Fish Avenue

I've never been a fan of Star Trek, but I know a lot of people are crazy about it. I've watched a few episodes of the drama series, but I was so lost! I did not know what the story is about, did not know the characters and everything in it seemed so weird and bizarre to me. I quit following it.

It was last month when Andrew and I went for a movie and we saw this Star Trek Movie trailer. Geez, it looked awesome! Okay, we decided when the movie is out and we must watch it.

I was so tired and sleepy yesterday. Wanted to go home to rest after work. I even turned down a shopping trip with Phoebe. I just do not have the desire for shopping now. Weird huh? A once impulsive buy-anything-that-she-likes shopaholic does not have the desire to shop anymore! That is good news to me and Andrew, bad news to the shopping malls. LOL.

I was craving for Nandos. Told Andrew I would want to have Nandos for dinner and he was ok. Well, Andrew doesn't like Nandos, he prefers Kenny Rogers. On the other hand, I hate Kenny Rogers. Hahahaha. Last night he compromised, we had Nandos. After a full and satisfactory diiner, we went to the cinema to check if there's any interesting movie. Andrew suggesting to watch Sniper (Hong Kong film). I said I was tired, let's watch it some other day. Then...... "Star Trek is on!!!" Andrew said suddenly. My eyes straight went from sleepy to wide-open! Hahahaha. Star Trek it is! Let's queue! LOL! Fortunately, there wasn't any crowds! We were the first in the line.

We were 5 minutes late for the 8pm movie. Anyway, we still bought the tickets. Luckily, the show had not started yet when we went in.

Oooohhhh...... It is a great movie. Fun, sad, exciting, hilarious, actions-packed, eyes-opening...... Nice!

I was surprised when I saw this man! Sylar!!! Sylar from Heroes is Spock in Star Trek! My goodness, when did he become this charming? Hahahaha. It took me a little while to get used to seeing him acting all good and Mr. Nice Guy. There is Chris Pine too. I only recognised him when I got home and saw The Princess Diaries 2 on the TV. I asked Andrew if they were the same guy and the answer is affirmative. HA! What a coincidence. He looked so boyish in The Princess Diaries but looks so macho in Star Trek. There's a few familiar faces as well.

Well, Star Trek is a nice movie. Go watch it and soak yourselves in the suddenly-all-seems-so-possible space. I bet there will be some sequels coming up soon, real soon......

It is only a week away from my friends' wedding. Well, you may notice I used plural for friends' wedding. Because both the groom-to-be and bride-to-be are my friends. In fact, we were class mates. Two of them even sat behind me for whole 2 years in school. Their love for each other only started to blossom when we were in Form 5. Gosh, they have been together for 11 years!!! Glad that they are finally tying the knots together.

I am a bit nervous now. Okay, not a bit, very nervous. For the past one week, whenever I have the free time, I would be thinking how I could take good photos for them on their wedding day. It's going to be a busy and hassling day, everything would just move so fast that I am afraid I may not be quick enough to click the shutter button. Or worse, everything comes out blur!!! I've been through it, I know how fast (and furious, LOL!) everything moves on a wedding day. I just hope that I would not mess everything up. Fingers crossed!

Other than that, I've received a few requests for the free portraits sessions. So glad that I've got a few of them confirmed the sessions with me. One of them being my school mate too. He would love to let her girlfriend has a personal casual photoshooting session. But I told him both of them could have it together, I'm not so particular on the number of persons. It's all about having fun together. :) I am now looking for ideas on what kind of photoshoot will be suitable for them. Anxious!

There's one more friend who has not confirmed the date with me. She would like to have a photoshoot with some of her friends together. Wonder if she is serious about it.

I am now so nervous with all the photoshooting sessions. God, please give me strength that I do not screw up! LOL!

My first review on iPhone was about a month ago. Now, one month after using my iPhone, what I would say is, it is still a great phone in all aspect. I bet a lot of people out there may not agree with me. But there are also people out there who would be nodding their heads when they read this. :)

Now, let's look at the flaws of iPhone 3G. Yep, I would say it does have flaws too. And I chose to use the word "flaws", because I believe that the Apple people must be working hard to improve this gadget. Therefore, all the flaws will be improved and fixed.

