Cheat Work Thursday

(*one point for each) 1) have watched The Hangover and love it. 2) have read The Host, love Ian and now wish you were an alien. 3) are in service and deliver your service not in a way as if you're hating your job and your whole existence (if you do otherwise, try unemployment).  4) use the word 'slaphappy' after your favourite Saturday brunch. 5) read my favourite reading list on the sidebar -- from the beginning. 6) knew that The Blair Witch Project wasn't real the first time you watched it 10 years ago. 7) are my cousin and elope.

I would love to get some sleep right now. It's almost 5AM and I'm wide awake. I went to bed before midnight and was awake at 2. I do usually have problem sleeping the night before a huge meeting or busy day because I'll be all anxious about it. (I'd also use the word 'huge' loosely here if I were you.) But nothing is extraordinary about tomorrow's schedule, I didn't have any coffee today, and I've tired myself out working out last night: running and doing XX crunches and XX push-ups. (I take my count seriously. I use a calculator. And it was supposed to be XX each, but I couldn't finish it. By that count, I was already sprawling on the floor...) And now I'm still having trouble sleeping, despite having tried my usual tricks whenever I couldn't sleep: sleeping in the living room with the TV or music on, or lying flat on the floor (can't find the logic behind the latter but it usually works). Alright, I'm going to try to read ...

One of my favourite blogs just wrote about her trip to Vegas, and one of the places that she stopped by was Madame Tussauds. In one of the pictures, she was sitting next to 'Cameron Diaz', having a good time. The post reminds me of my trip to HK a few years back during which I went to its Madame Tussauds. I didn't know that HK had one until about 20 minutes before I stepped into the museum while climbing the hill, well, by bus up the Island Road. I thought only London had Madame Tussauds. Anyway, I was all excited because I've always wanted to see a wax museum. I think wax sculptors are geniuses. I doubt meeting the actual people is as exciting. During that time, I didn't have my own camera, so I borrowed my sister's. Hers was a digital one that used AA batteries, which, I learned during the trip, needed to be replaced every three steps I took in the city. So I went inside the museum, all eager to be amazed by the wax figures and to take equally amazing pic...

I'm currently watching Hung. It's a story about your average neighbourhood prostitute, with tons of branding lessons. (It's on HBO, Mondays 10PM / Tuesdays 5AM / Saturdays 12.45AM.) Can't wait for Idol season 9 to start. The one show that makes you clear your schedule 6PM Wednesdays and Thursdays because watching the repeat just isn't the same. Speaking of Idol, I'm listening to Adam Lambert right now. Was not a fan of his when he was on the show. Thought he screamed a lot. Also, can't wait for The Vampire Diaries to finally air here. Although, I heard that the vampires on TVD change faces and have fangs... So maybe I'm a little less excited now compared to the first time I heard about the show. Can't they just have superpowers and good faces, like all vampires are supposed to? Will probably jump on the Glee bandwagon too. Have a good weekend.

I took Accounting in uni because life in general isn't complicated enough. I tolerated Finance and Investment the most out of the 160 credit hours but found the concept of time value of money an eye-opener. Before that, Economics contributed the most points to my A-Levels, which tbf were not many anyway. Then I took financial planning classes after uni and now subscribe to Personal Money (and Harper's Bazaar too, just to confuse myself), read only about 1/10 of them and have yet to make my first million. Yes, just like everyone else, I'm still dreaming of inventing a product that can just be scraped off my living room and sold for a million. No? Only me? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Regardless of how my own personal money practice is actually going, I pretend the field makes sense to me. For the past one and a half months, besides the Working Girl blog that I've been following since last March, I've been spending hours reading over 300 (and counting) other blog posts on career an...

It always scares amazes me how an outfit seems to work on some people but not on others. How a top or skirt makes a 30-(or 40-)something look good while the same outfit makes another look like she's stealing her daughter's clothes. When I want to sound correct, I'd say we should dress (or wear our hair) in something that we are comfortable with, that is in our own style, and for the occasion. I do believe it too. At the risk of sounding shallow, if I haven't already, the first thing that usually pops into my head, however, is 'clothes work better on a healthy body shape'. While the phrase 'healthy body image' sounds healthy and... comforting, throw a stone and guess the probability it'll hit a person who doesn't want to change anything about their body. It is the first few days of the new year. We promised to eat better and hit the gym last week with no intention to be  in shape at all.

This is part of my attempt to read books by authors that I'm not familiar with, and the horror from this book stayed in my head a while after I finished reading it. The Road is a story of a father and his son's journey to the south to escape the year's winter, years after civilization has been destroyed. (Plot summary here .) I admit I was kinda lost at the beginning of the book, though, staring at eight-word sentences, half of which I wouldn't know the meaning unless I looked in the dictionary. But after a while it stopped bothering me. It's chilly, depressing and a must-read. Happy Holidays, everyone. - I'm currently listening to Empire State of Mind (I could use a city which big lights inspire me right now), Bad Romance, Russian Roulette, Heaven Can Wait and many Adam Lamberts.

Thoughts on: The Hangover — I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard watching a movie, so I'm spoilt. The bar for comedy movies is set high for me now (or maybe low). If you haven't already, go watch it. Today. Now. He's Just Not That into You — This, too, is hilarious and a must-watch. Confessions of a Shopaholic — I wish the movie had been adapted more closely to the book. Plus, I've always had Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Aniston to play Luke and Becky in my mind (too old?). I do think Isla did a good job as Becky, though. Each time I see her, I'm reminded again that there's no way I'm going to watch Borat and Bruno. The Proposal — Here's the thing, the story doesn't make sense because how do these two people with these backgrounds, personalities and circumstances even function in the same space, let alone fall in love? But it's also easy and predictable because this is a romantic comedy. Watch it to relax or if you want...

A few years ago, I learned that -- referring to work / formal setting here, and especially if you are a Malay -- it's ok not to shake hands with men if you are a woman, vice versa. And the way to do it is to wait for the woman to extend her hand first. (Ok, I do know what the religion says about touching non-muhrim maybe since I was seven, but this is not that kind of post.) Although I don't have a problem extending my hand for a handshake, I love this 'rule' because sometimes I just don't feel like shaking hands. It's therefore a perfect excuse for me. So usually, before extending my hand, I'd take two seconds to assess the situation: mine and the other person's. Occasionally, though, I'd forget about this and happily extend my hand without thinking. This will sometimes create some awkward situations in the room ie when my hand is left hanging. It may not be that big of a deal especially that I understand the religious reason behind it, ...

Earlier this year, I was to pass a package from a friend Z to another friend Y. We set the meeting at a coffee shop, and it was supposed to be a quick chat of what was required from the package and a brief catch-up (we don't see each other often) while her husband ran some errands. Turned out, the husband came along too. Here's something that often amuses me: how it is ok that we don't introduce our company. Y has never properly introduced me to her husband. I think it's weird since Y is -- maybe not super close but still -- a good friend of mine. I didn't know him while they were dating, and the whole process was pretty quick. I went to their wedding, and I think I got a nod from him or something, or nothing at all, I don't remember. Did he drop by our table and say thanks for coming? Definitely not. And when they turned up at this coffee shop meeting, he did not smile at all! The only way I can describe the whole situation is, well, I don't actu...