For the Love of 80's: Now That's What I Call Music

Lady in the Water

Another wonderful movie. Not quite your typical clinging-onto-your-seat-M. Night Shyamalan-in-The-Village-style but gripping in the most wonderful of ways. Much like The Big Fish - to be honest.

Christmas Concerto

So wonderful! Me go emo!

My first-born had his Christmas concert at school. It was absolutely wonderful. Me and Laukong were brimming with pride. We couldn't believe that he had actually participated and sang and danced just as he and his friends were taught to.

The last Christmas concert he did was last year when we were still living in Dubai. The poor boy must suffered so much stage fright that he just stood there frozen.

But this year, he has come a long way. His confidence has shot up through the roof. He has become so articulate in his spoken English. He can read his school books without much help. He even received a Star Pupil certificate in recognition of this.

*SIGH* My baby boy is really growing up before my very eyes. And to think he is only 4. :)

Wanker-Doodle-Dory-Poo

Worra ingrate. Nuff said.

Black to White

While I was busy sulking and feeling sorry for myself, our nanny happily announced that the freight people have arrived. At first I thought she was joking. *cue* me being cautious and weary and starting to get used to disappointments. Turned out she was right.

I wanted to jump with glee, but stopped before the euphoria overpowered me as I have been warned that the boxes had been opened. True to their words, at least for this one, 2 of the boxes did not arrive in their original ones. 3 boxes were severely damaged, the contents trying to burst out of the sellotaped edges.

On the bright side all contents seem intact in terms of quantity. Except for 2 packs of my first-born's long awaited powdered milk and our 2 sacks of rice which had suspicious looking holes that had been gnawed through. Let's not even go there. *shudder*

I am however, happy to report that I now have other items of clothing to wear (to work and at leisure) other than my 4 (Monday through to Thursday; Friday is baju-kurung day) Polo shirts.

Food stock also arrived aplenty. But best of all 6 bottles' worth of T.G. Kiat rose syrup. Hoo-rah!

Of course the kids' stock of diapers and milk count too.

Now that our air freight has finally come, it's time to chase for our sea freight. Back to the drawing board!

Fade to Black

Here I am sitting at home waiting for the long - make that veeeeeery long - awaited arrival of my airfreight. The time is now 17:10 p.m. I've been told that they will deliver after work and now Laukong is telling me that these people do not work 24/7. Therefore I should let my guards down and just accept that my airfreight will not be arriving today. *SIGH* - make that a rather looooong *SIGH*

A Christmas present from my gift from God

My first-born came home from school today and gave me a lovely Christmas card and present. It cheered up my day. What parent wouldn't feel delighted at the thought of receiving a gift (hand-made at that) from the greatest gift God can ever give?

Brunei Marathon?

I've been following up closely on the post-mortem reports of the Brunei Marathon from various (both official and un) sources. Well, what can I say? Was it a big blunder for our country? Well, who am I to give my 2 cents worth? Afterall I wasn't even in Brunei to witness the event.

However, 2 participants should be noted - courtesy of Ranoadidas for giving them the spotlight. It's one thing to do a marathon, but it's another to do it for charity. Kudos to Norali and Andy for doing such a selfless act. It does bring the point to home and question - how often do we do things purely to help others? It is something to not just ponder about, but also something we should all strive to do. For a start, you can make a donation to their cause - Seeing is Believing - helping those who are visually impaired.

Charity, afterall, begins at home.

My Take on Living in Nigeria: Dog Eat Dog World

I was walking to the other side of the office compound this morning with 3 of my colleagues, when I saw a stray dog. It hit me then that after being here for almost 4 months, this was the first time I have seen a stray dog in Nigeria. The only dogs I have seen here so far are the police guard dogs standing by the gates.

So I asked one of my colleagues why are there no stray dogs in Nigeria. Apparently, as my colleague reluctantly explained for fear that I am of the queasy sort, people eat them. Simple as that.

I guess this beats seeing squashed dogs with splattered brains that we see on a daily basis on Brunei roads.

*sniff* *sniff*: The Return

My weekend went by like a flurry. My nose was runny literally the whole day. I knew there was something wrong when I had to shove tissue up my nose rather than blowing it every bleeding second. After lunch, I decided to take something for cold and fell asleep...only to wake up at 6pm Sunday. Talk about chill-pill!!

