Doggy news

Buddy's left front paw seems to be injured. She's been hopping around the house on three legs since this morning. I can't seem to find out what the matter is. MH and I tried to squeeze it, poke it, and move the limbs this afternoon... but she just lay there contently wagging her tail. In fact, she offered her right paw for us to examine too.

Buddy is still the same as ever... she still has that funny grin where she scrunches up her eyes and face, showing her gums with her front teeth. She still has that awful trick of hiding shoes. The other day she tried to hide my favourite black pointy flats. Dad and I scoured the whole compound. We finally found the missing shoe inside a clump of bushes. Dad went berzerk and ran after Buddy with a stick. The poor girl was terrified and found a new hiding place under the flower pots in the side porch. Poor Buddy.

Lazy holiday

Lazing around on a Thursday afternoon... that's what I am doing now... it's the last day of my holiday in KK. Perhaps I should be doing something more fulfiling. But sometimes, nothing can beat just sitting quietly in a relaxed mode, ignoring the cares of the world (I am deliberately avoiding checking my work email at this time). The faint scent of tarap on my breath. With Mozart on the CD player (so cliche eh!).

This has been an absolutely lazy holiday.

Mom should be very happy about this. She is convinced that MH and I work a wee bit too hard sometimes in Singapore.

I love Sabah air. The smell of burnt wood from next door (the neighbour's construction workers trying to get rid of rubbish using the shortcut way). The occasional smell of kerbau poo (it's so weird that there should be a kerbau wandering around our Taman). And all kinds of lovely smells wafting in from the kitchen.

Trying to dangle the carrot in front of me

I just had my mid-year review today.

This time it was not only me and my Project Manager, but my new Project Manager who will be taking over our team sat in… and not only that, my Director also opted to sit in for a while as well!

Just little ol’ me, against a panel of three (hey I made a rhyme!)

What’s the conclusion? All of them told me that they had big plans for me. They want to speed up the process of moving me up to the next level (in other words: promotion). They outlined the specific areas they want me to step up on and the opportunities they plan to create for me to raise my profile. But I have to play my part too.

In the words of my Director: “Serene, you have everything it takes to rise to the next level, I just need to see you want it enough to go out and get it!”

Hmmm… I wonder how I they’ll take the news I’ll be breaking to them soon (if all goes well for MH’s job offer that is)

Batman rocks!!!

“It’s not what you are underneath - it’s what you do that defines you”
- From the movie Batman Begins

This is an excellent movie… absolutely the BEST Batman movie yet. It makes all the other superhero movies (e.g. Spiderman, Batman & Robin, Superman) seem so kiddish and cartoony compared to this. The previous Batman movies and all the weird villains (e.g. The Joker, Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy) seem too colourful and fake. But this Batman movie is more realistic and reflects the pain that Bruce Wayne went through as he searched himself and the world to find the answer to crime and corruption.

And this Batman movie had a good solid theme: FEAR. It was not just aimlessly rushing through the plot as fast as possible to get to the action. The audience of Batman Begins will need to be patient as the story unravels, and as each character is introduced so you can really identify with them.

I’m so glad thet cast Christian Bale to play Batman. I didn’t really like Michael Keaton at all… when Val Kilmer came on the scene, my hopes rose a bit… but were dashed with the entry of George Clooney (yucks!). Christian Bale has a familiar look about him (I remember him playing Laurie alongside Winona Ryder in the 1994 ‘Little Women’). He did an excellent job of contrasting between his life as swanky Bruce Wayne… and the dark, mysterious and scary Batman. I love the scene when he roared at the baddie “Swear to me!!!” while bungee dropping him to ground nearly smashing his brains out… that’s playing with fear, man.

Here are some Batman Begins trivia facts:

Before Christian Bale was cast as Batman, many other actors were considered for the role including Guy Pearce, Ashton Kutcher, David Boreanaz, John Cusack, David Duchovny and newcomer Hugh Dancy. (Ashton Kutcher as Batman??? You have got to be kidding!!!)

Actor Cillian Murphy also auditioned for the part of Batman. He didn’t get the part (thank goodness!). However, director Christopher Nolan liked Cillian Murphy's audition so much, he cast him as Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow. (All the better, those crazy blue eyes would have been too scary to play a steady role like Batman)

So if you haven’t watch this movie… please go and watch it. You will not regret it.

*Sorry Sam, Spidey’s in second place now. Batman rocks!!!

Happy Fathers Day

I called dad to wish him Happy Fathers Day just now. I'm really forward to seeking both him and mom next week when we arrive back in KK.

It's Sunday night... almost Monday morning... so to bed, to bed I go

Trivial

Sometimes couples argue about the most trivial things.

E.g. Laundry.

