Oh no! Not my car!

Bunch of no-good, nooby, bloody morons.
Should or should not this matter be reported to the police?

The Checklist: Criterias of The Ideal Guy

Promised Phaik Ee that I would do this a little more than a week ago. Hahaa. How on earth did I get myself this assignment? Funny. OK lah. I oblige to do the list for the fun of it and for myself to think about it. I never really thought about this - seriously or trivially.

Let my brain cells start dreaming! Listed in no particular importance.. what is listed first is what popped up in my mind first.

♥ A Christian. Someone who's spiritually more mature than I am, of course, who can teach and lead. Don't want conflict of beliefs surfacing somewhere along the road because our journey together began with diversed spiritual beliefs.

♥ At least half-a-head taller than I am. Hahaa. Well, I'm not that tall. This shouldn't be too hard right.

♥ Understanding and respectful. Who doesn't want someone who can listen to your point of view or accept your decision without judging and/or controlling you?

♥ Definitely must love music of course. Not just sekadar listening to music that kind, must really really love music and know music. Don't think anybody's surprised though. Being a musician myself, this criteria is hardly optional. Wah... If can play the piano the way Wang Lee Hom plays, sing as good as Cao Ge, compose songs as well as Zhou Jie Lun, good looking like Zhan Yuhao (from NQMM) or He Jun Xiang all in one package... it'd definitely be a dream come true. Hahahaa. Like I said, a dream. Every night can sing me to sleep ;-P

♥ Nice. Needs no explanation. I don't want a puppy kicker, wife slapper, kitten eater...

♥ Honest. The last thing most women want is to be lied to by our loved ones. For whatever reason - good or bad, best is to be honest. Of course there're always the trick questions like "Is she prettier than me?", "Do I look fat in this dress?", etc. We love to hear the truth. But not in an insulting way. Just find a way around the question. Hahaa. Give you chance to hone skills.

♥ No Male Chauvinistic Pigs aka MCPs (sweetONE™, you know you should start a language of your own and called it Wanniese :P). We have come a long way since the days of our moyang. Treating and dismissing us as inferiors is definitely a turn off.

♥ Has a good head on his shoulders. Smart brain, smart looking. No need to have IQ of 180 like Masi Oka lah.

♥ Preferably Chinese lor. Haha. I am not racist. It's just that understanding comes easier with similar upbringing and culture.

♥ Can speak good English. I had this bad experience with this guy once. It was really difficult to talk to him, especially over MSN, because he was misinterpreting every single freaking sentence I was saying. Sometimes I would just say something which is very harmless, and he thought I was insulting or being sarcastic with him. And half the time he couldn't understand what I wrote. And most of the time I had decode what he wrote because of all the spelling errors and wrong use of words. Don't even feel like rummaging through my chat history with him to give you an example. Argh. If he can speak Mandarin, it'd be a bonus.

♥ Good kisser. Not a crime to want that now is it? Hahaa.

♥ Non-smoker and non-drinker.. as in drinking once in a while is OK by me, but alcoholic abusers are no no. Pretty self-explanatory right?

♥ Have a good sense of humour. Knows how to have a lighthearted outlook on life and also when it's time to get serious.

♥ Have a good sense of adventure. Gotta know how to have fun right? Hahaa. But don't lah sampai like David Blaine like that wanna drown himself in water for more than a week. I'll kill him before the water does!

Alahh.. I think cukup liao hor? I can't think of anymore. Hahaa. If you wanna add anything or comment, be my guest. I'm game.

Being a lamp post

(edited on 27/09 for Suet Wan aka sweetONE :P)
Today, I found this in my bukumuka graffiti wall. And laughed out loud.


Copyright of Suet Wan. Yalah, went to watch Secret again. I know I'm nuts. I won't be going for a third time, so chill man.

Anyway that's not the point.

I notice that every time I go out to the movies with Suet Wan, somehow always end up as tiang lampus in the theater. The only twosome who are friends, while the rest are lovey-dovey burungs. Why now not heng go movies with friends is it?

And every time, among these couples would be one particular couple that "stands out". Last time when we went to watch Shrek 3, there was one girl sitting several rows in front of us (we're backbenchers) laughing and squealing out louddddd at every few seconds. Honestly speaking, it was nothing close to mediocre funny.. the jokes were really lame, recycled and unlaughable that I don't know if they qualify to be called jokes in the first place. To grade it Hogwart's way, it was "Dreadful". We seriously didn't know what was so funny.

And yesterday, the girl sitting to my right had her head on her boy boy's arms the whole time the movie was on! It's a miracle she didn't have neck strain at the end of the movie. And he didn't complain of having ants crawling sensation in his arm. Her head was probably 3-4 feet away from mine. When funny lines come, she's giggling away AND whacking her boy boy's arms. Ow.

But she wasn't half as annoying.

And her skirt was probably half-a-foot long.

Sigh. People you meet. Can. Be. So. Entertaining.

By the way, I bought a new pair of tallies (sweetONE ™) from Vincci. Tallies as in tall hence heels. Gold colour. Very sayang. Too bad Malaysian roads and pavements conditions are really horrid to shoes, especially tallies.

