The Great Expectations by Mum Dickens

My mother always say that she didn't give birth to me. I agree 70%. Cause there's little in common in our characters and being. She's street-smart, I am book-smart; She was prettiest girl in Taiping (my dad vouched), I took the crown of prettiest in Jalan Persiaran Perajurit 2 Ipoh ever since my mum got old(er) and wrinkly; She loves raring chickens and do gardening, I was afraid of chicken droppings and has 'hot' hands (even cactus die under my care).

I despise her fashion sense. She hates mine completely.

But then mathematically, the 30% has some truth: We are both females..duh!; we love to eat anything and everything that is edible + sambal belacan-kinda-spicy; she and I are caring..yup yup...to a certain extent; she and I can never say "no" (kinda bad trait, actually) to any requests; both me and my mum loves flowers; she likes to entertain people, and so do I (e.g. jemput orang makan-makan, masak byk-byk di rumah, suka ber-party, etc.). And this trait, no one can deny: She and I are both super-talkative and opinionated/vocal.

Some China-based flowering plant which only thrive in cool climates, but my mum managed to make  it grow and bloom in hot, humid Ipoh.

Why did I even start this blogpost?


I suddenly miss my mum. No wonder I hate holidays (yesterday). Thinking of nothing makes you think of something. Tak han mou yeh chou. Makes me over-think about things...and worst, I get emotional over it.

So yes...I miss my mum. If I hadn't talk to her in a couple of days, I may suffer, die or stab myself to death. Not that I am dependent on my mum, but she gives the best opinion ever and some how, and I dunno how, her opinion turns out right. She used to pressure me a lot when I was younger to study, music, swimming, and other sports but I understand why....cause I could do it. Since my 20s, I've been buggering (it came to a point that I was WARNING her) her to stop putting any pressure on me anymore in my studies, career...and surprisingly she relented. I know why. When I was young, she thought I was perfect and could do wonders until.... I didn't fare quite well in STPM onwards. Today, my mum probably has come to grounds that I am a failure in many things, and finally it made sense to her: I am only human.

My Ipoh's house is full of plants, crops and flowers maintain by my mum. No wonder I was named after a plant by my mum.

Yup, in spite of all the madhouse, old-school punishments, caning and scoldings I endured....I was given a lot of freedom and most important of all: she trusts me. She allowed me to do and pursue anything I want. I was allowed to dye my hair red (which I didn't), go clubbing every single weekend (in my mid-20s), drink and drunk, buy as much clothes as I want with my teaching-swimming side income, date any guys I want. She doesn't care who I brought back home. But she only warn me of these 3 things:
1. No drugs,
2. No smoking, and
3. Don't get raped.

And her favourite sentence of all time: "Never be kan-cheong in anything you do". But I always feel that she meant otherwise. Cause it's soooo unlike her to say this to me after all the pushing and pressure she imposed to me to do just about everything.

My mum is my best friend. You can see me and her talking in the afternoon and one will never know that's my mum on the other side of the line. We talk like friends... taruh each other, talk loud-loud, scold each other (both of us opinionated marr)...but there's definitely a sense of respect somewhere.

Or maybe I don't have a sister. I do secretly pray each day that I had a sister one day. Father and brothers...ahem...I won't say you guys aren't any good in this earth, but you don't have enough oestrogens to understand me. You guys are really from Mars!


I love you, Mum.


Bla bLa bla bla...Okay, now Mum, cook me some prawn sambal petai!

At Lumut jetty. Mum showing of her 'luxury' salted fish. She had gotten it at a bargain price and soooo proud a...salty fish?!

You can do it, guys,

Whassup August?! 

Before you know it, it's already mid-August and  for me, August is the month of flowers. Roses to be exact. I am not shy to say (to all the guys out there): every girl in this world loves flowers. And guys, it's always worth giving flower(s) to your love ones though I totally know many out there will curse me for campaigning so. Don't cha believe it if a girl tells you she's not into flowers - that's BS. 

Cause any girl will go head-over-heels over flowers!

And give real flowers. If you're like my dad who thinks real flowers represents real love, then you're right. Though it wilts and last barely a week, at least it's FOR REAL. I don't buy into the idea of giving fake plastic flowers that obviously doesn't die, but thinking that it represents everlasting love? Nah....so not appropriate. Leave fake flowers for decorating houses. :P 

Bouquet I got when I was at Secret of Louisiana, KJ. The flowers were a surprise, an so was the venue.                         Hidden gem of Selangor.

