2008 Chinese New Year

The 2008 Chinese New Year is meant to be a very special CNY to me. It’s my second CNY at home after returning from Perth, and it is also the rat year, my own Chinese horoscope year, which means I’m already bloody 24 years old!!! Okay, 24 is okay to me, but damn I’m so not looking forward for the next rat year!!!
Anywayz, as usual I have to be back in Taiping for the CNY. And I gotta say this year is pretty boring because of the lack of visitors and the lack of me visiting people. I even skipped my old classmates’ gathering. And of course the ang pows also getting lesser and lesser…Arrrrhhhh...

Balik Kampung...Woh.. Balik Kampung...Me & Ducum, on the way home.
So here are some highlights…
Reunion Dinner… Which I always have a double, one at my dad’s side and one at my mom’s side. Although the dishes are always quite the same, but still they are very precious to me, who had been eating ‘outside food’ and ‘mi maggi, senang dimasak, sedap dimakan’ for the past few months. The double-reunion dinners I had!!!
The mom’s red wine soup… My mom cooks and serves that every Cho Yat morning and I love it, love it, love it!!! Red Wine chicken soup with mee sua... Best breakfast ever!!!

The non-stop photo-taking session with my cousins... You know I love taking pictures, and CNY is the best time as we have our new clothes on and we have the opportunities to take pictures with our cousins whom some of them we really see them only once a year! At my dad’s side, we are all grown up kids so we can pose like crazy, and at my mom’s side we have some cute babies we would only pose for you when they are in their mood… A proper version of the 'family photo' of the cousins...

The crazy version of the 'family photo' of the cousins!Leng luis of the Tan family!

My cousin brother's son, the new member of the family, Shan Zhi, oh no... Adam, I gave him the name! Hehehe...

Carina:What are you looking at? Biao Chi?
A candy for a picture with Carina!
Cute, cute, cute little Carina, my cousin sister with the make-up I put!
Me, Eu Jin and Jan Yi, my cousins!
This is my other cousin sister, Tessa, say hi!

One of me, with my CNY dress that looks more like a clubbing dress!

The 2 Karaoke sessions… I’m not kidding, I went to Karaoke on both the Cho Yee and Cho Sam nights. I think we started the Karaoke thingy last year with my mom’s side went for a crazy one and that made them ‘gatal’ and demanded to have another one this year. So on Cho Yee night we went and had a crazy night of oldies as well as some new songs by us, the kids. Imagine, all my aunts and uncle dancing like crazy! Oh, and there was this kid who loves singing oldies, by the way. My cousin bro, Eu Jin who looks like an old-time Chinese patriotic people when singing again, his favourite singer 黄清元’s song... 我们的过去，我们的过去...... Hahaha… That was really funny! And after we sang Pussy Cat Dolls’ Don’t Cha, they actually asked us :"Eh, what do you mean by ‘Don’t Cha’?” In the end of the night, my uncle who was obviously half drunk started a peanuts shell war. Pity those girls who had to come in and clean up the room for the next costumers coming in… Haha… Well, you’re charging a lot you know? So do your work! Family Karaoke session had just started!Oh yeah! We are definitely in a mood to dance!
Yes, the Karaoke people are really earning a lot during the CNY I can assure you. The price is really scary, yet the business is so bloody good!
And yes, it didn’t stop me from going for a second time on Cho Sam, this time with my dad’s side. But this one was solely for the kids and one aunt who can be as crazy as us. It was a good one too since we know most of the songs. Oh yea, we didn’t know the song that my cousin Ah Kia sang. He is another version of Eu Jin, only Eu Jin probably has a better voice than him. Ah Kia has a weird choice of songs too, but he sang out of tune almost the entire song and we kinda you know… Enjoyed the fun of listening to him! Hehehe… With my cousin sisters Sin Fei and Ju Lin around, we had lots of Lee Hom’s songs, and with my sister and me around, we had a good number of Jay Chou’s too! The 3 hours wasn’t enough, although it was already 12am! Second CNY Karaoke session!!! Yoo~Hoo~!I'm pretty sure we were getting real high singing 恋爱-ing!

