Intermission...

Dear Readers,

Just as Broadway productions have intermissions, so shall this blog...

Sorry, that I haven't been able to post much recently as I've been pretty wrapped up with work, etc. This blog shall be updated as soon as I can find the time.

Hopefully, the red vertical line that has suddenly popped up on my laptop screen is nothing serious and will not further delay any updates to the blog.

Again, sorry lar... "Rancangan tergendala" for now... Kinda reminds me of RTM's Rancangan Tergendala screens in the days before Astro came about, eh? Sadly, I still do not have Astro, but at least the monotonous beep or oh-so-boring background music that come along with the "Rancangan Tergendala" notice on TV is a thing of the past, hehe... It's one of those things you won't miss, though... =P

On a different note, I wanna watch WALL-E... Anyone else interested?

Just Between Me, Myself and I...

Seems all I have is... me, myself and I
To learn again how... to trust, to love, to rely
Perhaps I'm paranoid you may say
But I'm only human this day

Is it me...
~ that is un-lovable?
~ that is difficult?
~ that is different?
~ that is impossible?
~ that is paranoid?

Around me...
~ people laugh
~ people smile
~ people find open arms
~ people cry on comforting shoulders

Then I look at me and find...
Just me...
Myself...
And I...

I ask God why...
~ to be included you must be needed?
~ must I carry on when it is easier to just give up?

I'm sorry, God, I am but human.
I fall, I bruise, I break, I hurt... I am foolish, I am weak... I fail over and over.
My thoughts run wild ~ Do You love me (even if no one does)? Why would You (when it seems no one can)?
But yet oh-so-silently...
~.~.~ "I do, My child... just because..." ~.~.~
Is it that simple? Can it be?

The Day It All Stood Still

Monday was definitely a day Malaysians living in the Klang Valley would remember for some time to come… I mean, how can one forget the “fun” (more like agony) of being “trapped” in your car for extended periods, moving only inches (if any)? What am I talking about? The horrendous standstill traffic due to the roadblocks, especially around the Parliament area in Kuala Lumpur!!

It was quite odd that traveling from Old Klang Road back to Subang Jaya via Federal Highway late on a Sunday night took us longer than usual, with the unexplainable masses of cars at such a time. We wondered why traffic was so heavy and congested… Little did I know, worse was ensued the next morning!

I left home at about 7am and headed to Petaling Jaya, where I worked. Thinking that it was just one of those days that Federal Highway was extremely congested (I mean, Monday morning ler… probably everyone got a bit of Monday blues and left a bit later than usual) as I was greeted by congestion even getting onto Federal Highway, I detoured through Glenmarie to use the NKVE Highway to get to work on time (I start at 7.30am). The journey on NKVE was pretty uneventful and upon exiting the Damansara toll, I had intended to take the flyover to Sprint Highway, which usually gets me to work quicker than if I had used the LDP Highway. Surprisingly that day, traffic was at a standstill on the flyover, which had backed up quite significantly – even getting onto the flyover was almost standstill! It was a good thing that I was not too blur that morning (c’mon, it’s Monday morning!!) and quickly detoured off to use LDP instead, taking heed of the traffic reports coming from the radio station. I finally arrived in the office – five minutes to 8AM!! Ugh… my punch card had a red timestamp… sigh. My boss came in later and I heard him informing our admin staff that, “everybody will be late today; traffic jam very bad”. A newspaper article was circulated to all the staff later that morning with the explanation of the horrific ordeal – roadblocks due to the possibility of illegal protests as Parliament would be presiding that day.

A reprise was seen just yesterday, as reported over the radio station’s traffic report. Not wanting to be caught in the traffic jam, I used the LDP instead as I could already see the long line of cars heading to Sprint Highway. At least this time I was only about 5 minutes late, compared to 25 minutes!!

And finally, I took a peek at the newspaper today and found this article:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/18/nation/21857511&sec=nation
It was entitled, “Roadblocks to continue”… sigh! A colleague told me of her friend who actually took emergency leave on Monday and turned back home instead of enduring the traffic she saw as she was on her way to work in KL!! Sadly, I wouldn’t be able to afford such a “luxury”, hehe…

Medical Report ~ Ortho and Physio appointments

I've been having some back pains, especially my lower back, for some time now. Finally, one day after having unexplained backache, I decided to finally get it checked out. I figured, since I have medical coverage (at government clinics / hospitals only), I may as well make the best of it. Hence, I finally decided to make an appointment to see a specialist.

