Mood: Thoughtful
Currently listening to: Beautiful - Old Automatic Garbage (Remember them?)

Pretty relaxed day today (*sniff* I miss working - there goes that purpose which i was ranting about), went to CSA to file my final claims (fuel expenses, toll receipts, etc) as well as attend the project's debriefing and enjoy the celebratory dinner... Got offered a place in the next project that is beginning to start up which is for Digital as a 'PC doctor' in order to work as support with training included for a two month period and for a fatter paycheck (RM3000+ for 2 months) or unless they need me to be shifted to another site/client as part of their overall Wall to Wall (W2W) Project. Hrm, future jobs might be in the offing... Had to turn it down unfortunately as they required me to be working full time and i have uni commitments at the moment. So somehow i've ended up as being unemployed yet again, grrr...

Will try and get a few pics of me and the team from today up at some point (hrmmm, that reminds me about the FCUK photos, never did pick them up from the office - sorry Johnny!!!) ;p

Hmm... seems like quite a few people are trying to get fit in recent weeks (namely my brother Paul, Boon and Tedy!). Well, i've been keeping at the gym pretty solidly so far with the occasional game of tennis and some swimming but i don't really see a difference - in fact i seem to be getting thinner! Where the hell is the muscle??? Thought it might be the food but i'm still eating pretty well with plenty of meat in my diet... a little too much oil in my food though i think as my skin has seen better days (could also be the cigs - am smoking almost a pack a day now! Dammit - so much for that resolution!). Feeling a lot stronger and agile though as my tennnis game has dramatically improved, not to mention i can do a set of 10 chin ups now when i couldn't even do one last year (!) - but where's the sculpted/toned body???

Dammit, patience is all good and well but some visible reward would go a long way! ;)

Oh yeah, went out for coffee with my mother's old friend Mrs. Mannon just now... she's a Malaysian NGO (Non Governmental Official) and involved in a wide plethora of welfare projects, mainly of the womens support group kind as well as in dispensing free legal aid to those who need it most. My mother arranged the meeting for me in order to let me find out what i could get myself involved in, voluntary-wise. Seems like there was some confusion at the start when she (and my mother) were under the impression that i was looking for a part-time job in this field (don't get me wrong but by part-time i don't really want to be teaching English privately for RM5 an hour - and who would want me as a teacher anyhow? They'd just eventually go insane like the rest of you! ;p). Anyhow managed to get a contact from her for an agency which specialises in part-time jobs.. namely i'll be filling in for someone or doing some completely different one-off part time jobs each week/fortnight from being a guide, chopping trees or doing telemarketing. The main appeal to me in doing this is that i'll hopefully get to experience a wide plethora of different tasks (doesn't matter if its menial - i'll try anything!) which will fit in with my uni schedule. Unless i find anything else of course (any offers? ;p). Just for the record, unlike Australia its pretty damn hard to find a decent (field-wise) part-time job - most employers may want temps at the very least but they would have to work everyday nine to five for a limited period of time, something which i really can't afford to do... Tried applying at the most likely place for one (uni that is) but there's a HUGE waiting list!

Anyhow, in terms of voluntary activities i've got a list of contacts now for everything from animal welfare to reading to disabled children so i'll be hoping to make a choice there soon once i find out a little more about each specific organisation - i personally don't want to get in on anything too religiously based. On a side note there's not much in the way of human rights (don't even mention gay rights) action groups here in Malaysia what with the Internal Security Act et al... Or is there? Might just sniff around a bit more...