Ah Kia, Ah Kia with his own rendition of Tong Hua.......

Rock on! Ducum and me love Karaoke!!!

Old schoolmates gathering… It’s like a compulsory gathering for ‘the gang’ every Cho Sam. Except for Ah Fa whom I always meet in KL, this is the only time of the year for me to meet the rest of ‘the gang’. One thing I really appreciate is the fact that although we only see each other once a year, we are never short of topics to talk about! We can just chit-chat non-stop and luckily the café we went this year was quiet enough, although Eng Keat definitely missed his food at Panorama, the hotel which we went for out CNY gathering every year! And of course, we are still the gang who love taking pictures, so there were tons of photos taken and I have to take my time to send them out to each of them!
Anywayz, I gave the 5sc6 class gathering a miss this year because of the Karaoke session. So sorry guys, hope to see you guys other days!

Haha... If you don't know, I can tell ya we love taking pictures together since we were in school!Big happy family of 'the gang', love you guys!

Stephanie Sun!!! No, it's just YY, who is yes residing in Singapore.

And not to forget, the non-stop food…Besides the reunion dinners I had, of course we have food every day, every hour, every minute and every second. I’m freaking serious! Probably because of the beliefs that during CNY you shouldn’t have empty rice container, we never had empty rice container, empty whatever! My granma cooked everyday that I feel bad for her. It’s pretty tiring you know! My aunt also had her steamboat for us on the third day, which I love a lot although I didn’t have much time to enjoy it. I mean, it’s my favourite steamboat! And what about those snacks we had? The CNY cookies, the bak gua, the fattening soft drinks and beer (which, fortunately I really take less this year), etc? Anywayz, I must admit, the dinner we had on the second day of CNY at the restaurant was lousy as compared to the price. The extra bit is I went to a temple near my house to pray. You know I never know how to do all these stuffs, I just followed my mom around and followed all the steps she did. I also went求签,you know the routine that you always see in the HK drama? The one that you hold a cylinder and shake until one of the sticks inside drop out? Ah, that’s the one! I went and asked about my career and about getting a job outside Malaysia. And guess what? I got a good one! I really wish that’s true! And erm… I just figured I forgot to wish everyone of you Happy Chinese New Year! So since it is still CNY, I wish all of you a very Happy Chinese New Year!!!

恭喜发财啊！龙马精神啊！身体健康啊！

新年新希望？？？

农历新年的到来不禁让我自我检讨了起来。
或许跟我过去几天和朋友聊天时聊起有关系。
也可能是因为回家了自然会和亲戚们聊起自己有关系。

过去的一年，我到底做过了什么？
打着一份自己不享受的工作、一份严重毁灭自己自信心的工作。
生活在一个每一秒都要提心吊胆的混乱城市里。
交际更糟，朋友感觉越来越少，感情一片空白。
平时当然没问题，可是到了一些特别的节日就感觉特别寂寞。
回到了家里，我已经没有什么好炫耀了，自然变得更安静。

其实我不是没有别的选择的。
只是我一直在说，都没行动。

我一直很怀念澳洲的生活、一直很想回去。
在那边或许不会做回本行，可是薪水一定更好、生活一定过得更开心。
那边朋友多、地方小，要和朋友见面只要一通电话就行了。
还有那边的各国美食、那边的治安、那边的天气。
哇，真的好想现在就飞回去！

我也一直说想到台湾去发展，一直一直那么说。
虽然没有明确的想过在那边我可以做些什么，可是一直觉得自己有一些小优点。
那边的文化、治安、美食、娱乐都令我不止想去旅行就算了那么简单。
即使没有很高的薪水，可是我还是很愿意到那儿去闯。
我一直在说，台湾，你等等我吧！

可是，我一直都没认真地行动过……

这几天我才开始发现我真的得做些东西了。
我真的有被朋友打动到，想说趁我现在有2个礼拜的假期可以到澳洲一趟。
去看看那边的情况、看看有什么工作机会。
只是没钱，实在不敢说去就去了。

我今年已经24岁了，感觉好像什么都还没成就过。
还真的是真正的“人又无，钱又无”。
什么计划也没有，没有想好要怎么存钱、要怎么变更有钱、要怎样好好报答爸妈、要怎么过以后的生活…….
哇，很糟的人生啊！
我以前一直幻想的生活好像不是这样的啊！

所以，我已经开始把自己的履历表重新整理，也打了一份中文版的。
包包，新的一年，是时候重新出发了！

A series of OMG!!!

