Kuok Foundation Get-Together 09

Last Saturday, I attended the get-together event of the Kuok Foundation current award recipients and also past recipients (alumni). They had it every year, but I have never attended any one of them because I am a loner by choice. Nah... actually, I didn't join the informal event previous times because I did believe the event was for undergrads awardees only! Postgrad were invited this year and what better opportunity to meet (network?!) with KF's alumni to 'polish some shoes' at these bad economic times. Kakakakakaa....Yah, my intentions were evil but isn't this what networkings are for?

I brought a whole stack of my name card (and eventually pass just ONE pathetic one, but not that all pathetic, because I passed it to Dr Gue). Dr. Gue was on the same table as I; a KF former recipient and my interviewer for my KF scholarship 3 years back who fortunately remembers me as an interviewee very well! He is a soil expert and his latest stint involves the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide and he was a consultant there. He gave me lots of advice and still remembered the questions he asked me on the scholarship interview. What a memory!

The informal get-together was at Armada hotel. I felt like a nobody amongst the many scholarship recipients! But later.... I found out I asked to sit on the VIP table!
Eveyone registered and got their tags (wicked! - my tag was different from the rest) :) I was walking around, unable to get into the mingling mood. But soon, I met a group of undergrads who were former classmates with one another and they accepted me into their click. Yeeeeeee.... dunno wanna be happy or not but I felt young again, and I loved them all!!! They were all formerly from a high-school in Malacca. I missed a photo with them because 1. I hate my pariah camera phone, and 2. I don't cam-whore. But truly a waste not to get a pic of me with them.

Aiseh....undergrads and FEMALES, mostly. Can't spot any cute guys. Most of them are either younger than I, or have clicked into their own (young) groupie or seemed tooooo smart for my liking. I like smart man, but some guys (even girls) have this cocky I-am-a-medic-student-and-better-than-your-agriculture-or-whatever-vege-you're-doing looks. Sorry, but as indicated in my earlier post, my EQ is very high and I can detect any cocky looks w/o the need of a single word to them. Maybe all my teaching swimming for 3++ years has improved my PR skills with many kids and parents and my increased ability to detect their thoughts. Sorry, but yah, now I sound cocky.
Advisors of the foundation, current postgraduate students. Dr. Teo (left) is a famous clinical psychologist.

The new trustee was Dato Seri Ong. Yes yes, I was sitting opposite him on the same table with other distinguished guests. Dr. Gue was the one in the dark shirt (pic below).

I have no comment at this point regarding my relation to all the guests, esp. with Dato Seri who was former MCA president. Kuok Foundation remains apolitical and so must I (at this point). If not, I'll be stripped. Not off my shirt (I wish), but off my award. So no comment of me being in the same table and in conversation with anyone. It's just that I am sitted on the VIP table to make my face more recognizable to the big-shots, rub some shoulders, polish some apple/shoes, exchange name cards and to find avenue to send my CV/resume in. Yah, sorry again, but that's what networking is all about, right?!

Dato Seri Ong, Dr. Geo and a Masters student in Engineering in Nottingham, Semenyih. We chat mostly about the education system in Malaysia, general stuffs about students, the brain, memory, some paradoxes and mostly education matters. We touched very little about politics, of course! But we did discuss about Alantuya and who they think did it :P

From top: Balwani, Me, Mei Leng and Lynette, GM of KF; Lim Teck Hoe, former KF award recipient, a memory expert and World Champion giving us a lecture about memory; 2nd place in a quite difficult ice-breaking game. I spotted Ai Y'ng 2nd from right! Woooo...at least there's one person I really know.

25 Random things about myself.

Twenty five random things about me. I know it's been publicised on FB, but like many others, I prefer to write it here. Here goes:

25. My Bahasa Malaysia scores were always better than my English scores in high school both spoken and written. I believe that's still the trend for me.

24. I adore the idea of 'reverse psychology'. It works well for me in many situations.

23. I love everything Japanese.

22. I am kiasi. But I drive my Kelisa really fast most of the time.

21. Yes, I absolutely love driving!

20. I have to boast that I have a very good sense of direction since young. But I cannot verbally direct people to places.

