I dream…

For those of you in the know, my father passed away in July this year.

The loss brought me grief and sorrow like I’ve never known. Coping is the only thing I can do now, slowly but surely I’m trying to make some semblance of sense into this thing called ‘my life’ now.

I’ve been dreaming of my dad lately.

In my dream, I woke up, my usual happy self, burst out my room door and happily hollered out to him from the upstairs hallway, expecting him to be downstairs, watching either CCTV 9 or National Geographic. Expecting like I always do for his reply, to which I’d answer with our ritual weekend breakfast date.

But silence greeted me.

And then reality hit me. The jolt was severe and sudden. And I awoke. The reality of his loss falling on me like a tonne of bricks.

Weekends will never be the same.


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The Doosh! *swoon*

For those who've known me for many a year, you will remember my intense love affair with "the Doosh".

No, it is not a sanitary device nor is it the sound one makes when air punching or kicking someone.

But excitement is me, cause my dear dear friends, I AM GOING TO SEE THE DOOSH!!!! LIVE!!!! IN PERSON!!!!! IN ALL IT'S VIBRATING GLORY!!!!!!!

Yup! Alan Tham & Hacken Lee concert's this Saturday, and the tickets are in my bag :D:D:D:D

*twirly dance of joy*

Ahhh..... all those hours of looking at that doosh, and imagining it vibrating, moving sensously up and down.....

Ok... this is getting a little TOO cheeky, even for me!

Lol! For those who havent known me for that long, the Doosh is what I had affectionately named Hacken Lee's......... adam's apple.

I admit, I had a thing for it.

And when I was much, much MUCH younger (and stupider goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyways), I had the Doosh syndrome. I called it the Doosh, and had HUGE crushes on guys with Dooshes to match. And ONLY, ONLY if their Dooshes were a respectable size of an apple. Them grapes, strawberries and lychees warranted narry a glance... but ahh.... how my heart skipped a beat when I spotted...... a Doosh.......

And come Saturday, it won't be just any Doosh.... I'll be seeing THE DOOSH!

Oh boy, oh boy OH BOY!!!!!!



.

Food.... overload!!!!

Don't get me wrong.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOOOOOOVE food.

And I love, love, looooooooove to over order, especially when people swing by Shah Alam for lunch.

But when we end up ordering 7 full sized dishes that can easily feed 6 just for the 2 of us....

Foodfest # 1

The Nut came by. I brought him to my favouritest thai restaurant in the whole of shah alam.

Butter prawns were on promotion. Yippee! So we ordered some.

Shark's fin soup was on promotion. Yippee! So we ordered some.

Tom yam soup seemed the natural appetizer, so we ordered some.

Mango kerabu there's to die for, so we ordered some.

Shark's fin egg picture looked particularly fetching in the menu, so we ordered some.

Salted fish mee hoon we ordered, because rice has calories...

Thab tim krab to wash it all down, cause it's honestly the cutest sounding desert I know.

and because they were so impressed with us, they gave us a voucher for .... FREE la la! 800gm!

Foodfest # 2

So the next week, MC came by, and I brought him to my favouritest thai restaurant in the whole of Shah Alam.

Butter prawns were STILL on promotion. Yippee! So we ordered some.

Shark's fin soup was STILL on promotion. Yippee! So we ordered some.

Mango kerabu there's STILL my favourite, so we ordered some.

Remember the voucher? La la was free, so naturally we ordered some, with spring onions.

Fish steamed in 3 flavours sounded too sexy not to order, so we ordered one.

We had prawns, shark's fin, la-la and fish. How could we leave crab out? Crab meat tau foo looked nice, so we ordered some.

To balance it all out, crispy glass chicken. Just so it wasn't just any ole' cholesterol fest, so we ordered some.

But note! No rice, which means the meal didn't have any calories! :D

And on both occasions, we finished everything! Well almost.... Thank goodness for long lunches, and thank goodness for quiet afternoons at work!

Anyone else swinging by Shah Alam soon???!??!

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"Tai-Tai Afternoon"

After a few hectic weeks in the office, there was a sudden lull earlier in the week.

So I booked a facial and took off from the office slightly before the bell rang.

In hushed soothing voices and dimmed candle lit ambiance, relaxing music trinkling in the background, they soaked my feet, wrapped me in sarongs, had spa infused relaxing steam waftinto my face, massaged, cleansed, pricked and poked and squeezed and nipped me and finally plonked very soothing face mask on me *i hope i snored not*, then, they woke me up, i was de-saronged, lavender and herb infused steam in my face again, and they were done with me!

I expected to see my face splockled with a thousand little red mementos from all that pricking, but to my great relief.... i looked like... well ... me :D *phew*

So I'm now white, black, red, green or whatever head free, and feeling very tai-tai. Especially since after that 2 hours of facial gymnastics, I walked 3 steps into my gentle yoga class, where I stretched and twisted the rest of me, again to soothing music trinkling in the back ground, soft lights illuminating the studio....

Ahhhhh..... I could get used to this....

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"Potong!"

I did it.

I've chopped it.

My long hair. Chopped.

I am now trying to pass off bits of hair hung from my scalp as a bob.