OMG!!! Here's a look of my hair that I‘ve angrily pulled out from my own head! The very 'final product' by the stylist in Taiping who did the rebonding for me about a month ago.OMG!!! I just saw myself in the magazine! Couldn't believe they put that picture of me dancing during the stage play on! Next time, can they pick something that I look not so FAT???
OMG!!! I was very surprised when one of the friends that I chatted on Xiao Ma's forum told me that I'm the top three in the list of 'most posts' of the day! Here's a look on how crazy am I addicted to Xiao Ma's forum... I'm very sure my boss will be VERY DA HAPPY if I pay that much of effort on my work! :)

Shopping for CNY

My colleague just called and told me my boss had approved my leaves and all, and I'll be off from 4th-17th! Heeee~Hah~~! Oh come on, after a whole one year without leaves, it's time for a break right?
Alright, so I guess you know I'm talking about the CNY break. I still can't believe CNY is coming in one week time, everything just seems so sudden! I'm already sick of the CNY songs everywhere! And all of a sudden I'm going back next Tuesday. I mean, gosh, I haven't even gone for a CNY shopping spree yet!
So yesterday I went for a little shopping spree, and the location is Sungai Wang. Hehe... Damn I know people always say people who go to Sungai Wang are 'la-las', but I really like to do shopping there. Not all their clothes are that 'la-la' there, and they are cheaper than other places! But of course I have to admit that most of them are 'la-la' clothes, which made me spending a longer time to hunt for something I want for CNY--something red or pink. In the end I bought this really cute purple colour short dress, and it's less than 60 bucks! Now lets compare this to Ducum's CNY clothes, she bought a skirt for 80 bucks, then a pair of shorts for almost 100 bucks, all branded ones, definitely not from Sungai Wang.
And the main thing is, I've bought my mobile phone! Since my last one got stolen few months ago, I've told myself I must buy back before CNY, and I can't believe it came so soon! Anywayz, now that I've got my phone back, I warn you all the perverts who are trying to steal it away from me again... DON'T YOU DARE!!! Now you can compare that with Ducum again. She insists that her phone must be purchased at the Nokia shop, not at the booths at Sungai Wang like I did. I mean, I still buy the ori phone, and the price is cheaper, as I sat there chatting with the guys for a while, they gave me more discounts. So why do we have to go to those shops where you can never even think of cutting down the price?
Anywayz, I was also going to buy books at Borders Times Square but they don't have the book I want, but told me they have it at Gardens. I didn't even know they have a branch there! So since I was going to the gym at Mid Valley, I got into Gardens for the second time. As you all know, I can never afford any of the stuffs there, but as I reached there, I had to look for the rest room to pee. As I saw the 'man and woman' sign board, I quickly walked over but to my surprise there was a sign board saying you need RM 5 to use the toilet! I was of course too embarrassed to just walk away from the toilet counter. So I had to pretend to look at the sign boards above the lifts over there like I'm looking for some places then walked away slowly... Now I know why is Gardens so 'high class'! Luckily the toilets in other floors are free! Phew~!
And then it was the first time I went to the 3rd floor where there are so many fancy restaurants! One day when I have the money, I wanna go try the Taiwanese restaurant that looks really expensive! I also found the Starbucks in the Borders there really nice, you can see the view outside from there, it's really cool! At least it's better than the one at Times Square where all you can see is the Harvey Norman and people lining up for snacks at the cinema! Too bad I had to rush to the gym later, otherwise I would have just stayed there comfortably for a long long time!
Again, I'm warning you, don't you dare to come near my phone!
Yes? What are you looking for? Not my phone, right? Grrrrhhhh...
Don't you dare!!! Cos I'll be going out everyday with my pepper spray, knife and umbrella... Ella.. Ella... Eh... Eh...

