Saturday, August 30, 2008

Books, books, books!

I joined Dr Bubbles for a book-shopping session (for the orphanage library project) after a basketball season finale with the guys today. It has been a few months since I last spent some quality time in bookstores, so the bookstore-hopping trip this afternoon was a great refresher for me. Our first stop was Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and here's a picture of what we borong:



It has been donkey years since I last bought books by local authors so when I saw the english version of A Samad Said's evergreen Lantai T Pinkie, I took it straightaway...



After a nice lunch break, we continued our borong session at MPH Great Eastern Mall and surprise surprise... who did we bump into? Pak Samad himself! While Dr Bubbles was busy chatting to him and his wife about the library project, I was busy contemplating in my head whether to sprint to the car to fetch my newly bought T. Pinkie's Floor and get the great man to sign on it or not... As much as I wanted to do just that, I later dismissed the idea because... well, I was just lazy (nothing new there eh!).

But looks like my T. Pinkie's Floor will bear the autograph of Pak Samad afterall since Dr Bubbles has promised to help ask him to sign my copy when he meets the man again tomorrow morning...yay!

Anyway, I also bought this at MPH so looks like the rest of the weekend will be spent quietly in my room, just me and the books. A nice change after so many hectic weekends. Happy Merdeka and Salam Ramadhan to all!

Friday, August 29, 2008

5 years ago today..

I suddenly felt a hint of sadness when I got home from work this evening... As usual, when sadness hit, I would start digging into my old stuff... While searching for old pictures in my old laptop, I found this:





It was exactly 5 years ago today when my grandma passed away. It was a friday too..

That explains the sadness in me tonight. I miss her.... and I miss my late granddad too who passed away on the general election day this year. Raya will never be the same again..

Al-fatihah to them both..

Monday, August 25, 2008

Fakey sicky

I found this on the net while I was searching for something else of a more intellectual in nature (seriously!)... This is amusing to me but perhaps the tips may come handy in the near future for some. So, here's the extract:

How to Call in Sick When You Just Need a Day Off

Everyone needs the occasional unscheduled day of leisure. Here is how to get yours without raising suspicions at work.

Calling Method

1. Complain about fake symptoms. A day before your day-off, make hints about your flu by casually reporting about your untrue flu-like symptoms throughout the whole day to your colleagues. For example, say that your bones hurt and you feel a little sore on that day. This way, your coworkers can make the connection to your symptoms from the day before.

2. Call your boss early the next morning. Do not delay because it will cause displeasure to your boss. And also you will want to avoid you boss from labeling you as a bad employee by not informing him or her early. Moreover, if you call early, you will have a rather rough voice after waking up. This will give you some added credibility.

3. Make the call a short one. Just say that you are not coming in as you are calling in sick that day. Excellent choices are severe headache or stomach ailment, as they are common. Don't get too detailed. For instance, don't say that you were sick at 12:34 last night or your computer was yet to be cleaned of the vomit.

4. Be prepared for a Q&A session. Is your boss nosy? Anxious about the sickness (if you work in food service, for example)? Try to imagine what kinds of questions your boss might have. Food poisoning? Contagious? Have you called a doctor? Have you taken anything? Try to have answers for these questions prepared ahead of time; otherwise you'll be fumbling and might lose your story.

5. Get off the phone as quickly as possible; stories are told by liars. The longer you are on the phone, the better chance you have to mess something up.


You can read more here.
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Oh... I would like to add a few more tips, especially dedicated to my staff ;)

1. If you want to take a 'planned' sicky, don't tell your colleagues about it days in advance. Not even to your most trusted friends. Just keep the cunning plan to yourself. Chances are, these colleagues of yours will be the first to blab it all out to your boss first thing in the morning on the day you're on the sick leave.

2. When you want to go on a holiday, make sure you check that your boss is not going to the same holiday destination. If necessary, change your destination or the date just to avoid the clash especially if you don't intend to take formal annual leaves for it. Telling your boss that you're ill when he/she just bumped into you on a paradise island the day before will make your sicky story a lil' bit shaky. You don't want to be called a liar, do you?

3. If you want to get a medical certificate for your 'planned' sicky, make sure you get it from a doctor who is a thousand of miles away from your place of work. To go to a doctor who happen to be a friend of your boss may put you in a compromising situation later. Seriously.

Ok folks... that's all for now. Semoga berjaya! ;)

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Pesanan ringkas

Saya akan bergerak menuju ke pulau pada malam ini.

Harap-harapnya tiada panggilan daripada hospital atau tuan-puan doktor di hujung minggu ini. Sel-sel otak yang mengandungi ilmu ubatan (yang agak berkarat dan keletihan) telah saya tanggalkan buat sementara waktu dan disimpan di dalam gerobok di rumah.

