This morning when I came to work, the virus scan software on my laptop detected 1,700+ virus!!! But everything was ok 2 weeks ago prior to my holiday... and in fact...when I used my laptop yesterday, it was all OK! Weird...

Anyway, for the past whole week, I've been on leave!!! Went on a 9-day, 7-night trip (from 16-Dec-2007 till 24-Dec-2007) to a few places in China! And nooooooo... not China AGAIN! Last year I went to Beijing, Cheng De and Tian Jin but this time round I went to Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi and Hangzhou with my family. Different places in China... but yala... essentially still China and here's another one of those travel journals that I like to write after every trip I take :)

We took the night flight from KLIA and flew for about 5 hours to Pudong International Airport in Shanghai. Time was about 7-plus in the morning when we came out and boy, was it freezing cold! From the airport, we went straight to our hotel to freshen up and to change ourselves into dumplings! Why? Cos the weather was so cold that I had to wear 4 layers of clothing (1) Long John (2) Sweater (3) Another Sweater (4) Puffer Jacket...

Then we were driven to this place for lunch and was greeted by a group of Chinese fellas dressed in traditional costumes banging away at their drums!

While eating, there were dance performances on stage too... The girls were somewhat skimpily dressed... and the moves were rather obscene for a lunch crowd... hehehe...

After lunch, we were driven to "Jade Buddha" temple which was in fact a temple with statues of Buddha made in jade.

After dinner, we were dropped off at "Nanjing Road"; a famous shopping street in Shanghai... somewhat like our Bukit Bintang here in KL.

The shopping experience here is OK as in there were plenty of big nice shops to shop in, nice and cheap "bajus" to buy but after "Nanjing Road", I was totally traumatized! No, not with the shopping experience but with the TOILETS!!! Later I realized that nearly ALL the toilets are similar but anyway... I went into this shopping mall that has a banner hung at its entrance proudly announcing that it's "Shanghai's No.1 Departmental Store".

The minute I entered the damn store, it was as if I've entered a maze and it took us a few good minutes to spot the toilet sign! But when we finally found the toilet sign, it led us to Timbaktoo... cos first thing first, the entire departmental store was made out of small 10ft x 10ft stalls... Secondly, the toilets are located on selected floors only i.e. not on every floor and thirdly, the exit to the toilet is concealed within one of those small 10ft x 10ft stalls. So, at one glance, there really isn't any exit to the loo!!!

Anyway, when I finally found the loo... the "pungent" smell that greeted me at the doorway was enough to frighten normal Janes away... but I desperately needed to pee... So I went in bravely only to find SHIT stuck on the wall and on the edge of the fucking toilet bowl!!! It was so damn traumatizing! But there were only 2 cubicles and the other one has a spoilt lock... so ya... I had no choice but to use the SHITTY toilet!!! SOB SOB!!!

The sun sets at about 5pm there! So after dinner, we found ourselves bored to death in our hotel rooms. At about 9-ish... we decided to be adventurous (me, my bf, my bro n his gf) while our parents slept. We took the LRT from dunno where to "Lu Jia Zui".

First stop was the "Oriental Pearl Tower" called "Dōngfāng Míngzhūta" which was a TV tower at Lu Jia Jui (more on this later).

Then we took a taxi where the driver kindly played tour guide and took us to "Cheng Huang Temple". Since I can't read Mandarin... I was quietly wondering why my bf took us to visit a temple in the middle of the night. Only later on... I found out that contrary to its name, "Cheng Huang Temple" is not a temple (tho there is a small temple within the area) but a huge shopping place within traditional looking buildings (will post more photos later)!!! But we reached at about 10-ish... not only were the shops closed, the lights were off too... :(

Then the same cab driver took us to "Xin Tian Di"; a place with lots of pubs like our Bangsar Telawi. It was freezing cold and I was rather hungry... So we took a cab back to the hotel and on the way bought cup noodles which are by the way, called "Fang Bian Mian" in Shanghai.

That concluded our first day in Shanghai. :)

When I first joined the company like yonks ago... I used to have a super large workstation. But then, as the division's headcount grew (we are afterall a company of over 3,000 employees), more and more temp workstations were created and it was rather messy and hazardous.


