. . . rambling thots . . .

i'm thinking of taking a hiatus from blogging for a while.

why?

my work is in a mess
my house is in a mess
my finance is in a mess
my mind is in a mess
my life is in a mess
and i think this blog is also in a mess

it's ALL in a huge pile of mess that serves no purpose whatsoever!
i need to clear things up and reorganize my entire life!

reorganize. reprioritise.

hahahah.. sounds so serious, aye?
no... not really... it's not as bad as i made it sound to be.

c'est comme çi comme ça.

As i mentioned in my previous entry, i have changed my atm card to the new visa debit.

i used it last tuesday, which incidently is my payday, to fill in the car fuel. went to petronas and paid via the petrol kiosk instead of going to the counter to pay.

the weird thing i noticed while fueling is, the system didn't ask me for the amount. previously, it would ask whether to fill in 'full' or 'certain amount', right? but i thought, perhaps i'll just fill in rm50 and it will automatically deduct it from my account.

came into the office, decided to do my monthly budgeting, went into my maybank2u and voila! the today's transaction history shows one 'pre-auth debit' transaction which i'm sure i didn't conduct! and the amount deducted is rm150. 1-5-0 i tell you. that's no small amount.

thinking that it's very strange, i decided to call maybank.

to make a long story short, the way the maybank customer service officer told me, it sounded like a normal thing whenever you fuel at petrol kiosks. what?

regardless of the amount filled, the system will deduct rm150 from your account and the balance will be credited back into your account once the merchant has 'claimed' the actual amount transacted.

again, what?

and that's within, 2-3 working days.

WHAT!?!

i was also told, that in order to avoid this, i had better pay at the counter since there the cashier can immediately deduct the required amount.

if that's the case, can somebody tell me why, in the first place, we have those kiosks installed?

i know some of you out there might already encountered the same problem as i did. because, the CSO didn't even need to go into my account to know what my problem was.

but my question is this.

how can they, be it Maybank or the merchant or the petrol kiosk system, simply deduct more than what was transacted from the account? i don't think that's right. and to hold the money for 2-3 working days... ? you can do so many things with that amount, during that period of time... e.g. invest, cycle capital... and what if the merchant, worst case, claimed more than what was transacted? waht will happen then?

if i didn't happen to check my transact-history, i wouldn't have known this. i wasn't even informed about it when i changed the card. this thing should at least be communicated.

lucky it was tuesday and i have money to spare.

imagine if it was thurs/friday and you really need that money for something over the weekend???

definitely not right...

need to bring this up to the relevant authorities...

i was unaware that i am all alone in the office. SHIT! everyone went home without telling me!

i didn't want to go home yet since the traffic's like craaaaazzzzzzzzyyyyyyyyy out there!

i hate to get stuck, in what normally takes me about 20minutes, for at least 40 minutes on the road back home esp with my current fuel tank's level.


KL is like this all the time. whenever it rains heavily, people (like me) will stay and wait in the office til the rain stops and then only goes home. that's why the traffic gets heavy at this time of the night.

i'm definitely seriously considering of taking the LRT to office!

well, that's another story.

better make my move (to go back home) now...

ps: tomorrow i'll be happy for about half an hour (upon looking at my account) cuz it's payday. but after that, it's back to waiting and counting down to the next pay day... sigh!

most of my monthly salary are spent on my car fuel.
a week going back office-home requires around rm70 worth of fuel.
that's rm280-rm350 per month.

this month, for example, i'm only left with rm15 until my payday, which is next week, to survive.
about 5 minutes ago, i found another rm21 'hidden' in my organizer. lucky me!
but still, obviously not enough for fuel.

i told my colleague of my 'pitiful' condition.

she told me what her brother did.
installed an NGV tank in his car.
driving a Kia Spectra, what normally costs him RM70 of weekly fuel, he now spends only rm8 per tank. but, the installation costs him around rm2000++. i guess it depends on the type of car coz her friend who drove a CRV had to pay rm4000++ for hers.