Of course, after I had my emergency supply of chicken soup (bless the cook for agreeing to come in on a Sunday just to make me this) I fell back asleep until this morning.

How I managed to get up and go to work, I have no idea. In fact, I'm not even sure how I managed to survivethe day AND finished off some of my work! To top it all off, I didn't even go home for lunch - thanks to a late start for a meeting.

Always looking on the bright side of life - this means I get to lose more weight. As of today, my weight is officially as per my pre-1st pregnancy weight. Hoo-rah! Hoo-ray!

My Take on Living in Nigeria: Hot in Herre

The Harmatan season has finally arrived. Harmatan to Nigeria is what kemarau is to Brunei. So the dry season has definitely made its presence known after months of non-stop rain. Thankfully it is not as humid as it is in Brunei. However, the air can give off the feeling of thickness and dustiness.

Mornings, strangely enough, is quite cool and sometimes misty. Cool air breezes by and you get that feeling as if you are in the UK during summertime rather than in the middle of Africa. You can thank this, and the dustiness, from the wind coming from the Sahara desert.

However, come mid-day it's a different story altogether. The temperature rises and the air starts to feel a bit thick. It's times like these you start to miss the rainy season. You dream of the days when you have a swimming pool in your backyard so you can chill and cool off. *SIGH* I long to see the day when my seafreight arrives so I can unpack and install our pool. But at this rate, by the time we're ready, the rainy season would have come again full-circle.

To Whom It May Concern

To whoever borrowed my book sometime in 1997, please return it. You know who you are. You are rich enough to buy a copy for yourself by now - surely with your fancy-schmancy cars and all...AND if I recall correctly, you never did went to Paris afterall.

One pet peeve I have are people who like to "borrow" things permanently. It's one thing to "param" other people's stuff, it's another when they just don't return it to the rightful owner. How do these people sleep at night?

Friday Matinee

Have just finished watching You, Me & Dupree. It's such a stupidly funny movie. At the beginning, I honestly thought I was not going to enjoy it. Somehow Dupree reminded me of a dear friend. He can be really annoying but in the most endearing way. He always means well though, so no matter what I will always have a soft spot for him. Warts and all, I do miss him and he'll always be a good friend of mine.

Am currently watching The Covenant. I've never actually heard of it until tonight - for good reason really, as I have never heard of any of the cast members before. Also, it seems to be a teenage movie, much like The Craft: Boy Band version.

However, judging by my mood and chain of events these past week - work-wise - this movie was most appropriate. Don't you wish sometimes that you have super powers to do or make things happen out of sheer will? Especially to people that just annoy the hell out of you like the Mr Wanker you've had the pleasure of getting to know now.

9-to-5?

This is taking flexible working one step further. If only more companies are as radical and as willing to take such risks. When's the next vacancy? Sign me up!

Wanker-Bastard

How is it that someone so high up in the organisation can be so unprofessional? And to top it all off, act so childish? As an outsider in this country, I am compelled to think that perhaps this is a culturally phenomenon. But having thought hard about it, I don't think that is a fair assumption. I shouldn't generalise really, as my interactions with other locals have shown me far more professional and acceptable behaviour.

Right now I am too pissed off to think too much about it. It's been going on for more than 3 weeks now. I'll park this aside in the meantime and keep in view for a more detailed account (and perhaps insight - if I can calm myself down) in one of my "My Take on Nigeria" entries.

You've got to be kidding me

Saw this article at Yahoo! Have a read and see what you think.

Sounds like a cop-out to me. Pah!

Wanker-Doodle

Had another sore throat yesterday but managed to scramble all the way to work. To be expected, there were plenty of e-mails with urgent actions waiting for me. Of course, everyone is priority. Pfffft!

Towards the end of the day, I received a nasty phone call from a customer. He's been giving me nasty phone calls for quite some time now and have been an absolute, complete wanker. You first met him in my Wanker-Dory entry. Well, I shall say no more about him - until such time that he decides to grace me with another "friendly" phone call.

Oh btw, did I tell you that my boss was being funny yesterday as well?

