I’ve been looking forward to cook something special here in KL. Something that will please my taste. Filipino taste, that is. So, last night was the chance. Everything was set. All ingredients were there. I can already smell the savory adobo in my mind even before I started cooking.

Though I have cooked adobo a million times back in the Philippines, I still had to check out some recipes in the internet just to make sure this first KL cooking attempt will be successful.

“Hindi masyadong maasim ang suka dito. Halos walang lasa.” my housemate commented.

Trusting her remark, I put ½ cup of vinegar instead of just ¼ – keeping the measurement of all other ingredients the same. You guessed it right, I didn’t even taste the vinegar before mixing it with the other items.

Twenty minutes has passed. The smell of my adobo seemed so perfect. I then put my cooking expertise to test. I assured my housemate that my adobo is perfect. To further support my claim, I asked her to taste it. But before she was able to go to the kitchen, I tasted it first. And to my surprise, it tasted like… Umm, it didn’t taste like adobo. Rather, it tasted like vinegar. Haha. I still allowed her to taste it. And she confirmed how awful it was. No worries for me. I blamed her for her comment.

Anong walang lasa ang suka dito? Sobrang asim kaya…

Disaster!

Our dear Boom-Boom. Cute little boy. Hehe.

My younger siblings will be graduating this April. Yes, you read it right. Siblings – my younger brother and my younger sister. I should also be receiving my diploma but I had to postpone it for a bigger goal. So, forget the idea of being one of the UP centennial graduates.

The good news doesn’t end there. My brother will be graduating with a B.S. degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering after maintaining 5 good years of scholarship from DOST. My sister, on the other hand, will be graduating Cum Laude. O di ba? Hehe. She followed the footsteps of our Ate who also graduated Cum Laude 6 years ago.

I bet my proud parents will be teary-eyed come graduation day.
 

I have been battling with envy this past few days. I don’t know why I am always caught up in situations where I have no choice but compare myself with others. Sometimes I end up thinking how blessed I am. But most of the time I find myself thinking of ways on how to be better than everyone else. I feel like I can do things better than the people around me. A clear evidence of an envious personality.

I don’t easily give in to this negative trait and I’m trying my best not to be devoured by it. The usual thing I do to counter it is to think of the blessings God has given me. But sometimes this trick doesn’t work. So, I wind up feeling like a loser formulating a game plan to beat other people’s record. How pathetic. But that’s how I feel. Another option is to read motivational and inspirational articles in the Internet. But I can hardly convince myself with the things written in the said articles because I find them very much overwhelming. Maybe they are designed for the righteous ones and not for me.

I’m still thinking of other things I do to avoid such negative thoughts. But I can no longer think of one. Listening to music? Maybe not. Eating? Nah. Blogging? Partially true.

Aha, I remember the time when I was swimming in a nice pool last Sunday. I loved the feeling when I was just floating, facing the cloudy sky. My mind wasn’t occupied by anything negative. It was sheer bliss. Maybe I should be doing it frequently.

Being a blogger is not just about creating and posting entries. Part of it is dealing with spam comments. During the first few months, the number is still negligible. But as time passes by, it grows significantly to the point that deleting these irritating comments will eat up your time.

The good news is that there are organizations, like Askimet, that help bloggers do the things they like to do – blog, blog and blog – and spend less or totally no time in dealing with spam.

To take advantage of this plug-in, Mr. Blue Rendition installed it a few weeks ago. And since then, it has already caught some 14 spam comments.

Kinda cool. If you’re a wordpress user and you want to try it, gimme a click!
 

I have finally got a new condo unit to rent. It is located 0.1 kilometre away from 1/149e, J; 0.1 kilometre away from E5 Kesas Hwy (mrr2); 0.1 kilometre away from E5 Kesas Hwy (westport); 0.1 kilometre away from Kesas (e) To Kl-seremban Hwy; 0.2 kilometre away from Wan Sendari, J;

It is geographically located at latitude (3.0635 degrees) 3° 3′ 48″ North of the Equator and longitude (101.7001 degrees) 101° 42′ 0″ East of the Prime Meridian on the Map of Kuala Lumpur.

