what i used to do on friendster. XD

remember when friendster was still the craze and no one knew what facebook was all about? those were the days mann... when i was still answering surveys to kill time when i was bored... here's a random one i copied off the bulletin board for a lack of something better to do... XD

1.Does anyone know your password to your friendster besides yourself? ~ the jester, i think.
2. What was the last thing you ordered at McDonalds? ~ sausage mcmuffin

3. where were you yesterday? ~ home, all day long. my parents had a luncheon party.

4. Do you like your name? ~ its good. =)

5. Do you believe in love at first sight? ~ a lot less than the belief that love comes gradually.

6. Ever felt jealous of your friend? ~ envy, perhaps. not so much jealousy.

7. What was the last thing you did? ~ check my phone.
8. Who is right next to you? ~ doongie.

9. Who were the last persons you ate with? ~ mum, dad, doongie.

10. What song are you listening to right now? ~ Ishtar - horchai hai caliptus

11. Hows the weather right now ? ~ rainy. cold.

12. Last person who called you today? ~ no call. just texts, from the jester.

13. Last song you sang? ~ i was humming CNY classics. does that count?

14.where is your phone? ~ right here.
15. Do you like anyone? ~ oh, yes. very much.
16. Lost a friendship over something stupid? ~ *snort*. they lost me, not i them.
17. Last beverage you drank? ~ tea.

18. Last food you ate? ~ cake.
19. What did you do last night? ~ watched a movie with mum.

20. Faked being sick to miss school? ~ sure did. ;)

21. What time did you wake up today? ~ late.

22. Last person you talked to? ~ mum.

23. Last person you made fun of? ~ doongie.

24. Last message you sent on your phone? ~ 'monday. u?'

25. Are you too quiet to ask anyone out? ~ ask out meaning?

26.what is your fav song? ~ i have tooooo many to choose from.

27.Where are you right now? ~ in the study.
28. What date and day is it? ~ 29th Jan 2009, thursday.

29. Did you go anywhere today? ~ the furthest i made was to the patio. XD
30. What did you do there? ~ eat.

31. Where else are you going today? ~ nowhere.

32. Are you watching TV? ~ not at all.
33. Are you mature or immature? ~ that, is contingent upon the situation. XD

34. Are you closer to your mom or dad? ~ mum.

35. When was your last kiss? ~ you ask but i no tell.

36. What school do you go to? ~ a school for people who need HELP.

37. Whats the most annoying thing people say to you? ~ i'll tell you when i hear it.
38. Do you like music? ~ i cannot live without music.

39. Do you want to get married? ~ probably. but ask me again a couple of years down the line.

40. To whom? ~ hehe. XD

there you go. just silly stuff. i cant believe i used to spend hours filling these things in. XD

*sssss... popopopopopopopop crackle crackle crackle crackle... hisssss...*

all hail the year of the ox... in case anyone hasnt figured out what the title means, i was just trying to imitate the sound of firecrackers going off. the big long chinese ones that go off like gunshots and makes the place smoky and leaves red confetti everywhere. no big chinese (chinese new year in particular) celebration'd ever be complete without that. funny thing is, my area's more of a bumi/malay rather than chinese area, yet with the amount of fireworks going off, you'd think only chinese lived here. guess our comrades arent averse to having a little of their own fun, eh? who cares what the police says?

i spent last night watching reruns of cctv's past CNY spring festival gala... although i've seen some of the performances before, its just simply impossible not be awestruck at the quality of their performing artists. the thousand armed buddha dance, puppet dance, peacock dance (she was silhoutted against a white 'moon'. you could easily imagine her as a peacock coming to life and transforming into a maiden), and a very lively adorable dance by a group of little girls and sprightly elderly ladies. its amazing how limber they are; they were hopping about just as actively as the little ones. and they looked so happy too. brilliant.

ahhh... the light rain's done wonders for the weather; the place's slightly chilly now... doesnt it just feel like spring? i walk around the house, allowing my ears to be serenaded with classical chinese folk songs, admiring our handiwork around the house. tastefully decorated house, if i may say so myself. no tonnes of faux gold nor overabundance of reds everywhere. my home's a mix of antique and nouveau... neo classical? lol.

