Dance like no one's watching

yet another afternoon highlight.

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Bigmac: so what’s Mr. Suki like in person?  is he a nice person?

Kid’s Meal (KM): he’s quite nice.  but his English is like different.

Bigmac: well, most Japanese speak English a bit strangely.

KM: no.  i think it’s ‘cos Japs have short tongues.

Bigmac: really?  i wouldn’t know… i’ve not kissed one before.

(KM pauses.  i thought that was a damn good reply.)

KM: no.  i think it’s the food they eat. 

(food they eat?!?!).

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i have strange colleagues.

a lot of people were curious how Iceman and i got together.  a JC classmate almost didn’t believe it and thought i was joking when he asked if we were a couple (‘cos of my MSN pic) and i said we were.  so how did we get started?  i would say it started 11 years ago in Mar 1996 but i guess we could fast forward a little…

Azure, Iceman and i were supposed to go on a holiday to HK in Aug last year. however, my boss’ wife was giving birth in Aug so i had problems taking leave. Iceman had an exam on 1 Sep and so he had to study too. in the end, we decided to go to HK in Sep, after his exams. however, Azure couldn’t make it ‘cos she just changed jobs and couldn’t take leave while on probation.

Iceman and i decided to go on the trip w/o Azure in the end. we stayed at his bro’s place and i had a really really fantastic 6 days in HK. little did i know, a flippant remark i made on the 2nd night we were there led to Iceman attempting to avoid me after we got back. i felt something was wrong… but yet i didn’t manage to get an answer from Iceman. then came the fateful drinking session at Tavern on 12 Oct 2007 (Fri). Booze Queen and i were asking the others if they wanted to move on to another pub for round 2 when Iceman said he had to go home early ‘cos he had something on the next day. despite my repeated questioning, he refused to say what he had on the next day! BQ then blurted out, “Don’t want to say must be going on a date lah!”

Iceman kept quiet at her statement. that led to this deep sinking feeling within me. i kept up my smiles and continued teasing Iceman… but sadly, i couldn’t fish any more info out of him. that night, on the way back, i sms’d saying that i didn’t need him to tell me what stage he and “that gal” were at, but i just wanted to know a yes or no question – was he interested in her?

Iceman’s reply was, if i were the good friend that i’m supposed to be, i would stop asking. he said, “since when have i not told u when something does happen?”.  i was greatly disappointed by his reply.  i was upset that all this while, i thought he was busy when his replies on MSN were slow… and that he was caught up with his studies and was not avoiding me… there was perhaps, another gal.

i moped at home the next day, listening to the song “I’ll Be Okay” by Amanda Marshall.  hey, the reason why i loved the movie My Best Friend’s Wedding so much was ‘cos when i watched it with Iceman, i realised that one day, i may end up like Julianne in the movie!

finally, i managed to corner Iceman into meeting me for lunch on Sun. i really wanted to know what was happening because i never felt closer to losing someone so dear to me before. when i woke up on Sun about 12ish, i was a little happy ‘cos i thought i would finally have a chance to clarify matters with Iceman. i quickly called him to arrange lunch… but he said he already arranged to meet someone else for lunch. i asked him if it was “that gal” and he said yes. my heart sank. Iceman pressed me to tell him why i was acting funny. i really wanted to tell him how i felt there and then… but all i could muster was a “i don’t feel good about it” over MSN.

Iceman called while in the cab to meet “that gal”. he kept asking me what i meant by “i don’t feel good”… but i couldn’t bring myself to say it.  after repeated badgering, i said a one-liner. “i am jealous”. Iceman wanted me to clarify what i meant but i refused. i said i’ll tell him later… ‘cos i needed time to formulate my thoughts.

took me 30min but i sent a 4-msg sms to Iceman essentially saying that i’ve always wondered if we could be more than friends, but the logical side of me always kept my feelings in check.  took quite a bit of courage for both of us i suppose… but thank the Lord, both of us felt pretty much the same about each other.  ("that gal" was but his bro’s ex-colleague who just moved to SG and his bro asked if he could help if she needed help… not that she didn’t like him lah… but that’s another story altogether).

now… what was the thing that i said in HK that led to us almost "missing" each other again?  sigh.  on the 2nd night of our trip in HK, Iceman’s bro, in front of a whole table of people said to me, “i don’t know why my bro and u aren’t together”.  to which my fast and flippant reply was, “oh please. if your bro and i were together, it would be like incest”.