the tank is placed behind the car, in the boot. therefore, if you're driving a Kancil, might as well forget it...

even with the NGV tank installed, they can still switch to the normal fuel when the need arises. e.g. in case there's no NGV stations around.

but then again, when i think of the idea of having to wait in a long queue, which mostly consists of taxis, to fill the NGV, is it worth it?

but rm8 per week instead of rm70.
that's a really big saving monthly!!!

should i do the same?

ps: using NGV that costs rm8 per tank, why does the taxi fare also climbs up when there's increase in fuel price? understood that it is of the same origin, but still, why the increase in taxi fare? i don't quite understand?

is it really? is this really what we want?

i must admit. i'm no pro with these political matters.
but, even a simple minded citizen (like me) should take heed of what's happening in this country now. especially during this post-election time.

not a day gone by since 8th March that good post-election news were reported. most of what i've read, or heard about are those that could jeopardize the unity and harmony of this country; boycotting of swearing-in ceremony, plans to "run the government free from the New Economic Policy (NEP)", stocks reaching down to its worst, etc.

are these signs of where the country is heading to? na'uzubillah.

i've heard so many theories as to why the BN lost the election, from so many people e.g. wrong election strategies, people want change in the leadership, voting in spite of the government etc.

but, i think, it might be a trend picked up from what is happening in US right now. this might have influenced most of the 'yuppies'. youngsters who previously were too busy focusing on their own careers are now picked up by this wave. see what happened in Bangsar.

in honest truth, i don't mind that Shahrizat lost her seat to Nurul Izzah Anwar. thinking a young mind would bring in some fresh and good ideas. but, never did i thought in the end, the change would be history-altering.

i guess that's the reason why, when Tok Det was at the helm, he tried to ensure the government strategies their best to avoid the opposition parties from getting hold of the parliamentary seat. perhaps.

although united during campaigning, these parties could not see eye-to-eye on certain matters, post-wise. PAS fighting for the a Muslim country (aren't we already?), DAP with mostly non-Malays members (i wonder what is their agenda? hmmm?) and PKR wanting 'justice' for the people (or really for you-know-who)... looking at their separate agendas, this is expected to happen.

they say, together they'll make a strong opposition against the government. but, if they can't even come up with ONE decision and continue on bickering between themselves, will they ever be?

when i heard the election result, i thought, "hmmm... at least, with this, the government will always be on their feet and not simply make decision without getting challenged".

previously, it was like during Schumacher's era. every year, he kept winning and winning. and if it looked like he might lost to other racer, even his own teammate had to give his own chance of winning his first title to the multiple-title Schummi. for ferrari fans watching, it's great. but for others, it was pure boredom.

with this year's election, with this change, will it become a 'hamilton-alonso-raikonnen' battle?

or, will i (or all malaysians alike) be disappointed and end up being the victims in the end?

yes, like what sheryl crow said, "a change would do you good".
however, it should be something for the better, not worst.

hold on really tight people... it's gonna be a bumpy ride...

Who is this bebe? you might ask.
Well, i call her "budak pipi boyot" (translation : chubby cheeks)

i don't have the time to introduce her to you properly now.

if i have spare time, i'll do so tomorrow.

right now, i 'll just leave you this pixies.

i have been wanting to blog about this icon of mine for quite some time now but i don't think with my standard of writing, i would do him justice.

growing up in these past decades, when Malaysia is developing tremendously, i'm sure many of us find Tun Dr Mahathir, the Father of Development, to be our hero.

this is my personal opinion of him.

i'm not going to talk about his involvement in politics, as i am not verse and not interested in that particular area.