Which is supposedly really trendy, if I had enough hair to make the look work...

But with this much less hair length, the savings on shampoo is great :D

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RPM (Really Painful Moments)...

“Come laa…. I’ve been asking you for 3 years, come laaaa….”

I should have taken more heed to the evil glint in the Nut's eye that day…..

I should have noticed how Agent M and T3 exchanged knowing looks while swallowing their giggles that day…..

But I didn’t. Like the dumb-ass that I am….I decided to join RPM.

Only it was an RPM Challenge class….. which inflicts a lot more pain than a normal class….

And it was my first time, and I had not with me any super padded ultra cushioned special bike pants that day…. Not a good sign # 1.

It started out well enough, T3 and AgentM were the bestest hosts, showing me around the changing room, showers etc. And we changed and went to the Cycling Studio. Me all excited and happy (little did I know how short lived it would be).

1st track, the Nut’s right hand man with the Darlie smile came and introduced himself to me. Which was sweet, until he put on his microphone and ANNOUNCED TO THE WHOLE CLASS that a newcomer was on board….. (and there I was thinking I had chosen a bike in an inconspicuous corner of the studio)All eyes were on me, and EVERYONE was chuckling…. Not a good sign # 2.

So the tracks started…. Warm up… this I could follow and halfway through track 1, thought, hey, this isn’t so hard…..

Boy was I to be proven wrong…..

Track 2 came along, and Mr Darlie asked everyone to turn up the dial thingy in between your legs as you are seated on the bike… and I did. And BAM! Resistance…. And my quads SCREAMED!!!!! (and this is only the 2nd track mind you) sigh… Not a good sign # 3.

Then track 3. A few further turns of the dial, which I had chosen to ignore… and then Mr Darlie looked my way, smiled even wider (how he managed that is still a wonder to me) and with a little wink at me yelled into the microphone “CLIMB!” and EVERYONE got off their butts and started pedal running! I fumbled and scrambled and managed to stand up… for all of 3 revolutions of the wheel, cause by the 4th revolution, I couldn’t feel anything in my legs! So there they were vigorously climbing and reaching for the stars or Everest or the moon and me? I sat back down, cause by then, it dawned on me, I was never EVER going to make it as an RPM-ite.

So what was I to do? I was kinda stuck on that bike, cause I strapped myself in real tight…. So I sat back, adjusted my hair, took a sip of water and leaned into the wall a bit (supported by my water bottle-free hand) and proceeded to look around, head bopping to the catchy music.

After something like the 5th track, Mr Darlie takes off the microphone and passes it to the Nut. “Yeayy!!! I thought, cool down time!”

Boy, was I wrong! Sean Connery @ Nut announced that they were ALREADY halfway! Yeay my *^%$@$^!!!!! I swear I could hear him laughing on the inside… bad, bad, BAD Nut! So we were just halfway…. Crap. Not a good sign # 4.

So I went along, still pedaling like I was going to the Kedai Runcit for an ice-cream…. Until I realized somewhere in the middle of Track 6, that I was losing feeling in my butt.
Not a good sign # 5.

So at the risk of maiming myself for life, I decided to snap myself out of la-la land and re-focus on what was going on in that disco-balled flashy studio.

And there they were, off their butts again. Doing the Infinity climb…And with the SOLE PURPOSE of relieving the pain that was slowly building up in my posterior, I cranked up the resisto-meter dial thinggy and got off my butt too. Oh the pain…How these people do this for the entire hour I will never understand, my utmost respect to all who have been for an RPM (Challenge or not) class, and did everything the instructors told you to.

After 5 seconds of Infinitism, PLOINK! My butt was on that super hard torturous seat again….

And a few minutes later, my butt was in the air again….

It became of a delicate task of pain management. Pain in the butt, or pain in the quads…

After something like 8 hours of this (which in reality came up to about 8 minutes or 8 seconds… pain does something to time perception abilities…), I gave up (again). I decided, well, the butt doesn’t really DO MUCH does it? I’ll just strap myself in really tightly when I sit down anywhere and wedge myself against a wall or something…. My quads I need to stand, drive, walk…. In the battle of pains, my butt lost.

So I remained seated for the rest of the 20 hours… or minutes, whatever, I couldn’t sit straight by then… hence I had to support myself against the wall… Not a good sign # 6.

Then FINALLY, FINALLY it was cool down time. I would have climbed off the bike and given Sean Nuttery a kiss had I not been consumed in so much pain….

Cool down stretches, bend this, extend that…… and FINALLY they allow you off the bike…. Took me a good looong while to maneuver myself off the bike without hurting anyone…. Sigh….

And then, bless the gods in the heavens, it was over! It was FINALLY over!

I wobbled, hopped and winced my way to the shower room and thought happy thoughts of nasi lemak and fried chicken and cham ais….. ahh…..

RPM again? Hmmm… I think I’ll stick to Beginner’s Yoga for now….

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Chit-chat on a gloomy Wednesday...

It's wednesday, the sky's gloomy and it's rainy outside.

And I feel like chatting. And it has been a while..... So chat I shall.

