Unforgettable Day in KL

Woke up (by Vince's morning call) to go to work. Time was already 6.07am if i'm not wrong. Hurriedly dressed up and went down. Only two lifts were working. Saw one coming down from L6 (3 floors up), another one coming up from P3 (which is the G floor, 3 floors down). I was kinda excited, hoping i could take the L6 one, cos Vince should be in there. haha.. But then, i guess Vince walked into the lift slow, cos the P3 one came up first. I took that lift, and reached down first. And i was rite, Vince was not down there yet - he's still in the lift. haha =P

We walked towards the bus stop and routinely, Vince would get The Sun papers from 7-E (first making sure the usual ppl were still waiting for the bus in the bus stop). We reached the bus stop by 6.30am. The bus SHOULD be arriving in either 5 mins or 15 mins or 30 mins, depending on the driver's mood. Till 7am, NO bus was in sight. Vince was unusually patient today. Normally by 6.55am he would be panicking d. But because we found that the other LRT route to work was equally fast and also easier than the interchange at Masjid Jamek, we were quite at ease. Time passed.. Taxis picked up other passengers and left... STILL NO bus. Stupid T407. It was already 7.10am! We started to stress. We decided to take a taxi. Ppl waiting for the next bus already started to gather and crowd the bus stop. Suddenly, there were ALSO NO TAXIs anywhere!! Stress... The morning rush has started, cars were just passing us by.. but none of them is an empty taxi. Then as more and more ppl came, the chances of getting a taxi became smaller. Ppl started cutting queue..

Finally, a taxi arrived. This stupid group of malay girls cut our queue! As Vincent hailed the cab from behind them, the girl didn't know it was ours, then they all just got up the taxi. I was speechlessly shocked. Nevermind, it's only 7.15am there should be other cabs. Then another came, and got taken by the group of aunties behind us. Damn it. I don't understand, how come this group of ppl, who came to the bus stop later than us, want to snatch our cabs! Hmmph.. We've been waiting here since 6.30am u idiots! But thank god, we didn't get onto their cab. It was a chinese driver, and as i said, Chinese drivers are the most ruthless. He wanted to charge the 4 ppl RM2 each for a trip to the LRT (RM3.70)! He would have earned almost RM4.30 man!! Luckily at 7.20am, the next one that came was a malay driver and we got it! I tot the driver used the meter, only to realise he also "tak pakai meter". So, when we reached the LRT station, he said RM1.50 each. Whew~ Luckily, not RM2! What to do, just paid him and ran to get a train.

The train was quite late today. It arrived after two trains have passed on the other side. Got on the train. Contemplated where to get down? Masjid Jamek interchange to Wangsa Maju or straight to Titiwangsa? We looked at the time, seems like we'll make it on time if we took the latter. So we got down at Titiwangsa and ran.. Halfway on the overhead crossing, i saw our bus already at the bus stop downstairs. Told Vince, and we ran!! Gosh.. I never ran as fast as i did in my heels before today. haha.. But sadly, when we reached the bus stop, the U25 has left! It was 8am. If only we got on tht bus, we would have made it on time to work before 8.30am. Sighs.. Had no choice, but to wait.... I have no idea why, but there's bound to be some buses that would come a few times in a row, but never your own bus. At last, at 8.30am, our bus arrived. Unfortunately, our working hours had also started. -.-"

Luckily, before we left our bus stop this morning, Vince had msg'ed our senior to inform him about our sad situation. We reached our office and punched-in. For the first time it was red-inked. No thanks to T407, our clean record was ruined. Sighs.. Went to office, and the first thing all the seniors said was "Ah, Vincent dan Joyce! Tak yah worry! Kami dah settle untuk kamu. Madam dah tahu pasal kamu." Yays!! We thought we're gonna get a scolding or something. Then Kak Fauziah suddenly added, "Couple ni, pergi mana dating??" haha. -.-""""

Apparently, our fave and beloved lecturer Dr. Hasuria mentioned to our Boss that we were a couple. And now, the WHOLE department knows about us. The boss even asked Vince yesterday if it was true. Did i tell u she's the very example of a kay-poh unmarried woman? *sweats*

Anyways, today's a Friday. And as you all are aware, lunch hour in government offices would be extended today for Muslim prayers. So technically, our office hour today's gonna be very very short! hahahaha... When lunch time came, i decided we should at least act a little busy, and so we watched The Bucket List on the comp first before going out to Carrefour. =P After most of the staff had left for lunch, we took a cab and headed to Carrefour (about 5mins away). Vince saw a KFC Chicken Chop ad in the papers this morning so we went directly to KFC and ordered. Mana tau.. when he went to the ATM, and as i was making the order, he called me up to say Burger King is having a RM10 offer for Whopper set!!! Damn... The order has been made. Vince couldn't resist the 1-day only offer, so i suggested we take away the whopper for dinner. And since, Michelle's house got oven, we could reheat the burger. =)

