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Thursday, June 28


im been seriously considering options for my graduation travel (grad trip) next year.

My family's not the type who travels alot, save for the occasional road trip to the thai border, but i've been to a few places (more than all of them combined, believe or not), and i tell u, i love it. i reali tink tt i am the type who can do heavy duty traveling. i mean tink abt it.. if the place does not have halal food, i have no problem eating seafood and vegetables everyday.. i can even eat maggi n milo everyday without feeling too bad abt it. i dun reali go toilet often and i can do with not bathing for a couple of days. hee2. i also dun iron my clothes, so tts not an issue for me.

my concern is primarily safety. i tink its pretty daunting to be in a foreign land, so i guess its pretty good to have 1) a big strong person who can bash up anyone who tries to be funny 2) a street smart person or someone used to traveling, haggling.. stuff like dat.

shud i do go for a travel, i'd avoid the shopping destinations like taiwan, korea or places like dat. even thailand is a bit too tourist-y nowadays. my ideal destinations are places where i can enjoy landscapes tt i wudn otherwise b able to experience, historical (and i mean like realli realii old) places and somewhere where i can enjoy the hospitality of the ppl without constantly having tt feeling of "they're gonna rip me off. they're soo gonna rip me of."

I wanna be able to take boat rides and explore caves and go to their local markets to try some indigenous stuff. things like dat. so i've been entertaining some thoughts abt places like Kerala (my "hometown" in South India), Cambodia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Sabah. budget travel is a definite for me. i definitely wont spend anything over 800 bucks for the entire trip. maybe a ballpark budget of $500 (including lodging, transportation, food everything la).

Right now wat i reali wanna do is find some travel buddies who enjoy the same things and are enthusiastic about having an experience tt is reali unique and different. Preferably some of us shud b able to drive so we can rent a car or sthg.. and someone who doesnt mind perfume or powder baths. haha.

so shud any of u guys are interested to join me on this mini adventure, pls do tell me.

otherwise, i'd probably go for a mission trip, i tink they frequently have trips to inner mongolia and the like. the final alternative is to drag my brother and sis-in-law la. which probably wouldn be as fun..

yup! so share my enthusiasm ppl! join me ppl, join me!


Posted by theblackazure @ 3:09:00 PM
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Wednesday, June 27


dear gentle readers,

the following post depicts an excerpt of my life and features certain things tt i'd like to look back n smile on when im old and gray. pls do not bother reading it if u deem unnecessary as it is more of a self-indulgent thing for me. thank you & have a nice day.

moi had the best time this weekend.

saturday was spent with my dearest ody. it had been more than a week since i last saw him, so it was good to get to spend some time together. i sorta got sick of the whole dinner-and-a-movie routine, so i requested tt we did something else. as usual, ody was supposed to plan sthg interesting to do but he cudn think of anything. hee2. so of coz, moi came to the rescue.

we were spposed to meet at 2pm at orchard but wat happened was, my parents decided to drag moi along to shop with them in geylang serai in the morning. we left at 9 am (primarily bcoz i refused to wake up earlier) and reached there around 10. shop shop, go market, had breakfast and by the time they were done, it was already 12 noon. i din wan to like go home all the way then come back again, so i asked them to drop me at paya lebar. off i went then to ody's station to wait for him. he woke up at 11.30am and took 1 hour to get ready (plus berak). so finally, he came at 1230, wearing red, as requested by moi.

off to orchard then. first stop was lunch for ody (i had the geylang serai ahpek $1 bubur so i was full). we ate at far east(coz i havent been there for quite a while). actuali wanted to eat at the wtv sinaran place, but it was crowded, so we tried the rose garden or stg liddat next door. not bad la. but not good either. after tt we window shopped for a while. while walking around, i saw this bag in the building beside lucky plaza which was so nice! even ody tot it was nice! it was RED and leather-esque and it had a batik-ish design on it. the size is big enough to put
in notes n files to bring to school but also small enough to carry around as a day-to-day bag.

