Cool Thing

I wanted to write about camp, but I was hoping to get some photos first. So that's on hold.

However, I DID discover something really, really cool - my friend Su enjoys 'country' music too!

Yipee!

As we were driving back from Port Dickson, I looked around for music to play and found a Rascal Flatts CD.




















Happy was I to borrow the CD from him because as mentioned in a previous post, I had lost all my music.

I'm not saying that I'm a hardcore fan of country music, but I do take pleasure in listening to the genre more than every once in a while.

As I'm not a music hunter (ie don't keep a lookout for new artists/albums/songs) its good to find someone who I can update me and share whatever he has.

I can't listen to country music 24/7, but its pretty high up there on my playlist.

The lyrics, though sometimes sappy, are nice, meaningful and storytelling-ish.

Happy discovery!

Just forget it

I'm going to blog about this, even though I feel I shouldn't but what the hey...

I have a friend, who no matter how I try to tell her she's like this or that, she fails to see what I point out, or understand where I'm coming from, or what I actually mean.

Of course, before saying anything I take a step back and think if I'm right in saying what I'm saying, sometimes run it by others, replay the situation in my head, then only mention it to her.

No matter how I explain or reason, its never a, "Hmmmm, that might be something worth thinking about", there's always a justification, where I'm made out to be talking rubbish, I'm the stubborn one, I'm the one that can't see etc...

Its been the same for many years now, and I realize, hey- I have tried, so c'est la vie.

I'm making the decision to stop futile attempts at flogging a dead horse.

Instead, since nothing is going to change, I'll work on the thing that can, me.

I'll work on not getting affected by what the horse chooses to do. She has a capable brain, and believes its fine to do what she does in the manner which she does it, so I'll have to learn to adapt and accept without comment. Since I've already contributed my multiple 2cents, its not as if she can turn around some day and ask why did I never tell her, so my conscience is clear. I think my 2cents worth can prob buy a meal at Chilli's by now.

If you're reading this, and if I open my mouth to say anything about anything, just remind me of this entry.

That will help me shut up fast because I'll remember I'm just wasting my breath.

Take Me Away

The past week(s) has been really, really, really draining.

My tank is empty, my spirits are low.

Which is why I'm looking forward to getting away for a few days, even if its not that far away, and I wont have peace and quiet, its still getting away.

Its so sad that only after 3months of working, I already am desperately needing a 'break'. If I start thinking too much about it, I'll get even more depressed. But it's not just been work...

How am I doing?

On the surface I'm doing great. I'm 'fine', no worries.

Below the surface, I'm struggling with everything. Everything meaning everything.

Nothing that you reading this can help with, its not a flat tyre that just needs changing.

Family stuff. Work stuff. Friend stuff. Money stuff.

Which all lead to
Disappointment. Frustration. Apprehension. Dissatisfaction.

I would be happy to just curl up in a ball and be by myself for a long while, undisturbed. Yet even in my ballness, I will be constantly thinking.

Its times like these where I really wish I have a person I can lean on and turn to. Not a 'romantic relationship', but a person who I can just dump my crap feeling self on, and know that person will accept my crap feeling. Where I can lean on for support, and the person will be strong for me. Where I can be a little selfish, and the person will let me be a little selfish. Where I can just weep and the person will hug me tight and pat my back without asking questions.

It's been a long time since I had that. If ever. Probably someone I'll never have.

Like a unicorn, a figment of my imagination.

This is the story of a girl

I had no idea what the show was about, but it turned out to be really good.

The first piece was about two friends who've not met in 6years, by chance meet at a bus stop and catch up, in a way. The gadis in this story was actually a soft guy, and he played the part really well. If he hadn't, the piece would've flopped.

The second piece was even better, and it was a MONOLOGUE that lasted about 45minutes! The one woman show by Sherry Abdullah was borderline fantastic- there was no monotony, it never felt draggy and she managed to portray her character really well. I felt it was a better story compared to the first, had more 'depth' to it, and even though her story got many laughs from Tini's bubbly, quirky personality, it was a sad story, with many serious elements actually embedded in it.

