Ramblings of the Wry

Free As A Bird

2006-07-06T06:18:00.000-07:00

Time: 9.23PM

I am officially working in IBM now. As of yet, I am still pretty free as it's their closing and there's no one to show me the ropes. So I am enjoying myself now before I wind up staying back late everyday, as it's bound to happen once I start actually 'working'. Heh.

Fang helped me buy the earrings from Fie and I am so excited!!! I really like this one she helped me purchased:

Cherry Earrings - so sweet!!! They actually have it in red, but since this is from last year's collection, they have run out. In any case, it is still so adorable.

Currently reading 'Magyk' by Angie Sage. Will post a pic of the book and more about it in another post. Just purchased 'Garlic and Sapphires' by Ruth Reichl and 'Twilight' by Stephanie Meyer from Kino's last week, with a voucher kindly given to me by Candy. I miss that wacky girl. Bet she is having a ball of a time in VN now, sigh. Anyway, the former is a foodie book, cos Ruth Reichl is a food critic and the other is YA romance book that garnered a lot of rave reviews. So I am quite excited about reading it.

This is prob one of my shortest post ever. I'm amazed at myself!!!!

Local Delights

2006-06-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

Time: 9.34PM

Yay to me. Got the job offer from IBM, now considering whether to go for it or not. Truth is, despite how Chinaman- like my current company is and their horribly printers, I do like the atmosphere in the company. It's relaxed, virtually stress- free, and I have many very patient people who are willing to go the extra mile to teach me things, plus colleagues who are equally as wacky as me. Yes the pay's not very high, but am I willing to trade my current situation for higher pay? *cue head banging*

Sighhh. I thought I wouldn't hear from them anymore. I didn't even think I was qualified for the job. Oh bugger. Well, shifting that aside, I had a great if tiring weekend. Went for a YA meet in the old Taman Sea church. Got to know more people. I guessed that was the purpose of the meet in the first place. Then went out with Su, Yee & YF to check out Forever 21. Nice clothes, if a little expensive, but I saw the most darling pair of checked capris there! And some nice earrings in Topshop. Went for Murni's afterwards. Murni's in SS2 and is one of my favorite mamaks. They have good food, a variety of choices ranging from cheese naan to hor fun!!! There's always a lot of people there and it's not easy to find a place to sit, especially if you arrived around 11+ pm. We finally did get a seat near the big- screen TV showing what else, but football? Heh. Was too tired to eat so ordered a mango special. They blend mango juice with crushed ice, and it contains nata de coco, longans (my fave), and honeydew pieces. *slurps*

Su had some roti scrambled. You guys must be wondering, huh? Well, roti scrambled is invented by Murni (I think) and it has roti canai wrapped around a sausage and scrambled eggs with meat. Here's a pic:

Roti Scrambled

Yee's significant other had the nasi lemak. The pic looks nice, doesn't it? And also, Murni's pandan- wrapped chicken is scrumptious, as voted by Soo. Wished I took pics of the drinks as well.

Nasi Lemak with Chicken

It was fun, only I was so tired I dazed out when they were talking halfway, until a slap on my arm brought me back to earth...or rather, Murni. Was so flat out when I reached home. And then the next day, went out after church to karaoke at Galaxy KTV with Su, Yee, YF, and KH. It's RM 14 per person, entitling you to a set lunch and a drink + partial buffet. I like their sotong balls. Yum. Had the garlic beefsteak which was just alright. Nothing spectacular. The beef was spectacularly tough though *__* Wanted to sing some Chinese songs, but didn't have the pinyin memorised....quite hilarious.

Headed for 1U again. Su and I had the intention of watching 'Tokyo Drift', but the show was kinda late so we took a raincheck on it. Instead went to Ms Read, where I became a pig and had both a banoffee pie and spaghetti carbonara!!!! Their spaghetti carbonara is delicious. Then again, I am a fan of carbonara. I quite like the Pizza Uno version too, and have been told that the Italiennies version is excellent as well. However, the Ms Read spaghetti carbonara has oyster mushrooms. It was an interesting twist as I love oyster mushrooms but I reckon carbonara always tastes better with normal mushrooms. They do have a shavings of cheese atop the spaghetti that melts into cream sauce, rendering it creamier. Ooh la la. And even better, they had loads of bacon strips. It is quite a big portion.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Su and I shared a banoffee pie. Ms Read has one of the best banoffee pies I have ever tasted. Imagine a biscuit base holding bananas and thick, oozing toffee/caramel. Cut a piece out and the toffee filling comes oozing out. Spoon the bananas, biscuit base, and whipped cream together and put it in your mouth....heaven.

Banoffee Pie

Overall, I think Ms Read has a nice ambience and the service was pretty good. Didn't really manage to try a lot of their food, but I have been told that their brownies is one of the best in town, too. I don't know if their Delicious Cafe is in any other places, but 1U has one brance and so does Bangsar.

I have been pigging out this whole week, so might as well share my joy with you. I like this for breakfast. We Hokkiens call it Ban Chiang Kueh (something to that effect). It's a thin, crispy Chinese pancake filled with chopped peanuts, sugar, coconut, and cream corn in the middle. Sounds like such a weird combo, doesn't it? But I promise you, it tastes good, especially hot straight off the griddle used to cook it. One of the best, in my opinion, comes from the pasar malam in SS13, or the Saturday morning market in SS15. It's manned by a man, pardon the pun.

Ban Chiang Kueh (how it looks like closed)

Ban Chiang Kueh (now it's opened)

And I love these biscuits that Su's mom brought back from Penang! It's a thin potato biscuit that packs a lot of flavor despite its size. Maybe I should consume more of this biscuit in order to get to this size, lol.

Potato Crisp

Oh, and I have something fun here. Yee who just came back from Bangkok got this for me. Can you guys guess what this is?

Figured it out yet?? ^^

Nerve-wrecking

2006-06-12T05:09:00.000-07:00

Time: 8.16PM

Another weekend gone. Means a new week of work. Today's the date for my closing, so I am rushing to print out my accounts....altogether 80+ pages....and we use the old dot-matrix printer. Can you possibly imagine how noisy and how slow it is? I swear I am going out of my mind. What's worse if there are four of us printing at the same time? It's like a herd of elephants parading with a bunch of trumpets >_< The waiting time is very very long, about an hour just to print 20 pages. I have asked before why not change to laser printer. You can probably guess what answer was given. I am still stuck with dot- matrix. Pheesh.

The place I am working at is a pretty expensive area, in terms of rent. So food over there is naturally expensive. Average is RM5-8 per lunch, not inclusive of drinks yet. Ok, so it does not seem that expensive, but aih....quite la. I have been staying away from eating out, due to expensive prices and hot weather (vanity reckons), but how long can I avoid? So my colleague Rainy brought Teoh and me out for lunch at this cafe called....whoops, I kinda forgot. Penang something. Their food is quite tasty, and average price is about RM6.50 per dish. The helpings are reasonably generous, so I suppose that helps offset the price. What we had:

Sambal Fish - Rainy actually ordered another Kapitan chicken but changed when she realised I ordered the same thing to this. Pretty skimpy helping, compared to the other two dishes. The small fillet is deep fried and slathered with a very addictive sambalicious gravy that I can't get enough of. Was scraping it off the plate to go with my rice.

Kapitan Chicken - Comes highly recommended. Chicken cooked in Kapitan curry. Please don't ask me what is Kapitan curry. I just know that it tastes really good and is not spicy enough. Lovely with white rice. *swoons*

Penang Prawn Mee - Penang's famous for this hokkien mee (har mee). For us northerners, Hokkien mee means soupy prawn mee, but when we tell the southerners har mee, they instantly think of fried prawn mee, which is equally good as well. Oh, and in KL, it's not to be mixed up with Hokkien char, where the noodles are fried in this thick black sauce. Yummy. Teoh says this is ok so I'll take her word for it.

I would give maybe a 6/10 overall. The dishes are not that bad, service was so- so, they were highly understaffed. They charge for plain hot water though. Boo.

Will review more places to eat around my area in months to come, if I am still working there. I just attended an interview with IBM last Sat. It's nerve- wrecking. I really don't like interviews. Even for this job, my interview wasn't a formal one. It was just explanation of the company and when can I start, but for PLCs, their interviews are more official and normally consists of two interviewers. It's also a long and tedious process of prelim interviews, followed by aptitude tests, maybe another interview before being called back for the final interview. IBM had a walk-in interview last Sat from 9-5pm. I went at 2pm, and waited half an hour before being called for the prelims. That session lasted maybe 10mins, where the interviewer was like, "oh, you don't have experience? Hmm. Nevermind, I will put you up for the test." Nice of her. The test was a long wait. They wanted to get the optimal amount of people to put us in a batch for the test and I waited an hour to sit for it. Didn't finish the questions. Bah. Not enough time and my IQ's on an all-time low. Sigh. Passed the test though, surprisingly. Considering they had a point deduction for every wrong answer!

Finally went for the final interview. I only had to wait half an hour. Some applicants told me they had been waiting for three to five hours for their turn to be interviewed. I guessed God blessed me that day. And the senior told me I was lucky too, lol, cos the batch after mine had to go home after sitting for the test as they were running out of time. My interviewers were friendly and nice, but I still couldn't escape the normal interview routined questions:

What are your expectations from IBM?
Why did you choose IBM?
Please elaborate more about your character.

Mmph. Was tongue tied most of the time. My answer to the third question was an outburst of laughter. I don't think that went down well. Oh well, what's over is over. I will know the results sometime this week or next. Not expecting much. There were tons better applicants there. Thank God they did not ask 'Why should we hire you out of so many others?'

Ooh, and Fie just updated their website. They have such a great collection this week! Then again, they always do. I am in love with the following pairs:

Wahhh!!! *goes into a rapture* I like all 4 pairs. Which one do you think is the nicest? Post an opinion for me, lol.

*Note: Fang, why can't I comment on your site?? And I must say, those are purttty shoes!!! I bought myself a pair of brown suede pointies too, ahahaha!!! Will take a pic of it soon. And those earrings are so pretty!!! Gah. They shld have it up on the site. Lol.

Mom's Laksa!

2006-06-08T04:55:00.000-07:00

Time: 8.01PM

After a long day being cooped up in the office, it's nice to come home to home-cooked meals, agreed? Or well, food in general. Tired and weary, you drag yourself home and enter the kitchen and see plates of steaming white rice with dishes surrounding it, makes you want to salivate doesn't it?

Even better still, when your mother makes delicious laksa!!!! Yum yum. Laksa are white floury noodles in a spicy, fish- based soup. My mom uses sardines from Giant and it tastes pretty awesome. Pile it with cucumbers, onions and half a hard- boiled egg...delicious. Well, mine's minus the onions, but the pic here is the one my mom prepared for my brother. As said, the soup is spicy, looks pretty hot, doesn't it? Very flavorful and thick, and swimming with sardines. Me likes.

