Party like it's your birthday

I call this* 'My Happy People'. This was taken in August during my induction course into the big bad energy industry. Then I met the same group again just last week. This time we had pasta and rose soda while exchanging goss. Nothing really changed since we last met - either in KL or eons ago in Melbourne. It's nice to have a constant in life. I'd like to revert to marital plans but nah, suffice to say, one down three more makciks to go.

Last week saw a bunch of former journos and editors, government lobbyists, PR consultants, army men, corporate professionals and the like convene at the Hilton. I had a sexy, sexy room. It featured an open plan room where the bathroom had sliding doors for walls - on every side. The novelty wore off after two days of crunching my fingers while sliding the partitions though. There's only so much sexiness I can take. I fine-dined with my former business desk comrade in a posh Arabic restaurant that came complete with bellydancer and personal waiters. I stuffed my face the next day with KFC because I thought, I'm abroad so the grease doesn't count. What the hell, why deprive myself of the one thing better than my other half. I tell myself that everytime I load my dessert plate with seconds. The quantity and quality of food was ah-mah-zeeeng.

I met these fantastic people who made me feel less alone in the world of corporate communications. I was thinking: Finally, people who won't judge me for being in CX (Cool indicator huh, yeah I think so too). The general consensus here is that corporate affairs people are either very good at throwing parties or they just run around doing frivolous stuff. It's good to know I have a great global support team of experienced people from diverse backgrounds. I happen to like running around doing frivolous stuff.

So the point of all this was to just put up these memorable quotes from a fellow CX mate - this petite, bubbly Sri Lankan mother of two - who cracked me up when she was describing how she deals with friends who drink at parties. When they offer her alcohol, she tells them: "I don't need alcohol. I'm born with a kick!".

For some reason, that sounded funnier coming from her.

So I almost fainted from two hour long presentations that went on without a break, unless you count comfort breaks a proper break. The same lady said, "That was death by powerpoint!". She had more soundbites to offer but I couldn't remember them all. She's funny and that's all I wanted to say.




*Excellently photographed by Zul Z, up and coming KL entrepreneur

October Y-gens unite!

A special birthday greeting to all October babies,
from us at froufrougirls.blogspot.com

Selamat Hari Raya and all that jazz.

* Image courtesy of the excellent xkcd website

I look back at my old journal entries and it's all the same this time of year. It goes like 'Ramadhan has come and gone' or 'Syawal is here' or 'Damn it, did I really eat the entire box of mini-popiah?'. So you get the idea. I loved the whole festive season, the anticipation, the good it brings out in people, the evening outings to the neighbourhood masjid, the religious devotion, the food, the emphasised focus on family ties and yes, the food again.

This year brought a couple more first's for me. Possibly one of the more significant ones is actually seeing a future together with my other half. We talk a lot about the practical aspects of legalizing our relationship, so to speak (I still can't bring myself to say the m word) and while it's tedious, it's necessary to discuss the not so fluffy side of couple-dom. Like, living arrangements, delegation of responsibilties, blah dee blah. All that was more than enough to put me off the idea of getting together but one Sunday evening, we went to perform the Terawih prayers together. We were on our way back from the masjid when I just saw it. That very real possibility of things working out for the long-term.

Moi? Committed to a long term project? Sorry, I only do 6 months at the most. If this is the feelings side of my brain speaking, then I suppose it has broken through that barrier of denial that yeah, I'd like to settle down. Someday. It didn't help that he mentioned it while I was daydreaming about it too.

Him: So how was terawih?
Me: Yeah, it was really good.
Him: Good, good. So...can you imagine doing that for the rest of your life? (Here I thought he meant if I can imagine myself being more into my faith then he added...) With me?
Me: (Stunned look)

Suffice to say, I was grinning like mad on the inside but had to be blase about it. One mustn't give in so quickly. I gotsa do my thang first before going into that sort of long term project. Can't flirt with cute bartenders or go surfing at a drop of the hat when I have a ring on my finger can I? Not that the thang I plan to do involves bartenders. It's just, life is too short to commit to any one idea/person/cause too quickly. As I like to say when nosy people ask about the status of my relationship with the other half - "If it happens, it happens lah. If not, then I can go buy more diamonds for myself lor".

Salam Aidilfitri, readers. Maaf Zahir dan Batin =)