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Showing posts from March, 2006

Inescapable Death

About two weeks ago, I stood outside my TESL students' class and read an SMS... My cousin Roland and my former student Dax (I was his form teacher for three years!) had just passed away.  Roland was only a year younger than me and ... Dax just got married and had just moved to a great new job.  I was just stunned and all the feelings of shock upset grief was roiling in me.  And the ever familiar question was WHY? But Death doesn't care.  Death stalks our footsteps and we all know he's there and we all know he will come for us one day.  But when he comes too fast too soon, we are unprepared and family members are left to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives.  It's all right if one has lived a full life and lived a full cycle ... you've either got grandkids with your nose or your temper or grandnieces and nephews who remember you for your lavish treats (unlike mummy and daddy who scrimp on the chocs and fries!).  But when you haven't even seen your child

Avillion Resort The Lifesaver

I had a meeting at Avillion Resort, Port Dickson..and it was such a memorable one day-one night that I am thinking of going back.  The place is beautifully landscaped and the rooms are GORGEOUS!  Two of my colleagues took advantage of the steam n sauna facilities and luxuriated their pores out!  The food was nothing to shout about (although I did eat a whole lot!) compared to Hotel Cititel Penang but good enough to keep me happy.  Dylan would've adored the three pools with the slide, the jets of water and the hide n seek nooks and corners.  I wasn't interested in the beach (not when I am so used to Tanjung Aru). But best of all, I managed to catch up on sleep lost and find my glow again.. Thanks, GITN Sdn. Bhd. for sponsoring such a great meeting.  Govt officers would never have seen even the lobby!

I SURVIVED the interview!

YES.. I survived the interview. Ya I know ... what's the big deal?  But no matter how you prepare or tell yourself it isn't a big deal, it IS a big deal.  And there is something unsettling about being interviewed by other adults that make you want to cringe at the idea of making a fool of yourself. So I didn't make a fool of myself.  I may not have been greeted with tears of joy and celebration but I had a good time at the 'chat session' with Dr. Sharifah Bee and Dr. Kassim.  Cos I didn't make a fool of myself.

Tenjewberrymuds

Read and weep... Well, maybe only the English teachers will weep. The following is a telephone exchange between a hotel guest and room-service, at a hotel in Asia, which was recorded and published in the Far East Economic Review: Room Service (RS): "Morrin. Roon sirbees." Guest (G): "Sorry, I thought I dialed room-service." RS: "Rye..Roon sirbees..morrin! Jewish to oddor sunteen??" G: "Uh..yes..I'd like some bacon and eggs." RS: "Ow July den?" G: "What??" RS: "Ow July den?...pryed, boyud, poochd?" G : "Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please." RS: "Ow July dee baykem? Crease?" G: "Crisp will be fine." RS : "Hokay. An Sahn toes?" G: "What?" RS: "An toes. July Sahn toes?" G: "I don't think so." RS: "No? Judo wan sahn toes??" G: "I feel really bad about this, but I don't know what 'judo wan sahn toes&#

PHD Pain In The A**, Neck and Head

Just got news from a little bird... one of the interviewers will be visiting Sabah on the 22nd of March.. so there you are, I have a date to focus on. BUT... BUT... the problem is I have an OUM deadline on the 20th, I've got courses to put together between now and YESTERDAY... arggghhhh... Well, I don't need to sleep, do I?

PHD Preparation - Zip, Nada

And my preparation for my PhD interview? Zip, nada, none, nothing, zero, aiso. There you go, in four languages; American, Spanish, English and Kadazan. Heh. *digs in bookshelf.. found book... Social Methods for Research..* The tiny mouse in the corner : You dead mon.

Work Hassles

Don't take me wrong... I love my job because I get the chance to meet people all over Malaysia and I get to do different things everyday.  But sometimes it becomes a drag when I have too many things on my plate and I'm haunted by deadlines and the colleague who is supposed to be sharing the joy with mejust doesn't give a d***.  Yeah he has more important stuff in his life ... riiiiiiiiight.... But it really pisses me off when I sound off to other people (the ones giving me more work) and they just say,"Hey there are two of you right? Why hog the work all to yourself?"  But what do you do when work you ask the other partner to complete either is stuffed under the table or gets messed up big time?  So like an idiot I worry about the repercussions and decide to never mind just do the job yourself.  I used to keep quiet but after last year, I just couldn't take it any more and began unloading on others.  One good thing came out of it... other people began seeing

Blew Out Another Tyre...

I think there is something not right in my relationship with my car. Not just the hatchback I'm driving now but also the sedan I used to drive. I seem to be having accidents galore... This time, I nodded off at the wheel and hit the sharp base of the small Putatan bridge just after the traffic lights. Luckily I have steady hands and I kept the car moving. Owwwch, the beautiful melody of the slap grind rip of rubber and steel rim on the road... every note symbolised a chunk of ringgit leaping out of my wallet. Worse, I was on the fast lane and a few hundred metres AFTER the curve. So while waiting for the tow truck, one car managed to rear-end another. I was waiting at the nearby bus stop (the sight of the trucks barreling towards my tiny auto made me scramble out to seek refuge elsewhere) and tried to hide behind a sapling while the two car owners battled it out. But I realised something good. There are plenty of kind people out there on Malaysia's demolition derby hig

Good Links For Research

Found some good links.. SearchERIC http://searcheric.org/ FindArticles http://www.findarticles.com/ Nfer Research Areas http://www.nfer.ac.uk/research-areas/ Taylor and Francis Journals http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/

Virus Worm BRONTOK

*stares mournfully at deleted files* Someone put a virus in my office PC... and I brought it home to my home PC which has the latest antivirus signature files.  Being the efficient creature it is, it healed 6 of 17 infected files and deleted 11 files that it couldn't heal.  I KNOW KNOW KNOW it's better deleted than causing trouble and spreading trouble and making mini BRONTOKs... but I still feel sad... And I don't know what's going to happen with the files in my PC that I'm going to scan with AVG.  Well I don't have original software so I must be satisfied with AVG.  Good AVG.  Smart AVG.  Clever AVG.  If only it didn't kill files so efficiently... I hope all of you update your antivirus software at least once a week.  You do, don't you?