I WAS SO TORN!!!

on one hand, i din wan to spend money coz i know i need to save up for driving.. on the other hand, the bag was $49.90 after a 30% discount. it's reali reali nice. and ody was like so excited to see it coz he tot it was reali nice too.. but after considering for a while, i decided to safe some bucks and I DIDN BUY IT. til today, i still feel a bit sad coz it was reali very nice... sigh. had it been $35, i tink i might have bought it. sigh. i can still remember the feel and design of the bag. it was so me.. it was reali perfect. now, thinking back, i reali want the bag.. waaaaaaaaaaaa.

SIGH.

somehow, ody managed to peel me away from the bag and we moved on to our planned event. i tried nt to be too sad or make it obvious tt i was disappointed coz i cudn buy it. i know tt it may seem pathetic tt im trying to save this $50 ah. but.. i guess i had spent too much on stuff for my mum and myself in the past week, and i would feel bad if i spent too much.

still.. sigh.

yea. we moved on to paragon next. not to shop la. i had heard about a performance by david garett on gold 90 fm (which is wat i am currently listening to at work). david garett is this violin maestro (think the maksim of violin) who is german and looks like the late kurt cobain. some even call him the david beckham of violin. (For more info, pls read here )

he was giving a free preview of his music at 3 pm. i've been listening to gold and they've been playing his songs. though i dont know how to appreciate music, much less classical music, i liked his tunes. they're very contemporary n youthful. he came about 10 to 15 mins after 3, wearing jeans, a shirt and a suit jacket. he was so tall and looked pretty hot with his shoulder length blond hair and five o'clock shadow. but i tell u wat the hottest. he was playing this US$ 4 million Stradavarius violin. US$ 4 million! for a hollow wooden thing with some strings! now, that's hot.

his playing skills are phenomenal man. n his compositions sound even better live! ody and i tried to hum the tune but we cudn reach the notes. so there we were, on the third floor, just awed by his performance. even after the show we were still trying to hum the fast parts and we decided that his fingers were faster than our voicebox.

the preview ended off with a bang as he finished with a super fast number. good stuff i tell u.

after tt, ody n i went to the m1 shop in the basement to buy his new phone. he bought the motorazor v3xx for quite cheap ah i shud say. so, yey! we are both m1 ppl! free calls!

it was already abt 5 by then, so we headed to marina square for lunch at our favourite Marina food loft! when we got there, the alfresco place was quite empty, so we happy2 chop good seats. sat down for a while before ordering food and tts when we realised tt there was ndp rehearsal at the floating stage. haha. basically, from our seats, we got to see the marching contingents in their number 3. so fun! after a while, we got to see the chinook carrying the s'pore flag accompanied by 4 apaches. we also saw the 3 jet fighters booming pass. it was like ROOOAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRing pass us. totally broke the sound barrier man. n they were flying so close together ah. we also say the 5 jets doing the salute and the parachutists. ody said they were probably all the majors and colonels who were going to retire soon. but its so incredible ah. they only have a small space to land in and the wind there is quite strong so i imagine it wud b quite difficult to steer the chute. so i realised tt we were very lucky coz we din know abt the rehearal, yet we got a really good view of the thing! plus, im such a patriotic person! *beams*

the highlight of the show was when I saw this chinook flying from the direction of the IR site, towards the Esplanade. it was steadily going lower and lower and i was like. "EH, ODY! asal helicopter tu makin rendah! nak langgar esplanade!!" i really thoght the chinnok was gonna crash ah. u know what the helicopter actuali did? it like "landed" on the water. it was skimming like 1 meter above the water and was like splashing the water everywhere along the river bank as part of the military display segment of the show. SO COOL!!!! i was like so jakun-ed ah.

