SJ's Power of 4

4 Jobs in my life
- Sarawak Clinker
- Motorola & Philip JV Company
- ABB
- 1st Silicon or now call X-Fab

4 Places that I have lived
- Sibu
- Johor
- Seremban
- Kuching

4 Places that I've been on vacation
- Canada
- Europe
- USA
- Singapore

4 Favorite foods
- Kam pua mee
- Big BBQ Crab but already high cholesterol need to control
- Foochow fried noodles
- Seremban beef noodles

Ha! Ha! Nobody will expect me to complete my power of 4...... Don't under estimate me....

Hansac's Power of 4

Alamak. As I was in surfing through the blogs today, with my birthday suit on and sitting on a plastic chair, I was ambushed by Ivy's tag. Urgh... Thank you thank you thank (with dagger in hand, :P)

4 jobs you've had in your life
1. Dishwasher when I was in college (summer of 1994).
2. 11 years 4 month with Petronas/ABF (1995-2006).
3. Now with Shell.
4. Did small part-time work in between: part-time lecturer with UPM Bintulu for 3 semesters, adjunct lecturer with UTP, gigolo for KL/Sarawak datins and lonely housewives.

4 of your favourite foods
1. Crab sandwich.
2. Turtle eggs, , crab roes, .
3. Fresh fish roes
4. Prawn roes

4 places you've been on vacation to
1. Bangkok.
2. Bandar Seri Begawan.
3. Kota Kinabalu
4. KL
The truth is, I have never been on an extended vacation. I guess it is not really my (personal) tradition.

4 of your favourite tv shows
1. The Simpsons.
2. Futurama
3. Frasier
4. Band of Brothers movies series.

4 places you've lived
1. Sibu
2. Kuantan
3. Ames, Iowa
4. Bintulu

4 movies you could watch over and over
1. The Professional/Leon (Jean Reno, (virgin) Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman).
2. H.E.A.T.
3. Fist of Legend (Jet Li's, not Bruce Lee's)
4. Kung Fu (Stephen Chow's)

4 places you would rather be right now
1. Istanbul.
2. Marakesh.
3. Parachuting
4. Any of the Central Asian states (due to its claim as having the most beautiful women on earth).

4 of your most favourite 80's songs
1. Bonnie Tyler's Have You Ever Seen The Rain.
2. Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time.
3. Lionel Ritchie's All Night Long.
4. Sheena Easton's Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair).

4 of your favourite memories of your schooldays
1. Scouting trip to Bintulu/Niah Cave in November 1985 together with St. E's Girl Guides.
2. Getting good results for my SRP.
3. Getting beat up during Taekwondo classes (Master Lee Soon Ming once put me in front and asked everyone to kick me in the stomach. Kan Fock Seng, a heavy set fellow but with devastating kick, almost floored me), and training during fasting month, jogging to Bukit Lima and back (from SHS) during taekwondo classes.
4. Studying in the library closer to exam months (as form fivers we got our own desk). I did not study at night as I was living in Mile 6 Oya Road then even though I had my own motorbike, but I put in time in the afternoon and during weekends.

Person to tag this to... Siapa ya???
I think Mr Tee is MORE than eager to share with us his Power of 4.


Persons who have done this so far:
Hansac
Ivy
Mygreatbuds
Heroes
Pat

Ivy's Power of 4

4 Jobs I’ve had in my life

• 1st job was as an English teacher at International Tuition School right after Form 6. I loved teaching the kids…but like Ing Hee, I hated marking the students’ homework. I taught abt 5hrs a day, 4 days a week (I think…), was paid RM500. Not too bad lah hoh, 90s standards. Was with ITS for about 4 mths. The best part of the job was that, on my way to work I would usually bump into this real cute guy (yup, SHS boy…).



• Next up, worked as a clerk with Sime Insurance Bhd, not sure if I remember the name of the company correctly. First experience with electronic type-writer. Quit in July 1991.
  

• Then, came my stint with the bank - July 1991 to Aug 2000. Sibu-Kuching-Sibu. Worked with 2 different banks in that period, and will be forever grateful that I decided to leave that career.
  
  
• Last job - personal assistant to CEO of a public listed company, and that’s where I finally understood the term “kang-kak-kong-si” (syarikat kosong, tapi listed!).
  