Am in my bimbonic phase lately. Got some makeup for my b'day and have been playing Michaelangelo (on my own face). Good thing is that the pallate is light, so no worries about looking like someone from Ms Drag Queen International 2009. Plus been accessorising too, when i can remember. Been rummaging thru my box of trinkets and realise that my earrings (those 3 for RM10 pairs) which i never wear, make pretty interesting pendants.... So with some pliers and a bit of imagination, i've given myself a host of new pendant thinggimajigs to wear! Like magic!

Oh! And I've joined a new gym. The one in centro Klang (which is next to the Hokkien Association). Been inactive at my old gym for around 5 months now... so that died a natural death.

From gymbing with Aunties who tell me about their children... usually about their graduation, or their weddings (that's how old them aunties are) to young properly attired gym freaks! Wow.... a bit of a culture shock.... and then the firm reality that you are in klang hits you when you're in the shower room.... whilst you have the latest tunes or mtv music piped in the workout area, everyone's focused, everyone's sweating and looking determined, enter the shower room and talk of bah kut teh, who's getting married to whom (were you invited?) conversations in Hokkien speak take centrestage. What a lovely contrast, and what an incredibly comforting one....

Note to self : the steam room and sauna room are there.... but i have never seen them in use.... granted I've only been there 3 times......

Oh! Haha and anor thing, Centro Klang, the one and only place where you can have a lovely oktoberfest evening with imported german beer, gourmet sausages, crispy bits of bacon and saurkraut and pork knuckles AND Cha-cham-bo!!!!!!! belted out by the band, and the lovely smells of bah kut teh wafting in from the bkt place in the building. Lovely combo, and ONLY in klang. Germany also kalah.

Am now debating if I should skive and leave for home early and have HELL UNLEASHED on me tomorrow and Friday, when the deadlines come steamrolling on my head, or continue to sit here, sip my green tea, and stare out the rain splockled window.....

Hmmmm decisions, decisions....

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I'm melting.....

I’m melting.

My face at least. Just got back from Bangkok and my face is literally, falling off… must be an allergic reaction to one of two things… One, it’s either my sun block *glaring accusingly at the bottle* or two, them fried bugs I had *belch*.

Thinking it’s the sun block *more glaring* cause it’s only my face that’s doing the “V” thing. (No, i swallowed no rats, whole or in little parts, in Thailand, or any other land for that matter!) The rest of my body is fine. Sigh….

Here’s hoping that my new face grows blemish free with porcelain-like smoothness.

Till then, if you see kids running around and screaming in utter fear, yup, it means I’m close by.


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Buttercup-ping

Found myself hanging out at home a lot last weekend. Had some time on my hands but was too lazy to go out much... it was really TOO DAMN HOT!

So i hung out at home, with Buttercup.

Cause she looks like this...

And she does this....

Sorry to gush like an annoyingly proud parent, but I CANNOT TAHAN!!!

She really is very very very adorable!

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Being Internet-less....

Being internet-less means…

1. You are left out of the happenings of the world because :-

a. You check on no one’s blog. Which means that you’re left out of the juicy happenings of your dear and some even dearer friends;
b. You don’t get to read the Star online, or the BBC or CNN.
c. The worst, you’re not logged on to any online chats!!!! I really NEED to know when any of you feel sleepy or hungry!!!!


2. The world is left out of the wonderful happenings of your weekend because :-

a. you get to tell no one of the yummy pork burgers Ah Ming made and the succulent gourmet lamb chops Mike made and Khim’s mom’s fabulous fried rice. It was a great pot-luck do Ming, thanks.
b. You get to tell no one of the lovely bbq with endless food you went to;
c. You get to tell no one how Buttercup’s learnt a new trick!
d. You get to tell no one how the Bookermobile now has WORKING POWER WINDOWS, and working central locking and and and, a FULL SET OF LIGHTS!!!!! They all work, blink, and shine with gusto on command now; and
e. You get to tell no one you learnt something new last weekend. There’s such a thing as “parking lights” on my car, which for the record, are working just fine, thanks.


3. You’re stuck in a bit of a “catch 22” situation because:-

a. it prompts you to blog, but without the internet…. How the heck do you post it up?
b. You feel the urge to work, but without access to the work email, it sometimes doesn’t make sense to fax a 58 page agreement to an outstation client.
c. It’s Monday, which means I haven’t rested from the crazies of the weekend, which means, I don’t have the urge to skive, plus, it’s 38° out there…. No thank you!
d. PLUS, it’s Monday, which means that all them lovely warehouse sales have ended, dashed are my dreams of being a bargainista… sigh.


4. You incur a lot of expenses because :-

a. You can’t get online to pay any of your bills. So interest builds… damn! Nevermind that the bank’s just down the road…. Have I not mentioned that it’s freaking 38° out there today?
b. You can’t get online to check on those fabulous all inclusive no-hidden-charges-ridiculously-low air fares to plan your next holiday for next to nothing. DAMN!
c. You can’t get online to see if Cole Haan’s having another one of their 30% off their sale price promotion to get handbags for less than half the price of what you’d pay here.
d. You actually LEAVE your desk during lunch. Which means, you buy food ($$) and you accidentally drop into the new Clarks shoe shop (potential $$$ there… took a lot of willpower not to buy that cute pair of low ankle boots that will look great with jeans….) and you roll over to the pharmacy ($$$) and you accidentally buy a new pair of earrings ($). Damn!
e. You’re so bored you text/call your loved ones and friends.


