One more day !

One more day to go before I get on a plane and fly out of Sydney for one whole glorious month !!

So far everything has gone to plan. I have planned my whole trip. I have brought all my air tickets. Found my passport and created my To-Eat list for all the types of food I have to eat in Hong Kong, Singapore and Perth.

The only problem with my holiday plan was that I forgot about my Masters study. When I told my lecturer I would be away from her classes for the next 4 weeks. Her only reply to me was..

"Oh.. thats Ok. Just make sure you hand your assignment and all your homework into me before you leave".

4 weeks of homework.....

1 major assignment (which is not even due until the next week).... !!

No prizes for guess what I have been rushing and working on for the past week.

Lecturers can be so mean... :(

Big

This is my lunch for today... :p~

I actually don't think this photo does the sandwich justice.

This sandwich is BIG and Thick .. and really Yummyyyyy !

I feel like such a pig... but atleast it is healthy alternative.. :)

The New Guy

Ever get the feeling that the person who hired the new guy in your team has just screwed you over !? Due to the fact, they have hired a person who is Unconsciously Incompetent in all technical aspects. And this is a technical role.

I have no doubt how this person managed to pass all the interviews, as even I was impressed with his past working experiences. Or so he brags about to everyone else in the team. But in reality, it could not be more different.

So now our whole team has to drag this person to stage two of the learning curve -- Conscious Incompetence. Hopefully, the person can realise that they do need to stop talking about their own capabilities and really start to learn the tricks to the trade.

I have a feeling that this stage would be quite hard to achieve.

He has 3 months time (Thank God for the probation period) to prove he can really do the task required by his role. And to do it well. "The person can perform the skill without assistance" -- Conscious Competence

Then if he hopefully makes it this far, he would have to achieve stage four -- Unconscious Competence. "Where the skill becomes so practised that it enters the unconscious parts of the brain - it becomes second nature".

One can only hope.

My Travel Passport

	Your travel type: Party Animal The Party Animal always wears sunglasses during his vacation. He likes a good hotel, with a swimming pool and room service. A couple of drinks at night, maybe see a show, maybe roll the dice, that's the way to spend the evening. Culture? A museum? The others can go while the Party Animal stays in bed. You'll find him by the side of the pool when you get back with a martini to get rid of the hangover.
	top destinations: Las Vegas Amsterdam Acapulco	stay away from: North Korea Ciudad Perdida Darien Gap

Humm... I think I answered "Yes" to one too many drinking related questions during the survey.

Never actually been to Las Vegas, Amsterdam or Acapulco.

I'm flying to Hong Kong in another 3 days... but I still haven't managed to locate my passport yet. (don't ask) But judging from prior experience, these things usually just turn up on the last minute. *fingers crossed**

I'll be away from Sydney for a whole month. Hehe. Going to Hong Kong, stopping at Singapore then flying back home to Perth.

3 more days to go.... :)

Click here to get your own travel profile

Four Weddings

"Marriage is a great institution, but who wants to live in an institution?" -- Katharine Hepburn

I've just realised that four of my friends are getting married in April.

Four couples.

Is April supposed to be the lucky month or something in the Chinese calendar ?!

I feel a little bit older, everytime I hear that another one of my friends is getting married. And here I am still drinking and partying every weekend. Not that I would want it to be any different though. Atleast not for now.

All I do know is that I will be very broke by the end of this month. I need to fly to Hong Kong and back to Perth to make it back to the last two weddings.

And if the cost of the air tickets wont kill my wallet... The bridal registries definitely would.

Daylight Saving Changes

Why .... Oh why did the Government decide to postpone daylight saving till next week !?

Yes.. I know the political answer :

Because daylight saving falls right in the middle of the Commonwealth Games.. And the athletes will be affected... blah blah blah....

Well... before this whole thing has even passed over.. I'm sure my team and I would have lost more than 1 hour of sleep trying to implement the changes to our Servers and PCs.

The whole daylight saving change forced Microsoft to ditch out a patch which would create a new timezone which would need to be rolled out before this weekend and must be removed after the 2nd of April.

New Patch = More work for us

Removal of Patch = Even more work for us

User's Outlook Calendar going Psycho = Total Nightmare for us !

I normally have nothing to do with user's and their email problems. But since the Desktop support team have been flooded with too many helpdesk calls on the issue, my poor colleagues and myself have since been pulled in to help out as well.

Maybe they should have told all their users to print out their Outlook Calendars before the patches were rolled out.

I know its a pretty primitive method .... But hey... it works !!!

And it would definitely solve all the issues we have now ...*sob :(

Feelings at Work

A wise IT guy once said....