The locations related to this condo are represented by the path the bullet takes from the muzzle of the gun to the target and may not be nearest by road.

Special thanks to http://my.pagenation.com/

This post is a “thank you” post for the whole FEEDJIT team for providing easy-to-use, high-performance, and real-time widgets to bloggers, webmasters and the like. I personally like their Live Traffic Feed widget that’s why it took me no time installing it here in my website. You can see it under the section “Live Website Stats” on the right pane.

As of posting there are at least two other blogggers in my blogroll who have already installed the same. So, what are you waiting for? Join the bandwagon now! Click me.

I went to the Suria Mall at KLCC after office today. Took the train from Bukit Jalil going to Masjik Damek Station. I then transferred to another train to reach the KLCC station. It was a bit far from my place but it’s all worth it. I knew it from the moment I alight from the second train that I will enjoy the place. And sure enough, the place is soooo good.  I think I will go back there to shop for new clothes. Hehe. And of course, to buy some grocery items.

So, for the ones who are curious to know how the mall looks like, I’m posting some nice shots below. The best shot is the one with the handsome guy. Yeah, the one in the bottom-left picture. 

I cooked the best-tasting ham omelet for dinner. Hehe.. Feeling.

Most of the time I think too much. As in too much. Sometimes even when I’m so dead tired and my body wants to rest, my mind won’t simply allow it. 

Last night was no exception. It was past midnight and I wanted to rest. But so many things tried to get my attention. Sadly, they succeeded. Countless thoughts played around in my head like clowns in a circus. Pale earth colors, which spell desolation, dominated the entire scene. And they performed for quite a long time. It seemed that I didn’t have a choice but to wait for the performers to leave at  their own pleasure.

As the lion roars and jumps into the ring of fire, as the jugglers throw balls into the air, as the man eats and breaths fire, as the tightrope walker crosses from end-to-end, there I was busy finding the most comfortable side of the bed for me to fall asleep.

It was far from amusement. It was more of irritation than enjoyment for I was already drained that time. And the whole circus gang left. The reason, I don’t know. Good thing I didn’t insist on finding out their reason because if I had done so, I might not have had a decent sleep.

So, I was on medical leave last Thursday afternoon and the whole day of Friday. They call it MC here (short for Medical Certificate, I guess). Though I really tried so hard not to take any leaves on my first month, I failed. Haha. I don’t need to be a hero here, anyway. I just stayed in my room since then until Sunday except on Saturday afternoon when I went to the mall to buy some grocery items and personal stuff.

Because of the independence thingy which applies to almost all OFWs, I had to wash and iron my clothes, and cook my own food even during the time I was sick. Cool, isn’t it? I know it is something not to complain about because doing these chores here is by far easier compared to that when I’m back in Manila. Believe me.

You may ask what was running in my mind during the time I stayed all day long in my room. Well, nothing special I may say. Did I wish I was with my family? Just a bit but not really. This whole MC thing just reminded me of my college days. The days when I got sick and I had to deal with it myself – alone. I remember the time when I went to the UP infirmary with no food intake for the last 21hrs and had to undergo drug test. So, the nurse extracted blood sample from me. After which I walked outside the laboratory room and fainted. I woke up with my face on the white floor. I will never forget that time because my forehead really got banged to the floor. Ugh, stupid floor. When the nurse saw me lying on the floor, she immediately assisted me and asked me if I had breakfast already. I said “No.” She gave me a cup of instant noodles. Oppss, that cup of instant noodles wasn’t for free. The things that happened immediately after those unfortunate events have already been erased from my head. I don’t know why I can no longer recall any of them.

Back to the present time… I’m now feeling perfectly well. Pefectly well that I’m back to the normal me. Waiting for the clock to tick at 6P.M. Haha. One and a half hours to go man. Yahooo.

Cheers!

I have been here in Kuala Lumpur for 3 weeks already. That short duration is enough for me to say that I have had enough dose of curry. Every food here has curry. Even their rice here has curry.  I feel like I’m gonna throw up if I’m going to eat one more curry dish.