5. You gain weight because :-

a. See item 3(d) above.
b. You’re so bored, the only to stay awake is to nibble. And nibbling for 6 hours comes up to A LOT OF CALORIES!!!!


6. To hell with the 38° scorcher of a day. I’m outta here…. I’m going home to finish my book, start on a new one with the air conditioning on. Love you guys, but BYE!

Buttercup – The Little Dame...

Ok, so Eric didn’t blog today, which traditionally means, I have to.

Top in my mind right now, is Buttercup.

And how much poop comes out of that little thing!!!!

We’re still trying to house-train her… Again, my parents are absolute champions. Retired, they’re at home all day and will take her outdoors every couple of hours… so here’s hoping to zero-rizing “accidents” in the house *keeping our fingers crossed*

I’ve noticed that our little dame doesn’t really like the garden very much. Even when we’re coaxing and cajoling her. She will resolutely stand her ground, her short stumpy legs cemented to the porch, she will look up (and I mean up) (I’m about 5’ 9” and she’s all of 10” tall) and grooooooooooooowl!!!!

I don’t understand why, it may be that she’s not been to many gardens, or it may be that she simply doesn’t like grass… but then again, Patchee used to sleep on my car, and I never understood why either… so *shrugs*

She’s all grown up so thankfully, ripped newspapers and bitten shoes etc are all child’s play to her….. *Which is SUCH A RELIEF!*

She’s a dignified little matron this one….so she will come play with you WHEN SHE FEELS LIKE IT. She’ll “let” you pamper her a bit, nuzzle a bit, and she will layan you a bit, and once she’s decided that you’re settled where you are (reading the papers, watching tv, lounging around) she’ll walk away, about 3 feet away, flop down and let out a HUGE sigh…. Then she’ll let her eyes droop a little. (And boy are those eyes big!). Mid-droop, if you so much as move a muscle, those eyes BULGE out and POP back to attention! She’ll perk her little head up and watch you, 100% alert again. When she’s satisfied that you aren’t going nowhere, she’ll lay down her head, and the drooping process begins all over again.

But she never sleeps…

She gets excited and overjoyed when you come home, come down stairs, wake up, walk by her, HAVE FOOD IN YOUR HANDS, or simply call out to her… But come to think of it, I’ve never seen her asleep.

She’s an old gal, her muzzle’s speckled with white, and yet she doesn’t sleep.

And I kinda figured out why…

I think she’s afraid that if she DOES go to sleep, she’ll wake up and no one will be there anymore….

The poor thing….. If only I could take away the anxiety she’s feeling!!!

I’m pampering her all I can for now, just to assure her that she won’t ever be abandoned again.

Hey there Buttercup!

She’s HERE!!!!

It was a Saturday. We expected her arrival in the late morning. But my dad and I both woke up early, and in anticipation of her arrival, went out for an early brekkie and went dog basket hunting.

Pugs are a toy breed. The largest toy breed. So we needed a big ass basket. Found one, that could probably house a cat. So we hunted some more.

In the end, we settled for a stop gap measure, and bought a big bright yellow bread tray. Stuffed it with old t-shirts and glazed it with a soft comfie old purple blankie….

At 10.46am, the dog rescuer called to say that they were on their way.

5 mins later, they alighted the car, Buttercup in tow.

My heart leapt a bit, soared a bit, fluttered a bit and cried a bit!

She was a compact bundle of contradiction!

She’s stocky but soft,
She’s fugly but gorgeous,
She’s sweet but determined,
She’s old but so child-like,
She’s lovely but tough,
She’s naughty but disciplined
And most importantly, she’s here! She’s here! She’s HERE!

She shadows each of us in turn. Everywhere we go around the house, we hear the clickety-clack of her nails on the floor. This will go on for all of 3 minutes, after which, Buttercup gets tired, and belly-flops onto the floor.

She snores… hehehe…. And has an underbite that fixes that mug of hers into a perpetual “Hey you!!!! Wanna fight????!?!”

But she’s so sweet. Her eyes are child like and when she starts wagging that tail, it seems like she’s about to shake her butt off!!!!

She’s a nuzzler. She’ll come up to you, and wait patiently by your side, all the while looking at you with those big big eyes of hers till your resolve melts away and you start lavishing her with pets, kisses and massages. Once she accepts you, she’ll hunker down, STUFF her head into your thigh, arm, leg, face (whichever part of your body she can actually reach) and nuzzle her face there….all the while snorting (kinda like a cat’s purr) her happiness.

And her bed, we made one for her at first in a big yellow plastic bread tray, which was replaced by a very respectable ikea dog basket. Did she take to it? Yes. For all of 2 minutes, cause she decided that the 3 seater sofa next to her bed looked better on her.

So she’s made the 3 seater sofa hers.

