Comments

Having people leave comments on your blog is such an ego boost, ainnit?

Every time I get online, I really look forward to seeing new comments.

I'm sure everyone feels that way, in varying degrees - a sort of validation of your work, eh? Not that I depend on comments to "keep me going" lah - but it's always nice to know that something I wrote impacted someone enough to take the time to drop a line or two in response.

... tangents ...

However, sometimes some people totally miss the point of the post, and it shows in what they say: sometimes I cringe and feel really sorry for them when they go off on a tangent, sometimes even displaying their ignorance or arrogance for all to see. When that happens, I wonder if by choosing to phrase words differently, i might have been able to better convey what I meant, and prevented such "miscommunications".

After all, *how* I write is as important as *what* I write about, right?

... responses ...

Then comes the challenge of "to respond or not to respond"... I have my phases where I make it a point to keep on top of the comments, and respond to them all in a subsequent comment. Then I get into a "read-only" mode. Then back to respond mode. Not too consistent, am I. But hey, sometimes there's no *need* for a response,,, or more importantly, it might be better for all involved for me to NOT respond (see arrogance / ignorance exposed above!). I am glad to say that those have been so far few and far between. :-) Or am I being diplomatic? heeheheheeeee :-)

Anyways, still on the response topc: Thanx to the Lost Blogs exercise, I've come across the really cool method of having bloggers (well, Kevin and Karl lah, for the moment) who respond to comments via email (the same response usually also appears in the comments section of the relevant post lah). Whoohooo! Very nice touch. Otherwise, I'd have to remember to go back to the page/post I'd commented on to see if there was any response. Then again, I'd go back anyway, LOL!

So... that's all about people who comment here.

How about when *i* go surfin around?

... doing onto others....

While I assume most people appreciate comments just as I do, I also assume that like me, they'd like meaningful and/or "value adding" comments, as opposed to just "Hi, nice blog" or equivalent.

So my guilt at being a lurker is not that big lah. But it *is* there. :p

So if you know that I've been visiting but not commenting, don't hold it against me, ya? I only have your best interests at heart! :-)

... my comment etiquette ...

However... on the happy occasions that I stumble across a new blog AND I have something to day, I make it a point to state how I stumbled across their blog in the first place. Cos that would be something *i* would always be curious to know. :-)

If I'm a frequent visitor but rare commenter, I've recently started to acknowledge this by stating something like "I just HAD to de-lurk for this post" before launching into my actual 2-cents worth.

... summary ...

no summary lah. end of post. teeheehee! Hey, did you think this post is worthy of a comment? de-lurk and say so lah. LMAOOOOOOOOO!! :-)

(yes, i *think* i need to get some sleep....)

schmarents

“My yoga teacher says I should not have any bread or rice for one week,” announced a parent this morning.

Me: Errrrrr, okayyyyy, and this is for what reason?

“To lose weight”

Ah.

“What do you think?”

*sigh!*

For those two people who got my security-issue-rant-too-toxic-to-be-posted-on-blog email… this is yet another case of the same thing.


• What I’ve advised in the past, is not heeded.


• What I myself try to practice, is not noted.
But if similar* information comes from someone else… wow… hook line and sinker!

How am I ever going to make peace with someone who so battered my sense of self-worth when I was growing up, calling me STYOUPID all the time (as if YOU were so clever!!), insisting that it was “always right”, having this holier-than-thou looking-down-on-you attitude, seeming to pay more love and attention to the maid’s children than to us, in fact, seven seeming to take out its frustrations about its lot in life on the children, … someone who - as I have grown and become so much more secure about who and what I am and am able to truly SEE this person - when I look at it, I only see a clingy styoupid parental unit seemingly incapable of logical and rational thought, who succeeds in raising my blood pressure pretty much as soon as it opens its mouth.

* eliminating bad carbs is fine. But what about making it a point to eat GOOD carbs? Did that teacher mention that? And how about “balancing” the meals with sufficient protein (whether or not you wanna go drastic like Atkins, or more reasonable like the Zone, or whatever)? Any mention of that? Just “prescribing” ONE action as a magic bullet to weight loss is ridiculous. Oh – and you DO realize that it’s no use cutting out bread/rice if you continue your habit of consuming sweets for “tea” and “late night snacks” and “dessert”, right? Oh wait, probably not. *sigh!* And what about increasing your activity level beyond the daily yoga? You could do with more cardio – even adding one or two days of brisk walks in the park would go a long way…. *double sigh!* I’ve discussed all these things with you, so many times, in the past, I dah tak larat dah nak cakap lagi.

So back to that “conversation”?

Me: “Sure.”

Never mind what went through my head. *so* not worth the energy and effort.

darth insomnius

urrgghh. have been trying to sleep since about 1130pm. it's 120am as i type. yep, gave up on the sleep thing.

Bad enuf I've been calling myself Darth Lynne due to my vader-esque heavy breathing, which is due to my stuffed nose... so with this lack of ability to sleep i hereby dub myself...

Darth Insomnius!

And while my schwartz may not be bigger than your schwartz, ... damn... can't think of a witty comparison thingy. bleh.

Misc surfing:
1. a Flickr photoset of airborne cats. amusing.

2. a word association thingy. Right now i'm at a 95-word chain, the last few words have been ... receiver, transmitter, radio, gaga, queen, flaming*, gay, pride, joy ... LMAO!! (in the end, i got the program to pass on "unyielding" which i had submitted in association with "rigid" (i refused to type flaccid lah, LOL!), at the end of a 168 word chain. this is a great time waster!! check it out!)

* one of my fave quotes from Family Guy, when Asian Reporter Trisha Takinawa resports the fire at the British Pub, where the portrait of Queen Elizabeth was mong the damaged items, and she says something about "Hey, check out that flaming queen."

2.1 ... solo, single, unmarried, virgin, cunt, vagina, sticky, goo, cum, smegma, sebaceous, gland, sweat, tears, rain ... .... french, arrogant, bitch, witch, broom, sweep, stakes, vampires, blood, gore, zombie, white, room ... ... geeez this is just too easy to get sucked into!!! this one was a 312-word association!

so that's brought me to 220am. yay.

*sneeze*

*blow nose*

groooaaaaaannnnnn.... maybe i try to sleep again??

*sigh!*

one o' them days

.. or should I say "daze"?

So yeah, I am battling a cold. My throat is scratchy. I'm sniffly. I'm sneezy. Maybe even grumpy (STOP NAMING DWARVES!!). All because I got SOAKED on Friday afternoon :(

Lunchtime: i went out for like 10 - 15 mins around noon, with my dad, to go pick up some lunch - KFC drive-thru. During that time, a storm swooped down on the area from outta nowhere! And... trust the wind to blow the rain riiiiiiiiiight into the drying area - where my ALMOST DRY clothes were now W. E. T. grrrrrrr!! (later, once the rain subsided, I took the clothes down, re-washed 'em, re-hung 'em. Sometimes I *really* wish my parents had a dryer!!)

Some things to cheer me up, and hopefully bring a smile to YOURS too
1. Jill (egg in spoon) has this GREAT "burst of joy" you should read about
2. Kenny Sia contemplates circumcision
3. Moxie has something veeeeeery eeeentereeeesting on eBay
4. Moxie also has vag-pits up for guesses!

But things that brought me down?
- the police being big bullies, threatening to "let lah crime happen", among other things, because they refuse to have an independent committee that would "police the police".
- follow up on the protest fiasco. There's a video available on that link. I've downloaded it, but it's a .mov so I'm gonna have to look at it on the laptop. I'm sure it's bad.

But back to the good news:
Kosh has officially moved into the apartment in Chicago! He's sent pix of the place - nice! I like!! I'm looking forward to getting myself there... whenever THAT is gonna be??!!! *sigh!*

aaaaanyways.... It's almost my 11pm. I think i'll just kinda hang around in bed and hopefully I'll fall asleep sooner rather than later.

nitey-nite!

stunned

seriously. i am stunned.

Read this. See the pix. Did this just happen today or something??

(Kinda weird having another protest today, seeing as the protests over the price hike were last held in March, right? some mentions here and here)

Did this actually happen here???

Too stunned to type more.

UPDATE: Monday 11am:

• Guess how much coverage this got in the papers? A teeeny tiny blurb at the bottom of the page, in the middle of the paper. No pix. No nothing. Typical reporting what is "safe" and of the "correct perspective"!!!
  