To end, this is something I heard from Suet Wan about her friend. This is sweetONE ™ haa, cannot simply recycle without her permission ahh :P. One fine day, somebody asked her friend, "Hey.. how do you spell 'hate' har? As in 'I hate you'? H-E-A-R-T? I heart (pronounced as hate) you?"

Secret (不能說的秘密) - Part II

我愛周杰伦!!!!!


Just kidding. Hahaa. No, I'm not gonna start blogging in Chinese. Can barely read, let alone write. And yes, there are several things I have to admit.

I admit that I'm a bigger fan of Jay Chou after watching "Secret" yesterday.. day after writing the previous entry, tak ada sabar. For first time writing story and directing, he did a good job.

I shamelessly admit that I find guys who play the piano well extremely sexy and charismatic.

I admit that I have an inclination *ahem.. bias* towards singers who write, compose and sing their own songs.

I admit that I tend to favour movies with at least one music/singing element. Like Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, The Pianist, A Walk to Remember, Spring Waltz, Sister Act, Annie, Corpse Bride, etc. And now Secret.

I admit that I dream of marrying a musician someday. Haha. I've had a long day and it's one something in the morning. I'm allowed to dream :P But yah, my man has to love music.. not just sekadar listening to music, but really love LOVE music. If he can play as well as Jay, next time when I merajuk or angry or keras hati, just play a romantic song my hati keras sure melt one. Haha.

I admit that my favourite piece from the movie is probably the duet Jay played with Xiao Yu.

I admit that my most favourite moment from the movie is the piano battle scene. My jaw probably dropped 15 inches watching it. It was phenomenal! If I was watching it on DVD, I would have stopped and rewind to rewatch the battle. My friend told me he really played the piano, but the cooking hands were not his lah. Hahaa. Another scene I like is the part where he was playing a sad, depressing song on the piano (heartbroken mah..), and his father quipped, "Wei.. bu yao zai tan la. Lao ba kuai yao ku le (don't play anymore lahh, or I'm gonna bawling soon).

I admit that I enjoyed this movie. Wouldn't mind going for another round. Thumbs up. Recommended to everyone. Especially those who can understand Mandarin. But they have English subtitles anyway. After watching, if you're a pianist you'll feel a sudden itch and urge to rush back to play the piano, if you're not you'll wanna start learning to play the piano.

Secret

Not one, not two, not three, but 896345783654876132540 people told me to go watch this movie. Haha. OK lah, I was exaggerating. But no less than 10 people recommended this movie to me. Initially wasn't very keen because I was not too impressed with Jay Chou's acting in the other movies (Initial D, Curse of the Golden Flower). But when Riana told me the movie had piano playing and excellent music - which is autonomously expected of Jay Chou - I was immediately sold. Cannot save liao.

Just went to check screening times in cinemas. Pyramid and Timesquare are not viewing it.. Cis! Apparently in the Klang Valley, only Midvalley Megamall is showing the movie in time slots throughout the day. The synopsis sounds hmmm.. like it would be a good watch.

Now is there anyone who hasn't watch it yet and don't mind watching that with me?
Or any die-hard Jay Chou fans who want to go watch it for the 37th time?

O, Graduation & Celebration

Ancora Imparo. I'm still learning in Latin. Motto of Monash.


Of course there was a delay. And it's all Jacky Chan's fault!
But if it was anything to go by the Malaysian standard, it started on time. Hahahaa. What delay? Where got delay? Haiyah, five minutes delay... nothing one lah.


Akhirnya graduate juga.
Sakit kepala from doing reports and assignments, sakit mata from overexposure to computer screen, sakit tangan from doing experiments and solving problem sheets, sakit kaki from walking from Monash building (old campus) to School of Science, sakit hati because won't be seeing most of my classmates on regular basis anymore.


Marching out of graduation.


We're a boring lot. We pose for pictures standing straight.


See.. I told you. This position arrangement looks familiar or not?
Hahaa. Look at the picture below and tell me what's the similarity?


Shortest to tallest? Oldest to youngest? Hair colour gradient?


Me and my parents. Without them, I wouldn't be graduating from Monash today. Obviously I wouldn't have made it through semester after semester. No. Not without their financial support to pay my fees :P Hahahaa.

Songs & Memories

Was just chatting with Suzan online, yakking away until we came to the topic about songs that remind us of our younger days or experiences, bringing back the sense of nostalgia. You know, those kind of songs when you hear it, your mind just automatically flashes back to that point in time, unlocks all the memories and play them one-by-one in your head. Like watching a movie.

Sometimes they remind you of something funny. For instance, when I listen to Backstreet Boys’ “I’ll never break your heart” and Boyzone’s “Love me for a reason”, almost immediately I laugh because I remember those days in primary school where there was this battle between fans of Backstreet Boys and fans of Boyzone. Who was the better boyband. Who dances better. Who sang the sappy songs sappier and cheesy songs cheesier. Who generally had more good looking guys. Who was gay and who wasn’t. Why Nick Carter / Stephen Gately looked so much like a girl. Or why Boyzone only had two lead singers and Backstreet Boys had three (then lah). Who will last longer (that one Backstreet Boys won by the way). Now at this age, it really looks merepek (ridiculous). But hell, it was fun.

