Wrapping up 2004.

Just back from dinner with 15 people - 6 of us family members & 10 of my parents' frens. Very very full from eating in Pondok Gurame Indonesian Restaurant.

My sis & her hubby came back from their honeymoon last Sunday, mere hours before the tsunami struck. Alhamdullilah! Coincidentally it was also the wedding anniversary of Uncle Zai & wife. In a way, the dinner became a mini celebration of sorts. We bowed our heads and prayed before the spread of food & drinks, thankful for everything - the start of a new chapter for the new couple, the lasting marriage of the 'old' couple, welcoming the new year, the gathering & dinner itself.

I browsed thru my archives and read my entry as @ 1st Jan this year. Mmm...

Anyway, a recap of 2004:
My contract work ended in April. Was bored & jobless for 1/2 year before I got a job in the F&B industry. For that, I'm grateful to Sayang. Thank you. I know I still owe you a treat. Faced lots of transitional periods but alhamdullilah, I've hurdled those obstacles gracefully. Needless to mention, my social circle widened tremendeously.

The 2 people who got engaged in 2003 - Makcik & Ain - decided of all months, days and dates to have their weddings on 18th & 19th Dec *faintz*. Though I rented a car, I don't have super powers to be in 2 places at the same time. I just hope that I won't have to go thru such incidents again. Once in a lifetime is enough... not forgetting how emotional I got. Having my own car however, remains on my Goal list!

Come 2005 I look forward to my cousin Sharen's wedding in June, a room to makeover, a dinner treat for Sayang, the end of my probationary period and sparing time & energy for family, frens & myself. Mmm... oh yes! Renu's wedding in February. *ties dead knot around Life 2004 & puts it away under lock & key*

Happy new year 2005!

Put it in again & I will smash it!

Can barely keep my eyes open after 10pm now. Parents busy driving my sister & hubby around to visit our relatives. They complained about having to eat @ every house. The way I see it, just eat it.

I'm intending to start clearing up my room. Remove all the nonsensical stuffs that Ain has left behind. Example - the stoopid mirror cum clothes hangar. I have a big cupboard to myself and practically see no reason to use that thing. My mum has her own idea. I took it out, and she hung my clothes there. I pushed it out of my room and she put it back in. Sheesh!

Give me till this weekend and I will do something drastic, to my room not her. Hahah! =)

Newly married couple...

It's been a week since Ain & Jeff got married. With work and the prolonged exhaustion, I finally got all the digicam pics uploaded... in time for the couple who's coming back from their honeymoon. Hahah!

Congratulations on your marriage. =)



For more, check out my photos corner.

Happiest people...

I came online this morning with the intention of uploading the pics. But soon realised that the digicam is in my Dad's car. Sheesh!

Anyway I found this sweet article from Tash:

It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman, in his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.

I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redressed his wound.

While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation. I asked him if he had a doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.

I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer Disease. As we talked, and I finished dressing his wound, I asked if she would be worried if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him. "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"
He smiled as he patted my hand and said "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

"The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the best of everything that comes along their way."

Sleepless nights...

The past 3 days were the most hectic this month. Improper meals, travelling all over the place and taking shots of Ain's wedding. Despite taking leave from office a day after her wedding, I'm still tired.

Worst of all is the overwhelming feeling I got on that Sunday night itself... I entered my bedroom and I was alone. 2 single beds yet only me. I had underestimated myself thinking that I would be more excited over the prospect of having the entire room. I was so wrong. I am so used to sharing a bedroom with Ain since young, it felt so odd now. Almost alien.

Looks like Ain & Makcik ain't the only people who have to get adjusted to their new place. Happy for their marriages yet...

Hamne magar socha hai, dil ko hai gam kyon? Aankh hain nam kyon?

How to read? Only ants can read!

The BIG stapler in our office went missing last week. GM borrowed it in the afternoon and returned it before I left. But when Fui Ling came into office the next morning, it was no longer on my desk.

Initially everyone assumed that it got misplaced in my big pile of "creative work". After lunch however, all of us started searching for it. I made extra effort to rummage thru every single drawer and cupboard of the office and pantry. With the kind of reports I have to prepare, I NEED that stapler!

Today I reached the office with plastic bags of stationeries. Bought holders, pens, pencils, stamps, rulers, organisers, scissors, name card box... almost everything except a BIG stapler. A part of me refused to accept its disappearance. Heehee I was hoping that my colleagues found it during the 2 days I was away from office. =(

Meanwhile everyone has started to minimise the thickness of their documents. Fui Ling squeezed every single bit of information within one page of paper, reducing the font to as big as an ant. Poor Margaret had to squint and strain her eyes to interpret. I laughed to tears when she requested for her next order of stationery - a magnifying glass!

That was more than enough to send me running to Popular Bookshop. Ok guys, tomorrow we have a new BIG stapler. =)

Ani.. Me!

Your element is Water: Understanding, intelligent,
quiet and calm. You know who you are and no one
can change that. Usually quiet but only because
you are listening, don't let anyone think you
haven't got an opinion! You are not quiet because
you are shy or sad, you are usually quiet because
you are thinking. Your answers are well planned
and helpful so people generally seek your
advice. You are the perfect balance between
solitary and outgoing. But sometimes you need a
little time to yourself to sort out your
emotions and figure things out. You understand
the phrase 'sticks and stone' and rarely let
things get to you, what's that important for you
to have to get so upset over? You know what you
want out of life but are simply taking your
time and enjoying things. To you your life is
fine as it is, you can always change things
later if your not happy.