Sales lead!!!

I secured a sales lead today!

This is certainly an achievement.

It was an interview with one of the key companies we needed to target to gather information for another project. He was an very friendly chap and we started chatting about various trends in the industry and he was very keen to find out more about our research. He mentioned that he has worked with other market research companies but they were not able to provide the information he needed. This was my cue. I told him more about some of the past projects we did and the industries we covered. Then he shared the question his company wanted answers to. Ahah! We can do that! And we agreed that I would get someone from our research team to give him on a quote for his request.

I was so excited! And I immediately emailed my director to inform her about it once I arrived back at the office.

I hope my director will be impressed.

Shades of blue

The fabric of life invariably needs some shades of blue... just a little bit to give it some perspective... (to quote dad, "It is because of the numerous low points in life that make the high points all the more interesting, challenging and rewarding").

In any case, splashes of blue sets of shades of yellow very well I suppose.

And it's also comforting to know that you are loved and cherished... be it your spouse, parents, siblings, friends... etc. etc. etc. It doesn't make everything okay immediately... but it's just nice to know. Throw in that to make a really severe shade of blue a little lighter.

Homesick

I want to go home.

Meaningless

It seems that everyone will eventually fall into a a twilight zone of "meaninglessness". And we will passionately quote King Solomon's "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless" from his Ecclesiastes.

That's how I feel now.

I could blame this entire country's meaningless life and meaningless system. People just seem like zombies... or worse - drones... working 'round the clock... arh, the crowds... all the flesh and sweat and elbows... ugh! (Maybe that's why in movies, zombies and drones always clump together)

Suffocated.

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Empty.

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Tired of being tired.

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I find no solace here.

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This isn't home... It's a trap! It's a giant mental blackhole.

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Meaningful and beautiful thoughts are being sucked away into nothingness.

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Routine.

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TV.

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Money.

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Clothes.

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Emails.

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SMS.

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Bills.

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Masquarade.

..

Disillusionment.

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I have lost.

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I have forgotten.

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There is nothing more.

.

This is just like the scene in C.S. Lewis's 6th book in the Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair. Eustace and Jill are trapped in the Underworld and the realise with dread "There is no sun. There is no sky. There is no Aslan". There is only darkness and silence. Nothing more.

So which guy is Denise's eye on???

Oooohhh... it's already the season finale of Eye for Guy with Denise Keller!!!

Now it's down to two sweet and gorgeous guys: Howard vs. Wolfgang

And I know its cliche, but the characters of these guys are total opposites...

Wolfgang is rich and serious and classy -- on their first date he bought Denise a Cartier necklace!!! That's serious money, man. He has this British accent and all his sentences and formed perfectly... he takes her out on dates to all the posh restaurants and his dressing and style is immaculate. Oh, and he's a Investment Banker. Conservative but sweet.

In contrast, Howard is goofy and funny and sometimes just plain silly (but in a sweet way). He writes poetry for Denise and sings songs for her, strumming enthusiastically on his guitar (sometimes out of tune, but still sweet). He actually wrote a poem and bound together in a little book titled "A Fairy Tale" where he describes Denise as a beautiful princess, and he the charming hero that saves her from the evil clutches of Wolfgang (cheeky, huh?). Denise absolutely loved it!!!

(I get goose pimples whenever I watch Howard do something sweet for Denise. He makes Denise feels like such a girl... and I admit I feel that way too when I watch them)

Okay, okay... on last night's episode, each of the guys were given ONE ENTIRE DAY to spend in private with Denise.

Howard took her out on a fun date at an amusement park. Now the moment of victory for Howard... he gave her a little book where he wrote a poem describing all the moments he shared together with Denise throughout the show. She read the entire poem out loud as Howard gently put his arm around her. On the last page, she read out something like "...we will treasure these moments always, so put the book down and look up into my eyes..." So Denise puts the book down and looks up straight up into Howard's eyes... and... he... kisses... her... WOW!!! That was an amazing moment. And I could see Denise was glowing all over.

Next was Denise's date with Wolfgang. He took her to a spa where they relaxed in a jacuzzi and had a massage and went for a golf session in the afternoon. Wolfgang did the thing where he held Denise's waist from behind to teach her how to do a golf swing (so cliche!). They ended a day with romantic date at a classy restaurant and lounge bar. But I felt Denise was distracted by memories of her previous date with Howard. Anyway, Wolfgang also managed to score a kiss with Denise... he just went right in and said "This is the real me, right here..." and he just reached over and planted a big kiss on Denise. She had no time to react or defend herself!!!

You can probably guess who I'm rooting for. Don't we just luuurve underdogs?

(Sam, I think Denise is falling in love... with someone else! *sigh*)