• at least the "objective" got clarified... it *is* a protest over a price hike - of the electricity tariff - announced recently. it's is, of course, a result of the fuel price increase,, all related... but it makes sense that they were protesting something recent, not from 2 months ago. BTW - 2 months ago "they" said electricity tariffs would NOT be increased as a result of the fuel price increase. And "they" can wonder why people are angry. Sheeeeeesh!!

Interpreting Nietzsche

This quote was in my inbox today:

You are rewarding a teacher poorly if you remain always a pupil.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Hmmm...

My first thought was "every day provides valuable opportunities for learning, whether you're a "pupil" or not!"

Then I looked at the quote again, and that didn't seem to fit, so I tried to understand what ol Nietzsche was getting at...

First: it's fine to be a pupil, but not permanently.

Definition of pupil, according to Merriam-Webster:

1. : a child or young person in school or in the charge of a tutor or instructor : STUDENT
   
2. : one who has been taught or influenced by a famous or distinguished person

To me, when u say pupil, i [see] a kid in primary school uniform. Very much a vessel into which "knowledge" is spoonfed rammed poured. Someone who's probably not much into the questioning mode. And not really into the whole thinking-for-yourself concept. More of memorisation and regurgitation.

So how would one "remain always a pupil"?
By not going beyond what has been taught? By not questioning? By not challenging? By not striving for understanding? By instead continuing to just seek knowledge within the boundaries and confines of the institution (school / mentor, etc)?

Again, my mind goes back to LEARNING: yes, there's only so much "learning" that can come from memorisation and regurgitation of official facts.

So once you have gotten the basic foundation of knowledge (these foundations differ depending on the person / vocation), you've got to make them "your own".

Why?

Becuase only through application of your knowledge can true understanding and appreciation emerge. You know the difference between "theory" and "practical / reality", right?

Just because you know that if your car is skidding on ice you need to turn the steering wheel INTO the slide in order to straighten out, doesn't mean that you will be able to Do it when you are in a spin!

Just because you've seen pictures of glaciers and fjords in books and movies, doesn't mean you're not going to be awestruck when you're actually there at the edge of Sweden, gazing at one of Mother Nature's incredible works!

So, by going out and experimenting, applying what we've learnt, we'll end up understanding even more that what could ever be taught in a classroom.

Is THAT the "rich reward" to teachers that Nietzsche is alluding to?

Or is he saying that we should "reward teacher" "richly" by taking over the teacher's role? After all, moving up to "teacher" level implies a certain level of knowledge and understanding has been acquired by the ex-pupil, which implies a compliment to the teacher, thus the "rich reward"?

Anyone got other interpretations on this?

*** and on an unrelated note: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAIL! :-)

it's all about sex, baby

It's one of those kinda freaky coincidences: The Religious Policemean had a long post recently which mentioned misyar marriages, and that was the first I'd ever heard about such a thing.

It was horrifying to read one quote: “It’s a great solution — isn’t it? It costs less than having a girlfriend — doesn’t it?”

Here's wiki's take on what Misyar Marriages are all about. The summary: It's a marriage without the couple living together in the same house & the husband not being financially responsible for his wife.

Hmmmm... so why bother with this "marriage" then?

It's all about sex, baby!
What else???

.... And there I was, thinking wow i'm so glad i've never heard of this in Malaysia,,,, then ,,,, in today's papers ....

Nik Aziz: Misyar okay KOTA BARU: Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has given his support to a proposal for misyar marriages to take place between Muslim men and women. These types of marriages, which Nik Abdul Aziz said were allowed in Islam, essentially permit husbands to not have the responsibility of providing for the materialistic needs of wives but just their sexual needs. ... The proposal was made ... [by an] Islamic Academic Studies lecturer ... who was reported to have said that such marriages could be practised in the country to overcome incidences of vice among Muslim women. He said such marriages could also reduce the growing number of unmarried and divorced women in the country. (Full story here)

Okay so first there was that fiasco where this Kelantanese dude said divorcées [as opposed to divorcés] were gatal (randy / horny - all poor translations), and all they wanted was sex, and that was why they ended up getting divorced.

Excuse me??? Apart from totally flawed logic, I'd like to point out that from what I've observed of you friggin [Malay Muslim] males, every Friday afternoon at the moqsues, where you go do your Friday prayers, what are the wares being sold in the vicinity? All sorts of supposed aphrodisiacs. And you guys FLOCK to those things! You guys are obsessed with sex! YOU, not us gurls!

Heck, from my interactions with so many of you, you look at marriage PRIMARILY as a way of having sex legally!

Excuse me while I make sure that whole life-partner companion concept still exists. [check!] yeah, just not in your world-view, eh? What YOU want out of marriage:

• Sex, tons of it, for your satisfation.
  
• Children, tons of them, as proof of your virility.

Okay okay okay so I'm totally overgeneralising, I admit.

BUT I stand by what I've observed and been told and have gone through interacting with so many of you, ESPECIALLY when I was stationed for 2 years over in Terengganu.

...

aaaaaaaaaand you wanna marry people off in order to curb "incidences of vice among Muslim women" through a mistress-like/prostitution-like arrangement?

...

lemmie highlight this little thing: "...such marriages could also reduce the growing number of unmarried and divorced women in the country."

My Concerns:

Anyone looking at the ROOT CAUSE of "rising number of unmarried & divorced women"??

Unmarried: more and more women are choosing careers over family? good for them!

Divorced: anyone looking at the reasons / grounds for divorce??? SO OFTEN, for the divorced people I know lah, it's because the [GATAL!!!] hubby was running around with other women.

Anyways.. so you want to "fix" this "single/divorced problem" by allowing a mistress-like/prostitution-like arrangement?

Is this "really" a "real" "marriage"???

Chances are, if you have sex, Allah will bless this union with pregnancy & kids, right?

Then you'll have this female who's pregnant, but has NO FINANCIAL SUPPORT from the "husband". So how? She's essentially a single mother, is she not, despite the "married" status?

I can't even to begin wrapping my mind around the implications of this.

I could go on, but i'm turning incoherent.

Ciao.

oh boy did it rain yesterday!

I may be converting to this template. (thanx to Ummi!)
Would be nice to tweak it so that the sidebar is on the left, not right.
I'm clueless about stuff like that. :p

Other news:

Yesterday was a relatively productive day:

• I was supposed to have lunch with someone... but she cancelled on me well in
  advance, yay for advance notice! ... but I had already planned to run errands in the KLCC area so I went ahead and hopped on the train to get there, and sms'ed Als to see if she was free/available
  
• Post Office to courier something related to all that paperwork & hoops
  
• Went to one bank to withdraw a whole bunch of $$ (in the form of a cheque lah, no worries)
  
• Went to another bank to deposit the cheque into my savings, which is
  connected to my credit card, which is where my life insurance (and
  telephone) is charged. I figured while I remember I'd might as well
  "top up" the account so that it's good for another 2 years or so :-)
  
• Then went to yet ANOTHER bank, this time to pick up my ATM card (it
  took them TWO MONTHS to get it ready, grrrrr! I've been exchanging USD
  and Swiss francs into Malaysian Ringgit for the past 2 months :p I
  *could* have gotten cash in other ways lah, but hey, it seemed easier to
  do the exchange thing :p )
  
• By that time it was nearing lunchtime, and yes, Als was up for a lunch meet, yahooo! We ended up at our old haunt - Coffee Bean maaaaaah!
  
• Then met up with mom and went to Aquaria: a Sea World type place, on a
  MUCH smaller scale, at the KL Convention Center (next to Suria KLCC the mall
  where the petronas twin towers are). Spent about an hour there. I
  really liked being in the "tunnel" with the fish and sharks swimming
  overhead: my FAVE though was having this HUGE sting ray swim
  overhead... kinda like how i'd imagine having a UFO hover above me :p
  
• Accompanied mother as she had something to eat, then I went back via
  LRT while she went for some opening of some exhibition at the petronas
  art gallery
  
• It started to rain. and i mean R.A.I.N.!! So there was no way I
  could do the 20min walk from the station to the apartment. So i decided
  to go to the NEXt station, from which I could take a bus that stopped by
  the apartment. Took a while to arrive, but nvm, it finally got there, I
  hopped in, and ... the rain got heavier and heavier... somehow water was
  coming INTO the bus from a crack in the floor... geeeezzz! NVM...
  finally got to my stop... hopped out... and even tho it's a 30sec walk
  from the stop to "shelter" within the apartment building... it was
  30secs in FRIGGIN HEAVY RAIN that had me soaked instantaneously!
  urrrgh!!
  