I got these roses for no apparent reason.

...and these too.

This are fee yen's bouquet after complaining of not getting one (when I got 2 in a month!).  Kidding lah... Hubby surprised her with these white-peach bouquet for anniversary. Sweet!

YP's bouquet of lilies (pretty!) sent by hubby to her office. *sorry for copywriting this fr your FB

OOoooo...seems like a trend here. Keep it up, guys!

But just want to set the record straight: besides flowers and roses, I am also into Coach bags, Gucci, Sports Cars, Tiffany's Diamonds, Blue Mountain beans, Caviar, Fois Gras, Truffles, Kobe beef, etc, etc.... (fill in the blanks with luxury items here). Muahahahaha.

And btw, my Ph.D. graduation/convocation (sigh, finally!) will be this October 15th. *Hint**hint*

______________________________________________________________________________

I just love the Spongebob Squarepants sticker used during today's Pacemaker's Relay Run. See, see, rambut serabut and blur....just like I every morning! I chose this sticker cause it reminds me that I need to get a hair cut quite quickly.

I've never done a relay, but it's pretty stressful. My pace was brought to a sprint(!), and I was panting the sh*t out of myself upon passing the baton to the next runner. But believe me, I had really great fun with the SpongeBob Square Pants/ BKT runners :)

More pics of the event in my FB page.


Ivy Out!

Always happens!

Man does not live by bread alone.

I kinda know why I hate leaving my country for an extended period of time. It's the food (and my parents) that I miss, of course. I am not that independent as one would teethingly claim because I can assure you that I am highly dependent on Malaysian food.

What makes me this meaty and chubby despite my highly active lifestyle is because I am strictly unfussy in food. Except for tortoise, turtle, reptiles, insects and larvae, I pretty much gobble anything that is mildly nice. I can't tell if a dish is better than another shop serving the same although ppl claim that one place serves it better. Say for example, some friends say that Ipoh's Kuey Teow noodles is many times better than the one I am slurping on in PJ. I really don't know, man. I can't tell. For me, both Ipoh and PJ Kuay Teow is insignificantly different from each other (95% confidence level) despite my friend kept brainwashing me that it is. Another example: the Tau-Fu-Fah in Funny Snow Mountain Ipoh (whatever!) is soooooooooooooo good? Nah, don't bullshit me. HOW MUCH TASTIER CAN A TAU FU FA in Ipoh compared to say...Klang Valley's, eh?!?! It's psychology...you come this far, you definitely think it's worth it although it's not, because you don't want to think you wasted your time, journey and money to come here and say it's the same as anywhere else. (warning: tongue twister).

Let me tell you a secret: I went to HK and I can't tell if it beats every meat ball noodles I've eaten in KL. I've tasted noodles in KL that is as good as that in HK. Same goes for the lai-cha (Teh C). Oppss...

So after reading the above, you can tell that I ain't a foody person. Cause I ain't. I admit. When I go to many other countries and enjoy whatever food (not fussy mah) I find, but I won't go search for a particular food. I won't go the extra mild to search for a so-said famous food.

Anyway, here's the list of my favourite food (from any country) from 10th placing to 1st (only if I can't cook/prepare them). But I dunno where's the best place/restaurant to makan these, so no need to recommend me. I don't care. Period:

10. Slimy Lady's Finger Indian Curry (+ fish is a bonus)

9. Chapati + Tandoori Chicken + Mint sauce and pickled onions




8. Banana Leaf Rice (only when makan with clean bare hands) + must have deep-fried batter bitter gourd




7. Bakkutteh + offals + deep-fried ghost




6. Any egg dish i.e. steam eggs, sunny side up, scrambled, half-boiled, full boiled, infused with herbs, fu-yeong, etc... including Century eggs, salty eggs and duck eggs in curry





5. Ramly/Otai burger daging special + cheese = "Sloppy Burger" in kwai low's terms




4. Maggi Mee Goreng + Sunny side up




3. Semi-cooked (bloody) Kerang in 6-6 style





2. Penang style Char Kuay Teow with kerang (and must have chives!)




....and the number one food that I, without it for a week, would sit the first flight back to Malaysia:



1. Nasi lemak ikan bilis, only those in banana leaf packs. I can't find it good in any other country. No nasi lemak in any part of this earth beats Malaysia's nasi lemak.

