Short Wedding-Related Stuff Hiatus

Hello folks,

I'll be off to KL tomorrow morning, and as I'll be really busy all the way to our Registration of Marriage, posts will be sporadic. I'm really excited, and it only dawned on me yesterday, that I only have a week of singledom left!! Alrighty then, how am I going to squeeze my single life into one week?

Pretty easy, I guess, 'cos I have no life. Shucks. Still, it's quite an overwhelming thought. In a good way.

Lots to do, lots to do. I'm praying for wisdom, guidance and, most importantly, patience to tackle everything bit by bit.

Anyhoos, I'll see you guys the following week, with an *ahem* change of status :p

Love,
Tine

Random Ramblings of the Day

Here's another round of random thoughts and rants as I'm currently just too busy to come up with a proper subject-specific post.


Another fatal bus accident. Another blacklisted bus and driver. Holy smokes, how is it that after the first one, bus companies and the police do not check the buses?? It's exactly as Zewt predicted, if not a week early; it's just another forgotten accident. Seriously, I smell a lot of hanky-panky going on here, and not the good kind.

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Thank goodness the Gwen Stefani concert wasn't canceled. So people, did any of you who went to the concert commit sins? :p

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Equatorial Hotel just sent me their wedding invitation cards (given free of charge with the package), and they are UBER ugly. I mean, god-awful, pukingly orange ... crap. Argh. Will blog a proper one on that later. Still, there goes my hope on saving money on invitation cards.

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I normally do not like to blog about people at my workplace, but really, some people are driving me nuts, and not in a good way. Undermining my authority as a senior, and being disrespectful. Just because I'm nice, my head gets climbed over. Gah.

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The weather's driving me nuts. Gosh, I seem to always talk about the weather when I do these rambling bits, don't I? But it does. It's gloomy, and a tad chilly in the mornings, and you'd think that a storm's a-brewing due to the thick and heavy clouds looming. Closer to lunchtime, the sky's perfectly blue and devoid of clouds, and is bloody HOT. Just hope I don't fall sick. I tend to, when the weather's wonky, and I get heaty.

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Still haven't packed for my weekend in KL. Lots to do, lots to do. On the bright side, I'm taking the whole of next week off to settle some wedding stuff and also to bring Tim around Penang. Yay!

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T-minus two days till he's home.

Skype Was Down. So What?

Due to the recent Skype outage for over 24 hours, there were a few things which I've noticed:

1. There were actually businesses who relied so heavily on Skype as their business line, that there were no backup phone lines.
2. People in long-distanced relationships (friends, family, lovers, etc) were going beserk because of the outage.

Skype techies mentioned in the Skype blog that they were working hard in fixing the problem they were having (apparently there were some problems with Skype's network algorithm), and would be at it around the clock, and that the problem would be resolved in 12-24 hours. Apparently, that was simply unacceptable. Never mind the people at Skype were already working their asses off to fix the problem, they had to be on the receiving end of the countless insults hurled at them by Skype users. Don't believe me, check out Skype's blog.

Now I know, it's their job to get it working. And that a lot of people pay to use Skype's SkpeOut services. Hell, so do I (as in, I paid Euros for my SkypeOut too). But really, a day of not using Skype would not hurt. There are so many instant messenger clients out there who offer free voice and video conferencing services as well (MSN, Yahoo to name a few). Granted the quality's not as crisp and clear as Skype, but they do the job.

As for businesses who solely rely on Skype as their communication tool without a backup phone line, now that's just silly. It's such a high risk, and to rely solely on a VOIP client as a main communication tool with their customers is not a good move. You should always have a backup plan. Why do you think companies put at least two contact numbers on their business cards? Just in case one goes down, you have a backup. I know, you PAID for the service and as such, expect it to be 100% fool-proof. Regardless, there should always be a backup.

Email down? Pick up the phone. When technology fails you, find a solution. In fact, have the solution ready BEFORE the problems occur. Anticipate much?

