more bitching about priyanka chopra. more loud hammering and drilling. more stress. i called up front desk again to complain and agreed to move rooms on the condition that:

1. they waive the fee of my stay for last 3 nights and;
2. i report my experience to the authorities.

there was a pause followed by a long sigh of “OhhhHHhhh….”

I told them, im ok with the faint drilling and hammering. ive been putting up with it the whole day and yesterday. but the noise got louder in the afternoon. i said to frontdesk that if they were able to reason with the workers yesterday, y cnt they work their magic again today. bertolak ansur tah tani please. thank you.

moments later front desk called again to inform that they will stop their renovation works for now and will continue at 4pm.. for 45minutes and that will be it for the rest of the week. i said ok. it’s close to 5pm now and i havent heard any heavy drilling from the next room.. lets hope everything is over and done with.

am i the drama? i dont think im the drama. am i the villian? i don think im the villian. lol.

sigh.

things r ok….. for now.

My pcr test is on the 21st..hopefully it will be a next-day release.

I’ve been very toxic in quarantine. seorang orang pun buleh toxic. lol. Been binging on youtube videos of Priyanka Chopra and making over the top cringing faces everytime she speaks. I also go “inda jua berapa!” everytime she tries to sound intelligent. lol. this on repeat 100x.

100x x 7 hari.. i’ll come out of here highly toxic and severely irritating. lol. whoever’s greeting me when i come out, sediakan saja PPE ..and maybe a taser. lol.

ok so that’s half of the time. the rest of the time i spend productively scrolling through funny cat videos and reposting it on my stories…..this and calling front desk to tell off whoever that is at the receiving end.

story time.

My previous room didn’t have hot water. having travelled for over 24hrs the only thing that you look forward to is a hot shower and rest. unfortunately for me this came as “delayed gratification”, that i didnt even want. lol. maintenance weren’t able to resolve it so they moved me to another room. this time, everything worked but the fridge. which was another problem cause my partner had sent me home with macarons to give as gifts.. which needed refrigeration. i also needed it to store fresh milk for my coffee in the mornings. so i needed the fridge. luckily the maintenance guy, Abdul Wahid (a very hard worker) was able to swap it with a working fridge from an unoccupied room next door. Side note: i wouldve tipped him but i didn’t have any on me. Self reminder: Dont forget to get someone to bring you cash to tip Abdul Wahid on your way out*

so anyway. after a very long day i managed to catch up with sleep.. only to be woken up by loud drilling and hammering. it sounded like it literally came from next door..mcm ada urang membuat rumah kayu 3 tingkat bah sebalah ani. so i called up front desk, almost screaming. they offered to move me again. that’s when i decided to draw the line. i told them angrily that i cannot move again..cos this should be a quarantine. they’ve already moved me once already kan gila jua tu. i could be infectious (not that i am, inshallah, but just saying that i could be) they relented and told me they’ll have a word with the people doing the construction.

the noise is not 100% gone pulang ada lah i can hear some faint drilling here and there but i guess it was better than what i woke up to this morning. I did call front desk balik and apologised for raising my voice……no i didnt. i upped my im-sorry-game and apologised for being a BITCH. the lady just laughed and was understanding. i just told them that i’m just really really really exhausted.

I’m not sure when my quarantine ends. hopefully ill only stay for max 7 days. I have not called front desk to ask them when im due for a pcr test. haha isuk tah telipun….. rehatkan tia dulu kali..inda kan melayan aku saja. lol. im sure they have other shit to sort out.

that was day 1 of quarantine.

i shudve gone with Radisson.. things went very smoothly when i was quarantined there after a work trip. but i can’t afford that shit. lol. at least this hotel is clean and spacious. i just need to remind myself to lower my expectations.

ok bye.

already.

comments section is working.

thanks liv.

hi hi

First-quarter of the year almost done and dusted. It’s back to the routine of endless meetings, interrupted sleep and losing track of time: what day is it? *frantically looks at the calendar* it’s Thursday (and you have a meeting scheduled at 7pm). For two weeks on end, my “me-time” is replaced with virtual meetings that seem to drag on for eternity. The only pro to these meetings is that I can rock up in a sharp blazer over a crisp white shirt, paired with my favourite leggings or shorts – and NO ONE WILL KNOW.