I can't receive nor send MMS via my iPhone 3G. Whenever I received a MMS, I have to log in to the Maxis website to view the MMS. Hassle huh? Well, the iPhone 3G now is of version 2.1. There's a new version (OS 3.0) coming up soon, hopefully by June. It will solve the MMS flaw then.

I can't make video calls. Wait a minute, I can make a video call, but the other party wouldn't be able to see me as there is no camera on the front of the phone! That is something that could not be fixed by simply downloading a software. Unless they have a new iPhone with frontage camera.

Someone asked me if I could delete my SMS one by one. No, I can't. The SMSes sent to/from the same person, are stored in way of conversation dialogue. It's either you clear the whole conversation or delete all the SMSes. If there is only one particular SMS that you would like to keep, sorry, you still have to keep the whole conversation. I wonder if the OS 3.0 could improve that.

Also, copy and paste function is currently not available in iPhone. That is particularly irritating when it comes to chatting in MSN with your friends, blogging, or trying to copy a website address to some other place. Good news is, OS 3.0 is going to fix that! :)

Everytime I plug in the USB to my computer, the damn syncing process starts automatically! And it takes bloody long time to sync and backup. When the syncing is in progress, I couldn't do anything to the iPhone! Unless I cancel the syncing.

Okay, one major flaw is that, I can't record video with iPhone!!! That is a bit disappointing. Unless you do a jailbreak on it, else you can't record any video! Heard that there's going to be a new iPhone come this June and Apple may improve on iPhone's camera and possibility of video recording. Read it here.

Recently I noticed my iPhone is slower in responding time. Getting into the SMS screen is like 2 seconds slower, getting out of a game screen also took about 2 seconds now. Perhaps I've downloaded and installed too many applications. But that shouldn't be the cause of it since iPhone is famous for its applications. Probably it's the bugs of respective applications.

The good thing about iPhone 3G guess I've said enough in the previous review. There's one more interesting thing about this phone, it's the accelerometer. Nowadays most of the smartphones are having this accelerometer, such as HTC. I can now play bowling like real, swing and release. :)

Another good thing is the battery recharging. I can plug in to any PC for recharging without installing any complicated software. I know Nokia can't do that, wondering if Blackberry Storm can do that. :p The USB cable is much lighter than bringing the whole plug out and having the troubles to find an electrical output. And if you happened to plug in your laptop for that one and only electrical output you could find, the USB way of recharging is definitely what you'd wish for.

The camera of the current iPhone 3G is only 2mp. But I would say that it is performing well. I've seen people showing me their 3.2mp camera phones, the quality? Oopsie, worse than my iPhone 2mp camera! LOL! I ain't gonna tell you what 3.2mp camera phone they are. You go compare and find out. I guess sometimes you can't just judge the quality of the photo by looking at the megapixels of the camera phone. You have to look at other aspects too, such as the manufacturer, the technology......

I wonder why Apple is not giving the best to the iPhone. I mean, the camera could have been 3.2mp or maybe even 5mp. All those flaws that I've mentioned above could have been easily detected and improved on when they developed it, instead of launching a lower spec model and provides upgrade later. And now with the rumours everywhere saying that there's going to be a new model of iPhone 3G coming this June. The public might just stop buying the current model then, like what Andrew is doing now. Hmm...... Guess that's what people always said, you can't have the best of both worlds without paying the price.

Anyway, iPhone still rocks. I love it, still.

Finally, I finished Predator that I started since last year July!!!

Patricia Cornwell is so good in writing forensic sciences. It's even better than watching all the CSI series. Besides all the sciences, she is so damn good in creating mystery and suspend!

Well, not all her books are interesting, I've read one which is kind of boring, Book of the Dead. Her Kay Scarpetta series are in fact very famous.

Gotta start another book, perhaps it's time for Nora Roberts now.

Went to watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night. Indeed, the movie ticket was only RM7 per person, way cheaper than any other day. I must say it's worth every penny, X-Men is still the best.

The movie was actually about the story of Wolverine and also how all the X-Men gathered when they were younger. Hugh Jackman is still handsome as ever. There were a few familiar actors too in the movie, such as Dominic Monaghan from Lost (also Merry from LOTR), Liev Schreiber from The Manchurian Candidate and Taylor Kitsch from The Covenant.

