Something for M!

A special entry for M , our dear friend.....

on her journey to a distant land to fulfill her destiny.

We wish u the best of luck, lots of love , and everlasting friendship with us, the FEMS!

with a heavy heart..... we part...but we hope to see u soon.... maybe not as often as we used...but we wont stay away for long..... u can't get rid of us that easily!! :)

The hardest part of any friendship is when it is time to say goodbye. As much as we might like things to stay the same, change is an inevitable part of life. There is a secret that only real friends know and it is this. All the mountains and valleys in the world cannot separate friends whose hearts are as one.

And finally a goodbye poem for u :

We will be friends forever

Amigos, buddies, pals

Where you are, I’ll be

No matter how many miles

We will be friends forever

No matter how many mistakes you or I make

Because as long we are friends

There’s nothing we couldn't’t take

We will be friends forever

No matter where we’ll be

Because when we leave one another behind

You’ll be in the heart of me

We will be friends forever

No matter how old we are

Because when you’re friends forever

You’ll never be too far

A big hug from me to u , M!

Love,

E!

lots of hugs and kisses from all of us

yeap,,, March 30 - 0900 hrs..... M will be flying off to greener pasture. M has been busy eating, eating and eating since last month till now. Everyone seems to want to buy M lunch or dinner before flying away.

Our group was suppose to buy M farewell dinner but never materialise as she was busy, with some appointments made 1 1/2 months ago. Infact, Monday, 24 March, we were suppose to go out for dinner (2nd postponement) but M could not due to prior engagement before ours lah. So, we decide if M cannot make it, we will still go ahead with ours. Guess, where lah..... food and we can also clear our throat... (hehehe)... Karaoke lah. Value for money, we paid abt RM30+ each and we can eat all we want, drink wat we want, cold or hot drinks, including mashed potatoes (made fresh from the machine). WE were spoilt for choice. Of course, once our stomach was fill to the bringe, we have to "exercise" mah..... We sang and sang and sang from dinner through supper !! Imagine from 6.30 pm - 1.30 am...... See,,,, told you - value for money, right ? where can get one??? (Girls, E's girls, we all waiting for both of you to come back to eat n sing along.....)

M was also busy with her new house which finally was ready yesterday. We, F,E,S, help M to warm up her new house together with her other relatives, dont know how many of them as there are toooo many to account for. According to F, yesterday attendance is only some of the clan. You can imagine if the whole clan gathers, my oh my........

We also had a short session "wat we do every Friday" till 11 pm. The house was filled with voices and everyone talking at the same time, F could not concentrate much last night. M was not making neither was F due to the noise pollution. E n me make some. We din talk much about M moving on, guess if we did, probably the room will be fill with water (tears). I am sad to say that I am reluctant for M to go away but probably thats her calling and who knows, maybe she will find someone there. F says, if the flight is schedule later in the day, she would not go either as she may not be able to control herself as well. So, all foursome just played along last night until it was time to say goodnight. We just wished her well and said, we see you when we see you lah...... No hugs, no kisses and no tears..... it is better this way.... On the bright side, we now have an overseas "home" where we can go for visit and the best part is FREEEEEEEEEE..... Secondly, M will come back home every now and then.. so.. dont fret.

M take care and all the best. Lot of hugs from F, E and me.. we love you and will surely surely miss you dearly.... even though we din tell this to you... but i reckon you know lah.....

Already missing M liao... ...... S signing off

P/s M promise to blog but dont know if she has ever begin to try to.........?!

POLITICAL TSUNAMI

By now every Malaysian is aware that besides PAS retaining the state of Kelantan, the opposition had won an additional 4 states in the nationwide March 8th Election. Everyone, from the then ruling coalition to the opposition parties themselves, as well as the rakyak was shocked beyond words.

