007-06-28T22:58:00.000+08:00

6/24/2007 one memorable day, woke up 3am in the morning with red eye, started the day with a 10km run, the run was OK, not too challenging, it is just slightly longer than my normal practice. ;p (sound very action huh... pardon me) if everything goes well, i definitely plan to join half marathon next year :D...

Upcoming run is on 7/7/07 ==> peace run in youth park, this is a 6km run, not too bad :) good for entry level ;p.

some photos from my friend on d marathon day..

握你的手

2007-06-11T23:50:00.000+08:00

歌曲：握你的手
歌手：光良专辑：光芒
LRC歌词 HOT• 搜索 "握你的手"mp3 打印预览
握你的手作词:姚若龙作曲:光良编曲:吕圣斐

山顶的风凉的想钻进我内心
沉默是我们最近唯一的话题
看曾经亲密的爱慢慢像友谊
爱是流星一坠落就不停

我们尝试让彼此差异能隐形
遗憾的是回避不能解决问题
当我疲倦的凝望你憔悴表情
再不舍得也该让你远离

握你的手坚持到最后一秒钟
哪怕爱要冰凉了至少让回忆是暖的
了解比爱难多了我们都尽力了
也许温柔是停止(再)挽留

握你的手像耳语轻声说保重
让眼睛就算湿了不只是痛也有感动
以前每一次挥手都为了再握手
但这一次是为了放手

flick through my ipod song and listen to this.........
nice song still and remmember my overdue house keeping on my ipod songs.....

surfing net, reading, singing along, chatting and never ending thoughts.........there is just too many things going on......human-beings are so complicated, the opposite of all these would be meditation.....beyond my reach at this moment.........
Just let go...laid back and continue on...dreaming.........thinking about my biggest laugh today.........and it is time for me to sleep.................*remember* you want to end everyday with a big smile on your face :*D

Pantai Keracut Hike & International dragon boat race at Teluk Bahang

2007-06-10T11:28:00.000+08:00

hello... r u there?...

2007-05-22T20:50:00.000+08:00

hehe... actually that question is for myself. I find no time to update my blog ever since i come back to PNG, what's wrong?
Time is just never enough here....or is it my time management is too bad. :( i admitted that traffic jam in PNG did take up a bit of my time compared to US. other than that, no change on the total sleeping hours, in fact maybe became shorter, have to sacrifice my sleeping time to do more stuff..

no shopping for me here... align with my plan, what i spent recently are just the tinted glass for my car and also family outing espenses, and fine dining, nothing more, "eat" is more important to me as always.

I have been helping on Tzu Chi Cancer patient visit for the past few months, it is always my hope to help on charity, and I am very happy that I finally did it again and will continue to do it in the future when time permits, have to find time. I remmember my last charity work to help the disable was during my high school, with rotary club. long time...I am not a person who can express myself very well, and I dunno hokkien still :( so these are the challenges for me... but i am happily taken up these challenge, i meet with a lot of new friends there and I am also extremely happy when my friends also volunteer their free time on saturday to join me for the activities. :) kan en ni men :D

heheh... next is my chinese painting class heheh... this is my new hobby, and it is tough... i learn to draw frog, gold fish, orkid, mushroom, xiao bai chai hahahah funny huh? but these are the things we draw for the beginner class, we will have the chance to learn to draw mountain and sea when we get to advanced level...i will not be ambitious on this :) I started the class in March and the whole drawing course will end in Nov and then we will have a drawing exhibition to display our work..paiseh... and it is charity sale, I have been telling my friends to come and support my drawing :p and they asked me to pay for my drawing?! ;p I should post some of my drawing here... so my friends will have the faith and give me more encouragement :) another reason that i choose to learn this is influence from my uncle, he owns an antique shop in KL, he is very knowledgeable in china antique painting, i see a lot of painting in his shop.. one pic can bid up to 300000 +++..very interesting. my uncle will be visiting PNG this weekend and invited me for dinners on both fri and sat, should I show him my work, I guess i better keep them in my drawer

and running ..hahah ppl have been "gila" about the Penang bridge marathon in Jun. I have a couple runner friends and they travel around in the country for marathon, and so I got influenced just a "little" bit by them :), hiking and running is part of my hobby in US to kill extra time :) today, with the companion of these 2 friends who can run for 30km++ marathon, I completed my 1st 6km "1/8 marathon" haha... next week target is 7km. i know I am going to miss this year PNG bridge marathon, (maybe short trip to US about that time) so train for fun and I can always join the coming years marathon. :)

work, nevertheless is always the one which taken the biggest chunk of everyone's time, 8 hours everyday, not counting OT yet... more decision to make, more training to give and more responsibility on the shoulder and more sleepless night...anyway, work to live, cannot run away from this part and I always think i am still considered the lucky one...no complaints ;)

hmm... what is missing? my fav in US....travel, I think I travel the least for the last 3 months since i am back in Malaysia, and no travel plan in the coming future, i travelled back to JB twice to visit my family, does that count... haha...that's better than travel :) i plan to go back once every month, no bus please, i want cheap flight ticket :D

Tell u one thing, I was home alone for the last one week...my only worries is safety, i guess it is hard to get bored in PNG when you can access to all kind of activities easily. and today my housemates are back... it is still a normal day like everyday :) dun get me wrong, I do like their companion :) I hope everybody is doing great wherever you are... dun let time pass u by just like that

My new baby :)

2007-04-21T15:03:00.000+08:00

Got my new car 2 weeks ++ ago, she is still so young and yet it seems like I have her for years already....whenever i sit in the car, I just feel that I integrated with her and enjoy every distance we go....hehe... and I don't seem to miss my old car, maybe I only had her for around 1.5 yrs over the past 7 yrs.

My new car, Toyota Vios G-spec is the sister car for Toyota Altis which I had it brand new during my 2 yrs relocation in US. Haha...Compare to the big sister, horse power for Vios is less a bit, but I think it is powerful enough to make me feel like I am driving my altis. :) If you know Mandarin, the best word to describe it will be "一见如故”(but i think this is referring to human)... hahah, imagine if you can meet new friends, and yet can hit it off as though you know each other for years, how wonderful will that be!!! I really hope I can meet ppl like this ;).. I love my VIOS :p give me a BiG HonK if you see me on the road :)..

Last but not least, I want to thank my friend for introducing me a good toyota dealer, who gave me the best trade in price and got me the car in less than a week AND thanks to my considerate housemates for letting me to park my car inside :D..

little cutie

2007-03-15T09:31:00.000+08:00

See the little cutie, she is my niece..very active gal...:)
I observed my mood change everytime I see these pictures, together with a big smile on my face..haha.. This is especially true when it pops up as screen saver during my office hour or after a long long day...
guess this is the most effective potion for all parents to keep them going :)..

haha.. and it seems like I found some mother's love in my blood vessel too...:p

I am back...

2007-03-07T17:41:00.000+08:00

Figured that I should post some lines here, MIA for too long. :)
Time flies, believe it or not, I am back in Malaysia for ~1 month already...exactly 1 month today :)... it was 1 week before CNY when I touched down in Singapore, felt excited to meet with my family... good thing is my parents didn;t age that much hehe...as usual...my mum made me my favourite curry yong tau fu, with that, I finished 2 bowl of rice muaha... I still remember that I ate like nobody business for the first week. Gained 2 kg in that week....Besides eating, the other activity which took a good part of my day is my hair. due to time zone change, I figured I couldn;t concentrate in the day time, thus I chose to go to the hair saloon on my 2nd day in Malaysia..it was so tiring, i went for hair rebonding that took me 10hrs!!!! Gone for both monies and time.....

Now I am in Penang, PNG has changed a lot since my last visit, but I still manage to drive around and get to places i want to go. My parents, sister & niece were visiting me last week from JB... hmmm... they were also here to help me with the move...We explored PNG together, finding nice restaurant that I used to eat, went to kek lok si, gurney, enjoy the ocean breeze (hot hot) and also thanks to my friends for being a good host by bringing us to the good hawker stall :), I enjoyed my first week in PNG very much, it is very nice feeling to see your family after everyday's work.

Currently, I am almost settled most of my stuff in PNG, got my cell early this week and back to daily routine on catching up with good drama series :D..Not forget to mention my current living space, I am renting a place in Sg Ara with CV and JH, it is a very nice, clean and tidy place, best of all, it is fully furnished with reasonable price, you cannot ask for more. but, I still have one thing to say.. :p it is a little bit further from the bayan lepas, but overall i am still very satisfied with the place. OK... I got to run now, have dinner appointment with my friends... stay tuned for more updates and more pictures.. byebye

Five Things You Don't KNow About Me

2007-01-12T12:39:00.000+08:00

Tagged by The Navigator to continue on the blog chain ==> FTTYDKAM:

1) I don’t drink soft drink even if there is no other choice. I don't think I drank one cup of soft drink in the past one year.

2) I loved chocolate so much when I was young, whenever I had some extra pocket money; I would buy myself a bar of chocolate. My friends and family gave me chocolate on special occasions, now I hardly have craving on chocolate but I believe they still think I love chocolate.

3) My first job was when I was 13. I worked as a QC worker in a glove factory with a group of friends. The pay was just 300 a month. After that 1st job, I would find myself a temporary job for almost every school holiday; I worked as a shop attendant, cashier, promoter, shipping clerk, tuition teacher and now an engineer.

4) I was arrogant when I was 17 and accepted my father's challenge to drive to city area after my first couple driving lesson. I almost knocked down the open kitchen that was packed with people in the famous bakuteh restaurant in JB. I had driving phobia since then, I failed "on the road" JPJ driving test, cried for a day then passed the driving test on my 2nd try. For a couple years, I didn't dare to drive; finally I overcome my fear on driving and becoming the first skillful lady driver in my family.

5) I enjoy companionship since I was young :) I won't go to bed by myself whenever my family planned to stay late for night TV show (not really late though, 10pm-12am maybe), I would stick around with my bro and sisters for the show, but 9 out of 10 times I ended up sleeping in the living room without finishing the show i.e. slept before the show started/first half hour of the show/middle of the show hehe.. When the show was over, my bro & sisters all went to bed and left me sleeping in the living room >:( , my mum was always the one who woke me up and brought me into the room.

I think I can continue on (6), (7) & (8) haha… now I tag LeeSuan…

My wiish list: Apple iPhone

2007-01-11T10:23:00.000+08:00

I haven't have any wish list so far, but i am aiming for this new toy :) ..............Apple iPhone, you will be amazed with its features & its "look", with iPhone you do not need Ipod nano, Ipod video anymore, they will be all in one handy device, doesn't it look COOL?
I own both Ipod nano and Ipod shuffle..I use them during my travel most of the time and sometimes in gym too. Imagine, iPhone will stick with you all day long, it definitely worth more investment. Anyway, iPhone will not be in the market until June 2007...I will get a temporary cellphone, then wait for iPhone to be available in Asia, oopps in 2008?! aiks....

more info:
http://www.mobilewhack.com/handset/apple_iphone.html

Specs:
- Screen size: 3.5 inches
- Screen resolution: 320x480 at 160 ppi
- Input method: Multi-touch
- Operating system: OS X
- Storage: 4GB or 8GB
- GSM: Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
- Wireless data: WiFi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0
- Camera: 2.0 megapixels
- Battery: Up to 5 hours Talk/Video/Browsing, 16 hours Audio Playback
- Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm- 4.8 ounces / 135 grams

This is funny....

2007-01-10T13:57:00.000+08:00

My girl friends in PNG are really crazy.... They just had a dinner gathering yesterday night. guess what they did to me???

Before the gathering, they tied me into the conversation to discuss about the dinner venue, where and what time to meet, then ask me to join???!!! what the heck...they knew i can't be there, purposely wanted to make me feel even lonely here. heheh.. luckily I am in good shape...

Today, they sent me pictures from yesterday gathering, those are not normal pictures..wish to know more, check below.... ......(luckily is not ghost festival now :p)

and ask me to guess which picture is belong to each of them.... gosh... i find it really funny... but at that point I really think I "know" them quite well, hahah these are the thoughts that slipped through my mind, ......this clothes look familiar? ......ohh, ya she has the mole here? ........ya, she looks that fair? ......the jacket, .........the handbag... hahah and I got them ALL correct, hahaha....

but...they are not giving up, now they wanted me to answer "what is rabbit's food?" I know it is definitely not carrot...ah..haaa... help me....

My collection: US quarters

2007-01-08T04:04:00.000+08:00

I started to collect these quarters in 2001 during my first work assignment in US. From zero coins, I see this album slowly filled up and now it is a complete collection up to 2006. The latest coin I got recently is South Dakota quarter on 12/29/2006. :) Each state quarter is unique with printing matches the identity of the state. Now what you can see in the picture is a total of 40 coins in a beautiful collector's quarter album, complete collection for 1999 to 2006, 10 more coins to go, they will be released in 2007 & 2008, 5 new coins for each year. remaining states to fill are Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Cholestrol control

2007-01-06T09:48:00.000+08:00

Cholesterol control.... sounds funny, but it is actually happening for real.
Got my blood test report 2 weeks ago and gosh my cholesterol is over the healthy range...bad...I kept bugging my friend about all the cholesterol facts, HDL, LDL, cholesterol ratio etc.. Maybe I sounded really worried, my friend started to search and IMing me continuously with the detail, and he is trying hard to tell me my range is still in the green zone. I was finally convinced and felt happy again when he said that cholesterol ratio should be in between 3-5.. and I am at 2.9... Am I healthy then? Not really...women normally has higher HDL compared to man thus the cholesterol ratio is coming down significantly, but we should still be alert with the absolute cholesterol number.

