Business Management Skills

Two posts in one day!! Yeah go ahead and say it:
MO LIU. (chinese way of saying 'nothing better to do')

Haha, anyway I was checking my email and I found this one about business management skills. There are some very important lessons that we could learn from it :)

Lesson 1:
A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?' The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?' The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.' Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'
Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 2:
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?' The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.' So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 3:
A turkey was chatting with a bull. 'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.' 'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.' The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.
Moral of the story: Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..

Lesson 4:
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.
Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

How incredibly true =)

Deprived of DVDs

Hmmm. What should I blog about today? :)

I've been busy busy lately. On Thursday I sat for my Calculus test... I think I did badly. I was supposed to ask my lecturer if I could sit for the make up test, but then I forgot about it until like the middle of the day. =/ Oh well.

And then I still have to prepare for the mission trip in August... omg Gloria and Chilie I need some help! And I'm going to Jelebu, a small village in Negeri Sembilan... where BM is their main language. My Bm's horrible. Have you heard my Mandarin? Well, let's just say my BM's worse. Haha. There you go.

Not to mention, upcoming assignments! Sigh.

I suppose I'm not the only one feeling stressed. Everyone else is.

You know what I want to do? I wanna watch The Dark Knight! Personally, I prefer Spiderman over Batman because Batman's so... batty. Haha. And he still wears his underwear on the outside. But this isn't about Batman. It's the joker I wanna see. If you're afraid of clowns, you've got a greater reason to fear this one.
I heard that Heath Ledger was pretty upset when he got the role as the joker. I'm not sure if he was already depressed before that, or after that happened. But anyway, he killed himself early this year. Ironic, huh? I still feel that the movie was the reason for why he got depressed and committed suicide.

My classmate was asking around if the movie was scary or not. Everyone said "No, it's not really scary. *pause* Maybe a bit la."
Him: How scary??? Because I can't really handle scary movies... I get nightmares easily.
Me: Don't worry, I'm sure it's not that scary. I just know that it's not meant for kids.
Him: Are you serious?! *Gives me that shocked look*
Me: Don't worryyy. You're above 18. They'll let you in.
Him: But I'm still a kid at heart...
Haha. He's so cute la.

I'm really running out of DVDs to watch. This week, I've watched Kung Fu Panda twice. Yesterday, I watched The Sound Of Music at home. I've got nothing against classical music.. but it's so boring la omggg. The whole movie is like a Broadway musical - pure singing. I like Julie Andrews, but I halfway throughout the movie I was yawning off so I ended it and decided to watch 21 (that movie about professional blackjack) 21's good. Except it's my 3rd time watching.

You know what this means?

I need new DVDs. ;)

History

History by Matthew West

A heart-warming song with meaningful lyrics.

In life, there will be things that we will never understand ... some things are just out of our reach.
It's best to not know all the answers to life, but to live by the ones we already have... and accept things as they come, believing that there is always a reason behind it.

Maybe, that's why they say that life is full of surprises.

Incomprehensible

What do you do when you're having a bad day? Find some way to vent it out? Or try your best to harbor it in?

And why is it that sometimes, we try so hard yet to realize that nothing is turning out the way we want it to be? And the more we try, the worse it gets.

Why does there always have to be at least one bad day in a week? Why can't things just fall into place smoothly, for once?

They say that the longest journey in life is the journey inward. Well, what if that's a never ending journey? Will you actually reach the end, then? Is there even an end to begin with?

I just don't get it.

Singapore.

And here are the pictures I promised =p

This is my 7-month-old cousin, Alexis Yap Yan Yan. She's adorable.

OMG her cheeks. ^^

This is Yan Yan's older sister (the one who refused to talk to unfamiliar people)
& my next-door cousin brother.

This was taken right before we went to the nearby shopping mall. The mall was a combination of Sunway Pyramid + Subang Parade.

Hmmm.. yeah. It's a rather basic mall.

But they had a really cool Japanese corner which was crowded with people. Various Japanese restaurants were tucked together at that side of the mall.

We had our lunch at a newly-launched Japanese restaurant, Ichiban Sushi. I think the prices there were a little higher compared to our local Japanese restaurants. Anyway, they served favorable dishes... I'm not if Sushi King or Sakae Sushi offers egg and unagi like this: Tender unagi sanwiched between sweetened pieces of egg.