So, the solution…

I cooked my own food last night and this morning. Fried chicken and steamed rice – plain white rice. Please take note of that because it’s hard to find plain steamed white rice here. About the fried chicken, it’s just your basic fried chicken. Nothing extraordinary. A little salt did the magic.

And voila! Here it is. Wonderful. If you can only taste  it, you will know that it’s more delicious than KFC. Hehe.

I have installed a Wordpress plugin here in my site called Mowser Wordpress Mobile. This handy plugin can detect mobile phones and redirect to the Mowser homepage.

“Mowser mobilizes the web by taking HTML pages normally viewed on a PC and adapts them so they work on a mobile phone. During this translation process, Mowser converts the page in a predictable, linear manner, details of which can be found on the Mowser Publisher Wiki, and you can follow the official Mowser Blog here as well. In order to ensure that the highest quality and most useful web page is displayed on your mobile phone or device, Mowser may alter images, text formatting and/or certain aspects of web page functionality, or forward to a publisher’s mobile version instead.” (www.mowser.com)

Since I have been using my mobile phone in surfing the internet lately, this plugin is really beneficial to me.

If you would like to install this plugin into your website, simply checkout this link.

You will surely see me every weekend here. Very nice mall. I love shopping at the Supermarket by Cold Storage at The Gardens. Only a few people are buying grocery items there. It’s like Rustan’s in Makati. It’s maybe because of the price. But I’m after the comfort. So forget the cents you will save when you go to Carrefour. Hehe.

I also like the IT World. I feel like buying a new laptop, and a new PDA – Samsung PDA, and a new ipod. Heaven knows how happy I was when I went there. But the truth is I’m not going to buy any of the items above. Hehe. That’s plain luxury.

There are so many restaurants that I want to try there, too. But I don’t have the time yet. So, I’m starting to make a map in my mind of the restaurants that I will be visiting soon. I have a very long list already. And each time I go to this mall, the list just gets longer and longer.

More pics here.
 

A simple dot might be the answer.

Or probably a straight line lying on the x axis.

Steep slope, maybe.
 

Last Wednesday, I, together with two other Filipino colleagues, went to the Immigration Office of Malaysia at Putra Jaya to apply for Expatriate Identification Card. Actually, we can get there via train but we opted to take a cab. Less hassle, less irritating odor, less walk…

The trip to the Immigration Office was in itself an experience. I was amazed by how the cab driver speaks English. He is very fluent. His vocabulary is very extensive. Not only that, he also knows a lot of things about the Philippines especially the political issues it is currently facing. He knows Gloria. “The tough lady,” he said. “The tough and greedy lady,” I countered. He believed that every leader should be greedy but in a positive way. Greedy to help the people. Greedy to better the country. But I told him that is not the case of Gloria.

Then the discussion shifted to business. When I told him about the current status of the Malaysian stock market and the Malaysian Ringgit, it made him speak more. Their currency was in a decade high a week ago but went down to a seven-month low after the election. We then discussed the results of the last election here in Malaysia. He said that it only means that the people want change. Imagine, 5 states were won by the opposition. This is another first in the history.

After the lengthy discussions, the spotlight shifted to the wonderful sceneries along the way. We even stopped by the Putra Jaya Bridge to take pictures. (Of course the taxi meter continues to tick while the driver was waiting for us).

And we finally reached the Immigration Office. It was a nice building. All except the wash rooms are clean. The following picture is not the Immigration Office. Hehe. But it is another government building.

The actual processing of our expatriate cards was very fast. Maybe less than 20 minutes. Very convenient.

We headed back to the office immediately after getting our cards. Another three hours of waiting before the clock ticks at 6P.M. Haha. Laziness syndrome.

That’s all for now folks.

more pics here.

We had another lunch out last Monday. A farewell lunch for a colleague who will be leaving our team very soon. He is the same person who’s turning over a lot of tasks to me. Hehe.

Ok, so we had it in a vegetarian restaurant in Carrefour. No meat. As in no single trace of meat. That’s why it’s called vegetarian restaurant, right? But the dishes imitate the taste of chicken, fish, and other seafood. Everyone ordered brown rice. I was the only one who ordered an extra cup of brown rice. Mahirap kasing magutom sa office. Wala man lang malapit na convenience store or Starbucks man lang. But there are vendo machines at the ground floor.

