新年。新希望？

该向左还是向右？
是结束还是开始？
耿耿于怀，还是满怀希望？
你决定。

A nice movie @ a stupid mall

I've watched the trailer months ago. Not interested in this movie, at all. From the trailer I didn't see any storyline, beautiful scenes, or exciting actions. Moreover, the bluish organisms looked kinda creepy.

AVATAR

Since the movie was on screen, all of the comments and reviews that I heard were positive. Most of them were "Two thumbs up!". Well, my feeling towards this movie was just neutral.

Last Wednesday Szee and I went to Tropicana City Mall for the movie day. Yes, the same mall again, because it is the nearest and less congested. Szee wanted to watch Avatar, I didn't have any specific movie to watch, and Avatar was showing in 3 halls at a time. So that's the one we watched.

After the 165minutes-long-movie, my feeling turned from "neutral" to become "this is really a nice movie!". How come the trailer showed all the boring plots and dull scenes instead of the meaningful storyline and astonishing visual effects. I heard that the movie is even nicer in 3D, but I am not a fan of 3D movie, so it doesn't matter for me. RM6 for the movie, really worth it!

I don't talk about the content of the movie here because I guess most of you already watched it. For those who haven't, do it while it's still showing in cinema!!!

Our movie was at 9pm. The mall was closed when the movie ended. As I said, 3 halls showing the same movie at the same time, meaning to say the crowd would leave the cinema to carpark at the same time. As we walked towards the escalator, we found that the security guards have blocked it with trashbin and potplants. So we moved to another escalator at another side of the mall. Same thing happened and there was a security guard beside the escalator. Some people wanted to move the trashbins away but the guard stopped them. We told him that we wanted to go down to the carpark but he told us that we couldn't use the escalator. What?? He insisted and we didn't want to stuck in a fight during late night, so we headed to the emergency staircase beside the lift. I was shocked to find that even exit to the EMERGENCY stairs was locked! What's the point of having a LOCKED EMERGENCY EXIT? So the only way out for all of us, hundreds of people, was to take the lift. I was really pissed off (I believed most of the people too, especially those who argued with the guard), what kind of mall management was that?! Luckily the movie was nice, otherwise it would really ruined my mood.

In short, Avatar is really a nice and meaningful movie, I think. And if you're watching a late night movie in Tropicana City Mall, be prepared! Haha!

Office宫心计

想知道我最近在做些什么的朋友，我来update一下大家。
我刚刚又开始工作了。当然，还是同一份暂时性的工作--research assistant。不同的只是地点，我如今又到以前FYP的supervisor处当她的助理。
虽然是一个人，不像以前一样三人行疯疯癫癫，可幸好这里还有几位senior，可以聊聊天解闷，还教我这个office里的‘运作’。
所谓的‘运作’...其实令我联想起不久前看完的一部港剧--《宫心计》。

我是这星期正式踏入这个后宫。跟我同一天被立为妃的，还有一个洗脚婢。洗脚婢虽非出身于名门望族，但基于他在宫内日子已久，所以深得太后欢心。
我明白，如果太后赏识你，以后办起事来就容易。需要太后批准的事情多的是呢。但我没那个兴趣去刻意讨好太后。只要我做好自己本分，别被那个洗脚婢比下去就好了。

今天迟了十分钟去向太后请安。平时日上三竿才来的洗脚婢，偏偏今天怎么那么早就来了？还好太后还没起床。可是谁知道他会不会向太后打小报告？
还是小心一点好。别在一开始就输了一仗。


后记：如果你认为我想象力太丰富了，是的我承认。我已经闷在家里几个月了，这是正常的！还有，洗脚婢是男的。

Irresistible Carl's Jr.

We were looking for some drinks or desserts once we arrived at One Utama. Szee suggested to try the hand-scooped ice cream shake at Carl's Jr., since they claim it as the best hand-scooped ice cream in town. So we headed to Carl's Jr.

Note that we have already taken our lunch before we go to the mall. WE WERE NOT HUNGRY AT ALL.

At last, these were what we have bought.

We really couldn't help ourselves once we stepped into the restaurant. Smelling the aroma without tasting it can kill us. I admit that I am a 100% great fan of SuperStar.

Another good news was.... They are back! The Heinz sauces!

