In the Dark

Could be another late night at work. The beer team is swamped with work. There’s also been a lot of tension in the office. Stuff happening that’s scaring me but I’m not sure what’s going on. Have been told that I need to be kept in the dark on certain things. Not a fun position to be in when the future looks hazy and I’m unable to see past the blur. Feeling extremely overwhelmed. Thought that certain things were not as bad as I imagined but in reality, it’s much worst. I’ve been told to expect a lot more work soon. And that expectation of me has been raised even higher. The next week is going to be an interesting and stressful one. For now I just want to make it to the weekend.

Bubbles Doesn’t Have A Hobby

Well, not that I don’t have a hobby but I realized that my hobbies are not really hobbies!

Back in school, when we’re asked what are out hobbies, kids would often reply: reading, watching TV, cycling, swimming, playing badminton, collecting stickers. And that was acceptable.

And when we’re older, many people say their hobbies are watching TV, shopping, playing video games and sleeping.

And according to dictionary.com, a hobby is defined as:

hob·by1

–noun, plural -bies.

1.	an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving.

Besides that definition, hobbies tend to be stuff like collecting stuff or creating things. Like collecting stamps, collecting Coke paraphernalia, collecting comics, making toy car models, painting and photography.

It’s not done for profit so collecting comic books and selling them at a later date doesn’t count.

And it’s also done on a fairly consistent basis. I used to collect stickers when I was in primary school and while I still like stickers and buy some now and then, and I still have some of my old collection, I can’t claim that collecting stickers is my hobby (or due to the high chances that adults would laugh at me but then again if you know me well enough, you’ll know I wouldn’t care, as long as I’m having fun).

If that’s the case then out of the list from school, collecting stickers is the only hobby. What about the other activities? If they are not hobbies then what are they? Interests? Dictionary.com defines interest as:

in·ter·est

–noun

1.	the feeling of a person whose attention, concern, or curiosity is particularly engaged by something: She has a great interest in the poetry of Donne

So an interest is not a hobby but is something you do that you’re interested in and are concerned and curious about. So some examples would be reading poetry, doing charity work, restoring vintage cars, traveling and learning a new language.

And a past time is defined as:

An agreeable activity like knitting with which you pass the time.

That means a past time is not a hobby nor an interest but is something you do to while away time? I would say watching TV is a past time but to some people who make time from their busy schedules just to watch a show, it’s not just a past time. So that makes it an interest. And reading can be a past time too, like when one reads while on the train on the way to work but not at any other time.

And what about diving? Hobby, interest or past time? Paul, Sin Cyn and Kokonut Soldier says that diving is a recreational activity because it’s something fun, we don’t do it often, it doesn’t work the muscles much (even though you’re freakin tired after each dive) so it doesn’t even fall into the ‘sports’ category’.

My conclusion is that the stuff we do when we’re not working, running errands, doing chores or sleeping (I don’t consider this a hobby, interest, past time (okay maybe it’s a past time for some who really have nothing better to do ) nor a recreational activity), it’s usually one of the 4 items.

However, the same activity can fall into different categories, depending on the person.

So for me,

My hobby is errrrrrr.... not collecting stickers …... How about collecting Ty Beanie Babies? I didn’t consciously make this my hobby but I do have quite a few of them. And I do sometimes find out who’s retired and who are the latest releases. Okay so I have 1 hobby.

How about colouring? It’s not as skillful as painting, drawing or sketching but it is an art form of sorts.

Oh! Oh! And making stuff out of plastercine, like the birthday cake I made for Patrick. It is just like sculpturing! Just a lost smaller.

So my hobbies are collecting Ty Beanie Babies, colouring and plastercine mounding. Yay!

And my interest is reading, charity work for animals, watching movies and certain TV series, traveling, learning a new language whenever I travel to a foreign country of which language I think sounds good.

Past time is watching TV, charity work for animals and reading magazines & books.

And recreational activity is diving.

