Kusudama Flowers and Sayonara

Ok. We all gave in.

I did say about not wanting to give any farewell souvenir to the Jap boss who called us idiot at every chance in my previous post here.

Things took a different turn on the day before his official farewell. A small group of us changed our minds at the last minute when the guy came to us showing a new pair of gloves saying that they were his farewell gifts. My friends sort of looked at each other after that and we started to feel sorry for the guy.

Ok. So he'd been mostly a total a*****e to us but there also had been times when he backed us up on very rare occasions. Since it would be his last days as our boss, why not just put the past behind?

So, we gathered some money from a few members (including me) who weren't heartless enough to totally give the guy a cold shoulder. Not much of course and we grabbed a few items from home which we wrapped up at the office the next day.

The Kusudama Flowers and the spirals were made from leftover gift-wrapping paper. The glue didn't set well causing the flowers to gape here and there. The glue probably was still wet when these things landed onto the Jap boss' hands.

Finally, I could put good use to my newfound interest in making Kusudama Flowers. He's Japanese. Therefore, I think putting in an art of origami would be so befitting. It was all done in a rush though. I made the flowers at 9.30am and his farewell ceremony started at 10.15am. I even taught two colleagues how to make the flowers so we could rush the whole process.

These flowers would look really good if you can make them in abundance. Check out this shop It Really Adds Something on Etsy or her blog.

A colleague made the blue spirals to add abundance to the lack of Kusudama Flowers. It was totally a last minute thing. We were only able to make FOUR flowers that morning. However, I'm happy that I was able to show my friends this beautiful art.

By the way, I learned about the flowers here from a fellow blogger SallyZ from her post here on her blog Tranquility Spot. The tutorial is here from The Piece of Paper.

Thank you ladies.... :-)

The one who calls us 'idiot' is bidding sayonara

As I'm typing this, I just can't believe that I've been holding this news back from my blog this long.

My Jap boss is leaving on Friday to go back to our HQ in Japan for good.

Yippee-yeah...yeah!!!

Yes, he's the one I talked about here. The one who calls us 'idiot' every chance he gets. He'd say it in Japanese of course and after FOUR excruciating years of having him in our office, I must say that the Japanese word I understand the most is 'baka'.

It's weird as the Japanese are known for their fine manners and we got this guy who sticks out like a sore thumb with his foul mouth. He was also the one who accepted Mr.B into my Section. That's unforgiveable!



We all know how he doesn't want to leave. Hey, I haven't met any expat who doesn't like it here in our country. Just think of all the perks they can get here. As for this guy, he gets a cozy 2-bedroom condo by the seaside, a brand new car with a Shell petrol card, an intact monthly salary from the HQ and another 'salary' in the form of 'expat allowances'. All paid for by the company. Not to mention satellite TV and unlimited Internet connection. Also, free plane tickets to go back home every TWO years. The food here is relatively very cheap too with various choices from all over the world. Expats here shop at prestigious shopping spots only because they have the money to burn.

An officer from HR inquired with our Manager about our 'farewell souvenir' for the 'sayonara ceremony'. Apparently we have none.

It's a rather funny story how we ended up not wanting to give him anything. When we were fighting to get a day off on 30th September, he actually intervened (what a busybody) and forced us to pick some members to come to work that day. How ridiculous as the Production departments won't be running that day due to it being the Inventory counting day. He even 'poisoned' the mind of the new Jap boss to pick out the section heads and the management level people to stay working on that day. As my name was originally on that list and me being the rebel that I am, I immediately announced to the entire office that the 'souvenir' we did kinda plan for him was OFF. Everybody else followed suit.

As for us planning to kinda give 'souvenir'....well.....i can say this:

People are still teasing our poor Manager about us holding a grudge the size of China mainland towards this guy.

I tried to make him apologize to all of us which is a tradition for anyone who's leaving. It was the weekly Monday morning gathering and it just came spontaneously to me to say to him 'you must say sorry to everybody because it's the fasting month now' which was followed by giggles from everybody. He refused to say sorry, laughed and thought that I was joking. I wasn't!

