Have a good week all!
Joshua: Happy 1st Birthday!!!
Friday, April 28, 2006
Zai Jian!
I'm almost all packed and ready to go! Leaving for the airport at 6:30am tomorrow. Am hoping for lots of photography opportunities in the next week. It's been awhile since I've been on a sight seeing trip. Ever wonder how much you actually spend before, during and after a trip? At least I'm putting this year's tax return cheque into good use.
Have a good week all!
Joshua: Happy 1st Birthday!!!
Have a good week all!
Joshua: Happy 1st Birthday!!!
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Another Sunday
Spent the morning helping Grace move. She now lives a minute away from me. When she told me she was moving to Jalan Robson a few weeks ago, I told her that I live around the area too. After a few minutes of bad road and landmark descriptions on my part, we realized that she's about to be my new neighbour. Not immediate, but close enough to be considered neighbours.
Anyway, I volunteered to help her move. When I asked her how much stuff she had, she said "oh, just three boxes." I almost laughed out loud. THREE BOXES??? In all my years in LA, I've never had less than twenty-five boxes to move each time, and I moved three times (with the help of Jeremy, Don and Peter on seperate ocassions - thank you!) Okay, so I moved an entire apartment whilst she only had a room. Still. What an idiot. I don't even need half the stuff. And what did I do with all of it when I moved back to KL? I sorted, packed, sealed, labeled and put EVERY DARN THING on a ship.
Had coffee with Kim at Coffee Bean (Vonessa will be so proud of me) later in the afternoon. Paid RM9.45 for a small cup of mocha latte. Who says living in Malaysia is cheap? In LA, if you make USD2K, a cup of coffee only costs between 3-4 bucks; in KL, if you make RM2K, the same cup of coffee costs Rm9.
Melanie will be back from Sydney on Wednesday (she's tying the knot with Sung at Pangkor Resort in two weeks time before returning to Sydney). I haven't seen her in almost 10 years. Can't wait to meet up again. We were secondary school classmates for a year before her family moved to the US, and then to Australia. She wrote me the funniest letters about living in America which I still have until today. Whenever I think of her, I think of recess time at school because she used to steal my food. Well, not steal but that's how she puts it. She had a thing for mum's chocolate cake. Mel - if you're reading this, I plan on asking you for permission to publish this photo when I see you next.
6 days to Beijing and Xi'An! Great Wall of China, here I come!
Anyway, I volunteered to help her move. When I asked her how much stuff she had, she said "oh, just three boxes." I almost laughed out loud. THREE BOXES??? In all my years in LA, I've never had less than twenty-five boxes to move each time, and I moved three times (with the help of Jeremy, Don and Peter on seperate ocassions - thank you!) Okay, so I moved an entire apartment whilst she only had a room. Still. What an idiot. I don't even need half the stuff. And what did I do with all of it when I moved back to KL? I sorted, packed, sealed, labeled and put EVERY DARN THING on a ship.
Had coffee with Kim at Coffee Bean (Vonessa will be so proud of me) later in the afternoon. Paid RM9.45 for a small cup of mocha latte. Who says living in Malaysia is cheap? In LA, if you make USD2K, a cup of coffee only costs between 3-4 bucks; in KL, if you make RM2K, the same cup of coffee costs Rm9.
Melanie will be back from Sydney on Wednesday (she's tying the knot with Sung at Pangkor Resort in two weeks time before returning to Sydney). I haven't seen her in almost 10 years. Can't wait to meet up again. We were secondary school classmates for a year before her family moved to the US, and then to Australia. She wrote me the funniest letters about living in America which I still have until today. Whenever I think of her, I think of recess time at school because she used to steal my food. Well, not steal but that's how she puts it. She had a thing for mum's chocolate cake. Mel - if you're reading this, I plan on asking you for permission to publish this photo when I see you next.
6 days to Beijing and Xi'An! Great Wall of China, here I come!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Hawkerdus foodulum
"Hawkerdus foodulum is a well known disease, very common especially in tropical countries where food is abundant and varied. Symptoms include constant cravings for a poisonous food type called char kway teow, inability to resist second helpings and tendency to eat sambal or other chilli types. In serious cases, patients have also reported fondness for chicken rice, roti canai, and bak kut teh.
