Detachment...

Had hoped to be able to work in a 'detached from life' attitude today and tried not to let depressing orphan song affect work - until a customer's phone rang, with A Kiss To Build A Dream On (first song to begin our downhill depressing slide) as the ringtone!

Immediately slumped as if I had no backbone. Right. Needed to perk self up again:

This time it's Coffee Bean for our cave time. Earl Gray (minus the regular honey stick), Banana Cake slice, Book-of-the-Moment and iPod.

Result? Back to detachment.

Or overdetachment. Had surge of inane thinking that normally makes sense after many many bottles of thirst-quenching drinks or a few puffs of some illegal herbage.

All people have music in their lives!

All carry different genres. Some have more, some have less. Some people let out this music by song - they are composers and musicians and singers. Some let the music out in art - they are artists. Some let it out in words - they are authors and writers. Some let it out in stone - they are sculpters. Some people have music like that of a scratched CD - they are the chaotic misfits.

The music tells your character. So people with the same music resonates better? Those that don't cancel each other out? So that makes us all walking iPods?

Nah. *Smacks self at silly thinking*

Many faces of ay-cee

ay-cee's mood is: Despairing

And the song that won depressing song for the night: 'Nobody's Child':

I'm nobody's child
I'm nobody's child
Just like the flowers
I am growing wild
I've got no mammy's kisses
I've got no, no daddy's smile
Nobody wants me
I'm nobody's child

Christmas 2005

It's a tad scary when something like this happens:

"Eh, so what did you do last Christmas?"
"Err..."
*blank look as brain digs through clustered history*
"Dinner with family, I guess."

So I guess better blog about it rather than let it fade...

Sis came back on the 23rd, marking the start of our Movie Marathon. Unfortunately I've been having regular movie meetups that there were few shows that I haven't (nor wanted) to watch. Sis, however, haven't watched anything since HP4 and had that 'die-die must watch something!' attitude that I had to keep telling meself, "Surely the (other) shows can't be that bad..."

Movie line-up: King Kong, Narnia and whatever else they were showing. Ended up we only did 2 shows: A Chinese Tall Story and King Kong. Surprisingly the shows were watchable!

Christmas day had lunch at Coliseum! Andrew and Lieh Men introduced moi to the Sizzling Chateaubriand (their Christmas set had this item called Mushroom Cappucino Soup but no one tried it). From Wikipedia:

Chateaubriand steak - a large tenderloin steak usually grilled or broiled and
served with a sauce (as béarnaise), named after French author and diplomat
François-René de Chateaubriand.

Coliseum Cafe (est 1921) looks very much like a Wild West Bar and Dine. Moreover, they seem to do with only a bare minimum in decor. That didn't seem to deter the clientele as the place was full. I guess since the place has survived this long due to it's name and food, because the waiters we had were weird. Asides from the slightly deaf and old (est 1921?) Captain Ho, we had an Indian blunt one that enlightened us on working courtesies and a Chinese one that shrugged his shoulders at us when we flagged for the bill.

Imagine lah something like this:
Everyone you know died suddenly and left you to fend on your own in the wild world.
You're lost and unsure of what to do or how to go on.
You ask a passerby, "What am I to do?"
The passerby, sympathetic but unable to help, gives you a pitying look and shrugs.
That was the kind of look and shrug that the waiter gave us!!!

Bye bye Coliseum Cafe.

After lunch we made our way to Sogo to see the waterfall and wonder at the current conditions of their arcades. Amazingly I never realised that Sogo was actually rather small. Probably a better word may be narrow. Probably it's because the last time I ever went there was...was...over 10 years ago? I dunno lah, at least they made up for it by being 8 floors high. First thing we did was stop by the waterfall and throw coins at fishes.


Then we went to bang machines. Bang drum machine. Bang Bishi Bashi machine. But one machine beat me no matter how I banged...

Don't play Dance Dance with leather shoes.

To make the day even better we'd then detoured to the Lake Gardens! Waaaaa....the only Chinese we saw were the joggers. We even found dinosaurs at the Lake Gardens Dinosaur Park.

This herbivore was embarrassingly made from artificial leaves.


The ducks at the Lake Gardens put me in mind of those at The Isle of Wight's Bird Park, but those were train to corner and harrass tourists with small identifiable bags of bird food. If only I had some leftover Chateaubriand sandwich!


The excursion ended with a short trip to A&W's for rootbeer floats, watching horizontal rain and waterfalls from drains.

Christmas night itself was a trip to Uncle Jo's place for dinner! The last time he made dinner he had all the ladies asking him his cooking methods (unorthodox but delicious!). Uncle Jo and been getting a turkey every year from me mum and so me and Sis were expecting something good.

