Making Myself Pretty… May 28, 2011

Sorry for not updating so much! In fact, I have been very busy with my blog, but not in the updating department. I have been cleaning up my blog, realising that I have messed up categories and tags, and in fact left a lot of my stuff uncategorised and un-tagged. I have nearly 500 entries to clean up, so I’ve been going through that whole mountain and slowly bringing everything up-to-date. Very proud of myself… had no idea that without tags and categories, your entries will be very lowly prioritised in Internet searches. No wonder I get a lot of linkbacks for more recent entries, but all my old entries are gone with the wind! It’s like they don’t exist on the Internet…

So as I’m updating my tags, I’m amused by my tag cloud, as it contains mostly stuff from my 2001 – 2004 blogging years… this is what my tag cloud looks like at the time of writing :

I’m still updating, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how my tag cloud will look like at the end! Meanwhile, I also saw a spike in the number of hits coming to my website. Hahahaha…  x100

This will just be a short blog, cos I really didn’t do much this Satuday. Was up early to meet Tron’s friend, who is actually his best friend’s wife. She is a sweet and pretty lady with a younger brother who is super talkative and friendly. When we were having bak kut teh (at this super secret place, dowan to share with u!!), halfway thru talking I felt like her brother is talking just like an adult! And he’s 13! We are more than twice his age! Anyway, it was a wonderful morning together…

Oh yeah, I did a make-up post while waiting for Tron to come pick me up! I had so much time on my hands cos he was slow this morning, hehe! =) If you’re interested to see how I do my make-up, click here! You can see how I transform :

After that, I got my hair did… spent a bundle at Kimarie to finally do hair rebonding after 1.5 – 2 years of not doing it! Actually, I’m really impressed with my hairstylist at Kimarie. There was this girl who shampoo-ed my hair and asked me if I wanted to do hair treatment as well. They always tell me that my hair is dry, and that it’s worse after rebonding. All the other times that I cut my hair at Kimarie, they ALWAYS ASK ME TO DO HAIR TREATMENT. I figured, since I was already spending so much, then FINE LAH, I will do hair treatment. Then when I was waiting in the room to get the treatment, my hair stylist suddenly told me, “Actually, your hair is super healthy, why do you need to do hair treatment?” I was shocked! I didn’t know my hair was considered as SUPER HEALTHY, but maybe it’s because I’ve been doing hair masks?

Anyway, I was a bit skeptical at first, who knows, he might say don’t do hair treatment, but do something EVEN PRICIER? In the end, he honestly told me that the hair treatment might make your hair feel super good for at most 3 washes. After which it will go back to normal. He recommended me a Kerastese hair product (which I will review on my other blog…)  which was half the price of the treatment (the treatment costs RM120! Egads! I so stupid, I didn’t even ask the price from the other lady and agreed to do this mofo expensive treatment?!!! The reason is because last time they quoted me RM80!). He said with the serum, it will keep the ends smooth and the dang bottle can last you 6 months to a year… which is definitely longer than 3 washes! Ok la, I *heart* my hairdresser now… He said definitely my hair is not damaged nor need additional treatment because I never blowdry it, I don’t curl it, I don’t dye it, etc. Actually, I dye it, but he said it was so long ago that it has healed itself. Hahahhaa.

Went for Patisfrance pastries for tea-time as Tron was busy with his own stuff. The cashier a bit rude today… I prefer the Patisfrance lady boss… she is really nice and seems like she makes all the pastry herself (SEEMS LIKE) cos she can talk really lovingly about each creation. Anyway, had the Lavazza coffee, two scoops of gelato (fresh yogurt & mango sorbet… both very yummy) and some buns! Such a lovely Saturday I had. Plus good news from the office that implementation given green light for Monday! Yahooo!

During my 3 hour long hair rebonding session, I managed to read finish Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and I have to say, I really do admire her! This is the online article about the book that I first read that made me want to buy the book. Firstly, a lot of people have already hated on her just because of the online article, but you really have to read the book to understand what was going through her mind when she trained her two daughters with the discipline of a drill sergeant. It is not just shouting at your daughter and making her do as you will. A Tiger Mother has to put in as much dedication as her child if she wants her child to become a prodigy. Not any Tom, Dick or Harry can become a Tiger Mother. You think striking fear into your child’s heart would make her play better? Amy was willing to spend ANY FREE TIME THAT SHE HAD to oversee her child’s development. In order to know how her child was progressing, she would learn about music as well. She was willing to drive her children for hours to go for classes with world-reknown violinists or pianists in order for them to have the very, very best.

It’s not about being unreasonable and demanding. Yes, she was quite hurtful to her children at some points, but she was never malicious. To Amy Chua – I salute you! I believe that children do need to be pushed in order to succeed. Of course, as in the case of her 2nd daughter, it would be good if they had a choice in what they succeeded in. I really did empathise with Louisa as I felt that I was more like her… always compared (unfavorably) to my older sister. I too often wondered – is this how it always is? That the younger sibling cannot perform on par with the older sibling? As time went on, I just realised that it was all down to my own self-esteem issues. The problem was with me, and not my mother. And I believe that Amy Chua really did believe in her children and she taught them to always ask, “If that person can do it, why not I?” Wonderful to have someone as formidable as her as your mother, backing you up.