19. I have short term memory loss when it comes to names. I forget any names within seconds of introduction.

18. I have good photographic memory which means I remember landmarks and faces (not names).

17. I am a coffee addict but no preference to any particular coffee. Just COFFEE.

16. KL is still the best place on earth to live in, in my opinion.

15. I label myself as 'extremely independent' and fore-warn many guys about this before they date me.

14. I hate working in groups. I hate group projects. Oh no!...could look bad on my resume :P

13. At present time, I teach swimming for the MONEY. Think Adam Smith.

It WAS for the love of the kids.

12. I get bored of everything (I do) real fast! I have a short span of attention. Even writing these points about myself is making me yawnnnn like crazy!

11. I talk a lot, and I mean A LOT. My best skill yet: snatching people's conversation.

10. My EQ is definitely higher than my IQ.

9. I still want a Gucci or Burberry bag before I die. If not, I'll turn in my grave.

8. My smiles can be deceiving. My cuteness is a death trap. Some people already knew this.

7. I am shallow-teared. I cry easily at movies and depressing stories told to me.

6. I love watching American Idol and I believe whatever Simon Cowell says. Like some prophecy!

5. TV is my greatest sin, and to my opinion the best invention ever.

4. I hate wearing a watch. But I am the strictest person when it comes to Time.

3. I was born, bred and brainwashed as a Manchester United fan. I have no regrets though...errr...maybe it's the brainwashing!

2. I am actually proud when people calls me 'cikgu' or 'teacher' (when teaching swimming) or when I address myself that way.

1. Writing is my passion and wanna publish a book, but back to bullet no. 12, I think it won't work out.

In memoriam: Alan's mum

I was browsing through my own posts and my previous post was exclusively about the hometown of Alan's mum - Bahau. I still remember mingling with his mum's side of the family, albeit a huge one, was affectionally dear to one another with no air of squabbles or negativity. This was rare considering the family was very large. I felt instantly at home and never felt so close with a family that I had no relation whatsoever. I believed good relations between cousins, sisters, uncles and aunties run through the century.....hope it runs through Alan's gene's too.

Yes, she was the quieter sister, but it was she that stole the show. In her late 50s and with a disease that was diagnosed few months earlier, she took centre stage. She was calm when I saw her sisters and brother chatting her up with a few words of encouragement. Well, she said little, but I knew she enjoyed her moment. She wanted to live the moment. Neither was she shaken by the disease but was just ever so glad to be with her extended family, celebrating the new year. Alan mentioned that her mum was always worry about this and that...but never once was she worried about herself. What an act of selflessness and bravery despite her condition!

My moments with her were short but memorable. I observed her trying to set up a small chat with me once in a while but I was so sorry to have dissapointed her with my crappy Mandarin. She was always telling me about how her grandsons should be sent to my swimming school to learn good swimming. She didn't directly show her affections to Alan, but I knew she cared about him sooooo much. The night before she went for her surgery, I was glad to have a grand dinner with her and her family. And 2 days before, she cooked for me and Alan a nice dinner. I wouldn't like saying that it was her last home-cooked meal....but it sadly was. I still remember it was our fav steam lap-cheong, celery, eggs and tofu. All hakka style. She was also grateful for the organic vege my mum gave her during CNY and I was only glad to have contributed something somehow to her because she willingly accepted me for who I am (she initially thought I was toooo smart) and allowed me to be with her son.

She passes away today peacefully. The mood now is sombre as I stay home writing this postwhilst her family managing the whole funeral. She was a free thinker, but I pray that she's now in the safe hands of our Lord Jesus Christ. I still remember listening to her last words to Alan and my last glance of her before she went to the operation room and never regain unconciousness since then. It is sad, but I know this is Your will, Lord. For she was a good woman and she ran her race well. May she rest in peace. Amen.

Bahau on CNY

This year, I went to a little town called Bahau, 15 minutes off Kuala Pilah, N9. When my dad heard of the town Kuala Pilah, all he could think of is - Siti Nurhaliza. My dad adores Siti until she marries that old guy.

