Medical Check-Up

X-Ray

I'm reminded to my uni days. The guys stood in one line, the girls in another, almost side by side. We were to pass our medical check-up report including x-rays to the medical officers in the hall. Much to the girls horror, they would hold our x-rays high for checking. What we fear most, unless you ladies out there didn't notice, we can see the breast outline from the x-ray. Most of us prayed the guys wouldn't notice.

Our silent prayer, "Quick, quick, do not look at those x-rays for too long. God, please do not let the guys turn to look this side and please do not let them notice anything".

Urine Test

Urrgghh!!! I truly believe the guys can do better in this area. Their anatomy was built to handle this one task better. I've always hated urine test. One messy business.

Color Blind Test

Pass!

Height

OMG! I'm shrinking. Vertically that is. Unless, their measurement is not accurate or the measurement I've used in the past was not accurate.

Weight

I'm 0.5kg lighter hahaha... but then, I only had an apple for breakfast and have not taken my lunch yet.

Blood Pressure

Pass!

Everything Else

Pass! Pass! Pass! Great.

Result

Fit for employment. One hurdle gone, one more to clear.

My Future Is At Stake

Last night I took out drawers full of letters, brochures, files, and laid everything out in front of the TV. While watching America's Next Top Model and What Not To Wear, i sorted out things I can throw, things I must keep and things I think I should keep. I ended up with two bags full of garbage. Before that, I had a huge dinner with my younger brother. I had the huge dinner. He had a normal one :) While waiting for him, I've consumed a plate full of sunflower seed. I kid you not. It's a plate full. I thought of taking photos of it but too lazy.

The above are some of the habits I have when there are too many things on my mind. So many things has happened these past few days that most of the time I got too tired of thinking about it. If I can push it at the back of my mind, I just do it. Unfortunately, one issue can't be pushed to the back of my mind. My future is at stake.

I got a job offer from Bank X. It so happen my youngest brother took a hire purchase from the same bank a few months back and I become the guarantor. I was initially requested to ask my brother to change his guarantor. I don't think that will be too much of a hassle. But then I got another call, this time saying that my brother should refinance at a different bank. After going through all the option with my brother, I just couldn't see how any of it making economic sense. I probably can't accept the offer because of technicalities and guidelines of Bank Negara. Refer here under 'Prohibition of Credit Facilities to Director and Officer'. So sue me for applying to work at a bank where my siblings have taken any credit facilities from them and to top it off, I became the guarantor.

I've been to several interviews and this is the one I'm hoping to get. The atmosphere of the place is very welcoming, the office is brightly lit, the job description is interesting as I got to travel a lot, the people are nice, everything is the nicest among all interviews I went to. I'm not changing job for the sake of changing job. I've listed down all the thing I want in a job. This one is almost a perfect match. When I got the offer, I was ecstatic as I'll be able to achieve one of the item in my wish list this year (refer here). But then 'the condition'. We will be loosing a few thousand ringgit to comply, not to mention all the hassle. Sigh! Can I get a job offer like this again? I don't know.

It is difficult to talk myself into accepting that maybe it is not meant to be. That there probably are better offer coming my way. Sigh! So difficult. Anyway, I have one option left i.e. having the bank get a written exemption from BNM. That will not be easy. Would I be worth all the effort? I could also ask them again why my brother can't just change his guarantor. Could be technicalities again. Sigh! Please pray for me and in the mean time, I should start job hunting again.

Sun, Sea and Sand

I really want to go to the beach. The last time I went to one was in Ferringhi last year. That was ages ago. Bagan Lalang and Morib are out. The muddy beach is only an option if you want a mud bath if you can call it that. PD is very crowded and not so clean. But when a friend said she knew of a clean and secluded beach at PD, I jumped to the opportunity.

We departed from KL with a dreary gray sky, heading towards Sepang. We used the Sepang-Lukut-PD route. The view along the journey is quite interesting. We saw baby palm oil as far as our eyes can see. Now, that is not a view you can see everyday. I felt the journey is shorter as compared to using Sg.Besi-Seremban-PD route, not to mention cheaper. The last toll we pay is at KLIA toll. The weather at PD looks very promising. We can see some blue sky instead of gray.

