people that count

I've had many interns come through the doors of my company and each of them have brought something totally unique and extraordinary to the table. Today, the internship term of another two my my interns come to a close and to say its been quite a ride is an understatement. Its been a blast.

To Yv and Cheryl: Thanks for all that you have weathered with us and for being such an addition to the Eka team. Thanks for your tireless energy, your willingness to stretch, be pushed and for going at it like a pro. There has been some totally out-of-whack moments and other slightly sillier ones. Either ways, it been great. Am going to miss ya. Take care and all the best. Go kick ass!

struck gold

My friend May has this unbelievable knack of finding truly amazing buys. In recent times she's somehow been able to find the most darling earrings at super cheap prices from the little knooks and crannies that she shops at. It could be some push cart outside Carrefour, or the pasar malam at this-that-or-the-other-town or at some small stall in the bowels of Queensway (I mean, as far as I know, that place is a sports shoe place, but she still manages to haul back some truly cool accessories.)

So, over dinner today, she presented me with my own stash of all-gold earrings. I rarely buy gold stuff so its such a cool pressie to receive not one, not two.... but- get this- SIX pairs of gold earrings!

FAB family

Its been a long time since I last heard from them and its oh-so-exciting to hear from them after such a long silence.

I've been dying to see how little Stacie looks and stuff given that she's about to turn 1 in july. And from what I gather, they'd be making a trip here at this year's end. Ohh, so exciting!

So, the FAB trio's doing great! And I'm so pleased that they are.

And I miss them.
Even the little one I've never met.

finally...

After going back and forth for I'm not sure how long, the two kiddies finally got together. Ok, they are not exactly kiddies but anyone who's not in their twenties and beyond are considered kiddies to me right now.)

E & C: good on ya!

Pooh and friends

May and I had one of our late night outings to halfway-around-the-world, and inveriably along the way we engage in the most innane of conversation topics. Actually, we do talk a lot of sense most of the time- like we discuss the ideals of social contribution and what not. But other times, we digress into one of our out-of-the-park discussions where very often I learn new stuff about my old friend that I never before did.

Tonight I learnt two startling facts:
1. May has NEVER been to Zouk.
2. May does not know who the Winnie the Pooh characters are.

Now, while I find the former strange, I remain totally stunned at the latter. So, May, just for you: a Winnie the Pooh crash course.

(From left to right in top photo)
A. The yellow rabbit is called Rabbit.
B. This is not "the pig thing" but Piglet. (He's Pooh's gay lover, that's what I think anyway.)
C. Pooh bear himself. (Him, I think you know...)
D. That's Tigger. Not the "Tiger-Tiger person".
E. The donkey is Eeyore. (You're right he's a tad depressed all the time.)
F. The joey is called Roo
G. That's "Kanga" of the Kangaroo pair. She's the mom.

(In second photo)
H. The big owl looking thing is Owl. (Name's not very inventive, I know.)
I. The boy's Christopher Robin. He's the only human in the show.
J. And, I don't know who the mole is. Mr Mole maybe?

useless stuff

Some of us are horders, we like to collect and keep things like old birthday cards, souvenirs and too-small-clothing that we swear we'd work towards by signing up for the gym and stuff. Like magpies. I know some friends who horde their old university notes and essays, others that store mounds upon mounds of photographs in little shoe boxes- forever swearing to sort through them. Then there are others who have stacks and stacks of CDs (some even, alphabeticised) and the list continues.

Over the last few years, I've pretty much trained myself to not get sentimental about these things: I've cleaned my mountain of old mail/cards/letters, my old clothes (its all very streamlined now) and even all the knick knacks that I've gathered over the years. But its been hard of getting a grip on "useless friends." You know the types: the kind that you can never count on to get your back, to be there, to at critical junctures put you first. There's always the fervent promises, the guarantees and the apologies; there's always the swearing that they'd make an effort and that they understand. And there's always that oh-so-faint glimmer of hope that they'd clean up and make good on their pretty words... but they'd be weighed and they'd be measured and they are always found wanting.

And then, once we cannot find anymore good reason, once the proverbial straw breaks the camel's back, its a bit too late to make amends. After all, all they can offer are facnciful thoughts and pretty words. Those are just no longer enough.

Because your heart is tired. From wanting to believe and from always being disappointed.

little boy grown up

Few days back I received a package in the mail from and old friend that made we smile- which, might I add, can be rather few and far between given my silly schedule that wouldn't let up. Now, I don't think I've really posted pix of half-naked men on my blog before, but I'll make an exception today.

You see, other than my own sisters, only three other people call me "Jie". (Actually, Celia calls me "chair" but that's another story for another day.) One's Joel who, in all honesty, I hardly see given he's off studying and taking over the world overseas. The second is Shasha- possibly one of the extremely vivacious, incredibly smart, totally out-of-this-world-cool chicks I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

And the third is Timmy Boy (Timothy John to be precise, he's the one who's face is splashed in the pix in this post) waterpolo extraordinaire, Cleo Eligible Bachelor nominee (he won some award or other, I can't recall which), SMU ambassador and from what I've gathered Mr Popular/Sexy all rolled into one hot, tight package.

We go back a long way, close to 10 years, and over the years I've missedd far too many of his waterpolo matches (truth be told, I've only watched one match, his team won); I've been the here-and there-sometimes available-sometimes-absent "older" sister; I've seen him wade through the murky waters of boy-dom (read: all the nonsense in school, with girls and what not) and and seen this boy grown into a strapping young lad. (How English does that sound?!) Yes, little Timmy Boy's all grown up.

So Tim, thanks for the years of friendship, for the kind thoughts and sweet note. And yes, I am incredibly proud of you: for "staying in shape", for staying the course (a few detours non-barring) and for making me smile. :) hugs my dear.

drifting

Many people have this idea that I have loads of friends. I mean, *ahem* I was a cheerleader in the cheerleader and jock club once upon a time. And this past year, I've probably met more new people this year than most of the other years- in terms of new aquaintances and new "outer circle" friends.

But the funny thing is, I'm not any closer to any of them. Instead its been a lot of renewing of old friendships; rekindling old memories and spending many a good hour reminising with old friends. My circle of friends have solidified somewhat, I have a better measure of who my close friends are: you know, those that you can call at 4 in the morning in tears and they'd patiently hear you out. Or those that can spend hours just doing nothing with, the kind you can sit with in silence and talk about nothing and everything and anything.

And I guess, some would think, the more the merrier. It just isn't the case for me. And I feel so richly blessed because of it.