Chicken Curry&Chapati Communication

Don't we all wish the world was You and I?

2011-10-25T00:29:00.002+08:00

Everyone has their own opinions, I've heard. Some stupid, some reasonable, some exceptionally revolutionary! Ok i hear all the haters going who are you to say it's stupid? So this age old argument about people having the liberty to act as stupid as they want. say stupid things if they felt like it, do stupid things if they felt it was right, is a whole load of rubbish isn't it?

I mean, unfortunately, unless anarchy is to be achieved, and we all thought that if left rule-less and unregulated, human beings will be just A OKAY, we have rules for a civilised society. But the matter only arises because these rules differ according to the religion, and the culture we've all been through.

I sit here tonight soon to be the Eve of Deepavali, listening to Anthony and the Johnsons My Lady's Story and it has inspired me to write. I am saddened when i listen to such poetry in music, to such beauty in music that we live in a world with so much shame and many more repugnant voices.

It seems rather stupid that people with as stupid opinions as gay-haters, women discriminators, wrong do-ers in the name of religion...wait the first two has to do with religion too walk amongst such beautiful people and in beautiful places and amongst such amazing creatures of the land and the blue waters of the oceans. How something as simple as an idea, like religion which began centuries ago, has spread so widely that some of the worst crimes of hate and just pure evil has been committed in the name of religion. I want to coil into a hole where religion would not have made my life a struggling battle with the rules that keeps my mother in the kitchen and out of the senate, the rules that pushes the faces of my gay friends into dirt, the rules on how to lead my life in preparation for something none of us controls; death, and the rules that has lead the powerful to oppress so many weak and vulnerable that i think of as i read about their stories.

I would only have the inspiration till the end of the 10th loop of this song to write about something i wish if i don't get to experience, my children or their children will be able to. I desperately want to believe that we are capable of change, that poetry and music will thrive and reach to as many people as it has reached, touched and spoken to me so many times and given me inspiration and faith. If only people were to seek faith in something more physical, more lucid, more real so we wouldn't all hide behind this illusion called God as we relinquish all our responsibilities to this beautiful space we occupy in this universe.

Seems ridiculous that we dismiss drugs that causes even the slightest of side effects, or a hair product that damages our skin in the process to long straight hair, or vote out senators and politicians that make decisions that affect our unforgiving economy but with facts in our faces and history repeated a billion over times proving how religion has evoked animal sacrifices, human blood shed, genocides, more murder, discrimination and yet we turn a blind eye, a deaf ear and muted mouth and pray for change!

Why wont we be the change that we so want? The peace we hope for as we walk out our doors? 20th loop over --- I think of a few great people that are only ashes now and think of what an amazing world it would be with them around but concurrently it seems the frustrations of this world is better left unburdened for the dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35-RJ7NxFFY

Are we truly monogamous?

2011-05-04T01:45:00.001+08:00

Monogamy, is tricky. I know no one, except for Samantha from Sex and The City (besides polygamy in religion) that is okay with polygamy, with multiple partners, with no REAL strong feelings towards one particular partner and doesn't mind that the other person is that way too. Well, you would have to be i guess.

So what is monogamy? cavemen and women werent monogamous. Can we truly be monogamous then? We try because it's been programmed into our minds, by society that we should only be with one person at a time. But then again, can we really ever be okay with boyfriends and girlfriends having another person to go home to, to sleep with, to share with? Not in my opinion. I like to believe I'm a monogamous person, and I'm pretty sure i am and would be. Do i think i can be with the same person for 30 years? I dont know, but i would not complain if i was, if i still enjoyed his company or still think he's awesome. Yes because its romantic, and its cute. But also because, of all the effort I've put into it, the compromises I've made, the characteristics I've found in that person that I have not found in the many other fishes.

The one argument i do not understand about polygamy, is that we hold ourselves back at loving another person. I dont think this is true. If loving someone else means, looking at how beautiful that person is, or thinking they have awesome abs, awesome legs, or wanting to get to know another person , then i would have loved a million people by now. I know love is the most subjective weirdest complicated thing around, but surely that cannot be all that it is. I dont think we can love two people at once. Definitely not in the same intensity, definitely not in the same way. Because being human, I think certain flaws that are present become more apparent and we then would have favourites.

For me, it's only when we LACK something in a relationship, do we really start seeking it from someone else, someplace else. Love to me is mostly the sharing, that connection. I get everything else from my family and friends. but intimacy is too complex to have with two people at once. When i share with my lover, deepest thoughts, ideas, secrets, passions, fantasies, i cant do that with another person.

I'm a true sceptic most of the time, but this funny little thing called L-O-V-E is a lot more complex than we give it credit. I believe we have evolved from chimps, from cavemen to the US that we are now. That somehow being with one person, is all our emotional capacity can handle. I LOVE a lot of people, and a lot of things and a lot of food, but i will only LOVE love one person, umm at one time that is!

Chocolate Cheesecake

2011-05-02T14:41:00.001+08:00

My sister's birthday came around last April 9th, and everyone thought it would be a good idea if i baked a cake for her. I've never actually baked a whole cake so i thought it would be a nice experiment too.

I absolutely love baking FYI. Its hard i think but its definitely been growing more and more to a legit hobby and interestingly it has lead me to try out cooking as well. So I've made some dishes as well for lunch and dinner.

Ok so getting back to the baking, so anyway i recently used up my RM20 book voucher at BookXcess, which has the most amazing priced books! I decided to buy a Julia Child baking book that cost only RM 60 full price, and RM 40 after my voucher! Ever since Julie and Julia, I (and im sure many others) have been obsessed with her! I needed to get my hands on some of her recipes, and follow her lead. She's an awesome woman, just because in the time that she was baking, there were almost NO women in the culinary business, and she pushed through and was very "manly" for someone living back then and had revolutionary ideas to make it in the business. So how can anyone not love her!

But apparently all of her own books were sold out, and the closest i could come to getting one of her books was this book.

So the recipe I first tried from this amazing baking book was the Chocolate Marscapone Cheesecake. And this was an awesome recipe! I'm beginning to think that all the recipes in this book are as easy. The instructions and ingredients are made very easy for beginner bakers. Right, so here's the recipe:

This is the recipe.

This is the instructions. I think you should be able to save this
image a lot bigger than it is when you click on it.

Continuation of the above.

I modified the ingredients just a little because I'm not a HUGE fan of cheese, but my sister is. So the cheese was for her and the chocolate for me! I converted all of the pounds to grams, and only put in about 550grams of cream cheese when i think the recommended gram was about 650grams. If I were to do it again, i'd probably cut down a lil more on the cheese. The cake turned out awesome! It was more of a fudge like moist cake then a flaky cake. You have to refrigerate it, before serving because it melts a little if not. Ideally it says it keeps up to 4days, i kept it almost up to 3weeks, and was fine after eating it. Lesly was fine too, and he has the pansy stomach! But keep in the freezer if you want to keep it a while.

Baking it, I had to put the batter in a pan then put that into another bigger pan with water and then bake the whole ensemble. My mom helped me check on it, and take it out of the oven because I was late for tuition, and had to leave. When you take it out, just coat the bottom of the cake with some cookie crumbs. I had some left over chipsmore, so i crushed them and coated the bottom of the cake. Feel free to use whatever else kind off cookie crumbs you like. We didn't get a whole photo of the cake, but here's a photo of a slice. Please remember that I'm not a fan of the pretty ones, my cakes and cookies often turn out quite ugly, but taste just as awesome! =D Hah! In your face, OUTER BEAUTY!

The reason why it's not so smoothly cut is because it was advised in the book that when you cut the cake your knife had to be hot, after dipping it in hot water. But yes, I was too lazy to do that, so instead, i kept cutting the cake with remnants of the previous slice on butter knife, then scooping it up from the knife with my fingers and licking it after I'm done, it was a lot more fun and yummy that way!

Bagan (Burma)

2011-05-01T21:53:00.018+08:00

As magical as Bagan was, it was also filled with the most amount of street kids compared to Yangoon and Inle Lake. So that was a little conflicting, because it got hard to sometimes enjoy the place and let loose, when we'd talk to these boys and girls and hear about their stories of how they want to continue schooling or get into the university. It was absolutely saddening knowing that we didn't bring anything to give to them (they really wanted to trade something for our sweaters) in return for some art they painted which looked really amazing by the way. We had no more money left to spend (we were on a budget too!) so that was the only alternative. But these kids were all over Bagan, and not only kids, but almost every other sales person by the street tries to haggle and pester you into getting something. It wasn't TOTALLY unfamiliar though, so eventually we got used to it.

How to get there: So we took the "Bagan Express" bus from Inle Lake to Bagan. Only this bus goes to Bagan from there. And it's nothing you would imagine an express bus being. It broke down once, and we stopped to pick up people quite a number of times but i think what made up for all of that was that we were travelling in the day (also for 12 hours) so we could look out the window and see interesting sceneries. The trip from Inle Lake costed us 12000 kyats per person. You wont get it cheaper than the other shops. Maybe more expensive. But that should be the price, because we were there apparently at a peak time.

Gah! The toilets were horrendous! It was much much
much cleaner peeing outside, which is what i did most
of the time!

The Sky as we left Inle Lake on that cold cold morning! This was Kalaw where we saw ICE on the ground! And we survived with our not made for winter clothing!

Rest Stop! In the middle of nowhere! Time to pea.

The Bagan Express! It broke down and the driver know exactly whats wrong .

We sat on top of the bus for about 5 to 10 minutes with the
Russian gang of tourists! They were fun and always had
vodka ready to pour! Then the guards at the entrance to Bagan
said we had to come down! =C

Getting around Bagan: It works for everything: bicycles! We rented two bicycles for 4500 kyats. That was for three days because we were cycling around as soon as we reached Bagan. We went into Old Bagan (where the amazing temples are) only on Day 2 and Day 3. We rented in from the hotel we were staying at. You can cycle EVERYWHERE with a bicycle! the old temples are just by the sides of the road, so its easy to stop by every single one of them while ur cycling! The map we had helped a lot in locating a few big ones, that was a must see! And we also had a lot of help from two girls that just randomly followed us around on their bicycle without us asking, and showed us around. On the last day, they tried to sell us some postcards. But they were awesome company! And it helps to ask anyone you can, about temples around you, because its easy to get them all mixed up. They have beautiful names though. And each temple, pagoda has a family that looks after it. So they will take you around the pagoda and temple and tell you about its history and significance. That was truly awesome! All of them sell loads of stuff in front of the pagoda, like lacquer wares and paintings and clothes. So feel free to buy something if you want, for the service they've just offered you. Everyone we met at every pagoda was really nice though. It was an absolute joy talking to them about the pagoda, what they've done for it and about their lives!

There was a procession on the streets of Bagan,
with cows decorated and kids on each cow and
lots more walking, dressed up very fancily.

Look 360 degrees around Old Bagan, and this is the view!

We loved climbing up the outside walls of the temples,some
get you quite high up to get awesome views!

A view of a temple from another temple quite
close by, this kinda views helped us planning
our journey from one temple to another

These HUGE golden buddhas were in every ,
almost every temple!The bigger the temple, the bigger
the buddha! And a few parts of the buddha was made
with gold flakes on them. And not one statue has been
disfigured, or chipped off.

More wall paintings, these were just so
amazing! So well preserved
and ALL OVER the WALLS!

Original wall paintings in some of the temples
still so well preserved.

These were original statues of buddhas made from stone, very well preserved. But gated so no one could touch and destroy it.

Preservation process in progress. They were employed
and paid for by the UN. The government had no
part in almost any of the preservation efforts.

Where to stay: We got a reasonable price for the inn we were at. Our bus was filled with tourists, and the bus just stopped at that inn, so rooms were being taken up as we were deliberating on the price! We took our room for 12USD a night, we stayed there for two nights. It was quite nice, the inn. And the compound was nicer! They had a swing in the front, a cute dogs, that all looked alike in Bagan! They were like bigger versions of shih tzus, and there were all strays! The dog in the hotel, was really smart and would jump on you when you gestured like you had a treat. All the dogs looked like they needed a bath though. But yay! doggies anyway.

Food: Food is good in Bagan! There's a lot of places to choose from, mostly around Nyaung-U, where all the hotels are mostly situated. And a few on the way from there to Old Bagan. And there's a lot of vegetarian places! So that was awesome. I was mostly vegetarian for the whole 10 days that I was in Myanmar just because it was absolutely delicious and very varied the dishes and the uses of veges in their food! Oh and its cheaper! The food places in New Bagan (Nyaung-U) is very close by the hotel, so we jsut walked around and looked at the menu and prices and then decided. We only wanted to eat at places that offered "Myanmar food". On average for two persons, we spent on average 9000 kyats for lunch and dinner. Hmm i guess it was a little pricey here. But that's also because all the restaurants, came with fancy lamps and decorated table and chairs and an ambiance! Its quite hard to find road side food in Bagan. Breakfast is provided by the hotel. Breakfast was toasted bread (w always asked for more but the most they gave us was about 3 slices extra!) and eggs (a choice of scrambled, omelette and bulls eye) they were all very good, but then again i think you can NEVER go wrong with eggs.

This was a mid range place in Old Bagan, recommended in the Lonely Planet
Guide. That's tanaka on my face!

I have to NOT recommend a place in Bagan though, although it was recommended in the Lonely Planet's Guide to Myanmar. It was called Golden Myanmar -- a buffet with about 20 different dishes for each of you for 3000 kyats per person. I have never ate so little at a buffet in my life! There were curries and vegetables , but almost ALL if not ALL were soooo sour! Like absolutely sour and bitter! So i only ate the rice, and one or two vege that was not sour or bitter. I soon discovered from eating at another rest stop (we crossed the road to eat in a family's small hut restaurant) on the way back from Bagan to Yangoon. They were very grateful because the bus stopped at the bigger popular rest stop restaurant just opposite their shop and i think they dont get as many customers as they would like. Anyway we ordered one plate of rice, with some curries and vegetable and it was also sour, the curry at least! So i think the curries in Myanmar when they have meat in it, are usually sour! Just the way its cooked there maybe. But this family was really nice, we met his wife who was pregnant and resting and his daughter. He was very hospitable and we had a nice conversation about Bagan and his little shop!

And i think that's the most important thing for any place, to make it a nice holiday or vacation. The people. And I've truly not met a more friendly hospitable down to earth crowd that i did in Myanmar! It was absolutely amazing and nice talking and getting to know all of them. And I even got two email addresses of two english teachers that were "lurking" around one pagoda to talk to tourists to improve their english. That reminds me, I'm going to email them right after this!<

The two girls that followed us
around to each temple.They were really
like our guides! And postcards she was
selling.We kept bumping
into them, having stalkers never felt so good!

These girls were selling some stuff in one of the temples
and were so amused that we had tanaka on our faces that
they commented on it as soon as we parked our bicycles.

The old lady that smoked and kept asking us to pay her when
we took her photo. She encouraged us to take her photo!

We were never hustled as much as we
were at this place! We didn't want to
get anything else,but had to just
because they were so good at
making you feel like a monster
if you didn't.

These boys and their sister were playing
in one the temples. They grew up in
the temple and wanted
us to take a photo of them!

This cute couple was in Inle Lake!
Isn't that cutest baby and the cutest
old man EVER?

Monks that come down to the temples in their robes,and a pot for
left over food or anything else that is willing to give. They just stand
still in the corners of the temples, and people put in food or money.
These kid monks were hiphop influenced apparently! But had to pose
in secrecy, before an older monk saw them and had a talk with them.

The kind lady in one of the temple applying some tanaka on
our faces. Burmese people wear them all the time, like powder
to protect their fair skin from the harshness of the sun.

Baby with face full of tanaka! Yumyum!

All in all, Myanmar was an amazing experience! To see these three places, 10 days is the optimal length of stay i would say. We had enough time to recuperate from the bus rides to enjoy the places! I hope a revolution is not far away, looking at the middle east and all the amazing revolutions that are happening there! The people there deserve as many opportunities they can get and to be free !