No more Kimballs.... ;)

Santa Claus came early!

A christmas gift for me before the day arrives.

Tadaa~

One of my favourite animals. Probably because I am Leo?

Please give some suggestions for his name. Anyone?

雨天日记

雨下了又停，停了又下。雷电交加。

呆在家看Desperate Housewives，突然觉得自己有点像她们。

Guardian的sticker收集了二十张，要去兑换了，怕再迟些我要的狮子会缺货。

J card day，应该没什么好买的啦，去了那么多次还不是一样。

肚子有点饿，可是不想吃。

不知道你喝了几杯？

下雨天，还是睡觉最好。

Ninja loves pork?

I was in a rush to the cinema when I realized the existence of this place almost a month ago. Yesterday we went to Tropicana City Mall to escape from the super duper hot weather. To enjoy free air cond and eat guai ling gou. Inadvertently we passed by this hidden place in the mall again, and this time we decided to step in and have a closer look.

And we discovered that this place is selling pork burgers! What a surprise! Lately we are getting so excited with these non-halal restaurants.

Their menu is simple enough.
(sorry lar for the blur photos... old phone ma...)

We ordered two. One original and one black pepper. The size of burger is not big, you can tell from the photo. So it's a little bit pricey, actually. But if you love pork, go and have a try!

The taste was good. You won't feel oily or fatty or bloated like some other burgers. To be more appropriate, I mean 腻 in Chinese. But this was good, light n' easy. We had it as our 三点三 tea break. For those with very small appetite, I think this can be a meal for you.

The interesting part is, "it's cool to be Joe!" If you can show any proof that your name is Joe, you'll get RM1 off. Just too bad la we are not called Joe. Haha.

Ninja Joe
LG18, Tropicana City Mall,
No.3 Jalan SS20/27
47400 Petaling Jaya

在闹市里偷闲

圣诞节了。来感染一下气氛。

谷中城

其实是约了朋友吃饭啦。要等她放工，可又不想逛街花钱。不如坐下喝喝咖啡，反而能省钱呢。

在咖啡厅里找个角落给自己。看人来人往、看妈妈喂小孩吃蛋糕、看老夫妇悠闲地喝咖啡吃蛋糕、看一些大忙人不停地在讲电话。上上面字书、写写部落格。

很久没有像这样，在人群里享受一个人的安静。也许有些人觉得可怜，但我却认为是一大享受。
不知道今年的圣诞节，是怎么过的呢...

你找到自己了吗？

你找到自己了吗？

尤其是结束了十多年的学校生活以后，从大学步入社会，更是频频听到这句话。心里纳闷。

找到自己喜欢的科目，算是找到自己吗？
找到爱好或自己喜欢的打发时间方式，算是找到自己吗？
找到自己喜欢的一本书，算是找到自己吗？
找到自己喜欢的一首歌，算是找到自己吗？
找到一份自己喜欢的工作，算是找到自己吗？
找到一个自己喜欢的人，算是找到自己吗？

找到适合自己的科目，算是找到自己吗？
找到适合自己的打发时间方式或是爱好，算是找到自己吗？
找到适合自己的一本书，算是找到自己吗？
找到适合自己的一首歌，算是找到自己吗？
找到一份适合自己的工作，算是找到自己吗？
找到一个适合自己的人，算是找到自己吗？

为什么要找？
要怎样找？
自己，是什么东东？

Belly belly gooooood~

Finally we were here, so long after I first discovered this place.

"The pork lover's paradise"

Szee just got his job. He was supposed to sign the appointment letter today, but it was delayed due to the medical checkup. Although not officially be employed yet, but I still fulfill the promise to treat him a meal. And I still owe him a meal of Belly Good since I get my last pay. Haha 2 in 1 la.

It's good to come during weekdays. We ordered the set lunch menu. The set comes with a soup of the day. Add on RM1 for an iced lemon tea.

Very nice mushroom soup! A great appetite stimulant.

The iced lemon tea was the only not-so-nice among what we had.

The mixed platter. Grilled pork belly and pork ribs. RM21.90
I am not a fans of fatty belly and I usually cut off the fats when I have pork. But this is fantastic!
Bravo!

Pulled pork burger. RM12.90
Succulent pork patty and veges. Tasty! But the fries was so-so.

