Don't even have the will to look at the pics.  Still sore.  

 But the other 2 people in the mid and foreground, no comments about them at all.

“Quit your job & join me backpacking in Vietnam.” Kannan said

The guy is raving mad! Just cos he tendered his resignation & is not looking for a job at the moment, he's attending a fren's wedding in Cambodia end of the year, he'll be exploring Vietnam right after the wedding, he wants people to join him. He lives with mummy, of course he can be irresponsible. I got rent to pay!

I jumped at the mention of backpacking. After just coming back from my very 1^st backpacking trip to Thailand, I'm hooked ! However, my initial reservations were:

Will my leave application be approved?

I've never experienced winter in my entire life. Will I be able to withstand it?

We'll be going up northern Vietnam, near the China border. At end of yr, the weather there is unpredictable. It can be sunshiny one time & suddenly, downpour or the temperature may drop drastically..... shucks...

Confided in god brother. God brother was very encouraging.

“Go lah! It will not be winter there lah. It's only like that further up north in Beijing & further up.”

I think he meant it won't snow. But I don't do well in cold weather, snow or not.

After much pushing from god brother, I've decided to just take the plunge. What is backpacking if it's all planned & predictable?

But there's another question – who or which group shall I follow? This morning, Shelly said she's planning a similar Viet backpacking trip. But hers is shorter & not as ambitious as Kannan's. Another gal may be interested to join her.

“One thing I must tell you,” god brother dished out his wisdom.

He continued nagging, “Kau jangan pegi dgn lelaki, kau berdua aje eh! Nanti dia dah gila bayang dgn kau, terus kau tak balik... terus tinggal kat Vietnam nanti karang!”

This is why I love my god brother. He knows me too well. He'll tell it like it is but never rude or offending, instead always make me laugh, stop & think.

“Who is this guy? Chinese? Show me his photo.” haha... it's been ages since I heard such a phrase. Last I heard it was when my parents were still alive. It feels good to have someone nag at me, knowing someone cares.

I revealed that Kannan does introduce me openly to his frens as his gf, in jest. Then I'd retaliate openly that I am NOT his gf.

“The other backpacking group are girls?”

“Yes, 2 to 3 girls.” I replied.

“Dah, kau ikut the girls sudah. Jgn ikut si jantan tu. Nanti dia gila bayang dgn kau, jadi pasal pulak.”

God brother always makes sense. Can't wait to go to Bali with him next yr for sister-brother bonding. Wheeee....

Hmmm... he's the first one I come across who doesn't ask to come to my house / to see my house / to hang out at my house after knowing that I live alone.

And his parting words weren't the overused, my most hated "Take care" nor "See you around".  Surprisingly it was "I'll check my schedule next week and let you know if I can make it for that movie."  *giggle*

 

He played both sides.  In fact, I'm not surprised if he is playing more than just 2 sides.

She played along with him.  She played him.  She played me. 

And both shamelessly call themselves my friends??!!!!!   Not anymore...   

 

Friends don't intentionally play jokes or poke fun to hurt their friends.

If that was their idea of a friendly joke, then they have no sense of humour whatsoever!

 

However, I am totally caught by surprise at how it hurts.

Must be cos they claim to be my frens.  After each play-acting, they talk to me like they didn't do anything wrong at all.

What's so great about him?

In fact, she together with the rest of the gang also poked fun at his quirkiness.

Worse, they made fun of a certain of his facial shortcoming.

That's not fair at all.  It's a physical shortcoming , perhaps from birth?  not sure.  but it's not something he asked for nor something he developed out of a bad habit.  He can't help it.

 

If only he realises how his other mean friends make fun of his goofiness & facial shortcoming.

I beg to differ.  I feel that this little thingy is endearing.

It's what makes him, him.

His uniqueness.

And I like goofy.

 

Instead of seeing how he is appreciated by an unknown diva,

he made a fool of himself, a fool of me and a fool of her.

And one of us got hurt.      

 

The biggest irony is that, she kept blaming her estranged husband for having a girlfriend even before starting divorce proceedings.

