I wanted to record this as a milestone in my life... but then again I don't think I should disclose too much... Thus, it suffice to say that I've been granted access to a privilege club... Though the guy said that we the selected few earned our entry... I would like to also sincerely thank my boss for the recognition and nomination... hehehehe...

All in all... am very happy... altough it is not an eternal membership i.e. must work hard for it continuously... it is the feeling of one being granted access to a heavily guarded palace... And oh, got extra 500 bucks to buy books and to attend workshops and to apply for scholarships etc etc! Yippieeeee!

Life is beautiful!!!

I've used "This Other Eden" template for close to 2 years now...

The fact that it is a Classic Blogger template meant that the template was as basic as it can be. I must have spent like a gazillion of hoursssss trying to personalize it.

Though I like this template and that it has served me well for years... I'm beginning to feel that the colours are a tad too gloomy...

Thus, the hunt for a replacement template begin...








In between, I've tested quite a few templates... but they all didn't measure up until I found this sIMpress template!!! Am so damn happy that I finally got a template with functionalities that I've wanted all along!!!

• XML template that allows me to add new widgets...
• 3 column template that allows me to segregate the navigation bars neatly...
• Date in calendar format... which is damn nice!
• Proper navigation... like how if you click on any of the categories, all posts will be shown...
• Older posts, newer posts links are listed neatly at the bottom
• Top nav that directly links to key posts... like: Why "mammee" + About "maemee"
• Visible HOME button
• More importantly... WHITE background with my lucky colour GREEN...

Hoohoo!!! Yay!!!

Today I went back to the dentist again cos one of the brackets were dislodged from one of my front teeth. The entire process of replacing it took 30min and afterwhich, the entire front row of my teeth were totally numb... The only consolation was that, the bracket change was F.O.C.

Needless to say, I only had soup with rice for dinner... Sigh...

Today I went back for my 5th dental visit...
Dr. How changed both the upper and lower wires this time...
And then told me that my teeth needed scaling...
(Apparently got a lot of tartar)...

All in all, it wasn't too bad an experience (I've had worst)...
Then he also told me that I'm making some very good progress...
So yes! Am very happy indeed! Yippeee!!!

xx-03-2008: $1,100 [Deposit, X-Rays, Photos & Moulding]
30-03-2008: $ 870 [Deposit & Upper Braces Fitting]
20-04-2008: $ 423 [Extraction & Medication]
18-05-2008: $ 325 [Wire Change]
17-08-2008: $ 325 [Bottom Braces Fitting]
14-09-2008: $ 764 [Extraction, Frenectomy & Medication]
25-10-2008: $ 385 [Upper & Lower Wire Change & Scaling]

YTD Spent: $ 4,192.00

Here are the videos by D.e.s.m.o.n.d. and J.i.n. from H.i.t.z. that summarizes the 4 days and 3 nights that we spent in Jakarta for the S.o.u.l.n.a.t.i.o.n. F.e.s.t.i.v.a.l. Check out the 2nd video... I was interviewed at the end... Hooohooo...

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

But I was damn scared! Felt so uneasy to speak in front of a video cam... And btw, I wasn't looking at any scripts when I looked down, I just felt weird starring into the video cam lens... And yes... it was the last day of the hectic trip, my hair looked like shit and my eyes looked like Po from Kung Fu panda... :P

The following morning, after breakfast at the hotel... we were driven to Sea World. Sea World is a high tech modern huge aquarium exhibiting the special and diverse tropical marine life found throughout the Indonesian waters.

Here... I saw Piranhas for the first time...

And a Dugong real close... Not sure why... but the Dugong reminded me of a really fat mermaid... hehehe....

Plus, it was also here that I learnt that a crocodile has got 18 toes... 5 on each leg at the front and 4 on each leg at the back... not to mention, seeing a white crocodile...

But then I also saw something familiar... NEMO!!!

We were rather lucky that day... cos just when we were about to leave the place... it was feeding time at the main aquarium...

Suddenly, the aquarium was filled with different kinds of fishes in all shapes and sizes, turtles, sting rays and etc etc... :)

Prior to the concert, we were given our goodies which comprises of:

• Daily tickets to attend the S.o.u.l.n.a.t.i.o.n. F.e.s.t.i.v.a.l. at I.s.t.o.r.a. S.e.n.a.y.a.n.
• Tickets for special shows (A.k.o.n. on 17 Oct and A.s.h.a.n.t.i. on 18 Oct)
• F&B + games coupons
• Special A.x.i.s. wrist tag for priority lane + access to the hospitality lounge
• Limited edition goodies: CD, T-Shirt, Lanyard + an A.x.i.s. S.o.u.l.n.a.t.i.o.n. Pack

But that night, the traffic was truly horrendous! We arrived at I.s.t.o.r.a. S.e.n.a.y.a.n. slightly late... lucky thing the C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e. performance was scheduled for later...

We got ourselves parked at the front row... in front of the barricades... And while waiting for C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e., we found ourselves being entertained by a cute DJ called DJ C-b.u...

Just when we thought C.h.e'n.e.l.l.e. was up next, I.Z. & the N.u-F.i.r.m. from Australia entertained us further... This guy has got 2 really hot dancers... and has a peculiar habit of throwing sweaty towels to screaming crowd...

At ~10.30pm, the long awaited C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e. finally came on stage!!! The minute the music is played for "I_F.e.l.l_I.n_L.o.v.e_w.i.t.h_t.h.e_D.J", the crowd roared enthusiastically...

That night C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e. also performed her brand new song called "First Love". The song was rather catchy and I particularly liked the chorus that went... "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-first love"... Really... you should check it out! Not bad for our Malaysian girl!

After a great performance by C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e, we made our way to the main stage to watch the special show for the night... A.k.o.n! We were queueing with the rest of the queue before we were told that we could go straight in with our A.x.i.s. tags... Damn cool!

A.k.o.n's DJ for the night; DJ B.e.n.n.y-D. was a real cool dude... For one he wore a kilt and a few of the radio guys swore that he didn't had anything underneath... Secondly, he was really pumped up and energetic! But that was of course before A.k.o.n's appearance on stage...

When A.k.o.n. came on stage; he delivered one after another of his hit songs... and crowd just went MADDD!!! Towards the end, he threw himself to the crowd and the crowd body surfed him around... But ahem... his security dudes were rather protective thus when the crowd couldn't get near enough to A.k.o.n, our cool dude found himself lying flat on the floor at least twice... Come to think of it, it was kinda funny.

Actually, it was quite a challenge to capture A.k.o.n. with a normal digital camera cos when the lights were dimmed... leaving the surrounding dark... he somewhat blended in with the darkness! Nevertheless, it was a spectacular performance and I had a great time!