Burmese kyats. The notes there looked like they've
absolutely been to hell and back. Just shows how much the same
money has been used again and again. Pretty sure the printing
of money has stopped. You only see nice notes if you have
1000 kyats onwards.

All Beautiful Photos are the product of Lesly Leon Lee's magic touch: Click for other amazing photos and videos

Inle Lake (Burma)

2011-04-12T00:29:00.045+08:00

Inle Lake in Burma was the first AWE that we experienced. That was mostly because I did all other research EXCEPT the temperature.

Transport: To get there, there is an afternoon bus (only one bus) from Yangoon and it costs about 12000 kyats per person, inclusive of the taxi ride to the bus station. It take about 12 hours to 15hours to the junction of Inle Lake. And then to get to the Lake , we had to take a taxi that costs 7000 kyats, for a 20 minutes ride. We would have walked, but it was so cold, almost 0 degrees! So we had no choice.

This wasnt the bus we took to Yangoon but you would
definitely see mostly these kind of old used cars
and trucks and vans on the streets.

Getting Around: Getting around inle lake is easy! We rented a bicycle and cycled around the small village. Its a relatively small village so exploring it was quite a breeze. We cycled through some villages with huge pigs in the compounds of their houses and then went to a small temple that looked really nice.

Photos of some of the adventuring we did, and what we stumbled upon

Small kids working hard collecting soil!

The cycling paths

Weather: The drastic change of weather in Inle Lake is something we would NEVER forget! Silly me for thinking no way, Burma had a cold season. So when we approached the junction, it just kept getting colder and we didn't come prepared. So we started wearing more and more layers of clothes. I had on two long pants and three layers of tops. Topped by a sweater with a hood. And a hat! When we arrived around 4am or so at the junction, the temperature was about 4degrees. We were shivering all the way up to the inn where we finally decided to stay. When we got to the inn, we quickly got under the covers and tried to sleep the cold away. AMAZINGLY, we woke up to a bright and sunny and cool morning. I could go out cycling with my sleeveless and my three quarters. So thats the drastic weather changes, for Burma at the end of the year. Its usually hot all around starting from February.

Food: AWESOME! Because its so cold in Inle Lake, so all food are hot and steaming and taste absolutely appropriate! We ate by the road side, and in town there was a row of stalls that open at night, about 7pm or 8pm (just when it starts to get chilly again) and they have really good food. A lot of fried bean cutlets and of course noodles. Prices are slightly more touristy than Yangoon. So neals for a whole day for two persons might cost to about 3000 kyats.

They have water EVERYWHERE! for free to drink
! but they do use the same cup though.

Accommodation: Remember Inn. This inn was actually very nice! and the people there were also equally helpful. We got a room for 12 dollars a night inclusive of breakfast. They also have hot water. Good stay!

What to do?: The only main thing to do here is to hire a boat, to take you around the Lake. This costed us about 12000 kyats per person. But walking further down , we could have gotten a boat ride for about 10000 kyats per person. The ride though was amazing! They took us to a few places, and villages , to see silver making, cigarette making, umbrella and paper making, clothes making and a lot others. The ride lasted from morning to evening about 6pm. So it was worth it. And is a must to do! On the way to these places, we saw the one-legged fishermen. They use only one of their legs to row the boat while catching fishes. We also saw miles and miles of tomatoes growing on the lake! The lake itself was huge, felt like a sea!

Of course more temples, this was when we stopped by the
floating market. The location of the
market changes every week

Things to see on the Lake! Nice structures of
houses with BOATS in the 'porch'

Lots of people selling vegetables and all,
good food!! and very cheap!

The one legged boatman.

Silver making. All hand made goods. Earrings and necklaces
and many others. very intricately made

The making of lotus thread. Its about 10times more hardy than silk
and cotton. They use this thread to make the monks clothes.

The temple by the lake.

The jumping cat monastery. The lady there had a hoop and
when she called to the cats, they all took turns
jumping into it! The whole place was filled with fatties!

All Beautiful Photos are the product of Lesly Leon Lee's magic touch: Click for other amazing photos and videos

Yangoon

2011-03-07T02:20:00.068+08:00

This is going to a short post i think because there isnt a lot to say about Yangoon or Rangon. Its just blah. It's KL dirtier, dustier, hotter, and with a whole lot of abandoned buildings.

The best place to stay in Yangoon, is at the Garden Inn, it costs only 10USD for a night for a double room, and thats in the peak season!

The few things in Yangoon that might be worth it:

1) Shwedagon Pagoda -- I didn't like it that much. It was majestic and beautiful and one of the main attractions in Burma but it was just another glorified huge Buddhist temple. It apparently has 53 metric tonnes of gold on the huge Pagoda in the middle, and to me that just does not make any sense because the poverty level in Yangoon or Burma as a whole is ridiculous and here we were staring at a complete waste of resources. But you would see many many people there, praying and worshiping and its funny how everyone thinks Buddha is god. I guess leave anything long enough in the world, and ideas get mixed up and flawed eventually. We are after all only human.

Mahabodi tree and the wall opposite tells the nice stories of Buddha and his magical ways

2) The amazing breakfast at The White House Hotel -- On the last day , 31st of December, we couldn't find any of the many recommended cheap hotels in the lonely planet's guide to Myanmar that still had rooms and the prices were all jacked up for the new years apparently and we were on a strict 10USD budget for a room for the night. Then we stumbled upon this very humble hotel just up a few shops from yet another UNavailable lonely planet recommended hotel called Daddy's Home. Yes i know. And it was for a modest room, with an "outside" shower and toilet, but it was very clean although i tried not to take as many toilet trips or shower trips! Then we soon discovered that this hotel was featured on Discovery Channel for their "amazing breakfast buffet". The buffet we had the next morning on the rooftop was absolutely worth it and was the only thing that saved Yangoon for me. It was a fully vege breakfast with mostly fruits. They had fried rice, and fried potatoes, and papaya juice which was amazing and 10 different types of homemade jams to try. We stuffed ourselves enough to last us for a whole day. And then we climbed even higher for a nice chillin' time on hammocks (first ever for me!) and then even higher for the REAL rooftop filled with plants and just a view of all the other dingy neighbouring buildings rooftops.

3) A meal at Sky Cafe in Sakura Tower -- This was only another one of the lonely planet's recommendation "Take a FREE ride to the top of the tower to get a 360 degree view of the city" . Little did we know that the free, aint so free now. There was a nice cafe/bar/restaurant at the top where the FREE view used to be so we sat ourselves down by a window and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu. Unfortunately, after a day of walking around Yangoon looking for recommended places only to discover they've been abandoned, we truly did enjoy being there in the fancy cafe. The had nice beer food to go with the one glass of beer we ordered and we stayed about 4 hours just looking at the view and taking in the atmosphere.

The view from the Sakura Tower, with the Shwedagon Pagoda in the background

With their fancy menus and their prices, and a beer promotion

4) Kandawgyi Lake -- This was also a waste of time. It was deceiving because they had two entrances, and we didnt know the entrance we paid for didn't actually lead to the nice parts of the lake, only the dirty side and when we tried to enter the other side, they insisted we paid an additional 2 USD each but we just didn't want to do that. There is an awesome restaurant on the lake though called Karawek Palace or something like that, that has cultural shows every 6pm but costs a whopping 15 000 Kyats which is just a little under RM 75 each.

The Palace!

It would probably be wise to get a newer edition of Lonely Planet and to not totally believe the prices in there, cause it turned out for us that nothing was as it said in the book. And the Bogjoke Aung San Musuem that we walked half an hour to find had been shut down by the government, because well anything of anything that reminded them about freedom and democracy obviously had to go.

Transportation:

1) Busses -- Good and cheap and plenty around town. There's a bus that goes to almost every part of the town. Getting on the right bus is a whole other story though. Hotel staff, wherever you stay are very helpful though so its wise to ask them to write down the number in the Burmese numbering system of what busses you should take. We took a bus to Kandawgyi Lake and to the airport although we were taken for a ride there. Sule Paya, the pagoda right in the center of Downtown Yangoon is the main waiting area to take bus number 51 to the airport. You would have to sit in a share taxi after the bus ride though but its not even a 10minute ride.

The kids playing on the streets at night! foooottball!

The Sule Paya , dont know why it was covered and we had to pay a donation to enter

2) Taxis-- Expensive. A trip to the airport would cost you about 5 to 7 dollars and a bus only 150 kyats which is only about 75 cents per person. But if you're a good bargainer, then try your skills out.

Food:
1) The best meals are the meals by the side of the road, the ones prepared by hand! Scary, but awesomely delicious. And super cheap, one bowl of noodles would normally cost 300 to 500 kyats. And in almost all their noodles, there's always some kind of beans or peanuts, it was heaven!

An old coffee house with a lot of cakes and biscuits

The sales in Myanmar! =D

The ONE.

2011-02-03T02:29:00.000+08:00

Ask anyone why they're still single, and the reply would almost always be that they have not found THE ONE. So who is this infamous ONE? It's that imaginary person in your head, the perfect partner. The perfect partner that opens the door of your car, or the perfect partner that you wished would just let you open the door for once. So could this person really exist then? The one. Are we all truly with all our ONEs or are we in fact just settling for the next best thing?

I for one, have come to believe that the one is yet just another illusion tv fairytales have told us about singing princesses and charming princes. It has made us believe that the only person that can be called THE ONE is the perfect person in our heads. That perfect really DOES exist. But frankly, I doubt that is does or that it did, or will.

My perfect person in my head, is in fact NOT perfect. But then what if my partner's ONE is indeed absolutely PERFECT? And its obvious to anyone that I am not perfect. And there IS someone out there better looking, funnier and smarter. So are we to go through life with the constant insecurity that the next time an 8/10 girl walks past your partner, our 7/10 ass better start making new accommodation plans for the night?

I'm beginning to think that it does. The days of movies that portray someone jumping on a 10 hours train ride to meet the love of their lives making any sense are gone. Now affectionate connotations are logical rational thoughts. We MIGHT stay together for the next year, I'm NOT SURE if I can be with just one person for the rest of my life.

These are all obviously very true statements but that would also mean I need to start burning my Jane Austen supply. As important as I think it is to be grounded when we're on the high of love hormones, I think romance is all about rash unfiltered irrational emotions that is "normally" ridiculous. It's sad that we need an excuse for such things, but as long as there is one, why not live in its moment?

Thaipusam in Batu Caves, why has it taken me so long?

2011-01-19T16:33:00.000+08:00

The last thing i can remember about spending Thaipusam in Batu Caves amongst the trances and the kavadis, I was on my fathers shoulders so i could get a better view of the crowd and not be squashed to death. Now, if you've seen me recently you would know that I'm way too big to be sitting on anyones shoulders, so yes it's been THAT long.

Anyway, so this year we're going back to the chaos once again!

Things I am definitely looking forward to:

1) The grinding -- Anyone who's ANYONE, on the KTM knows about the grinding! In thaipusam, there will hardly be space for you to breathe let alone distance yourself from the crotches of men wearing the thin white cloth of purity.

2) The shoving -- Every year we read about stampedes almost, recently one in India, makes me think it's almost an Indian thing really and at a religious event. Ah what awesomeness, proof that religion brings out the beasts in us all.

3) The scams -- So I've heard about the legendary scam artists and the announcers that keep track announcing " One thalli missing, two thalli missing" "3 wallets missing", now if thats not something to experience i dont know what is. And then the famous trick of people falling into a trance, and then wham bham your thalli has gone missing as the perpretrator has dissolved into the crowd before you.

4) The chaos -- I love the chaos and i love the loud music and the shouting and the COLOURS! and the FESTIVEness of it all.

5) The stairs -- This I'm not sure I'll attempt doing, just the thought of being sandwiched between men, not because i want to. And the thought of suffocating there, between two things in life i;ve fought so hard to keep away, religion and perverted men, ah not how i'd thought i'd die.

Ah something new I'm anticipating this year is : the RM 10 indian tops! I would be sorely disappointed if there aren't any!

But for the exact same reasons as above, Thaipusam in Batu Caves is something every person should see and experience i think. Once is more than enough, but wow to say you've survived Thaipusam, could it almost be as rewarding as conquering Mount Kinabalu?

Preparation for Myanmar (Burma).

2011-01-05T02:51:00.000+08:00

So I've recently just experienced my first ever vacation overseas, in Myanmar and there seems to be a lot of bullshit stuff that goes into this whole passport visa stuff and I thought it would be good to compile all the little things we did that helped a lot in our 10 day travelling around Myanmar. And the most important step is always the preparation.

So i spent the whole week before leaving Malaysia, just READING about Myanmar. About transportation, places worth going to, prices, budget inns, budget everything. It would be safe to say that a RM 50 budget per day would serve just about right, WITHOUT shopping. Hotels are relatively cheap, even on peak season (November to March) about 12 USD per night for a double room, 4 or 5 for a single room.

For a 10 day stay, 2 places are ideal to visit. Yangoon itself is really not quite worth it for more than half a day perhaps. Its just KL dirtier, dustier, less shopping malls, and really nothing much to see except old abandon buildings that used to be owned by the previous government.

Things we needed BEFORE we left :
1) Visa -- You have to have a visa to visit and people have told us that its better to steer clear from occupations related to the media or any kind of camera work to ensure a smooth application. We don't know how true that is but maybe you can try. Its about RM80 for 4 months, and takes 5 working days inclusive of the day of application. The express one costs RM 150 , and takes 2 working days.

2) Not many clothes, but sweaters and thick jackets -- If you're travelling in the peak season, its the cold season in Burma, which means temperatures drop drastically at night and at Inle Lake and further up north, it plummets to sub zero because we saw frost on the ground and couldn't believe we survived the cold with a simple sweater, shorts and no winter clothes..as torturous as the night was.

3) Small change -- So in Burma, the currency that is usually accepted is Kyats (pronounced cat as in paint in Malay) or USDs. They are fairly concerned about the condition of your USD notes though so it's advisable to get good notes when you change your money. Notes with no major creases and folds on them. And it's also advisable to have small change because vendors and such hardly have change to give it back to you. Hotels will always be able to give you change though in USDs. We took about 80 Dollars of small change consisting of 1 USD, 5 USD and 10USD, and that was more than enough for the entire trip. And the best thing to do is to change the dollars into kyat in Burma as you get a better price!

4) Bring enough cash -- For a 10 day trip, we (two of us) spent about RM 1400 for both of us, inclusive of accommodation and transportation and food, and this is with a comfortable amount of shopping. Also, when we were there we found out from another travelling tourist that money was not allowed to be taken out from ATMs in Yangoon, not now at least. It may change in the upcoming months but for now it has not and the money you bring from home is all you have to last you throughout the trip, so budgeting would be wise. And also, we were forced to pay USD 10 each as airport tax before checking in for departure. This money obviously goes directly to the oppressive military government. Although we made a big fuss about paying the amount (we had the money in malaysian ringgit), and that we were not informed, and that it was not written anywhere in the airport or on the departure card, we eventually had to give in when they started using the walkie talkie and seeing our names highlighted in green had us a little shaken up that we may not leave the country if we pursued the matter.

Growing Up and Away

2010-12-19T20:31:00.000+08:00

As i sat there, all i could think about was the slow moving time and the beautiful stitches on people's shoes. Then it struck me, have i out grown this?

I could no longer understand it. It was as if I was brought back 10 years, and made to live life through those years again. It made me wonder though, is this not okay? That we remain in our youth or childishness and not change because correct me if I'm wrong, the one thing we always ask when it comes to men and boys and boyfriends and husbands is : How/Why did he change?

But thinking about it, i think its worse when people DON'T change. When things seem to be at a halt for more than 10years. Because awesome things and significant learning and wisdom, surely comes with growing? Growing changes someone from a 10 year old girl to a 18 year old woman? But what happens when we reach 18, or 21 or 30 and we never actually changed from being 10 years old.