whatever it is, these pieces of furniture and vases and paintings and whatnot were painstakingly hunted and lovingly collected. people may say we're crazy/fussy/have too much time on our hands, cuz we change our home interior arrangements every few months, but they dont see the effort and pride we place in our home. after all, life's all about variety. who says homes have to stay the same way for years on end? XD

ouch.

yes, i'm bummed. bummed from the cramped flight which gave me a damned crick in my neck and sore shoulders (hunching two days in a row making cookies day in and night out didnt help). never mind that, i'm tired to boot.

hard work pays off though. we now have quite an arsenal of cookies to be served to the multitude of guests, in addition to several cakes. good thing mum's done most of her cooking already; it'd be heavy work getting in on it now. nostalgia... speaking of all this, i'm reminded of past years when we started cooking late, and would have to cook into the night all the way to chu yi just to finish everything up. i remember dropping off the on the kitchen couch while drying the plates, or rolling myself into a ball on the ground to catch a few minutes of snooze whenever i could. and the year we painted the whole house over? that was super duper tiring too. i remember too when hugo (my first dog) was still alive, how he'd always freak out and go ballistic when the firecrackers popped. once, he even squirmed his way into the house and went to hide in a corner. it took all three of us to drag him out.

i miss those days. *smile* now, we have a brave little fella who doesnt so much as blink went the pop pop pops go off. that just goes to say that not all small dogs're timid, and neither are all huge dogs brave. *chuckle*

today, or yesterday to be exact, i spent the day downloading chinese folk pieces for mum (while doing chores) to play when her expat friends come over. i know how much they like traditional tunes. still, i cant find much without being able to type chinese; when am i ever gonna be able to type in chinese??? its driving me crazy seeing all these silly doodles instead of proper characters in my music player. gah.

in any case, technically its nian san shi wan (chinese new year eve; see why i hate not being able to type in chinese??) now. i heard on the news we'll have 13 months on the lunar calendar this year, so an extra 30/31 days for anyone who's gonna be born this year. lucky lucky bovines. which also means... next year's chinese new year'll come after valentines... hmmm... (dont ask me, the newscaster said so).. XP

happy new year anyway, everybody. i cant believe i'm gonna be 22 (according to the lunar calendar). dont anybody not enjoy their reunion dinner yeah?

the price to pay...

... for yummy cookies's to bake them yourself (assuming you've a good hand with them). never mind, more about that later.

this morning's flight home was uneventful, though for once they took off early rather than late. i was groggy with sleep throughout the entire flight, having had about two, three hours of sleepy-weepy the night before, so much so that i had to drag my eyelids open when the plane finally touched down at the terminal.

i remember now... while at the lcct, i thought to grab a sandwich in case i got hungry, so i peeked into the store called Buy and Fly to have a look at the ones there and can you guess how much they cost? TEN freaking ringgit for two limp looking sandwiches that look as fresh as day old bread. and the filling isnt even that enticing. i recoiled with horror and resolved to never buy anything from there, even if i'm pretty much bored with mcd. at least with mcd i can be sure it's not day old stuff. so when i arrived, and had time to spare while waiting for my ride home, i snagged a piping hot mcmuffin. definitely beats limp bread. lol.while in the plane, i was entertaining dreams of going home and sinking into my soft bed to make up for lost sleep, but... my mum had other ideas. i was dragged into the kitchen and recruited into helping her with her cookies. that was tiring. after lunch, we both took a rest and she went out to feed the rotties while i continued. making pineapple tarts's fun though. the first tray i messed with, i made shapes: stars, and mei hua (plum blossom, you see the motif everywhere for CNY; they look rather like sakuras), but it took so long to make them and used up sooo much pastry i eventually gave up and made buttons instead. those were pretty fun too. wrapping the filling and then turning them to buttons while watching Ip Man on my laptop. XDi like that movie. awesomely inspiring and one heckuva great example of leadership. he doesnt even profess to be a leader; his actions and behaviour proclaim him as one and the townfolk revere him for that. i found his loyalty to his countrymen, his motherland, and his integrity very moving; he was willing to trade his life for the honour and morale of his people. i watched how ordinary unarmed people rallied and forced back the ranks of the japanese soldiers in order to aid him when he was shot, and all i could think was all it needs for people to unite is someone who's willing to stand out and make a difference. if only china had had more leaders like him. she wouldnt have been cut up and served to the greedy ones like a melon then. china.. she sure's gone a long way from the rotten days of the cultural revolution, and i salute her for the great leap's she's made. though i wasnt born there, i feel a keen sense of kinship with her; how can i not, when my ancestors hailed from that very country?