Jarum Halus

It was quite a sudden decision to watch Jarum Halus before coming to work today. But it was long time ago that I wanted to watch it.

So, so... It says Jarum Halus is based on Shakespeare's Othello. I had never read any of Shakespeare's stuffs in my entire life, so whatever shit it is based on, I went for the movie just because of the movie.

First of all, I've heard of it being a very slow movie, and yes indeed it is VERY slow. The entire movie just sounds and looks very sad and dark. Everything seems so... So negative. The whole thing is such a drama and everybody in it are drama kings and queens! Okay, it's just a movie, I told myself, this is already much more better than those dramatic & emotional Bollywood movies! It is also a very 'deep' movie. Maybe because I'm not such a 'poetic' person and not a fan of Shakespeare and all, the script sounds very very weird to me. Something "bertukar kepada sutera, seperti ombak bergelung-gelung..." I can't take it. But the dialogue's scripts is even worst! It sounds EXTREMELY corny like there is nothing else the script writer could think of! Seriously, I was like laughing alone in the cinema (No, there were about 4 more couples in the cinema, poor thing). Next time Mark Tan wants to do a new movie, please do hire me as your scriptwriter, I'm damn sure I can do a better job! But no doubt, I love the way the director play with the camera and the lighting, it's different.

Acting wise, Razif Hashim surprised me the most. I thought he was just a pretty face(okay, I didn't say he's cute, but everybody said so), but it turned out he did quite well you know. I only get to know Christien New when he opened up his business with his wife, but I never knew he is an actor, is this his debut (oh no, just found out this wasn't his debut)? Anywayz, I thought he is perfect for the role, but acting wise urmmm... Can be improved lar. And it's funny everytime he started yelling his voice becomes weird, turns into like erm... You know, something like David Beckham's (note: I'm not praising him). And he speaks really good English and Malay too! Juliana Ibrahim... I never liked her. She sucks as a TV host. I think she might be ok in acting, but not in this movie lor, always "Daniel... Daniel..." and then "Nothing, I just like to call your name..." My god! Give me a break! Ooops... I forgot, that was also the scriptwriter's fault! So it comes to the senior, Dato' Rahim Razali who stood out (as expected) to be the best performer. And by the way, Justin Chan is cute! Hehehehe...

Ohyea, I almost forgot, why did Iskandar actually wanted to do all these on Daniel? Was it because of just work wise, or was he gay? I mean, I've missed something, right? I really have no idea until the movie ends!

While doing some research before writing this, I found out that the director Mark Tan is only 22 years old. So alright, for a debutant, for a 22 year-old, not bad lar! Congratulations Mark! At least it's something different. Just that... Next time, pick your scriptwriter carefully. I'M ALWAYS HERE!!!

A mixture of things...

