Vrrrom vroooom vrrooooommmm!

did you know that the "original" words to Paul McCartney's "Yesterday" were actually "scrambled eggs"?

Scramble according to AskOxford.com: scramble (verb) 1 move or make one’s way quickly and awkwardly, typically by using one’s hands as well as one’s feet. 2 make or become jumbled or muddled. 3 make (a broadcast transmission or telephone conversation) unintelligible unless received by an appropriate decoding device. 4 cook (beaten eggs with a little liquid) in a pan. 5 (with reference to fighter aircraft) take off or cause to take off immediately in an emergency or for action. 6 informal act in a hurried, disorderly, or undignified manner: firms scrambled to win contracts.

Scramble according to Kosh: getting an internship place after graduation, cos the computer didn't match him to anything he'd ranked.

Am glad to report that in the end, he's secured a first year general surgery internship in a Chicago hospital.

(Not really where I'd have wanted to end up, but hey, the important thing is that he's actually *got* a place now, phew!!)

So, while doing that 1 year, he'll need to either schmooze his way into that hospital's ENT program, or apply to other hospitals/schools for a second year intake for ENT.

So, yay, there's still another year of uncertainty wrt where we'd actually be "settling down", i.e. Chicagoland, or AnywhereElse USA :p

No real biggie.

"i will follow him" maaaaaaaah!

++GAMARJOBAT++

For those in KL - go and see this show!

gamarjobat

It's on till this weekend at the Actors Studio in BSC, and there are few seats left.

Trust me, this "Japanese Mime" duo is just magnificient!

And according to them, it was the first time they received a full standing ovation too. It helped that Harith Iskandar was in the crowd, and obviously totally enjoyed the show: it was he (him?) who immediately stood up at the end of the show : one comedian honoring another :-)

Go see them.

It will be totally worth your while.

And if you're not in KL/malaysia - remember the name, and if ever they come to your neck of the woods, do try to catch them k?

I'm gonna have images of the slo-mo boxer in my head for quite a while now.

Peace.

insomnia catatonia

no mood to go to sleep

it's now 2am

I visited the Star*ucks at PBD again earlier today/yesterday/whatever. Can you believe they close at 11??!!! omg so not worth it to go after dinner loh! Still haven't figured out how to determine which CBTL outlets are wifi-equipped (dulu only a select few, dunno about now... the last thing i want to happen is my setting up in one of them only to find "no wireless network detected".. that would be very baddddddd!!)

Back to star*ucks @ PBD: been there twice so far. Both times, they got my order wrong. The first time, I asked for my usual "ice vanilla latter regular skim milk". I got a hot latte instead. I asked for iced! They remade it. I caught the guy before he used fullcream instead of skinny. Fine. Got the new drink. Took a sip. Errr, is there vanilla in this? Oh, you want vanilla ah? Sigh. They add the shot of flavour. Ah, *now* it's drinkable. sometime during the remakes, I checked the receipt: yes, I *did* pay for an "ice latte (v)" so I was justified in getting them to make it as ordered and paid for. Then earlier today, I again asked for "my" drink. I dunno if I mumble, if they are not listening, or what... I could have sworn he repeated my order correctly - and yet I was billed for (and got) a normal ice latte - so my first sip was like UGH, checked the receipt, saw that it matched what I had in hand even tho it's NOT what I ordered... and just had it anyway... but really, I don't wanna go back there. They suck.

...

am doing some groundwork for a magazine article I've been asked to write: it was supposed to be one article, but it looks like it may expand into a series of articles instead, seeing that the subject matter is quite varied / can be approached from very different angles. I just feel like things are spinning out of control - let's take things one step at a time please!! After all, potential article #2 can't be finalised till at least mid-July, and by that time I really hope I am no longer in the country! So instead of ONE interview, I've been asked to add another, in addition to a few that I was wanting to do on my own anyway (sorry so vague, don't want to be too specific loh!). Sigh.

Kinda related to that" I see that there seems to be dissatisfaction among the ranks of NSTP journalists, leading to lots of resignations / acceptance of VSS recently. Perhaps that might help me get a basic entry-level part-time thingy with them, as others move up to fill in the blanks? Should I try?

Bleh, that reminds me: I need to totally revamp my resume, highlighting my strengths and skills rather than listing my jobs during my 9 years of work. I have a good idea as to how to go about doing it... the challenge is sitting down and actually doing it lah. It will probably end up too different from the "usual Malaysia-style" resumes, but heck lah, it will just prove that I think & act differently than the average joe/jane, and am not afraid to say so (within reasonable boundaries lah).

What next, what next....

ah yes... the shallowness of some people... okay so i'm catching up with friends, ex-colleagues, and some people that fall into the category of "people I know" (i.e. not close lah). My being engaged usually pops up in the conversation, and they want to know who/how/etc. And all too often, when I say he's a 4th year medical student graduating this May, I see a change in face, eyes light up, and hear a comment like "wow, good catch, you're marrying a doctor!" It really rubs me the wrong way, somehow. Perhaps I just don't give much information so there's not much for them to converse about so that's all they can think of to say? Or is it just a sign of where their priorities lie?

