Steady hands sturdy feet settled heart ...

9.49pm on the eve of Valentine's Day. A bit of time to update the abandoned blog before all resolutions fly out the window.

Doing not too bad lately considering the game and the current score. The mind is currently on a semi-recess. The Chinese New Year weekend was a welcoming reprieve, however short and unfocused it may be.

Rushing for sunset in Miri ...

The brain has been on a mental workout since I started work on 2nd January of this year. All the KPIs to list down, record, perform and then measured. All the work-related travel to endure or enjoy, whichever way you want to take it. It has been non-stop since the beginning of the year, but hey... not one to complain right now (at least not to general public on social media network). We take a deep breath every chance we got.

The soul is sunbathing in the glow of a pretty awesome -- and sometimes somewhat unfathomably  amazing -- relationship. My emotion included. The adjectives as proof. Say no more.

Some say love are stuffed cuddly animals...

And the body. Well. Looks like the pretty curves aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Between standing on the feet all day long in 2 inch heels a week ago running around with a walkie talkie during the office gala dinner function, and again while in Miri two weekends ago, and again the weekends before that in Bintulu, it has been ridiculously physically straining. Why that didn't do much, if at all, for the weight, is stupefying. The whole resolution to take the stairs instead of the elevator which started on a good note... went down the drain a few days upon returning to work from the endless journey. Sometimes taking the flights feels like taking a bus on a normal route home to and fro.

Kuching from up above...

Shall not talk about the glorious food along the way, because I'm sure some judgmental side of you (the readers) will put two and two together and sum up that the generous hard-to-shed curves on the vital corners were the results of over indulgence. Yes that too but oh if you only knew how constant traveling makes you get hungry so fast it messes with your meal schedule. Between the next city or the next flight, there's always new food to be discovered, or rediscovered, depending on the company you hang out with or the amount of work you take up to boost the appetite.

 Right. How do you say no to this?

It seems that everytime the job changes, the remnants of weight from the previous post gets carried forward to the new. Wow. If I get a dollar for every kilo I gain each time I resign and start a new stint elsewhere, I'd be a millionaire and a half by now. Imagine that. 

11.41pm. The ramble ends. This post shall not make it to any newspaper column.Who knew why it took so long to write huh.

11.57pm. I'm hopeless. Zzzzz...

Add to cart Monday ...

Hate Mondays? I know a quick remedy. Come, accompany me to the online malls.

I mean, how could you resist signs that say 'Free shipping', '50% off online sales', 'Weekend Deals Specials', 'Privileged Shopper Deals', 'Buy 2 get 1 on the house'... etc?

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I ended up spending nearly RM100 online on a Monday morning. Very therapeutic, even if the item on sales is probably one that you gamble your body-size on upon a successful transaction. No matter.

Now you try. I know you some of you are having your pay-day today... Ha ha ha. What are you waiting for?

 

Pic: www.exemplifyonline.com

HAVE A SPLENDID CARAMEL MACCHIATO MONDAY!

Ok ... now continue work!

Out and about ... in Mukah...

Hey ya bunch of lovelies and laddies! Don't you just love the sound of big waves hitting forcefully against rock and concretes and feeling the breeze blowing humid air into your bare face? I love my life...

Yours truly had just rented a network cable for RM5 from the reception counter downstairs, and now I'm blogging via a ridiculously fast and free broadband connection from the comfort of my huge kingsized super-deluxe seaview room with open balcony at Kingwood Resort Mukah. I figured a lot of people here at this moment (and they're not many at a time and mostly here for functions) do not want to fork out a meager RM5 to get connected (they normally argue they should instead get complimentary internet facility for being paying guests, which I do sometimes too) and so the traffic is very very clear, and they're MINE! ALL MINE!

Shhh... don't tell anyone, but I just downloaded a whole movie in less than 45 minutes! I'm such a douche bag. Ha ha ha.

Nearer to the foyer ...

Anyway, hey! My room is just splendid. Well actually, there are better looking or lovelier rooms than this and I've been in one, but I supposed it's probably because I love the seaside and the really strong breeze so much that it just kind of made up for the things they don't put in my room, like a missing mini-fridge or a hot tub or a loofah or a bathing robe. But... what's not to love? We're here to work, not holidaying. While you're at it, embrace what you can along the way. Wheeeee.

The overall view of the room ... it's actually bigger than it looks...

Oh by the way, don't believe everything you hear about this place. And  me and my two guys are staying here because the one in town is fully booked and this is the closest to luxury we can get as of now, even though it's 15 minutes from town. Wohoo!

The awesome view from my room...

Last I was in Mukah was August last year during the Kembara Merdeka. It's a medium-size Division in the State and probably one of our exotic places to visit in Sarawak. The majority of the population is Melanau and the rest are Malays, Ibans, Chinese, and some other minor groups. The people are really friendly too, and the food is awesome. I haven't had any opportunity to try the umai yet this time around.

Second last I was there was in 2009 when the road to Mukah via Sibu was simply awful where what takes 1 hour 45 minutes now then took 3 hours minimum with the muddy and gravelly and hole-filled tracks. Thanks to err... elections and the currently developing Tanjung Manis and the Halal Hub nearby, this place is now kira dekat la wei.

I'm not really doing a good job promoting this place am I? Haha... Never mind. Some tourist guide I am. But I will return with pictures of food! Wohooo!!

To be continued....

Monday rant ...

1 draft speech done, 2 more to go. Nuked my morning coffee thrice already. Every time I'm set to go, something comes up. A phone call. A discussion. Emails. Walk-ins. And then I would be on it long enough for my coffee to get cold again.