Tun, or lovingly referred to as Tok Det, is a charismatic leader like no other prominent figures of this country, aside from Tunku Abdul Rahman.

after Tok Det, i don't think anyone else can manage to fill in the big shoes and leave behind a legacy such as his.

an opinionated and outspoken person, Tok Det always becomes the target of leaders from the opposition. But, although not a journalist myslef, I'm sure this side of him is what makes it interesting at any press conference. journalist and people alike coming to listen to what he has got to say next.

i find it really interesting to read his thoughts. anywhere. even if it's in MalaysiaKini.com.

he's among the first Asian leaders to stood up to Israel and US, expressing his viewpoint on the situation at Middle East, when everyone else is just sitting back and watching quietly and not backing out when being pressured. he was controversial, indeed. referring to Israel and US as the devils, he was stamped as being anti-semantic. what the...?

and when the big financial crisis occured in this region, with the support and assistance of people around him, he stand firm and rejected the aid from IMF. otherwise, our country would be in bigger trouble today, like what happened to Indonesia.

remember that interview he did with CNN? damn great!

whenever posted a question, he'd casually give his answers. never once did i saw him looked taken aback, nervous, or even scared... as what he normally does in any interviews.

that's why when i heard from my cousin's husband about mahathir admitting his guilt for what he did to Anwar, both his wife and i told him we didn't believe it. mahathir being mahathir, i knew he might have said it sarcastically. and true enough! i searched the video on Youtube and showed it to him. the news was spread by (foolish) parties, misusing it perhaps to sway people's vote for the upcoming election. these parties put shame to people who actually are loyal and working passionately for their parties.

this just proves to show the extent to which whatever said by Tok Det can influence people greatly.

"I did an interview with the Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. It was a difficult interview because he is a great statesman and a powerful politician." - Zain Verjee, CNN Int. when asked who is her favourite personalities she had interviewed.

i respected him. and that respect continues til today, even if he's no longer the Prime Minister.

but, i think he might have gone a bit overboard with the Anwar's case. but a man's got to do what he believe is best for everyone.

to me, whatever he has done up to today, is for the best of Malaysia and Malaysians. he has big plans for this country. i don't care if he has personal stake in them. that's between him and Allah.

all i know is that most of what we've achieved today is thank to his efforts.

i don't care if what he does today contradicts his previous actions. mahathir is mahathir.

j'adore Tok Det!

ps: i remembered a time i was so excited to take picture with him to the extent that i accidently stepped on Sultan Johor's foot! KUSSO! i immediately begged for His Highness forgiveness, but he said it was fine. this coming from Sultan Johor, the Sultan who is known for his temper...scary! but i still heart you, Your Highness! i guess he knows i'm just too giddy seeing Tok Det! ;P

pps: i wish i can meet him again!

things i hate about the election time are:-

1. parties' banners and buntings hung all over the place, disregarding other people's safety. i even heard that a motorcyclist was injured because the bunting's rope got caught in his wheel.
2. everyone plays dirty condemning each other and playing the blame game, instead of really focusing on the people.
3. getting caught in traffic for half an hour just to go through a 500m stretch of road (where it doesn't normally jammed) just because of some stupid people parking their cars wherever they like in order to attend talks and thus blocking the road. i felt like going down from my car and scratch theirs!!!
   

i hate! i hate! i hate!

my official working hours is 9 to 6 and usually by 8.20 i am already out of the house. when i went out this morning, it was already 8.30. i was late.

i grabbed car-key and my handbag, shoved my handphone into the bag and went out of the house.

i arrived at the office around 9.15am. damn you, traffic jam!

at the parking lot, i decided to leave the handbag and just bring with me the keys, some RM and my handphone.

as i digged into my handbag, in search of my hp, i instead found ... guess what? ... my tv remote control! How did that get in here?, i thought to myself and continued looking for my hp.

suddenly, it hit me.

yeup! you've guessed it!

in my rush, i have accidently grabbed the remote instead of my handphone!

go figure!

heheheheh..


remote. handphone. remote. handphone.
remote.handphone. remote. handphone.
handphone. remote. handphone.
handphone? remote?
err...???

when your brain is tired, it's very hard to instruct your body to do things. does that makes sense to you?

it happened to me yesterday.
i was thinking of one thing, and was finding it difficult to write it down.
somehow the 'proposed' idea was 'rejected' by my hand. it suddenly grew a mind of its own. and it kept saying "No, that's not right. I refuse to write it down".