It is a good movie, that's what I feel and think. Though the story may be a bit lengthy, it just seemed alright with all the actions. I didn't feel bored at all, good thing that the movie managed to keep people excited throughout.

Off topic: iPhone 3G is getting more and more common now. Everywhere and every time I go out I would see at least 1 person other than me holding to their iPhone. Last night in the cinema, 2 men sitting beside me have iPhone too, 2 of them are friends. Andrew is finding it harder and harder to resist the temptation of having one too! LOL! He said, "I must save money now, probably there's a new one in June and I will have enough money for it". Hahahahahaha...... He is now crazy about this game that he purchased and downloaded in my phone, Airport Mania! After one month of using it, I still love iPhone. Blackberry Storm is a good gadget too, but nah, I still love my iPhone.

I realised I didn't blog since Sunday! And worst is, blogging was completely out of my mind for the past 4 days!!!

Last weekend, I slept late for 3 days consecutively. Or perhaps I should say 'early'? I slept at 3 or 4 in the morning, either I was playing games or MSN-ing. LOL.

It was Andrew's birthday on Sunday. I planned to bring him to Italiannies in The Gardens, heard they have nice lamb and Andrew loves lamb. When we were right there in Mid Valley Megamall, Andrew told me "I feel like having some Japanese food"! Gosh! I asked if he doesn't want the lamb anymore and I'd be buying. He insisted he wanted Japanese, he wanted to have RICE! Now I know man can also change their mind very fast. He put it in a nice way though, "well, I just saved you some money, you know." Yeah yeah, right! And next time we go Italiannies, he would be the one buying!

We went to Kiku Zakura. In fact, I love Kiku Zakura and when Andrew suggested it, I was kind of yelling hooray inside my little head. LOL! The serving is big and yet it's delicious. I love the way they display the food in the tray. It's all about presentation and precision. The last time we went, one of the girls mixed up the arrangement of the food and the branch manager saw. She came to our table to re-arrange it in correct order! Can you believe that?! To them, details and presentation is very important.

Andrew ordered a chicken teriyaki, that was so expected of him. He will always have chicken teriyaki! And me, ordered the tempura set. That was also expected of me! Hahaha. I love their tempura set! We also ordered a chawanmushi since two of us are the egg-lover. I was so full from the tempura set. The total bill came up to RM72++ for two of us. Well, it is quite expensive. But once in a while, guess it's still fine. And I actually expected to spend RM100 and above in Italiannies early of the day. Hehehe.

We wanted to go for a movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Checked out the counter, surprisingly not a big crowd. Okay, I must admit I was shocked when Andrew told me the ticket costs RM12 per person! OMFG! I quickly grabbed his arm and fled the scene. Hahaha. It's not worth it to watch a movie at RM12. Alright, it's a good movie. But still, RM12 is just too much. We could just choose to watch it on any other day then. Since Andrew's off today, I told him we might as well watch it in TGV KLCC today. Though the ticket price for Wolverine is higher for this 2 weeks, to watch it on Wednesday it only costs RM7 per person. Ended up we did some window-shopping and went to New Zealand Cafe for some ice-cream.

I didn't buy any present for Andrew for his birthday. I seriously do not know what to buy for him. Suddenly I just feel that all the things that money can buy just can't show how much my love for him. I could buy him the PS3, but I didn't want to. Buying PS3 for him is like digging my own grave. Hahahaha. I've got him a watch 2 years back, got him a wallet last year (I think), got him clothes...... I really don't know what I should get him now. Andrew said owe him for this year, next year only buy him the PS3! Goodness... Looks like digging-my-own-grave is inevitable. T__T

Does time really have wings and fly?! Time is no longer passing by, it is FLYING extremely fast!!! It is now first week of May 2009! Almost middle of the year! What? I still felt that Chinese New Year was only last month. We were still saying that my friend's wedding in May was still a long way to go, and now it is next week!

God please give me the strength to FLY with the time...... Or at least do not leave me far behind the time.

I am now taking my first and big step here. I am going to be a part-time photographer from now on.

1. Any portraits will be considered. Pregnancy, babies, family, pets, personal portraits and others.

2. Bookings is opened from this very minute. However, dates are open from 1st June 2009 onwards. I will only be available during weekends. Therefore, all photography sessions shall be on weekends only.

