Soy Feliz!

Hola!

David Villa es totalmente impresionante. Spain is my favourite (out of 3 teams. Chile & US are already out of the race) to win the World Cup. I'm obssesed with the whole Spanish squad. This morning, I woke up after only 2 hours sleep and went to office with such bleary eyes but it's totally worth it. And how is your favourite team doing so far? Buena Suerte.

listen : Pyramid - Charice

Come on Spaniards!

Hello people!

Yeay! Spanish team won their second match against Honduras 2-0 early this morning. And now, on to their most crucial game - to beat Chile team. Which I suppose is on cloud nine after their 2 consequetive wins against Honduras & Swiss. Leading the pack in Group H and ready to advance to next level, Chile is truly an underdog team who did rise above other people's expectations and holding true to their fighting spirit. Bielsa's team could go much further in this tournament, I think. Unlike Spanish team, somehow, there seems to be lack of something in their performance, was it their passion? I'm sure they are high strung & stoke to be playing at World Cup - it's every footballer's dream, right? or is it tactical and strategies which has not really worked that well so far? Oh well, whatever it is, Spain is one team that played most entertaining game for me. Funny, lotsa people prefer Brazil as the team most entertaining to watch but then, this is football, nobody said you should be a conformist. Bottom line, since MY country not in the World Cup (I honestly don't think I'll be alive to see Malaysia ever qualify) but then again, in football anything goes, eh? eso es todo.

All the blood and sweat sacrificed to hold this.

Listen : Shut it down - Pitbull ft Akon

Home Sweet Home

Oh.My. God. I looove and so crazy about all of the designs by Joe b Moore + partners. There can't be anymore gorgeous, awesome, fantastic-looking houses than what have they designed and built. I'm digging their stylish, clean lines, spacious and non-clutter decorations that goes perfectly to complement the structure of either a room or the whole house itself. Genius. Pure genius! Now, lets have some eye candies to enjoy.. (Among my favourites of their works)

All pictures from Joeb Moore + Partners Architects, LLC website

This Time Of Africa

World Cup 2010 is here! and it's already well into second week of the tournament. What a bliss to the football fans worldwide. I know, I'm one of the football diehard fan too. It’s either you enjoyed watching football and had been waiting 4 darn years for this tournament to arrived or you couldn’t care less and you just didn’t get it – the hype, excitement, drama etc. For me, besides getting daily dosage of great football games, this is time to drool over awesome skills, chisel figures and fabulous abs of my favourite players. So far with lots of upsets in the score from the matches and few favourite teams had not proved their mettle and delivered, oh wow! anything goes and everybody got their chance to advance from this group stage to next level. Let's pray Spain won their next match! ? Viva Espana! Buena suerte y todo el mejor.

Listen: This time for Africa - Shakira

Tick Tock

Rain falls. Sun shines. And yes, it is already June folks! We are already in the second half of this year. And yet, it felt just like yesterday we’re welcoming the year 2010. I’m astonished at how fast time flies. This fact never ceases to amaze me. To think, that 154 days have gone by just like that. Erghh! Why is it so hard for me to learn the lesson? I always feel that I have not fully maximized the usage of time (24 hours in a day) appropriately. And yet, it’s not that I’m not aware the importance of time management, working on your checklist etc etc. But then again, I can just be the classic case of procrastinator in a snap. When it strikes out - that’s the end of it. At that point, I might just say goodbye to all the efficiency and deadline out of the window. It’s bad. I did not recommend it at all and if you insist to be one, I disclaim myself from being responsible of any bad effects from your actions. Seriously.

Listen: Oh My God - Usher

Crazy Hearts

Hi Y'all..

By this time, I’m sure you’ve heard that Jeff Bridges won the Oscar for Best actor award this year, right? Well, I’d say he deserved it! And the film ‘Crazy Hearts’ has left me feeling poignant and reminded me how much I love country music. Not that I like it less now, but the country music that I listen to nowadays are mostly by crossover artists of country/pop genre like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and most recently Lady Antebellum. There are definitely influences or sounds of Country in their music, but they also more appealed and reachable to much younger generation of crowd, I suppose.

