I still remember how happy I was when I first got the iPhone 3G. However, in the 3 years since then, it has crashed and been restored 3 times – once whilst just doing an iOS update, and the last time because I had turned it off (!) – and 2 SIM cards mysteriously died even though they’ve never been taken out of that pain in the ass SIM cradle that you need a pin to get to.

Even then, that’s ok. I only use the phone to make calls and send texts, to listen to music and for web-browsing. I’m not big into apps or games. However the last crash and restore forced me to put iOS 4 on it which made the phone lag and sputter, even when I’m just doing two things – using Safari and listening to music. Considering these are the two things that I use the phone mostly for, it got pretty annoying pretty fast.

So I started looking around for alternatives today. I settled on the HTC Incredible S because it had good reviews. I had thought of moving over from Optus to Telstra as well because their 3G coverage is supposed to be better but they didn’t offer the phone, and their prices were generally more expensive. Better 3G coverage is good but not something that I’m willing to pay more for at this stage. Optus’ coverage is ok along my daily commute and that’s good enough for me.

I also considered the iPhone 4 but if I wanted to pay $0 upfront, I have to go from the $49-cap plan that I’m on now to the $59-cap plan. With the HTC Incredible S I can stay on the same plan. Plus, with my slightly-soured impression of the iPhone and how Apple does things in general, I swayed quite readily towards the HTC phone.

So, off to the phone shop this weekend! And you know what I’m most looking forward to besides having a usable phone again? Not having to use iTunes to transfer songs onto the phone.

I have this fantasy that I get to go back to uni and relive my life back then except that this time, I would have the self-confidence and security that I have now. Yeah as hard as it is to believe, I wasn’t always this cool with myself. Heheh. It had taken me a few years to get used to high school and then I had to start from scratch again when I got to uni. And by the time I hit my stride in my fourth year, uni was almost over. Argh.

The main reason that I want to go back to uni is because I think that the social life was awesome back then. If I could re-do it without having to do lectures, assignments and exams, and earn the money that I earn now, I’d go back in a heartbeat. The social life was awesome because one would socialise in between lectures, after lectures, sometimes during lectures; whilst “studying” in the library, doing group assignments and labs; and when having meals together in the cafeteria and everywhere else. And this was during uni time. On the weekends there would be the clubbing, partying and drinking. Ah heck, sometimes even during the week.

My point is: uni was one big party scene even though we were there to earn our degrees. It would have been even better with the aforementioned self-confidence and security. Oh and also the cynicism and the understanding of men-women dynamics. That would have helped me out with a lot of the social awkwardness and relationships that I found myself in at the time because I thought I needed a girlfriend to fit in. I would have also met and talked with some of the more hotter chicks that I was too chicken-shit or tongue-tied to talk to, even when they said hi to me. Yup, I was but a shy fool.

But I think there was a reason that I went through that social minefield – all of it was a tremendous life lesson. I like how I got shaped into the person that I am now.

“Oh harro”. Typed or spoken, that’s how Huishan always greeted me.

I get along really well with my current colleagues but I’m closest to someone who’s now an ex-colleague. I had “met” Huishan sometime around December 2009. I say “met” because we never saw each other in real life until one year later in December 2010 when I was sent to Melbourne for work. It was pretty fortunate how it happened because by then she had already left the company and was going to the UK in Feb 2011, doing the 2-year sabbatical over there that a lot of Aussies are wont to do.

From the day we met, we’d chat on instant messaging and over the phone quite a bit because she was new to the team and asked a lot of questions. Hahah! Gradually we started talking about non-work related stuff and we progressed to being Facebook friends. This may sound insignificant but she says she only adds people that she really knows.

Having a face to put to the voice and words solidify the impression that I had of her. She felt more real from then on. And when we eventually met for the first time, the conversation flowed very naturally and there were no awkwardness. At least I don’t think so.

She was the one who encouraged me to seek the promotion that I’d got, but was hesitant about. And for that I’m really grateful. She was really pushy about it and the conversations got quite heated at one point. But it was exactly what was needed, so thanks Huishan.

We also got quite close from the support we gave each other, bitching about our daily work. Healthily, I might add. Heheh. Now that she’s not part of the team anymore and is in the UK, I miss those bitch fests with her. But I like the fact that we still talk to each other whenever we see each other online. She still scolds me, which is something that I hope she will continue to do.

I had an awesome weekend not because of …

• Catching up with Ashley over yummy burgers on Friday night, OR
• Having food, drinks and laughs at Sel’s place on Saturday night, which is always fun.