OMG!!! My 'dear' housemate had just left the stove on, and the oil burning and totally forgot about it! And I didn't know until my other housemate came home! Gosh, I almost died! Phew~! And he is also the same person who had made the whole kitchen bloody oily, took my mug a.k.a bowl for some weeks before I asked to return it, plus the same person who also took my pot for about a week until this morning I saw him finally leaving it in the sink! I tell ya, I really have interesting new housemate! Damn, now my room also smells like a food court! Aaaarrhhh...
Anywayz, I just want to post something up with many things all together at once, thank god we have the 'label' thingy to sort things out.
Yoshinoya
I've started going to this restaurant for quite a while since it opened in Mid Valley. But it was only after a few visits that I found out it's actually吉野家，the Japanese restaurant that many many people talk about in those Taiwanese shows. It's basically a Japanese fast food restaurant and they have branches all over the world. I love it since the first time I tried it. First thing first, it's not THAT expensive. And their rice are real Japanese rice, unlike some shops who love to con us with non-Jap rice. I've tried all their famous beef, fish and chicken rice bowls. I think the beef is really nice, chicken not bad, but the fried salmon fish isn't that good lor. Their vegetable, for some unknown reasons is also very tasty, despite the fact that I don't even know what vegetables are they, some even looks like lemon! They are so yummy!!! Sadly, I always see Japanese more than any other people there, that is why I decided to promote it a bit... You may also find it at KLCC food court and One Utama.
Sweeney Todd-What a bloody movie!
Obviously, I wanted to watch this movie because of Johnny Depp. But damn I was a little bit annoyed by the girls who came in late and sat next to me.
"Oh, I love Johnny Depp, I always love him," Girl No.1 said.
"Yea， yea... Me too! He...He...He..."Girl No.2 said.
Then it continued with all the girlish "He...He...He..."
My god, shut up you girls, the movie had already started and you guys were making noises! I bet Johnny Depp wouldn't be very happy if you're not watching him when he's acting!
Anywayz, I really thought Sweeney Todd was a kids movie, until I saw an '18PL' tag on my ticket. And obviously even I cannot accept the bloody scenes that went on and on in the entire movie! Why does it have to be so violent? Euw!!! Basically I don't think it's a good movie lor, the story is a bit weird, and it's too bloody, BUT... I BLOODY LOVE THE SONGS!!! I can't remember all of them though, but there was one where Anthony sang about Johanna, he sang:"I'll steal you away..." which unfortunately made the people in the cinema laughed. I seriously thought that was such a romantic line! Anywayz, if you're a fan of Johnny Depp, nothing is going to stop you, no matter how far he loves to go to make himself ugly, he's still as cute and as cool as ever!
曹格--Super Sunshine
陶喆和曹格是两个唯一我听都不听就会去买他们的专辑的歌手。他们两个都有着一个共同点，就是因为爱喝酒而搞到自己的形象有点.......Anywayz,我喜欢的是他们的歌和音乐，又不是想跟他们交往或什么的，所以那些新闻对我来说没什么影响。曹格出的这张新专辑，我只听过《无辜》这首歌就很喜欢了，刚买回来，只听过一次，还爱上了《爱到最后一秒也不委屈》和《你的歌》。还没仔细听下去，不过听到“曹格”就有种“品质保证”的感觉啦！
其实我觉得整个包装就是最酷的地方，真的很漂亮，虽然没送你什么有的没的，可是整个设计真的很酷呢！不信你看看！
One more thing, I think the people at the saloon that straighten my hair when I was in Taiping suck big time! They've done such a lousy job. From the outside you see my hair straight, but inside, they are all folded! If you're thinking of going to somewhere to ‘fix’ your hair in Taiping, give me a call, I'll have to tell you where NOT to go!
And by the way, here's some picture taken at Sunway Pyramid, of their CNY decorations. Not bad lar, at least to me.That's it for today, I'm waiting for the BBT again, they are announcing their second band tonight, I'm actually nervous like hell now!!! Go 小马！

Heath Ledger, 1979-2008

Though I'm not a fan of him, but I was really shocked to hear that he's dead.
REST IN PEACE.

Hindraff Boleh!!!

Tomorrow is Thaipusam and it's a Public Holiday in KL and Putrajaya! Hurray!!!

I guess the Hindraff fellars actually did change something! Thanks a trillion! Hindraff 万岁!Haha, I never thought they can be so helpful!

BUT... For some unknown reasons, my boss put my off days for this week wrongly and I have to work tomorrow, which sucks cos I was planning to go to TVA to get my final piece CD and to the gym tomorrow night. BUT AGAIN... I'll get OT for working on a public holiday! SO AGAIN, Hindraff 万岁！

Yeah! It's public holiday tomorrow! Let's get some liquor to celebrate! No, I mean buy some beers to the Hindraff people!

24/1棒棒堂二军将正式成军！小马Go!