4 Favorite Food

a) egg tart (I love pastries!!)
b) honey bbq chicken wings at Jalan Song
c) my mum’s “chue-kiok-suen” (cantonese) – pork leg in black vinegar (no offence to our muslim friends!)
d) durian!!!

4 Places I’ve been on vacation to

a) Sydney } it’s a long story why we have repeatedly visited Sydney, but we still
b) Sydney } love the place, it holds very special moments for us
c) Sydney }
d) Shenzhen / Hong Kong / Macau

4 Favorite TV Shows

a) Grey’s Anatomy
b) BJ & the Bear
c) C.H.I.P.S
d) 7 Million Dollar Man

You can tell there isn’t much on TV these days that I like…

4 Places that I’ve lived in

Only 2 lah…..Sibu and Kuching

4 Movies that I would watch over & over

Don’t think there are movies that I would keep watching, but rather those I wouldn’t mind watching a 2nd time:
a) Legends of The Falls
b) Brave Heart
c) Sleepless in Seattle
d) can’t remember a fourth one…

4 Places I’d rather be right now…

a) on vacation with my whole family in Bali
b) watching the sunrise on the summit of Mt Kinabalu
c) having LOADS of seafood in Sydney
d) turn back the clock and be back in school days

4 of my favourite 80’s songs

a) Superwoman by Karen White – my all time favorite, I still turn my player full blast whenever it’s played on air.
b) You’re The Inspiration by Chicago
c) Conga by Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
d) Making Love Out of Nothing by Air Supply

I have tonnes of favorites…just picking these at random. Actually, I like a lot of the 70’s songs by Beatles and Beach Boys.

4 Favorite memories of school days

• I think it was in Primary 5, we had a friend who stayed at the govt houses near the end of Lanang Road. The river ran behind her house, and 4 or 5 of us (including Leh Ning and Alice Wong) used to sit and watch the river flow. I remember one conversation when we said that we would all meet there again one day.


• Still in primary school years, there are 2 incidents which have never failed to come to mind. First, Alice broke her arm while playing the “Zero Point”, and the crazy thing is that we used to play it at the verandah of the 2nd storey of our school block!!
  Second, my class once had an argument with Audrey’s class (there were 2 classes for Primary 6), we ended up having a broom fight, talk about lady-like. Quite a number of the St.E girls who went on to SHS came from St.Rita Primary School at Jalan Bukit Assek.


• Trips to Sand Bar. I can’t remember exactly who we went with or how we went over to that strip of sand, but I remember that’s what it was called back then – Sand Bar. I think there’s an abandoned school building there. It was the girl-boy place to go to…I think when I was in Form 1 or 2.
  


• Meal time during out-door camping/trips. Being an extremely active girl guide, I went for every camping or outdoor trip I could. Even though meals were usually over-cooked maggi mee (cooked in one huge pot over wood fire) or just roti with kaya, or “soda-pia” (biscuits) with poorly made teh-boh – it was the best thing that I’ve ever tasted. I can still feel the early morning breeze of some remote place we went to and the smell of hot tea from one of those old metal kettle….hmmmm…who wants to go for an outdoor camping trip with me!!!

Aaahhh!! I’m finally done….hubby is looking at me with daggers in his eyes alrdy! Hansac, you are tagged, show your Power of 4!

Power 4 of mygreatbuds

Hey, Heroes, thanks for the passing...

4 Jobs I’ve in my life..so far
a) Part time jobs – started at the age of 9 years old to 16 years old during school breaks…working for my mum and dad…selling wrapping paper..made from cement bags/old newspaper, in a sawmill factory and also wood working factory.
b) Teacher – after my Form 6, whilst waiting for STPM result, a very good exposure.
c) Textile Factory – during my short break after my graduation in May to August 1995, a good exposure too as I was also entrusted to lead 20 Bangladeshi.
d) Insurance Industry – since Sep 1995 till now…12 years been slaving around…hehehe..