Remedy - there is no known cure for this disease and prolonged exposure appears to exarcebate the symptoms, resulting in increasing girth,"heatiness", sore throats, and in the worst cases, zits. Sufferers have the writer's sympathy and are advised to expand the universe of food that they consume to include fresh vegetables, and copious amounts of warm water and honey, and fruit juices".
By Tang Leng Lee
Am down with a fever and flu. Yes, I have been sick since I got back and cannot explain why. After a lengthy e-mail to Tang Leng, whining and moaning over bad health - blaming it on the weather, the air, the food, the people and everything else besides my well-balanced diet (of course), my very smart, witty and often sarcastic friend came up with the above diagnosis. Very Harry Potterish, eh? It's absolutely brilliant and I think ALL Malaysians have at one point or another been diagnosed with such a disease - in fact, some may spend their entire lives fighting it. Like me. BUT I would like to add that I'm really only addicted to sambal...and nasi lemak...and curry.
Remedy - there is no known cure for this disease and prolonged exposure appears to exarcebate the symptoms, resulting in increasing girth,"heatiness", sore throats, and in the worst cases, zits. Sufferers have the writer's sympathy and are advised to expand the universe of food that they consume to include fresh vegetables, and copious amounts of warm water and honey, and fruit juices".
By Tang Leng Lee
Am down with a fever and flu. Yes, I have been sick since I got back and cannot explain why. After a lengthy e-mail to Tang Leng, whining and moaning over bad health - blaming it on the weather, the air, the food, the people and everything else besides my well-balanced diet (of course), my very smart, witty and often sarcastic friend came up with the above diagnosis. Very Harry Potterish, eh? It's absolutely brilliant and I think ALL Malaysians have at one point or another been diagnosed with such a disease - in fact, some may spend their entire lives fighting it. Like me. BUT I would like to add that I'm really only addicted to sambal...and nasi lemak...and curry.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Interview!
I have been waiting to post this entry. Finally, an update on the job hunt. After a few weeks of whoring (excuse the indecent term, but I cannot think of a better suited word) my resume around town and out of town, meetings are beginning to take place.
Went for my first interview last night. Actually, it was more of a tell-us-about-yourself meeting with the producers and artistic director of a production company. I cannot remember the last time I went for an interview but I know I couldn't have possibly been this unprepared. I DIDN'T HAVE A COMPLETE PORTFOLIO! Lets just say that most of the stuff are still packed away in boxes. The meeting was impromptu. I had 3 hours to get ready, so what did I do? Thank God for the internet, I managed to put together a folder (yes, laugh all you want) of production reviews and photos, etc.
I regret that I won't be able to disclose any details about the meeting as some of them are confidential but all I can say is that they are an impressive group of people and have a strong vision towards cultivating a love for the arts in the community. They are not government funded which proves to be a big setback in terms of development. But the company is 10 years old, has a huge following, has produced large scale productions and has managed to get funding from private sectors for each project thus far.
I wasn't there to interview for a specific job. But at the end of the meeting, I was invited to work on a show scheduled for September, and to my surprise, they also mentioned a full time position with them. I have two weeks to get back to them. It was a good meeting. They've given me some helpful insights on working in the arts here. I feel encouraged, and not at the same time. We are lacking in government support and funding big time. Even when there is funding, it is limited and often only for specific groups/genre. But I will leave all of that for another time.
So there. Here's your answer to this week's Have you got a job yet?
Went for my first interview last night. Actually, it was more of a tell-us-about-yourself meeting with the producers and artistic director of a production company. I cannot remember the last time I went for an interview but I know I couldn't have possibly been this unprepared. I DIDN'T HAVE A COMPLETE PORTFOLIO! Lets just say that most of the stuff are still packed away in boxes. The meeting was impromptu. I had 3 hours to get ready, so what did I do? Thank God for the internet, I managed to put together a folder (yes, laugh all you want) of production reviews and photos, etc.
I regret that I won't be able to disclose any details about the meeting as some of them are confidential but all I can say is that they are an impressive group of people and have a strong vision towards cultivating a love for the arts in the community. They are not government funded which proves to be a big setback in terms of development. But the company is 10 years old, has a huge following, has produced large scale productions and has managed to get funding from private sectors for each project thus far.
