2 weeks!!

So, I finally get to come online after 1+ weeks. Not too bad of an achievement for someone who used to have to come online EVERYDAY! Haha! Well, the result of not coming online for such a long time: 51 new e-mails, most of which are forwarded junk(!) and 32 spam mails. Compliance (i.e. peak season for tax) is not over yet. But the Form E filing deadline is only 2 days away. Yay! I got to come online today because I got to come back early. The whole building had no electricity after lunch and we were told that the power supply would only be back after 3-4 hours. So, no point hanging around in the almost-completely-in-darkness office. Walking down 22 floors in heels is a killer! I wish I didn't listen to my mum about not getting new shoes. I should have bought a pair that were heel-less even though my mum would have had a black cloud over her head for days (make that weeks!). Sigh! Oh well. At least I was walking down, not up (that would have been worse).

So, I finally got my grades for the last semester. Was expecting all Ds. Surprise surprise. I got 3 As, 2 Bs and 1 C. The C was for my least favourite paper. And if you knew me, you'd have known that it's audit.

Came back on Monday and was dead tired. Didn't want to do anything except sleep. My mum forced me to drink essence of chicken. Yucky stuff that is. Bleh!

Ooh! Someone finally signed my guestbook which has been on this blog for ages with only a message from Bravenet.

Off to do my EY web-based learning (deadline is end of March, I'm doomed!) and continue reading junk mails (I wonder why I do this).

Oh, I'm still enjoying work (though I get the occasional guilty feeling when I do something wrong, which is very often). So different from studying.

PHEW!

A HUGE sigh of relief! The pass/fail results for my first year advanced diploma is finally out and I am GLAD that I passed!!! Super tough papers, especially FMC & audit!

Have been OT-ing since last week. My eyes are practically drooping while I'm typing this. I'm tired. However, I'm enjoying my vacation training. You're right, Rhea, working in E&Y is quite fun. I'm learning so many things. I'm glad I took yours & my family's advice to do my vacationtraining there.

Slaughtered!

I went on my first trip to IRB Petaling Jaya on Friday. It was a bad one. It took me quite sometime to get a taxi from office. Most of the taxi drivers did not know where the place was as almost all of them were KL taxi drivers. So finally this taxi driver said he knows where Kelana Jaya is, that's where the IRB is. But when we were on the highway, it didn't seem like he knew where it was. He said he had to take the old airport road. I, having a bad sense of direction, didn't know how to get there either. Took us quite some time to finally get there after stopping at a petrol station to ask a guy how to get there. Well, he slaughtered me with the taxi fare, he said it's what he charges when he takes the old airport road. I am not gonna disclose how much I paid, though. It was a lucky thing I still had money to pay for my ride back, which wasn't as much as what I had paid for my ride to the IRB. I'm kinda afraid that I'll be unable to claim my fare back from the office as the amount seems really unreasonable!!!! *curses the taxi driver* Sshhhh....don't tell my mum or she'll probably kill me. How am I supposed to know how to take a taxi when the last time I took one was 9-10 years ago and that was in Singapore. Argh!!!!

Was telling my mum today that if I don't call at a certain time tomorrow, it meant that I'll be coming back a little later. Then she asked me what time would that be. I told I wouldn't know as it depends on how much work I have to do. I told her that some people work till 10 pm. Then she said "No, you can't come back that late. You're only a vacation trainee, you don't have to work till so late." When she said this, I was thinking, "That's as good as telling me that I'm only a vacation trainee so I don't have to take my work that seriously." That's total rubbish!

More people!

So, had orientation today. Another one more day of orientation tomorrow. Pretty boring. Anyway, more vacation trainees are joining the group I'm in - Tax (Human Capital). Yay! But I hope that doesn't mean that I'll be getting less work to do. It's a torture to sit through an hour plus with nothing to do (Monday was a pretty boring day). I'd rather have work to do than sit down and do nothing! I nearly had to sit through another torturous hour yesterday. Luckily I asked someone for work. *phew*

It is best NOT to tailgate a car in front of you. My father nearly banged the car in front of us yesterday when that car's driver suddenly hit the brakes (I could even hear the screeching sound). But I couldn't really tell whether my dad was tailgating 'cos from where I was sitting, I couldn't see. But just to be on the safe side, NEVER EVER TAILGATE!!!!!

So "duh!"