later on, we went down to the esplanade. i had a hunch tt there was gonna b fireworks altho it was onli a rehearsal. but ody din believe me seh. hee2. anw, we went to the courtyard to watch the performance. this week is all about fire fire ah. there was a performance by Wayang Alos (Dalina's dance group), about indian karmasutra stuff. very sexy but not much content la. hee2. while we were sitting during the intermission to wait for the next performance, the fireworks went off! unfortunately, our view was blocked by the giant durian! hee2. so we heard the explosions, but onli saw like the tips of the fireworks.

oh ya, btw, do take note, fireworks are at 8.10pm in case u wanna go see them. i tink every saturday got rehearsals ah but not too sure if evry rehearsal got firework. but wat i know is dat this saturday there's gonna be fireworks at the national stadium coz they are aving the "Field of Dreams" thing before she is torn down. (heard abt the lost time capsule? hee2. merepek.) btw, i wanted to catch transformers but im working this saturday!boohooohhoooooooo... upset seh.. nehmind, maybe we'll go n watch tmr. woot!

On sunday i went to meminang my future sis-in-law for my brother. with my parents la of coz. haha. it was a small "contingent" ah. onli 3 of us. when we reached there, kao, terpranjat seh. they already moved the furniture around and put tikar on the floor as if they expected a lot of ppl. hee2. rabak seh. excited kape sis?

but in short, all went well ah. i tink my mum and dad were like shivering during the meminang itself. like, they were stumbling over their words (coz everyone was staring intently at them) and their voice got all croaky n weird. haha. i offered to do it and throw in some 8-kerat pantun, dorang tanak. haha. orbiquek seh, menggeletar kejap member..

then another terpranjat moment was when they served us food ah. the dining table was literally full ah! there was like prawn curry, sambal sotong, chicken rendang, sambal goreng, serunding, begedil and like i dunno how many types of kueh. there was like chocolate eclairs, durian cream puff, putri salad, talam lauk, the black black one which i like to eat but dunno the name and dunno wat else la. when i saw it, i was like.. "Whoa!" (in my head la.) then the thing is, my family just ate our lunch before coming la, so like, my parents cudn eat! so, again, moi to the rescue. to show my graciousness, i ate la. bukan gelojoh u, takot orang kecik hati kan..

hee2. (tak mengaku gelojoh)

hokay. now for some photos! :)




the "dulang"




the ring box



the ring. gold, white gold n diamonds. lots of diamonds.




the fruit baaaasket. buah tangan.





moi n baaaasket.

my mom putting on the ring for the future sis.




this is she. harga pasaran 10 ribu darhammmm..

welcome to the family!


Posted by theblackazure @ 12:05:00 PM
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Friday, June 22


this morning was so eventful!

it started off with me wearing a t-shirt (and cardigan over it) instead of a shirt or a blouse coz i know im supposed to help rearrange the files for the president's "spot check". apparently, the guy is a lawyer, so he's very particular about the filing system. i mean, he can afford it la coz lawyers have filing clerks wat. over here we have to do everything ourself ya know. so my look today is pretty casual.. the going shopping kinda look. as i went out, i realise tt i couldn wear my heels coz it looks weird against wat im wearing, so i decided to wear my gladiator-esque sandals instead. so tt was event number 1. my first time going for work in casual clothes.

event number 2 happened as we were waiting for the co. transport to pick us up. usuali my fren benett (nbs accounting also doing PA there) would be there a couple of minutes after me. the bus is slated to arrive at 7.26am but usuali it will come like 10 minutes later. we're all supposed to be there about 5 mins before the slated time of arrival la but i will usualli arrive at 7.25 liddat coz i know the bus will come only 10 mins later. sometimes it will come even later.. around 7.45 liddat. benett usuali arrives at 7.30.