Steamboat. We had steamboat. And I thought 1 Utama's Hallmark selling Chinese New Year cards was already considered a tad fast.

And thus ended the Christmas fun. Must keep track of the days of our lives.

Lifeblog mimicry 2...

Wouldn't it be nice if:

• Malaysia had four seasons.
• Cars were like those in Dragon Ball, where they can be 'capsuled' and kept away when not in use.
• There were no such thing as traffic or tolls.
• You'd get grateful comments from customers everyday, or feel job satisfaction everytime.
• Nokia could make just the perfect phone.
• The days/nights were longer but not the work hours.
• One could get a job posing in Ikea's showrooms? Just to laze around, getting comfy and all doing what one could do at home but with different furniture settings every now and then? And be paid for it?
• You had your own getaway spot whenever you need some timeout or to escape?
• You knew how your life'll all turn out in the future?
• People like us can change?
• We could enjoy life before we're old.
• I could stop missing having a pet to spoil.
• Klang wasn't so far.
• England wasn't on the other end of the world.
• Your life turns out like some love story/rom-com/happily-ever-after fairytale?
• Those important to you knows and can give what you want/need at that particular time?
• I knew what I want out of life?

Wouldn't it be nice if I wasn't a depressive.

Have yourself a very Blessed Christmas...

Lifeblog mimicry 1...

I've been bringing my Nok7650 back to life these past few days, as it's camera is rather much more simpler and quicker for light moments. Good for those antisocialistic times that need recording.


Who doesn't love Ikea? You don't feel like you're in Malaysia, but in your future home...

Meals at Ikea are a sort of escape. Their setting reminds me of Belgium roadside restaurants with people eating mussels, very continental and laid-back. Does not feel like an Asian food court at all. Plus unlimited refills of drinks!


My most regular dish: kung pow chicken, 'refreshing tea ice', and hong kong kailan with either garlic or oyster sauce.

My dinners are mostly at Restaurant OK ever since I've started working at Guardian. It's nearby, meals are good, and am experimenting with different dishes every time I eat there (which would be some twice a week or more). An easier option than eating late at home.


My Book-Of-The-Moment, my Hazelnut Latte (if there's no seasonal drink) and my music (plugged into AC already).

Nothing beats destressing with a cuppa Hazelnut Latte in a comfy couch away from it all. Aided by a light book (a Pratchett) but made a mistake of listening to depressing songs the whole day. Am now gravely depressed in addition to being angry. ladthelad, how in the world can you listen to so many depressing songs!?

Christmas e-card rant

It's already nearly the end of the year. Whoa. Time to send out the e-cards again. Logging on to my regular e-card website (Care2) and I find that I'm sending the same card as last year again (carolling reindeers, singing a lurvely rendition of Canon in D that suddenly takes on a more sinister Green Day note). However, could not think of a decent write-up greeting to include and so decided on cliche greeting.

This is then followed up by the addition of recipients. Must have overloaded it or something: as my address book in particular e-card account is not updated, I manually typed in the email adds of all recipients. Completing the list in half an hour, I send it out only to be told there was an error in sending the e-card.

Oh My Folly Golly What The Fluke Bar Be Que!

Normally my Christmas e-cards end up BELATED! This is the first time I'm sending it early! Aargh am just gonna leave it for another day then. Prolly till after Christmas once more.

Pictionary Pic of the Day!

Pictionary with njapf, her friend and ladthelad at The Curve last night yielded this Pic of the Day!

Your clues: it's ALL PLAY.

By the way, the answer to the last Pic of the Day was Hercules!

Memoirs of a bren-ded boi

Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Arasnamad, there was a palace of wonders called the First Prime. This palace, unlike many others, were totally opened to the public to enter and leave as they like for half a day. Thus, First Prime was always full of merchants and traders, tourists and locals, princes and paupers, entertainers and philosophers, even thieves and pickpockets, all mingling together, all engaged in their private business and errands.

However, hidden in a high minaret in a corner of the palace a dark, dirty business took place. Disguised as a beauty consultant no one realised the evil truth about the shop's actual motive. Only one poor victim managed to escape, scarred but alive. This is his tale.

All the nooks and crannies of First Prime have I explored, most of the regular patrons and merchants are familiar to me. There is no corridor, no balcony, no walkway or garden unknown to me. Until one day I happen to chance upon this corner of the palace. The crowd here is smaller, and oddly enough the atmosphere here felt...quieter. I could see no palace staff as well, no guards, no courtiers, no servants.