Really! Some people don't have the sense to not send me forwarded e-mails which are purely in Chinese when they know that I CANNOT read Chinese. Is it really that hard to filter out my e-mail address when forwarding? Sheesh!

Had a whole day of training today. Pretty boring, but found out loads of stuff I can/cannot do. After today's training, I found out that I've done so many things incorrectly already. Whoops! *guilt*

New crime in Malaysia

This is just terrible.
Got this from an e-mail from a friend.

by Geh Cheng Lok & Co, Advocates & Solicitors

"I just heard a few days ago that a new type of crime has surfaced in town. It goes something like this:- Somebody slips a handphone into your pocket. sometimes it could be just a wallet with an identity card and a few ringgits. A few minutes later, the 'owner' comes up and confronts you, the 'thief'.
He makes a big commotion that you stole his stuff. You, caught unaware, are then pulled aside by the 'owner' for a settlement you are intimidated and threatened that if you do not pay up the police will be brought in. If you pay up, this 'owner' lets you go. If not, the police are brought in.

Another strange thing is that there always seems to be a 'witness' to the your 'theft'. I am told this often happens to foreigners at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) or even at LRT trains. Given that you're 'guilty until proven innocent' as far as the Malaysian police are concerned, I understand some poor people are in jail for these 'offences'.

At the KLIA, the 'owner' throws his handphone and wallet with the few ringgit notes into the luggage trolley of a just arrived passenger. The drama unfolds a few minutes later. The real culprit has easily convinced our Malaysian police to arrest the real victim (if he has not paid up the
'settlement' demand). This is a very serious matter. This is another form of extortionists operating in broad daylight. They are disgusting criminals who will do anything to rob and steal. The sickening part of the whole scenario is that unless you pay the "settlement" money, they will put you in real trouble by calling the police. The real culprit gets back his handphone and wallet but the real victim ( i.e. could be any one of us) is thrown into the police lock up and charged in court.

So do be very careful, otherwise you may end up as a "thief" as you have no way to prove your innocence."

So, I finally got some work to do today. I'm appreciating it as I'm no longer bored at work anymore, though I still don't know how to do loads of things. I learnt how to use the printer! Whoppee!!!! It took me almost half an hour to figure out how to print. LOL.

80's babies

Another forwarded e-mail from a friend. I found most of these quite true. Only applicable to Malaysians. Man, those were the good 'ol days.

80's babies (1981..1982..1983..1984......1989)
Signs that you are a 80s' baby

You grew up watching G-Force, He-man, Transformers, Thundercats, Silver Hawk, Woody Woodpecker, Chipmunks and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget Ninja Turtles, Mask, Smurfs and Voltron too.

Girls watched Japanese cartoon like My Little Pony, "Xiao Tian Tian", "Hua Xian Zi" etc.

You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in primary school after recess time.

You squatted by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brushed your teeth with a colourful mug.

Remember the days when the school nurse, comes with a list for the dentist appointment, the sound of the drilling when your friend has a fill in his tooth.

You remember the packets of milk we get in primary school to encourage us to drink more milk. (It is only cost 30 cent per pack).

In secondary school, girls go to the library to borrow their favourite romance storybook.

In secondary school, girls altered their school skirt to shorten it and guys will go to the school appointed school uniform tailor shop to tailor make their school trousers to the then fashionable "baggy pants"!

During primary school days, the teacher will punish you using a ruler to hit your palm.

A bowl of noodles soup cost only 30 cents in primary school days.

When you were in primary school, girls like to go to the bookshop to buy cute stuff such as animal erasers, various shape sharpeners, colourful notebook etc.

Hankyu Jaya, Yaohan departmental stores used to be a favourite hangout for families during weekends.

In secondary school days, you buy the Bata BM Turbo or Pallas Jazz school shoes.
Some guys like to wear those china made ankle high shoes.
Some even like to wear those very thick socks with their school shoes.

Internet? E-mail? What the h*** is that?

So you thought a decade or more ago, your friends don't have pagers or handphones in school.

CDs? What's that? Cassette tapes were the norm. Movie tickets used to cost less than $5 last time.

The goodies from Mama shop used to be Chickerdis, Mamee , Kum Kum, UFO, O-Ya, Ding Dang chocolate balls with toys in the box, colourful hard "egg", "cigerette" bubble gum, KIKI Bubble Gum, pink bottle of bubbles c/w a small tubes with yellow sticks to blow "more lasting" bubbles that you can pop more air in or slam it on.