“Power dressing” tia banar.. more like “inda tekain kain”. haha.

In small doses, these meetings can be quite enjoyable sebenarnya. The interactions can be quite stimulating and I always look forward to the “dynamic” that the super powers bring to the table. After all these years, i still chuckle to myself when participants “Thank the Chair for giving them the floor” (macam di Court Furniture saja) followed by a series of phrases or idioms that people get wrong , which mind you, no one dares to correct. My favourite is still “MY BALLS are in YOUR court” *said with conviction of a sitau gaban* .

I guess with the pandemic restrictions still in place, this is really how my life will be looking like for the rest of the year. Sama saja macam last year. To be honest, I’m not sure what to make of that. I’ve started getting vivid dreams of buying Angus steak at a foreign grocery store and getting caught by MORA officials for it. hahaha.

But as usual, you must remember to be grateful.

I’ve ran out of things to do, people to see that my nights are now replaced with minyak kapak and a booster gun and an endless supply of Tiktok videos. These days, I get sore from something as low impact as hot yoga. I believe this is also called, ageing. I’ve stopped lifting weights for the time being (or as my Oz friend would refer to as “lifting TINS at the gym” LOL) cause honestly, even if it makes my body look a little bit better, i can’t say i enjoy it as much. It’s also such a narcissistic sport and i prefer being outside running in the sun – alone. Some long runs i do enjoy with people but most runs i like to start and finish on my own, at my own pace and my own time. My way or the highway 😛

I had a friend who recently had reached out to me cause he said he was feeling unmotivated and that he has gained 15kgs since December. I was so disappointed cause he was doing sooooo well 🙁 . The main reason: he didn’t have anyone to run/workout with. I have a feeling he fell-out from his group of “friends”. That’s the thing with a group friends especially those who you only see on a social basis and you have not had the chance to bond with properly or for some reason’t just cant.It’s usually temporary and one shouldn’t depend on them for anything especially when you’re trying to achieve something. It’s also very rare that a group of people would be genuinely interested in your success. This and also people come and go. In which case, if you have a goal, better to do it alone.

Motivation must always come from within. The people who cheer you on are good to have but are also optional.

You are your own best friend. You. Beautiful you.

Anyway, another crazy week at work. I wish i can fast-forward to next Sunday. But by the draw of the luck* , it is what it is..so help me gawwwwwd. I’m still setting mini goals for myself and this week it will be to:

– drink lots and lots of water.
– NP (at least ONE).
– morning 10 minute Calm app meditation (cause i paid alot for this)
– get at least four runs in (ive recovered from my injury)
– two hot yoga sessions.
– slow down on the coklet and sweets.

click like and subscribe.

kiss me.

*Hahahaha i get it wrong too. it’s “the luck of the draw” hahaha

I sprained my ankle over the week. That run i was talking about in my last post? didn’t happen.

So i will leave you with a picture of my cat.

Cat for CATastrophic.

what profound lesson is to be learnt this time?

always trust your instincts.

kiss me, or not.. you know, whatever.

ps: off running for a week.
pps: brb crying.

Skalinya aku ani ada lagi larian 15km at the end of the week.

I am not prepared.

Out of “nothingtodoness” I signed up for a 15km “nostalgia run” this coming Sunday. I’ve just checked out the organizer’s website, so apparently they’re calling it that cause it has been a while since anyone has organized a run FROM the Stadium.

eee apakan. membarikan “brb crying”.. pasal inda creative langsung!

