CharmedCookie Bits

Tagged...again.

2007-11-20T22:28:00.000+08:00

I've been tagged by Kim. Ah well, guess it's about time I post something up here :)

The Rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eight people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

Random facts about me... hmm...
1) I love listening to jazz but just can't remember the artists' names.
2) My naps range from 5mins to 2hrs.
3) Must wear lipgloss everyday.
4) Must apply body lotion everyday.
5) Addicted to Heroes.
6) Addicted to Nestle's Double Blended Hot Chocolate.
7) Don't quite know how to do the basic routine car check.
8) Can't say no to ice-cream.

Being a lazybum and a bit of a rebel, I'm not abiding rule 3 & 4. :P

5 Things you didn't know about CharmedCookie

2007-03-20T11:32:00.000+08:00

Obliging to my dear cousin's tag...

CharmedCookie doesn't finance any loans.
CharmedCookie has been to New York, Florida, Kansas City, London, Leeds, Manchester, Perth, Sydney, Paris, Belgium, Vienna, Rome, Venice, Florence, Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore, Myanmar and certain parts of Germany and Switzerland.
Apart from her travels, the next most expensive thing CharmedCookie has ever purchased would be her Twinhead laptop.
CharmedCookie has never bought herself a mobile phone.
CharmedCookie permed her short hair once and vowed never to do that again!

I'm not tagging anyone, heh. :)

Should I go back to school?

2006-11-02T20:08:00.000+08:00

You scored as Psychology/Sociology. You should strongly consider majoring (or minoring) in Psychology, Sociology, or related majors (e.g. Child Development, Counseling, Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology, Social Work, or other Social Science majors).

It is possible that the best major for you is your 2nd, 3rd, or even 5th listed category, so be sure to consider ALL majors in your OTHER high scoring categories (below). You may score high in a category you didnt think you would--it is possible that a great major for you is something you once dismissed as not for you. The right major for you will be something 1) you love and enjoy and 2) are really great at it.

Consider adding a minor or double majoring to make yourself standout and to combine your interests. Psychology and Sociology are both great minors to add to any major. Please post your results in your myspace/blog/journal.

Psychology/Sociology

69%

HR/BusinessManagement

63%

Visual&PerformingArts

63%

Religion/Theology

63%

Nursing/AthleticTraining

56%

English/Journalism/Comm

50%

Education/Counseling

50%

French/German/Spanish

50%

PoliticalScience/Philosophy

38%

Biology/Chemistry/Geology

31%

Accounting/Finance/Marketing

31%

History/Anthropology/LiberalArts

31%

Mathematics/Statistics

19%

Physics/Engineering

19%

WHAT MAJOR IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
created with QuizFarm.com

My Love Lingo?

2006-10-19T19:30:00.000+08:00

The Five Love Languages

My primary love languages are probably
Quality Time and Words of Affirmation.

Complete set of results

Quality Time:		9
Words of Affirmation:		9
Physical Touch:		5
Receiving Gifts:		4
Acts of Service:		3

Information

Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz

Well, whadda ya know...!

2006-08-17T21:07:00.000+08:00

You Are a Fortune Cookie

You're a rather normal person, except that you have extraordinary luck in life.
People want to be around you (even when they're a little sick of you), in hopes of being lucky too!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Guess I won't be paying the shrink a visit anytime soon

2006-08-17T20:57:00.000+08:00

Your EQ is 127

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick!
51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese.
71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely.
91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that.
111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt.
131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.
150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

cheers, mate!

2006-08-07T22:15:00.000+08:00

You Are Heineken

You appreciate a good beer, but you're not a snob about it.
You like your beer mild and easy to drink, so you can concentrate on being drunk.
Overall, you're a friendly drunk who's likely to buy a whole round for your friends... many times.
Sometimes you can be a bit boring when you drink. You may be prone to go on about topics no one cares about.

What's Your Beer Personality?

charmedcookie says...

2006-07-21T11:31:00.000+08:00

"You can earn money but you can't earn time with family and friends. You can only spend time with them."

(this came to mind as I emailed a friend who declined a job offer to work in the Lion City and chose to work in good ol' tanahair because he wanted to be close to his family.)

Kodak moments

2006-04-24T21:15:00.000+08:00

The last time I took a bus to another state was 3 years ago. I didn't enjoy the trip and made a mental note to avoid taking the bus for long-distance if I could help it. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled when I found out that my colleagues and I would be taking the bus to Penang, a good 4-hour ride (given fair weather conditions and no accidents along the highway) for a staff meeting. Fortunately, the seats were quite comfortable and refreshments were given before boarding and during the journey.