After the blood test, we are required to fill in the health survey, guess what are the questions, how much is your weekly alcohol intake? Any smoking habit? Cigar?? haha.. of coz I am very proud with my answer :)... then when it ask about how often do you exercise every week? everyday? how many cups of fruits and vegetables do you take everyday....ehem...:* my answer sucks, 0 vegetables for some days && 0 exercise in some weeks...wow...I am not only high cholesterol but also a carnivore and a lazy bum...the survey returns the following results => Your risk level is HIGH, you have 5 risks, cholesterol, nutrition, exercise, emotional health & safety.

As a result, I drafted an exercise and diet plan, for a couple days after the health survey, I started my days with 30min aerobic in the morning and had a short jogging session couple times a week. I did good on exercise part but my diet plan was not coming together, guess my stomach was not ready for the change. One day because of craving on wan tan, I fried 40 wanton and finished ALL in one day...my stomach was happy, but due to full day new year shopping on the next day AND I was missing a little bit of water, i fell sick on the last day of 2006...:( Thank God that I was recovering fast... but today I am still coughing....

Why I write so much...seems like missing an objective... Actually I want to confess something; I just ate a lot of spicy Korean food during my dinner. :s cannot resist good food :p
Hope I can sleep well tonight, no bad coughing… I will be good tomorrow, I promise… :p

2007: Happy New Year

2007-01-02T01:13:00.000+08:00

Time flies...it is another year...this year will be a year of change...living and working environment change, weather/people/traffic change, shopping/lifestyle/diet change but I am looking forward to it...I will definitely miss US after this 2.25-year long assignment.

I will be back to Malaysia by CNY..my family is thrilling with my return..hehehe...and me too..anxious to see my "new" & "little" family member. First time seeing this "auntie" (me), how will she feel? I hope she will still play with me :p

Happy new year to everybody!!!
I hope my parents will happy always and stay healthy
I hope my bro and sisters will all do great in this year
I hope I can achieve my 2007 resolution list :p

and did I tell you, I have finally sponsored a kid, this is one of my 2006 wish...child sponsorship changes lives, you can make a difference to a kid's life with just a little money, go here World Vision Malaysia

AGAIN, Have a HAPPY 2007 :D

xmas 2006

2006-12-26T15:27:00.000+08:00

XMAS potluck preparation

XMAS potluck, gift exchange party :)

On XMAS night = Peacock Lane, Portland

XMAS eve and XMAS day, cleaning up and a lot of packing...

Rain storm

2006-12-16T08:40:00.000+08:00

Weather forecast heavy rain storm yesterday night, and it really was...
Fallen trees on the road, very strong wind...it was scary.

As I drove home from intel, I noticed the road was extremely dark...because ehem.... i forgot to turn on the head light...but even with the head light ON, it didn't help... Like a dead town, my whole apt area was black out. It was so dark that I was thinking whether I should go home, head back to the office or go to shopping complex instead, but looking at the weather condition, i better go home.

As soon as I opened the door, I quickly turned on my laptop to give some light, grab the scented candle and heading to the stove, then only i realized my "dear stove" is running on electricity....and I have no matches/lighter or anything..god...I decided to bring the candle and get some help from my same block neighbour...i knew my neighbour was in as i can see some light from the inside. After knocking for a long time, I figured no one will open the door, when they can only hardly see themselves, how are they going to figure who is actually at their doorstep. :S

Finally, I headed back to my apt, spent sometime to settle down in the dark, ON the drama series on my laptop and enjoy my night with some chocolates :)...and the light came back on after 3 hours................................

Sunflower egg tart

2006-12-10T16:06:00.000+08:00

haha, they look good and smell good too...
made for a friend's farewell party, I only ate half a piece... so laku...

Friday...

2006-12-09T09:14:00.000+08:00

It is Friday again... am drinking Caramel Machiato and checking the layout at the same time....why drink coffee on Friday? haha, to me, it doesn't really matter, coffee has no effect on me and I seldom drink coffee too, it is just once in a while thing...and I totally don't drink any softdrink...unlike the American, I think most of them take softdrink as water, kind of scary...hmmm... my favourite drink is milo, hot chocolate, fruit juice and plain water. Sounds very healthy, isn't it? One of my friend actually bring me a tin of Milo all the way from Ghana, he knew i drink a lot of milo. Ghana produce a lot of Cocoa, thus Milo is very famous back in Ghana. I should be home by the time I finish the Ghana Milo :).

2 colleugues will be leaving for intel Austin. 1 colleugue is leaving for new company in San Diego. a lot of ppl changes, it is too long for me to be here to withness all the ppl movement. I still remmember my first US manager left the company when i was here for the 7th month. he is a nice guy and looks like "Mr Incredibles".... feel like he has left for ages....time flies, my neighbour will be moving out next week, she is going back to Malaysia for good and I have only 2 months left in US...going back before CNY and this time is for real...I will miss US for sure...

Stop for a sec,
Tune yourself into the moment...
Stop for a sec,
Ask yourself questions...
Stop for a sec,
Check out people around you
Stop for a sec,
See something that you never see...
Stop for a sec,
Outgrown your virtual limit...
Stop for a sec,
and I will see you there...

Post #60

2006-12-04T14:43:00.000+08:00

One year with Blogspot,
60 posts in Yan Nee's blog,
1 post every 6 days,
nOt bAd indEEd ^o^

Had an easy weekend, finally watched the “Cars” (by Pixar) with my big brother, some shopping, a lot of dimsum…yum yum, went to gym and spent some time watching the video clips taken during the Florida trip, I noticed my smiley face throughout the entire video playing :)… I guess I found myself back in the Disneyworld again… sweet *p

Some funny pictures to share, I guess these will tickle your laughing buds.

Snowing Hillsboro

2006-11-29T15:03:00.000+08:00

11/27/2006 "Today is no different than other day until I opened the door."
It was all white out there, surprised to see snow all around. I went back to my apt, spent 10 min to grab more winter clothing, thicker jacket, scarf and gloves....same thing on the next day. Snow is early for this year... it is now -2C outside.

View from my apt balcony

Thanksgiving shopping spree n BiRtHday PoTLUck

2006-11-27T14:00:00.000+08:00

Thanksgiving shopping, ehem...how should I start? maybe you should see the picture... I need to go 4 rounds to bring these bags from my car back to my apt at 3rd floor. Woke up at 3am on Black friday, my first stop was Fry's electronic. Me and my other friend reached Fry's at 4am and there were already more than 300 ppl in front of us... crazy...we were also the crazy one, but not as crazy as those who were out there overnight.. heheh, I actually saw 6 separate groups of friends in the queue in front of us. I spent 30 min talking to them and 30 min queueing.. my "top" friend actually arrived at 11pm the day before... my goodness... so keng...

me and my friend thought we are not going to get anything we want since the queue was really long, but to our surprise, fry's really stock up alot, we managed to grab everything in our wishlist and even some items which weren't in our list... haha... when we left fry's it was only 7am. If not my "6 group" of friends, I think we won't be able to get all stuffs and checked out in a timely manner. Thanksgiving shopping reminded me of the TV game show last time, where contestants are required to grab the list of items with specified brand in a short time. So you gotta to be familiar with all the product locations.. :p

Then, we went to Woodburn premium outlet for another round of shopping. It was tired, no kidding. I think partly because of my assignment is ending soon, I bought a lot of stuff, keep on thinking what to buy, for who, what is suitable, which size n color matches the best, it is not easy to shop for others. And I shopped for 12hrs on that day?! reach home at 6pm... o-ohh, my apart was so full, i gotta pack everything cause my friends will be coming over on the next day to celebrate my birthday. *) I was too tired that night n fell asleep on the sofa, woke up at 4am, walk into the bedroom and sleep until 11am on the next day...haha

Birthday potluck on the next day, it was challenging to transform my apt to make room for ~20 ppl, haha but I did it. Same as last year... except this time.. all the nice guys and nice ladies were sharing the load of preparing good food. thank you to all. We had a great time, it was a successful potluck considered such a short notice (just 1 day), because requests from my friends, so we make it happen. I didn't plan to have party, because 1) just back from Florida, thinking of resting is the best gift, 2) apt is too small, remmember my apt actually shrinks over time, 3)Not as capable as last year, hmm.. I mean mass production of good food..

Thanks to all birthday wishes from my dear friends, my life will not be as interesting without your presence. kan3 en1 ni3 men ^o^

feeling sweet and happy *)

2006-11-23T06:16:00.000+08:00

LK: where are you? are you back in Malaysia yet? heard that it is your birthday on the coming Sunday...
YN: I am still in US.
LK: Ohh, was thinking we should have a gathering if you are back here. anyway, wish you a happy birthday.
YN: oh..Thank you so much...

WC: hey, when is your birthday? I want to know how old are you?
YN: I am one year elder than you.. :)
WC: no no, i want to know how many months and days you are older than me? cannot tell me meh?
YN: haha...yeap... it is coming...
WC: see... I can sense it...

JH: i got no place to sleep when I get back to PNG, will need to sleep under the bridge...
YN: are you kidding, just get a room...
JH: ya... will see how when I get back.. want me to reserve a room for you? we can get a place together when you come back...
YN: ya... sure, thanks for asking.

CV: hey, my apt contract has ended. planning to move out end of this Dec. wanna check with you wat's your plan? are you coming back soon...
YN: yeah, I will be back soon, you can start researching the apt and landed in PNG. :)
CV: cool...

Prinya: See, I got you a quarter, do you have this yet?
YN: wow, you are so nice... hmm, i have this already..haha, seems like you are also collecting quarters now..
Prinya: no no, I know you are collecting quarters, I will check the quarters everytime I get one..
YN: it is really nice of you, nvm, you can collect the quarters for me starting 2007 to 2010 since I will be going back soon, lol
Prinya: muaahahah, ohh, you are going back soon? give me your address, I will send them to you...:)

gosh, they are so sweet... the little things they do and ask makes me feel sweet and happy. Even though they might be just small things, but i really apreciate them from the bottom of my heart.

It is thanksgiving again :)

2006-11-22T12:55:00.000+08:00

haha... time flies and it is thanksgiving again... long holiday from Thursday to Sunday muahaha

This holiday comes at the best time, good time for me and bee to take a good rest after our long long traveling.... The florida trip didn't turn out as what i expected..hahha... thought it would be a relax trip... but it is totally opposite... maybe our mind did relax enough, but definitely not relax physically... in fact, a lot more hectic compared to our working days...

My colleagues and friends asked me about my vacation, my answer is "it was a tiring trip". and the funny thing is when me and bee were in Universal- Island of Adventure, we saw one sign that really caught our attention, guess what...it said " I need another vacation from this vacation" how true... let me tell you how did we spend our 10 days... basically we got to wake up at 6:30am every morning, catch the bus at 7:30am, whole day of walking :S, crazy rides :o , great shows :p etc etc till 10:30pm, reach hotel at 11pm, then sleep at 1230am, imagine that last for 10 days and not to mention that we need to get up at 3am on the first and last day to catch our flight...bravo...

There were a lot of funny experiences throughout the trip, they will be lifetime memory..here are a couple to share...hehehe

1) Tasted >10 countries delicacies in one day
2) Eaten 20 muffin in 4-5 days
3) motion sickness for half a day... what a torture
4) soak and drench for half a day because of water rides
5) Run at 20 mph to catch our bus
6) Chilling wind and hot sunny days - wrong clothing
7) coolest dreams come true fireworks & great disney shows, thumbs up :)
8) Up close experience with dolphins and horses...I love dolphins, they are so cute (I am not animal-lover, in fact I scare of them)...
9) Great understanding about NASA space exploration, and space shuttle challenges, couldn't believe it when Bee show me this article, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/11/15/nation/20061115181546&sec=nation, what a joke!!!
10) ah..ha, this is funny, watching firework at the back of the disney castle, we had to tilt our head left and right, and combine the effect in order to imagine one complete fireworks show...we did an NG on the last day, watched a complete disney fireworks at the best spot in front of the castle. :)
Besides the physical challenge, I did enjoy the trip very much...I really admire our spirit and strong endurance, and we both think that we are qualified for amazing race...there is no doubt about our stamina...right? Bee? LOL..

10 days in a row of ..........RAIN!!!

2006-11-09T08:56:00.000+08:00

rain...rain...and more rain... it has been this way since last last week...
no sunshine and the sky is turning dark at ~4pm
Just check out the weather forecast, what I see is another 10 days of rain...gosh...
Nowadays the activity will need to change along with the weather, try to explore more indoor activities....or winter getaway... haha

clever me and bee...we will fly out from Northwest heading southeast to Orlando Florida, we will meet in Chicago International airport... 10 days Orlando florida trip... how nice!!! *O*
Hope to see some sunny day when I am back in Oregon again.

Hillsboro library book sale!!!

2006-11-06T15:18:00.000+08:00

My apt is growing to be a small library... :).. I find that books in US are much more cheaper than Malaysia. Thus, I like to grab some interesting books from the book store every now and then. Just this week, I have added 31 books to my home library, fiction, novel, comic, travel, hobby etc etc...
It is relaxing to sit on the couch with a nice book and a cup of coffee/hot chocolate to pass time.

Joke of the day

2006-10-17T12:28:00.000+08:00

Joke #1 Ee Lun wanted to check out more about Canada Visa application and we chat a bit about her last weekend trip.
..........