Which is fine, cause the once rarely used yellow sofa is now a hub of activity. I find myself doing all my reading there, book in one hand, and the other mindlessly petting that little rumbling engine of a pug. My dad and mom have their coffee there and seem to hang out on the yellow sofa a lot more now too!

She’s a little magnet for affection my little Buttercup, and what makes you really, really wanna lavish love and affection on her is that she doesn’t demand it, she just … well…..is.

And ladies and gentlemen, this is Buttercup!

To read Buttercup’s (previously called Pinky) story, click on this link = http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com/2009/04/pinkys-story.html




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Search for Buttercup.... the wait.

I want a pug. I’ve always wanted a pug. And I want to name my pug Buttercup.

I’ve been saying this, very annoyingly, like a broken record for MONTHS, if not years now. But have I done anything about it? Nooooooooot reaaaaaaaaally…

Until recently. I decided that I really, truly want a pug.

I scoured the net, I called a few breeders. Prices varied from RM800 – RM1600 per puppy.

*Gulp*

But hey, I’ve always wanted a pug! But then I thought, heck, if I’m gonna pay good hard earned money, I want a BLACK pug!

And they are rare.

All the breeders said “Sorry miss, they are very rare in Malaysia”. So I did what I do best.

I procrastinated. Days turned into weeks, and still no pug.

Until 3 days ago.

Mucking through petfinders.com I saw a pug for adoption. She was recently rescued from the Selayang pound and had just undergone surgery to remove stone crystal build up in her bladder. She was 4 years old, had been abandoned, cut open and sewn up again and from the 2 kinda murky photos posted up, she was heart wrenchingly ADORABLE!!!!.

I checked the comments, someone had requested to adopt her before me.

My heart sank but I put in my request anyways. You never know right?

Then I call her fosterer, only to be told that another lady had called much earlier and was viewing the pug on Friday, sorry, we have other dogs for adoption if you’re interested.

“No, thank you” I reply.

And head hung low, I go about my day.

2 hours later, another fosterer calls me. Turns out the pug’s treatment, surgery and care was given in a veterinarian’s clinic in Klang, a stone’s throw from where I live! So solely because I lived in Klang, my request trumped Ms Sunway's who called earlier. It made more sense to let me adopt the pug (who needed constant care because of her surgery) since I’m closer to the vet, and the fosterer (who lived 5 mins away from me) could help with her care.

WHOOOOOOOPIEEEEE!!!!!! The pug’s MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“She’s old.
She’s been abandoned.
She’s had surgery.
She needs constant care.
She’s ONLY to be kept indoors.

She needs expensive prescription dog food.
She needs regular eye drops.
She needs constant companionship.
She needs loving.”

But I wasn’t listening anymore. She’s MINE! Nevermind that she’s not a black pug! That adorable little face on that compact little body is MINE! MINE! MINE! To love, to pamper, to spoil! I can’t wait!

But wait I must.

She’s only coming to Klang from Bkt Jalil tomorrow (Saturday).

Till then, I’m a bag of jumping beans… I’m excited beyond words.

My parents have been absolute champions about this. My dad’s going to spoil her rotten, that I can guarantee, and my mom’s bustling about the house, creating a cosy little corner for the little one.

We’re waiting for you Buttercup!

Little Hubert...

We almost missed him J and I,
For he’s so small, he escaped our eye
We had turned our backs and almost exited
Yet, tucked away in a jar he waited

J said “Hey wouldn’t it be nice?
To have him for pizzazz and spice”;
At once a twinkle in my eye did gleam
“He’d fit right in my car!” I screamed!

I coaxed a little and in minutes three;
He bought me Hubert, I beamed with glee,
My little seahorse, shall play the field
In his new home, on my windshield



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Bluff-bluff…

I called Ming the other day, to get her opinion on something…

Me :
“Ok…. Hypothetically right…. If I….”

Ming :
“WAIT!!!!!!!! I just spent the past 2 hours baby- talking to my sons. Please…. Nothing more than 5 letters when you speak to me now… my brain hasn’t re-adjusted…”

Me :
“Hmmm…..”

*ponders*

“Ok… bluff-bluff right…. If I decided to…”

I didn’t really get to ask her for her opinion that day. Cause she burst out into hysterical laughter!!!!

What?

What’s wrong with “bluff-bluff”?

Didn’t we ALL use it when we were kids playing games of pretence?

Kid # 1:
“Bluff-bluff we are Eskimos living in the North pole. So it’s bluff-bluff very cold. This blanket is our bluff-bluff igloo. Now you must bluff-bluff go hunt for polar bears.”

Kid # 2 :
“Then you must bluff-bluff start a fire. (Reaches for an orange t-shirt). Ok. Bluff-bluff this t-shirt is the fire.”

Said kids will then pretend to shiver like it’s 300° below and crouch around the “fire”.


You get the drift?

Ming didn’t. Cause apparently, around HER neck of the woods, kids didn’t say “bluff-bluff”, they used “Say-say”…. So:-

Kid # 1:
“Say-say we are Eskimos living in the North pole. So it’s say-say very cold. Say-Say this blanket is our igloo. Now you must go hunt for say-say polar bears.”

Kid # 2 :
“Then you must say-say start a fire. (Reaches for an orange t-shirt). Ok. Say-say this t-shirt is the fire.”