We stopped once at a rest area in Bukit Gantang (no idea where it is and frankly speaking, not bothered to find out, heh). During the break, I managed to capture a few great shots - at least to me, they are pretty cool pics! :)

Saw this little boy running towards the fountain and caught him in action. Quite a fast runner this adik.

Good thing it's a water fountain and not a well!

Adik dan abangnya.

A trip to Penang is not complete without some makan at Gurney Drive!

Jom makan tau foo fah, lok-lok, laksa...

Ah...rojak!

Took a drive around town and was amazed at the Church Street Pier!

Majestic init?

Drawn to Christ

2006-04-15T14:02:00.000+08:00

I must admit I didn't quite observe the Lent season this year compared to last year. Didn't meditate on scriptures daily nor abstained from meat. However, the past 2 days - Maundy Thursday and Good Friday - were exceptionally meaningful for me. When a friend mentioned to me that BLC will be hosting a Passover Meal on Thursday, I quickly contacted the pastor to save me a seat. It was an experience to remember the historical background to the Passover Feast, to witness and be apart of the 'washing of feet' (like what Jesus did for his disciples at The Last Supper - John 13). In the kiss-a** world that we live in today, this washing of feet is foreign to many. I am drawn to His humility.

I returned to BLC the last night for The Tenebrae Service. I appreciated the simplicity, as we sung hymns without musical accompaniment, and the darkness, as the candles were blown out after each scripture reading.

Some of us continued our reflections by quietly taking the Journey to the Cross. The stations that spoke loudest to me were Station 4: Judas Betrays Jesus and Station 9: Jesus' Crucifixion. As I looked at the coins placed there to represent the pieces of silver which Judas betrayed his friend for, I could not help but ask myself how often I betrayed Him for material things of this transient world. At Station 9, I 'nailed' the folded paper in which I wrote down some of my sins to the centre of the cross. It dawned on me, apart from the visible nails that pierced His hands and feet, and invisible nail pierced His heart that day as He hung there on the cross. As another friend put it, it was love and friendship that drove Jesus to the cross.

Thank You Jesus, for Your love.

Word Crumbs...oops, I mean Cloud.

2006-04-14T18:47:00.000+08:00

Ain't this a wordy cloud? Heh.

Check out Snapshirts Custom design for key words and themes in your blog!

Amigos para siempre II

2006-04-06T19:12:00.000+08:00

4th March 2006 - 6 of us reunited again for yet another hens' nite or rather, hens' getaway this time around. We whisked the bride-to-be, AL, to Port Dickson for some sun, sea and sand.

what a view from our aparment!

Instead of sending her to a day spa, we took upon ourselves the task of pampering her with a revitalising facial, body massage, manicure and pedicure! We also gave her a complete makeover :)

Before & After

Miss Port Dickson & her beauty assistants

Fast forward to 25th March...the wedding day!

So cute lah!

T came back from Singapore just for the wedding. And JL made an appearance after 11 years!

One for the album!

A New Beginning

2006-03-15T18:59:00.000+08:00

Today's my first day of work at a Not-for-Profit Organisation (NPO). Like any other first day at a new workplace, I found myself at a lost...and pleasantly surprised. My PC and my email was set-up and ready-for-use by 10.30am (just an hour after I clocked-in for work!). You can't imagine how glad I was when I found that I have direct access to Internet from my PC! Only 2 out of the 4 organisations that I've worked for previously permitted direct access to Internet so I wasn't really expecting the luxury of browsing the WorldWideWeb to be granted this time.

Spent the day reading the Kertas Akta Belia 2006 (Youth Act Paper 2006) and had briefing sessions with 2 unit heads. For the first time in my working life, I don't think I would be given a proper Orientation but will be getting my hands dirty with planning and organising youth-related activities very, very soon (like tomorrow).

As usual, time passed slowly when you haven't got much to do. Thank God for the access to Internet ;)

Genesis 1:1

2006-02-26T16:42:00.000+08:00

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (New International Version)

I attended the first BSF class of 2006 on Valentine's Day (I was rather glad when they announced the date last year coz it meant I would have an interesting VDay even without a flower bouquet, chocolates, soft-toy in the shape of a pup or cosy candlelight dinner). We are studying the book of Genesis this year and I am excited. Having been a Christian since I was 8, I've read the 1st verse of the 1st chapter of the 1st book in the Bible many times. As I was going through the lesson notes for the week, one of the questions asked about this verse was "Do you believe that it's true?"

I must admit I have taken for granted, in some sense, that everything I read in the Bible is true and I don't really question what I read (well, except during bible studies, heh). But here I am faced with this question. Do I believe that "First this: God created the Heavens and Earth--all you see, all you don't see" (The Message) ? If I don't, there's really no point in reading verse 2, or the rest of the Bible for that matter.

