Thursday, June 26, 2008

Sucky Song

I've had this thing on my mind the whole week, and I've not been able to figure out how to put it. So, my short summary of what has been eating me this past week is this:

Life sucks.

People whose life doesn't suck, will not understand this. I know of such people. And the people who know what i mean, are very few.

I should count my blessings etc and there are others around the world suffering worse fates, but it doesn't change the fact that life sucks. More for some than others. None at all for some.




















Thank goodness for cheery tunes to keep my mind happy and off the suckiness.


Sara Bareilles Lyrics
Love Song Lyrics

Friday, June 20, 2008

Way of 'Oogway'

Scene
Sitting at a coffee shop having wan tan mee, a girl with her wrinkled paper asking for donations comes along table by table. She is politely dismissed and she moves on to the next table...
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Mantis (to Oogway): Eh. Lets say you were out on a date, with a girl, would you give some money?

Oogway: You mean the donation just now?

Mantis: Yeah. Lets say you were having a meal with a girl, it's the first or second date, and someone came along asking for a donation, would you dismiss the person like just now or give some money?

Oogway: I'd probably give la.

Mantis: You'd give some money?

Oogway: Yeah, I'd give. Just to not look bad. I'd rather give 5bucks and look good than create a negative impression since it's still the early stages.

Viper: Eyer.... But that's so hypocritical.

Oogway: Yeah... But at least i'm being an honest hypocrite.

Mantis: Honest to us la, but not to her.

Viper: Thats what I can't stand about guys. In the beginning they portray themselves as something their not, but sooner or later their true colours all come out, and then they don't see why a girl is upset or angry, and put its back onto the girl saying that she's putting expectations on him, when it was the guy who set the false expectation in the first place. Urgh.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Hunt

Would you hire me?




















I've registered with online sites, and am looking in the newspapers as well.











The difficult thing is this- when people ask me what i want to do, honestly, I don't know yet. I currently don't have a particular passion. Being a fresh grad with a degree in English means that my job scope is very wide, and there's no specific job out there for me. Its not like someone who did Engineering and then becomes an Engineer, ya know?

I'm not worried yet, as i've only been bumming for less than 2weeks, but i do hope i'll at least be called for an interview soon so the ball can start rolling.

So if anyone knows of any job openings that you think suits me, don't hesitate to let me know...

My Major: English Language and Literature
My Minor: Mass Communications (Journalism, Public Relations, Advertising)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Choc Discovery

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I never knew this existed, but then again I'm not surprised.

Though I personally haven't seen any of these on sale before, they sure do look tempting.



















































But one day, i discovered that chocolate pasta can be found in almost ALL shops in Malaysia
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Imagine, Choki Bolognaise... Carbonara Choki... Choki and Cheese...

Friday, June 06, 2008

Puke

I did a girl thing yesterday.

The thing were girls contradict themselves by saying one thing but wanting another.

Here's the rough scenario:

I was having tea at the Ms. Read cafe with 2 guy friends and halfway through my stomach began to feel bad. I 'tahan'd for about half n hour, but it got worse, and i finally blurted out "I feel sick, I think I need to vomit. I'm going to the toilet." I got up, left the cafe and I'll spare you the details, but all my milkshake and some of my chicken rice lunch ended up in the toilet bowl.

When i got back to the table and sat down, they asked me if i really puked, and i said yes I did, but I'm alright now. I feel better. I'm okay.

What I said was true, and I didn't want to be fussed over, but . . .

Neither of them suggested that we left. After joking that i was bulimic, the conversation continued, when all along i really wanted to go home and lie down.

So internally (not stomach) I was feeling annoyed and frustrated that they just went on as per normal, not reading between the lines.

Dumb girl.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Camp Cam 2008

Too much to put down, so this is some of what Camp Cam 2008 was for me.

Arrived 2days before the students came, for training and briefing about what to expect and our roles in camp as uncles and aunts. Below are all the staff still sane and full of energy, uncles and aunties, and international staff from Vietnam and Indonesia.


















