Cuti-Convo-Aquaria-Farah-Kinokuniya

Wow... time sure flies... so fast and it's already been a while since my last post. Actually a lot of things happened lately... but I most probably am not going to write every single thing.

Me and Val Dapat CutiYeah, I know, it's like a miracle... we BOTH got a day off on the same day... (somethign I thought was technically impossible for the company to allow). Well, of course we appreciate it. Time to reenergize and catch up on sleep... So woke up late that day. Spent the off day wisely. Was going to meet up with Val later on, but first, sent the 155 to Alfatech Supplies to change the side mirror. Bloody expensive, because it was a "night vision" glass piece and included installation, which wasn't exactly a "take and paste" process... Also got a haircut (finally) and it's been 2 months! Yeah, I never got any off days and we finish rather late, so no time to have a haircut... (pretty good eh, time well spent...) Cleaned up the 155 too before going to fetch Val at her church.

Friends' Convocation
Managed to find the church in Subang (miraculously... ) and we set off to Limkokwing. (Do I need to mention the numerous road challengers I smoked on the way? OK too late, mentioned already...) Raced with high velocity, managed to reach just a lil late (they've all finished receiving their degrees, now mingling and makanning). Amazingly LUCT now has outside parking... really babi. If not I'd saved up on all the 50s I spent on monthly parking... OK, met up with Bee Wee, who looked so pretty with all her make up and dressing, but she was in a rush with her family, so It was merely a hi-congratulations-how are you doing-are you working-see you-bye sort of thing... Hope to meet up with her someday as a friends reunion or something... There was Aliya too, but also a hi-bye sorta thing... everyone seems to be rushing! Then finally met Joe Joe and Lai Ping... wah, she looked so happy, with all the dressing and make up (Lai Ping la of course). Joe refused to take off his robe... lol, I understand, I was like him on our graduation day too. Met Jin Fei after that, who was sooo well dressed, with complete blazer and suit. Nita was also there, with her special someone (ehem...) and all nicely dressed too, with make-up, a bouquet of flowers and a teddy bear. Chit chatted with them a bit, passed them each some Fererro Rocher and took a few photos... Was great, and even Ero joined in on us when we were shooting. Val has her hands behind her back most of the time because of a bag she's holding... (I should have taken it from her, my mistake...) So happy for them to have finally made it, because as friends, I just wanted them to experience it just as they would if they had graduated with us. It was all joys and laughter that day, and Joe and Jin Fei had to leave after that, because of family and personal reasons.

Dinner and Chit-ChatWe convoyed to IOI Mall for dinner, actually only Nita and bf joined us... with Sio Chin and bf joining after that. Went Secret Recepi, memang sedap. (OK la, me and Val went earlier and did some minor shopping because Nitt had to send her dad's Pajero home). After that got cake summore... so nice. Chat non-stop, about our jobs la, how our lives have been, etc... Boy we sure had a lotta stories to tell... All the way till almost midnight. Maybe one day the friend reunion thing would work out and we could all meet up? That'd be fun!

Aquaria? A Queue Yeah?
Went with the family on Sunday to try out Aquaria... was sooo looking forward to it. Haven't seen Sand Tiger Sharks (aka Grey Nurse Sharks, often not used because the former sounds more garang) since our trip to Melbourne 6 years ago... These sharks are actually docile and gentle creatures, it's just that God gave them that fierce look. He..he... their sharp pointy teeth would break if they tried to bite a human. But of course the typical mentality of Malaysians is to fear any of the 300+ species of shark in existance and relate it to the Great White, the famous star of Jaws. OK, back to Aquaria, imagine the disappointment of arriving at the tunnel leading to the KL Convention Center and finding out the queue to the ticket counter is 2 hours from here. I was like, "Huh? are you sure? 2 JAM?" So we had to give it up... Went around because my bro wanted to get a pair of earphones... I went surveying for and MP3 player (Samsung Yepp), but then thought about it back, it's more of a 'want' and not a 'need'. Well, decided to save money la for now... Was a good day, despite no Aquaria... Let the crowd and typical Malaysian jakun-ness die down first. Most new places in Malaysia experience that. Anyone remember how 1Utama, Mid Valley Megamall and Times Square started out?

