Do you believe?

I'm not a superstitious person. Not really. I just like having it there. An illusion-ed sense of safety if you like. This is just a heads up in case people freak out like when they saw it last year. It's NOT a cult -.- It's Guan Yin for goodness sake.


On another note, how is it that people manage to talk about someone else's secrets to another person when everything was said in confidence? I don't know. It still feels really uncomfortable for me somtimes. Or maybe I need to remove that big stick shoved up my ass and chill coz no one else seems bothered about it.

Take half a spoon of coffee

And it's 6.30. Freaking cold.

Old ailments

Voltaren. Good for tissue injury, ligament tears and sprains. Rub thoroughly 3 or 4 times a day for maximum effect.

Concentration

Just something else that alludes my mental capacity.

Transporting

And so we were abusing taxi vouchers, egging on drivers and chasing trains. 12 hours after I got up. Super exhausted. To think I gave Sabrina the wrong instructions. Savvy traveller. NOT. Is this what it's going to be like for the next 2 years? Someone slap me.

Blogging from Borders

Im trying my new phone in Borders. Cool fact: I can actually blog while Im out now. Bad thing? This is definitely another form of distraction from all the 'important' stuff Im suppose to be doing like reading up on the glorious peculiarities of schizophrenia. Funny fact: my dictionary does not recognise the word 'Blogging'. Go figure.

Kids Without a Boyfriend

No. It's not another hit track record.

Not for others anyways.

I'm 22 going on 23. I have 2 siblings. 2 parents. And am the proud godma to the kids of the only 2 friends of mine who are married.

Unfortunately, given that I'm still overseas as my friends are with their respective husbands, I have yet to see my godkids (other than pictures). Tao (or Brandon) is 1 year, 4 and a half months old and Hellen's baby isn't even born yet! He/she is due sometime late August/early Sept. I hinted to Hellen, 7th August would be a good date :P Hehe..

I love kids. They are innocent. You can teach them anything (explicitly, or by modelling). They are that infectious! They make you smile, laugh (and cry). You want for their life to be whatever they can be. When a kid cries, it breaks my heart. I'm forewarned, might feel differently when I'm actually a mom. But hey, right now if you can't wait to get rid of your kids for the day, bring it on! :P

Leaving

Hey all.. :) I'm heading back to Melbourne tomorrow morning. Take care.. will be back online during the night after a day's travel. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. 620am flight to KL. How in the world am I gonna wake up?

Keep My Sarawak

We don't want no Score,
No eradication of the Northeastern shore,
Buildings and factories no more,
Nothing but our head-hunting floor.

Let Bujang Senang swim
down the mighty Rejang,
Let him swim.

Save our mountain spirits
and the hook-beaked Kenyalangs
shall dance with Santubong
to Rentap's warrior cries.

Let Bujang Senang swim,
Let him swim.

Personality: the 2002-2008 gap (Class 2002 Reunion)

An ongoing debate in psychology is the nature vs. nature question and this applies particularly to human personality. Are we born with the personalities we have or is our environmental detrimental in shaping who we are?

The answer derived from last night's events reveals an "essence" in human personality. People look different, but were essentially the same :) I think pictures best describes the events, so I'll let the images speak for themselves.
















All in all a great night for human observation. Some mingled more than others. This was to be expected as it seems that secondary school cliques are strongest; anyhow, most did not allow petty school-girl squabbles to misdirect them from being sensible and at best civilized - which is more than I can say for some :) Some things just don't change and some people like being exclusive. Till next time~ :)

Love and Seperation

For a friend. You know who you are.


O, how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day;
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,
And by and by a cloud takes all away.

Let this sad interim like the ocean be
Which parts the shore, where two contracted new
Come daily to the banks, that, when they see
Return of love, more blest may be the view;
Else call it winter, which being full of care
Makes summer's welcome thrice more wish'd, more rare.

- Shakespeare.

Thinking about Writing

You know there are brilliant storytellers like Jeffrey Archer and writers like Jodi Picoult that make you cry all the time. There are so many "budding" writers out there, so what makes you think you're outstanding?

Hmm. I like writing. I don't know if I love it. If blogging constitutes as part of the art of "writing" then I guess I write frequently enough. Very early on I realize I don't have the makings of generating amazing-sounding prose. Then somewhere along the line I notice that no matter how hard I tried, I never could come up with a decent plot. By decent I mean something out of this world, something that has never been thought about before. So what am I good at really? You have to have some "special" talent to write, but surely there has to be something that makes you stand out if you want a book on the shelves?

Not that it's one of my big goals. But I guess I care enough to dream about it.

I think it was some time around the second year of uni, most probably during Marion's class when I discovered what I could work on as an amateur writer (beside my spelling and grammar, that is) - speech and thoughts, more specifically the human mind. Heck you know, I'm studying psychology, surely it'll work for me.

First year of uni creative writing told me I couldn't do poetry (granted the lack of vocab and my dead mind when it comes to playin' around with words) even if my life depended on it. <---- Immediate second problem, too many cliches due to reading confined to Enid Blyton and too many Sweet Valley books (which is just a longer way of saying, "I suck" at it).