She keeps blaming the 3rd party for her marriage breakup.

Actually, even without the 3rd party her marriage was heading irreparable damage when he moved out of their matrimonial home.

 

The very thing she despises and blamed for the destruction of her life, Genn did with Mr Facial Defect.

Has she forgotten that she is also still a married woman?

And she's wondering why her life is like shit?    

 

Why can't people cherish the ones who appreciate them for all that they are?

Instead, they hurt the very people who accept them unconditionally.  

 

The most heart-breaking thing to see or witness, is someone who is weeping silently & trying hard to hide it.

Hope he didn't see it in the plane just now.

Reached for the magazine from the pocket of the seat infront.

Caught a glimpsed of his shoe.  Only then realised he had shifted behind to my row.

With lightning speed turned back to face the window.

Cheeks were still wet.

 

But Genn should not worry cos she's always assumed as the self-sacrificing angel.  So the devil must be me.

I'm always so suay.

Always the case where I didn't do anything.  But other people disturb me.  Then somehow they turned it around & make it look like my fault.

 

 

P/S:  Oh, by the way, *chuckle*... he got a taste of my diva acid sarcasm.  I was checking in when his voice just suddenly boomed into my left ear, saying something about asking me to put some of his gear, I think, into my backpack.

It wasn't that he appeared out of thin air.  It wasn't that his voice made me jump, cos I didn't.

It wasn't that he wanted me to check in some of his gear in my luggage, I'd be glad to take some load off his luggage & save him some $.

It was the accummulation of humiliation I had to endure all these days & the exhaustion from having to tolerate all the gossips & tauntings of the others that made me extremely agitated.  Plus, seeing Genn trying to downplay her guilty conscience by giggling & acting like nothing was wrong, added to the frustrations.  I knew Genn could sense my resentment building up towards her.  And she knew I knew that she knew.  She was trying to avoid talking to me & when she did, she didnt look at me.

 

So I simply gestured at my duffel bag on the conveyor belt & said, "Mine is locked already."

Then with diva acidity, "You should ask Genn."  With extra emphasis & amp on the name.

"Oh, Genn ah?  Ah yeah.. yeah..."  and he went away.

I couldn't help chuckling inside my head despite my boiling blood.  haha.  I'm still laughing now.

 

Later he tried to start conversation with me.  Guilty already right???!!!!!    Ah hah!!!!

Sudah lah!!!   Baik aku mengelak!  haha

 

 

Doobie did it again! He's such a sincere old Aussie fogie. Such a father-figure. Haha. Actually he's not old, he's just approaching 40. but ang mohs tend to look older than they really are.

Doobie said about 2 or 3 wks ago that he was going to Shanghai on business. It just came out of my mouth that Shanghai makes good counterfeit Rolex. Doobie asked if I'd like one. I said yeah. When I walked into the climbing gym last wednesday, he came to me and asked, “Is this what you wanted?” and in his hand was an all silver copy lady Rolex!!! 

It's beautiful !!! haha It's a beautiful faker! And its only SGD30.00 !!!!!  

Its entirely in silver steel and the face is white. Doobie said that it comes in other colour combinations e.g. Silver & cream, silver & black. But the all silver looked the nicest to him. He has quite good taste, I must say. He got himself a copy Tiger Woods Rolex. Nice.  

Doobie helped me take out the plastic that was still stuck to the faker's buckle & chain wrist band. When I tried it on, it was too loose. He adjusted the buckle to the maximum it could go but it was still too loose. I always have problems when buying watches, pants, long-sleeve shirts. I always have to send for alterations or adjustments. I'd have to get 3 to 4 pieces of the steel wrist band taken out. Doobie offered to bring it home where he keeps his micro screwdrivers & alter for me.

Isn't he such a sweetie fogie? He's a jack of all trades. I told Lilac she's one lucky lady to have such a handy hubby who repairs things around the house.

Now, where can I find a handy man for myself huh? Hardware stores? Hmmmm...... time to google for handware stores around my neighbourhood. Haha. But then ah, AMK neighbourhood full of lau ah peks... Drats... haha 

 

He's too nice, too too nice for his own good, in certain cases, that is.  Nice is good.  But sometimes when one is too good he'll lose out on certain things.

