Home Sweet Home

I left Penang at 8:45 am and was back home by noon. Only made one stop in Penang to check my tires and fill my tank up. It's really good to be home.  I've missed my bed. I was tired so I crashed for a few hours. I haven't napped like this in years. It felt good.

I spent the night doing my banking and dinner was KFC... again...

Something Freaky...

I was just about to get ready for bed so I thought I'd double lock my door like I normally do and head to bed. I take a peek through the peephole like I normally do too. I couldn't see anything. So I open the door to check. there was a shred of paper stuck to the peephole. Shit! Earlier in the evening I experienced the same thing. I thought it was strange at that point but shrugged it off as I thought that MAYBE it just got stuck there by chance. I looked down on the carpet and the earlier piece was still there. I pick both pieces up and went back into my room. It was freaky.

So, I SMS the Hotel Manager whom I knew to inform her about what happened. She called me back immediately. She found it very strange too and told me she would investigate. I hung up and then just for the sake of it took another peek at the peephole. What the fuck! It was blocked again! In less than 5 minutes? This was just too freaky. I called my friend and told her. She was baffled and assured me she'll investigate. Then I opened the door and removed it again.

Here they are... the three shreds of paper in order of occurrence from the left. It's just too freaky. Why would anyone want to do this? It's been an hour and it hasn't happened again. I wonder if I'll get any sleep at all tonight.

Damn! And it has to be Halloween tomorrow as well right? Fuck...

Penang - Day 2

Last night was not very different. I still haven't gotten used to the bed. Another sleepless night. Sigh...

The rest of the training was fine... right until the end. I knew that there would be some play with emotions at the end and I was prepared. Or, at least I thought I was...

The facilitator shared a story about a boy who wanted so much to tell his dad that he loved his dad but somehow couldn't bring himself to do it but instead said "Goodnight" to his dad only to lose his dad to an accident the following day. And that was all it took to have me sobbing away like a big baby. I was definitely the first to get all teary-eyed and I think I was the only male who did. I couldn't help it... it seems like yesterday that I lost my dad.

Anyway, Nancy the facilitator gave me a big hug after that. She knew... I've known Nancy for over 10 years now. In fact she was the one who interviewed me during the buy-over back then.

I decided to leave tomorrow as I didn't want to get caught in the jam at the bridge and also because I wanted to catch my 9:00 pm TV3 drama. That also meant it was best not to venture out for dinner. So, I took a quick walk to the nearby shopping center and bought my dinner.

My dinner... a dinner plate. I actually prefer the 'Original' but somehow today I thought I'd try this instead.

Ha, ha, ha... and this is my dessert of course...

Penang - Day 1

Day one in Penang. Had a sleepless night. It's usual for me due to the new bed and environment. In the little sleep that I got I dreamt of a centipede. I never did finish the dream as it was interrupted by an SMS at 0223 hours by someone who wanted to tell me how efficient I was. At that hour? Aiyoh... I didn't get a sound sleep after that. I tossed and turned all night and the next thing I know it was time to wake up.

The training was okay. I've been through many similar trainings. This one helped refresh my memory and also put things in perspective on how to apply things differently with the new generation of employees.

For dinner, the host took us to Northam Beach Café. It was a food court actually but it sure had a wide selection of cuisines. Japanese, Italian, Chinese, etc. There was halal food but mostly non-halal. We ordered all kinds of food and everyone wanted to pay.

This is the ABC with ice cream. This is the only thing I managed to pay for. It cost RM32.00 for 6 of these... 4 with ice cream and 2 without. Not cheap actually but it was good.

Then I ordered a betul-betul ho liao... prawn noodles. It was damn good. I was so tempted to order another bowl for myself but when I saw what the rest had ordered, I changed my mind. There was so much food and it would all have gone to waste.

Thai-day Sunday...

It's a Sunday. Busy day for me as usual. Grocery shopping, cleaning and cooking. I decided to do Thai today... Tom Yum, Mango Kerabu and Fried Fish.