You never forget 'Ti Kam'.
When exams are over, the board games (e.g Monopoly, Donkey, Transportation Comparison Card) & handheld video games will be all over the class room.

Your favourite sound is the bell!
For it's the homemade ice cream man. The cream that tops Haagan Dazs!

And the other peddler you love is the old lady who sells juicy Muah Chee and thick olden syrup rolled in a balloon the tip of a chopstick stick.

Another bell is the recess bell, a time to get away from school work and to eat.

Another time when there is no bell but all guys will anxiously wait for it...The PJ (Pendidikan Jasmani), PE time.

Your favourite childhood games were playing "guli"(marbles), five stones, five bottle cover, zero-point, catching, "Pepsi-Cola one two three" and/or "Police & Sentry"!

The best thirst quencher of all times is the yummy colourful ice tubes you can buy from provision shops for only 10 cent. To eat them, break the tab and suck while holding the freezing tube!

All gals have a girl doll/strawberry shortcake/my little pony/pound puppy, while all boys have a soldiers figurine (combat) or a rubber band catapult that shoots folded paper!

Once was the era whereby ice-cream sticks were valueable items, then came the paper aircrafts, chalk fights.

Some boys made their own guns from wood, and used 'Bacali' as the bullets.

Some even used matches to shoot and burn kids'lanterns during MoonCake Festival.

And your favourite holiday was Lunar New Year! New clothes, Ang Pows, shopping, junk food and family outings!

Let's see, the majority of students in universities today were born in 1987 / 88.... They are called "youth".
For them, they have never heard of the song "We are the World, we are the Children..." And the "Uptown Girl" they know is by 'Westlife' but not 'Billy Joel'.
For them, there have always been only one Germany and only one Vietnam.
AIDS exists since they were born.
CD exists since they were born.
Michael Jackson is already whitened.
John Travolta is always round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance.
They believe that Spiderman and Incredible Hulk are just new films.
They can never imagine a black and white screen for a computer.
They never know what is Atari or 'Game & Watch'.
They can't believe a black and white television ever existed and they don't even know how to switch on a TV without a remote control.
And they never understand how we can go out without a mobile phone when we were in university...

My first day

So, my first day at work. How was it? OK lah. Half the day was spent on briefing. The other half, my fellow trainees and me spent reading the stuff we were given (rather boring). Was supposed to have orientation today but we were told that orientation is usually held once a month and is usually at the beginning of each month. So, we'll be having ours on March. So, yeah, that was my first day at work, in brief.
Met the people I'll be working with, those on the same floor. We were introduced to everyone but I can't remember names. The only names I can remember are my department's tax partner (Tan Lay Keng), the person in charge of me (Christopher) & a girl who came to say hello while I was at my work station (Chan Sze). There's about 20 people in that offfice, I think.

Like or Love?

My friend sent me this forwarded e-mail. Seemed meaningful enough to post.

The difference between "Somebody you love" & "Somebody you like"
In front of the person you love, your heart beats faster.

But in front of the person you like, you get happy.

In front of the person you love, winter seems like spring.

But in front of the person you like, winter is just beautiful winter.

If you look into the eyes of the one you love, you blush.

But if you look into the eyes of the one you like, you smile.

In front of the person you love, you can't say everything on your mind.

But in front of the person you like, you can.

In front of the person you love, you tend to get shy.

But in front of the person you like, you can show your own self.

You can't look straight into the eyes of the one you love.

But you can always smile into the eyes of the one you like.

When the one you love is crying, you cry with them.

But when the one you like is crying, you end up comforting.

The feeling of love starts from the eye.

But the feeling of like starts from the ear.

So if you stop liking a person you used to like, all you need to do is cover your ears.
But

If you try to close your eyes, love turns into a drop of tear and remains in your heart forever.

Auntie!

This morning, I went to the SS2 market with my mum. Was supposed to look for nice cheap clothes but didn't get anything.
Just as we were about to go home, my mum decided to buy garlic, onions, potatoes and ginger. I was standing by the side minding my own business when the girl at the stall suddenly asked me, "Oi mat yeh ah, auntie?" (Auntie, what do you want?). I was like, what? She called me an 아줌마!!!! How can? Do I look like an auntie?

