From Private to Public

I happened to read an article that caught my eyes and my brains (and of course, my boobs and even my breath…).

"Don’t you need to make a work-related call right now?  Get the number, pick up the receiver, dial and speak.  If you are still reading this, chances are you are one of a number of people for whom using the telephone is an anxious prospect." - Taipei Times (Click to read the rest of the story.)

I knew for that instance, that this article was talking all about ME.

I have great difficulties talking on the phone, especially with strangers and when it comes to work-related and formal stuffs.  I didn’t know I have phone phobia until I started working and when calling clients and authorities up is a requirement and a common job in my office.

I simply H.A.T.E it.  And if it’s possible, I’d rather not use the phone.  Email and meeting the person face-to-face are much easier for me.

Why?  You may ask.  At first, I couldn’t identify the reasons behind my fear of the telephone.  Then after reading this article and seriously think about it, I agree with what the article have to say.

1. Discomfort from the phone comes from being unable to see the person at the other end.  That’s true.  At least I know for me.  Since young, I’ve been taught how to interact with people when I meet them.  Never have I been told about the courtesy on the phone.  So now, it’s a new skill I’ve got to slowly acquire.  Gosh, really tough job.
2. When calling someone in authority.  That is yet another point that hits me on my head.  My job is more about pleasing the client than giving instructions/advice to them.  In other words, it’s all about customer service and business.  Look, I’m not a sales girl or have anything to do with the customer service department.  And the nature my job is to be consulted, not being ordered or pushed to get something done, or what to put into the report and what not to.  You see, if I don’t speak nicely and gently, I might lose the business and eventually, I might be fired as well.  "To ensure the business is portrayed at its best" created great anxiety in me.

Do you have the same problem too?

Well… I only hope that after a few more months, my tele-communication skills would improve… ‘coz I really want to receive an increment in my salary!!

I can’t really remember when was the last time I went for caroling.  The only memory I had was the laughter when we wished the house owner "Happy Birthday" instead of "Merry Christmas" (if you know know Mandarin, you’ll know what I mean).  I truly miss the time I had with them.

This time, I joined the Youth caroling with hope to give the committee a hand to lighten their burden.  However, it turned out differently.  I was sick two or three days before caroling started and instead of helping to keep an eye on the whole event, I was the one being taken care of.  *Sigh*  Pathetic, eh?

Perhaps there’s some good in that too.  There is a saying that goes: "Every cloud has a silver lining."  If I wasn’t sick, perhaps I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself… the food, the fellowship, and not forgetting the karaoke we’ve had in the bus.  *Grin*  I was kind of glad to know that I still can sing even though I hadn’t totally recovered then.  And those newly-found friends I’ve met… they are fun to be with!  Makes me feel like I’m 18 again! *Giggle*

[Streamyx isn't stable again, so I gotta get this posted as soon as possible before the line is cut off again.  Stay tuned for more stories to come!]

I’ve decided to reopen this blog of mine.  The reasons?  Because I’ve met somebody who is/are important to me.  *Grinned*  You know what I mean.  Or… maybe you don’t.

Well, let’s just say that I want more attention from people.  I mean, from certain people.  No, I mean… from… *Sigh* Forget it.  Just read for yourselves for the posts to come.  And I appreciate any kind of feedbacks, positive or negative.

For all my friends out there whom I’ve not contacted, a Merry and Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!

I’m no longer blogging here in Friendster. Please type the link above into the URL box to go to the new site, and bookmark it if you’re planning to come back for more. Thank you for your support!

All Aquatic students just came back from the 3-day 2-night trip (I think ‘vacation’ is a more suitable word) to Bako National Park. It was a new experience for me… I’ve never been to any national parks before. It’s kind of pathetic, isn’t it? I’m a Sarawakian but have not been to many places in Sarawak itself.

How was the trip, you may ask. For a person who’s not into hiking, I’d tell you that it’s really boring. The first day we reached there, we started hiking to get to Teluk Pandan Kecil. If I’m not mistaken, it took us about 4 hours to go there and to get back. A tiring walk and climb, thanks God I made it. And luckily it was much better compared to my thesis sampling trip. No, no. I’ve never enjoyed hiking. The best parts of the whole trip were watching fireflies at the beach, sitting at the swing and just watch the sea, walking along the beach and seeing the beautiful rock formation and photo-taking, as well as the boat rides.

Oh well, all these don’t matter much anyway. The best of the best parts was that we enjoyed the friendship. I’m really really thankful to those who helped me (and May) who are not strong enough. Yan, thank you for volunteering to carry my big bottle for me. To Sarah, Su Yin and Ah Mau, thank you for keeping an eye on me and being patient with me. For the macho guys: Pali, Nassa, Heri, and Zul, thanks for the love you’ve shown by helping, you’re the best!!! Honestly, I admit that I’m not close with most of the classmates, but I will always cherish the moments we have been through together as friends.

Alrights, time for photos… here are some of the photos which I like very much…

The boat ride.. on the way to Bako National Park.

The entrance to Bako NP… dun mention about the 3 crazy people…

The beach at low tide.

The sea cliff.

Mount Santubong can be seen clearly from the beach on a clear day.

The handsome Proboscis monkey… endemic to Borneo’s Mangrove forests…

The one and only green snake… the most poisonous snake in the Park.

Have you ever seen how does a wild pig look like? Here it is…

Sunset at Teluk Assam; taken from where we were taking our dinner.

