HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN IN MALAYSIA?

OMG!!!! Times really fly so fast that I have lost count on how many days have I been here in Kuala Lumpur.

I am very satisfied that I have completed most important stuff that I need to do while I am here !

Su-Yee has been extremely helpful to transport me from one place to another to get things done. Thank you very much ,Bei !!!!( In case , you don't know who is Bei, here is the stroy... When Su Yee was a young baby, everyone called her "Baby";when she was a bit older, she did not like ppl to call her "baby" anymore, so I suggested to use "Bei" instead of "Baby" )

Tomorrow, I will have my Health Screening at Tung Shin Hospital. I still prefer to come back here to have my medical check

The last thing to do is to have my Health Screening done at Tung Shin Hospital tomorrow. After which, I will start visiting friends and do a bit of shopping for Chinese New Year.

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Last Sunday, My niece Yee Mei organised a welcoming home + gathering at her house in Tropicana Indah. Beside all the tasty local foods like India Rojak, Kachang Satay, Sambal Sotong, we have special dish - mixed veggies from Yee Mei ( Her husband Bryan said, she didn't know that she was such a good cook in 30 years ! ha ha ha... see what a honor I have !! ), Sue Mein prepared " Ginger Wine Chicken" Supper !!! and my eldest Sister prepared " Hum Choi Kow yok"...... also the famous " Roasted Duck" ; they were all so good to me!!!

After the dinner, we have durians too !!

!!! It was really a good and unforgettable meal that I ever have !!

Thank you Yee Mei , Suo Mein and my "Tai Ka Jei"

Then..... here come the surprise....... my niece Suo Mein placed a box on the table..... it was a Coach Bag designed Cake that she made for my belated Birthday celebration!!! How great and thoughtful they are !!! I love them all !!!!

Day 5

BYL left 5 days ago. In some ways it seems like a long time ago. In other ways it seems like only yesterday. I miss her very much. It is lonely and quiet here.

One good thing is that I have been very busy at work. We had three new studies start this week and they are having the normal "getting started" problems. Then I had a server come up with "The Blue Screen Of Death" ! :( Ended up changing one of the hard drives, reloading Windows Server 2003 and all of the apps. Fortunately no data was lost. Just took hours to get it back online. In addition, we have an audit coming up in February so have to update/create all of the SOPs, process documentation, etc.

For fun, I'm working on the new WEB server. This is a Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V machine. Very nice machine, Core 2 Quad, 4GB RAM, etc. I've installed the equivalent of the current Windows Server 2003 WEB server as a guest machine. I'm going to try and put that machine into production this weekend. I think it should work well and the transition should be smooth. Only thing I'm a bit concerned about is getting the Routing And Remote Access setup properly. Having 4 NICs to worry about can sometimes get confusing. This is a critical piece that I was not able to emulate in the test environment. It allows the production SQL Server to communicate across the VPN from behind the firewall.

OOPS! Sorry! I really enjoy what I do and sometimes get carried away with the details. BYL has learned not to ask me what I'm doing at work. I get carried away and start describing all the details. What she really wanted to know was what did Elida wear and what did I have for lunch. :)) :)) :))

The Internet is great. I have been able to talk to and see BYL almost everyday! When her connection is very slow we can at least IM.

Puteri and putera are doing well. Making lots of noise when I turn on the TV and seem to be about the same as always. I'm getting into a routine now so it takes less time to get "the daily tasks" accomplished.

Overall things are ok. Just have to keep busy to fill the lonely hours. BYL is having a good time so that makes me happy.

OK. Bye for now. Miss you BYL. Hope to see/talk to you soon.

This is the the 4th day I am away from Ah Don.

Ah Don is complaining about the extra work he has do in the morning..... has to make his own coffee, feed our 2 birds ...."puteri" & "putera", water my plants. He says," there is so much thing to do, he has to wake up early just to complete all these "assignments"before heading to work. hmmmm , obviopusly, he has forgottenn that I have to prepare lunch to bring to work too ( which he is not doing for himself)

Worse of all is that he has to help me to search the whole house for the purse with all the new US$ that I wanted to bring to Malaysia and give away as "Ang Pau". I thought I had put them either in my handbag or in one of the carry-on luggage; but I could not find it anywhere when I browse through all my belonging.!!! This really upset me very much. I wanted him to keep searching, I refused to assume that my purse was stolen while I was sleeping in the plane.......... The fact was " Icould not see my purse!!! Where has it gone ???

I tried very hard to figure out where and how could the money be LOST or STOLEN. It was kept with triple security : in a small purse then in my Coach Bag and then zipped in my NIKE handy travel bag. Besides this, I only left my seat for the wash room when I noticed the passenger sat next to me was at her sound sleep.

I was thinking & thinking about the $$$$$$ and couldn't sleep for the whole yesterday night.

I reached KLIA international airport on 10.25 PM. on 13th. I was able to catch up the connecting flight at each transit. From Tampa to Dallas ( running from Terminal A to D " ) and not knowing which gate should I go and I was not having the boarding pass till I reach the information counter. On any other occasions , when the time is running again me, I will freak out! But thank god, I was so steady for the whole trip travelling alone; I have fear to carry luggage on escalator. but I made it through without help. Surprising !!!