.:-|What is your true element?|-:. -With Anime Pictures and detailed answers-
brought to you by Quizilla

Supper Treat in Garden.

This morning I woke up and saw many missed calls on my mobile. Uh-oh! Seemed like GM urgently was looking for me. I returned his call knowing quite well what he wanted. True enough. Heheh =)

In the evening, I punched in my time card in Lot 1. The outlet was buzzing with customers and down by 3 staffs. Surprisingly SL was around. Got down to work and helped out as much as I could. By 9.15pm, Nana was telling me to turn down new customers. I believe everyone was looking forward to closing time too. But I can't be doing that so early. At 9.30pm, a family of 4 came. Judging from the number of plastic bags they were carrying, it looked like they had shopped till they dropped and completely missed their dinner. To be safe, I informed SL. True enough, they still had dinner despite being informed that we had no more buffet.

Finally when we knocked off from work, everyone was happy. I laughed seeing Nana smiling from ear to ear. We met SL's challenge! All of us headed down to the Garden for a supper treat from her.

In actual fact, the "Garden" is a restaurant situated in CCK park. 10 of us - SL, Head Chef, Supervisor, Asst Mgr, 2 P/T runners, 2 P/T servers, P/T cashier & me - settled down quickly and surveyed the menu. Non-stop jokes about customer service & food orders were cracked. What else can one expect from working in F&B? We had Cereal Butter Prawns, Chilli Stingray, Spicy Mee Goreng, Bee Hoon HongKong, Hotplate Beancurd & Sotong Bakar. Those who were thirsty ordered Milo Dinosaur. Yummy!

Keep up the good work guys! Thank you, SL! Zzz...

Still tickled...

Sayang called this afternoon. Mentioned that appointment with Minah was @ 7.45pm in Lot 1. Work has begun to settle down. Promptly @ 6.10pm, I left the office with Chandra. Upon reaching Tanah Merah MRT station, I checked my phone. 3 missed calls?! Neither Chandra nor me could hear my phone. That's how soundproof my bag is!

Returned Sayang's call to say that I was waiting for MRT to arrive. Mmm... still in office. We arranged to meet in the last carriage once MRT reaches Paya Lebar station. Smsed once I got into MRT and called again when I was one stop away. Was about to get up and alight @ Paya Lebar when Sayang came rushing in. I was laughing hard while Sayang spent the next 5 minutes catching breath! =P

7.15pm and both of us were in Lot 1. I took the opportunity to buy office stationeries while waiting for Minah to arrive. We had decided to have dinner in Pizza Hut. After more searching and queuing, we quickly headed down to Pizza Hut.

Hut Family Feast is meant for 4 person. As if that wasn't enough, we ordered extra Fish-O and Calamari Rings on top of that. Hahaha! I bet the Pizza Hut staff were annoyed for holding them back till 10pm tonight.

We did juz fine. What's your biz?

GM smsed me last night requesting me to call him first thing today. Since I was still up, I called back.

For a change, I reported to work in Lot 1 today. Been a week since I was there and so many changes. Some changes I can understand, others... I find nonsensical.

Business was really good tonight. Despite the situation we were in, nobody was deterred from working. There were glitches and complaints. Some of the staff told me that they had not taken a cigar break since their lunch. Haha!

I could see all the tired faces and weary bodies by the time we ended. Never have I covered so much area. Yet in the name of teamwork, I got a taste of how each staff was doing. All of us slumped in our chairs during debriefing. I'm gonna be in this state for the next 2 days.

Nobody's to be blamed. Not the ones who are still around anyway. Can't be finding faults with youngsters - hot bloods with volatile emotions. Do grow & wise up though. With or without you, business is as usual. =)

Welcome Margaret!

First day of the final month of the year. Mmm...

Another new staff reported to office this morning. Work is piling up but with added manpower, I really hope that we can work well to make the company run smoothly. It's great to see more people in the office.

4 of us - Chandra, Fui Ling, Margaret & I, had lunch together. GM wasn't able to join us as he had left earlier for meeting. Anyway, it's interesting how each new staff assume that I've been working there for years. Hahah! No dear, I'm still new myself. =)

We walked back to office, past the fruits stall. Then Chandra suddenly suggested eating durian. What?! Disbelieving his words, yet all of us followed to look at those fruits. There were durians, rambutans, & mangosteens. Chandra asked "So how?" Fui Ling & I nodded. Margaret was laughing as she said "I can't believe you all!"

Chandra bought 1 durian and 2kgs of mangosteens. We ate the durian at the stall itself, ran up to the office to wash our hands and after that, Chandra & Fui Ling ate the mangosteens! Chandra has his theory of eating durian - "Must eat mangosteens after durian to neutralise the odour and the heat"

Yeah right! I don't eat mangosteens. I popped 2 Clorets into my mouth instead. So did Chandra. I imagined his stomach to be like a ticking time bomb after all that - ready to explode. =P

It was a good thing that we did not bring the durian up to office. It's fully air-conditioned. But Chandra apparently enjoyed what we did. In the midst of our work, he asked "What say we do it again next month?"