today, the bus came at like 7.28! hee2. so technically, it was the first time the bus is on time!! haha. so wat happened was benett wasnt there yet when the bus came. so as i was about to board the bus, i called him and was like "eh benett! where are u? bus is here already!" then u know wat he said? he said.. "haha, u serious anot..." i was like "YA! serious.."then he was like, "haha.. ok lor. u all go first". he tot i was joking ah! so i boarded the bus then our colleagues (aunties and the like) were like, "where's benett?" then i told them he's on the way already la. i was still on the phone. the bus had started to go off and was waiting for the traffic lights. then upon hearing the aunties buzzing, benett realized tt i wasnt kidding. he was like "OMG! eh! im running already!". haha. so the auntie screamed and asked the driver to stop for a while and sure enough, benett came running around the corner. haha. it was such a spectacle i tell u. brother paiseh kejap ah. haha.

i came in around 7.50, went to make my tea, had breakfast etc and settled down. my colleagues came in around 9. then one of the girls(think malay girl with naeema's hair, tongue n nose piercing and couple of tatoos) was like, "eh nurul, u know the cleaner's name yang makcik tu tak?" so i was like.. "oh, nama dia yateny, asal?" then she was like (speaking to both of us, my colleague from china and me) "yesterday she gave me sthg ah". then she dug around in her (VERY NICE) hot pink le coq sportif bag. one minute after digging around, she produced a like 5 cm long nail! she was like "NI."

the thing is, this girl just moved office to the opposite side of the building la. then they say tt the place is haunted. the office is near the boat house and overlooks the tennis courts and last time the boat house got ppl die ah. coz there are like beams there.. so when they hang the boats in the shelving they have to adjust the beam. anyway, sthg happened la, then the guy who died actuali got his head chopped off! this is a true story u know!! not make up one! its a real incident! so anw, they say tt last time the person who worked in the office there saw a lady in white (pontianak) at the tennis court at night. so freaky rite!!

so basically all those who've worked there for long know tt the place is haunted ah. and they not play play one u know, they're quite serious abt it. so anyway, i tink yateny gave my fren the nail coz they say these things are afraid of sharp objects. this yateny always goes back around 11pm la, by the way. SOOOOO SERAM RITE!! lucky my office not there say. bukannye ape, its just tt when u hear these things, u tend to imagine many2 more!

then the 2 of them went to smoke la. when my fren (the chinese one) came back, she was like "eh, nurul, does my backside look big?" she said, turning around to show me her butt. today she is wearing clubbing wear, a glittery cyan deep V long tank top with a low slung studded belt and brown leggings. HAHA. MAMPOS la. i din know colleagues can ask each other this kinda question. she then called the other girl, who was already at ther office and put on the speakerphone. she was like, "eh naz, come and play bowling with me and nurul later... then we can go for dinner after tt. dun see ur boyfren today la.. u just saw him yesterday waaat..." she then proceeded to whine at her and ask her to cancel her appointment with her bf. we spent like the next half an hour on the phone like dat ah. haha. SO GEREK u know when my supervisor and manager are not here. i wish they can take off everyday!

haha. ok la. im going for my second breakfast today. talk about getting fat, dun b surprised when u see me when sch reopens! i gained a lot of weight y'all! woots! tts all for now, have a great day ahead!


Posted by theblackazure @ 9:13:00 AM
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Wednesday, June 20


him: i love u.
her: ok.
him: ok?
her: ya.. ok.
him: i'm telling u tt i love u.
her: i know.
him: and all u can say is ok?
her: and all u can say is i love u?

having said that, she looked away. "what was the reply he expected?", she wondered. i dont believe in that word. don't u know?

him: im sorry.
her: its ok.
him: no. im sorry.
her: u're sorry u love me?
him: tts not wat i meant.
her: then?
him: i love u.
her: i know.
him: ok.

"can i make it anymore obvious?", she wondered to herself.

him: wat do u mean?

"oh shit. did i just wonder out loud?", she thought.

him: haha. no, silly.

"wat theffff!?", she thought again, alarmed by the bizzare situation. (p.s: she's someone who can't bring herself to curse and swear, even in her thoughts. she deems it unnecessary)

him: i read minds.


Posted by theblackazure @ 8:37:00 AM
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Monday, June 18


A prayer for my friends (especiali to her) leaving at dawn break tmr..