“The film was written and directed by Scott Cooper and based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Thomas Cobb. Jeff Bridges plays Bad Blake, a down-and-out country music singer-songwriter who tries to turn his life around after beginning a relationship with a young journalist named Jean, portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal..” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Heart

Somehow, I feel deeply moved by this movie and can’t write much about it here. You have to see it for yourself. All I know is that; watching this made me feel lonely and sad, but more importantly, it taught me not to give up on your life. Other people can only do as much, but it’s the heart within that can really make the change and turn things around. And yeah! We have to forgive ourselves too. Even if it’s one of most difficult things to do.

Listen : The weary kind - Ryan Bingham (soundtrack of Crazy Hearts)

Hot & Cold

The interview went well. I was practically already offered the job during the interview. So, what’s the catch, you might ask? For once, they can’t offer me the requested salary. I’m not heartless, of course it is negotiable and furthermore, it’s not just a figure I plucked out of thin air (Current + 20% increase) Considering that I would have to forego an average- 4- months yearly bonus somehow, going there feels like; not leaving for something better off than now.

I asked around for friends’ opinion(s) and generally they told me, it’s not worth it. I might wait out for a while now, and in the mean time; keep sending out applications to other companies. We’ll see how, eh? I now realized that going for interviews can really drain your mind & brain. But knowing that you got offered or accepted has really pushed my ego few notches up. Is that bad? I digress.

Listen : Hot & Cold - Katy Perry

Making My Move..

I finally hauled my ass. As in; got my resume updated and applied to some job vacancies online. And guess what? I was called for an interview recently. I thought, 'Whoa! That was fast. And I’m not even psyched myself to face any interviewer YET'. Anyway, I went for it and did my best to impress. There was 1 hour session to answer some tests (2 case studies & 1 aptitude kinda test) and then, I was led to meet the panel for the interview. I think I answered really fine. Oh well, considering that the job I’m applying is quite similar to what I’m doing now, so I do know what I’m talking about and not just some rambling and saying bullshits promises or lines such as..’I’m a fast learner even though I know shit about the job’. I really heart those newly graduated candidates that went for job interviews. Don’t get me wrong, I was one of them too 10 years ago and it was never easy to appeared eager (but not too much!), confident (but not cocky), smart (but not a show off) and at the same time convincing enough to let them people give you the job. So at the end of almost 1 hour session, the panel said they will inform if I’m shortlisted for the 2nd round of interview soon. In my mind I was like, 'ok whatever'. And I’m definitely won’t let my hopes goes too high since I was soo out of the game and have not attended any interview for few years. 4 days later, they called me for the 2nd interview. Woot! I'm stoked. but so freaking out. So, wish me luck! And we’ll see what will happen next week, eh?

Listen : Baby – Justin Bieber

Jakarta Oh Jakarta

2 weeks ago, I was at Jakarta, Indonesia. Not for holiday per se, mind you. It was a combined/joint event with also auditors from another SBU of the company. More or less, a kind of holiday trip for the whole department plus some training sessions thrown in for good measures. Well, to justify the trip, I suppose the organization committee has had to come up with some convincing itinerary and it doesn’t matter that we already had gone through one of the training session before, more important is that we got to sit for 2 days training in the hotel and then ready for some leisure & shopping time for the last 1 and ½ days after that. Kinda neat, I’d say.
Jakarta’s traffic was so bad, at least, during the peak hours. And they were few times when I had the pleasure to be on road after the traffic rush at night time, and it was bliss. The distance from our hotel to say, Tanah Abang Shopping Mall was actually not that far off. But then, in a city with 11 Million ‘registered’ souls, what do you expect, eh? Total area of Jakarta is 661 square kilometers (255 sq mi) and is the most populous city in South East Asia and 12th largest city in the world. That’s one hell of packed town, I tell you. If you would like to know more about Jakarta, you can click here or here or here

click for larger pic

Listen : I lost my MP3! erghhh!

Ouch

Damn it! Why did he send message at YM to me anymore? Owh, Man! To be reminded of that unfortunate episode. Honestly, there is nothing to be sorry about and I had long moved on. Surely, I can attest to the fact that nothing well ever came out of my love life. It was practically a muddy business, poisonous, dark clouds and hazardous all around. Believe me, I am such a loser in love. The repetitive question of whether will I find the happiness? Ok, still no answer for that. I’m almost a non-believer in love now. Seriously, to be hurt time and time again, I just don’t have the courage left in me. I’m scarred, drained and numb. Let me just keep whatever left of my shredded feelings to me. Let me nurse these wounded heart of mine.Alone.