I wouldn't say Bahau is that ulu or small, but I thru' my own observation, Bahau is as large and buzzling as Kluang but has more Chinese residence than the latter. The houses there resembles my late grandfather's old house in PJ Old Town because they are mostly single story bungalows with obvious designs i.e. half atap-zinc roofs, half bricks-half cement walls and cement (tile-less) floors. The house I was invited to has their jamban outdoors! And aha....of course...the food: As the Chinese in Bahau are mostly ethnic Hakka and their variations, you can't separate yourself from: lui cha.

LuiCha:

My housemate is hakka but has never cook luicha for me also :P

I am only so-so with luicha. Too much fibre. Toooo green. Too much munching going around. Honestly, I felt like a cow (ya...welcome, Ox year!). I have only tried it once in Bandar Puteri's HoBoh, and this home-made luicha in the Fam's family was my second time. Ahem...looks kinda easy to make actually as I observed how they prepared and cook the stuffs right at their lovely kitchen. Taste okay la. Lack ajinomoto though. But I guess with all these fibre and go-green concept and with only ONE working stomach, I got full real fast. I had enough. Burp!

home-made luicha my unfinished plate of luicha

Bahau has this food market similar to the food market in Taiping. In the night, after a hefty dinner and bad service from a so-called luxurious restaurant, I was introduced to a better meal in that market. They proclaimed he's famous in his curry laksa noodles (this stall also sold many other noodles) but frankly, it's not that sedap as I initially thought. They don't put santan wan worrr. Not enough taste. Lack ajinomoto (again!). I till prefer the curry noodles in Ipoh Old town and Medan Selera. Or there's just something wrong with my tongue!

In the morning we woke up early to rush (yes, i meant rush) to the market once more for their so-called famous mee soup kicap. Soooo many people! Dissapointingly, it's just taste like drinking kicap soya without the saltiness. I think the restless chef with his ample orders and bulk cooking all in one go (for the CNY crowd. I spotted 4 Singapore cars) made his mee soup kicap tasteless! I can say, if more...ahem...ajinomoto was added in, the noodles would improved lots more. Really, it was tasteless. I gave the chef credit for the beef meat he added to the noodle though as they were quite aplenty in one bowl.

Yah, Bahau was great place to be. The people were friendly and I've met altogether 4 people who hailed from UPM! What a small world.....

But I still have to say: Shake some ajinomoto to your food, else, bad reviews from me. :P

Adios, Bahau.

Where's the Mood?

My lab work is finished! Not entirely, but 90% finished is considered finished in my dictionary. Like many other lifeless and no-life post-grad students, we start to write. Actually, writing should have been done parallel to all our lab work, but some students i.e. Ivy always wants it her own way: START WRITING ONLY WHEN YOU'RE IN THE 'MOOD'.

The MOOD in my personal dictionary:

The MOOD = isolate yourself from mankind and their evil deeds, find a plug, sit down, plug in your laptop, flex your fingers and massage your eyes with your hands, and start typing.

The cardinal rule: BIG NO NOs to these distractions and anti-Mood:

1. Internet modem that leads to Facebook-ing & excessive IM and emailing:

2. Swimming pools because pools always remind me that I've got teaching to do!

Wan sik kan-nan!

3. Sofas and cuddly pillows

4. TiVi (with obama? hahahhaa) and Cleo mags

5. No contact with BFFs (esp. the person 3rd from the left :P )

Actually, IN SHORT: just say NO to Ivy's comfy crib:

But YES to these:

1. Mamee Monster perisa ayam.

2. And some slight motivation: A pin-up poster of Josh while writing.

Any suggestions for a getaway (min. 2 weeks) that allows me to have The Mood and write w/o distractions???

My first inaugural post 2009. Thank you.

Welcome to Ivy-kini & selamanya!

I turned 3++years:

I am proud to have had this blog as my official writing space since Oct 2005 where I first blogged about Paris vs. Hilton. This blog has been revamped several times, but in 2009, if you noticed, all I did was to make the backdrop simpler (colourless). Thank you for your continual support of my writings and postings here. Thanks for the comments and I am glad there are people who love my postings and read them! I will continue to write/post more to this blog this year and forgive me for having my own style in writing because .....no one's perfect :)

Ivy

The year 2008.