I pray for your safety, for a peaceful journey.
I pray u'll stay healthy, amidst all the flurry.
I pray u'd bring joy to those who reali need it. those who reali want it.
I pray u'll be protected by His hands, away from any undesirable, unforeseen events.
I pray tt u'd spend ur days away from us happy, together.
He'll be there for u. and He'll be there for u.
I pray for your safe return home in 3 day short of a fortnight.
I reali pray, insyaAllah tt all goes well, tt u'd be back and we'd be planning our next adventure.
We'll pray for u.

Amin.

Love u cet.


Posted by theblackazure @ 10:18:00 PM
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Tuesday, June 12


sejak dua menjak keje ni kan.. asyek nk melawaaaaaa je. ekcheli pon bukannye ade orang tengok sangat seh. terperap je kat ofis. k la.. kadang2 walk around the club jugak. tapi kalau pakai lawa2 masok kitchen pon macam tak glam sangat ah. i can see myself in future as tt type yang meet clients for breakfast, lunch, teabreak etc.. hari hari pakai lawa2, bawak beg mahal2, guna hp vertu (smalam aku gunakan word "guna", ade ke dia tertawakan aku..). kalau pakai high heels pon kene pakai heels yang bunyik "ke-le-tuk ke-le-tuk ke-le-tuk", takmo pakai yang bunyik "ke-le-pek ke-le-pek".

alamak.. si manager ni bebual pulak... disrupt my train of thoughts seh.

mampos seh kalau skolah ke kampeni ni tau yang aku gunakan time ni untok mengeblog. habis teros aku akan di-fail-kan.

tapikan, ade ke orang yang fail untok PA eh? seriously ah. kalau boleh fail PA eh, means hari hari tido ah. lagi worse ke. jadi, seharus-harusnye, orang ni seme patot tiru macam moi. walaupon takde kerje, eksyen2 menaip-menaip bagaikan aku ni ade keje ah. padahal tenga mengeblog

MAMPOS! managerku baru je datang meneru towards my desk, bagi aku keje. nasib baik la aku ade excel file yang open. sempat eksyen2. da lah tu, messenger nye window ade 5 conversation. hahahahahahahahahaha. nasib baik dia tak nampak seh. but maybe she saw the look of shock in my eyes when she came towards me. u know, ke-panic-an yang melanda di jiwa? that sort of look.

kla. aku nk gi buat keje yang dia suro ni. kental seh, excel pon tak tau pakai. i mean, gunakan. nasib baik aku da blaja. K BYE!


Posted by theblackazure @ 2:35:00 PM
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Monday, June 11


eyyy.

guess wat? i have time to kill.

i tell u ah, this PA is realli gila ah. bila busy, busy nak mampos! bila slack, slack nak mampos! i just came back from eating ice cream. today i had maple walnut in a cup, sponsored by my sales & mkting manager. thankew u! i lap u v much!

but ekshelli kan, my whole dptmt damn slack today. they dunno go for smoke break how many times already. then jus now as they were going out they joke joke ask me "wan to smoke?" then i joke joke said "i can try" then they went "Noooooooooo.." and they were totally in sync! haha! soooooo funny ah! but sometimes when i got nothing to do i'll just sit outside with them lor. got seaview and "fresh air". i reali shud consider myself lucky coz even tho life here is sucky and boring at times, its not stressful and i get to laugh and bitch quite a lot.

i also think im lucky coz i get to do a lot of marketing related stuff, but more in line to hospitality industry instead of product or brand management. so far i've done event planning, marketing plans and advertising quotes. i reali tink tt this line is fun ah and it takes a lot of creativity and initiative, which i tink i have ah.