In summary - working here is really beginning to be a pain. I get no support from my boss. Hard time from customers who are just NEVER satisfied. Colleagues who pretend to be nice (yes, I can see right through you, Miss Butter-wouldn't-melt-in-your-mouth).

This is definitely not the kind of work challenge I was expecting. But I suppose any kind of challenge is a challenge in itself.

~says she.

Sliders

Found this cool site that makes nice slide show for you. Here's my first attempt.

Carrot cake at the end of the stick

Yesterday was the last of the 2 Saturdays my first-born had to go to school. After school I made my first attempt at baking a carrot cake. Well to be honest, it was the first of any cake I have attempted, with icing and all.

Considering that, it didn't turn out too badly. The taste was ok though a little on the sweet side. The texture was a little towards the dense side and I blame this on the mixer. I used the wrong implement because I couldn't find the proper one, you know the one that looks like 2 egg beaters.

Anyway, we got an invitation to tea today, so I brought some of the cake. Admittedly, and much to my relief, it was a success. The hosts were full of compliments which pleased me immensely as I've never seen Laukong beeming ever so proudly of yours truly - though I doubt that he'd admit this.

Deperately Seeking Retail Therapy

Since I took the plunge in buying the Chloe Paddington bag in chocolate almost a year ago, I have found myself being quite partial to brown bags.


I'm not afraid of gold anymore.














Cute bag. But black bags are so boring in this day and age.














This will be a good bag for work.














I still dream of the Spy bag. Darn you, eluxury!














I'm so glad to see the bamboo handle making a come-back. Who says only Pandas favour bamboos? It has been literally years since I last liked and bought anything from Gucci. Love this. Definitely a potential in my holiday to-buy list.














Add this into the list as well. My current Prada work shoes has definitely gone past its due mileage. I tell you, Prada shoes literally gives you back your money's worth. And incidentally, so do Gucci's.














Burberry's are normally good for work shirts and kid's clothing. But I'm not normally a big fan of their bags. However this has caught my attention - though I'm still two hearts whether or not it's something I would actually buy and ultimately wear as arm candy. I'll let you be the judge of it.

I want this NOW! ~ while stocks last

Must have this pronto! I've been eyeing this since I first saw it in a magazine months ago. I've seen it being sold online in a number of websites but none in the colour I want. Now that they have it in the colour I want - it doesn't deliver outside the US. So I thought, no problem. I'll just use my friend's US address for the delivery. Turns out billing address has to be within the US too. Darn you, e-luxury!

In the meantime, I shall have to be content with my virtual drooling. Oh. But then again even if I could order, I'd have another problem - seems like the white version is nice too. So which one then?

My Take on Living in Nigeria: Generation Generator

It has just occured to me that my blog entries have been *for want of a better word* rather "inward". I have been living and working in Nigeria now for almost 4 months, and not one entry has given much insight to what life is like living here. So I thought, once in a while I should dedicate an entry to such a topic.

Being ill at home means that I get to be aware of occurances that normally happens in the camp while I'm at work. 2 days in a row now the generator has come on at specific times of the day.

Generator. Now there's a word or object that I have not heard in a long time. I thought those things were long obsolete - what with all the new-age ways of generating energy these days.

The last time I know of someone who had used it was my grand-uncle (Nenen Anggah). My maternal grandmother's third brother. This was way back in the early 80's - 1982, if I'm not mistaken. Nene Anggah and family had just moved house from Jalan Kumbang Pasang to Kampung Tanah Jambu. At that time, there was hardly any house being built in that particular "simpang" (of course now it's practically a village within a village). So no sign of existing civilisation meant that no electricity supply was available in that part of the village. For quite a long time, everytime we went there for any occasions/functions/events I will always remember how noisy it was - I will learn later that this was courtesy of the generator. Gosh, what must that have been like to live with?

Fast forward that to the next millennnium - almost the end of 2006 to be precise - the use of generators is pretty much a big part of daily life here in Nigeria. With so much oil money and untapped talents, you'd be surprise by the standard of living Nigerians are having to live. Electricity, something we have taken for granted in the 21st century, is still not in steady supply.