We stopped by at our friend's place for lunch, and then headed to the beach. It was indeed a beautiful beach. Normally, I would enjoy the scenery and not go into the sea but this time, I brought some clothes just in case and I'm glad I did. I had lots of fun splashing in the water with my friend's six year old son. We had the beach all to ourselves for a while.

My mom warned me to beware just in case. Alhamdulillah nothing happened. We did not find any sea cucumber and there's no extraordinarily big wave either. She called at about 5 asking how I was and also mentioning it's raining heavily at home. I told her it is clear blue sky in PD. I went to sleep feeling like my body was lulled by the wave last night.


The beautiful beach.


The clear blue sky.


Splashing at sea :)

OLDer Men And I - Part 5

He is 73, very frail looking old man that can pass as my grandfather any time. He suggested I share his 3 bedroom apartment because the place is too big for him living alone. Due to work, his family did not stay with him. Errr... just because he's old he thinks we can stay under one roof? I can still be charged for 'khalwat' you know. I declined politely.

He invited me to go back to his hometown, an all expense paid trip. He said his wife would be thrilled to see me. He has told her all about me. I said there is no way I can get a long leave from work for that purpose. He is going back to his hometown for a holiday soon. He held both my shoulder and said I must come and see him before he leave for KLIA. I stand still, answered politely and he let me go. That happened in public. I hope people will really think he is my grandfather.

He also called me whenever he has problem with his new notebook. Sometimes it's hard to answer especially when his Sony Vaio has a very different interface than my ThinkPad. Alamak Sir, ask someone from your office lah. I'm sure there will be someone who knew something about computer. I really regret the day he asked me to accompany him to buy the notebook. Maybe I should ask him to buy me another notebook of the same model so I can answer all his questions heh :)

Apart from the computer problem, he called me quite often asking if we can go out for a meal or something. He really makes me feel smothered. I didn't even see my best friend that often. We're tired from work, one weekend could be spent relaxing, cleaning house, go to the bank, grocery shopping, visiting family, the next weekend could be use to see friend A and B, and the following weekend is for meeting friend C, etc. That is how I plan my weekends. I do not want to spend weekend after weekend, and sometimes weekdays too, meeting him.

My friend said, he IS old but with men, you'll never know. I told her I do feel uncomfortable but because he expected something more than I can give. I was nice to him because there is no reason not to be. But meeting him once and being nice did not count as going to come and see him often and accompany him when he's lonely. It is his personal choice to pursue his passion with work, totally aware that he would be lonely at times because his family is thousand miles away. I just wish he didn't expect me to be at his beck and call whenever he feels like he needs a companion.

So this is the end of my OLDer Men and me series. As I've mentioned in Part 1, we wanted to respect OLDer men (and women) because of the age differences, but sometimes I just wonder with men, whether they are as they appear to be. Probably after this I should start another series called 'La Dudas' hehehe… 'La' is Spanish. 'Dudas' is not. But then again, maybe not. I might offend some friends.

OLDer Men And I - Part 4

I went to an IT exhibition held at Sunway Pyramid with my boss. The exhibition is nothing to shout about. After wandering (separately from my boss) for about half an hour, we met at the exhibition entrance and I can't wait to leave. Then my boss said he has never been to Sunway Pyramid and suggested we go for a drink and explore the shopping complex. My jaw almost dropped. To be seen walking with my boss checking out shops at Sunway Pyramid, and no one will know he's my boss, is really unthinkable.

That may be a good offer if you have a handsome, eligible bachelor boss. My boss, a 50++ yo Chinese man, married with two kids, a garang wife, not very refined in social skills and appearances, he better remains a boss hehehe... People will think what does she see in him? Maybe he has tons of money! Look at him... you think he has lots of money meh? Blablabla.... I'm not someone who really bothers about what people think when I do things I want to do. But I will worry about people's opinion when it comes to things I don't want or don't like to do. It's not worth it to have people judge me badly for something not important in my life.