For the rest who feel that their girlfriends and boyfriends are 12,000 miles away, and need to be in contact with them 24/7, well, I have news for you. If you can't survive a day without skyping each other, then something's not right. Never mind the fact that there are so many other IMs out there which you can use.

Tim and I chat with each other on Skype every night. At the time when he was at Shepparton, and did not have Internet access, I used VOIP Discount to call him. Yes, we didn't see each other on webcam for a few days in a week, but all it did was just to increase our anticipation to see each other when he's back in Melbourne. When VOIP Discount did not work (the service's a bit cacat at times; oh well, you get what you paid for), I had phonecards as a backup. When Skype was down, we used MSN to transmit video, and Google Talk to chat (audio quality is much better on Google Talk than MSN). If all fails, then we'll just call each other on our phones. No big deal.

Moral of the story?

1. Always have a backup plan.
2. Don't scream your head head off threatening to sue just because you're not satisfied to wait 24 hours for something to be fixed.
3. Always have a backup plan (yep, it's twice as important).

The phone does not seem like such an ancient tool now, does it?

Is Age Doing Me In?

I can't remember a more relaxing weekend. I actually stayed away from my laptop as long as I could, and caught up on my reading.

This weekend, I've probably read over 500 pages worth. That was probably a doozy for me when I was *gulp* younger, but now, with work commitments, blogging and all that, my books have, unfortunately, been shoved to the back of my mind. I used to finish a book a day, and now I can't even do one in a week. Sad, huh?

That's how life can be. When so many things pile on, when responsibilities, obligations and commitments take first place, what you used to enjoy doing becomes insignificant, and no longer excite you and bring you joy as it did before.

I've stopped listening to the radio; instead I hit the telly. I don't actually watch anything in particular; I just want the sound on. I've stopped reading my beloved books in favour of the hundreds of blogs I read a day. I can't be arsed to do anything productive when I'm home from work, because I'm simply too tired to.

Little by little, age creeps in. And who have I to blame but myself?

So, as a change, I'm going back to my reading (bought a book from Borders, and am totally engrossed in it), and staying away from the computer as much as I can. I turned off the telly in favour of LiteFM, and a bit of jazz playing from my notebook (and no, I'm not in front of it).

Got to take control of age before it takes control of me.

And I'm not even talking about Botox.

Blog Theme (Somewhat) Updated

I've been so engrossed in tweaking the theme and layout of my beauty blog, that I've completely forgotten my first (blog) love. I realised that I haven't been changing my header picture on this site for quite some time now (I used to change it every three months), and that I haven't even updated my blogroll! My bad, folks.

Anyways, I've finally given this blog a new header; it's the same layout, as I always prefer a lot of white space (makes for easy reading) and lots of flowers. However, this time, I've changed the theme a little; I've added musical instruments as well. This also reflects another passion in my life - music. I actually have another blog in mind (oh no, not another one!) just on music, but we'll see how that goes, eh? Right now, I have more than enough to keep me very occupied :p

I've also updated my blogroll to add my regular blog-reads. There are actually a lot more blogs which I read daily (I've got a hundred feeds in my RSS reader), since I can't put ALL of them in, I'll just put my favourite local reads. For those who have linked me, thanks very much for your support :)

Stay tuned for more Oh for the love of me!

~Tine~

When We Don't Speak The Same Language

Let me run a situation by you.

You are having lunch with a group of friends. Now, you do not speak nor understand the dialect that they do (given that you're of a different race as well), but in general, conversations are in English, so it is not that big a deal if they revert to their dialect once in a while. A friend of a friend joins the group for lunch, and everyone starts jabbering away in the language which you do not understand. This goes on for over 30 minutes.

What would you do? How would you feel?

Would it piss you off? Or would you just take it in stride and again, think, no biggie?

I was in such a situation today. No, the person in question was not me, but a good friend of mine. The rest didn't feel the tension, but I did (glass-cutting *shudder*). He was really quiet, and only admitted he was really angry when the lunch was over.