Monday morning, after cleaning up and setting up the campsite, we then waited...

and waited...

and waited for the buses to arrive. The main bus from KL was due to arrive, and each time a bus was spotted in a distance, one of the staff would bellow "BUS!" and everyone would run down to look see. We wanted to welcome the students and help them with their luggage. So after the many-eth false alarm, we just decided to hang around the side of the road.


















Finally the bus arrived and I admit my heart was beating fast out of excitement and fear.
75 students. 20staff. 3weeks.
It had begun.















I was part of Chalet 8, the Lapanite family, and our theme for our home was coffee/cafe/a place to chill. The chalet is located down the slope, furthest from the main hall and all the other chalets, so we were a family that had time to ourselves without the distractions of other families.














I was very happy to be in my family, and enjoyed our family time, sharing, eating, laughing, joking, crying... To me it was a very different experience from my Camp Cam family 2years ago, and I kept reminding myself to put effort into the family. Yet, i also had to stay back and let them (the participants) take charge, but sometimes offer suggestions or ideas, something i think i managed to balance quite alright. I love all my nieces, and each night before lights out I'd be in their rooms listening to the day's excitement or update.



The lady below on the left holding the orange bowl is the bomb! She's Aunty Loh, the official Camp Cam cook for the past 10years! She was boss in the kitchen and taught me lots, I had a great time in the kitchen working with her.















Which comes to my duties as an Aunty. Kitchen duty is the main thing, where I'd spend most of the day in the kitchen cleaning up to 10kg of veggie from the market for lunch and dinner, washing kuali's, rice pots and pans, cutting up beef, etc etc. Though it was hard work, that was my purpose for being there and i knew it, so it wasn't actually as tiring as i imagined it to be. I really enjoyed kitchen duty. Its fun to watch staff go crazy peeling bayam for hours and hours or cleaning up watercress chatting and laughing. Even doing it alone is relaxing because its an escape from the hustle and bustle of camp.

First day on the job and i already did a boo boo, causing much laughter in the kitchen. I was told to peel and rub the ends of the cucumbers. Thinking to myself "Rub the cucumbers? What on earth is that?", and having no clue i just peeled everything, 'rubbing' the ends with the peeler... Hahahaha... Anyone reading and know what 'rubbing cucumbers' mean will understand why what i did was hilarious.
Turns out, you're supposed to chop off the ends of the cucumber and rub the chopped bit in circular motions around the newly exposed tip, to get a waxy, white goo which supposedly will make the cucumber less bitter.

I discovered 2 things about myself, i HATE tumbuking onions and ginger. It makes me depressed and feel physically sick. Maybe cause its so repetitive and endless pounding, bum-bum-bum-bum-bum... The second is i can't handle worms. So sad, i thought i was braver than that, but during one occasion where the cabbages were FULL of worms, and they popped out at me, i freaked out and Grandma Grace has to take over.






















My other duties were to wash clothes, prepare the morning tea, marketing, help out with some leisure activities and be the extra set of hands to take work off the grandparents. Things like being a driver, and i went up and down from Habu to Tanah Rata many times- to fetch and send students to the bus stop, send 2 students to the hospital and buy items that couldn't be found in Ringlet. Since I like driving, i enjoyed these trips up and down.

Camp was filled with sessions, bible studies, games, leisure, Camp Specials dan lain-lain. Time flew by.

I was quite surprised that when the last day of camp came, and we were back at the same spot sending the students off, I felt so sad and as the bus pulled away i must have caught a whiff of onion from the neighbouring farm because my eyes were watering (a bit).

Overall, I'm really glad I decided to say yes to being an Aunty. It was very fulfilling helping out, knowing that my contribution somehow helped in the big picture. It was also such a pleasure to be part of the students lives as they went through the 3 weeks of learning, growing and discovering.


CAMP CAMERON 2008 -
Give me life in Thy ways...