Had a wonderful night after that with Tron… dinner at Din Tai Fung and he regretted asking me if I wanted anything from Caring pharmacy. He was buying some stuff and generously offered. My eyes were round because I had just bought some stuff in Guardian (for contests) and was feeling a bit too over-the-top if I grabbed indiscriminately in Caring as well. I tried my luck by asking him to get me the RM68 Palmer’s Eventone Fade Cream and Anti-Darkening Sunscreen from their Skin Success range. Tron dismissed it by saying that I was too much and that I don’t need it. Hmph. I’ll get it myself. But he did buy me some Fruit of the Earth Cocoa Butter lotion though, can’t wait to try that. =)

Anyways, can’t wait to read my new magazines just a-lying on my bed. Good night! Leaving you with two random pictures from the work week :

I always wondered why cops NEVER catch drivers in Malaysia who go over the white line at the traffic light. From this picture, you will know the answer — cos they can’t stop BEFORE the white line themselves! They probably don’t even know that they are supposed to…

My RM4.90 BRIGHT FLUORESCENT GREEN shorts from some random cheap clothes sale at South City Plaza. Actually, it’s a pretty good fit …

Have Your Pie and Eat It Too March 30, 2011

Weekend update again! Oh noes, I’ve fallen into the trap of only looking forward to the weekends. *slap slap* Well, I am still fervently trying to make my daily daze seem more interesting, but even though interesting stuff do happen from Mon-Fri, I usually don’t have time to update then.

Usual stuff that occurs during the weekdays :
a. how whenever we have lunch together and I order a lot (think : curry mee (large) + kaya toast + 2 boiled eggs + xi mut tea at Old Town Kopitiam), and Raymond orders normally (think : one nasi lemak), the waiter keeps on trying to serve my food to Raymond. There was once when Raymond was still eating and I had already finished my food, and was waiting for the 2nd (or was it 3rd?) serving when the waiter came with my toast. He kept on trying to put the toast in front of Raymond (who was still eating) while I was waiting patiently there with a big empty space in front of me, ready to receive my toast. Raymond kept pointing to the empty space in front of me, so that the waiter can put the bread there, but the waiter kept waiting for Raymond to move his nasi lemak so that he can put the toast nearer to him. HAHAHAHA! Raymond was so char dou. FYI, that was probably the FIFTH time that something like that happened to him.

Hmm.. I think I should stop eating so much! Food ain’t cheap, yo.

b. being harrassed to clean my cubicle, and then they say it ain’t something serious, but yet harass me to clean my cubicle. Now my cubicle is seriously sparse. I went into FFFFUUUU mode and just junked everything into cardboard boxes. The downside is that now I really feel sad and robotic whenever I’m at my cubicle. I miss the days when everyone’s cubicle was so personalised.. you would walk over to their place for work stuff, but stay because you saw something interesting and it became a conversation starter. Now everyone’s cubicle is just robotic normalcy. They praised me for cleaning my cubicle… I just replied, “Is this the kind of praise that an employee looks forward to when they do work? ‘You did a good job… cleaning your cubicle’?” Srsly?

c. doing my taxes… I’m actually one month in advance now instead of doing it at the last possible moment. I felt like… what’s the point delaying it, there ain’t nothing that I can claim that I don’t have the receipts for already. Except that I did delay doing my taxes for one week (after I got my EA form) and thank God that I delayed it because within that week of “I think I should not submit yet”, I got a receipt from Unicef. If you’re a Unicef donor, you’ll be able to get tax relief!

Off topic, but I’m getting asked a bit too many times whether I want to sign up to donate to Unicef. Kudos to those people who are volunteering to get people to sign up, it’s not their fault at all that I’m getting annoyed. It’s just that I’m already donating, but I wish that there is some way that I can tell them I already am AND prove it. Why do I feel the need to prove myself anyway? Well, I just do. Maybe a huge ass badge that I can wear… so then they will not waste their time asking me… According to Dull, in Austalia, WV donors get a pin or something that they can flash so that people can stop asking them to donate (cos apparently they are even more aggressive in seeking out donors there).

d. I’m going for this “foundation series” class in church… called Kingdom Keys. I go every Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings. You might think that sitting down quietly for 100 minutes would be dead boring, but no! The pastor teaching the class is super knowledgable and answers all the questions that I have niggling at the back of my mind. It’s so interesting that I don’t even notice that time has flown by so quickly and that my leg is actually numb from sitting down for so long!

e. When I *don’t* have Kingdom Keys on Wednesday (rare, but it was the school holiday recently, right), I will go for dance classes at the gym. Haven’t been going for dance classes for a really, really long time. Was lucky that the class that I *did* manage to catch was Johnson’s Dance Mania class. He said that it’s in the style of Zumba, so every instructor’s concept of “Dance Mania” is different. Wow.. there was a whole lot of shakin’ going on in that class! Johnson also came down to the floor to dance with us. Super nice class, wish we can have it permanently slotted in in Taipan!! XD We learned how to dance the Waka Waka that day!

f. For those who are interested, True Fitness is having a “Combat Legacy” class… coming to you in April! Do check the schedules on their website for more information as I can’t remember the exact dates. What is “combat legacy”? Well, it will be 90 minutes of mostly old tracks from the good old days of BC! Like, maybe BC10 and onwards? I’m really, really excited already! I’ve always said that I prefer the older tracks, and I’m so happy that they are dedicating a “theme” class to it. Love it!!

