movie previews

watched the jacket. it was not as scary as i thought. the preview looked much more intimidating. i am not sure when things start to be like this. the movie previews nowadays seems to be more captivating than the movie itself. it's like a piece of delicious looking cake on the table. so tempting... you have such high expectations of it. and when you took a bite off that cake, it was all dissapointment. or maybe it is easier to captivate a few seconds of attention rather than 60 minutes.

or maybe, it was just the company.

wiggling all over

yay! vnc's open in jakarta at last! lately, a lot of shoe shops are opening in jakarta. hooray hooray hooray! this is such a joyous news for me.

went to ta with tere & kennie to check vnc out. mum joined later. i got myself one light bluish green velvet shoes. it's not one of my most favourite but tere and kennie said it looked good on me, so i bought it. i tried on again a few moments ago after i reached home. turned out it looked great. now, i'm in love with it. am going to wear it tomorrow.

shoes... are just so tempting. sexy. alluring. makes me wiggle all over.

after the shoe hunt, i accompanied mum to index at mag. went looking for new dining chairs.

for dinner, we tried out han-han & jesse's new jap resto, fusion. their first day of trial opening. nice food. i'm sure they will see more of me soon.

ding tai feng,

the famous resto which supposingly serves the best xiao long bao has opened its doors here in jakarta. okay, they have been opened for a month or so, it's just that i only got a chance to try them out today. mind you, this resto has branches from shanghai - tokyo - hk - la - toronto - singapore.

i've heard a few negative remarks about the resto from friends. bad food. bad service. blablabla. but i did not care. my main aim was to catch up with limi and her hubby. i have not seen them since they went for holiday to shanghai. i thought the food's not too bad. service normal. maybe because i was hungry or have low expectations in service.

the guys were hesitating as to whether we should watch midnight. henry had to meet his interior designer early tomorrow morning; while hairy had an irritation on his tongue and was tired. in the end, they decided to be nice gentlemen and accompanied the ladies for midnight.

tomorrow will be church, lunch with big family, accompany mum shop for dining chair, then dinner with mum. hopefully i still have time to see my honey. and mum can get to meet her aunt.

on top of all that, i have been feeling rather bored lately. life's being stable and i guess that's why i feel bored sometimes. on the other hand, i hate surprises. oh well, nothing's perfect.

recently watched: be cool

up @ work but...

work's been pretty hectic today, as usual. today's meeting's a big success! yay! yay! yay! we have finally agreed on the delivery time and minimum stock for the company. had an interview today, it was not as good as expected, but i am still considering. ;)

personal life, on the other hand has been rather inadequate. a few of us are supposingly heading to pulau umang early tomorrow morning, but it was cancelled it in the end. as for the reason, i am not comfortable spilling it all out in here. all i can say is that, it did end me with a few burps. although it was not one of those deadly gastric attack.

i wanted to go to umang. trully. have been dreaming about the white sand, fun, laughs... bought the neccesities. packed earlier (i am one of those who are prone to do the last minute packing). slide all those message oil, swimming suits, relaxing what so ever into my bag... but too bad god did not plan it that way.

i hope no one gets upset about what happened today. it was definitely beyond my expectation. deep down, i still hope to get a chance to go to umang someday.

also, kev gave me a useful advice today. he said to spend more time with my mum. yea, i guess i have been neglecting her. i think i should spend time with my mum more often. definitely. no excuse. although i cannot deny that i did try to defend myself (it's one of my bad habits you see). but again, deep down... i always consider people's advice. thanks for reminding me, kev. ;)

love of a lifetime...

by firehouse was playing on yahoo radio. memories of the past flew back.

work has been: busy. rough. tough. and due to that, i have been emotional. pretty disturbed. suspicious. i sense something's not right. politics. tactics. manipulation. and i still have doubts about the next move i have to make. some say that it's normal to do it, but i sense it otherwise. one advices that i should just leave all those decisions to my superior. i seem to have abandon my previous plan. as versed in luke 16:10, 'unless you are faithful in small matters; you won't be faithful in large ones'. i am not even sure of what to do.

all i can do is pray. but 'god keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out'. i believe in that.

i sincerely hope that i grow to be more faithful to god. more dedicated. more wise. more calm. more of what god wants me to be.

movie: star wars episode III - revenge of the sith

i'm okay now

had an emotional day at work the other day. but i guess i'm quite okay now.

some things i've learnt through the experience:
- sometimes it is impossible to be perfectionist
- i must be more patient while talking to other people. softer tone. softer tone.
- speak less. speak less. do not be such a busybody.