and so, the battle between these two minds took place.
at the end of the day, the rest of the body felt drained out and can't really function properly.

now i know why they don't encourage you to drive when you're tired.

on Oscar...
1) who is that kid in the arm of my Viggo? I don't think he has a daughter, does he?
2) Mr Mortensen, you look better without the beard.
3) Jessica is absolutely glowing!
4) Must watch 'La Vie On Rose'.

on Brangelina...
1) so happy that they are pregnant again!
2) are they really having twins this time?
3) if it's a boy, he surely be as handsome as Angelina. If it's a girl, as beautiful as Brad. hehehehe...

on monthly budget...
1) wake up early so that i don't have to take the highway (less spending on tolls). Saves : about RM 30
2) only have meal for breakfast or tea break since the food's usually less pricey. Saves : about RM 60
3) have to find a way to saves up on fuel consumption. more LRT rides perhaps?
4) other ways to save money...?

on work...
GOD PLEASE HELP ME SOLVE THIS ONE STUPID PROBLEM SO I NO LONGER HAVE TO 'RUNAWAY' FROM MY BOSS!

I have so many work-related problems right now!

To add to that, my boss is breathing down my neck on this one problem which to the BOSS is crucial and requires my utmost attention!

What a headache!

Fortunately tomorrow is already weekend! yeay!

If you've heard of that idiom before, you know what it means.

But, regardless, how I wish the wonderful dream I had last night, well, the first part of it anyway, comes true...

*sigh*...

i've been wanting to blog about this for quite sometime now but couldn't find the time to.

want to share it with you since it puts a smile on my face everytime i remembered it.

it was on my last trip to Bandung with my 2 colleagues, NAR and NWAL. being that that was our last nite there and the rest have finished their shopping spree, i asked our cheuffeur (of our rented MPV) to bring me to any CD Music store that he knows.

we were on Jalan Dago, which is the liveliest place in Bandong come weekend-nite, when upon approaching a traffic light, suddenly a teenage boy jumped rite in front of our car blocking it to a halt. Luckily, there were lots of traffic on the road and the car was just cruising about 10-20kmph.

back to the boy.

"Is he crazy!?!" "What is this guy trying to do?" "Is he trying to kill himself!?!" All sorts of things came out from our mouths. Of course we were shocked. Scared? Not really. But I then looked at the driver. He was calm and smiling even. Perhaps he was silently laughing at us, heh?

My colleague asked him what's going on. He just smiled and we saw his side of the mirror slowly going down. There, lined up just beside our car was several teenagers eagerly looking in. I saw one of them equipped with a guitar in his hand.

"1,2!" shouted this guy and his friends opened their mouth and started to sing!

hahahahaha...

"oh! so, this is what they were up to!!!" we said to each other almost in unison!

only then that we noticed the same thing happened to the other cars...

these boys and girls were singing to us their song in that short 2-3 minutes while the traffic light is still red. happily clapping to the rythm. their singing was not that bad! it cheered us up actually, especially after our long and tiring shooping spree!

knowing how it is in Indonesia, I open up my purse looking for some money to tip these happy youths! but it was my colleague who tipped them in the end coz she wanted to finish up her Rupiahs. I think she gave quite a hefty amount coz the teenagers cheered thunderously upon receiving them and loudly thanked us!

hahahahah! isn't it wonderful to be at that age again? *sigh*

shocked and surprised, I didn't remember to capture them on video but NWAL managed to snap a picture just as the car was about to move.

not having that much of pocketmoney but still wanting to enjoy a nite out with their friends on weekend nite, these Bandung teenagers do this quite regularly perhaps. i don't think it's harmful though.

in the words of Miss Lauper, "they just want to have fun!". enjoying the company of their friends, forgetting about their worries for just that one night...

how i wish i could do the same...

a word to those teenagers, though.

"Do your parents know you're doing this?"

hehehehe...