Come one, come all in ARMY GREEN and black! The instructors will be Alex C and Terence. =)

Ok, seems like I’m a big cheong hei cos I managed to drag out “nothing” into 6 points. Back to my weekend! I was very excited because I managed to use my first Groupon… which is RM35 for RM70 worth of pies from Mr Pieman (6 chicken & mushroom pies and 1 large apple pie, can feed 10-12 people). When I told Tron that I would be getting some pies on Saturday and couldn’t meet up with him til 12pm, this was the ensuing conversation :

Tron : “Pies? Do I get any?”
Me : “Of course lah.. you think I can finish 6 chicken and mushroom pies for myself? I’ve already allocated 1 pie each for my family… then I’ll pass two to you, plus some of the apple pie!”
Tron : “You know, I love pies. I can eat two in one go! How much did you pay for it?”
Me : “RM35 for all, but I don’t know how much per pie lah…”
Tron : “Jusco selling chicken pie only RM5 you know!”
Me : “But this is Mr Pieman pies wor.. not Jusco pies.”
Tron : “Same thing la! And some more if you go after 9pm, you can get buy 1 free 1!”
Me : “Huh… like that it seems like my discounted pie is not really discounted, but the actual pie price…”
Tron : “That’s why la! I tell you those group purchasing websites are all cheat one… they tell you discount, but sell to you at actual price…”

I was super demotivated at this point, but what to do. I already paid for the pies, AND had phoned up the Pieman himself to collect the pies on Saturday. I kept telling myself “cannot be” that the pies are only RM5 because it looks big!

I am happy and proud to say that in fact the RM35 for all those pies are SUPER WORTH IT. Even Tron had to eat his words and Tron is doing more publicity on his Facebook account by telling all his friends about Mr Pieman. Hahaha! I really hope that more people get to know about Mr Pieman because it’s really delicious, plus the owner is a really nice guy! Though he sounded a bit gruff on the phone, when I met him in person, he was nice and smiley. =)

Basically, if you wanna order now, you just order online, and pick up from the SS5 “factory”. The “factory” is actually a shoplot, and it is open everyday. I went on a Saturday, quite near my house. Was there and back home in 20 minutes. Once I got the boxes of pies, I immediately SMS-ed Tron and told him that the pies were huge!!! I think his saliva started to drip already and told me to go to his house with all the pies ASAP so that he could start eating. -___-

Though the pies were huge and fragrant, the next step was the important one … the taste test! And what if it tasted good, but there was only a teaspoon of filling inside an almost-empty pastry shell? Well, it tasted good and was CHOCK-FULL with yummy filling and gravy. Wow, tasted sooooooo yummy, especially straight from the oven. It is really comfort food! The pastry was light too… By the way, Mr Pieman says that there is one way to tell if the pies are fresh or not — is the filling dripping gravy or is it dried up? Ours were dripping, of course. =)

That was just the chicken & mushroom pie… the apple pie was humongous and every bit as good as the chicken & mushroom pie. Not only was Tron pleased with his pies… my parents, were also very happy. They said it is super worth it, maybe the apple pie itself is already worth RM35. I want to say farewell to McDs apple pie. It cannot stand a chance against Mr Pieman’s apple pies!

By the way, Mr Pieman DOES sell RM5 pies… but they are smaller and they are either chicken / beef/ vegetable/ kaipaki apple pie. The ones that I got are from his “gourmet” range, which also has flavors such as steak & cheese / steak / chicken curry. So it is quite inexpensive either way. The bad news (to me) is that he has kiosks in shopping centers, but not the shopping centers near to home for me. He has one in Hartamas Shopping Center, which is good news for his new found fan, Tron.

Also, once again (sigh), this is unpaid advertising, but what to do, it’s not about supporting Groupsmore (though I’m thankful they had this deal that introduced this food to me), but about supporting Mr Pieman. Hehehe.. =)

After our little pie brunch, Tron said that he wanted to go to Pavillion to do some shopping. Tsk tsk… he wound up buying 10 shirts from Uniqlo. But in case you think he’s splurging, my one cardigan from Uniqlo cost 50% of all his shirts. Hahahaha! Anyway, I love the cardigans from Uniqlo. I think that’s their forte. I also tried on their boyfriend-cut jeans, really nice fit! But it costs RM169, bleh. Also, I found out that I wear a 26″ jeans in Uniqlo! I where got so slim. Or maybe you think it’s fat because girls should be wearing 24″ jeans? I used to be 28″ lo, so I am happy enough. Anyway, I think the cutting is loose.