Nigerians (those who can afford it) have lived to depend on generators to keep daily electrical goods, like refridgerators, running. I have recently discovered, much to my surprise, that generators are not economical to maintain. I've been told that most people will only run their generators for certain periods during the day, just enough to keep their fridges running to keep their food fresh for as long as possible. So you can forget about having all-day air-conditioning in your house.

This new insight about generators has made me think about my very own "lush" living conditions within the residential area. You'd be surprise what spoilt and idealic life we lead here inside the camp. We have electricity running 24-7.

Being employed by a big company means that it can afford to provide it's employees with decent homes complete with a golf course, a club (restaurants, tennis courts, olympic size swimming pool, warts & all) and the all more important electricity. Mind you, the company has it's own power station which is why the electricty supply is so reliable.

Of course, in the event that the power station suffers a shut-down (which is not very often, I must say), we have these gigantic generators placed between every few houses or so all over the camp to help out. Normally it doesn't take long before the generator takes over in cases of power failure. So quick that you don't normally notice it until you hear the noisy drumming, humming and vibrations coming from the generators. Oh. Did I tell you that one of the generators is just opposite our house?

I shouldn't complain really. It has its perks living within close proximity to the nearest generator. But the main perk has to be sharing the same generator as the top man of the company's abode. This means that whenever power's down, it's our generator that gets switched on first - wouldn't want the First Lady of the camp to be in the least bit "perspiring" in distress, do we?

Before I even begin to have any more thoughts that remotely resembles as complaint, I should count my blessings that we live a stone throw's away from the nearest generator - well, for the existence of generators in general. I should think about the Nigerians living outside the camp whose daily livelihood depends so much on the generators.

Come to think of it, I should also thank my lucky stars before I start complaining and swearing all words beginning with every letter of the alphabet the next time we have a power trip in Brunei.

The Makings of a Bookworm

This was the First Sweet Valley book and first (and definitely not the last) book that I finished reading in one day. I bought it from one of the newsagents at Heathrow Airport. I remember asking my father for some money to buy the book. My father has always been good at things like that. He'd always encourage and support any interest relating to books. There was something about the cover of this one that attracted me to it. I must have been about 11 or 12 at that time.

After that first Sweet Valley book, I was addicted. Whenever I had any pocket money, I would spent it on Sweet Valley books. As I progressed to upper secondary, my reading progressed to Sweet Valley High. Then all my girl friends would read them too which gave way to many book swappings. We'd made sure we don't buy the same Sweet Valley books.

Other books also formed part of the "unofficial" book club. Judy Blume was another staple, and to a lesser extent, Paula Danziger.

I went on do to English Literature for both my O and A' Levels. Most people thought I was mad and rather...boring. But I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. A favourite of mine, even today, was All Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It is such a wonderful book. I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't studied it.

I also remember enjoying John Donne, more than I did Shakespeare. I thought that his poetries were so thought provoking and well beyond any ideas or concepts accepted during his era.

My reading went through different phases as I grew older. There was a time when I was into Danielle Steel though funnily enough I was never into Jackie Collins. Then it was Barbara Cartland, followed by an experimental stage of Robin Cook (no not the British politician sort). Then at one point I decidedly went gothic and read Ann Rice with fervour.

Today, my love for reading and books still live on. I could never swap the smell of new books for a virtual one that you can download from the internet. However, my reading is a lot more varied now. Somehow I don't go for any particular genres or authors anymore. My book buying habits has come to depend on the sentiments and mood that I feel at the time the book was purchased.
To illustrate, my modern day favourites are Monstrum by Donald James and A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, which has since inspired me so much to go India (this is still in my must-do list).

Apart from my love for reading, I must confess I am absolutely anal about how my books are handled. I am always careful not to crease the skeleton of the book as more pages are turned. And I absolutely hate it when people fold the pages by way of book marking. Why did people invent bookmarks in the first place?! You can tell really why I'm not particularly fond of lending my books to anyone.

Yet some might accuse me of being weird...but I'd say if only for the love of my precious books.

~ My precious! ~

Ode to Good, Old British Humour as We Bid Farewell to American Trash

Now that my Friday nights of American trash has come to an end (sorry, I just cannot see myself as a loyal fan of The Bachelor), I have decided to pay homage - or rather switch my loyalty - to the programmes of BBC Prime.