Said kids will then pretend to shiver like it’s 300° below and crouch around the “fire”.


Hmmm….. I thought…. INTERESTING….

So we decided to analyze it.

We deduced :-

1. When saying “say-say”, the kids were really mimicking “Let’s say” which is commonly used by adults to hypothesize. Kids being kids, had listened to the adults and had simplified “let’s say” to the babytalk version of it. Hence “say-say”.

We both agreed this was very clever indeed for 3.30pm on a weekday afternoon and gave ourselves a pat on the back.

Then, we tested her “Say-say is really ‘Let’s say’” theory on my “bluff-bluff”.

We deduced :-

2. Didn’t work. Cause try as we might, we couldn’t imagine what “bluff-bluff” was mimicking. We tried to crack our heads to think of a phrase, commonly used to hypothesize, that “bluff-bluff” could have come from?

We tried and tried, and came up with nothing.


Then Ming, in a flash of brilliance shouted “EUREKA!”

Before I could let her know that “Eureka” doesn’t sound anything like “bluff-bluff” she said :-

“It’s HOKKIEN!!!!”

Me :
“Huh? Isn’t "bluff-bluff" English?

Ming :-
“NO! It’s direct translation from HOKKIEN!!!! Think about it!”

So I thunk about it…

AND BURST OUT LAUGHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, “bluff-bluff” is direct translation of “kay-kay” which is Hokkien speak for… well…. “bluff-bluff”.

*Sigh*

Only in Klang….. Only in Klang.

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Bangkok...

I’ve never been to Bangkok. So when Rosie asked me if I wanted to join her and N this June to go see this city of angels, I said YES!!!!

J couldn’t make it, so not wanting to be a third wheel to Rosie’s romantic Thailand getaway, I needed a travel buddy, and I needed one quick.

So I asked Eric. (He’s the only one I know who wasn’t either planning a wedding, about to give birth, or who just blew a small fortune on a couple of lv’s and a luxury watch, or who was saving up leave and money for a holiday later in the year. AND, the fact that I absolutely LOVE traveling with the big guy helps too. HEAPS!!!)

And in 3 minutes, he said “Ok. The dates look good. The prices even better. LET’S GO!!!!!"

And then……….. the gushing started…..

Eric :
“Ooooh and we can go visit my uncle there!" *gush gush*
(interspersed with giggles [and this is on messenger mind you]
*gush*

While he was giving me some details of his uncle’s latest squeeze, I booked the tickets.

Eric :
"...He’s so cute…. (something about licking….)"

Me :
"You wanna eat on the flight?"

Eric :
*pause*
(I could almost hear those gears changing…. His mind was obviously in another land, where he need not necessarily be eating.. you know.. food)

"Up to you lah!"

"Oh! And imagine all those bars we have to hit….. and the shopping"
*continues to gush*

Me :
"I’m getting us travel insurance also ok."

Eric :
"… all that eye candy, And did I mention the abs on them?"

*blink*

"Oh… okay"

Me :
"AARRRRGGGHHH!!!!! *&^@%#$@%^& website HUNG ON ME!!!!"

Eric :
"… back to those abs…… so pretty!!!!!"

3 attempts later, we had tickets and travel insurance and extra check in luggage ;) Rosie and N booked us the accommodation and all in all, it’s costing us RM630 nett each for all that :D

I foresee a fun filled food and shopping experience! Chatuchak! Platinum mall! Lots of trinkets I’ll probably NEVER use, lot’s of Chang beer, Sam Song and Thailand’s very own Mekhong (Spirit of Thailand), technically fruit juice (so no calories!)… well, they DO start off with sugar cane….. and rice… and….. *my turn to gush*…

Holy Cow!!!

Literally.

Ming and I walked out of McDonald’s to be met by a growing crowd mulling about the Mc’D’s delivery motorcycles. Photographers and journalists in their tell-tale vests were hanging about there…. Young men in light blue vests from the state;s ruling party were waiting excitedly too….

We got out of there with no incident, spying many a bored faced uniformed FRU personnel waiting under a tree here, under the shade there…. I got up to my office on the 9th floor, and promptly ran to the window.

The group had grown to approximately 100 in number. And as if on cue, the banners appeared, and the group started shouting slogans and marching… Nothing really out of place, just YET anorther demonstration... only THIS one was led by…. a cow.

I’m not kidding.

They were a throng of about 100 men, all in their prime (18 – 45 years), sporting slogan filled t-shirts and party flavoured tops, marched, shouting their support for their beloved head of state, all orchestrated to move in one fast paced concerto, conducted by….. a cow.

The cow, which was the focus of many a photographer’s flashbulb, was undoubtedly the star of this show, she was displayed, at the back of a little lorry, which for half an hour earlier this afternoon, was her centre stage on oscar night.

They photographed her, placed banners near and around her, and made her lead the crowd, in her lorry, at the head of the procession.

They marched towards my office building. And excitedly, I wished hoped and prayed they’d lead her into the lobby. That’ll be a sight… but the lorry veered off towards the parking lot, and the crowed marched on towards the lobby downstairs.

