i discovered a "disturbing" trend -- those who i'm (or have been) rather close with would at one point in our friendship be jobless... 

i lost my job together with tab and she was bumming around a bit longer than i did before embarking on her ministerial path (this sounds so lofty :D) which i think she had been inclined toward but never really explored;

i remember starting to chat with chongy after she gave up her first job, and we got closer when i lost mine (again!), and then she went jobless for the 2nd time before miraculously (yeah i would call it that!) landing on her academic path which she has always sought;

and jazz who has been in her new job for less than a year when her company decided that they can't sustain the biz, about three months back (a little advice here -- don't join startups if financial security is a concern -- most won't work out) and after a good long break with nary a day where she's nothing to do (she's always out and about), she's now just signed off an offer letter! all the best, girlfriend. :D

ok, my memory might have been selective when i did this list, but that's a whole lot of soul searching hours there among us. hehe. for some of us, it was an excruciating period, for some, a much needed break, but for all, a time to stand back and review the years that was and deciding the next move.

so there, you have been warned: being friends with me might cause you to lose your job. proceed with caution! :D



someone else has indicated that they will join this list. be strong, my heart.
someone else has also indicated that they would love to join this list as they hated their job. the person would love to be my bff. :D

so yesterday i was window shopping in KLCC after lunch, and i saw this gorgeous red trench coat on sale in MNG -- RM269 from the original RM499. i was immediately and totally smitten, cos FYI, it's precisely what i had put down in the list of things i reeeeeealllly wanted (practicality optional) :D

so i tried it on for size and i loved it. srsly, i do.

ok, so i don't look as good as the model does (i'm way shorter -- the hem reaches my knees when i had it on) but... it's so pweettyyy..

i don't remember what stopped me from swiping the card, but i did. told the saleslady to hold the piece for me, and that i would come get it the end of the day. i didn't. it's a RM269 that i can't afford to spare right now, even though my credit card suggests otherwise. the heart is torn!

i hope i don't regret it!

it's so pweetttyyy..

i have a lot of pics i haven't uploaded.. and by the time i get to them, i suppose i would be too lazy to blog about them. bleh. anyways, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! :) i've had a good one.. hopefully you'll see why when i do get about blogging about it. hahaha..

two things first.

thanks to the darling hubs and my sibs, i'm now an iPhone 4 owner!! :D iWas pleasantly delirious when iFound out that iWould be getting a new phone for Christmas.. srsly stoked. been trying to navigate my way around the phone, and frankly Steve Jobs, iAm STILL not impressed. and why on earth isn't Google Sky Map available for iPhone?? and to be labeled a conformist by my friend (singular) -- oh the travesty. iKnow iShould stop complaining by now & start counting my blessings.. fail.

anyways, i don't know how i even deserve this, but thank you.. ;)
*bear hugs for everyone*






and the second thing.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY 

SHERYL CHONG!!!!!
[[]]

soundtrack for the moment --

sick puppies :: that time of year

i probably have said this more than enough times but i'm happy that you could look back to this year and declare it GOOD :) here's to many more :) *HUGS*

(checklist -- so i've tweeted, FB, called, emailed & now blogged my bday wishes 4u. just two more places :D.. to be unveiled before the year ends i hope..!)

oh i erm, still haven't wrapped your gift. :P but see you soon! (this Friday probably, if i could make it :)

a friend was in the US recently and bought this back for us.



i'm not a fan of hyperbole, but this is like the best snack evaarrr. :D
two of my fav things in one can of awesomeness: coffee and macadamia. :9

just 5 days ago, i was good with my pink phone -- limited of a communication tool it is. and then my hubby texted me with 'i know what to get you for christmas haha'. and it was another 2 days of prodding and guessing before he told me that i would be getting a new phone -- a smartphone!

NO! was my first reaction. it's expensive and i don't need it. i'd rather get a TV. blah blah..

then he had to show me the specs for the HTC Desire HD, which appears on my wishlist if you knew it, which made my hati lebih berbelah bahagi than it already was. how to say no? ;) plus if he insists, i wouldn't resist :D but i would love a new TV (which costs the same!)!