I tried to expedite the waiting time by going to a private GP to get a referral letter. Referral letter in hand, I was off to Selayang Hospital the very next day. However, all I got after a few hours of waiting was an appointment date, lolz~! The appointment was set to be one and a half months later!!

Finally, one and a half months passed, and the pain also subsided in time... Went to the hospital on 28th May 2008, directly to the Orthopedic Department, and took a number - #4; shouldn't be a long wait, according to the nurse at the counter. So, I settled down on a chair to wait my turn... I then noticed people getting up and crowded around something...

Tried to take some pictures using my phone ~ sorry about the blurry pics... phone is kinda old liao... Finally after the crowd cleared (about 10-15 minutes later), I managed to take a shot of what everyone was crowding around... It was a snack vendor - peddling snacks off a trolley!! Brilliant! Lolz...

After the vendor left, I was left to my own devices again... Phone + PDA = Devices to keep me entertained during the wait... *winks*

My supposedly "short" waiting time soon became one hour... then one and a half hours... Finally, after waiting for over 2 hours, I went to the counter to find out what was going on. It seems that the specialist I was supposed to see was on leave that day and his assisting nurse only found out about an hour ago... =S As a result, all the patients the specialist was supposed to see was distributed to the other medical officers that were working that day... Since I was "staff", I was given priority (they also kinda felt bad that they left me waiting clueless for so long kua...) to see the next medical officer that was available. I wondered whether or not I should've gone to check on the status earlier, hehe... *winks*

A couple of x-rays and a consult with the medical officer later, I was diagnosed with scoliosis and given a prescription, along with a referral for physiotherapy. The x-ray showed the lower back muscles in spasm, and the medical officer said that my backbone was too straight~!

Met an ex-colleague, who happened to be working at the satellite pharmacy, who filled my prescription - muscle relaxant and pain killers. The ironic thing was that my prescription was:
~ Myonal tid x2/52 (muscle relaxant, three times daily, for 3 weeks)
~ Tramadol prn (pain killer, when necessary)

What I got from the pharmacy: exactly 42 tablets of Myonal, but a box of 100's of pain killers... Wow, I didn't even know I was in that much pain, haha!! The ironic part, though, was I had back ache the day after the doctor's appointment, which I did not have on the day of the appointment... >.<

The physiotherapy appointment was scheduled 2 weeks later, so I found myself at the hospital again on 11th June 2008. Rushed to the hospital as I went to get some currency exchanged and picked up my bus ticket to Singapore before my physio appointment - will be off to Singapore that weekend. Was a bit late for my appointment. The nurses or attendants at the Physio department - not as friendly as the ones at Ortho... =(

When my turn finally came, I was left to stare at the wall for a while, waiting for the physioterrorist physiotherapist to come attend to me. When she finally came, *poke, poke* *poke* *OUCH!!* She hurt my shoulder~! Got a VERY painful massage and heat compression to relax the muscle... The heat compression helped the most, and after  about 10 minutes of heat therapy, the shoulder muscle relaxed and the pain subsided a bit. A little bit more massaging to relax the muscle and she then proceeded to teach me some back exercises. After learning a couple of back exercises, she led me to the "gym", where I was instructed to hang onto a ladder. The gravity pull can help to "straighten my back".

Things I learnt after the trip to the physioterrorist physiotherapist:
~ I can barely carry my own weight... and I'm supposed to be underweight some more... haha!
~ My case of scoliosis is quite mild, as the main problem is that my left and right sides are not even (one side is slightly higher than the other)
~ Back exercises that I was taught is supposed to help my condition, and I'm to do them regularly, i.e. everyday
~ I can only get time-off from the physiotherapist... No MC... so it was back to office after lunch...

Well, next physio appointment one month after... scheduled for 16th July 2008... (this time appointment after lunch, so I can go straight home after, hehe...) More updates after that lar... Now, gotta go do back exercise before I forget (again~!)

Failed Attempt to "Do-It-All"

Today is a day I tried to "do-it-all"... My road tax will be expiring on 4th July, which means I need to: dig out my car registration card, renew car insurance and then renew road tax... in that order, ASAP... plus, now also gotta go get the rebate from Post Office after all that.

The hunt for the registration card was over the weekend... Having passed it to Mom last year after renewing my road tax, I was searching in frenzy mode over the weekend... (Mom was on holiday in Thailand with Dad) After searching high and low in every nook and cranny, I made a desperate attempt to sms both Mom and Dad, hoping against hope that either one of them had their phones on... Finally (thank God!!) my dad replied (albeit starting his sms with "this cost me RM3") with some suggestions of places to look... and yes, eventually I found it... Thanks, Mom & Dad!