For once the whole nation were either glued to the T.V. or the net, waiting for results of the election. Nobody felt sorry for Samy Vellu when it was announced that he had lost. Sms-es poking fun at him supposedly looking for a job started pouring in minutes after his defeat was announced. Results of the opposition’s wins were belatedly relayed on T.V. Sms-es with details of who won and who lost flew back and forth the whole night, more up-to-date than the mainstream government-owned media. Much as I felt sorry for Dr. Koh & Dato Seri Sharizat, it seemed that this time the people had mainly voted for parties, not the candidates. Ironically, the ruling party is now the opposition in these states. Based on these results, it can be summed up that the people were very unhappy with the current government and were letting them know it through the polls.

Speaking for myself, I have never really taken an interested in politics. To be frank, the only reason I registered to vote in the first place was because somebody told me that if you skip the elections four times from the time you are eligible to vote, you could end up being deported. Fear of being ‘buang negara’ made me go to the polls for the very first time in 2004. But then, fed-up with the blatant corruption of some of these big shots, and what seemed like the government doing nothing to stop it, I started taking an interest in the political situation in our country. As mentioned in one of my posts, I started reading blogs like Malaysia Today and other independent media. Guess I wasn’t the only one. People no longer trusted what they read in the mainstream media.

Weeks before the election, the whole country was abuzz with anything connected with the election. Seems like everywhere you go, people were talking about it. Emails were going round urging people not to vote for politicians who were sexist, racist or corrupted etc. Many young people I know were regretting that they had not registered in time to vote. My office mates and I were united in our sentiments, we were pro-oppositions. Only 2 girls bravely told us they were sticking with Barisan.

This time round people were no longer afraid to declare out loud that they were going to vote for the opposition. It no longer mattered that the constituency we belonged to did not have the candidate or party of our choice. People were desperate enough to vote for any one of the opposition parties meaning that the Chinese and Indians were willing to vote for PAS and for once, the Malays also indicated their intentions to vote for the opposition, be it DAP or PKR. For that we have the mainstream media to thank because throughout the campaign period, they painted a rosy picture of the ruling party’s confidence in securing a huge majority of the votes. This made each of us feel threatened, and we each felt that we HAD to vote for the opposition just to deny the Barisan a 2/3 majority.

Days after the election, the nation is still eagerly waiting for post-elections news. Cabinet ministers had to be picked, along with the MB for each state won by the opposition. Speculations are going round as to whether Badawi would be forced to step down, and if so, who would become the next P.M.? Najib ? Tengku Razaleigh ????

Sadly, there have been bickering among the new ruling parties as to who should be nominated for position of MB, among others issues. There is also unhappiness over the declaration of certain policies being scrapped etc..

We should not feel dejected by these initial problems. The opposition parties have just taken over. I am confident that given time most of the problems will be resolved and everything will go smoothly in the end. We voted and we won. Now let us all be patient. Let's give them a chance to prove themselves.

F

I am back......

Good morning and good day....... I am back... (Hehehehe) from hibernation. Sorry for being away for soooooooooo long. As usual work is always my main excuse but memang betul wor. I could not come on line as well due to work. It has been a hectic week for me last week. Thank god, it was a school holiday (a week) otherwise si loooorrrr.

Had Indonesian customers that came in last week, on Tuesday onwards. One batch from Indonesia and Singapore. One whole Tuesday was occupied with meeting and also warehouse visiting. (That why I couldnt have lunch with you girls, sorry). Lunch in Carey Island and later had dinner at "The ship" in Damansara. By the time I reached home was after 11 pm and was already down and out !!

Come Thursday another group of Indonesians came for their "Road show" from March 13 -15. Had to sit in with them during their presentation to potential business partner as we are supporting them with feeder connection from their factory to Port Klang. The presentation was in Subang Jaya and commence from 0900 hrs - 1700 hrs. Thereafter, had to accompany them for dinner as well. The only consolation was enjoying the meals lah. As E mentioned, food glorious food is our life staple. 1st day lunch at "Haus" in Subang Jaya. I had salmon steak. Yum.. Yum... After the 1st day presentation, the guests was taken to Genting for dinner and a few rounds in the casino. Luckily for me, I dont have to accompany them as my boss chaperon them. I managed to spend some time with F and M that evening and also some other friends. The farewell dinner was for M who will be going away soon, joining the higher corporate world, somewhere. Our group has begin to make plans to visit M even though she has yet to commence work and let alone settled down. BTW, mum tried pumpkin fried meehoon which she learn while watching the Hokkien movie at 8TV. Not bad lah.. pumpkin fried meehoon. But knowing E, pumpkin is NOT her cup of tea..

