Saturday, January 30, 2010

Arrival of Black Rajah of Borneo

Today has been one heck of a day.

Why? Our little fury fella's first trip to Kay-el. MAS personnel both in Miri and KLIA have been excellent in handling live animal...Well, I can only speak for my little fella and he came out fine and well. (Note: We did give AL-E some mild sedatives. Amazing he did not bark at all....)

We were expecting our little fella via the excess luggage carousel but instead a KLIA personnel wheeled him to us. Then we had to sort some 'discharge' fee and forward all the 'import & export' documents. Then off to HERTZ counter. Rented a 4WD.

Finally, we got all our luggages loaded and little AL-E released from his crate. He was so excited and was slobbering us with kisses inside the car. Unconditional love as usual.

Reached home pretty fast and without any traffic issues considering today is Thaipusam.

AL-E had quite an adventure on his first day at our Kay-el home...That's story for another day.

Last but not least, I must thank the girl at MAS counter in Miri Airport as well. She was so considerate and she made sure that AL-E is wheeled by ground MAS staff instead of putting him on the carousel. We didn't expect this but it was really nice that our little fella's first trip had been smooth sailing.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Prepare, Pack, Party

Tall order... To organise move, doing a list, pack for couple of trips and organise a party...

End result have to good, lots of fun and organised. Now I really wish I was born with powers of a 'genie-in-a-bottle'.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Two to the Bank

A week ago, I was doing couple of chores for my dear mom. One of it happened to be banking.

It was around 3.30pm and there were a huge crowd in the bank on a Wednesday afternoon. As usual for any transaction done over the counter, one needs to take a number. So mom took a number, while I go look for parking.

The minute I got inside the banking hall, my mom was making a huge fuss about she knowing some officer over the counter and perhaps we could cut queue and get our transaction done sooner.

Note: I can't believe my mom's attitude. She used to be one those disciplinarian and taught us to be patience and here she is being an opposite of all those and above all mom being a 'kiasu'. I was gob-smacked. I told her to wait for her turn just like everyone and just sit back and relax (it won't be long).

Based on our queue number, we probably need to wait for at least ten people to clear their respective transactions.

I have worked in a bank for the past 12 years and even I do not dare to cut queue once a number has been taken. All you do is wait unless prior arrangement has been made a day earlier with an officer over the counter (which most bankers do - all bankers do favors for each other but that is a story for another day).

And now back to my mom, to my dismay (even after I had informed her to just relax and wait), she started to ask couple of people sitting behind a desk in the banking hall if they could help out with her banking transaction. Guess what... let me spill the beans (as to the exact words exchanged):

Mom: Excuse me, you kerja kat sini kan? Boleh tolong auntie?

The person behind the desk: Oh Auntie, sorry lah, saya pun datang buat transaction dan sedang menunggu giliran.

Mom: Oh, sorry lah. Auntie ingat you kerja kat sini

The person behind the desk: Tak palah Auntie. Saya duduk sini sebab tak ada tempat lagi kat depan tu.

It was so funny, like a script from a comedy show. I couldn't help myself (bursting with laughter inside) but I controlled my laughter and told my mom with a 'poker face' to kindly be quiet and sit on her seat till our turn comes up.

In no time (within 15 minutes), we got our transaction done. And the bank (a small branch)were full with people (at least 40 people or more).

Out of curiosity, I asked the female guard at the bank if this is a norm or one off situation. The guard replied that the day before there were people queueing up till outside the banking hall - outside the bank (perhaps about 70 people or more).

After dropping mom off home, I just blurted out laughing all the way back to Bangsar. I was smiling and shouting with laughter like some crazy person (even when I had to pretty much crawl back due to back-to-back peak after office hours jam).

What a day..... Mom dearest, you are the champion of the day! Mommy dearest can definitely make us all laugh. As they say, "Laughter is the best medicine".