Anyway, I told him all shopping complexes are the same, I don't feel like having a drink so why don't we get back to office ASAP since I have something I want to finish. How can a boss resist a hard working employee like that eh :) So thankfully, we went back to office and I never want to go to any exhibition with him anymore. Maybe some people would love to go to an exhibition on office hours so they can take a break from work, but I prefer working than going out with my boss. If he asked, I'll just say I prefer to go on weekend but you go check it out. If it's boring, let me know so I don't have to go. Lucky for me, he didn't make much fuss over it. But it is such a chore evading him whenever he suggest we go do something indirectly related to work.

Me Exercising???

Yesterday evening I went to Tesco Damansara and bought myself this. It is not exactly an impulse purchase because I've been eyeing it for some time but I really didn't plan to buy it yet. So still consider an impulse purchase lah kan? Sigh! I should never go shopping when I'm feeling down plus I get so jealous when James finally begin his first step of working out. I know I will come up with all sorts of excuses for not going to the gym so I brought the gym home. Well... kind off. No one would call a stepper and a pair of dumbell a gym lol. On why I'm feeling down, will probably blog about it later.

So my first workout is panting and puffing carrying the stepper up to my 3rd floor apartment. I've to go up and down 3 times to carry the grocery, my notebook and stepper to my apartment. Second workout happens this morning :) So excited doing my first exercise on my new stepper. If I continue doing it constantly, hoepfully I'll fit back into some of my kebaya hehehe... Finally I'm doing something for my body other than exercising my eyes on notebook screen and my fingers on the keyboard. 3rd exercise is huffing and puffing carrying my notebook and the stepper to my car at one go this morning. The timer is not working. Want the salesgirl to have a look at it. So this evening if you see a lady carrying a stepper in a box at Tesco, that would be me :)

Reference: Achieve Fitness Equipment

OLDer Men And I - Part 3

My company sent me as a representative to an international convention held in one of the hotel in KL. That is the first year I work after graduation. I was so excited. Maybe I can make some contact and get some business for the company. Then I'll be given a big fat bonus and a raise hehehe... I don't remember who approached whom first but I do remember he sounds interested with the company product. So I introduced him to my immediate superior and he's invited to visit our office.

He's from Mauritius by the way and looks like in his 30s if not more. I'm actually very bad at guessing people's age so don't take my word. Let's name him C. He came to our office for a visit and was shown around by one of our Marketing Manager. I let them talk business. Before C leaves our office, he came to my desk and hand over a wrapped box. It was his company plaque which is very harmless but I do wonder why gave it to me and not the company.

The next day, C invited me for a lunch before he leaves the country. My colleague remarked that he seems more interested in me than the company product. We went to Secret Recipe, very near to my office. We chatted about work and I asked him about his country and he also mentions he's married with a few kids. Very very safe conversation. After exchanging email address, he left.

I was working for a software company but we didn't have email access in the office. Very chekai lah the company in that sense. So I give C my hotmail address that I have to access from the cyber cafe. Not my favorite place since it is full with kids playing games. I managed to go and check my email for several times and replied C's email.

It was just friendly email (but I wonder does someone interested in doing business do this friendly email thingy) until I received an email from him listing down all my good attributes which is the reason why he likes to be friend with me and asked what I think and feel about him. I started to feel more and more skeptical by this time. I replied that if he's a Malay man, I would think he's making a pass at me but since he's from Mauritius and I don't know how Mauritius people act, furthermore he's married, I said he's a nice and friendly person. I have forgotten how I said them exactly but you get the general idea. It would be interesting to see how he replied but I didn't have the chance.

I've to skip visiting the cyber cafe for several weekends that by the time I managed to check my email, my inbox has been flooded with junk mail and no reply from him. After that, I'm too lazy to go to the cyber cafe anymore and we lost contact after that. He also never followed up with the company about business opportunity together. Sigh! There goes my fat bonus and a raise.

OLDer Men And I - Part 2

While I was studying, in one of the semester, I worked as a part time PA to one of non-academic top gun in the university. I thought the working experience would be good for me. It was tough balancing work and study. The position is a part time position, but I have to work full time. I can't leave my work unfinished and tell him I've no time to complete it when his whole presentation/meeting is dependant on the material I'm preparing. Often I have to stay back at the office until very late at night.