• Headed up, got outta the clothes, couldn't "wash the rain
  outta my hair" cos it was lightning-ing, so i just changed into dry
  clothes, read / relaxed... and ended up not showering before bed...

... woke up with a tickle in the sinuses, and a slight headache, bleeaaaaahhhh I do hope I'm not coming down with something as a result of the soakage and non-shower!

... anyways... time to head off to my weekly massage aka torture session :-)

cheerio!

Have a good weekend y'all!

search ESTO!

Karl's had really interesting searches that landed on his site.

Unlike me :p

But today! Today I noticed something: some person in Quebec "found" me when searching for time " the enema". Hmmm. Oooooookaaayyyyyyy. LMAO! Time for YOUR enema, perhaps, eh?

Errrr... and yeah, that was the only noteworth search/key word of the past 100 hits to this site. Bummer. Ooops, pun not intended, LMAO!!!!!!

(in case you were curious: this is what I'd once said about that subject)

Another Wednesday Nite!

8:30pm saw me at the lounge of one of the hotels in the Bukit Bintang area: a long-lost friend of mine is performing there – piano & singing, accompanied by a cello. Haven’t seen her in maybe 4 or 5 years! Couldn’t catch up too much tho (she *was* working, after all), but it was so great to see her again. And yes, she’s got a great voice.

Baby Angel met me there, hung out a bit more, then moved on to the main agenda for the night: Wednesday maaaah, ladies nite!

~9:30pm saw us at Qba, a latin-themed bar at the Westin Hotel. Serving sangrias for the ladies: bleh. Seemed like a nice layout/setup, but I just didn’t dig the songs. And when they ran out of sangrias quite soon after we got there (we did manage to down two by then, LOL!), we took that as a sign to move on to our main target.

~1030pm we were at Planet Hollywood: had to show our IC to get in: but not to check for age, just to make sure you have an ID. Weird. Anyways… I hit the white wine, Baby Angel the red (later white tho, they ran outta red). The band was pretty okay – certainly more my kind of noise sound. We stayed on and on and on, the place slowly filled up, the songs got noisier, loads of people to laugh at (come on, wearing SHADES?? Gimmie a break people!!), some fending off too LMAO!

It was a *bit* disconcerting for me, though, because while I was physically there with Baby Angel in the here and now, mentally I was 6 years in the past: in my mind’s eye, the band onstage was NRG, I was there with Mitch and some other gym pals (now all EX-pals, good riddance to bad rubbish!), my slightly "wilder" days... Some half-blacked out (and blocked out?) fuzzy memories of those unhappy times came back too... no need details lah, let's just say the acheyhol helped "unlock" a lot of repressed emotions of that time in my life: can you say volcanic eruption?

Glad I'm so much happier now. (Sends mental hugs to Kosh)

One happy memory of that time: RHCP’s Californication album was flaming hot, and I’d request Otherside every time, and just go crazy when the opening guitar chords were played… “How long how looonnng will I slide….” Shivvvvvvvvvver I *so* love that song!! (listening to it NOW while I type, btw). If the band last night had actually played Otherside I would have been ecstatic! Of course, I couldn’t remember the official song title last night, otherwise I might just have tried to request it. Oh well :p

~215am we were in the car. I was so surprised it was that late already! I guess I musta enjoyed the music more than I realized, otherwise we’d have been outta there around midnight, I’m sure!

But while I was fine to drive, I wasn’t sure if a breathalyzer would like me :( so Baby Angel directed me to a mamak somewhere in the Taman Permata area, via the non-main roads, and we chilled out there for a while. I was feeling hungry, and devoured their killer nasi lemak (the sambal is to die for!) while we chatted about Life, The Universe and Everything (or thereabouts).

Dropped Baby Angel off at past 4am. 5am saw me back in “my” room.

That was an 8+hour outing!

Wow.

I certainly did NOT expect an all-nighter! That was so cool! Can’t do this too often, but I’d probably plan on one more outing like this before I leave. Hopefully KS would be able to join then. Maybe Rail? Anyone else wanna join?

Pssssssst! If I didn’t need to be the Designated Driver, even better!! *grin!*

Self-blurb

Whoohoooo! It looks like what I churned out last week was accepted with the most minor of teeny tiny edits. So I should be "published" next month! Whoohoooo!

Okay so the article itself was just an overview of a particular institution*.

And it's not a famous/national magazine with a large circulation or anything. In fact, it's a "for distribution to members only" magazine, the members being people and organisations within the industry* I used to work in.

And *i* am not happy with what I wrote: it could do with a few more rounds of refinement, as far as I'm concerned :p

* (sorry - I ain't naming names :p )

But hey, it's a start :-)

After all, it's still a proper publication, and can boast of readership within the international / expat community, not just local, eh?

And this start was impressive enough for me to be approached to work on another article already. Pretty cool, huh?

But: show me the $$ from this first one before I commit to another, k?

Anyways, I just submitted my "self-blurb" to be attached at the end of the article.

A Chemist by qualification, an Organisational Behaviourist by experience: [Lynne] enjoys observing and understanding interactions - whether on a molecular or societal level. This is her first contribution to [Magazine Name].

We'll see if the magazine deems that "suitable" lah. Their suggestion was:

[Lynne] spent her formative professional life at [Company Name], and now puts her experience gained to use in writing on the [beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!] industry.

I *so* prefer mine. (duh!) Just wish I could come up with a better word than "societal". :p

Cheers!

... i found ONE reason!

... one reason to NOT have my phone on silent:

if i accidentally forget it somewhere, oh let's say on the passenger seat of my mom's car, it *would* help if it actually RANG when i called the phone, so she'd notice it was there, eh?

I *so* almost gave myself a heart attack yesterday.

I'd hopped out to run a few errands using my mom's car in the morning. Sometime during the drive back, I musta taken my phone out to check for messages, and put it on the seat instead of back into the bag. Parking the basement, I musta just not seen the phone, leaving it on the seat as I exited the car and went back upstairs (locking the car, of course!).

Fun thing is, my mom then had the car for the rest of the day!

And there I was, not noticing anything was missing until maybe 5pm - and the panic started: emptied the bag; checked the bathroom; went over the entire room - nothing!! Did my bag get picked while I was having my roti telur at the NewTown mamak? Did i forget it at the bank? When was the last time I held the darned thing??? Arrrggghhhh!!

I called the number - of course, no reply - it's on silent! :-(

Good thing the house phone has some phone numbers programmed, cos I sure do not remember my parents' numbers!

Managed to get a hold of my mom, who was then horrified to realise that she hadn't noticed the phone on the seat - it had been in plain view, in the Bangsar Shopping Village parking lot, for over 2 hours!

Damn lucky the car wasn't broken into, eh?

Only got the phone back at around 830pm.

Good thing the tentative Ladies Night outing was for EITHER monday or wednesday! :p

OTHER PHONE FORGETFULNESSES
1. in the era where i didn't have a bag, i'd usually walk around with my phone in hand. so a visit to the loo would require me to set the phone down somewhere - usually on the cistern. One day, i walked out leaving the phone there! I realised it about 3 minutes later - RAN back to the loo - thank goodness it was still there!! either it was a crummy model that noone wanted, or I just had the luck of realising it just before anyone noticed it! P. H. E. W.!

2. this one makes me soooooo geram, cos it wasn't my fault! Me, my housemate and her sister were at the Studio 5 stalls in Ampang Jaya. I went to wash my hands after the meal, leaving my phone with theirs - a nice pile of three phones on the table. For some reason they were impatient to leave: I was surprised when they met me at the sink, and we got into the car and headed back. Silly me, I assumed they'd have taken my phone along with theirs. N. O. P. E.! It was maybe half an hour later that I realised noone was holding my phone. Tried to call the phone, see if anyone picked it up.. instead, someone musta heard it and hit "end" cos it got cut off. SH*T! Tried calling again - straight into voicemail: it had been turned off. FRIGGIN SH*T!! I was so mad! Wheeled the car around, headed back to Studio 5, to my relief caught sight of Uncle Parwiz (owner of Studio 5: related distantly by marriage), asked if he knew of any recetly-forgotten phones - one of his staff came up like 3 minutes later with it. P. H. E. W.! All's well that ends well? Not really.... This housemate of mine was always on my case for "not sharing" or "not trusting" people with my stuff: and yet when this happened it was "my fault" for "leaving my phone behind". Yeah, riiiiiiiight. Harrrummph! Shoulda parted ways with that b*tch sooner rather than later. But I suppose better late than never?