The world we have today.

We have world leaders thinking life is like a video game where countries could be bombed away and everything would be okay. We get grown ups that don't take responsibility for their actions. We get grown ups who are in fact kids. So how then does a country or a society grow as a whole? That would mean being stuck where we are today, for the next i dunno how many years?

I think even in relationships, its when you don't grow together and think that all you really need is to be stuck in those wonder years of your 20s, that problems and issues seem to creep in. Its when two people grow together,as hard as that may be, and discover new things and new knowledge that they didn't have in their 20s, that's when relationships have a chance of lasting.

So, we need kids who GROW up. We should be able to sit in a group of 15 year olds and then see the difference when we sit in a group of 21 year olds. Shouldn't we?

What is my problem with Tamil movies?

2010-10-23T19:14:00.000+08:00

Now many would think me unfit of commenting on anything remotely Tamil or Indian. That's probably because i don't pray, or wear sarees every day, don't believe in marriage and the thalli, and yes because my spoken Tamil needs more than just a little work. But just to set the record straight, I think I'm probably more Indian/Tamil than people would like. I've lived through the culture, the rituals, the praying, and then i lived through the internet, the reading, the feminism, the books and grew. Put me on a checklist, and i would tick off 5 or more than the streotyped Indian characteristics. I have wavy hair, big eyes, long lashes, dark skin, i eat with my fingers (cause i love licking them after!), i talk too loud, i love the noise and chaos that comes with people and relatives, i like mashed up vegetables, i read and write Tamil? But wait, those arent actually just Indian are they? Maybe the physical features, yes, that's just DNA and genes, but everything else is just me as a person. I must have been influenced of course, by my parents, but also by my friends? my teachers? books? the internet? and yes...movies!

Also contrary to popular belief, I have seen quite a number of Tamil movies, most by force i would have to say. But at the same time, i would like to thank my Mom especially, because i sincerely feel i would be unapt to comment on Tamil movies if i wasn't put through each 3hour musical every once or twice a week. I've seen enough tamil movies to tell me that they all have a pattern. Ok let's forget the 5/6 songs in each of them, cause okay a little dance never hurt anyone? And the unrealistic fight scenes, where the hero takes on 10-20 people and flies through the air, stops in mid-air and delivers a kick that knocks them all out!

But the one pattern that is totally unacceptable are all the Indian women portrayed in ALL of these movies. The storyline of each movie is usually about the same old same old i-love-that girl but i'm a parayah. I've seen some awesome movies too i will admit, but definitely nothing revolutionary in the past 10 years or so? Ok maybe one comes to mind, and biographies aren't always that bad. But the idea, that the old movies that were awesome WAS awesome because it dared to tackle social issues way back then, it dared to be different. Now, yes we do have movies about men and women of different castes getting married, but after what? After a 20 minute fight scene, at least one girl being raped or molested, an evil father, and then the HERO (cause that's the way real life is, we all need a Hero to save us!) rescues the girl and ties that thalli. What message is this? That all men are supposed to be born Heroes that every girl needs? That racial discrimination can only be settled by a 20 minute fight scene? And what happens to all women?

I understand that it caters to the Indian majority back in India, but that is the whole issue here. Not just for Tamil movies but for movies in general. Media has so much of responsibility to influence and educate the public and here we are sending them all the wrong messages! I am not saying there are no SUCKY english movies , yes there are! But today i shall tackle Tamil movies, and the one major flaw i do not see in english movies, the role of women in society. Women in western movies have evolved! Beyond the point that now SEX, is no big deal! Yes they have sex, but then they also have awesome careers and amazing lives. Correct me if i'm wrong, but the main argument for Western movies coming from a Tamil movie fanatic would be that : Women sleep around, and that degrades our society and our values! Women have affairs, and that degrades our society and cultural values! But really, who are we kidding? Everyone has sex! And there's absolutely no reason why it's only totally unacceptable that women have sex or have affairs!

And I for one, am totally fed up, with the society that has been created by Tamil movies and its likes, even here in Malaysia. I've never been able to walk anywhere without one guy singing a Tamil song to me, or screaming at me to look at him or whistling as i walk by, or say demeaning vulgar things about my body and how he'd like some of my sugar! When did harassing women become okay? When did it become the norm? I believe Tamil movies only fuel this on. It only makes it okay, that THAT is courting, and soon i WILL as all Tamil movies, drop something on the ground, pick it up and look into his eye and fall in love with him. I believe Tamil movies contribute to the abused women sitting in the corner of a house somewhere, thinking that the biggest sin would be to get rid of the "thalli" and leave her husband. I believe Tamil movies contribute to a woman being slapped across the face and thinking that its okay because it is the right of a man or a husband. I believe Tamil movies tells women that if they're raped, they should feel so ashamed of themselves that they might consider suicide, or to marry the animal that raped them. I believe Tamil movies only further enforce the male supremacy attitude that is stopping Indian women from developing as people, as contributors of a country. I believe Tamil movies only fuel on the ego that is MALE and unravels all the work feminism has been trying to achieve in the past 50 years!

I am OKAY with ridiculous story lines, but i feel social issues that matter, like FEMINISM should be addressed in Tamil movies, if we're ever going to change the mind sets of the community we're in. For once, I want to like a Tamil movie because it addresses that women are just as likely to be HEROs and to save the day, or better that we are human beings like men that have careers and personalities and contributions to the country and the world and not only be in the movies to fall in love, to marry, to be raped, or to be saved!

Feminism after Boyfriends and if we must, Husbands!

2010-09-24T19:54:00.000+08:00

So what is this i hear about saying No to feminism once you've found that frog to kiss?

People find it hard to accept the fact that yes we can be feminists even after marriage, or being in a relationship. I'm often faced with the same remark everytime I say "Fry their balls!". I think the act of feminism always comes back to the idea, that if you are a feminist, then you must naturally REALLY want to fry all mens' balls! Hmm....idea? But no, in all seriousness i think this cannot be more misconstrued. Feminism i think is logical. It is what anyone should be. Regardless of gender. It's no big secret that women ARE the mistreated, abused, disadvantaged group of people here. So i would think anyone who feels such a way, would be a feminst. I don't deny that there are human rights violation against men as well, but who are the unavoidable perpetrators? Unfortunately, men themselves.

This weird idea that feminism has to exist by itself, independently, away from family ties and boyfriends and husbands is just not acceptable. And also the idea that all feminists are usually gay? What is that? Another male invented pornographic image that even the mere idea of women fighting for their rights is made into a display to give them yet another hard-on.

Because women, are just NOT the standing up and fighting type, we're not even the driving type, or the voting type. Well we weren't any way.

Yes feminism has come a long way, we can vote, we can drive, we can ride on buses, but is that enough? No! Feminism is very much still relevant if there are still women being stoned to death in Iran, women being raped every minute of the day, women being abused by husbands, women made to feel ashamed of their bodies, women made to feel ashamed of being a woman!

And I'm just putting it out there but i feel, if any feminist out there, was with a man who feels the same way, then YES its ok if he was a feminist too! What is wrong with this picture? Nothing. The fact is, women are STILL being abused and raped and murdered, remains even if you are married or have a boyfriend.

I mean the whole arguement that if u have a boyfriend or are married, then you cannot think that men are kinda sucky mostly. That's like saying, i have a father so i cant possibly think that there are any mean fathers in the world, or mothers for that fact!

You could be a manist i guesss, but i would think the number of men being discriminated against and abused, is way less than women, that that would be a pretty insignificant thing to do. Then there's the humanists, the ones that say they're no sexist, that they're in it for the whole human race, i'm sorry but that makes you a feminist! Because there is just no way human kind is ever going to be the best it can, without women being part of the equation, and humanists cant exist until there is equality between women and men. That would just mean you're a humanist, but the majority of things that you would be advocating would be for women, thus a feminist disguised as a humanist.

I'm no big fan of labels, but being a feminist is perhaps the only label that i've ever felt close to and proud to be. So i guess if all men out there, refuse to be called feminists, but still are being part of the solution instead of the problem, who think women deserves the same amount of respect as men, deserves the same amount of everything as men do, then they're ok. But then again, I'm thinking if there were such a man, i would think labels wouldn't bug him.

Striving for better.

2010-09-09T15:23:00.000+08:00

Right, so the past month has not been a good month for feminism. I feel it's a long long hard uphill battle and nothing is helping.

I've been around deaths a lot recently being posted in hospitals and making my rounds in the wards. And it's really made me think about life , weirdly. My biggest fear is death, but it is the only thing thats certain. YOU will die. Its not an IF.

And being around friends and family, and to hear about dreams and aspirations, It's funny how all most of us do, is just find a way to fit in life,to move along like sheep , to take standard dreams that have been put in place by races and religions and call it our own, to believe it IS our own.

Talking to many of my friends, it's really just astonishing to hear about how too many people STRIVE to get married! Ok, so i don't get marriage to start with but fine, you want to get married, OK! but to strive for it? Have we really become so mundane? Girls i speak with, tell me a detailed series of what they want to do till they're 25, then they say, 26 i get married! Then the worst part....They stop talking! So i naturally think they need to take a breather for that 4 years or life narration, turns out that's it! That's life as they know it.

When did marriage become the ultimate thing to achieve? How does life stop after marriage? Can't we still be feminists after marriage? Can't we still climb Mt.Everest? Would we die if we left our fragile husbands to fend for themselves, or worst COOK for themselves and took a month off to go to Africa?

It's absolutely saddening to think how most girls think that marriage is the ULTIMATE! Yes it is an experience, an adventure maybe even to live with someone else and share your life and all your sleeping habits, but should it really be the end of experiencing anything else? Alone? With other friends?

Say what you will but marriage seems not good enough of a reason to stop dreaming and aspiring for bigger better things!

And how horrible is it that only women DREAM of getting married.

It's awesome if marriage and all its equivalent is just another experience in life, and women get to do so many other things than just tend to their husband's needs and pop out children. That i think is ideal, and what women who want to get married should strive for.

If half the women out there put in as much effort and care as they put into taking care of the household and their babies and their husbands, change in the world would come so much easier.

Xs

2010-05-03T01:24:00.000+08:00

I think 2010 has every other couple out there on the edges of their seats just to tie the knot and take that long jump into oblivion! It's got me thinking about all those movies, when just as the bride or groom says I DO, some jealous heart broken ex starts banging on glass mirrors and start screaming their names!

Ex-es! They're always drama. All that talk about mutual friends, mutual break ups, is almost bullshit. The chances are someone loses interest or discovers some nasty habit of yours they just cant stand or decides career comes first and just leaves.They probably move on to bigger better things and in 2 weeks or 2 months are in a new relationship. Then the someone else always always gets left behind.

Drama always exists when exes do. The jealous ex, the heart broken ex, the desperate ex, the egoistic ex, the EX!

No ex is a hundred percent cool i think, when they find out you're with someone else and they're alone. Constant questions will be running through their minds about what's so special about this new heart throb of yours, what went wrong, why cant you just be together.

Of course if you ever do get over your ex, in the quickest amount of time, i say YAY! But I'm just saying that's really rare, well from what I know at least.

Why all the drama though? Is it that hard for us to move on? I get it, the sharing, the trust and all those memories, but life's too short, and chances are there's gonna be maybe hundreds or more men/women out there that are everything he/she was and a million things more!

I think most of the time, the easiest thing you can bank on for wanting to get over someone, is that huge ego of yours. Come on, we all have one! Just tap into it and remind yourself how awesome you are and what an incredible loss it is for that other person. You could just click your fingers together, and ba-da-ding the next guy/girl is at your feet begging to take you out for a drink!

I guess for me at least, it's easier to not have much to do with exes, because of all the memories and the awkward moments that get retold/relived whenever you see them. I don't really know when that goes away, or can it ever?

If you're one of the people that can be the bestest of friends with your ex, have late night dinners with her new boyfriend or his new girlfriend and talk about memories and laugh about it, that's absolutely great!

But if you're not, I think give yourself a week or two to wallow with ice cream, pick yourself up with your new found ego , start defacing their photos, erase his number from your cell phone and get yourself out there for a new better person to come along, cause they always do!

The birds that suddenly appear!

2010-03-03T17:30:00.000+08:00

I think i owe it to myself to do something special to commemorate the fact that I've started (sllooooww) on my assignment! And what's more special than updating a blog I've ignored for far too many times! so here i am!

So I've been thinking of what to blog about. Life's been pretty mundane these couple of months, well all except maybe how there's a skip in every step i take, or chirping birds wherever i go, or rainbows and bright flowers by the pavements! well MORE than usual of those at least. But i think Jane Austen or Emily Dickinson says it better! So I'll refrain.

But how weird is that? That the best love stories, comes from ladies that spent their whole life alone. When i read "Persuassion" i was convinced, and adamant that the only person i could ever ever see myself with was someone like Captain Frederick Wentworth. Ok i guess that may not say much, i felt the same way about Spiderman! But still, do these men exist?

Of course not! If they do, I've certainly not met them, and i don't think i would! Maybe that's why they were alone? Cause who could live up to the amazing characters they created in their books, or have that amazing love story with the poofy dresses and the green fields and the castles and the mansions and men dressed in weird coats riding along with horses!

Think she missed out? Well if she had enough imagination and magic to create such a wonderful world on paper, for it to live on for all these years, i think no! All that fantasy is a lot more nicer than the real deal. And back then, i think a woman's libido was suppressed to the point of non-existence but if she did have one, i hope she got her share of nasty.

We're all so scared to end up alone. Die alone mostly i think. I don't know what exactly does a person mean when they say alone. Is it even possible to be alone? I think it takes more effort being alone, then being around people. There's always family! And the family that comes from family eventually. The chances are, if you're going to end up alone (average family only has ONE single unmarried spinster cool aunty!), your sister or brother would have all found their frogs! And they would have gotten married, and had 4 amazing children and 2 dogs! Then there's friends. Ok, so maybe you wont be able to die with them, but still, for all the other times! The vacations you can take together, and just the sharing! It doesn't have to be 20 friends, 1 would do. I think life's all about sharing the experiences, there's nothing more amazing than doing something you love, with someone else around to seep in all that joy and to share that moment with. But who's to say that person can only be the love of your life?

When it comes to dying, guess I'm equally traumatised that dying alone can't be the way i would want to make the crossing over, but I'm pretty sure i wont! I've got an eloborate plan in my head about lurking outside my sister's house till she finally takes me in just when I'm at the verge of starvation, and then BOOM! I'm in baby! This can be when I'm about 65,when I'm expecting my first stroke and all the complications of my diabetic eating habits to start kicking in! I'll just move straight into her basement and live happily ever after and never die alone!Aaaahh, the life!

But if the actual DYING is the only reason someone thinks its absolutely important to find a man and get married and have kids, then what we really should be doing is setting up an organisation or an online community of some sort so we can lend a hand (literally!) to someone on their dying bed. We could have scripts of comforting words to say, and could sing to them or dance for them if they wanted to. A charity! Who wouldn't want to make a cute old person before they die? It's the most an hour (?) out of our normally usually mundane life anyway, so why not? I'd DEFINITELY have something to blog about then.

And to those that think finding that one true love is absolutely neccassary, well i wish them all the luck! But heck, if your knight ain't out there, then either accept the fact that the people around you are good enough or settle! Eventually, everyone learns to love. If it's not the knight, then it's the horse! So settling is fine i guess, if we're all so terrified to find out what life has in store for us A.L.O.N.E. And I'm trying my best to be okay with decisions other people make, as long as they're happy! Only thing that ever matters, is happiness, wherever you find it, how and whoever you may find it with. And our minds pretty amazing, if you believe you're happy, then you are! Just takes a little faith believing that settling is just equally as good as the real deal. And I'm actually convinced, that in time....it is.

Contemplating Vegeterianism!