Once again, it was a difficult task getting my cousin brother to eat. I don't know what's wrong with that kid - but he has the stomach the size of a tennis ball. He ate two small pieces of sushi and declared that he was full. To encourage him to eat, I promised to buy him a toy if he ate a couple more stuff that we ordered. For the sake of the toy, he ate. And after that, he kept pestering me for his toy. =.=" I'm a person who honors my promises (cheh =p) so I took him upstairs to Toys' R' Us, much to his delight.

I asked him to pick out a toy... and... he wanted this at first:

Doesn't that look wrong to you?

Lol. He must've been hanging out too much with my little female cousins. I can't blame him - he's the only boy among them. But if his mother were there at the toyshop, she'd scold him there and then. I told him that that toy was for girls and asked him to pick out another one. He finally settled on a 'doctor' set... (fake plastic syringes, etc). That was much bettter.

At home that night, we celebrated my grandmother's 72nd birthday! She was touched. :)

Half of my relatives.

The birthday cake.
(I think it was blackforest)

After a cheerful chorus of the Happy Birthday song, my grandmother leaned forward and blew the candles! Then, I noticed that her eyes were shining with tears.

I love this awesome woman.
(And her cooking's one of the best I've ever tasted)

On the morning of our departure, we all went to Shanton Way for Singapore's famous "Lor Mee"... it's a type of noodle-dish.

Perasan' Yuan Chun. His Lor Mee wasn't that delicious.

Noodles soaked in thick, sticky dark gravy with blended vinegar
(That's what Lor Mee looks like)

Honestly speaking, Tiong Baru is the best place in Singapore if you want a bowl of fresh, delicious Lor Mee :)

After breakfast, we headed to board the spetacular Singaporean "Flyer". It's like the "Eye On Malaysia" at Titiwangsa, except this one's much higher and it has a full view of Singapore.

It's about 42 metres high. Or was it 42 storeys? I can't rmb.

The capsules are fully-conditioned and designed to fit at least 30 people in each.

I took this as the capsule was escalating upward. It looks so beachy and sunny :)

Singapore: A city of wonders.
(Just imagine how magical it'd look like at night)

After that, it was back to Malaysia yo! Leaving Singapore was a little hard for me because I knew I was beginning to fall in love with it. Truthfully, I like it more than KL. I plan to settle there after I graduate from the United States. =) It's such a peaceful, beautiful country. The streets are lined with shady trees, the roads are free from rubbish, there are tons of great malls there and MRT and buses for convenience... everything runs on an organized system. What's not to like about the place?

I wanna go there again.

Memoirs of Malacca

Did I mention that I skipped my Malaysian studies midterm for the roadtrip to Malacca? =p Lol, that happened 3 Fridays ago. My church's Subang College Cell Group decided to go to Malacca for our very first CG Outing! Not everyone turned up, but there were about 10 of us altogether, including my CG Leader (Chee Liang)'s friend from Malacca who so kindly brought us around the historical city.

Throughout the journey, we chatted, exchanged titbits and camwhored a little. I remember seeing a sign that read "Crocodile Farm" just as we drove into Malacca.

Me: OMG crocodile farm!! I've never been to a croc farm before. It must be quite cool right.
Emily: You like crocodiles?
Me: No, I actually have a phobia of them. But I like watching my phobias from afar.

She thought that was rather weird. Haha. I know it's weird. But I just get this strange thrill when I see crocodiles - it's a mixture of fear, excitement and repulsion at the same time. Knowing that I'm safely away from them makes me feel good.

OK enough about crocs. Not like Malacca has any, anyway.

They have shops that make teeth for you.

Then Emily and Aaron were talking about ancient China and how it must be like living in the gigantic palace as one of the king's many concubines (mistresses). I mean, WHAT DID THOSE WOMEN DO? They're not in the position to visit the king as and when they please... so we joked about how they probably spent their time dancing in the garden full of flowers, sewing dresses... and catching butterflies. Alamak...

I'm sorry that had nothing to do with Malacca!! Haha. It just popped into my mind because I remember laughing so hard in the van that my face turned red. I need to stop going off-track.
Okay!! So, as I was saying...

We reached Malacca around 1pm, just in time for lunch. We had the infamous Malaccan Chicken Rice Ball at the 'best' Chicken Rice Ball shop there. Um, I used to think that Chicken Rice Ball meant rice with chicken balls (as in, balled up chicken meat). I was quite surprised when we were served with this:

=.=" Ohhh. Chicken AND rice balls huh. Okayyy. It tasted like ordinary chicken rice. Except the rice are balls of rice la. My friend (name disclosed) used her spoon and mashed up the rice balls. I asked her what was the purpose of eating chicken rice balls if she flattened her rice, then she replied that she couldn't stand eating the rice balls like that. Lol.