i guess speaking less will do me good. ;)

tears at lunch

i burst out in tears while i was having lunch today. because of work. even now, my eyes are still sore from the sobs.

shocked everyone who was there, cos i am not the type who cries. i never was. i fought so hard to hide the tears. i really did. cos i'm full of pride. cos i'm not the type of person who likes to show the weak side of me. cos i felt it was not professional to cry. but however hard i tried, tears came rolling down my cheek.

it was all sadness and dissapointment... [to be continued]

harry & kennie with cake

hehehe... i want the strawberry cake. but actually the blackforest is also good.

harry with birthday cake

harry with his two birthday cakes. look at him!

cozy paradise

our main company's exhibition at grand hyatt was finally over. did not participate much but mentally it is kind of a burden to me. maybe i am the kind of person who differentiate much between time for work and time to play. i really hate working on weekends. if i do not have any day off for 30 days, i would definitely start to complain/grumble/threaten to quit my job. no kidding!

anyway, i love the runway. orangey lighted acrylic with brown sofa fabric. not too sure how to describe it, but it was wow. grand hyatt served good food. peking duck. sushi. hongkong noodle. dim sum. apparently, they also had the infamous c's herbal tea. slurp slurp. and thanks to lily's introduction, i got to discover grand hyatt's superb penthouse. would be excellent for a small engagement or sort. thumbs up! really.

it was e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y difficult getting out off bed this morning. i did not even feel like going to work. was in a bad mood when mum tried to wake me up. i did not even want to really talk to my mum in the morning. but once i reached the office and started to be more awake, all those negative feelings faded off. work was good, as usual. busy but good. worked till 6 plus before picking tere up.

celebrated harry's birthday at sedap malam muara karang tonight. my third visit to sedap malam in less than three weeks. too bad they ran out of the fresh pandan coconut. i dunno why but it seems that they always ran out of it. twice out of thrice, they had none pandan coconut left. and it's like one of my current favourite drink. anyway, harry ordered abudance of food. ceng arrived late cos he had to meet his interior designer. a lot of people were there. 15 actually. went to harry's apartment for a cake cutting session afterwards.

can't resist the i squeeze foot messager at harry's place. i let julie had a try of it and 3 seconds later, she was in estacy. 30 minutes later, she was still gooing over it. feels like being in a cozy paradise. especially after one of those 'sore feet due to shopping with high heels on' experience. oh... happiness.

god's beauty tips

nanny sent me this poem via email. thought it was beautiful.

for attractive lips,
speak words of kindness.
for beautiful eyes,
look for the good in others.
to lose weight,
let go of stress, hatred, anger,
discontentment,
and the need to control others.

to improve your ears,
listen to the word of God.
for poise,
walk with knowledge and self-esteem.

to strengthen your arms,
hug at least 3 people a day;
touch someone with your love.

to strengthen your heart,
forgive yourself and others.

for the ultimate in business,
casual or evening attire,
put on the robe of christ;
it fits like a glove but allows room for growth.
best of all, it never goes out of style
and is appropriate for any occasion.

doing these things on a daily basis
will certainly make you a more beautiful person.

- author unknown

harry's surprise birthday party

just got back from harry's suprise birthday party. only a few attended. henry, boneng, rudy, this other guy, kennie, harry and i. the rest were either too tired, too far or too late.

some flukes while preparing harry's birthday party.

since harry was with us all day long, we had to steal time to buy candles. kevin was to distract him, while kennie and i went to the supermarket below.

we were flicking through all the candles, trying to decide which was a good color when harry was already standing beside us calling our names. imagine the look on kennie and my face. it was a mixture of astonished, shocked, embarrassed & confused. i was dumbfounded for about 3 seconds. then harry started teasing us, asking questions like "so, what are you guys buying birthday candles for eh?"

kennie tried to deny. i didn't say a word. but it was so obvious we were lying. we were caught red-handed. harry continued the tease which made me lose control and started giggling.

the second was... we went to the wrong pool. the rest were waiting in the main pool while kennie took us to the side pool. ughhhh...

anyway, on top of all the flukes. i think this was a meaningful birthday surprise. we had snacks, beer for the guys and harry was thrown into the pool.

but the most important thing i see is a girlfriend who is sweet enough to plan a surprise party for her boyfriend. begins planning it about a month ago. told all his best buddy and cousins. prepared food and drinks. asked his good friend which basketball shoes he adores most (cos there is so many models). bought him the best basketball shoes. made sure someone bought the cake. called up to spot check if the people are coming. drove all the way in the middle of the night. sneak up the apartment without a swipe card... all the things we do for love.

