Wednesday, July 30, 2008

joy at work

There was once a very smart lady, let's call her Joy.

Now, one working afternoon, Joy got home at 3pm, pleased that being in sales meant that she could manipulate time and meeting schedules.

Of course, it did help that she was smart.

After watching some tele, Joy decided to head to bed for a nap. At 6pm, her phone rang and she sat upright on her bed staring at her CEO's name flashing across the screen.

"Ooooh daaaaaaamnnnnn! Now what?"

She decided to not answer the call, thereby giving her a couple of minutes to think.

What Joy did after that was pure brilliance.

She ran out of her house, went into her car, started the engine, pumped up the volume on the radio, and then returned the CEO's call.

"Yes boss, you called?" asked Joy innocently.

"How did your meeting go?" he asked.

"Oh, well, I waited for the client for 45 minutes, and she didn't arrive. I left after she called to tell me that she's still stuck in a jam, told me to head off and that she'll reschedule with me again," she explained.

"And where are you now? Are you coming back to the office?"

"No boss, it's 6pm, I am actually on my way back home cos I left Pavilion at 5:15, the traffic is insane I tell you! I'll see you tomorrow OK boss?"

"Oh alright. See you tomorrow then."

Joy turned off her car engine, went back into the house and continued where she left off.

------------------

All characters are fictional. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely and most definitely, coincidental.

Posted by Doreen at 9:52 am



    

Friday, July 25, 2008

magazine

There are tonnes of publications out there covering a wide array of topics - lifestyle, health, parenting, property, gadgets, fashion, sports, business, for women, for men, for college going kids, etc.

Question.

If there is going to be one addition to that - what would YOU like to read about? What kinda magazine do you reckon you will want to pick up should it be launched?

You can suggest more than one :)

Posted by Doreen at 2:13 pm



    

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

BG Trip I

We drove up to Batu Gajah last weekend, to attend Kar Wai's birthday party.

I've never been there, but they told me that everything in this small town in Perak is 10 minutes away from each other, so I guess I'm not missing out on much anyway.

Nevertheless, I was quite excited about visiting BG - a short weekend in a small, quiet town, away from the hustle and bustle of KL city.

A quick google search confirmed that there are no hotels there, just erm... inns. But what the hell. I'm quite easy when it comes to accomodation, since it's just for one night.

Someone suggested we stay at the Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort, and I later found out that it was the Hilton of Batu Gajah.





Not too bad for an abandoned mining pool eh?

Published rate for a Deluxe Room is at RM400, but members of the golf club can book the room at only RM255 nett.

All chalets are built by the lake, thus offering splendid waterfront view.



And of course, the best part about the room...

The verandah...

And the view...

There were plenty of sporting and recreational activities at the Resort - cycling, archery, tennis, kayaking, fishing and of course golf. Don't ask me how many holes and all that, cos I hate golf. But I thought the driving range was pretty cool cos you hit the balls into the water.

We did none of those activities, cos it required too much effort.








We did, however, manage some time to get some sun by the pool.


Next up - the birthday do, feasting on prawns in Tanjung Tualang and Kellie's Castle!

Posted by Doreen at 6:58 pm



    

Monday, July 21, 2008

Sabah Bliss: III

On their website, their tagline is 'Mataking: One Resort with Two Islands'.


The second island is an offspring island, aptly named Mataking Kecil.



Here's looking at Mataking Kecil

Both islands are connected by a sand bar, accessible on foot only when the tide is out.



Opening up

The tide starts to goes out at about at about 9ish in the morning... and by lunch time, the sand bar becomes fully accessible to cross over to Mataking Kecil.


There isn't anything on Mataking Kecil, except trees, rocks and remnants of dead corals and whatnot.



On Mataking Kecil

Sunbathers who opt to chill on Mataking Kecil are advised to make their way back to the main island before the tide comes back up in the evening, else take a long swim back.


It's nice to take a stroll in the morning, just as the tide is starting to recede. You kinda feel like Moses.




And you can take your pick - which side of the water you want to have a dip in.




It's nice to also take a walk in the afternoon, when the tide is completely out.




You and your friends can pose randomly....



... collect pretty looking sea shells...


... make sand turtles...


... erm, pose some more...

... and indulge in your narcissistic tendencies...

Posted by Doreen at 10:35 am



    

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Sabah Bliss: II

They say divers are a happy lot.

In water like this...


... who am I to disagree?

Look at me!


See how happy I am?

This trip is the first full-on leisure trip after being certified in Tioman three months ago.

There were more than 20 divers on this trip, and so the gang was formed when we had to be divided into 3 different boats (groups).


From L-R: Shen, Noriko, Lynette, Ee Lin, Albert, me, Grace, Alan with Divemaster Hardy in the centre.

Now you see, it was cool to have Lynette in the same group. She was the one who certified us, and naturally, we felt so much more at ease that she's around. But when you are a new open water diver, and, ahem, drop to 30.1 metres, and your instructor was at 23-ish metres on that very same dive, they erm, remind you. Heh.

On arrival day itself, we all did a check-out dive at the Mataking House Reef. The moment we let go off the rope, we were swept away with the current.

I struggled for a bit, having experienced NO current at all during the last Tioman trip. I remembered thinking to myself, "Daaaamn Doreen, what did you get yourself into?"

Looked around and saw everyone moving in the same direction and therefore allowed myself to be carried by the current. To try and stop and look at something required too much effort, so for most parts, we just drifted, and drifted, and drifted.... You see this, you see that, you see everything, but all zap, zap, zap. Like a movie on fast forward.

Fun ride though.

Mataking is known for its underwater macro-life.

Nudibranch aplenty - though it IS a tad annoying when there are too many people trying to catch a glimpse of these little buggers. Then you realize, hey - these little slugs aren't gonna be moving anywhere are they?
See this one? They tell me it's called the Pikachu nudibranch, and is relatively rare. Cute kan? Like a rubber toy of sorts *squeeze*

The Ship Wreck Post dive site was pretty cool - so we dived here twice. An intentionally sunk cargo ship, a vibrant breeding ground.

The Wreck's resident pair of scorpionfish.

There is also a postbox on the wreck, and mail is actually collected once a week. Cleaner shrimps have made the postbox their home too!


Getting teeth cleaned.

Other things which we saw...


Anemone shrimps

Leaf fish

Robust ghost pipefish


School of jacks under the jetty



Crocodile fish


Stone fish


Plenty of turtles

Spider crab

OK fine, I didn't see the spider crab. Lynette did.
We saw a mandarin fish too - damn shy buggers, and we had to wait for them to come out of hiding from in between the corals. Oooh, and lobsters! Mostly babies, but we did see a big one, big enough to be on the dinner table.
There were tonnes of other creatures and fish, all unknown to me.
Need to get me a book on tropical reef fish!
--------------------------
Pictures credit - Lynette and Bee Yong

Posted by Doreen at 6:29 pm