3. At this moment, make-up artist, dresses, gowns, accessories and other of similar nature are NOT included. Clients are to source for them personally.

4. Photography sessions will be held at clients' choice of place, be it indoor or outdoor. Clients are to bear any renting/entrance fees.

5. One session of portraits will be on one location only. If 2 locations are involved, additional charges will be imposed.

6. All photos taken will be returned to clients in DVD, in jpeg format.

7. Do email me for quotation if you're interested. (ashleywww@gmail.com)

8. As for wedding day photography, please email me to discuss further.

Thank you for supporting.

A year ago, 12th May 2008, a richter scale of 7.8 earthquake happened in Wen Chuan, China. It was only 2 days later that the help managed to get into the town of Wen Chuan. The first rescued team travelled on foot for 1 day 1 night in order to get in there.

Can't believe it is a year from now. I am now watching this documentary on 8TV about the rescue and incidents happened there and then. I still cried. Children who lost their lives, they were still so small and young. There were even children who had to sacrifice their limbs in order to survive! Children who lost their parents, became orphan in one night. Parents who lost their children, what's left is only their school bags and memories. Gosh...... I just feel so sad now.

Can't stop crying watching it...... :(

A man under the concrete said, "I must be strong, I have to be strong, I can't disappoint those who love me, my wife is waiting for me. I need to survive."

They finally got him out after 7 hours of rescue. But he didn't make it. He hang on till the very last minute to get out but he didn't make it...... He was exhausted and the pain was too much...... He didn't make it......

Alright, I'm so bored at home the whole day during Labour Day. I wonder if it's a good thing, totally not doing anything on Labour Day. LOL.

Read this on Valerie's blog, feel that it's interesting. And since I am bored here waiting for Andrew to come home, might just do it to kill some time. Oh, if you don't already know who Valerie is, she is my sweet and silly-funny cousin, Andrew's cousin to be exact. :)

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
- Ashley
- Ash
- Sern

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
- Ashley
- Hot Chic
- Ash

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
- My legs
- My hair
- My hands

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
- My feet (too big!!)
- My eyes (too small)
- My boobies (I'd love to have it bigger! LOL!)

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
- Cockroaches
- Put on weight!
- NO money!

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
- Skincare
- Concealer
- Shower gel

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING NOW:
- T-shirt
- Short pants
- Undies (of course!)

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS:
- Andy Lau (my all-time favorite)
- Anastacia
- Jacky Cheung

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS (RIGHT NOW):
- Next Plane Home, Daniel Powter
- If I Were A Boy, Beyonce Knowles
- Empty, The Click Five

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
- Honesty
- Romance
- Trust

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
- I want to be famous
- I love Andrew
- I am hot chic (LOL)

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE PREFERRED SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
- Height
- Nice body
- The eyes

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
- Photography
- Reading
- Shopping

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
- Quit my job
- Do photography full time
- Exercise (Gosh...... I'm just so lazy)

THREE CAREERS YOU’RE CONSIDERING/YOU’VE CONSIDERED:
- Teacher
- Photographer
- Fashion designer

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
- Rome/Vatican City
- Japan
- Paris

THREE NAMES YOU LIKE:
- Hazel
- Ashley (Hehehehe......)
- Ryan

When I was in school, I did good in exams, people would say that "oh, you're lucky".
When I was in college, I did well in exams, people commented "well, you were born smart".
When I met Andrew, we became an item, people told me "you're lucky to get him".
When I started my job in an MNC, people said "you're lucky to work in that company".
When I got another job in a small company, people congratulated me "you're lucky to get a job now".
When I bought my first house, people said "you're lucky to have your first house at this age".
When I got married, people reminded me "you're lucky to have married him".
When I travelled places, people again told me "you're lucky that you get to travel around".

Were they all because I am lucky? Did I have the lucky star on me all the time? Have I not had a single bad moment? Isn't Andrew lucky too to have married me? Isn't that sales person lucky too when I bought the house? What about all my hardwork? Does being lucky just wipe away all the hardwork I have ever done? Do people just see how lucky I am instead of how hardworking I am?

I keep all this in my heart. I thought being said "you're lucky" was a blessing. But how about my hardwork?