It's a jolly holiday with Mary

Being ill in bed all night last night meant that I missed The Kumars at 42 and Little Britain. So much for my Tuesday night comic. Not sure if I would have enjoyed the humour as much if I had been awake to watch them. Although I did recall - while drifting in and out of consciousness - hearing Laukong having the time of his life laughing to the hilarious *I'm sure* segment of "I'm a lady" from Little Britain.

However, I have more than made up for my loss of BBC Prime entertainment today. I can thank my lucky stars for the amount of home improvement programmes that came on in the morning - which cheered me up immensely.

We love you, Diarmuid.

Snow on the Sahara

Woke up with a really bad sore throat yesterday - well, the sore throat started Monday afternoon just as work was about to close. Then yesterday morning, I felt like I had swallowed an elephant and I could have sworn that my chin had trebled.

So I spent almost all morning at the hospital. I have never met a doctor who expressed so much interest on his patient - well, he certainly liked to talk! He didn't really ask too much questions on my ailment, he seemed to be more interested in telling me other things. I would love to tell you what most of his monologue was all about - but you see, I have this uncanny ability to switch off on a conversation, and switch on an Oscar performance with the timely "yes", "uh-huh", oh really?", etc right on cue. So am sure it was a pretty interesting conversation - compelling stuff, I'm sure.

However the doctor was kind enough to give me the rest of the week off - much to the horror of my boss. He seems to think that my crimbo holidays has started. Will not comment on that too much.

Anyway, went home on the lunchtime bus feeling the chills that could mean either one of two things: winter has started in Africa or I am coming down with a fever. Obviously it was the latter.

Wanker-Dory

Kind of had a bad-ish day today. The only reason why it didn't become a full-fledge bad day is because I did not allow it to be so. It's all a matter of choice really. Either you let it get to you or you just shrug it off and stay positive. But having said that does not mean that I'm going to pass the opportunity of having a good whinge about it in my blog. Oh! The wonders of technology!

The bastards at work - one customer, to be precise - have had a go at me again today. He seems to be on a roll for the past 2 weeks. This time it has nothing to do with me. What really bugs me is that I had to take the fall even though it was obvious that I was trying to help out, where really it was not even my job to so. And what do I get for trying to be a good Samaritan? Got on the receiving end of "shit got in the fan" effect (complete with the cc everyone under the sun and moon extras).

Apart from this shitty twat of a wanker, I had accomplished a lot of things - and all with 3 days to spare before the deadline.

Gimme the light

Much to Laukong's horror I told him that I like Sean Paul's "Give it up to me". It was on the telly during one of those "selingan" moments in between tv shows. Laukong switched the channel and I told him to put Sean Paul back on. Now the horror comes because I have always been an active "eww" advocator of Sean Paul. I remember he was all the rave when I was living in Dubai. It was cool to play Sean Paul full blast (in true "jual keset" style) while driving your yellow hummer with the windows rolled down as you pass the Jumeira Beach Road all the way to Bur Dubai. Certainly a life I am glad to leave behind.

Cow is a Bitch, Bitch is a Cow

My first-born went to school this morning. Yes, it is Saturday. School will be open for 2 Saturdays to make up for the 2-day delay at the beginning of term. My first-born was more than happy to go to school an extra day. I certainly didn't mind since this is a rare chance that I get to do the school-run. Not even the presence of Madam Cow spoilt the moment.

As to be expected she was a real cow. I don't know how she does it, but she really makes her presence known and has this air about her that she is so much better than everyone else. Come to think of it, Mr Cow has the same traits. I don't know what it is about them.

You don't know how tempted I am to publish the Cow's photo on this blog. Just so that people can see her in all her crowning effing-glory. At least you'll get to see what I mean and question where she gets her high and mighty ideas from. But of course we shall not stoop down low to her level.

Picture credit: "i am too good for your world" - sam brown, exploding dog

Infernal Affairs has departed

Will Miss You American Trash: A Tribute

Would you take a rose from this guy? Uh-uh! Ewwww...

