My Heart is Where My Home Is

Well! In March/April I ‘boasted’ that I was very free and was able to post entries almost every day! Then I ran into a patch of work which kept me busy til now!

And the patch of work was/is…….…….my new house is ready!!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I bought a condominium in KL and waited for handover of keys, and waited for defect rectification and renovated and cleaned and delivered new items and moved in!!!!!!!!! Ahahhaahhaha!! Can’t believe it – I have been living in for 1 month now and am still very enamoured with it. When I do think about it, I get this swelling feeling of pride that ‘THIS’ is mine, all mine, bought by MY hard earned money and furnished by mine and some other people’s hard earned money! Hahahahahahaa

But it’s just gorgeous, I so wish I could take pictures and show everyone – it’s like a gorgeous resort with palm trees and a beautiful façade and a completely breathtaking pool! I have a unit facing the pool so each morning when I have time before work, I stand on my large balcony and look down at my awesome cerulean blue pool drinking my lovely glass of OJ!

This is the LIFE! And my mattress – mmmmm….I didn’t buy a REALLY expensive one, only RM1900 but god damn does it do its job. It is wonderfully supportive yet tender (much like a man should be) firm and soft in the right places. And of course my crazily expensive bed linens (bought at sale time from SOGO yet costing me RM800 for 4 sets) just add to the enjoyment. I’m telling you, there are some very very nice designs while my Ikea bedsheet that costs RM89 for only 1 piece of bedsheet is so silky smooth – those of you who enjoy these things in life should definitely get that one!

My curtains are sewn by Kamdar but I didn’t use their contractor to put up the curtain rods cos that would have set me back a cool RM1k!!!!!!!! Blame me for liking the look of metal rods instead of cheaper aluminium tracks. So grand ole’ mummy put them up for me! Yup – you read right, My mum lugged down her friend’s drill from Penang and gamely installed all curtain rods for the house in 2 days! (Rods bought from Ikea!)

And of course, mum said of dad that only at his daughter’s house will he land a hand on a broom and mop! That was dad’s forte, sweeping, mopping and cleaning the windows! And dear sis of course was a mighty organiser. I was confident in leaving to her the most important task of getting some contractors to put up my big big bathroom mirror. It wasn’t easy cos of course when I put up the stickers denoting the spots for the screws into the TILE(!!!!), I hadn’t measured and I forgot to tell her, so my eyes are a bit cock-eyed I guess cos the screws came out a wee bit senget! But she handled it – gave them a wonderful suggestion and they got to it!
Only during my house moving, have I ever given any Malaysian a tip in my life. It was also during puasa month so the poor Malay boys and men were really tired out I’m sure though they didn’t show it. There were some of them who complained to me about the strict security about them entering, parking, unloading…..well, I guess they don’t understand that THAT’s what any owner would want! Strict Security! I am not paying so many hundreds of ringgit a month for any ole’ axe murderer to walk in!!!!

For those of you planing to renovate and move house, please note!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Expenditure is sure to burst your budget unless you have, UNlike me, researched for years on end and know the exact price of each item.

Timelines are sure to burst your project plan NO MATTER how much you plan. (Moi had a Gantt chart and a checklist – good theorectically but still didn’t ensure the deliverymen came on time/or in some cases, came at all!!!!!!!)

If you get the two above straight in your head, you’ll be fine, no false expectations anywhere!

Other notes:

Do not expect a perfect house – there will ALWAYS be defects, now how anal you wanna get about defect rectification is up to you but do ensure that big costly important defects ARE handled by the developer to an acceptable level of quality. However, do note that if you want everything to be perfect, expect that your house will be handed back to you in 3 years time, with some defects STILL in place! Or….new ones I might add!

Also, I practised the philosophy of not screaming and shouting at contractors who know Mafia guys who could target me or my unit or practise black voodoo on me!

DO know who to complain to cos barking up the wrong tree just wastes time and makes you enemies – actually make friends with them! I seem to have had the good luck of having a good maintenance office manager. So far, he’s never let me down! I also must have been good in my past life as the developer’s contractor actually told me to call on him if I needed anything else done. I like to think it was because of my pretty face………hahahaha, no. I’d like to think it’s because I treated them with respect and understanding. That DOES NOT go though for the big money grabbing companies (read developers) – those you have to rant persistently and follow up with official legal letters! DO NOT let them walk all over you.