"The problem occured in the flesh - between the chair & the keyboard"

These words could not better explain what I have been facing at work today.... :(

Or maybe this picture may be able to sum up my feelings a bit better ...

Long or Short Hair ?

Lately on Limbueytor's site, there is a post about a facial recognition website. This website matches you to a whole string of celebrities they have online and gives you a rank of which ones you most look like. All you have to do is load a photo of yourself onto the site.

I decided to put it to the test.

I've recently had my hair cut short. The above-my-shoulders type short. It's not the spikey short type, but it still is very short. I still actually don't know which one I look better with. Long hair or Short hair. (Judging from the various mixed reactions I got from my colleagues and friends). So I decided to load a before and after pic of myself into this facial recognition website and see which celebrities I got matched with.

• Previous photo of me with long hair: (Showing closest matches)

Cool ... Korean Actress.. 71% ... I like it :)

• Current photo of me with short hair: (Showing closest matches)

Michelle Yeoh ... hummm.... I can live with that.... lets just see the next one..

Who the.. ??! What the.. ?!?!

I wasn't actually sure that there would be any difference. Since both photos are of myself. And the only difference is the hair. But there was... Maybe it is just a glich in the facial recognition software. Or maybe different hairstyles really can accentuate different parts of your face.

Anyway I'm going to go for ... Long Hair... definitely long hair. Thats it. Case closed. I'm going to grow my hair out long again.

Click here see who you look like most.

Shopping With My Cuz

My feet are still recovering from my shopping expedition with my Cousin yesterday.

We headed down towards QVB in the city after our Yum Cha lunch in chinatown. Yum Cha was great..really really yummy food... but why do I get the feeling that I'm just eating MSG ?!

About 20 mins leaving chinatown, I was dying of thirst. I ran to the nearest 7-11 and brought a bottle of water and slammed it down in like 10 secs. Skulled it the whole way through. (just like sculling a bottle of beer). My Cuz did the same thing. Only I think she finished her bottle of apple juice before I did. There really should be some regulation as to how much MSG Chinese restaurants put into their food.

My goal for the day was to find a dress to wear to both of my friend's Weddings in April. But instead, the only piece of clothing I managed to buy was this comfy PJ top from PeterAlexander.

After we both gave up on looking for a dress for me, my Cuz pulled me over to her favorite shops on Castlereigh St. The street where live the likes of LV, Gucci, Hermes etc...

She spent about an hour looking at handbags in Louis Vuitton. While I spent about an hour with her, trying to hold my urge to go to the toilet (the effects of sculling a bottle of water taking place).

She actually does decide on getting a handbag (which I must admit really does suit her), but I felt a heart stabbing "ouch" type pain (for her wallet) when I heard the price tag.

I'm not going to reveal the price tag here. But I guess all around the world, L.V. handbags will all be around the same price (genuine bags that is). The handbag is white and apparently the sales lady said it was a new arrival. My Cuz told me it would be bag number 22 for her. (see.. Unhealthy Obsession).

I was speechless.

After our retail therapy session, we both heading back to my place to rest our feets and enjoy some quality sisterly time together.

Something to Laugh About...

Ever notice how some Chinese to English (or vice versa) translations are just wrong.

So SooOOooo ... horribly wrong ?!

Well here is a site which lists some really funny ones:

http://www.rahoi.com/2006/03/may-i-take-your-order.php


Thanks to my colleague who emailed this link around work today, most of us here now have very sore tummys (from trying not to break-out in a laughing fit in front of our monitors).

The pic below shows my two favorite ones...

How on Earth did they get the "fuck" translation from those Chinese words ?!?!?!

That's Why !

I've just realised why 5 of my colleagues called in sick yesterday.

Yesterday was the Hindu holiday of Holi !

It's actually quite funny when you are in a team of 12, and 5 of your team members calls in sick for the day. And all 5 of them were from India \ South West Asia.

So you've gotta think there must be something fishy going on !

I'm really tempted to send an email with the subject heading "Happy Holi" to those guys. Or I might just go around and do my "Holi" cough instead. But that would be really wicked of me. So I'll try to restrain myself.

Anyway, I hope they had a nice time celebrating... :)

At The Train Station...

Its rainy days in Sydney. It finally feels like Autumn. :)

I was walking to the train station this morning on my way to work when I saw this guy running towards me in the rain. I was actually admiring the way he was running in the rain (he had a nice body) when he slipped. He literally slipped and fell on his bum.

He was wearing thongs and had no umbrella. So it wasn't really any suprise that he slipped while running in the rain.