So today after work, I rushed to the Kurnia office to renew my car insurance policy. I got there in time (they close at 5.30pm), only to be greeted (with a nod - better than nothing) by the security guard... There were about 5-7 other staff there who completely ignored me. The security guard motioned me to sit down and that was the only form of communication I got for the next 10-15 minutes. FINALLY, one of the staff came to the counter and started the transaction. Halfway through, a lady came and continued... Managed to get that done quite quickly, once someone came to the counter... Imagine how much lesser time I needed to spend there IF someone would take the initiative to at least come forward. So disappointed with the service. Especially cos the rest just sat there chatting amongst themselves, totally ignoring me. At least lar come ask what I wanted... what laa...

Car insurance policy in hand, I rushed to the Post Office (which was nearby, thankfully!) to renew my road tax... Waiting about half an hour, noticing that JPJ transactions are only until 6pm, I was praying hard that I would be able to make it to the counter before 6pm... And I did, just barely!! (Thank God!!) Phew! Happily, I handed my car registration card to the lady at the counter, only to be told, "Ini kena pergi JPJ la... Geran (kereta) sudah penuh... Kena ambil baru" (Translation: This one have to go to JPJ lar... (Car) grant full already... Have to take new one") Siao lar... I managed to get my road tax renewed every year with no problem... But now, cannot wor... NEED to go to JPJ... Ridiculous!!

So, in the end, I managed to only get my insurance policy renewed... Decided to just pay RM2.75 (apparently, have to pay RM2 service fee if renew road tax at Post Office anyway...) and use MyEG to renew my road tax rather than go find a JPJ office. (The only one I know of is at Jalan Genting Kelang... Setapak area... very far wei...) Via MyEG, will have to pay RM6 to deliver the road tax to me in Klang Valley, but I can just go collect it from Wisma KPMG (right next to One Utama) for free. Sheesh... save RM6 lar... Furthermore, using MyEG also means I don't need the registration card!! Saves me the trouble of having to get a new one (or something liddat...)

So now, need to find time to collect from the MyEG office. So much for trying to finish everything in a day... sigh... At least got Post Office in One Utama, can go get the rebate done there once I collect my road tax sticker... Hopefully that won't take half of forever and end up can't do anything again, sigh... Also, it seems that tomorrow onwards cannot get free gift for renewing insurance... At least I got the "last free gift" (in the words of the lady at the counter at Kurnia office).

The Longest Tag... Ever!!

I don't believe I'm doing this... super long wei... But hey, I'm on holiday, hahaha!!! So here it goes... *inhales, exhales*

Starting time: 1.59pm
Name: Kim
Sisters: 1

Brothers: None

Shoe size: 5 (sometimes if the cut is right, then 4)

Height: 5' 3"

Where do you live?: Currently, in Yishun... *winks*

Favourite drinks: At the moment, Heaven and Earth Green Tea

Favourite breakfast: Current fave is the one I just had - McGriddles (Lovy introduces me to the most interesting foods, lolz!!)

Have you ever been on a plane?: Yes

Swam in the ocean: Yes

Fallen asleep at school: Haven't we all?? (At least I don't put thumbtacks on the teacher's chair!)

Broken someone's heart: Hope not!

Fell off your chair: *thud* Erm... I'm sitting on the floor now, else I think I might - seeing how incredibly long this tag is!!!

Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call: *blush* Yes

Saved e-mails: Yes...

What is your room like: Messy... and good-ol' procrastination doesn't help one bit!

What's right beside you: Stuff that don't belong to me... most likely Lovy's or Andrew's...

What is the last thing you ate: Grapes... before that was McGriddles meal!

Ever had chicken pox: Ugh... Yes.

Sore throat: Not at the moment and hoping not, too - will spoil my hols... (no, having that sexy voice is not consolation enough if my hols were ruined!)

Stitches: Yes, on my forehead... I supposedly tried to run before I knew how to walk properly, according to the folks... Too young to remember lar...

Broken nose: Nope.

Do you believe in love at first sight: Is there such a thing? Isn't it more like attraction than love?

Like picnics: Could be fun... depending on the company! And ants and mozzies are not preferred company... =P

Who was/were the last person you danced with: Erm... my tambourine girls?

