the reason for my deep sadness

what is there to do besides shopping?

I've only been in KL for 4-5 months and I'm already bored. Please tell me...

...what is there to do in KL for fun?

Shopping? Hmm...is there anything else to do but shop? I've been shopping in Pavillion, KLCC, Midvalley, Gardens & Bangsar Village/Bangsar so much so that shopping is getting a little old now (*GASP* shopping is starting to get boring? For me to say shopping is getting old should be the same as for me to say I'll stop eating...which is literally impossible). But seriously, sometimes shopping in KL does get a little stale. KL does not have some of my favorite stores from the US (Express, Victoria Secret, Urban Outfitters, A&F, Hollister) and some of the stores that ARE available here much more bloody expensive than in the US (Banana Republic, Gap, Forever21) because the sales here are kinda sad and import tax is a pain. There are no discount brand stores such as Feline's Basement or TJ Maxx in KL too where I found amazing deals on branded stuff (My Nine West and Kathy Van Zeelan bags only cost me around USD$30-40 each).

Some of the clothes here should not even be sold at full price because they are out of season already in the US. Remember this dress?

I blogged about wanting this dress from Armani Exchange in my old blog on June 06, 2007. This year in August/September (don't remember exactly when liao because memory fails you when you're old), I walked into the Armani Exchange store in Gardens and saw this EXACT dress selling at FULL PRICE.

Yeah, we get "hand-me-downs" from the US stores.

Paying full price for a dress that has been around for ONE YEAR is absolutely ridiculously stupid. Also, high-end brands in Malaysia are more expensive because there is import tax on these luxury items!

I think I've gone off on a tangent but my head's kinda spinning from watching too many reality TV shows online today so I'm going to stop here regardless of the cohesiveness and logic of this post. Ciao!

another end to the amazing race asia

I'm such a sucker for reality TV shows. One of the shows I've been diligently following is the Amazing Race Asia season 3 (which I didn't know is called TARA3). The quality has improved tremendously from the first season (I remember a lot of cringing and nose-screwing when I watched the first season which totally put me off till now) and I'd say it's almost compatible to the US edition in relative terms. The teams are much more interesting and has more funny/interesting/mean things to say...and the detour and road block challenges were a lot harder than it used to be.

The winners - Sam & Vince

The runner-ups - Geoff & Tish

The fun-loving ones - Ida & Tania

When the Hong Kong team won, I'm just happy that it's them and not Geoff & Tish. I sincerely wished that Ida & Tania would win (I was rooting for Henry & Bernie all the way till they got eliminated) because I'm Malaysian and because they were sincerely nice to each other all the time and had lots of fun so much so that it was a joy to watch them race! I got to say, they DID have ONE fallout when they were in Dubai but that was the ONLY time we've seen them bicker on TV. I dont' like Geoff & Tish because...they're not very likeable. Geoff is an ass sometimes to other people, even people not in the race and also to Tish. I don't like them because they caused Henry & Bernie's elimination (in a way).

It makes me wonder, whether if I run the race with mr. boyfriend, will we end up bickering and fighting like almost all couples did on the Amazing Race? I think we will but he doesn't think so. Also, would I have gotten the tattoo at the Fast Forward which Sam & Vince did (which earned them their lead for a few legs)? I think I would have, in the adrenaline rush of the race but would probably live to regret it if I didn't win. And, this is from Amazing Race US a few seasons ago, would I have shaved my head bald at the Fast Forward? Now, THIS, is a really really hard decision. Can you imagine me bald? Yuck!