I'm sure I'll share some tales about that,,, sometime, somewhen...

in the meantime... i should be hitting the hay - almost midnight.

ciao!

Holy Sh*t!

Well, nothing really holy about them... but i just about ROTF laughing at these sh*tty figurines... Freddy Pooger?! Hannibal Lecturd!!? Fart Vapour!!!!!! L. M. A. O.!


Oh... and on a totally UNRELATED note: HAPPY BIRTHDAY VEYA!!!!

... an uplifting elevator tale?

... I wish I could tell you I pressed ALL the buttons before stepping out...

There was such resonance when reading about Dave's elevator experience:

For those who know the building where I used to work, and who have actually been in those elevators.... you know how there are so many buttons to choose from, and we usually have to take two (sometimes THREE!!) different elevators to get to our floor.

So it's understandable to accidentally press the wrong button, right?

One day, there I was, getting into the lift with two other guys (total strangers). I hit the button for my floor, but as soon as I did it I realised I'd got it wrong. "Oooooops!" I said, and reached out to hit the right floor - but somehow I got it wrong again, lighting up yet another floor! "Urrgh!" I mutter, and only got it right on my THIRD stab.

All of which happenned to be lower than the other two guys' floor.

Ooops.

I'm about to flash an apologetic smile at these two guys, when one of them says "Gee, press them all lah, why don't you?"

For a moment, I didn't know where I was: I'd expect such sarcasm towards total strangers in the U.S. or something, but certainly NOT in Malaysia! Not in a lift that is essentially used just by employees of that particular company! So much for cohesiveness. And, wow, how unMalaysian!

I considered "defending" myself saying "I obviously didn't MEAN to hit the buttons wrongly!" but it occurred to me that actually it had been VERY obvious I didn't mean to hit all those buttons. Conclusion: the guy was just being a jerk.

So, instead of a smile, I turn to glare at him and his companion.

And for those on the recieving end of my glares, you know how deadly they are.

They looked away.

It didn't take long to get to my floor.

During that time, I seriously considered going ahead and pressing all those other floor buttons while looking directly at him, daring him to protest, while I say "Here you go, you jerk, you want it you got it!".

But I was still "young" and scared of offending people ... and with me being me [the curse of the half-breed who stands out without even trying], just because I didn't know them didn't mean they didn't know [of] ME! And Malaysia being Malaysia - I piss off the wrong person and *ooops* maybe my promotions and upgradings might take longer than usual, or I'd get bypassed totally... you never know... better not risk it...

... so I didn't do anything ...

One of those missed opportunities.

I'd like to think that my confidence in myself grew much more over the years, such that if I'd been in a similar situation in my last year or so in that company, I *would* have stepped up to the panel and hit every single button for every single floor while smiling politely at the jerk.

No way to test this hypothesis tho.

Oh well :-(

Teh 'O' Ais Limau

That's "Iced Lemon Tea" in Malay.

Teh = tea
'O' = "oh" as in "zero" as in no [sweetened condensed] milk (NOTE: this is different from "kosong" meaning empty, meaning no sugar)
Ais = ice
Limau = "lemon", actually a type of lime is used, not lemon, but let's not split hairs.

Anyways... so if I happen to be in the mood for something not so "milky", I'd usually order this drink instead of a Teh Tarik ("pulled tea") when at a mamak shop. But for this trip back, I've made it a point to not take too much iced/cold drinks... so I'd try to remember to order the HOT version of Teh O Ais Limau.

And it was a weirdly tough effort!

I figured it would be "Teh O Panas Limau", right? Substitute "iced" with "hot", right? Yet the "waiters" would look at me funny, ev.ry.time.

One finally corrected me: you mean "Teh O Limau Panas".

Err, yeah... same diff, no? Nope.

But but but... then why isn't the iced version "Teh O Limau Ais"??

I don't believe in ghosts

... however, I believe they exist.
(There's a fine difference in how it's phrased, IMHO)

And when I say ghosts, I also mean spirits and whatnot. I'm not gonna get technical, it's not like I'm studying them, LOL.

But I *have* been having a particularly demonic week or two, book-wise: Apart from having made my way through three Harry Dresden books (Harry being a wizard in Chicago, who has dealt with a storm-tapping wizard, a whole bunch of werewolves and most recently an elaborate plot by vampires to eliminate Dr Dresden) and The Historian (exploring yet another take on the Dracula tale - with fantastic results! review soon!!). Maybe that's put me in the mood for this topic?

So let's share some ghostly stuff, shall we?

What might have been my first ever sight of something "out of this world" was when I was maybe 10 years old. Chatting with the kids of our neighbourhood out in the driveway, I saw something large and white yet transparent whizz through the end of the garden. This was like out of the corner of my eye, so when I turned to look directly at it, I didn't see anything. Hmmmmm. Sure it could have been a trick of the light or whatever, but me, I'd never seen anything like that, so it stayed with me.

A common "interaction" people seem to have with spirits here is waking up to find yourself being "crushed" as if someone is lying on top of you (kena himpit) - and no not in a sexual way. Usually there's a lot of pressure on your chest, making it hard to breathe. It's usually accompanied by the feeling of being wrapped by your blanket like a cocoon such that you just. can't. move. your. arms. Your mouth and tongue and lips seem unable to move, so you can't even utter any prayers or whatnot that you think may help get the thing off of you. It's usually a minor thing tho, and then you drop back off to sleep and all is okay.

Unlike that experience in a hotel room over on the East Coast of Malaysia, in ~1999.

Okay, so maybe it was the fried popiah I had before going to bed. Or the fact that I hadn't showered before hitting the hay, despite having been to the gym that evening and was therefore stinky and sweaty. Or both? Or something else?

I woke up feeling like I had been wrapped up so tightly I could not move a muscle. I certainly felt a presence in the room, and it didn't seem friendly. I struggled to ucap some Koranic verses, but my mind had gone blank. Felt like I my thoughts were wading through mollasses, my head filled with cotton wool. I dug deeper, managed to remember one. Forced my mouth and tongue and lips to work, and hoarsely started reciting it. I stumbled over some words. I felt the presence move in closer! There was like an air of expectation, waiting for more stumblage, then it could really "get to me". No kidding. Scary! I struggled to continue reciting, through numb mouth tongue and lips.

I don't know how long this went on - felt like forever!

I was exhausted, I was starting to stumble more and more...

Then... maybe it masuk waktu subuh / it was dawn / prayer time?

I felt like the tide had turned. I swear I heard someone (male) assist me reciting the verses. The pressure on me reduced. I no longer felt all wrapped up. I could breathe again. My voice grew stronger and more confident. I felt the threat diminish.

Then. I heard jingling, like that of a belt that's looped on a pair of jeans, as the jeans are being put on. I heard the sound of a zip, as if said pair of jeans were then being zipped up. And i *swear* I heard a female voice way "geee, you're no fun!"

Then it was gone.

I sat up in bed, head pounding, hands frozen.

Hopped into the shower. Got dressed. Packed. Got outta there.

Went to the front desk, and told the gal at the counter that I wanted another room assigned to me when I got back later that day.

No questions asked.
No surprise expressed.

This got me thinking - had I been assigned a room that was known to be keras? (literal translation is "hard", but it's an euphemism in Malay for places that have strong otherworldly presence/activity). They'll never admit it, so I didn't bother asking.

Apart from that, I've had:

• a pseudo-himpit experience, dunno if it was a dream or I actually woke up, but i had the impression of a female presence lying down next to me, on her side, one arm bent supporting her head, as she looked at me an smiled an all-too-wide, distinctly predatory smile. Perhaps a premonition of sorts for a relationship of mine about 8 years later? Who knows....
  
  
• this person's "guardian spirit" supposedly attach itself to me and give me grief, because I was the subject/victim of that person's ire / jealously / blame. Went though an "exorcism" process half-believing, half-"yeah right, whatever"-ing. Nuff said.
  
  
• the sight of a shadowy "warrior with a sword" standing behind Joe - supposedly *his* guardian spirit as a result of his "royal bloodline". I might have caught sight of that shadow once more another time - wasn't too sure about that.
  