When I got home I cleaned the kitchen. I even cleaned the refrigerator... and that's when it happened. Wham! I had cleaned the cabinets but mindless me left the cabinet door ajar. I then proceeded to clean the fridge. As soon as I was done I stood up. Wham! Bang! I saw stars... literally... the pain was excruciating. Tears welled in my eyes. Serves you right for being so careless...

Here it is... it was swollen too... and yes, it bled. And I had my hair cut after I knocked my head... thankfully, the barber noticed it and was gentle with that part.

Anyway, despite my throbbing head I managed to clean the apartment and change the sheets and then started cooking.

This is the Mango Kerabu. A very simple version. You can add other ingredients to it to make it taste better like peanuts, ikan bilis or even dried shrimps. It's entirely up to you. Here's the recipe...

1 large young mango

6 shallots

1 serai

6 cili padi

2 limes, juiced

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp sugar

Julienne the mango and set aside. Slice the cili padi, shallots and serai finely. How much you use is a matter of preference. You can add or lessen the quantity. In a large bowl add all the ingredients and toss. You may need to add more sugar to taste. If you like you can add some chopped cilantro.

This is the Tom Yum. Plain looking as I was too lazy to chop cilantro for garnishing. Nak makan, bukan nak jual or enter a competition.

prawns
1 liter chicken stock
6 slices fresh galangal
2 serai, bruised
2 daun limau purut
10 cili padi
2 tomatoes, quartered
2 onions, quartered
4 limes, juiced
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp roasted chilli paste

In a pot bring your chicken stock to boil. Add the sliced galangal, serai, cili padi and onion. Tear the daun limau purut and add in. Add lime juice, fish sauce and roasted chili paste. Allow to boil for about 10 minutes or so for the flavours to infuse. Add tomatoes and allow to boil for a further 2 or 3 minutes. Add prawns, close lid and turn fire off. Done.

Adjust taste to your preference with lime juice and fish sauce. Lime juice for sourness and fish sauce for saltiness. Do not add more lime juice till after adding the tomatoes as the tomatoes will add to the sourness. Prawns has to be last and fire switched off immediately or it will be hard and overcooked. Oh... you can add other stuff in like oyster mushrooms, cauliflower and what not. Up to you lah.

Aglio e Olio

That's my dinner... it doesn't get any simpler than this when you're not having instant noodles. I'm getting hungry again as I type this. Just the thought of it makes me hungry. Such a simple dish yet so, so satisfying.

1. Cook your pasta according to the instructions on the packet. It's 6 minutes for this, vermicelli. However, I cooked it to 4 minutes and then cold shocked it in running tap water to stop it from cooking further. Then set it aside.

2. Chop some garlic (I used half a BULB) and cili padi (chili flakes if you prefer) and prepare 1 cup of chicken stock. I use Maggis' concentrated chicken stock where you add 1 tsp of the concentrated stock to 1 bowl of water.

3. Add olive oil generously to a pan. Heat should be moderate or the garlic will end up getting burnt and you'll end up with bitter sauce. Add the garlic and cili padi and saute till golden. If you have white wine, splash some in then add your chicken stock.

4. Add your pasta, cook for about 2 minutes or till your preferred doneness (and dryness) and season with crushed black pepper and salt. As you can see I like mine soaked in sauce.

Done. Bon Appetit.

Supplements...

I'm having problems with my memory again. I realised that I have not been taking my supplements for a very long time. So, I started taking these yesterday and next week I'll start with the rest again.

Happy Birthday...

It's the ex's birthday today. She turns 34 today and in 36 days she'll tie the knot again. Happy Birthday and congratulations in your new found happiness....

The Idols...

I received this from my ex-colleague today. This picture is called 'Hawaiian and Malaysian Idol' by the sender. This was taken in November 2007 during the staff party. That's my boss on the left and that's me on the right..... if it wasn't already obvious.

Aww... Shucks...

