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Work

What does work really means?

Noun
a) an activity, such as a job, which a person uses physical or mental effort or do, usually for money
b) the material used by someone at work, or what they produce:

Verb
to do a job, especially the job you do to earn money, or to make someone do a job

For the past few weeks, I have been arriving early at the office. Well, it was not only because I wanted to avoid any unwanted remarks about how late I arrive at the office but also because I want to be mentally ready. The first 10 minutes alone mean so much to me as the office politic is getting really horrendous and at times I just can’t bear them.

There are some unwritten rules that I just found out the other day.

Thou shalt not show anger

I had been advised not to display my anger because it could dampen the morale of the team. But the funny thing is we can always let people know how tired we are after spending our night in the clubs or if we got up late on that particular day. I keep wondering what this person was trying to suggest. Was she trying to suggest that we could only display the tired face from 9am – 6pm? It would be even more stressful since you’d look like a walking zombie and totally hazardous for other’s mental health.

Thou shalt act like a bimbo

I have to put up lots of act in a day. Occasionally, I’d have a very busy day and I have to act like a bimbo from 9am – 6pm and I’d end up feeling real tired and would hit the sack as soon as I reach home. Last Friday, I had to join the other administrators and secretaries for the yearly room inspection at one of the service apartment in Jalan Ampang. I had to pretend that I loved to be around them and had to put up with some of them who asked some ridiculous questions about the services available though the answers are already written down in the pamphlets. I should have been given the award for the best actress for the act that I had put up there and a datukship for being able to spend my precious 2 hours with the devils without ever feeling nauseous.

Thou shalt not speak to the boss

I came to know that I actually have no supervisor and have to report directly
to the VP and the Directors but it seems like I have to report to some unofficial supervisors that let me do all the shitty works. What makes me feel so mad is that I can’t even ask a simple question from my director directly but to have to go through my so-called supervisor. Every issue should be raised up to the ‘supervisor’ and the person will then relay them to the Directors and I’d have to wait sometimes for a few hours to get my answer. It really is frustrating at times since I have to let my time go wasted to get a simple answer and have to succumb to the idea that I don’t have any rights to speak my piece of mind.

Thou shalt pretend not knowing each other at the hallway

This unwritten rule is so hilarious. Whenever you see your officemate even though the one that sitting next to you happen to stumble into you in the hallway, you both would treat each other like strangers and never make any eye contact. It’d be even better if you could see the person coming from the other end 500m before you guys bump into each other so that you could take a detour or perhaps stop at any cubicles and pretend to have a serious conversation.

What I am trying to say is that most of the times I really love the environment and the company but usually the people around will fuck me up and take the best of me.

Theatre - Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical

I had girl’s night out on Valentine’s Day. At first I thought that we wouldn’t make it on time since the road was totally jam and there were lots of small accidents along the way. The supposedly 15 minutes journey had been a 30 minutes instead. My girlfriends who got there earlier were so anxious since she was afraid that we couldn’t get there on time. Alas, love works magic on that day and we got there just in the nick of time.

A few people asked me why would I want to waste my money to watch the musical. Was I smitten by Stephen Rahman-Hughes good look or perhaps I just didn’t have anything else to do. I suppose his good looks might have contributed a small percentage to my decision making process but it was mainly to give my support to the local theatre. To those who thought that he couldn’t speak Malay, well you are totally wrong. By the way, he has such a beautiful voice that makes you want to take him home to sing you a lullaby every night.

I have never been to any musical theatre before, so I suppose I can’t give a good review on PGL The Musical. When I saw AC Mizal on stage the first thing that came across my mind was that can he sing better than his rapping in 4U2C? But when he started to sing I knew that he had put 4U2C behind and it was really astounding to see his own interpretation of Majapahit King. One thing for sure, I like it millions of time more than the movie. Kudos to those involved for giving the audiences the best of experience so far.


Documentary - Voices At The Bottom Of The Pyramid

A million thanks to Da Boss, Yasmin Ahmad, for giving me the opportunity to watch her very first documentary last Friday together with other TSC-ers. What I could say is this, please watch the documentary if you could catch it anywhere since it’d definitely enlighten you in lots of way. The most appealing part for me personally is when one of the women talked about dignity. The women surely don’t have lots of money and stuff like we do have here and certainly most of them would never heard of Guess and Levis, but they have one important thing that we seem to slowly forget, dignity and pride.

One would see the documentary as another Majalah Tiga but some will see it as a textbook to learn more about the reality in life. Though the subject is about the Indian women but still you can see that there’s got to be more to life than your Ikea furniture and plasma TV.

What do you want?

Someone asked me this question the other day and sadly I didn’t have a clue.

Happy Rip Off Day

Today is the day where flowers especially roses could be sold at least twice the normal price. The chocolatiers definitely have better sales percentage today. Hotels and restaurants that serve the food in kid’s portions that have Valentine’s package on the price of one week’s budgeted expenses will also have their share today. After the rip off day, some of the guys would have to fast until the next pay which would be in another 2 weeks while the girls would be in cloud nine that seems to last forever. Such a great news to the bosses since this would definitely be the time where productivity reach its peak. For those who forgot to make their reservations or don’t have the budget to buy the flowers and have dinner at the fancy restaurant, worry not! We have lots of stalls and mamak’s restaurant, which you could go to. Be creative with the flowers. Just pick them up at Taman Titiwangsa or if you have enough guts just go to Taman Orkid for a better flower quality. Have fun to all the couples but remember, the percentage of people that broke up during the Valentine’s Day is far higher than the normal days.

