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Went out for lunch with the girls today…K drove us (TI, A and myself) to Sao Nam. We had a roaring good time with lots of laughs. It’s amazing how 4 girls can talk so much BS together! In my heart, I felt so sad that it was in our final months here that we found out that we had the same crazy wavelength. Sad that we started this beautiful friendship when 3 of us will be leaving. I really hope that this connection will last…that even after we have parted ways, we will still be able to pick up the threads of this friendship wherever or whenever we decide to meet up again.

For the past 2 weeks or so, K and I have been exchanging our real-life romance stories. Everyday, K will send me one ‘episode’, while I would reply with one ‘chapter’. While the contents will remain strictly between K and I, her love life has been interesting reading (she has a real knack for writing!), while I’ve enjoyed reliving mine. It brings back fond (and not so fond) memories of my ex-boyfriends, and my so-called courtship with hubby. While WS (my first bf) and I have remained firm friends…sad to say that the rift between my second boyfriend and myself have not and will probably never be mended. I do read about him sometimes in some newspaper articles…looks like he’s doing really well, and I wish him all the best. Most friends who heard about the events leading up to me and Eric getting together always call it a Cantonese drama due to, well…all the drama that went on…=) But, I always maintain that I have no regrets. Why? Cause ultimately, all these events happened for a reason…and this brought me to Eric. Or Eric to me. And when something brings to you the best thing - or person - that ever happened to you…what’s there to regret?

I knew I should’ve gone to Kinokuniya for the Harry Potter launch. Times Bookstore at Bangsar Shopping Centre just didn’t have any atmosphere at all…much less a queue (I’m just a sucker for punishment…). Anyways, I started reading as soon as I paid for the book…which was at 7.05 am…and my nose remained firmly glued all the way till 11.00 am. Most of the facts confirmed by JK Rowling did happen in book 6….and yes, one major character was killed. I could tell that the final few chapters were leading up to this event, but I just didn’t want to believe it. Nevertheless, it did happen. And after I finished the book, I kept on telling Eric…”I can’t believe she killed off __________!!!!!”. For me, the shock of finding out who was killed offset the impact of finding out who was the Half-Blood Prince. In fact, I found the identity of the Half-Blood Prince quite a letdown! The ending of book 6 was really sombre and it set the scene for the 7th and final book. The Harry in book 6 was much nicer compared to the adolescent, short-tempered Harry in book 5. At the end of book 6, you could see that Harry has really matured and I can’t wait to see him take on Lord Voldemort in book 7. An introduction to a mystery character near the ending will keep readers eagerly awaiting the final book…who is this mysterious RAB? Does Harry have an ally? What happens to Harry’s romance with _____? Yes, JK Rowling has managed to end the book with a cliffhanger, and loyal readers will definitely be waiting eagerly for book 7! As for the hype over the release of this book all over the world…well, I expect it’s going to be 10 times more when book 7 is released….=)

Following my 6.00 am wake-up call on Saturday morning, I spent the afternoon trying not to fall asleep while Ken from The Lab @ Desa Sri Hartamas was cutting my hair. It was the first time I’ve gone there, although hubby has been there twice. My usual stylist from the hair saloon I frequent was off, and I really really wanted to cut my hair that weekend, so I decided to try this one out. I think Ken must’ve put quite alot of layers in cause my hair felt alot lighter and he somehow brought out the so-called natural waves in my hair. And I really like the colour he chose for my highlights…a deep rich copper highlight and a dark brown base. I felt it suited my skin tone more than the previous highlight I did when the hairdresser chose a more blond-ish colour for the highlights. I think I’ll go back to Ken again when my hair grows out…I like the way he took his time to cut and style, and he even taught me how to get back the same fuss-free style when I do it myself at home (though I know I’ll never be able to get it to look so…effortless!). Hubby said I look like a ‘ya-pun mui’…Japanese girl…with this new style…=))

My pampering spree spilled over to Sunday afternoon where I spent 3 hours at OPI @ Bangsar Village getting a Spa pedi-mani. Bliss! I really love OPI’s Japanese range…this time, I chose a bright pink colour for my toes called Dress to Empress. They also have a new range of the sweetest pastel colours…can’t wait to try them when I go back the next time. The spa pedi and mani consists of the usual filing, cuticle trimming, etc. but includes a scrub, massage and a foot mask. As an OPI member, I was entitled for 50% off one of the treatments during my birthday month (which was the main reason why I chose the most expensive one)…so the total cost came up to only RM104. Ok, not ONLY. But it’s alot cheaper with the discount!! Anyways, trust me, you’d be willing to pay once you try the Spa pedi!

We tried out a new place for dinner…Tanjung Bunga @ SS2. Hubby and I decided to order the recommended dishes: Ju Hu Char, Curry Fish Head and Coffee Spare Ribs. Unfortunately, this was one place that didn’t quite live up to my Foodie Guide review. The Ju Hu Char tasted as if one ingredient was missing, and the Curry Fish Head has so little fish meat inside that I swear they only gave us half a head. For me, the one redeeming dish was the Coffee Spare Ribs (hubby found it to be ok only…)…sticky and tender, with a slight bitter-sweet taste. Dessert was one miserably small bowl of cendol. The bill came up to RM45…not too expensive, but I really did expect better tasting food.