The beach at low tide, but look, the water is coffee-coloured!

Me and my beloved classmates and lecturer.

Alrights, everybody! I’m reactivating my Friendster blog. Oh well, it’s not for myself. I just don’t feel that it’s fair for my other non-Catholic friends if I keep on blogging at my Catholic blog. For those of you who don’t like receiving the notification about me updating my blog, kindly switch the notification off from the Settings.

I hope you’ve also noticed that I’ve changed the blog title to something else… something more interesting… ahahaha.. nay, actually that’s nothing. I’m hoping that through this blog I can voice out my opinions and my disatisfaction. Don’t you agree that it’s not good for one to keep everything to oneself? Stressful, man!

Alrights.. I hope I can update this site once a week, so come back here once a week! Or.. you can come back when you’ve got the notification of updates.. Till then, everyone, take care and God bless!

Yeps, can’t wait for holiday to come! Finally, the finals for 1st semester is over. I’ll spend my day time in the laboratory, and my night time in front of the TV (wow, isn’t that a good rhyme?).

I watched Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (DVD borrowed from my housemate) just now. Wow the movie was good! Another 2 more to go (The Two Towers & The Return Of The King)! Perhaps tomorrow. Enough for today. I still have a lot of HK series awaiting me! Hahahaha… I’m going to watch TV and movies like MAD!!!!! That is to compensate for the shows I’ve missed!

Alrights, that’s it for the time being. Need to update my Catholic blog. More updates coming soon.

TUE, 20 - I was so excited when I first knew that Unimas has started using wireless service and that students can also use this utility. I searched everywhere and asked everyone about the price of a wireless adapter (cos my laptop doesn’t have an internal one). Eager to get one myself and have the experience to get connected wirelessly. After months of surveying, I finally got one (Thank you ko!).

Happily I came here to Keranji Cafe early. Disappointed. Found at least 10 other students already here. My plan of getting the most strategic seat failed. Sat down, got everything set up, but couldn’t get connected to the internet. Wasted my money on sms to ask what was wrong with the connection. Then realised that my wireless adapter connected to the wrong network (there were 3 networks altogether). Reconnected. Took 1/2 hour to log on to TM Hotspot. Alrights! I thought I could do what I came here for but when I took a look at my battery… 40% left. I opened one browser. Gosh! The page took longer to load than expected! I managed to check my mails, replied my best pal’s mail, found some pages using Yahoo search but not what I wanted. *Sigh* And there goes my 2 hours at Keranji… To search for information for my assignment? Yeah, rights… if only I was early enough to fight for the VIP seat…

Satisfied for being able to be wirelessly connected? Yeah sure, at least I’ve done that with my own laptop. By the way, does it always take so long to get connected (wirelessly) for the first time?! So, you must be happy about it. Happy?! Hell, no! Not with the stupid slow speed and the damn-it blood-suckers (mosquitoes)!!!!

*Sigh* What else can I say? The only conclusion I can make is that in terms of education and information, Unimas is a good competitor (with other local and foreign universities); in terms of facilities such as wireless and internet connection and providing a suitable and comfortable place for students, *sigh* it’s really disappointing. Or maybe, it is just us (our batch of students) who are unfortunate enough to be in this ‘transitional period’. Or perhaps, we shouldn’t put the blame on Unimas alone since many local universities are having a similar problem. The government’s fault for being so slow at upgrading the internet systems? Impossible. They have done their best to come up with streamyx.

Arrgghh… whateverz! I’m not gonna think of it anymore… it’s draining all my energy away…

These are the moon cakes given to us by family and friends, the green coloured one (snow moon cake) is made by my mom.

These are the ones you’ve never seen before cos…. they are made specially and uniquely by my mom. Made using agar-agar.

And for this one… I found it in the fridge where that was the only two pieces left. They ended up in my stomach after this picture was taken. Haha.

Happy Mooncake Fest to everyone celebrating it from all around the world!

Got the news from my friends who are staying in the new college (kolej). Some weeks ago, 2 same cases happened to the students of the new college. You girls who are staying in the same area, please please be careful.

What kind of society are we having today??? These cases are increasing daily, now even happen in the campus, schools, and to the people of special needs. I believe there are much more cases of such that are happening all over the world, including Malaysia, but the criminals got away unreported.

Who should be held responsible to this particular social illness? Ladies for exposing too much of their bodies? If that’s the case, it should be tracked back to the fashion designers who brought that kind of fashion to live in the first place. Or ladies who travelled alone at dark places and alleys? What about the guys? Blame them for watching too much pornography? Or perhaps, we should blame the society that the guys grow up in? Or how about their parents?

First, I would blame the Evil one. They started it all. Then, I would blame the guys for submitting themselves to the works of the devils. Lastly, the girls are to be blamed too. Do you dress up to attract the attention of ‘wolves’, or as a protection for your body? Well, girls, don’t you think it’s your responsible too to stop (yes, STOP!) being a victim? Read my friend’s blog on penectomy. Perhaps, the only way to stop this from happening is REVENGE through PENECTOMY.

Well, guys, the choice is yours. Continue making the girls victims to your desires, and one fine day the girls will strike back. You just have to wait and see.

Ladies (doesn’t matter if you’re young or old), take care of yourselves too. Don’t give the guys a damn chance. Prevention is always better than cure.