Then, bout 4 months ago, our company decided to renovate our floor. And so, we were all moved to a different floor temporarily. My workstation then was a rather cosy one...


The renovation completed recently and last Friday (14 December 2007) was our moving day! While everyone else were busy complaining bout the lack of privacy (cos we now practice open concept), I am rather contended with my new workstation. I mean... how often in life do you get to occupy a brand new office where everything is BRAND NEW right???!!! So yala, no complaints from my end and here's a snapshot of how it looks like.


Very nice huh! I got a window seat somemore! Hehehehe... The only set back? My GM is next to me because of the open concept where anyone can see everyone else... Hehehe...

I'll post up more photos of the newly renovated floor later cos right now... I've not finished packing yet and I'm flying off to Shanghai tonight!!! Hooohooo... A full 9 days and 7 nights of fun, fun and FUN!!! Hooray!

Life is indeed beautiful!

Fcuk shit!!! I just spent RM599.99 to service my car!!! Why so damn kau expensive one??? "Mahal betul"! Then after service, the car also functioned the SAME as before what!!! Stupid shit! I wonder if I was conned!!!

Plus I have to change tyre cos all 4 are "botak" already. But this stupid Honda quoted me RM168 NETT per tyre! Think I better go and ask around first before I buy from them... FUCK SHIT!!!

Firstly, it was because I went shopping today and bought something that I set my eyes on many many months ago! Hehehehehe... I got myself an early Christmas present in the form of a... Coach bag! I've been looking at it every morning without fail for many many months now (cos I need to pass the Coach boutique before I can take the lift to my office).

During lunch today, my colleagues mentioned that there is this 30% sale at Coach. Since I'm a newly converted bag-person (I've always been a gadget person)... I tailed along. Then I saw the bag again... only this time at much closer proximity!!! I tried it on and held on to it for the longest time ever... before deciding to buy. But unfortunately, the bag was not a discounted item, so I had to pay the normal price of RM1,875 for it. But I like the bag sooooooo much!!! So hehehehe, here's a pict of my new handbag!!!


Secondly, there was a huge division meeting today that occupied the entire auditorium (over 100 pax)... to go thru the new org structure. All along, I've only known where I will be going i.e. I have not seen the full org structure in its entirely. So when it was flashed out today, I saw it for the first time just like everyone else.

On the first few slides, I noticed that they only mentioned the high level positions and job scopes... i.e. after SGM, which GM for which role and under the GMs, the key heads for each role (usually an SM). The lower levels were hidden cos there would be just too many boxes to share. Planned headcount is about 1,500 plus next year!!! (I'm not joking!)

But when it came to my department, I nearly passed out on my chair. Why? Cos (1) My name was flashed out on the first box surrounded by all other SMs (Senior Managers)... and (2) While the SGM mentioned my name, he also asked where I was... so I had to raise my hand!!! I swear my heart was pumping like mad at that precise moment and I thought I would've fainted on the spot!

Then after that, the rumours started like wild fire! Everyone speculated that I got a double promotion and SMSes came in congratulating me as head of sth sth... Tho I was part surprised, part happy, part embarrassed, part excited, part scared, part puzzled... the truth is... I am not promoted YET!!! Yes... I have been promised one but that was like yonks ago and there hasn't been any development yet as far as I am concerned... sigh...

Nevertheless... I thought the above are worth recorded here as one of the historical days in my life just like how I previously talked about the COO who mentioned my name in one of the top gun meetings.

This drama is a modern version of the earlier War of In Laws (Ngo Tik Yeh Man Lai Lai) featuring the same main casts and the same mutual dislikes between the mother in law and daughter in law.

Casts

• Liza Wang as Ophelia Gwo Bik (Fiona)
• Myolie Wu as Chow Lai-Man
• Bosco Wong as Kyle Gwo Duk
• Joyce Tang as Coco Ko Ga Bo
• Benz Hui as But Ping-Fan
• Derek Kwok as CC Zhung Cheung
• Vivien Yeo as Athena Sung Ji Kiu
• Nancy Wu as Iris

Synopsis (from Wikipedia)

Magazine editor-in-chief Gwo Bik (Liza Wang) will never save face for her superiors, nor will she come to the defense of her subordinates. She shows no mercy to her enemies and does everything she can to keep her son Gwo Duk (Bosco Wong) under her thumb. She is an iron lady who can't afford to lose anything. As she is still full of confidence that she can determine her son's future life, a plain, geeky-looking girl named Chow Lai-Man (Myolie Wu) has already managed to become the wife of Duk. Later Man resigns from the police force and chooses to work as a magazine journalist, thus leading to even more conflicts between her and Bik.

