Wendy Ooi's Farewell @ Red Box

Last Wednesday, 23 July 2008 was my colleague, Wendy Ooi's last day at work. The entire Sales & Marketing team from The Northam All Suite, Penang together with my boss, the Hotel Manager, Mr Jeffrey Tan joined Wendy for a Karaoke session at Red Box. Soo Theng was also invited to the Karaoke but then, she was still down with flu and cough. Soo Theng joined the singing session till 12.30am, I left together with her. Some of my team members continued singing till 2.45am together with my boss.

To Wendy, I wish her all the very best in her new job ! Let's stay in touch always ...

Nanthini's Visit

After 6 months away to Doha, Nanthini is back to Malaysia because of her sister's wedding in Johore. While she is back, she took the opportunity to stopover in Penang to pay both Soo Theng and myself a visit. We only had a night with Nanthini because the 2nd night was reserved for her catching up session with "The Boys" from THP's F&B Office.

At Soo Theng's place (evening of 24 June 2008), I cooked Tau Yew Bak and Fried Bee Hoon with the can Pork Chop. Nanthini simply loved it very much. Angeline also joined us for the dinner. After dinner, we went to G-Spot at G-Hotel for a drink and listening to some jazz music before we called it a night at about 11.30pm ! It was really great to have met up with Nanthini and we hope to see her again in the not too distant future .... hopefully, the next time when she comes back, she brought along her "extra baggage", some Sheikh from the Middle East Kingdom !

My 38th Birthday !

Celebrated my 38th Birthday on 14 June at Uptown at Upper Penang Road. Bought 2 bottles of Chivas, invited my entire Sales & Marketing team members together with my 2 bosses, Mr FC Chong, GM of Gurney Hotel and Mr Jeffrey Tan, HM of Northam All Suite, Penang.

We had good fun, lots of laughter and singing all night long. We ended the evening at about 10.30pm ... some of us continued to "Moist", a nearby nightspot ... I went for a little while before heading home .... was too tired to continue ....

Long Awaited Holiday !

Departed Penang on 1 May 2008 to Beijing to visit my dear brother Dennis Chin G Don who had left Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa to pursue his career as a Director of Rooms in Raffles Beijing. I have stayed with brother for 10 nights before departing to Shanghai to stay with Goh Voon Choong for another 4 nights before coming back to Penang on 14 May 2008.

The trip was awesome and I have had a good rest. Don't feel like coming back though ! Check out some of the pix that I have taken during my trip to China..... In the meantime, I look forward to my next holiday ... hopefully, this year end !

Wedding in Style !

Last weekend, 12 & 13 April 2008, we had a combined (The Gurney Resort Hotel & Residences and The Northam All Suite, Penang) wedding fair at the ballroom of Gurney Hotel. I must say that it was a successful event for us for having 19 weddings confirmed with a revenue of approximately 0.5 million being generated !

April Fool ?

It's not an April Fool's Joke .... I'm simply too lazy to continue blogging. I just realised that I have not even opened my blog for the past one month plus .... too much work, too little time and lots to do in my "Facebook". I guess, I have to balance up my time ..... to continue blogging .... stay tune for more ....

Great Food, Great Company !

Dennis, Angeline and I decided to have our dinner last night at Feringgi Garden, Batu Feringgi (near Park Royal Hotel). We started our dinner with Ceasar's Salad and soups; Mushroom and Shark's Fin followed by a Steak & Chicken Combo for me and Dennis while Angeline had a spicy Fish with cheese.

For dessert, we shared a plate of Banana Fritters with Vanilla Ice Cream and a plate of "Black & White" which is actually a half sliced of cheese cake and chocolate brownie with chocolate ice cream. Mind you, their ice cream is "Movenpick" .... Yum, yum !

I must say ... not only the food and service are good .... the company is good too ! It's a pity that our family members .... Soo Theng and Nanthini are not with us .... otherwise, it would have been much more fun !

Baby Oliver Cheong

The last time when I saw baby Oliver Cheong was about 4 to 5 months ago .... back then, she was just a tiny little sweet baby. Last night when I saw Oliver, I was amazed with her transformation .... she has changed into a beautiful baby gal and definitely much more active !

We had a lovely dinner at Dragon-I in Queensbay Mall .... Bamboo Chicken Rice with Chinese Sausage, Fried Shanghai Noodles with Seafood, Salted Egg Prawns and "Kong Pow" Chicken were our selected menu. Overall, the food and service were good.

It was a good catch up session for all of us because we have not seen Sharon for quite some time already. One other reasons why we had to do it last night is because Sharon and Baby Oliver will be joining Stanley in KL next week ... for good ....

It's Better Late than Never !