the most important about birthdays is not celebrating. it is how we show the how much we appreciate having this special person in our life. how much they matter to us. how much our lives is changing because of their presence. how much we love care and love them.

happy birthday, harry. although i know you read blogs. :)

quiz, quiz and more quizs...

got the quiz link from andy's blog, which he had gotten it from michel's blog. it's good cos it seems to say most nice things about me. i need the self esteem and pride boost since i'm in my monthly instable emotion condition. so did more of the quiz. hihihi. anyway, it is quite accurate. cos i did one of the quiz a year back and the answer did reflect what i was a year back. and now i chose something different and it does reflect the current situation as well.

how sinful are you?

your deadly sins
pride: 40%
envy: 20%
gluttony: 20%
greed: 20%
lust: 0%
sloth: 0%
wrath: 0%
chance you'll go to hell: 14%
you will die from faulty botox injection.

geez... what a sad way to die?

* * *

what does your birth date mean?

your birthdate: July 26
your birth on the 26th day of the month (8 energy) modifies your life by increasing your capability to function and succeed in the business world.
in this environment you have the skills to work very well with others thanks to the 2 and 6 energies combining in this date.
there is a marked increase in organizational, managerial, and administrative abilities.

you are efficient and handle money very well.
you're ambitious and energetic, while generally remaining cooperative and adaptable.
you are conscientious and not afraid of responsibility.

generally sociable and diplomatic, you tend to use persuasion rather than force.
you have a wonderful combination of being good at both the broad strokes and the fine detail; good at starting and continuing. this birthday is practical and realistic, often seeking material satisfaction.

waa... sounds like i'm some goodie goodie leader here. hehe.

* * *

what is your seduction style?

your seduction style: the charmer

you're a master at intimate conversation and verbal enticement.
you seduce with words, by getting people to open up to you.
by establishing this deep connection quickly, people feel under your power.
and then you've got them exactly where you want them!

wa... sure or not?

* * *

what your dreams mean...

your dreams seem to show that you're a bit disturbed... but nothing serious.
you may have a problem you're trying to work out in your sleep.
overall, you are very content in your life.
your dreams tend to reflect your insecurities.

hmnn... this seems true.

* * *

the keys to your heart
you are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart.
in love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.
you'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change.
you would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.
your ideal relationship is lasting. you want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.
your risk of cheating is zero. you care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.
you think of marriage as something precious. you'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.
in this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. you'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

hmnn... i am attracted and turned off by the same factor?!?

tia's graduation

a second graduation to attend for mr & mrs jimmy chim this year. tia's graduation on her second degree (or is it a masters?), majoring in architecture. this photo was taken probably in sydney uni's compound. congrats tia!

chinyin's graduation

tia, aunt feng zhen, cy and uncle jimmy on cy's graduation. look at cy. it seems like she has those smiles glued on to her face. congrats cy! you are now a certified social worker eh?

sunset @ sudirman

i was driving back one day (was stuck in jam, of course) and saw this beautiful sunset. can't believe how nice jakarta could be.

fishy fishy...

my fishy fishy... aren't they loveable? the three are still baby goldfishes. hmnn... i name my favourite one (black & smaller), lolly. maybe i should name the other two poppy and dolly? just kidding! hihihi...

tere?

waa... it's kind of an obscene pose. but it's cool. it's cool!

sharaya

araya, mopping my apartment. hmnn... she always puts on that pose whenever she is in front of the camera. such an adorable kid!

anne, kennie & me

this is what the girls looked like after the juicy slushies. you should have taken a look at our faces before it! our looks can kill...

juice bar @ la piazza extention to gading mal

oh... the mango slushie is making me so happy. i'm glowing... i'm glowing. what's henry doing looking at that women in pink? and why is kevin looking so blur?

flirty flirty on the phone

henry, getting cheeky on the phone with some girl. this photo was taken on night view, so it's of a bad quality. btw, this is asuka. my favourite resto! they serve the best gindara teriyaki i've ever tasted.

caramel popcorn...

glazed caramel all over the popcorn. oh yea... they're calling your name.

caramel popcorn

it's 2 in the morning and i've just finished making caramel popcorn. quite successful for my first trial. the result: 2 bags of caramel popcorn. 1 lightly coated, the other more heavily coated. will let others try my popcorn tomorrow and will try to post the photos here.

goon... is still being sarcastic, as usual!

