Of what, when and where, 10 years ago

I was having dinner at Mid Valley with several friends, some of whom I was meeting for the first time, when a question was asked around the table - "Where were you and what were you doing 10 years ago?". My answer was "10 years ago, I was working here, in Mid Valley, at the Starbucks outlet on the ground floor".

Long after all of us left Mid Valley that night, the question kept playing in my head. And so I started thinking about events that happened in the year 2000. Here is what I remember:

In January, I was the Store Manager of #005 Mid Valley. My Shift Supervisors were Uzir and Angie. After several months, we were joined by Steven, Salleh and Andy, who later took my place, when I became a District Manager.

Back then, I rode a Honda EX-5 and boy, what a ride it was! I could go pretty much anywhere in town within 15 minutes! Well except for Klang Parade...that ride took an hour. And it gave me a numbed ass. LOL!!!

I was sharing a townhouse with 2 other housemates here in Ampang (and have moved twice , but in Ampang still). We had friends coming over almost every night and it was fun!

In the year 2000, I lost my beloved red Marlboro jacket - one of the most expensive items I had ever owned back then. My mom bought me the jacket, for me to wear when I ride back to Kuala Kangsar on my bike, which never happened - I would either take the bus or hitch a ride with my brother in his car. hehehe). Hmmm......in retrospect, maybe that's why I lost it! :P

Somewhere in that year, a divider at the traffic light near my house moved all of a sudden when I was riding by and so I fell and then lost my memory for the rest of the day - but that's a whole other post on its own, so moving on!

The year 2000 was also the starting point for me being comfortable with my body size and weight. Prior to that, I always wanted to be thin, because I thought I'd be happier. Of course, everybody can tell that that's not the case with me now. Cos I laugh and eat all the time! And I'm not exactly thin :)

Something else happened that year, something I'm eternally grateful for. But now's not the time to be talking about it. yet.

So that's about it, really. Those are major highlights ten years ago.

And 10 years from now, I'll blog about major events of 2010, kalau dipanjangkan umur, insyaallah.

Of Mee Sapi, being late and Top Spot

I'm off to Kuching today for a few days - work trip as usual. The first time I visited Kuching was February last year, when I had a seriously-screwed-up issue with my then new phone - it auto-switched itself during the night, so the alarm I set died with it! Thanks to that, I came late to the training session I was conducting for the Waterfront hotel team. My first day of work in Kuching and I was late to my own training!! Crap.

To date, I've been to Kuching several times now and apart from making friends (which is always cool!), I also get to enjoy Kuching's gift to the culinary world - The Great Mee Sapi!! It's an awesome dish instant-like noodles with spicy soy sauce, thin and soft beef slices and served with a bowl of soup. It's divine! A must-have whenever I'm in the cat city.

But that's not all I eat here (Is it ever?) Khai have introduced me to this out-of-this-world seafood venue with a name only a few can decipher. It's called Taman Kereta. Why? Because it's a Car Park (It really is!). So I felt just a little tad stupid asking Khai the question. Hahah!!! The dishes here are all exquisitely-delicious and affordably-priced!! One of the best value you'd get in a seafood place, if not THE best!

So guess what I'll be doing for the next few days in Kuching? Well besides work I mean :)

Of music, snapping photos and the third place

I am at LCCT now, on my way to Penang for a meeting. Thanks to a technicality (read: I wrongfully read the flight departure time), I'm now 2 hours early ahead of the boarding time. I could have slept in a little more this morning. Sigh.

I like flying. Ever since I was a kid, I had this fascination seeing planes take off, landing, flying above me, etc. The first time I flew, it was to Phuket via Penang airport in 2000 (Yeap, I started late). It was a small plane and it went a little shaky at times (to my horror!). Nevertheless, it was a fun ride!

Since the past few years, work has brought me around quite a bit, I've made trips to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Bali and Jakarta. I've never been to these places before, with the exception of Jakarta, so it was really great to see new things and best of all, make new friends!

The top 2 things that make flying a joy to me are listening to my playlist on my Sony Ericsson walkman phone and snapping photos! These are my 2 all-time favorite things to do. Well that and watching movies but that can prove to be difficult. So I save that for when I'm on my couch at home :)

Am sure a lot would agree with me when I say it's always great to see faces or things you're familiar with when you're on the road (Unless of course, if you're on one of those trips when you're trying to escape from the world and be in total isolation). This is what I do when I travel - I scout for the familiar green sign, the one with the smiling siren on it. The third place. My third place. And when I find this third place and step into it, I feel instant relaxation. It's something like that "uh-huh!" learning moment, only this one's more like the "Ahhhhhh.........." moment.

On today's flight I'll be listening to the song Try by Ash Brook, from the FAME soundtrack. A really beautiful track. Try it. You might just love it. And if you don't like it, tell me and I'll recommend you a different song. That or you should just get your ears checked ;P

Wow....time flies when you're a slow writer.

Later!