Service was good, nice ambiance. Not so cheap but really worth for money. We said that we will come again, when we have more money to spend.

Belly Good
20, Jalan PJS 8-18, Dataran Mentari,
Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Tel: 03 5630 1699
Email: reservation@bellygood.com.my

Second visit to the north in a week

One day after I came back home from Sg. Petani, I traveled to the north again. Here are some of my favourite photos that I've captured.

From the garden of my grandma's house.

The next day we went to Penang.

Lunch at Sg. Ara. The super sour fish noodles. Even my brother also agreed that it is sour, that means it is really really sour.

The fried noodles. 炒帝皇面。Tasty and big serving.

We went to Hatyai on the following day.

Look at the crowd at the customs.

Kerabu mango

Banana fritter... With sesame.

Tasted McD's broccoli pie too. And the Samurai pork burger. Nice!

Papa & mama

My cousins, Xuan & Zhi

The next day.
The market. You wanna know how fresh the fish were?

They were alive.

Can you see the face?

We returned to our country in the afternoon. After we reached at grandma's house again...

Dividing the prizes.

Love me, love my dog

In Chinese, it is called "爱屋及乌". Meaning if you want to be in a relationship with somebody, you must be willing to accept everything about his/her, good or bad.

You have been practising it very well. You have shown your thoughtful concern to my family, my friends and even my colleagues. I am really grateful for that.

I told myself before I went for the visit, that I must learn from you. Of course I felt quite a bit of stress, but I knew that I must learn to love instead of pressuring myself.

I had a wonderful time. I really appreciate the warm welcome by the whole family. Time flies, and four days was just too short.

Of course there are chances ahead. I will improve myself and make better.

生病感想

生病真的很奇怪。

1. 睡了十二个小时，为什么还是觉得很累？
2. 鼻子里的什么腺可以酱厉害，不停地分泌那么多鼻涕？
3. 打喷嚏都不关眼睛的事，为什么眼睛一直流眼泪、不能开？
   
4. 没有食欲，吃得很少，为什么不见体重会下降？
5. 如果平时体温就比一般人低一点，那么比别人高一点的时候是不是发高烧？
6. 为什么我们不能选什么时候要生病，什么时候病好？
7. 生病可以claim insurance吗？可以的话就好，趁机赚一点钱，不然只能躺在床上很凄凉呢~

I am too bored and have nothing else to do, so I am going to translate what I just wrote. Please don't laugh at me but do correct me if I translate it wrongly.


Being sick is really weird.

1. I've slept for 12 hours but why am I still feeling tired?
2. Which gland in the nose is so powerful that can produce large amount of mucus, non-stop!
3. Sneezing has nothing to do with the eyes, but why are the eyes keep tearing and cannot open?
4. I lose appetite and eat very little, but why I don't lose weight?
5. If my usual body temperature is lower than that of normal people, am I having high fever when my body temperature is slightly higher than that of normal people?
6. Why can't we decide when to get sick and when to get well?
7. Can we make insurance claim by getting sick? It's good to get some money, otherwise just laying on bed is so miserable~
   

突发奇想

以前看《大长今》，现在看《宫心计》。突然有个疑惑。

我国的皇宫里吃的是什么？

每天吃咖喱？因为到处的马来餐馆都是卖同一种食物的。那我们的马来统治者，每天都吃类似食物吗？还是他们偶尔会吃吃意大利面、日本寿司、华人糕点？

我真的不知道耶，没踏入过皇宫，也没听人说起这个。

有谁知道的，可以告诉愚昧的我吗？

Helpless

When you are not able to control the situation, you feel helpless. How do you escape from it?

Chinese cabbage dumplings

Mum cooked chinese cabbage soup with meatballs for dinner tonight.
Reminds me of this~

Once upon a time, from the private kitchen...

I miss it.

Do you feel any gap between us?

To all my beloved friends. Especially to those who are already working, who are in a totally different world from me.

You may feel the gap between us these days.
You may feel that we have lesser subjects of conversation.
You may feel that I am a geek who only lives on doing lab works and reading journals.
You may feel that I am unable to share the story of your rat race life.
You may feel that I am immature.
You may feel that our friendship faded away.

What I can tell is,
I am still who I am.
I cherish every memory that we created together.
I appreciate our schooldays or our university life.