A few food I found worth mentioning: Nasi Ulam/Kerabu, Ho Boh's Lui Cha, Agedashi Tofu, Bibimbap + Kimchi, Fried Wanton, Dim sum-style Deep Fried Tapioca, Pheasant's hand (Chicken feet lah!) + Wan Ton mee, Tau Fu Fah.

My favourite month.

June.

It's my utmost favourite month.

It's the month where my birthday resides. What more, in 2011, I had four b'day celebrations in a week. Blessed with good friends and good company.

It's the month of the Geminis. Btw, Geminis consist mostly of hyper, noisy and gila-gila ppl (jenis yang buat lawak bodoh). I do find myself annoying. Esp. during this month.

It's the month where I got my new assignment in my company. But I fought to get out. And guess what, being gutsy paid off. I am going to continue being an Environment consultant and will be at Daya Bumi - which is what I have always wanted.

It's the month where I get to go Singapore and shopped til I drop. Read post here (blogspot) or here (wordpress).

It's the month where I decide to sign up for a Full Marathon. It will be in Singapore this Dec 4th 2011.


It's the month where I decide to have two races in a month - NB15km and SCKL21.1km, and fared pretty well. Satisfied.

It's the month where I had to fight off a bunch of termites and colony. With money. But money can't heal all. Though all that matters is that it's working (for now).

It's the month where I think I own way too many running shoes. A new pair of Adi Response and a pair of Nike.

It's the month where I decide to give July a rest. No races, less swimming, more balik kampungs.

It's the month where summer movies (the bests ones of the year!) are out. - POTC IV, Super 8, X-Men First Class, Green Lantern, Transformers.

It's the month where a good friend migrates to Australia.

It's the month where I found new friends having the same passion. Many good new friends.

It's the month where I made soo many atrocious decisions, I amazed myself. Funny, every thing turned out fine.

It's the month where I hope every month will be like this month!


Thank you, June. Welcome, July.

Singapore - 18-19 June 2011

Some didn't know that I studied in NUS for a 6-month-stint in Singapore under the SIF-ASEAN Student Fellowship in 2002. Since then, I go back to Singapore every year; also because it's the nearest  'overseas' (or just Over-Selat) location to go to. Singapore is our cleaner, more efficient and more politically-timid neighbour, but there's still a good amount of vibrancy, happenings, and twice the number of hunks than say....Malaysia. Somehow, Singapore never fails to impress me, though I would think twice, nope thrice, about living there. I have my reasons why I am unlikely to ever move to Singapore. Maybe another post.



On my way, walking to Marina Bay Sands, to dine and shop (nope, no gambling).



My trip this time coincided with the Great Singapore Sales. I identified several (actually, a lot lah!) stuffs that were way cheaper than in Malaysia, but the Singapore Dollar (against the Malaysian ringgit) was the highest I've ever experience! So it was kinda back to square one when you purchase something to eat or wear. Food is not cheap unless you don't keep converting the prices in your brains. As I walk along Orchard Rd, I kept reminding myself of my impulsive buying habits and not to overspend. But when you have only 2 days and  the cheque's in the bank, the just-grab-whatever-first-and-regret-later mode set in. Also, I will never forget what a good friend said to me while I did a 'freestyle' in a pool of clothings at Somerset 313, "Whatever makes you happy, Ivy!". Thank you, I know. But damn you too - you're supposed to stop me from over-buying!

Certain shops such as MNG, Forever 21, Cotton On were like ...how do I put it....moving walls of flesh! Those shops were soo packed with people, I couldn't believe I was cut at my queue at the cashiers...in Singapore! :P So, Jakun ppl still exists in Singapore! When it comes to shopping, manners are valued at zero, even here. In addition, queues and wait to the changing room could put any Bangkok jam to shame.

