December 2009 – the month for Wedding

Chulet is not sure if it is the month of the wedding or it is just coincident that she receives 6 wedding invitations for the month of December 2009!!

4 of them are on the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th December alone. O_o

Some also say that it is because next year (Chinese calendar) is the year of TIGER. Since it is the year ending with ‘0’ – 2010, it will be the Yang Metal Tiger. Very powerful and strong scary tiger.. :p Supposedly, the tiger and monkey never mix well. I wonder why? Hehehee..

Anyway, as you would guess by now, Yes – all the friends getting married are from the Monkey year. Hehehe.. But then, this does not mean that you won’t find some monkey-year ppl getting married. There is always a case of desperation (no choice – must get married) :p

And also many people which don’t place priority in the Chinese auspicious date calculation.

Of course, there are also some exceptions depending on your future husband and wife date of birth (note that for calculation, this should be the Chinese date also).

The Year of Ox 2009 ends when Chinese New Year starts. In 2010, it will be on the 14th February. (Valentine’s Day).  Perhaps, there will a decline in the weddings for the Tiger year. We’ll just have to wait and see… (hmm.. if the demand is less, will this means that dinner venues and prices for weddings can be lower?) I hear that the cost of wedding is getting ridiculous nowadays..

Nevertheless, chulet is extremely happy for all her friends. Chulet prays that all of her friends will have a greatly blessed marriage.

Ms. J-L’s birthday and a night of Acquire

Last Saturday was J-L’s birthday. A great and classy lady with cheerful demeanor.

The birthday was held at Mezze, Damansara Height (behind Victoria Station).

Meze or Mezze also means finger-food / small dishes in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Sort of like Tapas of Spain or h’or d’oeuvres of France.

Appetizer Chulet & OFM tried

1)      Lamb Cutlet – this is really good. Definitely thumbs up

2)      Pancetta and Prawn Tempura – interesting. It was serve with garlic + wasabi sauce.

Main

1)      Barbecued Spatchcock Chicken – Spring chicken. Well marinated. Juicy and not too overly done.

2)      Ballotine of Lamb – Marinated lamb served on cous cous. Love the cous cous. Lamb was ok only.

Right after dinner, some of us proceed to have coffee at Mont Kiara coffee-bean.

Around 1am, everyone decided to crash into A&D’s new pad for a game of Acquire. That was my first time visiting A&D’s new place. It is so beautifully done up.Very stylist and love the colors.. Congrats on the new place !!

That night was also my first time playing the game Acquire. At first it was super confusing. Since chulet didn’t have her Camera with her, she didn’t manage to get a picture of the board-game. But she found one that looks so cool from http://www.webnoir.com/bob/sid/acquire.htm

 

Quick Summary : Max. 6 player. Each player gets about 6 tiles, if combine 2 tiles together, can build hotel. After placing one tiles on the board, you can take another one. You can buy share of the hotel after you place a tile. If you build the hotel, you can get one free share. Each time, you are limited to only 3 shares (from any hotel). The more tiles surround the hotel, the higher the share value to the share holder. Merger of hotels can also happen. So, it is interesting to trade shares, sell or keep (if the player thinks that there’s still opportunity for that hotel to be re-open again). It’s about balancing cash, shares and knowing which hotel to grow and keeping your triumph tiles.

Amazingly, Chulet got the second place. ;P

Yay !!

Daddy’s little girl

 

After waiting for 9 long months, his princess is finally here.

The moment her little fingers pressed against his palm, she’ll always have the power to twist him around her little finger.

Holding her hand, reassuring her on her first day of school.

Staying with her when she ask you to help her choose colours for her colouring homework.

Trusting her with your car when she finally got her driving license.

Rushing home everyday to catch a glimpse of her before sleeping.

Laughing at all the jokes and silly things she does.

Giving her anything she desires.

 

Watching her go off to Uni. Bringing back her boyfriend to you. Throwing the poor guy the ‘I-am-watching-you’ look.

Worrying for her when she come home late.

Attending her graduation. Feeling proud of her.

Seeing her struggle with the transition to work life.

Up till then, she always know you will always be there for her.

 

Suddenly, things changed.

It is no longer the same. For you have no longer know how to talk to your little girl anymore.

She has different priority in life, perhaps, so have you.

He wonders : Is she still his little girl? Or somebody else’s girl?

She wonders : Am I still important to dad? Does daddy still care?

