Man in the mirror

Ever wondered why Michael Jackson underwent all that plastic surgery (which btw, did make him look like some albino plastic thingy)? I never knew it was sooo obvious! I was watching American Idol where some guy was singing "Man in the Mirror" when I found out the reason why...


I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself
and then make a change

("Man in the mirror" by Michael Jackson)

And changes he did make. The poor guy just wants to make the world a better place. Aww! So sweet!Maybe he's just misunderstood (yea rite).. LOL!!

The Letter M

M is for McDonald's (which was what I had for lunch today)
M is for Malaysian (which I totally am)
M is for Makan (which is Malay for 'eat')

Any Malaysian will tell you that Makan is synonymous to being Malaysian. No way you're separating Makan from a Malaysian (Unless you're an anorexic Malaysian, of course). We live to eat... seriously. Take me for example, Makan is all I've been doing lately. Well, not ALL, but I've had my share of feasts this week.

Tues
I went to Secret Recipe Cafe(best known for their cheesecake) with my boss and my friend Joseph. It's a good thing I only had a a plate of Thai fried rice and an iced cafe latte (sorry guys, I'm not a photo blogger). I almost, could have, nearly, may have, unintentionally downed a cheesecake, but I didn't.. even though my boss started the "Life is short, just eat whatever you want" lecture.. LOL. Yay! So proud of myself.. but I had a big makan anyway.
I went to this place called Marina Seafood for a farewell dinner (makan again?!). Didn't eat much at the seafood place, since I wasn't a big fan of seafood, and was still thinking of the big makan I had during lunchtime. So I didn't eat much. BUT THEN AGAIN! Dad suggested that we had teh tarik (pulled tea) at this Indian restaurant called "7 Spice". I was thinking.. just tea right? Not much harm done. I was wrong. I wasn't planning on ordering anything except iced tea.. but in the end I was tempted enough to order a kashmiri nan. Oh gosh..... so much for not wanting cheesecake. LOL.

Wed
Part two of the farewell dinner. We went to the Indonesian restaurant to eat. Now, I am a big big fan of sambal belacan.. so delicious. There goes my diet again. And worse still, my godmother brought my fave homemade biscotti. OH NO.... Grace is in trouble.

Thurs (today)
I thought I'd buy my dear boss lunch today. So, ok.. we went to Jusco as usual, after walking around.. from KFC she changed her mind to ramen, and then in the end, McDonald's (which is her fave). Hah! Just great... it might be just 6 bucks with the promo now, but it's tonnes of calories. A double cheeseburger and fries, with iced lemon tea. While talking, my boss just suddenly asked "Want coffee?" GREAT. Tempt me with the ONE thing that I can't resist. But then, who can resist a cup of Starbucks coffee? And on top of that, it was all paid for by Dr. Ummul anyway..lol.
I was suppose to go to dinner with my parents and a couple with their son, but I'm having a massive food poisoning. Hehe, good way to lose weight! But honestly, I'd rather do it the less lethargic way.

In the future..

Saturday
My sis will be home. When she's back, there will be LOADS of makan. Hahaha.. I'm not sure what we'll be having, but I'm sure it'll be substantial.

Sunday
I'll be having dinner with my parents, pastor and Uncle Alex. Well, we're going to 7 Spice(the Indian restaurant) again, and when there's Indian food, Grace will eat bizzerkly. So, goodbye diet and hello nan bread, lassi and whatever else is on the table..

Every other Tues and Thurs
Those are my working days. Every time my boss is in during lunchtime, she would always ask me out for lunch. And there would be more food that I can take, and of course, our fave Starbucks coffee (since we're both coffee junkies). So Tues and Thurs are my makan days. Hahaha. Like my boss said today "You're a bad influence on me, and I'm a bad influence on you when it comes to lunch and coffee" Right on, Dr. Ummul :)


Conclusion? All makan and no jalan (literally means 'walk') makes Grace a plump girl.

My most unoriginal post yet.