It looked like it was going to pour this morning and since I had to vacate my apartment by the end of the month I decided I'd catch the gloomy morning scene before I lost the chance.

The phone rang at 8:33 am to the theme of Ironside. Only one person in my phone book with that ringtone... my boss. Alamak... not again... last week's argument was enough. I don't need another one. I've been having too many arguments with him in the last 8 months. Come to think of it, we've had more arguments in the past 8 months than over the last 10 years. I take the call and he asks if I am at work yet. Yes, I am... he's here too. Aiyoyoh... karavale, karavale... this is so unusual. I go to meet him and he asks that we adjourn to my office. That's even more strange. This is the first time he's been to my office.

Something's not right. He closes the door after he gets in. It was an hour session. He apologised for not guiding me properly since I took this challenge 8 months back. He must have heard or felt that I was serious when I said I was going to leave though he never touched on that topic. He explained many things which had to stay within the four walls of my office. There were emotional moments... him holding back his tears when I told him how shitty it is to be a senior management and to get your 10-year service cheque and letter from your own HR manager and the letter signed by the HR manager and not from the owner himself or Council. Of course he assumed responsibility for that failure. As usual... Well... to cut a long story short, he's managed to make me feel guilty. I tell you... this one man is the only thing binding me with this company.

Anyway... I have NOT changed my mind. He's got me mixed with my feelings and I MAY stay on but that certainly remains to be seen. I am still going ahead to recce the resort next month during Raya Haji and I called Mahmoud yesterday to ask him for leads on international postings. I'll be sending him my resume tomorrow.

Oh, by the way... in that discussion... I was told I now don't have to move from the apartment... damn... he sure knows how to go for the moral ground. His Sun Tzu is WAY superior to mine.

The Ugly Mutthafucker

Met an ex-colleague today and had coffee together while exchanging stories. In fact, too much coffee. I had 3 cups of brewed coffee on top of my daily cup early in the morning. The consequence.... was hyper all afternoon and didn't feel hungry till the late afternoon by which time it was no longer convenient to eat.

Back to the stories... Lembu punya susu, sapi punya nama... I had predicted this while I was in Kuantan. I knew without a doubt that I would not be there long enough to see the fruits of my labour. Somehow, I just knew it and I was right. Anyway, apparently my successor is a person who seems to like to bask in attention and is one who looks for personal glory. So this is a stark contrast compared to me who shies away from attention and personal glories.

It was rather amusing listening to all this come from someone who used to bitch about me and how I was supposedly 'indecisive'... just because I changed my mind about something. Well... as the saying goes... you never appreciate what you have until you've lost it.

I'll make a prediction here... I will turn this place around. The results will show and be very apparent but the credit will go to someone else... the story of my life. As long as the team gets the credit as well, I'm fine with it. As of last month, I am RM158K behind last year's PROFIT. So, by this month I would have exceeded last year by about RM500k and whatever we make in the next two months will be all extra.... and I think we will close RM1.5 million higher than last year in profits.

What did I do? Seriously, Jack Schitt... I merely played the role of Morpheus in The Matrix. I freed their minds... the minds of the team here and I got rid of their restraints. That's all I did. By the way... people say I look like Morpheus and some say I look like Yao Ming. Now I know how truly ugly I am... reminds me of Predator.. with Arnie saying, "You're one ugly mutthafucker!" No wonder I have no  luck with girls. Oh, well...

I got home close to prime time news... feeling absolutely famished. I wanted something fast to cook and good to eat... Maggi instant noodles. My usual 2 packets... double-whammy. My all-time favourite....

Naili's

I finished work pretty late today. I didn't feel like cooking as I was hungry so I thought I'd go out and have dinner. I fancied having something simple... maybe rice and a good soup. I thought of Naili's Place... the last time I was there they had a decent Sup Tulang. Just what I felt like having. So off I went... decided to go to the Ampang Point outlet figuring that it would be straight-forward if I took the AKLEH. Boy, was I wrong... for some reason there was a bottleneck getting off the AKLEH. I was stuck there for 30 minutes. My stomach rumbling away.