London-Chicago

Here's my long-overdue thoughts on London compared to Chicago:

i) London is unpleasantly cold compared to Chicago.
I admit this is a very biased statement because I was not warmly dressed for the cold at all and therefore hated being outdoors in London. The temperature dipped when I was there and I only had cardigans, my suit jacket and a scarf. Back in Chicago, I would be typically wearing a wool coat and probably my lighter long-johns in that weather. Oh but the walk from the tube station to mr. boyfriend's place has got to be the longest walk ever in the cold! I didn't take any pictures with the infamous red telephone booths or the underground tube station signs because it was simply too cold and all I wanted to do was to get to somewhere warm.

ii) London's transportation system is painful compared to Chicago's.
OMG so London's tube system must HATE me so MUCH because when I was there, we ran into every imaginable problem with the tube system that its mind-boggling to me as to why my friends think London's tube system is great. Yes, it's waaaay better than what we have in Chicago and it's very frequent BUT every freaking day, either some station or some line is closed down so we'll have to take an alternate route. For instance, we planned to take the Central line and change to the Victoria line to get to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guards on Saturday morning. We got to the station to find out that Victoria line was closed so we had to take a bus after getting off the Central line. The bus stop was so hard to find because there were 3-5 bus stops for different buses on the same freaking street...*sweat drop* and we definitely missed the Changing of the Guards. On Saturday night, after meeting Lynn for drinks (it was her birthday! happy birthday again!), we were going to take the Central line straight home. As we got to the station, we were informed that someone was stuck UNDER the train and they closed the line. The station master told us to take this alternate route so we went in anyways and waited for the train. After 30 minutes of waiting and no trains coming, the last train pulled into the station and it was not our train. Seriously wtf! The tube system closes by 12.45am and so we were left with no choice but to take the infamously expensive English taxis (which was not even easy to flag down). The ride home cost £45. See, in Chicago, yeah CTA is not frequent and not that great, but if the train/bus doesn't work, you hop onto a cab and it shouldn't cost more than USD25 for that same distance.

iii) London is more expensive than Chicago.
This is obviously a given. The best example would be the cab fare -- 45 pounds (=USD78) compared to 25 dollars? Dinner at Chinatown is about 30-40 pounds for 2 person compared to 30-40 dollars? Do you know it costs 15.50 pounds per person to get on the London Eye? Tube from the airport costs 4 pounds (it's USD2 for CTA!)?

iv) London is more "rowdy" compared to Chicago.
Walking in the streets of London is absolutely reminiscent of walking in the streets of New York, perhaps worse. People bump into you as they like and do not think anything about it so no apologies, no second glances. New York is similar, except that there's still some personal space before someone bumps you but in London, I'm constantly in contact with someone and I do not like that. Maybe the streets of London is smaller, maybe there's more people on the streets of London, I don't know what is it but I do not like rubbing shoulders with strangers. In Chicago, this almost never happens! There's always personal space, even during the busiest shopping times.

I've pretty much decided that I should never visit Europe even when it's remotely cold. It makes travel so miserable!

lack of zzz...

It does seem like my blogging has been in waves of ups and downs, huh?

Last week was probably the most tiring, sleep-deprived and stressful week of my entirely life. I worked till 5am on 4 days and woke up at 5am to work on 2 days and had 1 day of semi-normal sleeping hours simply because I completely did not hear my alarm ring.

It's really scary what sleep deprivation does to you, seriously.

What's worse is...
Sleep deprivation + stress = emotional breakdown

I cried a couple of nights (contributing to very-tired eyes the next day) and even brokedown in front of one of my colleagues. And talking about my work to others bring tears to my eyes which I have to hold in with much effort and restrain. How does the others do it? Is it just me?

I'm SO burnt from last week.

Simply cannot wait till Christmas break because I get to see mr. boyfriend again and spend 2 weeks in HK!!

Brainfall.com Quiz Result

Which College Major Should You Be?
	Your major should be Engineering. Logic is your friend. With enough work, you can find a solution to anything... Unless it involves dating or parties.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

so cheated!

Someone please explain the rationale of using the Touch 'n Go card?

First, you have to pay RM10 for the card itself. NON-REFUNDABLE RM10. Seriously, where's the incentive in using the card? In HK, the Octopus Card has a REFUNDABLE deposit fee and it's actually CHEAPER to use the Octopus Card for commute. WTF!

How convenient is the card if you're not a driver such that it justifies the RM10 cost? I remembered Jet being able to use his card at the KTM station when I had to fumble for change...so ok, maybe that's convenient.