Alas, the beginning of The Bachelor tonight marks the end of my Friday Night of American Trash. Looks like as of next week, the future of my Friday nights looks bleak.

No more Outback Jack.
No more Average Joe.
No more Kept.
Only a couple more episodes of Survivor: South Africa and Survivor: Africa.

So what's a girl to do on Friday night?

Bye-bye Miss American trash...Drove my chevy to the levee...But the levee was dry

Itchy Hands

Outback Jack concluded today. Unfortunately itchy hands meant that I went to the website while the program was still on. It was inevitable that I would read the spoiler and I only had myself to blame. Not only did I accidentally read who the chosen one was but that she and Jack had recently got married! Ba-da-bing!

Big Fish

I have just watched one of the most wonderful movies I've ever seen. Kudos to Tim Burton for the Big Fish. I'm just surprised I have not watched it until now. The stories told are just how they should be told. A little larger than life, and one of adventure.

The cinematography is absolutely superb - full of vibrant colours and wonderful characters. An exagerated version of reality, yet with a compelling story to tell. You don't get movies or stories like this in this day and age - lest of all from Hollywood. This is one movie classic that I'll definitely watch time and again in years to come. This is coming from someone who does not normally watch a movie more than once.

American Music Awards - 2 cents version

Am watching the American Music Awards as we speak. Here's my 2 cents worth:

The Who's:
1) JC - should have quit while you were on top
2) Kevin Federline - should never have started to begin with
3) The Cheetah Girls - should have stayed in Disney Channel
4) Nick Lachey - touche!

What's the point:
1) Pussycat Dolls - name is in plural but I only noticed 1 singer. Who's counting? But if you want I can fake it. Or they can too - sing, that is.
2) Paris Hilton - see Kevin Fedex-whatshisface

Honourable mentions:
1) What happened to Nelly Furtado? She used to be so cool. She's gone and done a Mariah. Somebody please UN-emancipate her.
2) Love, love, love Gwen Stefani...uh-huh she knows her shit.
3) ...But not Fergie.
4) Love, love, love Nicole Richie's new hair-do and outfit...
5) ...But not Lionel.

Random observations:
1) What's with the long hair, short bangs hair-do?

Oh, fuck, wank, bugger, shitting arsehead and hole - Part 2: The Revenge

That just about sums up my day today.

Cranky customers calling first thing in the morning - have been away from the office for 2 days (sick & workshop), so fair go, mate!

Cranky colleague pulling up a strop - all was sorted in the end as I had predicted, if only people don't start pushing the panic mode to begin with.

Idiotic collleague who washes his hands clean and likes to move the goal post - whatever happened to all this talk about ACCOUNTABILITY?

Colleague decides to tell that "ideally" the deadline for data submission should be end of close of business - I was 'kindly' informed at 10 minutes to 4pm.

Missed lunch. Took the late bus home.

Like I said - Oh, fuck, wank, bugger, shitting arsehead and hole...


Picture credit: "after years of hating myself i finally got this job" - sam brown, exploding dog

Oh, fuck, wank, bugger, shitting arsehead and hole.

My favourite line from Love Actually - enough said.

Charity Begins at Home

I went to the workshop today. Luckily my sniffing has disappeared.

The workshop was on Diversity & Inclusiveness. During the course of the workshop we were shown this video of a miniature earth. I first saw this video a couple of years back in another Diversity workshop. I cannot even begin to describe how powerful this video is and the impact of the message that it sends across. I implore you to view it and think about your own life. Where are you in the grand scheme of things? The next time you complain about your life, think about the miniature earth. If you still need convincing, try this.

Now that things have been put in perspective - THINK AGAIN.

Photo borrowed from First8

*sniff* *sniff*

It seems my flu is not improving. My nose is getting runnier by the minute. I am contemplating whether or not I should give work a miss tomorrow. I have a workshop to attend, so I can't think how I can get out of it without being charged at the final hour. *sniff, sniff*

I'm too lazy now to do anything about the pre-work. I am loathe to take medication at the same time. There are only a few tablets left, and I don't want to waste. The next time I can top-up the pills will be when I go home - which is sometime next year during the summer holidays. To take, or not to take. *sniff, sniff*

*ah-choo*