a twinkle of shy daring

My week has been filled with lots of crappy, negative stuff.
Monday was Ping’s last day with us :( We were very sad to lose an amazing friend, someone who is cool, laid-back, no pretensions and sweet. On Tuesday, Trix dropped another bomb, Trix decided as well to walk out :( And then, on Friday, it was The Director’s last day. We lost our captain. Since M13 is still in a transition period, the management decides to ship The Director off to a neighboring country. So everyone is very de-motivated, unsure and all of sudden Boss has mellow down a lot. Like the battle is over, there is no more fire & determination in Boss’s eyes. The one thing that I admire and respect about Boss is the fighting spirit. Whatever the obstacles, Boss stubbornly ploughs through. The director’s position is a hot seat and is reserved exclusively for expatriates, but Boss just never gives up that perhaps one day, an Asian individual will be given the throne.

My mom’s cousin has been diagnosed with lung cancer. And the worst part is…our country’s health system. It takes ages for a doctor to attend to their patients in the government hospitals. And if you don’t have the money, you’ll be turn away at the private hospitals. Just imagine what it feels like when the nurse actually ask you whether you have RM5000 with you right now, if you don’t, they cannot process the patient. Not a single trace of sympathy in that voice. I was so naïve and think that saving a life matters more than commercialization. Healthcare and medications in this country is not cheap, same goes for treatment – so I think I need to start to discipline myself to put aside some of my disposable income for future savings. I’m not sure how long will it takes for our government hospitals to improve themselves.

I bought my first insurance policies – Hospital & Surgical, Life and PA. They don’t come cheap :(

It’s raining everyday. I missed the bright blue skies and glowing sunshine.

She Works Hard For Her Money

Not a single word is out yet on who is the new management of M13 so far. Rumors & speculations are spreading like rapid fire. We have been kept waiting anxiously week after week. I really hope the finalized confirmation will be done as soon as possible; I can either concentrate on my projects or start looking for a new job. Whether it’s a local player or a foreign company, I don’t give a damn. I like everyone else just want to know the fate of my position. To be honest, I really don’t want to leave at the moment especially when I feel the sense of ownership over my work, the satisfaction and pride of the outcome. I don’t care if people don’t remember me 1 year down the road, but at least I can be proud of my work discreetly. Whoever has thought 13PCSPBS was a huge success, it caught all of our competitors by surprise. Figures for that category went sky-rocketing high. If I can do some magic, that category will have a 1.4 million turnover by year end. And I like to continue with this product development. Huge potential and we can make money out of it. We just have to act fast before our competitors start to copy our work. Still, there is so much to do. Sometimes I think I am really stupid. Good at school, but stupid at common sense things.

Went to a hen’s night out on Wednesday at Holiday Villa Subang – the food was so-so. I think it’s because they try to localize the taste and it just didn’t turn up tasteful. I give it a C+. The food selection bores me. Luckily we were compensated with a very good time of chatting, gossiping and partaking in the endless mockery. Yeah baby, we chicks knows how to have a good time :)

The last few weeks, we have been blessed with beautiful weather. Rain, rain and more rain! :( So inconvenience to go out, clothes takes a longer time to dry, caught under the rain, outdoor activities are canceled :(

“Everybody is always tugging at you. They’d all like a sort of chunk out of you. I don’t think they realize it, but it’s like ‘grrr do this, grrr do that….’ But you do want to stay intact; intact and on two feet.” – Marilyn Monroe.

Seven-Day Itch

We only ate Domino’s during last year Halloween dinner party, this year – (a bit of a last minute arrangement, but not as late as last year) – we had seafood in Klang instead :) We drove from M13 to the restaurant, after-work traffic was heavy and by the time we reach there, we were drop dead hungry. We wolf down whatever was being served to us. All the plates were polished clean, we devours everything like a little vacuum cleaner – except for the ‘Roast Pig Legs’. Yes, we are having seafood but I don’t know why pork was on the menu – I think Juan ordered it. So the whole night we gobble and chomp. Slurps and sucks. At everything to our tummy’s content :)

I’ve finished reading ‘One Shot’. Great book. How come Jack Reacher character was not adapted to the big screen?! Or a TV series. He’s a very intriguing character. He is an obsessive drifter. He doesn’t like to stay in one place for too long and it got me thinking on how Lee Child will end his character when he decides to stop the book series. Will Reacher dies & be buried with all the military pomp and grandeur, or will he retire and open up an espresso café? He loves coffee. Will he ever be in a permanent relationship? Another thing that I’m very curious about is his underwear :) Reacher owned nothing and carries nothing; he travels light (too light) and he always arranged the smallest details in his life so he could move at a split second’s notice. I’ll go and borrow the next book from Tommy tomorrow.

Movie: ‘The Prestige’. Story was predictable. I thought I will be seeing a lot of magic. But the only main trick was the disappearing-and-reappearing act. But what I love was the narrative style. I like the way Christopher Nolan tells the story. He moves backwards, starting from the ending to the beginning. Unlike some directors who make such an attempt that eventually leaves the audiences more confusing than ever on what happen next or who did what, Nolan masterly did it with so much clarity and conviction. The hardest narrative will be when the 2 lead actors were reading each other diaries – Nolan stylishly move back & forth in time, he interconnects those characters & flashbacks simultaneously. He re-fashioned it as an easy to grasp story. He make something complicated look easy. And the screenplay writer was good as well. It was misdirected, deceiving and delighting. Hugh Jackman was sexy, sensual and enigmatic as I thought it’d be. Christian Bale – I don’t like him in ‘Batman Begins’, but he was very refreshing on the eyes in this movie. This movie is not quirky, unique or arty enough, it’s just very stylish. And the narrative was original.