  
• the usual "office experience": hearing the tap of someone typing on the keyboard a few cubicles away, when you KNOW you're the only person in the office at that point in time. In my past life, I used to pull lots of late-nights, even some all-nighters, at the office mah!

I'm sure there's more I could say on this topic, but I'm kinda all typed out at the moment.

Anyone wanna share their own experiences?

Hat tip to those who triggered this topic: Ari and his ghost revue, and neome with that Hotel Istana email who then requested *my* hotel tale. Cheers, y'all :-)

can anyone help?

I got reminded that I have beeen waiting *so* long for Book 5 of a particular series... searched for some info and now i'm confused whether it's been released or not...

The author is an Australian lass by the name of Isobelle Carmody. The series is her Obernewtyn Chronicles.

This site gives Book #5 (The Sending) a publishing date of 2006.
The amazon UK site says October 31, 2004 but has no reviews or anything, which makes me doubt that this is right...

Anyone out there with a clue?

And for those who have not heard of her... i certainly recommend this series... I've read Books 1-4 at least twice,,, and here I am wondering which box they are packed in cos I may just wanna bring them back with me to reread *again* once in the Windy City, in anticipation of being able to get my hands on Book #5 sometime this year....

Can anyone give me hope? And you don't have to be named Joanna :-)

Thought for the Day

When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we're still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on--series polygamy--until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.

- Tom Robbins

whoohoooo! i am filthy!

heehehe... filthy rich!!!

Well, i *would* be... if only what I got in my email is true... sigh...

From: dutch lottery dutchlotterypromo@yahoo.com.br Reply-To: JLDFinancialconsultants@inMail24.com To: [yeah right!] Subject: We Are Pleased Date: Wed 05/17/06 09:06 AM Meu novo endereço de e-mail Agora você pode me contactar através do e-mail: dutchlotterypromo@yahoo.com.br Dutch National Lottery (SENS) (Stichting Exploitatie Nederlandse Staatsloterij) Paleisstraat 5 Den Haag NL-2514 JA The Netherlands. Hello, We are pleased to announce that in a bid to sensitize the entire world, we have embarked on a promotional lottery and you have been randomly selected as one of the winners. This process was carried out using our bulk emailing software to randomly select email addresses from a pool of over 50 Million email addresses worldwide. The monies accrues from the bulk sum of monies we have unclaimed in our “unclaimed account” from jackpots winners who never came to claim their winnings either as a result of being unaware of due to some negligence on their part as regards proper handling of their tickets/winning numbers. This effectively qualifies you for the selection along with five other winners to jointly share the total prize of 15 Million Euros (Fifteen Million Euros) of which 3 Million (Three Million Euros Only) is your Prize money.

... any idea what they mean when they wanna "sensitize the entire world"??

It goes on with "Conditions for claiming Prize" and right at the end, warns me that:

There are a lot of emails circulating round which either claim to be Dutch National Lottery or some many other forms of lotteries. Please note that they are no good and their primary aim is to scam you of your hard-earned funds so beware!

aarrrggghhh... please tell me this is for real???!!! har har har... i can only dream.... friggin scam spam... pui!

calling all web-crawling email addy-collecting bots!! more addys for y'all!!

(UPDATE: found this site, and forwarded the email to the addy provided, supposedly the Netherlands authorities are interested in receiving copies of correspondence pertaining to a Dutch address or telephone number. Hope I didn't inadvertently spam someone!)

(UPDATE#2: wow... i just checked sitemeter, and it looks like, of the past 100 hits recorded.. THIRTY of them were searches for essentially "spam email datetodayy.com" ... because of this post, obviously. wow. lots of people got that email recently too??)

excellent! just excellent!

Please go check out these pix at Mikey's place.

LOLs guaranteed!

But that Clinton one is somehow quite disturbing... :p

:-)

Possibilities and ...

Harrrumph!

• ONE: they totally loved it, no need for any edits or revisions
  
• TWO: they totally hated it, and are just going to pretend it never existed
  
• THREE: despite the deadline, no-one’s read it yet.

No idea. No feedback. I wonder.

Have been in a zombie state all day; dozed off, woke up thinking it was much later than it really was, am still a bit disoriented.

Bleh.

Anyways: in this downtime, thought I’d share something that caught my eye in yesterday’s papers:

ONE: Pick subjects in demand, Najib urges undergrads

Undergraduates pursuing teaching courses in universities have been reminded to select options that are in demand instead of those which interest them. (Read the whole thing here)

Okay, actually he’s coming from the point of view that there are critical shortages in teachers of English, Science and Mathematics while there are an excess of graduates in the teaching of Malay and Religious Studies, so he’s looking at having to shunt teachers into fields out of their specialization.

But still…

Something in me totally rebels when I see people being urged to NOT follow their heart.

Reminds me of a gal I know who recently graduated from high school here, who is obviously artistically inclined, and would perhaps be a great addition to the fashion design industry. However, her parents are having none of that “crap” so she is “doing time” in college (pre-u), instructed to take up “doctor, or lawyer or engineer” or something. Ugh.

Compare this, if you will, to Billy Joel’s advice (The Star, pg W39):

Billy Joel serenades to [sic] graduates at Syracuse
Pop singer Billy Joel got a standing ovation from nearly 5,000 Syracuse University graduates after he serenaded them and urged them to do what they love in life. “Don’t do it for security, prestige, money, or, for crying it out loud, don’t do it for somebody else,” he said at the ceremony Sunday. “Do it for love. Because if you love what you do, you’ll always do what you love.”

Go, Billy!

No one’s saying it’s easy. But it’s certainly more fulfilling when you follow your heart, ainnit?

Draft #1 submitted...

... at 8:12am.... after an entire night of chipping away at that friggin block.

it started to finally flow - like around 3am. still took forever to piece together.

but it's done, for now.

now for some food, maybe a quick power nap.

Will be checking for brickbats in a few hours, and I expect to be busy totally revising the thing the rest of the day.

Fun.

Ciao!

blog silence

.. lynne is experiencing writers block for that assignment-turned-nightmare (details later) ... please be patient while she struggles to capture all those words running around in her head that just. refuse. to get typed. or written down. gotta love it when the mood and motivation disappeared weeks ago, but i just have to grit my teeth (is THAT why my jaw's been aching the last few days?) and go on anyway ... ah, just like old times. wish I had some Bailey's with me, that would be immensely helpful... so, dear readers, do send inspiring and encouraging thoughts my way, and I hope to be back in the blogosphere by my Thursday... till then, ciao!

Would *you* eat this?

Okay so I was at the Coffee Bean across PJ Hilton a while back, and I caught sight of this delivery truck.

For some reason, I kept reading and re-reading what it said.

Is it just me, or is this a bit misleading?

Here's a close-up:
I assume from the different colors that they DON'T mean "no fiber added" lah... but what if you are color blind ah?

No sugar, no fiber... what for eat lah!

hehehee!!

Late Sunday thoughts and stuff...

Remember that Information Minister who didn't seem to read books? Thought of him for some reason when I saw this quote the other day:
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage
over the man who cannot read them."
- Mark Twain

Saw this at arod's place: i totally agree with Australia's stand. i think the UK and the US could do with such a stance. those extremists (and to me DEVIANTS of the true teachings of the religion) might as well just go to Iran or Saudi Arabia or whereever they feel "true Islam" with its Shariah laws and everything are practiced.. go lah, by all means. Let the rest of us reasonable people who actually use our *gasp!* akal stay on and attempt to put right all the damage you have done to the religion, in the name of the religion.

Ever since The Star ran an article last week highlighting house husbands, there have been people writing in both supporting and denouncing the practice. Some person stuck in lala land actually said that having the husband in charge of housework would result in the kids getting all confused and turning gay.

no kidding y'all.

sometimes i really wonder what planet some people come from.


And to round it off... a joke:

A blonde lady motorist was about two hours from San Diego when she was flagged down by a man whose truck had broken down. The man walked up to the car and asked, "Are you going to San Diego?" "Sure," answered the blonde, "do you need a lift?" "Not for me. I'll be spending the next three hours fixing my truck. My problem is I've got two chimpanzees in the back which have to be taken to the San Diego Zoo. They're a bit stressed already so I don't want to keep them on the road all day. Could you possibly take them to the zoo for me? I' ll give you $100 for your trouble."
"I'd be happy to," said the blonde. So the two chimpanzees
were ushered into the back seat of the blonde's car and carefully strapped into their seat belts. Off they went.
Five hours later, the truck driver was driving through the heart of San Diego when suddenly he was horrified!! There was the blonde walking down the street and holding hands with the two chimps, much to the amusement of a big crowd. With a screech of brakes he pulled off the road and ran over to the blonde. What the heck are you doing here?" he demanded, "I gave you $100 to take these chimpanzees to the zoo."
"Yes, I know you did," said the blonde," but we had money left over---so now we're going to Sea World......