Went back to the office and continued the movie while eating the BK onion rings and pie. =D Btw, i highly recommend everyone to watch The Bucket List starring Jack Nicholson n Morgan Freeman. The story is about doing all you wanted to do in life when you're about to die. Fabulous! Then, it was back to work. My work for today, draw columns in log books. Siens.. It reminded me of my librarian days in Convent, where we had to take turns drawing columns for all sort of record books. Can't remember what were they for now.. but it was definitely more fun then, than drawing columns alone now. Sighs.. So i draw and draw while reading some manga online. hahaha. That's we do everyday. Act busy in front of the computer. Somehow finding my internship becoming an office girl's job. Sighs..

And before we knew it, it was 5.30pm! Whee~! We hurriedly pack things up and left the building. It was raining heavily, but luckily Vince had an umbrella that was in his bag since forever. We ran towards the bus stop across the road, and out of nowhere, the rain turned into a typhoon! Strong winds were blowing directly at us, and the stupid bus stop was so small, it was useless to hide anywhere. With only an umbrella for shelter, we used it to block our faces and top part of our bodies. The winds continued blowing for almost 10mins. And at the end of it, we were soaking wet from our toes to our butt. Poor Vince was really shivering like a typewriter as he was blocking me from behind, and the wind was blowing to his face. This was the first time he witnessed such a heavy rain. Being a true Penang-ite, he never really knew what heavy rain was. hahaha.. It was really nothing, but compared to Penang's rain, this was huge! hehe.. =P

And from then on, it was coldness in bus and lrt aircon all the way home. I returned home to an empty apartment. Michelle had returned to JB for her b'day, and Diane goes back every weekend cos her house's in Seremban only. After bathing, i reheated the burger for Vince, and brought it up to him. He was packing his stuff cos he's going back to Penang tonite. After dinner with Vince n his roommate Kevin, we went back to Kevin's room to watch Briton's Got Talent. The show which talent-spotted the cute cute 6 year old Connie Talbot with her Over The Rainbow song and other amazing Britons. It was the finale episode, and the winner was Paul Potts!!! His story is amazing indeed. He was a mobile phone salesman who turned out to be an opera singer (imagine Bottecelli, Pavarotti, Charlotte Church, Josh Groban) without any training whatsoever!! How's that for talent?

Connie Talbot - Over the Rainbow

Paul Potts - Nessun Dorma

Well, that's all for now. My unforgettable day in KL. Vince will be in Penang for the weekend, so i shall be hibernating tomorrow and perhaps Sunday too! =P

Unconditional Love

I was touched by Hui Jun's blog about the earthquake in Sichuan, China.
It just proves how great humans' LOVE is.
Love conquers all!

Have a look.

<Tear Drops>


May God bless the dearly departed souls, grant strength to those who are struggling to survive, and determination to others to help find the missing ones.

Also, a salute to all the rescue workers and volunteers.


This sad incident reminds us, that life is fragile and very precious. It can be taken away from you any time, any day. Cherish your love ones while you still can. Shower unconditional love to your family, friends, even random strangers (i mean to kind souls who did no harm to you or the society). Simple acts of kindness, might just brighten up their day. So why not?

And remember, always live life to the fullest.
Every second counts
No regrets!

Life in Kuala Lumpur

After 2 excruciating weeks of working in ITNM (Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia), a long weekend has arrived. It feels soooo good to be able to stay up late at night watching movies and waking up at 2.30pm for once. What a bliss! hahaha...

Just for you readers' info, I'm now staying with Michelle in Angkasa Condo, Tmn Connaught, Cheras (Anyone in KL wanna meet up?). And coincidentally, Vincent is also staying here, with his friend Kevin. In fact, he's in the same block, just 3 floors above me! Both Kevin and Michelle are studying in UCSI, hence the same condo. hehehe.. Staying nearby and going to work together is really wonderful. At least there's someone to give me a wake up call in the morning, which I desperately need and Michelle can attest to that. haha.. =D Oh, and we are also interning in the same department in ITNM! Both of us are in the Interpreting and Courses Dept, while 3 others in Book Translation, and 2 more in Documents Translation Dept.

For the record, i'm really glad i chose Courses & Interpreting. Compared to their workload n work scope, our job is pretty relaxed and interesting. We stay mostly in the office doing nothing much, except help the staffs with some chores. And sometimes when there's events, like the recently ended MIHAS (Malaysian International Halal Showcase) and World Halal Forum, we get to attend these events to observe professional interpreters do their thing. It's really an eye-opener. Many of them have vast experience in their 3rd language n interpreting. I really hope to brush up on my third language. Which i'm still wondering should it be mandarin or german? Speaking so-so Mandarin but unable to read it is stupid. And being able to read German but with super limited vocab is equally idiotic. Damn.. Which one should i focus on? Sighs...