I was just standing there watching the whole fiasco. I stopped walking when he fell. I actually felt like laughing. Maybe even pointing my finger at him and saying "Ah-Ha!" just like the annoying Bully Kid on Simpsons does. I even thought about taking a photo of him with my camera phone (and blog it). But he picked himself up in about 2 seconds, so I was much too slow. But not at any stage did I ever think about going over to help the poor guy.

I could not understand why. Why didn't I go over to help him ? What about me has changed ? It's probably the first time I saw something like this and I didn't go over to help the person and actually wanted to laugh at him. Afterall he was only like 2 metres away from me.

I felt bad. Really bad...

I was able to redeem myself though.

While I was buying my train ticket. An elderly Asian man came over to ask me which train goes to Hurtsville. In Mandarin.

Why do I always get asked for directions in Mandarin ?!?

I tried replying him in my broken Mandarin (mixed with a bit of Cantonese) which platform he should go to. But it was no use. I suck at Mandarin. But I didn't know it was this bad until now.

So I walked him to the correct platform and tried to explain to him that he should only take trains going south. As the other trains will be taking him to the City. I left him at the platform when I was convinced he wouldn't jump on the wrong train. I hurried back to my own train platform to the city, only to realise I had missed my train and the next train was only due to arrive in 35 mins.

35 mins !!!

Doesn't one good deed cancel out a bad one ?

Isn't this how Karma works ? or isn't it ?!?

Show Me The Money !

Time... as they say... is Money.... So how much is your time worth?

If you want to see this calculated by the second, then check out this Money Meter from Forbes.com

It calculates the amount you earn per second based on your annual salary.

This is my Money Meter at 4 mins and 59 secs :

After my nine hours session of Warcraft today. I do feel slightly more productive after seeing this Money Meter. (I'm On-call for this week, so I do get paid - even if I spend my whole day playing Warcraft).

$2.70 for 5 minutes. Too bad it's showing the amount before Tax .... :(

Click here to get your own Money Meter.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

"You say that we've got nothing in common...
No common ground to start from..." (*lyrics from Breakfast at Tiffany's)

What should do you when you are in a relationship and you realise that you both have nothing in common ? Do you stick together by puting 100% effort in (from both parties) and try to make it work ? Or to stop trying to avoid the inevitable and just let it fall apart ?

In the beginning, it is nearly always chemistry that pulls two people together. But when that force of attraction dies down (usually after the first 3 months - if you are lucky), what is left between two people is the love that keeps the relationship together. Love that is kept alive by being emotionally compatible together.

With nothing in common, it is very hard to feel emotionally compatible.

I can no longer recall the last time we had a meaningful discussion or even debated about something. Maybe because we never did. When it comes to conversations over the phone we just sit in silence, not knowing what to say to each other. Even in person, nothing now ventures past the "how was work today?" question.

I used to think atleast we both like to go out drinking and have a good time. But lately, even that has just become a myth of the past.

It’s the sense of feeling that you have an empty void inside you. An empty void that just needs to be filled up. With you left feeling totally unsatisfied with your life if it isn't.

I always thought that things in relationships should "just happen". And that everything works best when you are able to be spontaneous and natural. But that is rapidly becoming another myth in my life. I'm not saying that I don't put any effort in my relationships to make them work. I do. But I think there should be a limit to everything.

Where should you draw the line between the amount of effort you should put in before you should opt to pull the plug ?

If it fits, buy it

A new survey showed that the average woman spends three months of her life and about $200,000 shopping for shoes, a survey revealed yesterday.The UK survey found one in three women would devote more than $400,000 in their lifetime feeding their obsession.

But actually using these treasured possessions is another matter.

More than half of the 5000 women questioned admitted to owning at least five pairs they never wore.

$200,000 - $400,000 for shoes !?

Really ?!?

I don't even earn that much in a year !! Actually, I'm nowhere near that amount... *sob

But with the second statement - I'm Guilty as Charged.

If it fits and looks good. I will buy it. Knowing that I will probably wear it for some occasion or another. Of course, unless it cost over $200 - then I will really think about it before dishing out my credit card.

When I moved into my new place, I found that I had atleast 5 pairs of shoes that I never even knew I had. Another 3 pairs which I had previous knowledge of their existence but never really worn them more than 5 times. And another 2 pairs which the straps had actually broken, but I had yet to throw them out.

I'm really bad with throwing things out. I'm destined to be an old lady who hogs everything and never throws anything out.