But then, as much as I’m harping on how unlucky I am, I still have some positive thinking in me. I know this pain will pass and I’ll be fine again. It is as if I’m wired that way. We all have different ways of dealing with our broken hearts but if we didn’t come out of it and ready to face this life, then life would not be much meaningful anymore. And that’s my friend, is one thing I won’t waste away. There are so much more to life than just love and been in love with a partner/boyfriend/husband. Granted, love completes our life, but the definition of love itself, is huge and also includes our parents, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and why, of course our dear friends! So yeah, come to think of it, I’m not a total loser. But then, since when do I care what people think of me? Enough rambling now and I’m off to find some comfort food.

Listen : Try sleeping with a broken heart - Alicia Keys

Nobody here but us servantless American cooks..

I heart films by Nora Ephron so much. Among of her hits are such as When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and you’ve got mail. For a sucker of sappy romantic comedies like me, these are hands down; the best and sure winner on any of my movies nights. Her latest work is Julie & Julia starred Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Both have worked together in a movie called ‘Doubt’ but that’s totally different story altogether and lets save it for another day. But Julie & Julia is so much fun! I like how the director/writer made the scenes from 2 different women life’s seamlessly goes back and forth in telling their stories. It is as if you’re watching and following 2 different stories or characters being developed in the same movie but not being annoyed with it, because you know they are somehow bound by the same passion; French Culinaire!

Well, According to Wikipedia ;

“…The film depicts events in the life of chef Julia Child in the early years in her culinary career, contrasting her life with Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes from Child's cookbook during a single year, a challenge she described on her popular blog that would make her a published author. Ephron's screenplay is adapted from two books: My Life in France, Child's autobiography, written with Alex Prud'homme, and a memoir by Julie Powell. In August 2002, Powell started documenting online her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she later began reworking that blog, The Julie/Julia Project. Both of these books were written and published in the same time frame of 2004 to 2006. The film is the first major motion picture based on a blog…”

If you have not watch the movie, go and get the dvd.Honestly, reading the blog and watching the movie made me want to learn the French Cooking as well! Bon Appetit!

Listen: Aku bukan Untuk mu - Rossa

Blue Sky

Where is the blue sky that I miss so much?

KL is inundated with endless rain these days. And rains make life looks so gloomy (as if it's not gloomy enough!) and feels so hopeless. I got very moody without knowing the reason why. And it's ugly. I hate feeling down due to the weather. It could have been due to other things though, but blaming it on the weather seems an easy option, eh? tsk, tsk.

Listen: You & Me - Zee Avi

Are You The Real Alice?

For the most times whenever I’m at cinema last year, catching movies with friends or by myself; I’ve been so excited to see the promo posters and trailers of ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Aside from the fact there is one hot man named Johnny Depp in it, this is the works of Tim Burton, man. I think his films are quirky, enigmatic and perhaps like the man himself, bit kind of eccentrics.

Anyway, if you have not watch ‘Alice’; go to the nearest cinema and oh! Get these; watching in 3D is so enjoyable & satisfying. But sometimes, you get tired of actually trying to squash the bugs away from your sight. They kind of jumped out the screen, you see. Besides, the places and the characters are brilliantly colorful and the make-believe underworld looks awesome albeit with gloomy and brooding feel. I can’t however tell you whether I like the book or the film more because I’m yet to read the book. (Hah! That’s another one to add to my must-read book list for this year) but regardless, I think I enjoyed it very much. Worth the money spent. The story itself, if you’re non-reader (not yet read the book) like me, some info from Wikipedia said;

“Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.[1] It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures…The journey had started at Folly Bridge near Oxford and ended five miles away in the village of Godstow. To while away time the Reverend Dodgson told the girls a story that, not so coincidentally, featured a bored little girl named Alice who goes looking for an adventure….” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice

Listen : It's my Life - Bon Jovi

A New Day

So this is it. The day has finally arrived. It’s my birthday folks! Like I mentioned previously, I usually couldn’t be bothered that much, but today..Well, today is wee bit special because I am getting a god daughter this afternoon. I hope her imminent arrival to this world will mark as beautiful additional to her wonderful family. I hope she will grow up and make her parents and her god mother proud. I wish her all the best and I promise to try and be there whenever she needs me. This is the closest to being an actual mom that I can be. So help me God, I don’t intend to screw this. Yikes!