without heaven, there wouldnt have been earth
without earth, there wouldnt have been home
without home, there wouldnt have been you
without you, there wouldnt have been me.

probably no words can describe how i felt when i stepped on the great stones of the forbidden palace and marveled to be walking over the unseen footprints of emperors, princes, princesses. i could see in my mind the maids and eunuchs scurrying about their duties, feet wearing the stones down to the smoothness seen today. who can stand atop a watch tower on the great wall and not feel a sense of wonder at how they managed to built it? the beijing olympics brought great pride to chinese all around the world. we're rooting for you, our dragon. no one can do it like you do, because there isnt any other in the world like you.

ohhhhhhh... how wonderful.

as far as movies go, Four Christmases's quite the hilarious story, except i question how it is possible for such a string of crazy happenings, and coincidences and mishaps to occur all in a single day, and how such momentous decisions happen in such a short space of time. never mind, do watch the movie, its worth a bucket of laughter. i didnt approve of the church scene though. guess i'm used to catholic masses which're more solemn, and upbeat festivities're reserved for gatherings and praise and worship sessions. and the fact that the movie congregation found the horribly parodied nativity play inspiring doesnt speak much for it. while i understand that it is merely for fun, as a staunch catholic christian i found myself Not amused at all. forget that. to God be the glory, and may He continue to watch over me. Amen.

movie done, we just strolled around flipping through the boutiques, making one of our party try on an assortment of styles, and generally (for me, at least) polishing up 'skills' at picking the right clothes for the right person and the penchant for mixing and matching colours, accesories, and goodness knows what else. wouldnt it be fun to choose clothes for someone who had unlimited access to cash? i could help her/him mix and match to my heart's (and their's) content and not have to worry about budgets or the price of this necklace or that belt. pure fantasy, unless i decide to go professional and end up waiting on one of them pampered, polished creatures for whom money exists just to be thrown away.

sigh. up for t-e-a anyone? who knew shopping could be tiring.

the highlight of the day however, was waiting for the public transport back to the box. dear me, how very efficient our system is. instead of ruining the scenery with an unsightly directory post, we're advised to be eco-friendly by asking passersby and random people on the street for directions. and malaysians being the wonderfully friendly people they are, they will not hesitate to give you directions even if they dont know where the place is in the first place. and oh, the bus system works like clockwork too; it is perpetually off time.

there. that about sums up my adventures for saturday. today might promise to be another interesting day, who knows? for one who lives in a hodge podge of a country with rojaks in and out of your life everywhere, no day's ever the same, and at the moment, i wouldnt exchange it for all i'm worth.

we fight, we fight, we fight fight fight...