I like nice.  I just think he needs to be more assertive at times, especially when it comes to issues that matters.  When you offer something to someone, then unconciously or not, another person potong your jalan.  Now, you can't just let that other person get away with it, would you?  He just let it pass, even pretended to be pre-occupied with something else, perhaps out of embarrassment of rejection.  But in this case it wasn't rejection at all, but distraction by the potong jalan person.  He could've stood his ground & emphasised that he offered first.  But he didn't lei...  made me think that he probably didn't mean it when he offered, that it didn't matter.  That I didn't matter.

 

What I would have done would be to jokingly remind that I offered first.  Would have made it sound casual & in jest, not confrontational, so that no one would be offended.  That way, the distracted party would come to realisation & focus, and the potong jalan person would realise what he had done & back off, and the 1st-offerer would get what was intended, get a clearer picture instead of walking away with his tail between his legs & sulk unnecessarily & get his thoughts all wrong.  DARN!!!  Why were there too many people that day, too many distractions, too many people talking to me & asking me questions?

We all get wrong number calls right? But have your wrong number caller called you back again? This elderly-sounding woman (around 50+) called me asking if I was Mrs Tan. I told her wrong number & disconnected. About 10 mins later she called again !! Usually I'd ignore these imbeciles but today I thought I'd get some stress-relieving respite from work & annoying clients by having some acid-tongue fun with this old woman, something I can't do, as much as I wish to, with my clients.

I picked up the call & waited several seconds to hear what the old woman would say.

She kept mum! What?? She knowingly called a wrong number again & expected me to say hello first?? Well, then, FINE !!!

Me: “Hello” (I mumbled annoyed.)

Old Woman (OW) : “Ah, hello, ah, is this, ?”

Just as I thought. She recognised my voice & knew she got the wrong number again. But for some alien reason, she wanted confirmation.

OW : “This number don't belong to Mr Tan?”

Okay, this idiotic question just pissed me off!!! MISTER Tan? Unacceptable!!

Me : “Do I sound like a man??” (Firm and in my signature sarcastic tone)

OW : “Oh, ah, haha, sorry. It's ah... this number is in the computer.” (She sounded embarrassed)

Then an unbelievably BOVINE attempt by the woman.

OW : “Do you know -”

I cut her short right there and then! I couldn't take anymore from this ridiculous woman! GROWL !!!!!   

Me : “Please don't ask me for his number.” (Referring to Mr Tan)

OW : “Oh, haha.” (Nervous laughter, knowing she had irritated me.)

Me : “I don't know who he is. I don't know who you're looking for.”

Me : “You called the wrong number and you called me twice.” (Sounding more annoyed & acid)

OW : “Oh, haha, oh, ah sorry. Okay.”

I disconnected the call. And laughed inside my head.   Couldn't laugh out loud in the office. Drats!!! That felt good, relieving my stresses on a deserving DUH skull. I'm not mean. She had it coming.

Come on! Where got people call wrong number twice??!! And tried to explain why she called twice! As if that's not insane enough, she tried to ask me for Mr Tan's number when I didn't even know that Mr Tan existed!!! It must either be all that junk food/fast food or handphone radiation or polluted hazy air or maybe H1N1 infected pork that's messing with people's heads these days !! I truly believe these people's brains are liquifying as I speak! Er, blog!

My silly instructor did not check the measurements of the slings he gave me when I purchased my quickdraws. Haha. Aiya... but impossible to get mad at him lah... he made a sincere, innocent mistake cos I didn't think of measuring the slings too. I wanted 10cm and 15cm slings. Instead, he gave me 15cm and 20cm. It didn't occur to any of us at the time that the slings looked longer than usual. Sotongs all of us! lol   

It wasn't troublesome to exchange the 20cm to the 10cm ones cos his boss made arrangements & left the correct slings at the centre for me to exchange the next time I went there.

