one year ago today

i was called to the Bar.
i was admitted as Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.
i was finally a lawyer.
how fast time flies.

i still remember the day my Father robed me.
i still remember how proud my parents were.
one year has passed by.
it has been a great year.
but of course, i've had my fair share of ups and downs.

but here i am.
still standing.
still breathing.
still surviving.

i still have a long way to go.
and i know the road is not gonna be a smooth, golden-paved road.
definitely not like what some people might think.

where will i be in the next year to come?
what will i face in the next year to come?
where do i stand in the next year to come?
so many questions yet i have none of the answers.

whatever it is,
i am ready to face more challenges.
i am ready to take bigger responsibilities.
but nope, i am not ready to set up my own firm just yet.
nope, i'm not gonna quit practising just yet.
and nope, i ain't joining service either.
at least not for now.

double check

what i like about going out alone is that i can take my own bloody sweet time, i can spend as much time i want in a shop and i don't have to think about other people's time or worry that they might get bored waiting for me. today was no exception. since the sale is starting real soon, i thought that i might as well go survey for some stuffs. survey2 dulu. start sale baru la beli, kan?
then i went to Watson's to purchase some toiletries. i saw its catalogue earlier today and the sale is on and things are looking good. i spent a good 40 minutes or so in Watson's alone just looking at stuffs, contemplating whether to buy or not to buy, put it in my basket, and then put it back on the rack. walked on and then something caught my eye so i read the packaging and contemplate some more. and then there's the christmas goodies section which was so interesting that i just had to belek-belek the soft toys and ornaments. eventually i went to the cashier to pay up, that is after my feet was starting to kill me. i bought Watson's dental floss, which retailed at RM 9.90 for a pack of 3 and when you buy 1, you get 1 free *woot* (now i have 6 boxes of dental floss hahaha) and a Maybelline Clear Smooth Shine Free Face Powder, among other things. the funny thing is, when paying, i saw that the cashier charged me twice for the dental floss so i asked, "dental floss tu bukan buy 1 free 1 ke?" she answered, "a'ah takpe dah tolak balik." uh huh. why didn't they just charge it as one? or pack it together? confusing, right? she then gave me my receipt attached together with a contest form and directed me to submit my form in the box nearby. i left Watson's and somehow i had the gut feeling that the calculation was not right. i mean, i bought some simple stuffs like baby lotion, face wash, body wash etc and the total came to RM 77.05? i felt dissatisfied. it's not like i'm buying expensive stuffs anyway so i sat at the nearby bench (afterall the feet was screaming for help) and i calculated a few times with my handphone. so okay, the amount was correct afterall. then i noticed the price of the Maybelline Clear Smooth Shine Free Face Powder was RM 15.90. i thought i saw the label on the rack RM 12.80. i went back in and checked the price and true enough, the displayed price was RM 12.80. i went to the cashier and told the girl that there was some error. she went and checked and passed my receipt to the girl who attended to me earlier. they didn't have the courtesy to apologize so i said, "macam mana boleh silap ye? harga kat situ lain, bila bayar lain." dengan endah tak endah she answered, "diaorang tak update bar code kot kak." uh huh. lame excuse! of course i had to say something back "aaa tu lah, dah tau nak buat sale, make sure la price letak betul2. tak pasal2 customer kena tipu. ni pun naib baik saya check, kan?" she didn't say anything and returned my RM 3.10 (which i used to buy a chocolate sundae at Burger King later on and forgot about my aching feet for a while).
the moral of the story is, always check the displayed price and always double check your receipt, especially during sales. this might be a mistake on their part, something that they may have over looked (which they shouldn't anyway) but imagine if 10 customers went through the same thing, how much would they have made? how much loss would the customers have suffered? so ladies (and gentleman) it pays to belek-belek lama-lama, kan?