2nd day, lunch at Korean restaurant in Taipan, Subang. Very good lunch..... Looking forward to my next visit there. Had Japanese food in Subang - Rakumen. Vellllliiiiii gooood. Good crowd during dinner and luckily we made reservations and had dinner in one of their private room. Come Saturday, another presentation in Port Klang, my office which end almost during lunch. We had durians as appetisers... Yup, you read it correctly... durian (Grade 13) as appetisers. Thereafter, pork knuckles, and Bak Kut teh as the main course.

Donno how much I have gain throughout the whole of last week (in terms of kilos, lah and also sideways) but I reckon I am going to have a tough time keeping my weight down... Sigh.... sobss......

My niece just came back from NS in Sabah and the very next day, SPM results was out.! I knew somehow, my niece can get through but 8As and 3Bs, WOW !!! I was so proud of her. She wants to do Engineering another WOW !! Her grades was always good. For her PMR, she managed 7As. During my time, 3As already...WAH... and WOW..... But then again, nowadays, it quite norm but not in my family. To encourage her further and also to reward her good grades, I got her a NIKON digital camera - S200. Hope she likes it. Maybe today, I will give it to her.

BTW, M has promised to blog but before that she has to learn how sign in and of course blog lah. Hope this time is for real. Atleast, when M blogs, we would know how she is doing, wat she is doing and keeping us noted cos M would be sooooo near to us come end March. Nevertheless, all of us are very happy and proud of her. All the best, M......


S

Today is the the Day!!!

Choose wisely !

Vote for a better tomorrow!

WE love Malaysia so make it a better place!

Haiyoh! On a personal note, i went to my polling station and my mind went blank! If not for the little note that a DAP guy handed to me i would have made a a instead of an X ! I had already decided who to vote for , but i got there and i was like Oh-OH! Is it a a or an X !??! So i took out that note that i had chucked into my pocket and double checked the sign i was suppose to make lah!!! Teacher mah..... sure put a !!HAHAHAHAH! Thank goodness, or else hilang ONE vote !!

E-lection Day!

The Sun didn't really rise!

Friday ~ 7th march! The Sun didn't really rise! I so looked forward to see the sun rise in PJ! I heard so much about it , went online and googled for it , salivated over the images but the sun did not really show up on the horizon! I still think the sun will shine more over in Bayu!Still have no idea what i am talking about??? Its got nothing to do with the weather. If u know me well enough , there is no other topic in my life more important than FOOD!Yep, once again this is about taste buds and drools. And the place i am talking about is called Sunrise Restaurant that is supposedly famous for its roast duck. i was never a fan of ducks until this shop opened in bayu and from then on i was hooked!!! It was almost a weekly affair we had .... eh, appropriate mah!!! men have affairs with Chickens , and we ladies have ours with ducks!!! LOLOL .... censor , censor!Anyway back to food, we made our way to old PJ and tried out that sunrise duck place and it was a bit of a disappointment . I didn't quite like the chili sauce. In the gastronomical aspect of my life, sauces play a very important part! i am sure most chefs ...no , correction ,...ALL chefs will happily mince me with their cleavers!! Sauces should NOT determine the quality of a meal but i am me .... happy saucy me!!!! ( ya ya i am saucy too, I KNOW!) Ok , sorry i side-tracked! But back to the duck, sauce not so good, duck meat Ok la, its tender but not as tasty, the soup was a weird sweet sour spicy concoction.... a bit too sweet for my liking and we ordered a side dish of oyster sauce lettuce ....yuks! Very koo-hon, kiam-siap , stingy with the oyster sauce! ( again and again , sauces are my life!) so it was a bit of a disappointment, this lack of sun burst meal!So its back to my usual haunt in I-po, bayu! After all , I ipoh mali mah!!! Hehehehee!
E-dible lah!