But my card says: (This card can only be used on CITILINER and PUTRALINE buses and PUTRA LRT)

Kak ini hanya boleh digunakan di:

• Bas CITLINER dan PUTRALINE
• PUTRA LRT

Double WTF!! I never bloody use the buses! And why did I have to pay RM10 for the supposed convenience of the card when I can't even bloody use it on KTM?

Never mind...but...

I went to the counter and I was told that they don't sell the Touch n' Go card. Told me to go to the phone card kiosk to get one and that there's a RM10 charge to the card.

I went, phone card kiosk lady said it's preloaded with RM5 so I paid the RM15.

Went to the counter and told her I wanted to reload RM20. Gave her the money and didn't bother to check my receipt.

Only to realize at home, bloody hell, I've been cheated!!! She only reloaded RM10 and took the RM10 as the charge for the card! I already bloody paid the RM10!!! Triple wtf!!!

RM20 for bloody nothing!!! WTF WTF WTF

This is for you Tess!

I am extremely VERY lazy in keeping up with a beauty regime, so much so that I only wash my face with cleanser when my face is clear. If it gets a little dry, then I start using toner + moisturizer. If I see/feel pimples, I'd slather so much pimple cream, more than recommended. Otherwise, I just don't bother. Although, I do have quite a bit of different products sitting around collecting dust.

During job recruiting, stress + coffee + lack of sleep + makeup + schoolwork put my face in a dire situation -- I was breaking out, had really dark eye bags and *gasped* had visible wrinkles around my eyes and lips. The few months after that, I was SO diligent with my beauty regime, even adding wrinkle cream and eye cream to the deal.

So, Tess, the products I regularly use is a very short list compared to yours!

For basic cleanser + toner, I use Exuviance. I found out about it through this lady my mom goes to for facial treatments in Kuching. It has a VERY VERY pleasant smell and I don't need more than a pea-sized portion to wash my face clean. Because of that, I go through the toner a lot faster than the cleanser (ratio about 3:1).

As for pimple cream, I've religiously used J&J's Clean & Clear line for the last 3-4 years. It really works for me and it's rather inexpensive...I just use too much of it! I'd go through a bottle really quickly when I'm in a breakout phase.

Totally worried about the wrinkles etc, I started using OLAY Total Effects moisturizer + intensive restoration treatment. I really like how the moisturizer is not greasy and I do not need a lot to do a good job. Again, no need for expensive products for me.

There you go! I'm really tempted to try SK II or Clinique or one of the expensive ranges but I guess I'll wait till I have that kind of money AND effort AND time, otherwise it would just be money wasted.

who ever said paintball is fun deserves to get shot!

Seriously, whoever started this whole paintball thing has got to be kind of sick. Or simply a masochist who loves the very idea of war. Maybe I'm too girly girl after all, but still does not explain why most guys love this game (and some girls too, not that I'm being like "oh, girls can't do that, or girls don't like that").

You wear this mask that's supposed to protect you but it's kinda foggy and restricts your vision and it totally makes you feel like you're at war. You can't see people coming at you and you can't see what you're shooting at. We played at this abandoned carpark out at PJ area in the night, so it even enhances the war feeling (although, of course, it would be much much worse in a war, but I'm just saying). I had this hanging dread of fear and anxiety but I figured that I should try it once before shooting it down.

And this, my friend, is the reason why I'd never ever play paintball again in my living existence. Besides the fact that unnecessary fear and anxiety is ridiculous but unnecessary pain is even more ridiculous.

I was totally blindsided and got shot twice. The first shot hit my bare arms and the second shot hit my back. Maybe I'm starting to sound like a baby, but the shot tore my flesh and I was in a state of shock while my tears just started pouring as the pain seared. It was definitely more than an ouch.

By the way, the guy who shot me is my new colleague from the Singapore office who's American (imagine tall lanky blond white dude). I'm pretty sure he shot me less than 20m away (the allowed shooting range) and he could have aimed for somewhere else that was covered!

I gotta say, having a scar mark on my really really tanned arms that is fair and still pink-fleshed is not exactly what I had expected to get out of this experience. I've heard of the bruising (which by the way, was not insignificant either!) but no one told me I was going to get hurt like this. Boo!

