Book Fest!

I've been shopping for books! :D if there's anything more satisfying than shopping for clothes and shoes, it's definitely shopping for books.

I stepped into Kinokuniya and I thought, "this is my kinda heaven!" *drools* books, books, and more books, occupying every corner of the room! I immersed myself with browsing and totally lost all track of time and space - just detaching myself from Chin Aun and my parents.

I'll never understand why people don't like to read. I mean, what's there NOT to like about reading?! *scratch head* that fact it's even more difficult to digest than programming! Take Chin Aun for instance, I just don't get why he has no interest in books at all! Sure, he reads stuff like the boring old cliched "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" *yawn* and other similar books (which I might add, I wouldn't read), but you will never catch him with his nose in interesting books like "Angels and Demons" and "Blood Canticle". At these times, I really need Mel here with me so that we can knock each other out with our stories on books we read. Without Mel here, I also have no one to show my two nice new bookshelves bought especially to display my collection of books *hmmph* It's kinda like singing to a deaf audience *double hmmph*

Anyways, here are some of the books I bought this month :D

Nicholas Sparks - A Walk To Remember

** I bought this from "Pay Less Books" :D for only RM21!! What a steal!~ I've read this book before, when I was still in Uni and I've watched the movie numerous times. Nicholas Sparks is really expressive and you'll learn more reading the book than watching the movie.







Sidney Sheldon - Are You Afraid of the Dark

** I've finished reading this already... Very typical Sidney Sheldon book... It's an interesting read, but I wouldn't say it was out of this world. Until today, Mr. Sheldon here has yet to write one that is as good as his earlier work "If Tomorrow Comes".






Judith McNauaght - Every Breath You Take

** I love her works! :D This is the one I'm currently reading now. Judith McNaught writes romance novels but her writing style is not like those typical romance novels where the hero is a muscled hunk and the heroine is some damsel in distress! I'm so proud to say I've read ALL her books! haha... and my favourite would probably be "Paradise". This book and her previous one "Someone to Watch Over Me" has some elements of a thriller too, much unlike her earlier works like "Almost Heaven" and etc.



1. Cecelia Ahern - Where Rainbows End
2. Cecelia Ahern - P.S. I Love You

** Now this... I never expected these books to be this good. Especially "Where Raindows End". I mean, I really cried reading it! I'd recommend all those who love books to read this :)






Sophie Kinsella - The Undomestic Goddess

** I've read her entire Shopaholic Series (during my study week *hangs head in shame* - which would explain my results *sigh*) and her other book "Can You Keep A Secret?", but I have yet to read this. All are classified as Chic Lit, so it's basically easy reading! I'm hoping that this one would be just as good .





1. Marian Keyes - The Other Side of the Story
2. Marian Keyes - Sushi For Beginners
3. Marian Keyes - Last Chance Saloon

** haha... MORE CHIC LIT!! Easy reading and happy endings... I've yet to read these... Haven't read any of her works before, so hope they'll be good.



1. CSI - Killing Game
2. CSI Miami - Cult Following
3. CSI Miami - Riptide

** CSI Movie Tie-Ins! :D I love the series and I love the books as well. I've read all other titles preceeding these and these are the newest in the market. There are 2 more I haven't bought, "CSI NY - Dead of Winter", and "CSI NY -Bloody Murder". Anyone care to get it for me? :D

And... a book that I didn't buy myself... but was a gift from Chin Aun :) hehehe... He may not read much, but at least he knows I like to read and he got me a pretty good book too! :D

Lauren Weisberger - Everyone Worth Knowing

** the author of "The Devil Wears Prada"! I've been dying to read that book but I thought I'd wait until I see the movie. Save myself the disappointment if the movie doesn't match up to the book. But this book is not bad :) Quite a nice read, happy endings and all. Another Chic Lit :p




So, that about sums up my salary for last month and this month. I actually wanted to get a travel guide to Southern California and Korea but ended up buying all these instead! *whoops* looks like I'll be getting my information on what's good in Anaheim and Incheon from the Internet. At least I know I won't be bored for the rest of this month with all the books I have! :) I have found another reason why I need more money... I need more books! And it doesn't matter that Chin Aun has started refering to me as "the bookworm" ;)

**********
There's a secret path I follow
To a place no one can find
Where I meet my perfect someone
I've kept hidden in my mind
Where my heart makes my decisions
'Till my dream becomes a vision
And the love I feel
Makes him real someday