January - Forgot what happened. Nothing happened la besides work work work, swim swim swim. Quit my gym membership.

February - CNY - balik bandar untuk raya. KL is my hometown. I remembered KL being void of human. Quit Aikido.

March - Forgot what actually happened, but my kwai low bf came back from London just to see me. Happy!

April - He left for the ultimate Oxford's interview. Can't stop him this time for not planning to return. Redang with my best buddy, Chris Thoo. Thanks Chris! Was a tan too dark....darn.

May - Was introduced to my Poppy clubbing kaki, Jessica and gang.

June - Unsuspectingly, I acquired a housemate. Introducing: Miss Fipink Yap :)

July - Every night talking with my housemate. If not, clubbing! Yah, whole day whole month. What a bond!

August - Still non-stop talking (with FP) and gossiping and talking and gossiping etc. with my girl friends. Developed the best-est friendship ever!

September - October - from Callie's to Fee Peng's b'day...non-stop birthday (and other minor celebration i.e. Leynard's six pack) months! Met Lenny, an unsuspecting motivator of mine.

November - All swimming classes stopped for school holidays. Stylo and Pall Mall's party of the year. Alan was there.

December - HK trip. Lovely Christmas. and I love you too, Alan.

To everybody,

This year 2008 was a extraodinarily memorable one. This year has taught me about my weaknesses and helped me developed a new-self. "If I can't change someone, I change myself, but still being ME"

This year is relatively a year of bad health - from shitless moments to fainting spells in the lab. But all is well now and I am glad the Lord has helped me through this all. Nonetheless, 2008 has brought me new friendships and bonds which I could have never thought of making in the first place. I wanna attribute this post to my besties from Toxicology lab - Yati and Dahlia, as well as Arshia, Callie, FP, Gary, cell group ppl and Jessica who led me through this year with their sincerest of hearts.

I miss this year 2008. Many big misses (in opportunity) for me but also gains that compensate for what I've lost. Therefore, I've lost nothing. I have learnt more instead. And 2009 is just another day (it's tomorrow anyway)

Love,

Ivy

31 December 2008.

Foods and Starbucks in HK

Below is the Starbucks  in Miramar Shopping centre at Nathan road. This Starbucks has a great ambience inside out, and when I was there, it was full house, inside out! Biasalah...ppl showing off their Airbooks and what not. What I liked about this cafe was that it was located adjacent to Knudford Terrace - a place where fine dining, caviar, red-wine and fresh seafoods are served with myriad choices of Italian, Aussie, Cuban, and Spanish foods. I can only pose with my fav beverage of the season - the ToffeeNut Latte:

I left Starbucks at Miramar and went hang-kai around the many many malls at the surrounding areas and spotted this Starbucks in Habourcity. What attracted me to this very Starbucks branch was both their Xmas and interior decor. I ordered a tall Americano (their spicy Christmas blend) and a mince-char-siew pie. Have to comment about their char siew pie:- 1. It's char siew, which is 1000X better than chicken 2. The crust was perfectly made. In fact, Ienjoyed the crust more than the char siew (but at the end of the day it's the combination) 3. You don't get it in Malaysia. Ever. Case close.

The interior was great. Look at the wall decor, I've never seen something like that before and I was awed! I am sure you won't understand why I was impressed. Again, have to comment: The huge cups decorated at the backdrop reminds me of Callie and her progressive Starbuck's let's-steal-a-L-size-Starbucks cup thoughts. I wish I could get her those. 2. See the man right at the middle? He's cute. 3. nothing to comment di. I kept reminding myself it's just another Starbucks... 

The KFC in HK was different too. Unlike ppl in Malaysia who use their bare hands to hold the drumstick, ppl in HK were provided with PE plastic hand gloves for hygiene purposes. See the guy (pic below) who looked like a lab-assisstant experimenting on his food??? Gloves provided! Why haven't our Malaysian franchise ever thought of that!? Maybe because the pure feeling of holding a piece of oily chicken with your bare hands and licking your fingers clean ("finger lickin good" marrrr) after eating makes food more satisfying. The feeling is different. How can you lick your finger with PE plastic over it? Feels like a condom over a *&^*# ....blowjob.....unnatural....okay....enuff!