Poor Farah
Well, Farah's in the bottom 3 again... what is Malaysia doing? Voting out of sheer fanaticism ke? I mean, come on... Faizull was horrible that day! Daniel wasn't too good either, but all got top votes... Apani... Farah's rendition of Alanis Morissette's song was nice, altho a lil off at some points, but you could see it was definitely better than Faizull and Daniel's. Nita was also a lil off that day, but Ash is steadily improving... aikk... I hope she can make it through at least to the last 3. Then it's an all-out battle! Go go Farah! May the votes be with you... (mine included)

Book Return
Finally managed to return the book Val bought mistakenly to Kinokuniya on Monday (dapat finish early! Yaayy...)... And so glad they allowed us to exchange with other books. So we exchange it for a couple of manga and cookbooks... lol... Did some shopping again, for someone... lol... Saw BoA's latest album "Girl's on Top" in Tower Records... but my heart just couldn't buy it, due to recent spending on other necessities... Maybe sometime soon... he..he... Val's Amy CD also not yet out... So we ended up buying buns on our way home (for the family...).

Ok, I was 'supposed' to not write much, but was in the mood, so... lol...
That's all for now,

PEACE and God Bless,
Aris Tee

To-use-day

My usual working day... nothing much to write about, but somehow they aren't exactly the same... Tuesday, our most free day... we only have the Lifestyle section, so things are much more relaxed...

The Dentist
Angi had to see her dentist, had an appointment at lunch break. Since it was Tuesday and we are sort of free-er than other days, me and Val decided to sibuk and tumpang her car to her dentist's place (for lunch la, you think wat, check gigi?) 1st time sit in Angi's car with her driving... wow, she's good, changing gears so quickly and all... it was at Ampang something something. Forgot the name... quite deserted really... The supermarket that used to be there has also closed down, and became a Brother's outlet. Anyway, surprisingly there was a lil chinese shop inside, and we 2 decided to makan there. Angi also joined after that, and guess wat, her dentist sat at the opposite table. Now, what would have possibly happened if she ate sweets at that moment? LOL...

Screening...?
Movie screening of The Cave is on Sunday! Darn... Val and Angi are also quite upset, because there's church and all... sigh... GSC la, their screenings are at odd times. I mean, Sunday at 10.30am? Well, see-see la whether can go.

155 Cornering
Okla... nothing much to say today... testing the 155's handling, after reading an article review on the car's handling capabilities, which are said to be top notch. Alfa Romeos are well known for their stiff ride and precise handling, and the 155 outpaced a Subaru Impreza with a bigger capacity engine. I found it to be quite true. Despite not pushing it hard, the 155 was able to take corners at high speed, leaving some of those wannabe boy racers that plague me almost everyday. They thing what... with their loud exhausts and cacat wings they look cool meh? Summore they try to halau you to the side. Sigh... Nice feeling to smoke them with a stock 155, and this is still with most of the major chapters of the Project 155 still in progress.

Oh well, that's all for today,

PEACE and God Bless,
Aris Tee

Wild Weekend...

The weekend was rather odd... well, we were supposed to meet up and have a friend reunion. But well... one by one couldn't come (some told in advance), I'm not going to name any names... I don't really blame them. Eventually everyone's out and the whole thing was cancelled... leaving only me and Val... I was like... huh? And we finished on time, of all things. And the guilt of asking Val to take the day off for this. Well, I'm quite grateful she's okay about it. I decided we shouldn't waste the day, so we both went outing at Times Square! (which was the original location we were supposed to go as a group) Hee..hee...

Went a couple of places, then decided spontaneously, 'why not catch a movie?'... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was out, so just decided to try it out. And guess what, we got seats, and they were quite centered (side, but middle row). We had a super fast Long John Silver's meal, which had lousy plastic fork and knives (makan tangan easier...). The cineplex was a lil cold by the way, and I see poor Val covering up in her jacket like a selimut. Should have brought mine... The movie was nice, especially the Oompa Loompas (they're hillarious!). After the movie we went for some shopping (nothing serious, mostly window shopping...) involving watches, books, gifts and DVDs... ha..ha.... Was a fun day, had a great time, and also had to apologize to Val for the whole reunion thingy not turning up right. "Bad attitude..." Sowwy lo... (so super glad she's cool about it).

Watched Malaysian Idol result show on Sunday... Xerra and Farah were the LAST two! I was like... "OH NOOO!" For your info, I'm supporting Farah... hee..hee... even gave 2 extra last-minute votes, because I had a weird feeling something was going to happen. Well, I hope it helped... cos she managed to stay... But poor Xerra... she definitely wasn't the worst, come on Malaysia! How are you guys voting? The orang kampung can't sing la... come on! (no offence, it's just obvious). Me, I'll just be hoping Farah stays on, I'm so glad she's improving rapidly and hope she can make it far... (will buy her record if she has one... he..he...). Gambateh, Malaysian Idols!