Ok. Since he has called us 'idiot' so many times, I would like to present this 'speech' for him here........

My Thank You Speech

Make a Ladybug Note at WishAFriend.com

Back in August, I never even thought of reaching my 100th post (which I did and dedicated to the memory of one of my favourite metal drummers). That was when I felt that life was failing me and that the whole politics at work is a conspiracy to take me down. I revived myself after awhile. Sometimes acceptance is the road to peace (of the mind that is).

So here it is:


"I would like to thank my friends and family who have inspired me to start an online diary after years of leaving random notes, poems, stories and anecdotes in my 'scrap' books, computer files, emails and SMSes. I might have bored you guys sometimes but now I have the proper channel to vent out.

I, of course, am very grateful to the Almighty for blessing me with health and appetite to enjoy His lovely gifts of gastronomic delights. Delicious food is a piece of Heaven on Earth. He is the One listening to my crazy thoughts and grant me my wishes when He sees the moment I deserve any. I am grateful for His gift of surrounding me with humble people who give me never-ending supply of love and care.

To all my 'invisible' friends, by that I mean they're not visible physically as my friends, the musicians I have loved all my life who have always been there when I need company. You music soothes me and lifts me up when I'm down. Your lyrics speak to me like an old friend who knows me inside out. Your lives have taught me many lessons. Your pain is in my prayer. I dedicated my 100th post to the memory of Mr. Ingo Schwichtenberg, a fine musician who left a big mark behind during his short life here.

Thank you also to all fellow bloggers (the nice ones) who have left nice comments for me and valuable feedback to keep me going. There are times when I feel uninspired resulting in zero-posting and there are times when I'm overflowing with ideas that I don't know where to start resulting in zero-posting too.

Lastly, a very special thanks to the ever-enthusiastic fans of Tokio Hotel from all over the world who help keeping my blog alive and pushing up the counter more than any membership of a social-networking group can. You girls (and guys too) are the BEST!"

My take on VMA 2008

Well, it's been more than a week since the VMA 2008 in LA and it's been a week since I last posted anything on this blog. I watched the recorded show last Saturday on MTV and it was heavily 'beeped' for Malaysian TV. Duh!

The minute host Russell Brand opened his mouth, I could sense the uneasy feeling from some in the audience (it must have been that strong since I live thousands of miles away). I knew immediately that this wouldn't go down too well with the Americans. After a few minutes, I turned to my sister and said "I don't think the Americans understand British humour".

If one thing I knew about the Brits is that's the way they joke around. Mostly poking fun at themselves and their aspects of life which include politics, sports, food, public transport, the weather (ha..ha..!). Of course, when they go out, they apply the same thing and it may not necessarily work out the same way, unfortunately.

Chill people.......relax. No need for controversy.
He pokes fun at everybody including himself when he said his hairstyle in normal situation would immediately brand him a lunatic.

....OR.......

do it like the Malaysians.............BEEP everything........pah!

It was obvious Russell knew what he said would create controversy and somewhere in the middle of the show, he talked lengthily about 'pissing off teenagers' which actually was a sarcastic go at the way you have to be 'politically correct' all the time in the America. The 'purity ring' jokes would have been laughed off in the UK but apparently they didn't in the US.

The Jonas Brothers are cool about it.

I guess the old-fashioned upbringing is paying off as they've been choosing to deal with it like gentlemen.

Britney's back!
Back in business and back into her fit curves......jealous......jealous..

The media loves 'shooting stars' and quite literally too. I do feel sorry for the way they treated Britney Spears for the past 2 years. When MTV started promoting the VMA event on the channel showing host Russell Brand and Britney chatting together, I saw the sweet girly Britney who won the world over 8 years ago. Her warm laughter and her down-to-earth persona. Personally I blame the media as being partly (major part!) responsible for her breakdown. Honestly, her VMA performance last year wasn't bad at all. It was the way the choreography was designed. Slow and slinky to fit the feel of the song. Did anybody even watch the dancers' moves? Oh, but then people would read more if they put a title 'Britney sleepwalked through her performance'. Her triumphant wins this year screams to people that her fans stuck to her side yet MTV still couldn't resist 'shooting' her like they do in this article here. I mean, rhyming her surname 'Spears' with 'Schmears'?