2010-03-03T13:18:00.000+08:00

I just realised that this post had been saved as a draft for too long, so i might as well post it now! You gotta know when i'm posting on my blog, that means ASSIGNMENT or HOLIDAY! unfortunately, its the former this time. So I'm just going to add in highlights the updates to my vegetarianism mission. Woohoo a post!!

Post begins :
I'm suddenly beginning to grow much fonder of vegetables. Meat-eating is just getting sicker and sicker as i imagine the foul horrible cruel way chickens, lamb are slaughtered! Ugh.... Yes yes, it's still sick! This sentence made me laugh though, i should stop writing the way i have it all in my mind! Just sounds too exagerated ! but SICK none the less!!

And it's hard, EXTREMELY hard to give up meat, at least for me, so I've got a plan. It involves a lot of complaining and forcing, but it's a plan alright. Absolutely no complaining now, or forcing! weeehheee!! In fact, there's complaining for NOT ENOUGH vege in the house!!

First, I'll probably start with just getting down to ONE type of meat. Chicken probably. Working not bad, gotta get off the chicken!!

Next, I'll probably start making my mom FORCE me into eating vegetarian food like 3 times a week. I have a few vegetarian dishes i absolutely love. Might stick to those few before venturing to brinjals *yuck!* Have discovered the quite aweseomeness of brinjals *yay!* and no forcing required, any vege is good vege! close my nose and swallow!

I suppose maybe a few months of this, might make it an easier transition to become a vegetarian all together. I hope it does.

Or maybe start with not eating meat when i go out? Nasi goreng, Maggi Goreng.

I should start, i need to start. I already have actually. It seems absolutely pointless feeling so horrible for those poor dolphins in Japan, when chickens and cows and lamb are still being slaughtered probably not in a very different manner. Maybe more cruel. Wee! have started and still sticking to it!

I absolutely don't eat exotic meat or any other unordinary meat. So that's good, one less thing to not concentrate on giving up. Yes! and i've been refraining from trying any other new meat, don't need to get addicted to any more meat!

Blaahh.....those poor animals. I might as well imagine Pepper being bred to be slaughtered! the horror.

Something needs to be done. New resolution : Stop eating meat. Along with many other things; learn to play the guitar, start jogging EVERYDAY.

Now all i got to do if find something not meaty that's edible in MAHSA's cafetaria. LOL! MAHSA's cafe is actually not that bad, we just make fun of it too much. So yes, i actually eat more vege food when I'm in college, lots of beans and egg!! YUM! all i need to survive on my vege diet! so MAHSA's doing good!!

Alone Again, Naturally.

2009-10-06T20:54:00.000+08:00

Something I read a while ago, and think it's beautiful and honest, true and appropriate.

Time does not bring relief

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go - so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, 'There is no memory of him here!'
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.

Edna St Vincent Millay (1892 -1950)

POTTT Update!

2009-10-01T23:35:00.000+08:00

SO after what seems like AGES of not taking the bus and the train, today i finally had to. Duty called *yawns*

Anyway , when it was time to leave, i had to force myself to walk two bus stops away, because RapidKL came up with this AMAZING system called the ZONE system! *oooooohhhh aaaahhhh*

This was the saddest piece of news I heard when it first was announced, it still is BECAUSE :

1 ) Anyone using the RapidKL buses KNOWS that there's nothing very rapid about them. They're NEVER on time. Well, they are once u learn their UNpunctuality. I have a little book of Rapid, jotting down all the times i've spotted the bus so i might might just on time for one and not have to wait a million years for it. Anywho, the 20minute rule is pretty non-existent. Everyone only knows this : It comes after 3 yes, THREE Metro 12 busses.

Side Track : Why doesnt everyone just take the Metro 12 then?
Reason : Because like every student travelling back and forth EVERYDAY from Kajang, or Shah Alam , Klang or anywhere, its EXPENSIVE!

1) continued..

So the only reason anyone in the right mind would mind the half an hour to one hour wait , is cause it's RM 2 no matter how far you travel.

Metro : It's RM 2 one way to KL Sentral from Millenium Court.

So it was perfect, you had the Metro for all the one way taking bus people, and the RapidKL for all the two-way / lots of interchange of buses/ traveling every day kinda people.

Now, the system is just broken! Rapid has become like Metro, with the one way passes and the only-for-one-bus rule.

So what is a person like me, and like many others out there to do? I think Rapid is still slightly cheaper than Metro because Metro raised its prices too.

But anyway, its ridiculous ! Oh and the Zone system :

I found out today, since they've FINALLY pasted the list of zones and how much each stop costs from the place you get in the bus, that from the UH bus stop to the Mahsa bus stop, is a whole 90cents more! This is 2, yes TWO bus stops away, it would take u 5 minutes the MOST to walk from one to the other.

This just doesn't make any sense. OK! It would make total sense to make it 90cents more expensive maybe AFTER that MC bus stop, cause the next bus stop is after the fly-over and near Jaya 1? But to make two bus stops different from another one that's on the SAME stretch of road!

Ohmygosh! I don't think public transportation has ever frustrated me more. Not even the crazy KTM delays.

So today, i walked to the UH bus stop, and payed the FAIR Rm 1.00 fare! There, u happy now u Greedy RapidKL people!!

Blahhhh, this post was not supposed to be about RapidKL and their evil ways, it was actually supposed to be about the nicest old man i met in the UH bus stop.This bus stop is definitely more interesting than the MC one. Almost everyone here, is sick or has some part of their body bandaged and just anyone with from holding x-rays to children with the sniffles.

I finally got a seat after most of the peopel left when the Metro 12 arrived. And this very pleasant looking old man sat next to me after making conversation about my bottle and book that was occupying his soon-to-be seat. I picked them up and placed them on my lap and just simply said sorry and giggled a little.

But as we were sitting down there, this man kept glancing behind to his left, over his shoulders, and kept smiling like he's just seen a friend. I heard some voices coming from the back so i assumed he probably did. But it didnt just end with one glance and one smile, he did it again. Okay, so maybe they missed him the first time. But then, again for the third time. Okay, now i had to look, who was this very very blur person?

So i turned, and saw an indian man speaking to a malay man, while barely sitting on the little space the wall provided. Okay, so these are his friends huh? Sweet. They must be hospital buddies. (kekeke)

Then, he did it again, and this time with a "HI!" , i just impulsively turned to look at his friends, to quickly realise they weren't his friends. They did even stop their conversation. They've not been listening to him the whole time. And he, he was saying hi and smiling to no one.

I took a nervous glance to the man on my other side, and he returned it. I just looked straight ahead and ignored the rest of his glances and "Hi!''s. He also twitched and made funny faces in intervals of about 5 mins. But in the mean time, i just couldn't believe the absolute manner this man had. He smiled at EVERY person that walked by, be it a kid or a woman or a man! He smiled! And it looked absolutely genuine.

An old chinese man sat just down on the bus stop cement right beside him, and he just began to talk to the man. He said " Ohh, nak duduk ke? i would give you my seat, but saya pun penat jugak." I immediately moved a little more towards the man on my left, making room just enough for one more person. He soon realised, and then said "aahh, adapun tempat duduk, mari mari duduk!" then turned to me and said "Boleh ye?" gesturing coming closer to me. I of course said ok,and giggled more. Then the four of us sat on this tiny strip of metal of a bench, and he continued talking to the chinese man. He asked him what he was there for, and after he said for gastric, he mumbled something about happiness and kept rubbing his chest.

I'm pretty sure the chinese man was a little uncomfortable, he merely answered in short simple sentences that left little to elaborate on, or make new conversation with. Then a Tempatan bus arrived, and this malay man asked the chinese man, "bus ape ni? pergi ke central market ke?" the other man didn't know so i told him, no it doesnt. Then he looked at me, and was just so amused, and said, "ohh, only the metro 12 does rite" , "oh yes and the U85" ,"my name is (memory fails!) what's your name?". we shook hands and he muttered something about talking and happiness and people. "ooo ok, how much is the fare?" then i told him the wrong amount with which he replied "ohh the metro is only 1.90". I told him a metro was at the traffic light, he just got up and said "arent u coming?". I told him i was waiting for the Rapid and he said "ok, all the best to you!" and slightly bowed before getting on the bus. As the bus moved, i saw him sit next to a young chinese girl and say something,and i saw the girl put on a small smile that quickly disappeared as soon as she turned away from him. LOL! =)

There was definitely something wrong with him. Delusional, ticks and weird eyes. The ticking and the Hi's never stopped but to think that such a nice man, had to be ill! That's heartbreaking. He was one of the most pleasant person I've ever met. And i think that bus stop is now my favourite one and my new inspiration for blogging! =P

Spinster the new IN-Thing!

2009-09-22T19:24:00.004+08:00

With all the recent weddings, and more to come, there's just going to be pressure on all my other single cousins, relatives, friends I'm sure. What is this pressure anyway? Like finding a soul mate or "true love" has its age limit?

I'm often greeted with shocked faces, mocking ones when i say " When I'm 50!" if someone asks me when I'm gonna get married or start dating! So what if i were 50, I'm sure many people have been there!

I think for most women, its before 30, we've GOT to get married and have the first kid before 30, then we're set! Our lives will be a-okay! It's so crazy this weird constraint we have on ourselves. Yes giving birth after 30 has its risks, but that cannot be the only reason we force ourselves to find someone and get married! Or worse, find someone solely to be married before 30! We have got to be more than baby-bearing machines. And besides, what ever happened to adopting? All those poor kids out there without a loving home, and here you are ready to offer one, so why not? And who says all women must be ready to have a kid before she hits 30. It's absolutely ridiculous that we have this age limits when it comes to marriage.

We all have "standards" we set, not too tall, a poet, an actor, a rock star! =) When you're 21, and someone asks you "what is it you want in a partner?" the list may go on and on, as it should! And out of the list, you'd soon realise that there are some thing too important to compromise on, and some not so. But tell this to 30 year old cousin who's married with a kid, and they'd tell you "You're just young!".

So why should my standards get lower as i age? I'm certainly the same person i used to be, with a few more wrinkles and bigger feet? The only reason i think it gets lowered is because we NEED to get married by 30! by 26, 27!! When you're in such a rush, who cares if he/she doesn't know Led Zeppelin from Boy Zone or Enid Blyton from Arundhati Roy, all you care about is she/he's fertile and ready to make some babies! She's obviously got to be bearable enough to want to hang out with..but what if it matters? These thing...books, music, it may not be significant enough for another person but it might mean a whole lot to you! And that's all that really matters!

I'm sure everyone would have enough judgement to let some things slide and some things NOT! and it's exactly these things that should never change, be it you're 30 or 40! People find love when they're 50. I'm sure they do. It's either that, or finding love with a man who's in his fifties! Shessh, the racket that would create! But seriously, who can blame us? If only all men were as mature as we are!

Anywho, i say YAY! for all the people out there that are staying true to themselves and waiting for the right one before making that leap! Be it at 27, 37 of 57...you go girl! i mean.. people!

Indian Weddings I like!

2009-09-18T20:05:00.005+08:00

Indian weddings are the best BESTEST! It's the only time EVERYONE gets together! And if there's anything I like, its a house filled with loud funny weird crazy non-privacy-respecting cousins and relatives! Well for that 3 few days at least.

I'm calculating after the recent MAJOR wedding that took place in our family, that it's just the first of MANY MANY! It just takes the first to get the ball rolling. Now, i hear my other cousins and all are under the pressure of tying the knot too. Marriage! Beautiful yet scary yet thought provoking?

I'm all up for culture! Always!! But in weddings, it perplexes me to watch cultures/traditions carried that I cant help but feel a little uncomfortable with. I cant help but find some traditions quite discriminating.

Like for instance, I noticed in most (all?) of the weddings I've been to, that the bride ALWAYS comes out for the first time as the "shy, bashful bride" . The bride looks at her feet at all costs, and if she forgets and by natural habits(ahh the horror!) starts to bring her head up, her faithful "bride's-maid" is ever ready to push that stubborn head back down. I'm thinking, it's your wedding and you should be able to see all the amazing people that came to your wedding and all those shocked/happy/jealous faces looking at you in your BEAUTIFUL saree. There's no harm in walking with your head looking at your feet, if someone is INDEED that shy, but I'm pretty sure they do it out of culture and tradition. Brides have to be shy. Chances are, you've known your partner for a nice hefty 4 years or more, so who is really EVER THAT shy?

Then there's the main event, that whole process of actually tying the knot! I know there's the washing feet ceremony that both the bride and bridegroom does for each other. And then they wear those cute toe rings for each other and all which is totally cool cause they both do it.

So I'm wondering, why is it that the "thalli" is only worn for the women? And i know older generation of women, think its an absolute CRIME to part with it on a normal day, and ESPECIALLY on an event like weddings or dinner, where ALL the what-the-hell-is-your-name relatives would be there. The "thalli" is displayed very proudly with their beautiful sarees. If a woman doesn't wear her ""thalli", something would just have to be wrong. The gossips and rumours would start.

So since only the girl wears the "thalli" then its only for the girl to give out a message , "I'm someone's wife." But wait wait, the men have their rings, but so do the women, so what is the need of this EXTRA string around someone's neck? And the absolute weird thing of how much importance and power it's given.

In a world so modern, where equality is all we strive for, definitely this tradition should be amended? I know I would feel absolutely weird if someone wear to tie something around my neck and for me to feel proud of it. If at all it should happen, I would wanna have the right to do the same.

And also, with all these snatch-thieves around, and the crime rates increasing, that we still want to wear these chunky pieces of gold chain and walk around. Surely safety must triumph over culture! And even the fact that we choose to wear them, or the rings at all times to show we're married? What exactly is the point? We NEED to show people we're married? Why? What has changed from the day before when you were merely a couple with no document forcing commitment unto your relationship?

So many things that come with marriage. I would think that the only reason sound enough to get married is in fact for security; that in the case of a spouse deceasing, you're not left to fend for yourself or with nothing to fall back on, or or security for future children.

The fact that people only live together after marriage and everything else, is merely just culture and the way each of us choose to see our roles in society. I know it's a big No - No for Indian couples to live together, before they're legally registered or engaged. It's absolutely crazy the social restraints we put on ourselves. If it feels right, do it! I am now living by a new motto : Life's too short, baby! Live it!

Then there's the walking around the fire, three times. The man leads the way, pinky finger in pinky finger with the bride. At no time in this ritual does the woman ever walk in front of the man. Why? After asking around, it makes perfect sense that this just means that the man holds the responsibility of taking care of the woman, leading in life; leading them in life, and being the leader in general maybe? Only once, i watched the girl taking over the man in the last round around the fire (watch: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam *sappy movie that i absolutely LOVE with all its ridiculousness, forgiven because of its songs and the colours!*) just to tell her lover that the reason of this act is to die first, before him, the pain of living without him would be too much. That was the meaning of the last round. A sweet gesture but WTH? Is that the only thing we're allowed to "lead" in? I would be totally fine with my lover leading there. =)

So maybe, the women could also go three times around the fire, with them leading the way the next time.

I guess it would be a huge HuHa if someone were to alter these things, but everything starts with a first right? Cultures have been amended so many times before. We don't burn ourselves to prove our innocence or purity anymore as Sita did. We don't expect the women to have a full meal prepared on shiny silver platters for the hardworking husbands anymore or for the women to only belong in the kitchen and no where else. So traditions and cultures can be amended! as it should! All we need is a liberal/radical priest, a bridegroom up for a change and a hall full of people ready to be taken on an eye-opening journey! (*reasons provided on a projector screen)

Weddings are beautiful if someone does want to go through it. A small nice wedding ceremony joined by the utmost important people you KNOW are genuinely happy to see you getting married and not just waiting to run to that buffet table. Something simple that doesnt dig so deep into your pockets that leave you in debt for the next 10 years, that's remembered solely as the day you shoved your love down their throats!

Comparing Grief

2009-05-21T15:00:00.003+08:00

It's always heart wrenching when your phone rings in the wee hours of midnight, ALWAYS! Because that could only mean one thing, something really bad or urgent has happened and you're getting THE call. I jump every time the phone rings after 12am, its just not a good feeling.