Me all smug in my new cardigan on Sunday, after church. Tron says that I look like a teacher in the cardigan. -___-”

There was also a lot of stuff that I wish I could get from Padini. I know it doesn’t sound like I’m being all glam, but these are seriously places that I think are most worthwhile to buy stuff from. When I go into Zara, I wanna vomit blood because one t-shirt can already be RM150. In fact, even in Padini I feel like vomitting blood because one pair of shorts is RM100. I can get nicer shorts from Kitschen for RM49 lor…

We had late lunch at Coffee Club — really good service at the branch outside Fahrenheit 88. They also had some lunch promotion that made it a bit more worth while :

Dinner at Pepper Lunch :

Nothing much on Sunday except Teochew bak kut teh in SS2 after church was over. Oh, and met my future new cell group mate. By the way, I don’t quite fancy Teochew bak kut teh… I think it’s not as flavorful as Klang bak kut teh… but beggars can’t be choosers. Tron is a typical Chinese man who won’t allow his girlfriend to eat bak kut teh often, fearing that she will get FAT from all the pork!!! I have another colleague who does the same thing — will hardly ever eat bkt with his wife, but behind her back, he indulges. Hmph!

Read finish Adrian Mole – The Prostrate Years, a book that Tron bought for me when we went to SS2 mall… YES THERE IS AN SS2 MALL! :3 I think Adrian Mole has truly redeemed himself in this book. Earlier, I was getting really annoyed at his whininess (through the “Wilderness Years”). But this one is really touching, quite sad at some points, and rather tragic, actually. He is so naive and trusting that at some points you don’t know whether you want to slap him silly to wake him up or hug him and protect him from getting hurt by his own guillibility and understanding on how life is.

I’ve been reading this series since I was 13, so it is really interesting to see how all the characters grew up. Actually, I really wonder if Pandora likes him or not. She seems to care for him, but at the same time makes it seem that she only does because it’s for her own political advancement. Hmmm… anyway, I finished this book within 2-3 days. Doesn’t really warrant the price one pays for it, right?

There’s also another book that I’ve been reading, but Tron told me to throw it into the river. It’s called “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”, and it’s rather extreme, tbh. The author is saying that “dating” is like the start of a slippery, downhill slope into Hell and if we are to save ourselves from sin, we have to stop dating in the “secular” sense. I’ve only read about 3-4 chapters, but it was mainly about how when we give in to your partner when dating, you end up regretting when you guys don’t get married. So in fact, you should only date the person you end up marrying. But not all of us are that fortunate right? I find the book pretty unforgiving, but kudos to all those who manage to save their first kiss for the altar! Or even first hug!

I’ve read online reviews that stress that it isn’t about NOT dating, but about God’s place in your relationship. Maybe the title is just to ignite your curiosity? I have to say, after 70 pages, it is mentioned that dating as we know it is kinda bad. The whole wanting “romance”, movies, expensive restaurant dinners and first goodnight kiss. Ya, I do agree to a certain extent that sometimes, it’s not good to expect such things, and having candlelit dinners are not conducive to “getting to know someone”. However, he also says that you can get to know someone without having it to be a one-to-one basis. This I do agree to a certain extent… but what about people who you do get to know for a long while and it seems ok at first… do you just GET MARRIED as what most of the “success stories” in the book seem to point to? Like knowing someone for a year and then get married? Cos it’s one thing to “know” someone while working with them, and actually being on a one-to-one relationship with them. I really believe that those who manage to have their first kiss at the altar only “seriously” dated for max a year…

I still plan on reading finish the whole thing (sorry to Tron — not going to throw it into the river) cos it’s just toooooo interesting to put aside. *grin*

Okay, ending with some random pictures that I’ve forgotten to upload :

My one and only souvenir from Beanz from his trip to Europe.

Only because my black heels super failed and the heels are all smashed up. Again.

From my team mate SL’s family orchard! I had no idea that THAT is how passionfruit looks like! The whole thing is very light, I thought it was “gajus air” at first aka “love apple”. Passion fruit is basically a bunch of seeds in a gooey bright yellow mess. ^^ (No pics of the inside as I don’t bring my camera with me to the pantry wtf)

P.S : As an added bonus, Mr Pieman also sent out an email rewarding “loyal customers” with a 30% discount! Yay! Looks like my next purchase will be cheaper than normal too.

Nicki Taylor March 3, 2011

2 female artists that I’m currently quite obsessed with – Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj. A little on the opposite ends, but I have my reasons.

I might regret proclaiming fan-love at the moment, but I can’t contain myself. I LOVE TAYLOR SWIFT! Muwahahhaa…! I used to have a love-hate relationship with her, but the more I listen to her second album, the more my heart softens towards this 22 year old girl. When I tell this to my friends, they say that they have no idea which is her second album or first album or latest album. I admit! You really can’t tell one song apart from another (wtf), but those that do stand out can’t help but make you sing / hum along. I wanted to list down the songs that I really like from her, but I have really stupid reasons for liking them. E.g!