I remember those days when we stayed back at school after scout meeting on Saturdays.
I remember the hard but happy time when we were organizing the camping campfire.
I remember those days we hid in the little SPBT room.
I remember those days when we had tuition and barbeques at your house.
I remember those days when we hung out at Starbucks and McD.
I missed the wonderful trip we had in Gopeng.
I remember those days we studied together every afternoon.
I remember that you bought fries and brought CDs to my house on your foot, just because I felt bored.

I remember the day we met and knew each other in university.
I remember those days we attended lectures together.
I remember those days we chatted in the hostel throughout the whole night.
I remember those days we celebrated festivals and birthdays.
I remember those days we ran here and there to prepare the event.
I remember that unforgettable night in DTC.
I remember those days we slept in lecture hall.
I remember those days we skipped lectures together. (not very often la.... XD)
I missed those days we carried out the research project together.
I remember those days we had pillow talks, steamboat and yee sang.
I remember those days we took care of Burger and Hotdog.
I remember how we got the flags on National Day and waved them on your motorbike.
I remember that day, together we wore mortarboards and got our scrolls.

Now we have different path and our own destiny. One thing that will not change is that I value our friendship. You can always call me or just send me a message. You can tell me how arrogant your boss is, or complain about your dull daily routine, or just to share your excitement when you get your first bonus. If possible we can also meet up to show me your new hairstyle.

Thanks for being my friend, my lifelong friends.

醒了

过了昏昏沉沉的两个月，是时候把自己唤醒了。

发现太久没有动脑了。原来很多事情真的得用脑思考。觉得应该叫自己回到人间来了。把电脑从床上的窝，放回它在桌上的工作岗位。要过回我挥别了一段时候的日子。也不知道自己能不能够适应。

坐下来认真想想：
“这真是我这一、两年要做的事吗？”
“这真是我这辈子要走的路吗？”

当然不是第一次想这样的问题了。我想，这五个月以来，这问题出现在脑海里的次数比眨眼睛更频密。是想太多了吗？

是不是被之前的经历浇熄了原有的热诚？
是不是被之前的挫折蒙蔽了前方的阳光？
没有了初生之犊的那种冲动。凡事都想了又想，优柔寡断。

想了那么多，该行动了吧？也不知道自己还有能耐做什么其他的。怎样都得给自己一个交代。

我是幸福的

突然觉得，自己其实是幸福的。

别只看见自己没有的，而忽略了此刻拥有的一切。想当年会痛斥那些身在福中不知福的人，我更更不可以让自己像他们一样。为了以前得不到的、为了缺少一些别人有而我没有的，值得吗？相同的，我拥有许多他人没有的！

也许比较就是人天生的本性。我们总喜欢比较，把自己拿来跟别人比，甚至跟过去的自己比。如果是良性的竞争固然是好，但一旦比较下来，觉得不满足，而变得贪婪、变得不珍惜手中握着的幸福，到了有一天失去了的时候才来说后悔、‘如果’、‘早知道’。

很多人嘴里口口声声说活在当下，却没有真正去应用这句话的意义。活在当下，包括了珍惜、感受你现今周围的人事物。别把时间精神花在感慨更不应该去后悔以前犯的错，或在为将来杞人忧天。我们即改变不了过去，也操控不了未来。我们能做的，就是把每个今天过得更好。

看看四周，看看我所拥有的一切。还有什么抱怨的？幸不幸福，其实是自己下的定义。你认为自己幸福，你就是幸福的了。我要把握每一刻的幸福，不让它溜走了。

是时候改变自己消沉的心态了。


后记：巧妙的是，当我在写这篇部落格时，禧不偏不倚就在这个时候打电话来，说几乎相同的话。他刚从外头回来，一些事情令他有所启发，也在说着自己是幸福的。那么巧，真不知是哪来的使者，突然来把这讯息传给我们。

Ways to kill time

Ways to kill time (what I did tonight):

Facebooking

1. In the search column, type your own name and see the faces who share the name with you.
2. Go to your restaurant in Restaurant City(if you played this game) and just look at how the restaurant operates. How the chefs cook, how the waiters serve and how the customers eat or complain. They are cute!
3. Play some game which you can challenge your friends or yourself. Examples: Who has the biggest brain, Spot the difference, Typing maniac, etc. Break your own record!