Cause I know he's out there somewhere
Just beyond my reach
Though I've never really touched him
Or ever heard him speak
Though we've never been together
We've never been apart
No we've never met
Haven't found him yet
But I know him by heart

**********

[Vonda Shepard - I Know Him By Heart]

I love the songs that Vonda Shepard sings on Ally McBeal. To date, my favourites are "You Belong To Me" and "Neighbourhood". I like this song too... "I Know Him By Heart". All you Ally McBeal followers would know this song well... it's so obvious that this song paints everything that Ally is and ever could be in that movie. How she's loved Billy from when they were kids and how she's grown to love him more throughout the years they were together. And one day good old Billy just leaves her and marries Georgia. After a couple of years, Ally thinks she's over him, but in the depth of her heart, her soul still pines away for him, comparing all the other men she gets involved with with Billy and how they can never compare to him...

I like this song... especially if I am in a melancholic romantic mood... I guess it all depends on how you look at it. After all these years, I am still divided in my opinion about this particular song. Sometimes, I feel for her, I really do. Especially when I'm feeling melancholic.

But most of the times, like right now, I just can't push the thought that this poor deluded soul is so out of touch with the real world... I mean, hello!!! wtf(!) how can you be in love with someone you haven't even met!? Someone you conjured up in your mind?! Being in love with a person means accepting that one person, for the good and for the lesser, and it's not about comparing him with that perfect-little-someone-in-your-head to see if the characteristics fit!

*smacks forehead*

maybe I'm sleepy today.... Maybe I'm just too tired after a full working week with another half day tomorrow. I loved watching Ally McBeal, I still do! Honest! I cried when Billy died and I cried in many other episodes, but, now, today, at 12:18am, I just think that Ally is a neurotic, deluded soul who brings all those ill-fated love affairs on herself.

Or maybe she isn't and I'm just being a grump cos I gotta work tomorrow...

Miami Ink

I've been busy watching watching a reality-type TV series called Miami Ink recently. The show revolves around 5 guys who opened a tattoo shop in (where else!) Miami. Of the 5 of them, 4 are renowned tattoo artists - Chris Garver, Ami James, Chris Nunez and Darren Brass, while Yogiro Harado is their apprentice, learning from the masters of tattoo on the art of inking.

Further into the series, the gang will be joined by yet another tattoo artist, Kat Von D. Kat's tattoo style gravitates towards realism and her tattoo style favours portraits. These fantastic people even have their tattoo gallery online and the website features tattoos from their show. Tattoo lovers, do check out: Miami Ink
You can even submit your tattoo on their website for other viewers to vote! And those living in the US can actually request to be on the show to be inked by them!! *envious* what I wouldn't give...

What I like watchin the show for the people who come in their tattoo shop to get inked. How they tell the story behind each tattoo, the reasons to why they're doing it and the reasons for what they are getting. What I like most - the way the tattoo artists crack their heads to come out with a tattoo that is perfect for the recipient, and how each tattoo is unique for each individual.

Tattoo lovers - check out the show! It's worth every minute!! :D

My Convo: Part 2

Welcome to the second installment of Soonyee's Convo Series! :D hahaha... I'm back from work early today cos it's my mom's birthday so I thought I'd blog a little before heading out for my mom's birthday dinner.
Before anything else...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!!

*thunderous applause*

so... back to the topic at hand... after the convocation ceremony a few Sundays ago in the afternoon, we all had lunch at Secret Recipe (when I say "we all", I mean, me, Chin Aun, my parents, my sister and my aunty). Then we headed back home and rested a little and waited for Daniel (my bro-in-law) to come over. Then we went over to YS Studio in SS2 to take some photos (so that a photo of me in my square hat can be hung somewhere on the wall back home beside my sister's and my cousin's). After the photo taking session (which was a gift for me from my sister and Daniel *hugs* *thanks you both!*), we went over to Tai Thong Restaurant (also in SS2) for a nice family dinner (which is a 'gift' for me from my aunt).

So here are some photos of the 8-course dinner (please excuse the pics cos most of the food were tampered with before I had the chance to take any photos. It was so bad that my mom had to make everyone wait until I took the photos for the following dishes!)

Photos: The Dinner

Dish #1 - some cold dish with crabmeat and tofu...