Hari hari pun ku belusir dari stadium ani sama si Anam sama si Jen. Pikir nostalgia run ani pasalnya.. it’s in conjunction with national day kah? mcm the theme could be:

1. “untuk mengimbau kenangan lama zaman masa silam semasa Brunei masih di panggil Poni, woiseh” (ada woiseh!).
2. atau pun larian nostalgia: “YAOHAN” or
3. “mengimbas kembali zaman kegemilangan era Boney M?” *fades in* daddy…daddy cool, daddy…daddy cool.

tapikan seinda-creative-creative nya: who’s running it? oh this girl.always. woiseh. (apakan woiseh ani sebenarnya? who coined it?)

so anyway. so it’s too late to back out now cause I’ve paid the 32 bucks. the only thing to do now is to run it. I have not been training for this. I did initially… until I fell sick. It’s such a tragedy to fall sick in the middle of a running progression banar cause now i have to start balik dari awal…

I have not determined my time goal but apparently, there’s an online calculator that can help me with that. I am currently sitting on 1hr 9min for a hilly 10km..pace kemarin

Kalau 15km…I think ideally I should be able to *kira kira pakai jari* finish within 1hr 20minutes. ideally.

I have 6 days to improve. then again, even if I don’t perform. who cares. it’s just good to be out to cuci cuci the mata and it gives me material to talk about on the blog…

woiseh.

kiss me.

[edited: hahaha prasan si siti ani. ketawa si jen sama si anam. 1hr 20 minutes tekarang. ill be lucky to finish under 1hr 45 minutes]

A little birdie told me that my comment box is rosak. Perhaps this is why I havent been getting any comments on the blog despite posting regularly. I wonder how long it has been rosak.

Hi Livie me,
Do you remember me? hehe. was wondering if you can help? tried doing it myself but I soon realized that my php knowledge is zero and the only html coding i remember is : “img src”.

I need to upskill.

Shankssss liv!

Apart from a global covid vaccination, Zalora packages are the only other thing I can look forward to these days – though with much contempt. 2020 was definitely the year of angry Zalora customers. I’m sure I’m not the only one who they have put on a murderous edge.

I do realise that i should be a little bit more empathic seeing that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but it’s really no excuse for shit service.

So as it turns out, it wasn’t ZALORA causing the delays, it’s actually the 3rd party delivery service they have contracted in Brunei! Every time you call to complain they will always tell you that they’re having problems with their system.. the best excuse they’ve given me is that the driver will not be going past my kampong in that given week… aku paham kalau centre nya ani di temburong… tapi i know for a fact that their distribution centre is located in Madang. Unless we live in a parallel universe, Serusop will ALWAYS be on the way. lol. even if it isn’t, they should make it a point to stop in Serusop because they have a “customer” in Serusop. and Brunei isnt that big to begin with. Everywhere in Brunei-Muara takes 15 minutes to reach tops. Kecuali kalau tinggal on a highway of excuses. atu batah kan sampai tu mamanya.

My poor heart just can’t take it. These phone calls just sucks the life out of you mcm you can’t help but feel defeated sometimes. I always feel like I’m about to get a mini heart attack after hanging up. I’ve had my share of shitty customer service especially when I was living in Belgium. Then again, come to think of it, I was partly to blame for it. If I had spoken fluent french I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be a persisting problem.

Ani I’m in Brunei, if they don’t speak English, I can speak Malay..if they don’t speak Malay, I speak English…if they’re Filipino I sometimes will enunciate my words to make them understand me better.. like saying “POR”…instead of FOUR. and if they’re Indonesian I will use Indonesian words like JAHE instead of HALIA. So it’s really not so much a communication breakdown but a Cavalier attitude towards “customers”.

As someone who has a side hustle myself, I am passionate about customers being treated like customers. I see it as a reflection of their upbringing bah jua. You can tell a lot about someone from the way they handle their customers. Kadang2 the attitude of top management trickles down to the staff. apa nya Pramlee.. “bahasa menunjukkan bangsa”.

I think this is an area that we are definitely lacking di Brunei ani.

Customer fucking service.

You know the customer service is good when their Malay staff speaks English with a Filipino twang. haha that’s how u know they’ve been trained by the best in the industry! that “mam/sir” life is customer service goals.

kiss me.