Mom's Yummy Laksa

We had the laksa with otak- otak. Erm, I don't know the English word, but basically it's minced fish with spices and lemongrass. The one we had came from the Thai Village in Summit, USJ. It's pretty big, evidenced in pictures, it's like a block and chockful with fish chunks in every bite with strong hints of lemongrass and santan. I like my mom's friend's version better, but this is not bad either.

Thai Village Otak- Otak

Close Up

Oh, and in the same Thai Village, they sell this awesome mango pulut (sticky rice) too. Slices of sweet, juicy mangoes served with sticky, glutinuous rice, and sweet santan. It's sinfully rich and overwhelming and so damn good. Of course this needs to be shared if you get overwhelmed (jelak) easily.

Mango Pulut (mangoes sitting on a bed of sticky rice)

Santan (you're supposed to pour this on top)

Nothing beats the mango pulut in Thailand though. What's the difference? I think it's the atmosphere. The feel of actually savoring it in the country itself. And in Thailand, they have the durian version which makes it even creamier. Gosh.

Earlier this week, my colleague came back from Penang and brought back with her their infamous product, known as Tau Sar Peah. Mungbean biscuits, if you want the english translation. It's layers of thin pastry encasing crumbly mung bean paste and tastes very very nice, especially with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

The ones she brought back come in a variety of flavors ^^ There's pandan (fragrant leaf?), coffee, and original (well, unflavored mungbean).

3 Flavors

I like the pandan one the best, after original.

Pandan Tau Sar Peah

Close Up (look! The mung bean is green!)

Coffee flavored tau sar peah is not my cup of tea. Normally, the mung bean paste is yellow, but for the pandan flavored one, it's green!!! Really nice, for breakfast, for tea time, for snacking. The box that it comes in sure does look pretty doesn't it?

Tambun Biscuits Box

Off topic, last week, I bought quite a number of books from Kino's, and I have not even started reading yet!!! I don't know what to start from and finally, I chose this book:

Ender's Shadow - Orson Scott Card

The cover's not promising, but the plot's really good. It's about Earth being invaded by bug like aliens known as the Buggers (pardon the pun). So the government recruits bright, young geniuses to man the battles and their man of the moment is Ender. And as we know, for every leader, there has to be a helper, thus the shadow. In Ender's case, his shadow is Bean. Now, this novel, I was told was written as a parallel novel to Ender's Game, in which the story was told from Ender's voice. This book is from Bean's viewpoint. I have not read Ender's Game yet, as Ender's Shadow was cheaper, so I got it first. It does not affect either novel, since the story starts from basically the same place as the other.

Anyway, Bean is a genius. A very small, young, extraordinarily smart boy. Without giving too much away, there's genes involved in this being this smart. So we start the story with him being in Rotterdam, surviving amongst the kids there. There is a hierarchy a bullies in Rotterdam and the smaller ones gets bullied the most. It's a dog eat dog situation. So Bean chooses a group and tells the leader, Poke a plan to get into the soup kitchen. And from there, he made his first enemy, Achilles. The story moves on to him being recruited for Battle School on another planet, and there he tries to understand the system. As a result, he outsmarts the adults who are teaching him and some of the other bigger kids as well. He is after all, the smallest and youngest in Battle School. Saying more would be giving away, but suffice to say, this book is a good read and I couldn't put it down.
If you want more information on Orson Scott Card, try this site. It has the beginning chapters for both Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow: http://www.hatrack.com/osc/books/shadow01.shtml

Maybe you could be persuaded to try his books. It's strange cos I am never one for sci-fi, so this book caught me by surprise. I know Orson Scott Card's other books are more contemplative and slower-paced as compared to Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, so I don't reckon I will be reading them anytime soon. This appealed to me. It's about kids in space after all!

Has anyone read Garth Nix's 'Keys to the Kingdom' series? I would like a heads up about the series because I intend to get it next time when I go book shopping. I love his Old Kingdom series. Definitely recommend that!

A Memoir of Food, Books and Earrings

2006-06-04T05:04:00.000-07:00

Time: 8.10PM

I am actually still alive!!!! I know I have not been updating for a long while now, and someone reminded me that I still have a blog *blushes* And it's about time I updated too. No excuse for not updating the past month except that I have been really lazy. Well, lazy enough to update but I have been watching Youtube during the pinnacle of my laziness, and guess what I have discovered????

Series and animes that can be watched online!!!!! Understandably, the quality isn't the greatest, but hey, I am not paying and it's not taking up space, so I'm not complaining. All it takes is just streaming and that can take a while but not that long either! So here I share some vids I liked from Youtube and hope that you'd enjoy watching it just as much as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8 (this guy is awesome! I've never heard Canon in D being played like this before)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4cQ3BoHFas ( I don't think I have laughed this much before!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKQV2rPwQmY&search=Hard%20Gay ( This is hilarious)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFYDBtKeG2k (Along the same lines as the 2nd vid)

You can find MTVs and animes on Youtube as well, and that's how I have been getting my anime fix. I am slowly catching up on Bleach, and I have started watching Xxxholic. I liked the comic, so it's not surprising that I think the anime kinda rocks. I am going to try watching Ouran Kokou no Host Club, Fate/Stay Night, and Suzumiya bla bla bla. What other animes would those watching it religiously recommend? Incidentally, one MTV you should watch is for Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean's 'Hips Don't Lie' vid. How does someone shake like that? She's whoa and the song is very addictive and hip-shaking induced, lol. I had a friend who after listening to the song asked me to hold her shoulders so that she could try just shaking her hips. Didn't quite pan out that way as she couldn't not shake her upper part, which resulted in me, who was holding her shake along as well. It's like electric shock, sigh. Oh, and I was watching Full House, this Korean series on Youtube as well and absolutely loved it!!!! It's the one of the few Korean series where the actor and actress does not cry at the drop of the hat. And I do like one of the actors in there. Here's a pic of him:

Name: Kim Sung Soo
Occupation: Looking as hot as possible!

That's really what I have been up to when I was not posting. That and working. I finally got a job! Those who know me know that I have been looking and I finally found a job. Admittedly, the pay is low and the benefits so far are not in my favor. I have to work Saturdays and I am not allowed to take paid leaves till next year. That and the fact that the company is rather Chinaman. We don't even have Wesak Day off! Not that I celebrate Wesak Day, but you get the gist of it. And the big boss is this scary dude. Other than that, the work environment is relaxed and nice, and I have nice colleagues who are very patient with me. Thank God. So this is my sixth week with this company, and we'll see how long it lasts.

On the good side, I am finally earning money to spend on myself without feeling too guilty about it, lol. I can buy all the books and accessories I want!!! Whee. Hehehe. I do reckon my weaknesses for books and pretty earrings and delicious food are going to make me broke very very soon. Sigh. But I am not going to dwell on that, instead I am going to post pics of the pretty earrings I bought!!!!

These earrings are from Fie which is only available in Singapore currently. They update their collections every week and it's both good and bad. It's good cause they damn power la, and bad cos it makes me spend more. Good for their business though. Their things don't come cheap, and I am really obssessed with their earrings right now. Their earrings mostly come in threes and all three are different, which makes it special. It helps that all their stuff is rather pretty. Here's their link:
http://www.fiejapan.com/new

I tried to get close-ups of each individual earrings but they are kinda blurry. The only two that turned out alright were these two:

-Coos over earring. Aren't these sweet? I like the fact that one rose is facing down and the other facing up. So elegant.

-The butterfly side is a little big, but I like how it looks against the blue stone, and the tiny pearls on the other side are so sweet!

My friend helped me purchase them last week and when she came up here to visit, she brought them up too. Thanks Fang!!!! I could go on and on about their earrings, but really, just visit their site and drool. I love camwhoring pretty earrings ^^ Plus, they came in this sweet little bags with decorations on it, which Fang and I think that the sales asst did themselves:

Moving on, yesterday, Mel, Fang and me had a blast at Kinokuniya bookstore in KLCC. I think we spent three hours there browsing books. Or rather, they found a corner to sit and read and I was marching up and down the bookstore looking for all the books on my list. Before we headed to KLCC, Mel picked me up for breakfast at Little Taiwan's in SS15, opposite Taylor's College. These are some of what we ordered:

Flower Tofu

-Quite delicious with crispy deep-fried tofu skin surrounding the meat and dipped in chilli sauce. Yummy.

Peanut Butter Toast

-Thick slab of bread toasted and covered in peanut butter. We reckon this is a little dry. The peanut butter sticks like dust to the top of your mouth. Kim Gary's French Toast is a better option.

Another thing we ordered were their Fried Golden Butter Mushrooms which I didn't take a pic of. It's not half bad, the thin straw mushrooms coated and deep-fried but nothing spectacular. All it makes for is fun eating. Mel, Fang, and me have a love for deep fried mushrooms and we particularly like TGIF's version (must take a pic of it) and the cheaper option would be these quite fantastic fried mushrooms from Asia Cafe's Mushroom King. It's only RM5 for a Small portion of oyster mushrooms, but even with Small, it's quite filling. Here's a pic:

-Somehow their batter tastes a little different, and I love their dip. I think it's mashed green chilli, garlic, lime etc, and it makes your mouth stink but it's crazy good.
I think Pizza Uno's fried mushrooms are quite good as well, they burst in your mouth. Oooh. Should do one whole post on my love affair with mushrooms. Su says that Italiennies' stuffed mushrooms are the bomb. Should try that soon.

Right. Sorry for the distraction. So after brunch, we headed for KLCC and I think spent like three hours in Kino's. KLCC was crowded that day!!!! I mean it's normally packed, but that day really took the cake. Anyway, we were in Kino's three quarters of the time so it was alright. But first order of the day, I took Fang to Nose and saw so many shoes I wanted. Yee once told me that once I started working, I would find myself going ape over shoes, and I guessed she's right. I was lusting after a pair of pink velvet ballerina flats, and kitten heeled pointy shoes with a heart at the side. So darling. Was in Nose for like 20minutes, then went to Kino's.