...for? lol... nothing less than tutorial slots. half an hour before the sign up was due, already a whopping 100 and 7 people were waiting patiently (or should i say impatiently?) for the precise strike of the digital numbers at 9 pm, when we could finally sign into our tutorial of choice and heave a sigh of relief.

that was yesterday, where the three musketeers ice creamed at mcd while waiting for time to pass. tonight, again we dock, this time at kfc to await the hour with bated breath. i will admit to being one of those who frantically clicked 'submit' or refresh, chanting to myself 'pleaseletmegetit pleaseletmegetit' in my head... while simultaneously checking to see if my friends'd gotten the same tutorial. within a few minutes two out of three slots were fully packed and we were left awed(aghast) at how everyone fought for as simple a thing as tutorial slots as though it were some grand prize.

ahhh... this semester promises to be a hectic one, and i just had to choose two heavy duty subjects for my electives: anthropology and counseling skills. never mind 106 alone would give me a whopper of a migraine when it comes to calculations and such; thank the Lord i have math whizzes around me who can guide me.

these two mornings' classes with dr H (amazingly i stayed awake throughout without falling asleep at all... XD) left me wondering how on earth med students can survive slogging through the tiny tiny details over human anatomy. its funny listening to someone lecture on how the eye moves, even as your eyes're poring over your notes and roaming the screen. good thing i dropped my childish yearning to be a vet. i couldnt possibly have survived all the headaches that comes along with anatomy, no matter how much i love animals. XD

P.S aaaand, i didnt get my slot tonight. damn.

le pig. *grin*

so el cerdo means the pig, eh? dad was asking what it meant so i texted jCe for reference. lol.

lunched with dad and his business people in a restaurant off... was it jalan raja laut? not sure. anyone who knows deusche haus, its just right opposite. i was greeted with an atrocious parody of the mona lisa emblazoned on the door handles: a pig's grinning face and trotters were photoshopped in place of lisa's delicate visage. yikes.

however, the food was phenomenal. deep fried pork skin crisps as appetizers, an entree of caesar salad, and assorted sausages accompanied by mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. then piggy trotters (by now you ought to have guessed by the restaurant name that everything's pork, and strictly pork), wrapped in bacon, also with sides of sauerkraut and a salad. very well done indeed. who knew i'd actually like sauerkraut? not that delectable eaten alone but eaten with the meat it is quite delicious. oh, i forgot. we had ribs too. not bad, not bad, but the best's yet to come.

next came the suckling pig, half of it, served with the ears and tail intact. delightfully tender, the likes of juicy succulent roasted pork (and the crisp skin) you seldom get to taste (Mr Ho loses hands down). before we could partake however, a (hmm, spanish? german?) girl came out with two plates and asked who would like the honour of breaking the plates, as is the tradition. being frugal chinese, naturally everyone declined. i remember her expression taking on an odd look and she asked dad (to whom everyone had pushed the 'honour' of plate breaking): 'you chinese?'

is it just me or did she sound a tad bit condescending/patronising? meaning:

A) you cheap chinese who're nitpicking about a silly plate, who cares how much the plate costs??

B) or perhaps, you superstitious chinese, whats the big deal about breaking a plate??

C) or was it just plain and simple disappointment that we werent sporting enough to join in the fun?

guess we'll never know. apparently we were supposed to use the edges of the broken halves to cut the meat. i simply cant imagine how they'd manage that. in any case, if its either choice A) or B) from up there, then her prejudice's gone barking up the wrong tree since it was neither. in truth, the adults were concerned about unseen shards of broken pottery that might crumble into the meat, and enter your tummy via the food. and then, you'll suffer when it starts cutting you up inside. neither did they see the logic in breaking a plate for just such a reason. wasteful. ahhh... there comes the frugal nature of my race, generally speaking. so much for being indignant about her reaction. *chuckle*

dessert was decadent, raspberry/blackberry sherbet. it teases the palate nicely, since the sherbet owes its slightly tart flavour to the fresh berries mixed in, followed by sweet vanilla ice cream, and then a taste of bittersweet chocolate mousse to round off. beautiful combination. i wonder if i could try making that when i get home? lol... will have to dig around in mum's recipe books then.