People here were suspicious-looking. While all were finely garbed, with elegant cuts in the latest fashion, there was a sense of secrecy amonst them and a furtive look in their eyes. All of them looked young. My curiousity was piqued. I ventured into the minaret where these people were either heading to or from.

What matter of business is being run here that makes people so secretive? Even Mr Argaiv's customer's aren't all that embarassed when doing business with him:

I headed up the minaret.

It was a beauty parlour.

Sassafras' Beauty Consultation. Funny, nothing to be necessary secretive about it. And since I am already here it would be a waste not to have a consultation. Ms Sassafras' scrutinizing made me slightly uncomfortable, as a child would scrutinize an insect before deciding if he would hammer it. I was then told that my hair was unnaturally healthy!

"Your hair, it is not right! Hair must be vibrant! Your hair, it shows your character, your beauty, your vim! Yours does not! It's naturalness must be restored!"

Her forcefulness, I admit, cowed me. I meekly gave in to her suggestions for colouring, a trim and hair treatment.

I was surprised. Her equipment was far unnatural to restore naturalness.The heavy air of unguents and perfume made me heavy. Was lulled into a semi-dazed state before I realised the reason for my feeling slow.


My bren was bein cookd!

Don't Forget To Feed Your Car

Must remember this number: 386. Forgetting this number will result in a black star haunting your day. This is the magic number for our 1st-gen Kembara. After this number, if it's not fed, it'll sulk on you and not move. No amount of coaxing will budge it if you don't feed it before this magic number is reached. Sigh. Here's how we found out about it.

Left for work with time to spare, and the warning lights for 'low petrol' had yet to start blinking. Last thought we had was, "Last time manage to go all the way to 400km before we'd to refuel, should be able to pump up on our way home from work la." Our psychic car must have intercepted that thought because it immediately started *coughing* and dying.

We went, "Gah! No! Please! Just a little bit more!" Despite our coaxing, our Kembara was feeling too thirsty to continue dragging itself to the nearby Shell station. It stranded us nicely first in line at the Leong Yew Koh crossroad traffic lights with the magic number 386.

Oh dear. Found out that we left our phone at home. Anyways, no matter. We know the problem. Thirsty Kembara will not move until fed and watered. Grr. Packed our bags, left the hazard lights a-running, and made the journey to look for Kembara food.

Was lucky enough to get some fella driving a TM truck to drop us off at Lim Tayar. Walked to Shell next door to beg for a bottle so we could feed our Kembara. Once feeding bottle and car food procured, had to walk all the way back to crossroads where car was sulking.

As was going to feed the car, it resolutely kept its mouth shut and didn't want to suckle. Gah. Hunted nearby trees for a long stick and found one! Jammed Kembara's mouth open and force-fed it yummy car juice. After much dribbling Kembara was fed enough to get it moving all the way to Shell, hooray!

Like that was not enough. Went to work about near four-ish, and me calculated that we shouldn't need to take a quick break to move our car to avoid paying an extra 2 bucks for parking. Mana tahu when we went to pay for parking near the end of the day, I still ended up paying RM3! Parking ticket clock-in: 15:43, clock-out: 21:45. Na-beh. Then back in the pharmacy our lab coat snagged the door catch and popped a button. Basket.

So remember: Feed your car or be visited by a black star!

GameCon1 and Boardgames galore!

Hmm. We were here Fri nite for AeonFlux, and went to dine at the 'Blue Drink' fastfood joint aka McD's. Both 'Drew and I had the chicken, his being Spicy and mine original. Take a look:

Spicy is top, original is bottom. Picture quality doesn't shine here but with both varieties side-by-side the original looks like it's sick and have seen better days. Still tastes good tho'.

Look!

Saturday noon and here we are at Midvalley Convention Centre for the GameCon1! Our purpose there: to playtest board games aplenty! 2 Klangite friends were going to buy some board games later on and we were going to continue the board games session at night in Klang. Now, why the hype over board games? Because we aren't talking Monopoly or Pictionary here. We're talking:

World of Warcraft: The Board Game. Weighs some 5kg. Miniatures galore.

Lawks. To be young again. Imagine if you had those 2 weeks' post-exam holidays to actually spend days playing these kinda games and do nothing else. Asides from the front half of Convention Room 1 filled with tablefulls of board games on display, we had (to be expected) Magic: The Gathering and Warhammer 40k.

"Take three." "Bounce." "Sac." "Done." And lots more as Magic players buzz in a world of their own.

Orks RoXoRS!!! W3 l33t 0RkS go1n 2 p@wns you N00Bs! I guess they don't talk like that but hey.