No! - Yes! - NO! - YESSS!! whyyyy..



there's a catch tho', i had to switch to DiGi, which made the decision all the more dizzying if it was possible. i've been with Maxis the past 10 years, and switching telco just seems so.. unfaithful. and i actually struggled with it through sleepless nights (ok, not the nights but the internal battle was real. this is what normalcy is like ok.)

and then i dropped by the Maxis Centre where i work and saw that they have a promo for the HTC Desire HD7. my heart cheered for a bit but i wasn't sure what to make of a Windows phone. the layout was nifty and its function competitive enough but its apps market has yet to mature compared to that of Apple and Android. and so i was madly reading up reviews after reviews and i still was unsure.

the thing is, this phone.. it's HUGE. which was a major turn-off for me. (*salutes* Major Turnoff -- this HIMYM moment is brought to you by a still-gushy me)



i would choose Android over Windows (Google over Microsoft anytime), but that would mean DiGi over Maxis. oh why can't i have everything? and by this point, the hubs have already convinced me that he isn't alone in giving the gift, that there are other ppl sharing -- and yet he didn't want to reveal who the others were. i can't believe anyone would get me a phone so i called his bluff but he kept mum. it's rather exciting but i think he finds my incessant remarks and questions annoying. hahaha..

oh in all of these, what about the iPhone, you ask. NEVER. i will not join the mass, declared i. i will not conform. and the HTC's screen is sooo pweety. :D

'haven't you learned your lesson with your MP3 player', asked my coll, in reference to my Zune player (which i got cos i didn't want an iPod -- and which i would get back if i got the Desire HD7) which konked after a year and couldn't be repaired cos repair service outside of the US costs a bomb. 'just go for iPhone la. it's reliable. huge app market. and everybody has it.' that last line is exactly why i don't want it.



but the hubs also echo that sentiment when he saw the dimensions of the Desire HD. i fought a valiant fight -- reading more review after review after review (FYI, the Desire is often declared the winner), but his 'the only reason you don't want an iPhone is cause of its popularity right?' got to me. ergh. sigh. i know, i was never known to make rational decisions. heh.



so there i will be one of these mornings, waiting in line at 8:30am at the door of the Maxis Centre to get my hand on an iPhone 4. i'm a sellout.

T___T


chongy has warned me NOT to be playing on my phone the next time we meet (i'm so guilty of this -- most time when we're together, i would be playing that one game on my phone while she and the hubs chat away). she has a point -- it's rude. but i... cannot promise thee this. :(

hehehehehehe ;)

had lunch with a friend whom i've not met for 15 years -- since we left school (urgh i dread every time a point of reference goes beyond a decade). she left for US for her studies way back when, thought she'd come back when she was done but didn't -- ended up working, marrying and having a kid and settling down in seattle. we hardly kept in touch with each other or other friends after form 5 -- back then, keeping in touch meant picking up a phone to call or writing actual letters -- i missed those cumbersome ways sometimes -- but thank you, mark zuckerberg. :) it was good to catch up again after all these years.. the turns that life takes, they are nothing less than surreal in hindsight.

i've often thought that here's where i will be for the rest of my life. but now i hope it would not be. 70 years is too long to have it spent it in one place. and i'm almost crossing the halfway mark.

maybe it's the friday speaking, maybe it's the wanderlust singing, maybe it's the new year calling. but here's to new experiences and strange faces and fresh perspectives.

nothing unusual, nothing strange
close to nothing at all
the same old scenario, the same old rain
and there's no explosions here
then something unusual, something strange
comes from nothing at all
I saw a spaceship fly by your window
did you see it disappear?

damien rice :: amie

have you heard of the Advent Conspiracy?

chongy's mentioned it to me a few times over last year and this.. but it didn't really hit me until i saw this.



actually, i saw this first:



(they are about the same)

and then it made sense!




(chongy, let me stop you here right now with the 'that's WHAT i've been telling you all this time' etc. i can practically hear you in my head alreadyy hahaha.. thanks anyway =)

(anyways it's weird how sense are made. like you hear the same thing over and over again, and it just goes over your head. and then one day out of the blue, it just hit you in the face. like algebra. or Physics. i failed Physics throughout all three terms in Form Four, but when i got back from the long school holiday, it just registered. i even got a high credit for it in SPM. go figure.)

The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love.
So, what happened?

What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists.

...

Is this what we really want out of Christmas?

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?

[via]

so yeah
i know what i'm gonna do next year!
well, not really. well, kinda.
but know what?
it will be legend... wait for it...


;)
 




...dary.


well, i hope.
but srsly, how awesome is HIMYM? :D
jazz thinks i need to get help for my obsession, but what does she know?! pfffbt.
hahahahaha..

in light of the marriage of the 14 year old girl to her 23-year old pedophile of a husband (previously her religious teacher).