*chuckle chuckle*

ahh, finally something i think i'll like. anthropology. its just too bad i cant take east asian civilization, since it clashes with one of my core subjects. crazy as i am about the east asian culture, i bet i'd enjoy that very very much.

the lecturer's a very likeable person indeed. i'd say its in the way she speaks? firm, wit, humour in equal doses. seldom have i paid such complete attention in class (the only other lecturer who's been able to elicit such a response from me's dr N). i think i'd do well to emulate the way she speaks, she being a cultured intellectual (she owns a degree in literature and philosophy) and person of quality. a refreshing change indeed after having to tolerate a disgustingly uncouth personage for marketing last semester. not that he isnt a well educated man; he hails from quite prestigious a college, albeit one that shares its initials with the water closet. have fun guessing. (clue: its a liberal arts college). it matters not, the man's a cynic to boot, and while i may respect him for his sharp insight, i admire him not a bit. his penchant for inappropriate jokes and crude humour, well, its just not to my taste. plus if he tries saying again that psychology's just common sense, i hope someone quotes dr hera's words to him to shut him up.

an interesting day it was, 'struth. was somehow pulled into the arcade at midvalley, and persuaded to join in a strange game that includes a running bride who has to toss cream pies at the people in the church. i watched my companions shoot virtual enemies, snipe goodness-knows-who, whack some rock remix machine's buttons randomly and machine-gun down horrid looking spiders and other insects. lol. all very well in a simulated world viewed on a screen, but i sure wouldnt want to be facing those creatures in real life. *chuckle*

i hate to admit it, but i'm feeling sleepy, and it's not even 1 yet. gah.

i wonder where the fun is in randomly adding people you dont know in msn... this's the third time i've gotten such an add, and i gotta say, i'm getting fed up.

first one was of a freaking pervert who asked me intimate questions i wouldnt even dream of telling close friends, never mind a virtual (excuse the pun) stranger. and when he told me to look at his profile picture... you dont wanna know what he put up.

the second was an emo junior who threatened to commit suicide if i didnt agree with him about a certain something.

and now, another one. wheesh.

so classes've started, and we're blessed with psy106 at 10 in the morning... gah. i managed to stay awake, though i cant guarantee it'll stay that way for the rest of the semester. biopsych will prove to be a headache, i believe... but let's not cast stones yet, shall we? before long, we'll see.

tomorrow, or later, rather, i'm about to find out what all the fuss's about on anthropology. i badly wanted to do east asian civilization, but it clashes with another subject, so it wont wash. mypride's giving me problems, the silly thing. oh, never mind. if this's gonna be a short post, so be it, cuz i'm already sleepy anyway, though i caught a nap this afternoon. lol.

an example of denial.

what do you call vegetarian food that's consisted of fish, char siu, or even crab???

you call that (psych term): denial.

you want to eat meat, but on the other hand you want to be vegetarian, so you take tauhu and press it into chunks and stick seaweed on it and called it 'steamed fish'. or you colour more tauhu lumps red and barbeque it and call it char siu. what about the soy bean 'belacan' that doesnt remotely taste like belacan? if that isnt denial, what is?

the point about being vegetarian is, you eat vegetables. end of story. where's the fun of being vegetarian and then eating vegetarian meat??? (oxymoron, oxymoron) i can tell you for sure the entire dinner table (minus yourself and your spouse) either found it ridiculous or amusing. in fact, i positively remember a particular someone grinning while eating the 'char siu' and it definitely wasnt because the char siu was well grilled. where's the health in eating a lump of food-coloured, flavouring-added floury tauhu-based stuff, i ask? you tell me that. lol. my apologies to the regular vegetarians out there, but as someone who believes in a balanced diet (excluding those who eat for proper health reasons or who really go vegetarian for religious purposes), i dont see why you should eat fake meat when real meat's healthier, or if you want to be vegetarian, why you should be eating meat in the first place, even if its fake.

and oh. vegetarian reminds me of a friend who refused to help us buy quiches from the pastry lady cuz it contained meat. never mind the quiche was in a plastic baggie and wouldnt even touch his fingers. never mind that we werent asking him to eat it, just to help us buy and and then pass them to us. no, no... he's vegetarian and vegetarians cant touch meat, even through a plastic bag.

my apologies again if i've offended anyone's sensibilities or honour, for the matter. perhaps you could proffer an explanation or rationale to combat my potshots and i'll finally understand the fuss over soybean meat and gelatine shrimp.