BTW, to be fair to both sides, I found this link to a video supposedly showing 'how she really sounds like onstage' at PopWrap. Not sure about the authenticity of it. That's ok though as she's never been a good singer but she's a great performer first and foremost.

Lastly, the 'creme de la creme'. The best reason to watch, at least for me. Tokio Hotel....!

My babies won!

Tom, Bill, Georg and Gustav.
These young lads have the most enviable hardcore Internet-fanbase in the world right now.

Just last year, MTV edited out their EMA 2007 performance (the only one they chopped out mind you) from American MTV for being unknown in the USA (what a reason!). With the power of fandom ruling, they have just become the latest US MTV darlings after less than a year.

The 'big' arrival on a Bigfoot

Who needs a limo? This is America. Go for the Bigfoot! Blast your own song on a super woofer monster speaker too. It couldn't get any grander than this!

They immediately caught the attention of the American media who eagerly asked them to speak their native tongue.

A little brotherly support wouldn't hurt


......and the Coolest Outfit award goes to Bill Kaulitz........

Bill's red carpet outfit


Bill's award-receiving outfit

......... TWICE....!

...and of course, no other contender for the Coolest Hair Award
.......except maybe Russell Brand? He...he....

My cousin off to study in Germany

Tonight is the night that a 19-yr old cousin of mine would take a flight to Deutschland.

Right in the middle of Ramadhan which also means he won't be able to celebrate Eid Mubarak with the family in the village this year and the next 4 years possibly.

First of all, let me say that my cousin is a bright straight-A student who is at least a year ahead of his peers when he was chosen to be in the accelerated class back in school.

So, last night, his mother in particular asked for a family gathering at our grandmother's house for prayers and well-wishes for him.

Well-wishing and prayer gathering for my cousin at grandma's

As the way my family has always been, all of our gathering will certainly involve a large abundance of food. Before and after the prayers, we stuffed ourselves with rice, fried chicken, Javanese coconut floss, my grandma's delicious beef sambal, Sarawak's layer cakes, caramel puddings, corn and cocktail puddings, lychee and grass jelly drinks. My mother contributed fried vegetable spring rolls.

In a way, it was a gathering held in a replica of Eid Mubarak celebration specially for my cousin who will not be able to be with us this year. The family wanted to give him that special moment to saviour before leaving.

I told him that celebrating Eid Mubarak abroad shouldn't be a reason to be sad as you will find a way to surround yourself with a new 'family' away from your home family. Just like I did during my stint as a student in the UK. I told him it was the best years of my life.

Me and my sister half-jokingly told him to wait for our arrival in Deutschland and he will be forced to be our 'tour guide'. Hey, there's nothing wrong with dreaming.

To our cousin......tschüsss!

As predicted.........

As predicted no.1.............

Went to see the HR Manager this morning and as expected, the blaming finger was pointed right at me for being 'an unsympathetic superior'.

He said that as a superior, I shouldn't take what Mr.B's words seriously when he told me "to act like he didn't exist". That it's my fault that Mr.B felt neglected. (huh?)

*sigh* Easy to say when you're not dealing with Mr.B.

Besides, it sickened me when the HR Manager kept reating 'you as the superior' over and over again. It's not like they're giving me a superior pay. There's a Technician in our company who has the same salary as me simply because he has a high-powered boss and I don't.

It was like the HR Manager was telling me this:

"With Superior power, comes great Superior responsibility..........nobody has said it comes with Superior salary"

My current state of mind

As predicted no.2............

Someone else had a grudge against me today but it was my colleague who was shot badly by the 'revenge bullets'.

The Customer whom I shot at by saying that remark about 'kindergarten requirement' got his notoriously snotty colleague to find all possible faults with our division in a monthly meeting presentation today.

Now this made me feel bad because my colleague didn't deserve to be treated that way. It wasn't his fault at all.

Never thought I'd say this but I think I will have to act on some damage control in this case and apologize to the Customer when he comes over next week. My colleague is a kind, hardworking and quiet man who never holds a grudge against anybody no matter how bad he gets treated.