Woke up at 5.15am today, drove all the way to my own place from kampung, continued sleep on my sofa, reawaken at 7.00am, did the laundry, washed hair, fixed breakfast, drove to work at 8.10am.

On the entrance to the building's car park, realised I forgot my tag that carries my parking/building pass, office door access card, and staff ID. Must've left it still in my luggage from last weekend's trip to Sibu. Parked outside, awaiting noon, then drove balik kpg again just to get my tag. Nasib baik kampung dekat sub-urban je.

Moral of the story: Don't drowse and drive. You're bound to forget something.

Anyway, Happy Monday people!

P/S: No ammo.

I will be away in ...

 

Google pix. 

... for 4 days berkursus dan membosankan diri dengar ceramah. Harap-harap banyak outdoor activity macam redah hutan ke, terjun kolam ke, makan durian ke. Hope to have time for sightseeing too, never been here.

And perhaps after that, prowl the metrocity shopping for novels. Yeay!
.
.

The Appraisee ...

STRENGTH: Resourceful, level-headed, crafty, intelligent, dependable, reliable, a time-keeper, a team player but able to work unsupervised and/or alone, adapting fast to any environment, extremely patient, able to work under complete duress and within really crass short notice [or die trying], able to withstand and deliver all ridiculous demands [within the bounds of propriety].  In short - I'm the best person for this job and you will not do well to lose me.

Yuck! I sound like a Supergirl, a lioness, a chameleon, a platypus, a flamingo, an eel, a panther, a zombie!

Arrghhhhh!!!

I loath doing my own appraisal. Especially if 6 months have passed by and I have lost all track and time on what the pffftt I have been doing all this time. I wrote them all down all that I did and still it didn't quite record everything, all the heartaches, the pain, the dizziness, the indecision, the sleepless nights, the panic attacks, the rows, the little riffs, the pats on the back, the thumb ups, the friendships built, etc.

I've been working for 11 years and the appraisal is something I have always hated doing. If it weren't for the fact that the appraisal is much needed, I wont wish it on anyone. Loath! Loath! Loath! Loath! Loath!

Coffee, anyone?

Need for speed ...

Where did the time go? It's June already, hey!

Selamat Gawai to all my fellow Sarawakians!

I am at a phase where my days are calculated by deadlines. It's like counting the days backwards until D-Day and the amount of preparation to be done prior to that. The beauty about deadlines is you look far ahead forward to it that you don't see or feel the nearest things that come along or between it. And hey hey... time moves faster that way, and before you know it, it's payday!

Oh... but I know when civil servants get theirs because the shopping malls will suddenly go mad with traffic jams during lunch breaks and you see batiks and kurungs go shopping in groups. That's usually the indicator for me, and we would go... "What, payday already kah?" Haha. No offense people, after all, that's also an indicator that ours will be the next day.

Anyway... enough blabbering. It's June! It's Midyear! It's summer somewhere (remember I have that British-speaking checklist?)! And it's Sales all around!

Happy June everyone! Thanks for reading my craps today, I'm out of ideas again, post-holiday mood. 

Spilled Coffee ... and Ubi Rebus

It's only 12.49pm and I'm already passed my second cup of coffee. And they're both instant because that's the only ones they have in the pantry. Man. I have another appointment at 2.30 pm and I hope they serve coffee as well. Oh joy.

*Shiraka itu ofis MP suruh aku nunggu 45 menet untuknya sampei ofis. Maka apoinmen kol 10 pagi. Ney tek nya gik di umah nunggu sidak cina datang nak masang apakah di umahnya. Pfft. Mun tauk tek, ku gi minum dolok. Nasibnya tua dari aku. Nasibnya ngidang kopi juak tek. Mun sik, heh, udah ku ngebom dengan cara bait tek. Nasib ku gik ingat Pendidikan Moral ku tek. Hormat orang tua ok.*

Anyway....... My point is ... UBI REBUS! *Insert Big Grin*

Have you ever tried:

Ubi rebus (boiled tapioca)

+

Tempoyak goreng (fried fermented durian) 

*Nimi, pinjam foto yoh?*

+

kopi-o panas (hot black coffee)

for coffee/tea break?

Seriously exotic and very Bidayuh style. Never? Yucky? Haha. Try it.

You know everytime I have a combination of these... I would go exactly like that food critic Antono Ego, the grim eater, in Ratatouille the movie after he ate the ratatouille made by the rat Remy ...

It brings me waaaaay back to my childhood days.

That's all folks! I am late for my appointment!

I Need To Throw A Tantrum...

Because if some people can make ridiculous demands on short notice and expect the subordinates to comply, so can we. So can I. Is there a free face that needs breaking right now? My knuckles itch.

And the title of my next movie would be: Hancock 2: Superheroes need a break too. 

Now what?

You heard it first from me.

I recounted last year about receiving a new boss and a new regime, right? That is, if anyone remembered.

Guess what. Major reshuffling up there. Not too soon after that, the only 3-months boss has been asked to return to HQ - probably for a promotion - and now we will be receiving another new boss. And so will other region elsewhere.

Exhausting! In truth, the bunch of us were still reeling from the abrupt change and still in the process of warming up to the most recent boss ... and now this. A new boss I can deal with... a new regime I can't. Not too soon anyway. Maka baru jak culture shock ari ya. Start agik. Any day now.

Oh gad.. to even imagine starting up all over again. Asyik tukar-tukar, bila lah kerja nak polah? If anybody say 'life is interesting' right now, I will personally kick you.

Ai yai yai... no time even for a background check.

But, my only consolation is, the second new boss has his own pressure: He has a big shoe to fill right here. And that I bet he is as anxious to meet us as we are to meet him. 

I just hope I can survive and overcome this. What is coffee for, right?

I want it.. I don't want it.. I want it.. I don't want it...