Ch0c0late`G0Ddess

Sometimes I wonder if people are really sincere in their deeds. They may appear to be all smiley and shiny on the outside…but they suck big time on the inside.

I wish people would just be upfront with what they have to say and say it. Forget all the polish and cushioning that comes with it. After all, if you’ve been friends with them for so long, I’m sure you, me- both would appreciate the candid comments from time to time.

Of course, if it’s a stranger you’re dealing with- then by all means put on all the glam and glitz when you’re about to deliver a comment. Hopefully they won’t take it too personally.

‘Delivering bad news in a fashionably positive way’ - I guess that what I’ve been doing for the past 3 months or so. I can just imagine this tagline… scribbled somewhere in some “How To Manage Your Clients Effectively” book.

It’s hard to part ways with someone you love dearly, specially when that person has had an enormous impact in your life.

It’s been a week since my relative/uncle passed on, yet I still find it hard to digest it all. It’s hard knowing that I won’t be seeing his radiating smile or hear his brand of humour at family gatherings. 

I shall miss him dearly.

Hey everyone!

I’m down with flu and won’t be blogging for some time. Thanks.

After enduring 3 hectic weeks, filled with screaming and drama; I finally took a break and went home. Everyone’s doing great at home. Even Simba is looking good.

I spent most of my time hanging around the kitchen and playing with Simba. He’s put on some weight…can cats become obese???

Anyway, here are some pictures I took of him.

Maybe Simba has a shot at being the next mascot for Sunway Pyramid ?

                        
Simba finds the underneath of a green plastic stool an ideal place to nap.

I bet he’s wondering what’s for lunch.

He decides to take a walk and check it out.

Cutting a lonely figure in the backyard.

My weekend trip down to KL can only be described with these 3 words- FUN, FOOD & FAMILY.

I know I have been raving about sampling some shrimp-based dishes at the newly opened Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant for sometime now, but sadly I could only catch a glimpse of the famous restaurant. 

Oh well, perhaps I will have better luck next time,eh?

My much-welcomed weekend getaway provided me with the avenue to indulge in some retail therapy. While I guiltily admit to having a near orgasmic reaction whilst walking out of British India, I will be humbled by the fact that it was the thoughtful gesture by a loved-one, that enabled me to enjoy myself

Of course, sharing in the joyous mood were my cousins Dafne and Radika. ( And please do bear in mind that when I say ‘Dafne and Radika’, I do not mean that one is preferred over the other. It is merely an alphabetical preference that ‘D’ comes before ‘R’ ). Right then…

So, we met up at the insanely huge 1Utama shopping complex. The bloody building is already enormous…and still they have yet to stop mulling over it!!! I tell you, the place is so big that it’s easy to get lost. I guess the only good thing about it is that it houses most of America’s fashionable brands…and that they have lots of cafes and restaurants to sit and chow down.

Since Dafne was craving for some of DQ’s ice-cream, we ended up spending quite some time there. Sigh…there’s nothing like feasting on ice-cream and bitching about some weird,crazy incident that traumatized us all!

Har, of course I can’t tell you WHO we bitched about. But rest assured that if you haven’t personally met both Dafne and Radika, then it’s NOT YOU.

After our little bitching session, we took a cab down to another nearby mall, The Curve. We thought of checking out the weekend flee market that sells some amazing stuff. From wallets and handbags to obscene T-shirts–this is the place to get it. Most of the goods are reasonably priced, but I feel that you should go there with a good bargain hunter for an even lower price!

Once we were done with shopping, Radika decides she wants to get her hair cut. So we were prowling the upper levels of the mall…trying to find a hair saloon. And the amazing thing is most of them were closed! Shocking, ain’t it? Here we were thinking that the hair saloon would be open on what would normally be it’s most profitable day… I tell you, either these hair saloons are making too much money or they need to fire their marketing people.

Since we weren’t able to locate a hair saloon, we promptly decided on sushi for dinner. Our feet scuffled and soon we found ourselves seated at Sakae Sushi.