Last made you smile: Lovy

You last yelled at: Not Lovy (don't wanna sleep outside tonight! *winks*)

Today did you:
Talk to someone you like: Erm... what you mean "like"? Like platonic "like"? Then it has got to be Lovy... (please don't lock me outside, kayz...)
Kissed anyone: No.
Get sick: No... wouldn't want to - I'm on holiday wei!!!
Talk to an ex: Nope.
Miss someone: Nope... I'm enjoying myself... Not homesick... yet?
Eat: Erm... see above??? Breakfast and fruit... remember???
Best feeling in the world: Loving and being loved in return
Do you sleep with stuffed animals: Maybe... none are in sight, at the moment... For tonight, will be Lovy's stuffed animals, if any...
What's under your bed: Dust bunnies? And an assortment of stuff... (I really gotta get to cleaning my room... lost momentum... sighz)
Who do you really hate: Can't think of any...

What time is it now?: 2.16pm (I still think this tag is waayyyy too long!)

Random:

Is there a person who is on your mind now: Erm... I see Lovy in front of me... Beyond the laptops between us, though...
Do you have any siblings: Yes... we've established this earlier... (No wonder this tag so long lar... can't remember izzit? =P)
Do you want children: Yes =)
Do you smile often: I try to...
Do you like your hand-writing: Sometimes...
Are your toe nails painted: Not at the moment...
Whose bed other than yours would you rather sleep in: Hotel rooms, my parents' bed is actually very comfy too!
What color shirt are you wearing now: Black (the six-4-one shirt!! <= patriotic a bit, lolz!)
What were you doing at 7:00 p.m. yesterday: Rushing to catch my train!!
I can't wait till: I start my shopping/sightseeing (Ok... the faster I finish this tag, the faster we can leave!!)
When did you cry last: Can't recall at the moment (Too distracted glancing at the clock...)
Are you a friendly person: I hope so...
Do you have any pets: Yes... Princess the miniature pinscher...
Where is the person you have feelings for right now?: Somewhere out there???
Did the last person you held hands with mean anything to you now?: I don't remember who I last held hands with... Was it at church camp or cell group for some unity song??? Oh wait, was it you, Lovy? =P
Do you sleep with the TV on?: Yes, especially when I'm too tired and fall asleep while winding down in front of the TV...
What are you doing right now?: This extremely long tag... =P
Have you ever crawled through a window?: Think so... but I think I was smaller then...
Can you handle the truth?: Try to...
Are you too forgiving?: Dunno... maybe?
Are you closer to your mother or father?: Mummy...

Who was the last person you cried in front of?: I can't remember... Does God count? Or people at church?
How many people can you say you've really loved?: *shhh* My lips are sealed... A little mystery never killed anyone... *winks* But erm... I love my friends and family... does that count?
Do you eat healthy?: This is a trick question!!!
Do you still have pictures of you & your ex?: Yes, I think so...
Have you ever cried because of something someone said to you?: Yes, especially when I'm emo...
If you're having a bad day, who are you most likely to go to?: Anyone who is trustworthy and willing to listen... Sometimes, only God will, so... =)
Are you loud or quiet most of the time?: Depends on the company... hehe!
Are you confident?: In some ways, yes...

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
- going to school
- going to tuition
- assignments
- projects
- homework
(Eh, it's a student's life wei... not that interesting!)

5 things on my to-do list today:
- shopping
- meet up with Pamela for shopping
- relax
- plan for the weekend
- enjoy my holiday, hehe!!

5 snacks I enjoy:
In no particular order and from the randomness of mind...
- fruit
- McGriddles
- M&Ms Peanut Butter
- KitKat Chunky Peanut Butter
- I'm a foodie... anything good will do!

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:
- shopping's on my mind now... no time to think of anything else lar...
- hopefully some good investments
- holiday some more... haha!

5 of my bad habits:
- procrastinate, especially regarding cleaning my room, lolz!
- indecisive at times
- sleeps too much, lolz...
- eats too much, haha (holiday-ing with Lovy is not helping in the cause to lose weight... =P)
- blur...

5 places I have lived in: (I'm assuming holidays count?)
- Klang Valley
- Penang
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Singapore

5 jobs I've had:
- assistant kindergarten teacher
- music teacher
- telemarketer
- factory worker (production packing line during my industrial training, haha!)
- legal drug pusher

5 people I tag:
- Jay
- Isaac
- Sieh Jin
- Donny (welcome back to blogging!)
- YOU who is reading this... if you're rajin enough lar... (sorry, not "original", but too lazy to think of any one specific person lar)

Easy Peasy

Hey... the peeps at AMBP are really making their contests easier and easier!!!

This one is really easy peasy, let me count the ways...

~ No blackmail or threats in any manner required ~

~ No need to poke out your eyes ~

~ No violence necessary ~

All you have to do is click this link to find out how you can win in-season double passes for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone!! Hurry, contest ends on 27th June 2008!!