Just hope that I will be financial independence in another 4 years…

4 Favorite foods
As you can observe from my size, I love all type of foods…which one le..
a) Sibu Kampua mee...only Sibu (at the Jalan Long Bridge)
b) “La chai ton” ..foochow style...with the Sibu Chicken extra ummp
c) Hokkien mee – KL style…at Petaling Street…after 12 a.m., that is the best…
d) Roasted chicken...at Country Side Restaurant, Kuching (at the current moment)

When I am stressed up…I would normally go for food and sleep.

4 Places that I’ve been to vacation to
I have been to many vacations locally but would like to share the ones that I have been to in overseas
a) Singapore – in 1995, my first time outside Malaysia with my girlfriend.
b) Gold Coast, Australia – 1999, my first time outside South East Asia region with my wife for my honeymoon.
c) Sydney, Australia – 2005, 2nd time back on Australian soil, with my wife and Heroes.
d) Phuket – 2006, 1st time on the land of Suspense.

I hope before year end, I could have another vacation abroad…as I still have 18 days of leave…huh !

4 Favorite TV Shows
I do not watch much TV shows nowadays as I am not subscribing Astro anymore or do not have the discipline to follow through TV1,2,3,7,8,9. However, I can still name the favorite past;

a) Incredible Hulk…this is the best of my time..in the 80s
b) E.R…the best in 90s..usually watch with my brother
c) 24…the last I watch before terminating Astro service
d) C.S.I..a very interesting shows..

Watching TV brings a nostalgic moment for me as I remember in the 70s to early 80s, we do not have any TV at home…so every evening we (my brothers & I) have to stand at the fence of my neighbour’s house to watch TV. Luckily the neighbour is kind enough not to close the window. Tears flowing…

4 Places that I’ve lived..
Luckily it is on places not houses…or address…if not how to place it to 4..

a) In “Sampa” (Kun Thai…between Sibu & Bintangor, I guess) …1971 to 1974
b) In Sibu, Sarawak ….at Jalan Oya…1974 to 1987 and at Jalan Sukun…1987 to 1990
c) In Selangor…1990 to 1995….Bangi & 1995 to 1997…Serdang
d) In Kuching, Sarawak…1997 to 2002…Taman Stutong & 2002 to present…Empire Garden

4 Movies that I would watch over and over..
I seldom repeat the movie unless they are really good or I am too boring, no money to buy new ones…
a) All movies acted by Chow Sing Chi…I like the jokes.
b) All movies acted by Jet Li…I like his actions
c) All movies acted by Bruce Lee….this is evergreen movies…
d) All movies produced by Singapore director(forgot the name…but recently he directed Follow The Law)…basically I like the common jokes..

4 Places you rather be right now…
a) Fully undressed in the spa, then proceed for full course body rejuvenation
b) Squash Court, sweating it out
c) At home, doing my new photo album
d) At home reading my book…the Millionaire Mindset.

I like to relax now…as last night, my Moses keep on kicking during sleep causing me to wake up at least 5-6 times….so still feeling tired.

4 Favorite songs
Rather than specific songs, it is hard for me to identify so well like Pat. I would go for singers instead…
a) Songs by Andy Lau…I have all his songs in my collection
b) Songs by Jacky Cheung…started to love his songs after he got married…hehehe..thanks to China girls that I met.
c) Songs by Michael Jackson especially Beat it, Billy Jean, Thriller, Black or White, You are not Alone
d) Songs by Ritchie Ren…especially on soft heart…

4 of my favorite memories of my school days
Ooo…a lot of good memories as well as bad ones…difficult to line them up as which one is the best as they are all invaluable memories…

a) Catching frogs for Biology class…aiyo…always go to kampong areas with close buddies…averagely can catch up to 15-20 numbers.
b) Red Cresent School Camp…a wonderful event as we get to stay in school for about a week, doing cooking, buying vegetables, barbecue, games and also can stay up late at night chit-chatting and do the security checking at night. With ghost story telling, it does raise up my hair when doing the rounds.
c) Chinese New Year visitation on bicycle…a real memorable event…I remember we can visit up to 20 houses a day. These days, we are only looking at 4-5 houses…already very tired.
d) Watching movie at Cinema…at one afternoon, we have some 15 of our classmates go to watch adult movie…supposedly watching “Chen Kuan Dai” but turn up to be wrong information received, thus only managed to watch “The Train”


Phew…at last, I pass through my Power 4 sharing……now let’s see what IVY would like to share….

