POST-HOLIDAY DEPRESSION

i'm back in d*bai.

sheesh.

i always feel lousy whenever i have to come back here, but this time around i feel a lot lousier. maybe because i was in the middle of the raya mood, and suddenly everything i was rudely interrupted. time was up. time to come back to this country

this raya has been a good one for me. no major dramas (minor dramas definitely ada la.. after all it's MY family). but overall, it was good. all my siblings were at home on the first day and we spent time taking group photos (without my parents though, since they were out beraya at my uncle's place) of the 7 of us. the photographers - my 14 year old nephew and 13 year old niece. and the had to take the shots while making sure the younger nephews and nieces stayed out of the pictures. quite hilarious actually.. hehehe.

it was also a good raya because my baju melayu and sampin looked nice (boleh ke ni? well in the spirit of honesty kan... :P). and since the last time many of my relatives saw me was almost 2 years ago, i did receive some nice comments from them (i've lost a bit of weight la since 2 years ago..). kembang kempis la jugak hidung kena puji hari tu.. heheh.

but everything needs to come to an end. being an unconfirmed employee, everything has to end sooner than most people. i was practically dragging my feet to board the plane... thinking of how much fun it would be if i was able to stay longer. or if i didn't have to come back at all. actually thought of giving a 24-hour notice and pack up and leave the first day i was in the office (it was just a thought la... i'm not that spontaneous of a person. i plan almost everything). but luckily things started to look up a little bit in the afternoon. i found out that i'll be travelling to lebanon and egypt for three weeks next month for work. finally - an overseas assignment (i know i work in d*bai, but that doesn't count. i'm based here). i've never been sent for overseas assignments before. somehow being sent overseas for work is like a validation that your expertise is needed and valued so highly that they need to bring you in to their country for your expertise (it could also mean that since audit is based in the HQ, they don't have any auditors based in the overseas offices. but what i said earlier sounds more canggih. so i'm sticking to that.. eheh). i've been wanting to have this opportunity for the longest time. and now i'm finally getting it. feels quite good actually (over je kan? i don't even know if i'm going to do a good job there)

oh yeah, there was another thing that lifted up my mood a little bit yesterday. my platinum credit card has arrived. when i was younger, i have thought about whether i'd be able to get a platinum card and when would i get it. i now have the answer. 27. not bad la kan. and since i'm paying 600 a year on annual fees, i think i deserve some bragging rights in my blog. kan? kan? kan? hahaha..

habisla lepas ni everytime buat credit card payment kena tunjuk id. they are very discriminating towards fil*pino-looking blokes like me over here you know.

stupid country.

p.s: i actually missed the blog's second anniversary. it was a few days before the raya. i was busy with some stuff. nonetheless, happy birthday blog!

C'EST EID !

i just realised that the last 4 ramadhans were spent in 4 different companies! i don't know whether i should be appeased by that fact or not - but hey that is something isn't it? and all i can say is each ramadhan posed its own challenges.

this particular ramadhan has been a trying one for me. with the new job that's so so far away from my apartment, to be able to break fast at home is quite a challenge. i had my iftar in the car (not my car - a colleague's) for the past 3 days. bukak puasa with that durian candy which i keep in my office. i'd reach home usually around 30 minutes after iftar and when i reach home, i need to prepare my food. had maggi mee for iftar more than a couple of times (suddenly working overseas doesn't sound so glamourous huh? well i never said it was. that must be some other blog). but it's ok. i'm quite used to the hardship in ramadhan. when i was auditing back in kl in 2003, i spent most of the ramadhan nights that year in a factory in shah alam, breaking fast at the factory canteen alone (i was the only muslim in the team). we had an assignment with a tight deadline that required us to stay back every night. oh but i was more dramatic and emotional back then.. heheh.

anyway, i hope syawal this year will be good for me. all this excitement about going home - i hope it's worth it. i hope that i'll have a good time meeting and catching up my family and friends. ALL my siblings will be spending the first day of raya in ipoh this year. i don't really remember when was the last time this happened. and i hope to spend more time with my older relatives (we never know when their time will come.. or when MY time will come for that matter. but i have lost a few close relatives since i started working here). and i hope i'll find my true love this syawal too (tetiba je nih kan? heheheh. well, fyi i'm meeting up with a few.. potentials. so wish me luck.)

to everyone who's reading, i wish you a very very blessed and vogue eid. i'm sorry if i (either in person or through my writing) have offended any of you guys in anyway. i may have offended you knowingly (as i can be nasty at times) or unknowingly (as i can be insensitive at other times). but in any case, maaf zahir dan batin ek?

now there's a few people less that i need to send raya sms to.... hahahah.