But the funny thing is, bad news is subjective. Grief is. Anyone who is anyone must admit that we all compare our grief. I most certainly do. It doesn't mean i don't feel bad or sympathise with them, but at some point, everyone must have gone "oohh, things are not THAT bad, there ARE worse things that could happen". And this is almost ALWAYS true.

Someone steals your laptop or handphone, but at least you're OK! Just flip through the daily newspaper and you can see hundreds of things worse off. If all you've lost is money, then really, count your lucky stars and move on! Get two jobs and earn it back.

Surely, having your car stolen, is far less trivial than the people out there who are being abused, raped, murdered ( DEATHS) and people suddenly becoming homeless as we read this. It has to be.

Comparing is never a good thing i guess, but its just funny how I'm pretty sure everyone does. That does not take away the sympathetic values of their concern or anything, but they do, i do.

Big Bad Wolf Books Sale

2009-05-20T00:56:00.002+08:00

I managed to catch the book sale on its last day, and boy was i hoping i went on the first day! There were so many books to pick from that my neck is still hurting from all the looking down.

On the last day though, i reckon all the good titles would have been snatched by some lucky person who got there a lot earlier. I mostly saw things from Jodi Picoult, or books along those lines, Jeffrey Archer and books along those lines.

After going through the whole place, i picked three books i thought worth buying.

Changing Planes - Ursula le Guin, The color purple - Alice Walker and Kafka on the shore - Haruki Murakami.

I need to REALLY catch up on my reading. I've tonnes of books I've not even touched since i bought them during the last sale. And i saw around 3 books i bought for half price (around RM 14) selling at the book fair for RM8. All fiction books were sold for RM8.

There was a lot of non-fiction books too. I don't read non-fiction but thought i might get something for my dad, but i just couldn't pick on that i thought he would like.

People were buying just LOADS of books, everyone had a box they were carrying around, with AT LEAST 20 books or more. Gosh, i really didn't see that many titles there that i would buy but it was just amazing! BOXES of books!

Lots of teenage books too, and children books! Just about every kind of book under the sun.

We gave them our emails so the next time there's a sale in town, I'll try to be there on the first day!

Movies Catch Ups!

2009-05-20T00:22:00.002+08:00

So i finally got around to catching up on my movies!! In cinemas and at home! Movies always have a way of making you feel like you wish you were the person in the movie when you leave the cinema. It's always had that effect on me at least. The amount of weeks i pictured Spider-Man watching the stars with me in a big spider web, aahhh... i probably took it a little too far! But that's probably why all the sad movies, remain un-watched like Boys Don't Cry and all. Most human rights movies are sad movies, I'll probably be bawling my eyes out during the movie and several days after that, and my threshold for sad movies is getting lower by the minute.

Anyway, some of the recent movies i watched :

First up, Star Trek : Me likey! Well for a prequel, it sure as hell is a lot better than the Star Wars prequels. I thought everyone was really good too. And seeing Leonard Nimoy in the movie was a nice pleasant thing.

Sell Out! : Was truly amazed since it was a Malaysian made movie! there were only 6 of us in the cinema, and everyone was laughing continuously! It was really just so funny. And the singing was a pleasant surprise, never thought there would be any.

Tim Burton's old movies : Watched Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Mars Attacks. I love anything and everything Tim Burton has ever directed, just cause. So they were both fun movies to watch to kill some time.

Woody Allen movies : Watched Hannah and her sisters. Liked it! Woody Allen movies are all just so real and funny in sometimes the strangest way. Still have Purple Rose of Cairo and Annie Hall.

I've got a few more movies lined up to watch : Milk, The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road (watched bits of it when i was on my clinical posting), the Reader, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, the Namesake.

Some old ones : My cousin Vinny, a fish called Wanda (watched both before just cant really remember it), the shining.

Tale of Desperaux : I liked it! A little cliche' but was a fun watch. Nothing beats Toy Story though!

I have not watched Slumdog Millionaire. Just not very interested i guess. Don't think its as good as the academy thinks it was. Saw snippets when my betraying family watched it during my exams. Just not dying to watch it, but will eventually just so i can talk more 'smack' about it.

I am absolutely devastated that i did not catch Watchmen in the theater. Just bad timing! And i have yet to watch Wolverine, although everyone(the opinions that matter to me) says its not as good as it should be, still gotta watch it, but it doesn't look like i would get the opportunity too though.

Tonight feels like something light, so might watching another Woody Allen movie. =)

U82 Adventures

2009-05-15T09:31:00.004+08:00

I took the U82 for the first time yesterday, from KL Sentral. It was a very very interesting journey since i had no idea where i was going. The most crucial part about riding the bus is knowing when to ring the bell. I am particularly freaked out about this. The first time i took the bus to college, i called my sister twice just to confirm "Is this where i ring the bell?".

So anyway, i was supposed to meet a friend, and she gave me some vague descriptions of what i would see before ringing the bell. So i thought i would be okay. The bus took the nicest route! It took that highway that I've always thought was the prettiest highway here! Its the one we take to go to Taiping i think, right after the Istana ? It diverges and i think leads to Jalan Duta. I think. Anyway, I loved the route. So i finally got to where i was supposed to go, after MANY calls and misleading descriptions.

This made up for it though, a colourful car like thing in the parking lot that also had Alfa Romeos and Jaguars and Aston Martins. Made us wonder what in the world are these people doing in an apartment? Before we started grumbling about how we wished we were rich!

Post-Its ! Pretty!

My first time in that part of Damansara, Damansara something. And anywhere you go, its customary to visit the nearest mall so we went to a new mall,called Tropicana City Mall or something like that, and they had a book sale!! I'm not sure if all the Carrefours have it but this one did, so we HAD to get a book or two, it was only RM5. I got a book of short stories from authors i've never heard of and a book called "Sardine in Outer Space 2". I couldn't resist! It sounded so funny and inside was just comic strips about adventures of a SARDINE..in OUTER SPACE! LMAO!!(Am hoping to prove my friend wrong of her "It's LAME!" accusations!) So that's excitement number 2!

Collection of Short Stories

Sardine in Outer Space 2

Then i decided since I'm ALREADY out, i might as wel not go home =D So I paid my cousins a visit and stayed the night in Ampang, ALSO after many calls and planning! People are so busy nowadays, whatever happened to just dropping in and staying the night? But as always it was just the laugh fix i needed. And i would only be mentioning it here if i had something to share...and i do. I learnt something new, the magical effects of Brasso!

My aunt went on and on about how it shines ANYTHING! Mostly silver stuff. And she was on a Brasso frenzy, took out everything silver in the house and started polishing it apparently to test if it actually works. And it DOES!! I've got tonnes of stuff i need to get Brasso-ed! So I'm making my way to a hardware store today to get some. Not very sure it's called Brasso though, my aunt has been known to pronounce words funnily but shall try.

The gross cotton after polishing with Brasso.

Top : After(Shiny!!) Bottom : Before

OH and my travelling was RM2 cheaper because some kind girl in KL Central said " Are you waiting for this bus? You can take my ticket cause I'm not using it anymore." So Yay!

And i met a fellow Beatles enthusiast on the way from the train station. Did not appreciate the remixed version of EVERY Beatles song though. Rappers were rapping weird rhymes in between Imagine and Let It Be. RAP? Urgh!I protested against the cruel defamation of a beautiful song, then we reverted back to the original, just the way it was. Nice ride home!

It was a very very nice day to travel but today i'm probably going to spend in bed. =)

Quote/Joke of the day :

(on the phone)"Stop the BUS NOW NOW!!" "What??! Stop the bus NOW NOOOWWW?" *everyone in bus turns to look even the bus driver through his rear view morror"

"I'm in Desa Kiara" "Ohhh Desa Kiara, say lah earlier, i thought the Dog, Kiara!" (WTH?!)

"How do u spell Brasso?" "B-A-S-S" (ROTFLMAO!)

PITTT:
A chinese woman who was positively pissed that she HAD to sit between two big men. I think she was expecting one of the men to exchange seats with her because he was sitting beside a girl wearing the Hijab (it covered a part of her face too). He didnt though, seemed to chirpy and engrossed in a conversation with his friend to notice. She got up and took my seat as soon as i got down in Central. Hope she went home feeling okay though, they really seemed like nice men to be sitting in between. LOL!

There is only Pepper ~

2009-05-10T19:55:00.006+08:00

So where did i stop? Right, being DEAD wrong.

Pets, i think are a valid measure for potential parenthood! We've all seen the number of irresponsible jerks that call themselves parents around here, and if you CANT take care of a pet, then you most definitely CANT be a parent. So don't bother, and rid the world of your uselessness.

Pepper is in every sense of the word, a child.

She's probably MORE dependent than a child would be, because children grow up. They learn to speak, learn to walk, learn to work and start doing things. Pets are always just children. They're that same little bundle of joy you knew 8 or 10 years ago with the EXACT dependency level. They don't demand, don't ask you to take them out for dinner, or ask to borrow your car, or anything! Everything you do, is just perfect! Dogs NEVER think you're the bad guy, never run into rooms and lock themselves up. They're just there all the time.

And Pepper has changed or lives in ways we never thought possible. Well mine at least. Right now, my entire world revolves around her and the things she does. And to know someONE the way you know your dog, with every inch of detail, it is truly the most amazing bond you will ever have. People might feel this way about cats or fish or any pet for that matter. But that bond....is something that you would have never thought possible till you actually have a pet.

Getting to know Pepper is like getting to know the other half of me. And in the 2 years that we have been together, its amazing how much i already know. I'm not sure if i even know that much about my human sister =P

Getting her house-trained was a difficult time for us all. Piss and poop all over the hall! But after a few months, she got the hang of it and now is an absolute darling when it comes to Potty matters!

She's still the most stubborn one in the house though. When she was younger, she hadn't gotten used to the idea of being left alone in the house when we went to work or school so she'd target ANYTHING she could reach(usually paper) and just rip it to pieces!! When we got home, there would be paper all over the hall, once a few pages from my Maths STPM book was all over the house. and ONCE, my Swatch watch(birthday gift from my sister and navin) was in her mouth, and the crack on the glass is still there. I love it too much to get rid of it, and the dumb Swatch people don't sell a replacement glass thingy so...that was the angriest i have ever been with her. I remember just scolding her, then ignoring her the whole day, which meant no hello, and no manja-ing when i came in through the door and just no nothing the whole day. She followed me around the whole day, occasionally barking at me and even waited outside the bathroom door when i took a shower! I OF COURSE didn't even last till the end of the day and caved right after that, and felt just so guilty! And I was to blame for leaving my watch on the telephone table (that was the consensus in the house).

And getting to know every single quirk she has has just been GREAT! But boy does she have many! Like, just MENTION the word CAT, and she could be sound asleep but would still manage a half awake bark in between, even though no intention of ACTUALLY seeing the cat would ever on her mind. Same goes for the word "Shoo!" and if anyone so much as ATTEMPT to look out the sliding door, she barks!! LOL. It's the most fascinating thing, and i admit i VERY OFTEN use this as a stress-reliever and just to get on her nerves!

OH and getting on her nerves! Ahh the most rewarding thing. I make it a personal mission to find as many things possible that would make her TICK! and I've already got a list, a very fun list! This comes in handy when I'm just over excited over something(which is quite often) or just going crazy from the tedious studying and need a break! She's such an easy dog to get excited or just be crazy with me. This list would be a very long one, too long for any blog. But sometimes she gets so irritated, that she gives out this "Hmmpphh!" and just lies on the floor like "ahhh, just do what you will to me and bugger off and let me enjoy my sleep!" LOL

And companionship. Pepper is a snuggle machine. I came back utterly DEPRESSED when i thought i made a careless mistake in an exam about a month back, and was convinced i was going to flunk it, and when i got home all i wanted to do was lie on the floor and snuggle with Pepper. She would lick your face off if you snuggled, and that was exactly what i needed.

She is ALWAYS excited to see anyone come back from work, school or college. Even if you only leave for 10 or 20 minutes, she still comes to the gate and make weird howling noises and jumps on you till you are down on your knees and scratch her behind the ears or her back or let her lick your face.

Who does that? Who jumps aways from whatever they're doing just to greet you? And misses you even when you've only been gone for 10minutes? And understands when you're sad or down and just need a nice pal to come rest her head next to yours. And just LOVES you with every fibre of her being.Pepper.

She saved us in dire times, and she still is. Every moment of every day.

***The pictures are always blurred or shaky cause Pepper ain't a dog that sits still. Ever!***

Radio is Crap

2009-05-08T23:02:00.003+08:00

The only time i find myself listening to the radio is when i take the train and bus to college. I would give it up all together if only i remembered to keep changing the play list in my phone!

Today on HitzFM, the DJs asked people to call in to talk about their obsession with their friends MOM! FOR...MOTHERS DAY! EEK! and for mothers day? What the hell is wrong with them? This boy called in going on and on about his best friend's Mom and how "HOT" she was. Then they called up the best friend to tell him what his BEST FRIEND thinks, and then asked him "does you mom work out?".

It's just one of those things that we picked up from the movies i guess. Hot Moms are so in this season! Not that mom can't be HOT but to say HOT in such a way is just WRONG! Sounds so sexual...

HitzFM like every other radio station, plays the same songs over and over and over again and i know they have an obsession with anything Akon! *pukes*

FlyFM also repeats every single song, and only the new pop trendy ones.

RedFM is nice for the talking, at least when Will and Shaz were on in the mornings. A lot of talking but at least its a more intellectual than the rest. Nice songs too.

BFM has nice music! Its not a channel for music though i think, lots of interviews with CEOs and General Managers of all kinds of business, though sometimes interesting people come on. Lol but i do remember listening to a whole hour or so (couldn't get my phone out my pocket in the packed KTM) to the CEO of Mercedes Benz Switzerland or something, going on about safety and their marketing plans for the future...kept laughing to myself.

MixFM, i don't really listen to. Except when Preya is on, or asks me to listen.=P

Light&Easy very old and slow and soft songs nice at night when you want to sleep in the car!

MinnalFM A lot of talking too. Its like HitzFM in Tamil. And the gatal kepak songs i actually like are hardly on.

People In Train Today(PITT):

Sat beside an Indian girl, that was resting her head against the window the whole time, and had her songs on speaker!!! And she kept playing the same two emo Tamil songs over and over. And kept doing that clicking sound with her lips and was just REALLY into the song but DONT IMPOSE your songs on everyone else woman!! My Prince's 7 kept mixing with her emo Tamil songs, and it just spoilt the whole mood! She NEEDS headphones!!

Pepper~

2009-05-07T20:40:00.005+08:00

This i HAVE to blog about! Its one of the few things in life i have absolutely no regrets of, and well I've also been telling everyone that i would blog about it but i NEVER do. So here goes..

I remember when we first got pepper! IT was a rather rash sudden decision. My sister just finished her degree, sat for her last paper and her boyfriend had this crazy idea of getting her a puppy! Since he was already a DOG person, i guess he wanted everyone else to be too. And well, we HAVE had "the talk", dog or no dog?

Anyway, this little mini schnauzer caught our eye in a pet shop near Petaling Street. I was terrified of dogs then! ABSOLUTELY terrified. But i tagged along and my gosh, i remember when they took her out of the kennel thingy and put her into this large metal basket thing so we could play with her. It was love at first sight.

She was the most hyperactive dog I had ever seen. When we hid behind the shelves of the pet shop, she'd yelp and bark and stick her head out to the side waiting for us to come back! So it was no surprise that we ended up bringing her back home, a new addition to our family.

It was about time too i guess. The house was getting too lonely and depressing and well we all needed a distraction and what a distraction she was. I remember already having a name picked out ages ago, Pepper would be the name for ANY dog...unisex, and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper incorporated! We found out that her colour was ALSO salt and pepper! So perfect....!