Okla, work's coming, betta go...

PEACE and God Bless,
Aris Tee

Blessed...

The last few days have been a mixture of joy and sadness... thankfully, the joy is much more than the sadness. Pretty happy week, with lots of laughs at work. Angi's also becoming more humorous. Everyone's becoming a joker at work nowadays... Also been eating alot lately. Have to cut back la... had Burger King one of those nights with Val (there was also some funny Malay movie with a person talking with her conscience, meaning bad and good side... so funny), that one is okay la. But the funnier thing was that we went to Sushi King on Thursday cos my mum ajak. Well, we originally thought we were going to the food court, but then changed plans. Unagi fever again and now I'm muak liao... Then on Friday went food court for lunch... ordered something which turned out nice, but I just couldn't finish it (according to Val, too much full meal isn't too good) and quite regretted it.

I've never said so many times in a week, "God must really love us"... There were many reasons, but somehow this week God was nice to me, and I'm glad... all praise to the Lord. Val said this is not coincidence... I guess this is one of the proof the Lord wants to show me. He has given so much to me, and lately I feel really blessed, with a job, a nice working environment, good contacts (mechanics, club members) and even someone who is so fun to be with in a time when my best friend is miles away (these people know who they are la, so smile more!). Must pray more, I hope I will get His blessing and guidance.

Despite all these joy, there was still setbacks, but thankfully I try to be patient, pray and bear in mind that things happen for a reason. Firstly, the 155's radiator blew up, with a large boom. This was caused by the thermostat. That set me back quite a bit, in addition to the aircond I did recently. But surprisingly my dad (which I hardly contact lately) was generous and sponsored it. Now praying that the new Magneti Marelli radiator (which is alumininum by the way, and that's the reason the old one couldn't be welded and repaired) will work fine and not cause problems.

This week some idiot on a motorcycle banged my passenger side mirror, shattering it to pieces. I was in a middle of a massive traffic jam... He stopped, looked at the mirror, then sped off. Bloody bugger... I was quite pissed off, and got out of the car, in the middle of the jam. But all I can see was him disappearing off to the horizon, and I picked up a piece of the mirror, got back into the car and continued my journey to work. Called my mum, she asked me to calm down, and it's ok. The good thing was I'm okay, and God protects us all. Amen. Hope to replace it soon, I'm driving with one side mirror now. The holder is there, but no glass. But thankfully I'm used to driving without side mirrors (last time when I first got my Bug, she had no side mirrors, I drove daily to college with no problems).

Met up with my club too... also see Subsonique to have a demo of the JL Audio components with Firadaniel... sounds good on his Punto, nicee.... Maybe end of the month or so... hee..hee...

Okla... this weekend hoping to meet up with a few friends I haven't met in quite a while, maybe just to catch up with old times... nowadays working life is threatening to pull us apart. So we musn't let it happen!

That's all for now, till next entry,
PEACE and God Bless,

Aris Tee

twenty two

Well, my blogging have been getting less and less frequent... Not in the mood most of the time... Anyways, last week was my birthday, and it was real great. On birthday eve, me and Val were rushing to finish our work fast so that we could watch our office screening of Bewitched at 1Utama. Angi managed to finish 1st, so she left earlier... We were cringing as we had a big feeling that there was no way we could reach on time. Anyway, racing the bug at insane speeds in and out of traffic, along with faith, got us there, with 15 minutes to spare (which wasn't much, considering the size of the complex). We rushed asap up the escalators, and reached the cineplex on the dot. Sat down on the seats, and poof, the movie started. I guess the Lord must really love us. :-) Movie was okayla... got a number of really funny scenes...

That night went to supper with Val and her friend who wanted to introduce his girlfriend to her. Ha..ha... was fun, chit chat, and soon it was going back time. 11 plus, almost 12... (still early, tu la Val, ask you go pub next door dowan... ha..ha..) Me and Val stopped by a petrol station on the way back. All of a sudden this Val Val screamed at the top of her lungs "Happy Birthday Aris!"... I was quite shocked, but because it was so spontaneous it was so memorable. ha..ha... she even brought along a present, which she kept in a paper bag and carried all day in the office, with noone suspecting. A case of 'kena balik'... 1st time I've ever received a present at 12am... it was a pair of New Beetles, one had this radical planet airbrush paintjob... woo... I was soo happy!