Of the games we'd tried my personal favourite was Carcassonne.

Left the place about 7pm with a splitting headache! Better yet, the day wasn't done. Got home, had dinner and a quick shower and we were down to Klang for more! From 10pm onwards we'd played Puerto Rico and Betrayal at House on the Hill before stopping for mamak at Modern, then went back for Ticket to Ride: Europe. By the time we'd finished that it was 6am and I just had to leave to get back home (and privately regretting not taking Sunday off) while the others continued on for one more game of Puerto Rico (and probably went for bah kut teh before sleeping). Gah! Next time the Klangites are gonna have a board game nite, have to find out if anyone is gonna bunk over at the host's house. If so then I'm definitely gonna make sure I'm not working the day after as well.

Bliss...

Hmm. Ever since we've (re)started working at 1Utama again we're relatively happy about working (well, we guess we mean comparing to the other branches). Why? Because it's 1U? Yes, we suppose. Our second home. This means we don't feel demoralized about working, and kept ourselves working nonstop for an entire week before our batteries flatted out on Thursday the 1st.

Was sniffling like a leaky red-coloured tap, and no amount of antihistamines did jack. Thankfully Fitness First had their annual dinner on said day so we didn't had to drag ourselves to Bodyjam. So, we decide to settle for one of our favourite vices for some quality cave time:

Joy to the world.

Mum mentioned that she wasn't cooking dinner, there wasn't any social obligations planned and so there was no rush to leave our haven. And there we were, snuggled nicely in the comfortable couch's embrace and alternating between massaging our face to relief ourselves of our allergies to playing the Nintendo DS (we've gotten Mario & Luigi 2!) to savouring our Rocky Road (melted to perfection as shown in pic above).

Next thing we knew, once we'd finished our Rocky Road, we were dead to the world. We haven't even touched our Hazelnut Latte yet.

By the time we woke up, one of our foremost thoughts were:

Shyte!!! Past 6 hours or not!

Thankfully in time. But we wouldn't have minded paying extra this time as that time spent in Starbucks powering down was plain worth it.

Note to self: there was a notice at the counter about the opening of 2 more branches: one at Centrepoint (next to visit) and one more at Borders The Curve. Borders? The Curve?

In Heaven there is no beer...

In Heaven there is no beer
So we better drink it here

Hmm. Makes you wonder, how and why in the world did we let beer into our lives?

Ye-es. Must say that beer is an interesting social instrument. It's the oil or lubricant that gets the conversation going between different people. Gets you just nicely high without going overboard. For most people, you can drink quite a bit (coupla' bottles, say) and still be coherent. Couple of bottles won't even make you feel heavy or sleepy.

Beer isn't like hard liquor. No need for mixers. You could drink them out straight from the bottle. When you drink beer, you don't end up inhaling it via your sinuses. Beer doesn't kill your brain cells as fast. With beer you don't end up wasting half the night feeling wasted with a bucket to throw up in, nor do you end up next morning with a massive hangover and wondering what happened the night before.

Beer isn't like tea or coffee. Beer doesn't keep you awake through the night. Beer doesn't excite you, give you the jitters nor does cause butterflies in the stomach. Beer isn't strong-tastingly bitter. You don't drink beer hot. You don't have to waste time making the beverage.

But then again, I'm not really too much of a beer person. See, being a bit of an extremist at times, I tend more towards hard liquor and the baggage it carries (voluntary helicopter spins, Walls of Jericho, inhibition breakdowns, next-day post mortems). But here's one who is:

Newfound love

Okay. I'll cover two unresolved issues I left out in my previous posts in one go:

Ta-daa! Spent some time editing Magic: the Gathering cards and fitting pictures of friends inside instead. Whatmore I just hantam some generic mechanic for the abilities. After all I just try try only what. The crazy thing is that for the first few cards I edited, I spent completely ages repainting over the logos so that they were pale enough not to obstruct the text. Once we'd installed Adobe Photoshop however, things were a breeze.

Secondly, we've finally gotten our iPod! Have you seen it? Here, let me show you...Yes. Am suffering from showoffitis, a serious affliction that can cause social ostracism if left unchecked. But seriously, it's like my new SO. It's been sleeping with me...well, not really sleeping as it's been keeping me totally awake in bed.