She stops holding daddy’s hand. perhaps he won’t like it.

He stops holding her hand. She needs to be independent and grow up.

 

Now,

Father and Daughter standing together. Silence. Not knowing how to talk to each other any more.

Once, she would have told him everything. Once, he would have listen with a smile.

…

.

Yes Master…

Labor law defines emploment as master servant relationship in many countries.

In the older day, employee are loyal and faithful. Many books wrote how servants serve their master even when they receive no pay. However it is commonly observed that employee today no longer display such valued characteristic.

Many are willing to switch Master even with the offer of little increment (sometimes for even as little as USD 1/day). Personally, I have nothing against looking for better opportunity. But, I believe that it should be done with dignity and intregicity. In many cases, some of these employee were offered the better pay due to leaking secret information to their Master’s competitor. OR, in some cases, stealing the company’s client and bringing them to another place.

Some employee took advantage of the labor law (which was there to protect them) to sqeeze their master for more. They are the expert of the law and will find loop holes and use it to force their boss to act. it is common to hear of terms suh as unfairly dismissal or constructive dismissal.

 When the employee sues the company, many times, they company will just pay them 3 – 6 months salary to settle out of court. I have heard one case where the employee who was the purchaser, start a company to sell goods to his Master’s company. When the company management found out of these, they request he resign in return of not bringing charges to him. What did this guy do? He smartly file for constructive dismissal and was awarded back pay and compensation close to millions !! Sad isn’t it?

And people wonder why some companies are so mean and no longer wants to display any kindness to the employee. Perhaps we (the servant) should ask ourself first if we are taking our job and responsibility seriously. Performing it with intregrity and serving our boss with loyalty.

 

Never too old for suprises ! Thank you.

It has been weeks since Chulet last update her blog. Reason ? Just plain LAZY !! hahaha..

But this occasion definitely deserve my special attention and determination to blog.

Chulet’s bf (Ninja-boy) planned a nice dinner for both of us (to celebrate my birthday). He kept ‘hush-hush’ about the dinner venue. Only hint he dropped was dress nice and it’s in town. The whole thing was executed with brilliantly right untill the door step of FRANGIPANI in Kuala Lumpur. I was very excited as I heard so much about this restaurant but have never step my foot inside.

However, the supposedly second surprise was given away by our Maître. When Ninja-boy arrived, he informed them that the reservation is under Mr. Ninja for 2. Our Maître scan thru the book and happily inform us that our friends are inside waiting.

HAHAHahaha.. my poor boy was so upset. (Supposedly, he and my best-mate organized the whole thing and they even went thru the trouble of making another reservation for just the 2 of us so that, when I arrived, I will be usher to another table)

Anyway, I was just too excited and happy.. so, I ran in and start hugging all my friends

Thank you for all the the surprise birthday dinner. I am so touched !! It’s such a nice fuzzy feeling to be surrounded by good friends, sipping champagne (Thanks Mr. L) and dining on delicious food. As for my cake, it is CUTE cupcakes from Delectable (Thanks Miss L)

Talking about the food, it definitely is 2 thumbs up from Chulet !! The restaurant is definitely worthy of a full review. However, Chulet will keep that for another day since this post is solely dedicated to all of her friends.

Thank you all again.. for making the time out from your busy schedule to celebrate it with me.

Floor Mat caused major recall for TOYOTA.

Read this online and would like to bring it to attention to all TOYOTA car owner !!

 

Toyota to recall 3.8M vehicles over floor mats

• AP – FILE – In this Aug. 16, 2009 file photo, the company logo shines off the nose of an unsold 2010 Camry …

By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writer – Tue Sep 29, 9:55 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will recall 3.8 million vehicles in the United States, the company’s largest-ever U.S. recall, to address problems with a removable floor mat that could cause accelerators to get stuck and lead to a crash.

The recall will involve popular models such as the Toyota Camry, the top-selling passenger car in America, and the Toyota Prius, the best-selling gas-electric hybrid.

Toyota said it was still working with officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find a remedy to fix the problem and said owners could be notified about the recall as early as next week. Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said until the company finds a fix, owners should take out the removable floor mat on the driver’s side and not replace it.

“A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop a vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death,” Miller said.