Spaaaaaaaaaaaaam!

In one of my email inboxes today:

From: "Earle" bahbgajkefloy@talktofrank.com
To: [yeah right!]
Subject: spending time with you
Date: Fri 05/12/06 08:35 PM

Do not ignore me please,
I found your email somewhere and nowa decided to writbe you.
I am coming to your place in few weeks and thought we
can meet each other. Let me know if you do not mind.
I am a nice pretty girl. Don't reply to this emabil.
Email me direclty at ahv@datetodayy.com

yeaaaaahhhhh, riiiiiiiiiiight.

Instead of just hitting delete, decided to sincerely flatter (i.e. imitate) JJ and what he did a while back.

Nice pretty girl named "Earle", meet nice pretty spam.

Oh, and all you web-crawling bots looking for email addys to add to your spam lists? Please help yourselves to those two over there, okay?

Cheers!

More Scenes of Malaysia...

Remember that day I went on a wild goose chase for my birth certificate translation?

I took pictures!!
I was reminded of Patrick Teoh's hypothesis that having A4-paper signs/announcements is one of the sure-fire ways to know if you're in a government-related place. Sure enough.. this scene is from the National Registration Department at PJ NewTown.

If I recall correctly, the smaller notice, the one above the array of switches, to the right of the fusebox or whatever, is something that advises customers to make sure receipts are issued for any payments made.

Yeaaaah... and you just kinda sneak that very important piece of advice where?

On that little slip of paper, on the wall, which you probably won't see at all.

Check!

Moving on....
At the same office: I was sitting minding my own business, waiting for my number to be called, when out of the corner of my eye, i saw something white fluttering around.

No lah, not a ghost lah...

Just that this Ah Pek (errr, is that racist/derogatory?) had this document in his hand... you know, the type that has this extra "edged" on each side, for the paper to be fed up through the printer?

The one where you usually tear off the unneeded sides?

yeah, he did just that.

... while standing in line

... ... and simply let the paper fall down to the floor.

Tak kisah langsung about littering the place.

And me, I pun tak tegur... why? dont want to malukan him lah konon, and in case he makes a fuss about it, I don't want to malukan diri sendiri... sigh... not good not good... very poor excuses Lynne... Nvm, for this I also lah be typical Malaysian - can complain but tak berani to do anything "real"?

Well, I pick my battles lah. If not, letih woooooh! :p

aaaaaaanywas... moving on...

After that was the trip to Maju Junction followed by the trek to the courthouse. On the way back, I stopped at Insaf for a late breakfast. Air-cond wooooh, I really could do with some coolness after that hike!

But: I wondered if I was going to be able to actually EAT or DRINK anything!

Why?

Because of this sign lah!

Usually it says "no outside food" right??

But to my relief, I was able to order, and recieve, and consume, my roti telur and teh tarik without any problems.

Phew!

Particularly nasty weather...

It was really bad last Wednesday, can you tell?



Wanna see the havoc and damage this particular storm system "blessed" us with? Check out the pix & article here.

"Among the worst hit areas was Damansara Damai near Sungai Buloh where 30 vehicles were washed away. Three cars were also washed away near Taman Billion in Cheras.

Yep, you read it right... WASHED AWAY??!!

yikes!

...these storms are SO VIOLENT and wreaking SO MUCH DAMAGE recently, it's really worrying...

"they" blame it on the fact that the average temperature in Malaysia has gone up by 0.8[degrees] since 20yrs ago.

amazing how that little bit of temperature variation can result in such catastrophic changes in weather, eh?

It hit me over the weekend...

(I kinda hijacked Karl’s comment section with a part of this story. I decided to post the full thing here. But do visit his article here to see what started me on this oh-so-lovely trip down memory lane, k?)

So yeah: It hit me over a weekend. It was March 1997.

I don’t remember details, all I know is that I felt like s##t the entire weekend.

Crawled to work that Sunday*, and sometime that morning dropped by the office of one of my few pals there, only for him to take one look at me and go “Lynne, your eyes are YELLOW! You better go see a doctor!”

Yellow?? WTF???
So I crawled to the klinik… and the doctor seemed totally unsurprised at my symptoms, immediately diagnosing me with Hepatitis A (I think? The once-off, non-chronic, food-borne kind..). It seems that a whole bunch of people were coming down with it.** I wasn't just yellow-eyed: now that it had been pointed out, yeah I was kinda yellow all over: jaundice!!

With that diagnosis came the “sentence”: you need to be hospitalized.***

But I had to decide there and then: which hospital did I want to go to? The closest one was in the next state, in Kuantan. And my transport to there would not be covered. Hmmph! If I’m going to be warded for a week or so, I might as well be warded closer to home (home being in KL, over on the West Coast of Malaysia!), right?

So I chose a hospital in the KL area.
And got myself an evening flight outta there.

Called up my parents to inform them of the latest developments (they had seemed worried for me: after all, I lived all alone on the East Coast, far away from family and friends, and I’d been in pretty bad shape that weekend…). As far as I was concerned, if I needed hospitalization, then I might as well get it asap. So I hoped for them to get me from the airport and drive me to the hospital emergency room (that’s the only way to get admitted after regular hours).

Silly me to think that they would think such hopes were important.

It turns out that my arrival in KL would clash with their plans to watch Evita that night. It seems that they had had a tough time getting the tickets booked, and they were so looking forward to watching it, it was a shame to let them go, so could I just get someone else to ferry me from the airport to the hospital?

Reread the above please:

• They hadn’t even BOUGHT the tickets yet, only booked them.
  
• There wouldn’t be any money lost by them not turning up to get the tickets
  
• The friggin movie was more important than their sick, needing hospitalization, daughter.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

So that night, a friend of mine got me from the airport, took me to the hospital, waited with me to get admitted, but in the end they didn’t want to admit me and asked me to come in during regular hours (probably because the doc & nurses on duty didn’t want the bother of paperwork??!) without even taking my blood sample to see how seriously hi/low the billirubin (I think?) count was. Amazing, I suppose they must have X-ray vision or something to be able to miraculously determines that I’m “not a critical case, maaah!”

Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

I’m feeling too crappy to care: crappy from the hep as well as still reeling from the parents’ (in)action.

I’m driven “home” (ha-ha), I’m asleep when the parents get back.

The next day my father drives me to the hospital, I get admitted, and am there for like 5 days. Once discharged, I get another 2 weeks off of work to properly recover, and I spend it in KL (well, PJ lah actually, kan?). Then I'm back in Terengganu.

Story over? Not quite.

Not sure how soon/later after being warded, I remember my mother confessing that they actually hadn’t been able to enjoy the movie much that night, because they were worried and feeling guilty about “not being there for me”.

Hmmph. Is that supposed to make feel better? To me it doesn’t matter whether you felt guilty or not: the bottom line was, when you needed to make the choice, you chose a movie over me.

Thanx for helping me see where I stand, folks!

Doesn't matter that you visited every day, and "kept me company". I'm fine being alone, spacing out, letting my thoughts run free. I remember I was also taking advantage of that downtime to re-read The Mists of Avalon. I didn't "need" the visits. But if they helped you with your guilt, good for you lah!

~~

Okaylah, that is just ONE situation that I’ve described. ... and there are probably other examples where me / us kids were "chosen" over other junk... but still... this is one of those things totally branded into my memory, one of many many many things that have led me to NOT be a “fan” of these parental units of mine.

I could go on, but I think that’s enough ranting and dirty laundry for the moment.

But. I feel the need to point this out before I end:

So for those who - when I bluntly say “I need to minimize exposure to my parents in order to keep my sanity” - laugh embarrassedly, and then say dumbass things like “You don’t mean that lah! You mother so [insert positive adjective here], your father so [insert positive adjective here], you don’t mean what you say!” that essentially dismiss what I say, I do hope you have begun to comprehend that no matter what you think you see & know of a person (or in this case, a person’s parents), what you see are the masks these people put on for ya (Billy Joel has an excellent song about these faces we put on… do listen to it sometime).

