A note from afar

Greetings from the land of the rising sun! Took a 7 hours night flight over with a time difference of an hour ahead over here. Been so long since an overnight flight that somehow, didn't manage to catch that good a sleep. Then another 2 hour plus train ride from Narita Airport to Yokohama. Would have been great if this was a holiday trip, but work cum semi holiday is also ok for me. Honestly though, looking at the schedules, not much free time except for full day Sunday and of course this afternoon since I arrived at the Training Centre about 10:30am Yokohama time. Incidentally, the trains are quite packed, with many commuting quite a distance by rail just to get to work.

So far, adjusting to the environment here and will probably blog more once I get back home. One thing I noticed immediately though, the streets seem kind of quiet barring the rat-tat noise of the various construction projects going on. Don't see as many people walking around, I guess probably due to the heat. But once you enter the malls, it is another matter. The interlinking malls may seem like a maze, but keeping some key points as bearings, can find my way back. I guess the current summer heat is keeping many indoors. Will probably not explore much more today, and might just get a quick nap later to recuperate from all the travelling. The sales people appear very friendly, and as I was exploring a shop displaying some decorative cloth pieces, the sales lady initially spoke to me in Japanese, but after saying that I am from Malaysia and excused myself for being unable to converse in Japanese, her eyes lit up, and she has indeed heard of Malaysia. She was regaling as best as she could in English, saying her son and cousin have visited Malaysia and thought well of the place, especially the snorkelling and the food. Incidentally, I enquired about the price of the beautiful piece of cloth, hand sewn with light coloured threads depicting an olden Japanese village against a snowy mountain backdrop! Breathtaking scene with an equally hefty price, all for a cool 819,000 Yen!!! The sales lady did admit that it was quite expensive, but I guess for such an exquisite piece of work, and with all the various markups charged in, there may be willing buyers out there. Alas, unfortunately, I am not one of them. I liked it heaps and had wanted to buy it for my empty wall back home, but couldn't afford the hefty price.

Yep, things are not cheap here. 1,000 Yen can get you a proper meal (which costs about RM30). But I had my first bite at the local McD's and went for the McPork! I only had one McPork burger and some fries, but it cost me 330 Yen, which is slightly over RM10! Initially, I didn't see many food outlets and thought that I might have to frequent McD during my stay here, but once I started exploring a bit more, especially in the malls, there are just so many choices around for food depending upon one's fancy, and of course, budget.

Oh! One other thing, apparently, my yellow DIGI man didn't follow me over, so no internatinal roaming on my handphone! Bummer! Till the next post then, Sayonara!

Something fishy this way comes

After the morning run throughs for the charity do thingy, my acapella group had some time to spare before the actual session in the afternoon. We headed to The Pavillion opposite Westin Hotel (which was where the event took place), had our breakfast cum lunch, and headed off in various directions. Two went shopping, two went back to the Hotel (we were given a free room to rest, put our stuffs, etc), and Cheryl (one of the Sopranos) and myself, went to check out the Fish Spa!

It was just for the novelty of it all, since it is all the rage nowadays in KL, with various outlets of fish spas being set up. It was relatively early, so there weren't that many people. It costs about RM38 for a half hour session for adults, and since we were told we could sit anywhere, I plonked down on a spot which looked fairly comfy, and when I put my feet in, you could see so many of the HUNGRY FISHES rushing over to nibble. Apparently, the more fishes nibbling, the more dead skin you have. It was initially quite ticklish and I wanted to laugh, and it was a new sensation indeed, like a constant nibbling of the skin. No, the fishes had no teeth but the constant nibbling is quite hard to describe.

And you know what? We didn't realise that there was a difference between big fishes and small fishes! Normally, people would start with the small fishes for about 10 minutes or so, to get used to it at least, and move position to the bigger fishes to nibble. However, I started immediately at the big fish area so it was indeed quite a jolt! The ladies at the fish spa were quite surprised when we got talking, and I told them it was my first time trying this out. They did say that the nibbling sensation is intensified by the bigger fishes and true enough, when I tried the smaller fishes, it wasn't as great a feeling. Of course I moved back to the bigger fishes! :P

One of the sales lady kept pestering to sign up for a package, which kind of put me off, but I hedged by repeatedly saying that I will think about it. However, the staff were friendly enough, and even volunteered to help me take pictures!

