Sunday, December 31, 2006 22:49
It’s the last day of the year. What are you guys doing? Countdown? Bbq? Gathering? Anything, as long as you make this day memorable for the year 2006.
It’s going to be 2007 in one hour and thirty minutes.
Happy New Year everybody! For 2007 will be a better year if we try to make it better.
May you achieve what you hoped for, and have a blessed year everybody!
Saturday, December 30, 2006 00:14
I haven’t had a dream come true
Till the day that I found you
What rubbish. Everyone has had dreams come true, since the day we took our first gulp of air out of our moms’ wombs. Clothes, money to spend, our parents, people around us, they are all blessings. Perhaps I shouldn’t look so much beyond the horizon that I sometimes overlook the gifts I’m already enjoying.
So I’m gonna start this all over again.
First of all, a veri big thankew to those who stood by me in times of difficulty, those who encouraged me to move on and go through trying times. It’s been nice and sweet, all my friends, for being there. I felt like listing down the names of those I think of right now, but then it will be mundane, won’t it? Imagine a whole list of names!
No matter how reluctant I was when I moved into Dunman, everything got better as time went by. Friends, I’ve known, and some of them made 2006 a marvellous year for me. We don’t always get what we want, so when we don’t, we have to learn to live with it. That, is what I learnt.
Amidst all the laughing faces I put on the entire year, there’s bound to be some disappointments and heartaches that lingered around. I’m not gonna be explicit in details here, because it’s another way to slowly forget them. But just say, that person – the stuffs that he did, those things he said, kinda impacted me a little. Undeniably they brought me joy, but also sorrow, for that person never thinks of what his words may mean, to me at least. So somewhere this year, I decided to put things behind and never think of them anymore. I guess that’s when I started to forget the face at the same instant I thought of it.
Well, I guess I’m not gonna end my year with a sulking face. Nor will I want to end it by thinking of sad stuffs either.
Receive this new year with smiles, shall we?
Wednesday, December 27, 2006 22:07
When everybody is celebrating this joyous season of Christmas and New Year, let’s also not forget those who were hit by flood and earthquake. We are safe and sound in our homes, enjoying meals and feasting upon big portions of beef and turkey, while those in flood-hit places spent their holidays in shelter homes, living on meager food aids.
We should really be grateful for what we have, ask nothing much, for what we have is already much more than what those victims lost in the flood.
Monday, December 25, 2006 21:33
It’s Christmas time, again,
It’s time to be nice to the people you can’t stand
All year
I’m growing tired of all these
Christmas cheers
Christmas is here again, unknowingly. So that means one year has flown pass and we can still do nothing to stop it, or slow down the process in the very least.
I wanted to write down things that impacted my life this year, but there’s just too much that it’s hardly possible to write all of them down. Haih. It’s a festive season, why am I sighing here then?
Had an interesting afternoon today, with them of course. Just like the old times. It’s so rare that everyone was present, and even with new ‘additions’ to the gang. Hah. Everybody had good laughs, I’m sure about that. Many are already in pairs. That’s right, everything should start well and end well this festive season.
Alright cut it, miss stupidity. No point pretending anymore.
It feels like obligation to put on a smiling face in all occasions. it's the best way to hide my fears, my concerns, my everything.
And slowly, I can't even recognize who I am.
Who I really am.
Saturday, December 23, 2006 01:16
Sawadeekah! This new addition to my blog should be apparent that I’m back from Thailand. Yes, a ten-day trip in total. I’m still searching for the right word to best describe my trip this time. No words seem fitting in this case, since it’s a mixture of good and bad experiences.
I suppose I’ll just tell you the main things that happened during the trip.
The first day was like a clip from Amazing Race. According to AirAsia, we had to check out and check in again in Bangkok Airport to fly to Chiangmai. Alright, basically we did not fly to chiangmai straight from KLIA. Our flight to Bangkok was scheduled at 0750, so we should arrive in Bangkok at 0900. But as expected, we did not take off on time. And since the check in counters are closed 45minutes before departure time, technically we had to race across Bangkok International Airport to catch the 1000 flight to Chiangmai. Not forgetting the conveyor belt, which took SO long to deliver our luggage.