Dish #2 - Typical Sharks' Fin Soup in every chinese course dinner

Dish #3 - Chicken
(I'm not good with words, so I have no other way of describing this dish)

Dish #4 - Steamed Fish
( I don't even know what type of fish this is; but it tastes good and I guess that's all that actually matters)

Dish #5 - Butter Prawns (now this dish is de-lish! *yum*)

Dish #6 - Vegetables with Garlic

Dish #7 - Fried Rice

There's actually is a dish #8 which was the dessert but the waitress was so quick in scooping it into our little bowls that I had no chance, whatsoever to take any photos :(

Ahh... graduation and convocation would of course, not be complete without flowers, gifts and ang pows *wide grin* I refrained from taking photographs of the ang pows because my mom won't let me do it it doesn't seem right to be posting photos of moolah on my blog. So here are the flowers that made an appearance on my day :D

Photos: Pressies and such

My Sunflowers and Daisies (from my parents, aunty and Chin Aun :D I actually wanted photos of these two bouquets separately but the photo didn't turn out very nice)

My Lilies!!! I love them~! :) From my beebs of course...

My sister and Daniel's bouquet for me - Mix of Sunflowers, Lilies and Lavender

And here I am in the midst of my flowery madness... Whoopdeedooo....

MY GIFTS!! :D
A huge Pooh beanie from Chin Aun's siblings, a hippo that looks like a cow with a red patch, a teddybear in a bag and a flower-power keychain... all from my darling beebs :)

Other Random Photos:

Taken with my sister and Daniel at Tai Thong

Family Photo :)
(why does my mom always look so fierce in photos??? *scratch head*)

And finally, what better way to end a post than with random photos taken on that day, the 13th of August 2006. The day that marked the end of my life as a student and I venture, naive and wary, into the working world, a world where only cunning underhanded parasites survive to emerge as corporate scums of the earth...

OH BULLOCKS! I'm just BS-ing... But I like the sound of that anyway! haha...

My Convo: Part 1

ahhh... this post is soooooooooooo belated!! My convo was on the 13th of August and today is already the 1st of September. My parents and my aunt came down to stay with me and all of them, along with my sister and Chin Aun came for my convo at Wisma MCA *oh, terharunya saya*

Since there are quite a few photos to be uploaded, I have limited bandwidth and both my IE and blogger.com are seriously screwing with me, I separated the photos into 2 parts. This is only the first part! hehe... Not the full installment but here it is anyways (Zeeks, Sue... you can stop complaining about my dead blog now :p) here are the long awaited convo pics! enjoy...

Part 1: Taken at Wisma MCA after the ceremony

Photo of me and my dad :)

Photo of me and my mom :)

and of course... a photo of me and my bie ;)

A photo with Aun Boey :D

A photo taken with Chia Jiun :D

And a photo with the BOTH of them!~

L to R : Boey, yours truly, Jiun

(if you guys are reading this, I just wanna let you know that I miss you guys so much *sobs* keep in touch ok??)

and of course, a photo with Sue dear...

and when there's Sue and me around, there'll always be silly photos :) See?? See how happy she looks when I kiss her!! :D

A photo with the innocent looking Cynthia (pls note that I specifically said innocent looking and not innocent!! ;p)

And of course, photo taken with dear Kareen (whom I am missing so much now)

I still remember those days when either Kareen with hitch a ride with me or vice versa and we'd go to uni so early and have nasi lemak (and terrorize the mamak fella as well for not cooking maggi goreng in the morning! haha)

And there's another photo of Teck, Kareen, me and Chin Aun :)

Ahh... photos of 'the gang' :D 5 of the people who mean so much to me...

L to R : Boey, Vic, Jiun, JC, Feong and myself

look at us :) we're positively GLOWING!! we're glowing so much that we're looking incandescent! oops.. or maybe there's something up with the camera's settings...
and I don't exactly know or remember why I was yakking away on the phone! But at least I'm smiling so much that you can hardly see my eyes ;) hehe...

one more pic of the 6 of us :D

as usual...Vic is giving the legendary Darlie Smile, JC is being coy and hiding behind Jiun's mortar board, Jiun is the only one looking at the correct camera and yours truly is still yakking on the phone. I seriously think we have some focus issues but thank God we made it through truckloads of assignments without losing too much of our focus! *grins*

L to R : Vic, JC, Feong and me

and of course, a photograph with the 3 musketeers/3 stooges (depending on how you want to look at it)... okay... technically, this does not constitute as a photograph taken of the 3 of us. It's more of a photo taken with Feong and it just so happens that the other two are beside him. Thus, since all 3 are in the photo with me, therefore, it is a photograph of all 4 of us! :D I'm glad that they were there cos I didn't have the chance to take photos with Vic or JC and I'm still upset over it *hmmph* heng tai konon! Only Feong was hunting high and low to take photos with me *hmmph* hehe... hmm... I just noticed that we are 'glowing' in this photo too...

