sometimes, I feel like I don't give my mom enough credit. one, she loves National Geographic channel. it is such a breath of fresh air since I've had too many situations where I have to tune out from the drama series cited by my aunties.

so, we were watching NatGeo yesterday, about looking the last European leopard. I was telling my mom that I've never thought about looking at Azerbaijan ever and was nicely surprised at the location.

we were watching the TV, me as a couch potato, and saw this man aged 51 years old who can jump from one tree to another quite easily. it was to see him going around and my mom was saying that he is sprightly despite his age.

suddenly...

' has this man ever been to Malaysia? has he ever had any coconut water?'

really mom? how did that happened? they were hunting leopard and all you can think is if Babakhan has ever had coconut water?

P/S: they got the footage of the last Europe leopard.

office mystery 1

there has been whispers all around the floor. i mean, not really whispers because all i can hear is the sounds of fingers hitting the keyboards but that's another story.

there were rumours about people leaving the bottles containing important ingredients for beverage(s) not being tightened properly. i mean, i don't really understand the concern since i do not really pay attention to screwed or unscrewed containers. fyi, i usually walk around the place as if in a daze, wondering what do i really want to do in life? what is the right time to have middle life crisis? what is the right amount of dip you need on a medium size nachos? what size do we start considering a piece of nachos as medium?

basically the more important parts in life.

anywhoo, it has been two weeks and people are currently still investigating on the culprit(s). apparently the suspect:

1) goes to the pantry between 7.15am to 7.30 am as people have made complaints of such occurrence of loose lids after the abovementioned time.

i come at the times i feel convenient. the perks of having flexible hours. and sometimes i work from home, at the comfort of my house. by comfort i mean sleeping in until its time to panic due to flurry of emails.

2)

basically that's it.

i don't know what will happen but it seems that there have been suspects. one person has been eliminated from the list but we are all watching.

well, in my case, Youtube.

so long, farewell. weekend has just started.

'did she miss me?'

if you come here for a heart-wrenching story about someone missing their ex-girlfriend, I'm sorry to tell you, it does not exist.

actually, I'm not sorry. Why should I?

where were we?

ok. so, we will be having gift exchange next month. the usual theme, Secret Santa. will not be a secret by the way. usually, before the day of picking up the names of the Secret Santa, everybody knows theirs already. but whatever. why miss a chance of being surprised once in a while. well apart from myself, that is. because I get surprised every time I see my bank account. of horror, let's be clear on that.

so back to the main story, HR passed the box containing the names for once. I'm half tempted to just put in a tissue in the box just to scare everyone but decided against it. boss was directly behind me, sipping his cocoa (at 3 pm? can you believe that? but it's 9.30 pm somewhere anyways) and I got someone's name. someone new so we know I don't have the slightest idea who that is so yeah...

so the woman beside me, we were chatting. understandably, it's Friday. we are just empty vessels sitting at our desks. we were discussing something important (does eating yogurt makes you fat kind of important?) when I mentioned I have to start looking for gift for a girl. and she asked:

' eh? she didn't come by?'

' wait. maybe she will make her round later.' not realizing that the woman I was talking to did not leave her seat the whole time. it was as if she was covered by an invisible cloak.

' did she miss me? how?' a hint of panic there. the woman can be so sweet. she was afraid that HR will then have to go through who has not picked any name and it will add to the trouble.

' give her a minute' when I saw her peeking from the high wall of her cubicle towards HR,' she's having tea,' she told me over Lync.

' relax. once she completely forgot me when passing around the birthday cards for signing. maybe it's your turn now,' I said. it was meant to be a tongue-in-the-cheek comment but noooooo she went full fledged panic.

' do I go up to see her? do I email her? now?'

' relax. let her finish her shortbread. then email her. but if you want to do it now, I cannot control you.'

you see, for every action there is a reaction. I know it's Newton's Law but unsure which one and too lazy to check anyway.

update: she's just fine. HR came by to give her the box ten minutes later. right around the time I was about to order Xanax online. 

blackout

I have to say, life at the office can be pretty dull..and I mean this in the broadest possible way ever.

Anyways, dull office life, the slow thump-thump in the ribcage as the corporate world continues to consume our souls and all, tapping away on the keyboard and leaving the dreams, we noticed the light flickering. It has started flickering since seven am (most of the people here got in at around seven, semi flexible working arrangement) but no one cared enough to make any noise. we pretty much keep things to ourselves or within the windows of Lync.

it was around nine that I noticed the increase in temperature and while I was discussing with a friend on a certain report to be sent out that morning, we noticed the office keep switching on and off, revving as it do so. naturally, I panicked, saving the documents I was working on a few times because it was an important client (a client originating from the nation between Malaysia and Indonesia. they can *cough* be quite a challenge) and admittedly, I let out a huge breathe after I click send on the report. we are just praying for no immediate *cough* comment.

again, the lights continue to flicker and at one point, some lights went off. I continue to type with one hand while the other hand started putting things into my handbag, just in case the management let us continue our work at home. but it was just false alarm.