Had actually buggered the fellas at the Apple Centre MidValley to the point where I was about to withdraw my deposit on Thursday to buy the iPod Video from the store next door (hmmm interesting point, all MacAsia and Apple Centre stores have no stock but smalltime store do, why?). Am told that stock would come in the following day and so I waited. Come Friday I'd rushed over to MidValley from 1 Utama to see if stock has arrived...only to have found my trip there wasted. But the fellas told me stock will just be arriving late and they would send it over to me at 1U! Wah! Talk about customer service! I also impressed. Ask me to deliver medicine to your house I already give you a one kind of look la. Stuff like this can buy customer loyalty from soft-hearted people like me one. Maybe. After all MacAsia is in 1 Utama leh.

Fri Nite Board Games Session!

Oh yes. Our Monopoly night. Here's Starbucks, The Curve and us (guess where are we): lad, 'Vin, Puddy and otousan.

This until da waiter nicely informs us it's closing time. We'd to return the coffee cups and transfer our bevvies into paper ones before we were turned out.

Sorry-la my camphone is pseudo-cam only. No flash. Cannot take impressive night shots ya. This is around 1am already. Few people about, quite cool, mosquitoes biting, and free music from the bars above. Game went on with us ganging up against otousan until we ourself felt blah as we were definitely...'not winning'. And then we lost:

Scotty (us) died...got crashed in front of hotel by Car (otousan)...

We learn more mottos when it comes to Monopoly:
Otousan: "The rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer!"
Puddy: "Everybody has a price!"
SooJ: "In this game there is no boyfriend or girlfriend."
'Vin: "Lau sai!" Well...not really a gaming motto there.
Then it was time for Pictionary (everyone too paiseh for Twister).

Picture of the day by Puddy. Why? Because of what the pic is suppose to be. Heh. Here's the details:
Category: Difficult.
This is her full pic. No added bits anywhere else. The answer was guessed when someone was shouting, "Zues! Zues!", and then she drew a sword in his arm.

Can you guess? We'll tell in a couple of posts time.

Fruitful Week! (Part 2)

Thursday, 17th November 2005.
Spent the whole day editing Magic: The Gathering card frames and putting other pics and such inside. Shall post them up someday.

Must admit obsession with getting the video iPod has been growing on us! Can no longer wait...especially since the shop next to the Apple Centre MidValley had stock! Wanted to withdraw our deposit but the fella told us that stock is definitely coming in tomorrow, if it did not come in then we could get back our deposit then. Being ever so hopeful (hey we feel it much safer to purchase our iPod from either the Apple Centre or MacAsia, we're that brand-conscious you know) we thought, okay. By tomorrow we're getting our iPod one way or another.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! Must say that this show rather disappoints and satisfies at the same time. Like getting splashed with cold water the way they just neglect some scenes. Might as well had made it a 3-hour movie like the first two, with more scenes. Oh well, hope they have an extended DVD in the works like The Lord Of The Rings.

Friday, 18th November 2005.
Work today was rather interesting as we met quite a number of familiar faces...old schoolmate, batchmate, seniors! Made work fun. Whatmore, was planning to spend some quality time with our new iPod as there wasn't any plans for tonight, until otousan texted to say that we were gonna go for yamcha. Yamcha turned out to be: board games at Starbucks The Curve! Bah! Have problems posting pics. Shall have to open up another post for it.

Fruitful Week! (Part 1)

This week(end) can be said to be quite fruitful. Have been working at Guardian 1 Utama again (yay it's good to be home!) and this time as a locum. Ahh the irresponsibilites. Of course there're less recognizable faces but the promoters are still all here, some executives are still here, and the other pharmacists are still here...for now. Anyways.

Must gripe about new parking fees at 1 Utama. Why? WHY? Extra RM2 per hour after 6 hours! And one of 1U's selling points is its' RM1 parking fee per entry! It chases their loyal customers that just love to indulge in a lazy day's lepaking lounging. If they were thinking: more customer turnover, why not just set the parking fees for the weekend a la MidValley? My options: (a) park at lad's house and walk to work, quite feasible provided weather is cloudy and windy and we're not late for work; (b) drive out during my break and back into 1 Utama again; (c) get someone to fetch us there; or (d) apply for employee's parking and park at the open air parking. Among all our options (d) is definitely not one option we'll ever entertain seriously.

Oh yes. Fruitful week. How?

Monday, 14th November 2005.
Was our off day (ah bliss) and had planned to queue up early at GSC MidValley for tickets to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! After ages of waiting and much teaser trailers it's almost here! After all, book 4 is considered the best among the lot (inclusive of Half-Blood Prince) and so there's much to be expected from the movie: Quidditch World Cup, Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs, Triwizards Tournament, Voldemort...
Had noticed that Certified Drug Pusher was trying to reach us since 8am but we were asleep. Managed to call her back while in queue only for her to tell us that her friend couldn't get tickets today, reservation starts tomorrow. And 2 seconds later we'd the fella at the counter tell us the same thing. Gah! Wethoughts reservations could be done 3 days in advance? Had we known we'd had taken Tuesday off instead! Anyways, was at IT World browsing Nintendo DS games when disaster struck.