I do have one gripe though – irresponsible residents. God knows the number of times I’ve seen people drive up the wrong direction on a car park ramp just so they save on driving around (time and petrol)….and it shames me that a lot of "I will please me" behaviours come from P plates – as in Penang drivers!

Another example is of course that some people can’t be bothered to open up the lid of the dustbin to actually dump their garbage in, cos’ what’s the floor for if you actually use the dustbin?????

But otherwise, so far everyone’s quite friendly, some are a little TOO friendly cos no, I don’t wanna tell you my floor and unit number!!! Duh!!!! But generally good!

Although – I still prefer a steam room to a sauna! ;)

Memories.....

Right, it most definitely is too long to go without writing when I don't even remember my username and password. Well, actually I remember my password but the username (because Blogger changed it to Google Account some time back) is the one I couldn't remember.

It's been really hectic for me and especially so now. In June 07 I got the notification that my house keys were ready for collection so I was ecstatic! My own place! Ahhhhhh! This notwithstanding the fact that I had told my chief tenant that I was moving out maybe March or April 07 since the sales person told me the keys would be handed over in February 07!

Nonetheless, better late than having to service the loan for ages on end with no end in sight. So after key collection, my house gave me my first little surprise. And it was a 'little' surprise indeed. The hall and dining area was huge BUT the rooms and bathrooms were tiny! To cut things short, quite a few of my dreams and ideas for the house like a luxurious bathtub flew out my gorgeous bay windows!

But anyway, after some time, the shock wears off and I was really active on my condo online forum, sharing ideas, complaints, dreams......Defect rectification started and after 40 days, it was completed. According to Lillian Too's calendar, Aug 3rd 11am is a wonderful time to begin renovation so my guy - Ah Weng, went in and drilled the first 'almost' hole at 11am! Yippeeeee! I am anxious about the renovation going well as well as thrilled!

All electrical works should be done by this time next week, including another contractor coming in and putting in grille work. Then the last contractor comes in for kitchens. Next Errolyn gets all creative and starts a painting. Only a few walls so I reckon I should be able to do it. I have a lot of offers from friends to help, but, wonder how many will actually come through! Anyway, better to rely on meself huh! AND THEN I CAN MOVE IN!!!!!!!!!!

Another little note, wonder why Damansara Utama Uptown has been so clogged up recently. I have been wanting for the past 5 days to go buy my usual Yong Tau Foo there but can't drive smoothly through and can't find parking. Aiyoyoyooooo, missing my Yong Tau Foo!!!!

Civil Servants get Highest Raise Ever!

My parents are richer now thanks to our level-headed, quiet and unassuming but nevertheless charming Prime Minister. I have always had great respect for the leader of our country – I’ve only known 2 Malaysian Prime Ministers in my lifetime (ever since I’ve been old enough to remember) and both of them have had different personalities, characters and strengths. In my opinion, our former PM is like fire – passionate, hot and frenzied while our current PM is like water – quiet, mysterious and slowly carving his path between rocks.

So, anyway, that was a little digression. So my parents are now richer thanks to the increase in civil servant salaries and pensions. Dad no longer works but mum does, as a Commissioner for Oaths. Once in a while, I do chastise her about smiling more to the people who walk through her door. She has a pretty kind heart as it is but I think I have a softer one and when she gets frustrated or upset with some of her customers, I tend to remind her that these are people who come to you because they need your help, they need your service and they need your expertise. …plus they are willing to pay for it!

I can’t quite say the same thing to Civil Servants nationwide, in the sense that the customers who come to them don’t directly pay them at every touch point of service, however, they are ‘servants’ of the country as it is the country who pays them their monthly wages. People usually think they’ve got it good when they get a position with the government; they seldom fail to realise that it is usually a thankless job that still requires you to give your best and smile at the same time! In the olden days, my grandfather would have said, it is an Honourable Job, you do lots, get paid little, endure spitting and still you get the job done.