And actually, that's one of the reasons I am so malas to visit any of my relatives while I'm back here... I anticipate lots of annoying questions about my activities of the last 2 years or so, which will include of course mention of Kosh, and his future occupation, etc etc etc, with very high chances that there will be numerous queries that will piss me off: not that I blame them, it's kinda just how they are... but me being how *i* am, I'd rather not subject myself to all that annoyance for as long as possible. Some might call it avoidance. I call it prevention! :D

Exercise: after that disheartening post, I ended up skipping gym for many days.. i think i've been there only 2x in the last week :p am bucking up again tho... just needed a mental break from it (plus I had some earlier-in-the-day appointments last week, and wanted to sleep in late *grin!*). ... and on a related note: i wonder what part of "it's great because I have the gym all to myself" does a parent not understand, such that I got asked today "So when you go to the gym is there anyone else in there with you?" I just answer "Nope" and walk away, don't wanna have the same conversation again lah.

Bleh.

All that took me about 57 mins.

Mental vomit.

Bleh.

i try sleep now.

g'nite.

Here and There, with some thoughts on exam results and what they don't mean

Be careful what you write, it may come true? Kinda funny... one of Stephen King's "angles" in the Dark Tower series was that what he wrote about existed in a different dimension. So... check out something that so closely resembles his "lobstrosities" of DT2, it's freaky! (Thanx to NeedCoffee for the link!)

= = = =

Overheard on the radio recently:

1. "... Saddam Hussein's trial moved into a new face today ..."

2. "... featuring music from Shania Twine ..."

#1 reminds me once, a loooooong time ago, on the English news, where someone with totally Malay-pronunciation was covering an event called "The Faces of Islam" ... unfortunately, the guy's pronunciation / enunciation was SO BAD it came out sounding like "The Feces of Islam"!

Things have improved a lot... but I do wish the current standards would get just a few notches higher. There's so much mis-pronunciation, emPHAsis on the wrong syLLAble, that just makes me cringe.

Anyone producing advertisements for radio / voice-overs / looking for on-air personalities? Please consider me!

= = = =

The SPM results were released yesterday. This set of exams is taken at the end of Form 5, and is equivalent (haahahaha) to the British "O" Levels.

A lot depends on these results: entry into university; scholarship opportunities, etc etc. To some people, perhaps TOO MUCH depends on "good" results? Some people like Ms M. Valsala Menon, who suffered injuries to her arms and had her tongue severed as a result of "a fall from the third floor of the school building".

Upset girl falls from building

KANGAR: Amid the excitement of getting the SPM results, teachers and students of the SMK Perlis here were stunned when they heard that an 18-year-old girl had fallen three floors from the school building.

M. Valsala Menon suffered injuries to her arms and her tongue was severed.

The school authorities called an ambulance, which rushed her to the Tuanku Fauziah Hospital after the 10.30am incident yesterday. Her condition was reported to be stable.

A close friend, S. Kalaiselvi, said she had gone to Valsala’s home in Taman Kemajuan to give her a lift to school on her motorcycle about an hour earlier.

She said Valsala looked upset when she saw her results.

“I knew she did not do well in two or three subjects. I told her to stay awhile at the canteen while I went to collect my school-leaving certificate,” Kalaiselvi said.

“When I returned, she was missing. I quickly called other friends to look for her and I went round to search on my motorcycle.

“When I was at the back gate, I saw Valsala at the edge of a corridor on the third floor. Moments later she fell.”

Valsala’s father Moorgan Menon, 45, a bus conductor, said that before the incident his daughter had been worried about how she would fare in the SPM.

“We had been telling her not to worry about the results,” he said, adding that he has yet to see her results.

Contacted in Kuala Lumpur and told about the incident, Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein appeared upset.

“Why? Why?” he asked.

“All parents, teachers and students must learn from this,” he told The Star.

It's shocking, isn't it? So young, and yet already thinking her life is not worth living, all because of some exam results....

Ms Valsala, my heart goes out to you... I just hope you can realise that there is so much more to life than getting good results in an exam.

Good results don't guarantee success, neither do poor results guarantee a life of misery and failure.

So much depends on other stuff like your attitude, your ability to adapt to new things, your perspective, your vision... your resilience in the face of adversity...

Not just on that one friggin piece of paper!

(tears pricked my eyes as I wrote that last line)

... don't even know how "poor" her poor results were ...

after all, human beings are such complex, irrational creatures... you have anorexics who see themselves as fat even tho they are nothing but skin and bones... ... one man's meat is another man's poison ... ... one person's "poor SPM results" could be another person's beyond expectations excellent results!

... and even if they WERE "poor" ... I'm sure there are plenty of options open, whether the results were still good enough to get a place in a local university or not, or consider re-sitting the subjects she didn't do well in...

... and WHY were they poor, anyway? I know of many people who didn't do that well, not because they were "stupid" or "failures", but because of the way the subjects are taught in school - too much telling, no understanding or learning.... personality clashes with the teachers ... learning styles that are not recognised ... students with a "science" aptitude stuck in the Arts stream, or vice versa ...