Heroes' Power of 4

I have been tagged by Pat to complete the 2 new additions of the 'Power of 4'. Here it goes.....


1) 4 of my favourite 80's songs


- Always On My Mind by Pet Shop Boys
- Within You'll Remain by Tokyo Square
- A Shoulder To Cry On by Tommy Page
- Against All Odds by Phil Collins

2) 4 of my favourite memories of my schooldays

- Went to one of my friend's kampung - I still remembered it's 7 of us and we called ourselves as '7 Swords'. We stayed there for one or two nights. There were a lot of so-called 'new' experiences for some of us as never live in a kampung before including me. We tried to pluck coconuts using a bamboo and it's work after few attempts. A coconut dropped off and nearly hit one of friend's head.....wow...so scary...if it's really hit my friend, then i think some of you here would never come to know and meet him in the later part of the school......

- Swim at the river bank of upper lanang - It's our usual place during our Form 1,2 & 3 since discovered by three of us so we named it Pantai Phang Chung Ling. Then after that we asked our friends including the member of '7 Swords' to join the fun there. I think now no more already.

- Weekend party at my house - It's a forthnightly event during early 80s and we invited girls from St. Es to join the atmosphere of the party and that's not forgeting our lovely Ivy.

- Group Study on mathematic subject - That's special arrangement from our mathematic teacher during Lower Six in order to help others on their mathematic. It consist about 5 to 6 persons in a group including boys and girls. There was a girl in my group and i think most of the time my concentration is not the mathematic but the girl...haha...:-)

I have shared mine and now i would like to tag mygreatbuds to share his......

Pat's Power of 4 (New Additions)

4 of my favourite 80's songs

This is really tough, as there's so many to choose from, but here goes:-

• Man In The Mirror (Michael Jackson) - one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard, even till today it never fails to send chills down my spine. I first heard the song when I was in Form 4.
  
• There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make you Cry) (Billy Ocean) - every time I hear it, it reminds me of my Form 3 days, cycling to school in the evenings to study because Bro. Albinus was worried for my class (3A8) :)
• Kyrie (Mr Mister) - I spent most of my Form 5 year listening to it, it reminded me of the times when I cycled to Low King Howe hospital to visit my ailing grandfather, and cycling around Jalan Oya and Jalan Deshon with Stephen Chung, wondering about the next step in our lives.
• Let The River Run (Carly Simon) - this was the theme song to the movie Working Girl, it became the anthem to motivate me when I was really down after I did badly in my SAM programme.

4 of my favourite memories of school days

• Playing "see kee pui" (the four card game) with the 3A8 gang. I think we started playing in Form 2, and continued all the way up to Form 6 (I remember playing in Poh Kian's office in 1990).
• The evening study sessions at SHS - SHS is very peaceful and quiet at night, and we usually have supper somewhere after the study session ends at 9.30 pm.
• Sports Day Form 5 (1988) - that year, there was some kind of competition for best cheerleading, so all the classes went all out to put up banners, etc at the old SMC Padang. I still have the photos from that, will post them up one day.
• Computer Club - those of you who know me probably remember that I spent a lot of my Form 3 to Form 5 years in the Computer Room instead of studying :P

So, now I tag Heroes to do the two additions above, after which he will tag the next person to do the full Power of 4. Ta!

Power of 4 Revisited

One of the things Heroes forgot to do recently was to tag the next friend to do the Power of 4, hence things sort of stopped after he did his.

So, for the benefit of everyone, here's how Power of 4 works.

The person who got tagged is supposed to write about the following:-

1. 4 jobs you've had in your life
   
2. 4 of your favourite foods
3. 4 places you've been on vacation to
4. 4 of your favourite tv shows
5. 4 places you've lived
6. 4 movies you could watch over and over
7. 4 places you would rather be right now
8. Tag 4 friends/bloggers to do all of the above.

Since this is a blog for SHS alumni and since we're also children of the 80's, I would like to add another 2 things to the Power of 4:-

• 4 of your most favourite 80's songs
• 4 of your favourite memories of your schooldays

Also, instead of tagging 4 friends in one go, I suggest we tag them one at a time, ok? You can tag any reader of this blog. If the person tagged is not registered as a contributor, he/she can get the help of one of the regulars to post it up.