So the next person who comes to me and tries to get me to play paintball, go shoot yourself first!

This is....

is not meat but rather this is...

...ICE-CREAM.

Specifically, it's called kulfi (Indian ice-cream). I was happily eating my buffet alone at Hyatt Regency Mumbai while waiting for my flight to London (which was delayed from 2am to 4.30am!) when the waiters appeared with kulfi, asking me to try it. Wikipedia said it's made of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream...no wonder it was quite yummy!

eating out at Jalan Alor

Given that I'm not from KL, I'm not very familiar with the ins and outs of the city. I didn't even know Jalan Alor was called Jalan Alor till this September -- I only remember there exist this street full of hawker stalls/local cafes behind Jalan Bukit Bintang. Even mr. boyfriend's dad who has visited KL a few times knows how to find this street without knowing the name as well. I've heard that it's not the cleanest place to eat but it's the most strategic in location and always open...

See! Even tourists know that this is the place for some quick Malaysian food. If you've been out partying in KL city and craving for food on your way home in your half-drunk stupor, you'd probably stop by here for a quick bite too.

I took my colleagues from the other offices to Jalan Alor for dinner. Not exactly the best Malaysian food in town but hey, it was just a short walk away.

I must say, even for KL, for this quality of food, I really shouldn't be paying so much. Rojak was RM8, which is pretty damn expensive for a plate of chopped cucumbers etc.!!! The penang curry mee was RM5 (not too bad), the oyster omelette was RM13 (not expensive compared to the rojak, but it was a small plate of burnt egg!), the penang char kway teow was RM5 (not too bad).

The best fun of the night was of course, introducing durian to our American colleagues (!!). I'm personally not a huge fan of durian but I still enjoy it considerably...

...and there is some sort of initiation to South East Asia that involves durian and it's true that you've never really experienced South East Asia till you've tried durian. Or so we (my Indonesian colleagues and I) keep telling them to convince them to put it into your mouth!

I guess one really can't make foreigners enjoy durian, not even the Asian-American dude who was born in China! They explained that there's this oily bitterness that they couldn't stand (which is the "skin" or outer layer of the durian flesh) and that they just didn't like the texture. The taste took a lot of getting used to (we convinced them that after the first bite, it gets better...=p) but they were still not a fan. Surprise surprise!

In the end, it was up to us from South East Asia to finish up the durian. Surprise surprise!!

Good job guys! For being so brave to try it and for finishing it up like a trooper!

from one thing to another

It's been, what, more than a week since my food poisoning incident and I'm still suffering from its after effects. This is ridiculous...I cannot simply flush out everything from my system everytime I eat because that'd mean that my body is not getting the most out of the food I eat! I feel weak and lethargic and I just want to stay in my room the whole day...not good. But I'm also really wary about seeing a doctor, you know la, how doctors can be sometimes. I can SO imagine them telling me to just let my body flush everything out and I'll be fine. But, no, it has been going on for too long, don't think my body is that amazing on its own this time round because my period has been affected too (shout TMI if you want). I guess I'll HAVE to see the doctor, just in case.

Thank you Vincci for taking the time to burn me my favorite TV shows and sending them to me so I can watch them without a problem! It was the BEST gift to see waiting for me in my room in KL when I just arrived back from Mumbai...smiles =)! So I get to watch ANTM (the high tech-y stuff is so last decade!), Gossip Girl, 90210 and the new show Privileged! By the way, Amazing Race Asia 3 is amazing...5 teams left and 2 are Malaysian teams!

Something random...guess what this is:

the shortness of it

To give a little perspective as to how short this dress is, I thought I should post this picture of my sister's wedding entourage of jie meis (please do not ask what that guy on the far right is doing in the picture, because he's neither family nor a jie mei and definitely shouldn't appear in this picture). The dress covers my bum alright but any sudden bending will reveal more than I would like to reveal...

By the way, could you tell that the theme is pink from this picture? I was so disappointed to see them turn up in jeans and non-pink outfits.

