Thursday, November 29, 2007

I don't know if I've ever written this here, but up until Form 1, I didn't know how to speak Bruneian Malay. And even then I wasn't fluent, I only became fluent after my first year at uni. Lol! I got to thinking about this after stumbling across this blog where the writer wrote something in Sarawakian dialect.

My mother's parents, who're both Sarawakian live with us, and cause of that, my whole family, including my very Bruneian dad speaks Sarawakian at home. And because I went to a convent school when I was younger with loads of international kids, I never really needed to speak Malay much, except for during malay lessons. I moved to a government school when I was 12 for secondary school and hung out with more people who spoke Bruneian malay, but my closest group of friends (who'd moved over with me from the convent school) still mostly spoke English. I got to practice it a bit more with the students there, but after balik2 kana ucap my Malay karas atu I got annoyed and gave up. And even when I did speak Malay with people, they'd reply in English! Not sure why, but anyways, didn't get much practice in secondary school either. It used to annoy me when people make fun of me for not understanding them; I DO understand I just couldn't express myself very well at the time yet. It would've been the equivalent of me speaking to them very quickly in Sarawakian and then asking them "Kenak kau tok sik paham tuto ku??" You know? The number of times I got a "Nda paham Melayu kah?" from people hmph :P

When I left school for uni, there were a few Bruneians in Leeds. And I guess being so far away from home made everyone miss the language; everyone spoke Malay when we got together, and slowly, slowly I got more fluent. Lol I knew I got it when I was chatting to a friend on MSN and she went "Is this really you...? Since when do you chat in Malay?" :P Anyhoos, I'm now fluent enough not to get a "Cina kah?" or a "Nda pandai cakap Melayu kah?" from people :) BUT on an annoying note, because I've been away for that long, I haven't practiced my Sarawakian that much and now I find myself struggling to find words for the simplest things. Grrr. Sudah satu, satu lagi lol! Anyone fluent in Sarawakian out there wants to layan my practices?

xoxoxoxox

Shasha - Another weekend coming up, bleh haha... but Monday should be an interesting day :)

War - Lol! Kinda the highligh of my month tu that course ah haha...

Sha - Thank you hun *hugs* :)

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Got a case of missing-my-old-life-blues today. The weekends seem to bring them about, gets me all antisocial and cranky.

Sometimes I think I prefer the weekdays so I can keep busy for most of the day and not think about things. Like how long it'll be til I next see P.

Sigh. Hope you guys are having a better one.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Well, I survived the course, and it's back to the boring ol' office tomorrow...boo :( The past three days have been quite physically intense, especially if you're a non swimmer like me, but it was SO much fun!

The first day was spent mostly in class, but we spent the afternoon in the pool learning the basics : how to put on a lifevest, making sure it works (i.e. if you're floating, it's working lol!) and deploying a liferaft. We learned what to do if we were alone in the water, or in a group and how to form survivor lines and circles to conserve heat. Oh and we got lifted into the air using a harness, which was how it would be done if we were rescued by a helicopter...And it was only when I was watching people being lifted up that I realised how see-through the coveralls we were wearing goes when it's wet :S Let's just say people were layering in days 2 and 3 lol!

The second day was spent mostly in the pool; it was a crash course on what to do if we had to ditch or abandon the helicopter in water. We had to learn how to use the emergency breathing system and how to break out of the helicopter if the exits were blocked. It was really quite freaky because you're strapped into the seat, and water starts gushing in from the sides and you can only unbuckle your seatbelt and escape from a window once you're completely submerged. The worst exercise was when the "capsized" the helicopter so we were basically strapped into our seats, upside down *without* any breathing support! We were supposed to count til 7 once we were completely in the water before escaping through the window but once the copter capsized, water came into my nose and I just panicked and bolted through the closest window :S
When I got back into my seat the trainer asked whether I had counted to 7 before escaping and I told him "Yes, but I counted very very quickly" :P It was all very professionally taught, there were 2 instructors on board the plane at all times, and 2 divers waiting outside in the pool in case of emergencies. But cause I'm not a water baby by any means, being underwater for any period of time scares me. It did help that one of the divers helping us was super cute though lol it gave us all an extra incentive to get out through those windows as quickly as possible!

Today we learnt first aid and basic firefighting. I never realised just how many different types of extinguishers for different types of fires there are! The practicals today were fun too; we had to find our way through a smoke filled room with 50% visibility, and another room with 0 visibility, relying on touch to make it through the place. It was supposed to simulate a situation where the room was full of fire and how to escape. Also got to operate a foam extinguisher and put out a fire using a fire blanket.