He also has several other student assistant working for him. Anyway, one night we stayed back in the office to complete work when he came in with one of his male student assistants. He called himself Abang Y to his male student assistants. It is easier for the guys because they can go for teh tarik session without much thought so it is only natural if he feels he can be more informal with the guys. I have always called him Encik Y. That night, he called me in his office to list down things he wants me to do.

This time, he referred to himself as Abang Y. "Abang Y wants you to do this, this and this.... blablabla... Abang Y wants to use it for that purpose OK... blablabla..." I felt funny because I've worked for several weeks and he never referred to himself as Abang Y. I keep a straight face and called him Encik Y. "So Encik Y, when do you want this? Is there anything else Encik Y? Do you want me to refer to the previous presentation Encik Y? Blablabla... He replied to all my questions, still referring to himself as Abang Y.

When he had given me the instructions, I went to my girl friends (Encik Y's other student assistants) and laugh my heads off telling them the story. They laughed too and jokingly said I should be careful since his wife and I have the same nickname. Anyway, Encik Y never mistakenly referred himself to me as Abang Y again after that. I wonder if it is just a slip of the tongue on his part. But you don't slip tongue like that many many times right?

Sunflower Spirit

Its not sunflower, but true to the sunflower spirit, my test result is yellow :)


Yellow immediately brings joy and energy to
mind. The crocus is the flower of
happiness and youth. You are probably an
outgoing person with many friends and a
developed social life, but also very energetic
and unable to keep still.
What flower - color association are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

OLDer Men And I - Part 1

Here's my story with older and really old man. I wanted to respect them because of the age differences, but sometimes I just wonder whether they are as they appear to be.

While waiting for my SPM result, I worked at a shop near my place and had an admirer that freaked me out. Let's call him A. A always come to make some photocopy of verses that looks like from the Qur'an or some religious books. Parents and friends have always warned not to read just any Arabic text if we do not understand the meaning fearing it could be some spell to make you fell in love with someone or hate someone or 'pukau' or make you mad or something. Sounds scary isn't it. So when A gave me the copies of the verses, I would decline but he'll really insist that I can't do anything but accept. He tried to explain the hikmah of the verses, etc. and I pretend to listen while trying to avoid making any eye contact with him. I can't remember what I did with the copies he gave me. Probably throw or burnt them but I'm sure I never read any of them.

All the other salesgirls tried to help me too. Whenever he came, whoever notices he's coming will alert me, other girls will attend to him and I pretend to be busy near the store or at the back of the shop. But he will still come to look for me and gave me an extra copy of the verses he made.

Few weeks after that, A talked to my boss, asking about me. Iyyeewww... he looks so old to a 17 year old girl who never thought marriage is an option until I go to the university. Well... not that old lah. Probably mid 20s and so ready to get married and settle down. My boss relates everything to me afterwards. He told A that I'm a boarding school student so he expect I'll get a good SPM result and will further my studies. Better don't 'kacau' me. I'm so thankful to my boss and finally A stopped giving me 'the look' that makes me so uncomfortable but he still make extra copies of the verses for me.

I told my mom about the incident and suggested maybe I should wear a ring so people will wonder about my status before making any advances. My mom freaked out too and immediately gave me one of her rings to wear. Later, she bought me another one. She has this idea that unattached girls shouldn't wear any ring or men will think they're married and not approach them. I kept telling her a ring is not a good indication of one's marriage status. But in this case, I'm really desperate.

Then there is this one supplier who will stop by to chit chat with the salesgirls whenever he send something to the shop. He is not as intimidating as A. I'll name him B. B jokes around and chat with all the girls so I did not suspect anything until he turned up at my house on Raya month. It was late afternoon and I was taking an afternoon nap when he came. This time it was my mom who told him I'm still studying and is not looking for any serious relationship. I went out to chat with him for a while. It was awkward. Later I have a tough time explaining to my mom that I never invited him to come over.

B also looks like he's in mid 20s. I never knew B's real intention of coming over to my house. If he came as a friend, he will surely wonder "why lah this makcik thinks I want to marry her daughter". Well, I think better safe than sorry. At that time, any guys who is working and looks like they're interested in relationship of any kind will freak me out. A boyfriend who is still studying is fine because they'll not be thinking about marriage yet right! Not that I have any. Anyway, that's the story of me with older guys who are probably ready to settle down and have few kids. They freaked me out.