Too, Yan Nee [4:56 PM]:
how's ur OR coast trip?
Kwan, Ee Lun [4:56 PM]:
ok. we went to the sea lion caves but no sea lion there
Kwan, Ee Lun [4:56 PM]:
all swimming in the sea
Too, Yan Nee [4:56 PM]:
I didn't really visited Vancouver
Too, Yan Nee [4:56 PM]:
wah... not cold meh?
Kwan, Ee Lun [4:57 PM]:
very cool. also very windy
Kwan, Ee Lun [4:57 PM]:
the wind blow and we hardly can move
Too, Yan Nee [4:57 PM]:
very keng lar, u all
Kwan, Ee Lun [4:57 PM]:
somemore raining
Too, Yan Nee [4:57 PM]:
all good swimmer...
Too, Yan Nee [4:57 PM]:
wah... so adventurous
Kwan, Ee Lun [4:57 PM]:
not we all is the sea lion lar
Too, Yan Nee [4:57 PM]:
hahahhahahhahahhaha
Too, Yan Nee [4:58 PM]:
i tot u all swimming in the sea, even raining
Kwan, Ee Lun [4:58 PM]:
here the waves too strong
Kwan, Ee Lun [4:58 PM]:
cannot lar
Too, Yan Nee [4:58 PM]:
sorry... didn;t get enough sleep... always miss what ppl said
Kwan, Ee Lun [4:58 PM]:
but on the way get to see whale

Joke #2
In a conversation to decide for farewell dinner location, and this is the side topic among me, chin and wen fei
............
Tan, Chin Chin [3:26 PM]:
delirium by cirque du soleil
Too, Yan Nee [3:26 PM]:
where and when?
Tan, Chin Chin [3:26 PM]:
thurs/fri
Tan, Chin Chin [3:26 PM]:
rose garden
Too, Yan Nee [3:27 PM]:
last week was pussycat doll right?
Tan, Chin Chin [3:27 PM]:
i dunno ... u like pussycat dolls?
Too, Yan Nee [3:27 PM]:
not bad
Tan, Chin Chin [3:28 PM]:
i find their music quite derogatory towards women
Too, Yan Nee [3:33 PM]:
is it? the lyrics...?
Tan, Chin Chin [3:33 PM]:
yes
Too, Yan Nee [3:33 PM]:
never listen before
Too, Yan Nee [3:33 PM]:
didn;t know they have concert
Too, Yan Nee [3:33 PM]:
usually their performance songs are in othe language
Tan, Chin Chin [3:34 PM]:
really?
Tan, Chin Chin [3:34 PM]:
they r a sorta dance groups
Too, Yan Nee [3:34 PM]:
yeap
Ong, Wen Fei [3:34 PM]:
yan nee, u mean the other language songs are pussycat dolls or cirque?
Tan, Chin Chin [3:37 PM]:
cirque songs got lyrics meh?
Ong, Wen Fei [3:38 PM]:
dunno, i'm confused ...i tot pussycat dolls only sing in english......nvm
Too, Yan Nee [3:39 PM]:
i mean cirque
Ong, Wen Fei [3:39 PM]:
yeah, thats wat i tot
Too, Yan Nee [3:39 PM]:
ya, won;t have lyrics for other lang
Ong, Wen Fei [3:39 PM]:
and chin2 meant pussycat dolls i think
Too, Yan Nee [3:39 PM]:
ohhh... I see
Too, Yan Nee [3:39 PM]:
hahahaha
Tan, Chin Chin [3:39 PM]:
i think cirque songs dont have lyrics one ler
Ong, Wen Fei [3:39 PM]:
hahahha
Tan, Chin Chin [3:40 PM]:
they make noise and sounds nia
Too, Yan Nee [3:40 PM]:
hahahahhaha
Ong, Wen Fei [3:40 PM]:
funny la u gals
Too, Yan Nee [3:40 PM]:
OKOKOK
Too, Yan Nee [3:40 PM]:
that;s why I wonder, why u said cirque song is derogatory toward women
Tan, Chin Chin [3:40 PM]:
i think the lack of sleep is getting to yan nee liao
Too, Yan Nee [3:40 PM]:
soli
Tan, Chin Chin [3:40 PM]:
i mean pussycat dolls songs are derogatory towards women
Too, Yan Nee [3:41 PM]:
understand ...
Ong, Wen Fei [3:41 PM]:
yeah, that's wat i thought also...
Ong, Wen Fei [3:41 PM]:
hahaha
Too, Yan Nee [3:41 PM]:
WF, thanks for catching the bug
Too, Yan Nee [3:41 PM]:
sleeping bug
Ong, Wen Fei [3:41 PM]:
hahaha
Ong, Wen Fei [3:41 PM]:
got kudos not for catching the sleepy bug?

I am so blur today... :S

New York, New York - Day1 Buffalo

2006-10-16T01:55:00.000+08:00

it is rainy and cold outside...less than 50f, I wonder how are those homeless people surviving through the winter...One friend of mine will be going back to Malaysia soon, today is her last weekend, and I will go out with her later for her final shopping. Sitting around in my small living room, looking at the rainy and windy balcony view, today is more like a lazy and hibernating day...and I decided to sit still to write about my New York trip 3 months ago, time flies, and today is also my 2 years anniversary in US for this CPU project. What a long assignment.

9 days East coast trip -

Day1: Taking off from PDX at 11pm, heading to Buffalo Int. Airport, I reached BUF at 1pm, and called the shuttle pick up from the hotel. I was on my own for the first day because i wasn't able to match my friends itinerary due to kind of last minute decision on the trip. red eyes flight in the small domestic plane is never easy, and I still remembered it was a huge guy with hand tattoo sitting beside me .....and things becaming easy with my travel pillow, so my head won't fall onto his shoulder while i was asleep. :)
The hotel shuttle driver was very nice & polite, of coz i asked him a lot about the attractions around Buffalo area, and they are UB (University of Buffalo), Buffalo downtown, Art gallery, BUF pier etc etc. the most popular attraction in BUF is defitnitely the Niagara fall, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, but that was in my 2nd day itinerary after my friends arrival.
There isn't any hotel shuttle to the downtown, but there is always shuttle service to the metro train station. BUF metro service is daily till 11pm with reasonable fare.
After checking into the hotel, there was one "big" decision to make, to sleep or to start backpack. The room is so big and cozy, (nice 3 stars hotel from hotwire.com). My friends advised me to be careful in NY, to be safe, just stay in the hotel room for the 1st day as I am totally unfamiliar with the place at all. but, I decided to go backpack... :) Max out I only have 2pm till 10pm for my BUF trip, thus I made a shuttle appointment to the UB metro station. UB campus was quiet during that time as it was summer holiday. I took a short walk around UB area then heading to downtown buffalo. Met a UB post grad in the train, he likes to chat but I don't really chat with stranger, but this guy is so sociable till I can't put a full stop to our conversation till the train hit out destination, Church stop in downtown. The weather wasn't very good on that day, weather forecast thunder storm in the afternoon. I managed to walk around lots of building, (liberty building, US court house and some monument before the thunder storm came. I didn;t prepare umbrella so I made a quick stop to the nearby cafe to have a bite. The storm came and go real fast, then I made my way to the threather district.
From the visitor info center, I was told that there is a nice and cool art district for window shopping, and the largest BUF Art Gallery is located at the end of the street which open for free admission on Friday. Also, there was "Shakespeare in Delaware Park" play nightly through out the summer in Delaware Park around the Art gallery area. Show starts at 7pm. I was so exicited when I knew about all these programme...felt happy with my decision. ;)
I spent about 3 hours in the AlbrightKnox Art gallery, there are a couple Pablo Picasso Paintings, they are all very old paintings, 1700 to early 1900. Good experience, and there was also leisure dance at the lower level of the gallery for all age group.

Then, I found my way to Delaware Park for shakespeare play. I was early and I didn't prepare much to watch this outdoor performance especially when you see people bringing blanket, food, fruits, drink, pillow and even wine to enjoy the show, where as I was only wearing a thin long sleeve and a 3 quarter pants with my small backpack...it was cold...man...but I was determined to watch the show :p... It was very entertaining and fun show, with a lot of nice music and singing... very professional, i think they are mostly student from UB.
Unfortunately, the show had to stop for twice due to the weather condition and because of that, I didn't finish the show as I needed to rush for 11pm train, need to budget more time as it is getting dark already, I left at around 930pm or so, and waitted for bus to go to the metro stop... it took me about 1hour to get the bus, gosh... and the bus timetable stated every 15 min... :S when I got back to buffalo downtown, the atmosphere was so different compared to daytime, it was happening with disco, lounge, pubs and all night time activities. I was getting uneasy to be out alone at that hour...with bigger steps, I was finally arrived at the metro station, next train is 15 min away, and NO one was around the metro line street *o*...lup dup lup dup (heart pounding fast)... a group of black man approaching my direction..waiting for the train as well...arrrgghhh... and luckily the train arrived in time. Hotel shuttle picked me up at UB metro station and I was back in hotel at ~12am. This shuttle driver is very nice and friendly, he knew i was planning to visit Boston as well, so he brought me a map and explain all the must go places and .... he reminded me to go to the hotel pub for music and drink, it is complimentary for all hotel guest. I headed back to my room, took a hot bath, and there I went, the pub... it is a decent place with disco and loud music...This place is cool, I enjoyed ppl dancing and happy that I made my one day buffalo trip. It was really great experience!!!

easy day

2006-10-15T02:54:00.000+08:00

童话 is my favourite song, after listening to it for N times, I still like it, and I like both the lyrics and rhythm. This morning is quite cold, and my housework is already piling up after 5-working days, wake up early, finish chatting on the phone, then I started my routine weekend housework and play my favourite song list with itune. Even said i was playing my favourite song list, but among them, this is my best song, so i will repeat it for a couple times... it is nice, soothing especially together with the greenery view outside my balcony window, makes me happy even i have to do my least favourite chores... :p and then, I have a clean and cozy living area again :)

I always ask my mum what is the best way for a lazy bum to make her house clean? i guess the simplest answer is to enjoy whatever you do (as long as it is not bad things), so washing clothes, washing plates and vacumming can be as fun as shopping and travelling.

Just a thought, my friend asked me once, why do you like blogging, write about your stuff and share with ppl all around...beside sharing it with my friends and family... to me, this is my lifetime memory, from easy day, busy day, happy day, crazy day, saddest day to proudest moment ...and everything else.. and i hope that the blogspot archiving will continue till I grow old, so my son and daughter, even grandchildren can see what their mum/ grand mother did when she was young... :)

OK...done sharing-n-dreaming...
later will go Washington square for Artist make over session. girls day out...have fun ya.

童话

2006-10-15T02:43:00.000+08:00

歌曲：童话
歌手：童一首歌专辑：童一首歌

童一首歌-童话

忘了有多久
再没听到你
对我说你最爱的故事
我想了很久
我开始慌了
是不是我又做错了什么

你哭着对我说
童话里都是骗人的
我不可能是你的王子
也许你不会懂
你说爱我以后
我的天空星星都亮了

我愿变成童话里
你爱的那个天使
张开双手变成翅膀守护你
你要相信
相信我们会像童话故事里
幸福和快乐是结局

我要变成童话里
你爱的那个天使
张开双手变成翅膀守护你
你要相信
信我们会像童话故事里
幸福和快乐是结局

我会变成童话里
你爱的那个天使
张开双手变成翅膀守护你
你要相信
相信我们会像童话故事里
幸福和快乐是结局

一起写我们的结局

Sudoku Puzzle

2006-10-12T15:07:00.000+08:00

Sudoku of the day 10/11 from Oregonian News paper.
I always curious on how fun is Sudoku, I am seeing it anywhere, very handy, and you are basically just playing with numbers. My friend explained to me once, and another friend's mum bought a Sudoku boardgame. So it is like a game for any age :p

Enough of the daily routine, today i am gonna do something special...(walk to office, does that count? hmm.. no, not sure why, i just have the urge to take a walk when the sunny day is still around)..flipping through the oregonian newspaper and this little square box caught my attention, and I decided to give it a try.

I spent almost 1 hour ++ to clear the puzzle, when easy to medium difficulty boxes are filled, there is just a lot more thinking to do if you DO NOT want to mess around with your Sudoku with uncertain answer, looking for one time hit?...but who cares, just try it, conteng whatever you want...you won't see the results until you try...

Looking forward to new Sudoku puzzle tomorrow...

Tzu Chi Mt Hood Kiwanis camp

2006-10-03T12:15:00.000+08:00

Back from camping yesterday, it was good and i was very touched by the brothers and sisters' sharing. It is best to share in Mandarin, but I just got a new laptop and somehow the chinese input is not working, so...:)

I went to Mt Hood Kiwanis Camp after work at 5:30pm and reached there at ~8pm. we were grouped for the 2-days activities. there are sisters and brothers from California, Seattle and one sister from Taiwan to talk about 37 "dao4 pin3", wise and mindful, volunteer experience sharing etc etc..it is still a long way for me to be like them, I admired their spirit, one of the sister has been doing volunteering work for 18years, she visits the unfortunate one every week without fail, she described the situation of each patient, their weird disease, their state of mind and what she see during the short couple hours stay in the hospital. and I can't help but to imagine if i can be so lucky to stand out and help the unfortunate people, like what mei-li sister did.

I've been to beaverton old folks home twice but frankly I dunno how I can help, 80%-90% of the time, I was standing still like a rock, just helping them to get to the hall then send them back to their room after the performance. It requires skill to talk to patient and old people, because most of them are lonely and sad, I feel sad everytime i went to the old folks home and not able to help much. because the performance is more to kid performance, playing music, singing etc and i am no kid.
To think again, performing for them or not is secondary, they feel happy when they see you and that is the most important thing.