All this in 3 days!! I'm feeling quite upset that the course has ended actually, and that I have to be back to work tomorrow. Sigh guess it can't all be fun and games! At least I only had a 2 day week at the office.

xoxoxoxoxox

Tag replies:

War - Lol! I wish I had advanced warning before watching Good Luck Chuck with my dad in the room! There was a lot of fast forwarding and blushing being done on my part :P And I was so lucky that that girl found my phone! :)

Metallichick - I *still* haven't moved haha but I'll definitely let you know when I finally do!

Sha - It was such a fun course! Make sure you don't watch the film with any older people in the room :P

Dee - That was nice of Virgin to give you back the credit you lost. If I had lost my phone in the Uk I would've had no hope of getting it back I'm sure!

Neez - Yep same ol number. And yeah the course went very well, as you've probably just read lol

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Was going to write about the my first day of offshore safety training but I'm actually just too tired! Will probably write a more detailed post when I finish on Thursday (assuming I'm alive that is).

Now, excuse me while I practice re-breathing my own air in preparation for tomorrow's activities.

xoxoxoxox

Friday, November 16, 2007

I wonder why people from my batch have been acting weird as of late. I mean, we *have* known each other for 5 years or more, it's perfectly ok if you want to do lunch with some of us and not all of us. You don't have to hide it and then kedapatan in the restaurant! *rolleyes*

I'm hoping against hope and crossing my fingers and toes that things I've been doing today will work out...I'll be one very happy bunny if they do!

The days are flying by it seems. Next week I'll be going on my 3 day survival course; 3 days in a swimming pool, fun. Lol! Speaking of which, must remember to fill up club membership form so I can take swimming lessons..

Back to my Grey's now!

xoxoxox

I lost my phone today. I left it in one of the toilet cubicles at work and only realised it was missing a couple of hours later. Cue freaking out, especially after a conversation with a colleague this morning about things going missing! Rushed off to the toilet, convinced that I was going to have to shell out for a new phone and when I got to the cubicle, I found a post-it stuck to the wall with:

"Lost your phone? Call me at **** to get it back."

I was SO relieved!! I even knew the girl who had it so I ran over to her desk and got my phone back. I'm glad there was a happy ending, shows there're still *some* honest people out there :)

And on that note, have a good weekend everyone.

xoxoxoxoxox

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Yesterday's post was about stuff happening at work that's just been annoying me. Honestly, next time I'll do it all myself, since these "organisers" seems pretty much unable to sort anything out. We've been living alone for 4 years, and even if I was on a course with my friends I wouldn't share a room with them anyways! Oh and not to mention someone telling me to be nice to certain people (new recruits themselves) because my job or any future advancement may be on the line. Ugh. Whatever. I HATE being told to be nice to someone, especially by someone so new and obviously clueless. Apologies for the vagueness, but I suppose I better, for my own good. Never know who reads this things nowadays. Look out for a site move soon, probably moving to wordpress.

Anyways on a happier note, I've finally watched Hairspray! I've been waiting absolutely ages to watch it, I missed it when it came out over summer, and I've been going to my local dvd shop pretty much every other day asking whether they had a clear copy in yet. It's such a feel-good film, and the characters are really likeable. Although I thought Amanda Bynes character was a bit...dopey. Who knew Michelle Pfeiffer and James Marsden could sing so well. And Zac Ephron too! I must've had a smile on my face the whole time it was playing. Definitely going to try and watch it when I'm back in the Uk. Speaking of which, it doesn't look like I'll be in that continent anytime soon. Again due to silly people doing silly things. :(

Tina, you were asking me about Good Luck Chuck dulu kan? Did you watch it eventually? I saw it a couple of days ago, and I wasn't that impressed. Too much sex and penguins. And even a scene which had sex AND penguins! Lol.. Dunno. I just didn't think Jessica Alba and Dane Cook had that much chemistry going on, he spent half the film sleeping with a heck of a lot of girls, and the other half trying not to sleep with Jessica Alba's character :P And that last scene with the stuffed penguin? Ugh.

I'm off to watch some Grey's before bed, bye!

xoxoxo

Tina - Hun will explain further when I get this wordpress account so I can password protect the post :) xxx

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The words of the day are :

Incompetent
Arrogant
Unfair

SO frustrated right now!!

xoxox

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Ok, I was just going through my "Who's viewed me" list on friendster and one of the people who's viewed me was this girl whose profile photo showed her in her bra, and her other photo was a full frontal nude photo of herself!!!

What the heck is that about?

Very disturbing.

xoxoxox

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Wow was just reading back through my archives and realised that I've been writing in this blog for just over 3 years now! Where'd the time go??

xoxoxox

Friday, November 09, 2007

Ahhh thank god for the weekend, think I'm spending mine catching up on my reading, possibly with a home-made mocha frappucino (I've been inspired by her); must get the essentials tomorrow, i.e. my own blender, ice, and fresh coffee.