Cucur Ikan Bilis to start off. Love this... most people take it with the Thai Chilli sauce but I prefer it plain. It was gone in a mere minutes as I was so hungry.

My Sup Tulang. It's a very big bowl for RM8.00 and it had a lot of... yeah... bones... hahaha... and meat attached to the bones. I dunno... is it me or what but this didn't taste as good as the last time. But seriously, RM8.00 for this compared to the Cucur Ikan Bilis at RM6.00.

This is a SMALL Tom Yum at RM15.00. Okay it has squid and the bowl is a wee bit bigger than the Sup Tulang... but at almost double the price to justify 6 prawns? I dunno... something wrong with my values I think. Anyway, it was pretty decent Tom Yum for a paste-based soup. Good with steamed white rice.

Between the two soups, for this visit I prefer the Tom Yum. The Cucur Ikan Bilis is consistent.

Intai-Intai to Kunang-Kunang

I woke up early again today. Made my coffee and decided to watch my DVDs. I managed to finish Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and also Quantum of Solace. Brunch was sausages, burgers and drummets again. Then I did some cleaning and lazed around a bit.

By 3:30 pm, I was hungry again and decided to go out and have some sushi... yes Ampang Point again. By the time I got to Ampang Point it was 4:30 pm. Had my usual fare and then I decided to check out what was at CapSquare. There wasn't much to see there. I was in and out of that place in less than 30 minutes. I had my camera with me with just my 50 mm lens. I didn't feel like bringing the 55-250 mm zoom lens along as I didn't think there would be much use of it. I managed to snap a couple of shots without spending too much time looking for an appropriate angle. Here they are... nothing fancy... just straight forward and thoughtless shots.

A shot of the Petronas Twin Towers is a must... gee, I'm so Malaysian now. Just like how each and every local movie or drama MUST HAVE a Petronas Twin Tower background scene. Hahaha... and if you look at the left, that's proof that I was there.... as if I need to prove this to anyone. Hahaha...

Then there's the KL Tower... this is not so popular these days. I have some ideas for this but it will have to wait till I get a sturdy tripod.

Got myself a coffee at Starbuck's and left. Drove around a bit and was just about to head home when I thought of a place that I read about. It's called Intai-Intai... supposedly a well-kept secret. It's located somewhere along Jalan Ulu-Kelang. I came from Jalan Ampang and as I drove slowly on the left lane looking for signs of this restaurant I noticed the traffic building on the opposite direction. As I drove further down towards Setapak I realised that it is probably located on the opposite direction but since the traffic looked bad I decided not to make a U-turn. So I just drove on. I see the Muzium Orang Asli signboard so often and today I just decided to follow it and see where it was located.

I drive and drive following the signboard and the next thing I knew I was driving on Route 68. It took me all the way to Genting-Sempah. This route is no joke... kinda eerie and looks like a good place to dump dead bodies if you know what I mean. Winding like the Tapah route to Cameron Highlands and narrow too. I drove pretty slow since I was not familiar with the route. I arrived at Genting-Sempah just after 7:00 pm. Made a quick run to the washroom and quickly made my way back to KL.

I was starving by now so I decided to head on to Kunang-Kunang since it was the nearest place I could think of. I got to know of this place back when I used to plough the Karak highway regularly when I worked in Kuantan. Everytime I stopped to refuel at Shell, northbound on MRR2 just before you turn off to Karak Highway I would notice this restaurant as I pulled out of the petrol station. Eventually curiosity got the better of me and I stopped there one day and checked it out. It was oklah... garden a la feed-the-mosquitoes-while-you-dine concept. Just a note though which I think needs to be mentioned just in case. Not that I am a racist or anything... but in the few times I have been there I only saw Malays. So, if you're not comfortable then up to you lah. For me, I hantam je.... I kan Muhibbah?