As much as I wanna write down every minute of my shopping and eating experiences in Singapore (I could if I want to), it's past my bed time here. Let's keep it short. Here are some memorable moment of my 2 day experiences in photos:



Tau Suan, (Lek-tau dessert in Hokkien). One of the best desserts I've ever tasted. It's only found in Singapore, I supposed.
Most memorable lunch ever @ Le Chasseur, Clark Quay





BK bought me a Marron cake from Flor by Chef Yamaguchi.
Memorable frozen cheese cakes too 



 

Worth my walk. My long black @ Forty Hands Cafe.
 Cozy, different and hard-to-get-to (we walked 1.0km from Flor) to get here, I think!





Egg Beneddict for breakfast. That's a half-cooked yolk that explodes in your mouth. Volcanic experience!
(forgot the name of this cafe di)

Boon King's experiment...his hypothesis null that cameras are water-proof. :P
Conclusion: Only Boon King's camera.



Most 'memorable' dining experience because it's a super expensive meal, but gave me beef paties instead of real steak! Urghh...

Can't even bother about the name of this restaurant @ Marina Bay Sands

Being in Singapore is a annual affair. I'll be back in Singapore once more this year between 1-4 December, in conjunction with the SIF-ASEAN Alumni gathering. Can't believe it's been 10 years since I was part of the fellowship. *proud*. And...tada...many already knew that on the 4 Dec 2011 itself, I'll be doing my virgin FULL MARATHON. 42.195 km to be exact. *breath, Ivy, breath*

 

 







The Singapore's Standard Chartered Building near Marina Bay Sands.
Scaring the sh*t out of me already.



Menara KL Night Towerthon 2011

This is a long overdued post. Sorry folks. Some posts can wait, right?

The Towerthon took place on 7th May 2011, so it's exactly a month since I raced up 22 floors of the Menara KL in the night. This was my first time entering a race that involves going up a skyscraper. Last time I remembered training for a climb (not race!) was Mount Kinabalu in 2005. 

Even if you boastfully said that you've been trapped in an elevator for 10 minutes and not feel a clinch in your stomach, then try the claustrophobic stairs of the KL Tower that goes up all the way to the observation deck and see why claustrophobic is a gross understatement. Before the race, I wiki-ed 'KL tower' which states that there are 22 floors of stairs including 4 elevators that makes up 2,058 steps. I was like, wow... but I was also thinking: if I could conquer Mount Kinabalu, what harm can 2,058 steps do?!

Again, a gross underestimation of the horror 2,058 steps could do to your soul. The combination of the claustrophobic-ness of the staircase and the number of people climbing at the same time PLUS the lack of ventilation (claustrophobic lah tu!) makes walking up Batu Caves 10-times while fending yourself against monkeys, a piece of cake. I dedicated a substantial amount of time to train for this Towerthon and ended up in a total 6000++ steps accumulated over that period. It was one of my more well-prepared races compared to say PBIM 2010 and HK Marathon 2011.



 Looks can be decieving. Tough race up the brightly lit tower.



On paper, my race starts at 8.30pm. Biasalah, the Malaysia boleh mentally sets in, and for whatever reason my race delayed to 10pm. In Malaysia, memang apa-apa pun boleh! I was sitting there mengantuk like crazy, and because I was all by myself and alone for this race, I was bored to death. The race organizers were releasing 300 ppl up the tower any one time, and even so, we heard that a human traffic jam was already forming within the walls of the Menara. Before the start of the race, I really felt like being in a kandang lembu, being sequestered from other race categories with wooden barriers. While at the starting line, I saw Yuen Yu Fang, our Malaysia veteran pro-long distance runner at another kandang just behind me. She was staring at me. Maybe I look intimidating! But I quietly thank the Lord that she is not in my race category.

Tip no.1: The starting line is 800m away from the foot of the Tower. No one told me to do so, neither did I google for this tip, but I told myself to run as fast as I could for this 800m even though it was 100% uphill all the way. I ran as fast as I could 800m overtaking approx. 100+ runners, as all these runners were blimley oblivious to the fact that running as fast as u can RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE is the key to this Towerthon. Many took their sweet time walking uphill towards the tower. I was delighted I came out top of the pack cause there's no better time to beat 100 runners anymroe....not at the narrow staircase, no!

I was the first few girls in my category to reach the staircase. I ran ASAP up for first 10 floors. Wasn't really tired, but I've anticipated the impending human traffic jam on my way up. It was almost impossible to run up anymore - the stairs are narrow and you have to overtake the person in front of you in the most flattering way: by saying "EXCUSE ME" all the way up. Not easy. And thats like soo many people ahead of you. There was this one time where I blocked by this fat girl (sorry!). Her huge frame blocked the whole stairway. Being behind her, I had to resort to walking about 5 floors, but unable to take her (slow) pace, and excused myself to overtake her. She wasn't happy.