Food and all

Went to collect my contact lenses last night then went for dinner at "William's" (the place actually doesn't have a name as it's only a stall, the owner's name in William). Not bad, the food, I was told. It's sort of like a mamak stall but has Italian food and also Chinese. It opens from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. It's located near the old Lim Kok Wing University building (I have no idea what the area is called). I ate garlic cheese naan, which I thought after the 4th piece was too jelak-y. My sis ate nasi lemak ayam with killer hot sambal and my mum ate cantonese yee mee, which wasn't too good. But it's the first time I've been there so I can't really judge the food yet.
The owner said I look like a Japanese (he's not the only one, I was once told that too by a tuition friend). C'mon, I look CHINESE!

I left my notebook on for the night as I was burning something for a friend. And when my idiotic brother woke up, he just had to off my power supply. And my battery had been running low. By the time I woke up, the battery had run out and my notebook had shut down. Lucky thing my disc had finished burning. PC, if you ever do that again, 넌 이제 죽었어 (you are dead meat)!

Went to collect my offer letter just now from E & Y. I've gotta go shopping for more working clothes. But there's no sale now!!!
Oh, I finally got my hair cut.

I got two calls!!!!

Went to KL today with my aunt, mum & sis. Went to the Immigration Office at Maju Junction. Man, that place is so convenient. you just have to park your car on the 6th floor and the office is just right there, in the car park. Then we headed off to the Dutch Embassy at Ampwalk to get something done for my cousin, who's in Holland. Had lunch at the Yellow Hat Cafe, a kopitiam style place. After that, my aunt bought a crystal lamp. Then we went to Lot 10 for some "shopping". Didn't really do much shopping at Lot 10. More of window shopping.

I had a call when I was in Isetan, Lot 10 at about 3.45 p.m.. It was from a lady (I'm sorry, I couldn't catch your name) at Ernst & Young. She asked me whether I still wanted to work at E & Y and I said yes. Then she asked me some questions: "Tell me about your education", "What curricular activities did you take in school & college?", "Which line would you rather work in?". I answered her questions and when I said I preferred doing tax than audit, she was like, "OK. Many of your friends also prefer that line." I was like, OK. Then she said she'll pass my application to her colleague. At about 5 p.m. I got a nother call from somebody named Christine, from the HR department at E & Y. She said that I can start my vacation training on the 15th of Feb. Then she asked till when I can work, and when I start my next semester. So I said that I start on the 29th of May and she said that's the end of May (that's weird...tell that to my college!). She asked whether I can work till the 19th of May. Of course I can. So, I'm to pick up my offer letter on Friday. No interview? I guess the 1st phone call was the "interview". How nice!!! Hehe.... Well, I hope I'll have a good vacation training. Wish me luck!

Don't they just look lovely together? Goong!

Waste of time

I wasted two hours of my time yesterday, watching Himalaya Singh. It is one of the STUPIDEST movies I've seen. Not recommended to watch.

A random thought:
My sis currently likes Chinese music.
I'm currently into Korean music.
And my bro is into Japanese music.

Learning

It's 5 a.m. and I'm sitting in front of my notebook, not wanting to sleep yet. Reason: This terrible person woke up at 5 p.m. yesterday.
But, staying up so late, I get to learn so many things. For example, I managed to get a flash file from a website and convert it to avi. The file had no music and I just added music to it. It turned out well.
In other words, I'm trying to learn how to be not so tech challenged. I'm trying to be more tach savvy. Hopefully I'm getting nearer to that goal.

A drama recommendation. 궁 Goong (Princess Hours)

KL - Cheap city?

I only just discovered this when I saw it in the News Straits Times at my aunt's house.
Kuala Lumpur, one of the cheapest cities? Really? Could this really be true? Such a shame.

O$LO: No. 1; KL: No. 95
KL one of the world's cheapest cities

Despite the flurry of price increases last year, Malaysia remains one of the cheapest places in the world to live in.

In the latest cost-of-living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Kuala Lumpur was ranked 95th among 128 cities in the world, up three places from the year before.

The most expensive city in the world was Oslo in Norway, knocking Tokyo from the perch for the first time in 14 years.

In that Scandinavian city, the price of a compact disc is US$24.07 (RM90). For that price, you can purchase two CDs in Kuala Lumpur.

Perhaps the starkest difference between living in Oslo and living in Kuala Lumpur is in the cost of owning a vehicle.

It costs a Norwegian US$57,230 to buy a family sedan, US$443 to register the vehicle, US$2,619 for insurance and US$1.98 for a litre of unleaded petrol.

In contrast, those living here have to fork out US$41,409 to buy a 2,499cc car, pay US$65.24 to register the vehicle, US$585.11 for insurance and US$0.42 for a litre of unleaded petrol.

