Otaku spree

My sister labelled me as "otaku". I could not help but agree with her. LOL. Apart from going to work, I don't really go out these days. Even over the weekends, I would sit in front of my laptop and worked.

There's an improvement this weekend. My work laptop remains untouched up to this instance. However, here I was. Surfing and blog-hopping =p A real otaku! The only difference is that I do not read manga, comics or hook up to anime and start singing OST from the anime in Japanese language. LOL. That's extreme.

As a consolation, I did go out with my colleague last weekend. We went to Mid Valley and had yummy desserts at SweetChatz. A rather nice place to chill out and to quench thirst but I find the desserts and food rather pricey. Anyway, it's all right to have them once in a blue moon. I am not sure if I am being stingy thrifty or people now do not mind spending more on something that need not cost as much, just for pleasure. *shrug*

O'Viet Cafe, Sunway Pyramid

This is an outdated post. My sister and I decided to go for Vietnamese food before hopping in to the cinema for the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". That was a few weeks ago.The food is all right but we find the price is slightly higher than average.

Looks like a menu? It's actually the restaurant's wall paper!

Lemon tea

Vietnamese's specialty - rice paper spring roll. We opted for the shrimp spring roll. Simply love it. The shrimp is fresh and the texture of the rice paper is smooth & tender.

The sauce that goes with the spring roll. It tasted like the satay sauce.

Spicy fish noodle

Thai Snacks from Pretty Nay

It's my lucky day that I get to have a taste of Thai snacks from a variety of them without having to buy them nor getting them from Thailand. They are "flown" to me. Free of tax and import duties. LOL. Thanks to Nay for being so sweet.

I haven't eaten them as they look too pretty to be eaten. However, rest assured I will help myself once I have enough of admiring them =p

Since it's a Saturday morning, I decided to play around with these pretty looking snacks - taking photos of them. Just wanted to keep pictures of them before they end up in my tummy.

Herbal fried coconuts -saw some peanuts as well

Lovely Fruit Puffs

Souvenir from Traditional Malay Wedding

I should have blogged about it last week. It's my colleague's wedding and this is the first time I attended a Malay wedding. I find that it's very similar to Indian's wedding. Friends and family gathered in a place to have lunch while sending best wishes to the pair of newly weds. The couple would sit facing the guests for photo shoots and to receive blessings. I understand that it's a day long event. The couple would be there until all the guests leave.

While I was about to leave, my colleague's mother (the groom's) gave my colleagues and I a souvenir to thank us for coming. Rather sweet, huh?

Spring at Penang, Malaysia?

I thought it was an exaggeration when I heard from the radio that there's Sakura season here in Penang until I saw an email from my friend. Still, I was sceptical. While admiring the photos, I spotted a locally produced car and the familar road signs of Malaysia. Only then I believed we indeed have sakura in Malaysia! Never imagined we would have "spring" season in a tropical country. Cool.

Lunch Gathering at pantry

I am indeed lucky today. Apart from rice, I had 5 dishes and 1 soup for lunch! Well, shared with my colleagues (total 7 of us), of course.

We came up with an idea to have a pot luck some time this week. One of my colleagues would like to present her "Ayam Kurma" (closely resembles curry chicken but it's not) to all of us. Her cooking did not disappoint us at all! It was delicious. The remaining colleagues each brought food as well. I was really stuffed by the end of the feast. We even had dessert, mind you!

Don't envy us. You could organise the same with your colleagues. I felt relaxed and happy during the lunch hour. Although it's only an hour, it provided room for jokes, laughters and gossips sharings.

Thanks to the usual glutton me, I forgotten to snap photos of the good food. Actually, I only recalled when I was back at my desk to work =.=" Next time, perhaps? We agreed to have more lunch gatherings or pot lucks in future. A great way to bond and share good food ;)

Michelle, you are indeed a good cook. Thanks for the yummy "Ayam Kurma" and the wonderful lunch. Not to forget others who had contributed all the delicious food! Looking forward to our next pot luck!

Piggies happy forever!

I received a mail today which made me laugh. A cute theory about oink oink and human! Hope you too have a good laugh after reading it.

Some interesting theories about human and pigs :
Human = eat + sleep + work + enjoy Pigs = eat + sleep Hence, Human = Pigs + work + enjoy if, Human - enjoy = Pigs + work in other words,
Human that don't know how to enjoy = pigs that work
Men = eat + sleep + earn money Pigs = eat + sleep Hence, Men = Pigs + earn money therefore, Men - earn money = Pigs in other words,
Men that don't earn money = Pigs

Women = eat + sleep + spend Pigs = eat + sleep Hence, Women = Pigs + spend therefore, Women - spend = Pigs In other words,
Women that don't spend = Pigs
Summary: Men earn money not to let women become pigs! Women spend not to let men become pigs!
Men + Women = 2 Pigs
Wish all the pigs happy forever

Is Your Choice The Right One?

I was blog hopping and I found myself enjoyed reading posts by Zewt. They are provoking, down to earth and closely reflect reality. I did stop and review what he discussed in his posts.

There's this post which I believe, speaks my mind. I chose to deviate from what I studied and many was taken aback by my decision. Working in a completely different field from what I studied definitely requires more effort and time to learn. Thinking back, I did put a whole lot of effort to study the industry and something that's alien to me. Much to my relief, I was blessed with a kind-hearted mentor who taught me everything unconditionally and our relationship developed into friendship, which I find it beyond valuable.

I didn't mind doing extra or taking up complicated things to do. However, I started to ponder was I being rewarded (in terms of pay) what I deserved after a period of time. It's known to everyone that our pay is nothing to be proud of but in terms of benefits package, we are indeed taking the lead compared against a number of giant MNCs. After talking to my friends, I was jolted to the ugly truth that I am seriously underpaid for the amount of work I have been doing.