and finally, the final photograph the Soonyee's Convo Series: First Installment - A photograph taken with everyone's favourite lecturer Mr Su Lee Seng! :) hehe..
reasons why we love him? He's cool, he's tolerant, he respects us as students, he accepts us, he's liberated and encourages us to be liberated but most of all... for the A I got for his paper! haha...

enjoy... on that note, I'm ending the first installment of Soonyee's Convo Series and going to bed now because I have to go to work tomorrow *darn it*

Leon Jay Williams

Don't know who he is, don't really know what he does, no idea where he came from... Only know he's HOT!! *GRIN*

Step aside Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu...
Here comes Leon Jay Williams (don't even know if this is really his name! hahahaha)

I actually accidentally stumbled upon him on some taiwan drama sob-series on TV and *whoa* He's got that indifferent arrogant look. I like! Doesn't hurt that he's got the casual corporate look going for him too *Bigger Grin* Classy :D

I Do What I Think Is Right.
If you think otherwise; go to hell.

[Mellim's Blog]
I like this quote :D It goes straight to the point! Thumbs up for Mel!!

Jack's Place

Chin Aun took me to Jack's Place in 1-Utama for a celebratory dinner on Saturday (actually, it was a couple of saturdays ago but I have been putting off my blog on this - mainly cos I'm a bum...). We've been wanting to try it out for quite some time already but we have been putting it off due to lack of monetary resources (?) hehehe...

No blog post is complete without a shop-front shot of the place:

Jack's Place in 1-Utama
(on the same row as La Senza, etc)

This is what we had off the menu:

Appetizer - Shrimp and Mango Salad *yum*
the serving is small; not to mention a little bit pricey too.. but it was so so shrimpalicious!


Soup - Lobster Bisque served with 2 slices of garlic bread
*drools* this tiny bowl of soup cost almost RM10 and it was delicious right up to the last drop

Chin Aun's main course - Mixed Grill
a nice mix of beef, lamb, chicken, sausage and ham... not to mention the yummy stuffed potato and vege :)

My main course - Jack's Special Steak
Ah.. beef, beef and more beef. Served with shitake mushrooms, asparagus, various types of vege and a stuffed potato! (i like the stuffed potato with its sour cream and chicken bits)

Our Dessert - Banana Split! Yummy!!
Ice cream is still just Ice Cream and nothing beats Bulla's Crumb Honeycomb but this one is nice too. I would have liked it better without the whipped cream, but of course, that's just me ;)

Anyways, here's what boring old me thinks of it (on a scale of 1 to 10):

Food Portion - 7 (the main course is pretty alright, just the soup and the appetizer)
Food Quality - 8
Variety - 6 (personally, I think there should be more variety, say, various types of gravy for the steak, etc)
Service - 7 (the service is fine... much better than the service at Chilis and Italiannies! but there wasn't a permanent usher at the entrance)
Environment - 6 (the place is a rather small, but other than that, I like the interior and the ambience just fine)
Value for Money - 6 (they have promos and all, so it's much better than some other dining outlets)

So, all in all, I'd definitely go back there in the future when my purse is more accomodating ;)

I'm not here for your entertainment
You don't really want to mess with me tonight
Just stop and take a second
I was fine before you walked into my life
Cause you know it's over
Before it began ...

[Pink - U + Ur Hand]

It's Monday all over again

And it feels like the week is never gonna end.

It hits me every 7 days without warning

It keeps me praying for Saturday morning..

... wait... no.. I work Saturdays (some Saturdays anyway)! *damn*

I'm so tired and worn out I just want to drop down on my bed and sleep... for as long as it takes my body and soul to recover from this lethargy...

I can't get used to my phone! *shriek* It takes me forever to type one single sms and it's pissing me off and driving me nuts!!! My stupid fat fingers keep touching the "cancel" button on the touch pad and I keep exiting to the Main Menu. I am so frustrated, I could really bite my phone *grrrr*

My New Phone

I've finally gotten a new mobile... It's not like I have gotten over the loss of my precious E530 yet but I guess in the world today, mobile phones are considered necessities. It was barely 4 years back when a cellular phone was an indulgence...

Excuse the digression..