Probably you can see it creeping up on you...if not the sound of workers shouting, "Call maintenance! Call maintenance! Oi! Oi! Aaaah!" would have attracted interest. Yeeurgh...brown water...

Tuesday, 15th November 2005.
Morning shift at 1 Utama. The plan: to rush to MidValley during our lunch break and snag tickets immediately! Takes what, 15 minutes to reach MidValley via Kerinchi Link? Must get tickets for 9pm Thursday show before lousy seats are left!
Success! Tickets snuggled safely in wallet. Starving now however. Snickers...yum.
After BodyCombat 'twas time for Domino's Pizza. About to leave Fitness First DU when lad noticed 8 missed calls...only to find out that Mario Kart DS is out! Alright then, lad gets pizzas, we get games. Meet at our place. Domino's Aloha Chicken and BBQ Beef...yum. Mario Kart DS...good.

Wednesday, 16th November 2005.
Huzzah morning shift at 1U instead of afternoon! We meets Kay for the first time! Yet another IMU P1/97 senior! That makes: Certified Drug Pusher, Boss-GPL, AiM, Chrstphr, and Kay! Whoa not bad 4 out of 5 working in Guardian.

Stress Test

It boils down to this: stop working for the day if you start scolding a perfectly innocent customer wanting to get his medication because he has already missed it for some days. Had to sit in the car and shout before we could do anything else.

It's been a long day now and it's no walk in the park to just dispense the entire day to all sorts, taking very late lunch breaks and working overtime to finish whatever paperwork accumulated during the course of the day only to have to deal with more customers that cause more paperwork and the vicious cycle continues...some more we cannot sit by the side to do our paperwork leaving the other poor pharmacist to handle the entire queue while we're still able to help clear said queue.

Stress continued to build up as we rushed off at 7pm hoping to reach The Curve in time for Bodycombat (yah a bit immature to not be able to place priorities right and to get all grouchy because we were late for class). Instead of relieving the stress by punching air the stress build up even more! By the end of the class our head was so heavy all we wanted to do really was just place it on the floor and curl up there. Had to settle for placing head on tabletop.

Thankfully tomorrow am not working. Need the rest after working throughout the holidays.

Work Work Work

Well now. Have been locum-ing for a month. Must say that working in various branches is rather...fun. The variety makes it that we don't really get bored of a place too fast (we would still gripe somehow).

Store check:
Guardian 1 Utama - Our 1st store! Busy but lots of staff so it was nice!
Guardian University Hospital - Very small store but busy due to UH!
Guardian MidValley - Another crazy-busy store! Can dread the queue if you're working alone!
Guardian Bangsar Shopping Centre - Waaa this store very affluent crowd one...all angmohs!
Guardian Damansara Utama - Quiet store on weekends.
Guardian Bandar Puteri Puchong - Giant-Guardian (think Tesco-Apex) branch! Unfortunately crowds come in at night which we don't like to cover.
Guardian Sunway Pyramid - Okay crowd. Shocking man the amount of students coming in for Postinor 2!!!
Guardian Tun Perak - Our current store! Quiet weekends that allow for rest. Pet peeve is the fact that we have to commute instead of drive, which means we spend more time travelling (and pay more).
Guardian Endah Parade - The only reason we covered this branch for Hari Raya 2005 was because as an IMU student it would be embarassing to not know this place, whatmore a student that has stayed in Vista Komenwel for some 3 years! Since we were familiar with the branch we didn't mind trying out for the couple of days. Only scary bits were the hearsay of nasty Chinese customers (which we didn't encounter).

That's 9 stores we've experienced working in in 1 year man! Of course 5 of those branches we only worked 1-2 days la but hey, most people are just stuck in one store for years man! The variety seen from store to store makes the job more interesting. 1 Utama and MidValley are crazy-busy branches at times such that the hours just fly by, while DU and Tun Perak on Sundays are great places to take a break from the hectic pace while at work. UH branch is fun because you get to deal with Group B drugs and prescriptions!

Also ya, working as locum hor, can be more irresponsible flexible compared to working full-time. Hours more open to negotiation ("Can only work till 5pm today ya."), don't do any much paperwork, work days also rather free ("Can't come in today ya."), and job description more focused towards dispensing/consulting only. Be the envy of the full-time pharmacists.