Plus they have great cappuccino in a glass cup designed for coffee! Wow! And they have honey chicken also in addition to the usual fried chicken. But problem is they don't have the Hot-n-Spicy, which I absolutely adore back here.

Ate dim sum. Actually, only the char siew pau is good. Their loh-mai-kai sucked big time. 

Saying hi from HK

It's cool like Genting at night. Say 15C. I stay right in the middle of their so-called 'Orchard Road of HK' - Nathan Road. While I remembered being chased out from a cafe in Orchard Road at 10pm sharp, this place never sleeps!!! It's a city that really never sleeps (just like New York?) Maybe it's the Xmas/shopping period. I noticed Giordano Concept store here closes at 12am (everyday?).

Basically, I pakai taruh my Cantonese only. The only thing i make sure was never to say "ta-pau" as in 'take-away' and 'sah-mah' as in 'semua' in our adulterated malaysian cantonese. But when I first arrived at the airport and at Nathan Road, people started talking Japanese to me. "Konnichiwa". Oh well, used to it....

As far as I can remember, I've tasted their nai-cha, tau-fu fah and pau and Yong-Chow fried rice, Wanton mee, Mix beef ofal noodles and fish ball noodle and their version of chow-kuay teow. Taste: So-so or same with Malaysia only. One Penang island or one Ipoh beats the whole HK's hawker food industry.

Shopping was great, but one very very very big set back was that every clothes in the boutique and supermarket, even Adidas and Nike sells WINTER CLOTHINGS ONLY!!! Errrr.....I can't blame them; I can't blame myself also. Malaysia has only one big season called rain-hot-rain-hot. They have four defined seasons here, so though it's a bad time for a Malaysian to shop for clothes, the weather is one of the loveliest I've experienced so far..(think London on winter!)

Actually, I am in Starbucks. (where else?!?!?).

Crashers!

Astrological Signs Most Likely to Crash
"A September 2008 study of over 115,000 car insurance claims by Accident Exchange, a British accident management company, analyzed car accident rates by astrological sign. And sorry, Gemini, but your sign tops the list as the most likely to be involved in an accident. The next two most likely signs to crash are Taurus and Aries. Interesting data since that means drivers most likely to get in accidents are those born between March and June. Scorpions and Sagittarians were ranked the least likely to get in an accident.

So the next time you get in a car with a friend, make sure you know her sign before accepting a ride. And if you’re a Gemini, Taurus, or Aries, take extra caution behind the wheel."

I got this excerpt from an article when I hyperlinked around Yahoo! As a pure Gemini (not that I care about my horoscope :P), I have to agree! 50% agree. I had minor crashes around, one recently when I was parking, I terlanggar a divider. My front tyre got punctured at its sides and had to replace the whole thing. Ouch on my pocket! I still have to say my last comparatively huge crash was October 2006. Touchwood, but no crashes ever since.

The article is also quite hypothetical: I spend an average 1.5 hours on the roads daily; more practice means better skills. I still have to say that I have been a better and safer driver lately. If I was not the driver, I will put on my rear seatbelts. I have been practising putting on my rear seatbelts since September 2008. I love this ruling imposed. To my opinion, it's due time that we Malaysians put on our rear seatbelts. I always noticed especially Malay families (not biased but a visual fact) cramping their whole family into a van and if there's still not enough space, they will 'top-up'. I mean, everyone will seat on top of each other. Well, not a problem..., until if, a crash does happen: the WHOLE family is at stake. Please leave on or two out from your vacation! Or take the bus (which is also not safe). Double jeapardy! (learnt that from Pink). A rear seatbelt ruling ensures that we abide by the number-of-passenger-per vehicle rule. A ruling that also indirectly proposes birth control which screams: "Stop reproducing; else get a new car"

Malaysia has a ruling that I perceived of as pelik. Cannot hang my clothes outside the apartment/condo. Wahlau ehhh... me and my housemates undergarments will be lying around INSIDE the house to be dried with our fan. Thanks Kenny, for the surprising reveal. I didn't know.

In case whoever say I plagiarise:

Reference: http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22303/61394-traits-reveal-driver