Last one standing?

(This was an old unpublished post - written 2 years ago- sometime in late May 2011)

I should be working. Its `that time of the year' again (for those uninitiated, its `brand plans' period).

However, this evening, saw a post on facebook and found out that one of my ex has just gotten married a few days ago and somehow that kinda impacted my evening.

Not that I still harbour any feelings for him. It was like really eons and eons of years ago! He is not in my immediate circle of friends anymore and in between the years, we have but met up only a few times, probably still countable with the fingers of one hand.

However, I still can't explain this strange and weird feeling that I am having. No, I don't know the bride and no, am also not jealous. I am just trying to decipher and analyse this weird potpouri of feelings that I am having.

Its a sense of loss somewhere, but wait, hold on, what `loss' am I actually referring to? when I don't `have' whatever it is to `lose'? Perhaps its the feeling of being the last one who is still `standing' in the land of singlehood, while everyone else seems to be entering matrimony by now... how fate and destiny and bad choices of men I've made in this life had collided and now this is my path...

Certainly not Vidal Sassoon

Today I finally mustered up the courage and walked into a neighbourhood hair saloon for a hair cut. Been postponing this for quite a while, making it not high up on my priority list. However as i would be going for a big meeting next week, having messy hair wouldnt really do much to help my professional image, so its now a matter of `when push comes to shove', which finally saw me out of the door to look for the next Vidal Sassoon.

Till now i don't really know the name of the saloon! anyway, I guess purple being my favourite colour, I was attracted by their exterior enough to want to walk in. And was very pleasantly surprised when the hairstylist, a young lady can actually speak English to me.

So, it began one of my bizarre hair cutting experience! I was asked to stand when she was trimming my hair! and this went on for a good 10-15 minutes... before I was finally allowed to sit. When she was done with layering my hair, she asked me if I wanted mousse, which I said `yes' and the next thing is, she pumped out a whole big glob onto a towel and proceeded to spoon off these to a comb and actually combed through my whole head! i think I have never used so much mousse before..

At the end of it, the price of the total hair do - 53 Euros! which I think is pretty expensive since I know a colleague of mine does her usual haircut at only 25 Euros...and I asked the lady..her answer, `yeah, but you agreed to use the good shampoo..and you wanted a conditioner..and then also the mousse"...waah..that means that every little bit of material used on my hair is at a cost to me, welcome to Belgium!

And how was the look? honestly, I think nothing much as changed..she just trimmed 1-2 cm off the length..my hair still looks very much pretty similar as before, only probably tidier.

This clearly ain't Vidal Sassoon...

To Brussels, to Brussels, I am finally there!

I moved over to cold and clammy Brussels one day in mid February 2013. Had meant to write all about my horrendous experience getting all the paperwork sorted and done but ..never got around to do that. Had also meant to write about all the new experiences of my new life here in the first few weeks, but..also never got around to doing that! so, how do I then quickly sum up in a nutshell then? here's my attempt:-

My move : KL to Brussels was on 17th Feb 2013

First Month -
* had the shock of my life when I was handed keys to a car to drive back from the office, on the 1st day of work! it was snowing, and the driver's seat is on the other side...
* got sick on the 1st day of work as well - probably too stressful the days before leaving warm sunny Malaysia
* learnt to drive in the snow ! it was still snowing in Feb. First day driving on my own, banged my other side mirror on a stationery truck. Lost the outer casing of the mirror..it was never replaced..
* asked for snow tires and never got it - cos was told that come March, the winter snow would be over (but it didnt!)
* learnt to start and be more vocal at work - not always the easiest when others speak faster and louder! and they are native English speakers to start with.
* stayed at flat rented by the company - was on a duplex, with the living/dining/kitchen on the basement, and only the bedroom on the ground floor. So, literally i was living in the basement. This went on for 2 months. Damn and cold, not sure if its the apartment or the weather!
* still converting Euros to Ringgit, and feeling really poor *hic* (salary not yet paid yet till end month)
* surviving on the maggi mee I brought over, and also started to buy other brands of instant noodles from the little shop in `Chinatown"
* starting to realise that my cooking skills had deteriorated tremendously, and feel that my cooking sucks..oh well, need to quickly warm up again and refind my cooking skills, else how to survive?
* started my registration at Etterbeek commune (my temp flat) as my visa is only valid for 8 days upon arrival ! need to stay legal!
* attended the Singaporean assoc's Chinese new year do, and made some new friends
* didnt attend the Malaysian assoc's Chinese new year do, as down with a bad cold