Staying in Cheras and working in Wangsa Maju promises a crazy adventure everyday. My working life in a nutshell is waking up at 5.30am, returning by 7pm (the earliest) daily. And my working hours is only from 8.30am-5.30pm!! Wat a boring life. About 2-4 hours are spent on the public transports to n from work. Sighs.. If you've observed my msn nick recently, you would know i hate Rapid KL bus T407. It SUCKS! Rapid KL kononnya. When we first reached KL, vince n i went to explore the route to work. The first bus, T407 arrived at 6.30am. And so we thought it would be at least a little punctual, so that we would arrive to work on time. It ended up coming later n later day by day. And so my waking hours changed from 5.15, 5.20, 5.25, and eventually 5.45am. hahaha.. But waking up late in the morning nowadays really doesn't mean i get enough sleep. All because of T407's fault. Aarghh.. The going to work part is quite easy cos if the bus doesn't arrive by 7am, we'll take a cab to the lrt station. But if you come back late, the buses come late and the taxi line is endless! Sighs.. And fyi, i'm disappointed that chinese cab drivers are cheating chinese passengers! Charging RM3.50 ride for RM5 just because u noe that we're in a rush n sleepy in the early morning! wth?!.

Anyhows, in KL, if you miss any LRT during peak hours (peak hours meaning anytime before 11am and after 4.30pm), the next train coming in will definitely be packed like pickles (term coined by Ellen Degeneres) and worse than the one before it. Just within 3 mins, the amount of ppl getting onto the lrt is crazy!! That's why i'm kinda thankful my work starts early. But i'm really really puzzled on the Rapid LRT authorities' decision to use the SHORTEST trains for the BUSIEST line??? Plain idiocy isn't it? Sighs.. Malaysia Boleh.

Compared to the buses and KTM Komuters, LRTs are way much better. At least they're consistent and "rapid" (especially when it comes to closing the doors). The stupid T407 on the other hand, is a nightmare! When ppl are tired after work, they expect buses to come at LEAST every 30 mins. But NO.. T407 only comes 1 hour 1 while T424 (i seriously dunno why) comes every 5 mins!!! Stupid isn't it?? Ppl stand waiting for buses to come only to see the same T424 returning time and again to pick up less than 3 ppl from the ridiculous Bandar Tasik Selatan bus stop which only has seats for 8 ppl!!! (While taxi stand seats have space for more than 20 ppl!) The ppl who designed this bus stop has definitely got to be a guy. Cos they have no bloody idea wat it feels like to stand on heels! It bloody kills u inside, so much so you'd wished you'd chop off your own legs! Sadly, this is one terrible agonizing experience that taught me never to wear closed up heels if u have big feet like me. Sighs.. The price girls are willing to pay for beauty's sake. For whatever it's worth, it made me feel beautiful for that 3 short-lived days. And tht's all that matters. hahaha.. Oh and i'm complaining about the seats because i see that most of the ppl standing there are working women in heels. So i feel the pain for you too, ladies.

As if the 1 hour waiting for a bus that never comes is not enough, Rapid buses play dirty tricks on their passengers. The bus that passes by the Tmn Connaught bus stop in the morning is sometimes T405. So, thinking tht i should be a bus-wise passenger from the past 9 years of taking buses in JB, logically, i thought T405 which also comes hourly to Bdr Tasik Selatan station SHOULD pass by my bus stop after going one big round isn't it? How wrong was i. After taking a risk getting on the T405 one evening, i swear i shall not act like a smart-ass anymore. The stupid bus took us one big round and before reaching the end of it's destination, it decided to stop at some bus hub, 3 stops away from the end point. The driver told us, we shouldn't have sat his bus, cos they're now going for dinner and they actually wait for signals before driving back to the LRT station!!! WTF??! Wat kind of system is that? Signals? Wat about the most obvious signal that there are still passengers on your bus off?? How the hell would i know that you guys operate by some idiotic signals? Who's the one giving the signals? Is that why u only come one hour once?? Bloody hell!

In the end around 9.30pm, after all the drivers had had their drinks, and received "the signal" we took another T404 to Cheras Leisure Mall and was told to switched to T407. We were so happy that we're back on the rite bus. However, the bus didn't left immediately. The bus driver was taking his own sweet time at the stop, presumably waiting for a signal too. And then, to our shocking horror, he switched the bus plate to T405!!! We quickly got down the bus, afraid to go through the arduous journey again. But we saw there's BOTH T405 & T407 in the front! Asked the driver, he said it's actually T407, and thank god, he IS passing by our place. I tell you, if it was T405, i was so going to kill someone that nite! But i never did understand, why wanna put T405 n T407 together? Anyways, it's too complicated for my small brain. Just glad that we found out that's how they tricked us. Damn idiots. That nite, i reached home at around 10pm. Sweats.