Stay tuned for more stories....

True Talent

This is one of those self absorbed entry. I haven't done one for so long :D

Find your true talent. Take this test.

My result:-

Sue, your true talent is Abstract Reasoning.

People who are strong abstract reasoners typically have vivid imaginations and strong analytical powers.

Your ability to look at information abstractly means you have a rich imagination. You're one of those rare people who can mix two unrelated ideas together to come up with a great new one. Most people aren't as skillful as you are at applying knowledge outside of its usual context.

Your combination of strategic thinking and creativity can be an incredible value in both business and social environments.

*me grinning ear to ear feeling so kembang with all the big words*

Cik or Puan? Is It A Big Deal?

Are you disturbed when you're supposed to be called Cik but being called Puan instead? Or Puan being called Cik? I heard in one of our radio station recently, the female DJ corrected a caller who called her Puan. I've been called Puan several times but just let it be since it will not affect me or the work I'm doing in any way. In Western names, being a Mrs. or Miss is very different because it is related to ones surname. For Malays, Cik Sue or Puan Sue still refers to our first name.

If people ask whether I should be called Cik or Puan, I would let them know. Otherwise, it doesn't really matter to me.

This is something I've read some time back. A student is confused whether to call his lecturer Prof. Barker or Mrs. Barker. When he asked, she said "I prefer Mrs. Barker. I work harder for that title". Could this be the reason why being called a Puan or Cik is such a big deal? 'Puan' is the title to show all the sacrifices women go through for being a wife? I'll let all the Puan answer that.

First Relationship

Did your children came back from kindy and mentions about his/her girlfriend/boyfriend? With TV nowadays, kids catch up on things faster. But, even without much TV influence decades back, kids have some idea about male-female relationship through observation. Lessons learnt, when boys and girls grow up they get married and have kids. I'm sure many of us have gone through several dolls wedding ceremony prior to adulthood. Some have made believe wedding where the kids will pick a boy and a girl to be the groom and bride. Everyone will go through the imaginary task to come up with a perfect wedding.

Ask any kids whom they want to marry, they will probably have an answer for you. They may even decide they don't want to marry or have relationship at a young age like my friend's six year old son. He said, "Airil tak nak kawin. Nanti selalu kena marah macam mama marah uncle abah". He's not getting married and gets scolded like her mom scolding his soon-to-be step-father.

My friend has been divorced for several years and is now in a relationship with someone who adores her and her son. They are engaged and planning to get married soon. After going through hell with her first marriage, she has lots of doubts with relationship so sometimes they'll break into arguments. Sometimes it's not really an argument but she's playing the many questions of WHY with him. I really laughed when she told me what his son told her. And I also prayed her next marriage will be better.

My friends daughter and son looking so cute together. Both their parents are divorced.
I think my first ever relationship is when I was in Standard One. It's not a relationship really, but my friends teased us because we have similar sounding name, sit near to each other in class and walks to the canteen together.

For Malays, you can call it being creative or not so creative depending on your perspective, we can come up with many names by changing the vowels or alphabet(s) or add an extension. Here is some example.

Changing vowels/alphabets: Zuraida, Zuraidi, Zuriana, Zuriani, Zuraifa, Zuraimi
Adding extension: Zuraidan, Zuraifarina, Zurianiza, Zuraifizal

Well... you get the idea. Parents planning to name their children with the above pattern, needs to plan ahead so they will not run out of ideas and have one or two children with different sounding names from their siblings lest they will think they're adopted :)

Anyway, back to my story, the boy's name rhymes with mine. My siblings have the similar name pattern and I have younger brothers so it's natural for me to hang out with the boys or a boy for that matter. To have a boy in class with a name similar with my siblings makes him seem like family. I did not feel odd walking around with him and sit next to him in the canteen but soon my classmates started to tease. I don't like being teased and certainly do not want to marry him so I pick a fight with him and ended the relationship hehe...

I can't even recall how he looks like. In Standard Two we changed class and then I moved to a different school. I did not keep in touch with any of my primary school friends anymore. He's probably married with 5 kids and a bulging belly :D So there goes my first relationship. Do you remember yours?