As I said earlier, I spent most of the time marching up and down the aisles looking for the books on my list. It's a rather long list and ran for two pages *sweatdrops* I couldn't afford to buy all the books at one go, so I spent a lot of time filtering through my choices. And it's so hard cos I wanted everything. Ever faced a situation like that? I am sure we are no strangers to such occasions. There were so many good picks and some of the books on my list which I didn't get were:

The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue (too expensive;RM 98.41...)
Ptolemy's Gate - Jonathan Stroud (waiting for cheaper version)
The Old Kingdom series - Garth Nix (couldn't find all three of the trilogy with the same price, but I found out that MPH sells all three at RM29.90 each ^__^)
Key to the Kingdom series - Garth Nix (waiting for Lady Friday to come out and Sir Thursday's price to drop, hehe)
Magic or Madness - Justine Larbalestier (waiting for Magic Lessons to have paperback so I can purchase both)
The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S Pratt (why is this not out in either MPH or Kino's? Drat)
Days of Magic, Nights of War - Clive Barker (next time, next time)
Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
Pretties - Scott Westerfeld
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood (looks very very thought provoking)

There are tons more on my list, and I realised I picked a lot of books that are trilogies or chronicles. These are what I ended up buying:

The books are:

Kushiel's Dart (first of the trilogy and the authoress has started on the next trilogy)
The Spook's Apprentice (first of the Wardstone Chronicles. The third book is going to be published this year! Hahaha;bought in MPH)
Magyk (first of the Septimus Heap trilogy. The 2nd book, Flyte just came out)
The Apologist (a dark, witty satire on apologising)
The Amulet of Samarkand (first in The Bartimaeus Trilogy)
The Golem's Eye (2nd in The Bartimaeus Trilogy;bought in MPH)
Ender's Shadow (a parallel novel to Ender's Game which I intend to get. This is a recommendation from Jenn;dad bought it for me)
The Book Thief (wanted this so much that I couldn't stand the thought of waiting for the paperback)

Sorry :p Couldn't resist posting two pics of the books. I am in the process of selecting which I should read first and would probably be reviewing each one as soon as I finished reading. I am trying to stave away from finishing all of it in one go :) I am quite pleased with what I ended up buying. If only amazon ships to Malaysia though, lol.

All in all, I had a fun time. I like spending time in bookstores and can spend the whole day there if I desired. So, after KLCC, Mel drove us to Alexis in Bangsar Jalan Telawi 3, where I sampled what put them on the map: Tiramisu. Apparently, their tiramisu is supposed to be really delicious and also expensive. So when we got there, what do you think I ordered?
Alexis Tiramisu

-Their tiramisu is a little different from the norm. It isn't so heavily doused in wine so the sponge layers remained fluffy and the mascarpone cheese was stuffed with choc bits, thus saving it from being too jelak. There's coffee sponge layer which blended in well, and the top was coated in crushed peanuts and browned crisped sugar, like an outer shell. Scrumptious. Served with strawberry sauce. It's pricey at RM11, but once in awhile maaa, hehe. I forgot my calorie count when I ate this. *swoon inducing*

Alexis is a comfortable respite from the hot sun outside. The interior is dim without being too dark and the atmosphere was relaxed. A haven from the manic chaos outside. Mel ordered French Fries; crispy shoestring potatoes which were a little salty and Fang had the mashed potatoes: smooth and delicious, very flavorful. Only complaint is that it's too small. Oh well.

After spending an hour or so there whereby we were discussing food again (Mel and I managed to work up an appetite discussing juicy steaks), we went to Chilli's in 1 Utama. Waited half an hour in which we got hungrier. We were finally seated. There were so many people there that day, and I think we heard the birthday song about four times! Everyone was celebrating there. So while waiting for our food to come, took some pics:

-That's Fang and Mel :)

-Me trying on my new earrings but it didn't come out clearly. Still, looks rather nice doesn't it? Appeal to inflated ego ;)

Put camera away when food arrived. Fang actually ordered a Mushroom Swiss Burger, but it came out to be Mushroom Jack which was what Mel and me ordered, except that hers was only mushrooms. She was cool about it, but then again, we were starving, lol. Mel ordered Awesome Blossom too, which was a huge, colossal onion battered and deep fried and came out looking like a, you guessed it, blossom ^^ Fun to eat. The Mushroom Jack were chicken slices with mushrooms and cheese coated over it and eaten with tortillas and guacamaloe, sour cream, and more cheese! It's very nice and the portion is quite big. Stuffed to the brim. Wished I had pics, but as you can see from the earlier pic, it was rather dark.

Walked around a bit more to work away the food, and ended up in MPH. I swear it's a magnet calling out my name! Ended up buying two more books there.....

From 1 Utama, we went to a park in USJ and relieved our childhood, lol. Mel, Fang and me were at the playground blowing bubbles and playing on the swings. I wondered if the residents looked out, they must be thinking what was going on there. The swings left my ass and hips aching though, I guessed no matter how much you relieved your childhood, it stands to fact that you cannot relieve it physically. Sadness. The sky was clear that night too, so we were looking at the stars and I somehow kept sliding down the slides we were lying on. There were three joint slides and we were lying down on each of them admiring the stars. I think I provided quality entertainment by sliding down them constantly. I think I have a slippery ass, lol.

All in all, it was great fun. We should do it again, you guys, hehe.

Well, this was a rather long recap. I was going to post about Soo's birthday and the yummy ice cream cake we had, but I think I'll save it for the next post. And to top it all off, what with the calorie- laden pics of food that I have posted, I shall post a nice healthy pic here:

My lady boss brought these greens (purples and orange, if you want to get technical) and Japanese salad dressing, so my colleague made a bowl of this salad which was refreshing, salty, and noisy to eat because of all the crunching. Now, don't you feel healthier already?

Whoopsie Daisies

2006-04-04T04:50:00.000-07:00

Time: 7.56PM

Egads! I have been guilty of not updating for a long time. One would think that since I acclimatised myself to posting regularly since I started, I'd be able to pull this off, but nooooo....I've consented to hiding under my rock blissfully, ignoring my blog. Hence the title.

On the bright note, it's a new month. It's April. Hello April! And I am slowly coming out of my slump. Slump meaning I am starting to apply for jobs. I have not been applying, and to date, my only job application was for PWC, and well....that story doesn't have a happy ending. Apparently I am not suitable to be in their workforce of militant ants. Damn. I wanted to be an ant, too! Oh well...life's like that. If it gives you a lemon, you make lemonade. Thanks Yee for pulling me through. So this week, I promise I will apply for my jobs. I just got rejected from Standard Chartered. Well, not so much rejected as failing their assessment exam. I am always more of a team player, but I think they wanted someone with more leadership qualities, so blah...should have gone with the trademark answers instead of my own honest self.

Clue in one:

Are you ambitious? Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

No prizes for guessing which one I picked. Neutral...gahhhh! Lordy, another lemonade for me, I guess. I think God has something in mind for me, but I can't help but feel rejected and dejected. It seems that my friends around me are getting jobs left and right and to the first company they applied, but the three companies I applied to already shut me off. Well, the third didn't exactly reject me, they didn't have suitable positions, but you catch my drift.

Sorry for being so ranty, this is the only outlet I can find for my wailings. That's why it's called ramblings.

On the bright side, I am pleased that this Sun will be a break for both Yee and me from the Sunday Children's Class. I love children, I really do...but that class.....I do love them, they are adorable, but simply put, they are adorably rascally. They take a lot out of you, but they are little gems. Two weeks from them will strengthen my love for them, as it's close to waning right now, lol. You know what, Yee? On the second thought, we should get them to play the Henry game. I'd like to hear the words uttered from their lips.

The best part of my recent slump was that I discovered fictionpress.com!!! Hohoho. A friend, PL induced me to read some of the original fics posted by amateur authors, and I have been filling up my time reading them almost obssessively. In fact, I have been trying to read them all. Normally, I find a good author and look at the list of her favorite stories to pace myself.

Some of the fics are awfully good, but there are some things that I cannot stand. I don't write, but after reading all these fics, I feel an urge to. I have always liked writing. Thinking of new ideas and all, but I never got around to hashing it out. One day, I will write again, and I will actually finish the entire thing, but till then, I shall rant about some of the things I can't stand when reading some of the fics.

The most iritating one has to be spelling. Maybe I am not American, so the spelling is different, but hello, some spelling mistakes are as obvious as daylight itself! I am guilty of that so I use a spell check, so why can't they? (sorry, a little whiny)
I always get excited when I stumble on a story that has a lot of chapters. Goody, methinks, more to read. The excitement rapidly deflates when these chapters are less than one page. Good God. Enough said. If you want to keep your chapters short, fine, but have the decency to pad it out with meaningful things, not short descriptions of a house. Mrmph!
Heroines or main characters that complain too much. You know...those kinds that complain about every single thing on the universe and is so negative and pessimistic and critical. Sure they can be funny, but if every chapter is a prelude to her complaints...short to say, it grates on my nerves. But I still read them anyway. Heh.

These are my major iritations with some of the stories. I can't really blame them, because I am not in the game myself, and really, I have no right to rant about them. The again, this is my outlet for expression. I still have hopes, though. They might progress to be better, if they take the critics seriously, so I have my hopes. However, there are some very fine writers on board, and they more than make up for it.

Some of my favorite fics (not in any order):

Queen of Glass - S.J. Maas (read her. She only has one long fic, and it's 63 chapters and not finishing yet! She's about to write the third sequel. So damn good! I hope she gets published soon)

From Heart Bleeder to Body - LobsterDevil (I like this fic. Her characters are surreal, but take in heed her warnings if you read this fic. The chapters are not pretty and hunky dory. Sadistic vampire hell. She's good, but this fic is a little painful to read and difficult to swallow all at once. Read each chappie slowly, then take a breather with a cliche story to even your mind. That's a warning)

False Facades - Maeven (Fun, fluffy, cliche story, but I like it. Her writing's not bad, and this story is engaging. Sure there are tons of stories like this out there, but this is one of the better ones, IMHO)

He Punks Me Not - The Queen of Cliche (moohaha, speaking of cliches. Her writing's pretty great, and the setting is very cliche, but like FF, it's a good read. She describes emotions very well, I esp, loved the last chap..too bad she has not updated this in a long time)

Foxtrail - Foxdance (This is a very heavy story, and not even close to completion. The author has not updated this for a long time, but it's so good. A little confusing at first. Don't read if you are impatient for this to finish. My guess is she's plotting out the chapter and it'll be long before she updates, but man, this is good. Heavy stuff and very absorbing)

The Contract - Bleeding Air (Damn, this is awesome. About a demon and a girl and wishes that go awry. She has part 2 up, and it's equally awesome.)

Against All Odds - Myrika (Actually, anything by her is damn good. She has three other fics, all smacking good. She updates regularly, and she doesn't do the pet peeves I mentioned above, plus she actually has a longer post on things she doesn't like about the fics on fictionpress.com. Search for Myrika in fictionpress and check out her LJ for the post. You'll have fun reading it, and remember to read her fics!!!! Everything by her is so fantastic. I chose this cos' this was one of her first fics with fictionpress)

I have many other fics that I liked, but these are in my top 10. I hail S.J. Maas, Myrika and Bleeding Air as awesome writers, as well as DemonRabbit 231, Justice Bana, and Jiro. Pundit and Secretive deserve honourable mentions, too. There are a few others but I have yet to read their fics, so I can't judge yet. I'm currently trying to to work through a 100+ chapter WIP, so I shall hold my tongue and thoughts till I am done.

Meanwhile, for those who read my rantings, thank you for sticking with me till the end of this post. Signing off now.

Tous Amore

2006-03-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

Time: 2.12AM

Today I went out with Yee to MidValley Megamall, and it has been a long time since I last stepped into this shopping mall. It was the usual fare, crowds of people milling the shopping mall and both of us joining the throng.