NHTSA said it had received reports of 102 incidents in which the accelerator may have become stuck on the Toyota vehicles involved. It was unclear how many led to crashes but the inquiry was prompted by a highspeed crash in August in California of a Lexus barreling out of control. As the vehicle hit speeds exceeding 120 mph, family members made a frantic 911 call and said the accelerator was stuck and they couldn’t stop the vehicle.

“This is an urgent matter,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “For everyone’s sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration.”

The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

Toyota’s previously largest U.S. recall was about 900,000 vehicles in 2005 to fix a steering issue. The company declined to say how many complaints it had received about the accelerator issue.

The Japanese automaker warned owners that if they think their vehicle is accelerating out of control, they should check to see whether their floor mat is under the pedal. If a driver can’t remove the floor mat, Toyota advises drivers to step on the brake pedal with both feet until the vehicle slows and then try to put it into neutral and switch the ignition to accessory power.

For vehicles with engine start/stop buttons, Toyota said the engine can be shut off by holding the button down for three seconds.

In the August incident near San Diego, the fiery crash of a 2009 Lexus ES 350 killed California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, 45, and three members of his family on State Route 125 in Santee. The runaway car was traveling at more than 120 mph when it hit a sport utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames. One of the family members called police about a minute before the crash to report the vehicle had no brakes and the accelerator was stuck. The call ended with someone telling people in the car to hold on and pray, followed by a woman’s scream.

NHTSA investigators determined that a rubber all-weather floor mat found in the wreckage was slightly longer than the mat that belonged in the vehicle, something that could have snared or covered the accelerator pedal.

Toyota spokesman John Hanson said the final report had not yet been submitted in the California case.

“We don’t know what the actual cause was of that accident other than preliminary reports that have been published so it’s impossible for us to comment on that particular incident,” Hanson said.

In mid-September, Toyota ordered 1,400 Toyota and Lexus dealers nationwide to ensure that each new, used and loaner vehicles had the proper floor mats and that the mats were properly secured.

In September 2007, Toyota recalled an accessory all-weather floor mat sold for use in some 2007 and 2008 model year Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry vehicles because of similar problems.

For more information, consumers can contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s hotline at (888) 327-4236, Toyota at (800) 331-4331 or Lexus at (800) 255-3987.

___

How to propose to the girl of your dreams?

Story One:

Chulet’s best-mate from her childhood years recently got proposed over romantic dinner during their trip to singapore to see the F1. It was a total suprise for her as she thought it was just a dinner outing to celebrate her birthday. Birthday cake has a cute racoon on top of it. VERY very cute. (as Chulet was not there – no pictures here). So, it was like a double suprise when her soul-mate whipped out a diamond ring and proposed to her ! She say YES. of course.

Story Two:

He arranged with her family to meet in Bali for holiday. She happily went along to enjoy the holiday. On the day of the proposal, they went for hiking, biking and etc around the Bali island. Went back to their hotel to shower. She was too tired to care about her dressing (thinking that it would just be casual dinner with her family). Little does she knows, he arrange for dinner in a nice posh hotel.. The waiter show them to the back of the restaurant where she saw a long jetty leading out to the sea. along the jetty lighted with candles and a man playing the violin. On the table, there was a microscope. He told her to look inside. YES – it was a ring.

Story Three:

He ganged-up with all the children from the sunday school (she’s a sunday school teacher). It was Christmas. After church service, the children dragged her to the first room. She found a figurine with a card. Card gives clue to the next treasure. There was about 5 treasure before she come into the room with him (and her family + the children too). He recite a long long long speech.. (hehehee) with a nice Ring (of coz..) and she say YES (of course..)

Story Four:

He took her back to the first restaurant where they had their first date. Stroll along the river where they went after their first date. She went along eventough she wanted to just go home and sleep. Halfway, he went on his knee, took out the ring and proposed. (There was no one along the river then. quite late at night. Oh wait. He mentioned that there was a garbage collector doing his round then. hahaha..) She say yes. (No – this is not the end of the story yet). He jumped with joy and whipped out 2 air-ticket to Sydney (they are in Melbourne). They left for a short mini-break the next day. :p

Story Five:

He took her to climb the Mount Kinabalu (or Mount KK, so fondly known by the Malaysians..) It is considerable high. So, when they reach the higest peak. She was tired and cold. He tooked out the ring to propose to her. She was tired no more.