Since we were moving, I decided to throw out the broken pairs and put the other 3 pairs I had hardly ever worn into a Salvos donation bin. But I retained my 5 new-found pairs. Who knows ? Maybe I'll wear them next week or the week after. Its not as if my feet are going to grow any bigger. So I'll definitely be able to wear them at some stage.

I promise to donate them if they are still gathering dust by the next time we move. :)

When I think about it now, I only really use 4 pairs of shoes and my thongs (slippers). My 4 pairs of shoes being:

• 1 x work shoes
• 1 x sports (gym shoes - I do use it.. ok?!)
• 1 x black strappy heels - for weekend outings\parties
• 1 x sneakers - for casual weekend wear

I definitely can't live without my trusty-all-purpose thongs. If only I could wear them to work.

On last count I have 13 pairs of shoes (Including the 5 pairs I didn't know about). So I guess its not too bad.

Most guys have way too much Ties and Watches anyway. So they should stop saying that us girls have too many shoes or handbags.

How many pairs of shoes do you have ?

Please do not swear @ work

Dear Employees:

It has been brought to management's attention that some individuals through out the company have been using foul language during the course of normal conversation with their co-workers. Due to complaints received from some employees who may be easily offended, this type of language will no longer be tolerated.

We do, however, realize the critical importance of being able to accurately express your feelings when communicating with co-workers. Therefore, a list of 18 New and Innovative "TRY SAYING" phrases have been provided so that proper exchange of ideas and information can continue in an effective manner.

• 1) TRY SAYING: I think you could use more training.
  INSTEAD OF: You don't know what the f___ you're doing.
  

• 2) TRY SAYING: She's an aggressive go-getter.
  INSTEAD OF: She's a f__king bit_h.

• 3) TRY SAYING: Perhaps I can work late.
  INSTEAD OF: And when the f___ do you expect me to do this?

• 4) TRY SAYING: I'm certain that isn't feasible.
  INSTEAD OF: No f___ing way.

• 5) TRY SAYING: Really?
  INSTEAD OF: You've got to be sh___ing me!

• 6) TRY SAYING: Perhaps you should check with...
  INSTEAD OF: Tell someone who gives a sh__.

• 7) TRY SAYING: I wasn't involved in the project.
  INSTEAD OF: It's not my f___ing problem.

• 8) TRY SAYING: That's interesting.
  INSTEAD OF: What the f___?

• 9) TRY SAYING: I'm not sure this can be implemented.
  INSTEAD OF: This sh__ won't work.

• 10) TRY SAYING: I'll try to schedule that.
  INSTEAD OF: Why the f___ didn't you tell me sooner?

• 11) TRY SAYING: He's not familiar with the issues.
  INSTEAD OF: He's got his head up his a__.

• 12) TRY SAYING: Excuse me, sir?
  INSTEAD OF: Eat sh__ and die.

• 13) TRY SAYING: So you weren't happy with it?
  INSTEAD OF: Kiss my a__.

• 14) TRY SAYING: I'm a bit overloaded at the moment.
  INSTEAD OF: F__ it, I'm on salary.

• 15) TRY SAYING: I don't think you understand.
  INSTEAD OF: Shove it up your a__.

• 16) TRY SAYING: I love a challenge.
  INSTEAD OF: This f___ing job sucks.

• 17) TRY SAYING: You want me to take care of that?
  INSTEAD OF: Who the f___ died and made you boss?

• 18) TRY SAYING: He's somewhat insensitive.
  INSTEAD OF: He's a pr_ck.

Thank You,

Human Resources

(*Courtesy of an email from my friend Ting)

------------------------------------------

I've already used 7, 6, 5, 10, 3 (in that order) today. And it's only 11.30am

No prizes for guessing what I'll be doing tonight.... :(

The Truth About ...

I got another call from a very annoyed Trader yesterday morning. 8.30am Sunday morning. Complaining that he wasn't able to bid. And since it was a legitimate reason. I woke up and started up my laptop to log into my system. After entertaining him for the next 20 minutes I resolved his problem made sure he could send bids and crawled back into bed.

The pig in my bed didn't even budge. I don't blame him. I knew he was really tired. We didn't get back home until about 3am last night. And him not being a late night person anymore, this was really pushing the limits.

I convinced him to go out to a karaoke session with his friends.

Yes, his friends. Well, the first session was with my friends first. Then we dropped by his friend's karaoke room for 2 hours before heading back home.

One of our friends said the weirdest thing to me. Actually he was one of my drinking friends as well back in Perth.

"So, you know he is coming Golfing with us tomorrow ?"

"Yeah.. why ?"

"So you don't have a problem with that right ?"

"No.. why would I.. ? I'm the one making him go !"