There are high possibilities that two of my colleagues are going to Tokyo come March. They've been invited there by their Japanese project team member.

You see, the project that they are involved in, consists of members from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, New Zealand, Phillipines, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia.

These colleagues are incharged of developing the web site and since it will later be hosted and maintained in Tokyo, they were invited to do the setup; flight and accommodations to be covered by their Japanese counterpart.

The invitation reached my Director some time end of last year. It wasn't confirmed until early this month.

*sigh*

uwaaaa!!! I am so jealous!!!!

I think it'll be very long 'til I get the chance to go there myself.

The travel cost is damn expensive. In Lonely Planet, they say the daily budget, assuming you travel only near distance, should be around USD$60.

Get this. The price of one movie ticket, which is RM10 here, is about RM52 there! Not that, I'm planning to go to the cinema there anyways. Meanwhile, one can of drink costs RM3.50. Erk!!!

But, I still want to go there...

Those two colleagues of mine sure are lucky. And to think that it'll be spring in Tokyo come March. It's the time when the Sakuras bloom!

*double sigh*

I am sure they'll be at my face when they return to the office, knowing very well I'm crazy about Japan.

My eyes are green with envy!!! HON-TO-NI!!!
);

Hey, guys! Can I follow you?
If not, can you please bring back something for me from Japan?

Nothing much.
Just an 'ikemen' will do for me!

Hehhehehe...

Here's an interesting conversation that is going on between the "singles" in the office this morning...

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

IZZA :

hello my dear...
there's a wind-news-news that you're interested to go to Spain but next yr??
how early u have in mind???..hehe...
let me know, and maybe we can work somethg out!...:))

SSH :

heheheh... am very, very interested !!!
agak2 u how much money i need for the trip?
u tell me the rough figure, and then i see lah if it's a "reacheable target" ( ;
otherwise, hehehe.... guess u guys have to go without me. ) ;

IZZA :

the more the merrier la, ..
if there are 4 ppl travelling..that's ideal "travelling grp"..hehe..:)..
i think roughly (assuming we go for 1week):

1. flight - 3k (depending on mth, but i think early next yr after xmas & new yrs should be around that)
2. accommodation - normal motels to safe 3 star hotels would range from 12-20 Euro per-person per-night so let's say la euro 20 * 6 = 120 euro
3. travelling - if sewa kereta we may be able to save a bit but i drove in italy and was not one happy driver.(drove manual so was worst since auto much more expensive).so i'm thgkg spain is not much better...:) but if let's say we take train/bus let's sayla give or take between euro 200-300 per person..we can stil consider kereta
4. food - let's say once a day we eat out lain semua magee or bread stuff then we can put around euro 20 a day so that's approx euro 150
5. sightseeing tickets, shopping - probably aorund euro 100-200 i think depending on how much we shop or sight see.

So give or take that's a total of : RM3K + EU800 (being prudent could be lower) = RM7k (assuming EU will be around 5 times higher:)

U have no excuse, start saving RM1k mth, by end of the yr you should hm rm12k for spain...kah kah kah...:)...
we're still considering packaged tour tho but so far i havent found an interesting one. so was thgkg if we decide packaged tour best option would be to go to london first (save flight ticket a bit) and get one from there since they will have tonnes and cheaper ones as well becos competition is higher)...
but will see la..
at least if unstructured travelling more adventurous la..:))

Plus guys, this could be our LAST chance to find some sexy latino who can flamenco or tango all the way to Malaysia!hihihihihi...

NAR :

wow!!!!..
terus rasa bersemangat.. ni nak kena gi asb simpan duit lagi nih.. hahahah.
last two days i chck hotel price at granada... 3 star hotel.. the cheepest..is euro71 per room.... but not more than 85 euro...
tapi tak tau la.. tu rate kat internet.. might be cheaper...
gi london dulu???..waaaa best gak tu...hehehhe

IZZA :

euro 71 per room not perperson right??...if yes, then if fits our budget else..huaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!..that means prices have really shot up...
kalau pergi london dulu can shopping sikit there..hihi....
takpe takpe..we have time to survey and check out options...