After the half hour session, I was told that my legs would feel very smooth and I would have a lighter feeling. I joked that I don't feel any lighter (especially after the breakfast cum lunch earlier on), but my legs were really smooth, and as they say, "as smooth as a baby's bottom"!

And you know what? They have the Full Body Fish Spa treatment (wearing swimming trunks of course!), but I didn't try! Will probably squirm quite a bit as the fishes come nibbling at various parts of the body, especially at the initial submersion part! Just thinking about it would make me want to laugh out loud!

Dare you try it? :P

Charitable Deeds

When one of my acapella group member asked if I would be available to sing for a time-and-fund raising charity do to raise awareness for Breast Cancer (notice the logo, I think the helpers got the ribbon the wrong way around, the fold should be right over left, but still, not obvious from afar) via a Bachelor Auction thingy jointly organised by the Soroptimist International Club of Petaling Jaya and the UK Women's Alumni Network, I was initially apprehensive in terms of time. And no! I was not one of the "charitable bachelors" as they put it, and my group was asked if we could just do one song "Man In The Mirror" at 3pm, and because it was just ONE song, most of us kind of agreed to it, after all, it was for charity!

Imagine the horror!, when we were told that sound check was at 8am!!! on a Sunday some more!!! and a run through with the 15 bachelors at 8:30am while we sing, and they parade in.

However, they didn't do our sound check until 9:15am, by which time, we were getting grouchy, as we could have slept in longer, AND they only had three mics available for sound check for six of us! What the !#&@*!#!!! But it was ok, we reminded that this was after all, for CHARITY!!! But still, would have liked things to go according to schedule. Noticed that other people rehearsing their various "duties" were also starting to get a bit high strung.

When the time arrived (and we started about 15 minutes later than expected, which was a fairly respectable time delay - I have had other events starting well over an hour or two delay!!!), we sang the specially arranged music by Deke Sharon just for this occasion (which was very well arranged I might add, one of the tighter versions I have heard whilst researching online), and my oh my, the women there literally got excited and screamed aloud when the various bachelors strutted in and did various poses!

Our music gave the beat for the bachelors as they entered for the women's very first glimpse. We joked about adding in an extra beat here and there to trip the bachelors, but that was rather mean! The good thing about live music then is that we could time the beginning and the end, and do a repetition of phrases to suit the duration of the catwalk so to say, and the whole thing lasted just over 3 minutes!

At the end, after all the "happenings" in the morning, it was kind of enjoyable. Despite the various headaches of rehearsals (and we had minimal at that because of time constraints of members), we did fairly well. We sang, we grooved, and it was a joy to see the bachelors enjoying themselves to the beat and the women screaming their heads off, cheering them on, all in the name of charity.

However, I didn't stay for the actual auction, as I had to go off for something else, but think that it would have been great as during the rehearsals, we saw the various bachelors doing "their thing" to get the women to bid and raise funds (their thing being singing, dancing, etc...nothing "fishy" although I heard stories of last year's event when the guys were asked to remove their shirts during the auction itself, etc).

In case you are wondering, the bachelor auction thing is an auction for time and funds. Obviously funds for charity, but also, more importantly, TIME with the bachelors as they do community work. Worthwhile cause I reckon.

Happenings and other what nots

Was travelling for a bit the last few days for work purposes down South to the land of the Merlion. A few things I noticed:

1. Bags and Taxi

Now this didn't happen to me, thank goodness!, but to another colleague from a different department who also travelled down for the training session. On our final day, most of us had our travel bags with us, except for a few. Two of the girls left their bags in the hotel, whilst one guy, when asked where was his bag, he replied in a deadpan face, "I left it in the taxi".