Ah yes, what a shocker. I only started expanding the scope of my reading material when I got into university. Imagine how ecstatic I was when I found out about Harry Potter in Form 5. I know, you're going "Form 5? It was out ages ago!" If people remember, it was then the fourth book had just been published and that was when the hype started but back to the point - I wasn't really reading anything with interesting plots other than those from the likes of Secret Seven, Famous Five, Fear Street, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. All of which, by the way, are perfectly good reading material for young kids - no questions asked.

So while I was caught up with the lives of delightful blonde twins, my writing consisted of short-lived escapades and teenage lovesick woes. In fact, after the first creative writing class, I started questioning whether I was meant to be doing this or if it was even worth my time given the lack of talent. My tutor Courtney however, was very encouraging and continued to challenge me for the whole of first year. She insisted on writing about things which I could identify with, and this of course, she reprimanded, does not include flighty character imitations based on shallow identification with 12 year olds living in a world of impossible adventures. You see how endearing she was.

So I wrote about little Yuan who watched her general hero die on hangman's trap and her resentment towards her Communist boot-licking father who paid less attention to her than he did her younger brother. Then post-tsunami I identified Ying amongst the debris of her swept away village, watching the calm waters which hours ago had consumed her family and her childhood.

At the end of second year, under the guidance of Marion I began the journey of Azman who struggled to fit in with his people and yet finds himself unable to discard friendships with those of another race. It started off as an insert of simple thought in a situation of extreme social discrimination and segregation but as time (plus assignments, plus humans, plus life) caught up with me, I have yet to know where Azman is heading. A lot has happened to this country in a short period of time. What I set out to write two years ago may very well become true before I have the chance to finish it.

I can't spout decent poetry, I don't have Webster's implanted in my head, and I can't take wild fantasy rides to other worlds. But I reckon I know myself enough to trust that unmasking realistic trains of thoughts and detailed observation of human behaviour can work well for readers who want to identify with their literary heroes.

Now all there's left to do is actually start writing again.

So many Bulls, but the Year of the Rat is coming.

Shit belong in the drain and should be flushed down immediately; otherwise, don't blame anyone else for the bad stench!

I hope people aren't as naive as to believe that things will change around this country. I've been keeping up with news on Malaysiakini. It's the month of promises and the stench is overwhelming! Only when elections are coming do people "apologize" and throw in another sack of "goodies". They can bribe people for all I care, but people should realize it's perfectly alright to take a bite and still vote the other way. Enjoy the current benefits coz you can be sure of deceptive "Who? Me?"s after all this hubbab is over.

Do you seriously think that the country could be any WORSE if someone else is in charge? Please. New shit is better than 50 years of shit. It's practically decomposed and wayyyyyyy past its nutritional benefits to our grassroots.

Yes, the Year of the Rat is coming. Do you see one? There are several big ones scurrying around trying to patch the holes they made on rice sacks.

Er, sorry. Rats don't do that.

Following that is the Year of the Ox. If you don't wanna see old bullshit everywhere, make the wise choice and flush out the old shit.

Don't take any more crap than you have to.

It's Saturday

And I don't have a yellow shirt.

It seems that I have also left my camera cable back in Melbourne, therefore, all the pictures I've taken so far - still in the camera. Albert has generously lent his USB with a memory card slot to a friend. For a week. So it's no go there too.

Besides not having a yellow shirt and boring everyone with wordy blog posts, I'm patienthelen in every sense of the word.

Yeah, I'm sick.

Which sucks because this was suppose to be the day Alan and I catch up since a year ago. You see, after three days of sneezing, coughing and increasingly uncomfortable throat I finally went to the doctor's yesterday. He declared that I have several ulcers in my throat (ouch!), and the common cold thrown in. He even checked for red spots on my hands and feet for HFM (the horror!). I was like "what?!"

*Insert picture of Mt. Medication*

It was all ok. I wasn't feeling too bad albeit the difficulty swallowing and the general sluggishness. And then I woke up this morning.

HELLA painful! It felt like I'd been in a construction accident where some bricks had dislodged and landed on the base of my skull and chopped my neck into half. I wanted to cry my ass off but knew (from the terrible migraines I used to have) it would only make things worse. Sucked it up and downed some Advil (thank you people who created these wonderful painkillers).

The pain subsided after I woke up a couple of hours later. I hope it stays under control :/ Otherwise I might have to cancel with Zhung too. Damn this sucky thing..

On the other hand, I'm looking forward to CNY and of course, the reunion :D The numbers are wayyy unexpected! We are 25 and growing! Can you believe it? I'm hella psyched :) and abusing the word "hella" so I better stop doing that now.

Also received course handbook last week which outlined the next two years of my life basically. It's gonna be one helluvah ride but hey, I'm ready to meet the weird, weirder and the not-so-weird.

Fen got back last night :) Alan this morning, Zhung later in the evening, Qijian and Hwan on Monday and Chunny on Wednesday! :D

HURRAY for temporary reprieve for boredom~