tell u, wat im feeling now is polar opposite to wat i felt yesterday and earlier in the day. i was so stressed la coz i had to submit a marketing plan for the guestroom. ade ke my manager ask me to do a horizon forecast. like wtf!! how am i suppose to know the sales functions forecast. apeee saje. then dunno how to do just anyhow whack lor. once i submitted teros like a burden lifted off my shoulders seh. baaaasket. work is like dat one. like toot sia. its worse than school becoz school u work in a group so u dont reali feel that u are being singled out ah. work is usuali lone ranger one.. if u're tasked to do sthg means u are the one task. so all tt u can do is tekan ur subordinates and ask them to do the task for u instead ah. and since i am considerably low in the food chain, who kena arrow? akuuuu jugak.

but cannot reali complain ah coz if not then i'll reali reali reali reali have nothing to do ma. yey! im going home in 15 mins. i shall chat with kak fhar til then.



ps: i want this shirt. buy for me pls.. at this website http://www.sophistix.net/product_details.php?category_id=13&page=1&item_id=228





tankew u..


Posted by theblackazure @ 4:24:00 PM
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Thursday, June 7


morning. the lonesome office girl has decided to blog.

its not like i have nothing to do. now i have quite a number of things to do. i even have to do something for my boss's presentation which i doubt i'll get any credit for. he'll probably go "Good.. very clear". ya. yey clap clap right. if i so good then giv me extra pay ah.

hee2.

im v bad right. ekchelli now also im trying to kill some time for another 40 mins or so til my other colleagues come in. then they'll see me working hard. MUAHAHAHA.

Father's Day is coming and I've decided to celebrate the old man this year. dun u just realise that dads are sort of forgotten. like, we always kick up a big fuss for our mums on mother's day, for our lovers on valentine's day and even for our teachers on teacher's day. but somehow, father's day tends to be a neglected affair. and on seeing that my dad really deserves more than a lil' respect, I shall be the one celebrating his day. i forgot what we did last year but i remember tt the previous year i cooked for him (and only him) an entire meal. I made caesar salad for starters, fish and chips for main course and white chocolate and raspberry muffin for dessert.

this year, im thinking of bringing my parents to carousel at royal plaza on scotts for a hi-tea. heard that the canapes and desserts there are nice and they have a chocolate fountain too. i tink cost wise, it should be around $28 per pax. dun know if its nett of ++ ah. i dun wan to take my brother along coz he's such a scrooge. ever since he's gonna get married right, he never make the effort to treat us to dinner or anything. tt time when we went to eatzi for my birthday, my dad was the one who paid for me in the end. which is the reason y i wan to start a mid term savings plan soon, so tt at least i have a cash kitty when i wan to get married. but tts another story altogether.

yup. i tink maybe go next sunday ah, 17 June. but ekchelli i dunno when is father's day ah. shud be the 3rd week of June.

then my dad's bday is in august.. i tink im gonna buy a heart rate monitor watch for him coz he's very into heart rate n blood pressure and stuff. (did u know tt we have that blood pressure machine at home? the one tt doctors use where u need to use stethoscope and pump the thing. so semangat kan?) the thing is, i dunno whether i'll have money then la. hee2.

but between now and then there are still a couple of bdays tt i HAVE to celebrate (no choice.. sadly. hee2) which means i expect to eat a lot of cake! yey!


Posted by theblackazure @ 8:18:00 AM
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Monday, June 4


guess wat?

im bored.

yea.. not the first time hearing that one ay? somehow i dont feel too bad not doing anything cept wasting my time here. and being paid for it. like seeeriously, the amount of work (as in real work) i have done thus far is only like 5 days worth if its all condensed together. i dunno wat i've been doing for the rest of the 11 days. tho.. i must say.. my sudoku skills have improved alot thanks to www.websudoku.com.

i have about 2 hours-ish to pass now. im pondering and contemplating whether i should go and eat ice cream. hmm. but then again, eating ice cream will only take like wat.. 15 mins or so? im trying hard to think of a topic that will take like.. 1 hr to blog.

