Dinners

Attended the company's 10th anniversary D&D last night. Pretty well-organised considering the fact that they took less than a month to make preparations. Food was pretty good, there were sufficient entertainment to keep our moods elevated. The not-so-fun part was that no one really dressed up. Some guys were in t-shirts and jeans, and some gals were in jeans as well. Most gals wore black dresses, mostly spaghetti straps....so it was pretty boring. I didn't bother to dress up too. Wore the cheap polka dotted purple dress from H&M with the cole hann platfom shoes.:-) Actually, I thought it would be real fun if people could dress up....

Susie Wong performance was pretty fun, best part was that she engaged the participation of 2 of the guys from the company. With the 2 guys and Susie Wong clowning around, it made the room filled with lots of laughter.

Climax of this D&D? Hmm......guess there was none. BUT, I already had a BIG surprise before before the dinner started. One of my colleagues' hubby used to be my boss (though only for less than 1 month) in one of the previous companies! What a small world it is!

Gotta get up early this morning to go hiking. Hope everything goes well and hope I will enjoy the hike.

Doing Personal Stuff in Office

As mature working adults, we know that it is against company's policy to use company's PC to do our personal stuff. For egs, surfing info for our personal use, or chatting on the MSN....LET ALONE posting some stupid pics on the MSN (that's being used in the office).

There are so many retards out there and some retards are still insisting that they are brilliant. So what if it's a fucking art piece? So what? If the pic was offensive, would you still show the pic in ya msn? (ESPECIALLY using the company's computer!) My eyes couldn't be playing tricks on me. The moment I saw that pic, I found it grossly offensive. Mickey Mouse? My arse.

The retard really spoils my day. Anyways, I hope this retard is smart enough to DELETE all the personal pictures that are saved in the company's computer.

Clouds

Have been in love with clouds for as long as I remember. Especially cumulus clouds, those cotton lookalike clouds. I think my interest in clouds was stimulated by a Geography teacher in Sec 2. Since then, I have started observing clouds and staring at them (esp in the afternoons) whenever I am free. Used to do that when I was in the uni. Loved to stare at those clouds above me, admire them for their lightness and 'carefree' nature.

On my way home this afternoon, I saw beautiful cumulus clouds admist the bright blue sky. Really enjoyed it so much. Though the sun was high up there and the heat was kindda unbearable, the beautiful background of the cumulus clouds livened my mood and made me feel so good. Right now, as I am typing, I am enjoying my precious afternoon....Hope to continue reading "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", sip my coffee and munch on my favorite black peppered crab puff...Yummy!

Taking leave without any purpose is not so bad afterall. It's so nice to be at home on a quiet weekday afternoon. MF just SMSed me saying that he's bored.....Well, guess I don't feel as bored as he does! This poor man needs to catch up on his sleep as he is always busy with his 2 toddlers at night....and that results in lack of sleep everyday! HaHa!

From http://136067.brightwebsite.com/cloud-types/:-

There are three common main cloud types that form in the different layers of the atmosphere. There is also a fourth common cloud type that forms vertically.

High Layered Clouds that form above 17,000 feet are:

Cirrus: Delicate white strands of ice crystals that often form, what is referred to as “mares tails.”

Cirrostratus: A veil of white cloudiness often covering the entire sky, causing “halos
around the Sun and the moon. This can be an indicator of an approaching storm.

Cirrocumulus: Small white patchy patterns like fish scales and referred to as
“Mackerel skies.”

Mid-layered clouds that form between 6,000 to 17,000 feet are:

Altostratus: Drab gray clouds of water droplets that obscure the view of the Sun and moon. They have the potential to produce rain and snow.

Altocumulus: A darker, larger pattern of patchiness that may produce a shower.

Lower layered clouds that form below 6,000 feet are:

Stratus: A wispy cloud of fog that hangs a few hundred feet above the ground and
often bring drizzle.

Stratocumulus: Dark gray clouds, often covering the entire sky, which do not bring rain.
They form rounded wavelike bands that are broken by blue sky.

Nimbostratus: Low, dark, ragged rain clouds that often bring continuous rain, sleet, or snow.

The fourth common cloud types that form Vertically are:

Cumulus: Large, billowy “cotton balls” of clouds with dark bottoms and bright white tops that can reach 10,000 feet high. May produce brief showers.

Cumulonimbus: Towering thunderheads, dark on the bottom and white anvil-shaped tops that can extend to 50,000 feet. Often produces lightning and heavy precipitation, including hail. Occasionally produces tornadoes.