The next day, birthday day, can best be described also as Sushi Day. I've never had sushi for 2 meals before! 1st was a case of planned sushi outing with Val, and ajak Calvin and Eliza along. We were all wearing masks and walking like Baja Hitam or some superhero group... Everywhere we went, people stared at us. We were like, "stare all you want, we just wanna be safe than sorry...". Yup, it was Thursday, the day the haze went on to it's highest peak (and emergency status)... (so glad it's clearer now, it was waaay scary when we reached the 3rd floor of 1Utama and there was haze there!) Went to Great Eastern Mall for sushi... Dinner was with the family, had Sushi King! There was "Unagi Fever" going on and it was excellent! Sad that Val couldn't join, well, my fault for telling so late also... Boon Boon and Chong all wishing they could join too... (Come visit laaa....). They sent a couple of presents all the way from Miri... a book on symbols, and a discovery bible... I'm so happy... Overall, it was an excellent birthday, a very memorable one...

Planning to get a set of component speakers to complete the 155's audio set-up. Amplifier and subwoofers are temporarily set back, because those are quite out of budget, no use going for some unknown brand. Was eyeing Soundstream, but changed my mind. I'm down to either Lightning Audio Bolt B1.65C or a set of JL Audio XR650csi that my Italia Auto buddy Subsonique's offering. The odds are on the latter, so... hee..hee...

Okla, better not talk too much, save the rest for next time,

PEACE and God Bless,
Aris Tee

Birthday Party, PC Fair, Initial D... What an Eventful Week...

Friday was real fun... It was going to be the result of a whole week's planning for Val's birthday. It was done in such secrecy that I didn't even put it my blog (she reads my posts...) and office plans were done through MSN Messenger... Ha..ha... I also did alot of hinting in order to find out what she wouldn't be interested in. The best part of the plan was laid out on Tuesday. Went shopping with her before our dinner and movie (The Island). Well, I told her I was looking for a 'friend' who was somewhat similar to her. And she was nice to suggest alot of things... But I didn't guess that she had no idea it was for her. Well, all was explained in her birthday card, hee..hee... Got her a cool t-shirt, and an Amy Mastura movie DVD (she must be jumping). ^-^

Anyway, on Friday when plans were suppose to run, all was set, her present was bought, the cake, pizza, KFC. All done. Then when I pushed the birthday gurl into the conference room, then I sendiri got a shock. On the birthday cake, there was "Happy Birthday Valerie & Aris". Oh my goodness... they all planned this all along, and yet followed my plan... Wahhhhh.... We both got presents from the office, and they were both watches. When I opened the present, in my mind was, "Goodness, dun tell me they bought us matching watches!". But nope, it was a more guyish Swatch, with a dragon motif. Val got a cute Hippo one. ^-^

Angi was there snapping all the photos, which made me think... earlier in the day, she asked to pinjam my DigiCam. It never occured to me that it was all part of the plan... So we sure had a great time. Calvin also joined in all the fun, despite not being well... I really hope he gets better soon... After all the blowing candles and cutting the cake together, it was makan time, and boy there sure was a lotta food... A real memorable birthday, and our 1st in our new working life. I really thank everyone for everything...

The next day, I went to PC Fair with my bro and Balloon (Sze Ching). Balloon bought a Wacom and a couple of stuff, while I was eyeing the Sony Network Walkman. It was sooo cool... I really wanted the blue one, but the price was simply astronomical. I mean, RM599 (then RM570) for a 256mb MP3 player is a bit too much right? I mean yeah, it had a full-fledged equalizer, ultra-super-duper-cool invisible display screen, solid feel, Sony brand and free speakers... but it was still too much of an asking price. Sigh... An equivalent from Creative or Samsung was in the region of Rm2xx to RM3xx... but well, the Walkman simply looked like serious business. Maybe I need to get a lower budget and look for something else.

Earlier in the day, I dropped by Brother Peter's shop in Damansara Uptown, and asked about tinting. Mr Peter recommended Conquerer, which was simply the best in the country now, even more than V-Kool and Sun-Cool (the Beetle's using that). To demonstrate, he took a 1000Watt light and put a newspaper on it. It BURNED! Cilaka... api everywhere, he was cool and tepped on it to put it off. Then he put it behind glass, asking me to test. Of course it was hot. But then he asked to test behind the Conqueror one, and it was cool... WOW... Well, something so advanced comes with a price of course... It costs RM550 for the front windscreen alone, and RM1800 (bargained to RM1600) for the whole car. To be honest, it was simply too high for me, so this has to wait...