I wasn't there to interview for a specific job. But at the end of the meeting, I was invited to work on a show scheduled for September, and to my surprise, they also mentioned a full time position with them. I have two weeks to get back to them. It was a good meeting. They've given me some helpful insights on working in the arts here. I feel encouraged, and not at the same time. We are lacking in government support and funding big time. Even when there is funding, it is limited and often only for specific groups/genre. But I will leave all of that for another time.
So there. Here's your answer to this week's Have you got a job yet?
Saturday, April 15, 2006
For Doc
I finished reading tuesdays with Morrie about a week ago and decided to send Doc an e-mail to see if he's read it - silly, of course he's read it! He's read just about everything. This was his reply:
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2006 8:03:15 -0700
From: "Jerry Henderson"
To: "Melissa Teoh"
Subject:Re: Hey
I have read Tuesday with Morrie and gave copies to so many people that it became embarrassing...it always seemed like I was saying "I'm about to die so come and visit me"....so I began to restrain..It was given to me by a past student, who thought of me and I appreciated it so very very much...it is amazing how quickly we forget!!!! As a teacher, I' m sorta used to it, but one never totally does. I look back sometimes and think of some of the kids whose lives I changed tremendously, especially through recruiting and giving scholarships to Pepperdine, and it does cause some pangs of remorse to not hear from many of them....but, really, that is the way of things and I don't feel bad about it or them...
I was so thrilled at the guys who spoke at my retirement event and the things they said...it really made me think of "Tuesdays with Morrie".
It's funny how I had started to think of him after the first few pages of Morrie. Perhaps it's because he's made such an impact during my years at Pepperdine, as a mentor and a dear friend. I'm sure those of you who are reading this who knows Doc will agree. Of course if you've been in his Role Development class you might choose to differ, ha ha, but nevertheless, all the directing students will agree with me. In the past 9 years, I have been blessed with the still growing friendship I have with Doc. His encouragement and support in all matters, small and large, is beyond words.
While reading the book, I had all these thoughts swimming in my head that I'd like to post, but lets be honest, how do you write about your perspective on life in 1000 words or less? The one thing I felt very strongly I wanted to do after reading the book was to amend any friendships or relationships that have been rocky in the past. Sometimes it's not entirely the fault of one or the other when things go wrong, but rather a combination of factors that could be out of our control. While most of us hate confrontation, very few realize that it is the saving grace for most relationships.
I have been blessed with many good friends. Some of which I haven't seen in years even, but miraculously sends an e-mail or calls just when I needed a chat. I wouldn't say that I have many relationships to amend, but there are a few that needs work. Learn to forgive - yes, easy to say but hard to do. But isn't it even more depressing holding a grudge against someone? I guess the difficulty in the amendment process is that it takes two hands to clap. Have you ever felt tired and frustrated for being the one who has to call or write or make an effort all the time?
(no, this is not a hint for flooding my inbox with love mail today)
All I'm saying is that it's so easy to forget. Just like Doc said. It's convenient to come up with reasons why we can't keep in touch - there's work, there's a show, kids, babies, traffic, I'm tired, etc. It takes very little to make someone happy. Everyone likes to be thought of. Don't wait for someone to write or call, make that effort. You know, we have e-mail now. It'll take you only a minute. Alright, maybe two if you type slow. And no excuse for not writing to the older folks -there's always snail mail.
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2006 8:03:15 -0700
From: "Jerry Henderson"
To: "Melissa Teoh"
Subject:Re: Hey
I have read Tuesday with Morrie and gave copies to so many people that it became embarrassing...it always seemed like I was saying "I'm about to die so come and visit me"....so I began to restrain..It was given to me by a past student, who thought of me and I appreciated it so very very much...it is amazing how quickly we forget!!!! As a teacher, I' m sorta used to it, but one never totally does. I look back sometimes and think of some of the kids whose lives I changed tremendously, especially through recruiting and giving scholarships to Pepperdine, and it does cause some pangs of remorse to not hear from many of them....but, really, that is the way of things and I don't feel bad about it or them...
I was so thrilled at the guys who spoke at my retirement event and the things they said...it really made me think of "Tuesdays with Morrie".
It's funny how I had started to think of him after the first few pages of Morrie. Perhaps it's because he's made such an impact during my years at Pepperdine, as a mentor and a dear friend. I'm sure those of you who are reading this who knows Doc will agree. Of course if you've been in his Role Development class you might choose to differ, ha ha, but nevertheless, all the directing students will agree with me. In the past 9 years, I have been blessed with the still growing friendship I have with Doc. His encouragement and support in all matters, small and large, is beyond words.