2nd Month 
* it continued to snow into whole of March (lesson: weatherman is not always right!)
* after being taken around by the relocation agent to view >20 units, finally found my home! hurray!
* started to plan for my move, and visiting Ikea, which is some distance away...
* getting more confident with my driving, but still avoiding driving if I can
* discovered that the croissants at the cafeteria is ooh so so fresh and delicious. Am having this for breakfast everyday onwards!
* started to drink more coffee - since the culture is so `hey, lets chat over coffee" ...when in Rome, need to do as the Romans do!
* starting to `couldnt care less' of how others view my dressing - which is not the trendy stylish european way. so what?
* learning that there is a `Continental' Europe..and Europe - and the people from different European countries are very different in terms of behaviour, speech and outlook
* pulling my hair out on where to find reasonably cheap curtains, and also wardrobe for my bedroom
* Ikea became my common haunt during weekends! having meatballs dinner there on Fridays, and breakfasted on scrambled eggs there on Saturday morning
* had to restart my residents registration at another commune, Woluwe Saint Lambert (where my new home is), as there had been no progress from the 1st commune
* my furniture arrives at Antwerp! hurray - now, need to clear customs before being moved to Brussels

3rd Month
* completed my move to my new home - hurray! 
* starting to see progress at work (albeit slower than anticipated), things are not so alien anymore. People are beginning to get more familiar with me, and vice versa
* realised that there are some really nice people around at work, and then again, there are also those who are not so accommodating or just plain selfish - just like any other offices
* had an impromptu `house warming' at my new place, and realised that Europeans are not used to potluck concept and everyone just brings wine and dessert, no `real' food! and drink beer like water.
* Italians are fast becoming my favourite Europeans (no offence to the others please), as I have a couple of good friends whom I can connect with, and they are Italians. Found that we share some pretty common values, e.g. tight family ties, community closeness etc. They are also the ones who understand potluck! haha.. had one friend who came and made fresh gnocchi at my home, really lovely!
* my confidence in driving in Belgium sees another achievement - I no longer feel strange driving on the right side of the road and driving is becoming natural again
* had my first 2 visitors from Malaysia - hurray! and we did a mono Belgium tour
* had the most beers of my life in 1 week, while bringing my visitors around - clearly am starting to drink beer like water too
* weather is getting lovelier by the day! spring is upon us...
* had my first bout of hayfever when spring hits..and continue to sneeze my head off..geezzz...
* starting to plan my summer holidays!


There! the key summaries of my first 3 months in Brussels...And now...I move into my 4th month!

Rose, Rose I love you

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) once said,
"Of all the flowers, me thinks a rose is best."

I, for one, have always love roses. There is just something about roses. As the symbol of love, roses have inspired many musicians, poets and authors. Shakespeare alone mentioned roses more than 50 times in his poems and plays. Now, the average person on the street would most likely know how to differentiate roses by their colours, be it red roses, pink roses, or yellow, and associated these colours with whatever meaning as heard from the media, e.g. yellow for friendship etc.

However I find that roses are beautiful not just in their colours but also in their names, variety, and characteristics. I had stumbled upon one beautiful rose garden, in the Principality of Monaco on the French Riviera, it is a charming space called the The Princess Grace Rose Garden, located in Fontvielle, Monaco. There are more than 150 varieties of roses cultivated and grown within.

I’ve managed to record down in pictures all the beautiful roses together with their unique names. Someone once said a rose is like a poem, it can say so much without saying much at all.

Henceforth, I shall write no more, and let the roses speak for themselves!

Statue of Princess Grace

Stephanie de Monaco

Johann Strauss

France Libre

Grace de Monaco

Maria Callas

Black Baccara

Amber Queen

Republic de Geneve



Last but not least, Solidor (from the 2nd picture of the same flower, where it is the solidary lone ranger in the rose bush, its no wonder it got this namesake!).

Taking Stock, Fast Forward

Today being the last day of 2010, am sure a lot of people are also like me, filled with nostalgia, and reminiscing the year that is just about to pass.

I would classify 2011 as a good year, though it came with a lot of trials and tribulations, and at times, at its darkest hours, i wasnt so sure, but yeah, looking back, think I'd just call it a good year!

Found this picture today in a dainty little place (which I will blog a bit later), which really sums up in a nutshell what I want to say tonight, as we are about to usher in the new year.

1) For 2011, I shall remember and always remind myself that my `Attitude is Everything', and that it will dictate how my year will churn out.