Film

For the past two weeks I have seen Heath Ledger in two different movies, brokeback mountain and brothers grimm and last night Casanova. It felt slightly awkward seeing him as the world’s greatest lover after seeing him in his role in brokeback mountain. LOL. If you like Heath Ledger in A Knight’s Tale, you will definitely love him in this.

Books

I should be banned from all the bookstores I suppose. I can’t help myself but to buy another book again yesterday. This time is the latest installments by Tom Holt, you don’t have to be evil to work here, but it helps. A book which have some good career advice which I would recommend to be read by those who are struggling in their work place which the youngest female staff is on the verge of having her menopause.

Work

I kept clenching my jaws since last week and even more when someone called me up on Sunday to ask about work matters, which I definitely know nothing about and had to settle them on the basis of doing a favour. I wish I could have hanged someone just for the fun it. LOL.

World Keeps Turning

a face as long as a wet week

I went back to my hometown for the long holidays. I spent most of the time at home, and went out once in a while. It was sort of like revitalize, rejoice and rejuvenate as far as I’m concern. Time seemed to be ticking slower there compared to when I am in KL. I guess it is maybe because I have lots of things to do here. As always, mum cooked lots of my favourite dish, which made both of my sisters grateful that I came back for a visit since they could have free meals everyday. LOL.

My nephews and nieces gave me some big hugs, which I really needed for god knows how long. I spent some quality time together; the late night talk about their life and problems, DVD marathon, reading and the usual fights about who is the one that should be the leader of the pack. They had shown some signs of responsibilities by taking care of the young ones while we lot gossiping in the kitchen. The latest addition to the family, Erfan Qayyim is surrounded by love not only from his parents but also from the cousins who seems to be taking care of him, including Aliff the Chicken Little who is only 1 year old.

Grandpa has changed a bit. He had lost some weight and didn’t speak much. I tried to have a chat with him but he just stared blankly onto the wall. Mum was a bit worried about the changes and we had to assure her that there’s nothing wrong with him. I cooked his favourite dish and he just ate them silently. When I was a kid, I used to spend my weekend at my grandparents house. I used to cycle 10km back and forth with my grandpa to the day market on every Sunday without failed. When we got there, we usually had our breakfast at his favourite kopitiam. Most of his friends that hung out with him there had already passed away and I suppose he misses them all.

I went out with Kojeh and mum the other day and we drove passed the graveyard. I saw a man was busy tending one of the cemeteries. I didn’t go to visit abah’s like I always do. I miss him though but still I couldn’t see myself standing next to his cemetery and started to speak about my misery.

When I was about to step out from the house to go the train station to come back to KL, I realized that mum had a face as long as a wet week. She kept asking when am I going to come home again. I pretended that I didn’t hear her. I always have a mixed feeling about coming back home. The other side of me would keep telling me that it is my responsibility to always come home and see my mum but the other side would be saying that it hurt me so much to come back and see what my family has become.

Friends

I had a little gathering the other day with some friends from the secondary school. Usually I would always decline the invitation for a reunion especially the one that include the over achievers LOL. It is tiring to answer the standard questions that will always be asked in any reunions. Have you found the one? When are you getting married? How much is your pay? Would it be enough?

I have known one of them since I was in the primary school. One of them is not that lucky in her career path, the other one is damn happy with her job and the last one is still looking for a job. I never felt more relieved to meet them all that day. I was reminded of my root through the conversations and I am glad that I still remember what I was made of.


Films

Trips to the “penjual VCD haram’ is a must. So I went there with a mission to buy Brokeback Mountain and Transamerica. Both movies are about sexualities, but definitely trying to evoke very different feelings. Brokeback Mountain definitely has a better DOP, IMHO. Watch them without any prejudice and you shall see why I said that it would evoke your feelings. Another fine movie that I have seen is me and you and Everyone We Know. You will see how hard it is to connect with other people. I suppose some of us use blogging as a way to connect to people too.

Boooks

I have watched Trainspotting a few years ago and I loved it so much. During one of my weekly trip to Border’s with Hazera I found the book, amidst the classical shelves. This time I could never be so thankful to people who could never put the book back to the right shelves. Reading this book is such a challenge since you might take sometime to understand the colloquial speech. Once you have got a grip, it would be a smooth sailing.

I have never read Gabriel Garcia Marquez before though I know a few lads who love his writings. I ended up buying One Hundred Years of Solitude when I couldn’t find the book that I really wanted to buy. Lesson of the day: always write down the title of the book just in case you might forget. There’s no use to memorize the colour of the cover only.

Music

Richard Ashcroft is back! I have always loved his video clip, after I saw his ‘A song for the lovers’ video clip. It is simple but yet interesting. His latest single, Break the night with colour is smashing. Another video clip that had caught my eyes is by Korn, Twisted Transistor. What can I say? Korn would always come out with great ideas for their video clips.

The loneliness - Pablo Neruda

Pic courtesy of http://zforzzz.fotopages.com

I want to walk with you and know,
know the reasons why; I want to walk
inside of your shattered heart,
to ask the lost dust,
the shay, dispersed jasmine

whay?why this miserable dirt?
why this forsaken light?
why this shadow without stars?
why doom in Paita?