At 21

I read the blog of a certain young lady. She writes so eloquently, just as my niece does. Youths today, they express themselves so naturally, without inhibitions. Unlike us. Do we sound like stuffed shirts in our blogs? Not wanting to offend, we are ever careful with our choices of words. Armed with limited vocabulary, since we know no slang, (at least I don’t-lah) we touch on safe topics, trying hard not to make too many grammatical errors. (Because amongst us FEMS, there is an English teacher! Nanti she laugh at our English like she laughed when I couldn’t pronounce Haagen-daz!)

Did I feel the way she feels at 21? That was like eons ago. We didn’t have the internet then. I was in my late 20s when I even first heard the word ‘internet’. Being not very bright, I didn’t understand what my more ‘exposed’ friends were talking about. It was only when I joined the corporate world that I experienced being on-line for the first time. It was all dial-up then. Took forever for a page to load, but we bore with it and went ga-ga over the amount of info we could derive from it. It was really a big deal then! Now, just about everybody we know is either contributing to blogs or chatting on MSN. Even though many things are left unsaid in our blogs, it still helps us unwind and let off steam. (Play smart. Don’t mention names and you can get away with a lot of unpleasant confrontations!)

During that era, there were no karaokes. Fast food joints were just starting out in our part of the world. In spite of its novelty, not many of us could afford to frequent them. The first fast-food joint I ever visited would have been the KFC in Port Klang. It was at the same spot where it still stands, furnished with wooden tables and chairs, unlike the plastic ones today. As with most new establishments, there were rumours claiming it was haunted. Hmm … so was the first supermarket in Port Klang for that matter. Aiyoh … Port Klang got a lot of hantu! First snack bar I went to? Aces, situated next to the Embassy Hotel. The signboard is still there, but is it still surviving and do people still use the term ‘snack bar’? One of our favourite haunts? Emporium Makan in Klang.

How did we ever release tension or de-stressed then? 21, 21… There are flashes of memories of what went on when I was at that age. In many ways, I was still very naïve. (Not talking about ex-rated movies la… That one-ah, some of the old girls came over to my house to watch the “Immanuelle” series acted by Sylvia Kristel while we were in Form 4 or 5.) Discos? Oh, does anyone remember, there used to be a disco in Klang?? It was on the top floor of Chi Liung Plaza. I was there a few times. They were playing songs like “Give it up” (KC & the Sunshine band), “Do do do de da da da “ (Police). Waaa… all these songs very nice to dance to-man!

The term “lepaking” was most likely coined during our time. (some people feel we are ‘over the hill’ now.) Topics of conversation at 21 focused on ‘so and so is dating who’, ‘who found a job where’ and “omigosh who and who are getting married”! Gossips on divorce and extra marital affairs didn’t start until a few years later but of course at 21, we touched on who was two-timing whom.

As I remember what it was like when I was 21. I realize that many of the people I hung around with then are still hanging around with me today and that was like 25 yrs ago. People like M & S were part of my history… they go way back even further. 39 years to be exact. It leaves me with a warm feeling realising that if I still have the same friends today as I did then, I must be doing something right.

So in a way, I guess the answer is easy. Way before they had the Internet, the karaoke, or even the Play station, we’ve always had our friends. Somebody once said, we all need different people to unlock the different chambers of our hearts. Friends are like a length of chain, linking us to sanity. How we end up today are mainly thanks to them. They shaped and influenced us into becoming who we are today. They were there throughout the passage of our growing up, and they will be there whilst we grow old, supportive, encouraging and ever present.

Today even as our hairs have gone grey, our bodies no longer slim or lithe and our topics of conversations may have changed. To my friends, both old and new, as the saying goes, one is silver and the other is gold. I'd just like to say 'Thank you.'

F