There are a lot "ren sheng dao li" I learnt from the talk and I find a lot of them are applicable to me..."fa2 xi3 chung1 man3" "kan3 en1"
In the end of the camp, everybody "have" time to share their experience, I shared mine too, this is like a camp which boost your spiritual level to the highest point possible, but you have to keep it burning in your heart, remind urself in your day to day life, do what you can and let ur life be as meaningful as it could. and I also "fa1 yuan4" that I am going to read 37 "dao4 pin3" and "fa3 hua2 jin1".

you3 fu2 pao4 de ren2, chang2 chang2 dou1 hui4 kan4 dao4 bie2 ren2 de yu1 dian3
duo1 zuo4 duo1 de2, shao3 zuo4 duo1 shi1

I wanted to thank all Tzu Chi committees for their hardwork and time in organizing this camp, kan3 en1 ni3 men :)

Off for camping tomorrow

2006-09-29T00:36:00.000+08:00

I will leave for camping tomorrow after work at Mt Hood, this camp is organized by the Tzu Chi Foundation Portland, brother and sister from California will also fly in to help this event. I never join a camp for a long long time after my secondary, but this is definitely not the tough (tahan lasak) camping but more on the spiritual one. btw, it is a 3 days 2 night camp from Friday to Sunday.

I am assigned to Mei-Shan sister group and our group name "Contentness"...be contented with what you have now..hmm.. easy to say but hard to practice, but... dun forget trying to practice it, is still much better than giving up at the first thought. Be generous to urself, everybody deserve a chance, ok? :p

I am so much looking forward to this camp; it must be a great deal of learning awaiting me already. Time table for the weekend :)

2006年度 Portland 慈濟心靈成長營課程表
09/29/06
04:00pm – 06:00pm 報到、認識環境生活組
06:00pm – 07:00pm 藥石香積組
07:00pm – 08:20pm 相見歡 / 親子時間〈西雅圖人文團隊〉活動組
08:20pm – 09:00pm 知心相契〈內觀自在心〉課務組、小隊輔
10:30pm – 安單止靜
09/30/06
05:30am – 06:10am 晨鐘
06:10am – 06:20am 整隊入班、靜心念佛
06:20am – 06:45am 三十七道品共修 / 靜思語導讀課務組
06:45am – 07:00am 上人開示 – 課務組
07:00am – 08:00am 早齋香積組
08:00am – 08:10am 開營典禮 – 合心的關懷林惟崇師兄
08:10am – 09:20am 慈濟人的懿德風範及威儀形象精進組
09:20am – 09:50am 身心寬暢生活組
09:50am – 10:35am 行入衲履足跡陳慈倡師姐
10:35am – 10:45am 動一動活動組
10:45am – 12:00am 薪傳、心傳 – 經驗分享黃梅芳師姐
12:00am – 12:50pm 午齋香積組
12:50pm – 01:20pm 山林巡禮 –
01:20pm – 02:20pm 慈濟急難救助之愛 Sister Debra
02:20pm – 02:50pm 身心寬暢生活組
02:50pm – 04:10pm 佛典導讀 – 三十七道品林大棟師兄
04:10pm – 04:20pm 動一動活動組
04:20pm – 05:20pm 清淨的智慧王美麗師姐
05:20pm – 05:50pm 法語妙用慈度
05:50pm – 06:00pm 動一動活動組
06:00pm – 07:00pm 志工心得分享 Portland 志工
07:00pm – 08:00pm 藥石香積組
08:00pm – 09:00pm 人文之夜佩意師姐
10:30pm – 安單止靜
10/01/06
05:30am – 06:10am 晨鐘
06:10am – 06:20am 整隊入班、靜心念佛
06:20am – 06:35am 禮拜法華經序之意義林大棟師兄
06:35am – 07:30am 禮拜法華經序 / 靜思語導讀
07:30am – 08:30am 早齋香積組
08:30am – 08:45am 上人開示課務組
08:45am – 09:45am 有他、有你、有我，攜手相伴慈濟道上廖慮直師姐
09:45am – 10:30am 身心寬暢、知心相契生活組
10:30am – 12:00noon 圓緣 – 感恩時刻、學員分享、愛的叮嚀、發心立願
12:00noon 珍重再見

White salmon river rafting

2006-09-24T11:45:00.000+08:00

Went for a 3 hours water rafting today, so much fun.
Luckily today's weather is good and pictures will tell a better story. Following pictures show the peak of the day, a Class 5 drop :).... wahhhh...

Last year, I went for water rafting in clackamas river, but this trip is far more challenging than the clackamas trip. How challenging is it? it is proportional to the equipment they supplied, as you can see in the picture, we are provided with wet suits, water jacket, rubber shoes, helmet and life jacket, whereas the previous trip was only giving you a life jacket?!!!

anyway.. WE SURVIVED...

yummy yummy

2006-09-18T14:50:00.000+08:00

Life will be so dull without pictures... :)
I have been having trouble to upload pictures to my blog, was too lazy to debug till now... got it work and you will start seeing some recent pictures from me and soon I will share my new york & Utah pictures...

Something you might not know about me, I start picking up a new hobby, hmmm... baking, not a very good hobby, because I keep on feeding myself and friends around me, and you know, gals will start to complain when they eat slighly more than their usual diet... pretty crazy and we are enjoying desert very much now.... *p

So far, I have baked cashew cookies, japanese cheesecake, brownies, marble cake and cheese bread, it is so so nice to see my kitchenaid mixer in action...especially when it comes to beating eggwhite, it is so so great, I just love it. And I have no problem kneading bread dough now ;) , they are not only look nice, they taste great too...Here are some pictures to share, yummy yummy!!!

la la la...

2006-08-25T07:47:00.000+08:00

Birthday celebration for Aiyin and Kueh at Chevy Mexican restaurant. Looking at the number of ppl relocated from Malaysia to hillsboro, it is like a little Malaysia in US, just like the little italy in New York. Table of 12, talking in our own language, and one funny thing I noticed was ...hhaha we were like having high school/college reunion, a couple cameras readied to shoot photo anytime, round table photo taking, suddenly i got a feeling like ...hmmm, as though we are those "imigrant" taking picture back in Malaysia. hahah... *p

Nothing much here, except my apartment is getting smaller and smaller, it didn't change in size but i have been filling up my apartment with whole bunch of new stuff... :) a friend of mine was relocated to US for 1.5 yrs, away from his wife and his son, liked to shop and end up buying a lot of item that he didn't really need, and this is what we called side effect of loneliness... seems like i am also one of the victim... :p what did I buy so far, an exercise machine from garage sale, 7.1 home threater system, Kitchenaid mixer etc etc ... anyway, they are really a good buy, guess my side effect still have its rational behind :)...

I am in the office now, thought I have done enough for the week, but today is still thursday... have to bertahan...weekend I am coming... weekend is just so short, I can't believe it, sigh... this Saturday we are going to have Penang team building in a miniature golf course, I just wanna take some time, slow down a bit and rest... and ZzzzZZ, anyway I dun have the habit to sleep beside the real sleeping time, not even a nap unless i am real tired. that;s why someone keep calling me "iron lady" in the messenger :p

Got a special guest in town, CV is in US again, hahah my apt is merrier, not only the TV and mp3 playback, but a lot more chatting and laughters. When we watching TV series together, we will just comment from the start till the end... of coz i am more reserved than CV, she is the worst ....hahhaha dun tell her I said that... ahhaha... life is tough here, everyday topic is schedule schedule and schedule... I am so tired waiting for my weekend, but still have some energy to write my blog in the office....
what's coming soon? I am planning for a Utah trip for the long weekend, end of Aug... and buckle up to meet the project *schedule*

"hot and fresh"

2006-08-16T11:00:00.000+08:00

long time no see my friend, thus I am writing the "hot & fresh" piece here...
me now resting, after jogging for 25 min...sitting in front of my laptop, feeling "hot and fresh" after some work out..haha
thinking of what to eat later for my dinner, just remember I have 2 krispy creme doughnuts from Sunday pot luck... even they are not "hot and fresh" from oven, but I can make them "hot and fresh" from microwave.... :p anyway, enough of all the "hot & fresh"

but I really want to go and take a hot bath and enjoy my "hot & fresh" doughnut now...
and not forgeting my "hot and fresh" picture out from the camera..... title=> after jogging :p

Give me a break.......

2006-07-21T13:28:00.000+08:00

What will you do when you are tired and stressed out....

=> Play music loudly and dance like no one is watching you?
=> EAT= open your fridge every 5-10min?
=> keep listening to your favourite song for n times?
=> drama series marathon, 4 episodes a night?
=> lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling for 1 hour?
=> Sit with your leg crossed, close your eyes and try not to think of anything for 5 min?
=> have gathering with friends, chat and laugh your heart out?
=> don't want to wake up in the morning, today is another holiday?
=> facial mask, body massage? or ladies... shopping?
=> Some work out...running..running...running...

I need a break..........................................................

745 BDP

2006-07-11T02:20:00.000+08:00

my beloved car, 745 BDP, toyota corrola (so-called toyota altis in Malaysia) in silver metalic.
a little bit of history about this car, I got this car on Feb 16 2005, it is a brand new car out from factory and it is labeled 2/15/2005, i am the first owner. it is only 31 miles when I first got it, merely the distance from PDX airport to hillsboro airport.
I owned it for 1 year and 4.5 months, it won the longest service award from me :p believe it or not because of on and off travelling to US, this is the longest time I "spent" with a car :) total mileage is 9304 miles during the return in PDX, sob sob... this car basically go everywhere with me,
9 days trip with me and my sisters to San fran, LA, Las Vegas, grand canyon Jun 2005.
5 days trip to Redwood, Reno etc on 2005 Xmas.
4 days trip to Seatte on 2006 New year count down.
4 days trip to Canada-Vancouver-Victoria Island.
every weekend Tzu Chi study group, all the shopping, hiking etc etc.
and I returned it on Jun 30 2006 before going to NY....i miss her so much now.

Will our path cross again? wish you all the best in getting a new owner who treat you as good as I am? :p

Canada Trip: Vancouver & Victoria Island

2006-06-28T06:32:00.000+08:00

here are a couple pictures to share:
Canada Place.... 1st night in Canada-Vancouver
There are bears around the city, and these bears are painted by the local famous artist, 60 in total, what is the purpose :).... hmm...they will be displayed around the cities until end of fall, then bear auction will start then, all money collected from the auction will be donated to the handicapped kid's FUND. Last year theme was "WHALE". Famous art gallery in Victoria Island:
Victoria Island Inner Habour, nice view, thumbs up :p

Parliament House in Victoria Island, the architecture is strongly reflected the "free mason" beliefs... dome, light bulbs everything in 3, 33, 333 or 3333 :)

The Empress, most famous hotel in Victoria Island, facing the Inner Habour, it is not the highest star rating hotel in Vancouver nor the oldest hotel, but it is so famous...designed by the same architect for Victoria parliament Francis ... :) more than 100 yrs old, previous main entrance for the guest horse cart is still preserve... cool...

This is the Grandville Island in Vancouver... very nice and beautiful city... but i find the drivers in Vancouver are rude...they will scold you and honk at you if you block their way... you know tourists sometime tend to block way without realising ;p, but Victoria is totally a different culture, ppl there are so nice... meet a lot nice ppl there, know a guy called Robert and he offered to give us a pedi ride at discounted rate...he told us lots of stories abt Victoria and the famous landmark and story behind each of those historical building etc... 1 hr ride until 2am... he made our Victoria visit a memorable one....

Friday dinner

2006-06-17T15:22:00.000+08:00

Finally it is Friday... :) what a long week...
started to feel a lot of pressure at work...deadline is so close and so many vacation plan...
i have to start working on weekend.. :S

Dinner at hae-rim with some friends, I ordered pork with kimchi stew... I thot I like kimchi but on a second thought hmmm... will not order kimchi next time hahah... we chatted a lot abt korean series and wow i missed all those series...and I dunno one single korean phrase...how to say thank you? how to say goodbye? how to say how r u? what a shame... i know to say all these in japanese....but excuse me the korean series i watched usually already translated to mandarin.. :p

(May #1) Jing Si Yu

2006-06-01T08:42:00.000+08:00

First Jing Si Yu after a month, maybe... :p

Mt St Helen

2006-06-01T05:53:00.000+08:00

Great view in Mt St Helen, last eruption was on May 18th 1980, 57 casualties. I know a lot more about Mt St Helen now, just watched one proggrame last week on discovery channel, talking about before, during and after the eruption in 1980. This is happened like 26 yrs ago and they like to play anniversary show here, like the 911 especially...but it is good to remind ppl abt the history and learn the mistake too...

These are the couple pictures we took during our visit to Mt St Helen, in fact this is the 3rd time we went to this Mt, and it was the best view ever, as you can see in the picture, clear sky, no clouds... me, Lili and her bro kainlow captured lots of picture, easily hitting 200..wow...truly great view.

Time flies yesterday was lili's last day in US, we have a couple farewell lunch and dinner :), until yesterday supper...hahha, she was serving her best dish => tomyam soup, good luck buddy, will miss you here.

finally...my #1 blog in May

2006-05-24T14:26:00.000+08:00

Got back in US last Monday 5/15, Chia Voon fetched me from the airport. She is now my housemate during her 1 month business trip here... good to have her company, especially that I just coming back from Malaysia. Felt the slightest jetlag & loneliness this time, big reason is CV I guess, I have someone to chit chat with and won't find my bed till my "real" bedtime. for the 1st week in US, I woke up so early and reached office at 8am everyday, good job Yan Nee!!! haha...I remembered I woke up at 5am on the second day, and reached office at 7am... and for these days, I stayed till 6pm... I am so proud of myself, broke my record since 5 yrs back... haha...(5yrs anniversary with intel now ;) :~) and i guess another big thanks went to my boss, who keeps dragging me into long hour meeting in the afternoon time, making me no time to fall asleep....
I feel good till my craving on peanut butter spread comes...bread with peanut butter spread is my breakfast for the 1st 3 days... not having enough PB spread for the 1st 2 days, and on the 3rd day, I gave a generous spread and here it come... sore throat followed by coughing and now flu and running nose... COL (cry out loud)...:~ and my remedy is keep drinking water, gogle salt water and drink hot water, hoping to get better tomorrow.