If I don't believe, what answer do I have for the origins of multicoloured rainbows, awesome waterfalls, trees that produces delicious thirst quenching fruits, beautiful sparkling little lights in the midnight sky, adorable furry little doggies...the people whom I share hugs, laughter and tears?

But I do believe. I believe there's a Creator and He is God. I believe He made ALL things for a purpose, yes, even you and I...and that little ant making its way across the table. Knowing this gives me hope. That Someone had me in mind before I came to being. That I can trust this Giver of Life, with my life. For He is good and He will see me through ALL seasons of my life.

bar-bee-Q

2006-02-13T18:24:00.000+08:00

Was at EJ & Mel's for bbq last Sat nite. Apart from chicken wings, fish and sausages from the grill, Mel also prepared pasta, mashed potatoes and salad with bak-gua bits(!!) I guess she didn't know what else to do with a small slice of bak-gua leftover from CNY, hehe.

Chicken wings & fish wrapped in banana leaf on the grill. Hmm, where's the fire??

whoah, now we're smokin'!

My friend's daughter looking at her mummy enjoying chicken wing but she can't have any. Aww...poor thing

ah well, she's contented with her drink and sausages

Crikey!!!

2006-02-07T17:21:00.000+08:00

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the virtual cake cousin K posted for me was the exact cake I had for my birthday. Now what are the chances of that happening?!?

another year older

2006-02-05T21:17:00.000+08:00

Artistic, am I?

2006-02-04T19:20:00.000+08:00

Your Career Type: Artistic

You are expressive, original, and independent.Your talents lie in your artistic abilities: creative writing, drama, crafts, music, or art.
You would make an excellent:
Actor - Art Teacher - Book Editor Clothes Designer - Comedian - Composer Dancer - DJ - Graphic DesignerIllustrator - Musician - Sculptor
The worst career options for your are conventional careers, like bank teller or secretary.

What's" Your Ideal Career?

Actor - where do I audition?

Art Teacher - for primary school kids lah... (I did get an A1 for Arts in SPM)

Book Editor - err, don't think so.

Clothes Designer - for the career man/woman but definitely not couture!

Comedian - me?!? perhaps to my nephew and niece...

Composer - I'd rather sing someone else's composition

Dancer - can, 10 years ago lah. My body ain't that flexible anymore.

DJ - waasssuuupp...! all the ladies in the house wave your hands in the air now!

Graphic Designer - anybody giving Adobe Photoshop tuition for free?

Illustrator - nah...

Musician - I play the piano but have the tendency to hit more incorrect keys than I should!

Sculptor - sure...with Play-doh, hehe.

Jo-Jo & John-John

2006-01-12T01:54:00.000+08:00

My niece Jo-Jo has a new playmate John-John. He arrived on the 4th of January 2006... 10 days after Christmas and 13 days before her birthday. Not quite a Christmas present nor a birthday present...but definitely a gift to my family from our Heavenly Father!

"ho,ho,ho...."

"Ahhh, not quite?"

"Now listen hear, buddy, I'm ya big sista...u'll listen to what I say, u get me?"

It's not about me

2006-01-12T01:35:00.000+08:00

I read many many blogs and many many comments the past few days but it was the following comment that struck me most:

"You can't build a meaningful relationship with God based on what YOU are doing.
A relationship with God has to be based on grace ... on what HE does for you."

Indeed.

Amigos para siempre

2005-11-05T19:45:00.000+08:00

This was the theme for our secondary school prom night. Back then, it was not common for schools in Malaysia to have prom nights, what more in a small town like Seremban. Interact club, Leo Club and Prefectorial Board nights - yes, but not prom nights. If my memory doesn’t fail me, my batch was the first in my school to organise one on our own initiative. I remember it was a group of us girls from an all girls’ school along with a group of boys (from an all boys’ school, of course!) that got together to form an unofficial organising committee to plan for THE night to celebrate friendship and mark our “graduation” from school. We booked the ballroom at a hotel, selected the menu, hired a DJ, sold the tickets and made it happen. It was definitely a night to remember and the girls promised to live up to the theme of the night “Friends Forever”.

Since then, I’ve met up with the girls individually but not as a group. Some continued with Sixth Form, some went to college. Some pursued degrees overseas, others locally. Those who studied overseas mostly returned to Malaysia after graduating. However, not all of us are working in our home country. There are a few in Singapore and another across the Pacific Ocean.