I had an awesome weekend despite …

• Blowing a little too close to the limit for a random breath test, and then sitting nervously in the cop bus for 20 minutes, and eventually getting let off after 2 more tests.
• Having to turn off my phone in the cop bus which cause it to not boot up properly after.
• Having to restore the phone from a 6-month old backup, only to have it report a problem with the SIM card after.
• Getting my laptop infected by malware as I surfed onto a dodgy site on a search quest to try to solve the problem.
• Having to buy a replacement SIM card for $30.

I had an awesome weekend because I caught up with an old primary school friend from Malaysia whom I haven’t seen in 25 years(!). I always hear updates about her from a mutual friend and a couple of years ago, we got in touch with each other again via Facebook, but we haven’t seen each other in the flesh all this time, until today. She’s now a mother of 2, soon to be 3, and is living and working with her husband in Dubai.

She and her family are here in Perth for a 4 day holiday. Initially they were going to Japan but had to change their plans because of what had happened over there. So it was that fate would see them coming here, and giving me a chance to see her again.

Because she’s been reading my blog, I didn’t have to fill her in on what’s been happening with me so much. And although we only spent an hour catching up over coffee, and meeting her lovely kids (we both laughed about how they are lovely because they are not mine) and friendly husband, it really felt like we’ve made up for lost time.

It’s pretty amazing how we can meet after all these years and the conversation flowed so easily, like how it has been with the mutual friends that we have both kept in touch with. We surmised that our classmates and us are an awesome bunch – “we are just really nice people.” Hahah!

Here’s a class photo from 1986, the year we graduated from primary school. That’s me on the left and her on the right.

Here’s a close-up of us both.

She’s now a yummy mummy and I basically still look the same. Hahah! It was truly wonderful catching up with you and your family today Ying!

I was having a conversation with a colleague about how I got my second computer at work. I work in the Perth office and HQ is in Melbourne.

Him: So how did you manage to score yourself the new computer?
Me: They wanted me to use Office Communicator more, and that requires a licensed copy of Microsoft Office.
Him: Ok …
Me: My old computer didn’t have the latest copy of Office on it.
Him: Uhuh …
Me: So really, they could have sent me a copy of Office for me to install right?
Him: Yeah …
Me: But they didn’t. They sent me a brand new computer with Office installed on it instead.
Him: So you never needed a new computer, you just needed a copy of Office?
Me: Correct. Maybe they were afraid of me pirating it or something.
Him: WTF.

The beauty of working in a large corporation with the inherent office bureaucracy. Heheh.

And by the way, I just got a third computer – a brand new laptop. Why? Because my manager is thinking ahead of when I would advance further in my role and will be doing some after-hours work. Yes, not now, but in the theoretical future. I’ve hidden the laptop under my desk and I haven’t told my colleague yet. I’m scared that I’d make him spew.

I had this conversation with Sel today …

Me: Hey, you were a tough cookie to crack when I first met you. So stern.
Sel: Hey what about you … you weren’t that friendly either.
Me: What? I smiled at you!
Sel: Where got? Are you sure?
Me: I’m pretty sure. I’m always friendly to people. *ahem*
Sel: Well, I don’t remember. All I know is that you didn’t put much effort into it yourself.
Me: Yeah well maybe because you didn’t smile back, so I stopped being friendly to you. And because you thought that I was not making an effort, you couldn’t be bothered either! Hahah!

Miscommunication all round … yeah it’s pretty amazing how we are such good friends now. Heh.

But I do remember when the ice-queen first cracked after the first few months of me knowing who she was and seeing her around – it was when she came up to me and asked, “So I heard that you blog. Can I read it?”

I said, “Err yeah. Knock yourself out.” And thus, Sel became another gift that blogging has brought me. Hahah!

As my dog sprints across the lawn, I like to slap his butt so that he ends up drifting.

What I thought was an innocent Facebook status update turned out to be a great source of amusement for my friends as the conversation inevitably degenerated into one direction. Since y’all had such a great time yukking it up, here are more iffy things that I do with Snoop.

• I greet him with a hug and a big whiff of his neck and face.
• I let him lick me on my hands and my face.
• He likes to sit outside the shower stall as I shower.
• He’s seen me naked.
• Sometimes when it’s cold, he likes to bury his face into my crotch.
• Sometimes when it’s hot and I’m sleeping on the floor, he sleeps next to me.
• I clean up dry debris from his eyes and his mouth.
• I feed him treats with my spoon and fork.
• When I bathe him, I wash everywhere including his penis and his anus.
• And lastly, because of his history with a tumour that forced his right foreleg to be amputated, I now touch him all over periodically to feel for lumps. This involves, yes, me touching his genital area.

So there, go crazy.