The one with the confirmation and new GSC

Finally I'm officially confirm at AM. Been a long time, but then again it has been six months. But I believed it could have been earlier. Oh well, at least the confirmation came with a raise (eyes making dollars, I mean RM signs).
Sadly I could not share it with someone special. It might not be a big event, just its a small milestone in my career, though it would be nice to share it with someone. Anyways, the entourage would be gathering for a (long-awaited) karaoke bash. Been a while since I've been unleashed at karaoke, and this time the gloves are off. KL will never be the same again.
Also earlier I checked out the new GSC at Pavalion. Went for Enchanted and the movie was just watchable. Just the laughs here and there. The place looks nice, leather seats and all. And it did have that new leather smell which gave me a headache. As for the experience, pretty much the same as any other GSC you visit. For me its just convenient for the after work movies.
And now its time for me to sleep.

The one with niece's brithday bash, her first adidas and Natalie Portman

My niece turn 1 on October 6, but we held her super-belated-birthday-bash yesterday (25th November). Reason being since her birthday fell during fasting month, then we had Eid and my little sister was going through her finals.

A small gathering of family and friends. I myself invited the entourage and some of my office colleagues (thanks for coming). It was a tea-time event so we had simple dishes and snacks. We also had door gifts, but you have to be a kid to get one. Her birthday cake had an icing of Elmo. Don't know how we are suppose to eat Elmo, but the cake was chocolaty good.

And what did I get my niece. After all the suggestions I received on my Facebook, I went with my original idea. A pair of adidas shoes (which I know she'll outgrow in 6 months). I didn't want to get her a toy because most of the toys are unsuitable for her age and most of them were made in China. Still it was cute, her first adidas.
Took the Monday off to send my car for servicing. Found out I need to change my timing belt, and that would cost me an arm and a leg. Good thing I (almost) cleared my credit card balance.
After that I went to catch a couple of movies. Went back-to-back today. Watched Hitman and Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Both were watchable and movies to just kill time. I don't recall ever finishing a Hitman game though. As for Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, I just went for it for Natalie Portman. Its one of those movies you'll fall in love with Natalie (again). Yes, I'm a big Natalie Portman fan.
And I've just became Natalie Portman's fan in Facebook.

Hate (I Really Don't Like You) by Plain White T's

The one with 3 days in one post

So an eventful first half to the week. And no I did not go to the Nadal-Gasquest game. Speaking of which if the names don't end with an 'ova' then I'm not interested in going.
Well on Monday I joined my office colleagues for a round of badminton. I have not played for almost a year so my game was expected to be off. But to my surprise I played at a reasonable level and still have court awareness except at times I know in my mind I can make / get that shot. Also there was a basketball court nearby so I shot some hoops for a bit. Well at least my mechanics were still there, just wrist management needed work. Nice to see so rainbow-high-arcing shots go through the hoop. My office colleagues plan to make it a weekly event so probably I have a chance to work on my game. Find that level of semi-Jordan-esque.
Tuesday was futsal as usual. Sadly as of late the numbers for the Tuesday group has been disappointing. I have to call up most of my Saturday group friends to join. Even an hour before game time I still can't confirm whether the game is on. But this group has been playing together for the past 5 years, but I have to understand that family commitments and work is a factor. Also not forgetting injuries and surgeries. Due to 'age' some people don't heal as Wolverine-like as before. Even myself have been playing hurt after pulling a hamstring last Friday. But due to unconvincing numbers I have to make an appearance. Knowing me, I still haven't learn to pace myself and still insist of playing at a high-sexy-football level. But I decided to rest for Wednesday and Friday sessions, but will return for Saturday's kick-off.
Earlier today, I had to report to our disaster-recovery-site for our annual training. Had a rough morning as a lot of calls directed to me as well as certain clients who just want to make things difficult. If only I mastered the art of force-choking via the telephone. To me it was more of a disaster there than a real-life disaster.
Had a small discussion with my boss towards end of day since everything that needs to be done has been done. More like filling in the time before leaving. My boss has been trying to make me embrace 'The Game' and use it in daily life. He even asked me to ask one of the girls from the site out for drinks (part of my KPI he says). Well I didn't do it as I know that the girl he suggested is already seeing someone. However he did advise one thing, when asking a girl out get rid of that ridiculous grin of yours. Try to act serious and cool. So now I think I should learn to stop grinning that ridiculous grin of mine, which maybe could be why girls don't take me seriously.
So how do I stop grinning that grin I do?