I first heard this song while watching a compelling drama series entitled "Shark". I realized, this has got to be my life's theme song. It's just dead on accurate. I couldn't have said it better. And the best part, it's by one of my favorite singers.. James Morrison! What can I say, he's just brilliant.. so I will just post his lyrics right here :)

I look at you, you bite your tongue
You don't know why or where I'm coming from
But in my head I'm close to you
We're in the rain, still searching for the sun
You think that I wanna run and hide
I keep it all locked up inside
I just want you to find me

Chorus:
I'm not lost, I'm not lost
Just undiscovered
And when we're alone, we're all the same as each other
You see the look that's on my face
You might think that I'm out of place
I'm not lost, no,no,
Just undiscovered


Well, the time it takes to know someone
It all can change, before you know, it's gone
So, close your eyes and feel the way I'm with you now
Believe there's nothing wrong
You think that I wanna run and hide
I keep it all locked up inside
I just want you to find me

*Chorus*

I'm not running
I'm not hiding
If you deep a little deeper, you will find me

*Chorus*

Morrison, J. (2006) Undiscovered. In Undiscovered. United Kingdom: Universal

When I don't say I love you..

it's not that I don't. Trust me, as long as you're in my life, I do love you. Unless you're just some twat in whom I'm just totally disgusted with and whom I despise. But to think of it, no one in this world fits that description yet... not even Paris Hilton (go figure!).
I'm just not good with expressing myself. I don't hug just anyone, and definitely don't go around kissing people (and be a whole human container full of bacteria), and I don't always tell people I love them. But you know, I do! And I do that in my own little ways.
Sometimes I do things for people so subtly that they don't even know that it was me who did it. And that was an expression of love on my part. I do little things for people who hardly notices them but that's the way I am. I'm subtle. In every sense of the word. Little things from making you a cup of coffee, to just quietly listening to your stories and talking to you, to buying little things for you.. they don't say much, but for me.. it's a way to say I love you :)
So, not that I want to get really mushy here, but I just had to let you, yes you.. whoever you are, know that :)

The day your wallet suffers the most

Ah! Valentine's Day. This means..
1. The Let-all-cut-throat-people-loose day.
2. The day where all who sells anything close to romantic have their chance to recoup any loses they might have had for the past year.
3. The time whereby you're too busy having your head up in the clouds to notice that you're being charged 5 times more than the original price for your meal.
4. The day when you're either really happy or really disappointed with your partner
5. The day when singles like me, try to act as if it's just another "busy" day.

Yup, actually V-day hasn't been had any effect on me. It's been like that for all the years and I somehow convinced myself that V-day is not for people like me. Anyway, hoped you enjoy your Valentine's Day this year :)

** Note: This post is actually a day too late. Blame it on my bent glasses. But then again, it was my glasses that saved me from plunging into depression on V-day. I was too busy being giddy and being bugged by discomfort. So, thank you my good ol' glasses.. though your time is up, you have served me well :)

I made the cut!!

Yes! Yesterday I just received an email from MELTA's Head of Abstracts Committee, saying that my proposal has been accepted! Awesome! :) This is what the email said:

Dear Ms Grace Koh Ming Ai and Dr Ummul Khair Ahmad,

I am pleased to inform you that your proposed abstract for presentation at the 18th Melta Conference has been accepted. Please find attached the Official Letter of Acceptance.

Dr Basil Wijasuriya
Chair
Abstracts Review Committee
Melta 18th International Conference
MELTA


So cool eh? I'm so happy! Dr. Basil also sent a copy of the same email to Dr. Ummul. I wanted to email her to shout for joy (yes yes I know.. you can't shout through email) but I thought, what the heck.. I'll talk to her on Thurs. But just awhile ago, I just checked my inbox for fun, and she sent me an email congratulating me! Hehehe, she's just really funny.. couldn't have done it without her, frankly :)

"yay!" for making the cut and "oh gosh" for the tons of writing and preparation that is to come!

Nerves and guts

I did it! I finally did it! I finally sent the MELTA Conference Proposal today. This is my first time doing this and although it's not a grand conference, but it's grand to me. My boss has been telling me to send it in for a while now, and yet I was still so hesitant. And today she said to me "You worry too much, Grace." I guess I do! But it's a mix of exhilaration and nerves all rolled into this petite body of mine. Almost like the feeling of ecstasy!
So I had let my boss check my abstract this morning, and she edited some stuff and wrote "FINAL VERSION" at the bottom of the paper. Hahahha, she was losing patience I guess? So I came back home, did the corrections, filled in the presentation proposal form, checked the MELTA website for any additional details. Then I composed the email, attached the file....... and for 10 minutes, my cursor was on the 'send' button, but all I did was froze. I couldn't press it! I just couldn't. I didn't have the guts to. And then finally I took the plunge and clicked on it... ahhh, what a relief! So, I sent another email to my boss and attached a copy of the proposal for her to keep. LOL, I even told her about the 10 minutes that I wasted doing absolutely nothing.
So I'll wait for a reply. Maybe it'll get accepted, maybe not. We'll see ;)