8 of us reunited last Saturday and threw one of the girls, SL, a hens’ night as she was getting married later this month. We treated her to a day spa with full body massage, pedicure and manicure included. She wasn’t the only one getting pampered that day. We also took advantage of the opportunity to treat our bodies with aromatherapy massage and got our nails done. As soon as SL completed her spa, we went for a meal of tapas and sangrias. The night was still young when we finished our dinner but I suppose we’ve mellowed down over the years and clubbing wasn’t top of mind. Instead, we bought some snacks and headed to SL newly furnished apartment in KL. We helped ourselves to red wine, snapped away with our digital cameras (even recorded a few video clips - we live in a digital age, baby), laughed and chatted till wee hours of the morning...just like those slumber parties at SL’s home in Seremban a decade ago (well, minus the wine).

All of us have changed in some ways but certain characteristics remain. T’s still the booklover (she had books in her knapsack and she was holding a magazine throughout the night!), SA has the cutest face when she smiles (u can’t see her eyes!), SP is the bold and daring one, tai kar che LS takes care of us, you can’t find a better listener than SM, no one can beat AL in blushing, SL’s the sweetie pie and me – the one who gets things rolling.

We may not have been there for each other throughout the years but that doesn’t mean we are strangers. We may not know the hills and valleys each have been to but that doesn’t mean we will not step up to walk or hike together when the time calls for such. We may be physically out of sight, but not out of mind. Come what may, we will still be amigos para siempre.

feeling good fixing 'em wires

2005-11-05T15:55:00.000+08:00

I put my technical skills to work this afternoon. Mom accidently tripped over the phoneline and the coloured connecting wires were yanked out from the main phone wirebox. Now the phone wirebox in my home is the old version with metal plates and screws, and the copper strands (literally finer than my hair) are twisted around the screws and then tightened to the metal plates.

Armed with a pair of pliers, I started cutting and removing the protective layer for the 4 coloured wires. Then came the tricky part of removing the coloured covering to expose the fine copper strands. Made several attempts at doing this but I finally managed to remove the covering without pulling out the delicate strands. I had to be oh-so-careful twisting the strands around the screws before tightening them. I was so pleased with myself when I successfully brought the dial tone back to the phone :)

Rebuilding trust

2005-07-28T12:45:00.000+08:00

C finally met up with W for dinner to talk over the email W sent. It was awkward at first as they have not had one-on-one talk for nearly 2 months. As though the wait wasn't long enough, 2 mutual friends of C and W passed by their table and joined them for dinner. When the friends left, C and W started to really talk.

It began with C expressing disappointment that such 'news' were revealed via email and broken trust to W's words. W responded by saying that those were the very emotions expected and feared of when the email was written. Yet, W chose to write the 'news' in an email and send it anyway. W apologised for revealing the 'news' over email and not face-to-face.

To the question why date T when it would mean facing a similar hurdle when W was dating C, W answered that the relationship with T is worth fighting for. Not to mean that C wasn't worth fighting for, but C made 2 grave mistakes that made W throw in the towel (to which C agreed yet bearing in mind that C had very good reasons for making the mistakes but obviously, repercussions overshadowed the reasons).

To the question why W was able to start another relationship so soon after the break-up, W explained that careful considerations were made and W believed it was a right decision to go out with T. W added that it was not easy because W had to convince T that T wasn't a 'replacement' and that W wasn't just starting the relationship on rebound.

Of course during the 2-hour long conversation, many other things surfaced including the other reasons that led to the mutual break-up...but I shall spare you.

C took it all in and embraced it with an understanding that let to a proper closure of the relationship with W. "To trust or not to trust?" Friendships matter to C. Despite broken trust and disappointment, C endeavours to rebuild trust and the friendship that once was with W.