When you are in a service industry (regardless governmental, NGO or corporate), it is your utmost responsibility to provide the most efficient service you can in the best manner possible. Now that usually encompasses the following criteria:

Prompt and efficient service/advice
Courtesy
Smile
Enthusiasm
Responsibility

What happens when the civil servant/service provider is caught in a traffic jam to work and ends up clocking in late? What happens when a customer gets upset and screams at them? What happens if their child fell ill this morning? What happens if they had a big ole drawn out fight with their spouse? What happens if they didn’t strike the lottery?

Prompt and efficient service/advice
- I’m hungry, I want a coffee, I’m having a coffee.
- Without me, they can’t do anything, let them wait.
- All my life I’ve never had to move faster than this, why should I change now?
- Nobody pays me enough to go through all the work I have to go through
Courtesy
- The bugger on the street honked at me this morning, therefore do unto others what others have done unto me!
- They pay me to do the job, not to mind my p’s and q’s.
- We’re all here to work only, I don’t know you and I don’t like your face.
Smile
- I only smile at people I know.
- What can a smile do? Don’t waste my time and work my facial muscles even more!
- They don’t pay me enough to work, now you want me to SMILE????
Enthusiasm
- It’s raining, I’d rather be in bed.
- My child is sick, my problems are bigger than yours, I don’t care about you wanting this piece of work NOW!
- I keep my enthusiasm for makan times and clock out times only.
- You don’t pay my salary, I don’t have to put on a show for you!
Responsibility
- I do the best I can, what else do you want from me?
- Nobody pays me enough to care so much.
- My boss will take responsibility for my work. That’s what he’s there for!

So, it’s usually about the money. I’m not one to only point fingers at our civil servants. If the corporate world also presents customer service agents who are atrocious albeit making more money (or so believed), and receiving more training, then it MUST be justified for our civil servants to provide us with the shoddy service we sometimes receive.

I’ve had customer service agents who speak through the phone as if they have not yet woken up. I have spoken to others who are unaware that they are being paid to represent an organisation, sometimes an international one at that and there are those whose only purpose in life is to talk to me on the phone and make me wish I could squeeze the life out of them so that God doesn’t have to waste a brain on a non-entity as that!

It’s all well and good when there are numerous newspaper reports and interviews and public comments reminding the civil servants to work harder, not take bribes and to realise that they no longer have to behave ungraciously to the public because they ARE getting their higher salaries, but it’s no use. For those who have behaved in this manner in the past, it is because their mindset and their work ethic dictates that they do. As such, short of a brainwashing, nothing is going to change their actions. Not money; but….hmmmm….. perhaps compliments….(never underestimate the power of a good word) and then an elimination of those back-biters who will call them names for trying.

There are of course, those who work very hard and smile in spite of problems but those are few and far between. I count myself very lucky if I happen to meet on of those – can buy Lottery! Then I can move to an island where I wouldn’t have to smile too.

But let’s give this the benefit of the doubt, let’s cross our fingers and pray that more money means the public get what they want = better service, more graciousness, more courtesy and more expertise. For a simple example, just look at Astro – for higher subscription fees, you get more and more channels – oh, but I did just read a ‘Letter to the Editor’ that vehemently states that the writer ‘didn’t ask for the channels, so why make me pay more for them???!!!’ I hope more money doesn’t just translate into more expensive coffee at coffee breaks!

Finally, I would also like to observe that in all the war movies I’ve seen, army men, soldiers, army pilots, national sercurity/servicemen, all always work for the country and die for the country. It is a matter of honour to serve the country. I’ve never heard any of them say, "I’ll defend this country to my bank account in Switzerland, so help me God!"

:)

Weird things that occur to me at work...

Makeup, shoes, outfit, …why is it that women are more interested in changing these than their hair?

I have been at my new place for nearly 1 month now and nobody’s hair changes! Men are out of the equation, the poor beings, because there isn’t much they can do….but the women! The first time I styled my hair differently to the office, my colleague came in and didn’t know how to say ‘Good Morning’. People leave a lot to chance with their hair: a swipe of a brush, a pin/barrette and they’re done. It’s been boredom (with my hair) this past year that has made me change my hair style and colour so often but I guess it doesn’t bother anyone else!