One odd thing was the presence of so many children, about twenty 7year olds watching a play that had a notice outside, "Contains adult content". It was amusing and 'cute' to see how they reacted to the actors, and though they probably wouldn't understand much of the subtle (and not so subtle) jokes, I personally didn't think they should have been watching.

The show is in Malay and Manglish, with English subtitles in the background. However, its SO much better to watch it not reading the subtitles, its hilarious how they've captured real Malay expressions that people really use.

Its only on till Sunday, but if you're free go for it. More info here.


*


When I arrived at KL Pac, I sms'd Colin Langsir-

Sms: I'm in KL Pac and the poster for your show is up. Cool.

Reply: I'm in KL Pac too. Parking the car.

Coincidence betoi!

Too bad he had to read the subtitles most of the time.

=p

But I think we agreed that the Footstool Players performance MUST have seats for the audience.

Sitting with nothing to lean back on for almost 2hours is torture.

Sucker

.
Oops, I did it again.



















I got suckered into the complicated romance of Betty Suarez.

In season 2, she's been dating Henry, the geeky accountant guy from downstairs who is 'perfect' for her in every one of her nerdy ways.


















Problem is his ex-gf got pregnant before they broke up, and though Henry and Betty tried to make it work, once the baby was born Betty made the decision to make a clean break from him so he could go and be a good father, proper family, make it work with his ex etc etc.

Of course, throughout all this, there was another character introduced in the form of the new sandwich guy, Gio.

He's liked Betty for quite a while, and their friendship/chemistry is so nice to see. He rocks - where Henry is a square, Gio is an amoeba.

Anyway, after the Betty/Henry split, Gio jokes that Betty wants him to be her rebound guy. He kisses her, she slaps him. Coincidentally, they're both chaperones at a school dance, he ask her for a dance, there's that 'dangerous' moment before Betty flees...

Naturally, of all songs to be playing, it had to be:

Huh huh huh hu-uh huh
I know this much is true.
Huh huh huh hu-uh huh
I know this much is true.












After the dance, Gio walks Betty home and they say goodnight. Betty stops Gio as he walks away and asks him if he wants to go out sometime, but he turns her down. He says,

“I don’t want to be the rebound guy. I want to be the guy.”


OMG. Its so corny, its so cliche, its so good.

*melt*

Bloody unfair. No matter what a guy looks like, ugly/short/fat/bald/skinny or whatever, all he has to do is to look as though he means what he's saying and *splat* girls can cair.

I'm so pathetic.

Mizuno Wave

I had a fun weekend, different from the norm.

Started off going into KL on Saturday, to meet up with Cikgu Joshua at the low budget hotel Swiss Hotel. Although when I walked in, my first thought was, "Dodgy!", its location is very strategic, only 10mins walk from Masjid Jamek LRT station, the room is basic and clean, and the toilets are newly renovated. Anyone with claustrophobia will suffer in the lift though, with its neon 'MAX 5 people!' handwritten sign.

First thing was Joshua wanted to buy a camera, so we walked to Berjaya Times Square (navigating with our mental compass, which eventually failed us and we hopped on a bus) where there was a big photography expo going on, and met up with crazy camera enthusiasts:














It was fun meeting these people in a non-'PKA' setting.

I've never seen so many big, black camera's all in one location before. Some were REALLY huge, so scary. Like this one:




















Silently the guys were all thinking, "My camera's bigger than your camera..."

This dude is a dude I've seen around a few times, but never met. Once I met him, I discovered that he was the one that took the pictures I used in my previous post about Crazy Little Thing Called Love. What a coincidence! And then he "tsk tsk'ed" me for using the pictures without permission. =p

Anyway, the purpose for going to KL was for the Mizuno 10km run. Gah! Last run I joined was over 2years ago!

