Phony Ha Ha

In my busiest moment, while i was trying to settle a crucial matter, i get this sms from SOMEONE who was standing just 3 feet away:

CONGRATS! Ur phone has been installed with a new puzzle game. 2 play, just throw ur phone against the wall & arrange d pieces back. It's fun! TRY IT!


AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! I couldn't decide if i should laugh or use dat fella as the wall to throw my phone.

Cheez whiz...

Over the recent holidays, i went to Batam, one of the Indonesian islands off Singapore. It was my first mission trip there.. or for a matter of fact, anywhere. The memory of it all is still a bit hazy to me (and NO... no pun intended for the lingering haze over the island). Probably it's coz i'm still trying to recuperate from the travelling and the lack of sleep. We were up at 6am every morning and only went to bed after midnight. Throughout those few days, we were going from one place to another. Church services, sunday school teaching, orphanage visit, distributing food to the villages, cell group meetings, etc.

We were there in the slums with the people, bearing the heat and the dust. The houses in the villages ... if you can even call them houses... were so small and empty save for a single flourescent tube. The windows are square openings on the wooden wall. For some, there's not even a door to the house. Children ran about bare-footed, sending the chickens squawking. I even saw a man on a stool underneath the tree, getting his hair cut.

It's one thing to hear about poverty but to actually be there and to witness the miserable conditions in which these people live in, it really took a lot out of us. Suddenly the 15 cartons of food and clothes that we carried there seemed so light compared to the burden in our hearts. These people did not expect much yet gave thanks in all circumstances. Games that we used to play as children (which we think of as childish now) brought so much laughter and excitement to them. While we played with the children, the adults gathered round and cheered on. Some even joined in.

At the orphanage, we lovingly nicknamed a little boy T-Rex. We were playing the Cheezels Game with them. All they had to do was take turns to bite a Cheezel off the string while competing with the other team. This little fella was so excited that he was practically roaring all the way. He even stopped mid-game to pose for this shot. :D It was good to see some of my team members let their hair down and joined in the games. The children showed us how to take joy in simple things. Even a few balloons floating about in the air was enough to keep them happy.

I didn't have a Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus kind of epiphany from this trip. Neither can i say that i did so much to change the lives of these people. But i have certainly gained much from them. And i know for sure that Cheezels will never be just another snack to me again. ;D

Clackers & cheese

Went to watch The Devil Wears Prada with Siryn, Cece and Cilla last weekend. When i read the book last year, i thought Miranda Priestly reminded me so much of my ex-boss with all her demands and expectations. The constant reminders of how fortunate i was to work there, the insults of how stupid & incompetent i was, the threats of how influential she is and that one word from her and i wouldn't be hired anywhere else. Ugh.... yet i stuck it through (at least for those months) coz i thought i needed the job so badly. Yup... i was living Andrea's life without the perks of designer wear. Don't ask me why i stayed on even after the first week. Perhaps i shared the same thoughts as Andrea.. that if i proved myself in that company, it would open more doors for me next time. Well.. bovine-poo! I'm much better off now and i don't have to take that kind of crap to get to where i am now.

Now that i'm no longer there, watching the movie was pure entertainment. Must say that Miranda's character was made more 'humane' and oh the fashion!!! It's one thing to read about it but to see in on screen. Loved the clothes, the bags, the shoes... oh the shoes.... *hyperventilates*. IF my last job involved me having a 'Closet' full of stuff to take home, maybe... just maybe...i might've stayed on. Though probably have to be stick-insect thin to fit into anything.

Siryn and i were laughing at the diet idea of starving yourself and only having a tiny cube of cheese when you're about to faint. Which thereafter reminded me that i've slacked in keeping in shape. So i decided to embark on my 'renewal' process. Went off junk food & sweets, cut back on carbs and snack only on fresh fruits. Went to the gym last night and came to work this morning all charged-up.

Then Jebi saw me during lunch and asked me how come my boobs seemed to have grown. AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH. Now if it was any other A-cup girl, i think she would've jumped for joy. But when it's moi, it's BADDDDDDDDD news. Oh well, i guess there's all the more reason to keep wearing the T-shirt i bought from Oz.

What disdain.. such displeasure

The last week or so has been the most gruelling time. Went to recce so many locations for the Christmas photo shoot and after all the hoolaaboola, ended up using some 'cekai' crummy hotel suite. I blame the client's tighter-than-a-hangman's-noose budget and just coz of someone's stupid comment, the rest of us are forced to work under ridiculous circumstances. Add that to a frigid anal headmistress of a hotel Marketing Manager, how the heck were we suppose to do the shoot? NO changing of schedule. NO food allowed. NO drinks allowed. NO shoes allowed. NO using of the suite toilet. NO moving of furniture. NO touching of this. NO staying on in the suite after 6pm. NO leaving things in the suite. NO opening of the piano cover. NO using of the hotel lift to bring up our props. NO loud noise. NO putting of things on the table without tablecloth. NO dirtying of the carpet when we unpack our merchandise. NO children running about. No going into that room. NO opening of that door. NO this of that. Blah blah blah blah....

For the love of God, his saints and beard-trimmers, it's a bloody hotel!!!! Don't they have house-keeping? Never have i felt more restricted during a photo shoot. Everytime HM comes up to check on us, a deafening silence will fall across the room and everyone holds their breath while she gives her look of constant displeasure and makes a million & one reminders of DON'Ts. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!

Am still recovering from the trauma of the 2 days shooting in that place. Lucky thing our 3rd day shoot was back in the photographer's studio. At least we could move about freely with the music blasting in the background and our merchandise strewn out on the floor for ease of sorting. Sheesh.... the photographer joked that if we didn't have HM, our shoot wouldn't be so 'fun'. Yeah right!!! Now that it's over... perhaps someone would be so kind as to remove the stick from HM's rear end?!?!?

C'est la vie...

So I walked under a bus
I got hit by a train
Keep falling in love
Which is kinda the same
I've sunk out at sea
Crashed my car, gone insane
And it felt so good
I want to do it again

~ "Buses & Trains" Bachelor Girl ~

Time seem to have just flown since i last posted. My flu took forever to go away. Despite being told to rest at home for faster recovery, i felt better when i was out and about being the usual busy-body that i am. :D Hmm...Let's see.. What did i do besides the usual everyday things that i don't need to elaborate on.. ish?

Went for a Fashion Preview. Lunch with client. Went to a wholesaler to buy dozens of earrings at rock-bottom prices. Got caught in the rain *ah-choooo*. Bought wool to crochet own flower brooch (haven't started but will do soon). Had the living daylights scared out of me manoeuvring my director's Honda Accord on the highway while trying to read map to recce location shoot *ish!* Company lunch at San Francisco Steakhouse (my 1st time there.. ok ok.. so i'm a little 'jungle tortoise'). A few more client lunches. Baked my fav Chocolate Lava Cake. (Wheee... Calories!) Met up with Siryn after a few weeks of absence. Discovered a delightful bakery which serves wonderful desserts. (Seriously, if ever you decide life is no longer worth living, you should go have a meal there. I guarantee you'll wanna live again.... or not, die a satisfying death by chocolate fondue & strawberries. LOL). Bought and read half a dozen novels. Wanted to see Bruce Kuhn's 'The Gospel According to Luke' at the local theatre but was pleasantly surprised when he came to my church on Sunday and did 'The Acts of the Apostles'. Already booked tickets for an A Cappella performance next month. Tried on a Tiffany necklace which costs RM10,000 *hyperventilates* (congratulate Siryn & self for maintaining cool ice-queen poise whilst in shop *clap clap*)

Life never ceases to amaze me... :D