the air was thick with anticipation and adrenaline (adrenaline from typing as much as we can while continue to hit save repeatedly). and the other part anticipating an announcement letting us go home.

we were like kids in school, waiting for the bell to ring.

we were like kids at college, waiting for a lecture to end. setting an alarm at the end of the lecture; that happened.

we were like kids, waiting for recess.

we were like kids...ok basically we are actually all kids in a grown up body.

at one point, i closed my eyes and covered my eyes with my palm; just a habit. and I was confused for a few minutes afterwards because I was pretty sure I opened my eyes but all I can see is darkness.

a bit of an exaggeration there but you get it.

it was dark, except from lights from the window and from the emergency exit. we immediately rushed for the front door, letting the light go in and pretending to appear flustered by the heat when all we can think of is 'let us go back.' some even suggested lunch but I was more excited for the going home option.

I ended up socializing with a friend, asking about Fantastic Beasts. it almost became a picnic when someone tore open the chips and chocolates. I have no idea how we have those ready but it was God sent.

from the pantry, we moved to the reception area, placing ourselves as near as possible to the door so we would not miss any announcements of being able to work from the comfort of our homes. in the darkness, our eyes shone of hope (actually of the light from the emergency exit but for the sake of this entry, just let it be from hope). we were hopeful, hardly able to stand still.

chips being passed around while we can hear people laughing, a rarity at such hour. but this was a special day, which may not come again for several months. it almost felt like a joyous occasion, except we shared the joy in the dark.

alas, the light flickered back and everything was bright again. I can see the obvious disappointment on our faces once the power came back on. I can't believe we were that excited to go home.

oh the power failure was because of the defect in the air conditioning system. and we continue to be working in the warm environment for the next several hours until three pm.

Careful when walking to the pantry

you know, pantry, the only place colleagues visit in throngs, with mugs in their hands.

zombie-like in the morning, zombie-like in the evening.

and so, it was the usual story; needs coffee to fuel my body with energy. ouh save the caffeine-dependent souls.

walked into the pantry, nearly walked into the wall because of sleepiness.i was just about to have my fair share of coffee when a colleague who was sitting down, got up.

'careful there,' he said (casually? not casually?).

i was alarmed. did he know what happened last night? that i sabotaged my diet with fries and tons of cheese?

'w..whyyyy?' i asked, with heart pounding against my ribs without the help of caffeine.

' i just farted in there.'and he just walked away, dead pan look.

and i just stood there with my mug, too late to move away from the wafting smell.

Yokohama, resting in port city

Yokohama was fine. The port city is of course, a little bit cold. but not as cold as Tokyo (no nosebleed so that counts I guess).

Spent a few hours looking at this.





Admittedly, there were not many things to look at but Ramen Museum and Cupnoodle Museum are very educational. Entrance to museums are not free; not as much as we can find in Tokyo.

Be right back. Still fatigue from all the travelling.

Lengloi tulisan Maria Kajiwa

Lengloi biasanya dikaitkan dengan perempuan cantik. Ya, betul. Memang perempuan yang dipanggil Lengloi itu cantik tetapi...

Kedai buku merupakan salah satu tempat lepak yang saya sukai. Jadi, tidak salah rasanya kalau saya lihat-lihat koleksi cerita seram yang berada di pasaran. Bagi sesiapa yang mempunyai abang atau kakak atau ibu bapa yang gemar cerita hantu, anda boleh dapatkan ulang cetak Siri Bercakap Dengan Jin dari Tamar Jalis.

Sebenarnya bukan itu yang ingin diberikan perhatian tetapi yang ingin diceritakan adalah buku Lengloi tulisan Maria Kajiwa. Bahasanya kemas, jalan ceritanya bagus malah dialek untuk setiap bangsa cocok sekali digandingkan bersama. Dari gaya penulisan, memang jelas kelihatan Lengloi disiapkan dengan penuh sabar. Garapannya teratur dan membuatkan saya teruja untuk tahu apa akan jadi seterusnya.

Sekalipun mungkin boleh diagak siapakah yang mengganggu Muthu, namun Maria Kajiwa tetap membuatkan saya ingin meneruskan pembacaan tentang Lengloi. Dari seorang pemilik kedai kemudian berpindah ke seorang lagi, Lengloi sentiasa menjadi igauan ngeri setiap pemilik kedai. Bukan itu sahaja, tok sami dan tok bomoh yang dipanggil juga nampaknya tidak mampu untuk menghalau Lengloi.

Saya suka garapan cerita ini; sangat teratur gaya bagaimana setiap yang terlibat dikaitkan dengan Lengloi (samada mereka terlihat atau terserempak dengan Lengloi). Bagaimana Pak Kassim yang sentiasa ada berdepan dengan Lot 55 dan sentiasa ada dengan penyewa-penyewa yang baru.

Jelas kelihatan usaha yang dicurahkan untuk menulis Lengloi bukan sedikit. Yag membuatkan cerita ini lebih seram adalah bilamana dikatakan cerita ini berdasarkan kisah benar.

Harapan saya cuma satu; supaya kita dapat lihat lebih banyak buku ditulis secara 'bermaruah' seperti Lengloi.