Joshua the ex-Powerbar spokesman convinced me to buy a Powerbar thats RM7 (!!!), because supposedly you eat it 45mins before an event and it gives you energy that lasts for 2hours. I honestly didn't feel any difference. I told him, to his horror, that usually for breakfast before a run I'd eat a 50cent Roti and thats it.

Something I found really cool was we were all given a chip to wear on our shoe that will detect when you pass the starting line and finishing line, so your actual time is recorded.




















It didn't quite work out so well for the men because at the finishing line they all had to line up to get a card thing which slowed them down. Very unfair since they actually could've reached the finishing line much earlier. Bad on the organizers part.

Josh managed to get some other nutty people to sign up, and here's us an hour before the race:















Fast forward to the actual run - we were too busy chit chatting till out of the blue "Bennnng!" the siren went off and it began. I was so unprepared, but I only realized HOW unprepared about 15mins into the race.

In my ignorance, I thought that we'd be running around the streets of KL, flat streets. However, turns out that 90% of the route was HILLY. It was all around Bukit Tungku, the hill behind the National Monument. Really tough. Since I had no clue what the route was like, around each bend when you think it's going downhill, it goes up again!

I remember running and thinking, now I know why its called Mizuno Wave- with all the runners in their light blue vests, going up and down hill in a continuous stream, the top view would probably look like a wave.

I was physically not prepared - the training I did was all on flat terrain.
I was mentally not strong - I gave up at several points where I shouldn't have.

Cutting a long run story short, I finally saw the 2km To Go sign. Joshua (who had finished much earlier) was waiting near the final bend and he was a good sport encouraging me by running along beside me, pushing me to push myself. Thanks for that Cikgu!

I crossed the finish line, since I wasn't wearing a watch, could be anywhere from 1hour 20mins - 1hour 30mins from the time I started. I'll have to wait 2months till my cert comes, then I'll know for sure.

I enjoyed myself, and the weekend was a BLAST, but it wasn't a very 'satisfying' run.

I have to be more prepared for the next one.

Yes! I will try again!

Running just to catch myself

Why... WHY?!? Why did I foolishly sign up for it?

Stupid Cikgu Joshua. All his fault.

I just hope I don't do too badly tomorrow.

My goal - Secret. If I achieve it then will blog about it.

I mean, its 'only' 10km.

Gah!

At a banana leaf rice shop...

.
Me: I just drank a whole cup or warm Milo, so I'm not very hungry. My stomach feels full now.

S: What nonsense- Milo doesn't make you feel full...

Me: Yes it does! Its very filling, I mean, you can drink it in the morning and thats enough till lunchtime.

S: No its not! Saying drinking Milo makes you feel full is like saying drinking water makes you feel full. So just drink water la!

Me: Its different!

S: No its not.

Me: Forget it. I drank a cup, and I'm feeling full now, so I'm not going to eat banana leaf rice. Aneh, thosai satu!

Something Fishy

*I wrote a post about this, but it didn't save so I'm lazy to re-write it nicely. Hurmph.*

This is my before face.

Scared and nervous but must try to smile for the camera!














With much courage I finally put my feet into the tub to have hundreds of tiny fish attack them!



















I finally tried this "Fish Spa" thing, but it was far from a Spa environment. It was a big tub, like the tangki air in my roof, seats all around and the fish. Reason why I went was cause it was a cheap thrill - RM5 = 10mins, so who cares about the "spa"-lessness.




















The fish really do automatically come and nibble, zoom over. As soon as your feet are in, they're all there. Chomp...chomp...chomp... I just wonder how do they know my feet is food. Can they smell? I mean, how can they tell the difference between my foot and a frying pan... Would they go for the frying pan (initially) if put in the water? Hmmm....




















One thing about it though, it is SO ticklish, that even for someone who's not so easily tickled, I squirmed and squeaked like mad as the fish nibbled away. Can DIE okay!

I can't begin to imagine how a whole body fish spa would be like.