2) I shall be less materialistic, i.e. buy less consumer goods, and be happy with what I already have. So, no new cars although I just paid off my car loan. :) The key goal would be to build up my retirement funds adequately, and to pay off my housing loan asap; so, the less consumer goods I purchase, the more extra $$ to put into these funds.

3) I will be less of a pessimist , and try to be as optimist as I can, especially in situations which are beyond my control. We attract what we think! Must believe in the law of attraction, since this is scientifically proven, right? :P

4) Last but not least, I need to be less of a perfectionist, since being a perfectionist sometimes can be very tiring and can actually kill your spirit. And, being a perfectionist can be risky, as it is also known to build up (gulp!) to obsessive compulsion behaviour (OCD).

Happy New Year 2011 ! :)

How to Enjoy summer in Taiwan

Taiwan is a subtropical island nation with hot, wet and humid summers. These could be the best months to travel but for those unprepared, it could also be extremely and unbearably hot. These are some of the learnings I had from this trip:-

1) An umbrella is very useful
An umbrella is useful to help shade and protect against the sun. Don't worry of looking stupid, you will find many people doing so similarly. Taiwan's summer is also very wet and you will find the umbrella useful for those unexpected but short showers, which comes and goes. So, carry a foldable umbrella whenever you move about.

2) Only buy your umbrella when you reach Taiwan, else look for one `Made in Japan'.
I find that the umbrellas made in either Taiwan or Japan are specially made for strong winds as they are usually quite prone to typhoons, or pretyphoon storms. These umbrella are more sturdier, and if a gust of wind is to blow at you, the umbrella will fold upwards, but once you strongly shake it a couple of times, it will resume back to its original position! Umbrellas bought elsewhere (read: local) tends to be broken by strong winds. I find this concept pretty similar to the building design and technology behind the Taipei 101 tower, which was built like a bamboo pole, to enable it to bend slightly and sway (and not be broken in half) to the wind direction should a typhoon strikes. Umbrellas in Taiwan are not expensive, and cost from NTD80-200, you will find these easily available in MRT stations or night markets.

3) No point in bringing a raincoat. Only takes up space in your backpack especially if you already have an umbrella. But raincoat can't protect or shade you from the scorching sun.

4) Bring a foldable `chinese' fan! Summer weather is simply very hot and humid. Alternatively you can find the small battery-operated mini fan in 7-11.

5) Drink lots of water! and also replenish your ions intake with isotonic drinks. These can be easily found in 7-11, under the brands of `Pocari Sweat' or `Supau". Be careful not to buy the one which increases your metabolic rate. Yes, there are 2 types in TW, the latter is promoted as a weight loss aid because it will make you sweat even more.


6) Sunblock every part of your body! For my last trip, I remembered to apply on my face, neck, and arms. But I went out in pants reaching only mid calves and wear open sandals, and I came back with bad sunburn from my ankle to my toes! The next day, after learning my lesson, I remembered to apply all over till my toes but alas, I came back, having sunburnt ears!

7) If you have sensitive skin like me and prone to sunburns, better to bring a tube of aloe vera gel as most shops don't carry this. neither do they carry calamine lotion. I had a tough time trying to find this to relieve my sunburns.

8) Bring a small foldable shopping bag too as 7-11 don't give out plastic bags. Taiwan stresses on being environmental-friendly.

9) In some places, the mozzies are aplenty. Good to prepare some mozzie repellents. I brought along the patches instead of cream but nonetheless it was just as effective and takes up less space in my pack.

10) Last but not least, do remember your sunglasses!

Day Zero: 8-9-10. At Airport Checking-in

Finally the day of travelling! Where exactly am I heading ? Taiwan ! Had planned out an 11-day itinerary of backpacking around the island nation.

Left my house at around noon as although the flight was in mid afternoon, was worried of any raya rush at the airport. I had wanted to check in on-line the day before as well, but wasnt able to do so as an error message kept appearing. Finally I called up the airline office and found out that as my flight is a long-haul flight to Los Angeles, hence web check-in is not allowed due to tight security reasons.

When I arrived at the check-in counter, was surprised to find it all empty. Was I too eager and had arrived too early? anyway, as the counter staff was checking me in, I waited with abated breath on the weight of my check-in backpack. How much would it weigh??

As in my previous post, the weight of my pack had been of upmost preoccupation of mine for the past few weeks prior to the trip. Hence I was particularly anxious to see if all my meticulous `mathematical calculations" and "economised-packing" has paid off?