So, work as a locum must make sure work enuff hours to ensure got enuff cash to pay for everything in the month, must whore ourself to many store managers to find slots for us to work because our primary branch doesn't really need us much, must adjust to different store layouts so can find where most things are, must make sure we don't fall sick because got no MC or claims from panel doctors, must make sure got enough cash to survive if go on holiday because got no public holidays or annual leaves that are paid for, must make sure our contract will be renewed next year, must make sure HQ sends the required letters so enforcement don't come fire us all ways...

Work work work.

Quick Look Around Klang 1...

Too much Bridget Jones can lead to this:

6.00am: Am going off to sleep as earlier have been progressing on Spartan: Total Warrior. Must make full use of job flexibility now as once procur job as top-flight pharmacist may not have such luxury to stay up all night. Must get up early to go to JPJ to get back car registration form sent in last week for hakmilik cancellation.

8.00am: Mother barges into bedroom announcing that we better get up and head to JPJ.

9.00am: Mother shouting from downstairs inquiring if we're still asleep. In fact have woken up, but only to turn the air conditioning off. Mother was also making statements regarding fact that it is the puasa month and upcoming Deepavali/Hari Raya celebrations means civil servants will take longer to get things done. Inwardly was thinking that it was going to be us doing the waiting, after all. Surely collection of form wouldn't take that long?

9.15am: Have woken up and breaking fast. Blah. Am planning to head to some nice quiet park once done at JPJ to nap in car.

10:30am: Have been waiting for half and hour now. Ticket number states that we are 7032 while current number at counter at time we took ticket was 7026. Nevermind, have Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason book and Nintendogs to while away time. Ooo! Must take dogs for walk.

10:45am: Barking has unnerved poor Malay woman sitting in front of us causing her to move to end of row. Whoops, officer at counter verbally calling out us number rather than buzzing it. Wanted to know to whom car belongs to. Says is sisters, which he then proceeds to check with his head. Decide to sit nearer to counter, which happens to be 2 seats away from poor Malay woman. Still walking dogs while they yark their heads off unsettling poor Malay woman all the more.

11:00am: Am out of JPJ. Hmmm since heading into Klang might as well use inner roads and avoiding silly RM1 toll.

11:15am: Must not autodrive so much unless have destination fixed properly. Was deciding to head to (old) home instead of UOB Bank near Klang Parade. Needed to fill in form for process of exchanging bankbook for ATM card. Ooo UOB Vox card has Visa Wave! Must resist. Must get steady job where can be top-flight pharmacist before grubbing for another credit card.

12:00pm: Hmmm decided that since in Klang shall take pictures to show how much has changed. Also driven by fact that lad has asked if there were places of interest in Klang and did not seem to believe us when told him no.

Splash Swimming Centre
Used to be called Blue Sea Pools. Why the pic? This place has 2 pools at the back where you can pay and swim. First learned of this place when our primary school scouts decided to spend a day here (must have been scouts and not class activity, but definitely primary school). Oh yes, why does this place stick in Memory Lane - there were arcade machines here! Imagine the joy of finding a Street Fighter 2: The World Warriors arcade (20sen a game, oh what times) with many many contenders. We gather many people who cycled here didn't come for the swim.

Kin Sun cornershop, Chi Liung
This cornershop's popularity lies in it's Fried Kuey Teow. Absolute dee-lish. The man also tends to bang his wok with spatula every other second, thus us dubbing him the 'musical char kuey teow man'. Nowadays someone else helps with the cooking. Our sis also enjoys the prawn mee here but we haven't tried it before. Right opposite this coffeeshop is the Grace Assembly Hall.
Was planning to have lunch here but the place was closed!

Restoran Taman Chi Liung
The lady selling kuey teow soup here is absolute dee-lish. She adds in loads of lieu instead of just the regular fare of 2-3 fishballs and some chicken strips or fishcake slices. Her store normally has a very long queue. She's also not open today! What's wrong with these people? Anyways if ever you want to find these places, just ask about for the Chi Liung Public Bank or Grace Assembly Hall. Can't get lost.

EON Bank building
Admittedly we have no idea who owns the building. This building can be seen on your right on the way down to Port Klang. What's so special about this building? It used to be a Grandy's Restaurant. You know? Fried chicken? After that it became a Carls Jr. Restuarant for a while. We remember that bit because we always wanted the Carls Jr. keychain. The children's play area was upstairs, with a segmented area filled with plastic balls to drown in. Must have been too old then, tho'.
Took this picture while on way to find YN as heard she was working in the Port Klang branch of Lee Pharmacy. As could not locate store walked into K. H. Hoe Pharmacy and met a P1/99 senior, Jqln!