Shopping

I did not go out but stay at home. I shopped online. According to many girls, shopping is therapeutic. Somehow it is true for me too. But this will kill your purse and terrify your another half.

Youtube

Search for anything that comes across your mind. ANYTHING. After finish watching 1 video clip, click on its related links and then continue watching. You can repeat this step for some time. Until you feel bored, search for something different.

Journals

Vivien told me that there is an online journal where we can access to the articles for free! And today is the last day. I should spend my time searching for the articles I needed. Indeed, I spent the least time for this. *guilty*

Going to bed, and telling myself that tomorrow will be a better day. Good night, everyone. Bonne nuit.

莫名其妙

有没有试过有这种感觉？当情况令你想放弃时，当你已经在另作打算时，事情却突然有转机？站在中间，是应该喜极而泣说“机会终于来了！”，还是满怀惆怅说“机会你来得太迟了。”然后继续往另一条路走？
我现在既没有回头走，也没有往前走；我站在路口，想处理那种莫名奇怪的感觉。因为不知往哪儿走，才会莫名其妙。

mp3突然间不省‘机’事！按什么都没反应，插进电脑也还是一样。它只是暂时沉睡一下，还是与世长辞了？不要吓我呀！是禧的mp3啊，我不想落在我手上就坏！

好像有很多东西要做。要一个一个列出来，然后才看得先做哪个。结果呢？一开电脑就是facebook！明明在facebook也玩到显了，就是宁愿对着电脑发呆，也不愿意去做该做的东西！

如果有一天世界大停电，或是没了互联网，没了facebook，没了google，我想我也没办法生存下去了。

The so-called hotdog buns

From another private kitchen.

After those cheesecakes, cupcakes, not-so-successful carrot cakes, chocolate cakes and tiramisu, chocolate walnut cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies and the failed biscotti, here comes another attempt.

The so-called hotdog buns.

Some said it tasted like the bun-like cookies of Popeye, the fast food restaurant. Okay, I admit that I made some mistakes during the process. :(

Wait for my next try!!

心。空。

心，像被淘空个精光，什么都不剩。空得我感觉好冷。

突然想起，以前一旦有这种感觉的时候，就会一个人驾车去兜兜风。
夜里，路上只有寥寥无几的车辆，我在车里安静地听歌。平时白天繁忙、塞车的城市，在夜里多平静、多美啊。
是平伏此心情最好的疗法。
这种心情很熟悉，是什么？





唔，想到了。
叫作失望。

失望，就是心感觉空空的一种心情。

A Snacking Night

Szee claimed that yesterday was his last day of lecture during his uni life, so he was in charge of everything and I had no rights to question where were we going to have dinner.

We arrived at Sunway Pyramid.

Hot & Roll

We wanted to try since quite some time ago, and we finally did. The menu is simple but with many choices.

Sweet fillings

Savoury fillings

And drinks.

Of course I would go for savoury one. I am not a fans of sweet dessert. Besides the fillings, you have a choice of paratha wrap or crispy wrap. We ordered a pizza(with beef pepperoni) paratha wrap and a satay chicken crispy wrap, plus an ice lemon tea.

You can just grab n' go. I prefer the paratha wrap. The sauce of the fillings will cause the crispy one to become soft but not crispy anymore.
Nice, convenient, and...

friendly kakak. ^^

This alone could not be our dinner, of course. Next station,

Pommes Frites, in Asian Avenue located in the mall too. There are nice foods in Asian Avenue, this Pomme Frites is just next to our favourite Korean restaurant.

Belgium fries is their signature dish.

So many choices of dippings!

They serve pasta as well. But both of us were not in pasta mood. So we ordered the Moules Frites (mussels with fries). We had clams instead of mussels. We were given choices for the clams' style, such as original, curry, tom yam, etc... We picked the ultimate style with cream, and white wine.

Tadaa~~

Love it! Fresh hot, nicely cooked, with onions and mushrooms. The clams were just nice, not overcooked like at many other places. The sauce was not too creamy, and flavour was enhanced by the white wine. We really liked it.

Szee's plate

My plate. Hehe.

The regular pot(500g) with white wine, plus a diet coke, the bill was RM20.40. Worth for money!! I feel hungry when look at the photos again...

So two light meals made our dinner. So full and yummy.