"So you don't have a problem if he comes with us to Mr N's bucks party right?"

"No.. but why are you asking me this ?"

Why did it sound like I have just become the party pooping nazi ?!?

I really wanted to just stand up and shout ... "Please...I'm not the one not letting him go out !! Make him go out more ! Its not me !! Its him !!!"

But instead I just picked up my cup of scotch and challenged him to a game of 15-20.

I wonder when did the guys start to think that I was the one responsible for him not going out with them.

It quite funny when I think about it. Because it is so far from the truth.

I doubt they would believe me anyway. Because the fact is, he stopped going out with his friends every weekend since we met. To most girls, it would actually be a good thing. Having their boyfriends spend time with them all the time. But I like to go out. I thought I could stop as well. But I miss it too much. Maybe the day I quit drinking would be the day I would be able to give that lifestyle up.

IT Support

Another Friday past marks the end to another working week. Only for me it's not really the end of the working week yet.

Because it's my turn to go On-call.

A big part of my job is to be On-call once every three weeks. Although it's not really as bad as it sounds. Because we only usually get called if some critical application or database dies.

It is still probably the worst part of my job. But if I wanted a strictly 9 - 5 job, then I wouldn't have stayed in I.T.

As I couldn't go drinking last night, I decided called it quits and hit the bed around 11pm.

My phone started ringing around midnight. As I picked up my phone I recognised the number and knew it was going to be a support call.

I starred in disbelief at my phone for about 3 seconds.

I debated in my mind for another 3 seconds on what could be so important at 12.30am in the morning. Then fell back into bed and let the phone ring out underneath my pillow.

I decided if it was really that important, the idiot calling would try calling again.

5 mins past and still nothing.

I put my phone on silent mode and tried to get back to sleep

Being woken up once in the middle of the night is bad enough. I didn't want to be woken up again.

It would actually be good if the idiot who called up makes a fuss on Monday to my manager. As I'll like to hear what was so important at 12.30am in the morning that they needed to call someone to get it fixed immediately.

Reliving the Moments

"You broke my heart but never shattered it completely. And that is the cruellest thing to do to somebody. It broke it into one thousand parts. So that piece by piece it flaked off. Like bad paint off a humid Hong Kong wall. Carrying off fragments of the hopeful, optimistic me that you once knew and cared about...The worst relationships are the ones that wear away at you by attrition." A passage from a brilliant blogger who I follow religiously - A Babe In Toyland.

She spoke my heart.

I felt for her... Knowing the pain she is going through, because I am still feeling mine. Its been two years and 8 months now. And I thought everything that happened between us should have completely passed by now. But in reality, I still feel broken. Broken but never shattered completely. Flaking off piece by piece.

We met by pure chance when I was still studying in university, and he had flown over for a job interview. We spent three magical days together and he left. From then on, our relationship went Online and lasted through the ages of ICQ and phone calls. But long distance relationships never do last. We both knew it was lust that pulled us together in the beginning and that it was also the only element missing in a long distance relationship. Months later we ended it and went our separate ways. I deleted his number from my phone and he promised never to call again.

Four years later we meet by chance again. In a city we both were new to. It was almost like the four years apart never existed. The feeling was mutual. We arranged to met again for dinner. And everything started again from there. The six months that followed were breathless and I knew I will never feel the same way about someone else again.

But gradually, I was hit by one disappointment after another. Not calling when he promised to call back. Telling me he would be here in 30 mins but arrive 3 hours later. I don't think I am high maintenance. I knew we were both very busy people, and that we didn't have much time to spend with each other. But I understood that. And I never really did asked for much. All I wanted, was to be assured that when you said you would call back, you would. And the decency of letting me know when you couldn't make it in time.

It's only common courtesy.

Deep down I knew he could never be faithful to me. I knew he had a girlfriend when we first met. I knew him too well to expect that we could ever have a proper future together. Sometimes, it still surprises me how I unquestionably accepted every excuse he made. Soon I grew tired of the waiting game and his apologies. And I ended it. So that we could still remain friends.

Despite all this, he is still a person I do not want to lose touch with.

So up to this day, we still keep in touch. But I am afraid to talk to him for long periods of time. Afraid that maybe the fire will light up again amongst dead coals. So I keep it short. He is back in his hometown now. And has even invited me to his wedding this year. In some ways, I am glad he can finally make a commitment. Whether or not I will attend the wedding is an entirely different issue.

Reading about Sash's pain made me want to write about mine. I guess blogging about it will help me get it out of my system. I am a strong believer that Time will heal all. Only that maybe this time I still need more time.