I did well in school and college, I didn't study hard, but I studied smart. I could finish my studies in one week before the exam. I am smart? Yes, I am smart in picking what is relevant to study.

Well, I must admit now I realised I am lucky to have met Andrew. Well, have they ever thought that if I chose someone else, would I be considered as lucky then? If I chose not to marry Andrew, would I be lucky then? I am lucky to have married Andrew because that is my choice. I chose to marry him because I love him. I chose to be lucky, not because I am lucky. Get my point?

My job in an MNC, that wasn't my first job. My first job was in hometown, brother-in-law helped me found it, it lasted 3 months. I was so underpaid, the boss didn't appreciate my advanced diploma in a college. I was treated as some kind of data-entry clerk. But towards the end of that 3 months, my boss changed her attitude towards me. Why? Because I bloody fought for her attention and appreciation. I drafted letters for her and she started giving me new tasks. She even tried to persuade me to stay when I resigned. But I ain't gonna stay there, I know I had to fight for something more for myself. Now, would you still say I was lucky? I god damn fought for what I deserved.

That job in MNC, I got it through a job agency. It was only a 6-month contractual job, I could end up without any job at the end of the 6th month. I took the job still, I didn't have much choice, did I? I still had to pay my rent and I did not get pocket money from father anymore after I started my first job. Again, I was treated like a clerk. Something happened. The agency told me I was there to help on the payroll, but when I got in they told me I was supposed to help doing the data-entry ONLY for their new system! I wasn't pleased. I know by doing only the data-entry, at the end of 6-month after their system was up, they wouldn't want me anymore. I spoke to the manager and told her I supposed to help on the payroll, I fought for it. Finally, they decided to let me try doing it and also data-entry was still part of my job scope. Nobody knows I fought for all this myself. I got a permanent job there at the end of 5th month, because I performed well beyond their expectations. Was I lucky?! No! 'Cause I fought god damn hard for it. I worked hard for it. I worked till 8pm or 9pm for everyday, sometimes even till 11pm. Now you tell me, was I lucky?!

I got out from that MNC after 2 and a half years. Why would I leave such a big company? Well, I didn't get appreciated anymore. I couldn't learn anymore. My superior fought hard for my remuneration, but the management just didn't appreciate what I did. I left. Got a job in another big food manufacturing company. That was the darkest moment in my working life. The working environment, the job, the system, the boss...... Everything was so wrong in there. I didn't see it during the interview. One week into the job, all I was thinking was "get the hell out of this place". I know I made a mistake of rushing. I told myself I shall never repeat that mistake ever! Again, I put myself up in the job market. Got my current job after 1 month! Was I lucky? Yes and no. It was all my choice. A friend advised me to stay put. But I didn't listen, I chose to move on. I know I deserved something better than that. So I moved on. Do you know changing a job so frequent actually leave bad impression on myself? I chose wisely then. My boss was kind enough to still want to interview me and listen to my story. I am in this company for almost 3 years.

I bought a house last year July together with Andrew. Was I lucky to have a house at that age? NO! I have known people that have their own house at an age way too earlier than me! Both Andrew and I worked so hard to buy that house. We were pinching around for money for the downpayment of the house. Those are the things that other people don't see.

I got married last year. Again, people said I'm lucky to get married and I am lucky to have Andrew as my husband. Why? Because he is nice? Everyone's husband is nice. Do you dare to tell me your husband is not nice? If he wasn't nice, why would you marry him in the first place? My goodness, I just don't understand why people said I'm lucky to have married him.

I love to travel. Andrew and I have only been to overseas for once, that is Hong Kong, in year 2005. Oops, and Singapore too, in year 2006. Other than that 2 countries, we travel locally. Am I lucky that I get to travel around? No. Both Andrew and I are willing to make the effort in making it happened. He is willing to adjust to my time, and I am willing to adjust to his schedule. We do not go for luxury travelling, all we want is to escape from the city once in a while and just relax. Is that lucky too? I have seen a lot of people travelling more frequent than us and farther than us.

I bloody work hard to make everything happened in my life. You can still say I am lucky. I do not mind. But please do not forget and wipe away all the hardwork I have done. I know a few people would do that, they just like to think I am a lucky a**.

Why bother what other people think? Andrew would have said that. I am not bothering. Just want to spit it all out.

Now, let's count my blessings. :)