是来得有点突然，我一直以来都很怀疑二军到底是真的会出现吗？不过据大家说的，这个星期四在节目里就会公布谁将成为二军的其中一份子。老实说，别人怎么说我不管，我只是觉得超紧张的，紧张到肚子也变得怪怪的！节目一开播就支持小马到现在，我是实在无法想象如果小马落选的话我会有怎样的反应！不过，我还是有信心的，马儿一定行的！
假设小马落选了，我当然还是会继续支持他的。如果真的中选了，我当然会很high，而且从此生活会变不一样吧？至少出专辑时我都得买了啊！
哈哈，总之超期待的，希望各位马迷一起为马儿加油吧！

我毕业了之梦想与现实

三个月的电视与广播主持课程早在十一月结束了，昨天（1月19日）举行了一个非常小型的结业典礼，我和我的同学们就这样毕业了。
最开心的不是毕业了，而是认识了一班非常可爱的同学。有的还是学生、有的是人家的妈妈了、有的是餐馆captain...... 真的很特别的一群同学吧？不懂为何，我们就是可以闹在一起，还为了结业典礼尽心尽力的排了个舞台剧！我的妈呀，那可是本人的“处女作”ok?从来都没演过什么剧的我，突然就要在台上跳热舞，是在拿督翁诗杰面前.......不过我还是觉得很好玩，大家的努力还是没白费的，还是有很多人上前来告诉我们表演得很不错！谢谢大家赏面啦！希望我们今后还是可以保持联络啦！天后小笼包与她的国际化妆师Fravya!
我们舞台剧的四位美女！是不是？没骗你的！
表演中......看看，陶醉的哩！
表演完毕松了一口气的大家，来了个开心大合照！Yeah!!!
主持课的学生们和爱搞怪的郑荣老师的来个大合照！
The down side of the story... 我的结业分数是62分，老实说收到那张成绩单时我失望透了！
让我先说说老师的评语：1. 内容可再丰富，略嫌马虎。（这个我其实在看到其他同学的作品后才惊觉自己的真的太短了。因为他们都说上一届的有几个很长，所以要我们短短的做个opening就行了。可是原来.......)2. 表现自然，风格与节目一致。3. 用词年轻，神态也年轻，带动节目的可看性。
好啦，不管怎样，那都过去了。很多人都问我会不会继续念下去，念3月将开课的进阶班。我想或许不了。首先，经济问题。如果我再这样不停的花下去的话，我到底什么时候才能出国旅行啊？然后就是我还在怀疑我到底在那三个月的时间里学到了什么？我最满意的大概是语音方面的进步了，听到人家称赞我的华语说的标准我会超开心的!然后我觉得面对镜头我还是会紧张，这是我还没克服到的一环。基本上我觉得这三个月里头我未有太多的机会面对镜头，所以才会紧张，也还搞不懂自己到底哪个角度比较好看等等的东西。嗯，可能是进阶就会有更多的机会吧！在此要衷心的谢谢各位老师的教导！
我再一次毕业了！不知道还有没有机会再毕业呢？
最重要的是我对自己的看法！主持人这个梦想，我也不懂是什么时候开始有的。不懂什么时候开始，我变得很爱看人家主持节目如何如何的，有时甚至看到一些很烂的还会说自己主持一定比他/她好！去念新闻系并不是想当记者那么简单，如果当初声学阁已经创办了我或许就不去念新闻了。面试我也去了两、三次，没一次中选，上完了课，看到了自己的分数，难免信心又再一次被挫了。前天参加了NJ大赛，因为没做好准备，所以没进入八强。可是跟你说我一点都不失望那就肯定是骗你的了。I mean，我一直觉得自己的问题是不够漂亮，或者是上镜真的太胖了。不过很明显的，还有很多缺点是我不知道能不能完全改变到的。上课前我一直以为自己很棒，可能会是top student也不一定，可是原来我并不是那么的利害。很多人的表现比我还稳、比我好个百多倍！这里才是几十个学生而已，我就输了，那我要如何去跟外面那一大群跟我一样拥有着当主持人的梦想的人比呢？我开始在怀疑了，我，是不是不适合当主持人？我是不是这一生人都不用想当主持人了，还是想想看还有什么是我可以做的吧！所以我也在怀疑，再继续上课是否对我还是有帮助的?
Anywayz,我还不至于放弃啦，我觉得我还很年轻，至少可以再试个2、3年，如果再不能的话才说放弃还可以呢！加油吧，笼包！