Anyway, now that my employment with CSA (and the cash i got out of that) is at an end and with uni having commenced i'll have to take stock of what i plan to do - which means going back to the original plan way back in December/January but with a uni schedule to follow:

- Seriously thinking of starting up a band... need to learn guitar!!! Or electric bass at least...
- Get that kickboxing thing going properly now that i have the time.
- I got the contact and introduction to the Toastmasters club from Mrs. Mannon so looks like i'll be starting that soon!
- Dancing with my mother... its all pretty much confirmed now at one day a week. Looks like salsa too in case you're wondering. ;)
- Still unable to find contacts (that work!) of any fencing club in Kuala Lumpur. Am waiting for Aunty Marianne's daughter to come back in order to find out how i can go about it (she used to be on the national team or somesuch).
- Keep up with my gym, swimming and tennis (check!). Need to get the jogging (or Hash) going though, argh...
- Trying to talk Leonard into going trap/range shooting and rockclimbing with me on alternating Saturdays. The climbing is easy enough to arrange but the Selangor Gun Club is a little far away (not to mention pricey!). Must work out the costs of these potentially expensive hobbies.
- I need a little more dedication for my painting and writing (doh! Haven't done these in quite a while now!). Must clear up my Sundays more effectively.
- Thinking of painting and (slowly) collecting miniatures again... of the Warhammer variety if anyone really wants to know! ;p
- Doing some weekend charity work (almost there!).
- Finding a part time job (back to square one *sigh*)
- Creating a new website! ;)
- Take care of all those insanely frustrating and time-consuming problems left over from Australia (Argh! Need to do this ASAP).
- Finding a significant other? Yeah right... ;)

*Phew* Looks near impossible but i WILL try and make (most of) this work! Oh, that and i have to save up for my Australia trip in July - i'm estimating that for the two to three weeks that i'll be down there i'll need at least AUD$500-$1000 in order to have a damn good time (air ticket not included)! :p

Oh yeah had my palm read on Sunday by (the apparently famous) Master Chin. Unfortunately it was raining insanely hard at the time AND situated in the middle of the Sunday pasar malam so i could only make out so much... RM30 down the drain! Argh... Anyways, the only snippets that i can recall (or could even hear) of my past and future were:

- That i will live for an exceptionally long time - past the age of 80! (ha! Take THAT lung cancer!)
- I'll get married when i'm around 30 (true enough i guess - was planning to do that anyhow).
- I grew up in a poor family during my younger years (Erm... i don't think so...)
- That i LOVE studying and do well at school/college/uni (Riiiiiiiight...)
- That i will face a huge choice/traumatic moment in the future (great).
- That i am always seeking to control the people and things around me (Well, i guess so - but i ain't no control freak! Mainly for kicks i'd say...).
- That i revel in my freedom and will not let anyone take control of that from me (Hrmph, a little late for that don't you think?).
- That i will have very few relationships throughout my life, and that love is and will be hard for me to find (talk about stating the obvious).
- That i feel that others don't understand me or my true nature and thoughts (Yeah well he also went on to say that i don't even understand myself - so i'm wondering how i as such could at all possibly NOT feel that others are able to understand me! ;p)
- That i am my own worst enemy (whoa).

Of course he said a whole bunch of other stuff which i could not make out but for what its worth i really wish i heard if i would end up being happy or not (somehow i'm suspecting that in the end it won't be happiness per se - but more like a compromise with life! ;p) or at the very least - insanely rich! That and maybe a little more emphasis on the FUTURE next time - i already know my past dammit! ;)

That and i swear he muttered something about a rabbit... :o

So whats on the books in the near future? Well, for one Kwong Heng has convinced me to go with him to try out that new fad called 'Speed Dating' (have i mentioned this before?) sometime this month. Think i'll pretend to be an arrogant mixed French aristocrat or escaped mental patient (or both!) just for the hell of it... ;)

As for this weekend it looks like i'll be spending Friday night at Bar Savanh again, going karaoke on Saturday (finally!) and getting my tarot card readingf done on Sunday. I figure that if i bring Joa for the reading i'll be able to catch every word he says! That and those who know me will know that i have some strange affinity/relationship to cards, dice and games of chance in general so this should be interesting! Here's to hoping i don't pull five consecutive Death cards (a la Monkey Island)!!!

Whoa, overdid the typing again... and look at the time!