“I really like “Fearless” because I find it amusing that she rhymes ‘Fearless’ with ‘new dress’ and ‘head first’!”
“I like that “Hey Stephen” song because in the beginning she goes mm mm mm mm mm mm mm … darn cute! And really, Stephen, other girls may be beautiful but would they write a song for you? *giggle* “
“Picture To Burn is so underrated… Taylor makes her stockbroker father sound like one of those old-time farmer fathers who greet his daughter’s suitors with a shotgun.”
“Love Story is like THE best Taylor Swift song ever la. I think I cried buckets listening to it before. Huhuhuhu…”

Didn’t use to like her because the theme of her songs are always darn similar. Ie:
- I like this guy but he likes some Mean Girls type of chick and why can’t he see that I am more his type? We are childhood friends lor. I totally know all about him and what he likes. But why he likes her? Cos she wears short skirts? Now I’ve got teardrops on my guitar because of this.
But Taylor, you look like one of those Mean Girls type of girls also lor. And how you know your old childhood friend / boy next door didn’t tell Ms Mean Girl more stuff than he has told you? Surely he won’t talk about his sexual fantasies and such with you?

- I like this guy, watch me get him cos he belongs to me! Me!! Even if it’s his wedding already also he belongs to MEEEEEEEEE. His bride is such a bitch, btw.
Seriously, if you wanna spanar, don’t wait til his WEDDING to spanar la, wtf! Actually, this song kinda annoyed me when it first came out, especially since she did that hiao giggle again!! And also because there were so many assumptions and bitchiness on her part. Not about the spanar-ing part, but about the “other” girl being a bridezilla and her wedding dress looking like a pastry. -___- The only way Taylor Swift could’ve redeemed herself in this song would be if in the video, she makes it look like she’s actually a psycho girl or something, and that the guy and the girl getting married are truly madly deeply in love with each other and she looks like a stalker misinterpreting the whole thing. Then when she “stands up” to “speak now”, she is later dragged off to an asylum or something. Wah I tell you if that was the video indeed, she will be #1 in my books, man!

Omg! Someone *did* do a parody just like what I had outlined, maybe what I said was too predictable already. Check out the parody here:

Oh, but one thing I do have to say … I watched the interview Taylor Swift did on this song, and apparently she was inspired by a friend who was bitching about a childhood friend (again with this theme!) getting married to someone not good enough for him. Taylor Swift said, “So… are we going to storm the church? I’ll play guitar…” I thought that part was funny la!

- This guy, he do me wrong, burn burn burn baby burn

- This guy, I do him wrong. It’s because I was so in love I acted insane. Now watch me swallow my pride and ask for forgiveness.

Basically, all of it is love songs… I think she has dated more guys by the age of 21 than even Lindsay Lohan. I wonder if she is such a serial dater because she’s looking for more inspiration for her songs. In which case, I kinda do NOT wish her good dating luck, because if she meets the one, it’s going to be soppy love songs all the way. At least while she’s still being a player, there will be slightly more variation. Slightly.

As for Nicki Minaj, she is another artist who has collabo-ed with a ton of people, but I’ve never noticed until I started listening to her latest Pink Friday album. The Star gave it pretty bad reviews, saying that it was hard to listen to, but I found it quite enjoyable. I quite like her! I think the lyrics are pretty good (for an angry person) and I like the way she raps. Yeah, there is a lot of swear words, and I might seem hypocritical cos I couldn’t even stand Enrique saying it once per chorus. Hahaha. As I mentioned, it’s different. Nicki is swearing to release her anger, but Enrique is using that darn line as a pick-up line, which the more I think about it, it’s super scary.

Imagine yourself as a hot girl in the club. You are just there to dance, to have a good time. So ngam you’re unlucky and you caught the attention of this guy who thinks he is all that. He comes to you and says, “Tonight I’m f(uc)king you.” YOU SCARED A NOT!

After I heard Pink Friday, I started hearing her everywhere.
She was in “Shakin’ It For Daddy” with Robin Thicke (white guy who sounds black, hahaha).
She was in “Move B*tch” with Ludacris (which is a favorite anthem when you’re late for work and driving 150kph on the highway, coming up behind a car who thinks that 110kph is fast enough already).
Again with Ludacris, she was in “My Chick Bad”.
“BedRock” with Lloyd and Young Money, which is a really dumb song, even got a mentioned by Kevjumba for songs with bad lyrics for lines like “Imma put my p*ssy on your sideburns”. Say what!?
And of course, the latest ones are “Bottoms Up” with Trey Songz and “2012″ with Jay Sean.

From the list of songs she’s featured in you’d think it’s all about sex and alcohol with her, but I think Pink Friday is a more personal kind of album. A lot of it is a whole lotta trumpet blowing, but hey, I like a girl with confidence and if she’s got it made, I’m happy for her.

The Star also said that the best song on the album was the one ft Rihanna – Fly, but I think the one on Rihanna’s album ft Nicki Minaj is the superior one – Raining Men.