Right after lunch, we headed to a nearby shop that sold delicious Malaccan desserts and asam laksas. The shop's pretty famous for its Durian Cendol too, but being an anti-durian person myself, I ordered the coconut one.

Bernard bursting with excitement.

Coconut cendol
(coconut milk, sago and brown sugar)

Asam Laksa

(I didn't try it, but my friends claimed it was nice)

That's the Malaccan river behind us.

Han Sean, Emily, Lydia, Shern Ai, Joanna, Jennifer, Bernard, me, Aaron, Chee Liang

We even took pictures at the vintage railroad area.

Look at Super Chee Liang! He's pushing the train yo! XD

Artistic, mou? :P
(Shern Ai modelling Malaccan railroad. I asked her to pose like that)

Ermm. Pebbles.

(Randomness)

We visited the Portugese Fort (it was mentioned in our high school history textbooks)

Shern Ai and I.
(Door posers)

Subang CG with the BAZOOKA!

Bernard on a voltage box. That thing controlled the power system.

A man.
(He looked pretty upset)

This was embedded into the floor.

Handprints to prove we were there! :)

Posers! xD

All hail the saint, Francis Light.

Aaron took this picture while I was stoning.

Aaron. Lol??

So, this is what an ancient Dutch coffin looks like.
(I wonder how the corpse looked like, then? =p)

We posed at the stairs. Haha we're quite the "mo liu" I know =) 'Mo liu' and loving it XD
PS: I just learned that 'Mo Liu' means 'nothing to do'. And I've been saying it ever since.

Omg. What a cute and cheery trishaw!! :)

I did something I'd never done before, or never dreamed of doing.

I held a snake.

Was kinda excited at first, but as the man proceeded to bring the snake nearer, I freaked out. But then I couldn't back out anymore. I told myself, NO, YOU WILL GET OVER YOUR DUMB SNAKE PHOBIA AND HOLD THE FRIGGIN' SNAKE! That's why I'm smiling nervously. Haha
It felt dry, scaly and really, really heavy. What did the guy feed it with la?? Chicken rice balls?

I learned that not all snakes are slimy and cold. This one was warm-blooded. Hmmm. Haha. Maybe it was just the sun or something. That's probably why it felt warm.

We had the snake around our shoulders... Damn heavy lahh. Thank God Bernard held the head!!

This old man's really mean. He asked Bernard and I whether we wanted to hold the iguana, and we said no. Then the old man proceeded to put the smelly iguana on Bernard's lap!! So, Bernard freaked out. Chee Liang ran away.

He's as freaky as his reptiles...

And I finally decided to touch the iguana.

So I touched its tail XD

We had SATAY CELUP for dinner. OMG that was superb. I fell in love with it at once. They have a whole variety of food (fishball/sausages/yao char kuai/egg/prawns/etc) on satay sticks and a boiling pot in the middle of the table bubbling with peanut sauce :) Succulent and delicious.

Bernard: Hou Hou Sek Ah! =p
(very tasty)

This is how it's done!

Candid picture.
(I was happily enjoying my satay celup)

We went to Jonker's Street after a satisfying dinner. That place is a famous pasar Malam in Malacca. The streets were lined with stalls selling accessories, food and other stuff.

Hamsters!!! Dyed for color.
(Such cutie pies.)

If my mom didn't have such a phobia of rats... I'd buy one of those hamsters back. Probably the green one! Then it can glow in the dark XD Hahaha. As I was strolling the street, I noticed that there was a performance onstage by a group of elderly American men. One of them (the drummer) was a big burly guy with specs and he was banging on the drums while the rest of his members rocked on to the rhythm. The first thing that crossed my mind was: OH.MY.GOD. IS THAT BORGES?! (My American History lecturer) I mean, he's from Malacca!! And he's mentioned that he visits Jonker Street pretty often. It could just be him sitting up there banging on the drums.

Then, I went closer for a better look and found out that the drummer had a weird-looking tattoo on his hand. OK. Case closed: He's NOT Borges. I mean, come on!! Borges and a tattoo???! @.@ Haha if you knew how conservative my lecturer was, you'd understand.

We got back to KL at 11.30 pm.

Conclusion: Malacca's a great place when it comes to Satay Celup. I'm serious.