Lately I have been having trouble with my Chinese name – or rather how I would write it in Mandarin. My Chinese name is very complicated – well, the first 2 characters are ok but the third one has the dubious honour of being one of the characters that uses the most strokes in Chinese history – of course there are simplified versions now but I happen to like the look of the old one better.

Anyways, I don’t speak Mandarin so I always warn others that my pronounciation of my name could be off (which is fine) and my writing of my name could be wrong (which is not). All this time, well-meaning Mandarin speakers have tried to teach me how to write my name – but the versions they have given me are Incorrect I have found out. Does nobody listen to me when I say my grandfather (who gave me the name) said that my name means ‘the steps to the Emperor’s throne’??? They gave me versions that meant gold, they gave me versions that meant warmth, you know there’s even one that is ‘ling long’ (like the bell)!!!!

I have therefore, come to the obvious conclusion thatttt…. my grandfather must have told me the wrong meaning or I must have misunderstood; because there is no way soooo manyyyyyy Chinese speaking people cannot show me the character of my name! And dear old grandad is happily puffing that big opium pipe in the sky so he can’t show me anything anymore……

Well, I’m sure I can get through another 30 years without the Chinese name being of life and death urgency right? …….Of course now that I say this, Mr Kind-Romantic-Witty-Intelligent-Billionaire is going to walk through my door and propose……..on the condition that I can write my Chinese Name correctly.

A Day in the Life of Errolyn's Office (yes the horoscope included in my morning read)

"If the status of a relationship isn't very clear, you should try opening your eyes a bit wider. If you're not seeing things the way they really are, it could be because you're afraid that the picture isn't as rosy as you want it to be. But you're dealing with your own happiness and future -- and knowing the truth is better than living in blissful ignorance. Seeing things as they really are doesn't always require courage -- sometimes it requires only a bit of self-respect. Besides, things are not as bad as you think!"

Courtesy of http://astrology.yahoo.com/astrology/

What does a girl do when her horoscope states the obvious? Do I leave it all up to fate or do I blindly challenge the stars?

And the more important question, do I fight it when it rings so true?

It isn’t always easy navigating through life but I happen to think I’ve got a pretty good head on my shoulders and that I usually make decisions that are at least well-informed, well-researched, or guided by gut instinct. Operative word here is ‘usually’ or should I say ‘99% of the time’.

The remaining portion are the times when I seem to throw caution to the wind …..only I don’t. It looks terribly irresponsible, stupid perhaps, to some people when I do the things I do and I can’t explain them. I only know it’s not really throwing caution to the wind – it comes with a lot of soul-searching and hard-thinking. Self-preservation runs the race with the romantic notion of living for the here and now because tomorrow is not promised to you. The gun goes off and even before the runners are out of the gate, romance has won the day. It has happened before and it will happen again. When will I learn or will I ever learn? Am I naturally, intrinsically predisposed to behave this way (as my stars have it!) or perhaps I just don’t know pain as yet (touch wood!).

Is it sado-masochism or is it love or is it karma…… or maybe I just am so used to being a certain way with a certain someone that I don’t know any different.

When it comes to love, I have experienced the kaleidoscope – the selfish, possessive, it’s all about me type, to the let’s work it out because we are mutually respectful, to the I would give my life for you. Thank god I have not reached the take me and squeeze everything I’ve got out of me type!

I keep saying I am not strong enough – but I am, I know I am, I must be.

So what is keeping me here in this position?

What is it?



*************************************************************************************


Today at office, we talked about the arrangement a certain RICH man has with his wife and his (ex) girlfriend. Apparently 2 months out of the year, he will spend with his girlfriend alone – and his wife has no knowledge of where he is and what he does. All the married women in the circle exclaimed their disbelief, "What! His wife should let the girlfriend have him for 6 months instead!"

(Actually I’ve heard a variation of this story – instead of 2 months a year, it’s actually only 1 day…although I believe the reaction from my colleagues would remain the same.)