Panmour Villa
Focus supposedly not on Panmour Villa but it does play a part. We took this picture as we saw a new signboard of our old tuition place. It's the dark green one on the left, 2 floors up. Taught Science and Maths until Form 3. Funny man from our church. The last we saw him was when we started working in Guardian 1 Utama as we recognized his wife and daughter but couldn't place name to face at first.
As for Panmour Villa wethinks it opened when we were in Form 2 (Klangites please correct us). Dunno how many star hotel and food court downstairs. Mainly good for ais kacang.

Teluk Gadong KTM Komuter stop
The one just 5 minute's walk behind our old Klang house. Happy trips to Sogo, The Mall and especially to PC Fairs at PWTC begins here. Mornings to college also began here. We do remember occasions where we overslept in the train and ended up at the Angkasapuri stop before class started or at Pelabuhan Kelang on the way home.
Nowadays we find refuge here as a place to park and sleep when there is no shade in the park while in Klang.

Kudrat crossroads
Now the fugly bits. This be the crossroads branching off to Happy Garden, Taman Chi Liung and Port Klang if coming from Klang Town. It's still Persiaran Raja Muda Musa but now it has these road dividers and roadworks in action.

3:00pm: Business in Klang is complete. Am heading back home.

Revamping Bedroom Corner!

So mum goes: she saw a shelf in Ikea that may fit our bedroom corner. There's a small glass-top coffee table there stacked with our bags, bags we've gotten from drug talks, gym baggie, Dreamcast box and a box of memorabilia.

See? Not the cluttered desk but the corner to the right! And that is not a vacuum cleaner under the desk! The boxes we've scrounged came in very handy when it came to house-moving >:P

Well, must say that shelf suggestion sounded good. Would improve bedroom aesthetics and make stuff more accessible. So agreed. Thursday the 20th we'd gone to Ikea to have a look-see at what mum looked-saw. First impression was: a bit small lar the shelves. Look at the stuff that was sitting on our table:

Well...abovepic did not show how this was all stacked oh-so-nicely on aboveshown table. Thankfully table was near corner so bags could lean on both walls would have fallen off otherwise. Lesse: Ezetrol baggie, baggie with Chinese text where we can't remember from which drug talk, photos from Jessops, Hard Rock Cafe slingbag, Carrefour bag with Dreamcast controllers inside, Dreamcast in box. Not in pic are our Fitness First gym bag, laptop bag and backpack.

Well, bought the shelf anyways as thought all our stuff would fit snugly once assembled and arranged. Result?

Not as nice as any Ikea display must admit. Still too much stuff that we haven't the heart to get rid off (and wouldn't!). Maybe should have looked out something with a wider shelf. Bit it's a start. But now instead of murky corner of bags (not really a suitable adjective but hey, editors out there find us one) now have nice cluttered shelf! Also matches wood motif of bedroom except shades lighter!

During period of arranging stuff on shelf, have come across:

Our old Game Boy! Gaaah! It's soooo discoloured now! From the pristine off-white to some sunburnt yellow! Cuz A would be very crossed with us if she still wants it back. Anyways have realised that we have 2 out of 5 Game Boy family. Original Game Boy (courtesy of Cousin Alice. Or was it Cuz G? Or Cuz C?) and Game Boy Advance (during the IMU years). Skipped the Game Boy Color and tempted to trade in our GBA for the Game Boy SP (an updated version of the GBA) and now sorely tempted to switch for a Game Boy Micro. The Nintendo DS (turquiose dual-screen thingy bottom left) doesn't count as they don't call it a Game Boy. Must say that we've run through plenty of AA batteries (normal, alkaline and rechargables) since we've gotten our first Game Boy...

Maybe more on memorabilia next time...

At The JPJ

19th Sept. Mission from Soldat High Commander Pater Familias. Infiltrate JPJ and initiate program 'Pembatalan Hakmilik oleh Mayban' for our subject Perodua Kembara. Operative Janvier is to leave around 8am and be there early before location is surrounded by other operatives.

8:30am: Upon reaching JPJ at Kampung Jawa:

Operative Janvier proceeded to snooze in the car until 9am whereby Operative Janvier heads towards the first contact-rendezvous point.

9.30am: Rendezvous-point, Kaunter Pertanyaan:

Secret files have switched hands. Contact had Form JPJxxx/xxx/xxx secretly filed under the counter table instead of behind him to waylay rival agents.

9:35am: Upstairs

Password was required before the final drop-off was allowed. Hmm. The operative looks for signs and...

Mission completed by 10am. Operative then heads off to the Bermudas...he wishes.