Run through of the songs :
` I’m The Best (great song to pump you up for a workout. This woman bleeds confidence.)
` Roman’s Revenge (can’t decide if this is the best track on the album or not. Featuring Eminem who goes on a very long and funny diatribe against fake women halfway through the song. You gotta admire his lack of need to breathe in between spiels like that.)
` Did It On ‘em (super vulgar lor. I keep hearing “Shitted on them”, which is just plain disgusting la, pls)
` Right Thru Me (quite a sweet melody, but as I told Raymond, “even in a sweet song, she has to swear”. It’s like “You see right thru me… how do you do that shit?” Wtf. Must be super romantic to hear words like that.)
` Fly (unmemorable to me)
` Save Me (ditto)
` Moment 4 Life (unmemorable again! Maybe it was at this point that the Star reviewer got bored. But when I say it’s unmemorable, I don’t think it’s un-listenable. It’s just background noise to me, nothing particularly catches my attention.)
` Check It Out (getting a lot of airplay. An alright dancetune, I suppose)
` Blazin (ft Kanye West – pretty good)
` Here I Am (unmemorable)
` Dear Old Nicki (one of the best tracks on the album. Sweet, sensitive and vulnerable. Quite unlike all the swearing bits earlier.)
` Your Love (I only like it because it samples Annie Lennox!)
` Last Chance (ft Natasha Bedingfield – another top track on this album!)

I know there’s a lot of unmemorable bits, but those which are good, are darn good! Like worth repeated listens (which is what I do). Still ok cos I know she’s not going to get lots of airplay on Malaysian radio. If they play her songs, it will sound like bad radio reception as so many words are going to get omitted! I mean, in Malaysia, even “virgin” and “Jesus” gets censored, and those aren’t bad words, right?

Just Off The Top Of My Head… November 25, 2009

Top things I did during the weekend + other random “enlightening” moments, heh.

1. Read finish Night Watch by Terry Pratchett and it’s really good! Still classic Pratchett humour, but a story with a lot of heart. I think this is one of his best yet. And Sam Vines is probably my favorite character in his series so far. I’m now reading What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell – another interesting book. Basically, he tries to “get into the head” of people who are “minor geniuses” – why they thought of doing / did things that made the success they are today. He’s also pretty random – he goes from talking about the guy who started the Showtime franchise, to the two women behind the PR accounts for Clairol and L’oreal (“Did she or didn’t she, only her hairdresser knows for sure” / “Because I’m Worth It”) to John Rock, one of the inventors of the birth control pill.Okay, the last one is pretty scary because it’s so true — I have to spoiler this chapter for you somewhat.

   Basically, Gladwell says that the birth control pill should’ve been marketed as a way to stop your periods instead of to prevent pregnancies (so that it could be accepted by the church, because when the Pope denounced birth control pills, John Rock went from celebrated scientist to erm… a man living in seclusion). As females, we are used to the “comfort” of getting our monthly menses, it’s a kind of security for us. If we don’t get it, it’s “unnatural”, right? If I said that there’s a way for you to STOP it, you would think twice before going for it, because surely that’s not how nature intended for it to be?

   But according to Gladwell, in fact, up to 40 years ago, women were getting their periods about 100 times in their life time ONLY. This is because the other times were spent being pregnant and nursing babies (which apparently stops your period, I didn’t know that). Since this only changed about 40 years ago, our bodies have not evolved enough to handle menstruating from 100 times in our life time to 350 times in our lifetime (on average). Menstruating is actually a lot of stress on our bodies, and is proven to actually increase the chance of cancer.

   So since our “female ancestors” only menstruate 100 times in their lifetime, I have already done it way more than them lor. And I’m only 26!! HOW!! 150+ times already!

   Sorry if this is TMI, but I really felt damn WTF when I read this. Should I start taking the Pill to halt the cycle? Is it safe? What about the side effects? One of which is to cause you to bloat… like Hell I would want that!!

2. As planned, I watched The Time Traveler’s Wife — alone. I don’t know why, a lot of people express shock and er… pity when they find out that I watched it alone. Is it a sad thing to go to the cinema alone? I like it because I can do whatever I like. I’m actually a creature that likes solitude and silence… not to say that I don’t enjoy watching movies with my friends. There’s a lot of interesting-ish movies that I want to watch – Ninja Assassin and Jennifer’s Body looks good too, but cinema experiences are always so stressful for me. Like this round, I had this girl jabbing me CONSTANTLY while waiting in line to buy tickets, and when I gave her a dirty look after the umpteenth time, she told her bf, “Macamlah melecur!” (“As if that burnt!”) in reference to her inability to resist touching me. I found that so incredibly rude. If you *knew* for a fact that you kept bumping into me… why continue? Damn stupid. And fucking rude to say that. Isn’t “sorry” only two syllables and much shorter and sweeter than what she said?I was also hugely annoyed by this girl sitting behind me that was doing the “I predict this will happen” thing with her friend. OMG, so annoying. I know that this movie is based on a book, and you probably read it, so did I. Do I need you to refresh my memory? No thanks. So shut the fuck up, plz.