You can check out my previous posts here and here for examples , also refer to Heroes example.

To start the ball rolling again, let me do the two new additions, then I'll tag Heroes to do the those two additions, too. After that, whoever is tagged by Heroes have to do the whole lot, ok?

Visit to Sofiah's house

Our little entourage to Sofiah's house on the 1st day of Raya consisted only myself and hubby, Mag, and Paul with Ting junior no. 2 and no. 3

To help everyone from getting confused - nope, that's not my boy. Since I couldn't let Ting senior sit on my lap (cos my chief inspector was around), so Ting junior no. 2 took up the spot. Hope it'll be a bigger group next year!

p/s oh yes, my hubby chose to be the photographer since he's not part of the "Sibu Gang"

Happy Birthday MyGreatBuds!

Today is MyGreatBuds turn to be a year older. Happy birthday, my dear friend!

Hari Raya 3

Our friend Ted & family came to my house. He gave me this fotos to be shared with you guys.

At Arrifin's house. Arrifin & Romeo

Arrifin & Ted

At my house. Hardy & Ted.

Any fotos from Kuching or somewhere else?

Hari Raya 2

Hua Kiong came to my house during 1st day of Hari Raya. We talk lots of thing about school days. I showed to him our blog. Seems he still remember lots of our friends name. I think both of us talk for nearly 2 hours. Hehehehe.....Raya visits indeed

Selamat Hari Raya

For those who can't come to my house during hari raya, I only can share to you all what did I serve at my house this raya

.

Childhood Obsession

At the start of the glorious 80's, I fell victim to a fad that occupied most of my Primary 4 and 5 years - the Rubik's cube. For those you who may not remember it, here's what it looks like:-



I was introduced to it by my uncle, and we spent hours together trying to solve it. Once I managed to do it, I tried to find all sort of ways to improve my speed, even to the extent of lubricating the surfaces with talcum powder.

It got so bad that one day my dad threw away my cube. I immediately went out and bought another one.

Later on, there was a competition organized to find the fastest Rubik's cube solver in Sibu. Me and my uncle signed up, and we both managed to reach the finals. But try as I might, the best I could achieve was around 1 minute. The winner of the competition managed to do it in about 30 seconds. This has to do with the different methods used to solve the cube.

Nowadays the cube is making a comeback, and there are loads of websites out there dedicated to it. The world record now stands at around 10 seconds, and some could do it blindfolded in less than a minute.

After the competition was over, my passion for the cube died down, but to this day I still have fond memories of playing around with it :)


Do you guys remember what were your childhood obsessions during the 80's?

Selamat Hari Raya

Though our Muslim classmates are handfootful, every year, we are very eager to have such visiting and wishing all of them, Selamat Hari Raya.

Sepatah dua pantun for you all;

Negara kita aman sentosa

Jangan dilupa orang terinyanya

Makan sudah baju bergaya

Orang fakir jangan dilupa

Sungai disusur sehari-hari

Dalam gelap menangkap ikan

Kami menyusun sepuluh jari

Salah dan silap harap maafkan

Aidilfitri hari kemaafan

Menghapus kesalahan sesama insan

Memupuk perpaduan sesama ehsan

Mengikat tali keakrapan

For those driving back or travelling, be extra careful, as not only your family needs you, we at SHS8890 all need your support always. Cheers...

Photos from Mag

Everyone seems to have been a bit quiet recently, so here's some photos to stir things up a bit. Both are from Mag's album, but I think she's been too busy lately to post them on the blog.

Oh yes, it's Mag's birthday today, Happy Birthday Mag!!

2nd Edition Friendship Contact Book (update)

Hi all,
I have put the names into an Excel spreadsheet to make it easier for me to generate the book later in Word. Am also in the midst of entering the details from the old book into spreadsheet (the soft copy of the old book is lost).

Need to ask for a few favours to all those visiting this blog:-

1. Please send me your own personal details to my gmail account : plingsc@gmail.com I would like to get your Phone Nos (mobile, home, etc), Home Address, Correspondence Address, email, Family Details (spouse and kids) and career details (occupation and company).