After church, where I helped Yee with her children's class (adorable kids but a bunch of Rugrats, seriously), we zoomed to Megamall as Yee was ready to part with some serious cash, hehe. So we walked around and she managed to snag herself a pair of very nice jeans from Romp and a pretty pink top from MNA. This was after trying on a lot of tops and jeans...but it was fun, as we were checking out what we called this season's fashion, dubbed "pregnant tops". You know the kinds I mean, those flowing tops. Neh, the ones with low necklines, an empire waist to make your boobs look bigger, and then this big, flowing bottom which looks nice when hanging on the hanger but when you try it on...maybe I should get it when I am pregnant, I'd be a hip mommy, muahaha. Hip mommies are those who do not think Barney's are the children's purple dinosaur, but departmental stores, according to Carrie Brdashaw in 'Sex and the City'. I love quoting her, she has some of the best lines, next to sex- crazy Samantha :)

We tried out Killiney's Kopitiam for lunch and had their French Toast with iced water to refresh ourselves. Their French Toast is pretty awesome, with kaya and butter. Ummm....the bread was fried in eggy batter (I wished it was a little more crispy), and you spread some butter and kaya on it, and it tastes perfect. The kaya really brings the toast on a whole new level. I really miss kaya now...washed it all down with iced water for our parched throats. Unfortunately, instead of feeling re- energised, we kind of reached a stupor induced by well- fed stomachs. We were a little tired to walk around after that, and somehow couldn't quite manage to re- capture our earlier shopaholic spirit.

So Yee accompanied me to MNG to check out their latest collection. The minute we stepped into the store, our sense were assailed by the smell of strong, pungent onions! Almost fainted, I tell you. This twerp was eating a hotdog liberally covered in onions and mustard and the smell was nerve- wracking. It's normally a good idea to eat smelly foods at home, so we can burp and belch all we like, not in big stores where you force other people to pinch their noses shut. Common courtesy is missing nowadays, but heck, this kid is young and ignorant, so forgiven la. That doesn't stop me from holoding my breath when I walk past him tailing after his mommy. So, back to MNG. I tried on this dress which I really liked, a brown printed dress with an empire waistline which according to Yee looks like the Korean national dress and makes me look two months' preggers. That dress goes back onto the hanger in less than 5minutes, lol.

And as we walked around, I am glad that Tous is finally opened. Probably the only thing that comes to my level of worship for books and TV series are accessories, especially of those kind on the high end side. Tous is created by a mother- daughter team, Rosa Tous and Rosa and Marta Tous and originated from Spain. Their signature trademark has to be their bear- shaped pendants or akin to it. They had loads of beautiful, stunning jewelry that I am so loving right now. Wished I had all the money in the world to afford all their collections. I can't seem to be able to save their pictures, so can't post them, but the link is here:

www.tous.es (check it out, you won't regret it, and take time to look thru their Collections)
http://www.tous.es/diamants_en.htm (my fave item from Tous at the mo)
http://www.tous.es/basics_en.htm (lust- induced)
http://www.tous.es/colecc2006_en.htm (so cute)

After seeing this, tell me which normal female mortal wouldn't fall in love? Their Tous Sweet Dolls Baby Collection and Puppies collection are absolutely adorable, and even though I am no baby, I'd be happy to grace these fantastic pieces or drape myself from head to toe in them.

I really have to find myself a rich benefactor, soon. Their sterling silver collection is probably the only thing in the store I can afford, although it has a hefty price tag as well, so maybe not. On another side, I adore Swatch's Bijoux collection, too. Their pieces are simple yet beautiful. Here are the links:

http://store.swatch.com/bijoux/starissim (my favorite piece from them)
http://store.swatch.com/bijoux/lucinotte (simple but nice, no? very very elegant)

And to cap it all off, one of my favorite jewelry stores (when I say that, I meant the kinds where I stare and drool at their jewelry) has to be Fie Japan, which is at the moment, only available in Singapore (nearest to Malaysia).

http://fiejapan.com/new (lookie here, pretty pretty earrings and necklaces)

The common denominator for all these beautiful jewelry is that it don't come cheap. The ring in Tous which I love sets one back at RM8600, that's not a price to be scoffed at. That ring is platinum and hugging two perfect diamonds, which at first I hoped was silver and cubic zirconias so I could afford it, but of course it didn't pan that way. And a piece of Swatch Bijoux jewelry costs over RM170, so that's not really cheap either. Fie's earrings come up to around more than RM50 for a pair (gasp at the price!).

So I will continue to dream about Tous bears and hope that one day I can afford them, the same way I hope I can afford ridiculously expensive shoes and bags, lol. Back to the original story, Yee and I headed back home not much later, but not before I bought KFC's cheesy wedges for the trip home later. Have I mentioned how much I love their wedges? Crispy, paprika coated potato wedges layered with a deliciously spicy cheesy topping and mayonnaise combination, it's finger- lickin good! One may get a bit sick tasting it the first time, but give it anothher try or two and you'll be addicted to it soon enough.

On a side note, yesterday was out with Su, Mel and Soo. Congrats Soo and Mel for getting fab results on your Jap exam! We were at The Curve, and had dinner at Sakae Sushi where you can order your sushi thru the computer provided at every table. It's a classy place with a nice ambiance and their sushi is reasonably- priced. I thought their Dragon Roll from the Premium Maki selection was very delectable. The vinegared rice is wrapped around ebi tempura and coated with thinly- sliced abalone so it looks like a dragon; it's the combination of all my favorite things: avocado, ebi tempura and vinegared rice! The end result is delicious. The only downside is that unlike sushi chains, you cannot have your green tea refilled, unlike Genki and Sushi King. One glass is RM 1. After our meal we walked around The Curve with Mel and me studiously trying to avoid Borders so we won't spend another three hours there reading books again. Instead, we recapped the entire evening at Friday's to have iced lemon teas and onion rings. And ice cream sundae for me, of course. Their onion rings were mouth- watering. Cripsy light batter surrounding sweet onions that melts into a medley of flavors the moment you put it in your mouth...surreal. As a rule, I don't like onions, but I make an exception for onion rings, and these were some of the best I have tasted. The batter doesn't go soggy, but then again, I don't think it was on the plate long enough to go soggy *grins*

And that's how my weekend is, calorie- laden and lust- induced fuelled by beautiful jewelry. Let me enter dreamland where I own every piece of the Tous collection. Good night!

Showdown of the Nasties (SPOILERS)

2006-03-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

Time: 4.06 AM

I am on a ball, seriously. It's 4 and I am not sleeping, yet, but actually writing another post, a light- hearted one to take mind off the serious post before. So, what's the showdown? Well, it's the showdown between the bitches that we all know and love on my favorite TV addiction, AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODELS!!!! Yay!!!! It's Cycle 6 of ANTM and the premiere was on Wed, 8th March! I am an ANTM whore.

I just love this reality series. I won't compare it to my pet series, Wonderfalls, because it is two entirely different subject matter. That's why I captioned the SPOILER thing in my title. I have watched the first two episodes of ANTM Cycle 6, and there will be major spoilers recapped here. So, if you don't mind knowing what is going to happen, please continue to read on, because I won't be captioning SPOILER ALERT everytime I reveal something, unless I think it is of absolute 'potong steam' moment. Then I shall put SPOILER ALERT and you guys will have to highlight the text to read it. Just be forewarned, there are going to be a lot of spoilers here, ok? So now that you are warned...

Right. This is a special two- hour premiere, which is only 1 and a half hours long. Bet the other half are filled with ads. Moving on, in the usual style, we get the first part of the episode with recaps of past winners and Tyra doing her Tyra Banks talk, you know, the one that goes, "It isn't easy to be a model. It's not just the looks, but the attitude, the bla bla bla." Pretty catchy though, and there are shots of the past winners making it big (focused mostly on Eva Pigford, she of the Cycle 3 fame)

And one last time. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS (tht shld do it ^^)

After that, it's what I call the airport session. This is the part where they film the contestants getting out of the airports and asking them what are their thought. So we meet some of them. Neat. I thought Sara was cool. She is 6 foot 1! That is something tall, my God. So the first confrontation (sorta) was in the van, when one of the contestants, Dani makes some sort of racist statement. And Furonda goes (in her voiceover , of course), "you aren't gonna make me the angry black gal". Which is cool, and I'd like it if she actually told it smack to Dani's face, though I think that would ruin her 'you're not gonna turn me...' thing. Btw, Furonda's such a kick- ass name, isn't it? Ferocious, fantastic, the fierce...they go with her names, man.

Then we get the obligatory meeting with the 2J's, Miss J and Mr Jay. I have liked Miss J from the first time I watched ANTM. This guy/woman is so funny. He is hilarious, you look at the expressions he makes, the comments that are off- board, and man, can (s)he pull of high heels. Damn. (S)He walks better than me and has got better legs. They are SHINY!!!! So, yes, the girls squeal and everything and ooohhhh, they are put to a walking test on a red carpet right away. They are shown three of Tyra Banks' walks on the runway (sultry, sexy strut, sophisticted and virginally young) The first to walk was Jade, this gal who strutted...man, can she strut. Anyway, the winner of the walkoff was... SPOILER!!! (Highlight the text below)

Dr Yvonne. Her walk was fierce, she did the virginal one going, and she was good at it.

That done with, we see the girls having breakfast with shots of them laughing, these gals don't know what they're in for, ahahahaha (cue: evil laughter) I s'pose these pan shots are to show how united and happy these gals are to be standing for one cause: Modelling. Tyra does her obligatory , and "shocks" the girls, then goes into her normal drivel, you know the speech 'I've seen every video of the girls here, I watched every single applican't video, and you guys are here because you are better than them, so be Happy, y'all! (cue: more squealing)

And this is my fave part. Where the panel meets the girls. Hoo, boy, we are in for a treat. One by one they stroll in and try to impress the panel. Some stuck in my mind. Such as Wendy. She was one of the Hurricane Katrina victims and her story is really sad. It actually made me cry a tear or two. This girl has not managed to contact the rest of her family yet. It's heartbreaking. Hopefully they get in touch with her soon.

Then there's Sara. She is the first. Her story sounds like an actual model fairy tale one. She didn't have to wait in line to send in her vid, she was shopping at the mall when one of the ANTM crew spotted her and told her she should try out. And she is so tall. Tall, tall, tall, and she seems very wholesome and natural. I like her best so far and pray she does not morph into some evil sod later on. Furonda also stood out, she was doing various voices because she once worked as a(highlight) phone sex operator, requiring her to take on diff personas, and boy, she is quite good. So we have Gina, the only Asian gal in the competition. I think she is average looking, quite pretty with awesome cheekbones, but the only reason why she stood out in my mind was because she was so contradictory. She says she wants to represent more Asian girls in the industry but does a total turnabout and says she won't date Asian men cos they are shorter than her...huh? Does she want to date Yao Ming or something?