Well, this has been outstanding for a long time ... I owe my dear friend Nanthini Sathasivam a blog on her farewell dinner. Nan, an affectionate name that we called her, has left us to pursue her career in Doho as a Director of Human Resources in Shangri-La Doha.

Prior to her departure, we did a double celebration i.e. our Christmas Gift Exchange and Nan's Farewell Dinner at Tarmizi, a Fusion Restaurant in New World Park. This is a new eatery place built by the Kwok's Family. There were six of us at the dinner, Dennis, Soo Theng and hubby, Jimmy, Angeline, yours truly and the star of the evening, Nan.

Nan's farewell gifts were quite interesting ... Soo Theng gave her a nice wall clock, while, I bought her an earring holder... and guess what ? Our dear brother Dennis also bought her a similar earring holder ! What a coincident ! We all had a good laugh looking at our farewell presents for Nan.

Clockwise : Jimmy, Soo Theng, Nan, Dennis, Angeline & Wendy

It has been a month plus since Nan's departure .... all of us miss her very much especially when we all get together for a meal or for a movie ... Until the next meeting ......

Voon Chong back to Malaysia !

Having worked and stayed in Shanghai for 5 months, Voon Chong finally came back to Malaysia to celebrate CNY with his family in KL and also his "extended family" in Penang. He was back on 5 Feb to KL and came for a short trip to Penang on 13 till 16 Feb 2008. Finally, on 18 Feb 2008, Voon Chong returned to Shanghai.

We were all excited to welcome Voon Chong back to his "2nd Home" at Dennis's apartment. Angeline was kind enough to fetch Voon Chong from KL to Penang on 13 Feb 2008 and they both arrived at 8.30pm. As it was already late, we just went for a quick Hokkien Mee dinner followed by coffee at Starbucks.

14 Feb 2008, we all met up for a lunch at Song River .... had Choo Char i.e. Rice and dishes (Fish Soup with Salted Veg, Guiness Chicken, Taufu with Egg Plant and Kai Lan. After lunch, we went to frame up all our oil paintings (3 pcs from Dennis and 1 pc from me). Directly opposite Blossom, the frame shop is Telekom Malaysia. This is where Dennis went to install his Steamyx for internet broadband. Voon Chong suggested that we all cooked for dinner and off we went to 7th Street Wet Market. We went to THP to meet up with Elaine, Alex Phua and a few others for coffee before heading to Soo Theng's apartment for our cook-out session. We cooked Tau Yue Bak, Boiled Cockles, Herbal Soup, Fried Cabbage and Microwave Tong Miow Veg. After dinner, we all played our notebooks, Chor Ti and Chit Chat. We called it a day at 4.30am !

15 Feb 2008, the whole gang met up with Elaine for lunch at Kapitan followed by coffee at Starbucks. I joined them at about 2.30pm. After coffee, we all headed to Gurney Plaza whereby Voon Chong went for a haircut while Soo Theng, Dennis and I went for a foot reflexology. After that, we all lepak at Starbucks for coffee and internet surfing. Soo Theng suggested that we "ta pau" hawker food back to her apartment of which, everyone agreed. Other than hawker food, we also take-away some Chocolate Brownies and Baskin Robbins ice cream. Again, we all ended up surfing internet from our respective notebooks. The evening ended early .... 12.30am !

16 Feb 2008, Soo Theng already balik kampung to SP, Dennis working and me on 1/2 day. Met up with Voon Chong at THP and off we went to SP for lunch with Soo Theng, Jordan and Jimmy before sending Voon Chong to airport for his 8.30pm flight !

Although Voon Chong's trip to Penang was short however, it was packed with lots of exciting activities .... We all hope to see Voon Chong again .... soon !

Yat Fatt, Yat Fatt !

Voon Chong and I drove down to Sungai Petani on Saturday, 16 Feb 2008 for a lunch at "Sei Kow" (Jimmy father's kopitiam). We had my favourite Seo Bak, Char Siew, Chilli Prawns and Squid, Chilli Padi Fried Pork and Seo Bak, Steamed Egg and the famous Steamed Fish. The food were excellent !

Oops ... forgot to mention ... while waiting for the above food to be served on our table, I have asked Jordan (Soo Theng's son) to help me to pick for some lucky lottery tickets sold by Jimmy. The tickets were then scratched for lucky numbers and out of 6 tickets purchased, two of them were with the no. 18. Jimmy suggested that I buy no 1818 for that day. I ended up buying that no. for two days. Guess what ? I striked RM500 for Sunday's draw !!!

Well, immediately, after lunch, we drove back to Penang because Voon Chong had to catch a flight back to Kuala Lumpur. Until the next makan-makan at Sei Kow's Place ........

My "Windows of the World"

After long consideration, I have finally decided to pamper myself by buying a Samsung 32" LCD TV, model LA32R81B. It was delivered to my room just before Chinese New Year, to be more precise ... 2 days prior.

