Monday 20 July 2009

Yellow & Red chapter 1

He was shy. She knew he liked her, but he hardly ever said a word.

The actions spoke volumes though.

Sunday 19 July 2009

Water Babies

Today has been a fun day for the kids. We arrived at Queensbay Mall in Penang in time for lunch, then after a couple of hours shopping for their winter clothing, Mama and Bapak decided to drop by at the Carnivall Water Theme Park in Sungai Petani. We didn't have our swimming costumes, so the little ones had to make do with their undies.


Aiesyah braving the water with her Tok Wan.

A rare photo of my eldest. Nuaim enjoyed it immensely.


My little princess making splashes of her own.




Saturday 18 July 2009

Off Day

Hari ini saya tidak bekerja. Hari ini saya luangkan masa untuk keluarga dan anak2. Esok, lusa, tulat dan seterusnya lain cerita.

Lepas 13 haribulan boleh ambil cuti ganti ya, Bos?

Thursday 16 July 2009

Shaking things up a little

It's happening again.

A month ago I thought it was all over, but the curiosity reappeared in a different form. Maybe it's the setting and location. All the same, I don't know if I should welcome it.

I need a distraction. Like a nice sporty Peugeot 206 Coupe Cabriolet.




Or an Audi TT Quattro .


For now I'll just have to settle with zooming up and down the 40km stretch of highway between Alor Setar and Gurun in a Chevrolet Optra 1.8 to release my angst, with Catatonia's 'Road Rage' blaring on full volume.
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It's been three days in Gurun, not counting the one-day trip last week. I don't know if I'm making friends or enemies.
Last week, the project team took me out for a nice lunch. On Monday, it was the bosses' treat. Yesterday I might have bruised and battered a few egos with my 'technical governance' approach that I was left all alone to fend for myself. Of course, it could just be my out-of-whack overly sensitive nature and they had simply forgotten I was there.
Today I had lunch with some guys and a lady from the Electrical dept. One of them is a colleague's brother, who also happened to be one of my student trainees a few years' back. Another one was a really funny guy who unabashedly offered me a place in his heart on a shift basis. Cute approach, but no thanks.

Apparently they've never had a female Instrument engineer here before. Maybe that's why the people I work with appear so quiet and timid, the young ones especially. My peer group don't really seem to care whether I'm there. Well, it's time for me and my dream sports car to change that.




Saturday 11 July 2009

Reds chapter 3

One month goes past. Two. Three.

There is a visit to his territory. No, she is not really part of the official entourage, just trailing along to provide some support to the main team. And the event they were participating in did not involve him in any way.

But she catches a glimpse of him walking by, and her heart skips a beat. She looks away.

Time passes. An hour or two.

This time he meets her by chance. He smiles. It lights up his face. She had never seen him smile that way before

She takes the smile, folds it away into a corner of her memories. To be opened and gazed upon for months to come without ever seeing him again.

Reds chapter 2

Finally, they get to leave.

Why is she still thinking 0f him?

Reds

They just could not stand each other.

It was a test of wills, a clash of egos. On home turf they were both leaders, respected by their peers, rightfully placed on a pedestal by their followers. But now, in strange territory, they had to fight for the right to be heard.

The last exercise truly angered her. Earlier in the day they had both been selected to be in the same group of ten, which he had allowed one of his younger men to lead. However, out of natural respect - or perhaps fear of reprimand -the new chief kept refering back to his erstwhile captain, who gladly issued commands that he expected everone to follow. It had cost them a victory, when his instruction was in direct contrast to her proposal, and she had been correct. In fact his decision had put them in so much trouble that their team received a public telling-off, much to the delight of the others.

A classic battle of the sexes was set up. The whole camp could sense that these two were just never going to get along. They were cordial, even friendly with everyone else, but avoided having a conversation between themselves. She could hardly wait for the week to be over so she could avoid seeing him ever again.