During dinner I found myself wondering when did my cousins grow up? They spoke with such maturity, that almost made me feel like a child. But I’m glad that they’ve accomplished so much. Not just physically but how they’ve grown into sophisticated chicks.

Maybe I’m getting all mushy but I personally came away from the whole experience feeling that my family’s behind me in all my endeavors.

She’s more than a cute orange ball of fur…Simba, the neighborhood kitten, has purred her way into the hearts of the neighborhood residents.

The reason why I call her the neighborhood kitten is because no one claims ownership of her and also, feeding her has become a neighborhood thing.

Simba usually rests under the cool shady tree next door, and would often be feed by the next door neighbor. This routine, however, has changed because my neighbor has gone on a holiday with his family. Thus leaving Simba to fend for herself.

So Simba started ‘visiting’ us in the evenings. We’ve been feeding her with small portions of different kinds of food. From Gardenia’s white bread and milk to bits of Swiss roll and fish, I only hope Simba doesn’t overeat and puke in the kitchen!   

Everyone in the family has taken to Simba. Even Mummy! Earlier on Mum had declared war on cats because they were doing their No.2S in the garden. So she started her campaign by setting up a fine-netted fence around the perimeters of our garden. My brother and I dub it as her "state of the art defense system", just for kicks

Somehow Simba has learned to jump over the fence and prowl around the garden. She has also learned to stay out of the kitchen and to wait patiently for food. She even has Mum feeding her some fish!

There’s no denying that chilling with Simba is a great way to end my day. She’s a good and lovable kitten.

How can something so simple be just as difficult?

I was compounded with that thought all day today. While part of me seems ready or maybe all too willing to take the easy path out of things, my heart feels heavy. You know…the kind of heaviness that makes you think "what if?" .

Today I met my boyfriend after a very long time. Yes, long distance relationships may not be everyone’s cup of tea…it works for some.

I not going to sit here and write about the things he did or didn’t buy me. There’s no point in that. But what I can tell you, is  that my heartaches when I think about the uncertain, stormy road ahead in this relationship. Of course, like most people, I don’t want to commit myself to a relationship that has no future.

But the more I think about it, the more I come to believe that anything worth fighting for is never easy. As I examined my life and the things I worked hard to achieve, I truly realize that the mystery of some things will only unravel upon time.

And all I have to do is wait.

Hey everyone! I know it’s been awhile since I commissioned the last entry. A lot of things have been happening…

For starters, I spent last weekend at Kluang, a cowboy-like town in Johor. Located at the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia, Johor has the reputation for being the crime capital of Malaysia. Heck, you can ask any Singaporean and they’ll paint you a grim picture of the place (never mind the fact that many Singaporeans keep mistresses on this side of the Causeway).

But I’m here to tell you about a boot camp I attended.

Since I love traveling, I would normally pack a few days in advance, just so I don’t end up panicking the night before. But this time, I found myself a bit unsure about the kind of activities they had there. So surprisingly, I packed light the night before and just threw in the hairdryer in the morning, and it was off to the highway.

Just before we got unto the highway, we (mum, dad & I), had to pick a girl (Janu) up as she was participating in the camp too.

It took us 2 miserable hours to get to the camp. Of course, having Janu sulk in the corner just added to my misery. After attempting some small talk and 5 questions later, Janu’s one-two syllable answers got me thinking of slipping some poison into her water!!!! Arggghhhh!!!