Life in KL has been a hectic one so far. And i agree with Vincey that KL is only suitable for visits, definitely not a good place to stay permanently. Everything is so hectic, and food here is very expensive yet terrible! Even though the public transport system has improved tremendously, there are definitely still some major flaws in its system. I really hope someone would do something about the bus frequency and the LRT's length expansion perhaps? But the one thing i like about Rapid KL is their monthly travel card! Just for RM135, i can take unlimited bus n LRT rides a month. haha.. Although it seems like a lot, but if u were to count the exact prices to n fro wangsa maju alone, it's gonna cost me RM8.60 daily!

Conclusion:
Living in KL without a car is costly and dreadful. With lousy food and high cost of living, you'll die of stress n hunger pretty soon. Even if you have a car, you'll die of high blood pressure. Did i tell u how distressing is KL traffic jams? Even 11pm at night, traffic in KL Pudu area is jammed without any movement. At times like this, i've come to appreciate JB more and more each day.

Johor Bahru rules!!!

Actually, Penang is not that bad either. =P

Awake

Today's the second day of May, yesterday was Labour's Day.
Labour's Day is supposedly the day to relax after working like a dog for whole year isn't it? But, yesterday was nothing like Labour's Day at all for me. Well, maybe it's because I'm not an employee of any sort, so it wasn't my day at all.

Anyhows, yesterday has got to be the most fruitful day ever since i came back to JB. Yesterday happens to be quite a big day at church too, so i followed my family to the 7.45am mass. Then, we went to visit my big aunt in Bukit Indah. Met my cousin n her children as well as 5th aunt's family. Gosh.. It seems like a long time since i met those kids, and they have all grown up in a blink of an eye! I almost mistook my cousin's son for my own cousin! Boys, they just shoot up so fast. But the boy really did look like my cousin Ley Sin's clone. Even my mum and Marge thought so too. If he really does turn out to be like my cousin in a few years, I bet he's gonna mesmerise many gals in future. hehe.

I always complain that Penang's weather sucked. It's always a few degrees hotter than the mainland. Guess what? JB decided to have the same weather when I'm back. I have no idea what's causing this phenomena, but it has got to stop soon! I'm sweating even when i sleep at nite! Ish... So yesterday at my aunt's house, it was just sweating, sweating and more sweating. Sticky icky feelings plus lousy movies like Quigley on tv make me a bored girl. Tried reading The Undercover Economist, but my sleepy head could barely comprehend the words that i've been looking at. So staring into space and entertaining myself by watching my cousin's youngest son danced around the living room was all i could do while my mum and aunts gossiped for hours in the kitchen. It's in every women's nature to gossip no matter the place and conditions. Suddenly, i'm struck by the thought of Marge n myself gossiping like old aunties when we're old and married. lol. *shivers*

After that, with hopes high, i thought we're were finally going shopping! Which was my initial plan, till mum ruined everything. She decided to go to my 5th aunt's place and continue gossiping. This time, joined by my 6th aunt. -.-" So off we were to another few hours of chatting and waiting. Thankfully tho, my 5th aunt's place was near Jusco. So while waiting for my 6th aunt to arrive, we decided to go shopping first. Yays! We managed to catch a few minutes of Horton Hears A Who before going shopping. It was funny even though i've watched it before in the cinema. Anyone who has yet to watch this movie, shd give it a try. Which reminds me, there was a few parts i missed while in the cinema. Vince! Have you downloaded it? hehe.. Shopping was ok. Formal clothes that i was looking for were suddenly out of sight. There was sales everywhere, but they were sales were for things i don't need rite now! It sucked.. Looked high and low for formal wear but only managed to buy two blouses. Others were either out of size, or out of my budget. Sighs.. But then again, this means i've got more shopping to do! Yippee!

Back at my aunt's place, everyone has gathered. So dinner began and so did the movie marathon. Aunties being aunties, they had to watch korean dramas. Followed by Ah Long Pte Ltd. Before we could finish it, had to switch back to Ch8 for Singapore mandarin drama. By that time, my sleep deprived brain only wished to go home. Finally at 10pm, all the drama ended. My dad wanted to go home cos he couldn't stand the heat, but my mum wanted to watch Ah Long! We managed to persuade her not to go through with it. =P

I didn't really know wat time i got home, nor wat time i slept. I only know i conked out the moment i sat on the sofa. I woke up, it was already almost 6am. After bathing, i realised i had 1 missed call, 3 msg'es. All from Vince. Gosh.. at that moment, i miss him so so very much.. ='( So, i ended up blogging, since my hair was wet, and i couldn't go back to sleep. And in a few hours time, i shall go get a hair cut for my overgrown mane and probably do some shopping! =)