Is this what I will feel too when I am married? Instead of trying to find more time to spend with my beloved, will I actually be seeing the light when someone else wants him? What is marriage then?

Live Forums are So Much Fun!

I have just joined my first online forum and it is so much fun! I get this wonderful feeling where everyone is so helpful and forthcoming with their bits of information. There is such a sentiment of belonging that it makes you want to go out, actually do the research and then feed information back into the forum just so you can be a useful member of the ‘community’.

The question this leads me to is why can’t we engender that same kind of loving feeling in the mass community? It isn’t impossible, it’s obvious it can be done and is being done, so what is it that’s lacking. The most obvious ingredient that’s missing in a mass community is that unifying factor of ‘us against the world’ or ‘1 for all and all for 1’, ‘we are in the same boat, so if I help you, you can help me too’…..the smaller the group, the easier to fan the flames and keep them burning bright because there is usually a stronger feeling of loyalty and less chances for escape from responsibility.

The only thing is that citizens of the world do not see themselves as belonging to the same club, hence no unifying factor. Some out there think, well, if others are already lobbying to reduce reckless use of exhaustible fuel sources, I’m not needed, or worst still, the hands-off ‘too many cooks spoil the soup’ anyway argument.

Not sure why I am lamenting the fate of the world when I would like to see the citizens of Malaysia get together a bit more – no more spitting publicly, no more rolling down your car window and dumping used tissue, no more non-flushing of public toilets and stealing anything removable that’s in a public place! How does the government educate its people? How can it be done? Civic Consciousness is a phrase that is overused in Moral Education but rarely practised, of course neither is Common Sense usually. I refuse to believe that there are people out there who do not flush their toilets at home….so why do you change your standards, practices when you are out in the public eye? If anything, I thought one would behave better!

It is not my job to change the world, I do not assume I can change the world (granted, I am not THAT proactive as well) but I would like to make an impact on the people surrounding me. I would like to make them see that littering is bad (you know who you are) and jumping queues is wrong and shoplifting is criminal! If I can change the few people close to me and they can change the few people close to them, my work is done. Break it down into small manageable pieces, then you’ll see the work to ‘Change The World’ is so impossible after all!

I like to say to myself, whenever the urge to take the easy (but wrong) path is: ‘If you do this now and you know it is wrong, it WILL come back and bite you in the butt some way or another, some day or another’. And that keeps me on the straight and narrow!

When's there's nothing else, there's always Writing...

I am frustrated! Frustrated by the lack of civic consciousness, love for the environment, lack of corporate social responsibility and sheer waste of it – paper that is!
Currently, I am obligated to print and print reams and reams worth of my work. Nobody here at my workplace reads off the monitor and nobody amends and critiques off the computer. Here’s the process flow:

1. You do the work
2. You print the work
3. Boss reads the work and amends
4. You make the changes (do the work)
5. You print the work
6. Boss reads the work and amends/finalises.

(This is by no means a criticism of my work mates, merely a lament at the way time and resources are not as efficiently managed as they could be)

The last time I have had to undergo this vigorous never ending cycle was when I worked at The Garage, Penang where my boss wasn’t always boss and didn’t carry a laptop that we could send him documents on. When he came into the office, he would, more often than not, be happy enough to sit at the desktop and read through the work, then change it as he likes it (which happens more often than not because he was a man of his own mind and his mind didn’t always concur with mine). Even then, my colleagues and I were very conscious of the fact that the company was a new start-up and the boss was already spending millions on the building. Hence we penny-pinched all the way – gosh, we cut up the card board that came with your stockings/panty-house and used them as filofax cards to write our clients’ contact details on! (Btw, on a little detour – you can’t buy loyalty, pride and ownership like that in employees anymore)

Then of course I went on to a more corporate, proper, professional career in a consulting MNC. We printed what we had to, we did always endeavour to stay within the budget, even though the personal phone call bills could run up high, especially when you’re calling Penang during peak office hours from KL…….I MUST stress I wasn’t the only Penangite on the team! The work came and went but I was quite quite happy there. Until 2 years later when I joined the foreign bank of yore that I left to join this local bank of present. Many wonder a thunderous ‘WHY???’ but heck I had a good feeling about it and I wanted more banking experience – which I didn’t feel I was building up in my ex bank (actually a global service centre subsidiary of the actual bank). Which brings me here, at this point in my life, feeling frustrated and sad that I am not doing my part in saving the trees!