Also, i went to Mt St Helen on the 1st weekend, weather was great and had a lot of great picture. recently I took up this as a hobby to capture a lots of pictures, life pictures, scenery, kids, pets, flower, daily life pictures etc etc...on Sunday, we have gals pan leng leng session, one of my friend "invested" quite some money to get a complete make up set and we were praticing our make up skill, like the pot calling the kettle black, both of us are not good at make up... engineering gals seldom make up ok... it is still a good thing considering at this "age", we explore this female expert field :)... hahah

and one incident happened in my apartment, in these 3 weeks during my absence, my balcony door net was cut by someone, the hole is as big as 3ft by 1ft and the sliding door is slightly open when CV first moved in...due to the fact that I have been away for so long, it is really going to take some time for me to recall what I have and what I am missing now... sadly, I just found out yesterday that my fav handbag is missing...i already engaged in a discussion with the housing agent, will see what kind of arrangement can be made to prevent this from happening again...friends, dun take things for granted, this is especially true to me, I used to leave my balcony door open all night long, just wanting to get some fresh air, helping the air circulation. now, I dun even dare to open the balcony sliding door when I am sitting in the living room. :/

hahah, there is just so many things to tell...too long never blog I guess...hahha..hmmm... and forgot to mention I really had a great trip in Malaysia... and I will be going home in 4 months time, Hooray!!!

Going home... :)

2006-04-26T08:49:00.000+08:00

I am going home today.... ^o^ after 7.5 months.. so excited to go home... long flight...
Now in LAX waiting for SIA direct flight to Singapore... it is 7:50pm
hard to get wireless here, just reading emails, listen to music, some duty free shopping and that's it. btw, I know that I failed to travel light again when a lady asked, can you please weight your luggage here... :), 31" samsonite bag is still giving 58lbs after lots of filtering :, and I had to unpacked something in the airport and put some into hand carry or my second "only candy"luggage, just a small one. Everything went through smoothly, no luggage inspection and I got a huge seat for PDX-LAX flight, at the emergency row, never realise that there is such spacious seat for the domestic flight, my impression is all seats for US domestic flight is small and tight, even an 16" luggage is hard to get through the aisle seamlessly.

Another interesting thing was I got to the wrong shuttle while i was at LAX at 5:45pm trying to connect to international terminal... hahah, went to metro station instead... luckily my flight is 9:15pm, just take it easy..enjoying ride around LAX and because of that, I get to know one uncle from Hong Kong, he is the shuttle driver and we chatted quite a bit along the journey "back" to the LAX international terminal :)
now waiting for boarding time, another 30 min... very interested to know the air theatre movie listing and my dinner menu later... :p hungry

I will be reaching KLIA tomorrow morning at 9:25am... Mum & Dad, I am back!!!! :p

Currently at Singapore Changi airport waiting for connecting flight to KLIA, this time the 17.5 hrs flight seems to pass so fast… I get good sleep, on and off but I dun feel any pain on my neck because I got my travel pillow with me… I watched 6 movies, Narnia, Everlasting regret, chicken little, memoirs of Geisha, Rent, Fun with Dick & Jane… can’t belive it…
Feel a bit weird now, at Singapore, been away for so long and now back again… frankly, sometimes I dunno where I belong to… just dun feel the sense of belonging to anywhere.

Written by Summer Snow 4/23/2006

Tulip festival 2006

2006-04-18T12:15:00.000+08:00

Went to tulip farm last Sunday, Wooden Shoes, it is about 45 minutes from Hillsboro Oregon, located in a small town called mollala, near Woodburn. Here are some pictures to share with you all :)

一秒钟

2006-04-13T12:24:00.000+08:00

一秒钟，对每一个人来说都有着不同的意义。。。
一秒钟，对年轻健壮的人来说可能不足一提，
一秒钟，对婴儿来说就只是成长的其中那么一秒钟，
手术室里的一秒钟代表着生命的无常，
对垂死的病人来说，每多一秒钟都是一份礼物，
一份最美好的。。。世上最无价的礼物，
希望一份份的“礼物”不停的降临。。。
而这份礼物对一般人来说，可能并不起眼，
“它”就只是那么仅仅的一秒钟，你可知道这一秒钟有多重要？

约定 ~ 歌手：光良

2006-04-01T09:53:00.000+08:00

说好的三年不见面
用我们的爱把时间留住
你笑着说这是我们的考验我们的约定
就这样三年又过了
我还是回到这个地方
闭上眼等你的出现
空气中吻你的脸
我还记得我们的约定
一辈子幸福的约定
为你写的那首歌
他也偷偷的掉泪了
我比以前还更爱你了
连那风都笑我了
我想他会告诉你的我更爱你了
我想他会告诉你的
你会记得我们的约定
听着风我也笑了
他一定会告诉你的我更爱你了

Varekai ~wherever

2006-03-20T12:37:00.000+08:00

Went to downtown Portland to watch "Varekai" on Saturday night, this show is performed by the ever famous cirque du soleil. We had great seats for good view. "Varekai" is very entertaining, very colorful and full of amazing acrobatic moves...they also had a magic show at the beginning, very funny..believe me, this is the best place you want to be at after 5-days of stress ^o^ I am looking forward to go to a musical opera with great story line...something like the Phantom of the Opera..haha...My colleugue is talking about going to the symphony in Portland..music...~nice~

VAREKAI

Deep within a forest, at the summit of a volcano, exists an extraordinary world—a world where something else is possible. A world called Varekai.

From the sky falls a solitary young man, and the story of Varekai begins. Parachuted into the shadows of a magical forest, a kaleidoscopic world populated by fantastical creatures, this young man sets off on an adventure both absurd and extraordinary. On this day at the edge of time, in this place of all possibilities, begins an inspired incantation to life rediscovered. The word varekai means "wherever" in the Romany language of the gypsies the universal wanderers. This production pays tribute to the nomadic soul, to the spirit and art of the circus tradition, and to the infinite passion of those whose quest takes them along the path that leads to Varekai.

no title

2006-03-15T12:59:00.000+08:00

long time nvr update my blog... busy? not a good excuse :)
life is OK...a little bit of everything...
It was snowing in Hillsboro last couple days...LOTS of snow flakes falling..falling and falling...thought spring is coming??? no more freezing day..pleasseee...give me some sunshine...... Anyway, turlip festival will start this weekend...
had a series of farewell and sent off fiona last Sunday.. sob..sob..take care dearest fisss...
went to CDM celebration in hilton portland...then Mc fadden, enjoyed looking at ppl dancing and one of my friend was like "not in control", he really entertained all of us on that night, thanks buddy... *p
met a st*pid lady last last friday, she really "made" my day...the worst person on earth that I met in this couple years...sigh...good luck to you, gal..
2 full-day of shopping last weekend just to buy kitchen stuff, like a "see lai" ^o^, Oakwood will be collecting back all houseware by end of this month..working hard on packing...
found out no more home trip for me this year, sad :~.... but... good thing that I get additional home trip approval right on the next day ;), thanks boss...I will work harder?!...heheh....
was so so poor yesterday, my only atm card wasn't working..0usd in my purse...even dollar yen is standing by for urgency...and today... I have money liao...:p thank god...

Wishing everyone happy always, see through the bad times and open your arms for a better tomorrow...smile :)

Traveling again...after 2 months...

2006-02-28T13:08:00.000+08:00

Went to Columbia Gorge and Marihill in Washington state last weekend. We had friends in town (CH & KM).. and Columbia Gorge is a MUST go attraction in Portland, Oregon. Everybody was very excited about the trip as we haven't been able to travel for months (weather, too busy, too lazy etc etc) and felt so good to travel again..we enjoyed the view along the journey, enjoyed the drive and very happy to be close to the greenery..

The last time we went for travelling was like 2 months back(new year vacation)... phew.. long time huh?

Multnomah fall is the ever famous fall in Oregon or even US. Actually, I have lost count how many times I visited this fall, but everytime when I am there, I will take picture like I never been there before (funny)... besides, i have a friend who also really enjoy taking picture, CH & KM were so surprised to see us "behave" like that, as though we were also first timer like them ;p, hahah... we even asked "them" to take our picture "first" when we reached the fall, :*)haha...

We also went to Rowena Crest and Marihill Monument, this monument actually took the stonehenge idea. Stonehenge in Great Britain is the Europe's most famous prehistoric monument, completed about 1250 BC.

Cheers to late 70's n early 80's baby

2006-02-27T09:36:00.000+08:00

I think this is a good article to share with you all :p
====================================
Dear gang !
Especially dedicated to the late 70's n early 80's babies...
Spend 5 min and read through the article. i am sure you will give yourself a smile after reading this :)
For your reading pleasure...some might be true.
Hope you will all enjoy reading it. This might bring you back the old memory especially during those school days.....
Signs that you are a 80s' baby:
You grew up watching G-Force, He-man, Transformers, Thundercats, Silver Hawk, Woody Woodpecker, Chipmunks and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget Ninja Turtles, Mask, Smurfs and Voltron too.
Girls watched Japanese cartoon like My Little Pony, "Xiao Tian Tian", "Hua Xian Zi" etc.
You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in primary school after recess time.
You squatted by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brushed your teeth with a colo urful mug. Remember the days when the school nurse, comes with a list for the dentist appointment, the sound of the drilling when your friend has a fill in his tooth.
You remember the packets of milk we get in primary school to encourage us to drink more milk. (It is only cost 30 cent per pack)
In secondary school, girls go to the library to borrow their favourite romance storybook. In secondary school, girls altered their school skirt to shorten it and guys will go to the school appointed school uniform tailor shop to tailor make their school trousers to the then fashionable "baggy pants"!
During primary school days, the teacher will punish you using a ruler to hit your palm. A bowl of noodles soup cost only 30cent in primary school days. When you were in primary school, girls like to go to the bookshop to buy cute stuff such as animal erasers, various shape sharpeners, colourful notebook etc. Hankyu Jaya, Yaohan departmental stores used to be a favourite hangout for families dur! ing weekends.
In secondary school days, you buy the Bata BM Turbo or Pallas Jazz school shoes. Some guys like to wear those china made ankle high shoes. Some even like to wear those very thick socks with their school shoes.
Internet? E-mail? What the hell is that? So you thought a decade or more ago, your friends don't have pagers or handphones in school. CDs? What's that? Cassette tapes were the norm. Movie tickets used to cost less than $5 last time.
The goodies from Mama shop used to be Chickerdis, Mamee , Kum Kum, UFO, O-Ya, Ding Dang chocolate balls with toys in the box, colourful hard "egg", "cigerette" bubble gum, KIKI Bubble Gum, pink bottle of bubbles c/w a small tubes with yellow sticks to blow "more lasting" bubbles that you can pop more air in or slam it on.
You never forget 'Ti Kam'. When exams are over, the board games (e.g Monopoly, Donkey, Transportation Comparison Card) & held ! video games will be all over the class room.
Your favourite sound is the bell! For it's the homemade ice cream man. The cream that tops Haagan Dazs! And the other peddler you love is the old lady who sells juicy Muah Chee and thick olden syrup rolled in a balloon the tip of a chopstick stick. Another bell is the recess bell, a time to get away from school work and to eat. Another time when there is no bell but all guys will anxiously wait for it...The PJ (Pendidikan Jasmani), PE time (time for football) Your favourite childhood games were playing "gu li"(marbles), five stones, five bottle cover, zero-point, catching, "Pepsi-Cola one two three" and/or "Police & Sentry"!
The best thirst quencher of all times is the yummy colourful ice tubes you can buy from provision shops for only 10 cent. To eat them, break the tab and suck while holding the freezing tube!
All gals have a girl doll/strawberry shortcake/my little pony/pound puppy, while all boys have a soldiers figurine (combat) or a rubber band catapult that shoots folded paper!
Once was the era whereby ice-cream sticks were valueable items, then came the paper aircrafts, chalk fights. Some boys made their own guns from wood, and used 'Bacali' as the bullets. Some even used matches to shoot and burn kids'lanterns during MoonCake Festival.
And your favourite holiday was Lunar New Year! New clothes, Ang Pows, shopping, junk food and family outings!
Let's see, the majority of students in universities today were born in 1987 / 88.... They are called "youth". For them, they have never heard of the song "We are the World, we are the Children..." And the "Uptown Girl" they know is by 'West Life' but not 'Billy Joel'.
For them, there have always been only one Germany and only one Vietnam. AIDS exists since they were born. CD exists since they were born. Michael Jackson is already whitened. John Travolta is always round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance. They believe that Spiderman and Incredible Hulk are just new films. They can never imagine a black and white screen for a computer. They never know what is Atari or 'Game & Watch'. They can't believe a black and white television ever existed and they don't even know how to switch on a TV without a remote control. And they never understand how we can go out without a mobile phone when we were in university...
Let's check if we're getting old...
1. You understand what was written above and you smile.
2. Most of your secondary school friends are getting married.
3. You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with computer.
4. When you see teenagers with mobile phones, you shake your head.
5. You spend less and less time talking on phone with your friends daily.
6. When you meet your old friends from time to time, talking about the good old days, repeating again and again all funny stories you experienced together.
7. Lastly, having read this mail, you are thinking of forwarding it to some other old friends. You think they will like it too.....
Hahaha!.... Yes! We are getting old too...........
Brings back old memories huh?
Cheers to the late 70s & early 80s babies!!!