I know the feeling. And if I were in his shoes, I'd be annoyed, at the very people who knew I couldn't understand what was spoken and yet it was going on and on.

The episode brought me back to the days when I was a student in the UK. A lot of my friends were either medical students or doctors (we met at the local Christian Fellowship). Okay, I don't know what it is about the medics, but they tend to talk a lot about their work when they were together. They did not even have to be working in the same hospital; once they were together, e.g. having a meal together, they'd talk about their work. Out comes the medical jargon, etc. And we engineering students would feel absolutely out-of-place in their midst. I felt stupid and inferior to them.

In time, some of them became good friends of mine. I'm even getting married to one. I've learned to take it in stride, and even tease them when they begin their medical talk. But what happens when it's with people whom you don't know? You can't just interrupt them in the middle of their conversation and request that they speak of something more general. That's just rude, isn't it? Still, is it really too much to expect a bit of courtesy? Especially if they already know you're not 'one of them'.

Anyways, back to my friend. What happened today have annoyed him to the point where he may not want to join us for lunch in future. I really hope that does not happen.

What would you do in situations like this?

PS: To my medic friends (and all you medical ... people), no offense meant; it really isn't anything personal. It would be nice if you could talk about anything other than work. If not, hmm ... you people need a life! :p

My Blogging Personality

Your Blogging Type Is Thoughtful and Considerate

You're a well liked, though underrated, blogger. You have a heart of gold, and are likely to blog for a cause. You're a peaceful blogger - no drama for you! A good listener and friend, you tend to leave thoughtful comments for others.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Aww, now don't I just sound nauseatingly nice? *gag*

I need more drama, people! Fireworks! Heart-bopping experiences! Controversies!

So that I can blog about it :p

Opposites Attract (But This Ain't No Paula Abdul Song)

They say that opposites attract.

• I like shopping; he can't stand staying in the same shop for more than 5 minutes.
• I like chick lit; he can only read thrillers and think chick lit's crap.
• I rise early; he wakes up only when it's time for lunch.

And the list goes on.

In the beginning, it was these differences which made the relationship unique. One's so different from another, and there's so much to discover. After all, what fun would it be, dating someone exactly like you?

As time goes by, when you're more relaxed and open with each other, it's the differences which you liked about each other that begin to irk you. More so when you start living together. One expects the other to deal with it. You've been with each other for so long, surely you can't expect the other to change just for you? Don't you already know what to expect? Again, the list goes on.

What happens when these differences start getting you down? Is it too much to expect the other person to change? Or should we just accept it and move on?

I reckon the keyword here is compromise. That's one of the important issues in a long-term relationship. That both parties come to a meeting point, where both can agree to change a little to keep each other happy.

Differences keep the relationship a little bit more exciting. If both becomes too in-tune with each other, it gets too predictable. It gets boring.

• I like shopping, but I'll keep my time in each shop to a minimum; he'll come along with me, and not complain. Then we'll go have ice-cream together (fat-free for me, of course).
  
• I like chick lit but will not subject him to what I read; he'll do the same, and not criticize my choice of books.
• I'll stay in a little longer during the weekends; he'll try to wake up earlier, and then maybe we'll ... well, you go figure ;)

Hmm, not too bad of a compromise now, is it?

CSI And Wedding Planning Are Driving Me Nuts

Ahhh the weekend beckons. I'm so glad for it. I definitely need some time to unwind and relax. Away from the office (bliss ...), away from all the wedding planning, away from everything else.

I've had little sleep of late. Well, for the first few days, it was due to my CSI Las Vegas Season 7 marathon, which, by the way, was really good (dark stuff, this one), until the very last episode. Kept me in bloody suspense for days, and what greeted me in the end were three very ugly words - "TO BE CONTINUED". Argh!!

The wedding planning's also been taking a bit of a toll on me. All the stress, etc, happens when you decide to take everything upon yourself to do. It's the perfectionist gene I got from Mum. Sigh. Also, it doesn't help when the family wants all things grand and classy for the wedding, when all the while they've forgotten about one very important factor - MONEY. There's only so much monkeys I can come up with with the peanuts I have. Double sigh.