Table Soccer

It was really funny today when we played table soccer. Me, MF, John, and K. I am so used to playing midfielder and attack but when my role became defence, I really sucked BIG TIME. Every shot that K and J took went into the goal post. K & J are considered very new players. Including this afternoon's game, that was probably their 3rd time 'on the table':-)OMG. We were all laughing till we couldn't play at all!

However, in an earlier game with BK and KL, MF and I won the first game. It seems that my skills has improved:-), though most of the time I am merely 'groping' in the dark. No strategies, no precisioness, nothing.

But it was really fun playing with those guys. We had so much fun and everyone tried their best during the game. I don't know how long we can stay this way. I used to play with Wyman and MF but our dear friend,Wyman has since migrated down under. We miss you, man.

The Purpose of Life

The purpose of meaningful existence -- to discover the wisest way to exist, and to thus exist wisely.You may discover then, that it is the wisest way to be kind to yourself. This may bring you much happiness that you readily 'overflow' the happiness to others by sharing the Wisdom with them on how to live purposefully.

The whole process is the accumulation and perfection of the twin peaks of Compassion and Wisdom. What we want is happiness, and these two qualities are essential for it to be attained.

SF, Yosemite, and Vegas

Chancellor Hotel on Union Square is excellent. The rooms do not have air conditions but it's great for the type of weather in SF, though am not sure if the heat will be unbearable during summer.

What we did in SF:-

Day 1, Sunday - Had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Food is moderately good. The chocolate cheesecake is really rich, but our stomachs were not able to take in all of it!
- Window shopping at Nordstrom, and shopping centers and boutiques. Didn't buy any stuff coz Ian said it would be more worth shopping at premium outlets in Vegas. However, bought some shoes at DWS on the 3rd day at SF! Love the shoes there!

Day 2, Monday - Had brunch at a Thai restaurant. Their iced tea taste good but the food is mediocre........well, perhaps you can even say it's substandard. Walked around the city again and took the cable car to the Fisherman's Wharf. Went to Alcatras Island, a place where you only want to visit once....

Day 3, Tuesday - Had brunch at the foodcourt. Korean food...it actually sucked. Walked around the city again and headed towards Chinatown. Nothing spectacular, though SF's chinatown is supposed to be the biggest one in the U.S. However, it seems to be much cleaner as compared with other chinatowns we visited previously. Walked a distance to Coit Towers, to the crookedest street, and thereafter....ALL the WAY to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a long, long walk but definitely worth it!

Yosemite National Park
Day 4, Wednesday - Took the bus to the railway station, and the train to Merced to catch the bus to the Yosemite National Park. The journey took about 7-8 hours and by the time we reached the national park, it was almost 2.30pm. Checked in to the Curry Camp. Saw a notice pasted on the door of the check-in counter a curry camp. Apparently, and Indian man was lost at the Merced River on 19th May... Wondering if he would ever be found...A pretty boring day, walked around the National Park and viewing Half Dome from far. Had dinner at one of the food courts. Used shared bathroom and it was about 5 minutes walk from our tent. We also kept our food and other stuff with a strong smell in an allocated locker which was near the nearest washrooms. This is to prevent bears, which are extremely sensitive to the smell of food, to 'crash' our tents and eat the food. If it really happens, the camper will have to pay something like US$120 and guess what? The bear will be euthanized.

Day 5, Thursday - Tried hiking the Mirror Lake track but unsuccessful. Managed to get out of the 'lost track' by 11am. Headed towards the Nevada and Vernal Falls. The 4 Australians we met said they took 7-8 hours to complete the hike of both falls, but they took a lot of breaks in between. However, we took 4 hours to complete the hike, but was entirely exhausted after the hike. Was so exhausted that I could not even speak a word.... Total distance covered was about 7 miles or more, I think.

Day 6, Friday - Took the bus down to Merced City. The South African driver was really nice and as we were at the airport real early, we walked to the city which is about 4 miles away from the airport. The driver happened to be driving pass us (in his own car) on our way to the city. He dropped us near the Starbucks in the city and we hanged out in the city till 3pm before walking back to the airport to catch the 430pm flight to Vegas.

Day 6, Friday - Reached Vegas at about 615pm. The flight was extremely bumpy and made me feel like puking. Took the airport bus to the Imperial Palace and had pizza for dinner. Was not impressed with Vegas though there's so much neon lights and big hotels with casinos all around us.

Day 7, Saturday - Had breakfast at McDonalds. Took the bus to Premium Outlet Centers. Shopped almost the whole day before we settled down to have japanese buffet for dinner.

Day 8, Sunday - Took the bus towards North to the Outlet Center, Vegas. All outlets are housed in a building unlike the premium outlets where individual stores are housed individually.

Day 9, Monday - Flight back to SF.

Day 10, Wednesday @ 1.00am - Home Sweet Home!