Not long after, Bik is dragged into a scandal and gets framed by her assistant Ko Ga Bo (Joyce Tang), which causes her to lose her place all of a sudden. Facing a dramatic career slump and her deteriorating relationship with her son and daughter-in-law, Bik moves to the outlying islands on her own. There she meets a new man in her life, the knowledgeable and talented But Ping-Fan (Benz Hui) who was once a convict. From Fan, Bik has learnt how to reflect on herself and let go of the past. As everything seems to be going fine, Man discovers that there is a conspiracy going on and that the magazine she is working for is in danger of falling apart.

Last Sat, the final Freakshow Tour with Pop Shuvit and Friends was held in Malacca. Since all of us were staying for the night, we drank like there's no tomorrow (i.e. mad). So needless to say, all the photos taken were of us doing silly antics.


Also took photos with some of the DJs present but my favourite DJ wasn't around that night... Ean... hehehehe...

From [L] to [R]
Top line: JJ, Adam C, Burn (XFresh)
Middle line: Hani, Adam C & Skeletor, Jakeman
Bottom line: JJ, Skeletor, Rudy

Went to bed around 4.30am and got up 3 times to "lau sai"... starting 7.30am. At the final round, my colleague knocked on the toilet door:
Colleague: Hey, are you in there?
Me: Ya...
Colleague: What are you doing?
Me: Stomach ache la, "lau sai"... don't disturb
Colleague: OK or not?
Me: I'm OK la... I always "lau sai" one...

Sheesh... I hate to talk when I'm in the midst of a cake baking you know :P

After checking out, we went to this place for "satay babi" and "satay" pork intestines. 5 of us took a total of 92 sticks! I took 17 sticks (a mixture of both) cos it tasted damn nice when it's hot. But for the entire day after that, I felt like puking! I had to take 2 glasses of ENO when I reached home and a cup of honey vinegar. But the following day, I got up with gastric. "Stupid" betul.

Nevertheless, it was fun fun and fun!!!

I heard a terribly depressing story from a friend today.

Background
She dated this guy; "K" on and off. I mean, they attended some of our outings together and the last time we met was during a treasure hunt early this year... but apart from that, I don't really know how close they were.

The Depressing News
Today, I got to know that he committed suicide last Friday!

How It All Started
It all apparently happened cos the girl suggested that perhaps they should spend some time apart and before she knew it, he sent her a weird SMS stating: "I won't be bugging you anymore. Goodbye forever".

Sensing that something was wrong, the gal tried looking for him but he was no where to be found and his mobile was off! On Saturday, she got a letter delivered to her - which was apparently his final letter stating that he will be taking his own life and that she shouldn't be sad or cry for him!

The Tragedy
But that's not the worst part yet. The worse thing was, he chose to die in HER apartment on Friday by inhaling burnt charcoal!!! And she was the first person to find his lifeless body the following day!!! Can you even imagine the horror of it all???

The Depression
I really don't know what happened in between but the girl was totally wrecked!!! I mean, who wouldn't be la right. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't eat! And she insisted that she caused his death. For now, she is temporarily living with her friend cos according to her, she could sense his presence around her at home! Call it psychological or whatever but I agree with her that his soul could be wandering given that he didn't die a natural death.

Honestly, as a friend, I am so worried about her but I'm not exactly sure as to how I could comfort her. I mean, even if she gets thru this and continue living her normal life, I'm sure she'll carry the burden and the scar forever. It's no wonder, they have phrases like "scarred for life"... Sigh... Perhaps it is best to leave her to recover at her own pace. Some things can't be forced and I am definitely not in a position to ask her to forget the whole incident given all that she has gone thru! So ya... this is truly a depressing tragedy.

Food for thought:
Cherish life and those around you. It's so easy to end one's life but pity those who are left behind to endure the heartache, to moan the loss, to suffer the misery and pain of losing a loved one... forever...