I had to watch my steps...Tip no. 2: The stupidest idea for one who does a towerthon, is to listen to his Ipod while racing up! It will definitely kill your concentration because it was very easy to trip and fall. You need to focus on your footsteps, taking care not to fall over papercups and slip on wetfloors.

Stamina and breathing is core to this race. But your mind should be above all, be strong and stubborn. Let me tell you why: Ventilation is almost zero, the stairs is claustrophobic (how many times have I mentioned this word here already?), people are behind and in front of you mere inches apart, you smell fresh sweat, and finally....you see people stopping halfway, hyperventilating and some idiots sitting on the stairway blocking other runners (where are your manners, people!). Some looking at you, their swelled up faces probably demanding that you empathize with them. Tip no. 3: Do not look into the faces of runners who stopped. Their faces demotivates you. Their tired faces sucks the life out of your pace. Continue running and focus on your steps.

I finished the race in 27 minutes!! I can't benchmark my performance against anything, but for the first time in my life, my name was at the first page of the results pages. I was Top 48 in my category. Maybe you've heard stories, but did you know that it was wayyyy tougher to come down from the Menara then racing up?  The idiotic organizers had only one lift working for the thousands of runners coming down. That aside, I was satisfied and convinced to not let this be my last Towerthon up the Menara KL. The observation deck awarded every finisher a pleasant night scenery of KL for a tough finish to the top.



3 Peas for my Big 3-0: Politics, Passion, Priorities

Indeed I have a lot of explanation to do. I have a lot to explain to the followers of this blog and to myself after being MIA for > 2 months (from this blog), which is quite unlike me. Who doesn't know that I love to rant and write. And yet, I still cannot comprehend this awkward difficulty in expressing myself lately. Even as I am typing now, there is still much reluctance. Reluctance in thoughts. Well, even my idol, Stephen Hawking said that some things are memang inexplicable. I have so much to tell (if u know me well, I always do) but words doesn't spell (and spill) out as easily as before. You may say it's a 'writer's block' but I digress. I call it errr...'stagflation'. If you've gone to economics class (I did mine in NUS and fared badly; should have stuck my classic sciences :P), it's a combination of being fake-ly 'high-spirited', but probably compensating for the stagnancy in my life.

Wow, I found another 8th of June baby at office!

Politics. These two MIA months were actually critical months in my career. My company is (still) going through a huge re-org and I found myself in a limbo. Shoved around. Found out that during such times, words are mere words if there are no actions. Promises were made and broken. A position in the company that was 'promised' to me, in which I was also eyeing for, was taken away without remorse. Such that I was the last one standing, in a game of musical chairs. Pretty much makes me the loser in this ruthless game. Of course, it's pretty normal in any company; many have journeyed through a similar path. I could only do two things: Quit or Stay. Office politics is as shitty as Malaysian politics. But the solution to politics is 'easy': You stay or you quit. (as per Singapore NDP 2002's speech by ex-premier Goh Chok Tong). You stay: you are doomed. You quit: politics will come find you wherever you are. Sooner or later, you're doomed.

Relationships: This 2 months has gladly shown me who are the people who don't give a damn about your life and those who genuinely do, who puts you down cause they envy your success, who understands your needs or those that plays down your aspirations by knowingly giving you shitty advice.  At this point, it was ridiculously easy to pick out the ones that REALLY care and you care for too. Also those who makes use of you and your money, and those who thinks I am a nice girl, found out that I am not!

Doesn't feel great to be thrown around and letting the company or your anyone else decide your future. I need to decide my own future. But in turbulent times, a silver lining appears: The situation has allowed me to re-assess my priorities, my wants and more importantly - my passion. It the midst of chaos (and it was chaotic), I sorta found myself. Learnt more about what I want in life. What my limitations are. What my strengths are. By now, I am 70% sure in what I want (that's quite high by my standards!). These two months was a debate between passion vs. money; relationships vs. invasion; heart vs. mind.



Makan-makan with my senior colleague.