... but you know what??? I just have to reiterate.... there is so much more to life than doing well in one exam ... sure, life may be slightly easier if you did well, but, ultimately, you get out of life what you put in it.

Ms Valsala, I hope will be able to understand that your outlook on life will have more influence on your future than these exam results. Please believe in yourself.

Peace.

(Added @ 2am: maverick has an excellent overview of the whole SPM scene, do check it out here)

Continuing the series on KL's public transport system

First, I wrote about the LRT,

Then, the 1 hr wait for the KTM Komuter at Mid Valley

Now: the MONORAIL and KL Sentral.

First: the usual case lah in Malaysia - the infrastructure is so badly planned... no forward thinking town planner, or perhaps none with the vision, or probably the authority, to ensure a truly integrated public transport system.

Hence, the two separate LRT lines don't really "interact" : the "interchange" between what were the STAR and PUTRA lines involves walking out onto the street then back into the "system".

So, at KL Sentral, the "Central Station" of KL, the monorail starts/ends there.

BUT unless you REALLY look out for signs for it, you are not gonna find your way to the monorail.

To get to the monorail station, you need to head out to Brickfields (Jalan Tun Sambanthan).

From this sign, you see NO indication for the monorail.

In fact, even the sign indicating the "exit to Jalan Tun Sambanthan" seems to be a later add-on right?


But trust me, this is the right direction!

If you just keep walking in that direction, just at the end of the building, you might just see this dinky little sign:

So, take the stairs down, then either cross the parking lot, or if you already know the way from another visit, you can walk through a covered bazaar type place.

Wait for the pedestrian light to turn green.

Cross the road.

THEN you are at the monorail station.

Silly, eh?

Btw, this is the view from the monorail station, loking at KL Sentral.

Anyways... so the trip itself was pretty nice.

What I was proud to see was people unhesitatingly giving up their seats for blind/sight-impaired people. I was standing anyways, or I'd have done it too.

The only real drawback I could see (or NOT see, as the case may be), is that they plastered advertisements across the windows, so I couldn't enjoy the view from the traincar!

That's a shame, isn't it?

I suppose the monorail operator wants all the advertising revenue it can get... and whoever thought up the idea of plastering the windows should be shot. I acknowledge it *is* a brilliant idea. But it's also totally invasive and annoying.

friggin dial-up

okay so friggin blogrolling seems to be down, so don't have immediate access to my fave blogs' links from my blog page.

Glad I have *some* links thanks to the referrer.org part of my sidebar...

But! those few pages take forever to load... some never load at all...

grrrrrr!

I think it's mainly a friggin dial-up issue. It's 5pm - peak usage?

Bleah.

a brand of country ...

When you think of “Switzerland”, what comes to mind?

Cheese?
Chocolate?
Watches?
On-time trains?
Swiss bank accounts?
The hospitality industry?
The Alps?
The Alphorn?
Those funny Alpine costumes?
Yodelling?
Clean mountain air?
The Eidelweiss flower?
The Swiss Army Knife?
Cunning trilinguists?
I understand that the Swiss government takes the Swiss brand so seriously, it makes sure only appropriate use of “Swiss / Switzerland” is used in brand names, worldwide.

So, if I were to open a café that I called The Swiss Kopitiam, I would expect to get a visit from the Swiss authorities, who would determine my right to use the name. I doubt that my half-Swiss heritage would automatically qualify me: I guess I would need to have some typically Swiss dishes, or have experimental menu items featuring a Swiss-Asian mélange, or something that truly justified the use of the name :p

A bit much, don’t you think, to monitor the use of a name to that extent?

Then again…

Another country recognized world-wide is, of course, the U S of A.

I don’t think they are hung up about their image the way the Swiss are. They have their reasons, I suppose.

But as a result of the perhaps lax attitude, you can stumble across shops such as this one:

Dunnolah if you can read properly or not: the name is “America Watch”, and it’s located somewhere in Mid Valley Mega Mall.

From my vantage point, I could see the following brands sold in this store:

• Nike (okay, that’s a U.S. brand, no matter if it’s probably made in China)
  
• SEIKO (Japanese brand, am I right?)
  
• Victorinox – the Swiss Army brand

I bet if I walked in to see what else they sold, I wouldn’t find much else “American” there. Maybe the Guess brand got lah. I also bet chances are the owner, and salespeople, are Chinese. Malaysian, but Chinese.

I’m betting they have no real connection to “America”, let alone the U S of A.

and while we’re at it: have you stopped to think about just how pervasive, so universal, the US of A brand is? Even the word “America” is synonymous with the US of A, even though there are so many countries that belong to North, Central and South America, all having a piece of the “America” pie!

So why name the shop America Watch? Just to latch-on to world-widely recognized name, I suppose. Maybe that will attract more (mindless? braindead?) customers?

Where’s the “truth in their branding”?

Do they have the “right” to use the name?

All of a sudden, the Swiss don’t seem so anal after all.