It's just that when you lose something you really love, you tend to remisnisce a lot.
Back to the topic at hand *ahems*

I just bought a brand new phone on Wednesday. Another Samsung model, naturally. Once you go Samsung, you never turn back (okok... maybe for my case only). I got the E900. Check out the photo below:


That's basically how it looks like. Like this black thingie... from far, looks like a tiny shiny black brick. And when I am dressed entirely in black, it justs blends in and no one would probably notice it. I actually wanted a clamshell but looks like there are no other clamshell models that live up to the standards of my E530.

Some functions of my new phone, the E900:
- touch pad navigation
- external SD memory slot
- 2.0MP integrated camera with flash
- photo editing
- document viewer
- video wallpaper
- random changing wallpaper
- mobile printing
- TV Out <--- goodness knows why I need this
- I got a bluetooth headset and an SD memory card bundled together for free too :) (thanks to Chin Aun who spent almost an hour chatting with the boss, who then decided to give the memory card to us!)

Generally, it has pretty good functions, in fact, real good functions, I'll admit that. Way better than my previous phone. And the sliding mechanism is really smooth. The exterior is rather sleek, comes across as somewhat masculine (the direct opposite of my E530). The color is alright I guess.. my first choice was something pink or lavender but limited choices out there. The 262K TFT color display is resplendent and the size is just right - it fits just right in my palms.

The camera is way clearer than my E530, being a 2.0MP and all. Even my digicam's only a 3.2MP (I know, I know... outdated ade!!). BUT... I have a hard time taking photos of myself *darn it*!! With my old phone, I can always see myself (real-time, and all!) on the external display (so can pose mah!).. this one, I have to look into a tiny square silver box on the back of the camera. That's one of the biggest disappointments, I guess. I'm just so used to seeing my own reflection in the tiny external display on my old phone that this one just isn't satisfying enough. Will just have to make do and get used to it. Here's a random photo I took (Ah Keong took the photo, to be precise) with the E900.


Much clearer than th photos taken with my E530 right? I can even select which mode I want the photos to be taken in, Black and White, Incandescent, etc. All in all... I'll give it a rating of 8.5/10... It is after all, a very good phone.

I guess no matter how good it is, it's just not my E530.

Quote of the Day

"If you really do like me as much as you claim you do, tattoo my name on your butt. Show it to me then we talk"

-Zeeks-
on what to say when someone proclaims their undying love for u

You don't know what you really have until you lose it...

In loving memory...

of my beautiful Samsung Sgh-E530...
Let's have a moment of silence in remembrance of my dearly beloved:

Some goddamned mother-fucking sons of bitches barged into my office and pretended that my boss bought some files from them and walked around speaking in Tamil. In less than one minute, they grabbed my phone and my boss' phone and ran.
I curse them into eternal constipation!!!

*phew*
people reading this, I've lost all my contacts, so it'd be great if you could sms me or send me an email with your contacts! thanks all! *muuuuuaaaaaaaah*

ps: anyone willing to sponsor a new phone please do contact me ;) love u lots! (in advance! ;p)

Long Overdue

This post is like... LONG OVERDUE *sheepish grin*

Anyways, the following is the main content of this post... the VERY reason why I am posting this:-

fine fine... I know the fact that the photo is blurry and you can hardly see what's written on it (gotta excuse my phone cos it's main function is for me to receive and retrieve calls and smses and not what I normally use it for AND I couldn't use my real camera cos I lent my memory card to Sue dear). Let me help.. it says PLANET HOLLYWOOD LONDON (there's also the shape of a film reel machine - whatever you call it- in the black circle). This is a GIFT, a SOUVENIR and a THOUGHTFUL GESTURE from Zeeks. Nice right? The gold stuff is sparkly!! and the star is PINK!!~ you know I love PINK! This magnet is currently parked on my whiteboard.. hehe

. ..BUT.. .

This magnet, aside from the fact that I LOVE magnets and all, and this one really rocks, there is also the sorry fact that this is the ONLY gift my 'bestest' friend got for me from London. I am so hurt *breaks into hysterical sobs* Where's my souvenir from Paris?!!? Just cos you gave Chin Aun a souvenir from Paris doesn't mean you're giving me one too!! *grrr*

So apamacam sekarang???? Macam mana settle? (remember Esprit jeans? 30%? heh heh.. THAT would be a fabulous solution!)

End note: Once again, I grudgingly thank you anyway for the Gift because I really like it *hmmph* lucky you got me something I like. If you didn't, this post would've gone up months back :p and the shelling would've been 100 times worse ;)))

bah.. *hugs* anyways :p