Bitten by a travel bug

Those of you who have known me for a while would've realised that I was bitten by a travel bug early on. Somehow the Merdeka celebrations inspired me to travel though I truly have no idea how that came about. :-P

Just taking stock of my travels and planning for the year(s) ahead. Hmm, I really should capitalise on the travel discounts I'm getting with the current job... he he he...

1997:
Kota Kinabalu (Summer 1997)

Uni Days:
Paris (1998)
Italy (Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice, Pisa) (Summer 2000)

2000:
Chicago & New York (End 2000)

2002:
Chongqing, China (Jan - Mar 2002)
Hong Kong, Shen Zhen & Guangzhou (Apr 2002)
Germany & Austria (Christmas 2002)
Brunei (work)
Kota Kinabalu (End 2002)

2003:
Redang (Diving, Aug 2003)
Chicago, Phoenix, Sedona & LA (Mid 2003)
Hong Kong (Nov 2003)
Tioman (Diving, Nov 2003)

2004:
Trang, Thailand (Diving, Apr 2004)
Cambodia (Hari Raya 2004)

2005:
Brunei (work)
Hong Kong (April 2005)
Chicago (April 2005)
London & Paris (Summer 2005)
London & Belfast (Winter 2005)

2006:
Pos Keding (4X4 trip, Jan 2006)
Melbourne & Falls Creek (July 2006)
Bali (March 2006)

Places I hope to visit this year:
Bangkok - DONE! Nov 2006

Places I hope to visit next year or at some point in time:
Nepal
Mongolia
Turkey
India
South Africa
Sipadan
South America
Japan - DONE! May 2007

Leslie's Farewell & August Bdays

We had a farewell dinner for Leslie last Saturday evening (BKT - yum!!) since he's headed to Bangkok for 6 months. And it was an excuse for us to celebrate August birthdays at Mart's house ... :-)

Yvonne Foong - Please support her cause

Yvonne Foong is a student, freelance writer and patient of Neurofibromatosis. I've heard her speak and her passion for life is contagious and inspiring. If you are able to, please support her cause. She's been working really, really hard to raise funds for her surgery - she needs RM 230,000! She sells T-shirts and other items (books, etc). Do check out her website at www.yvonnefoong.com. :)

Here's a sample of her T-shirt design...

Aging

It's been a month plus since the last time I visited my grandma. I was shocked today at how much she has aged. She's now in a wheelchair, is a little more bent and no longer remembers my name. I was suddenly overcome with sadness and a flood of tears.

I wonder how I would view the world, at the ripe of old age of 84 - how I would view my children, my past. I hope that at that age I would be able to proudly say that I have lived, enjoyed the life I had led - the happy and the sad, touched lives and would at that point in time be looking forward to a better place, a place where there would be no sickness and pain.

Or perhaps I would not even make it to that age.

Winds of change...

I'm in two minds about whether I should delete this space and start anew or migrate to another blog.... certain things have happened and it would be nice to be able to blog without reservation.

Oh, as you can tell, I've still not found the time to upload photos of the trip... will do so soon!! Promise!! Hehe...

Suyin! I reckon you'd be back in KL by now? Do drop me a line ya! I'll be nice to catch up. :)

Greetings from Melb!

Wowwie... the weekend was one filled with adventure and adrenaline! Had a wonderful time on Falls Creek... it was my first time skiing and t'was truly remarkable. Must say though that skiing is much more dangerous than diving. Regardless of how careful you are, others can knock into you at anytime! (A friend of mine suffered a broken wrist on the first day and had to return to Melb.. poor chap was so disappointed that he missed everything)

The mountains were so beautiful, all white and it was sunny there too. It took me a while for everything to sink in, with all the excitement and activities. There were 48 of us on the bus! And we left at about 2am on Friday morning (the bus was late and the lot of us waited out in the cold for 1 hr :P) The bus ride took about 5 hours and for the last 30 mins we were on a really winding stretch. Towards the end of the trip we could hear people retching away :P Anyhow, most of us couldn't sleep on the bus and by the time we arrived, we all looked rather dazed. Haha. However, all the tiredness wore off when we saw how lovely the surrounding was and our energy levels started to rise!!

Boy, the skis are SO HEAVY!!! Think I've developed right shoulder muscles from lugging them around :P. Apart from that, skiing's so cool!! It's amazing feeling the air on my face and feeling the rush of adrenaline and fear that comes with looking down a steep slope!! I had my share of ending up with my butt on the snow and jumping off ski-lifts (I didn't get off in time and realised that the ground was already about 2 feet from my feet and everyone was already off... hahahha). But all in all, it was wonderful!

The lessons really helped and gave me a better idea of how to respond to different slopes and more importantly, HOW TO STOP!! Hahha... and yes, I kept hearing "SNOW PLOUGH!". There were so many people on the slopes, it being a weekend. It really amused me that little munchkins were moving about so comfortably on the snow and I was moving like someone in a 3-legged race. Haha, anyhow, I'd love to be back on the slopes... perhaps South Korea next time round - I've heard it's lovely there.

Will post photos when I get back to KL at the end of the week. :)

Balloting for...

The Global Leadership Forum, 1 - 2 August.... yippee!! There were 3 slots available for 6 of us and fortune had it that I managed to get a slot. I'm looking forward to it as there is going to be an interesting line-up of speakers ...