Laksa Kedah... I think it was RM8.90++. It was very good the last time I was here but today, kurang sikit.

This is the Nasi Lemak Rendang Daging which I think was RM4.00++. No... I think it was RM4.00 extra for the rendang. A bit too much sliced serai in the rendang and a bit too much cardamom in my opinion.

The other side of the platter for a better view of the condiments. The ikan bilis was nice...

This is my favourite drink for this place... Watermelon Lychee. Totally refreshing and generous with their lychees too. The damage for those two dishes, my drink and a mango puree was RM32.00.

Happy Deepavali

It's Deepavali today and I'd like to wish all the Hindus a very Happy Deepavali.

No Hindu homes to go to this year. Strangely I got an SMS inviting me for Hari Raya open house today. But I didn't feel up to it. I was awake by 8:00am. I decided to watch Transformers again on Blu-ray. Then I cooked some sausages, burgers and chicken drummets for breakfast. Had to clear my perishables before I move at the end of this month. After that I did some cleaning and had leftovers for lunch.

After lunch I lazed around a bit, fooled with my camera and played or rather tried playing some games on PS3. I  don't think I'm any good at PS3. Then I felt like watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen so off I went to buy some DVDs. Didn't get to watch any DVD when I got home as I had a dinner to attend at the Shangri-La Hotel.

I took the monorail there. Walking into the hotel brought back memories. Just as I walked in I was startled by someone calling my name. Looked around and I saw a familiar face but for the life of me, as usual I couldn't remember the person's name. She's asked me what I was doing now... I replied...

Coolie...

Yeah, right... come on... Director of what now?

Director of Garbage

Seriously, Director of what now?

Nolah... not even a Director... just a Manager...

Ala... you ni poyo lah...

I guess I am... nice to see you again.

Off I went... I wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. She must have been there for... let's see... 12 years at least as I have left that place for the same number of years. Frankly, she looked horrible. I guess it's true when they say that GENERALLY women don't age as well as men. I proceeded to have dinner with my colleagues at Lemon Garden. Dinner was okay... nothing spectacular. Food was just so-so.

I saw a few familiar faces and they too recognized me despite my lack of hair now. Two of those I met have been there for over 20 years! Geesh... that's a long time.... and does not seem like they have progressed much with their career.

This got me to think... I have been with this company for over 10 years. Next March it will be 11 years. At my 10th year I received one month's salary as ex-gratia for my long service which was fine. But... to a person like me, that's not important. I hold a senior position in this company. The least for me was for the owner or his number two at the least to call me and thank me for my long service and if they could not accomplish that then a letter from either one of them would have sufficed. But NO... I got a letter signed by my Human Resources Manager. I have made it a point that all the long service employees got their letters from me and not the team leaders. I felt this was important to recognize employees. My bosses harp about taking care of employees but they don't seem to walk the talk.

So, if this is the way I am appreciated then it only compounds that I really should move on. A great Deepavali thought. The festival of lights probably gave me light...

Bueno

This is my latest indulgence... Kinder Bueno. I had seen the ad on TV many times before but never did try it until lately when I was in Ipoh and was craving for a snack and this was the only thing left so I tried it. I am now hooked on it. Like I said before, I can't stop till I finish everything... and when I finished everything, I ended up being hyper and unable to sleep.

Oh... it's my late father's birthday today... Happy Birthday Dad... I miss you. :(

Lens Rosak

I sent my lens for repair today. It just stopped working... the auto focus wouldn't work. And sending the lens for repair ended up being so stressful.

I checked the web for an outlet where I could send my lens for repair. Through my own mistake of not reading the website PROPERLY, I went to BTS Canon EOS Pro Centre thinking they had service there. I could have gone to their Concept Store in Pavilion but BTS seemed the better choice as I was taking the monorail and the monorail station is at BTS. I left my office at about 10:10 am. The website stated that they opened at 10:00 am. When I arrived there, they were not open. I ask the neighbouring shop and they tell me that it will open at 11:00 am. I decided to wait and walk around. I went back at 10:50 am but was told that they do not do service there and they would have to send it out which would normally take up to two weeks.