谁是我

2006-02-21T13:32:00.000+08:00

我是谁谁是我
落叶漂流了多久沙子是否已迷失方向
曾几何时似曾相识似曾听闻
曾几何时似曾接受似曾逃避
执于运律又如何落叶沙子又如何
无人无暇无心探根本
幕起幕落一场梦
重者自在我心中。。。

Board Game Fever... >:p

2006-02-21T08:46:00.000+08:00

Last 2 weekend was a board game weekend... let me see how many hours I spent on board game... :)
Friday: 3 hrs
Saturday: 4.5 hrs
Sunday: 5 hrs
ohhhh... my goodness... i didn't realise that I spent so much time on board game until I spelled it out....but I am still enjoying it, and my friends all hope that we/I are/am not "hangat hangat tahi ayam"...
This weekend is again BOARD GAME week, kekek...
I am now owning 4 board games, they are Alhambra, Settler of catan, Bohnanza and Sequence. The board game influence has been spreading quite a while and now the we have more and more BG players.
It is a long weekend this week, today (Monday) is President day, nothing much to do in this weekend as the weather changes dratically, the temperature went down from 50++ to 20-30 range and the wind was really strong 20-30 mph. so... what I did was just a bit of shopping, some masak-masak and some boardgame sessions. I kind of like PNG laksa now, after trying it second time in US. I disliked it so much when I tasted it once during my primary 6 school tour, but i like my friend's PNG laksa, going to try it when I am back in PNG.

Went to my colleugue's place on Sunday night, his name is Hari and he is from India, his apartment decoration is excellent, it gives you the ancient feel and yet so classy, absolutely not like a typical indian house. Quality living is definitely one of his principle, and he owns a BMW too.. The way he serve the dinner is very formal, we, the guests had under estimate this dinner, haha, we enjoyed the dinner and play BG till 1am.

board game is a nice activity during winter, a bit of thinking, funny and kind of relaxing, you can get to know ppl too while playing the games. Most of the games we have are the award winning games, the German board game award, some are cute and funny, and some are really strategic gameplay. Sometimes, we went to the boardgame shop to try out the new games, they have display set for you to try out before deciding to buy, btw, the name of the shop is "Rainy day", great name..isn't it? it is always rainy day in hillsboro and you can play board game regardless of the weather :p

We did *something* yesterday, while shopping in tanabourne, there was one car parked beside us and we saw 2 big boxes of boardgame in the car, we had a peek and left a note at the car asking the owner to contact us if he/she wish to sell his/her boardgames. I think we are definitely crazy up to certain degrees... ^o^

人生与命运

2006-02-15T13:41:00.000+08:00

这次我决定用华语来写这一篇BLOG..
最近我身边发生了一些事情，让我不尽会想一想。。什么是人生，什么是命运。。
人到底可不可以改变命运，人来到这个世界上到底是为了什么。。
今天的你我可能还好好的，可是你绝对不会知道明天会发生什么事情，当不幸的事情发生时，你会怎样，会有什么反应？所以当我想到这里，又再一次应验了“活在当下”这个道理，做好你这一刻应该做的一切，守好自己的本份，训练好自己每一刻的思想与行为，这是未雨绸缪的最好方法。有因便有果，你这一秒的行为将会决定下一秒会有怎样的成就或结果。。

当不幸的事情发生时，你一定要时时做出最好的选择，不要放弃，因为因果循环，我们最基本的功能便是一部循环机器，好与不好都是自己的选择，一切的好坏因果都是自己需要负起的责任。就算逆境发生，也会带来好的循环，重要的是自己的意念。
加油啦！

Perhaps, Love (如果。爱)

2006-02-08T12:20:00.000+08:00

Just watched this movie last night, and I like it very much. :)
The movie shooting is special, it is like a musical play, lots of singing, acrobatic performance like the circus, good story line, everything just blend in nicely and I wish to watch it again. It is indeed a great movie...but for english ed. ppl, this might not be as good, because the movie is in mandarin, and this DVD only with Chinese subtitle... hahah... but my friend likes it a lot even though she doesn't speak/read chinese :p

After watching this movie, it reminds me about the musical play I always wish to watch but fail to...雪狼湖 by Jackie Cheung, hope there will be more replay.

Teaching my first class :)

2006-01-31T10:14:00.000+08:00

Taught my 1st intel U class today, my session is just a portion of a 2 days class, but i am very happy with my "results". Originally, I felt a bit pressured when my boss offering me this new job..hahaha.. he was encouraging me and said he will be ready to give me full support by being there to help me to prepare for it and be my 1st student...very nice boss...

MP (my boss) went missing for so long, teaching class in Santa Clara etc etc (no time for me), he is a principle designer and his time table is always full, everywhere needs him... finally 3 days before the actual class, he ping me liao... kekeke and we got a dry run, almost at the end of the dry run, he is "required" to go for another important meeting. Actually, i feel very grateful to him for being so patient, very supportive and give me the confidence to teach the class....

The audience of the class is from the other project and they are all quite senior engineer, some of them even were my boss and seniors last time during my first assignment in US. they are all very technical person.. and above all ...this class will be recorded.. ^o^ Again, this MP is really great, he came in early before the class to help to answer any final questions from me, he decided to send a rep. for his other meeting and choose to stay in the class to back me up :D... helping me through the process.. everything turn out perfectly... and he also giving me support and confident throughout the class... he keep noding when I was teaching and the message I get from him is "yes, you are doing great" and he also help on some of the question too ;)
and finally a pat on my shoulder, "Yan Nee, Good Job!"

Hooray, the class is over, and I will continue with my CNY celebration here... hehhe suppose to be on leave today but I still went in to teach this class :p and I wish i can be like MP..so successful and yet so modest...really admire him ;)

Gong Xi Fa Chai, Gong Hei Fatt Choy... :-) :-D :-p

2006-01-30T03:45:00.000+08:00

New Year Eve at my apartment... 12 mid night, count down, wow wow wow, DOG brother is HERE... and we sent off the Rooster...Rooster year is a BIG 丰收 YEAR for me.. Thanks to everyone who had helped to made a difference in my life ... haha :p

Wishing my family continue to be the Happiest, coolest, funniest, loving family and wishing my parents 长命百岁，身体健康, 开开心心，恩恩爱爱，万事如意，生意兴隆, 笑口常开。。永无烦恼 and for my brother and sisters and ME...身体健康，开开心心，心想事成，万事如意，青春美丽，步步高升，笑口常开。。永无烦恼... and all $$ 财源滚]滚 haha

Wishing everyone have a GREAT GREAT 2006 and Ganbateh for a BETTER tomorrow!!!!!

Best regards, Yan Nee

My Saturday: Tzu Chi (慈济) year-end blessing + KK farewell + Fiona's birthday

2006-01-23T03:29:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I went out at 12 noon and back to home at 3am...
I didn't know it is going to be this interesting... 哈哈
Went out at 12 noon as usual to attend Tzu Chi study group, then only found out today is the year end blessing celebration for Tzu Chi, I forgot the date...not very commited..bad...
then I quickly wore the volunteer jacket to help out in whatever chores they needed ppl in.. kekek.. i was on duty at the registration counter... getting all guest to sign for attendence, giving free gift and candies to kids... :) time keeper etc.. there are about 100 guests and the event started at 1:30pm. We had chinese instrument playing, little gal dancing (fan and chai dai), singing and sign laguage performance... and I was one of the sign language performer...the whole event was very successful, and they had the "lit-up-candle" ceremony - 除去无明，点燃心里的灯，照亮自己也帮助迷失了的人指引方向, the most "kam dong" session for me and I got my 1st angpow, not the normal angpow..ok....Anyway, the main purpose of this celebration is to tell everybody what is happening in the world right now and in the past 1 year, and how you can provide help in the reliefs... get more volunteers and educate human-beings to be 知福，惜福，再造福。

I gotta run before the event ended because I had to attend KK farewell dinner at downtown portland, Marakesh Moroccan on the same day, supposed to meet at 5:10pm, somehow I thot will meet at 5:30pm and I reached home at 5:20pm.... :o bathed, changed and everything.. and met with my friends at 5:40pm... sigh sigh sigh.... 16 ppl waiting for me... i felt so bad...i am sorry...
The dinner is SUPERB.... we waited for close to 45min even we have a reservation made. All of us ordered 5-course dinner feast (soup, salad, appetizer, 6 dishes (all meat ^o^), dessert and mint tea) and only cost 19usd per person before (tips and drink)... cheap :p this restaurant doesn't provide any utensils, all they gave is a towel... and helped to wash our hand...hoho... eating with bare-hand... I am not good at it, but we all were very cool, JUST DO IT... and fingers licking good..eee... not very hygiene.. (just open one eye and close one eye larr, as long as everybody is enjoying) :D There was belly dancing too, 2 on a night, we missed the 1st dance at 6:30pm, thus catching the one at 8:30pm...I tipped the gal, she is entertaining but still not the "very keng' belly dancer, experience in Pasha is better!!! We left the restaurant at 11pm....

hmmm... got another mission in hand, that is to get a birthday cake for beloved Fiona, surprise celebration for her.... we went to The Cheesecake factory and grab a "Teblrone Swiss Almond cheesecake", waited for 30 mins and finally we reached Fiona's place at 11:45pm... we made it.
birthday song, chatting-borak'ing, karaoke until 3am @_@...

yeah..right... that was my saturday, my yesterday....

CNY is around the corner... and I am still in US...

2006-01-20T13:44:00.000+08:00

Just check out nwa.com (Northwest airlines)... and the air ticket back to SIN has shoot up to USD 1100, yesterday was USD 750 :~
I monitored the ticket price very often, waiting for the chance when I can make a call to say that "I am going home this CNY"...and still in time to grab a cheap ticket...and now seems like NO NO for both.

No CNY mood here...even though I am invited for a couple CNY gathering... still dun "feel" it is coming (until I called home)....In US you might end up working in the office on the 1st day of Lunar New Year, so I will take 2 days off... just to REST at home... and have a GOOD start for this year :) At least I know I am not alone here in US, AND I know Sooth is same as me ...kekkeke... celebrate CNY in a foreign land, hahahha...

Some friends will be going back for CNY and very soon quite a number of them will be going back for good...assignment end..Today went for KK farewell lunch at Chevy's and again farewell dinner at Moroccan restaurant in Downtown Portland this coming Saturday.... more farewell to come and when is my turn?... is there anybody left to farewell me?.... sob sob...

Look out to the window, it is so cold, windy and rainy outside....I miss Malaysia 365 sunshine...
I will be back (soon)... ten..ten...ten...ten... (like T2 huh?) :p

Skiing trip at Mt Hood

2006-01-17T12:32:00.000+08:00

Last week was a busy week and got a lot accomplished at work... i would said it was the most efficient week in 2006... hehe of co it is just the 3rd week in 2006 :p Not only the weekday, my weekend was FULL too :)... everything started on Friday night, we have gals night out for Ihop, then lots of board games, ya... and went for karaoke at the other friend's place...till 1am.. Went to ski on Saturday, Skiing is once my nightmare, you will really freak me out if you ask me to go skiing, because my 1st time experience was really really bad, fell like nobody business, but it was really somebody business because they gotta help me to get up... and worst of all I went with all the couple couple and I was the lonely one.... that was 3 year back... opps no... close to 4 years... and here I am, trying to overcome my fear in skiing...This time, I am not lonely anymore, have a lot of ski buddies with me...we got quite a cheap deal at Mt Hood Ski meadows, 3 times for 99usd, in fact, we got a better deal because we shared the promotion booklet among 3 of us, 33 dollars each :p...

We were so excited, pick up my ski boots at the counter, started with size 8, but I couldn't get my feet in after spending 10 min on it... gave up and got a size 9, it wasn't easy STILL... need my friends help...finally i am in my ski boots and walked like a penguin.. the ski class started at 1pm, we all have our ski...it is heavy, and with the ski boots we walked 10 times slower than normal speed... We had a nice instructor, his name is John... we learnt all the basic skills after the class and played at the bunny slope for whole day... it was very tiring...we went back to the lodge at 6pm (actually I typed a lot just now, but connection lost and didn't managed to save it...next time i will always remember to do ctrl-C) Reached home at 11:30pm after dinner and everything, i enjoyed this ski trip very much but my whole body is aching now... anyway it is all worth it..

went for dimsum and King Kong on the next day...
I like King Kong very much, didn't realise it was a long movie as I enjoyed it very much. animal instinct, simple and pure love, yeah.. thing in life should be simple rather than complex, this is the line i got in the fortune cookies from my yesterday dinner. :)

quick one...

2006-01-10T13:20:00.000+08:00

Come and play game, this is cute...
haahha make u laugh out loud and sometimes very "pek chek"
will help release stress, and relax your mind... :p

my highest score is 1600, how about u?
http://www.eddiezone.net/flashgame/Restaurant.swf

2006, new year is here..