We went like, "Err.. you sure". He replied, "Yes!", and we told him to stop kidding us. Actually, he was serious about it, and luckily he had the receipt of the taxi with the taxi company's phone number and the taxi's registration number. So, he was able to reclaim his bag! Pheew!!

I think we were more nervous for him, either that, or he was in shock that it happened. Good that he kept his passport and travel documents separately on his person. Well, he did say that the only thing of value was actually his bag, and the stuffs he had in his bag didn't amount to much. We jokingly told him that his bag is telling him to stay on in Singapore and gave him an opportunity to go shopping!

Incidentally, taxi fares have gone up. Taking a 2.1km journey over a span of 6 minutes, the cost of the taxi was about S$4.20, with an additional S$3.00 city surcharge!, altogether S$7.20!!! My, oh my! Petrol prices have risen indeed, and the various ERP (which is Singapore's Eletronic Toll system) charges factored in for the consumers.

2. Pocket Knife

Another colleague, upon bags being screened before entering the aeroplane, was told to take out the pocket knife he had in his carry bag.

However, he insisted that he had put his pocket knife in the checked-in luggage earlier on, but the security guard rescanned his bag and showed him that the knife was in the bag.

Still not convinced, but since the security guard insisted, he reached into his bag, felt around, and the first thing he took out was his pocket knife!

Luckily for him though, the pocket knife wasn't confiscated, but was brought into the plane by security. He could reclaim his pocket knife over at the security section in the airport at the destination point.

3. Elderly man

During one of the evenings after finishing the training session, I walked to the nearby Chinatown to grab a bite to eat. I tapaued some crispy rojak from a hawker stall and sat along the pavement to eat (along with a lot of other Singaporeans sitting there enjoying the sights and sounds and willing the time away).

As I was halfway eating my dinner, I saw an old man hurrying past (almost to the point of running) and saying "Uncle! Uncle!" whilst chasing a middle aged man. Apparently, the middle aged man tapaued something from the old man's shop and forgot his packet of chilly sauce which the old man quickly thought to deliver, even whilst the other man was walking away.

What made the situation unique for me was that the old man calling a younger man "Uncle". Incidentally, the old man was manning the shop himself, selling different types of BBQ meat with rice.

Now, if you walk around Chinatown area, especially the market, you will notice that there are so many elderly folks. An aging population indeed, with many still working, either for the extra pocket money or just to have something to do. Whatever happened to the Golden Retirement years for elderly folks? Are modern times so difficult that old folks still need to slog through daily life, oft times doing menial jobs like sweeping the streets, cleaning public toilets, etc? Where is the justice in this world, or perhaps I am being too idealistic in nature.

4. Breakfast at SriNeela's

Most Saturdays, before my singing lesson, I would eat a Paper Dosai with a strong cup of teh tarik to give me the extra energy to sing, whilst perusing the local newspapers to catch up on happenings. Today was no exception. However, this time, there was a man and woman with a child at the table next to mine, and I saw them ordering one nasi lemak and a plain roti canai, with two drinks between them. When the nasi lemak came, it looked absolutely tempting, and after I finished my paper tosai, I ordered one nasi lemak, just to try!

Whilst waiting for my nasi lemak to come, I saw the man eating his plate of nasi lemak and then half way through, offered the remaining portion to his wife. Similarly she did the same for the plain roti canai and offered her husband the balance whilst feeding the child with a bite sized portions of the roti canai.

Inside, I went like, "Oh oh, this is not right!" There I was having ONE paper tosai to myself, and ONE plate of nasi lemak to boot, then at the other table, the family of three were sharing their portions. BUT in my defence, paper dosai is supposed to be like a light snack, right?

Ok, ok. It was supposed to be only breakfast, but I ended up having extra helpings and considered that as my lunch as well. So there! Brunch it is!!!

But seriously, when I think about it, am I generally eating too much?, or has the cost of living increased to the extent that some have to eat less and share among them. Maybe it is a good time for me to reflect on this. Perhaps I should cut down on my intake and save some money instead. But, it only cost me RM5 for the meal, and it is within my daily lunch budget!!! So how???