   And I don’t get why there are “how to be courteous at the cinema” ads which show that you aren’t supposed to eat stuff which emit certain… aromas… but the cinema sells those stuff anyway. The guy next to me ate some hugeass hotdog with onions and dunno what other stuff. It was soooooo erm… fragrant. It’s the kinda fragrance that if you walked past the hotdog stand outdoors (like say, in the park, by the beach.. really OUTdoors you know), you would be tempted to walk back a few steps and buy one. But to have that kinda overwhelming smell next to me was horrid. HORRID. Thank God he was not a gassy person and would burp for the next 90 minutes.

   Other stuff that piss me (and the rest of the world off) : people coming in late and giggling and take their own sweet time to get to their seats ; people who kick the back of my chair (omg retarded. And when I tick them off, they continue anyway. I think their leg got some spasm shits) ; people who actually ANSWER their calls in the cinema — as if it ringing loudly in the first place isn’t annoying enough; people who even SMS in the middle of the theater, cos that little lighted up screen is pretty distracting, no matter what you say ; people who are old enough to know better but continue to make kissy noises and unfunny jokes whenever a scene of sexual nature appears — no wonder the scenes are censored. It’s to save the rest of us from moronic people like that. Gosh.

   Anyway I shouldn’t complain so much cos I probably did stuff to piss others off before, most memorably when I practically rewrote the script of Spinning Gasing cos it was soooo stupid that a teenage me also “see it no up” (in other words, look down). What can I say, we all pay for the sins of our youth. And whenever I *do* tick someone off, it’s like the rest of the people at the theater just don’t give a damn anyway. Like, “Hey man, why you so worked up? What’s wrong with him having a little chat with his friend? What’s wrong with his stocking-ed foot being next to your arm?”

   I think I went on a little longer than I intended to. Just needed to let off some steam. Anyway, I wanted to talk about the movie and novel.

   The novel is definitely better than the movie, but the movie was more of a tear-jerker (and since I like crying over people I don’t know, this is great). Guys will probably not be interested in this show la, it’s totally a romcom for females because it is showing how much we females are willing to sacrifice for a guy we love. Hello, it’s called the time traveler’s WIFE, who is I presume, not as interesting a person as a TIME TRAVELER would be. Yet she’s the focus in this novel. (Actually I just wikipedia-ed it and the author said it was supposed to show hor intertwined both their lives are, but whatever… seems like the focus is on the lady to ME.) Besides, there’s all those gratuitous shots of Eric Bana in his skimpy underwear in case you needed more assurance on who the target audience is.

   Seriously, if you didn’t read the novel, I think you wouldn’t feel for Claire and Henry as much. There were a lot of “key” points (I felt) in the novel that didn’t make it to the movie, which is a pity, because it illustrates more on the trial and tribulations that the both of them have to go through. Spoilers here, but I wish they showed :
   - how Henry helped Claire get revenge on the guy who abused her because he thought she was a tease. I thought this should’ve been shown because it showed how Claire did try to date others, and how Henry helped her in her time of need. I cried at this part in the novel ok!
   - how many, many times Claire had abortions because the baby time travelled out of the womb. It was 7 times! In the movie, it doesn’t show as much (seemingly only once). Also, Henry totally got Claire’s permission before he got a vasectomy. In the movie it was so weird, he randomly kissed the teenage Claire after he time-travelled after the operation. It made him seem so caddish. It was much more romantic, and filled with understanding in the book
   - how Claire had to deal with “the other Henry”, the one who had not met her yet. How Gomez saw “the other Henry” with Ingrid before and that’s how it colored his perception of Henry. In the movie, Ingrid was a mere Revlon lipstick in the cabinet. Not alluded at all further than the first 10 minutes of the show
   - how Claire endeared herself to Henry’s father and the Korean landlady. It was very funny in the novel, and I think it would’ve helped flesh out Claire’s character in the movie. Then again, Rachel McAdams is so charming and likable (like Eric Bana), that the movie didn’t really need further prompting to make you feel for them (I suppose).
   - I wish they showed how obsessed / in love Gomez was with Claire… it was another interesting angle… but ok, this one I could live without it appearing in the movie.

   However, I do prefer the movie’s ending to the book’s ending. In the book, I found it incredibly selfish of Henry to write that he met the old woman Claire in his love letter to Claire, knowing that she would spend the rest of her life waiting to meet 43 year old Henry again. It’s like, she has spent her whole life waiting for you to appear, and even in your death, you can’t give her any peace? Maybe he hoped that she would take it another way – for her to go on with life, knowing that she would meet him again. But instead her life kinds of ends as well, waiting for him. In the movie, at least he tells her that he didn’t tell her he would be there because he wants her to go on with life and not sit around waiting for him. That is definitely more selfless and loving and much harder to do.

   Gosh, when I read the ending in the book, it was so painful to know that that is what happens to bubbly, strong Claire at the end. It really spoiled what was otherwise an incredibly solid novel. *sigh* So you might say that life sucks, and you can’t have warm, happy, fuzzy endings all the time. But since life already sucks, why would I search out for more proof of its suckiness? I rather read, listen and watch things that fill my soul with joy.