Okay, okay, enough of all that self-pity nonsense. No room for all that rubbish on a Friday eh? ;)

It's going to be quite an eventful weekend for me. I'm a-gonna watch a movie with my colleagues tomorrow (Rush Hour 3 - not really my thang to watch in the cinema, but I just have to get out of the house), and on Sunday, I'm going to collect my dress for ROM. Woohoo!

So what's your weekend going to be like? Don't do anything I wouldn't do now. But then again, I have no life, so go crazy. Tee hee hee! :p

Have a good one, folks.

Good Lil' Christian Teacher's Pet

Teacher's pet.

Back in my school days (and even now), those are two foul words which you wished you'd never hear about you. Didn't you just hate teacher's pets? Brown-nosers, apple-polishers, bootlickers, I can think of many more not-so-pleasant phrases with the same meaning. Of course, kids these days don't bring apples to offer to the teachers anymore; regardless, there are always ways to get into a teacher's good graces.

Woe betide you if you were a teacher's pet. You'd be mocked by your peers and laughed at by the very teacher whose bum you kissed (well, they don't do it in front of you, of course, but in the comfort of the staff room. Oh yeah, I've heard many a good gossip shared amongst teachers in the lounge, and believe you me, they talked about these things). How difficult it was to be a student, eh, wanting to be accepted by your peers, yet hoping the teacher favoured you as well.

For years, I managed to stay right in the middle. Stay relatively all right in the teachers' good graces, yet not enough to be known as a teacher's pet. But I remembered one year in school where I was ultimately thrown in the middle of a grudge a particular teacher had towards my best friends. And being "kiap" (stuck) in the middle wasn't any fun, I'd tell you.

For privacy sake, I shan't disclose what subject this teacher taught (close friends would know), but man, she was such a pious, old bag. Her grating voice irked our ears, and we dreaded all her lessons. Now, for some reason, she hated my besties. She was always changing their seats so that they would be apart from each other, and I'd be placed in the middle of them. It was a very funny sight indeed, because those two would take their own sweet time to change places, and she'd be waiting impatiently, red as a tomato, all hot and bothered.

One day, as I was walking back to my class from the loo, I was stopped by her. Now she's really short (oops, did I just give the game away? :p), and I towered over her BIG time. She whispered to me, and she had the oddest look on her face.

"Stay away from those two. They're evil *cue shifty eyes*. You're a good little Christian girl. Christian girls don't mix with them."

Okkkaaaayyy. I had to bite my tongue to keep from bursting into laughter. I was absolutely gobsmacked, and couldn't say anything as she jabbered on on how "evil" they were.

I remembered going back to class, and immediately told my besties. We all had a really good laugh. From that time on, the teacher would use that phrase on me, and tried to talk to me every chance she got (I remembered avoiding her many times when I was at the staff room), and reminded me to stay away from the two girls. I inevitably, and very unfortunately, became her pet. Gosh, what a shuddering thought.

Still, it was such a hilarious situation that we remembered it to this very day.

I'm a good lil' Christian girl, y'all *blink blink*. Tee hee hee.

So, 'fess up now. Were you a teacher's pet? Or did you give 'em teacher's pets a good wedgie or two? ;)

Random Ramblings Of The Day

Ugh. Monday again. I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, thus in a god-awful mood. I hardly slept last night, totally emo over nothing. Woke Tim up at 2am his time just to tell him I couldn't sleep. Bless that man for not switching his phone off on me, yet so patient with me. Yeah, it's that time of the month. Woe betide anyone who pisses me off for the next few days, eh?

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I was just looking out the office window and realised that the haze is back. What gives?!

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I have a sudden craving for bak kut teh. Yumm.

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For those who recently visited my blog, hi hi! So glad to have you here, hope to see more of y'all again. Thanks for the lovely comments and well wishes on my upcoming wedding. You can check out my wedding rants here.