2006-01-05T15:18:00.000+08:00

Time flies... 2006 is HERE!!!
long holiday is over and the office seems to be "crowded" again...
and me haven't adjusted my working time, today I woke up at 9:20am, since it was already late so I just went ahead and cook my lunch and bring to office ;), reached office at 10:30am...just today ok... dunno why so sleepy... but I find myself so enjoy with my work after the long holiday or should I say in this new year 2006...hope it will last long...haha...

a lot of thinking and planning on what to do in 2006... sometimes we should not spend too much time on thinking/planning, JUST DO IT!!!! my motto for 2006 would be to practice the "live in this moment" concept, the most practical things to do. There is a story that I learnt from Tzu Chi, it is about a king, he has everything he wants and yet not happy and he doesn't know what is the most important thing in his life, who is the most important person in his life, what is the most important thing for him and where is it??? and he keep on searching, searching and searching, and one day he knew it from a practitioner that there is one noble old man stayed at a far away land who knows the answer, thus, this king started his journey to look for this noble old man. After days of travel, he finally found this old man, and start asking the 3 "important" questions, "who", "what" and "where"??? after hearing the questions, the old man remain silent. The king never give up and decided to stay there until the noble old man gives him the answers. Days went by, the king was getting impatient, he started to treaten the old man, suddenly, there was a hunter running out from nowhere and fell down in front of the king, he was badly injured. Without second thought, the king quickly help the hunter to remove the broken arrow from his chest, bandaged him and let him rest. finally, the noble old man opened his mouth :), he said you have gotten the answers, don't you? and the king gave him a puzzled look, then the old man continued, like the incident just happened, the "hunter" is the most important person to you, the "hunter's life" is the most important thing to you and "here" is the most important place for your existence, hmmm... finally the king understand the whole meaning and he left happily.

so... do you get it? it means live in this moment, as simple as that, no matter what are you doing, who you be with, where you are, just cherish that moment :)

ehem, blogger should always have photo to share.. ;p.. here is my new year count down picture at Space needle, Seattle. Happy New Year and have a prosperous 2006!!!! wink wink ;)

Photo Gallery: Xmas vacation

2005-12-29T10:24:00.000+08:00

Redwood National Park

These pictures are taken at the Red Wood National Park at the border of CA and OR. You can find the world tallest tree here, up to 360 feet. Surprisingly, supporting these tall trees is a shallow root system. Redwood roots extend only about 6 to 10 feet into the ground. How could this be? In the redwood region, there is plentiful water close to the ground's surface. Since water is readily available at the surface, redwood do not need to have deep root system.

A shallow root system makes redwood vulnerable to high winds and floods. However, their roots can spread hundreds of feet from the tree and join with roots from neighboring trees creating a web for extra support.

Now you know more about redwood.. :) see...we looked so small and tiny in the picture.

I'd love to see wild bear in National Parks, and the worst thing of all is out of so many national parks I visited, no sign of bear, not even Yellowstone :~( , some more I went there twice... guess I should be contented taking picture with these "cute black bears"

Lake Tahoe National Park

Some easy hike at Lake Tahoe, Eagle trail.. the wind was too strong on the Xmas day, not too cold but got to be real careful else you will fall fall fall.... and we made it ^o^

Behind me is Lake Tahoe, much bigger than Crater Lake OR, comparable view... hmmm, but I prefer Crater Lake :p... Lake Tahoe loops is like 30 miles ++...We were expecting some/a lot of snow there so we can have snow ball fight, but we were so dissapointed to see all the dirty snow along the road.

Tahoe's only island, sharing from the sight board :), Over the last 100 years, Tahoe's only island has been known by a number of names. In 1866, a group of young vacationers dreamed up the first name, Coquette, a word referring to a flirtatious or seductive woman. Attracted to the island;s beauty, the group found the climb to the top of the small island impossible.

The island inspired other names such as Dead Man's and Hermit's Island after Captain Dick Barter. As the sole caretaker of a private estate, Barter lived at Emerald Bay and died in one of the lake's winter storms. Also called Baranoff Island and Emerald Isle, the island's current name, Fannette, is thought to be a mis-interpretation of the island's original name, Coquette.

There is a small stone building at the top of the island call Mrs Knight's teahouse.

Stopped by the road side to take this picture, we have visited Lake Tahoe!!!

Reno Lobster buffet

We went to Reno for the famous lobster buffet on the Xmas night, I didn't like it, i think it is the lousiest buffet I ever had... is that too much?...and I really pity all the lobsters... sob sob... this picture is taken after the buffet dinner.. we were ready to tour Reno downtown.. will grab a lobster picture from my friend... :)

Lassen National Park

On the way back to OR, we passed by Lassen National Park.. it was snowing on the way and the river is frozen too... :o.. we had snow ball fight at the rest area, thick and soft snow... guys outnumbered the gals, and we lost... :~

Single Mother

2005-12-28T04:12:00.000+08:00

Today is already a couple days after "dong zhi"(冬至), and I am writing my dong zhi blog :). 冬至is to celebrate the end of the year and signifying another new year is coming, be thankful for the pass fruitful year. Usually, family member will gather together and eat "tang yuan" (汤圆).

This 冬至, I had 汤圆 with my friends, actually i felt very thankful to have 汤圆here in US. didn't expect to eat 汤圆, because need to travel quite far to Asian food market to get it and it was on Thursday, but it was a good surprise that my friend, Lili brought 汤圆 over and we cooked together... :D i told my friend, that I am an easy gal, if my admirer bring me 汤圆 on that day, i will be his girl friend, hahha LOL... :p

Besides Lili, we had a single mother to celebrate this ocassion with us. Her name is "moshi moshi", I was very surprise to see her...she is a brave girl, she chose to become a single mother and expecting her 1st baby gal April next year. When I saw her 5 months back, she was still enjoying her single life, she was a party gal, drinking kaki and sometimes even a smoker. (I nvr see her smoke before) and now, she is totally a different person, quit all her bad habits but still a funny gal. I felt happy for her and really admire her...for her courage on choosing this path, this is a big decision in life which will change her life forever. Inevitably, there are so many decision to make everyday, life is unpredictable and ever-changing, and changes is forever...we should treasure each moment in life... live with no regrets.

Single mother is getting popular nowadays even in Malaysia, there are women who think they do not need a life partner but still they want to have kids..In my current mental state, I think it is so tough for the mother and I pity the kid too, for not having a father, of coz there are tonnes of arguement saying that even a family with father and mother, it doesn't mean that it is a happy family or the kids can grow up in healthy environment etc.

F.A.M.I.L.Y => Father And Mother I Love You

Anyway, What you think can change your life, see my blog's title... hahah Life is beautiful...no matter how difficult your life is now, how confusing it is.. how challenging it is... how tough it is.. you will get through it and enjoy the fruit of happiness in the end... Jia You, my friends, specially to "moshi moshi"!!!

Snow..Xmas is here!

2005-12-22T12:38:00.000+08:00

I have been quite busy recently... busy during working hour and very busy too after working hour :) haha..why.... because I am watching/chasing a korean series from my friend, Love in Havard. Sometimes, I can watch 4 hours of drama series in one night, started this series on Sunday and think would finish it before Xmas.

It was snowing last Sunday 12/18, this is the earliest snow in Hillsboro, it lasted for about 2-3 hrs. Winter in hillsboro has been getting colder and colder, for a couple weeks, the temperature is stagnant at -2C to -5C, all my winter dresscode has finally come to its "peak" time, gloves, snow cap, scarfs, thick thick jacket... but after the Sunday Snow, the temperature now is always above 0C, sometimes up to 10C, no more snow but rain :S...playing in the snow is fun, but like Will said, it is extremely dangerous to drive in snow especially in Hillsboro because ppl here do not have experience driving in the snow, they are so panic, keep braking, pull over at the road side, flashing the light and eventually leads to accident...sigh... to be at the safe side, stay out the road when it is snowing. btw, Will is from the east coast, Vermont, near New York, they always have plenty of snow there...

With the snow and also the festive season, car park in JF4 is kind of empty, you can get a nice parking even you reach at 10am. Ppl are flying out to celebrate Xmas with their family... and for us, those that are away from family, will gather and have our own party or some travelling... this time, i might go to Utah, bryce canyon and arches...but on the second thought, weather and distance could be the major road block :), anyway our F1 driver, CK is ever ready.. will see...

just finished baking a peach pie, LL will drop by soon... to taste the pie, anyway, dun misunderstand, it is a frozen pie from Winco :p hahah...

Expecting a friend's visit tomorrow, "moshi moshi", a very funny gal visiting from dupont (near Seattle)... we were the panda supporter when we were roomates... lots of stories till midnight, guess this time our bedtime story will continue....even longer, since we nvr see each other for like 4-5 months...

and will celebrate "dong zhi" tomorrow, eat tang yuan!!!! yum yum... and enjoy the long weekend.. Merry Xmas!

"kai si hor fun" and "jawa mee"

2005-12-14T13:19:00.000+08:00

Lucky me... CC parents are in town for a month. btw, Chin is my lovely neighbour in Hampshire down. life is never boring with Chin.
Chin parents are really good cook, i had "kai see hor fun" yesterday night and tonight i am invited for "Jawa mee"... yum yum... they are expert in food, expert in cooking and have a lot cool recipes to share with us. After having dinner, we talked about all the famous hawker food in Malaysia, especially Penang hawker food, you will feel like you are in Penang when all the conversation is about best nasi kandar, hokkien mee, cha kueh teow, at jalan burma, jalan seratus tahun, jalan..... Ever since they are here, I started to miss my homeland.

Everything is good, except slight flu and sore throat, just can't concentrate anymore after 5pm, my eyes are so tired and need more rest. I dreamed a lot these few nights, sometimes a couple in one night... not about work/multi-threading stuff, but still feel very tired when I wake up in the morning :o..need more rest ...need more sleep :p

静思语 – 证严上人

2005-12-12T03:01:00.000+08:00

化小爱为大爱
爱本来就无穷无尽，广大可以利益天下，增长慧命；缩小则成自私自利，增长恶业。

世间无常，国土危脆，
人生何必钞铢计较？
其实，心安既是福，
当下能做既是福，
眼前欢喜既是福。

请珍惜：此时，此地，此人

My hobby: Hiking...

2005-12-11T13:55:00.000+08:00

The weather has been very bad for the past couple weeks in Hillsboro, but not this weekend, we finally have some good weather, a *sunny* weekend. Our hiking president, CW has sent out an invitation to go hiking at Angels Rest this Saturday. We, the hiking kaki have been resting for close to 2 months, of coz we are excited to go this time... :) and it turned out to be an "extreme" experience.

On the way to Angels Rest, along Columbia Gorge, we already can feel that the wind is real strong, and some small water falls along the way has frozen, but... it is still a sunny day. Our car was "distracted" by the strong wind, shifted a bit for a couple times..thus we slowed down in speed. finally, we reached the foot of the hill. The wind is soooooo strong, I didn't want to get down the car and felt a bit regret.. but the rest of the guys are like so motivated, put on their snow cap, thick sweater etc etc... ya, I was the only gal this time with CW, KK, CK, EL & S. Without much delay, we started the hike, work out can make you feel warm, so there we go... hike hike hike...It was so cold and so windy, I didn't stop for any rest, just wanted to go faster and reach the top. There was snow along the trail too.. :S. The worst thing is we didn't dare to hike to the top when we are just less than 30 metres away from the top, trust me, you will get blown away if you continue any further. Even at the highest point where we stopped, my friends had to hold me to make sure I am safe. We were very efficient this time around, didn't rest/enjoy the view for long, but decided to leave in less than 10 min, cannot stay any longer :S..We completed this trail in 2 hours time, better than what was written at the website, 3 hours. what an achievement! We ate a lot after the hike :), and all the fat burned couple hours ago are now back to my body again...*o*

Angels Rest: ~Crazy cold~~Sejuk Gila~
Highlights:A nice hike off the old highway that leads to awesome views of the Gorge
Near:Bridal Veil, OR
Scenery: ****
Distance:4.6 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:1880 ft
Hike Time:3 hours
Difficulty:Moderate
Trail Condition:Well maintained trail
HikeType:Out and Back

Dog Mountain: This is a great one, I was the 2nd hiker reach the top ;)
Highlights:This extremely popular trail provides two options for hikers - an easy three mil
Near:Bingen, WA
Scenery:****
Distance:7.1 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:2850 ft
Hike Time:4.5 hours
Difficulty:Strenuous
Trail Condition:OK, but a few difficult spots
HikeType:Loop

Hamilton Mountain: I was the 2nd last to arrive, went the wrong way :(, I chose "less difficult" trail instead of "difficult" trail... a lot detour....
Highlights:A steep day hike to the top of Hamilton Mountain, passing Hardy and Rodney Falls
Near:Stevenson, WA
Scenery:****
Distance:7.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:2400 ft
Hike Time:4.5 hours
Difficulty:Moderate
Trail Condition:OK, but a few difficult spots
HikeType:Out and Back

Mount Defiance: I used 9 hrs to complete this trail, so difficult...most challenging hike in my life, not sure if I can do it again....
Highlights:4,960-foot Mt. Defiance is a grueling hike with Waterfalls, great views and more
Near:Cascade Locks, OR
Scenery:****
Distance:11.3 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:4935 ft
Hike Time:7 hours
Difficulty:Strenuous
Trail Condition:OK, but a few difficult spots
HikeType:Out and Back

Besides the above, i've been to Iron Mountain, Cone Peak, Mulnomah Falls etc etc

Winter getaway - Las Vegas & Grand Canyon (but they are colder than OR)

2005-12-08T16:08:00.000+08:00

Just came back from a 4-day 3-night trip to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon. It was a relax and enjoyable trip...i think it is quite a good deal, usd230 including flight and 3-days acommodation in Las Vegas...