And...the counter reading says == 8.7 kg !!

Woohoo ! I had expected 11-12 kg. So it s 8.7kg for 11 days of travelling. First time in my life, I am travelling with an unbelievably light luggage (well, by my own standards-lah).

Suddenly, my shoulders felt very light. it is as if the burdens had been lifted. :) psychologically that is!

Ilha Formosa - here I come ! :)

8 - 9 - 10

All my bags are packed, am ready to go....

Yes ! it is just a few more days before the start of a long-awaited holidays! will be backpacking in a trip that will be a combination of mountains-lake-historical small towns-goodfood !

8-9-10 is the magic number! never knew the date of departure is actually a consenquential series of three numbers, but come to think of it, hey, it will make the trip even more memorable, right? at least, its a date that is very easy to remember in the future years to come. :)

Just to share how my bag looks like.. :) It looks leaner cos I've compressed it ... (notice the luggage tag? its a Fit-to-Fly luggage tag, check out www.fit2fly.com.my. And Thanks to Row for giving me extras :) )


Will be using a 35+10L Deuter bag. The last time I ever used a backpack, it was 55L, and I nearly fell over as after stashing in all my clothes and whatnots, it became simply too heavy to carry! good thing at that time, the group of friends I was with decided to rent a car instead of taking public transport. This time around, have decided to be smarter and opted for a smaller bag and made of more hi-tec lighter material (note : bag is still expandable! so, can still do some shopping if the opportunity arises)


Ah...a smaller bag also means I have to `economise' on my packing and be very efficient with what I bring. This, itself, has been a series of careful planning, thinking and surprisingly, to a certain extent, has become a somewhat mathematical equation/solution. For e.g. taking a bottle of 150ml shampoo will last for how many days? or, should i pour out into smaller containers instead? as every little morsel and milligram will add to the weight to carry around, this has suddenly become very significant. Even the type of material for my clothings, have to be carefully taken into calculation.

Anyway, the bag is all packed now. and the only thing to do now is...

Counting down to take off ! :)

There are still good people around

Spent my merdeka holiday doing nothing patriotic. Was at Sunway Pyramid in the morning to meet up with an old friend for a catch-up lunch and gossip.

When it was time to go back, I paid for my parking ticket at the autopay machine and walked to my car. It only occurred to me after I got into my car that, `hey, where's the parking ticket that I was holding in my hand earlier? ". My paid ticket had suddenly gone missing ! and scarily, I seemd to have experienced a temporary state of amnesia. I simply can't remember anything!

Searched all my pockets... searched all my shopping bags..and then turned my handbag inside-out, and then outside-in... searched as I might, still it wasnt there...

It was around this time, that I looked up and saw a family of 5, a mum with 3 children and a grandmother, hovering in front of my car and starring at the pillar (I was parked next to a pillar). The mum was looking hard at the parking ticket and discussing with the family on whether its the `right' pillar.

Ah...apparently, they found my ticket!! and...they found me because I happened to have this habit of writing the location of where I parked my car on the ticket. In this instance, I had written the pillar number on it, that was why they were trying to confirm earlier.

Phew!

So to the mum and the family who found AND took the trouble to find me just to return my parking ticket today, I would really like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Although some might argue that its no big deal to lose a ticket, you can just pay the fine and still get out of the carpark, however, what this family did was save me all the trouble and hassle of doing that.

And, they also showed that they care enough for a total stranger to go around the carpark looking for the `pillar'. Hey, suddenly, it occured to me that there are still good and kind people around after all! I am very fortunate and blessed to have met them today. Reminded me of what my own mum always tells me, `A little good deed goes a long way". This family's little deed really made my day.


And to those friends who always laugh at me for writing on my car park ticket vs taking a photo of my location with my mobile, well, looks like this old fashioned habit of mine is useful and serves me well after all ! :)

Brand Plans - The Aftermath

Its finally over...
After
- days and weeks of preparation
- sleepless nights due to an over-excited brain
- flip-flopping between references of global and regional slidesdeck
- cross referencing of other portfolios best practices
- overanalysing on market data as woulnt want to be caught `pants down' cos having not done enough analysis
- rehearsing the presentation
- anticipating possible questions
- rehearsing how to `rationalise' the lacklustre performance of certain months

Brand plan came..went by, finally, on last wed, the whole presentation was over in 1 hour !

Will have to spend another day to clean up the plans, finetune the numbers and walla! its all done for the year!

And now...the fun is about to start...its all the way to Execution!