As I type this, I can hear men’s voices shouting (into their hand held hailers) :-

“Tan Sri…. I LOVE YOU! x 3”. Loving group these men are….

“Hidup Tan Sri…..” x 3,582. Prophetic too…

I applaud them for their dedication. To be able to get a group of grown men, to meet and steak out, and herd themselves towards a common and well loved cause, nevermind who (or in this case, what) led the procession…. is nothing short of an amazing feat of bull headed determination, beefy dedication and selfless-ness.


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25 random things meme

I was tagged by Ema fren on facebook, and like many others who find the facebook forum a bit too public, I’m posting my 25 meme post here.

The meme was to list 25 random things about yourself, and to subsequently tag 25 people to do the same, including the person who tagged you. So here goes :-

1. I love singing and usually entertain myself to a solo concert in the car. Much to the amusement of the other road users around me.

2. I love luxuriously long hot showers.

3. I want a pug. And I want to name it Buttercup, be it a boy or girl.

4. I love eating smelly things. By that I mean, naturally pungent food. Durians, cheese.. yummmm!

5. I will stop eating my bah kut teh and/or mee hoon kueh once I run out of cili padis. For this reason, I ALWAYS have to ask for more chilly at the restaurants, and I have my own cili padi plants at home.

6. I daydream, skive and talk to myself a lot.

7. I am long winded. What can be succinctly expressed in 5 words, I will invariably choose to say in 40.

8. I read classics. For 2 reasons. I started reading them years and years ago when I was a student with very little to spare and classics were the cheapest books around PLUS they made very good value for money too…. Small print, no pictures and they were so thick! All for RM4.95 (at that time). Now I read them simply cause they sooth me. With everything happening around the world and in my life today, the pages in these classics have no gory violence, terrorism, rude language and such. It’s refreshingly amusing to read about how one is practically betrothed to another if one is promised more than 2 dances at a ball. (Now you believe item 7 above?)

9. In the past 3 years, I have learnt more about the person that I am and hope to be than in the 30 years preceeding that.

10. I prefer bread and noodles over rice.

11. I am a morning person. I like the promise of a great day the morning brings, and I love, love, LOVE drizzly mornings, with the smell of Mummy’s loh shi fun wafting up from the kitchen.

12. My unfavouritest time of the day is dusk. Just as the final half hour of sunlight ebbs from the sky. It feels like my heart’s sinking with the sun. I don’t know why I get so down, and sometimes, it’s simply unbearable.

13. I believe in giving credit where it’s due. Sometimes to the abashed blushes of the person receiving it.

14. I say a little prayer for the patient and his/her family every time I see an ambulance on the road.

15. I have a hero. He inspired me to do well in life and make something of myself, to stand out. Dr. Tony H.L. Leong, my ophthalmologist who treated me during my very very impressionable teenage years. (Dr. Leong, I hope this doesn’t scare you, if by the remotest chance you happen to be reading this). He was sincerely kind and generous and caring to me when he really had no reason to. For that, I am humbled and hope to be able to be as kind and generous to someone, as he was to me.

16. I swallowed mercury from a thermometer as a young child. To the relief of my parents and doctor, the problem resolved itself errrr ‘naturally’. Although my mum still blames the mercury for my sometimes bizarre behaviour… which leads us nicely to item 17…

17. I do things that are (what my mom, sis, anyone around me find) kinda weird (so they say). I kiss myself (on the hand) from time to time, I kiss my car from time to time, and when I was growing up, I had a list of 7 husbands (all famous movie stars and the likes). Nothing serious…am still very much unmarried.

18. I am predominantly right handed but write, draw, use chopsticks and do delicate things like carving or lip lining with my left hand, leading many to think I am left handed.

19. My brother and I are mirrors. (ok, we KINDA look alike) but we mirror each other in the sense that he’s predominantly left handed, but writes and uses chopsticks with his right hand.

20. I am a world of contradiction, and have been known to change my mind at the last minute (sometimes more than once), much to the irritation and consternation of the people around me. SORRY!!!! (Please see item 16).

21. I like cheong sams. Nevermind my lifetime quest of losing weight.

22. I like cooking and I love baking, but have been told, time and again that I can’t. But I stubbornly refuse to accept the fact that I will never, ever by ANY stretch of the imagination be Nigella. *sigh*

23. I am a procrastinator on certain things and am unforgivably impatient on others. (Please see item 20 and oh, what the heck, item 16 too!).

24. I wish I had smaller feet. Even just by 1 size. Because I have large feet, growing up, it was like finding a needle in the haystack every time I found a pair of girly footwear, hence I had very, very few. Now that there are larger sizes and more imported brands of footwear available here, I sometimes go overboard with buying shoes, kinda to make up for lost time I guess.

25. I believe in karma and in being just, patient (God knows I try), forgiving (this too!) and compassionate in my search for happiness (do I sound dalai lama-ish of what!?!). I am trying, and I am learning…


For the 5 of you who read my blog, consider yourself tagged. I wanna know something about you too. So Buck, OT, Angie, Marc and JP, I am looking forward to reading your 25 random things.

Only during CNY….

It was a serious occasion. We were visiting a friend in the hospital.