Ex-CEO of walt Disney (Michael Eisner), Founder of the WWW (Sir Tim Berners), Donald Trump (via satellite), Miss world 2000 (Priyanka Chopra), the world's best referee (Pierluiggi), etc.... do check it out at www.globalleadershipforum.org.

Looking forward to the food in KL Hilton as well... hahha... sad. :P

Drama - Over!

Ok, my car's been repainted and is back from the workshop.. yay! Feeling a little wary driving these days, so taking the other car. ;) Thank God it's over. Many thanks too to all those who were supportive and provided encouragement/ advice.... Hugs! :)

Here's a look at the damage... wasn't too bad, thankfully.. :P

Drama - Being resolved

I met the woman who hit and run, as agreed, this afternoon and we went to the workshop to get a quote. She must have been really drunk last night, because she asked me which car she hit... :P Terrible. It was fortunate that she didn't knock a kid or someone taking an evening walk.

But the good thing is that she apologized and will be paying for the damages. And guess what? She knows the mechanic that I brought the car to for the paint job... Hmm... I reckon she must have had her car done there several times.

What a hassle - had to rush back from a seminar in town and had to take half day emergency leave. Anyways, I'm just glad that it'll be over soon.

A drunk woman hit my car!

You would not believe it but a drunk woman driving without headlamps ran into my car tonight!!! There was such a loud bang! And she had the cheek to run off in her car... without even stopping to see the damage she had done!!! I chased her down the road, honking all the way and managed to stop her.... My heart was racing and as I approached her car, there were 3 other blokes who were also charging towards her... she had apparently also almost hit their car.

The woman, a 51 year old, was drunk. My bro said he could smell alchohol on her breath. She was slurring and refused to get out of the car... kept saying she didn't hit anyone. I checked her car bumper and it had red paint on it... and she still refused to get out of the car. Fortunately one of the guys whose car she almost hit had a camera phone (I really should get one!), and later my bro brought my camera and took some photos. Even then, she kept refusing to get out of the car. Fortunately there was this man, who claimed that he knows her, apparently lives on the same road. He said he would talk to her and managed to get her to promise to pay for the damage.

We agreed to meet up tomorrow to take my car to the mechanic to get a quote. I really hope she shows up as agreed and pays without any hassle. Never know what a drunk woman may or may not remember. I've taken down her Name, IC and phone number.. but as you know, she can always refuse to take my calls or change her number. In a moment of haste, I forgot to ask for her IC... I had asked her where she lives, but she said it didn't matter. O dear.... I'm so inexperienced. Should have insisted that she showed me her IC. Anyway, at least I know her number's correct. We'll see what happens tomorrow..... what a way to end the weekend.

I can't believe someone so old can behave so poorly, with so little integrity. Can't believe she tried to hit and run!!! Sigh, my poor little car.

Will post of photos of my car later... when this whole episode is over.

Do these things...

Finally, pumpkin, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— pumpkin, think about such things.

(Paraphrased from Phil 4:8)

Counting down to Melb

Woke up this morning and realised that it's only a month till my Melb ski trip! Can't wait.. yay! Wish M was coming along though...

Idealistic people make me sick

"We only live life once.... so go do what you need to do with it"

Well, not all of us have the luxury of doing what we want to do and can disregard what others' think ...

(Yikes, I have become a cynic!)

Hmm, truth be told, I of all people have nothing to complain about. :P

Contentment

I am content. I am blessed. I am loved. Thank you Father for your grace in my life, and for those special people around me that make it all worthwhile.

More babies

It has been certainly been a productive month for certain couples. Here's a shot of Eric & KD's little ND. Felix & YN are also on the roll, as is Christina & Vincent. Mily's is also due soon. Ha ha.

The day England lost...

I have to write a 'lil somthing about the World Cup.... ok, admitedly I have not watched every single match, hmm, actually not even half of all the matches! But hey, this happens only once in 4 years and so it IS worth a blog. Anyway, England's out! Go, Portugal!!! Ha ha (no apologies to all y'all England fans out there. :P) M & I intended to wear our England jerseys - not that we're fans in a big way.... we're actually not fans at all.. hahaha, but since we have 'em jerseys, what the hey.

Anyhow, that did not workout. It was the evening of W & S's wedding, a lovely and touching one, I must add.... and with all the heat I was much too pooped to go out.

Lovely Wei Lyn...

Blessed Birthday Juni!!!

Fany, Juni, Pumpkin, Susan, Sheau Shin, Jes Min

Blueprinters "reunion"

Had a great time catching up with some of the DSO bunch and ex-DSO bunch over dinner last Friday in Chillies... YUM!

Someone said: "Lets all go migrate to Australia! ... And set up an SAP consultancy there."... Ha, ha... not too far-fetched an idea....

And Christina did some photo editing. Thanks dear! :)

A wonderful feeling

H's baby has finally arrived! The news makes me feel all prickly and tingly inside... such joy! Mummy has created a blogsite for her... http://blessjoy.blogspot.com/

2 degrees

I really should've known this, but KL is a village!! So-n-so is so-n-so's ex and went to uni with so-n-so, whose bf is my uni mate and who is colleagues with my ex-colleague, who's husband is my "boss" whose.. blah, blah, blah...

The lesson? Behave - wherever you are. Ha ha.