I then checked the website through my phone and realised my mistake. So, I call the Concept Store in Pavilion.

Canon Store, Pavilion?

Yes.

Do you do service?

Yes.

Are you open?

Yes.

Which floor are you on?

5th Floor.

Ok, I'll come over now.

I take the train to the next station and walk over to Pavilion.

Good morning sir, can I help you?

I'd like to service my camera.

Oh, we don't do service here.

But I just called just now and someone says you do service here.

There were 3 of them there. They look at each other and then one replies that they didn't receive any calls. I was fuming by now. Why do I always end up being branded a liar? So I whipped my phone out and state what time I made the call and the number I dialled. By now, I had spotted the culprit. You can tell from the fidgeting and the facial expression. The person who greeted me confirms that it is their number and asks his colleagues sternly if they received the call. The coward standing at the corner, next to the phone then admits that he only received a call asking which floor they were on, nothing else. Wah... lagi lah panas! I repeated the entire conversation to him but he adamantly denies it. Bastard! Why do people lie over such petty things? Can't you just admit you made a mistake? Furious and fed up, I just said... Ok, fine... I'm a lying customer... it's ok... if you think I am a liar then I am a liar. Now... I have a problem with my lens can anyone help me here?

The guy who greeted me attended to me. Again I was told they do not do service there and was told it would have to be sent out. I gave up... so I said ok... just get it fixed. He does the checking, verification and what not. It was confirmed that the lens' auto focus had failed. He does the paperwork. As he was doing the paperwork I spoke to the other guy.... no, not the lying bastard... the other one. I explained that they should do something about the info on the web if they didn't want to get screwed again as the web stated that you provide service. The guy attending to me then says,

Oh, that! Yes, we do... that is express service... we charge extra.

How much extra?

RM350 extra. If you send it before noon we will return it to you the same day otherwise the following day.

RM350?!!! I might as well buy a new lens!

Yeah... this is mainly for camera body and urgent cases.

Why didn't you clarify this earlier?

..........

I dunno... this kind of shit happens all the time and everyday and everywhere. Most people just accept this nonsense. I just feel very pitiful for the lying bastard. No fucking backbone nor principals.

The Meeting

Met up with ET and my boss today to go through my 'overspending'.. it was done over two sessions. 1st session started at noon and ended at 2:30pm. It resumed at 5:45pm and ended at 7:30pm. The main area in discussion was my labour costs which was at RM53k. I justified RM50k of it and it was accepted. As far as I am concerned it is good enough. But they thought otherwise... so I told them in not a very polite way. You allowed me to have 35 people in this department. But then you imposed a hiring freeze. I ended up with 22 people and I had to compensate with part time labour. Replacing with 13 part timers does not give you the same efficiency as 13 full time hence your RM3k extra.

These people will never admit their mistakes. My boss says he didn't stop me from re-hiring to the 35 which is true. However, someone else did and said that I had to get approval which I also managed to get after a couple of weeks. And even after I got the approval, people don't just appear at the snap of the finger, ok? I am pretty sure I am still sane. I'd have to be insane to not want to hire IF there were no restrictions. My boss calls the person to clarify and judging from the conversation there was denial or some kind of denial. Ok, as usual... I am the liar... it's ok... my conscience is clear... and I have my team as witnesses.

After the meeting, my boss asked me what was different with my meeting with ET on Monday and now? I said... you're here... she has to follow your pace and you allowed me to present my case and justify unlike her. So, he suggests that he be present for the next meeting as well. Up to you... I'm fine.

Throughout the meeting, I was not as nice as I have been in my 10 years here. I was... feisty? I can tell my boss knew I was not in a mood to be messed around with. I guess after 10 years of working together we both know each others' temperament. He was very accommodating and extra nice throughout.