Unpredictabilities

Hmmm...I'm actually back in KL for good (till the next project). WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!! *pumps fist into air*

No more India, no more food poisoning, no more miserable nights. It's SO cliched but I gotta say it because there's no other way to express it: "there's no place like home". Though, technically, I don't really consider KL to be home but I do have my own room and bed in KL so that works.

This brings me to the point on unpredictability. I didn't know I was coming back to KL for good until 6 hours prior to my flight back. And before, I didn't know I was supposed to stay a full week (which is not the case anymore!). It's just SO unpredictable. I cannot really make solid plans for dinners, for flights, for anything. One of my CSP friends is back in KL and I've been going from "yes, I can see you" to "hmm, I may not be able to see you" to "sorry I won't be in KL" to "hey, I can meet up with you after all". I cannot confirm my dates to book my tickets to HK for christmas and I cannot confirm my availability for Maggie to visit me in december...basically I cannot confirm anything till the very last minute. I think I have to learn to be much more flexible to changes, though, not being able to plan for anything and having to succumb to sudden changes at this frequency is tough.

I had a hair scalp treatment today, ate lots of Malaysian food and bought many fashion/beauty magazines. AAaahhh...it's good to be back! =)

aftershock

Hormones and food poisoning certainly got the best of me this past week and made my life extremely very hard to be liveable (shoot, did I spell it correctly?)...a little more clear-headed now and only feeling traces of the side effects of hormones and food poisoning, I feel that I may have overreacted a little in the larger scheme of things. Nonetheless, crying myself to sleep almost every night is not exactly very normal...

I've gotten requests to update the blog more often, with pictures, with stories about Mumbai and my trip to London, and I do apologize that it's really hard when I barely have internet in the hotel rooms. I do have pictures to show, but they'll have to wait till I'm back on Malaysian soil =p.

In relation to my last post, yes, I've decided to go ahead and go back to KL for less than 12 hours. After much debate with myself when my head's cleared up, it's the difference of being more miserable next week and of being much prepared for what next week brings. So...a tad stupid a tad crazy a tad insensible you may say, but it's my sanity on the line. If I don't go back, I'd have not seen a friend for 3 weeks and that's just hard for me. And you have no idea how sick I am of just eating Indian food and hotel food...I'm SO bringing back my good 'ole instant noodles for next week =).

A little reminder of happier times:This is a picture of me and my cousin at my sister's JB wedding where I was one of the jie meis. The theme was obviously pink and I finally got to wear this pretty dress I got from Tokyo...the dress was actually very short because you know how petite Japanese girls are (the dress was one size only too!) so I was surprised my parents didn't say anything. And yes, I've gotten much more tanned because I got sunburnt (*gasp* tanned girls are not supposed to get sunburnt!) and you can see the bikini tan line clearly. I had nude pumps on and OMG I cannot believe how my cheap Vincci shoes are waaaaaaaaaaay more comfortable than my more expensive BCBG, Kenneth Cole shoes *shakes head* this makes no sense at all...

m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e

I am completely miserable.

Just a few weeks ago, I found out that MBTI indicated that I prefer Extraversion over Intraversion. I didn't quite agree because I like withdrawing from the crowd and spend time alone. But after being away in India for so long, I cannot help feeling very lonely and desperate to have my friends around.

I am now down with fever, working on a Saturday in a fully air-conditioned room and was informed that I'd need to stay another full week in India after the final presentation.

I have to reschedule my flights, make my hotel reservations and change my dental appointment back in Kuching.

I am SO tempted to fly back to KL for less than 10 hours just to see familiar faces. That means arriving in KL Sunday morning around 7-8am and flying out again at 8pm.

Do you guys think that's crazy?

about long hair

I really miss having long hair.

For some reason, I'm wishing for down-to-the-waist long wispy pretty wavy hair. That's really wishful thinking because even if I get that length, I'll never get the wispy wavy part because my hair is dead straight. So straight that curling my hair with a curling iron lasts only a few hours, and ONLY IF I add products to it. So straight that my hair would stick straight outwards in my current hairstyle if I don't blowdry it.