Pft remind me never to put my hopes of getting things in Seria town. Was planning on getting the Guitar Hero 3 game today for the Ps2, along with a wireless guitar controller. Out of the 4 shops I visited, none of them had it! Betcha this doesn't happen in Bandar :P Picking up my work trousers tomorrow, I hope they've turned out alright. I'm a loser, when I don't have anything to do in the office, I sit and think of things I would buy if I went to the Uk lol. I know, talk about making it harder on myself! So far, I have different types of shoes and worktops in my list :P Planning on getting some pieces of furniture for the house, specifically a bookcase and a new wardrobe, to fit in all the things that're crossing seas to get to me at the moment. I think all we have here is Courts, and I bet they cost an arm and a leg. =/

Oh went to a friend's (and I use the term loosely) open house during lunch today, and it was the weirdest thing! The only time I saw our hostess was when we first arrived, after which she disappeared off to her room with her ex-classmates, leaving the rest of us, including her colleagues, sitting outside feeling slighlt foolish!! I thought it was SO rude, surely it wouldn't have killed her to mingle, she DID invite us after all! Us girls, who weren't part of the cool crowd invited to her room, had a good chat though, it's scary how many people in my school year are married, some with multiple kids already! The number of times I've been asked about wedding plans...if only I got a dollar, cukup jua untuk bali my dinners for a few nights kali eh lol. I guess it's just the normal Bruneian perception that any girl who've finished their studies must now be planning their marriage, or at least start saving up for it. Well pooh to that, I think after all the studying, I deserve to pamper myself and spend my money on myself first no? And P deserves that too right?

Sometimes I wonder about the perceptions people have of Bruneian women, or how we appear to them. A Venezuelan guy in the office was complaining to me how some of the ladies in his office are actually slightly scared of him, and when he has one-to-one teaching sessions with them (he's a software consultant), these women actually get a friend to come and accompany them during the lesson! Apparently, the ladies are "afraid" of him because he's young, South American (read : very loud, but sweet) and single lol! He's taken to wearing a ring on his left hand to keep the ladies at ease. Weird huh? I mean, suuuurrreeelllllyyy as flirty as a guy is, he's hardly going to jump on some poor unsuspecting female in the office, while giving them a software demonstration?

Have a good weekend all!!
xoxoxoxoxox

Jammy people make me jealous. Jammy people who brag about it are just annoying.
As are people who name drop in their blogs. Tacky much?

Thursday, November 08, 2007

It's been a week and I still don't have access to my work account! It's so frustrating, I'm literally dying of boredom.. Sure I can go round and talk to people (and I have been for the past week) but surely I should be starting something by now?

On a better note, I got my books from Amazon 12 days after dispatch, which is quite good I thought..

....I have nothing worth writing about =/

xoxoxoxox

Sunday, November 04, 2007

If you love chicklit, then you have to visit this site:

Holly's Inbox

It's a peek into a girl's email inbox as she starts off as a receptionist in a new company.

Spent the past half an hour reading month 1 :D

xoxoxoxo

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Saturday, where have you gone?? Come back!! Booo kan abis tia the weekend ah... Spent the day out and about with my mom; every Saturday before I went to uni was me and Mom's day. After school we'd go for a longggg lunch, go round the shops and then chill out at home. I've missed that. We used to go to the tamu early in the morning as well when it was a public holiday, but I think I'll leave that to her and my Dad now lah, the tamu starts at an unholy hour, too early for me lol. But the tamu was a lot of fun when I was younger, I was always stuck in front of the rabbit cages poking my fat fingers through to play with them lol :P Went to Fratini's for lunch today and Fratini's beats Capers hands down. The pasta was cooked to perfection. Couldn't finish it so I've tapau-ed it and will be having it for dinner lol. Mom had her first canelloni dish too, and I think she wasn't too keen about it, but she soldiered on and finished it bless her.

Went to choose some material for work trousers today, and the tailor had a 2006 Next catalogue. So I just told the lady to follow one of the trouser styles in there, fingers crossed it works out! Also, sent kain to a new tailor in Kb, I've been searching for a new tailor for a while now, and this one seems to know what she's talking about, but again, some people are just all talk, and nothing to show at the end of it kan. But my god she's charging me and arm and a leg for it...only cutting the kain and sewing some beads on also that expensive. Told her I'd pick it up in 3 weeks' time, just in time for my first paycheque woohoo!! Although technically it's not really a paycheck cause we missed getting our names on the payroll by a day when we joined, so it's more of a cash advance, not a full month's salary :P