Hmm, and Leslie was great cos she actually acknowledged Miss J as a woman. This was how her session went:

L: I have been affected by my grandparents since they brought me up. We are Hispanic and they'll go mad if I bring home some black guy.
Jay&T: What if you brought home like Miss J?
L: Now you see, they don't have a problem with black woman...
(Panel cracks up in laughter)

It's classic, I tell you. A great suck- up move. Ok, I am being cruel, but she does have a very natural personality and she looks quite good. She has different facets to her face, in that she can represent Indian, Hispanic, and black women cos there's so much going on in her face. Then there's Nnenna, and I must say, I love her accent. And she is so regal, it makes me want to be regal too. This girl looks so elegant and has so much poise. You notice her. She has incredible presence. And her story is quite sad, but the way she tells it, it is so damn poised. You gotta love her. There's Kathy who is very Southern, her Southern drawl is the bomb, and Kari who is adorable, and Joanie who *gasps* is a preacher's daughter who did a cage show? Oh my, the drama. We have Brooke who looks so unconventionally fierce and hot, but she is so bubbly and feminine, and soft.Then who can forget Dani who brought her racist views with her. Man, I want to slap her upside down. Shall not remind myself about her. Breathe Breathe.

Oh, and who can forget Jade? Miss Jade, she is going to give Eva a run for the diva title. My, goodness, humility is definitely one thing this gal is lacking. Seriously, this is what she said, 'People look at me and I am gorgeous and have a great body, and I am so ready to be the next top model. People just notice me, they recognise my face.' The amount of confidence in this girl is staggering. I nearly puked. Oh, and she said this, too. 'When people first see me, they think I am a bitch, but I am very down- to - earth.' Hello? Wake up call? If you are "down to earth" you don't declare it boldly! Though, I must say, every ANTM need someone like her to ham it up! Oh, and we also have Andrea who cries at the drop of a hat, but her bond with her family is touching.

The panel decides and the 2J's announced that those who are in will see their pics on the makeup box. All the girls I mentioned above got in. Of course. Otherwise why would I be mentioning them? So their first test is to take a beauty shot, and we know that's the hardest shot to take, as it has been ingrained in our minds so many times by Tyra and Jay and...ah, the rest. From those beauty shots, the panel narrows it down to 13 gals. So who got in? (Highlight)

Sara, Kathy, Danielle (not Dani), Furonda, Jade, Leslie, Wendy, Mollie Sue, Kari, Joanie, Gina, Brooke, and Nnenna

Mini celebration, and they are put to their next test, a personality one whereby who better to represent personality than miss Janice Dickinson herself! This larger than life woman walks them on to their next test, which is to meet with a panel of people as if in a real meeting and answer qns and basically see if you stand out. Nnenna plays her sympathy card again, but oh, once again, she is so regal and elegant and poised while doing it, you just can't hate her. And Jade snatched the mic under Furonda's nose. Total drama queen, ahahaha.

So their first photo shoot requires them to (highlight) go bald!!!! Very shocked of course but it turns out they are just (highlight) putting bald caps on. Damn the drama, but suspense effectively built. They will be covered with Swarovski crystals and they really do look stunning, even (highlight) without hair on them heads. Nnenna as usual looks like a bombshell, and Sara was serious wowsome! I can't really ramble much without highlighting the entire thing, cos that would ruin the purpose of me highlighting those details. Suffice to say, some girls worked it out, some fell flat.

So what comes after the first photo shoot? The requisite first elimination. As usual, Tyra spins her usual yarn..."We have some fabulous prizes bla di bla." You heard them once, you've heard it all. And her intro of the judges per usual. Yawn- fest. Just imagine, she is going to be doing the same talk for the next 13 episodes. OMG! Ok, cutting to the chase, girls are put on the chopping block and evaluated on their photos, and some on their personality test. Jade gets the bashing here, but she does acqueisce fast, I must say. Sara and Nnenna have the best photos, IMHO, deservedly so. They really did turn out, and to think Sara has no modelling experience whatsoever. Gina's photo was flat, but her cheekbones...superb! Danielle looked like a damn queen, she was like Nefertiti in the photo, so queenly. I thought Leslie looked like some exotic bird in her photo (it's a compliment!), and Kari was so angelic. Furonda's photo was a dud, it was like her expression was like 'huh?' Joanie looks stunning, though when she stands in front of you, it's like nothing. She reminds me a bit of Cassie in Cycle 3. So who gets eliminated? Ahh, I am going to be total badass, but I am not going to reveal it here. You can check it out for yourself on these two websites:

If you want a play by play exactly, go to: http://www.upn.com/shows/top_model6/show/ep01/
If you want a totally hilarious, scathing recap, go to:
http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show.cgi?show=126

Trust me, worth reading. These official reviews are better than mine, and they have photos. Well, UPN does, not TWoP, but I love reading TWoP's recaps cos it makes my sides split. Read their past recaps, too. But I must say, they have even more spoilers than me, so I am issuing the warning again when reading their recaps: SPOILER ALERTS! Though, if you have read this far, this won't stop you, will it? ;p

Ok, I need to zzz now. My fingers hurt, so I hoped you guys had fun reading this post.

Lifting the Veil

2006-03-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

Time: 3.19AM

This week is the same as any other. Nothing big, still jobless and bumming. But my mom's birthday is coming up. And the other big incident here? I am sure those of you who stay in the PJ region know about that huge storm that happened last Thursday. Pretty big, huh?

For those of you not in the know, last Thursday, one of the worst storms just hit our area, and it's pretty damaging. In the Sunway area, there was a pic of a car soaked up in water with a tree over it to top it all off. Yes, people. Trees were literally uprooted, and not just the lone tree, but quite a few others. The wind was that strong. According to my mom's friend who happened to be outside when the wind started wailing, she actually saw tiny tornados. You could literally see the wind spinning around like a mini whirlwind. The wind was that bad. Hell, roofs came off, and cables were knocked down, causing blackout in some parts. Although this is not as major as Hurricane Katrina, but this is pretty bad. People could have gotten very hurt, too. At times like these, you pray that your loved ones are safe and sound.

I still remembered when London experienced its major bombing incident somewhere last year. The bomb took out three major lines in the underground transport, and one of the lines was the one I frequently travelled by. The best part was, I didn't even know that something was happening out there as I was working, until one of my customers came and told us about it. My family called, of course. And so did my friends who text- messaged me, telling me not to take the tube, or the buses. During these tumultous period, you treasure and appreciate your friends even more, especially when you happen to know that one of them almost took the very train that was bombed and nearly caught the bus that got bombed as well. All I can say is that she's got an angel watching her, and thank God she was late that day. But the amazing thing about humans is that we move on. We are not necessarily better because of it, and although we are aware and cautious for awhile, that descends soon. Nevertheless, we pick up the pieces and move on. We put the hurts behind us, and find ourselves stronger.

Ok, sorry to start off a post with such bad memories. I have gone off track. I merely meant to talk about the storm that happened, and looked where I veered off to. But this is just something I wanted to share, and to remind the people that I care about, especially those who are currently in foreign countries and in Malaysia ( C&K, I, you know who you are), to be careful and that I love you guys. So get your asses back here so I can worry about you all the more closer to me, hehe. At least all my friends will be in one pool :) (Jul,Fang, move to M'sia ;p)

So who votes for a total change of topic before I start becoming sappy as well? I do! Off to an abrupt change, has anyone heard about the huge Bausch & Lomb scandal in Singapore? Call it a saga, call it scandal. It reeks of both. Tell me, who still uses B&L?

Well, for a start, I normally don't use B&L, so I can't say I am very affected. But I am a concerned user, after all, I do wear contact lenses, and this scares me. Solution and the cleaning plays a big part in the wearing of contact lenses. And let's face it, you only have one pair of eyes. Let's weigh the scale, shall we? Your eyes, and two unopened new bottles of B&L solution?

My friends who don't know about this case, B&L users in Singapore recently reported fungal infection in the eyes. B&L Singapore has retrieved all their stock, and reported a huge loss (what else can you expect?) But it isn't just B&L Singapore that is redrawing their products. B&L Brunei has made that move as well. Recently, the Fortune magazine has also reported that B&L America saw a downturn in the stock market. So why isn't B&L Malaysia doing anything? Probably cause there are no cases reported here, yet, but why take the risk? I think its due to the citizens taking a very blase look at the whole situation. Nothing reported here, yet, no scandals erupted here, so don't need to withdraw their products. This attitude goes both ways; innocent till proven guilty, or the 'tak apa', nonchalant attitude.

To be fair, B&L did have a respectable reputation. Their products are well- known, and they are essentially at the head of the market. A lot of optomerists stock their products and I think most first- time users are recommended to use B&L as well. So we tend to stick to it. I use J&J Acuvue and I really liked it, thanks to a good friend who recommended me to the lenses, and she also recommended the Complete solution, so I guess I never really used B&L products. But I know some friends who do, and they think B&L rocks. I never really actually cared about what solution I am using, as long as I washed and cleansed, that's enough for me. So long as the solution ain't that expensive. So my friend nearly blew the top of my head off when I told her I was using some cheapo solution.

She herded unto me AMO Complete solution, and I think it is pretty good. There are chemicals in there, but it has been clinically tested, assuredly that Complete solution is superior. After all, these are your eyes we are talking about. You need to protect them every inch you can. You can't be expect to be like Stevie Wonder, can you? That man is ingenious. Right, am digressing again. All I can say to my friends who are wearing contact lenses, and using B&L, just be careful alright? I know the odds are low and chance is you won't even be affected, but just be aware.

With due respect, it may not even be B&L's solution, but people who don't keep with regime of washing their lenses properly. Still, it's better to be safe, right? However, I do reckon that if B&L are not responsible, I think they will come out of this entire saga with heads held high, and they might have the last laugh. Until then, I shall stick with Complete, and see what happens. With stuff like these, it does 'lift the veil' off your rose- colored glasses and socks it to you. You only have a pair of eyes. This just makes you realise even more how precious your eyes are. Like I said, most humans have a tendency to move on, and for the time period that we are aware, we do the best we can to think of alternatives.

Lifting the veil, indeed.

PS: Sorry if this post is on the serious, harsh side and I also apologise if I offended anyone. I posted up something lighter, too, but with a different title. I am on a roll, baby!

Bleach- ified Part 2

2006-03-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

Time: 1.11AM

I named this post so, cos I am not over the subject matter yet :) In fact, I'm about to watch Bleach episode 15 later on. Hahaha (evil laughter, don't know why, just for the heck of it) So this is my perspective on the Bleach anime.

As I have said in my earlier post, I love the manga. I even named my favorite characters, and I think the strength of a good manga lies in their characters which are given life by the mangaka. So I was waiting excitedly to watch the anime. And my first impression was...well, I was not very impressed. Ok, Bleach fans can flame me, but wait till I get to my next point. It gets better. Otherwise, I wouldn't be watching it till episode 15 right? So yes, I guess one could say I am slightly addicted to Bleach now.