As much as I like the industry (as well as the company) and the knowledge I had acquired, pay is still a very important driving force to work. Had I not worked to earn a living, I suppose I would have done something that may not warrant much earnings but out of interest or hobby.

I would not regard my choice as a mistake as I like what the industry (and company) has to offer and I believe I can go a long way but the pay is something that bothers me. Well, again, money is the root of all evil. It's not everything but you can't live without it in many circumstances.

One Bad News and One Good News

Being a naive person, I always like things with happy ending. So I shall start off with the bad news. One of my colleagues suffered appendix yesterday and was admitted to hospital. She underwent surgery last evening and is only expected to get back to work some time next week. According to my friends, the pain during the attack is agonizing. Hope she gets well real soon.

All right, I am happy and ready to move on to the good news. My friend gave birth to a healthy baby girl today!! Congrats, JJ. Can't wait to have a look at the newborn. She must be as pretty as my friend ;) Like mother, like daughter. Well, I will know real soon.

I got back from work early today. The sky was still very bright when I made the move to go home. My colleagues and I had planned to go for a workout - mmm..actually just a "casual" jog (Ok, stroll hehe) around our neighbourhood. Ah,..this is the best part about living near your colleagues. We talked a lot and laughed a lot. A very good way to relax oneself indeed. It's been a long time since I get healthy ;)

I am the Empress!

You are The Empress
Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.
The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.
The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

P/S: Thanks to renaye, I got to know I am an Empress ;)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Everyone tries to cheat aging and some one would give anything in exchange of youth. It does sound promising if you get younger when everyone around you seems to be going the opposite way. Wouldn't it be great if you could outlive others? I personally didn't like the idea. Perhaps you could say I am selfish but I don't like the idea of seeing people who I care or who I know leave one by one before my eyes. I rather be the one who leave first or leave when I am happiest (though it would be the most difficult time to let go). Well, it does scare me on the thought of death as I do not know how will I die. If I die peacefully and without major complications, I have no fear.

Ah, what's all the talk on death about? Hehe, I went for a movie yesterday (finally!!). The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's a very touching story and it discusses many aspects of life, which set me to ponder.

"I was born under unusual circumstances"

Benjamin, a less fortunate baby borned with deforms, who was deserted by his father (Thomas Button - an heir to a reputated button manufacturer Button's Button) who could not accept his ugly appearance, after his mother died giving birth to him. Benjamin was left at the doorstep of a nursing home ran by a lady who is kind-hearted but unable to conceive named Queenie.

Despite receiving discouraging remarks by two of her friends, Queenie decided to raise this child. She introduced Benjamin to others as her sister's baby and her sister could not look after the poor child. Hence, he would be joining the elderly as part of a family member.

Looking old and wrinkled, Benjamin was born weak and his body seemed to perform like an elderly who was nearing death. He would not live long, according to a doctor.

Much to Queenie's surprise, Benjamin lived longer than expected and as days go by, his body showed signs of growth instead of deterioration. Being special and different from other kids, Benjamin had never been far away from his home until a friend brought him out. It opened a whole new world to him and that's the beginning of a new chapter in Benjamin's journey of life.

The story was delivered in a narrative way with constant flashbacks. David Fincher did an excellent job in putting together the scenes such that the connectivity and the flow is undisrupted. Although the movie is tear-jerking, Fincher never failed to put a smile on his audiences' face from time to time, especially when one least expected it.

I am impressed how petty details were considered and blended into the scenes. To those who are die-hard fans of action movies or horror movies, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button may not be your cup of tea. It discusses many aspects of life through the eyes of Benjamin. He had been through war and lived through the pain of parting with people who were dear to him.

In his 20s, Benjamin had his first encounter with his father but he didn't know that man was his father. It was only when his father was dying, he was made known to that fact. Benjamin was upset with his father but he decided to let go of the past later and embrace what's lying before his eyes.

Like most Hollywood movies, romance is an important element. Benjamin first love was Daisy, whom he met at the nursing home. Her lovely blue eyes captivated him at the first sight but due to their differences at the time they met, there's no development to the sparks ignited. Benjamin had quite a number of affairs with women before meeting Daisy again, with whom he had a baby girl later.

The ending of the movie isn't exactly a happy one, if you ask me. Benjamin's unusual biological aging and growth complicated his relationship with Daisy. As much as he wanted to be with Daisy and their love child Caroline (named after Benjamin's late mother), he knew he would not be able to provide what a father could considering his reversing aging process - he's growing younger physically while Daisy was growing older. Hence, he sold all the assets bequeathed to him by his father and left the proceeds to Daisy and Caroline. It's a heart-breaking scene if you put yourself in either of their shoes *sniff sniff*

What saddened me was the fact that Benjamin turned into a little boy who had dimentia and aged terribly from within. He then died as a baby, the exact same way he came into the world but only in the reverse form. Well, the only consolation is that he died in the arms of the woman he loved, unwrinkled and youthful.

If you notice, those who are born extraordinary usually have higher morality than others. Perhaps their imperfection mould them into a more humble and empathetic soul who treat others sincerely.

Enough said. In fact, I think I have revealed too much =p Shall leave you to enjoy this masterpiece.

P/S: This is the first time I bought a couple seat. There're no more seats with good view. The only that were left were two rows from the screen. No way, I had enough neck strains. A crazy thought came to my mind - I wanted to take a picture of my sister and myself in a couple seat. However, I dismissed that after a second thought. That's just too embarassing. It's just a couple seat! LOL.