Oh P just texted and he is currently out and about in W'ton and he's just bought me some work tops from Oasis! And some magazines too :D :D Granted, I went online and showed him what I wanted but still! Happy bunny now :D Love you baby xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lol and on that sappy note, enjoy the rest of the weekend ladies!
xoxoxoxoxoxox

Tags:

Shasha - Lol does it? I'm flattered that you check the site on your phone btw :)

Friday, November 02, 2007

Yet another day of trying to get stuff set up. Noone seems to have been informed of our arrival, hence the lack of access to pcs, lack of tables and general confusion all around. Disappointing, because they should've been told earlier so there's none of this faffing about (They seem to have it sorted at her workplace and hers too, so why can't they be the same here?) But on a happier note, I've raided the stationery cupboard and I now have my own in-tray yay! Yes I'm easily pleased lol. Lots of "Brapa lama kamu attachment kali ani?" questions, and looks of disbelief when we tell them that actually, we're not attachment students anymore, but actually on the payroll lol. It's been 4 years, and 5 attachments! But I guess the staff members see a steady stream of students coming through and it's hard to keep track of who's who. Had the first of many makans which the department is famous for, based on personal experience there'll be loads more to come. Lol,really must get around to signing up for that gym!

Got told that a friend and I were being "too aggresive" today, apparently for having the nerve to ask whether there were any meetings we could sit in or courses we could attend to prepare ourselves for rig-life, instead of just sitting about. Funny, other people would've called that showing initiative, and I thought that's what people wanted? Pfft whatever, already decided not to like the aforesaid man anyways. Got a list of available course dates too, angling for a European based one, but we can only register once we have our accounts sorted out, which should be sometime next week. Apparently places are very limited, so must rush!

My friends who've been working, not just at this particular company, but in general, are always complaining about office politics. Hoping to avoid all of that, maybe I can just keep my head down and pretend not to notice. Although, if I don't play the game, will that make me more of a target?

Anyways, I'm going to try and find things other than work to blog about, I don't want to start boring people lol!

Happy weekend y'all.

xoxoxoxoxox

Tags:

Sha - Duck rice is the best. Did you ever try their chili beef? So good. Sayang jua ah they took so long to get back to you, we could've been workmates! I guess it would've meant commuting though, which is a hassle.

Tina - Lol! Yeah, guess it's quite obvious right lol, so much for anonymity. Although putting my photos up probably doesn't help either hehe...Still no computer access = cannot do work, although I've been advised by pretty muh everyone to enjoy this relaxing time lol. Once kna bari kraja I guess bertimbun kali tu :P Did you click on the Vitas video? Apparently he's an eastern European opera singer with a Mariah Carey-esqe range. He's really good, it's just weird for a voice that high to come from a man!

Sha - Thanks very much hun, I hope you're feeling better by the time next week comes around :) enjoy your weekend too!

Thursday, November 01, 2007

She texted me last night with this : "Welcome to the rat race you fully fledged pink diamante rat." Lol! Hands down, one of my favourite texts!

So, first day was alright. A lot of time spent going over the contract and terms and conditions of employment. The rest of the day was spent going to see people to arrange access cards, courses, etc etc. There wasn't that many people in the office today, apparently everyone's still on leave/at conferences. Disappointingly, I may not get to spend any time offshore like I originally wanted; the plan is I might just go out for certain activities instead of staying out for a week or two. I was quite looking forward to going offshore (and the extra money!) so boo to that. Also, as usual people seem to not be prepared for our arrival, courses that were supposed to have been booked, haven't. Arrangements that were supposed to have been made, haven't been done either.

Work wise though, it looks like I'm going to be kept on my toes. As soon as I came in a guy showed me to my seat and started telling me about all these projects he had in mind for me. Then another geologist stopped by and told the geologist that HE had some projects for me to do too! So tomorrow they're all going to sit down and discuss which project should be done first, in order of priority. So much for starting me off easy lol, apparently there's isopach mapping, seismic interpretation and data packs to do, AND I need to sort out some safety courses at some time too. Whew. Getting tired just thinking about it, but at the same time I'm pleased I'll be kept busy, it's so much better than just sitting about in the office twiddling my thumbs.

Tomorrow's likely to be another pretty relaxed day; specially since it's the weekend. Probably going to start reading up on my area, highlighting and making notes, just like old times lol!

Oh, and the next public holiday that falls on a weekend is in February!! That's a long wait before I can go anywhere.

On a last (and completely unrelated note), I want food from :
Belgos, Zizzis, Four Seasons, Kam Tong, Mandarin Kitchen, Harlem, S&M Cafe, Mr Jerk's, that cream puff shop in Oxford Streeet that I can't remember now lol, Nandos and many more. Sigh. Sia sia pun.

xoxoxoxo

War - I'm surprised we don't have more friends in common, Brunei's so small!! Hehe...