Z: score one for eunice wong
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/12/14/focus/7612932&sec=focus


E: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold are haram

As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold will cause unwanted pregnancies


Z: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold is the root of all evil


E: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold will cause education
and opening of mind
a woman's place is in the kitchen, not with books


Z: item in bold will cause teenage daughter to become smart and resist child marriage


E: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold will cause lesbianism


Z: most definitely
LOL


E: hahahaha :D

Z: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.

item in bold sumtimes makes retarded decisions based on ridiculous religious decisions.

especially wen it involves perverted religious teachers who absolutely cannot hold their dicks in long enough for their prey to reach legal age.

we are saying goodbye to 2010 in about 2 weeks.

*GULPS*
i don't think that i'm ready.

"You mean it's December??!!! This 12 month per year thing is a conspiracy. I swear, a year only has 2 months: January and December."
- the self-proclaim-all-knowing-multiple-nicknames lord chongy

hear ye, hear ye!


*goes into DENIAL mode*


btw a quick review of the year that is soon to go by:


while we are on youtube, here's my pick for the awesomest music video of the year:

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass

and a close runner up:

David Crowder Band - SMS (Shine)

i wish i make more $$ than i could ever spend
then i wouldn't have to say NO to

this:

RM38

and this:

RM39 - 10% off
saw this at GladSounds and i held on to it forever before putting it back (bought a book though :) -- maybe next year! i've already downloaded a good number of christmas songs from NoiseTrade.com (it's all legal so do check it out! :) and i want this just because it's Relient K and i'm a loyal fangirl. :D

btw did you know GS has an outlet in the prestigious Starhill Gallery? i wonder how they afford the rent (they've been there for a year) -- i suspect francis yeoh might have generously waived it. :D

anyways
christmas shopping is VERY STRESSFUL and i hate it
it's tough buying one gift
let alone 20
in the short 3 weekends in December
so many factors to take into consideration
preeminently a limited budget

chongy said i should ditch the idea
true that
Christmas is not about pressies
yeah it's NOT

ok
maybe next year
i can convince myself that it's OK not to buy gifts
i'm still caving in to the tradition this year
:)

i would love to make something
i know my framed spongy cutout from three years back was a hit with the recipients :D
i still feel the ripple from the delirium
gift making is awesome
if i have the time and a good idea
and still, buy some


oh btw
that day i was grumbling about my financial situation
my bank account goes from XX to near zero within a week from month end
house bills and car loan and insurance and shoes and stuff
(srsly, how i managed with a RM1,800 starting salary last time escapes me)
(i had to save for a wedding and pay off my car loan plus other expenses then)

(but it's not like i earn tonnes more now pffbt)

so we were at BCM's 50th anniv celeb
so we sang this song
great is Thy faithfulness
and i was reminded
all i have needed He has provided
i think i chuckled and thanked God for the reminder
quite an overwhelming reminder actually


on a chirpier note, i gave in to this

RM24 after tax
i ate the whole thing, for once! *beams*
was xmas shopping at MV last Sat and by the time i settled down at Chilli's i was a tired, grumpy and famished shopper. and for some reason, i had to have a cheeseburger, no thanks to marshall and his quest. hehehe.. i was not let down. plus ww happened to be in MV so i had company to watch me down this huge@$$ artery choker!  ;)

i can't sleep again. the mind gets too restless even when the body screams, JUST GO TO SLEEP ALREADY. am currently watching a show (a rather boring one albeit being critically acclaimed bleh) in the background cos i've exhausted all five seasons of how i met your mother :( i'm practically obsessed with the show -- i'd hear bob saget narrating my thoughts sometimes, and every time someone IRL said something remotely close to what a character on HIMYM had said, i'd wanna point it out so we could chuckle silly about it but it'll just go over their heads and i'll be like all :| i'd watch youtube vids of season bloopers, cast interviews, neil patrick harris, read all wiki entries and blog posts re the cast and the show.. i'd laughed and cried (for real) and awww-ed and ewww-ed with the characters.. i can't remember the last time i got so crazy about something :D it's exhausting and thrilling and exciting and time-wasting at the same time *squeals* if there's a fan club, then i wanna be Prez! i can't to re-start watching from S1 again muahahaha i'd be checking into rehab once the show's over for good -- OK himym gush over & out), surfing the net, checking emails, reading blogs, writing this post, thinking about how i was 'reprimanded' at work, about the topics we talked about over a bakuteh dinner w chongy and the hubs just now, about the most major of house "refreshment" project we've undertaken since we moved in and the mess we are gonna need to clear, about Christmas and all things associated with it such as the cell dinner party, church service presentation, gift buying etc. mm it's a wonder that i actually fall asleep each night.

cheers! :D