This is my 3rd time visiting Las Vegas.. and 2nd time for Grand Canyon, sound like I should go to other new places, why am I visiting the same place again? hmm..maybe I just feel like needing a break when my friend sent out the invitation, so I just signed up :)...
OK, only 3 words can describe this trip, COLD-freezing weather, FULL-plenty of food, MONEY-big spending on shopping & show ticket...

no doubt Las Vegas is famous with its night life and excellent lighting and world landmarks, especially now with all the decorative lighting for Xmas, we saw crowds everywhere....
We had Pharoah feast buffet at Luxor on the 1st night, we were so hungry and no one talk for the first 30 minutes of our dinner... hahah, we went out to the strip for night view, we took lots of picture, i would say 90% of the picture are blur due to freezing wind-trembling arms...hoho..*o* Las Vegas has very good tourists information and travel booklet, it really save us a lot of time on surveying the restaurant and food as well as places to go. cool...btw, we stayed at Stratosphere hotel located near the end of the strip, close to Las Vegas downtown.

We headed to Grand Canyon on the 2nd day, 5 hours drive from Las Vegas....phew, and we have 5 persons (Au, KK, James, JH & me) packed in one car... not much view along the journey, just desert, very dry and yet we didn't see any cactus along the way. crossing from Nevada to Arizona... Reached Grand Canyon just in time for the sunset ;p... it was cold, and luckily we brought enough winter gadget, it is -20 celcious in Grand Canyon, no kidding...the drinking water in the 3.78 gallon bottle had turned to ice after 1 night in the car...cold :-/
Great view..of coz... The Grand canyon is known as one of the 7 natural wonder in the world. Went to couple view point, like Mather Point, Yaki point...because it is winter time, sunsets around 5pm and it was totally dark around 6:30pm. We went to the souvenir shop then heading back to the hotel around 8pm, what a contrast compared to Las Vegas, we stayed out till 2am, and here we reached the hotel at 8:30pm, the night is still young...nothing much to do in such a small town..so we chat and "cho ti" till 11pm. We went out at 6:30am on the next day to catch the sunrise, it was so so so COLD... my goodness... we can't stay out for long but take turn to get out the car to take picture and enjoy the view. too bad that we can't make a trip down to the valley, too cold to hike down... maybe going again next year hahah, end of spring?

On the way back to Las Vegas, we stopped by at Hoover Dam, took a couple pictures and there were a lot of visitors...Hoover Dam generates electricity and water supply for 6 states, they are California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico. Half of the electricity and 1/3 of the water is supplied for California.
We also went to Las Vegas premium outlet..hehe... I bought a coach handbag :) and I met a Malaysia auntie there, she was there for holiday and I helped her to choose a handbag ;)...got back to stratosphere hotel around 6:30pm, and getting ready for dinner. I was busy calling couple hotel to check for show ticket, wanna watch the show from the world famous acrobatic and musical troupe from Montreal, Canada, called "Cirque du Soleil". Cirque du Soleil showcases 4 acts in Vegas, the ever so-famous and ever so-expensive “O” at the Bellagio, “Ka” at MGM Grand, “Zumanity” at New York, New York and “Mystere” at Treasure Island. There is another new show called "Lereve" at Wynn Hotel is from a different producer. The show price is around 100usd. I wanted to watch "Ka" but it wasn't showing on that night, same for "Mystere" and "O". Thus, I ended up watching "Zumanity", naughthy, sexy, thrilling, daring performance, Another side of cirque du soleil.

Both of us, me & JH, went for 10:30pm show at New York New York Hotel after having fabulous seafood buffet at Rio Hotel, best in town, highly recommended seafood buffet, 40usd each person... it was a long queue to get into the restaurant and we are stuffed... lobster tail, crab, scallop, clam chowder (my favourite) and a lot more.. :p OK OK back to the show, Zumanity is a funny and entertaining 90 min show, a piece of art... graceful and sexy performance by good figure women and men. You should watch it when you visit Las Vegas.. and I am going to watch "Ka" next time... btw, Cirque du Soleil is coming to Portland in March next year to perform Varekai, I am planning to go with my friends... ^o^

Originally, we planned to go to Studio 54 in MGM after Zumanity...studio 54 is rated the #1 disco place in the world, very much visited by famous celebrities. cover charge during weekend is usd40 and it is complementary for ladies ;)..haha.. but it is closed on Monday..what a waste.. :~(...so my friends went to gamble and I went back to rest... We went back to Portland on Tue afternoon after having our lunch at Royal Star Chinese restaurant at Venetian hotel. The DimSum is really good.. and I didn't really gamble, I just spent 1usd on slot machine and that's it... i think table black jack (single deck) was fun, but we didn't have time to join the fun...

Today, I am back to work, my colleugues and friends told me i look fresh and happy... so it is always good to getaway for a relax trip, just give yourself a break. :) a short rest will help you to go further (休息是为了走更长远的路）...remmeber that ;)

Interesting..and..UNforgetable Thanksgiving 2005

2005-11-28T15:58:00.000+08:00

I had been very busy for the past few days... but it was COOL, a mixture of all emotions: happy, surprised, excited, stressed, angry, touching.....etc

Wed 11/23/2005
Hooray... the holiday i have been longing for has finally comes :).... I browsed through the black friday ads in the office and chit chat with my coleagues and friends, u know, everybody is in holiday mood, haha... :p so just enjoy... Originally, we (me with 9 other guys) plan to go to spirit mountain casino for the Wed seafood buffet, but i chickened out because I think that i should start preparing for the friday party (spirit mountain casino is 1.5hrs away from hillsboro) Went to costco right after work to grab a huge fresh salmon for the party and started to prepare FOOD... work non-stop from 7pm to 10:30pm, my eyes are so busy, becoz watching series while preparing stuffs...keke.. On the same night, CC, WF, F and me went to Portland city grill happy hour supper, F is flying off on thanksgiving. We reached home at 1am and I continue to cut chicken, wash vege and marinate the chicken until 2:30am *o*..yawn

Thu 11/24/2005
Wake up at 8:30am, and feel so lazy.... lot of chores waiting for me... started with cutting job after my breakfast, today schedules is tight, because I have a thanks giving party at my US colleugue's house in downtown portland, the party starts at 3pm and I need to leave by 2pm. My friend came over to help me cut chicken wings and onion :p... hahha luckily got S, else I will be crying for a long time (cutting the onions), finished cooking 2 pots of curry chicken and 2 pots of tomyam soup.

went to Erik's place and meet some new friends, Erik's wife Charissa cooked a huge turkey weighted 23lb, and not many of us, just 7.... we are stuffed...me, Will, Erik and David playing gamecube together, we played mario kart and mario party 6... it was so fun and so funny... we are fighting so hard against each other, hoho... and of coz with my screaming *o* hehe had made the atmosphere ;p ..and you know what Will said, "now I see the other side of you beside work"...and LOL
reached home at 8pm and continue the remaining dishes, I baked 2 cheesecake and working on the pandan chicken wings...tomorrow is black friday and some stores open at 12 midnight and the rest are mostly started at 5am. kena "forced" by one of my friend to go shopping at 12am at compusa. 3 of us, CC, S and me went out at 12midnight...

Fri 11/25/2005
This is really a long shopping, so crazy, we went to couple places, compusa, bestbuy, radio shack, fry's and woodburn...ppl queue up at 2/3am, and we actually shopped for whole night, didn't get any sleep.. my god!!! and I arrived home on the next day at 1pm. i have broke my record so far.. didn't sleep for 32hrs, when i reached home, I cannot go to sleep :( becoz my party is at 7pm and I haven't finished preparing food and tidying up the house, thus, i do everything in rocket speed and got everything done at 3:30pm, finally I unplug all phoneline and SLEEP zzzz... until 6:15pm, bath and get ready for guest arrival ;)

haha, everything turn out perfectly... guests arrived after 6:30pm and everybody so enjoy with karaoke, chit chat, board games and of coz my cooking *o*. my apartment is so packed with so many ppl, not enough seat..paiseh..hehe... but the food is more than enough, yeah..i keep asking them to finish the food, but still left a few pot for the next day.

They brought me a baskin robin ice cream cake, yum yum and i think this is the first time, i have so many friends celebrate my birthday with me (in US??... hmmm I think I dun have such big party in Malaysia too), first time taking the challenge to cook for so many ppl, first time to shop throughout the night, the first time not getting any sleep in 32 hours and I really cannot believe that I can do my thanksgiving shopping and also successfully prepare for my party... kudos to me... hahah :D so happy.. we hang out till 1am.

On the same night, I have special guests visiting from a *far far away kingdom*, 2 Uni friends (Ah Foo & Kok Heng) + 2 of their friends are on their way to seattle, drove all the way from san jose and decided stop overnight at my place. They are the 4 legend... haha... they dun feel tired after the long drive, but "cho ti" until 2am and somemore asking me to bring them to clubbing.... wow... amazing, but i really cannot take this kind of request especially only slept for 3 hours in the past 42 hours... no no no... I need MORE sleep..

Sat 11/26/2005
Had dim sum with the legend-4 + SS & wife at Jin Wah Beaverton, then the legend-4 set off to Seattle.

me and other friends went to Woodburn to shop... a day after black friday, still got a lot of sales... I am so happy to shop this time, unlike yesterday morning, I was in Woodburn too, but was like a zombie and very grumpy ( my 2 friends were the victim, who asked them to bring me for overnight shopping :p) keke... and I bought a lot of clothes :D.. then my friends belanja me dinner at Olive garden, italian restaurant, it was great and I got a surprise birthday cake from the restaurant and they sang birthday song for me... hoho... so touching... thanks everybody :D

we reached home ~9pm and I called home at chat for whole night, then SLEEP...

Sun 11/27/2005
hahah, today I really feel so fresh, get up at 11am...hehe.. long time nvr sleep so well and so late... I invited my friends over to my place for lunch to finish the remaining food... they are so cool, had help me to finish most of them... and we karaoke again... funny funny...
today is just so relax and slow pace, I take my time to clean up the apartment and test out my new altec lansing speaker and panasonic cordless phone etc etc...from thanksgiving sales. they are all good buy. ;)

and time flies, 4-day holiday is over, tomorrow is Monday, gotta work... but i am fully charged now and ready to handle a week of work...buckle up...:p

Weekend is NOT enough!!

2005-11-21T14:00:00.000+08:00

Today is a busy and tired day. I woke up at 9:10am, received a phonecall from a friend to pick him up from tri-met station, then with 2 other gals (JH & LL), 4 of us went for dimsum and grocery shopping for my thanks giving party. Thank God that i have them with me which had made the whole grocery shopping a possible mission, hello..food for 20ppl ok? Imagine we shop from 12 to 4:30pm and reached home at 5pm. and just to unload the food, I need to go like 5-6 rounds and my apt is at 3rd floor... phew.. long time nvr exercise, so it is good for me *o*

Tired tired... Reached home around 2am last night and slept at ~3am and went out for whole morning and afternoon today...no rest until now, worst of all tomorrow is ~MONDAY~

Bachelorette Party for FIONA
Yesterday was a gal night out, bachelorette party for F;). We went to Salvado Molly's (pirate cook) at SW Portland that serve splendid and cheap food. The food portion is just nice and we (F,CC,WF & me) each had ordered the oyster shooter, mine & CC's with fire-hot sauce, and yes... our tongue were really on fire... oooo...for the main course, I ordered Autumn's Wahoo, it is a type of fish that cook with butternut and coconut sauce, yum yum :p... and serve over coconut rice... it was GREAT... (and I miss nasi lemak in Malaysia..) We enjoyed chit chatting, F told us her romance with SW and how SW propose to her etc etc :p, so romantic...

After having our dinner, we went to Pasha, a middle-east restaurant & bar near Chinatown Portland. It is famous with its belly dance and the newly introduced fire dance. We reached the bar kind of early ~10pm and waited for 2 hours for the performance to begin. As it is a bachelorette party, the original proposal was to go to male strip bar... but some of us were hesitate to go .. hoho ^o^ so plan changed ..keke Anyway, we had no regret going to this place, the fire dance was like a stunt ..man, and the belly dance was entertaining, actually this is the second time I go to this club, and i think the belly dancer during my 1st visit was superb, real great, no kidding, I just can't get my eyes over her belly... amazing...I am kind of dissapointed that they have changed to a new dancer, but this gal is prettier though. We enjoyed dancing in the club and we met the owner of the restaurant too... our drinks are FOC..but i didn't order any ;), was too full after the dinner. We took quite a bit of photo...will share them once F send to me...

Tzu Chi (慈济) study group

2005-11-20T10:34:00.000+08:00

I went to Tzu Chi bi-weekly study group today, from 12 to 3pm.
The Portland Tzu Chi center is located in Beaverton Oregon, ~25min from the place I stay. This study group happen every 1st and 3rd saturday of the month and we will read the diary from Master Zeng Yan.

Master Zeng Yan diary is divided into 4 series, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Today, we started with the Autumn Diary. Usually, we are assigned with a couple chapters and share the "essence of the day" with Tzu Chi brothers and sisters. I am learning with a big group of elder bro & sisters, they are all from middle-age group and I am the youngest :). Most of them are from Taiwan, some from China and Hong Kong.

The following is the essence of my sharing today, I wish to share more but I am too slow in typing the chinese charactor *o*。

I always have my bag *full* after the study group, thanks to Tzu Chi. 感恩。。。

微尘人生：是微尘，非微尘，是微尘
上人说：在我尚未出家之前，总觉得生在世间，到底有何作用？我是如此地渺小如微尘，多我一个人，地球不会多一分重量，少我一个人，也不会减轻一分力量。做慈济之后，一直到现在，自觉依然是“微尘”，但这跟过去看轻自己的心态，已经完全不同了。