Learning my music

Am learning this Arietta at the moment by Beethoven, "In Questa Tomba Oscura", literally translated to mean, "In this dark tomb". My music sheet starts with an E flat, but goodness me, Pavarotti starts with an A flat, which is FIVE semitones higher! Truth be told, E flat is kind of low for a tenor, but it achieves that dark sound if chest voice is used (what? a tenor impersonating a baritone?? Crikey! The mere suggestion itself - horror!). Maybe for myself, somewhere in between for now. The difficult bit is not the notes, but the interpretation or feel to the entire song, and Pavarotti sang it so wonderfully. I think I have to be more passionate vocally, and let the voice caress the soul... alas, not there yet. One day, one day...



Italian text
Lyrics: Giuseppe Carpani (1752-1825).

In questa tomba oscura
Lasciami riposar;
Quando vivevo, ingrata,
Dovevi a me pensar.

Lascia che l’ombre ignude
Godansi pace almen
E non, e non bagnar mie ceneri
D’inutile velen.

Taken from here:
The tone of Beethoven's In Questa Tomba Oscura, WoO133, a setting of an Italian text by Carpani, is set by the piano's grave, steady accompaniment and the uncomplicated vocal lines.

For most of the song, an atmosphere of meditation and resignation predominates; moments of dramatic bitterness and anger, however, create a sense of ambiguity.

"In this dark tomb, let me repose. While I loved, ingrate, you should have thought of me." The vocal line moves upward on "Let my bare shadow enjoy its peace at least " and deepens with bitterness on the words, "And do not, do not bathe my ashes with futile poison!" Calmness settles in; after a repetition of the first two lines, the voice drops dramatically, twice repeating "Ingrate."

The song ends with an ominous, rumbling chord.

Jump Starting

Really now, I have a pair of cables for jump starting a car for quite a while. Actually, since the very time I bought my first car more than 9 years back I think. I bought it so long ago because a friend told me that I never know when I may need it. And since it was my very first car (a proton saga aeroback), I got it just to be safe. So there! After changing cars a few times, the cables have now migrated to my third car, and I wasn't sure whether I still had it. Until today that is.

Was still in the office working late, and a colleague came up to me asking if I had a pair of cables to jump start his car. His car battery went flat apparently. Well, I sort of recalled having one, but wasn't 100% sure, so I trotted down to the car park and voila!, I still have my jumper cables after all.

However, what's good with having the jumper cable if I don't know how to use? Which I really don't!! Sad, eh? But at least I have the cables!!! and I did come clean and say I didn't know how and have never jump started a car.

Well, lucky for us, my colleague knew how, and I watched how and where he put the cable points, etc. But after coming home and checking online on how to use, it was not 100% correctly done. The "error" was in the connection of the negative cables:

Since the entire engine block is grounded to the negative terminal, the cable need not be connected directly to the dead battery's negative terminal, and in fact it would be unwise to do so as sparks from the connection (when the circuit is completed) could ignite the battery. (Highly explosive hydrogen gas can be given off by a battery, though this is less of a risk with the completely sealed "maintenance-free" batteries unless their case is compromised). A good connection point would be a piece of unpainted metal at least eighteen inches away from the dead battery. Some engines have eyelets which are used to attach chains when the engine needs to be lifted out of the car; these make good connection points for the jumper cable.

Luckily for us, there was no explosion or visible discharges observed, and I was trying to stand at a proper distance without being too apparent about it. Still, he managed to start his car battery to drive home at least. Poor guy, he was ill for the entire week, his team was short-handed, and current market conditions giving him added stress. The only consolation is, it the WEEKEND (yippeee!). Even for me, it has been certainly a long week, rushing reports, trouble shooting this and that, trying to understand regulatory changes, soliciting deals, and helping to ensure my new staff is settling in fine; all in the course of trying hard not to bite people's head off or being too sarcastic. Oh, but I managed to run, amidst a hobble here and there on the treadmill today! Finally made it. This month alone, been to the gym twice already, a record for this year!!