Updates (by text msgs to/fro)

@ 10.30 am – The Mummy (aka My Best Friend) has checked into the maternity ward and is waiting for the scheduled C- Section Ops.

@ 1.00 pm - Off to Operation Theatre. Gulp!

@ 3.00 pm - Yeay! the baby has been safely delivered.

Listen : Rock a baby lullaby

Random Things

These are so random, almost pointless even. But what the heck..

*A colleague recently left the company for greener pasture. Good for him! And that has triggered endless questions and discussions (and envy) among us. The most glaring and repetitive one is; what the fcuk are we still doing here??

* I watched ‘Heroes’ and finished whole season 2, 3 & 4. And I’m exhausted, man. The storyline is like..’phew! Let’s crammed all ideas we got and throw everything and anything into the series’ Seriously, WTF? But whatever..I digress. Still, Peter Petrelli is fun to drool over.

* I adore tone deaf people who are not afraid to make fun of themselves. In fact, I love the people who are not afraid to laugh at themselves once in a while. And getting up and singing in public probably not everybody’s forte, but when you take it with pinch of salt and having fun with your friends while doing it; total awesome, man. Who cares if you didn’t get the rhythm right?

* I accidentally and mistakenly had bought another copy of ‘Digital Fortress’ by Dan Brown. Where as I’m actually dying to get my hands on his latest ‘The Lost Symbol’. Damn it. Am such an idiot.

* Can’t wait for my god daughter to arrive. Yeay!

Listen : Meet me halfway - Black Eye Peas

Countdown has started?

A friend, ok scrap that. MY best friend in this whole wide world – N, is about to give birth to her second child. And for the last 3 days now, she is updating her facebook status with some sort of countdown to the exact day that she’ll be having her C- Section. Funny thing is, the date she had chosen is also will be my birthday! (not a coincidence there, Einstein!) Yep. Bar any unwanted consequences err.. like me being dead much earlier than that; I’ll be 33 freaking years old in 16 days! (Thanks to the countdown. Blergh!) Usually, I don’t really looking forward to my birthday, I mean, nothing earth-shatteringly special had happened in the past (on my birthday) but I do always appreciate and be thankful than I’m alive and still kicking! But anyway, I’m getting the BEST Birthday present this year. Another God Daughter. ( I have few godsons & god daughters, but that’s story for another time!) So, no complaints. And this is life. As it is; we get some, we lose some. I digress.

Listen : Honey Bee - Zee Avi

Perhaps

Hi y`all..

enjoy this okeh?

Changes

Why do we have to change and suddenly became someone else when we’re in love or a relationship? Is it normal? I mean, of course we have to adapt and be more considerate, now that there is another person involved. But, how much changes that we’re talking about here? I’ve heard that if you love someone, you’ll have to also deal with; not only the good things about him/her, but their warts, habits and all. I couldn’t agree more with that. Of course, it is a mutual, double lanes highway. As in, they also have to understand, be considerate and accepting our (bad) habits or styles etc etc. More importantly, the issue here is to find a common ground between two people. Yes, I’m sure that differences are inevitable. But, communication is vital. Talk things over and discuss what matters most to both of you ~ that are the best advice given to me in regard of love/relationship by a dear friend. I am so following that.

Wish me luck! :)

Listen : Georgia On My Mind - Ray Charles

January

Hullo..

What a rollercoaster kind of life. What a ride. What a year (so far). And it’s only January, folks. I love every minutes of this life, oh well, after all this is only life that I know. Be it happy moments, heartache, being in love (again. Finally!) or some heart-wrenching, eye-opening and nerve-wrecking situations. Am truly soaking up this life! I want to feel positive like this forever! Even if some things did not come my way or not turn out to be as what I wish for; I would still be able to believe that things do happened for its own reason, no?

Listen: The Climb - Miley Cyrus

Happy New Year 2010!

It's already the end of year 2009.

The time went by so fast like you would not believe it. So many things had happened this year and some will be remembered and some are best to be forgotten. We live and learnt, we move forward.It's the cycle of this life.

Anyway,
I would like to wish all of you a happy new year 2010! and here's to a more wonderful, lovely, successful, happy, fantastic year to come~! Bring it on.

Listen : Speechless - The Veronicas