*ponder*

ah yes. actuali got a few things to talk about, among others, the issue of "Halal" food. i think a lot of ppl are mostly confused about wat constitutes as Halal food. "Halal" is an Arabic word which means lawful or allowable. People often ask me why muslims dont take pork. well, that will be explained more in detail later, but for simplicity, think of a religion as an institution, a society. and a society largely lives by law. For example, driving on the road shoulder is *all together now* WRONG... it is unlawful. of course there are ppl who still do it, and they are punished. just like law, there are minor wrong-doings and major crimes also. like, if u drink n drive u will end up in jail. well, same as the religions la.. if u dun follow law, u will also be charged. but the jail is eternal. hee2. (just kidding la... can....)

actuali i tink tt if u have a faith, its easier to understand bcoz i believe that each religion has its set of "rules" lah so-called. so, when we talk about life in general, actuali i find it easier to talk to friends with faiths, no matter if they're catholic, christians, hindus etc.. coz they understand the need for certain restrictions u see. As one of my Christian friends put it to a free-thinker fren, "Faith is believing in something that u can't explain." i concur.

anyways, back to what is Halal. may i just say that 'no pork no lard' does not mean that its halal. it just means that no pork and no lard is used. however, the meat used may be from animals that have not been slaughtered and therefore are not halal. therefore, it does not mean that if u ordered food with no pork and no lard that its Halal food. then u shud probably tell ur frens tt its no pork no lard so that they can avoid taking the meat. technically speaking, vegetable and fish and all that are fine, but the thing is, we never know if the utensils used in cooking meats like pork are used for cooking the vegetables and fish n all tt.. that wud render the veges and seafood non-halal because its considered like its all mixed together liao. there is a way to cleanse and re-purify and tts using clay. but tts another matter altogether ma.

anw, all land animals are lawful except those with sharp teeth, tusks and talons that are used to kill (tigers, bears etc), scorpions, crows, centipedes and amphibians like frogs and turtles. im not quite sure why we can eat crab, maybe coz it falls under the category of crustaceans and not amphibians. but i tink its a food that can be categorised as syubhah coz its doubtful, neither here nor there. in other words, better to be avoided la. but tt said, i do love my seafood. especially cray fish.. GOD!! i love cray fish with sambal! ada oomph bebeh!

i guess my intention for writing this is just to clear the air lor. as to why pork is not allowed, i heard lah (not sure if this is right or not) that the pig does not have a neck, so technically it cannot be slaughtered. slaughtering is scientifically considered the most humane way of killing an animal for consumption. i heard rite, sometimes right, those chickens that are killed using electric shock right haven't even die when they are put into the boiler. so essentially, they are electrically shocked, half-dead(which means that they are also half alive), then suffer from being boiled alive. u wan to die like dat or not? i guess is plausible coz usuali when u get electric shock ur nervous system is disrupted.. and it may be only momentary.. i mean, of course its not pretty to see an animal die no matter how u do it, but at least its better to not let it suffer before it gets eaten wat. god. i sound so gory.

anyway i think nowadays there are quite a number of places that offer Halal food so there's no need to reali scratch ur head and think of one la. the muis website (www.muis.gov.sg) has a list of halal-certified food joints. they further divide them into caterers, restaurants etc, so its quite easy to find. for me ah, if the place reali reali reali got no halal food (like last time when i went to vietnam), i'll eat boiled seafood and vegetables. but ekchelli there's this relaxation to the law when u are reali desperate and if u have no choice or if u are a traveller (not the tourist-y) type ah. If in Singapore, im fine with vegetarian indian restaurants coz they are strictly vegetarian ma. they dont have those kind of mock meats la.. wat la..

yup. so i guess at the end of the day, it boils down to mutual respect and the so-called flexibility of the individual la. but like i said, drive on the road shoulder at ur own risk ah.

anw people, just one last note. its not Hara or halah.. its halal with the 'l' at the back. practise rolling tt ol' tongue of urs.


Posted by theblackazure @ 2:52:00 PM
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Friday, June 1


Here I am again. I’ve been eavesdropping on their conversation for like 10 to 15 minutes. They just came back from meeting and so just like leaves rustling in the trees when the wind blows, they rustle with gossips and I-don’t-believe-it looks of horror.