That Time of the Year

Its THAT time of the year again...

No, its not about celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, festivities...

Its the `Oh No' for most brand managers (at least in my company). For some, its the dreaded time of the year.

Its Brand Plan time. Period.

Its about pulling out ideas, cooking up ideas, and panning it out in a plan to take through for the next 12 months.

Its about trying to put together a bunch of analysis, assumptions and `predictive future' of the marketplace and how it impacts the brand.

Its about identifying market/niche opportunities, and how to drive and convert into something tangible (i.e. sales numbers).

Its about challenges, and how you come up with a way to face up to those challenges or to circumvent it/them.

Its about getting prepared to go in for the presentation, which might sometimes turned out to be a long grilling session , comprising of intensive questions and debates, and of which you have to be on your toes and in top form, to answer as best as you can.

Its about when you have to show that you know the GUTS about your business.

Its about `Oh no, not another new template this year", whereby every year there is almost certain that there will be a new template or format to present your plans.

Some would also argue that its the very essence of a marketer's job.

Its also about `Oh no, another year has passed by....so fast ah? "

That said, after so many years, gosh, I still hate brand plans month!

Conversations

When I was last in Nice, in southern France, came across these 7 statues of men, sitting high up on poles along the Massena square's (Place Massena) tramway. At night, these `men' are all illuminated by colour neon lights into a wonderful array of multi colours. From day 1, I've been asking around to find out the meaning of these `men on poles', and what were the theme/message the artist was trying to convey. Many people just take it as just something nice to look at at night, without trying to know more.

I did eventually managed to find out that this piece of work is by a famous artist called Jaume Plensa, and he gave it a title of `Conversation in Nice'. All the 7 figurines were to represent dialogues between the seven continents in the world. As a result, there are also locals who call it the `Dialogues of 7 continents' art piece. Its basically encourages more harmony between continents, via more conversations between and amongst one another.

Hmm..makes one wonder, in our own lives, do we really talk to each other? between nations? between continents? between family members? colleagues? and friends?
a lot of the miscommunication and some conflicts these days, are really more of lack of communication between parties rather than anything else.

I applaud the artist for his ideals. If only this is well conveyed and received by the leaders of nations....

Meanwhile, come to think of it, I also realised that I am not a good global citizen. Heck, I can't even name all my 7 continents..gosh.. looks like my geo is really failing me...*red face* :O

25 Things About Yours Truly

1) I have 2 left feet.. I can’t dance and am really clumsy at coordinating my movements;

2) I can’t sing either, but I love to sing the chorus parts when others are singing karaokay (sounds very kay-poh, I know!) ;

3) When I was growing up, my ambition(s) changes every few years, and so far, I had aspired to be a nurse (in primary school), an archeologist (after being inspired by Indianna Jones) in lower secondary, a microbiologist when I was in upper secondary, and a lawyer when I was waiting for my STPM results. Ended up being none of these;

4) My Chinese name when merged with my 2 brothers’ Chinese names, can actually form a scenic picture. That of mountains by the sea, and there are swallows flying above. In fact, this is often the picture we siblings usually draw for our parents whenever we do our homemade festive greeting cards (talk about lack of creativity!)

5) I once dreamt of being given a box, which opened up to reveal a 2-headed snake that ate the accompanying hard boiled eggs (yeah, there were eggs inside the box!). The next morning, I was `betrayed’ at work by a trusted colleague..duh! I didn’t realize the dream was a sign..sigh..;

6) On 25th Dec 1981, Christmas night, I locked myself in the toilet and cried. It was the day my younger brother was born, and I was really disappointed that I didn’t get a sister (nope, no ultrasound those days!);

7) I had an unforgettable birthday party when I was 12 years old. My brother (read #6) was an overactive toddler, and he had `accidentally’ stepped onto my birthday cake just before my party started. I had to keep a brave face and still posed for pictures with my guests with a smashed cake in front of me;

8) I don’t eat onions, and I really find them pungent ;

9) I don’t exactly love garlic either, but I like using them for flavouring when cooking. Only thing is, I can’t bear the smell of garlic on my fingers after I peeled them. So, I’ve found the perfect solution – garlic paste!