The rest of the days were more enjoyable then. We went to Sankampaeng, which is a home industry village in CM. Silk-making, umbrella-making, silverware and of course, the gems store! If you say diamonds are girls’ best friend, perhaps you’ll change your mind after you visit that gems store. There were just so many types of precious and semi-precious stones, some of which are bound to replace diamonds man.
On the roads you can see many ‘tuk-tuks’, which are essentially three-wheel motorbikes that carry passengers. It’s a cheaper form of taxi. The real taxis in CM don’t look like taxis at all. Why? All of them were Hilux! When I first saw them I went ‘whoa!’. One fun thing is you can negotiate taxi fares with the drivers until you get the right price for you. There were plenty of these tuk-tuks and ‘taxis’ on the road, that you don’t even need to worry about getting from place to place with the price you want!
But one depressing fact is that the only nice shopping places are the night bazaar and ‘walking street’. The latter is only available on Sundays, whereas the former is on every single night. Ha, and since our hotel is only opposite the night bazaar… I presume you are able to complete the sentence for me. Price cutting is something everyone does there, even though the price offered may be cheaper than what we get in our home countries. We, as consumers, always want to get the most out of our money, don’t we?
Shopping was not all we did when we were in CM. We went to this elephant camp with a witty tour guide by the name Maya. The elephants there were just so smart! And money loving too, I’ll tell you why later. First was the elephant show, where all the elephants did stunts they have been taught to since young. Elephants played soccer, basketball, elephant massage, and the most astonishing, elephants drawing! No joke here. Elephants drew elephants, trees, flowers, and even Thailand flag! Aren’t they cute? After the show they started to come towards us, and grabbed money from us! money-loving creatures they were!
Now I’ve come to my elephant ride. The one I got was still a young one. Every step it took sent me and my grandma rocking left and right. My elephant grabbed almost any plant it saw along the sides of the track. Haha so greedy. Then at one junction where there were ox-carts around that little elephant raced across the track with the ox-carts. How amusing. And my elephant was quite kiasu too. That was why he (coz it had tusks) raced with the oxen, and cut queue towards the end of the ride. So cute!
Bangkok was a totally different picture. The taxis again, were worth mentioning. No more Hilux, but Toyota Corollas instead! And mind you, their taxis looked like newly bought cars. Every single one of them. But unfortunately, they were either yellow, green, hot pink, or orange. What funny colours, but I guess that’s how they stand out from the mass of traffic on the road. In Chinatown Bangkok you see people doing business at every corner of the street. Correction, it’s on every street, just outside the shops. It was so packed with people that walking through one street alone took about ten minutes!
But I’ll never expect how the trip ended. Last night we went to the airport to fly back KL. That blur queen auntie of mine said the flight was at ten twenty at night, when the time printed on the tickets was 2020! She did not let us see the tickets, so I just assumed that’s the correct time. Anyway, who in the world will make such a mistake? We reached at 2045, and if I hadn’t pointed out that 2020 was actually eight twenty instead of ten twenty, she would still be thinking that we were early for check in! Can you believe it! Urgh so we missed the last flight for the day to KL, and ended up spending a night in the humongous freezer aka airport. Haiz, wasted so much money. To make matters worse, I had my infamous gastric attack during the flight back to KL! How bad can this get!
Well, at least there was still a cute guy to see during the flight. KL guy, with face of a mouse and gold highlighted hair. Hmm, at least something pleasant amidst the unpleasantness.
This is such a long post. And it’s not all yet. Perhaps I’ll fill in the blanks when I have time later.
Monday, December 11, 2006 21:25
You know the disappointment when you fail to do something you are so confident of?
And have you experienced the irony when you actually succeed in something you often fumble upon?