Selamat malam dan semoga bertemu lagi di minggu hadapan.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Persistence pays? We'll see..

I received a call from a stranger one evening about a week ago. I wouldn't normally answer calls or smses from unknown numbers due to previous experiences of having insane stalkers but that night, I did. I wasn't thinking. The call came from a guy who apparently has been trying to get in touch with me for the past 3 years but all his calls and smses were left unanswered by yours truly. 3 years... was he real?

This bloke apparently got my number from a friend (siap kau!) way back in 2005 and has been trying periodically to get through to me to promote his financial plans (which explained why I never replied his smses and calls!). To cut the story short, I agreed to meet him the day after the phonecall because I was quite impressed with his persistence.. 3 years is a long time right? On the other hand, I already have all the plans that I think I need so I agreed to see him just out of courtesy, to get it over and done with quickly.

He came to my office on a Friday afternoon, when I was rushing to finish off some work before the weekend. Naturally, I couldn't give him much of my time and truth to be told, I am sure I came off as a snob or plain rude to him.. I didn't show much interest in whatever he was explaining and frequently interrupting him mid-sentence. But in contrast, he maintained his composure and friendliness. Anyway, while driving home from work that day, I thought back about the whole incident and felt quite bad.. so, I have now agreed to meet him again this wednesday. It will be out of the office this time so hopefully I will be more attentive and receptive instead of acting like a total jerk again. Maybe, I will end up with another saving plan afterall!

Footnote: No, I am NOT a softie!

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Here are some shots I took in PD a couple of weeks ago.. Who says PD has lost its charm eh?











I wanted to stay longer in PD (since the hotel bed was pretty comfy) but had to leave early on Sunday since I had to chair a lunch talk at PJ Hilton.


Yours truly with the speaker, Prof Rashid during question and answer.

The talk was about the new Clinical Practice Guidelines on Hypertension and Prof was the chairman of that CPG committee as well as the immediate past president of Malaysian Society of Hypertension. So, it was a great honour to have him there (and to have the opportunity to ask him so many questions..hehe..)

I will upload more photos to fotopages later. Kalau saya rajin ok!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Greetings from Surabaya (part II)

Err... I just realised that this post has been in my draft tray for more than a month now. So, let's get it over and done with la ok!
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Here are some photos taken while I was in Surabaya. If you're looking for scenery pictures, you'll be sorely disappointed because there'll be none. This trip was all about education, professionalism and networking all the way (...and the fact that I had very limited camera battery to play with...d'oh!)


My first meal in the city. I had a craving for Mozza Burger just a few days before the trip so when I saw Restoran Khas Amerika, I didn't think twice!


My travelling companions.. Never leave home without printouts from Wiki Travel!


The purpose of my visit to Surabaya


I wuz 'ere..


Mr John Chang (the past immediate president of Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society) promoting my study. Heheh..


This photo is especially dedicated to Madam Dhaka.. remember those simple days when the highlight of the day was just how much tips we received? Yup, Hanamasa is still alive and kickin' mate!


Nope, I didn't visit the zoo while in Surabaya. These deers (and there were many of them!) were found at the compound of Dr Soetomo Teaching Hospital that I visited. I still couldn't figure out the purpose of having deers there... therapeutic maybe?


Japanese delegates happily performing their ritual dance. They performed this dance at every single ACCP if I'm not mistaken! Meanwhile, the delegates from China came on stage wearing Olympics T-shirts and actually took them off at the end of their performance and threw them all to the pleasantly surprised audience. Unfortunately, my friends and I were too 'engrossed' in a couple of big boobs that I didn't realised the others were going for the lovely T-shirts until it was too late. Yes.. Big Boobs 1 - Olympics T-shirt 0. Sad. But we had a lot of laughters though!


A view from the conference hotel lobby... it was too hot to actually go any further than this point!
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On my last day in the city, I had one horrific experience that brought the meaning of'friendliness' to a different level altogether. But I am pretty sure that this was one isolated incident and it didn't changed my warm regards towards Surabayans as how I blogged earlier...

After checking-out from the hotel, I boarded a pre-booked taxi to take me to the airport which is about 45 minutes away from the city centre. As the other taxi drivers before him, this particular guy started making small talks as soon as I got into the car and asked the 'standard' questions such as what brought me to Surabaya, what I do for a living etc etc. But unlike the drivers before him who would stopped asking after 4-5 questions, this bloke went on and on, from one question to another. If you know me well, you would know that I don't easily warm up to strangers and I would never give my personal info to those I don't know. So, when this chap started asking for my name, I became suspicious but not to be seen as rude after being asked several times, I gave a false name (one that I'd use when get chatted up by strangers ever since my UK years). He then went on to ask for my mobile phone number (gilo ke apo?) and when I flatly refused to give, he insisted for me to take his number. He even insisted that I gave him a missed call just to see if I've copied down the right number. He must have thought he could easily fooled me... He would definitely get my number if I did just that, right? So, of course I refused, by telling him that I didn't have international roaming. Stupid bugger!