Mumbai

I was in Mumbai, or otherwise known as Bombay in the old days, for the last week. I will be going back there again next week for 3-4 weeks.

teaser

Guess where I'll be by tomorrow night?

of mr. boyfriend...

mr. boyfriend turned another year older and another year "wiser" on September 6th, despite the time stamp on my "happy birthday" post was on September 5th. It's interesting that we've never celebrated each other's birthday together in a year...

2006: I celebrated my birthday at home in Kuching & he celebrated his birthday at home in Hong Kong

2007: I celebrated my birthday in Chicago & we celebrated his birthday together in Hong Kong

2008: we celebrated my birthday together in Hong Kong & he celebrated his birthday at home in Hong Kong

Hopefully next year we can celebrate our birthdays together?

This year, I asked my colleague who was returning to Hong Kong to deliver his birthday presents to him. The poor guy seriously thought I was only getting him a card only because when I called him to say happy birthday, I told him that I couldn't find a messenger bag for him (which he thought I was going to buy for him...and I was going to! I just couldn't find one that I like). My colleague was running late and mr. boyfriend was therefore late for his appointments, and this resulted in a rather pissed mr. boyfriend (remember? he thought he was going through all this trouble for a card which I could have easily MAILED to him).

I'm sorry, dear!

All was well when he saw the presents =p.

Another funny story: I asked mr. boyfriend to check my blog out for his "happy birthday" post. Remember how I listed my presents to him on the previous post? "Aren't you afraid he'll see it?", you would think. I was 99% sure that mr. boyfriend would not scroll down to read the other posts and HE DID NOT!

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...typical mr. boyfriend.

Okay, this post has seriously made me miss him even more because right now, he's in a different time zone and different time zones are not good! *POUT*

hugs and kisses

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

...to the man of my life...

mr. boyfriend!

The one who makes me smile...

The one who makes me happy...

The one who completes me...

boring birthday presents

Shopping for mr. boyfriend's birthday present has proven to be quite a daunting task!

I doubt he reads my blog so I think it's safe for me to discuss this here although his birthday is this Saturday =) !

So what do you get someone who has everything?

My first idea was to fly to London in October to see him
...but that plan is unconfirmable at this point!
(because don't know whether I can take vacation days yet...)

My second idea (after much brainstorming on Maggie's part) was to buy him a messenger bag
...but that plan is non-executable!
(because I have searched HIGH and LOW for the perfect bag that's not going to burn my wallet and either there's no such bag or it'll cost me A LOT of money...)

The poor guy thinks that I'm not getting him anything more than a card
...but I have bought...

1. a key case
2. a men's bracelet
3. a tie

SOOOOOOOoooooooOOOo BORING!

sigh~

warning! gross photos!

WARNING!!!

Don't say I didn't warn you =p!

If you just ate, or if you are eating, maybe you'd want to think twice before scrolling down further. Unless you can look at gross photos of my feet without puking, which I can!

One day of the corporate world and my feet curses me to death!

I did not even wear high heels...it's kitten heels!

It's not even those super cheap shoes...it's BCBG!

It's not even new...I wore it to graduation!
(though, I did have problems wearing it too during graduation, but nothing like this time round...it was bearable pain when I wore it during graduation)

Nah! Show you picture of normal pretty feet (taken from Grace Magazine) so you get grossed out even more when you see my feet.

First location of "injury":

The back of my right shoe rubbed my skin raw and I stupidly pulled the skin off (because hand itchy...but seriously, who wouldn't pull their skin off if you see it peeling off?) and it left a huge wound. And this was at lunch so I had to walk back to my office with the shoe rubbing this open wound.

By the time I got back to my office, the wound was black from dirt. You know how open wounds ooze out some liquid? Yeah, well mine was black-greyish.

I'm highly impressed at my level of pain tolerance when it comes to shoe wearing.

Second location of "injury":

My toes (or just my feet in general) were really crushed and only later in the afternoon did I realize that it was because I had inserted those insoles that were supposed to make your shoe more comfortable.

Yeah, it made the shoe a lot tighter and thus, gave me huge blisters shown in the pictures above.

The fact that I took the LRT after work to meet up with my friends for dinner and then we went to Tesco to buy stuff before they drove me home caused me to be in pain almost every waking minute of my day.