But... I'm still sticking to my decision... the countdown has started...

Ok... That's It!!!

I get a call this morning from my boss... more questions... this, that, this, that...

Didn't you think of this? Didn't you think of that? 

NO! I didn't! 

I told you to do this... why didn't you do it? 

Because I can't spend money. Everytime I spend you all question me. 

Operating costs and upgrading costs are different.

Yes, I know... but that's not what happens every month! You all start questioning me on why I never met the targeted profits. What do you really want? If there's anything that I am really good at is upgrading but I can't upgrade like this!

I know it's hard...

Yes, it's hard... so hard that I want to quit!!

Silence...

May I make a suggestion?

Sure, go ahead...

Quit when everything's okay. It will be good for you.

Oh, don't worry about that. I've made arrangements.

What do you mean by you have made arrangements?

I'll turn this place around before I leave. I'm already halfway there. I'll see it through.

Silence... he tones down and diverts the conversation.

No attempt to retain me. No questions... nothing. I guess my instincts were right that there is something going on at the top level and I am caught in between.

I called my friend Pam. Pam interviewed me a few months back via Yahoo! Messenger. Yes, Yahoo! Messenger. Cute huh? She's opening a resort in Langkawi and in that interview she asked me mostly questions on what I would need to open that resort. I aced the interview and she was impressed despite me being rude and also scolding her for asking questions which were vague and me asking more questions actually. Hahahahaha... this can only happen when the interviewer is your friend and you're not desperate for a job. The offer was made then but I said I'd think about it... 40% more than current salary to run a 44 unit resort. That's just Phase 1. Phase 2 will see 125 more units and will be complete 1 year after Phase 1 is up and running and I would get an adjustment in salary then. Now, this is a very good deal... but I tarik harga lah then... of course. First of all, it was still to early at that point, secondly I was not desperate then and thirdly, must tarik harga lah...

Anyway, she told me the job is mine she was just going to call me too to check if I had made my mind up. No formal interview needed. Just needed to meet up next week for a chit chat. She's even letting me stay on to see if I can get bonus here before I tender my letter. So... I secured a job verbally... starting in the 1st quarter of next year if I take the job.

Now... need to update my resume and look for other options.

ET Monday

Had a scheduled 11:00am meeting to discuss my 'overspending' with the VP of Finance and my team. She conveniently reschedules to 2:00pm at the eleventh hour. Later, I find out she's having lunch at the school. The lecturers were going to invite me and my team too but they learnt that we had an 11:00am meeting with the VP, hereon referred to as ET... so they didn't but they were shocked when they saw ET who was supposed to be meeting up with us having lunch in their premise. Oh well... she's a VP... me tall only but small fry, so let it be. Then came the meeting... she does not let anyone explain. She starts screaming and yelling and getting all frantic whenever anyone tries to explain. She just cuts them off saying that it cannot be so and this and that. Even when I tried she cut me off. I really would have loved to slap her. Then she suddenly says that doesn't have anymore time and leaves, stating that we have wasted her time... cibai... you change the time now you say you don't have time? Okay, you call the shots... you're VP and ET... me... just a botak.

I had a long phone conversation on the phone with my boss that evening. Over 30 minutes. More like an interrogation actually. Why this, why that, why this, why that... the usual 'you're incompetent kind of questions' on the last fire and other operating issues. In my frustration I tell him what happened in the afternoon. So he said he will call ET and ask to meet so we can run through the numbers together.

Not a good start to my week...

Foot Reflexology

I had dinner at Hokkaido last night. As usual... I had my Fried Rice with Salted Fish. After dinner, for some strange reason I decided to try Foot Reflexology offered by blind people. It was RM25.00 for 30 minutes. Was it good? Dunno... never had one before so I have no basis of comparison. All I can say it was painful. Very painful at times. Will I go back? Hard to say... see how it goes... I did notice that after the massage I had some blood vessels that emerged from nowhere. It's not painful or anything but they just appeared... kinda like baby veins.