Saturday, December 09, 2006 17:15
Thursday, December 07, 2006 13:15
Saw something on the TV which I thought is worthy of mentioning here.
“Let us all as one be reminded that all Malaysians live together as one big family” – Tunku Abdul Rahman
Malaysia. Negaraku.
Since young we were taught to stand in attention whenever we hear our national anthem, be it from some loudspeakers or TV. This, according to the primary school teachers, is an act of respect to our country. But even when I was young, more often than not, I did not see this happen. There was once I really stood in attention when the TV broadcasted ‘Negaraku’, but my parents were still doing their stuff, oblivious of the song reverberating in the living room. I remember I was a little taken aback that time.
But as time goes by, this little act of respect to my country seems to fade away. Partly because I wasn’t receiving any more national education as I progressed to upper primary and secondary school; partly because I do not even hear ‘Negaraku’ often. To make it worse, ‘Majulah Singapura’ has taken the timeslots ‘Negaraku’ used to take, meaning the morning assemblies. I spent most of my time on a land called Singapore, hence making the distance between me and ‘Negaraku’ even further.
It was not until just now, that my little bro stood up straight upon hearing the first part of our Negaraku, that I was reminded of this remotely familiar lesson I was taught in primary school. It’s called ‘stand in attention when you hear the national anthem’. My little bro shot me a questioning glance, and asked innocently “why are you still sitting?”
Yeah, why am I still sitting when I was taught to stand in attention? Where had all the primary school national education gone?
I quickly stood beside my bro. He stood unmoving, with eyes fixed on the screen.
I guess as we grow older, with more responsibilities and work, we tend to put certain small but meaningful lessons we learnt along the way in a little corner of our minds. They gradually migrate to our dormant memory, and we seldom, or never think of such lessons anymore, for there are much more exciting and colourful stuffs awaiting. Slowly, the small little lessons we picked up are forgotten, until something happens at present which awakens such memory.
Negaraku,
Tanah tumpahnya darahku
Rakyat hidup bersatu dan maju
Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat bertakhta.
I still remember my national anthem. I remember every single word in it.
This is not propaganda, but I’m proud to be a Malaysian.
Saya bangga menjadi anak Malaysia.
Looks like I’ve turned this post to be a patriotic piece of work.
00:18
It feels like ages since i last blogged.
Report of the day:
"Miss Stupidity has turned into a BIG FAT PIG. She just can't stop eating these few days. The last thing she had today was instant noodles at 2321hr. Please applaud. She is so much nearer to her 27inch jeans."
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
This is driving me crazy. My waist is growing in width at an amazing rate. It looks like a BIG FAT balloon now. Oh man! How am i to fit into my 25inch jeans ever again?
I never thought this will be my problem someday. But now it's haunting me!
It's all because of the nice food we have here!
***
These few days seemed to pass without any lesson to learn. Therefore i see no point in blogging. Since blogging has almost become a habit to me, it feels like losing part of your time.
Alright i'm talking nonsense.
See? That's my point.
Monday, December 04, 2006 11:59
So it's settled. We are going Thailand mid-Dec. Urgh. Why did they not tell me earlier about this arrangement? Earlier means before I packed to come home from Sg. This is crazy. I left so many nice clothes in the cupboard! Some more, it's a kinda-religious place so I can't possible run around with shorts! And my shorts are SHORT! So my biggest fret now is WHERE TO FIND THE APPROPRIATE CLOTHES?!
Forget about the clothes first. I went surfing around one hour ago, trying to find nice places to walk around in Thailand. Not so bad, well Bangkok is definitely in the list, even without a round of surfing, and Ayutthaya, ChiangMai and Chatuchak are the later additions to it.
At first I thought shopping is my priority when I go Thailand. Now I realize it's not the case. I saw many pictures of different 'wats' which interested me alot. Just those small carvings on the wall radiated something which gives Thailand its unique character. And precisely because of these carvings, I feel the attraction to visit these 'wats' more than shopping.