NAR :

yep..per room.. that one is without breakfast.. if with breakfast.. lagi la mahal..
so bawak jer la bekalan megi byk2.. hahaha.. balik mesia.. terus rambut gugur.. :D

ha...betul tu... amik2 gambar dulu kat london.. shopping kalau mampu.. kah kah kah... yg penting.. leh cop passport... :P:P:P

SSH:

UWAAA!!!!! very the very the menggoda!!!! awh! tidaks!!!
kena save rm1k per month ek? gulps!
I'll try my very best... nampak nyer i have to rework my monthly budget nih. as if!
so, u all bagi me time until when nih? u guys gimme until june... if by then, i still can't afford the flight ticket, then, with a very pain-ful feeling, bye-bye se-pain.

btw,kalau nak drive manual, saya memvolunteerkan Kak NAR! hehehehe...

NAR :

chissssssssssssssssssssssssssssss <---- itu adalah perkataan yg spontan keluar dari mulut aku masa baca ayat terahkir ko ituhhhhh....
boley..boley.. kenapa pulak tak boley..
tapi korang kena bgtau dulu.. longkang mana yg kita akan tujui... kah kah kah...

SSH.. mesti boleh punya..
utk dis few months nih.. ko jgn berjoye2..
sumer duit simpan.. hahahha...

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Wargggh!!!!!

To save RM1K every month for a trip to Spain is definitely gonna be really, really, really difficult for me! Somewhat 'unreacheable'.

Besides, which weighs more? RM7K for a once in a lifetime trip OR RM7K for a long overdued SLR Camera?

SPAIN? SLR?
SLR? SPAIN?
SPAIN? SLR?
SLR? SPAIN?
SPAIN? SLR?
SLR? SPAIN?
SPAIN? SLR?
SLR? SPAIN?

Help me decide.... pleeeeeeaaassssse....!

it was quite some time ago that i last took the LRT back from the office.

i did so yesterday. the weather was just nice for a walk. it resets all the noise from the traffic and the STAR train passing by me. even the fume from the buses didn't bother me much.

it felt somewhat, serene...

i guess a change is good once in a while.

It's known that this is the year of the wood rat.

And from what I've heard it's not really gonna be a good year for anyone born in the year of the Horse due to some reasons which I don't think I can recall. Bad year in terms of health, wealth, and relationships... etc...

If you believe in those sort of things...

Well, I'm a Horse myself.

But as a Muslim, these sort of things should not bother me much. Everything is Qada' and Qadar...

Today, I've been poked by Afdlin.
On Facebook.

But, he hasn't accepted my request, yet!

);

I am at the Co's training center, surfing the Net via WiFi and waiting for my download to finish (it's currently 52% completed). Had to come here for a meeting.

Two things I like coming here.

1. I can use the Wifi without having to move from my workplace. Cuz you see, in the Co's HQ, WiFi are only available in the Cafe and in our KMC. None in the departments.
   
2. I'm away from the phone and no need to attend to user's problems with the systems. It's ok if they're simple to fixed. But hate those that the root cause are unidentifiable and vague.
3. I can ask for a room to sleep during lunchtime. You see, this place has hostel to room staff who are on trainings i.e. on-boarding etc.
4. I can claim for mileage.
   

Things I hate about coming here.

1. The traffic coming in and out of the place is terrible. Not just before and after office hour. It's all day long!!!
2. I don't have time to resolve problems that I really need to attend to!
   

But after today's meeting, I believe I'll be coming here more often as the team's agreed to meet up every week in our effort to improve our system.

However, I'm planning to ask them to rotate the meeting venue between here and HQ. It would be better this way.

Now that it's gonna be weekly, I'm just wondering whether I can still claim for mileage...

?

That said, I just remembered that I'll be coming here again Monday for another meeting on another matter.

ps: my download status is still at 58% (but the signal is already at 100%) and people here are already going back and I'd be all alone!!! s@$%^@$!!!