Carrying her in a that cardboard box from the pet shop to the car, was the hardest thing i did. I was so terrified that she would jump out and start gnawing at my face so i kept the box at such a distance. Just lucky me that there weren't many cars on the road so late at night!

Then she was home! Everyone was there. Parents and aunty and cousins. All so anxiously waiting for her. And ooohhh, she was as tiny as a rat i swear!! As soon as she was free in the house, she started running everywhere her tiny paws could take her and we all just sat there and stared in awe. My parents never thought my sister would SERIOUSLY bring back a puppy. But all that talk got lost as soon as they actually SAW Pepper.

I still gushed from a distance, and did not want to get into her laps-around-the-hall course. It stayed that way for a while. I was always so cautious when i got near her. Cause immediately after that phase, her teething phase started. She would nibble on anything and everything she could get into her mouth. Oh the hours she spent lying on her back nibbling on the edges of the sofa! And if you stuck your finger close to her face, you know she's going to get to that too. And i had no intention of letting that happen!

I was utterly depressed when i thought of the fact that i could not muster myself out of this fear. And there came a point when i just started accepting the fact that i was going to be those people that are never really close to their dogs or shared this "bond" i read about so much.

But my oh my, am i happy that i was DEAD wrong! =P

Fair must be lovely?

2009-05-05T23:56:00.003+08:00

I've always hated those commercials where the girl HAS to look a lot fairer just so that cute guy notices her. And one commercial has ALWAYS stuck in my head, Fair&Lovely! Absolutely ridiculous.

The whole commercial revolves around this made-dark girl being depressed because a guy doesn't notice her then suddenly her world becomes happy and sunny when she uses this product that made her as fair as she can be in 6 weeks? BECAUSE the guy FINALLY notices her! Yeah right, like us girls have nothing better to do then sit around waiting for a guy that may or may not notice us based on how fair we are?

The good news is i don't think they still run that commercial here in Malaysia but i remember the time when they did. And i also remember a very young friend of mine being so so so influenced by it, that she used it day and night and absolutely HATED anything dark, and thought no beauty could come from someone dark. It's a sad world when commercials can actually teach young girls to think that.

And a lot of F&L commercials are actually shot in India. Makes perfect sense i suppose since we are the most naturally inclined in having dark skinned girls amongst us. But why in the first place, or how did being dark be misconstrued into being a bad thing i never will know.

I certainly can name so many influential people who are dark, singers, actresses, activists, political figures, leaders.

But the troubling thing is when you "youtube" fair and lovely, you'll find so many Indian versions. I know a lot of Indians that think fair so very very well means you're the prettiest thing their eyes have ever seen. I know Chinese who think it's just plain wrong to be dark when you're a Chinese! Malays...not that much. But these are just based on the people I'm surrounded with.

Young girls everywhere should start feeling AMAZING enough about themselves to NOT associate themselves with the amount of skin care products applied on their faces. Being dark is OKAY because at the end of the day it only comes down the decisions and actions we've taken in life. If Tracy Chapman can go on to write politically conscious songs, then so can we all! If Oprah Winfrey can be the richest woman in the world, then so can we all! If Alice Walker can fight for women rights' then so can we all!!

A few links :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-9tcXpW1DE&feature=related
As if she was NOT pretty when she was dark?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIUQ5hbRHXk&feature=related
Yes, cause NO dark news casters/reporters/VJs EVER exist!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxt7XndHfqE&feature=related
Okay, shes not even THAT dark to begin with, and she's dying for a guy to notice her in a temple?

And all three of them...HAS to have a guy inserted somewhere in the commercial to finally NOTICE us women!

WE are so above these!

And They Call It Puppy Love...

2009-05-04T10:41:00.004+08:00

Oh I was bound to blog about it someday. It probably happens to every girl!

I can vaguely remember my last crush. 12 or 13 i think. But i cant remember it being NICE or a bed full of roses. All i got from crushes, were that they were horrible feelings that left you confused and obsessed and distracted! You constantly find yourself thinking of this boy, with his perfect hair and perfect dress sense. And you've got a test tomorrow but all you see when you open the book is his face and the day-dream of him talking to you in school tomorrow. Cliche i know, but its absolutely true!

And at that moment, everything in the world seems to ride on this one boy. THE boy. You find yourself happy when you're in school (though not actually talking to him) and depressed when you're at home! Every thought you have involves a swing and a big house and marital bliss!(not sure bout this part.) And you become incapable of doing anything! I bet if a survey was done, the reason some girls were the poor achievers in class, would be crushes.

I cant imagine the world being a nice nice place for a 13 year old girl who has a huge crush on the smartest boy in class or the first boy that said "hi!" to her in that awkward stage with the hormones and acne and all that.

And people don't make it any easier too i bet. The constant teasing and the laughing, that makes you blush and do the most ridiculous things to get his attention. Gosh, crushes are horrible!

Guys maybe have it easier? All the guys I've known to have crushes, either go up to the girl and make it known or very easily do those ridiculous things without a moments thought to it. Life might be a lot easier that way. Girls just don't naturally make the first move, and when they do, then they're desperate and cheap! So life's tough, especially when you have a crush?

I bet people much older have crushes too, but i think when you're older, you very easily just go up to the guy and ask him out. I'm not very sure if that's common too. There's the "ohh..what if he says no?" and "What if he says no, and i have to see him tomorrow at work?". Guys might be a lot better at rejection(since they do the "asking out" more often) cause I'm sure those question run through their minds too, but are probably dismissed a lot quicker at the prospect of a possible dinner.

I'm not sure if I'll ever ask a guy out. I might. But urgh , the pre- rejection questions! a NO would be the most horrible blow to my ego, i don't think i could recover! And then to see him and be all nice and curtsy? What could be a more torturous punishment! If in the event of a NO! the only thing i would want to happen is extinction, either his or mine from each other. That's something i should probably work on though, GIRLS should start asking guys out! And I'm going to work on that from now.....and who knows, maybe soon it shall happen? ;-P

Train made Interesting

2009-05-02T18:00:00.002+08:00

The people I've met so far on the train, whom in their own ways have at least stopped me from dozing off and missing my stop :

A refugee from Sri Lanka that i tried so very hard to speak in Tamil to and DID, and learnt quite a lot from. I bet he was secretly wishing he never asked me how much a cab to Bangi would cost cause i wanted to know so much but just had all the trouble in the world finding words in Tamil to relay...i ended up making really lame gestures and signals and got the message across. He had a very different Tamil slang but i understood it almost perfectly =) HATERS: BOO!

A TNB/Telekom guy that had this weird habit of taking off his shoes and putting his feet (with socks!) on the seat in front of us. I learnt how the telekom business was blossoming and nothing comes without hard work. The weird thing was, that he didn't move to the vacant seat but instead placed his bag there. Most people would move, cause you'd rather have no one beside you for the added space, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise? To imagine his feet next to me? Eeekk!! He shook my hand before i got down in Kajang, (a first!)

A young boy from Kedah? that just could not stop talking, or just wouldn't! And admitted it to everyone on the train when he spoke so loudly about where he's from and that he's not shy to speak to girls and made that very clear in asking this one particular attractive Malay girl where she worked and how she gets there and what she does and woahh a whole lot more of question ...bordering on STALKER type questions! But the whole coach, no one slept! i noticed! He was so loud , i could hear him over Led Zeppelin , and that's a rarity! But good for him, for being so secure with the amplitude and the convictions of his questions! I don't think he was a stalker, just a VERY curious traveller....first time in KL!

A law student that was headed to Nilai, that said "you don't look like a UKM student" when she correctly guessed where i was headed! As if UKM students don't wear shorts? lol, but it made a good story for a couple of months. She offered me tissue paper, and to the new mother that was running out of it for her VERY drool-ly kid! We kept gushing over the cute kid and then talking universities and studies.

Oh and all the long-lost friends I've met! YAY! I've met people I've not seen since primary school sometimes! And people I've seen way too often, hehe..the KTM is a good good way to keep in touch.

And riding the 7.21am train everyday naturally makes some people more recognisable than the rest. Like there's this one guy that always wears a grey long sleeved shirt with black pants, always with his white pair of ear phones. His shirt might be a dark blue on some days, i only remember the grey though. He must be a hard worker, cause he looks absolutely exhausted every time he gets into the train.

Then there's the aunty that's always trying to find the right place to stand so she's right in front of the door. And always in a conundrum when the express train comes first. Seem to always think that the KTM people are going to change the stops and on some days its not going to stop at Sentral.

ohh and that guy that seemed to be annoyed at every girl he looked at. something against us higher beings i suppose. Or just broken hearted.

More to come I'm sure...and i cant wait!

LRT Folk, KTM Folk

2009-05-02T16:37:00.002+08:00

Recently, i've not only been taking the KTM, but also the LRT! I've grown so attached to the KTM that every time i step into the LRT, i feel like a lying conniving cheat, so i make up funny little excuses in my mind to justify the act.

Most of the time its "I've got exams! i HAVE to be there on time..." or "my friends are waiting..i cant get there any later!" and they usually work in making me feel better. I guess this must be the sort of thing curang people say to themselves just before entering that hotel room "ooohh it'll make me appreciate her/him more..." "ohh its just a one night thing, I'll go back HAPPY for once and that cant be bad for the both of us...".

Well anyway, taking the train almost everyday, i couldn't help but realise that riding the LRT was in so many ways different than riding the KTM. The main difference being...the people!

Now, i love KTM folk as much as i can possibly love them. They've made my travel logs so so much more interesting and just have been the best entertainment on boring days! But...on certain days, KTM folk get cranky as any old partner does, they don't smile at you, push you to your edge, and just irritate the living daylights out of you! Now, its usually on these days that i tend to appreciate the LRT folk a lot better.

LRT folk generally, are a lot more courteous and smell better! Generally. Everyone smells bad though on Sunday evenings from KLCC or KL Sentral.

Reason : But generally...on working mornings. I guess people that work in KL use more perfume? Or...it could be that they travel a very short distance, so the perfume tends to last! Perfume from Kajang to Sentral on the 7.21am train will last you about 10mins till Serdang station when the REAL crowd rushes in. Then you'll be lucky to catch a breath!

Courteous .

Reason : And the other day i was in the LRT, this lady saved a girl from staining her perfect off white slacks by telling her the seat she was about to sit on was wet! This gesture alone made me smile the whole way, and made me a more annoying optimist than i already am. People are nice! People don't do that enough and they should. The girl kept thanking the lady repeatedly and all was well. Ahh...its amazing when two strangers suddenly seem to have all the care in the world for each other over a wet seat! The most amazing feeling!

Also because the stops are a lot nearer to each other, people tend to standing most of the time so you NEVER see an old man/woman, pregnant woman, kid that's standing!

This (^) you will never see in the KTM, or at least i have not. No one cares if you seat on a wet seat or a stained one, everyone is just too damn cranky!

Reason : They've waited too long for the train, tried too hard to get on the train then tried too hard to not fall in the train and bear the constant shoving and nudging of everyone around them!

And because the stops are lights years away and the train moves at an incredibly tortoise speed when its packed with people, people get a lot more possessive over their seats! They see someone old/pregnant, they either look the other way hoping no one noticed that they noticed, or pretend to be sleeping(most common). Some are pretty good pretenders, to the extent of the open drooling mouths...they must really love that seat to bear public humiliation.

Whatever the reason, its plain ridiculous!

Although, KTM folk are much better talkers than LRT folk.

Reason : LRT folk are like those people you see in New York or Japan that are in a CONSTANT hurry. So they wouldn't want to waste a minute of their precious time talking to YOU! They've got better things on their mind, meetings and being on time...they probably take the train at the nick of time, since its THAT fast.

KTM folk on the other hand, have all the time in the world to get to know you. Where you're from, what you do, where you're headed, your family...and at times of awkward silences : the weather.

Reason : Now this is just an obvious reasoning. With the KTM, you either decide to be REALLY early or you are bound to be REALLY fashionably late to an event. Mostly opt for the former. No one likes being late rite? Unless you're about to meet a bunch of friends who are always late, but that's a different story. And the journey takes easily more than 10 minutes, so theres loads of time to get to know someone.

On my journeys alone, I've met some pretty interesting people: (different post!)

I do enjoy the train with all its moods. Very menopausal. And i enjoy the people! The nice, interesting ones that take an effort of course.

the mean , rude ones should be pushed off the platforms to face the wrath of the KTM/LRT! Muahahhahah.....

Inside the KTM

2009-05-02T00:49:00.003+08:00

I only think its fair i blog about something i know all too well, so the KTM!

If you've been in the KTM, you would have noticed the stained, discoloured seats. Now a BIG BIG thing that's wrong with these seats are in fact more than that, its the SEAT itself! Notice those seats that go all the way over you head? I recently found out (cause its a MIRACLE to get a seat!) that those seats are just so so very uncomfortably painful! Every time i rose from it, i feel my sacrum aching for a much needed massage! And its IMPOSSIBLE to REST your head when you're in that seat! Trust me...

First, I thought it was because i tied my hair, so maybe that was why my head was in a permanent "im too shy to look at you" position, i couldn't get myself to look straight ahead! So i just assumed that it was because of my protruding hair clip.

So...

One day, my hair was untied, but it was still the same!

Those chairs were probably designed for a 6 / 7 feet person cause there is NO WAY to actually let your head REST on them if you were the height of every other average asian! Its absolutely crazy!

Walking out of the train in KL Central, i find myself for the first 3 minutes or so looking only at the shoes of everyone around me.

And the coaches where the doors are really far apart, coaches for SEATING, are made up solely of those seats! Gosh! The ergonomics are just all over the place!

Those metal seats in the LRT are so much more comfortable, at least you wouldn't be dreading that you decided to sit down, and feel too bad to offer the seat to some innocent standing person. Or even the other seats that only go up to your shoulder, would make a much much better solution!

The KTM is so far from being APT even, but the least they could do is to offer the people that have already waited for (most commonly) 30minutes or more( MUCH more) a comfortable seat, or and OKAY-ly comfortable place!

They don't come on time, have stained "back ache giving" seats but they ARE extending their services, the latest i think was to Batu Caves? Just means the longer you wait for trains, and the KTM is bound to be the number 1 reason of back injuries in Malaysia. The seats NEED to go!!

I might be a little paranoid ever since my recent clinical placement, but there are just SO many way bones get misaligned or injured and people are growing older faster , so the least we could do to not hospitalise them into the already over-crowded hospitals is well to be a little health conscious! Back aches are often the MOST common kind of injury, everyone in their lifetime is bound to have a back ache of some sort, and these problems just make up for a more unproductive society, capable of contributing less than they already are.

And metal seats, or half seats ---- cleaner! cheaper for sure!

No more sitting for me, at least on those evil things!

Star Power!

2009-04-23T19:04:00.004+08:00

Anoop has got me blogging !

I knew the day had to come, and it's finally here! But at least he didn't stink like that Sanjaya guy when he went out!

But no no, i've got a lot of people to prove WRONG , that i'm not only all about STAR POWER!

But so what if i am? If people are going to be on E! or in a major motion picture, they had BETTER make a difference! Isnt that the whole point? And so what if Pamela Anderson got a 15 year old conform to the ways of a vegan and jump on cars to stop cruelty against animals? With the amount of money they're getting off people that watch their sex tapes or True Hollywood Story, at least they're giving back?

Or Alanis Morrissete and Carly Simon has thought an 18 year old girl the best way to get back at a cheating ex-boyfriend and gave us girls those wonderful songs to shove in their faces!

Or OR OR....to start a revolution from your bed? (= P)

So yeah, star power does get to me! But it certainly doesn't make my intentions any less real...

Uniformity

2009-03-11T21:32:00.004+08:00

The whole idea of uniforms, well it never really bugged me a lot, not in the past and as i found out, not now.

We recently got our uniforms, to be worned everyday to college. Now the only part of that statement that actually bothered me was the ," im supposed to wash that pair of uniform EVERYDAY??" We only got a pair.