Oh, and please don’t tell me what I think (i.e. “you don’t mean that!”) Hey, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t SAY it, okay??

Okay, let’s end this ugly post here, shall we?

Ciao.

~ ~ ~
NOTES:

* I was in Terengganu: the weekend is Friday+Saturday.

** Obviously some carrier had been sloppy with food preparation: it was the fasting month at that time… so you know lah, almost every Tom, Dick and Harry (or in this case, Mamat, Ali & Abu?) had some sort of food/drink stall at the pasar ramadhan … and standards are, errr, well, don’t ask… Nowadays, the few times I do patronize these places, I go for the well-cooked stuff (never never go for the drinks / cendol / iced stuff). No way am I going to risk something like this happening again!

*** So I got “educated” on the convoluted process of getting myself the relevant paperwork: first the doctor (“just” a GP) had to write a referral letter. I would bring that to the HR/Admin Dept, in order for them to issue a Guarantee Letter (GL). Only with that would I be able to get into a hospital and not worry about the charges – all taken care of by my employer. Yay for that! I just needed to get my butt to the hospital lah!

/end.

U want my new phone number?

+603-500-6152
Believe it or not, it's a meme.
(ugh, now i have The Greatest American hero theme in my head!!!)

It's real easy and fun:

Put in your area code

-------------------------------

First number of prefix is dating status

1- Single but in love
2- Taken
3- Confused
4- single and confused
5- taken and Happy
6- single
7- Taken and in Love
8- Want Someone but taken
9- Have a Crush
0- Just Dating

-------------------

Next number put your current mood

1- Happy
2- Sad
3- Confused
4- Afraid
5- Excited
6- Cheerful
7- Sleepy
8- Angry
9- Stressed
0- Other

---------------------

Next number is the color of your top

1- Black
2- blue
3- Red
4- Orange
5- white
6- Green
7- Yellow
8- Pink
9- Purple
0- Other

-------------------------

Next number is the month you were born in

1- Jan. or Feb.
2- Mar.
3- April
4- May
5- Jun. or Jul
6- Aug.
7- Sep.
8- Oct.
9- Nov.
0- Dec.

---------------

Next number is your fave color

1- Black
2- White
3- Pink
4- Blue
5- Green
6- Purple
7- Yellow
8- Orange
9- Red
0- Other

-------------------------

Next number is your favorite sport

1- Soccer
2- Basketball
3- Swimming
4- Baseball
5- Tennis
6- Football
7- Volleyball and/or Softball
8- Golf
9- Wrestling
0- Other

-----------------

Last number is your sign

1- Aries
2- Leo
3- Sagittarius
4- Taurus or Virgo
5- Capricorn
6- Gemini
7- Libra
8- Aquarius
9- Cancer
0- Scorpio or Pisces

... which gave me +603-500-6152 for today.

Okay, like I said, it's real fun and easy, so all you readers, de-lurk & show me some lurrrrve and your new "phone number" in the comments!! :-)

Cheers to Mikey for this great and unusual meme :-)

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to Buddha!

And my wishes for a happy Wesak to all Buddhist readers :-)

And we get another long weekend too! (the second in three! two out of three!! Meat Loaf would be so happy!)

P/S @ 245pm
1. Forgot to add: having a long weekend isn't too too meaningful to me lah, seeing as I'm a jobless bum and all... *grin!* but I know how welcome they were when I was a corporate slave, so I feel the need to mark the occasion :)

2. How appropriate for Wesak? Just finished reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Wow. Once I get my thoughts together, will definitely post a review. It's thought provoking, and I really urge ya, if you haven't read it, to pick up a copy. And if you have read it before, maybe to reread? I know for me I need to make sure I reread it in about a year. Seriously.

A REAL example of "Malaysia Boleh"

From today's The Star:

Jasin MP admits that firm in Customs timber saga is his KUALA LUMPUR: Jasin MP Datuk Mohd Said Yusof has admitted that he is the sole proprietor of a company involved in a recent case where the Malacca Customs was asked to “close one eye” over an illegal import of sawn timber from Indonesia. He said he had apologised to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi over the matter ... “I met him, I shook hands with him and said 'I minta maaf kalau I buat salah',” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday...

Translation of his "apology": I apologise if I've done wrong.

That is not an apology!

Does this guy truly believe there's nothing wrong in using your position as an MP to "facilitate" a hitch in customs for a company WHICH YOU OWN?

Can you say Abuse of Power? Conflict of Interest??

“I’m allowed to do business. Why can’t MPs do business?”

Doing business is one thing. Abusing your power, taking advantage of your position to further your own personal agenda is another thing. You are betraying the amanah of the people who voted you into that position.

Sure, you're not the sole corrupt politician out there.

But are you the dumbest? Do you truly believe you've done nothing wrong? Or is this the stance you think is the best defense strategy?

Mohd Said claimed he had received complaints from timber traders, forwarding agents and jetty operators that their business had dropped by 70%, following strict Customs action on the import of sawn timber logs in January.

Gee, maybe because 70% of the sawn timber logs import business was ILLEGAL?

Yay to Customs for (finally??!!) cracking down on this. Hopefully it won't be a hothotchickenshit situation lah, ya?

Asked whether he was prepared to face any punishment, he said the Umno Supreme Council had decided that there was no case. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said if there was a report against Mohd Said, it would be up to the authorities to report him to the police or the Anti-Corruption Agency, not the parliamentary rights and privileges committee.

Ya lah.. like I said, he's not the sole corrupt politician around. Everyone else doesn't want this to get dug into any more than it already has... can we say opening a can of worms???

I couldn't be bothered to follow up on this anymore...

Nothing "real" is going to come out of this.

Malaysia Boleh, all right.

(UPDATE:11pm i see Patrick Teoh also covered the same topic. Drop by and say hi, ya? Other blog opinions can be found here)

Lelaki Komunis Terakhir?

I'm gonna be putting my recent reading mood to good use: I did tell Kevin I was interested in submitting some book reviews for his Fun With Dead Trees site. Will churn out a few based on these recent reads, once I'm done with that magazine article thingy.

And speaking about books, reading, and stuff...

So Amir Muhammad's film, Lelaki Komunis Terakhir (The Last Communist), which got though the Censorship Board with no cuts, no nothing, has been banned "... as many Malaysians are still hurt by the brutality inflicted by Chin Peng's Communist Party of Malaya...", among a variety of reasons that don't *quite* make sense to me in this day and age.

The Censorship Board approved the movie, for heaven's sake! That used to be the be all and end all, right? Now, it seems that one or two influential small-minded people (influential precisely so many people in this country CAN'T THINK FOR THEMSELVES??!!) have judged this movie without even seeing it first, the powers that be have decided to ban the film. Read more about it on Jeff Ooi's place here, pay attention to the comments.

But this is the best, to me:

The movie was inspired by Chin Peng's memoirs My Side of History, which is available in local bookstores. According to the Information Minister, Datuk Zainuddin Maidin, the book is full of lies, "... but there is no need to ban the book. Only a handful of people read books but films are watched by many and can easily influence people..."

Wow.

That, coming from the Information Minister.

Hmmm... lemmie guess, you don't do much reading, do you, Datuk?

It's already Wednesday??

I am on to my 4th book in 5 days.

1. Storm Front – Jim Butcher: Excellent. I’m gonna be looking for the next few books in this series.
   
   
2. The Magic of Recluse – L. E. Modesitt Jr: Okay lah. A good read but not good enough for me to buy any other books of this author/series, that’s what libraries are for :D
   
   
3. The Joy of Work – Scott Adams: I think I’ll just concentrate on his comics. And an occasional visit to his blog. But I *am* considering picking up his “serious” non-Dilbert book God’s Debris. But maybe that’s also gonna be a library thing :p
   
   
4. Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert M. Pirsig: Am about a third of the way through. Wow. This is very thought provoking. And it’s really amusing to recognize what the Ferrari-less Monk was trying to imitate but failed oh so badly!

On another note or two:

• anyone else have problems with blogger my last night? I couldn’t sign in, couldn’t view any blogspot blog. What the heck is wrong with them, that their service has taken such a nosedive in the past two months??
  