2. Need a few volunteers to help contact those who are not reading this blog and get their personal details. I will send you the Excel sheet and will merge whatever you collected into one file. Just leave a message on this post with your email add and I will email it to you.

3. I am also sending out an email blast later today to all those who gave their email add in the 1st edition contact book, hopefully will be able to get some responses.

Some Updates on Reunion 2008

Dear friends,

Just to give some updates on the Reunion 2008, which is ON! :)

Dave has rendered his kind assistance and has booked a function room at Paramount Hotel, Sibu on 2nd day of Chinese New Year 2008 (8 Feb 2007, Friday). After discussing with Dave, I decided to put it on 2nd day in case some of us need to travel outstation to visit in-laws, etc.

For the event programme, the following were previously suggested:-

1. Video Conference with friends overseas who are unable to make it.

• Unfortunately, no wifi is available at any of the Sibu hotels' function rooms. I have decided to use a 3G line to still make it happen, but probably we can only use 1 or 2 notebooks if that's the case.

2. Donation to SHS

• I suggest we need to organize the collection now. My suggestion is for one of our friends to be in charge, and this friend will then open a bank account for everyone to bank their contributions into. The person will also be in charge to record all contributions and to prepare the mock cheque for presentation. Any volunteers or suggestions?

3. Photos display & powerpoint/multimedia presentation

• This being our 20th anniversary, the suggestion is to collect photos and other materials and prepare, a) a simple photo exhibit of our yesteryears, and b) create a PC presentation (with music accompaniment, etc)
• Again, I would like to request for any volunteers or suggestions on who would like to be in charge of this.

4. Food & Ambience

• My previous suggestion to Greatbuds and Heroes was to make the event more of a informal get together with a lot of mingling, catching up, etc. To this end, the suggestion was to do more of light snacks buffet (curry puff, spring roll, sausage, sandwiches, etc) rather than a heavy dinner, and to have a more open seating arrangement so that people can easily move about. Would like to get everyone's opinion on whether this is ok, or a full dinner is still preferred.

5. 2nd Edition Contact Book

• Will do a separate post on this, but the plan is for the new edition to be distributed during the night.

That's all the updates for now. For those not in Sibu, remember to make you travel arrangements early :)


P.S. I am in the midst of designing and printing the tickets, will send them out hopefully just after Raya.

P.P.S. Of course, not forgetting the 80's music for the night, which is definitely on. For those who turn up for the event, I may have a simple personal gift for all of you :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANSAC!

Girl Power in Sibu

My visit back to Sibu last Friday was one to be remembered as a few of us lost-touch-long-time-ago St.E girls got together for a drink. We actually caused quite a commotion at the eatery that we met at (hulu or hilir Jalan Hua Kiew, not sure which is which).

I managed to find my precious photo album from my house at Oya Road and so brought some photos to the get-together, so instead of ordering our drinks everyone was busy pouring over the photos. I think the tauke-nio was a bit annoyed. Lots of stories resurfaced and we had a good laugh over Siaw Chen's incident in the SHS library (anyone remember it?) - I know Siaw Chen is sporting enough for me to bring it up on the blog.

We took some photos but the group photo with everyone in it (the staff at the place took it for us) is quite blurred. So I'm going to post 2 photos here - one which Ing Hee took, and the other one which I took....pai seh, the one I took also blurred. Enjoy!

From right: Siaw Chen, Sung Hua, Ik Tching, Mong Li, Jacinta, Mei Yuin, Tieng Meing and Ing Hee (apologies if some names are not correctly spelt)

Raya visiting, anyone?

With Hari Raya just round the corner, I thought it might be a convenient opportunity for us SHS8890 boys & girls to keep the "let's-stay-in-touch" atmosphere going.

Imagine, all of us going Raya visiting to an ex-schoolmate's home, cool! Ya ya...I know, I know - not so cool when the kids are going nuts in the car, the weather is just crazily hot and we're caught in the Raya jam just before the Petronas roundabout. But hey, think of the photos we would be able to capture! Hmm...mmm...ok ok, so not everyone's as estatic as me about having photos to look back at 10 years from now.

Oh, by the way, I only know ONE of our ex-schoolmate's home....Sofiah Junaidi. I'll see how you all feel about it and will "administer" the visit if there's response.