The anime is gaining power (for lack of better word) and getting better. The first few episodes were flat cos they were slowly introducing the characters, or it could partly be my problem because I read the manga till the latest chapter in one shot, thus ruining any surprise elements. But the anime did pick up pace, and episode 13 was one of my faves cos (SPOILER ALERT!!!)

They showed Orihime's power! Her power is so darn CUTE.

*SPOILER STOPS HERE* People who want to know her power, watch the anime. I also like episode 14 because of the dynamics between Ishida and Ichigo. They are both hilarious together. Plus, I like Ishida's weapon as well. Although I like Zangetsu more. So now I am anticipating eagerly episode 15, the aftermath. Besides, Byakuya Kuchiki should appear soon, so whee!

On the manga note, chapter 217 is OUT! I am a little late in delcaring this, but hell, it was a good chapter. I am a bit slow in the anime department, since the latest episode is 70, but I know I am up to date with the manga chapters, and I think a good job was done. There is focus on the Vaizards, and I like where this chapter is headed towards. Damn, but Bleach is awesome.

Ok, enough of Bleach- ing about. Fang has gone back to Singapore on Sun, but Mel, Fang and me had a great time. On Fri, after my care group, Mel picked me up for dim- sum at Ful Lai, and we had a mini- feast. I was so hungry, cos I haven't had my dinner, so was scarfing dim sum down too fast that I got very full pretty fast, too, lol. Went to pick Fang up from Pudu and went to Murni's so Fang could get her Maggi Goreng. The Ribena Longan they ordered was so purple. It was like inky purple...squid ink? That was Fri.

On Sat, after Mel's Jap tuition, Fang, Mel, and me went to pick Aki up and headed to The Curve. This was my second experience with The Curve, a relatively new shopping mall. My first time in The Curve was at midnight and everything was closed, only the karaoke was open (grins). We had dinner at Thai Express. The food is pretty good. Mel and I liked the Thai Express in Singapore last time, and she was searching for her Fire Noodles. Those are some spicy noodles, but they smell so good. They had this seared kind of goodness smell...ooh, yum, but fiery they were. Aki had this lovely beef soup thingy and the soup was full of the intense, smoky beefy flavor. Slurp- licious. Fang and I had the Thai Mee Suah, and it's chock-ful with mee suah, thender chicken pieces, and egg, but the soup was the best part about this simple dish. It was full of flavor, chicken, of course, and rightly salty but not overbearingly so.

After that we hung out in Borders and spent close to two hours reading. Imagine us sitting and reading with out necks bent. Owwwww. I don't know how we did it, but each of us had picked a book to read. I was reading the Abhorsen Trilogy book 2: Lirael. Was on page 300. There were 700+ pages, but the book is so damn good. I am going to do a book post soon, raving all about books I loved and read, and books I want (prepare for a very long post). So once we were done with the intellectual side of going out, naturally we wanted desserts, and Friday's seemed a good choice. The place was packed!

Mel had the juiciest fried button mushrooms ever, Aki had loaded potato skins, Fang had cheesecake and I had brownies with ice cream. You know what? I think I have to swear off desserts for awhile. The brownies were so decadent and lush that it was all a bit too much. God. Enough for now. Besides, a fluctuating weight is never a pretty thing ;p

The on Sun, Mel and I sent Fang off to Pasar Rakyat, a bus depot. We went to KLCC to hang out in Kino's. Kino's has to be one of my favorite hangouts ever! I just love the feel of this place, crowded with books, chock a blockful. Seriously, there are oodles of books surrounding me, and temptation everywhere.

We left pretty early though, and I bought some desserts from Strudels. About swearing off desserts for now? Well it worked only for one night. I am such a sucker. But shameless promo for Strudels Vanilla Eclair! I love these babies and I try to buy them everytime I have a chance to come to KLCC, cos Strudels is only available in two places; Megamall and KLCC. My bro had the Mango Tart, and I am going to vent about this! I told the guy Apple Tart, and of course, trusting him, I paid and didn't bother watching him pack my pastries, so when I got home, I was like "This doesn't look like apples on a tart! Dammit!" Lesson learnt. Next time, watch them pack. And I can't very well go back since KLCC is so far from my house. Oh well, at least my brother liked it. But their Apple Tart is seriously good.

All in all, had a fun weekend. I coped with my new hair, managed to tame my bangs somewhat. Mel's curls have gotten looser so it looked much bigger, which is what she wanted in the first place, lol. The best comment I got for my hair was from a guy friend, who really is very nice, albeit a little blur. This was what he said:

"Wow, Fan, you did something different to your hair. Is it longer?"

He made my day. I cracked up! With that anecdote, I wished you all a good night!

Bleach- ified

2006-03-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

Time: 12.32 AM

This post is a little long overdue, but then again, better late than never huh? Over the last weekend, Mel, Soo, and me headed over to Summit to watch Casanova, starring Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller. What can I say about this movie, with Heath Ledger playing the biggest lover of women fresh from 'Brokeback Mountain' *winks*? Well, I quite enjoy it. It was refreshing and hilarious, although I don't think it's meant to be all that hilarious... I liked it, except for the part where the cinema screwed some of the scene up. It's like in the middle of the movie, one scene seems out of place until much later you see it makes sense, which makes us think that the cinema probably cut the scenes wrongly, forcing one scene to be earlier than the other scene. A little weird, but nvm, it works. So, Mel, Soo and me were laughing uproariously, sometimes at parts that no one else was laughing at *sweatdrops* Oh well, go watch it, it's comedic; I especially loved the scene between Signor Paprizio of Genoa and Francesca Bruni's mother! If you want to know what I mean, watch the movie! I am also looking forward to watching 'Walk the Line', with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, after hearing his award speech, whereby he said something like this, 'It's totally unexpected that I would win an award for a comedy'...maybe not the exact words, but it's similar! After all, we know he is the serious kind of guy, what with his smouldering eyes and all!

That was the weekend. For today, Mel and me headed over to Summit again for a hair cut! Suffice to say, I now resemble a mushroom with puffy fringe...groans. It's quite bad, but Mel was being nice and saying, 'No you look cute'. Doesn't cute mean 'ugle but adorable'? *Buries head in shame*

For the past few days, I have been getting hooked onto Bleach manga! I have read up till the latest chapter, and I did all this is one sitting. All I can say is that it is worth the strained neck that I acquired from reading the manga lying down. I am now looking forward to watching the anime, hehe. Those who have read/ watched Bleach, tell me who are your favorite characters. For me, I reckon it'll be:

Ichigo Kurosaki (his zanpakuto is like...whoa)
Rukia Kuchiki (especially when she's arguing with Ichigo)
Uryuu Ishida ( a little of a weirdo, but I fancy him)
Byakuya Kuchiki (so cool *shrieks*)

Ok, I am going into fangirl mode, so not cool. What can I say? I am addicted to this manga and am re-reading it from start till finish, so that I can relish it again. Shouldn't have finished it too soon. I really enjoy shounen mangas, but they can be really long...e.g. Naruto. However, their story arcs makes me crave reading them. Some of my favorite shounen mangas have to be:

Bleach (ahhh)
Naruto
Getbackers' (loads of fanservice, but when characters are this cool...)
Hunter x Hunter
Yuyu Hakusho
Rurouni Kenshin
Yakitate Japan (about bread, so good that it makes you want bread)

I have yet to try Trinity Blood, does anyone know what this is about? Is it any good? Oh well, these are some of the mangas I enjoy reading, and this is only the shounen section. I shouldn't even start on animes, hehe. How about you people?

Dessert Thoughts #2: Not Just Food for the Senses

2006-02-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

Time: 12.24AM

Continuing on with my random thoughts on desserts... the mud cake was sinfully delicious. It felt really good eating that big block of chocolate goodness...too good actually. And incredibly guilty afterwards, to which I swore I was going to abstain from desserts and start dieting. This only happens for about a day, lol.

And now, zooming to Fried Mars Bars. My friend, Su told me about it, and she was saying how good it was when she had in Australia. I was like, 'What? How do you fry chocolate? Does it even taste good?' You know what, fried Mars Bar tastes really good. Now, I am not sure if it's the same version she had in Oz, but in Singapore where Mel and I tried it (thanks to a tip from Mel's friend), it was good. Imagine chocolate and caramel coated in crispy flour ala fried ice cream. Meltingly good and excellent when paired with vanilla ice cream. Let me repeat that: Imagine melted chocolate balls with caramel, hot and crispy, and bursting into MELTING GOODNESS on your tongue...the sensation is unbelievable. Like tiny nuggets of gold really. That disappear really fast in your mouth.

That was one incredible dessert. Good memory of standing there wolfing it down, and having my tongue burnt, marvelling at the texture and combination. And nothing beats the quenching down the heat with lovely Earl Grey Vanilla drink. The lovely flavors of Earl Grey tea went well with the smooth notes of vanilla....it's fragrant, and not so sweet that your teeth aches, and an excellent thirst- quencher. Or perhaps Lecha Lecha ice cream, this yummy Italian ice cream. I adore their Nockies flavor (I hope I got the name right).

However, apart from desserts that go into your mouth, another particular dessert I enjoy is going weak at a great pair of shoes. Don't you ever turn to jelly when you see a really fantastic pair of shoes? You know, the kinds that make you go weak in your knees and you want them, till of course you see the price tag? I think Manolo Blahnik is over- hyped , especially after since Sex and the City, but the designs still reduce me to a quivering mass. He is really talented. And of course, who can forget our Datuk Jimmy Choo? Famous for his shoes and comfort. The current shoes designs I love best are probably by Christian Louboutin. Now I do not really know the background for Christian Louboutin, except that his shoes are feast for the eyes. Check out some of his designs and agree with me ;p (Sourced from http://www.mycatwalk.com.au/fashion/christian-louboutin-shoes.html)

Aren't they pretty??? (*I'm squealing here*) Sometimes I wished I could afford these shoes and display them in a glass cabinet or probably store them ala Imelda Marcos. Other shoes designers that I think are fanastic are:
(Images hosted by Photobucket and sourced from http://shoes.about.com/od/fashionfootwear/tp/tendesignerhigh.htm - all listed below)

Marc Jacobs- (So adorable)

Givenchy- (Va- va voom!)

Gina Lollobrigida- (Silver goodness)

Manolo Blahnik- (There can't be a list of great shoe designers without him)

Giuseppe Zanotti- (Ba- Da Bling!)

(Couldn't resist this, could you?)

There are many others that I left out such as Jimmy Choo and Sigerson Morrison, not because I don't think they ain't good, but cos I was lazy to add the pics :p Thus, tell me people, what makes you go weak apart from a really good dessert?

Good night!