10) I love to read and re read the Reader’s Digest. I can read the same issue a few times, but of course, on different occasions. I only get to do this when am back in my parent’s house, where my mum is also an avid reader of RD. In fact, she still keeps issues of RD wayback from the 1960’s;

11) I don’t like to eat much of sweet stuffs, be it desserts, biscuits or even danish pastry. In fact I love savoury foods, and my breakfast has to be something savoury, if not I would feel like I haven’t eaten anything at all! So, no go for breakfast cereals and fruits for breakfast, but yes to fried noodles, eggs and sausages (yeah, bring on all the unhealthy stuffs!);

12) Drawing is not my favourite subject in school, and so far, I only have one masterpiece in my whole life. This was painted when I was 14 years old, and so far, is my proudest piece of work. It was actually copied from the calendar produced by the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists. If anyone knows who’s the original artist, please let me know, because I would really like to convey my thanks and gratitude to him/her. This painting was carefully kept by dad for 15 years, and after he had it framed up, it was presented back to me to when i moved into my current house;

13) I love to cook and feed people. It gives me great pleasure and a sense of accomplishment to play hostess, to cook for family and friends, to organise and hold gatherings etc.

14) Refering to #(13), I hate to wash dishes though (so if I cook for you, please `sek-chou’, and help to wash the dishes right after my sumptious meal);

15) All the men/boys in my family, starting from my dad, to both my brothers and now my two nephews have big, round, dark, beautiful eyes with double eye-lids! Of which I don’t have. Why o why was i missed out, and forever deprived of this gene? so unfair!

16) I don’t have Astro at home. Am still feeding on free-to-air (FTA) channels, but thank heavens for 8TV and NTV7, am still doing Okay :)

17) My final year project was processing and producing bee-hoon, made from sago starch instead of rice. That was at the height of a regional price increase for rice. As a result, I don’t eat bee-hoon nowadays if I have a choice!

18) Although I have been living out of Penang since 1993, I still keep my home add in my IC, and will drive 4 hours back to Penang, just to exercise my voting rights, where I think my single vote still counts. Viva Penang!

19) I love musicals, especially broadway, and am a big fan of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber;

20) The best year of my life was the one year spent in Cardiff, doing my MBA. It was a year of discoveries, many beautiful friendships, and of course, converting my science background over to business and obtaining the degree which launched my career :)

21) I can spend a whole day at art museums (non comtemporary). The ones which made the most impressions on me, would be Prado in Madrid, and the Louvre in Paris.

22) I love roses!

23) I think Michelangelo is the most brilliant, genius, greatest artist ever! It was an awesome yet humbling experience to be able to personally see the Sistine Chapel ceiling. If ever there's one place in Europe that I would really like to visit again, that would be the Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel.

24) My favourite food is dim sum ! esp siew mai and char siew pau. Yup, the 2 conventional staples of dim dum..guess I like my stuffs authentic and original ..:)

25) Last but not least, I'm basically a private person, so this entry has taken me much longer to write than earlier expected! but, now that the mission is completed, what a relief! :)

Majestic-al experience

Some time ago, I had the chance to travel to Malacca for work, and as we were holding our function in the Majestic Hotel, I decided to stay and experience the Peranakan experience that was so widely promoted in the hotel website and brochures.

I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the hotel, not to find a tall building, but rather a quaint little mansion, in a narrow little street. I had driven down from KL, and it had taken me slightly more than 2 hours, it was mid-day, and grumpy as I was, was glad that though the hotel was rather hidden away from the main street, still, it wasnt difficult to find.

A different world welcomed me, upon stepping into the cool reception area of the hotel. The receptionists were all prettily dressed in nyonya kebayas, and they were very quick to recognise me by name (even though I wasnt registered yet!). This could likely be due to this being a boutique hotel, hence there weren't that many guests staying in, at any one time. I was also very pleasantly surprised that at the reception, instead of mints, they serve the brown coconut sweets, which was a very popular sweets of yesteryears but not so common nowadays. Nice!

There are only 50 odd rooms in this colonical styled mansion, but within the premises, everywhere one can see very tastefully designed interiors, and furnitures. Elegant and traditional.

This is what my room looked like.


Really comfy ! what's best about the room, is the bed! The mattress is suitably hard, sturdy, unlike the lumpy mattresses normally found in other local hotels. I was also very amused to find a bolster! just like my childhood days, the bolster is suppose to be the teddy bear for Asian children, to hug at night so as to feel more safe and secure. It is therefore a very thoughtful gesture of the hotel to include a bolster for the comfort of their guests. I, for one, simply find it irresistible, and couldnt resist hugging it whenever I'm back in the room. :)

The room itself is very spacious, and aside aircon, there is also a ceiling fan, should one choose not to use the aircon at night. The old world charm coupled with these modernity, really adds to making the guest feel cosy, and very at home. Love the wooden flooring as well.