@ work

since i am absent-minded, i would have to list down the things that will need to be done tomorrow at work...

one.
call up the machine technician again. make sure he comes to fix the machine tomorrow. also have to consult to pak eddy & pak michael, how i should negotiate machine service terms with him. since i am unhappy with the technician's attitude, professionalism and service.

two.
make sure that the album orders have been sent. check email to make sure that my supplier has received the order. teach luvi to check email and spot our emails.

three.
ask andre to make sure the order for alta moda has been installed properly. if it has, then we can ask the finance to proceed with the billing.

four.
prepare proposal for a few customers. le salon. aric's newly set-up business. also the customer that was introduced to us by pak sukendy, vista frame.

five.
check out competitor's price.

six.
contact chubb to ask them to reset password. create new users for each of our permanant security guard.

seven.
ask ibu susy when the new schedule for washing of our machine will start and do arrange neccessary arrangements for it.

eight.
follow up pak djoko's order. is he happy with the design? will it be okay if i suggest him the following?

nine.
ask ibu susy to put an ad for my marketing. urgent! urgent! urgent!

ten.
return money to pak djoni. 4 rb for strawberry juice + 18 rb for the coconut water. urgent! urgent!

eleven.
ask novi to check as to whether sarpino's has paid up their bills.

twelve.
find a few alternatives paper and printing for voucher that would be used by le salon.

thirteen.
hmnn.. anything else maybe?

my day, in brief...

a few unpleasant events today:

one.
one of our customer's contractor who was supposed to meet our guys to fix some of the things did not show up. when i spoke to him on the phone, he said his men had something on and did not show up on time. my people waited for 2 hours before leaving. lucikly enough, he was willing to help us install the neonbox.

two.
one of the machine has some problem, again! gotta fly in the i-dislike-him-but-gotta-pretend-to-be-nice-to-him technician. arghhh...

three.
i saw a puppy in pain through my right side mirror. i was driving, then i heard this awful crying sound. and when i checked my right side mirror, there was this puppy, hopping and squeking in pain. it must had been run over by one of the cars.

hmnn... i guess the unpleasant ones stop here.

henry gave me some suggestions about work. he said to hire more marketing. which, of course, reminds me that i have to hurry on this one! will do on monday!

ate kfc, in order to please kevin & henry. it taste okay, but parking was difficult to find. i was lucky that henry was the one who drove. walked about 100 m to the kfc on uneven roadside filled with small pebbles and broken marbles. my pampered feet complained a little, because i was wearing the 7cm-not.so.comfy-black-nice.looking-shoe.

watched the kingdom of heaven after. i'd say that i'd prefer a more happy film on a day like today, but it was fine.

will have quite a number of people coming over to the apartment tomorrow night. thirteen was invited. not sure if there'll be enough chairs. one thing for sure, we'll definitely enjoy the company.

counter

i secretly installed a hit counter on my site last february. the stats are rather satisfying. for me, at least. here are the results...

from 20 feb 2005 - 6 may 2005, i get an average of this daily:
29 page loads
15 unique visitors
03 first time visitors
11 returning visitors

newly pedicure-d foot

it really feels good to have an expert to tidy up my finger and toe nails. especially when they are french pedicure. cute isn't it? most of you probably cannot see this from the photo above, but i actually have toes that are slanting inwards. my male cousins said they look weird, but i think they look okay. maybe because they are my lovely toes. hehe.

sore throat is getting much much better. flu's getting worse though. lots of sinus. eiwwww...

anyway, ritz carlton jakarta opened its doors on first of may. we went to check it out after our dinner at jw marriot last thursday. exterior was grand, nice lightings at night. interior, some part of it was wow... other part was dissapointing for the ritz carlton's six star standard. i expected something more from the ballroom! however, delon told me about their mouth watering breakfast. hmnn... gotta go try out the resto there soon.

le salon over at ritz carlton jakarta had sorta hotel costes decor. nice, european, furry fabric walls, colored chandelier, scented candles, low lightings, fresh flowers, lots of red. i lurve it. lurve it even more at night. met amy and daniel from le salon this morning. i sincerely hope we'll get to design their promotional and stationary kit. also hope that i'll one day be rich enough to get a pampering haircut over there one day. with their top hair stylish, daniel.

sick yet great

i woke up with a stuffy nose. sore throat's getting worse. additionally to that, i had the flu.