Comparing with my old faithful Sony 21", this is definitely better in terms of it's clarify and size. Now, I can see all my Korean man clearer and they sure look more handsome !!!! He ! He ! He !

Sorry !

Just a short note to say ... I'm sorry for not up keeping my blog because I have been bitten by a "Lazy Bug". I will try to put some efforts to update my blog ..... soon ....

Double Birthday Celebration

Last night, we celebrated Aida Rashid's 38th Birthday as well as Ng Soo Chuan's 32nd Belated Birthday at Chili's, Gurney Plaza. We bought Aida a MAC lipstick and Soo Chuan a white Valentino polo t-shirt.

Well, after the dinner, we all adjourned to Carmen Club at City Bayview Hotel for two rounds of drinks and call it the night at almost 1.00am. Untill the next birthday celebration ... should be for Ravi Firdaus on 9 March ....

Recent Movies

For the last 7 days or so ... I have gone to the cinema 3 times ... first to watch "I am Legend" by Will Smith with Dennis. Then, "Alvin & The Chipmunks" with Dennis and Nanthini. Finally, "The Game Plan" by The Rock with Soo Theng.

Movies ... that I have watched !

Now, you know the reason why my friends called me "Movie Queen" ....

My New Toy !

After using my old faithful Acer Travelmate 4000 series for 3 years, I have decided to get a new notebook. Many days of shopping were done ... from Prangin Mall to Gurney Plaza and finally to Queensbay Mall.

My initial choice was either a HP or Fujitsu but when Brother Dennis went shopping with me last Thursday, we both liked Sony Vaio very much. So, last Saturday evening, I bought a Blazing-Red Sony Vaio VGN-CR23G/R at RM4,488.

It's so sexy and canggih ...

My new baby !

Message to Brother Dennis :
Quick, quick get yourself a white one .... it's awaiting for your pick-up !

My Girl & One Fine Day

Last week, I have managed to complete 2 Korean Drama series ... one called "My Girl" while the other called "One Fine Day". Between both dramas, I liked My Girl better because it is more funny ....

Synopsis :
"My Girl" ... a romantic comedy. Joo Yoo-rin (Lee Da Hee) is a tour guide in a small company in charge of running mini tours in Jeju Island of South Korea. Yoo-rin lives with her father, who is addicted to gambling Yoo-rin's life is all lies and crises because of her father and his debts. When her father escapes the island to avoid his debtors, Yoo-rin goes to work. She is determined to support herself and to clear up the debts by selling oranges illegally picked from a hotel orchard and working as a tour guide on the island. Then, one day, she meets Seol Gong-Chan, the sole heir to the L'Avenue Hotel. To grant his grandfather's dying wish, Gong-Chan empl0ys Yoo-rin to act as his grandfather's long lost granddaughter. Offering aonthly salary plus a bonue, he asks her to do what she does best - to put on an act. Not wishing to lie to a dying man, yet desperate for the money, Yoorin takes the offer and starts playing the long lost granddaughter. Through a strange twist of fate, however, find his granddaughter makes the grandfather so happy that he makes a complete recovery. Since they have claimed to be cousins, Gong-Chan and Yoo-rin are forced to live together under one roof, and as time pases, the attraction between them grows. However, love is forbidden for these two, who must pass as cousins.

"My Girl"

"One Fine Day" ... This story talk about Seo Haneul (Sung yuri) loses her mother in a fire accident and was later adopted by a rich family who lost their daughter and replace her with Haneul. As for Seo Gun, his father married an unwed mother, it making Seo Gun his sister in the eyes of the law. Gun then grows up with family friends in Australia. However 15 years later Gun finds the whereabouts of his sister and goes back to Seoul. They reunite fall in love.

"One Fine Day"

Sumptuous Seafood @ Batu Kawan

Last night, the entire Sales & Marketing team (except Diana, Nurdiana, Christine, Shahira & Norhidayah) from both hotels (Gurney & Northam) plus the 2 General Managers (FC Chong & Jack Soo) went to "Ah Ean's place" at Batu Kawan for a sumptuous seafood dinner. This dinner was hosted by Nicole Phang, to celebrate her promotion to a Sales Manager, effective 1 January 2008.

We had Baked Crabs, Steamed Lala, Chilli Balitong, Assam Prawns, Lala with Tau Cheo, Fried Sotong, Mee Teow, Fried Vegetables and for dessert, we ate Fried Ice Cream. The food was superb and everyone of us have enjoyed it very much ! Thank you Nicole ! Till the next promotion and next makan-makan ....

My Office Family !

2008 New Year Lunch !

My brother has invited me to his working place (G-Hotel) for lunch at "The Soy" on 1 January 2008. We had set lunch and it only cost us RM22 ++ per person. What a deal !!!