black & white

Wearing white shirt with black pants has almost become my ‘uniform’. So much so that when I go shopping, or when I look at work attire, I would end up looking at white shirts. As much as colored shirts and tops tempt and attract me, I would think twice to buy them. Simply because, I wear a white shirt almost everyday to the office. On days where the legs are clean-shaven, Occasionally, I would pair the white shirt with a black skirt. Therefore, I would buy more and more white shirts, be it long sleeve or short sleeve. I would only wear colored shirts with matching earrings on days when I don’t have to attend court. But then again, how fancy can a white shirt be, right? And then there’s the dilemma when buying white shirt where most shirts are almost see-through. So I had to find the correct undergarment to be worn so as not to attract unwanted attention. Since the office is very near to KLCC and Pavilion, I would sometimes kill time after office, to avoid from getting stuck in the jam. What better way to unwind after a long day than to have a walk at the mall, ogling and drooling over buns and cakes, chocolates and pretzels, pizzas and pies, smelling the sweet smell of freshly baked Rotiboy and Famous Amos and the heavenly smell of freshly brewed coffee? Not to mention the clothes, shoes and handbags, of course. However I cannot help but feel like a salesgirl/sales-assistant/promoter when going to shopping malls simply because of my black-white combo. *sigh*

Last Friday I was busy choosing some silver pieces at Isetan for my Bestie when an auntie almost called me because she thought I was the salesgirl. I guess my handbag must have saved me because when I turned around, she tak jadi call me. Obviously a salesgirl won’t be walking around with a handbag on tow, right? STRIKE ONE! After making my purchase, I returned to the counter to collect my piece and then I walked off. On the way out, there was this booth selling some cosmetics from God-knows-where so I stopped and belek-belek the mascara. One of the salesgirls approached me and started to promote the mascara. And then she asked me, “awak kerja sini ah?” STRIKE TWO! Ughhhh! So I said, “no laaaaa! I x kerja sini ok!”

So the question is why do salesgirls/sales-assistants/promoters wear a white shirt and black pants? In some restaurants, waiters and waitresses also wear the same combo. Luckily so far I have never been mistaken as a waitress. Can we make them wear colours instead? Can we?

Note to self: always have a jacket/cardigan on standby to be worn over the white shirt.

glitter-graphics.com

bold i am

this happened about two weeks ago while i was in the Duta Court Complex.

i was outside magistrate court 6 and was busy scrutinizing the case list with sweat trickling down my back when a black guy approached me and asked, "excuse me, you a lawyer?" i answered yes. then he said that he wanted to talk to me. i asked him what the matter is about because i'm in a hurry and my case was not listed so i need to check with the interpreter and i had to get this done before the magistrate comes in. he said that he needs a lawyer. i asked him, "why do you need a lawyer?" to which he answered, "i just need a lawyer. you a lawyer, right?" obviously i cannot lie to him so i asked, "were you charged in court?" he said no. i asked again if he needs a lawyer for his friend. he said he needed a 'personal lawyer'. i said, "what for? why do you need a personal lawyer?" he replied, "it's not something that i can tell you now. we need to sit down and discuss. perhaps over a drink." i told him to brief me a bit so that i can tell whether i'd be able to assist him. again, he insisted that we should sit down and talk. i said "i can't talk now. i need to go inside. i have a matter inside." he then asked for my number and business card. he even said, "you're a lawyer, surely you have a card." then i remembered that i shall not simply give out my card so i said that my cards are finished. i asked him to give his card instead. he gave to me and the address stated on the card is a gift shop all the way up in Changloon, Kedah. i was like, "oh your business is in Kedah??" he said that it was his old card. he still hasn't made a new one yet. i was like, uh huh. he asked for my number and since i was holding the file (the office number was clearly written on the file) i gave him the office number and told him to call me the next day. he said, "what about your personal number?" i said, "since this is work-related, you take my office number." i almost, almost rolled my eyes in annoyance in front of him. but i didn't. that would be rude and i'd may be marked 'racist'. he took the number and asked my name. unfortunately i gave my real name. damn i should've given a fake name instead. he asked when he can call me so i said to call me the next morning. he asked, "what time? you're a lawyer, always busy right? what time can i call you?" i mean, come on...i took a deep breath and said to call me at 10am.

the next day he didn't call at 10am but he called around lunch hour and i had my clerk telling him that i was out to court.

until today, i still haven't talked to him, although he called a few times. should i take his call? is he for real?

he's from Trinidad & Tobago by the way. Not that i have anything against them but i just don't feel that i should layan.

what do you propose?

contest for camera lovers

to those who just loves the camera, taking own pictures like me, in other words, to camwhores out there (though i hate the word camwhore-to me it sounds bad, if not bitchy but whatever), why not make full use of it and enter the contest below. the prizes are superb, the contest is super-easy. go give it a try!