The bathroom is simply so elegant and luxurious.. :) The bathtube has legs, just like old time. Though upon knocking, was kinda disappointed that it wasnt porcelain. The bathroom opens up into the room, and can be closed by the sliding wooden partitions. Hence, one can choose whichever level of privacy (or not).

.

Paying attention even to the little details, the hotel has also included a copy of the famous book on Nyonya kebayas, which I enjoyed reading during my stay. All these are in tune to the Peranakan culture that the hotel seeks to promote.

This is truly an experiential hotel stay! needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this majestic-al sojourn, and would certainly want to come back for more in near future.

State of Inertia

Inertia: according to the online dictionary, this refers to " a disposition to remain inactive or inert".

This is what I have been, towards this blog of mine for the past few months.

Not that I had completely forgotten that I do indeed have a blog.

My state of inertia has to be a function of my workacholism.

With the mounting workload, and working at home after hours, just couldnt bring myself to blog. As blogging involves looking at the computer screen again, when I can actually already log off to do something else... hmm..so, am I not cut out for blogging maybe?

Similarly with exercise. State of insertia, that is, until recently. Due to stress, I was compelled to push myself out of this exercise inertia, and yes, believe it or not, I am finally back to the gym. And in order to make it more interesting for me, I have a focus in gym. I mainly go for Muay Thai... hai-yak! chomp chomp, ...which turned out to be an excellent destressing tool albeit the bruises and aching limps thereafter :)

Maybe, just maybe, if I try writing short whimsicals every day (or alternate days), I could just push myself out of this writing inertia too? let's try!

Smoke Not?

Found these some time ago, while I was window shopping at the duty free section in Schipol airport in Amsterdam.


These are very `in your face" messages posted by the tobacco manufacturers themselves on the potential risks and harms of smoking.

I guess it was a local ruling, as across the board, all the different brands carry such warning messages, albeit with a different twist or angle.

Few questions that hit me, will such messages actually deter consumers from picking up that pack of cigarettes?

Will smokers be concerned & alarmed (as intended) with all the warning messages as stated?

How successful was the campaign in reducing the number of new smokers? or getting the chain smokers to give up?

I don't have the statistics though..so, can't tell now..

Now, let's play with an analog...let's just visualise a plate of succulent char siew..well marinated, fragrant, with dripping sweet dark sauce, a little bit of overburnt dark skin on the side... and someone just plastered "Char siew is carcinogenic", "Eat Char Siew makes you fat"... "Char siew can clog up your arteries".. hmmmmmm....

Will that stop anyone reaching for this plate of char siew then? You tell me!
Meanwhile, I know I'd still go for my porky fix anytime.. :)

In Retrospect - Movies Mania of 2008

Just as some people have a cookie jar to keep spare change, I have a tin can that I place my movie ticket stubs into. Not that these little pieces of paper are worth anything, nor are they a collector’s item. Come to think of it, am not sure why I started this practice in the first place. (duh!)

So, now, at the start of 2009, looking back into 2008, I started to count the stubs, which now represents the number of movies I've watched in either GSC, Cineleisure or TGV last year. :)

I know I am a great movie fan, and love to watch at the cinema occasionally (or so I thought) but I’ve never realized that I am such a movie-addict, till I started to count the stubs that I’ve kept for 1 year. All in, there are 32 movies I’ve watched in 2008 in the cinema alone.. (read – not counting those on DVDs yet).

I must stress the cinema part, cos I also have another collection of movie DVDs at home (will blog on that separately). That makes it an average of 2.6 movies a month.

Golly..and 2008 had been an extremely busy year for me, and I myself am amazed at how I managed to do that, considering i don't watch movies during weekends, only week nights!


I guess this is the part of me that is really `spontaneous". Gosh, what a revelation from a bunch of ticket stubs. If only they have bonuslink/loyalty programme for cinema goers.. :P

Zambuk-ing into the new year!

On the 2nd day of Chinese New year, via a freak `accident' at home, I slipped and fell, hitting down hard on my kneecap. The pain was surprisingly excruciating and my family had even thought that I had cracked my kneecap. Perhaps it was due to the whole weight of mine, which accumulated to one point, and pressed down at that very second on my poor left knee cap. In fact I fell kneeling down on one knee in that infamous position for proposals! It was a painful experience, yet on hindsight, appeared pretty hilarious as well.