Passion. What is passion actually? Probably it's just stuffs that you enjoy doing. My passion was swimming. Then, it was Aikido. Later, it was my doctoral research where I was delighted to see fungus growing out of any thing. I also found out that passion changes over time. It's vulnerably fluid. I currently enjoy running, which is definitely my passion today. All I talk about lately is about running, the shoes, the races, the training, etc. But hey, passion doesn't pay your bills! I run but it's not good enough to beat those (angry) Kenyans or Japanese to stand on the podium with a mock cheque of USD8,000. So, to some people, stop asking me quit my job to do what I am passionate about. Let me tell you, I can't do running as a job. Read my lips: It doesn't pay my bills. Maybe, not at this moment. Hopefully one day, I shall find my TRUE(?) passion. But whatever it is, I hope to find a job/passion that fits my out-going, bubbly personality.



Priorities. You can see where my priorities lie even in this blogpost itself. Chronologically. Notice that I always speak about career first......then you do the maths. Maybe that's where the problem lies when it comes to r/ship. More on r/ships next time. That would be in another post. Maybe several posts :P :P 


Tomorrow, I'll be hitting the Big three-Oh. I reflected back on what I've gone through for the past 30 years (wait...I barely have any memories of my first 5 years after birth, so it's 25 years) - the bitter-sweet memories, unforgettable travels, joyous occasions, big achievements, horrendous mistakes, life-changing moments, plain dumb decisions , and weird paths chosen - that led me to where I am today, I know I am blessed. I am also grateful, though slightly unsatisfied (I am still human being marr!),. I did come to conclusion that God do not allow me have everything, because if he does, I won't turn to Him anymore. Change, Loss and Pain are unavoidable. Growth is optional. "My prayer is you'll keep growing in love, knowledge and insight" - Philippians 1:9

Happy Birthday, Ivy. And grow up!

EMG Family Day - Damai Laut, Perak

Welcome to my second family. My colleagues and I are so close, I consider them my second family. In fact, I spend most my time (working life) for the pass 1.5 years with them. We are all such a great team that I am greatly saddened by the current restructuring that will see most of us going to other groups/projects. So, this is also a farewell trip for our close-knitted group.

If you must know, we are bonded mostly by food. Well, who's not, if you're in Malaysia. Everyone is such a great cook; I envy them being able to juggle between taking care of 5 kids(!) and coming to work with breakfast prepared (<8.00am!) enough for everyone to savour. They always cook lebih-lebih. I come to work every morning with home-made breakfast for sure at the pantry. (And I will be latest to wake up every morning and come in office empty-handed for the pass year - the luxury of being single and having no kids, husband to cook for).

As anticipated, our department's family day was a food-filled time. The trip to Damai Laut was a breeze and plus, the weather was kind to us. I packed my parents, god-sister and swim suit (as I was designated swim teacher for family day) into the Alza, sped to resort, and soon found out we are all staying at this awesome huge bungalow. Well, to cut the story short - we swam, BBQ-ed at night, karaoke-d whole night, played pool, relaxed at the beach, acara sukaneka involving balloons (my phobia!) for adults and kids, bitten by hundreds of mozzies, and the highlight for me (personally!) was - sharing ghost stories in the night. I spooked myself out, but was too tired to not sleep.

More importantly, my dad and mum enjoyed themselves and no-doubt fitted quite well with my colleagues, bosses and their family members. My mum is the most sporting mum in the world, which put me at total ease 'cause I was worried they wouldn't fit in easily (esp. dad). They were really really happy with the trip. I was happy that they are too.

I love my current boss. She's the greatest. She will be retiring end of this year and I am really sad that I'm about to lose a great mentor, a great problem-solver, and the one who hired me into a great company! *mata duitan*

Some random pics of the Family day:

BBQ

Afternoon at the beach

Damai Laut Resort - overlooking the golf course.

Mum

Newly-wed Fellie and hubby; others ain't my colleagues :P

Mum, Dad, Ying2

Biblical 1111

Look what I stumbled upon that interests me @RickWarren: 

"A GODLY man loves the strength of a GODLY woman “IN THE LORD women & men are not independent of each other.”

1 Cor. 11:11

The verse and of course, the numbers interests me. 

Btw, Corinthians is the 7th book of the bible. How perfect :)
 

Previous posts on 1111: here, here, and here AND HERE!!!!