of lousy airlines and (good) chinatown food.

from this compact box high on the 19th floor of the bigger box in the middle of Kay Elle city once again i'm writing...

lol... forget that first sentence... i arrived yesterday, and is it a coincidence or have all the flights i've been on recently gotten some major turbulence problems? first, it was my flight back home, then the flight to jakarta and even yesterday's. yesterday's pilot didnt take his sweet time landing; he went down so fast the pressure built a striking pain in my left eye (not to mention the horrid headache and nausea it gave me, which lasted throughout the day, all the way until nighttime) heck, that was some horrid experience... it felt like my eyeball was gonna pop out or burst any second, and i couldnt open it. i could only press my palm against it and pray for it to end, and when i finally took my palm away it was entirely wet, covered with tears. it hurt that much.

and oh, i say this, MAS's getting from bad to worse. now you dont even use trays for in-flight meals but paper boxes??? thats way too cut-cost for the exhorbitant prices you're charging. never mind the packaging, the food wasnt anything to be excited about either. it may sound like an insult to you (as intended) but even mcd or kfc's scrambled eggs taste better than yours and they sure as hell dont cost as much. lemme list out the full menu again, shall i? a splat of messy looking baked beans (about a spoonful), a single (cheap) hot-dog (it doesnt deserve to be called a sausage), a lump of tasteless scrambled eggs, a packet of KERK Kraker Coklat deluxe chocolate sandwich biscuits, a croissant, the usual anchor's butter packet and of orange juice. no wonder we all prefer air asia (though the delays and lousy timing drive us crazy). i think about less than half the seats of yesterday's flight were taken, and first class all empty. i remember my gran remarking how few people there were. so if you think you've lost your customers to air asia, well, no one's surprised, to say the least.

in any case, i went to KL's chinatown (chi cheong kai?? how would you spell it?)with the jester after chilling out in my box for a bit. sayangnye, i couldnt really enjoy the experience since the dizzyness and nausea hadnt completely gone away; had to go back after just a bowl of tau fu fa, and a bite of mochi. i simply couldnt get my appetite running, despite all the good food around. on the contrary, just the smell of the food made me feel like throwing up. so we went back to my box, and rested a bit, before the jester went home. too bad. we'll go again someday yeah? i'm sorry the trip had to be cut short cuz of me.

aaaand... anyoung, year o9.

ahhhh... the new year... quite a blast, it was... i spent yesterday night (when it was still year 2008, 31st december, around 9pm, XD) with a close friend, first in the cinema, then on to soho... i recommend adam sandler's bed time stories... complete cracker-jack funny, and nothing crude in it... pure warmth and family loving goodness.

funny things happen when people're high on the prowl for fun. while heading to mcd before the movie, two caucasian men, one young, one old happened to be standing next to my friend's car, and the younger one smiled at her. we went hysterical with laughter, for no particular reason at all. and later half a metre up the road they somehow crossed the road in front of us and this time, the old one smiled and waved. needless to say, we near laughed the roof of the car off.

enter soho. about half an hour before the countdown, we squeezed our way through an undulating mass of bodies, music pounding and lights flashing. (here, research methodology comes into play: participant as observer; dont you just love psychology? *grin*) although i initially said i wouldnt bother to dance, i would've felt very silly if i were to stand on a sardin can of a dance floor and stay stiff and ramrod straight. so i joined in. it was exhilirating at first, your heart pouding to the music beats and you feeling your adrenaline run higher. then, the peak of the song comes and you close your eyes and work your way through the trance... aaand just at that moment......... my phone rang. lol... dad called asking if i needed a ride home, since they were on their way home from church. i chose to stay on till about 1:30, when it was starting to get boring, so we popped to a coffee shop to buy drinks, and they dropped me home.

the girls will be continuing to par-tay their night out though, even as i type. happy new year again, girls, you've given me a night to remember, despite the idiots spraying beer over us and the grinding-happy couple who kept taking up our floor space. good luck for the new year! XD