It was a tad bit UGLI but somehow the idea of uniformity seems okay to me. Its another day i dont have to think what to wear to college. Hate those mornings when you have to carefully calculate how long of a t-shirt you can wear that day cause there would be a practical class but then i'm meeting my friends in Mid Valley so THAT tee wont do, and this is too short and this doesnt have any sleeves!

But it has probably saved a lot of time when it came to presents! You could tell what looks fab on them and what made them go yuck!

Something very Marxism about uniformity that makes me like it. The illusion of equality. I do appreciate the freedom of expression and not going by the rules, but strangely when it comes down to uniforms, it doesn't make me want to hold up a picket sign screaming for it to stop!

Idol

2009-03-11T20:40:00.004+08:00

Reality TV might be just about the most shallow thing aired, but i cant help it. However dumb they can be, i have to say I'm glued to the TV when they're on(as if I'm not USUALLY) , well some of course. (even with the back-handed comments from mua) and knowing well enough that singers like Ella Fitzgerald etc would have not won American Idol, Idol is one show that i have to admit that i do follow.

So American Idol is back, and the rockers are usually the ones that get my NOT ONLY-APPLICABLE-IN-THE-US vote! But this year.....ANOOP DOG!! Its amazingly rare to see an Indian on the show, well Sanjaya i think was the last i remember, and we all know what a travesty that was, uurgghh! But Anoop Desai might just be the one to turn that around!

This week however was bad for anoop! =C He's definitely not the BEST singer in the competition but he's pretty good. Very bad choice of song with Beat It though, oohhhh and others I'm routing for is that rocker-Broadway-musical-performer Adam Lambart, and Mary J. Blige almost Lil' Rounds(coolness of a name!) and the so sweet always-with-a-picture-of-his-wife Danny Gokey.

Jasmine (what is it with jasmineS and this competitions? Read : Jasmine with the flower in her hair) is probably not as good as most of the other contestants in the competition. And i don't really see that special SOLIDness the judges see in Matt, at least not this week.

But anyway, I'm pretty sure Anoop is not going to make it to the very last round or the few rounds before that, but i hope he stays in at least till i get bored of his whole quirky cool attitude!

Junkie

2009-02-02T12:12:00.011+08:00

I'm a "statement" junkie! There ..I've said it, admitting it is the first sign of getting over it right? anything that comes close to having words like (the above) portrayed ANYWHERE, be in a t-shirt , at the back of pants..I'd want to have it! but seriously though, WHY don't more people wear capes?? Life would be a LOT more interesting i tell you, EVERYTHING impossibly possible only happens to people with capes, Superheroes!

I'm currently on a mission to only buy t-shirts with statements on it, or posters! Still looking for a poster to put on my room door, has to be something different. -no bands, movie actors- Something different. But statement posters are even harder to find! So that's another one of my on-going missions.

The DREAM would be an IMAGINE poster...something like this:

But i know for a fact, that i wont be able to get THIS , not here anywhere, so the quest continues! Idea : bug my friends overseas to get me a weird poster in French or something ....hmm !

Some have even been the inspiration for interesting articles and debates or rather NEW debates:

And the ultimate, undeniably true, perfect artwork :

Muaahhhhahhahahhahahahah....................!!!

Movie Rave

2009-01-31T19:59:00.002+08:00

I can hardly remember the last time i actually dragged my ass to the cinema for a movie, but its vaguely coming back to me now...the spirit i think was my last,oh no no the day the earth stood still, now that's a story.

The Spirit

I read this HORRIBLE review in the star the other day about it, gosh, it was merciless. The reviewer liked NOTHING about it. I wouldn't say it was as nice as the other Frank Miller movies I've watched, Sin City and 300 but i definitely didn't HATE it. It did deserve some compliments. All the things the review said, "how unfunny Samuel L.Jackson was" "the tedious monologue" and "the weird effects" well i think was all purposefully done. I think it was MEANT to be unfunny, that was blatantly obvious to everyone. And the monologue, i liked! Very weird how the city was described to be his "superpower" . And then the effects, with the "kapppoowww" and "banngg" in those little white speech bubbles, made it look SOOO comic-y! Again i think it was all intended. There are very few comic movies i did not see on the big screen, DareDevil (think the idea of Ben affleck as the lead kinda put me off) but watched it later, Ghost Rider , sure there is at least one more, can't seem to remember...but yeah...overall, I'm glad i watched the spirit though and liked it! Just gonna take it as an interpretation of an eccentric genius!

The Day the Earth Stood Still

I've never liked Keanu Reeves in anything OTHER THAN the matrix, that expressionless face of his. Gosh ! But this movie was just simply BAD! The beginning actually made us doze off a lil' here and there, it was SO draggy and just SLOOWWW, i looking at my watch waiting for it to END! And how the whole thing unravelled was even worse....came to a PREDICTABLE end, an EASY end..!and all the sentimental moments in between seemed totally unnecessary! But BUT i did like one part VERY MUCH...the part of that HUGE robot -like thing with only one red eye that gets activated when it senses danger, now that was nice! I liked it especially when it was captured and that idiotic guy everyone knew was going to die somehow, wanted to drill through it. That was cool. The only part that was cool.

KTM Chronicles

2009-01-20T16:57:00.006+08:00

I've gotten accustomed to my Monday-Friday routine. Sure, nothing i-see-a-flying-pig incidents ever happen ALL days but the most mundane part of my day has to be my ktm and bus rides. If I'm lucky they'll pass in a flash, with my bobbing head filled with sleepiness. Put me in a car, in a train, in a bus,if I've been lucky enough to win a seat, chances are i wouldn't be awake much longer. I TRY to keep reading my book but at some point of my one hour (good days!) journey , i place the bookmark and give in. The worst part is when you're jolted awake now and then, and getting back to sleep is not very easy. I'm not known to be a "gracious" sleep-er, couldn't care less where my legs or hands end up in the morning or that my bed sheet is always on the floor in the mornings and at least one pillow, i had a good night's sleep and that's that! public places though have a way of making you a little more conscious(damn you!) so I've realised that a few things work to suppress the not-so-gracious me and bring out a more "cuppa-tea?" person and maybe just maybe some of the people out there might be able to relate to this:

1) Telling yourself repeatedly to always ALWAYS keep your mouth closed. Drooling has got the be the biggest embarrassment ever, and worse still drooling onto someones shoulder? Not good! Drool on your own time baby!!(i know i do!!) Works the same if I tell myself repeatedly to wake up at 6am, I'm up on the dot! Realised that when i don't, i don't hear my phone alarm and am only awake when my dad starts calling me, my mom turning on my room light and my sister being forced to turn off my phone alarm (lying an inch away from my face), yeah they're a force alright!

2) Fight for the seat that's right at the back or right beside the glass barrier, so your head's not just bobbing all around and onto peoples' shoulders.

3) If the seats are taken, always positioning yourself between two equally sleepy people, so your sleepiness or head bobbing does not become notice-able.

4) If no two sleepy people are seen, always rest your head on your hand or completely facing your lap. (if hair is loosely left to partially cover the face or the sides, that would not be so bad too!)

Then if all of the above fails, try your VERY best to stay awake! These work for me :

1) Start taking sips of water as soon as that wave of drowsiness hits you like a tennis ball on your head. (works wonders in class**)

2) Look around to see if you can make out anything interesting from the people around you. The slightest thing will do, like a tear in a seat. Or , these are the better ones, a PDA obsessed couple , a feuding couple, or just feuding people, loud telephone conversations, etc etc.

I've almost seen and heard all of it, but recently on a VERY VERY sleepy day, I walked into the train and through my "Purple Rain" , i hear sobs? Now everyone who knows me probably knows that i like a good story (Read: DRAMA) whenever i can get some. But when routine comes along there's not much of THAT going on. Recently i was talking to a friend i haven't spoken to in ages and the only exciting thing i could say about my life was that i got a haircut...wait.....1 month ago!!So when a nice little juicy story comes along , I'm all ears!

So i turned to look obviously as any natural person would do, and there they were, my 30 minute entertainment of the day. A feuding couple.

My seat was right in front of them, and it was the most bizarre thing because never have i seen anything like that on the TRAIN! Of course it was none of my concern but who would not look when a pretty little thing like her was wiping her eyes and nose with tissues and a macho handsome guy like him sat right next to her and was sms-ing of all things. My mak-kepo instincts suddenly reached a new high and i NEEDED to know something, anything!

For a very long time they just sat there, doing exactly what they were doing when i first walked into the train, everyone on THIS side of the train definitely glanced a couple of times just to make sure he was not secretly holding a knife to her back or something. Then after seputeh i started to give up hope, to give in to my sleepiness, like every other day. Then just as I was about to chant my "closed mouth, drool-free mouth" mantra,... something.

The girl began speaking, she's lucky she doesn't have a throat like mine ,her voice could hardly be heard so a little privacy was maintained. It didn't really matter though, just the idea that these two people were there discussing its-the-end-of-the-world issues in the train in front of me, was good enough. Everyone must have been trying to listen to, what else is there to do? The guy next to them really didn't mind even if they noticed him starting at the both of them.

She says, " How do you know? I never did that. She just told you that....(drowned by the sound of the train)....." Then he looks at her finally and says , "Ok fine, but you tell me now (voiced a little raised now) that you didn't tell him u were there? Promise on your parents and tell me now.." She very badly avoided the question, clearly showing she did indeed told whoever it was wherever she was. He just gave this cold smirk and went back to his phone. She stopped talking a little while and her sobbing got a little louder. Then, after a while of silence, she suddenly burst out saying "u tell me lah who you don't like, you don't like ravin, you don't like him, everyone also you don't like" ..then again silence because i THINK i THINK he might have said "i don't like you?" to be mean, or something because she stopped talking and started sobbing again then started meddling with her phone till my stop came and i got off the train.

So some of my thoughts were (this is my favourite part) :

1) She was at a bar or club (there was brief mention of that) and she told this guy that the bf doesn't like (thus wants her not to like or have any sort of connection with ) and the guys pretty upset about it.

2) Stop that sobbing sister! He's angry at you, have some pride and get angry back!!You're crying for actually telling a person your whereabouts because your bf doesn't like him?

3) Guy, making her cry on the train, seriously? Any other place in the world to discuss it would have been better. Guys you don't like are not necessarily serial murderers she has to stay away from.

4) If they made up, they would have beautiful children.

5)If all fails, they would have no problem getting back on the horse.

Useless, but it did the job i didn't fall asleep and had a story to last me at least a month or two. Unless my friends read this and it spoils a good late-night mamak session.

Boredom

2009-01-10T17:35:00.000+08:00

So i KNOW i'm bored when....

1 ) All i can think of is what do i fill in in the "what are u doing now?" tab in facebook.

2) I make up horrible excuses to sneak in a nap

3) I incessantly stare at my "online buddies" in my messenger while appearing offline.

4) I try to think of the most ridiculous thing to do just to avoid studying.

5) I mess with my doggy to see what new things make her tick.

6) I stare at the empty walls in my room deciding which poster of which band belongs in that exact spot.

7) I watch re-runs on TV I've already watched a couple of times.

I've noticed that i get bored pretty a lot, but the WEIRDEST thing is i think i actually enjoy it, I'm starting to think i REALLY am a slob,a sloth? a couch-potato...in the closet? I absolutely like having nothing to do or nowhere to run to...well at least for a few days, then again if it involves an outing with frens I'm always the first on to confirm. But after the going outs and the pointless waste of time, i ALWAYS feel extremely guilty for not using the time to catch up on some things I've been wanting to..impressively enough the guilt never goes away and the outings and "not-studying" time never does too.

Or maybe it's just when it comes to studying, something changed when i left form 5 i think, it's gotten so hard for me to pick up a book and STUDY than ever before! And doing a degree, well i would have to say that that's not a very good thing at all. The constant revision! Gosh...crazy really, guess I'm just not that kinda person? I'd do it of course, but in an absolutely "FORCED TO DO IT" kinda way. I love everything about the whole course though, interesting, practicals and all but to pick up that book and STUDY, gosh...something just goes off in me saying "the heck with that!"

Its scary when i think that maybe i shouldn't really be taking this? but I've wanted to do it for so long, and its baffling how i can remember the lyrics of hundreds of songs but find it impossible as soon as i know its for an exam!

Exams are coming up, lol...figures huh?

New Year New Mistakes

2009-01-09T08:49:00.006+08:00

Wow, so i guess it's been a while! Well, bad habit die hard i suppose, so this is probably going to keep on continuing, updating my blog frequently at one point then very rarely at another.

Anyway...so the new years for me started of quite nicely, with friends and family and loads of dancing!lol, I'll admit that I'm not a very good dancer to start with but heck, who cares? its just pretty amazing to be able to do robot or something even more silly around people you're so comfortable with.

The new place has been OK, miss my old place though, the whole process of changing addresses and urghh...after 20 years tho, i finally have my own room!weird feeling, everything's a lot scarier when you're sleeping all alone....like how huge the windows are conveniently for black masked burglars to break in, or how the night lamp makes the most horrible shadows from under your bed, and how if you turn off your night lamp the room is just too dark and someone might be lurking by your cupboard!I'm a scardy cat..thats pretty obvious by now but seriously i hardly spend time in my room anyway, never been much of a ROOM person..i think the only part of having my own room that i TRULY enjoy is the part where i get to decorate it as i like, weirdness and all...

Its the end of my 3 week break, this week being the last, my break probably contributed a lot to the fact that i didn't update this blog too.too busy meeting up friends..cause amazingly EVERYONE is down, from all around..so the mamak's and bbq's were well endless...the same reason this week the only place I'm allowed to go to all involve the walls of my house! I suppose it's pretty nice just sitting at home relaxing and lazing around and all...don't get to do that much once college starts!

Anyway, so the NEW YEAR...i never did make resolutions SERIOUSLY so i did follow or stick to any, this is when u start missing those more SERIOUS bad habits, like smoking or weed or marijuana or shop-lifting or something...cz all i can think of is " i shall not bite my nails"....

But resolution or no resolution, everyone hopes a new year holds new beginnings new dreams and hopes. I don't know though, don't see why all that can't just happen anywhere else in the year...symbolism i guess? I think my year is about to go on the same as i have always remembered it, ooo with (hopefully) a LOT of 21st birthday party invitations!hehehe...yeah THAT would make my year!

Right then before i sign off, geethanjali has tagged me in something?lol..not really sure how but i suppose I'm gonna answer a series of questions she has....here goes...

1. How much do you spend for clothes per month?
RM 0!i love clothes but I'm a bargainer.. a SERIOUS one!lol so yeah, don't really shop per month, more of a per season!

2. Who is more important to you?Friends or boy/girlfriend?
Friends and girlfriends!lol..hoes before bros baby!!seriously tho, someone I've known fora few months?over someone u;ve known since u were 13?

3. How often do you think about committing suicide?
A healthy amount

4. Do you think you have enough confidence?
Kinda, except maybe when I've been told "not to screw up"

5. How many babies do you want?
lol, wow...er not sure if i can really even handle one, i know i want dogs tho and they're just as hard as babies!hehehe...Pepper is my first, and what a baby she is!

6. Do you believe in seeing a rainbow after the rain?

Er, yes!but it is pretty rare so whenever i see one its still "ooohhh ahhhh" for me but then again i do get fascinated easily.

7. What is your goal for this year?

To survive the year...

8. What kept you of being who you are?

Nothing so far, probably why i;ve been in a number of arguments, esp in FORM 6!!you know who u are....lol

9. What's a perfect girlfriend/boyfriend like to you?(List 10)

oh my...let's see

1. Funny

2. Good sense of humour

3. Witty

4. Out-going

5. Out of the ordinary

6. Brad Pitt's smile

7. Tom Cruise's fame

8. Johnny Depp's style and macho-ness

9. Batman's Batmobile

10. Possesses any suit with a cape....(grrrr!)

10. What are you really afraid of?

Dark places and death...