Everyone had hot green tea for their drink except for the pregnant colleague who had warm soy milk. The green tea didn’t taste that good but I had no choice but to drink it. Hay… After the main course, we had sea coconut for dessert. Don’t ask me what that is or where it came from, because until now I still don’t know the answer.

I thought everything went well until I realized that the food made my stomach upset. You know how it feels to hmm.. Never mind. Better not discuss it here.

Because I have nothing to do today (our server in Taiwan is down), I decided to list the places I want to visit in the future.

Thailand. Since I can get there easily via train, I think it is just logical to make it on top of my list. Maybe I will just have to arrange everything for this trip and the next time you’ll visit this blog, you will see elephants and ancient temples.

Singapore.The duration of a trip to Singapore from KL is just like my weekly trip from Makati to Lucena. It’s just a 4-hour bus ride. Not sure if traffic jam has already been factored into that figure. Even though I’ve been to Singapore, I think there are still so many places there that I need to visit.

Dubai. Maybe brother Jong will be kind enough to shoulder my airfare. Haha. If so, Dhey will surely ask brother Jong to pay for her ticket as well.

Canada. Abaut has already promised that she will take care of the accommodation and food. If she decides to include the air ticket in the package, then Jong and I will surely visit her.

South Korea. Aren’t you intrigued by autumn leaves you usually see in koreanovelas? I want to experience it first-hand.

New Zealand. Maybe in three years’ time. Haha. Mooooo. Mooooooo… I wonder how milk tastes like straight from the cow.. Haha.. Wild!

The whole Europe. I want to experience it in a very slow pace. Taking the train, I think, is the best bet. I want to see myself wearing very thick clothes. Feeling gwaping siguro yon..

Hong Kong. I should go there before Lea leaves for the Philippines for good. Hehe… Should take advantage of the free accommodation (and maybe food, too).

An avid listener of Star FM calls the station to participate in the program “Third Eye.”

(The phone rings)

DJ: Magandang umaga po mam.
Madam*: Ano full name mo?

(The caller states her full name)

Caller: Madam, yong karelasyon ko po kasi ay madalas humihingi sa kin ng pera. Mahal po ba nya ako.
Madam: Kung sa pagmamahal, 50-50. Ikaw ba sa nakaraan mo ay nakaranas na ng pagkabigo? Kung oo, ito ang magiging dahilan ng iyong pagkabigo. Ang lalaking karelasyon mo ay may anak sa dating karelasyon. (The fortune teller’s statements are incoherent. haha)
Caller: Sa negosyo po naman madam, swerte po ba ako?
Madam: Kelangan mo pang dagdagan ang iyong sipag at tiyaga.
Caller: Ok po madam.
DJ: Maraming salamat at magandang umaga Ms. Caller.

(After the call, Madam and the DJ continue their discussion)

DJ: Mag boyfriend-girlfriend pa lang, nanghihingi na ng pera. Ang kapal naman.
Madam: Oo nga. Ang kapal ng mukha.

(The DJ plays a new song)

(That song was brought to you by Cossack Vodkha, iba ang lipad.)

*The Fortune Teller

————————————
Ang pakikinig sa Star FM ay isang uri ng pampalipas ng oras habang nagpepetiks sa work . Araw-araw ‘to. Haha.

I woke up after a very short nap. You were the first thing that came to my mind. I don’t know why. Fear. Maybe that explains it all. I’m afraid of losing you. I’m afraid that one day you will be gone. I’m afraid I will no longer be able to kiss you, to hug you, nor to see you. Kind of uneasy feeling.

I just reached for a bottle of cold water from the fridge and put some on a clear glass. I took a few gulps, went to the living area and drooped at the couch.

But the thoughts of you lingered. The clear blue sky outside reminded me of your smile- how it can brighten my day.

The cool, dry wind reminded me of you breath. I miss it so much that I closed my eyes thinking you are just some centimeters away from me. Whispering gently the words “I love you.” And I said back “I love you, too.”

And, surely, it made my day.

I had the chance to watch “The Kite Runner” just this morning. This was after figuring out how to extract .rXX (where XX is any positive integer including 00) files. Credit goes to www.moviecodec.com.

