Gatherings....

How do we keep in touch with our ex-colleaugues over the time? Phone calls, emails, smses and via the latest and hippest site- FACEBOOK! Hehe.... Well, that was how my ex-colleaugues and I use previously to keep us updated on each other's happenings but something happened a few months back.... We decided to get-together for a Christmas dinner at Nero Vivo and we all had a joyous time! It then had all of us anticipating for the next meet-up!

Well, our second gathering took place last Saturday. It was kind of dear Kai Ting to provide us with our venue as we had a BBQ at her Condo. Thanks Kai Ting! The proud organizers were EE and we trusted her with all our heart when it came to the preparation of our FOOD! Of course, a big thanks to dear Lina as well who provided us with yummy sambal pari(so nice of her mummy) and her BBQ pits. She was our Xmas dinner organizer and yet for this- she has offered her help in so many ways. From helping EE in the collection of money to the ingredients for the BBQ. The 3 of them have truly done a lot for our FAttY BBQ gathering! Big hugsies to them...

As for us, we anticipated for that BIG FAT day! Only able to salivanate over the variety of food mentioned in our FB thread. I guess that was fattening enough already! haha.. There were some of us who contributed into the pool of food. Reese with her Secret Recipe Cake, Kai Ting n Pasta, Kristy with Corn and Garlic Bread, Ayu and Chilli Sardine, Siti and Brownies, me with salad and acar... Ok, I think mine was the simplest! hehe... Well, that's because I am not much of a cook though I do love cooking! Contradicting right?! :) Anyway as for the rest of the dishes, they were all prepared by our thumbelicious chefs- EE n Zulfa! Lucky for us gals, we had the help of a couple chefs as well to BBQ our food. I tried to help Ju vee and Jaryd but the fire was just to KING! I think my expression was clearly shown in a picture taken by Kristy who was just busy laughing at me!!! hehe... Just take a look at the the food......

At the end of the night, we or rather I have developed this sudden bloatedness of the stomach (not that it was not swollen b4 that! hehe) but then we were really stuffed to the brim but our Lina has yet to stuff us with Tortilla Chips and Salsa Dips! Gosh... and baby Monica was there to ensure that we were properly FED! She's just so adorable! haha...think Reese's sis was too full to take in anymore therefore diverted Monica's attention to me... Poor me-stomach! If you know "Chu Pak Kai", you would know what I mean! Haha... Picture this- with bulging tummies, we had to then clean up the place and of course- bungkus the rest of the food because we simply couldn't stuff in anymore, not even a tiny morsel of food into our tiny mouth! All that we could do was to present the Bday gals with their pressies and to take pictures with our star attraction:- CD La Turtle! hehe....

Well, at least we managed to "squeeze" in some exercise. Why do I say "squeeze"?! I'll let you know in private if you wish to know further! Hehe... All and all, we had a great time just eating, chatting and of course snapping away at each other with our cameras. We had the pleasure of having some new companies- Joanne, Kenneth, Zulfar, Naim, Ju Vee. And of course, we definitely miss some of our members who were not present that night. We hope that Farah, Moira and Jessica will be able to join us the next round as the "baton" has already been passed to Siti and Ayu. Let's see what awaits us the next round... More Food???

P/s: It's time to diet till the next time we meet again... Adios Fats!

Yearly Resolutions...

Am here at the office , havin some quiet time during lunch hour as everyone's out. Wondering why I'm here alone? Well, my lunch plan was interrupted. Therefore resolved to not goin out and havin some oat drink and biscuits instead! I guess this can also help me in going through with my new year's resolution.

As the same as every year before, my resolution has always been the same yet not achieved! It takes more than just the talk as I got to 'walk the talk'... It is really not as easy as it seems as we come up with a long list of resolutions. It is so easy for everyone to ask one another what their resolutions are. Easier ones like drinking more water, taking less sweets, smiling more are achievable. Imagine following your long list of eating less, exercising more, being more optimistic, earning more! Wow..that can be a bit taxing! And especially that now Chinese New Year is around the corner. Who can resist the extra Bakwa or pineapple cookie?! Hee hee..