I have always been a frugal person (except when it comes to shoes and diamonds and items that I really love and must have (usually high-ticket, go figure – I don’t choose them, they call out to me)) (I seem to always look up from a rack of clothes and see ‘ New Arrival, No Discount’ or ‘Normal Price Merchandise’ when all around me, I am mocked and inundated with signs of ‘50% Off’, ‘70% Off’ and ‘Buy 1, Free 5’’!!! But I digress – I have always been careful with resources that are not limitless – paper, money, dogs…..

And in my ex-bank, this attitude was amply satisfied and rewarded. We were very cost-conscious and printed double sided, recycled non-sensitive papers, printed 4 or 6 slides to one page…..Now coming here, nothing is recycled but printed again and again and they use good quality paper!!!!! I am SO SAD! I have just been on the intranet looking for avenues where I can suggest a recycling campaign but can’t find the proper avenue. I guess I have to find another way.

I guess all big bosses don’t really think about saving cost, they’ve got more important decisions to make while lil’ole me is too busy focusing on the little things to change the world.

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Little ole' non-technie me downloaded some screensavers and wallpapers into little ole' non-technie me's office computer....and now, there may be some problems!!!! Oh my god! What do I do!!!!! I hate technology - when I buy my own laptop in the future I am going to be so afraid to do anything on it.

Damn, I think I'd better go send some important documents and presentations to my external email. Not sure how the back up works here.

And the stupid thing is I keep trying to uninstall the screensaver and I can't seem to get rid of it!!!!!!

Btw, read why energy-saving bulbs are kinda bad here....

I have no idea what to call this post!

This year I told my well-meaning, ever-inquisitive relatives, friends and neighbours that I am going to tie the knot come next Chinese New Year. The irony is that they don’t seem to believe me even though this is the very piece of information they asked for and sad to say, they don’t seem to be very excited. The past years, I’ve always managed to smile bashfully and quietly mumble something along the lines of the time not having arrived yet, needing to meet a man first etc and now, the first year I actually am able to spew something positive, they don’t run around the room jockeying to help me with wedding duties!

Go figure!

So I had 1 week of fun-filled Chinese New Year in Penang with good food and family and friends. It was not as hot as normal and even the traffic jams were not as bad – this harkens back to the old days of Penang as I remember from when I was 8 years old. Near my alma mater, Convent Green Lane, there was a large monsoon drain between the school field and the main road; and around the monsoon drain, there grew these giant trees. They would drop their pretty yellow and red flowers down on us and we used to make little crowns and bracelets with the blooms while waiting for our school bus.

We would also dare each other to cross the monsoon drain by walking over the slim bars of concrete, placed across the drain for heaven knows what. That was quite dangerous, that, since the drain was deep and wide but then we were fool-hardy, fun-loving children who thought we were invincible – well, no actually, I was quite afraid of feeling pain! This is quite weird seeing as I am morbidly fascinated by road kill and gore and violence but the imagined pain of any suffering affects me deeply. I think it’s because I can visualize and internalize the (assumption of) pain, therefore, I can feel my hair curl. The worst thing I have ever seen must be via ‘Faces of Death’ or ‘Shocking Asia’ or some video of that ilk, where a young African boy is caught shoplifting. He gets stretched out with a man each holding his hands and feet and another comes along with a small, yet wicked looking, knife. He proceeds to slowly saw off the boy’s right hand as a deterring punishment and a warning to others. The boy shows not a glimmer of pain nor utters a moan of despair. However, the silent look of hopelessness in his eyes speaks volumes. Such is the life of the hard core poor where they expect and accept whatever punishment society inflicts on them because they think they deserve no better.