Iceman said he was stunned and extremely taken aback by my reply.  so much so that he thought i didn’t feel anything at all, and deepened his belief that we could never be more than friends.  this also led to all our photos taken thereafter to be kind of awkward – ‘cos he wanted but didn’t dare put his arm around me.  he also tried to get me to hang around for a while at Changi Airport after we got back… hoping to find an opportunity to tell me how he felt… but i rushed off ‘cos my dad was picking me up.  heh.

anyway, for the huge merry go round we’ve taken, i’m glad we’re very merry folks now.  life has been good.

On to some nicer news, the reason why i was in KL over the New Year was ‘cos i was attending MT’s wedding.  CONGRATS MT!!  Wait… i haven’t told her about my blog.  Heh.

Oh well, here’re some pics i took.  🙂

Patience took a ride with us up to KL.

Crown Princess didn’t look that bad at first… before the roaches came along…

View from the room wasn’t too bad actually.  Could see fireworks during the countdown celebration too!

Fightking’s latest favourite eating place in KL – Restoran Overseas at Jalan Imbi.  The char siew is the ABSOLUTE BEST!  Here’s a pic of Iceman tucking in… oh wait.. that’s the "bighead prawn"… the Char Siew disappeared before i could take a pic of it during the dinner.

KLCC.  Nice pic right?  Postcard worthy hor?

Dancequeen & me

I loved the ballroom – especially the Christmas lights hanging at the curtains against the wall…

(Hotel  Nikko)

I look like a Vietnamese bride hor?  Heh.. but i high class.  Euros 10k please…

A nice display at the hotel.

The luxurious toilet bowl at Hotel Nikko

Fantastic laska place at Segambut.  Oysters, clams, prawns, cuttlefish… sedap!

This is how the sambal is stirred!  I bet u it’s the branch that gives it that extra oomph!

A cheery Christmas display at The Curve (atas shopping centre in KL).

Iceman and i went to Restoran Overseas for lunch before we left KL.  This time, i managed to get a shot of the Char Siew… heh.

Love the food in KL.. heh… don’t like the shopping though.  Didn’t buy anything – ‘cos i don’t like the local fashion, and the international brands carries the same stuff as the shops in Singapore.  🙂

Stayed at the Crown Princess KL over the new year.  The place SUCKS!  So heed my advice and don’t EVER stay there.  Here’s why it sucks…

The first time i saw a baby roach in the toilet, i thought never mind, it’s an old hotel, so finding 1 roach might’ve been something inevitable, and i decided to let it pass.

But when i found another 3 roaches on the morning that i was checking out, i thought that was just too much.  This hotel has totally failed my hygiene standards!

The service by the hotel staff wasn’t very good either.  The breakfast venue was way too under-staffed – only 2 waiters to oversee the entire place.  And the 2 waiters were really inefficient too.  They would clear plates from a table, then get distracted and started clearing bowls from another table, and before they were done with the 2nd table, moved onto a 3rd table to clear cups.  This resulted in ALL the untaken tables  being half cleared, and people who came into the breakfast venue had no place to sit.

Oh… and before i forget… the bedsheets and towels were also stained.  I believe they were washed… but shouldn’t hotels stop using those that have stains that couldn’t be removed?  Just terrible!  ARGH!

I want to post a negative review about the hotel on asiarooms.com (booked the hotel from that website) but couldn’t find the link to post reviews.  I’ve emailed asiarooms.com about this review issue… hope they reply soon!

Anyway, here’s a belated Happy New Year to everyone.  🙂

Apologies people.  Haven’t accessed my blog the past week ‘cos i was very busy at work.  Visited my blog just now and kept getting diverted to another site.  Then i noticed it said, "domain expired".  Did a search on Technorati and found out that advertlets.com, the site i was using for banner ads, forgot to renew their domain.  How screwed up is that man!  An online company forgetting to renew its domain?!  Good grief!

Anyway, i hate to say this but… it HAD to be a m’sian company to have this sort of screw up lor.  Sigh.  Incredible man!

For more details, please read this.

I just thought the chocs with the AIA logo on it were so cool.  (My dad ate the missing choc).

Sat dimsum with my parents & Iceman… we had a lot of food…

This is where i get my OCD from… my dad measures the temp setting of our fridge…

For months i’ve seen this sculpture at Raffles Place… took a pic of it, half-unveiled.  (Taken from inside my car).

I have more pics… but… somehow these were more "caption friendly".  Heh.

Anyone wondered what the bunnies (well, some of them) have been up to?

Pinky enjoys running about the car porch every night.

Where he brazenly eats my mom’s pandan leaves…

Orchids…

And tries to hide when caught.

Horlicks is into Boxercise… she packs a mean punch… poor Shieldtox insecticide… gets battered behind closed doors…

Pinky cringes at the violence.