Coming back to my new year resolution, I think I shall still have my prepared list in hand but then to just tick whatever I can achieve and not be too hard on myself.. Most importantly, TrYiNg is better than CrYiNg..... :)

Christmas 2008

Ho ho ho... it's the time of the year again where Happy moments and smiley ppl happen to collide! hehe... it is really the best time of the year! I do hope that there are no Scrooges around... :)

What were my Christmas wishes? Hmm.. that depends on whether I have been good this year! Well, of course if you were to ask me- I would definitely said I have! :) But never mind bout me... I decided to encourage some of my best gal frens this yr by presenting them a lil' token of my appreciation towards them! It was GREAT FUN! hehe.. the whole process actually took bout 2 months, I mean I started bout 2 to 3 months back. It's just bits and pieces of it put together throughout the couple of months. I actually enjoyed my nites at home, just sitting and coming up with the cards. Of course it was also because I had nothin much to do wit my parents constantly hooked on the Hokkien Astro channel. And tat does not leave me with much to do at home but to do crafty work! hehe... But it was all really great fun! Hmm... the mind actually seems to be doin something rather than just be idle when at home!

I am pretty glad that this year's celebration was of quite a peaceful one where there was no need to push around/ be pushed by others out there in the midst of the celebration mood! However, I think I should start thinkin of what to do for next Christmas...how to make it more memorable! hehe.... :)

Life in the late 20s..

What can I say bout life in the Late 20s....there can be lots to say or minimal to comment on. It all depends on the state a person is in now- whether the person feels like being on top of the world or down in the dumps!

As for me, I do think feel kinda down in the dumps.. Perhaps it's the magical no:- 29 that has taken its toll on me. It may be that life now is not as how I had always imagined it to be. Some achievements should have taken place now in my life but then I think the only one that I have done proudly is the expansion of my waistline! haha... Gosh, that is some serious achievement to look into! Not easy having that at the mere age of 29...

Anyways, as I was saying... what have I achieved out of my 29 years of existence? Hmm... Seriously can't think of any. Perhaps having job as I always thought that I will suck badly at it and pay will be misearable. Hey not to say that I am all that satisfied with it now but just that I had always thought I will end up in a job with low income. Therefore I shall be at least thankful for this part. However, as the days continues, I kinda reminisce on my previous post.. Really missing it as there were more emotions involved in the day to day operations. Great colleauges and well, the best are the lil ones!

Gee.. nothing else springs to my mind.. It's just blankness! haha...I guess it's quite true then when my ex- high school mate did a "feng shui calculation" for me. She mentioned that I have great ideas but then I often do not go through with them. No wonder at times, I would recall some special incidences and the big "WHAT IF" question will pop up in my mind. I do think that I could have put in more courage and determination. That may have change the map of my life! Perhaps I could have been
................................

A song which contains powerful words that is true to the Heart...

Early in the morning I put breakfast at your table
And make sure that your coffee has its sugar and cream
Your eggs are over easy, Your toast done lightly
All that's missing is your morning kiss That used to greet me
Now you say the juice is sour It used to be so sweet
And I can't help but to wonder If you're talking 'bout me
We don't talk the way we used to talk It's hurtin' so deep
I've got my pride, I will not cry But it's makin' me weak

I'm not your superwoman
I'm not the kind of girl that you can let down
And think that everything's okay
Boy, I am only human
This girl needs more than occasional Hugs as a token of love from you to me, ooh, baby

I fought my way through the rush hour Trying to make it home just for you
I want to make sure that your dinner Will be waiting for you
But when you get there you just tell me You're not hungry at all
You said you'd rather read the paper And you don't want to talk
You like to think that I'm just crazy When I say that you changed
I'm convinced I know the problem You don't love me the same
You're just going through the motions And you're not being fair
I've got my pride, I will not cry Still I can't help but care

I'm not your superwoman (Oh, no, no)
I'm not the kind of girl that you can let down
And think that everything's okay
Boy, I am only human (I'm only human)
This girl needs more than occasional Hugs as a token of love from you to me

I'm not your superwoman (Hoo, hoo, hoo, ooh, ooh, hoo)
I'm not the kind of girl that you can let down (Hey)
And think that everything's okay (Don't let me down, don't you let me down)
Boy, I am only human (I'm only human, yeah)
This girl needs more than occasional Hugs as a token (Ooh, ooh)
of love from you to me

Oh, baby, look into the corners of your mind
I'll always be there for you through good and bad times
But I can't be that superwoman that you want me to be
I'll give my everlasting love if you'll return love to me

I'm not your superwoman (Oh, no, oh, no)
I'm not the kind of girl that you can let down
And think that everything's okay
Boy, I am only human (I'm only human)
This girl needs more than occasional
Hugs as a token of love from you to me (Oh, no)
If you feel it in your heart And you understand me
Stop right where you are
Everybody sing along with me
Hoo, hoo, hoo, ooh, ooh, hooHoo, hoo, hoo, ooh, ooh, hoo
I'm the kind of girl that can treat you so sweet
But you got to realize that you got to be sweeter to me,
I need love I need just your love....