Of course, this doesn't mean the shopaholic in me is caged.
***
Let's talk about the case where two parents who tried committing suicide after poisoning their three children which happened a few days ago. I guess this piece of news became the hot topic over dinner tables shortly after that. The news has it that the father, due to inability to clear his debts with the loansharks, decided to seek death as the only way out. Both he and his wife, because they could not bear to imagine the lives of their children after they are dead, decided to 'bring the kids along'. They poisoned the kids, three of them, all boys, with Bleaching water and then tried to kill themselves after that. Perhaps it was the work of God, both the parents were saved, but the kids died. This narrated the latest tragedy everybody has been talking about.
I guess when the couple decided to poison their kids, it was a tough decision. Which parent in his sane mind will choose to end the lives of their very own bone and flesh, which he has cared and loved for near to ten years? Every parent's biggest dream is to see their kids grow up and be a contributing member to the society. But it is precisely this love of a father and of a mother towards the kids that led to this tragedy happening. They know it's impossible to clear the debts, and they also know very well what would happen if they drag on any longer. They could not take the pressure from all directions anymore, and see death as the best solution. But the love for their children made them hesitate. Who will take care of their children once they're dead? How will their children's lives be without them? And of course the most pressing concern: will the loansharks ever leave their children alone? Being forced to the max, they made the hardest decision - take the kids with them. At least, to them, the kids will not suffer from having to face the loansharks.
At least, to them, the kids will always be with them.
But who will be able to forsee such misfortune to happen?
We can't put the blame totally on the parents for killing their kids. This doesn't equate to saying that the parents is not at fault. But look closely. Who are the main reason for this tragedy to happen? Who are the people who forced the couple to a dead end?
The loansharks.
I do not know how they can continue living their lives on top of others' deaths due to your disputable ways of 'doing business'. Is this even a business at all? No. This is blackmail; this is robbery, or worse, this is MURDER. I believe this is not the first family tragedy that happened because of their merciless ways of forcing people to dead ends.
Have they ever seen their victims in their sleep? Have they ever woken up at night upon dreaming about their cruelty? Do they hear their cries at night? I don't believe they haven't to all questions above.
You loansharks are despicable. You people are rubbish ought to be thrown away from the society. You have wrecked many families apart because of your highly unreasonable interest rates that profit only yourselves.
May you one day pay for what you have done.
Sunday, December 03, 2006 12:16
“Wake Me up When September Ends” – GreenDay
Unintentionally saw the MV of this song on TV this morning. As the song played my mind drifted back to September, the pre-promos period. This song was our song during that period of mugging, and since our promos started in October, we asked people to “wake us up when September ends”.
As we step into the last month of the year, it’s natural to think back on what we’ve done this entire year of 2006. What have we accomplished? What have we not done? What mistakes have we committed? And what regrets have we had?
So many things happened in such short span of time, which made this year passed even faster compared to previous years. Treasure time, people. Don’t let them pass without meanings. Treasure those around you, those you love, and those who love you.
Because tomorrow is unforeseen.
Saturday, December 02, 2006 11:27
刚才听到了“小太阳的天空“，勾起了许多回忆。回忆，童年的回忆，那些天真无邪的对话，没有机心没有斗争的日子。都是好日子，但已经不在了。
所谓夕阳无限好，就是因为它近黄昏。要不是黄昏短暂，我们也不会去留意夕阳的美丽动人，也不会去感叹夕阳那容易逝去的美。
想起来也挺好笑。为什么我们都那么犯贱？事物还在时候不懂得珍惜，偏偏要等到失去了才惋惜，有用吗？
或许这不能怪我们。或许这是大自然的运作在作怪。当东西那么垂手可得的时候，它的价值自然不高。要等到逝去了才体会到它的美好。
遗失的美好也可以这样翻译吧。
难道爱也是要等到黄昏时段才意识到它的美吗？