But just when all hope for some decent conversation seemed lost, we arrive at the camp. After fixing my hair and jacket, I walk in to register myself, and guess what? Janu and I are roommates!!!??!! At that moment, I just faked a cough just so I could let out some frustration…

So we check into our room. Outwardly it seems as though I’m unpacking and getting ready for the first activity when in actual fact, all I’m really thinking about is when am I going to smother Janu with that huge-ass pillow on her bed! I know it’s so wicked and evil of me…

Anyhow, after lunch we had a short briefing in the hall. Some old dude was explaining to us about what this particular post is all about and what we can expect the salary range to be like…yada-yada-yada. (Oh I forgot to mention that this boot camp was part of a job interview…sorry)

They organized group discussions, public speaking events, and debates. There was even a 2.4 km run! It seems some Joe holds the record at 8 minutes…I can’t even shower in 8 minutes! So anyhow, I decided not to get caught up with the herd mentality (where everyone gets excited and runs fast in the beginning, only to slowdown 3 minutes later). I was at the back of the pack. Just jogging and walking. Enjoying the scenery and how some guys looked good in white Needless to say, I didn’t break the 8 minute record but at least I managed to overtake a few people and avoid coming in last.

Somehow I had managed to co-exist peacefully with Jany throughout the weekend. Sure there were times when I secretly wished I had some Digitalis with me…but then I reasoned that PMS could be the culprit for her bitchiness.

As soon as we dropped Janu of at her home, my parents animatedly began asking me questions about the camp and the food the served.. you know, the typical parent type of questions. As usual, we had our family time during tea that evening. Even Ben was curious about the camp. Overall, I think I made the best of the situation and Janu was just a blimp on the radar.

Now that I was back home, I could start planning my birthday party…or so I thought as I woke up the next day with a blistering sore throat and a pounding headache. All that quickly turned into a high fever which lasted for 5 days.

The fever subsided on the morning of my birthday and I was able to have some cake:P  This year, we broke away from tradition by getting 4 different slices of cake instead of the usual large cake. So I got to sample some Raspberry Cheesecake, Blueberry Cheesecake, Oreo Cheesecake and some Mango cake. Yummmmmy…

Later on that night, I felt well enough to go out for some dinner. It didn’t matter what we ate or what we talked about. For me, it was truly a special day because I was surrounded by these lovable (and sometimes annoying) characters - my family. And I think my health and family are the best presents I got, this birthday! 

There are some days when I just let the phone ring. It’s not that I’m too lazy to answer it. I actually dread having to converse with the person at the other end of the line.

I know there are many of you out there who do this too. Some people avoid their parents’ calls, while for others it could be the ex-, boss or even the neighborhood  newspaperman- who you just happen to owe for the month…

We all experience that sinking feeling in the pits of our stomachs when that particular ring tone comes on. Shifting our focus from our stomachs to that vibrating plastic (the phone, not the sex toy!), we then play the guessing game as to how many rings the caller would persist until he/she/they/it , gives up.

When all is silent, peace and calm restored; we pat ourselves on the back for having guessed the right number of rings. A relieved smile breaks across the face as we return to our previous activity.

It has to have happened to everyone. At least once in their lifetime- so don’t bother lying.

And we do this not because we utterly hate the caller. We do this so that we don’t have to go through the usual conversation which usually ends in a negative note. We, may also do this, because we do not wish to engage the caller with trivial matters concerning what we did or did not do late last night after a hot date, clubbing, movie…you get the point?

For most of you who got the point, I congratulate you. As for a former employer of mine who still hasn’t- perhaps electric shock treatments might do the trick.

To be better, you gotta do better.

It sure is easier said than done. Recently, I tried being ‘the better
person’. I had to let go of a painful incident and just forgive the person who
caused that hurt.

You see, I couldn’t get past that incident. The more I thought about it, the
more anger and resentment stirred in my heart. All that negativity was lethal
to my physical and spiritual development.

I only realized how sad I was when I caught myself saying to a friend,
"…I will never really be happy…".
The painful beauty about belated realization is its sneaky way of slapping you
in the face with the truth. Truth, that you needed to know. Truth, that will
turn into wisdom.

The bitter pill of acceptance that I have swallowed has allowed me to see
things for what they truly are. More importantly, I have begun to accept myself
and the values I stand for. I no longer need to seek counsel or approval from
anyone. And I am truly happy about that.