Unfortunately, my cough has been aggravated. Probably due to the lack of oxygen as I was exerting various parts of my body trying to be a fitter and slimer me. Well, I can only hope that my waist will shrink soon but hard to tell after only one workout, yonks since I last did some form of exercise!

But I digress.... If you are like me, and don't know how, or you just want to verify that what you know is actually correct, or not, the method is explained here and here. Of course, for alternatives, can also see here and maybe here for other descriptive ways of what and what not to do to jump start your car.

Incidentally, do you have a set of jumper cable in your car? If not, better get one. You never know when you will ever need its assistance. Be safe.

A little bit of something

A) About The Food

Been eating too much lately, and although I resolved to eat less, it gets harder and harder to do so. Been having one too many eating sessions. Just had dinner with my siblings at this outlet in Jaya 1, Petaling Jaya. My elder sis was raving about it, and true enough, the food was quite ok, but I had a slightly different verdict. Oh, pictures were taken with my handphone camera, not my usual digital camera, because I didn't have it with me (no I don't carry it around everywhere I go - not yet anyway!):

a) Nice charsiu and siew yuk, but a tad too oily and fatty for me.
b) Rice with pork lard. Err.. didn't quite like this one. Smelt funny.
c) Half a peking duck! Not bad...
d) Sweet and sour pork! Slightly different as they added strawberries. Not bad. Pass my general standard, but not my specific standard. A tad sweet for me.
e) Some veggie thingy, with the leafy part being deepfried I think to a certain crispiness. Again, a tad too oily for me. I think the one in Pantai Seafood is better.
f) Duck in mango something or rather. Quite ok, but too creamy. Preferred if the inside was a tad drier.
g) Durian deepfried pancake. Nice durian, and can literally smell the durian across the whole restaurant as they were preparing the dish. Not bad, one of the better food I tasted at the restaurant. But, I think the Mandarin Oriental's Durian pancake is better, cold creamy with lots of melt in your mouth yummy durian!
h) Had to take another shot of it, you can see in the middle bottom photo, the durian filled deepfried pancake.
i) Incidentally, was told that this is an Indonesian chain, and is very popular over there.

Overall verdict? Ok, but almost everything was too oily for my taste. Heard they also charge a mega bomb for the fishes, crabs, etc. These items had no price tags, so best to ask before ordering.

Surprisingly, they have a lot of eateries over at Jaya 1, with more stores yet to open. I guess they are trying to make the place a very happening venue for hanging out, etc.


B) About The Places

Saw the first picture when I was walking at the beach front in Penang last month, and yes, again, taken with my trusty handphone camera. Travelled up there for work and had to stay overnight. Was walking around, and I chanced upon the scenery. Incidentally, certain places in Penang have been granted a World Heritage status thingy. Read about it in the papers today, but didn't read fully as I was already later than my usual self when reaching the office.

The second picture I took when I was walking back to the car park after having dinner today. Thought the colours were real nice, but again, didn't have my digital camera to do it much justice. However, my friends say it is not the camera, but the photographer. Personally, I think it is both... what do you reckon?


C) About The Words

I learnt a two new words this week:

a) Vacillation - Was reading a market writeup done by a colleague, and came across this word. Had to look up my dictionary for it. Hahahaa, see? never too old to learn new words. :)
b) Phitt - Now this one is tricky. Not in English though, but in Cantonese. After some consultation, I found out that it means, "I am out of here" if used as in "I Phitt". Specific context used was "I phitt first ah!". Apparently, used in a casual setting, but you know'lah. Me, being a banana, have never heard of that word before. As I was walking to someplace and my mind was on something else, when I heard that phrase said to me, and my brain didn't process the phrase carefully, I turned around and said out loud "What? You Pee-ed? No need to tell me! You went to the toilet, and want to go again, just go!". Not sure who was more embarrassed, but then, I have the excuse of being a banana and only speak the "half past six" type of chinese!...