I think the place is crumbling and the company is folding.. soon. Yes, my friends. I might be watching the demise of a once upon a time luxury club. Seeeerious. Consider this. The gm has just been changed. And with that change, at least 2 upper management, who have been here for 12 – 13 years are leaving. And SOON. Like.. in less than 2 weeks. They tendered their resignation for such short notice that the ppl working directly under them are in a state of shock and loss. Even the new HR manager, who previously worked for Gillette, is complaining of gastric problems and such. She says that she had never felt such stress until recently. And the thing is, she’s been working here for less than 2 months!!!!!!

Imagine that. Old salt who have been working for the company ever since the club membership once was sold for $80k leaving. It reali says something about the way things are here. I can say that although ppl seem to be findy dandy, the consensus is that it just basically sucks here. Did u know that ppl who do admin duties here, including the ppl in my office and all do NOT have OT pay? Tts reali reali mad because these ppl DO NOT go back at office hours, they stay far beyond the time to finish up their work and make follow up phonecalls and show the clients around. And the members, who paid the premium price for the membership in its heydays are so mad and frustrated that the value has gone down to only about $6k lash out on the employees here.

I tink its rather unfair to say that I haven’t learnt anything during my stay here. I’ve learnt a lot!! About politicking, management and welfare! I trust that if I were to be given a management job in future, I will reflect deeply about the feelings of employees before implementing any decisions.

But, in the first place, I reali reali reali reali hope that I WOULD NOT be working for a local company. I tink that a small company is fine, like SMEs cause there tends to be less dissatisfaction and politicking but I think working for a midsize local company for this one is just downright pathetic.

The problem, I feel, is the thinking of the management. I feel that local companies are very profit motivated. Very “target” oriented. And the thing is, its fine to set a target because it gives employees a sense of expectation, but at the same time, there must be rewards to motivate these employees to act on the target. These ppl don’t get any form of rewards, only the mandatory 13 months pay. That is reali reali reali reali pathetic until I can faint ah. Reali. And as I mentioned, they don’t even get OT pay. Not onli that, somehow right, the management are super super frugal. Its so difficult to even ask for a shelf to put the files u know! So in the end, ppl usuali cannot stand the wait and just take money out of their own pockets to organize the company’s things. Madness right.

Tts y.. things like this u’ll never get to see or experience until u actuali immerse urself in the organization. Its super dysfunctional I tell u. and the thing is right, this kind of club is something where ppl cannot get intrinsic rewards one. If u work for a social organization or what then at least u stay on to help the ppl u are servicing. This one ah, u have to service these demanding, not-so-rich-but-act-like-bloody-rich ppl who scream at u like nobody’s business. I reali think its strange that there’s no reward system to reward employees ah. Reali. Tts crazy ah.

I tink that management must look at employees as people, human beings, not robots. Even a small gesture like giving a department a mug each to reward their performance will make ppl feel appreciated. But like I said, if u’re so frugal until u cannot even squeeze out $500 for mugs.. thts just pathetic ah.

Taking into account my experience, I have set a goal for myself.

1) I will work for a company with a positive and participative work environment
2) I will reach a management position in 5 years
3) I will continually upgrade my skills and certification such that I can go to better and better companies
4) I will eventually end up in an American or European MNC for a regional position

y angmoh companies? i think they have the best welfare. its evident in my brother's company which is an American company doing aeroplane engines and body. they have a buffet for ALL staff, including technicians and casual labour, which includes chefs making crepes and stirfry stations!!

i reali admire these kind of companies coz they reali understand tt they need to motivate ppl on order to get results. my dream company is Nestle. At the moment they're venturing in depth into the Halal market and they need management level ppl to pursue the markets.

yes. tt shall b my ultimate aim. Nestle! here i come!


Posted by theblackazure @ 12:08:00 PM
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