Story Six:

He googled to ‘how to proposed’ and learn everything he can. He went to the jewellery store and asked for ring. Went to airport to picked her up. After she reach her home, he went on his knee and ask her to marry him. He open the box and she pushed him away and say NOoo.. (you see, he asked for a ring. But, he didn’t specify what Ring. So, the sales person show him the wedding bands) When she saw 2 rings – she thought he propose with earrings ! Anyway, the confusion aside, it was a joking NO.. and she say YES later when she learn of his mistake. hehhe.

That’s all for now.

Enjoy.

1kg to Obesity

 

Weighting scale shows a 1kg increase.

Hmm.. only one? I guess it’s no biggie deal.

Yah.. 1 kg is like so little.

Only one. It’s ok.

 

For fun, she decided to check on her BMI.

Many sites now offer quick calculation on our BMI. We only need to Google-em-up.

 

YOU ARE OBESE!!!!

 

WAT?? Watt??? !! (Chulet Shocked)

 

Since when?!! (Chulet confused)

 

Not true. NOT true.. (Chulet in denial)

 

 

Chulet check again with few other site…

 

 

NOoooOOOOoooo (Chulet accepts)

Sobb sob..

 

Today is a sad sad day indeed.

Only 1 kg more and Chulet has now officially leave the Overweight category and slide towards Obesity.

 

SOBB sob…

 

MUST exercise !! Must control diet…

The Gamer

After a nice scrumptious double date buffet dinner at Sahara Tent (middle-eastern restaurant near Bukit Bintang Area, Kuala Lumpur) with my best mate from childhood (Kero-Pi), we were mulling over what we should do next. It was a toast between no black tie and movies.

 Movie @ Pavilion won.

Looking at the movie listing, there doesn’t seem like there was much good choice available. Kero-Pi was excited about Final Destination in 3D, but, Chulet put her foot down. NO HORROR please!!! Finally, we decided on the Gamer (highly praised by Chulet’s baby brother.  

Movie started with tons of shooting and running around. Reminds me of the game Counter-strike, le sigh.. (I can never sit and play for more than 15mins – motion sickness)

Had a bad sinking feeling that I will be quite sick after the movie. Thankfully, the scenes after that are no so bad.

The movie basically tells a story about a world where humans have total control over certain humans. These humans who are being controlled are either convicts or desperate people needing a job to pay for food on table. For the convicts, they are placed in a game call ‘the Slayer’ whereas the latter in ‘the society’.

I am not sure which is worst.

 

The Slayer where buy the convicts to play you as an soldier and when the screen flashes game over, it literally means that the guy whom you were controlling get blown into smithereens.  

OR,

In Society, you control someone to act out all the lustful perversion acts which you might not dare to do in the real world or you might not be able to do it (due to some physical deformation).

WHO gave these people the right to play GOD?

Even God gave us all Free-Will.

 

Crazy Air-con BLOWER of BMW *_*

 

Chulet’s hand-me-down BMW went beserk… AGAIN !!

The air-con blower continues blowing (At the MAX volume) even after I switch off the engine. It’s weird to see the car still blowing air-condition even after the engine is off…

And no, this is NOT the first time !!

The first time was crazy. I didn’t know what was going on and tried calling the service centre. Unfortunately, since it is a piblic holiday, their technician won’t be making their waaaay out to help you. So, the best they did was to transfer me to their ‘mobile’ technician, I was asked to look for a FUSE box inside the car. O__O

wat?!! there’s a fuse box in the car.. wooOOo.  so high-tech. Anyway, the guy ask me to try locating the fuse box behind the glove compartment. Couldn’t see any fuse box. 

Next? The guy say it’s very hard to explain and ask me if my husband / brother / a guy is with me.

WT #$#@?? !!! Hey, i resent that !!!! ARGHHhh..

You mean, a GIRL can’t understand instruction?!! HRUMPhh.. 

Anyway, I grudgingly surrender my hp to my bf.

(FINE !! I probably won’t understand but I still think it’s not fair… I am pretty sure that some girls out there would be able to understand all these car-talks very well)

ANYWAY, after seeing my bf did it once, Chulet can do it now.

So, this is the 3rd time it has happen and Chulet is tired of trying to unplug and plug and unplug the fuse. MEHh.. So, Chulet decided it is high time this car gets a service. (Not to mentioned the Due Service light has been blinking non-stop for some days now. hehehe…

And the damage is?? I don’t know.

The service centre is fully book till next week.. So, wait wait wait..