The survey, which compares the cost of goods and services in dollar terms across 128 cities, noted that eight of the 10 most expensive cities in the survey are in Europe.

Five of the seven lowest-priced cities surveyed are in Asia, including Manila, while the cheapest city is Teheran.

In many Asian cities, economic growth has pushed up the cost of living, the report said.

Seoul, at No 13, overtook Hong Kong (14th) as the most expensive city in the region after Tokyo and Osaka.

However, despite the appreciation of the yuan since it freed itself from a peg to the US dollar in July, Chinese cities have experienced a relative fall in the rankings as increased investment opens up pricing competition and lowers tariffs on branded goods in larger urban centres.

Shanghai, the most expensive Chinese city on the list, is still only at No 51, up five places from last year.

Closer to home, Singapore remained the most expensive city in the region. But its overall ranking improved from 19 to 24.

Jakarta, Hanoi, Bandar Seri Begawan, Bangkok and Manila are cheaper places to live in than Kuala Lumpur.

And if last year was any indication, it is likely that the cost of living in Kuala Lumpur will continue to climb.

Last year, Malaysians were hit hard in the pocket with petrol prices going up twice. This triggered an across- the-board spike in prices of goods and services.

There is likely to be another petrol price hike soon.

Also, Malaysians can expect to pay more for electricity.

This could set off another round of price increases for everything from a glass of teh tarik to a bag of flour.

Source: Click here

Hmm....I just realised that I've got 4 months off from college (not 3 months). Great! Now my brains will be goiing through some serious rotting.

Today's forecast

Here's what my horoscope forecast says today (taken from Friendster). Haha.
"With all the activity in your life, daydreaming provides an easy, harmless vacation."

CNY

Well, Chinese New Year has been OK, so far. Been eating loads, just like every other CNY. I feel kinda bored now, though. Maybe it's because I've been sitting in front of my notebook for too long. It's only the 2nd day of CNY and I really haven't anything much to do.


Pics I took on the 1st day of CNY. Here's one with my sis. The rest can be found at My Imagestation (the last few pictures)

Finally!

Well, exams are finally over. Yayness! However, I believe I didn't do well in any of my papers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll pass them all but also have to be prepared to expect the worst! Failure in all my papers!!!!
Audit, of course, was a super tough paper and my least favourite of all the three papers I had to sit for this semester. I'm so glad it's over and that I can celebrate Chinese New Year in peace...hehe


By the way, HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!!!!! Have a great year of the DOG.


I found out recently that "can" and "may" are actually no different. I've been told before that "may" meant asking for permission and "can" did not include the permission part. I guess that person was wrong. Well, I saw this in The Star Newspaper. Here's what two people had to say about it: Click here.


I'm at the stage where I have to decide whether to cut my hair or just let it grow long. Maybe I should just keep it long this time since I've got 3 months off (but will probably have to go for vacation training) to decide before college starts again.


Hey May Kaun, has it already been 12 years? I lost count! That's kinda long. But I have not been able to see you these past 2-3 years. Miss ya. Now that you're going to Australia, it'll be even harder.


Rhea, I've just watched Zorro 2. And yes, the son IS cute! Catherine Zeta-Jones was looking extremely beautiful and Antonio Banderas was killer sexy. Hahaha!!!!

Aja Aja!

I am super doomed. And this time it's for real. I've been studying but nothing seems to be able to stay in my head. This is bad, real BAD!!!!
Anyways, to all TARCians, 아자아자! 화이팅! Aja Aja! Hwaiting! (sorry, I'm still hooked onto Full House). Only a few more days, AFA 1. 4 more days of doom and we're free to celebrate CNY!!!!

I saw a guy on the LRT today who looked like a Furby. Hehe. I'm mean, I am.

Oh no!!!!

Just the other day I found out that my group did real badly for our audit assignment. We probably got the lowest in the whole course and we barely passed. I predict that I'm not gonna do well in that paper (i.e. I'ma gonna fail!) . I find it real hard to accept the audit theories. They just don't make sense to me. And I really have no reason to study it.
A funny thing. My classmate, Yoke Yee, asked me today on how to study audit. Haha! Yoke Yee, you've gotta be kidding me. Oh, and by the way, I'm not smart. I've just been lucky these past few years. But my luck seems to have run out. No more good results for me anymore.

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY JUNE ANN!!!!!