100 Things About Me...

2005-07-27T18:38:00.000+08:00

1) I am timing myself how fast I can come up with 100 things about myself.
2) I've had 3 handphones in the past.
3) I didn't buy any of those 3 handphones nor the current one that I am using.
4) My 1st ever prize won through lucky draw was a gas stove!
5) The last lucky draw prize I won was a DIGI prepaid starter pack.
6) My favourite lucky draw prize was a NOKIA phone.
7) This lucky draw prize NOKIA phone was stolen :(
8) I previously rented a room in a single-storey bungalow and was the sole tenant there for 10 months.
9) That room was burgled.
10) My 1st landlady was a retired woman (separated from her husband)
11) 2nd landlady was a widow (age: 60+)
12) 3rd and current landlady is also a widow (age: 70+)
13) I once stood in the Komuter for 2 hours straight, from Subang Jaya to Seremban.
14) I don't own a car.
15) To date, I've not taken any bank loans.
16) Favourite season : Winter
17) Favourite food : desserts
18) Favourite drink : fruit juice
19) Favourite colour : blue
20) Favourite movie : While You Were Sleeping (I watched it no less than 8 times)
21) I am a sucker for freebies.
22) I won an Enrique Iglesias CD from MixFm roadrunners.
23) I won Guy Sebastian's CD from MixFm's morning show with Richard and Shazmin.
24) I sang "How Do I Live" on air to win Guy's CD.
25) I can't believe I am only at number 25!!!
26) I sang solo at my brother's wedding.
27) I was part of a trio who won RM 6000 in a singing competition.
28) I love to sing (duh...)
29) I used to dance ballet.
30) I love musicals.
31) Miss Saigon's my favourite musical.
32) I don't mind going to movies alone.
33) I can eat alone in public.
34) My primary schoolmates nicknamed me Jamtart.
35) My close girlfriends call me James.
36) My 1st IRC nickname was Elysee.
37) My other IRC nicknames were Giselle and Jamtart.
38) One of my overused words is 'shoot'.
39) I learnt this word "Crikey" when I was in UK.
40) I bought a "Crikey" tag when I was in Australia visiting my cousin.
41) That tag is now stuck onto my car window :)
42) I tend to use the UK slang "init" instead of "isn't it".
43) I have the same single-sleeved blouse as cousin B.
44) This was the number of the house I stayed in while studying in college.
45) I previously worked in Customer Service Dept. in Crown Relocations.
46) There were 3 of us and we called ourselves "Crown Angels"
47) I am Crown Angel 2.
48) Crown Angel 1 is 2 years my senior.
49) I am older then Crown Angel 3 by.... 2 years :)
50) I am finally half-way thru the list!!
51) Most of my friends are guys.
52) My phonebook can testify that, hehe.
53) I've travelled to Pulau Kapas alone.
54) I've travelled to Pulau Langkawi alone.
55) I've travelled to USA alone.
56) I've been to Paris twice.
57) I visited Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and Austria with a tour group.
58) I signed up for that tour alone...and had the hotel rooms all to myself without having to pay the single-supplement cost!!
59) I am having difficulty to think of more things to write.
60) My typing skills improved tremendously, thanks to IRC.
61) I worked as an Activity Leader in a summer school in UK.
62) I visited many places in UK for free (as an Activity Leader).
63) As an Activity Leader, my boarding and meals were paid for...
64) ...and I got paid 100 quid a week :)
65) I have worked for 5.5 years
66) I prefer pants to skirts.
67) I don't have a wardrobe cupboard in the current room I am renting now.
68) I can't leave home without my handphone.
69) What else can be said of this number??
70) I hope if I reach this age, I would still be healthy and wise :)
71) Golly, I need to leave office soon for a dinner appointment.
72) I used to call my friends "Chicken" if they exasperated me.
73) I have a number of friends by the name of Daniel.
74) Most unusual name I've heard : Delthine.
75) I use disposable contact lenses.
76) I can finish this list!
77) I finally gave my aunt a pair of golf shoes after having worked in the golf shoe company for 2 years!
78) That's the last 2 numbers of my birth year.
79) Now whoever reads this blog knows my age.
80) I am currently wearing a beige blouse...
81) with a black cardigan over the blouse...
82) ...which cousin B gave me :)
83) I wore white shoes today.
84) Friends say I look good in red.
85) My grandma is 85 this year.
86) I love my family and maternal relatives.
87) My current boss is buggin me as I am trying to finish this list!
88) Chinese ppl love this number.
89) I am looking forward to my new job.
90) Just 10 more to go.
91) I am very late for my dinner appointment.
92) If this was a time-test, I would've failed badly.
93) I have keys to my office.
94) I'm bad with road directions.
95) I love to have tea at Teapot Cafe in ss2.
96) Love the cakes in Alexis Bangsar.
97) I have a gmail email.
98) I have a yahoo email.
99) I am finishing this list..woo hoo!!
100) It took me 53 mins to do this list....maaaannnn....!!!!

The Middle Name that sends shivers through my spine...

2005-07-27T17:56:00.000+08:00

...is CHOOI. Why? Because in my working experience, I've reported to L CHOOI P who reported to L CHOOI H, who reported to T CHOOI K. They had different surnames but the SAME Middle Name and all of them in the Marketing Dept! I didn't have bad experiences working with them but each had characteristics that bug the daylights of me.

So when DLM called me for the final job interview, you could imagine how my whole body squirmed when I found out that the name of the Marketing Director was S CHOOI L! DLM offered me the job but the thought of having a superior with THAT Middle Name again, no thanks!!