It's the right time to act like the nick I picked for myself...........'lady'.

To my colleague brother H, I'm sorry.

The HR Manager responds well to jerks

Basically quite a number of my officemates have heard me lamenting about this particular matter called Mr.B.

Mr.B thinks he's got a bone to pick with me when I refused to approve his leave application for last Saturday.

He didn't even hand the application form to me himself! He had the nerve to get one of my subordinates to hand it to me. He made her speak to me on his behalf. Why wouldn't he come to see me himself? I find it really rude and disrespectful for someone to not even want to speak to his own superior regarding job matters.

So the jerk chose to ignore me huh? Then he expected that I would just put down my signature on that form blindly like a postal worker marking postage stamps. After that the office clerk came to me with a bunch of leave application forms telling me that she told Mr.B the quota was already filled up. It was unfair to give him another leave as he already took one last Saturday.

Then I handed the form over to our Manager who reported it back to HR. That was last Thursday. Mr.B took sick leave on Friday and didn't turn up for work on Saturday.

Mr. B went to see the HR Manager today. I have no idea what he told that alien parading around as our HR Manager.

Guess what?

The HR Manager instructed to see both me and my Manager tomorrow. Oh! This is really the ultimate proof of how alien he is to human living.

I mean, for the past several weeks, me and my Manager had been trying our best to make the HR Manager see the real problem with Mr.B but every time he made it look like we were both being fussy and intolerant.

Now, Mr. B talked to him only ONCE and already the HR Manager is responding by instructing me and my Manager to see him at the HR interview room.

I feel really sad and deeply hurt as the whole thing is so darn unjust.

Our HR Manager wouldn't even take any action towards Mr.B even after the 'threatening-to-hit-a-girl-colleague' incident. Yet, when Mr.B complained about us, he quickly responded.

Yeah, that alien from Planet Ignorant responds well to creatures we humans call JERKS.

Our HR Manager isn't human!

It's true!

I don't know from what planet that alien now sitting at the HR Sr. Manager desk blasted his spaceship from. He certainly have no freaking clue about the way we humans live here on Planet Earth.

So, what's the issue this time?

It's like this. Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-religious country and thus we have national public holidays for each Festive Seasons of each major group. We have holidays on the Muslims' festive season of Eid Mubarak, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Christmas. Yeah, Malaysians celebrate everything :-)

Since this is the month of Ramadhan, we, the Muslims at this factory are united in wanting a day off right before the Eid Mubarak day so we can be at home preparing the dishes and clean the house for family and friends to visit.

That alien holding the title of Sr. HR Manager had made the company calendar in such a way that we still have to work on the day before the Eid Mubarak celebration. That guy is nuts, he should be permanently living on a tree with the squirrels. Doesn't he know that some people have parents living in other states whom they need to return to for the celebration?





Some of the inhumane things the alien does or has done:

1. Scheduling 6 Saturdays out of a year as normal working days and yet he gives himself the privilege of having annual leave for himself on each of these 6 Saturdays.

2. Refusing to let us form an independent Workers Union but he formed an almost similar group called Employee Relations Committee (ERC) of which HE is the chairman. Basically, the alien holds the veto power but the rest of us retaliate by sending the most no-holds-barred loud motormouth rebels from each department to represent the employees in the committee. Give the alien a taste of his own medicine.

3. Forcing upon my Section to accept that pain-in-the-butt Mr. B (read here) and steering off the topic every time we bring up the subject about the problem that this guy has caused us.

4. Not allowing employees who have kids for a day-off on their first day of school. That's the day when parents would be busy taking the kids to school for registration, class orientation, meeting the teachers, school fee payments etc. Everytime, the ERC has to hold a meeting with him asking for the day off. Hey, this happens every year!




Today......... he came up with another gem about our request for the pre-Eid Mubarak day-off.

Everybody wishing to apply leave on that day was to write a letter to him stating our reason why.

So, what's the gem?

The letter must be written by hand so everybody's letter would look "authentically individual".