must be because of the yesterday's dinner. the air con over at asuka was cold. food was yummy yummy! but it certainly does not fit my health condition (mostly grilled and fried stuff).

hmnn... despite of these illness and diseases, i'm definitely still going out. hehehe. pedi/medi with tere in an hour. yayyy! my nails will be so trilled to hear the news. i can imagine them celebrating for joy.

harry informed with the new jakarta-bandung tol, it took only 90 minutes. he left jakarta at 6 am, reached bandung 7.30 am. amazing isn't it? how the highway can reduce the 4 hours route to merely 90 mins. i think bandung will probably be seeing more of me.

okay. gotta soon. will have to pick up tere in a while. it feel so good. i feel so good. cos it's a public holiday!

ps. cos of my severe flu + sore throat, i may become the untalkative bunny today. hehe...

temptation island!

face with a temptation today.

i tried to be nice and polite. but when i realise it, it seems that i was already going over the line. consenting to things that i do not mean or want to. something like that...

then like a struck of lightning, a revoke came from the most unexpected source. the temptor itself. it felt like a pinch on my sleepy face to wake me up. like someone was trying to warn me of the dangers ahead.

it's true what my dear friend said. it'll come back to haunt me again, someday. now i see why.

quickly

had a cup of quickly tea at plaza indonesia just then. my order was specific: jasime green tea without milk, no bubble, no ice, no sugar and yes milk pudding. the tea is not too sweet and still has some bitterness in it. milk pudding adds as a nuetralizing agent when the tea gets too bitter. the milk pudding is just unresistable. soft, light milky taste.

i was actually feeling kind of unwell today. had been unwell since the weekend stay at kevin's place. but it became worse on monday. felt better today but still not 100% fit. however, went to gym with tere. before gym, we got ourselves a cup of quickly tea and did some transfer via the atm.

the 20 minutes cardio should offset a cup of jasmine tea milk pudding.

weekend @ kevin's

went to kevin's place at karawaci to stay over for the weekend. it was almost blissful. nice house, nice decor, nice bed, nice company. everything was perfect, almost. thanks to kevin for it.

the weekend started with a korean meal, which included the korean bbq as well. dinner was quite yummy, but rather expensive. 8 adults with 1 kid costs 1.35 jt. it's expensive cos the restaurant was located in karawaci (not in jakarta or some cbd area with high rental). and that we have been there to eat before (same ruko but different resto that serves similar food) and it only costs 400 rb for 5 people. we ate much more back then and had more exotic food. the 1.35 jt resto had slightly better decor and looks cleaner. although michael (my boss, also cousin) paid for the meal, i felt like i was getting ripped off too.

mic, mira & mel headed home after dinner. the rest had coffee at coffee bean & tea leaves bento junction. all had cold coffee as it was outdoor and the weather had been awfully hot these days.

went to kev's place. washed up, chit chat, exchanges files via hp and laptop... blablabla. then at nearly 3 in the morning, harry suggested we hunt for food. the first venue was out of almost everything. so went off to hunt again. after driving around, we ended up buying fried rice for this guy. he looked like he was working his ass off, so harry tipped him a few thousands extra. he sells till 4 everyday, definitely not an easy life. we had the fried rice take away. fried rice was good. so good that it had the kind of 'once u try u can't stop' kind of appeal.

slept at around 4ish. kev tried to sms the little piggies (tere, kennie & i) to wake us up. but failed terribly. woke up at 2. had prawn noodle, fried noodle & fried rice noodle by complimentary of mr. & mrs. michael leonardi. it was supposed to be breakfast, but you know...

soon after, had nasi uduk kebon jeruk at kev's place. can you see how much we are eating? the babat was sooooooo good. later, we watched this popular anime, spirited away. i was very much into it, so was kennie, tere & melissa. awesome movie. gotta watch these good anime again soon.

at 5 plus, piggies with mel drove to drop kevin off for myc's meeting. then kennie wanted to get cash from the atm, which led us to the karawaci mal. by this time, tere and i were still on our pj. kennie got us crepes. when we got back, we continued to watch this other anime. but soon after, we fell asleep.

woke up 8ish. bathed. packed up. kev's back. had dinner at bento junction. then home. it was fun, but tiring. not sure why i'm tired. cos i slept too much maybe.

it's kevin's birthday today. hope he reads this in time.

happy birthday, kev. may you grow wiser, as always.

listening: fixing a broken heart - indecent obsession
health: 'heaty' and slight irritation on the throat
mood: g-r-e-a-t