What about blogging? For me, it’s a hobby (I do it fairly often and I’m creating something), interest (I read other people’s blogs to learn how I can better mine in terms of writing style and the actual look and feel) and a past time (sometimes I do it when I’m really bored and happen to be online).

So there you go. My research on definition and examples of hobbies, interests, past times and recreational activities.

How Do You Find a Lost Mobile Phone on Silent Mode?

I have 2 mobile phones – one for work and one for play.

My last memory of my work phone was when I received a call on it after work on Friday. This was after Paul and I parked the car and were walking back to his place.

On Saturday, I realized that I didn’t have it with me. But I figured that it’s the work phone anyway and I don’t carry it around on weekends.

So come Monday, I was looking for it to bring to work but I couldn’t find it! So I went back home during lunch to find it. Maybe I brought it back home after dinner at Paul’s. But it wasn’t there. So I went back to work without it.

At night, I told Paul and we went back to my place to search but to no avail. We then searched his house. Then my car. And his car and then back to my house. And then back to his car.

What do u do when u can’t find your phone? Call it and trace the location of the ringing right?

We tried calling it and it did ring but we could not hear it ring so I figured that it was on silent mode. We tried calling again (in his house, my house, has car and my car) while keeping totally quiet in hopes of hearing it vibrate instead.

But no vibrating sound!

Could it be that I dropped the phone and someone else picked it up and has claimed ownership? I called DiGi to check if there were any calls made from Saturday onwards. There were none. So I must still have the phone some where. But where?!

We repeated the search process (in his house, my house, has car and my car). Till my darling suggested checking his mum’s car. We were in it for a short time on Saturday morning sending his parents off to the bus station so that location didn’t cross my mind. We’d exhausted all other possible locations so that was the last place we were going to look. By then, I was resigned to going to DiGi on Wednesday to get a new SIM card and use one of Paul’s spare phone.

We walked to his mum’s car and there it was on the floor of the front passenger seat. Just staring innocently up at me.

Thank goodness my darling suggested his mum’s car! So smart! That saves me time, hassle and RM 50 or RM100 for a new SIM card. So yes I’m contactable via my work phone again now.

Working Past Midnight

I'm no where near done with work. I have my creative team here with me revising an artwork for the client. He better not be sleeping and he better be available to approve it as soon as we're ready. I don't know where he lives but I can find out and slap the living day lights out of him. Even though it's past midnight now.

This will teach us to pick up on another agency's slack. But then again it is our brand and do or die, we gotta help salvage this job and get the ad to the press on time. Even though it wasn't our responsibility in the first place!

Sigh.... that's the life of an agency person. Guess it has it perks:
- free flow of Coke and beer in the fridge at any time of the day
- waltz to the office at 10am
- wear shorts and t shirt to work
- take long lunches when we're free
- get to go for events, get freebies and meet lotsa ppl
- have a fun, noisy working environment where ppl throw stuff at each other, hide each other's vehicles and print life size pics of colleagues with funny captions and stick them outside the office building for all on the highway to see when they drive past.

But we also gotta work till late!

I'm so tired. I can feel my body shutting down. I've not had dinner. Unless a pack of Cheezels is considered dinner. When i stand up, I feel myself swaying. I can't focus. I wanna sleep. I hate my client. Grrrrrrr!!!

Bubbles Cut Her Hair Again

After 30 years, I finally chopped of my locks. It was up to my waist and curly. That was 4 months ago. And just yesterday, I went for a trim. Looks like I'm getting used to being in short hair and liking it. I'm even thinking of going even shorter and getting a spunky style after this. Funny how it took me many years of contemplation and dozens of visits to my stylist before I plucked up the courage to go short and now I want to go even shorter. It's just like the many things in life. The thought of a drastic change is scary. But once you take the plunge, you may find that you like it and even ask, "what took me so long"?

Bubbles Wants to Be In the Sun

After being away on (almost 3 weeks with gaps in between) of holidays in the Middle East and in Redang, it ain’t no fun being back at work. Especially when I don’t have a tan to show for the time I spent in the dessert and on the beach!