How la...Monday how to wear shoes?

What does one do when one gets blisters like this? Do I "burst" it open so it'd heel? Or do I leave it alone?

random update

I have no pictures to show now because it takes too long to first upload the pictures onto the computer and then to upload it again onto the blog. Well, and also the fact that I don't take that many pictures anymore.

I will be starting a new life soon and with that, hopefully I have the time to breathe new life into this blog of mine which I have abandoned on and off since graduation.

all eyes on beijing

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is finally here!

After being away in Hong Kong and Phuket (thus the lack of updates!), I've arrived home in Kuching just in time to catch the opening ceremony...

*edit*

stupid rtm! opening ceremony starts at 8:08pm but broadcasting only started at 8:40pm! Apparently I missed the best part of the opening ceremony...grrrrr!

where is the resemblance?

Miss Hong Kong 2008

Winner: Edelweiss Cheung

Please tell me where is the resemblance to me? Where?

People 10 times if not 100 times prettier than me...insult her say by saying I look like her? I of course feel very flattered la...say me look like the girl who won Miss HK lol!

But seriously, please drop comments as to whether you see any resemblance!

for your entertainment

As most of you would have guessed, I chose Dress #1 to wear during my graduation/convocation/commencement.

My T Tahari Sleveless Color-Block Dress

I was so proud of the fact that I bought it for $85 after discounts that applied when I got the Macy's credit card. Sooooooo proud. Although, the dress is a gift from mr. boyfriend's mom and I need not be too concerned about the cost of the dress. Still. There's always the thrill of thinking that you've gotten a good deal or bargain.

In between all the traveling and moving back home with bits and pieces of my "past" life strewn all over, I totally forgot that the Macy's credit card had a completely different payment date than all the other store credit cards that I have (and I have quite a few!).

I realized it on the day of the payment itself but the way payment for credit card bills work, you can't pay on the day itself. The bank only processes it the day after. So, technically, I was one lousy measly day late, although I paid on the deadline.

And we all know what credit card companies do when that happens--I now have to pay $25 extra for "late" payment.

So after all the hassle of getting the Macy's credit card and everything (I even bought the same dress online in case it was cheaper that way and I had to return it in the stores...woe be me!), the dress ended up costing exactly how much it would have without the discount from the credit card application.

The stupid things I do...*sigh*

for this week...

...I'm going to be in KL!

Helloooooo to shopping!!

Coincidentally, it's the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival 2008!!!

*triple exclamation mark*

July 5th - Sept 1st, 2008

Didn't it used to be only a month long?

Many sales and special events going on so definitely check out their website!

I'm surprised there's even a website!

*smiling gleefully at the mere idea of shopping*

yes, i graduated

On June 14, 2008 at the University of Chicago,

I GRADUATED.

Kesian the people who have to stand there and hold the banners for us to take pictures!

I am officially no longer a student. No more classes, no more exams.

mr. boyfriend and I, both graduates of the Class of 2008.
Apparently, mr. boyfriend gave up the idea of studying abroad so that we wouldn't have to be apart during the school year *tear*

Read: No more U of C, no more friends, no more Chicago.

Vincci, Hannah & I...no more weekly lunches together! One in Chicago, one in LA and one in Malaysia...

On a day that is supposed to celebrate my success and achievement over the past 4 years (though, it was not really a question of whether I'll be able to graduate at the end of the 4 years), I cannot help but feel that there was nothing to celebrate about. The chapter of my life in Chicago had ended and there was definitely NOTHING to be happy about.

On my march out from Harper Quad...first exit as a graduate

My way of life is no longer my way of life.

Maggie, my roomie for the past 2 years and now ex-roomie =(

I have never felt so lost in my life.

* * * * * * * * * *

It seemed not too long ago when 4 Malaysians embarked on their journey from Malaysia to Chicago.

3 girls and 1 guy--all graduates of the Physical Science Division

Now, we have all graduated.

The Northwestern peeps who surprised me at convocation!

I now have a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Chemistry.

But I have lost everything else that I gained en route to holding that degree in my hands.