I'm not your superwoman (Oh, no)
I'm not the kind of girl that you can let down (You can let down)
And think that everything's okay
Boy, I am only human (I'm only human)
This girl needs more than occasional (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Hugs as a token of love from you to me
I'm not your superwoman

Simply ** joe wen**....

As all of you know me, I’m Joe Wen, Before I joined this co, I was pretty proud of my name as I thought that I had quite a special name, thanks to my father who decided to give a Western twist to it by adding the word ‘joe’. However I had a bit of a confusion during my 1st week here as I kept hearing people calling out “Joe Wen” but whenever I turned around to see who has been calling me, I would find no one. Ha ha…seems as if I’m about to tell some ghost stories here? No, it’s just that I gradually realized that there was another Jowen (BTHO) in EV and the reason why I kept hearing my name was that they were actually referring to her whenever she called up HQ. I even remember a time when I picked up a call and the other person on the line started talking to me as if she has known me for a long time. When she started asking me why was I based at HQ rather than BTHO(Bandar Tun Hussein Onn), only did I realize- another mistake again!

Well, being mistaken as Jowen frm BTHO was better than having my name mispronounced or misunderstood. Actually most people will ask me why is my name pronounced that way- supposed to be Joe Wen. I actually did a little changing of my name. This was because when I was younger- everyone will mistake my name as Joanne! It was pretty tiring for me to keep clarifying with them and (no offense) but I didn’t really like the name Joanne. That was why when I was in Standard 6, I decided not to bear going through the many times where I kept having to explain my name, and so I decided to change the pronunciation of it to WEN. At last I thought at that time, problem resolved!

But as I was going through high school, I got to meet this group of friends whom most of them were previously from a Chinese school background. Funny how friendship got us along until now because back then, I found them quite irritating! This was because having a name Joe (as my middle name), my “new-found friends” then would occasionally query on how to pronounce it in Mandarin. For those who know Mandarin, I am sure you will know how the sound goes if I write it down. But, to my ‘not-so-kind friends’ back then, they got a kick out of calling me “Chu wan” or “Pig Cloud’…. Hardy –har!!! My name is actually pronounced as “Chuk Wen” (chook wern-minus the ‘r’ sound) but I guess people listen to only what they hoped to hear. I actually wonder how such an intellectual word- (by the way, “Chuk is from part of a word- architect) became known as “Pig”… However, the name “Chu” stuck on me throughout the rest of my high school years and yes, even up to now. Well, luckily for them, I’m a forgiving person and they are fortunate enough to be my close-pals now.

Just as I thought all this name-calling would stop after one leaves the school life, I was wrong! Blame it on all the upcoming technologies and brands. As I stepped into the working world, people started associating my name to something else. Well, you see, there is this heater brand in the market...... Can you take a guess which was it that my name was linked to? Haha… YES, THE JOVEN HEATER! And so, I’ve had some people whom when I first met them, they would practically scream out- WAT?! , UR NAME IS JOVEN? TAT’S THE BRAND NAME OF A HEATER! GOSH I HAVE U IN MY BATHROOM! I USE YOU ALL THE TIME! IT’S A REALLY GOOD QUALITY BRAND!!!

Sheesh…. I give up! I think my philosophy now is to take the good points that come out of people’s surprise at the mention of my name. Well, at least now when they are asked to describe me- “I” am known as a Good Quality Brand!

Monday Blues......

Guess the title already disclosed my dreary feelin today! Sighs.......... hehe! Well, not to mention that am not particularly well too.... Have got a case of sore throat and flu! Really hate the sore throat thingy cos it takes ages for mine to be alright again- cos the doc told me before that I have tonsilities (dunno how to spell! :p) And so..gotta bear wit it!

I've just finished packin up goodie bags for upcoming competition for kids. Really like Papadam manz..! haha....Soon to be Muruku! It should have been a happy thing to have so many presents in front of me- or I should even feel like Santa Claus but then was not that happy packin it all up! Perhaps it's not all mine, that's why. : ) Kinda sad to see my workstation piled up with so many things... hehe! Like a hoarder!

However am pretty glad that I've packed all and now it's time to go home.... Yeay.. first have to still run some errands- buyin more stuffs for the goodie bags. Then to head home and serve others again-- Miss Cherrie! hehe...mum's away in China therefore I have to be her personal assistant! hehe...