5 minutes into the visit, she whips out her deck of cards. The one she carries with her in her handbag, throughout CNY….

She looked at me, we both looked at the patient…

Well she LOOKED alright, the sedatives WERE wearing off, she DID have an appetite…and it was CNY!!!!

And the hospital bed made the perfect table.

For black jack.

Played in hushed tones….

We were decent. We didn’t yell or call enthusiastically for the “PICTURE!”, we WILLED it, eyes scrunched, a gentle “picture” whispered….

I made some money that day. The patient broke even, the others lost :D

What?!? It WAS during CNY, and the patient SEEMED okay….. PLUS, the nurse didn’t stop us…..

*Gong Xi Fa Chai everyone !!!!!*


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Bring on the Red!

It’s my absolute favourite time of the year now. CNY! And the days leading up to it

I remember in years of past, my mum would bake cookies to sell…. And bake she did!

The whole house was transformed into a cookie churning factory. We’d roll, cut, baste, bake, pack and seal THOUSANDS of pineapple tarts, peanut cookies and peanut puffs. The hall will be laden with tables and table or “work stations” and everyone had a job. Dad would be in charge of scraping the pineapples and cooking the jam, my siblings and I would be in charge or rolling and filling and cutting and basting… and Mummy, chief operating officer! Year in, year out. We’d make the cookies till the very last day we could. I still remember the oven sweating away, baking the final batches of tarts while Mum whipped up her delicious culinary CNY delights on the stove above. We were cleaning floors, washing baking pans, and changing the curtains and cushion covers all during the mad rush that was CNY eve.

After dinner, we’d all get into gear. Everyone again had a task. We had the clock to watch you see…. After midnite, all brooms, mops, brushes and other cleaning paraphernalia would be retired. “No cleaning on the first day”. Strangely, of the many many superstitious rules we sometimes questioned (like “don’t open an umbrella in the house, you’ll never grow tall”) this one, we adhered to religiously!


Dishes would be dealt with quickly and immediately the floor washing team would kick in. Hoses of water soap suds and slippery moonwalks across the kitchen to the back yard later, we’d rush to get things ready for prayers at midnight. (Now I know why my mom had 4 kids). 2 of us would be assigned to cleaning the fruits, setting up the table and candles and josssticks, the other 2 will be assigned to finishing up the cleaning of the house.

All eyes will be on the clock… and as midnite approaches, trust me, calmness and serenity in welcoming the new lunar year? NOT IN THIS HOUSE!

“QUICK! Pass me the mop!!!!”
“Watch out! I just mopped that part of the floor!”
“Have you swept under the cupboards?””Where’s the brush I used 5 minutes ago?””YOU STAINED MY FLOOR!!! STOP WALKING ABOUT!!!!!”
“Where’s one more cushion cover!!?!?! I lost a cushion cover!!!!”

30 seconds to midnite, mops, brooms brushes and such are haphazardly FLUNG into a cupboard marked “DO NOT OPEN”, we make a dash to change out of our sweaty work clothes to a brand new RED something, and make another dash out to the front porch.

There, coolly, my father will be waiting, jossticks in hand to hand us our 3 sticks to pray, in our pretty new clothes, for prosperity, health and 4D.

The standing joke all those years was that if we couldn’t clean the house in time, we’d lock the house up on the 1st day of CNY and pretend no one’s home. But we ALWAYS managed, it was ALWAYS a rush… but oh my!!! What a LOVELY rush it was!!!!!

Sure I griped, groaned and complained… but looking at it now, 2 weeks from CNY in 2009, where my parents are retired, we don’t bake any cookies anymore, not even for ourselves (my cooking experiments which my Mum still calls “a waste of flour” don’t count) where I know, it’ll be a quiet affair waiting for midnite, where the only sounds will be that of the tv, I can honestly say, HOW I MISS THE GOOD OLE DAYS!

He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

“How’s the Wira keeping?”

“Ok lar…”

“Is it falling apart already?”

“Nope”

I say that while thinking about the frozen windows, the car light that’s fallen off, the two indicator lamp casings that have fallen off, the rear suspension that needs changing, and the front something-under-the-hood that needs replacing… Well… nothing’s literally “fallen off” yet….

“What’s the mileage like on your car now?”

“About 220,000 km”

And I pause for a second to consider if I should tell him that the speedometer gauge thingy didn’t work for about 6 months, so it’s not the most accurate of readings on mileage… but I thought I’d spare him…

“You want my waja?”

And I hesitate… Sure, it’s a much newer car. Bigger engine too. Well taken care of. A better car (arguably…..) BUT… *I take a quick breath*…. It’s got PURPLE seat covers!!!! Urgh!!!! But still… it IS a newer car...

“Sure! You changing cars ah?”

“Yeah. Thought of trading in the Waja. But if you want it, I’ll trade in your Wira instead”

“Errr….. you DO realize, in the condition she’s in… you won’t get much if you trade in value from the Wira riiiiiiiiiiiiiiite….?”

[Sighs] “I know. It’s ok. I’ll absorb it”

“YEAYY!!!!”

Older brothers. I love muchly!!! Everyone should have one! :D:D:D

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