Ok so let’s talk about the movie…

The movie is about two innocent young boys, Amir and Hassan, who live in Kabul, Afghanistan. They are friends. Good friends. Amir is a well-to-do Afghan boy while Hassan is the son of Amir’s father’s servant. They enjoy kite flying so much that it eats most of their time. Amir also likes to write. Hassan loves to hear Amir’s stories. Obviously, they get along with each other like brothers.

Enough about the details. Better watch it yourself.

What I liked about the movie is that it can really move you. The plot is so good you will feel what it is like to live in a chaotic country called Afghanistan. It also made me realize how blessed I am to have a comfortable life and to have a family I can call my own.

And the one line from the movie that got marked in my mind is the title of this entry. To me, this means true friendship.

I did my laundry last night. And I enjoyed it. No sweat. Why? Because of the fully automatic washing machine.

I went to the grocery store at Mid Valley Megamall this afternoon. And I enjoyed it. Why? Because it is so comfortable to do shopping there. I also bought whey protein at GNC. It is much cheaper here than the GNC shops back in the Philippines.

I ironed all my office clothes just some minutes ago. And I enjoyed it. Why? I just enjoyed it. Hehe. Seriously, I’m used to doing things on my own ever since.

By the way I subscribed to a voice-and data postpaid plan here. Kinda cheap. It means I can hook up to the internet anywhere here in Malaysia. Ain’t that cool? Not very fast though. But it is very convenient.

Tomorrow is another day. I’m still thinking of a good place where I can hang around.
 

My INGENIUM team (Funds Unit) treated me to lunch last Friday at Secret Recipe located in Sri Petaling. This restaurant has local and western dishes and it is famous for its mouth-watering cakes. By just simply looking at the cakes, you will know that they really taste good. And It didn’t fail me. I had a slice of their best-selling cake called Marble Cheese Cake. Believe me, this is the best cheese cake I have ever tasted.

During that time, I learned that two of my teammates are vegetarian. They said it is a personal choice. So, I asked them further to give me specific reasons. My team leader told me that she has so many reasons. One of which is to lessen global warming. It may sound a bit weird but that one is valid. I just thought to myself that is a very noble decision..

Since I am the only Filipino in the group, I’m not expecting to understand everything they are talking about. Too many times they will speak in Mandarin, Cantonese, Bahasa Malaysia, and countless other languages. But I have already accepted that fact. And I don’t look at it negatively. Whenever I’m in that kind of situation, I just think of things that can make my day brighter. Say, for example, my family back in the Philippines. Or my friends. Or my special friend. Or Los Banos. Or my room. Or the South Luzon Expressway. I’m starting to learn that there are so many things that can make me happy. I don’t have to dwell on the negative things a lot of times. I can now think of May or June. The months I’m looking forward for me to go back home. I can think of the characters in the book “Life of Pi” that I’m currently reading. I can think of Mocha Frappuccino and its sweet, bitter taste and its soothing aroma. I can think of the free internet connection I can get at Starbucks. I can think of the grocery store at the ground floor of the Pearl International Hotel along the Old Klang road. I really love the smell of grocery stores.  And I’m starting to miss Landmark Supermarket in Makati. And I miss Parksquare 2 which I guess is now totally collapsed.

And I’m missing so many things now. But these things won’t prevent me from taking steps forward.

I’m glad that I’m now marching in the beat of my dreams and goals in life. I’m already back on track. The right track that is. Right track. Yes. Right track.

At 3P.M., I left our condo and headed to the Pearl International Hotel to have my lunch and to buy some grocery items (there’s a mall and a grocery store at the ground floor of the hotel).  Right after having lunch, I bought myself mocha frappuccino at Starbucks. The main reason is for me to hook up into the internet for free.

I can perfectly recall that it was really hot outside when I left our condo. And I felt that time that it is best for me to stay at the hotel. So I stayed there and enjoyed my coffee.

I asked my sister to chat with me. I also asked her to call the whole family so that we can see each other. Of course, Boom-boom was there too. He is now 7 months old and weighs 8.5kg. His teeth are starting to grow making him so irritable. But he manages to smile every once in a while. And his smile is very contagious.