The one with why I have not been blogging much as of late (and it's not because of Facebook)

I'm not sure if any of you noticed, but it seems my posts these days are a dying breed. Well you can put the blame Football Manager 2008. The game that keeps you up late at night and still have you thinking tactics when you go to sleep.
Well been actively playing FM2008 these days. Trying to lead my beloved Spurs to glory. And it safe to say I do a better job than the previous Spurs managers who probably underachieved. Been in charge for two seasons already and just started my third. My accomplishments in my first season was the League Cup and UEFA cup. Finished second in the league in my first season pipping Manyoo for second spot on the last day of the season (somehow Chelski won the title with 4 games to spare). My second season was even better than the first. Won the Premiership (won it on the last game of the season also), defended my League cup and here's a surprise the Champions League also. But honestly I had an easy draw to the finals with the big teams knocking each other out and also surprise packages going deep in the tournament. More reasons I should have applied for the Spurs managerial post when Martin Jol was sacked/resigned.
If you would excuse me, I'm off to start my third season in charge.

The one with Red Box Plus, Pavillion

Finally made it to the new Red Box in town. Red Box Plus Pavilion. A grand spanking new place ready for me and my fellow rockers to rock. But today I went with my clients and colleagues and they only allowed me to join only if I BEHAVE. Mind you it wasn't easy, but I lived most of my life in the backseat so I manage to make an effort.
First of all, the place is wicked. They 40 rooms and with several room concepts like Metal, Forest, Rock and others which I have yet to explore. One of the cool parts is that each room comes with its own toilet. And with the wireless mics you wouldn't miss a song as I believe its possible to sing from the toilet (not that I've tried). The furniture is still fresh and leathery. Ready to be used as launch pads for some of my aerial assaults. For me the room gets a massive A in my book.
Food wise, hmm...what food. I didn't eat much as when I karaoke I don't really go for the food. So can't make any comments there.
The music selection is the same as the other Red Box's but they are using a different system, an upgraded version and looks similar to the system used at Neway karaoke joints. But this new system is not reliable as it crashed 4 times during our session, all when everyone was in a good flow and rhythm. So some work is needed there.
Overall despite the steep price especially for nightfall sessions its something that should be experienced. So I guess I have to make arrangements for the gang to rock this weekend. Lookout Pavilion we're coming for you.

The one with the PPKM Annual Dinner

Last night was the Persatuan Pasaran Kewangan Malaysia annaul dinner. The event where everyone is dressed to kill and where the lucky prizes are worth winning (there were a couple of Ipod Touch but my lucky draw draught continues). Anyways I honestly believe the lucky draw is 'fixed' as most of the winners are the who's who.
The night started early for me, since I was there early anticipated a traffic jam that never came. Felt kinda lost earlier on, since I didn't even recognize half of the people there. Guess there are really a lot of fresh new faces in the market and being their first time, they were really dressed to kill.
The dinner theme was 'Bling, Glamour Bling'. Emceed by Nell Ng and guest appearance by Phua Chu Kang (again) and music performances by Azman Warren. The dinner was held at KL Hilton. After two straight years going as Clark Kent/Superman I decided to go for something different this year. People will get bored of the red and blue and I didn't want to be typecast. This wear I drew inspiration from one of the NBA's best dressed, Dwyane Wade. Something clean and simple. Managed to find my bling, a necklace chain thing with what Arnold Schwarzenegger calls 'just a leaf'. My additional prop was subject to a lot of people's toying. Since it spins, everyone wants to play with it. And for my efforts I (somehow?) won 3rd place for Best Dressed.
The food kind of sucked and they dragged the dinner too long to accommodate some fashion show by the sponsor who just want to promoted their bling. Everyone was really waiting for the lucky draws but again I didn't win.
As the night went on, I bump into a lot of familiar faces. It was nice to see everyone again even though most were them were pissed drunk. Anyways I left early as I didn't want to get caught in traffic of what seems to be a very small car park (for a 5-star hotel) and probably there be a lot of drunk drivers.
An eventful night but the event could use some tweaking for next year.

The one with Stardust

Just got one from watching Stardust at Cinepleasure, I mean Cineleisure. Been a while since I've been to the cinema and also been some time since I really enjoyed a movie. And may I say Stardust is the best movie I've watched in 2007.
There, I said it, Stardust is the best movie for 2007, even better than Transformers. I can now hear a lot of you saying 'this guy can't be serious, better than Transformers? he must be on something here'. As you recall I did have some comments on Transformers mainly due to the character development and the Decepticons. Anyways, back to Stardust.
First of all I really enjoyed the book written by Neil Gaiman. One of those authors who can combine different worlds and realms and still make it believable. Speaking of the book, Amryl hope you can return it to me soon. Need to check on something. I'm not going to spoil the whole movie as I want you all to watch it and enjoy a movie which really puts a shine for movies in 2007 (remember Pirates 3). Its a fantasy-fairy tale-love-adventure flick. I was so happy after watching the movie I couldn't stop smiling (don't know why, but think people are beginning to suspect I'm high on something). Also the message conveyed really hits you right there. Story wise was excellent and character development was well crafted.
Anyways you have to see it to enjoy it. Enjoy.