My older bro immediately jumped up and whipped out his wonder ointment, Zambuk, and advised me to slowly apply and rub into the affected part.

I went like `duh? Zambuk ? are you sure?"

What exactly is Zambuk ? as far as I can remember, it had always been around ever since I was little. My grandparents used it like a `cure-it-all". Zambuk is in fact a dark green ointment, with a distinct aromatic herbal smell. It comes packaged in a dark green tin, and has that `classic' look. The fact that this little gem is still around after so many years (I had forgotten all about it until this moment!) piqued my curiousity.

Upon googling, I discovered that the name is actually a town in South Africa, and thats where it supposedly originated from. There are many uses for Zambuk, be at as an antiseptic, for minor cuts and burns. In this case, my brother and his family has also been using it for mozzie bites, or like in my case, "to rub away the formation of a bruise"(is this even possible??) when the kids had a fall.

Did you know that Zambuk is also a nickname for a first aider in Australia? the story goes that the St Johns ambulance men used to carry Zambuk in their first aid kit bags, and when neccessary, whipped it out to immediately treat injured rugby and football players on the field. The name has since stuck esp with the older generation Aussies.

And so, I followed my bro's advice, and gingerly applied on my wounded kneecap, slowly rubbing and hopefully to rub away the pain of the fall. Feeling the heated sensation (is it from the ointment, or is that from my rubbing?) somehow did help to dull the pain

The next morning, the bruise that was starting to form wasnt apparent anymore!

And so, Zambuk, really lived up to its name of being the `cure all'!

Meanwhile, I brought back the ointment with me to KL since am not sure if I can buy it in the local pharmacies here and hey, it seemed too wonderful to let go...:P (Sorry bro.. but saw that you already have a backup at home, a brand new can! :D )

Happy Moooo Year!

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Xi Gong Xi! May all wishes come true and the new year be filled with joy, happiness, good health, and prosperity.

Cook for Your Team !

The latest trend in team building is to utilise existing resources (i.e. employees) to entertain each other in the name of team building, which in turn, is a way of `maximising' resources. Of course, it does help to save on the cost of a commando trainer (for outdoor sportsy activities), or smart-aleck facilitators (for those mind boggling games, played indoors).

A few days back, I was in one of such new trend team building, where a group of us, were brought over to a local golf resort hotel, and participated in a `Cook for your Team", team building exercise. Ah, how this works is, we were divided into a few groups, and each group was randomly given a recipe to follow. Then , they had to work together in the hotel's kitchen to come up with the food for the evening's dinner! that is, they need to serve the team respectively through whatever culinary skills they might possessed (or not!).

For me, I was in the odd group out, the `entertainment cum decor" group; where part of our job was to turn the bland hall into something presentable, and also keep the entire team entertained for up to 1.5 hours. We further split up our team into 2 small groups, one for decor, and the other for entertainment, and i fell into the former.

The materials we were given? were all very basic and `natural". We had coconuts, coconut leaves, banana leaves, roses, dried leaves, etc. Of course, we also had the proper table cutleries, napkins, water goblet, etc that we have to set up.

Ah ha..here is where old me, comes in useful. Long long time ago, I've actually attended a short course on fine dining, and ahem, as a result, I was pretty familiar with the settings of the fork and spoons, which to place where etc. :P

The end result of our 2 hours' hard work , (drum roll please!)....ta-dah !

As you can see, the banana leaves because our table runner..and we sprinkled rose petals of pink and red roses on top, to give a light, natural yet romantic air to the atmosphere...ahhh....
The whole place lit up and looked amazingly magical!! :)




We also folded the napkin so that it can hold 1 stalk of rose for all the `guests' (aka our other team members, who are the cooks




...and then someone also had a stroke of genius...to decorate the otherwise bland glass `table mat', with a dried leave underneath!!








And alas, the food was out from the kitchen!!... behold, the food galore...wah. that was something else! the cooking group really produced a glorious buffet spread for us...yum yummy!
This particular dish is worth a mention. This is the Nasi Hujan Air Panas, which comes in a an array of rainbow colours. The team that produced this, consisted of one Aussie girl and 3 guys, all 3 of whom, has never step foot inside the kitchen!! 2 of the guys were from Korea..and when later I asked one of them, how did the dish come out looking (and mind you, tasting as well) so good, his rather perplexed answer, "I dunno..I only wash the rice.."..ha ha..



More food!!




And last but not leat, not forgeting...the Desserts Galore !! (oh no...there goes my diet..again!!)