My pulse started to race fast when he insisted to take me around Surabaya free-of-charge there and then although I kept telling him that I would be late for my flight home. By this time, he already drove faster than earlier and the car doors were all locked (yes, I already thought of jumping out of the car at this point!). The fact that the roads he took weren't familiar to me and that he kept mentioning his intention to come to Malaysia with me really didn't help with my sky-high anxiety level either, so I did the only thing I could think of at the time.. I quietly smsed a good friend (who was thousands of miles away in KL) giving him the name of the crazy taxi driver, his car number and all sorts of numbers that I could see in his car. I knew it wasn't much but if anything bad were to happen to me in Surabaya, I hope this friend would come over and take revenge.. heheh!

Anyway, when refusal after refusal from me seemed to make him more determined and he started to talk rubbish, I changed tactics. Of course, I was still scared to death but I took a chance and told him gently that it was nice of him for wanting to take me for a spin and that I would surely take up the offer in the future. I told him that I have to catch my flight because I have 3 kids (yes, THREE!) waiting for me back home and a couple of friends at the airport that if I didn't turn up, they would surely come looking for me. I also reminded him that the hotel personnel would have his taxi details and that would give him trouble too.

After further persuasions which seemed like forever, the crazy driver finally agreed to send me to the airport and we continued the last 20 minutes of the journey in complete silence.....

Pheww!!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Lovely

My love-affair with water lilies continues... This photo was taken on saturday at Avillion, Port Dickson (yes.. I went to PD, AGAIN!). Will blog about the busy weekend and hopefully upload photos at fotopages soon. For now, I shall catch up with zzzzz..... Good night!

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Lost Mojo

Assaults from known enemies can be hurtful. But most of the time, these kind of assaults are half-expected so you normally won't take them too hard. You'd just nurse your wounds, regather your strengths and get back on your feet again for the next fighting round. You may get angry, but no deep emotional scars left because, afterall, they're your enemies...What else can be expected from them??

But the worse type of assaults are the ones that come from people whom you trust, the so-called friends. These are the people you trust your thoughts and inspirations with, those who know your weaknesses the most. With them, you put out no barriers to protect youself so when the backstabs come, you're left unguarded.. and helpless. It hurts... it damn hurts.

For now, I have lost my fighting spirit, my passion..

For now, I am truly tired..


But I am a Bugis, a descendant of warriors (and pirates). So I am not going to let my ancestors down by being a coward.


For now, I just need some time to rejuvenate..

For now, I need some space to think things through..

For now, I need to search for that fighting spirit again...

For now, I need to find my lost mojo.


As Mr Terminator would say.... 'I'll be back!"

(but it may be on a different field and dimension next... I don't know yet)

Sunday, August 03, 2008

A post of no substance

I rarely tune-in to Malay radio stations so my sources for new Malay songs are either from karaoke sessions with my girlfriends (which explains how I get to know Indonesian bands like Samsons, Ungu and Letto) or from tomyam joints (yes, they do put up good music sometimes). I heard this song a couple of weeks ago while eating out at a local tomyam place with some friends. I searched for its MP3 when I got home and got hooked to it ever since. I'm never into Akademi Fantasia but this song by one of its graduates, Aizat, is pretty good..

Hanya Kau Yang Mampu - Aizat
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My basketball truly sucks yesterday so, I went shopping in the afternoon and got myself this:



I got it below RM100 so yeah, it was a good buy. That's the advantage of having tiny feet... I get to shop at kid's department! But, I have yet to rasmikan the shoes since this evening's futsal session was cancelled. Isk..

Oh, I went to get this too although the plan for the next diving trip is still sketchy. Oh well, optimism is my middle name ;)

Friday, August 01, 2008

I am one rechargeable battery

To recharge my energy (hence to preserve my sanity), I need to be somewhere like here:



or here:



Pronto.

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I finally made my thoughts known to the person in-charged of the said organisation yesterday afternoon. I was then advised to lodge a formal complaint by the managements of both sides but after some deep thinking, I decided not to. Firstly, I am pretty sure nothing good will come out of it and knowing how unprofessional certain quarters in that organisation can be, my staff may instead be at risk of the negative impacts. Secondly, I don't want to stoop as low as the culprits... I have other better and more important things to do than to get myself involve in unnecessarily dramas. Thirdly... some friends may say I am a weakling...but the truth is, I am just lazy!

So... I shall drop the issue, smile and move on. Life is too short for bitterness and brawls eh...

End of an era (and the beginning of a new one)

So, I turned 48 a few days ago. Instead of having the day off to celebrate, it was a busy day instead starting with a virtual viva session f...