Thank goodness it’s Friday and I have the weekend to chill. Prob go to the pool and pretend I’m still on holiday far far away.

What may also help is to spritz myself with Escada Sunset Heat. After Paul and I landed at KLIA after Redang, we went shopping in the duty free shops. After spraying, smelling, rubbing and touching various products, Paul finally settled on Biotherm face wash & moisturizer and 2 colognes. And THREE perfumes for me which included Escada Sunset Heat, Bvlgari’s latest Omnia Amethyste and a perfume he’s been hunting down for ages but is on the verge of being discontinued around the world – Bvlgary Petits Et Mamans. How interesting! It’s a perfume for mothers and babies! Hmmm …. Guess will store that in a cool, dark place till it’s time for me to use it. Kekeke!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Bubbles Is Now A Certified Diver

Redang was great. The beaches are beautiful and the waters are clear. But it wasn’t so much a holiday as it was a grueling course in diving.

Paul did well but for someone like me with hydrophobia, I would say that it was the toughest and scariest thing I’ve made myself do to date. I may be scared of some things but I can run away from those. This is different, can I willingly made myself go through it.

The course started off easy by watching a 3 hour video on the theories on diving. Then we suited up and went into the water. I like the water but I panic the moment I’m totally submerged in water. I HATE water in my nose. So it was all good and well when I was all suited up in the water cos I could breathe thru the regulator and my eyes and nose were protected with the mask.

Then we had to do mask clearing. This is when the mask is removed completely, placed back on the face and have the water cleared out. This is in case your mask gets knocked off or if the mask gets fogged up. I was panicing and hyperventilating! I was so scared!! I thought I was about to pass out there n then. I kept signaling to my instructor to wait n that I’m scared! And I thought that I’ll never be ready to do something like this! And to get me out of there! But he just looked at me calmly and signaled for me to do it before he fell asleep. All the while holding only my BCD so that the current doesn’t pull me away.

All this is much funnier when dome in sign language under the water.

After spurting, breathing in some sea water, having my eyes stung by the salty water, flailed around with my fins (or as fast as they can move in zero gravity under the water), I managed to do it.

THEN we had to remove the mask completely, swim 30 metres or so and then repeat the process! I repeated my spurting, breathing water and flailing. But finally did it. Again.

The rest of the exercises like regulator recovery, CESA, sharing air with buddy etc were fine. But then I had to do mask clearing again at 18 metres under water! This time I was still scared shitless but at 18 metres, I knew I didn’t have the option on freaking out and abandoning the exercise and swim back to the surface easily. So I took 3 deep breaths. Okay it was more like 10 deep breaths with both hands on the mask attempting very hard to pry the mask from my face. All the while my mind is thinking “Just do it! Fuck it! Just do it!!!” And my body was going “Are you fucking insane? Do you WANT to breathe in sea water? Do you want to drown?? Are you freaking insane?! What’s wrong with you??!!!

My mind and body fought the battle but I bit hard into the regulator (in case it floats away), fucked it and did it anyway.

Which tag line was it which said ‘Feel the fear but do it anyway’? I certainly put that into practice during this open water dive course. ‘Open Water’ is such a befitting name- there’s water every where! In your mouth, nose, eyes, nose and all other crevices a human possess.

So yes after the 4 days of drama, I’m a certified diver! Paul is so gung-ho that he wants to do his Advanced Diver course. I’m just glad that my diving buddy will have more experience than me and can help calm me down if I ever freak out underwater.

We spent our 5^th day on the island sleeping, eating and chilling out at the beach. Since we were diving most of the days and wearing a full wet suit, I didn’t get that much of a tan.

Also, since we were constantly in the water, I don’t have that many pics or pics of me in a wet suit. So here are some pics for now. Waiting for pics from the rest.

With all that said and done, I am looking forward to my next diving trip. Seems like its Perhentian then Sipadan at the end of the year.

The group of divers and sun tannersThis way to the dive centre!Paul and I before we suited up

Paul's gargoyle

Finally able to relax at the beach after getting certified!