While reading the book, I had all these thoughts swimming in my head that I'd like to post, but lets be honest, how do you write about your perspective on life in 1000 words or less? The one thing I felt very strongly I wanted to do after reading the book was to amend any friendships or relationships that have been rocky in the past. Sometimes it's not entirely the fault of one or the other when things go wrong, but rather a combination of factors that could be out of our control. While most of us hate confrontation, very few realize that it is the saving grace for most relationships.
I have been blessed with many good friends. Some of which I haven't seen in years even, but miraculously sends an e-mail or calls just when I needed a chat. I wouldn't say that I have many relationships to amend, but there are a few that needs work. Learn to forgive - yes, easy to say but hard to do. But isn't it even more depressing holding a grudge against someone? I guess the difficulty in the amendment process is that it takes two hands to clap. Have you ever felt tired and frustrated for being the one who has to call or write or make an effort all the time?
(no, this is not a hint for flooding my inbox with love mail today)
All I'm saying is that it's so easy to forget. Just like Doc said. It's convenient to come up with reasons why we can't keep in touch - there's work, there's a show, kids, babies, traffic, I'm tired, etc. It takes very little to make someone happy. Everyone likes to be thought of. Don't wait for someone to write or call, make that effort. You know, we have e-mail now. It'll take you only a minute. Alright, maybe two if you type slow. And no excuse for not writing to the older folks -there's always snail mail.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Friday, April 07, 2006
Failed attempts
This morning I attempted to 'add colour' onto my blog site. Well. I failed. Miserably. Going from a completely white background to a completely black background isn't exactly "exciting", is it? I tried using several other templates with more colour on them, but was having so much problems getting the template settings right, I just gave up! Then all of a sudden I felt completely useless. Surely a 12 year old can even figure it out. Am I getting more and more behind technology? Or am I just getting old and impatient???
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Birthday lunch
Happy 30th Lisa! Was adventurous and decided to make Lisa a birthday lunch. We had Taglietelle with mushrooms, Chicken Cacciatore and Potatoes with Sage and Garlic. No, I did not make creme brulee. Reason being - if the lunch didn't turn out good, at least the store-purchased dessert will make up for it. We had a nice lunch together with mum and Lisa's parents. Probably had too much to eat really. Okay, so the food turned out fine. And pasta is so easy to make! (yes yes yes...I know some of you have been telling me this, but one never believes it until one does it)
"It's my day off today"
It's one of those weeks. There is just not enough hours in a day. Just when you think you have an hour to spare, something else pops up. And this is coming from someone who is yet back at work.
Everyone is asking me this: SO, WHAT DO YOU DO EVERYDAY?
Well, the answer is this:
Typically I start the day at 7:30am and go to bed between 12-1am. I wake up, get online, answer questions about my daily life, eat, check my planner, run errands, eat, answer questions about my daily life, watch telly, read, plan trips, eat, get online again, answer questions about my daily life again, eat, watch telly, go to bed. Sometimes I even answer questions about my daily life in my sleep.
Believe me when I say that I am almost as busy as I was when I was working full time during the summer, excluding FTC stuff.
This week I was asked twice (from complete strangers) "Not working today?" My current answer to such question, knowing that I will never see that person twice the same week is "It's my day off today."
So far, I have claimed Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays as 'day off.' Someone needs to add more days to the week, nevermind the hours in a day.
Everyone is asking me this: SO, WHAT DO YOU DO EVERYDAY?
Well, the answer is this:
Typically I start the day at 7:30am and go to bed between 12-1am. I wake up, get online, answer questions about my daily life, eat, check my planner, run errands, eat, answer questions about my daily life, watch telly, read, plan trips, eat, get online again, answer questions about my daily life again, eat, watch telly, go to bed. Sometimes I even answer questions about my daily life in my sleep.
Believe me when I say that I am almost as busy as I was when I was working full time during the summer, excluding FTC stuff.
This week I was asked twice (from complete strangers) "Not working today?" My current answer to such question, knowing that I will never see that person twice the same week is "It's my day off today."
So far, I have claimed Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays as 'day off.' Someone needs to add more days to the week, nevermind the hours in a day.
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