I'd probably crush the fish, tossing and turning so much.

(doh!)-nut

One day, sitting on a bench in One Utama...


















































































Moral of the story: Don't buy powdered icing sugar doughnuts if you're having a cough.

But the greatest of these...

As I crossed the busy main road, I spotted my friend walking up the hill. I was glad to see her, I wasn't sure if she would come.

Walking in, I was surprised by the atmosphere in the main hall- it was buzzing and bustling with excitement. Obviously I expected a crowd, but I didn't expect such a crowd. Once we found seats, I spent some time catching up with those I rarely get to see, one fuzzy wookie in particular.

When it was time for the show to begin, everyone quietened down and I waited for the lights to go out.

It was good.

Watching the actors perform scenes that reflected my own life had me laughing and sighing. It was like looking in the same mirror from different angles. Past and present. Truth and Lies.

One friend commented that she didn't really like the sad sketches. I told her, that's reality, life is like that. If it were to be only funny, feel-good happy endings, it would be fake.

Knowing the Footstool Players style, in between each sketch meaningful songs related to the scenes are played. I remember after watching them for the very first time, I went home and sent them an email, asking for the song titles. I didn't know any of them then. It was over four years ago. Years later, they again have chosen songs that capture the essence of the story, and while listening in the darkness each person is given the privacy to think and to feel.

If you want to watch something with meaning, catch their performance.

Find out where they'll be performing here, pick a date and go.

After all, you, me, the electrician, the grumpy school teacher...everyone has experienced the ups and downs of the Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

Mmmm, grass....

Three months ago I started working. If you had asked me then, you would have known how excited I was and how much I was looking forward to starting my job.

I know, its nuts... My working friends told me I was crazy for being so enthusiastic about starting work. My dad told me I'd regret starting work so soon, cause its for the rest of my life.

Well, the cow never knows how the grass on the other side is till it goes over and tries it out. Besides, one needs to earn a living.

Anyhow, I've not felt so discouraged about work till today... To have 'It's crap' said straight to your face is a sting, and to have it said in front of superiors makes it even worse.

This is the working world and this cow has to keep on going.

Never give up, never surrender!

Broken and Alone

I wish tonight never happened.
I wish i had done things differently.
I wish I didn't hear what I heard.
I wish I didn't feel what I felt.
I wish I didn't see what was in front of my eyes.

Wishes that will never come true, the story of my life.
Hopes that are crushed by the reality of what is.
Dreams that disappear within a blink of an eye.
Prayers unsaid that are left unfulfilled.

Solitude.
Its lonely but you are on your own, no one else will see inside your head or feel your heart.

Only you know you.

God help me.

Memorial Songs

You know how we attach memories to particular songs, based on events or people or something you're going through. We do it knowingly, and also subconsciously.

Earlier this year, I reformatted my laptop because it was just way too virus infested. Being a pretty impulsive decision and not having an external hard drive, I managed to burn all my photos onto CD's, but I lost all the music I had.

Strangely, it was a 'good' thing because that meant all the tunes that would trigger not so good memories were gone. On the other hand it was a bad thing because all the tunes that held happy memories were gone too.

This musical drought was further intensified by the break down of my well-used mp3 player, which contained my 'most played' songs. Walks to class and bus rides were less entertaining. Jogging became monotonous.

Anyway, these thoughts were somehow triggered when a friend lent me her ipod and some of the songs she had on it were songs that reminded me of things. Good things, bad things.

Things I had forgotten.

Things I want to forget.

Sounds so deep, but it's not.

Songs are just another form of photographs; a thousand words painted on a melody.

Mama Mia

A must watch show!

I took my mommy, daddy and sissy-in-law to catch the show for mommy's birthday.

We really enjoyed it.

No need to analyze it or ponder upon the plot or scrutinize the acting - its not that kind of movie. Just go and enjoy it for the feel good movie that it is.

The tunes will be stuck in your hear for days.


k