PS: Thanks Ed and Chen for teaching me how to post pics on my blog, hehe. I am shamelessly taking advantage of this by posting lots of pics.

Dessert Thoughts #1: Mud Cake & Memories

2006-02-23T08:56:00.000-08:00

Time: 12.56AM

Shorter post today:) My wonderful dad brought me back Chocolate Mud Cake from TGIF's. He had dinner with friends who wanted to 'cheng' him dinner at TGIF and I whined about him getting a free TGIF meal and having a chance to eat Mud Cake and all...yes yes, I am whiny, but it's Chocolate Mud Cake and there's nothing I love more than a good dessert. Except for a good book or a good TV series of course, hehe.

Yummy yummy, Chocolate Mud Cake. Desserts from Chili's apply too, especially the Oreo bomb they call Hi- And- Mighty Pie *slurps*. Actually I don't know is it called Chocolate Mud Cake. It could be Mississipi Mud Pie, or Chocolate Mud Pie or something, but it's chocolate, it's a dessert BOMB, and looks like a cake. Having said that, I like it. Anyone wants to go for a dessert outbreak or something? Would be good.

I love my desserts. I especially love going to Hampstead for their crepes. True it's commercialised and all, but waiting in the long line gives you a sense of a dessert thrill to come, and their Belgian chocolate- banana crepe is stupendous. You eat it sitting at the nearby benches, breathing in the fresh evening air. Only communication you need between you and your friend is mutual approval of the wonderful crepe. I am partial to their mushroom cheese version also. After that, what better than a pot of steaming tea to wash it all down at Haagen Daas? And perhaps a scoop of their rum and raisin ice cream????

I admit that sometimes I have fond memories of an outing and desserts channel that. Like when Chen brought me to try Dome's 'Death by Chocolate' cake. I just got back from UK, I think and it was lovely spending time with her and somehow that dessert enforces the memory. Not to mention made me very tubby. Or when Yee and Su and I headed to Swensen's for their Earthquake...ahhh...that was superb. The ice cream was already melting by the time Yee got around to eating it cos she was busy admiring her new phone, and I must say, a beautiful phone it is *grins* Or when Mel, Soo, Su and me went to Chili's for Mel's birthday and had the delicious Hi- and- Mighty Pie and Chocolate Brownie. And of course, when Mel and I were in Singapore scarfing my face with Fried Mars Bars. Will blog about it another time. I want to attack my mud cake now!

Nights and toodles!

Fairy Tattoos

2006-02-22T09:23:00.000-08:00

Time: 1.23Am

I was surfing through Ivy's and Chen's site and Ivy wants to get a tattoo! I say, 'Go, girl!' Are you going to get it in Ukraine or coming back here to get it?

So Chen just posted about fairies recently, anyone reading this should check out her blog post on fairy paintings. That girl is inspired and probably what started out this fairy tattoo discussion, lol. I, myself went to check out some fairy tattoos and these are the ones I quite like, apart from Nicole Richie's beautiful angel wings tattoo on her back which has nothing to do with fairies except that it's cool and I want to tout it.

For Ivy who may want to get a fairy tattoo, and hopefully I can revive Chen's interest in getting one! Ivy, did you want a colorful tattoo or something black?

(Fairy tattoos are all about colors and intricate designs but I just have a soft spot for this one. I really like it and I think it's so cool - from: www.tattoos-n-art.com)

(Now this one is really cute, cute, cute - from: moblog.co.uk)

(If I could get a fairy tattoo, I reckon I'd want something like this. Wicked eh? from: www.stencilkingdom.com/.../ froud08_large.gif)

(Pretty damn cool, no? - from: http://www.faery-tattooz.com/SweetFairies.html)

Ivy's blogging about snuggling in during winter, and I really miss winter. Over here, back in Malaysia, I break out in torrents of sweat if I get excited while talking! Dang! Although, it seems humans can never be satisfied. The very said me spent winter complaining of the cold and wishing she was back in Malaysia. Oh, well, you can't have it all.

On a sidenote, today I had the opportunity to meet up with Christine, one of my friends from my days in Inti. I think we lost contact for almost a year, before a fateful MSN conversation with Ed landed her my house number. Thanks, Ed! Went out for dinner at Asia Cafe (the big food court at SS15).

Caught up on old times, reminiscing and just chatted and chatted. There seemed to be so much to catch up. And coincidences of all coincidences! I saw Chai at Asia Cafe. This is my second time meeting him out of the blue. He just got back from KLCC where he sells perfume and gets hit on by aunties, hehe! Could smell him from a mile away, though, and my nose watered. Chai has a really cute Schnauzer. Must meet up with him soon so I can take pics of it and claim it as my pet, hehe.

Back at Asia Cafe, Christine and I tried the fried oyster mushrooms from Mushroom King. It was ok, but it was huge. I should order small next time. Quite worth it for RM6. The best part about this order was its chilli dip. It's sweet, tangy, garlicky and slightly spicy, and I think it is homemade. Quite yum! I think the best fried mushrooms I had were in Pizza Uno (they were the scrumptious, juiciest fried button mushrooms you ever tasted; just plain burst in your mouth), and the best fried oyster mushrooms for me has to be up in Cameron Highlands. Eating it on a cold day...you just can't beat the feeling. Have to remember to take pics next time, before I start whacking it down.

At the moment, I am waiting to watch Wonderfalls. My current pet series. I wonder if they'll show it on Malaysian TV. Like ever. Heard from Chen it's on UK channel. Lucky her, sigh. I just love this series, thus another spoiler, this time for episode 2 of the series, titled:

SPOILER
Karma Chameleon

Back is our ever sarcastic, and readily equipped one- liner Jaye Tyler. This time, she gets her cryptic message from a chameleon, and the chameleon commands 'Get her words out' when Jay meets a stutterer named Bianca, who stole her wallet then returned it to her the next day. So Jaye gets her words out for her, and this episode is so like 'Single White Female'. You know, the one where girl A finds that her roomie, girl B is imitating her in every way and trying to take over her life? So Biance goes all 'Single White Female' on Jaye. We find out that Bianca is supposed to be writing a piece on Gen- Y's new disaffected youth, but she bowed out from it so she could live a stress- free life, ala, our heroine. So Jaye decides that she's going to get back her life from Bianca by typing the piece for her and sending it under Bianca's name, and she gets her life back, phew! In the end, you could Biance 'got her words out', literally. Or Jaye got it out for her. I'm confused at the moment.

This has been long enough. I just checked Chen's site and she has lovely fairy tattoo pics up. Go see, go see! Again, my dear, why you changed your mind? What made you chicken out???? Nvm, still love you! After all, I turn jelly when I saw the needle. Ivy, you are a very brave WOMAN!

A Day of Many Firsts

2006-02-20T22:51:00.000-08:00

Time: 2.57PM

As title implies, today is a day of many firsts for me. Chen, my dear dear friend just tagged me. I think that's how you say it, since my knowledge in blogging and its jargon is very limited. That said, this will be my first time not posting about TV series or book (doesn't count) and my first time doing a survey. Actually, now come to think about it, it isn't that many firsts, is it?

For today's lunch, my mom bought me Ayam brand's Chilli Tuna. I now know that the next time I go back UK, I will definitely want to bring lots of those back with me as well as Ayam brand's curry stuff. It's addictive, especially when you add mayo and slap in on a baguette. Delicious and makes for a quick, fuss- free lunch. The tuna is sweet and spicy, and the mayo makes for easy spreading consistency.

Also, I would like to take this post to shout a 'Hie' to Ivy who owns a blog, too. In fact she has been blogging for a long time and both she and Chen were the ones who inspired me to start my own blog, so kudos to them! Glad you are back in Ukraine safe and sound. Sorry we weren't able to go clubbing, seriously, it's so hard to meet up. When you come back next time, we will go!

Right. Now onto the survey:

Three names you go by:

Fan
Chris
Giraffe (don't ask, just don't ask)

Three parts of your heritage:

Big hips (seriously, I look like a pear)
Short legs (stubby legs)
Brown hair (only under sunlight, but it's au naturel)

Three things that scare you:

Cockroaches (I quote Chen, 'DIE!!!')
Insects (once again, esp. cockroaches!)
Bad news (whether they involve me or not)

Three of your everyday essentials:

Onlining (is there such a word?)
Food (most basic necessity)
Bathing (at least twice a day, if possible, now that I am back in Malaysia)

Three things you are wearing right now:

A blue spaghetti- strap top
Shorts
Undies

Three of your favorite songs or fictional Disney musical artists (at the moment):

Vienna Boys Choir - Pachelbel Canon (almost unearthly and angelic)
Korn - Twisted Transistor (the MV is hilarious!)
My Neighbour Totoro - The Path of the Wind (this is one of the oldest Hayao Miyazaki animes I've seen)

Two truths and a lie ( not in order):

I love reading
My favourite cookie is Oreo
I adore Haagen Daas

Things about the opposite sex that appeal to you right now:

...Appearance? (sorry, I have not found anyone appealing yet, I'm very unsociable)

Three of your favourite hobbies:

Reading and watching TV series (that's two isn't it? But I compressed it)
Hanging out with good friends
Eating (muahaha)

Three things you reallywant to do badly right now:

Make space in my computer for more series
Work! (so I can earn money)
Travelling (back to UK, Europe, and Japan!)

Three places you want to go:

London (back to Burnt Oak)
Tokyo (Harajuku, Shibuya, Gion, Roppongi...the land of anime and manga, ahhh)
Paris (Eiffel Tower, Arc de trimphe, Champs de Elysees, Disneyland)

Three things you want to do before you die:

Find a way to extend my life
Failing that, hanging out with loved ones
And since I am going to die anyway, eat all my favorite foods

Three ways that you are stereotypically male/ female:

A guy who makes me feel safe
Window- shopping (trying is free, hehe)
Chilling with my friends (chatting nonstop, actually)

Three people you would like to see take this survey:

Ok, I may have to break the chain. Just started blogging, so don't know many bloggers, only two I know (Chen and Ivy) have been tagged.
Mel (if you are reading this, pls don't kill me)
............refer to 1.

Ok, phew. That wasn't as hard as I thought.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

2006-02-19T10:36:00.000-08:00

Time: 2.37AM

This seems to be usual time for me to blog, so it seems. I am checking out my good friend's site, Chen, and she is posting about faeries and dragon drawings. I myself am fascinated by the lore and legends of faeries myself, and beautiful drawings help speed the imagination. Faeries are depicted to be beautiful, unearthly beings with magical powers, so head over to Chen's site to check out the links she has on drawings of faeries.