Sorry.......like a guilty puppy

I purposely came in late today after yesterday's incident. My rebellious soul was showing more and more with every second.

Went to the mechanics to have a look at my 'contact point'. Decided to come in at 12.00pm for work.

I left the car workshop after 11.00am.

When I reached the office, guess who I saw sitting at his desk?

My manager!

Oops.........he didn't go to the Supplier after all. The trip was cancelled.

Now I felt bad for my behaviour yesterday.

We attended the meeting with the Factory Manager as scheduled. I must say that I was kinda ashamed of myself because after all my workmates didn't hold anything against me as we supported each other during the meeting (the FM purposely grilled us with mind-boggling questions about our preparation for next week).

This is how I'm feeling tonight.

OK.

Now, this got me thinking whether the Law of Attraction thingy worked in my favour today. It says that if you want something bad enough, you will vibrate the energy that will be picked up by the universe and the universe in turn will rearrange itself to make it work in your favour.

If this theory is true, then my anger yesterday must have vibrated out nuclear proportion energy as from what I heard, it was the Supplier who asked for cancellation yesterday due to unforeseen circumstances.

If only my desire for money can be vibrated that way *sigh*

A former classmate told me maybe I'm too humble money-wise.

Oh. How about having a rock star husband?
Come on ...... vibrate....vibrate.....

My Helloween & Tokio Hotel CDs are here......yeah!

Hey, something good can come out of today too.

Something arrived in the mail today!

Look at what greeted me on my bed upon my arrival home.

These are my recent purchases on eBay. Tokio Hotel Schrei so laut du kannst CD and the Helloween CD I successfully bidded on, the Expanded Double CDs of their album Walls of Jericho.

I don't care what people think of my musical tastes. I do love heavy metal music along with pop, rock, classical, country whatever. Regardless of the fact that typical fans of Helloween would normally hate Tokio Hotel and most Tokio Hotel fans probably have never heard of Helloween.

The pumpkin is a Halloween souvenir belonging to my sister. I envy her for owning the thing.

The inner sleeve of the double CDs. It's weird that the record company put in singer Michael Kiske's picture here as he wasn't part of the band when this album was released many years ago.

Helloween during the Walls of Jericho era back in the glory days of 1980s metal.
How I miss those days.......me a little child dreaming of marrying a metal musician one day. It came true in my dreams only...... :-)

The bidding left me with a much lower price than I would have to pay at the CD shop (if they're available here anyway).

Ok. At least, I have a reason to smile today.

Patience is a virtue.......(which I do not have)

Just last night I declared on this blog that I wanted to be more disciplined in the way of my words in this month of Ramadhan.

Guess what?

I failed miserably today.

Me, the Manager and a colleague were supposed to have a meeting today with the Factory Manager but it got postponed to tomorrow.

Conveniently, my colleague and the Manager have a business trip to a Supplier tomorrow leaving me and the new Japanese guy in the office to attend the meeting tomorrow.



I was so angry because this is like the umpteenth time that my Manager wouldn't attend any important meeting, events etc at work. He's always out or on leave or on sick leave especially when there is a Customer Audit.

An important Customer is coming from Japan next week and this meeting is crucial. The Manager needs to know how to represent us well. He can easily cancel the trip to the Supplier. That supplier is not that important to go to anyway as they are a customer-appointed one.

I'm not happy because last week, the Manager was out on business trip on our Internal Audit day. The week before, he didn't attend the presentation we had to do for SONY members after he promised them to. I was divided between two events that day. The SONY presentation and another Environmental meeting with the Factory Manager. Yes, I attended both and had to answer grilling questions from SONY.

Oh, it wasn't the first SONY presentation he didn't attend. In fact, in all the years I've been here, he never attended any. Oh, he even asked me to leave in the middle of my audit training to attend a meeting which I flatly refused.

This is unfair!

Ramadhan is here.....conquer those urges!

It's 1st day of work in Ramadhan this year for me today.

Man! It was hard to readjust myself to work after FOUR days off.........Saturday to Tuesday.