Remember Hanson’s “Mmmbop”? When I hear that, I remember the time when my sister and I (and probably the whole world) realized that they were Hanson brothers. From a newspaper article. Not two girls and one boy. Oops. And also, that one of my classmates insisted that we call her Mrs Taylor Hanson or Mrs Ronan Keating. Talk about fanatic. When I hear "Until the time is through" by 5ive, I recall those days where I sat in front of my computer then in my now brother's room (then guest room) replying e-mails to e-pals while listening to the radio. Now all contact's lost.

Then there was “One Sweet Day” by BoyzIIMen and Mariah Carey, which reminded me of my days back in The Word Centre actively involved in the youth ministry, dance ministry, drama ministry and admin. We always requested the same song from the deejay whenever we drop by Sungei Wang Plaza. The deejay's our friend. Hahaa. Even to this day, but he's no longer deejay. Even any Jars of Clay song will suffice. Days of sleeping over at friends’ houses, late night supper, friends sleeping over in our houses, having dance/drama practices one after another.. Gosh I miss those days. Gosh I missed my friends. It was sad that it had to end the way it ended.

Backstreet’s back, alright! Hahaa. In my final year, we actually suggested to our choir teacher to sing that song for our annual prize-giving ceremony. Which, of course, she said no way! And we ended up singing Colours of the Wind instead (plus a patriotic song). And we had won the state competition that same year too! It was crazy because we were just aiming for a top five spot and kalau ada rezeki, top three. The elated feeling of being at that moment and announced as champions just flows back. We were practically in tears, up jumping on our feet and screaming when they announced the first runner-up because there was only one spot left and we were the only school left unannounced. Crazy man. Crazy. Surreal.


Then there would be "Heal the World" by Michael Jackson. Hear the song until phobia liao. This song would remind me of - no, not global warming or world peace but - my librarian days in high school. Heard that song for three days straight in the motivational camp. Heard that song everyday in the library since. Even performed it in front of the whole school for God-only-remembers-what event. Dengar sampai boleh gilerrr. Now whenever I hear that song on radio, I subconsciously change stations. The memories are sweet, but the song is bitter to my ears now man.

"Big Big World".. I forgot who is it by. When I hear that, I remember our trip to Egypt, Jordan and Israel. My brother was at this mode where he couldn't get the song out of his head. And he sang that song where ever he went and whenever he wanted. My sister and I couldn't and wouldn't stop teasing him about singing about being a girl since the song went "I'm a big big girl in a big big world, it's not a big big thing if you need me". That's pretty much all he sang all the time. The morning we were heading up to Mount Sinai, it was pitch dark (3am) and we were all separated because we were sitting on separate camels (butt damn pain ok) up half the mountain. We couldn't see each other. But I knew I passed my brother at some point. Because I heard a singing "I'm a big big girl in a big big world...".


Leaving you with a picture of the sunrise seen from the peak of Mount Sinai, makes waking up at 2am, sitting on the camel for hours until butt super aching, climbing all the way to the peak with our two legs. Then coming down from the mountain, which took hours of trying not to slip, fall and land on camel dung yang bertaburan di sekitaran.

Things in Malaysia that I'll definitely miss

Happy uuuhhh… belated birthday, Malaysia?! Sorry lah, was busy on Merdeka day to wish you earlier :P

OK. So I’ve never really stayed in countries out of Malaysia for more than two weeks. And that one also for holiday. It’s no secret that I do wanna live abroad someday. Not necessarily permanently. Maybe for furthering studies or work, since Malaysian career prospects for Biotechnologist are not as bright as they’d promised it would several years back. Nevertheless, I do know some things in Malaysia that I’ll dearly miss if I were deprived of Malaysian environment.

Listed in no particular order or favouritism…

Assam laksa, curry laksa, Sarawak laksa, Penang laksa, all kinds of laksa. Yum.

ABC or more famously known as ais kacang.

Bintang Walk. And all the shopping complexes associated with it.

KLCC Petronas Twin Towers.

24-hour Mamak stalls.

Badminton – not easy to find other sources for news and updates on this sport besides our local newspapers.

Celebrations all year round – Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Hari Raya Haji, Christmas, Deepavali, Vasakhi, Thaipusam, Wesak – and all the public holidays we get along with it.

Sales all year round – Year End Sale, Christmas sale, CNY sale, Mega sale… fuiyoh.

Durians! Durians! And more durians! Sultan! Musang Emas! D24! D101!

My mom’s red bean soup. Double yum.

Pasar malams. Especially my Sri Petaling's pasar malam. The best! Hehe.

Nyonya food.

Hokkien mee.

Ramadhan bazaars during Ramadhan month.

The selamba culture we have. although this tidak apa attitude may annoy us to our very guttest of guts, it shows that we know how to kick back and relax when we need it the most.

There's one thing I will not miss though...

The traffic jams!!
Siao ah? Who wants to miss that??