3. I am now very much addicted to 4 things that I keep buying when I’m in Taipan :
   a. siew mai;
   b. dai pau;
   c. lo mai kai;
   d. mat tou yau;
   There’s this 3 street vendors that park themselves opposite McDonalds in Taipan. The siew mai, dai pau and lo mai kai all gotten from this old man manning his hot tray of goodies. I like him very much, and anyway whenever I see old people at their age working, I feel very sad. But that’s not why I keep giving him my money … it’s cos the food damn nice ok.

   

   And “mat tou yau” is a dessert that literally “mat tou yau” (everything also got). There’s rambutan, longan, chinese white fungus, herbal jelly, ginko nuts, etc. I think there’s 14 toppings there or something like that. After eating the whole tub, you feel like you’ve eaten a complete, balanced meal. Seriously, it’s really good, but I gotta stop buying from these street vendors because even though each item is affordable on its own, at the end of the day, it’s a lot. T___T RM4.50 for dessert each time wor… some more I am supposed to be on a healthy diet this month.

   Oooh… and my Archilles heel … Indomee DOUBLE… ~

   

4. Talking about healthy diet + sleeping early month, it has failed miserably. Like, the plane could not even take off from the runway type of failure. First day, I went to sleep 15 minutes later (12:45am). The next, it was yet another 15 minutes later. So come the weekend, I was sleeping late again. Sigh. Yesterday, I switched off the PC at 2:30am. Still alright in my books (since according to Raymond, my USUAL bedtime is 4am), but when I reached my room, it was still in its “half-cleaned” mess. I got so annoyed that I started cleaning the top of my cupboard and packing away stuff that was just lying on the floor.The good news : top of my cupboard all organised AND clean of dust. Packed away my make-up into two very cute boxes and generally, the only thing left to clean is now my alcohol stash behind my full-length mirror, two compartments of my dressing table and one drawer inside my closet. That’s like, only 10% of my room left. Super efficient! *self praise*

   The bad news : I ended up sleeping at 4am last night. -___- I would say, “For sure I’ll sleep by 12:30am tonight!” but it’s something I’ve been promising myself for the past week, and hey, even I don’t believe myself.

5. The best purchase of 2009 will have to be my ipod docking station + speakers! I bought it last weekend in KLCC! It was on a very random whim that I decided to go to Machines to *finally* fix my so-called “ipod video” problem. I’m ashamed to mention what the problem was and how it was fixed. I’m so n00bish, and this is why I say I’m technologically-challenged. -__- When I told my friend, she asked me whether the Machines guy scolded me for wasting his time wtf. The answer is NO, he was super professional and nice, so I decided yes, I would get speakers for my ipod hear after all. (Yes, this thought process is inter-related.)The main reason why I wanted the speakers is because I wanted a way to practice my Body Attack “hands free”. I’m so indecisive, seriously. Some days I feel like I must practice harder and harder, and some days I feel like giving up. However, I must not give up!! Too many people keep coming up to me and giving me words / scoldings. In the words of one feller… “Slap slap! Wake up!” T___T

   The thing is, they are all really nice and motivating about it… I feel so touched by their words. It really gives me motivation to work harder and harder.

   I really do try, you know. It’s just that I don’t want to do it for the sake of doing it. I want to ensure that I am PHYSICALLY in the right shape for it. The whole “look like an instructor” thing. I want to make sure I’m really toned and fit looking. Not a blobby mess. Cos seriously, do not lie and say that you do not feel doubtful if you go to a class and the class is being led by a fat instructor. I can guarantee you, they have the moves and can shake / kick / jump /dance better than you, but just because of the way they LOOK, you doubted them.

   I don’t want to be doubted. (Although I do know that there are people who no matter what you do, will doubt you anyway, but I want the likelihood of that to be MINIMAL la. -___-)

   Anyway, the ipod speakers made it easily to the top 10 purchases because the other stuff I bought this year are kinda unmemorable, other than : payment to do BA training ; my flight tickets to London + Madrid + Paris ; my flight tickets to Bangkok ; my Coast dress;
   Nothing much really. ;p

6. I know a lot of people say that they would never work for Nike – unethical, sweatshop operators, etc. But since I’m a believer of Gladwell-isms and erm… Tim Hartford-isms (read it up before stoning me) – I still like Nike designs and I’m still gonna buy ‘em anyway. I want to get the latest edition of the Nike Sister Zoom, but my Run Avants are currently basically doing the same thing. At the moment, I need a shoe with more stability and support actually.

   Bought these the other day, from Midvalley :
   

   Finally got the red Puma bag that I’ve been eyeing for a VERY LONG time. It was RM269 and I had been waiting and waiting and biding my time. First it went down 20%… and now I snapped it up when it’s down to RM85. Lovely! It’s called “American Beauty”, haha. (Puma named it so, not me.)

   There’s a lot of other stuff I wanna get… more shoes, a jacket, more sports bra tops (all my sports bra tops are nicer than my actual tops… if only I am confident enough to wear that alone at the gym! ), more shorts for BA, a NICE 3/4 pants (so hard to find a nice one. My fave is still the one with the lime green band on top), etc etc. I’m just greedy… ~~~

Now, click for really camwhore-y pictures of me from my handphone. *shy*shy* At least now there’s an option to block you off from seeing it all on the front page.