As it is Ramadhan the fasting month, we are supposed to refrain ourselves not only from food and drinks but every desires and urges we have such as the the urge to spend too much money on material things instead of giving to the poor or to talk wasteful things, say bad things about other people or say bad words at all.

Let's just say I gave in to the last two xD.

First incident.

I made a Customer very cross today when he came to foresee the condition at our division. He complained that one particular 'work instruction' I made was not clear because he couldn't understand it. I was annoyed and said the 'work instruction' had been sent to his colleagues before and they didn't comment the things he pointed out although they did comment on other things which I already bowed to.

I snapped and told him how his suggestion was more suitable for kindergarten kids. Oh..oh. I was sure it wasn't slip of the tongue as I was fully conscious but it was enough to anger the normally soft-spoken guy that my Manager had to interfere to calm things down.

I did bow to his request realizing that dragging things on wouldn't do us any good. It wasn't a big matter really.........

........ but..........

........... who wouldn't be annoyed when someone asked a question:

"Your arrow here....I don't know where and what it's showing. It's not clear."

What road did he take to drive all the way to our company premises when he couldn't read arrows?




Second incident.

Someone asked to borrow some money and I said the extra money I had was already given to my mother for meals and the rest in my pocket was for my petrol fill-up on the way home later. I wasn't lying but I couldn't resist walking up to one of my subordinates and tell her about 'somebody being desperate for money'. Me and my awful gab!

There's a reason why Ramadhan exists. Just one out of twelve months for us to learn to discipline ourselves really isn't too much to ask but I haven't fully succeeded in controlling myself when it comes to those itsy bitsy 'evil' like gossiping which can contribute to a larger damage.

Ok. So, this year I will try.

p/s: I will still pour my heart out here though .... :-)

Ingo Schwichtenberg in my mind and my heart........

Dear Ingo

You were full of smiles

You were energetic and full of life

Till schizophrenia and drugs took a toll on you


1965 ~ 1995

You didn't really get the long-term treatment after being diagnosed with the illness. Life as a metal drummer exposed you to the dangers of drugs and alcohol. It still breaks my heart that you ended your life by jumping in front of an on-coming train in your hometown.

Your sad story has made me try to understand the disease and your situation more. Music was your life. You were just a "baby" in the band when you recorded your first album. When you were dismissed from the band, the only life you knew was over.

I wish I knew what went on in your mind. Was life already over to you even before you let yourself be run over by that train? Was the future not worth looking forward to? Were the voices in your head telling you to go?

After all these years dear Ingo, I have never stopped wishing.

♥♥ Ich ♥ dich ♥♥

*The links to 'Mental Health with Love' are a way for me to understand more about the disease from those who live with it. Love and understanding are the way to conquer.

Happy 19th Birthday dear Tom and Bill Kaulitz!

I would like to wish these two very special boys Happy 19th Birthday.

It's amazing how far they've come.

The humble beginning of a pair of identical twins who knew they wanted to do music for life since age 9 (if I'm not mistaken). Young Bill started writing songs and lyrics since age 7 while older brother Tom learned the guitar at age 9 and found his destiny.

Tom (left) and Bill, when they still looked indentical, performing together in this old pic.

They had their share of hardship for many dreamy musicians out there. Performing at small functions for whoever wanted to listen. They did the small clubs gigs together. Bill went through the humiliation of entering the German Star Search singing, of all songs, It's Raining Men and lost.

They recorded their first album as Devilish and changed it later to Tokio Hotel for the subsequent albums.

Shooting their first video with no fancy props. Not knowing that the song would land them on the #1 spot on the German chart.

When success started to come knocking, so did the paparazzi.



They each found their own identity

Appearing on JB Kerner after the twins turned 18 last year.

They just won an award at the MTV Europe Award 2007 at the time. They were booed by the crowd (it was held in Munich after all) when they appeared but the performance erased the booing and they received a huge applause at the end of the song.

That performance was edited out when the show first went on air on States-side MTV on the basis that the band was unknown in the US. Within less than 1 year, the boys are slated to appear at the VMA 2008 in the USA. Amazing!

One of those rare moments nowadays when the twins look identical

Happy Birthday boys!

Your journey has been very inspiring to me.