Another horrid incident I have watched on the same video is where a physically challenged man is trying to cross a rather wide city road. He hobbles across as fast as he can when there is a lull in traffic. You see him, halfway across, holding up 1 hand as a gesture to ask the oncoming vehicle to slow down. No sirree, the big bus does nothing of that sort and proceeds only to slam on his screeching brakes AFTER you hear and SEE the thump of the poor man against the front grille of the behemoth.

These two scenarios never fail to leave a bitter taste in my mouth as they demonstrate the (possible) cruelty of the human kind and the utter bleakness you can fall to in life.

As such, appreciate your life – good or bad, there is always someone worse off than you out there. If you think about the tragedy of millions dying of AIDS, the unreasonable deaths of babies and children due to starvation and poor hygiene, and the unimaginable horror of (the raison d'être and method of) ethnic cleansing; just a few of the heartrending milieu that has visited Earth and Man; who cares if your daddy didn’t give you more money to buy those Aldo shoes, or you don’t get to buy that Roadster you had your heart set on!

This New Year I am making a promise to myself to be happy with my life because it’s all UP TO ME! If I give myself lemons, I’m making lemonade with a cheerful umbrella and funky straw. Buddhism says that there should be no ‘I’! It’s true, I have to learn to stop thinking of me and my pride and more of how I can make it better for someone else!

I’m growing up!

So for all my friends out there, I am thinking how to make the wedding more fun for you! I shall give everyone duties where I can be sure they will excel in so they can make the more efficient, effective use of their god-given talents and hard-won expertise!

:)

Wow! It’s the start of the New Year! The New Year according to Feng Shui (- I was going to say according to Lillian Too but some readers may not be too happy about that.) AND Chinese New Year is just around the corner.

I’ve been a real bad girl this year and not bought any new clothes to celebrate what is only going to be the ‘Best Year of My Life Yet’! I mean I have some dresses I bought before and have not worn, god knows, if we’re going down that path, there are a lot of new clothes I can just throw on on the first day! But I must, I don’t have any new shoes! I’ve been feeling a bit guilty about buying shoes this last year. I told myself no more shoes because I’ve got too many already but I did go to Taiwan and China last year so……couldn’t leave them countries without a few of them on my belt.

So, why is 2007 the ‘Best Year of My Life Yet’??? Well, the time of the Dragon has finally come around, after 2 years of down time, it’s about time I started being on the UP again and it certainly reads like a fantastic year for us dragons if you believe the websites and Lillian and Joey Yap and all that.

The eerie thing is that the moment the new year rolled around, I felt happy. I didn’t go out and get drunk and kiss 10 random guys…..and girls!!!….but I had a major shift in emotions and I didn’t even realize it until a few days later, when I thought, Gosh! I haven’t felt this consistently happy for a long time now! So there you are, the planets and stars moving around does make a difference! :)

So, it’s felt like a wonderful start to the new year and I can’t wait to get things moving and shaking. I am going to do crazy things this year and I’m definitely excited about all the life changing NEW things!

(No it’s not another tattoo! Oh yeah, for those of you who didn’t know what my life changing action was mid last year – I got a palm sized tattoo – of a BEAUTIFUL peacock on my back. It’s got a bit of colour, some pink and some purple and it looks so elegant. The part I love most is its tail. It’s gorgeously intricate and it makes me take my hat off to my tattoo artist ‘Ah Sui’ (Water) from Sungei Wang. He’s excellent! After we finished the tattoo in 1.5 hours, he told me, “Well, now only your special someone will see the best part of the peacock…..and me of course!” Hhahahahahaa…..funny man! And no, it didn’t hurt!)

A note of caution for the new year though, it’s festive season soon so be careful when you drive. The cops are out and hungry so caveat emptor (me taking poetic license that). I was stopped for ‘speeding’ along Sri Hartamas on Sunday. The man who had sworn to protect me and country asked me, “Nak saman kah nak saya tolong?” (Want a summons or want my help?). Not the first time I’ve been shocked and most certainly not the last I’m sure. Disclaimer: Not all of them are bad or corrupt or flirty, just the ones I’ve encountered who are like that!

….And you thought it was going to be another boring self preservation drive safe campaign from me! Of course not, you yourself know whether you wanna live a long healthy life in one piece or not. Now THAT is not for me to comment on!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!!