  
• for those who know about that article I got assigned to do: All I can say is unfuckingbelievable. *gasp!* that’s right, no self-censorship this time! I will control myself and rant AFTER it is all over. Give that one person one last chance to redeem itself. And for me to trudge through and just churn out some good enough piece of crap, seeing as my motivation to do this has been shot to hell. It’s been a great trip down memory lane dealing with someone who to me epitomizes what’s wrong with the place I used to not just work, but pour my heart and soul into.

Ciao!

Spoiled? Moi???

This has been making the meme rounds... and I'm hopping on the bandwagon with a self-tag. Here goes....

Are you spoiled?
You are if you can BOLD 40 or more of the following:

Do you have...

• your own cell phone - i used to have TWO :-) soon I'll have none and I'm not gonna miss it either.
  
• a television in your bedroom
• an iPod - Kosh has two iPod products, but not me
  
• a photo printer
• your own phone line
  
• TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
• high-speed internet access - i wish... remember me moaning bitchin about dialup?
  
• a surround sound system in bedroom
• DVD player in bedroom
• at least a hundred DVDs - helps when over here VCDs were the preferred format for the longest time. Pirated, of course. But even then, no, I don't have many at all.
  
• a childfree bathroom
  
• your own in-house office
• a pool
• a guest house
• a game room
• a queen-size bed
• a stocked bar
• a working dishwasher - yeah, her name is Lynne :p
  
• an icemaker
• a working washer and dryer - Only washers. Dryers are uncommon in Malaysia.
  
• more than 20 pairs of shoes
• at least ten things from a designer store
• expensive sunglasses
• framed original art (not lithographs or prints)
• Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
• a multi-speed bike
• a gym membership - used to, not that I went LMAO!
  
• large exercise equipment at home
• your own set of golf clubs - my dad's, not mine.
  
• a pool table
• a tennis court
• local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea
• your own pair of skis
• enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
• a boat
• a jet ski
• a neighborhood committee membership
• a beach house or a vacation house/cabin - kinda sorta. My parents' tho, not mine.
  
• wealthy family members
• two or more family cars
• a walk-in closet or pantry
• a yard - apartment where got yard?? :-(
  
• a hammock
• a personal trainer
• good credit
  
• expensive jewelry - expensive in whose eyes? What I wear right now are extremely valuable, because of who gave them to me, not for the $$ value :-)
  
• a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
• at least $100 cash in your possession right now - if more than RM100 I qualify. If you're talking the equivalent (RM 360 or so) then nope - what for wanna carry around that much cash?
  
• more than two credit cards bearing your name - used to have three, now down to one, and that's only because it's free-for-life.
  
• a stock portfolio
• a passport - of course! have had one since i was a young'un :-)
  
• a horse
• a trust fund
• private medical insurance - ummmm, does life insurance count?
  
• a college degree, and no outstanding student loans - it's not a "loan" that I owe my ex-employer, *grin!*
  

Do you:

• shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week
• do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
• pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes
• go on weekend mini-vacations
  
• send dinners back with every flaw
• wear perfume or cologne (not body spray)
  
• regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon
• have a job but don't need the money OR stay at home with little financial sacrifice
• pay someone else to cook your meals
• pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs
• regularly pay someone else to drive you
• expect a gift after you fight with your partner

Are you:

• an only child
• married/partnered to a wealthy person
• baffled/surprised when you don't get your way

Have you:

• been on a cruise - down the Rhine. don't ask :p
  
• traveled out of the country - of course!!
  
• met a celebrity - does chatting with John Oates while getting his autograph count?
  
• been to the Caribbean
• been to Europe - errr I'm kinda FROM Europe. Half-from. :p
  
• been to Hong Kong
• been to Hawaii
• been to New York
• eaten at the space needle in Seattle
• been to the Mall of America
• been on the Eiffel tower in Paris - I think so... was way too small to remember tho, so I don't think that counts
  
• been on the Statue of Liberty in New York
• moved more than three times because you wanted to
• dined with local political figures
• been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast - well I've walked the beach at Santa Monica / Venice Beach... and I've been to Manhattan Island...
  

Did you:

• go to another country for your honeymoon
• hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
• take riding or swimming lessons as a child
• attend private school
• have a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown for you

~~~

Wow, based on this I am *so* not spoiled! only TEN bolded, baby! Even if I were to factor in stuff on behalf of Kosh, I think that would add another 6 or so.

I kinda knew it, but nice to have "proof", LMAO!

I wish...

... that I could have this conversation:

Me: I had noodles for lunch. Boy were they heavy.

Victim: Really? What did you have?

Me: Wantan noodles.

Unfortunately, I doubt anyone I know here would appreciate the humour.

The other day i *did* have wantan mee.

But I had noone to share the pun with.

Bummer.

Watch out for these computer viruses!!

From a blogworthy email:

The George Bush Virus
- Causes your computer to keep looking for viruses of mass destruction.

The John Kerry Virus
- Stores data on both sides of the disk and causes little purple hearts to appear on screen.

The Clinton Virus
- Gives you a permanent Hard Drive ; with NO memory

The Al Gore Virus
- Causes your computer to keep counting and re-counting

The Bob Dole Virus
- Makes a new hard drive out of an old floppy

The Lewinsky Virus
- Sucks all the memory out of your computer, then e-mails everyone about what it did

The Arnold Schwarzenegger Virus
- Terminates some files, leaves, but will be back

The Mike Tyson Virus
- Quits after two bytes

The Oprah Winfrey Virus
- Your 200 GB hard drive shrinks to 100 GB, then slowly expands to re-stabilize around 350 GB

The Ellen Degeneres Virus
- Disks can no longer be inserted

The Prozac Virus
- Totally screws up your RAM,but your processor doesn't care

The Michael Jackson Virus
- Only attacks minor files

The Lorena Bobbitt Virus
- Reformats your hard drive into a 3.5 inch floppy ... then discards it through Windows

my faves: the Oprah, Lewinsky, and Dubya ones.

Slow Sunday

The day started with an impromptu YM chat with Kosh.

Then went for breakfast: had Raju's in the light drizzle.

Then made it thru almost the end of my current read.

Showered, hopped into the car, dropped by Ganesh's for some karipap, then off to Jay's place for another mini-meet with some St Marians. So i kinda got interrogated by [ugh, too braindead to think up aliases, sowwy!] most of them since I've not bothered to share too much info with too many people about what's been up with me. But was still good to meet up, *and* to see Jay's FOUR kids. Yikes!

Back at the apartment around 630pm.

Finished the book.

Pottered around online.

Think I will turn in early tonight.

I tend to skip the gym on weekends: will be there tomorrow morning.

And in the meantime... something I got from Yo a while back:

Who Should Paint You: Alfred Gockel

All American yet funky, you inspire an artist's imagination And while not everyone will understand your portrait, you will!

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

Never heard of him, but I like the description, LOL!

Your Hillbilly Name Is...

Billie Jo Carter

Hillbilly Name Generator

Sounds like a mix between a certain US President (male) and a certain Uptown Girl singer (also male), LOL!

Em Dee

Kosh graduates today.
Congratulations beb, wish I was there with ya to mark the occasion!

A Tale of a Malaysian Breakfast

I saw it scurrying around in the corner.

Kept an eye on it.

If it came closer to me, I’d stomp on it lah. Otherwise, well, let’s just keep an eye on it.

When “confronted” with things like this, I take the time for a little acknowledgement and thanks for not being one of those people who have this extreme phobia of roaches: who, if in my situation right then, would have already fled screaming out of the shop in terror, or be standing on the chair and freaking out, or something.

I’m also glad that I was there alone this morning, without any of people I know who “suffer” from this condition!

So I calmly kept an eye on the critter.

It scurried here, scurried there, making little attempts to perhaps climb the wall, then back down, then scurried there and back again… always keeping right there where the floor meets the wall.

Then it decided to climb. For real.

By the time it had reached about table height, I had already signaled to one of the waiters, and pointed out the roach.

Remember, this is a restaurant – you can’t just wield a can of insect spray with all the food around. And yes, for those who are now cringing at the thought – yes, a roach, in a restaurant. Malaysia Boleh maaaaah!

So the guy kinda flips it back down on the floor, stomps on it, then slides/kicks it away from the corner, where another waiter has prepared a piece of paper: get the mofo on the paper, wrap it up, throw it away, all done, case closed, game over.

Yay.

The end.

Have a good weekend.

And try not to think about roaches on walls, ya?
Muuaaahaahahahahaaaaaaa!