Think Before You Blog

Just one of those days when you can't think of anything else to blog about.

Bet I'm not the only one, eh?

Happy Casual Fridays!

So casual Friday's doing quite all right. Many people still wore their uniform to work though. I reckon they just weren't used to it. I felt a bit odd too, wearing jeans and a tee to work rather than my usual work garb. It felt as though it was my last day of work (yeah, I wish).

For those who didn't wear a uniform, well, it seemed like a fashion show than anything else.

"Wahh you wear so nice"

"Wahh so matching ah, your outfit and your bag"

"Wahh, you see that person, look so different!"

"Wahhh, you also wear jeans ah? Me too!"

"Aiya, how come you didn't wear mini skirt?" o_0

See, this is what happens when you introduce something radical at work. Tee hee hee.

I'd have to say, it sure was fun wearing my own thang to work. I'm going to suggest a colour coordination thingy with my colleagues for next Friday. At least it's something different, and something to look forward to, other than an end to a yet another mundane week.

Have a good weekend, folks.

PS: I'm going for my first bridal fitting today. Excited!!

Talking To The Boys

I went to an all-girl primary and secondary school. That's 11 years of a lot of girl action (no, no, not that kinda action, although I have heard of and seen a lot of juicy bits :p). As much as I loved my girls, sometimes I wished my parents have sent me to a co-ed school instead. Being in an all-girl school for so long, and having no exposure to boys from a young age, made me painfully shy amongst them.

I remembered that up to about Form 5, I could not talk to a boy. I'm not kidding; I literally could not talk to one. I was awkward when boys were around; I got tongue-tied, and my face would flush beetroot red. It became a damn nuisance actually. Despite the parties I attended, where my friends would invite boys, I'd much rather hang out with the girls, lest I make a fool of myself.

There was this one time ( ... at band camp ... tee hee hee! Got the joke? No? Never mind :p) at church, that the situation had gotten so bad, that I remembered how ashamed I was with my actions till today. I was 12 then, and a boy had approached me to ask me to pass a message to someone else. To ANOTHER boy. It was bad enough that I was all flustered when he gave me the message. I spent almost an hour, contemplating on how to pass the message without making a fool of myself. I was so stressed out with so many thoughts that, in the end, I just fled. I told my parents that we needed to go home immediately after church service. I never did pass the message on to the other boy.

It might not be such a big deal to you, but it was to me. I remembered going home, feeling utterly ashamed of myself for not being able to do such a simple thing. Just because I couldn't conquer my awkwardness. And really, they were merely boys. Nothing so special ;)

The situation took a 180 degree turn when I went to college. Being in the engineering faculty, I was one of the very few girls in the course. Being in a male-dominated field really changed my perspective, and it became so easy for me to talk to the guys. I ended up dating one for many years, had guy besties and lived with two guys in the UK (nope, nothing spicy then. Unfortunately :p). It came to a point where I was more comfortable talking to the boys than the girls!

When I started working, I had so little girlfriends, and spent so much time being one of the 'boys', that I found it a little difficult being around girls. Tsk tsk tsk. Talk about a major change, eh?

It took me a good number of years for this to settle down, and to strike a balance of friendship between the sexes. But the experience of being in the two extreme ends, well, that's something I'll never forget.

Casual Fridays' Is Finally Approved!

My company's finally relented and allow casual Friday dressing.

After 20 years.

By the way, we wear very ugly uniform to work, so this is a very VERY good change for us, especially for the ladies.

OMG, what am I going to wear this Friday??? o_0

Ecological Loser

Saw this at Zewt's, and like him, I'm feeling pretty tired (having a busy week at work) to write much, so I thought I'd nick the ecological footprint quiz for my own. Sad to say, I'm not much of an environmental advocate at all. The electricity bills every month told me so. Sigh.

Hot dang. 5.2 planets. This is not good at all. Those are BIG footprints I'm leaving around. Mesti bertekad to do better.

How do you live? Hope you don't take as many planets as I did *gulp*.