Following dinner, we took a romantic stroll in the rain at…..the Bangsar night market…=) I was hankering for sweet plums and grapes, so we decided to brave the drizzle. One (actually, two) hot bath(s) later, we were sitting comfortably at our couch watching the latest Bruce Willis action movie…Hostage. Just like one of the reviews said…Bruce Willis cried more in this show than any Meryl Streep tearjearker…=) All in all, it was a pretty fun movie to watch. I think when you watch a movie without any prior expectations, you’ll probably enjoy it alot more than watching one that you’ve set really high expectations to. Unfortunately, trailers often boost our expectations sky high, and I often feel let down after watching movies that have better trailers than the actual show itself. War of the Worlds was one such movie. The trailer was spectacular…exciting and thrilling. The actual show was only exciting in the first 15 minutes, after which, I felt it became more of a B-grade action movie. How very very disappointing.

Four more days to go…can’t wait. I’m still debating (with myself) whether I should get a dog. At the same time, I’m hoping that the decision will be taken out of my hands and hubby will buy one for me for my birthday…=) Nah…doubt so…! Even though I’ve indicated that I want a beagle on my wish list…upon further research, I found that the beagle breed would not be very suitable for apartment living as they need lots of exercise. Furthermore, beagles are purportedly stubborn and not that easy to train. So…how now brown cow? Well, miniature schnauzer is my next choice…and they seem to be easier to find compared to beagles. Decisions, decisions…

Will be going to Singapore this coming Sunday with hubby. He has a 3 day training to attend…and I have shopping (or rather, window shopping) to do! Will be meeting up with J on Sunday. She said she might take a day off on Monday too….we’ll see how it goes…=) Hopefully, TI will decide to join us as well….we’ve been bugging her, but she said she’ll only decide this week.

The past month has been extremely eventful. I tendered my resignation, attended interviews with two companies (a funny thing happened at one interview where I met an ex-colleague, and he immediately called up my hubby to tell him to pass the following message to me: “Don’t join!”), had a few rounds of ‘talks’ with my boss’s boss which ended up with my resignation getting converted to a 5 month sabbatical with an open offer to either return to my job anytime, or if I still wanted…to proceed with my resignation. I got a job offer from one of the companies I’d interviewed with and when I decided to decline, was asked to reconsider and also to ask if hubby would like to join that company as well (!!).

Right now, I’m 7 days away from commencing my unpaid leave. I’ve cleared all my work, cleaned up my files in my PC, deleted my personal emails….am just counting down the days till my long-awaited BREAK. Which I feel I sorely need after all the events in the past month. I feel exhausted and drained. You’d think resigning would be an easy enough task…well, it’s not! While I am very grateful and appreciative of my boss’s (and her boss’s) confidence in my abilities, I wonder if I can live up to their expectations of me. Which makes me feel, in a way, undeserving of their efforts to retain me. And you’d think declining a job offer would be easy as well! The HR personnel that I spoke to requested several times for me to reconsider, while pointing out that the prospects at Company B is very good, etc. While dad told me to me firm and polite when declining, I felt my resolve crumbling and I ended up agreeing to reconsider, even though I knew in my heart that I won’t want to join them. Sigh.

While many people are searching for employment, I feel kind of guilty that I have a choice of two to choose from, both of which pays pretty well…and I don’t want neither. Am I being really really stupid?!? All the reasons I used to justify my resignation suddenly looks so feeble and unwarranted. But just when I start to think that my current company is still a place that I want to work in, etc….something happens here and it just reminds me of why I wanted to resign in the first place.

So, right now, I’ve decided to push all my confusion and indecision to the back of my head and just enjoy the first month of my break. To quote Scarlett O’ Hara: I’ll think about it tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.

On to lighter topics…tomorrow’s the launch of the 6th Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! Potter-parties will be thrown in various bookstores around Malaysia (and around the world), and I will be one of the excited ones who will be queuing up before 7.01am to get my hands on a copy of the book. Haven’t quite decided if I’m going to Kinokuniya at KLCC or Times Bookstore at the nearby Bangsar Shopping Centre. When book 5 came out, hubby brought me to Kinokuniya, and the atmosphere there was amazing. Loads and loads of people lining up until the line snaked around the perimeter of the 4th floor KLCC balcony, and when the ‘witching’ hour drew close, you could feel the excitement buzzing in the air!

According to plan, I’ll probably be starting Japanese lessons in August at Ringo language centre in SS2. Mum has advised me to take up Mandarin as well (FYI…can speak, cannot read, cannot write!), so will probably start the lessons around the same time. Yoga is also on my to-do list (probably back to Jiva Yoga), as is a long overdue revision of my Feng Shui and Bazi course notes! And if time and money doesn’t run out, I’d like to start dancing lessons too…hopefully at The Dance Space @ Plaza Damas.

With any luck…I’ll be able to accomplish…err…ONE of the things I planned to do? =)