Later in that day, went to watch Initial D (yeah, I'm one of the last remaining who hasn't watched... so what?!) with my bro. Bear in mind I read the manga, and although I hate the drawings of the people (they were just unpropotionate and UGLY), the drawings of the cars were really nice and accurate... Okay, the movie... after watching it, I found it to be quite good, despite me not being too fond of Jay Chou. The cast was quite good too, and played their roles well. Jay Chou did a good act on the 'Duh~ness' of Takumi. Of course there was alot of coverage of the Toyota Corolla AE-86, but I'm glad the RX-7 and Skyline GT-R were quite accurate representations... But where's the Sil-Eighty and RX-7 Mark III and their drivers? Well, I was looking forward to those two, but I guess it was too much to make into a movie. Here's hoping there'll be a sequel... The final race was awesome, and those tear-jerking scenes were just too much. And Takumi's dad simply stole the show la... 4 out of 5 for the movie, and 5 out of 5 for the cars and scenes alone (there were NO stunts, 20+ cars were totalled with only 3 remaining), which I must say rivals those of James Bond and the Fast and the Furious series... Simply awesome...

Okla, sorry for being extremely long, I could go on more about the other things in the week, but nah,...

PEACE and God Bless,
Aris Tee

Not Enough Sleep and Having Fun...

Boy, I sure haven't blogged much lately... well, maybe because I'm either malas, or tired beacuse of late nights. Well, late nights alternate between work and... well, fun! Been going out often lately, and I quite like it... hee..hee... Val's pretty sporting, so it's cool. Went to a couple of places last week, and this week too. Been looking around town for birthday presents (well, got birthdays coming soon, so...) and Val's also buying some stuff, so okay lar... KLCC to Ampang Park and 1 Utama... so many places in a short span of days, but well, it's kinda fun. She's quite helpful in suggestions too. We were chatting, and we were thinking, something that's funny is that we think so similarly and have lots of similarities. Must be a Leo thing. lol... God's been really nice to her this year, because really good things have been happening and I know she thinks I'm jealous, but I just wanna say I'm happy for her. It's good to be blessed by the Lord. God must love her (God loves everyone) hee..hee... She also admits we've been eating much lately. Well, quite true... after last week's Chinese restaurant, this week got Pizza Hut and Genki Sushi... yum, but have to tone down a bit already. But you just can't help but have fun right? That's what enjoying life is about... There are also lotsa good movies lately... Stealth, The Island, Seven Swords, Romasanta... and of course Herbie! I'm SOOOOO clad Imran's giving me a chance to meet Herbie himself in the metal. By the way, Stealth looks super stylish. And I think Edi is way cool...

Watched The Island yesterday when we went to 1 Utama after buying a present. It's pretty good, long movie with complex plot and interesting twists (and a couple of shocks, car accidents and laughs...), there's the cute couple, plus there's TONS of product placements... Puma, Nokia, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Dodge, MSN (yup, MSN), XBox and etc... The Cadillac Cien ROCKS!!! The car, which is still a concept, gets considerable screentime and the specs were all read out. Woohoo... Gotta love those auto-opening doors... The futuristic bits were really really cool... and the concept of cloning, though is nothing new (seen VERY similar storyline in Vandread) is really good, and well made into a movie. Hopefully this will make people think before actions are taken. How far do we go to stay alive on this Earth... well, true, we appreciate the life God gave us, but all things God created will die, and then there's the afterlife. So Earth is not everything, or where it all ends. Some things to ponder upon...

Well, of course I pray to the Lord that I'll get a good, fulfilling life, and pray that I'll be able to fully find Him and serve Him. A friend once said, "Seek Him, and He shall seek you". Well, I'm learning, and glad to be on this journey. I'm also very glad to have a good pal (which I really believe is a gift sent by God) that is able to share with me and also help me along the way. I do pray that I head the right way. And I hope God understands... Amen.

Can't think of what I wanted to write next... Cos I'm tired from last night's Island outing with Val (balik 12 somthing, sent her home by 12.20 and I reached home at around 12.50... which was fast) so I can't think straight liao, got a bit of headache and there's TV Guide and Picture Gallery to do. So I'll get going I guess... Till next time,

PEACE and God Bless,
Aris Tee