When the sun chimes...

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Bukit Tinggi

I just came back from Bukit Tinggi!!

Not the Bukit Tinggi garden near my house ok, it’s the Bukit Tinggi in Pahang where the famous “French Village” is located. My lab’s biggest supplier had organized a user day where all their product users were invited to this “Lawatan sambil Belajar” trip. I had the chance to go with my manager since the big boss 747 her at the last minute – as usual.

A total of 3 buses headed there on Wednesday morning with the organizing staffs and users from different sectors from all over the country. It only took us an hour an a half to reach Bukit Tinggi from KL. The road was even narrower and winder than the route to Cameron Highland. I nearly threw up on the way down.
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Bukit Tinggi lies around 2,500 feet above sea level. Everyone thought it might be cold there but NO coz I could even break a sweat there. The place that we were going is actually named Colmar Tropicale. It is so-called the “French Village” because it is a replica of a collection of buildings from a village in France dating back to the 16th Century. It's surrounded by lush tropical forest land and there were pine trees everywhere!
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Their hospitality was superb. As we walked along the drawbridge into the village, we were greeted by the “villagers” fully dressed up in cute or colourful costumes. They played the guitars, sang and danced to the tune “where’s the sunshine” nonstop till the last guest stepped in. I was thinking they must be very “sien” singing the phrase over and over again just to greet the visitors. Guess what. Coincidentally I heard the same song from the radio today and the background singers were really singing “where’s the sunshine” phrase ONLY throughout the entire song.
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Looming ahead of us were blocks and blocks of architectural wonder, each with its unique style, from its colourful roof tiles to cobblestone ground. One thing I regret is wearing my high heel boots there, it’s so difficult to walk on the stony ground and there’s one time when my manager almost fell face down coz her heels got caught between the stones. Pls, next time anybody who wants to go there, remember NO high heels!
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The hotel has several outlets, where you can dine in the French way. Central to the village is Colmar Square where there are colourful blooms, fountains and park benches. There is a wishing well and also a clock tower so we can walk up (and down) curvy concrete staircases to view the entire development. Heck there was even a lake with two graceful couples gliding smoothly along the water. The white and the black swans!
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I was a substitute for my boss and I was granted with a big big apartment room. My manager’s room was even smaller than mine. *devilish* However it was too big for me to sleep alone so I asked my manager to moved in.
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The first day was leisure day. 5 hours for us to kick back and relax or to go explore the charming village. We took the itinerary and we were delighted that most of the activities were FULLY SPONSORED by the organizer. We could choose to go discover Japanese authenticity at the Japanese Village, enjoy the Japanese tea ceremony, cuddle the rabbits at the rabbit farm, play archery or bowling, swim or snookering and last but not least jungle trekking for 2 hours. I even noticed a sandy court beside the pool for us to play beach volleyball! Too bad we weren’t informed about these activities earlier and most of us didn’t bring our sports shoes! Haih! My next choice was archery but after we heard there’s a limitation for tea drinkers. We rushed there instead by taking the cute open-aired minicab. Up the hill we go again!
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Too bad it rained so after the tea ceremony we had to call it a day and go back to Colmar Tropicale. Cheh! I tot of going for the archery and shoot till my arm goes limp. Bad bad weather.
The dinner was terrific. They even served lobster and sushi. How could I resist? After dinner, we walked around again enjoying the night scenery. I went up the clock tower to view the magnificent sight of the village.
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The “villagers” put up a great show later in the night by dancing, singing and acting. The highlight of the show must be the fire eating part. It was quite cool to watch in close proximity how he used his tongue to smoother the fire.
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1st day cool, 2nd day school. A series of talks were conducted throughout the day but I’m not going to bore you guys with the information from the talks. Though I really did learnt a lot. Then there were scrumptious buffet breakfast and lunch again with live bands around to entertain us.
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It was a nice trip overall. A nice getaway from the crowded city, from my busy job and from the polluted air. I got to know a lot of people and learnt a lot from the seminars. The “villagers” were nice and kind; the foods were delicious; the facilities were well-equipped; the talks were interesting; the activities were entertaining and the scenery was breathtaking but the best thing of the whole trip was…

IT’S FREEEEEEEEEEE…

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Blinded

The music was deafening. She was jumping around drinking with her new frens and hugging them passionately. She didn’t care if their hands repeatedly grope her like orang utans. She just liked the attention which gave her security.

She danced a bit. The dark, noisy environment suited her. Places like this had turned into her sanctuary lately. She let herself drown in the pumping volume and the sea of people. Minutes later, she eyed a packet on the table, picked it up and took out one stick. She lit the stick and slowly dragged on it. Her new hobby…

She felt liberated.

What she didn’t know was she was being watched. Few pair of eyes were observing her disbelievingly like she was a specimen under a microscope.

Those eyes looked worried.

And

Those eyes were gleaming with sorrow.

I wonder. I really wonder.

Is LOVE itself blind?

Or

We let ourselves get blinded by LOVE?

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Sunday, October 7, 2007

Missing in Action

Sorry for the lack of blogging for the past few weeks. I was going thru my mid-twenties life crisis and I needed some time to pull myself back together. You won’t believe how many ironic things I went thru lately. Besides all those things I mentioned in my previous entries, lately I was nearly being accused of stealing the company’s petty cash. Ha! Ha! Ha! How funny…

My mood really hit rock bottom. I was like a walking zombie in Resident Evil. I was a zombie at home, a zombie at work and a zombie friend. I was basically soulless. The only thing I gained was a few strands of white hair. Even my colleague asked me to go “da siao ren”.


Of coz I didn't go. "Yun yun xiong bou hor si liu" le? So all i did was this...



Just type "da xiao ren" at the google tab, you will be led to this website where u can key in your enemy's name and beat the shit out of him/her. But like I said just now, "yun yun xiong bou hor si liu" le? Forget and forgive ok... :)

Last 2 weeks, Honey asked me to fetch him to a workshop in Cheras to get his fixed car. Oh ya, his little brother literally smashed the car’s engine in a rundown involving 5 cars and guess what? He was lucky number 5. Honey was car-less for three weeks and he was damn pissed during that period.

While I was helping him checking back all his tinny-weenie items in the car, I found a ring of keys. I couldn’t believe it! That set of house keys and that green guitar keychain…oh my god. It’s been a year and I’d been searching - up and down, in and out - everywhere for them (including his car). I tot I’d lost it forever!

Hey, I have a lot of history with these keys ok. Not only they are the original set, they have been with me for more than 10 years. Once, they were kidnapped by my previous maid but thank god I rescued them from her room. Speaking of my previous maid, she’s a classic. That’s why she deserves full attention in another post.

Back to my keys, you guys don’t know how happy I was when I found them! Happier than seeing money drop from the sky. Those metals and brasses really lifted off the gloomy cloud from my head. Suddenly I had a feeling that it’s all over. Over for good.

I’M BACK!
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Monday, October 1, 2007

Today in History

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