11. What are your bad habits?

I bite my nails

12. Is there anything you wanna tell the people who hate you?

Life's too short? ohh and i wanna know WHO u people are!just drop me a line k!

13. State a random fact about yourself

its 9.45am and i have not brushed my teeth

14. What does flying means to you?

Flying...birds, cockroaches, dragons!

15. What do you crave for most currently?

some toothpaste on my toothbrush and then a hot cup of Milo

16. Most unexpected gift you received so far and when?

Three packs of glow-in-the dark decor, a boot shaped coin collector, and a pineapple shaped night lamp with 7 different rhythms!!!ehehhehe...woooho, funky baby!.....oh jz before the new year...

17. Describe the person who tagged you.Honestly.

hehehe...crazy!!heheheh..and funny cz i only have memories of laughing whenever I'm with her!oh and darling-obsessed!

18. What have you done to yourself that makes yourself happy?

lol...TO myself?err....i got myself a haircut that I'm pretty happy about!I cleanse, tone and moisturize?hehe

19. What will you become in another 10 years to come?

A superhero....

20. If you can choose how you want to end your life,how would it be?

Ohhh...well see this was one of my fears, so i don't know! The whole point is to NEVER end your life, immortality..!but well heck, um PAINLESS definitely, after everyones dead, umm in Italy or Paris (never been!) by blowing my brains out?lol, hear its painless but well that's from people who haven't actually blown their brains out!ooohh.....MORBID!

Phewww....that was actually kinda fun!so Geethanjali here u go, i only did it cz u tagged me k!ehheeh..flattered!eheeh....

Video Drama

2008-11-26T09:08:00.003+08:00

Its the weirdest feeling in the world seeing yourself in a video or hearing yourself on a recording!( I think i sound like a man on both) Recently i had the chance of experiencing acting in a human rights video, with some really talented actors. The two of us who were just the backdrops of the whole scene really were sooo out of our league. I had ONE line to say, and it was the most nerve-wrecking thing i had to do!lol, there were times when i was so focused on the other actors(they were so good and FUNNY!) that when it came to my cue, i just stood there like an idiot!!lol....it was really just quite different, never have i ever acted! But it was amazing fun! We all took turns on the camera(shooting), the pillow-throwing!!, the mic holding and the time score writing....to think that so much goes into such a short production!gosh, and after the master scene(taking the scene on the whole with everyone int he frame), there was the close-ups, at one point they even did a close-up on our hands!!hehehehe, that was the most conscious I've felt of my hands, i made sure i positioned my watch so the crack on the glass would not show and the nicer, brighter part of my strap was facing the camera!(it looked great int he brief time our hands were shown int he video) then the editing! After being edited and all that, very little of our hands were there, but a friend of mine impressively clearly saw that brief part...so that worked out good! I think we were there from 7pm to about 12am...shooting and cleaning up after and setting it up and all.

Actors, people in the arts are..interesting. Liberal, about everything and anything, no comments were INAPPROPRIATE or WRONG, everything that came to mind were just said, really quite a breath of fresh air, well if only i was more like THAT. I do say whats on my mind, but errr...half of the things that were on their mind are almost rarely on mine. Mostly, sex or some variation of it. Lol, had a friend that told me "almost everyone in the liberal arts are so sexually liberal, except you geetha" hehehe, it was a different kind of conversation to be apart of. But ti was so much fun working with these professional actors, all so down to earth and with amazing stories. All of them were actors that were involved in more comedic plays, so the video was obviously funny! But yeah, just listening to how it all got started for them and the risks they take in actually pursuing the career. Wow! I probably wouldn't have the guts to do it if i wanted to, without something to fall back to. And well, ONE line in a short video doesn't exactly scream stardom anyway!I hope i get to do it again sometime, one lines!lol...the simplest most rewarding thing in life!

Cringes when watching....

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=35496077751&h=XY3ja&u=lahAH

Jumble Fiesta!

2008-11-18T09:12:00.006+08:00

A good book makes so much of difference! I was reading Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie, and it lasted a whole semester!!to get me to finish it, and the amount of torture i endured from my classmates of holding the same book in my hand. I finally finished it!And it was such a disappointment!urgh seriously....!Now I've finally started a new book (much to the excitement of my classmates) by zadie smith, on beauty..and its amazing how fast I'm making my way through it. ITs only been a few days and already I'm almost halfway through the book!and so far its been so much fun! I dint mind reading my books reeeeaaallllyyy sloooww cause i only get to read it on the bus or train to college. And since i hardly get to sit in the train, well its reduced to the 25minutes ride on the bus. Oooh Hannah has recommended Twilight,so that's something in the future!hehehe

Jumbles Sales!hehehe...never knew i loved them so much till i volunteered at a charity event here on Sunday!It was amazing fun!!the coupons, the shouting, the HEAT, the sweating, the EVERYONE!hehehe, one good thing about being apart of a charity organisation or any organisation for that matter, is that you're apart of this whole big community and everyone knows everyone. In the carnival, i hardly knew some people and i probably would not start such an elaborate conversation with any of them on normal circumstances but there was just something in the air i suppose,everyone spoke like we've known each other for a hundred years!and the "oh no its ok its ok, I'll help you do it!" lol, don't think I'm even that nice at home! (all you haters going : charity starts at HOME!I'm sure..)

So it's a nice feeling i gotta admit, being a part of a charity thing then a human rights thing, just wished i was had a better sense of time-management! It's either I get toooo involved in this and my studies go down the drain or tooo involved in studies(AHHHAAKK!) and this well gets a little backdated!...but right now, tings are going pretty well..business level not at its peak, just moderate..the way i like it, have a REALLY bad feeling things are coming crashing down in a few weeks!just cause I'm liking the world and college(so many days off!) so much right now!

Ohhh, moment of the WEEKEND : Bought a punjabi suit for 3 ringgit, or well 3 coupon money!heheheh...woohoo!!

Bye Bye Happiness

2008-11-10T22:44:00.003+08:00

My finals just ended on Tuesday...and the whole week we've all had to be in college and tomoro, tuesday our new semester starts. Amazingness really.

So i've been trying to make my last day of "holiday" count, and by that i mean lazing around completely COMPLETELY as in wake up really early JUST to laze around,sitting in front of the TV the whole day watching movies and movies only getting up for the loo or food. Urgh im totally disgusting on these days. After this, i've got another movie to watch .

Its just so silly that my new semester is TOMORO!not that i would want to celebrate the end of the last semester(exams were bad) but well it wud just be nice to have a break! I've got load of friends who LIKE that craziness, that business till you dont have time to catch a breath, I am not that person! I need spacee, the more the better...i like getting involved in stuff but at the right time so i get to do it at my own pace and do it well without being rushed or pressured.

So yeah, laziness today and back to being tired and just so class-ed out tomoro. A few friends are back from abroad so that was a nice way to end the day, dinner with friends.

I know absolutely nothing to blog about today.

Realised that i use SO a lot and LIKE a lot and OK a lot,lol..oh and LOL a lot, have an email buddy who notices that too..heheheh..lol..so yeah!..LOL! oh and i rather type tomoro cause without the dictionary in my phone i think i would most likely spell it wrongly.

Oh oh my visiting lecturers that were down here a couple of days ago, said physiotherapist had horrible spelling, now i dont think im HORRIBLE but i can be pretty bad. Wow fact huh?

My sister got the job that she was hoping she would get for her chambering so thats a good thing. Bad thing is my house is cracking into bits and pieces and it gets worse everytime it rains and the developers are claiming not to be liable anymore since it started happening(been an on-going case for so long) after the first 7 liable years.Things are just saddening cause now there's the whole RENTING a new house and leaving our own house well just LEFT, to tumble and fall.The windows are actually slanting to a side and the glass has broken the ceiling is broken a little, the light is hanging on one side. My mom's room is an outdoor room now, cause there's a part of the wall where you can see through it into the street. I would post photos to add to the dramatic effect if i knew how...things dont seem to finish loading here.

Anywho, Pepper has moved in with us, well most nights anyway so it's a constant struggle to keep my room clean. Sweeping under the bed and mopping it ,for her. Impressive how she totally controls our lives , got us all wrapped around her cute little paw.Oh Peppy darling!

MY dog. Thats something i could blog about. Some other time some other post hopefully.

Now..... movie!

Tomoro...College begins!

Jai Guru Deva....Ommm

2008-10-23T12:16:00.009+08:00

The Beatles were obsessed with India. Met the big guns,the gurus and all and sang this song for him ..well till he was accused of molesting a young girl...then they sang another song.

Right so... DEEPAVALI is near!and its probably the best time of year for me. Taiping, food makes you gain 10kgs, new clothes, family. there's absolutely nothing to NOT like about it. One small thing MAYBE would be that its always around exams of some sort. Last year it was STPM,this year its my 1st semester finals....but that doesn't change that it's Deepavali and strictly no books allowed!

So college has started, well for two days before it was back to having a break again.

Tuesday, i realised that i liked travelling on the train these days. Sure it's tiring and takes me almost 2 hours (1hours on GOOD TRAIN DAY) to get to college but it's not that bad. I've actually met quite a number of interesting people. Quite a number of strange people too. and Friends i haven't seen in ages. and "Friends" i DON'T want to ever see =). and Everyday something interesting happens on the train. oohh and KL central is trying the new cue system which is cool once you figure out where to cue. There's red lines and green lines and blue lines and the door always seems to open somewhere in the middle but i suppose its not that bad. Oh ohh and they have a new train-voice "kita telah tiba di stesen seputeh. We are arriving at Seputeh station" . i miss the driver saying it at times though cause when he(havent heard a female driver,hmmm) says it, it's all attitude! you KNOW it's been a GOOD day or a BAD day. and they add in a little pzzaass!I've actually started laughing to a few too. Automated voices, well leave nothing to the imagination.

Wednesday, Deepavali mood made me want to clean up the house a little. (i have to watch my words here in case my sister reads this ) it's amazing what semangat-ness can do. Thanks to it, my house smells like Ajax Fabuloso! I packed for my much much anticipated trip to taiping.

Thursday, my baking day (hopefully!) I try to make it a point to bake at least ONE item every year. Deepavali-ness makes me want to bake. Shockingly, i actually seem to enjoy baking a LOT, more than cooking anyway.. just simply for the fact that things you bake doesn't taste half as bad as things you cook when it goes wrong!heheheh...and that happens a LOT!

Friday. Travel day.

Saturday to Wednesday. TAIPING. There's nothing more serene and calm than Taiping. Everything there is just easy....The lakes, the traffic, the everything! It's always a vacation for all of us when we go back there. All i do is sleep and eat and eat and sleep. Oh i do jog more when I'm there, probably knowing the fact that it wont last long ;-) and places you visit once a year has a way of making you wanna do the impossible, make EVERY minute count! Back here, there's always tomorrow.

Next Week... pre-finals preparation! Eeeeekkk......Week After, finals.

Over Food

2008-10-08T13:07:00.001+08:00

Not only did I get the idea of actually going through with blogging over a nice plate of chapati and chicken curry (DUH the name...taadahh**), but I'm starting to realise that everything GOOD in life, well my life has happened over food.

Outings with friends. Its impossible to get SO MANY important things out there while you're rushing for a movie or looking at a nice pair of jeans. But when we sit down for a meal, gosh we take HOURS to leave the place, even if our plates are getting dry. I can't tell you how many times most of my discussions have happened over some kinda meal. Talking about politics, religion, urgh-ing boys, and just about anything else under the sun.

Weddings. The BEST thing in a wedding for me, is definitely the FOOD, and probably for most of the people i know too. I think couples are actually JUDGED on it sometimes, cause it sure seems like a very big deal in Indian weddings. But it is, FOOD is the reason half of them are even there, i know that's true for me....IF i cant even remember who the people getting married are or if we are even related?

Birthdays. Every birthday, from 12 years old and above, we have always gone out for dinners. Frankly, it seems like the best present i could ever want. What says HAPPY BIRTHDAY more than a hot sizzling plate of sweet sour pork? lol, SERIOUSLY! Of course, i still love the gift getting but with family especially, dinners are always the best.

Celebrations of any kind. After STPM, we got together (cousins and all) and treated ourselves to a fancy dinner, well fancier than our usual MAMAK get-togethers. And the whole night was spent on talks about futures, crappy soon-to-results =P

Relationships. So I have this weird tendency of coming up with really weird "what-if" questions. I find myself knowing more about a person a lot more after like a series of these questions, just something i do. And I've noticed that these "talks" have all happened over food too. Recently, my two friends and i went out for some rojak and cendol, and wooowwweeee we were sitting there for hours and i found out so much about them that i had no idea about. The type of relationships they were looking for, the type of person they were to some extent, and just EVERYTHING. The only time i find it "appropriate" to ask someone about a relationship or a break - up is over some yum-yums. Well unless its someone I'd smack on the head for dating a male-chavounistic-pig!

Feel Good Time. So we've all heard about feel-good food, and I'm a true believer. Through some of my very bad times, low times, i think I've turned to food for comfort. Anything chocolate mostly, ice-cream! and it did make me a feel err "comforted". It did not make me jump out of my chair and do an Ellen - wakakakakah but i felt LOVED. It could be anything and it worked. Lol, that accounts for the two flabby chunk of meat hanging off my legs and ass.

Happy Tours. We went to melaka, on a clinical posting NIGHTMARE but that's a different story. Not that I'm foreign to melaka (got a close aunt there) but I'm probably foreign to the outside-food there. We usually stop by with just enough time for my aunty's amazing cooking. So, when my 3 friends and I were there, our weekends were just spent on EATING! And everyone asked us how melaka was when we got back, and we said, the FOOD was great! A lot of places are defined by its food too. Anyone from anywhere else calls, among the first things i ask them is "how's the food?" Malaysia is a wonderful place, cause of the FOOD! er, only the food?

Doggie Tricks. The only way we house-trained Pepper was by giving her treats every time she did something "good". The only way we thought her to "sit" or "shake hand" was by loading her up with her favourite biscuit every time she got it right.

So FOOD is my good place! when everything else comes crashing down i know where my mom keeps the chocolate chip cookies**

And what FOOD (amongst many other things) must mean to the suffering people in Africa or anywhere else around the world. Think of that too over your next meal, your next plate of 5 ringgit chicken rice, before dumping it into the trash.

Academic Papers

2008-10-07T14:02:00.000+08:00

1500 word essay, on a topic that i've only heard about in one lecture. But i would probably get around to it eventually, inevitably. Now the thing i dont get is the "academic" writing that seems to be so so important. Yes i get it, you need facts to back your ideas, but EVERY idea? then where are the SUGGESTED ideas?

I look at my essay and it has got to be the most boring thing i have EVER written, not even something i would read if i saw it in a journal. Every two lines or so, i HAVE to refer.

And the research?!?!gosh, so you have LOADS of ideas of twisting and turning then giving it a hindi-movie ending, but no no...the RESEARCH alone takes up more time then the actually writing. And finding the research to MATCH your own twisted ideas? hmmm......

The days of 4am onlining i've done is quite enough to guarantee i use glasses the next week.

I get research , i get evidence-based, i get PROOF, but when then are we allowed SOME , just a TAD bit of creativity? To SUGGEST something? SUGGEST something that could be perceived to be mere common sense?

Right now, it just seems that every paper that is going to be written by me, are all just very professionally plagiarised pieces of work of some very VERY hardworking-researchful person who got their papers published in a journal.

Up , Up and Away....

Dawning of a New Blog

2008-10-06T21:09:00.000+08:00

All my friends seem to have a blogspot thing going on.

I dont particularly know what to write or blog about just yet. But i figured i just HAD to do this. Let it just be here till i actually figure it out, over my NEXT chicken curry and chapati.

Holidays do crazy things to you! Anything to get my mind and attention away from my much more important work, my assignment!There ive started

The blogging begins ...... Hopefully =)