Dramatic December

December has been an exhilarating month! It all started out with my Corporate Financial Management examination, of which I made a super boo-boo (unknowingly) - used the wrong buy/sell rate for calculation of mutual funds. Otherwise, I think I was way more easygoing this time around. Perhaps I'm just getting tired of exams!

And then it was full on to the planning of the CL's wedding reception decoration. We wanted to get the girl at the Section 9 shop to do some flower arrangements but when we went there on Sunday, the shop was closed and had a different name! So we started panicking and asked around if anyone who knew where the old shop had shifted to. However thank God a few days later we decided to try out the new shop, and voila, the girl was still there! She'd only changed the shop name, but everything was still the same.

And then came the rehearsal day. Nobody told me I was to be my aunty's chauffeur and so when I was awaken by a phone call, I jumped up, got dressed in record time and drove so fast. We went to SS2 for some last-minute purchases and 'char siew pau's for the tea ceremony. When we got back, it was already time to pick CL's best man from One World Hotel. I waited for my aunty while she went into the hotel to look for the best man. Unknowingly he was the one who was peering peculiarly into my car - and I thought he was just a KPC guy! hahaha (Note to self: shall not judge a book by its cover in future!)

Drove so fast on Sprint that I 'nearly' crashed into a line of cars stuck in a massive jam near Pusat Damansara. However thankfully we were able to reach church on the dot! The rest of the entourage was still missing btw! And I got yelled at by LK because he had lost his way somewhere in Damansara Heights. But ultimately, all arrived about an hour later and rehearsal commenced. I never knew that there were so many protocols to follow in a church wedding - from how you link arms and where to stand, to where the parents should sit in the front pews and when the couple should stand/kneel!

After the rehearsal, there was only enough time to send my aunty and the best man back and then fetch my friend (CY) to church to decorate the CRC for the wedding reception. Our problem was how to hang up the flower arrangement onto the brick arch at the CRC? In the end, dad suggested we hang the flower arrangement using the 'metal frame' of the ceiling and it worked!

Main piece of our decorations

The wedding was a nice one. We had great weather, thank God! I missed half of the church ceremony, manning the registration table outside, but I managed to witness the signing. After the reception, we hurried back to my aunty's house for the tea ceremony. And later on, I managed to catch some winks in the guest room before going for the Chinese dinner at Overseas Restaurant, Jaya One. Funny - CL managed to go for a jog/run before he dressed for dinner! So calm! haha

'Hollywood-like' IPOH sign

Good thing we managed to go for the Ipoh ceremony and dinner. This time I could sit back and witness everything! Although we reached the church a little late because we'd got lost in Ipoh... Anyway, I'm not going to elaborate here because the only person who'd be interested in reading it would be me! So on to the next event.

First time ever going to Lookout Point - it's somewhere near Hulu Langat! Journey was... interesting... we got lost and entered some sort of village road leading up to a dark deserted 'taman pertanian'. We, three girls, had to stop for directions three times but in the end managed to reach the hill. It was foggy when we were driving up the hill and parking was crazy up there! Food in Haven was ok, much better than I expected.

I had this - Chicken Chop

My friend had this - Lobster (was around RM80 - price ok right?)

The view - my hands were shaky and was using my Nikon point and shoot

And then it was Christmas! This year we went to DUMC for Christmas day service. I didn't realise that our church staged a Christmas musical on the eve, when I was falling asleep at our family reunion dinner. If I knew, I'd have gone for it - I was so near (location-wise), yet so far!

Christmas with the Wongs (gift exchange)

Christmas with the Leongs (Empire Hotel)

Christmas was nice. A lot of family moments - which is a rare thing, these days. Praise the Lord for Christmas!

However a few days later, my second encounter with flying objects occurred. My last post was about the incident with my windshield and a stone. Within that short span of time, I had another mishap. This time, I was waiting (stationary) at a traffic light near SS2, the 2 lane road next to an elevated portion of the LDP. I wasn't moving... yet some chunk of flying concrete found my car and collided with my driver's side door handle, scratching part of my rear side-window and paintwork on my door. The collision caused a loud whack sound, and I was worried that someone on the next lane had hit my car door (but my car didn't shake, so that wasn't it). At first I thought it was a stone flung by one of the passing cars on the next lane. But later, when I thought about it and saw that what hit me was like wet cement/concrete, I figured it could've been a cement mixer or truck traveling fast on the elevated LDP highway above us. I couldn't believe it that I'd had 2 close encounters with flying hard objects in a span of just 1 month! My car must've been some magnet towards flying objects! :(

Part of the damage. This was after I had scooped off a goop of wet cement/concrete

So ends my December and also 2010! Many sweet memories and 2 whopping flying objects!

End post. *Phew!*

2010 No Accident Record Shattered

Woke up late
Batu Tiga road jammed
Decided to turn off into Federal Highway (toll rate = RM1.10)
Federal Highway jammed, extended till the portion of road near the clock tower
Decided to turn off into Subang Airport road
Took NKVE
All Clear
Took turn off route to Damansara toll exit
POP!
*Covers ears, squeeze eyes shut as auto reflex*
*Realises I can still steer the car - so it wasn't the tyres*
*Notices a 5 inch radial crack on windshield*
"Shit!"
Continued driving
Stopped at the rest stop near the Damansara toll gates
Inspected damage
"Shit!"
Called parents
Paid toll (RM1.00)
Continued on to office
.
.
.
Mechanic said the whole windshield would have to be replaced. He said we can claim the cost from our car insurer, as we did buy the rider which covers for windshield damages on top of the comprehensive insurance plan. He also said he could repair the more than 2 years old bumper damage from my first ever accident in 2008.

The damage

Apparently, the Myvi windshield has 2 layers of glass therefore the crack only penetrated the outer layer, and not all the way into the inner surface of the windshield. Nevertheless, with the crack, it would be easier for someone to poke a hole in my windshield if he wanted to.

I really thank God that the POP! wasn't my tyre exploding and that the crack was just at the corner and not my whole windshield. If it was either, I don't know whether I'd be here typing this now. I guess it was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A friend said I could make a report at the PLUS Highway office and make a claim from them - since the accident was caused by a flying stone from a grass-cutter along their highway. But I didn't take a receipt at the time, so it would be futile trying to prove to them that I was there at that time.

I can't believe that shortly after the incident happened, I started thinking about the mechanics of the accident. I was imagining how much kinetic energy the rock must've had in order to break the covalent bonds between the silica molecules in the glass. And perhaps the atoms/electrons would be spinning around frantically after the impact, maybe with some heat energy produced.

When I heard that the glass repairer could repair some cases of cracks, I started wondering how they would go about doing that. They would probably have to heat up the glass so that the displaced SiO2 molecules could realign themselves to a lattice arrangement and also the heat would provide the energy required for new covalent bonds formation. Anyway, I won't be able to see the outcome of a repaired glass windshield as mine is beyond repair and will be replaced with a new one.

So at the end of the day, I paid for an extra toll and ended up with a cracked windshield. Was it worth it?

Job Ad

I guess a job is still a job, irrespective of what it is - whether it is a GM or a GRO. I saw this job ad from a reputable job site daily digest in my email today:

High Pay Models : Beach Bash (RM1000 Per Day)
-We need you to be able to talk and look posh.
-We need you to be able to drink with vvip.
-We need you to be a open minded person hanky panky is POSSIBLE. (+pay)
-We need you to be a active person can run,swim,dance.
-On the job day (2days) transportation and accommodation is provided
-If you are shy,under age please dont apply


If you are interested please send your full-size most recent beach-dresses photos.Application without photos will not be entertain.