My favorite faerie painter, in the liberal sense of word has to be Brian Froud. He is the author for Faeries, Good Faeries/ Bad Faeries, and Lady Cottington's Faeries. Also, he happens to be at the helm for the art of Dark Crystal. Back to his drawings, Brian Froud creates some of the most beautiful faeries I have ever seen. The colors and the thought and the cheek that went into the creation of these faeries...simply marvellous. His faeries have names and some he probably made up, but one can forgive him for that because it is apparent that he loves his subject. Also, the magical drawings are always a plus, hehe. Here are links from Amazon.co.uk for some of his books, you can search inside, too! My favorite is Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book, because it is wry and very tongue in cheek about a young girl who is able to see faeries and she bangs them shut in book where you press flowers. So you get pics of squashed faeries. Now in this case, the faeries are still very unearthly beings, though those who got shut in her book are not very nice faeries. So you get drawings of crass faeries. It's a little weird, but I like it and I am assured that no faeries are ever harmed during the process of this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1862057001/qid=1140374490/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2_2/202-7979836-3555862

There is another author/ artist I particularly fancy when it comes to faerie drawings and she is Mary Cicely Barker. She draws the most quaint and charming flower faeries and there are rhymes to go with each flower faerie. I once managed to find a copy of her Flower Faeries book in Harrods but balked at the price: 25pounds. Maybe next time, but 25pounds was a luxury for me at that time. I did regret not buying it though, but only slightly. Anyway, the link for her beautiful books is here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/202-7979836-3555862

And this is her official site too:

http://www.flowerfairies.com/

Apart from these two, I have another artist I like although he doesn't paint faeries. Instead, he designs dresses for faeries. How cute is that?! Only thing is, his faerie designs aren't just cute, they are stunning, elegant, and mysterious and he sources his dress materials from things you find in your fields i.e. bird feathers, flowers and so forth. You can pore over his designs endlessly and wonder why they don't desgin these type of wear for normal people. And who is he? It's David Ellwand, faerie designer extraordinaire! Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763614130/ref=lm_lb_5/202-7979836-3555862

I guess this post is semi- dedicated to my good friend, Chen, who's got me waxing lyrical about faeries. The faerie legend is so rich and mythical, and if you go to Ireland, you will find the woods seemed to be covered in some sort of ancient magic. Of course that could just be old wives' sayings and some people's very healthy imagination, but Ireland was once renowned for full of faerie stories.

In fact, ancient England seems to have a high belief in these supernatural beings, before modernisation took over, of course. So this brings me to a book which evokes this belief in me, and the title of this book is the title of my post. The authoress for this book is Susanna Clarke, and there is a link for her book:

http://www.jonathanstrange.com/

As you can see from the web, this book has garnered a lot of awards and in my humble opinion, it is richly deserving. I first saw this book in UK, but the thickness of the book, the awfully tiny print, the footnotes at the bottom of the page, and the odd title...somehow I wasn't captured then. I didn't even give it a chance. I didn't bother to read the sypnosis, basing a pre- conceived notion that it would bore me to death. How wrong I was and how glad I am to find that I was so wrong.

I purchased this book when on trip to Singapore with Mel and a friend, Fang, who had a discount at Kino's kindly lent me her card. The book was over 1000pages long, and it will probably scare off many other potential readers, but I urge those who got scared to give it a try. The patience you take to explore this book pays off handsomely. I won't go into details what this book is about, as you can read from the web. Basically, it's about two magicians (their names are in the title of the book), who opposed each other and set off a chain of events which bring an ancient evil into the world. Needless to say, faeries were not portrayed in a good light here, but their magic and their power does not leave one in doubt when you read this book.

As for me, I finished this book in a day. A day of eating my lunch and dinner so fast so that I could finish this book. This book is so fantastic. What I can say is that while reading the book, I feel a sort of thrill as I read about the faeries and the two magicians magic in the English society and how it wreaked a havoc. This book can send chills up your spine when you are reading about the 'mysterious gentleman with thistle down hair' and you puzzle sometimes at his appearance, not to mention you grit your teeth at the characters' attitude. Then there is the evasive poem and the story of the Raven King; all these weaved together makes for a rich, good read. You'll want to curl up in a comfortable chair on a cold day wrapped in a throw with a mug of hot cocoa around you when reading this. Let your imagination wander, and you'll have shivers running up and down your spine as the story progresses and the mystery deepens even more. My favorite character of the book is Mr Norrell's assistant, Childermass. He is by far the most mysterious and yet most enigmatic of characters.

This book stayed in my mind for about a week, as I entertained 'what if' possibilities and so on. I would read this book again, but I am giving time for the effects to wash off first, then only go back to it. I'd say this book probably ranks in my top spot as well. So people, give this book a try.

Well, it's late now, but if anyone reading this has any good links to faerie art or faerie lore, please share them. It will be much appreciated. Thank you!

America's Next Top Model

2006-02-17T09:38:00.000-08:00

Time: 1.37AM

My menses came today so I am feeling pretty crappy. Had a run of the mill day. Decided to get off my slacker ass and send in my resume through a friend so hope I get a callback, or I will be sitting tight on my ass for awhile.

Had a care group session today and it was quite good. It was our first day as the Young Adults care group, and on the whole, I think it came off quite well. It's a fresh opportunity, so hopefully we will be able to take it a step further and better our care group. The sharing session was quite good, opening people up. And I think that when we share, we know something about each other and it is nice to know there are some people who actually take an interest in what you do. It's good that we sorted out some issues because as a friend puts it, we always talk about the issues but we never get around to doing them. So we are taking it one step at a time. We have a good leader and the members want this to work, so hopefully soon, we can restore the group as the anchor that we want to come back to. It takes time, but I have good feelings for it. Worship was pretty good. The second part was a little rocky, but P managed to catch up the pace and I think he did a good job. Worship relaxed everyone, and it's good when that happens. You re- connect with God, and it calms you down.

I got home to rest a little and caught some light- headed entertainment on TV, hence the title above, which I shall shortened to ANTM. It's season 3, and we know ANTM is season 5 now. What can I say? Malaysian TV is a little slow in catching up to its American cousins. Neverthless, they still have pretty good choices out there. Anyway, back to ANTM. It's the episode where the girls are sent onto go- sees with different designers and I think the designers composed of: Nanette Lepore, Nicole Miller, Marc Bouwer, and Cynthia Rowley. These are really high- profile designers, and I bow to the greatness that is Cynthia Rowley, though I lean a little more towards Colette Dinnigan and Betsey Johnson and Stella Mc Cartney. So there is this big hoo- ha cos Amanda forgets her heels (gasps, as a model, you should never forget your heels!) and she goes to buy a new pair, only four others decide to chip in their two cents worth, thus being late for the next appointment. Not a good impression, I'd say. So the photo shoot of the day is if the girls can carry off two totally different personas, and may I say that Eva totally rocks the shoot! So, the reason I watch ANTM is really because of Janice Dickinson and Miss J, cos I really can't take this show seriously, as much as I can't take reality TV seriously e.g. The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Average Joe, Big Brother... But good TV is good TV and when these girls get into bitch mode, it's certainly fun. Heh. That's my opinion and I am sticking to it.

Onto the scripted TV, I think Wonderfalls is going to be my pet for the moment. I just adore this show and I think Jaye is the perfect anti- heroine. She is sarcastic and disaffected and she gets messages from toy animals!!! Not that I want to of course. I probably land in the nearest asylum. So, I did say I was going to do a spoiler for the first episode "The Wax Lion". Here it is:

SPOILER
The smooshed face lion tells Jaye 'make me a match', and this is the whole cryptic message leading to the bigger picture thingamajig. So she assumes the lion wants her to make a match between the EPS guy and her sis, which culminates in a date leading to the sis revealing she is a lesbian, and the guy getting a peanut allergy, having his throat burst, and rushed to hospital whereupon sis meets his ex- wife and there's sparkage and the guy meets a cute nurse and there's sparkage, too. So all's well ends well, sorta...Jaye even makes a match for herself!!!

See what I mean about the whole cryptic message and bigger picture thing? Something small leads to something big. This is what I love about Wonderfalls.

Well, I have rambled enough, so nite everyone and I am off to watch another episode of Wonderfalls!

I Wonder Why the Wonder Falls on Me

2006-02-16T23:09:00.000-08:00

Time: 3.15PM
Mood: Chilled

Just finished lunch, mom bought me delicious fried rice with tender rendang from school canteen. I just finished typing a mail to my friend Chen. Not a mail, two emails. Like I told Chen, two emails in a day is a stretch for me. After all, I am the person who let my hotmail go unchecked for 4months and am indignant when they removed all my mails...on the bright side, I now have an empty mailbox that won't bounce back my friend's mails again.

Onto the title of my blog. I have just watched the most amazing series so far. I was posting about watching Wonderfalls yesterday wasn't I? And it's good. I just watched two episodes, thus the title. The theme song is stuck in my head.

I wonder wonder why the wonder falls,
I wonder why the wonder falls on me.

Spot on, isn't it? Anyways, the premise of Wonderfalls is about this disaffected Gen- Y youth known as Jay Tyler, the main protagonist of the series. She has a completely dysfunctional family; her sis is a lesbian, mom calls an episode 'sode', her dad asks if she has an orgasm when she faints...just can't get any better than that can't it? So, back to the story. Jaye is the ordinary sarcastic girl you meet on daily basis when suddenly she finds that animals are talking to her...and not flesh and blood animals but plastic toy animals! They give her cryptic messages, and when she refuses to listen to them, sings songs in a monotony that makes her grit her teeth and forces her to become a better person.

It doesn't sound like much, but it is brilliant. The first episode is "The Wax Lion", and it is when she first acquired the gift to converse with these animals. She is smoking over her remembrance of the Mouth Breather being promoted over her for Asst Mngr and eating a sandwich when suddenly she chokes on it and coughs it out. Back at the shop, a customer who made a lion out of the mold machine complains it has a smooshed face and asks for a discount and Jaye was arguing over it. Suddenly the smooshed lion talks to her and tells her not to give the customer back her change, but Jaye was so stunned that the customer grabs it out of her hands. When she was heading out, a snatch thief snatched her purse and the lion says 'I told you so.'

We don't know if these voices are from God or Satan or in her own head, but I love the pilot! I shall review more about the cryptic messages and how it all comes together later on, but there'll be spoilers, so read at your own risk!

Later.

First Post

2006-02-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

What on earth am I doing, starting a blog at 4am in the morning? Why have I finally given in to temptation to start blogging? Seriously, I still don't know the answer, as it has been barely 10 minutes since I made my decision, so I shall now try my best to stick to it.

My friends have been after me to start a blog for years, and today, I am starting one, though I don't know if I will be able to keep it regular. After all, I have a penchant for being a lazyass.

My friends know me as Fan, some know me as Chris, but they are both my names, so there you go. I like to ramble and have a tendency to be long- winded. I am fond of books and comics, in no particular order and I salivate over pictures of food. I like watching TV series, and I am always on a lookout for a good one, although I just started getting into it half a year ago.

There you have it, really ramblings about nothing in particular. I am currently waiting to watch Wonderfalls, a new series I just discovered, so I guess I shall blog about that in my next post. Thanks for reading. Watch this space.