Oh, let's come back to the Coach bag!!! Yeah... Ah Don bought m,e 2 Coach handbags one day before wI left !One for my birthday (that I have to spent all alone in the plane) and another one for my Valentine's day when I return to Florida! hmmm this is the first time I have such expensive branded handbags!! Terima Kasih Banyak, En Ah Don, you always have thought of me! You also know that I do not ask or go for EXPENSIVE items. I like Money and I like Saving from very young !

Today, I have accomplished a lot of things done together with my daughter Su-Yee, She was driving me to all places that I need to go; to Immigration department to renew my passport, to finalize some banking activities etc.... I am thankful that she has to skip conducting 2 classes of group exercise just for me!

I was so excited to see her at the air port with Alex.

After finishing all my things, I checked my 2 luggage again.........and you know what ????

I found another traveling pouch in one of my luggage!!.It has all my lost currencies !!! I forgot that I have kept these new notes separately from the purse !

Now , I feel so bad that I have make Ah Don run up and down to search everywhere at home for the $$$$$$$.

After this incident, (in fact this is not unusual), I must admit that I have to remember thing with note rather than my memory...... my brain could have been too matured to remember something ! ha ha hahahah..

Hey Ah Don ? How are you ?? Alex treated me with Curry fish head for dinner , After which , I have Rojak from my favorite hawker at the night market !! And, I have the nice Air kacang late afternoon too with SuYee at Paparich.. As I still have some more things to do due to time constraint; hence, I will see my friends after this week.

Missing BYL

Whoa is me

My BYL is gone

No smiling face in the morning ... No good morning kiss ... No happy sounds as she busily gets ready in the morning ... No warm embrace at night ... No good night kiss

BUT WAIT! She is with her daughter! She is happy! She is eating all her favorite foods! She will see her family! She can celabrate CNY like old time!

YAHOOOOO!!!

My BYL is HAPPY!! Soooo, I am happy!

I miss you love. But, don't worry. I am fine.

What to do? What to do?

Whoa is me

Oh my, oh my

What am I to do?

For a whole month my BYL will be gone

Can I survive?

What will I eat?

Who will I talk to?

Who will keep me company on the long winter nights?

Who will complain ALL the time?

Who will nag me ALL the time?

Who will be a royal pain in the butt ALL the time?

Have A GREAT trip!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

I WILL MISS YOU LOTS!

Ah Don

I AM GOING BACK !!!

I am flying back to Malaysia this coming MONDAY!!!

Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah !! That's right!

( I 'll be in the plane for 22 solid hours )

I am so excited !!!

I can see my daughter and my cat Puteri, I need to give her a long missing hug, I can see all my brothers, sisters, nieces & nephews, relatives, friends, old colleagues etc ..........

I want to have all my favourite foods that I missed!

" Laksa", "Nasi Lemak" " Roti Canai" "Rojak" , "Air Kacang" , "Fried Kow Tew","Bah Ku Teh".................

( Got to eat first and forget about what they would cause to my healthy body)

Poor Ah Don will be alone to eat fast foods again!!

However, there are at least 2 things he is going to be happy not having me around....

(1) He can drink more beer and Jack Daniel

(2) He will not hear my "High Pitch"voices
( I guess, 1 month is enough for his hearing system for next attack!)

For this round, we are both in a "WIN" "WIN" situation.

By the way , do you think he ever " WINs" sometime before???

Nah Nah Nah, NO CHANCE !!!!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

So Ah Don, you have to behave and be a good guy, which you always claimed, when I am not around !

Whatever !! I still love you. always.........

NEW YEAR NEW ME??

Like many of us and for many past years, I loved to draft my new year resolutions on the last day of the year and hoped that whatever reamining outstanding could be accomplished in the coming year.

This happened year after year and to the extend that the list meant nothing but just a renewal note !! So, I stopped drafting any New Year Resolution forr some years and went on with my own way to get thing accomplished.

I set my mind and made them happen from time to time with the following guidelines in my daily life:

Things need to be done... do them without excuse!

Thing that are good to have..... have them with price and effort.

Things that are worth keeping... keep them with purpose.

Thing that are bad for keeping .... ( Try) throw them away! this includes junk stuff and bad feeling!

I believe by this time and at my age I have to divert all my time to pursue happiness and good health. I had worked very hard in my career and spent time in social activities before I came to US. Here is the place where I made a complete change. Though I still miss my work and involvement in the past, I now remind myself to blend into the new environment and situation.

Abraham Lincoln said, "People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be," So, I am going to make up my mind to be happy and always look into positive perspective. Every morning, we can choose to be happy or worrisome .

Keeping good health has always been my top priority for years, so there is no question to maintain. However, with the natural declining of matured body, I have to work harder to keep in good shape both physically and mentally.

On top of this .........I must make everyday a special day to be with Ah Don!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!! May 2009 be your best year ever.

Here are some recent pics.

Don't know if you can see the alligator in this pic. It is at least six feet long! The pic was taken at one of the ponds close to our house.

The following are pics from last night. This is the party in downtown Sarasota. We had a very nice dinner at a Mexican restuarant and then walked around listening to the bands and watching the crazy people. They close off many streets downtown for the festivities. They had carnival rides and three bands playing. My favorite band was Cherry Bomb. They played rock and alternative rock. The band was the bomb!!! Rocked until 1 a.m. with them.

In Sarasota, they drop a pineapple at midnight rather than the ball they drop at Times Square!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! The pineapple is down.