There are so many mobile company shops here in the ground floor. I actually inquired about their wireless internet service. Unfortunately, they will require me deposit a big amount of money because I’m not a local. But that’s ok. Another problem is that my passport is still in the immigration for the stage 2 processing of my visa. So, maybe I will just have to wait for two weeks.

Four hours has passed and I’m still sitting here in Starbucks. Taking advantage of the free internet service. The bad news is that heavy rain is pouring outside – just like typhoon – and my mocha frappuccino has already melted and is no longer cold.

I hope I can easily get a taxi later.

—————————–
It’s is true that a blogger has more time to blog when he is in a foreign land than when he’s home.

I had the privilege to stay at the Pearl International Hotel for one week. It is located at the Old Klang Road in KL. Here are some nice pictures I took while I was there. Enjoy.

Updating myself about the new movies being shown in the Philippines is very simple. How? I just regularly checkout the movie schedule of Ayala cinemas in Manila and look for 1 or 2 interesting movies in the list. Then, I download them through the internet. Thanks to Azureus Vuze.

Yesterday, I watched “Across the Universe.” It is a musical film which is a 2007 Academy Award-nominated film. I was wondering why it is aired in Manila only just now. But anyway, the good thing is that I saw this wonderful movie.

The movie speaks about different but related stories of several characters. It touches a number of elements from war to romance, from life to death, and from passive to active expression of one’s belief, among others.

What has captivated me so much about the movie is that every scene of the movie is a piece of art. Each rendition of popular songs is wonderfully done. Each scene is bursting with lively colors. And each line the actors utter is so perfect that I feel like I’m in the very scene.

This is truly an amazing movie. So, what are you waiting for? Download a copy of the movie now, buy yourself popcorn and soda, and relax at the couch while watching it.

This is all for now…Cheers!

A consultant from Taiwan celebrated his birthday last Thursday. The whole team treated him for lunch. We had it at Station 1 (restaurant’s name) in Puchong (the town’s name?). I ordered chicken chop. It is something like teriyaki chicken served with mashed potato and coleslaw. Because it didn’t include rice, I ordered one separately. I also had blended cappuccino and sky ice (water with lemon).

When we were about to go back to the office, it rained. Good thing my teammates have their cars. Yes, everyone here has his own car. They said that it is a must. Well, maybe it doesn’t apply to me. Haha.

Got back to the office sleepy, tired and sick. Yes, I got fever and cough. Unfortunate me.

At around 2PM I started counting the number of hours before I can leave the office. At exactly 6PM, I left the office and tried to get a cab. I was only able to get a cab at almost 7PM. I was wondering why it is so hard to get something when you need it the most. Heck, one of the taxi drivers even asked me to add RM3.00 to the meter before I can ride his taxi. Stupid. Of course, I did not take his cab. I waited for another one. But to no avail. I decided to call a taxi. I forgot that for on-call taxis, I need to add RM2.00. And the cost of my call is more than RM1.00. It was not the first driver who should be called stupid. It’s me. Argggh.

I was able to return to the hotel past 7PM. I just changed my clothes and went to bed. I wasn’t able to have a decent dinner because I didn’t have the energy to go to a restaurant at the hotel’s lobby. . Just some pastries, grapes and fresh milk.

After eating, I watched two good programs aired in Discovery Channel. After which, I just slept. It’s really hard to be sick, especially when you’re in a foreign land.

I woke up the next day feeling so sluggish. I didn’t want to report for work because I wasn’t feeling well. But I didn’t want to take a leave on my first week (or my first month). Another thing is that I didn’t know where to get a medical certificate. So, I reported for work and, again, waited for the clock to tick at 6PM.

But don’t think that I’m doing nothing here. I finished my task in just two hours but it is due mid-March. Haha. Kinda boring task.

Oooppss.. After saving this entry as draft, my teammate, who will soon be leaving, called me to discuss another task. And this task is by far more difficult. FUNDS. And take note that the Business Requirement is written in Mandarin. Argghh. Anyhow, someone will translate it for me. It will surely be a challenging one.