Plus, the 10cm slings are yellow! Matches the caribiners perfectly! Here are my sexier yellow runners. Bliss... but now I feel so sayang to use them! Lol. 

 

EHEM...

I can now comfortably say that I am a 6B climber. Wheeeee....!

Cicak is the nick given to me by my 2 ang moh guy climbing buddies. Yeah, those 2 old fogies are always teasing me at how I am not able to let go, how I would get stuck on the wall and never fall... These 2 ang mohs have been staying here too long, they're speaking Singlish.

Found this in an AMK Central neighbourhood shop. Hee hee

Lucky me. 

This piece was the last one. 

It was just hanging there, waiting for me. Just me.

I tried 2 other pieces before trying this one.

There were somethings not quite right with the other 2 designs.

But the moment I slipped one arm into this one, .....

 

BANG !

GORGEOUS...

It fits  PERFECTLY.

 L O V E   at first sight.

Sigh... I can go to sleep happy now...  

  If only looking for one's soulmate is this easy...

 

Unique sleeves.                    The Embroidery

                       

  

 

 Step 2 - Stuff in the clothes to the brim of the little bag called clothes compressor.

 

 Step 5 - TA DA!!!  I squeezed it to two-thirds its original size.  A cute little "bolster".

 

 Step 6 - This step only exists for me, the uber organised diva that I am. 

Climbers are the friendliest people.  I've always noticed this but now I am convinced that this is true.

 

Last Wed, climbing with my usual kakis, including the husband & wife team of Doobie & Lilac.  And the subject of our approaching trip came up.  Lilac casually asked if I'm ready.  I casually answered that I've still got quite a number of things I haven't got yet.  When asked like what things?  The 1st thing that came out of my mouth was the back pack and how I am unsure of how to choose a suitable back pack for myself.  It can't be too big and too heavy that it might make me topple backwards. 

 

That was when Doobie said, "We got this back pack, 45 litres, about half your height... We could lend it to you."

 

I didn't think much about what Doobie said cos people have always just said things by the way but never really meant it.  You know, like "I have this & that but it's at home. I could bring it someday if you're interested.  let me know."  but then that was that.  the person didn't bring the "this & that", didn't even mention about it again.  Or "I know someone who knows this & that.  He can help you.  I'll look for his number & give to you."  yeah right.....  I've always been given empty promises & left hanging much too often that I didn't want to hope & then be let down again.

 

Sunday came and Doobie & Lilac actually brought the said back pack for me!!!    They are such sincere & lovely people, aren't they? 

I was so touched.  I didn't give Doobie a firm reply that Wed, partly cos I was worried that the back pack may be taller than me!  haha 

 

So I asked Lilac, "You don't mind?  Even if I get it dirty during the trip?"

 

"It's meant to get dirty.  Look here & here..."  Lilac said pointing to the patches on the backpack.  They're mostly chalk stains, no dirt.

 

"It's been to Nepal twice and Vietnam." was what Doobie said.

 

"I'll wash it before returning to you.  I promise."  I said, trying to hide my overwhelming appreciation.   

 

"Nah...",  Doobie replied, "Keep the dirt.  I want the dirt back.  They're dirt from Nepal, Vietnam and you'll bring back dirt from Thailand."

 

"Oh, so they're sentimental dirt huh?" I joked.   Doobie agreed with a hearty laugh. 

 

Upon closer inspection of the back pack, I counted 10 compartments !!!  I LOVE many compartments, the uber organised freak that I am... 

I already fell in love with the back pack.  Even thought of buying it from Doobie.  And then...  Doobie said that he got it in Vietnam on offer at an insane price of $10 !!!     Hmmm.... I wonder ....  if he'll also sell it to me at that price?? 

 

 

 

This entry is to confirm the ratings of the "new" routes mentioned in my earlier entry dated August 07.

 

I've finally found out the ratings of the new routes (they're not so new by now) and here they are.

The brown route is 6B!  It's manageable.  wheeeeee !!!    

 

Today, I managed to make the orange route a 6A instead of 5C+ by skipping 10 tiles.  heheh.  All these 4 routes are now my warm-up climbs.