Will wonders never cease, I learn something new everyday! :P

A bit of going ons

Groan, these days, I have been going on a food binge. Not like I really want to of course, but the constant invites for lunch, tea breaks and then dinners! You know, I went to the same outlet for coffee break after work down at the office Mall for a bit of coffee and cakes for three consecutive days following invites from external parties. Then come the lunches, Japanese buffet, etc.

But honestly, I can't complain. I can always eat in moderation, which of course I do try!!! But how to go easy on the pavlovas and nutty meringues, when I visited the outlet three days on a trot? Luckily, the first day, they didn't have any of the meringues, so I had "others". Second day, they had the pavlova but not the nutty meringue, so I ate one pavlova (shared of course), and the third day, they had the nutty meringue! Yummy! I think I like the nutty meringue better now. Good thing is that the meringue is light, so not as full a sensation after eating. But of course, that's only trying to console myself, as I have often been reminded that there really is A LOT of cream and sugar in all that light fluffy cake.

And yes, after all that, my pants do feel tight, and I am especially conscious of my ever expanding tummy!

So, after three consecutive days of never feeling hungry, I FINALLY made it to the gym (after a prolonged absence of 9 months!). Wanted to go easy since I have not exercised for a very long time. But when I went there, all treadmills were taken, so after doing a stretch or two (I noticed my tummy got in the way), I decided to play ping pong with a colleague. No, am not an expert at ping pong and my colleague can thrash me "kau-kau" but she went easy on me. More like a chitchat session over a casual game of table tennis. The problem? I didn't do my cardio and hardly perspired. After playing and talking non stop, we noticed that it was getting late, and I decided to hit the treadmill for a bit, but the gym guy was switching off all the machines because it was closing time!! Oh no! My colleague asked me to come to the gym again the next day, that is, on Thursday (which is today) and initially I said ok, but as I was getting changed, I suddenly remembered that I will be out of the office for an appointment towards the afternoon, and won't be headed back to the office after that. Sigh. Not enough exercise this week, and I promised my colleague I will go to the gym again next week. She said she will only believe it when I actually go!

So, instead of exercising at the gym, I decided to exercise at the shopping mall, and indulge in some Retail Therapy!! Metrojaya was having sales! Gosh and guess what, I had to go renew my membership card, so while I was there, can't help but look around for bargains. I ended up buying two work shirts and two collared T-shirts. Oh, I bought another three round neck T-shirts also from another shop. Guess what colours they were? Yep, black and navy blue! :)

I lost count how many shirts I have already, but I know most of them are getting tight. So since my clothes are getting tight, and I can't exercise at the gym, might as well go walking around MidValley Shopping Mall checking out the various shops. "A bit" painful on the wallet though, and I seldom indulge in shopping, but once a while? What the heck! :P

To be honest, my shopping started during lunchtime as I have been procrastinating too long over a change of decor for my humble abode. Finally gotten round to buying the plant thingy (fake ones! life ones don't last long with me since I have a tendency to forget to water them and let whatever parasite grow on them). Actually before the shopping spree started (now why does that have to rhyme with "weeee?!?"), I was running low on petrol, and went to the Shell station to load up my car (of course Shell! I have a bonuslink card! Seriously, I think all these loyalty card programme thing really works on me. I dare not reveal how many different types of loyalty cards I have, suffice to say, I have a separate card pouch just for all these cards. Ok, ok, back to pumping petrol, not even full tank, and it already cost more than RM110! Previously, about RM80 or so will get me by for slightly more than a week (ya, I don't go "sik fung" (direct translation from cantonese = "eating air") so much. Oh, I had to reload my touch&go card too, running low on balance already after having to pay toll everyday for using certain highways in and out of the city (just to avoid the daily incessant traffic jams).

So after coming back home and totalling how much I spent today, my eyes literally popped, and I am now officially on a shoestring budget until the next pay cheque! Oh wait! I have an overseas trip coming up in two weeks time! Groan!!!