Back from the Middle East

I’m back from the Middle East!

I left on Thurs, 19^th April on Etihad Airways which replaces Emirates as the official airline of the UAE. Was a good flight cos it was less than half full so I could stretch out on all 3 seats and watch 3 movies in succession comfortably.

As we were landing in Abu Dhabi, I looked out the window and I saw a light brown landscape with patches of bright green and I realized that it was the dessert. Well I knew I was going to the dessert but I’ve not seen so much sand before in my life! Sounds a big strange here but you gotta be there to gettit.

Growth

Dubai is growing at such an exponential rate. Hundreds of sky scrapers are being built right now, around the clock. While the architecture is beautiful, I can’t help but be reminded of Singapore which is a shopping and financial hub but not much soul to the city.

And the city sure is rich. Everyone knows that they have an indoor ski slope. I went to have a look but since I don’t ski, I didn’t think it was worth going it for a short toboggan ride.

Now they are building the tallest building in the world (I lost track. Who’s the tallest now? Taipei?) and also an Artic type done which will house Artic animals like polar bears and penguins (tho they are from the Antartic)!

Abu Dhabi is quieter compared to Dubai but it is the capital of the UAE. The plan is to let Dubai boom, then build up Abu Dhabi at a slower but steady rate.

Shopping

Shopping there is great. They have most of the brands we have here in Malaysia but so much more like BHS, Claire’s, Splash. But I’m not a shopper so I only went to the shops in the malls I happen to be in for other activities.

One of the things I did buy though, are bikini thongs! Those are so hard to find and I manage to find it in a ‘conservative’ country.

Temperature

It’s 46C over there! But it was nice warm weather. It’s hotter here in Malaysia at 30C compared to 46C in the dessert!

Food

Like any cosmopolitan city, one can find an array of food from around the world. I had hi tea at the Burj al Arab Hotel Dubai, Coffee at Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi and The One & Only Mirage, German at the Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi, Chinese at China at the Novotel Abu Dhabi, Indian at The Grill Muscat, Char Kway Teow (which cost RM80 before tax!) at the Chedi, Muscat.

Notice I didn’t list any Arabic food. That’s cos I didn’t have any! My mum brought me to all the nicest hotel and other prominent buildings. Which was great, but on my last night, I just had to have Arabic food so we stopped by to a shop on the way to the airport to have kebabs and shawarmas. 3 of us dined for RM40 and it was absolutely yummy!

There was so much I wanted to blog about while on holiday. But now that I’m back, I’m just too lazy to put everything down. A picture tells a thousand words right? So let the pics tell the story.

And u know how after a nice long holiday, u need another holiday to get over that one? Well that’s exactly what I’m doing! I’m leaving for Redang tomorrow on a dive trip along with Paul, Michelle Shell, Sin Cyn, Pete and other ppl.

Enjoy the pics! Will try n blog more and post pics after Redang.

View from the road leading to the Shangri-La Hotel in Muscat, Oman. It's the most beautiful hotel I've stayed in. It's in a valley of rocky mountains and the space for the hotel is almost carved out of the rocks. And the view is spectacular.

Pic with an Omani man with a traditional weapon. Taken at The Chedi.

The camels are so cute. But some of them bite and have to be muzzled. Poor camels.
The beach at the Rotal Beach Hotel in Fujairah. I sat in the sun for more than an hour and only got a slight tan. And u'd think u'll burn in the desert.

The famous Burj al-Arab Hotel at night. Went there for hi tea at RM250 per person. But all the sandwiches, scones and pastries u can eat and all the tea or coffee u can drink. That coupled with the view, was a good experience.

In the sand dunes. It wasn't too hot and there was a nice wind blowing. Just be careful not to get the sand in your eyes. There were no catuses around. Maybe that's just in the American deserts. That's where Snoopy's uncle lives.

Sunset in the dessert after san bashing and before belly dancing. It's not too hot but the sun sure is bright. Even my Oakleys can't keep me from squinting.

Me in an abayah. It only buttoned up to the waist. How liberal!