And stands about looking lost in the kitchen…

Suddenly, he notices the microwave…

Smart chap makes a quick getaway to look for his daddy in the side garden.

Muah Chee has his own private war shelter…

Though he usually prefers to just lie outside, unaffected by the paparazzi of this world.

All photos taken with my N82.  🙂

Got another call from DBS Call Centre a couple of days back.  A guy named Chester called to say that my "feedback" was referred back to them by the Customer Care Dept.  Chester asked me some really basic questions to verify my information – my full name and NRIC (which is really silly ‘cos given that my wallet was stolen, this information would’ve been easily obtained by the thief right?  Moreover, Chester called my on my office line… which is the contact no. that i left in my complaint email to DBS.  Shouldn’t DBS have called the no. in my phone records with the bank?  That would definitely add some weight that i was the original card holder right?  Since DBS was soooo concerned about "verifying my details".  Duh?!)

Anyway, Chester said that the bank will arrange to have a replacement ATM card sent to me.  However, $5 will be deducted from my account balance.  I flatly refused.  I asked Chester – why should i be paying for this replacement card, when no other banks have this practice?  After all the hassle i’ve been put through, i don’t see ANY good reason for me to pay that $5.  Moreover, it wasn’t as though i dropped the card.  I lost the card through an act of theft!  So why should i pay this stupid $5?

Chester said that if the card was lost because of "an act of crime", DBS can waive the $5.  (He was very insistent on the phrase "act of crime").  I told him i had a police report.  However, if he was familiar with police reports, he would know that a report about a petty theft does not contain the phrase "act of crime".  So this stupid argument ding dong-ed back and forth.  In the end, i told Chester if DBS was not going to waive the $5, i will just cancel my account.  Chester checked with his superiors and apparently, DBS was deadset against waiving that $5.  So i told Chester not to bother with the stupid replacement anymore.  I will go down to DBS/ POSB and cancel the account.  The account was of no use to me anyway – DBS’ online banking features suck, and the security token i need to carry around in order to use the online banking makes the whole login process so troublesome.

I thought that was the end of it – DBS lost a customer because of its dumb procedures… but what’s the big deal right?  What does my $200 balance matter to DBS?  (Of course if the bank’s stupid procedures cost them $200 x 100,000 customers or something, then perhaps it will sit up and take notice.)  Whatever the case, i was fed up.  Was not going to waste another second of my time on it.

However… 10min after i ended the call with Chester, i got another call from DBS.  This time it was from the Customer Care Dept.  Some lady named Josephine noted from their internal system that my $5 waiver request was rejected by DBS.  She sounded flustered / panicky… kept apologising, and offered to waive my $5.  I told her i was going to cancel my DBS a/c because i was fed up of all the hassle i had been put through.  She asked if it was ok with me if she went ahead to waive the $5, and arrange for a replacement ATM card to be sent to me.  I told her to "please go ahead" and so i’m now waiting for a new DBS ATM card again.

Heh.  Wonder what brought the change of heart in DBS.  Perhaps someone finally realised how stupid they were… or got concerned that i was going to sent another complaint email.  Hehe. Anyhow, let’s see if this darn ATM card is going to reach me.  I’m counting the days till it arrives…

it’s 4:25pm. everyone’s in holiday mood in office. am working very very slowly, waiting for the day to end so we can leave for our Christmas dinner. really really sleepy.

suddenly, Kid’s Meal turns to me and says…

KM: is Shenzhen in HK or in China ah?
Me: (with a look of digust – couldn’t help it) China lah.
KM: oh… was confused where it is.

good grief!

I remember another time when Booze Queen, Xiao Lao Shu and i were chatting about Facebook and Fighters Club in office. We spoke in half sentences because we didn’t want other people to know what we were talking about… at least they could only speculate… but not be sure what we were referring to.

So we were talking and laughing (this was after office hours, btw) when we saw Smarties grinning and attempting to look over XLS’ shoulder (to see what’s on her monitor). BQ couldn’t resist and said to Smarties, “Why are u smiling? Do u know what we’re talking about?”.

Smarties’ brillant reply was, “No leh… but i find what u all are saying very funny”… and he continued grinning!

Unable to resist, i said, “U mean u have no idea what we’re talking about, but yet u can laugh about it?”

“Ya. Hahaha. Very funny leh”, replied Smarties.

At this point, i gave Smarties my best u-are-damn-freaking-weird look, exchanged glances with Booze Queen and XLS, and we all kept quiet and reverted to using MSN to continue our conversation.

Sheesh. What’s wrong with all these young people nowadays man! Tsk tsk tsk.