The Blue Amoeba

When I should wake, where do I go?

2011-10-31T02:57:00.001+08:00

When I should wake, where do I go?, a photo by booamoeba on Flickr.

When I should wake, where do I go?

We were young and waiting for the lights to come on 2

2011-10-29T02:39:00.001+08:00

We were young and waiting for the lights to come on 2, a photo by booamoeba on Flickr.

We were young and waiting for the lights to come on 2

We were young and waiting for the lights to turn on (part1)

2011-10-25T21:33:00.002+08:00

Nottingham Goose Fair

So this is what it looks like from this end of the spectrum

2011-10-25T20:51:00.004+08:00

An indian summer draws to a close and nothing is quite the same again

2011-10-24T20:14:00.001+08:00

This Bird has Flown

2011-10-24T19:14:00.001+08:00

Your humble narrator is happily residing in dear Loughborough where she'll be for the next few weeks (left)

But London has been so beautiful that we just don't want it to fade away...

The Secret Life of Woes

2011-09-11T02:05:00.001+08:00

I don't think it's any coincidence that after 13 years, written word is still my main outlet and muse. For that reason, the designer that I was trained to be is dumb founded and often times offended. Only that 'offended' is too light a word to use in here. Gravely insulted to the point of treason would be more appropriate.

I've been thinking a lot about that lately, prompting me to read, once again, my copy of The Word (by Indra Sinha) given to me by my boss last year when I was undergoing a copywriter's training. I've kind of taken it as a bible of sorts. Whenever I am feeling really really low and lousy with work, Indra Sinha's words, never fail to inspire me, or at least make me feel a little better. As such, I do feel compelled to share two very meaningful passages from the manuscript.

A picture by itself, however powerful, can teach us nothing new.

Any picture however powerful, however shocking, however provocative and upsetting, is something to which people can only react. And to react means that they can bring to it only what they already know, think, feel or believe.

You will find that the meaning of pictures change, depending on the words you put with it. By itself, the picture has no particular meaning.

To turn reaction into action, we need the power of words.

***

Words are fuzzy.

This is very good news for the writer. It is actually the fuzziness of words which gives them their power, their layers and layers of meanings, their ability to surprise, their capacity for opening minds to new possibilities.

A single word can be charged with many powerful meanings. Draw it into the gravitational sphere of another fuzzy word and the potential for confusion and therefore for unique and exciting effects is multiplied manifold.

By the way, this is also the reason why adjectives tend to stifle good writing. Adjectives are attempts at precisions, to impose a particular vision on a word. Doesn't often work.

***

Looking back, I do realise that it's been a year since completing that training. How have I benefited from it remains another question. Till this day, I have troubles saying with a straight face that I worked as a copywriter. The job itself feels so emotionally taxing. To be able to write clearly from the heart sure takes a lot of confidence. Confidence that I'm not sure I have yet. It takes a strong and opinionated mind. But it is so difficult. For in this world, nobody wants to know what you think. They want to hear what they already know, read out to them in your voice.

And when it doesn't work that way, they'd rather hear the voices of the media, parroting an idea that has been tried and tested. In other words, an idea that would keep them safe and snug in their sleep.

So really, who are these people who call themselves creationists? Those who chose the mode of a wordless communication to escape the sharp controversy that only word can produce? And what then, is the point?

I think this post is obscenely so behind time it is already next fall

2011-08-29T00:39:00.003+08:00

Maybe it's being in another country that I'm feeling more inclined to miss home. Even if I'm just 45 minutes away by air.

I watched Yasmin Ahmad's Sepet today on the You Tube. Six years after watching in on the local network back in KL. I remembered that it was quite a big deal of a movie back then, being all controversial and Yasmin Ahmad-ish to the point that I found it annoying. Of course, it was also an additional prompt from a then former flame that might have got me judging the movie a little too quickly before I even got a chance to understand it.

Now six years later, I must admit to having what Jack Sparrow would have said 'stirrings' for the movie.

I think what got to me the most was how close to the ground it was and yet, how deliciously dream-like everything was. For example, who knew that Ipoh could be so romantic? Or that love could seem so pure and yet so hurtful? I must say that I definitely felt that this movie hit really close to home and I'm sure that many urban Malaysians couldn't agree more.

If I were to try and sum it up, Sepet is actually based on a very simple boy-meets-girl storyline. It opens with a tender moment between Jason, a young VCD seller and his mothers in an almost too familiar chinese household before quickly shifting to another scene where Orked, a young and modern Malay is finishing her prayers. This quickly sets the context for viewers, giving insight to their personal lives and being.

Fast forward a few minutes later, our two protagonists are shown coming together when Orked meets Jason for the first time as a customer, buying chinese movies from his stall. He quickly falls for her in what would seem like love at first sight and makes his move, despite the teasings and taunts from his friends as well as a sarcastic racial remark from Orked's companion and friend.

From there, it is revealed that Jason is a true hopeless romantic behind the facade of a typical chinamen while Orked proved that Malay girls can also be open, quirky and fun. In time, love blossoms between the two despite the social and racial pressures that take a toll on their relationship. But things take a twist when Jason is suddenly pursued by members of a clan over a mistake in the past that would later lead to complicated misunderstanding between him and Orked.

In the end, Orked forgives Jason and confesses her feelings over the phone while she is on her way to the airport after being offered a scholarship. He picks her call, and all looks resolved when Orked finally tells Jason how she feels for him. At this point, the camera zooms in on a tragic road accident where Jason is lying in a pool of blood. Nearby, his mobile rings.

I must admit to being totally mind-fucked at this point but later on, realise that it may have ended this way to allow audience to interpret the story for themselves. For me however, it just made me want to watch the sequel, Gubra to find out what happened.

And while it may also seem cliché that Jason should fall for Orked the minute he had set eyes on her, I thought that it was aptly addressed when he later asked Orked 'How long do you think it takes to fall in love?'. That's just another thing that makes the film or any production of Yasmin's so spectacular: she is never afraid of doing anything cliché.

"First love has always fascinated me because it happens to you at a time when you have not yet learned to lie to yourself. With first love, within five minutes, you accept the other person for everything that they are, warts and all. I believe that our first love is the truest love of all. "

-Yasmin The Story Teller

The winds of change and then some

2011-05-27T23:51:00.001+08:00

So I got my tarot cards read today. Not that I'm much of a new age person but a dear friend had recently learned how to have them read and was offering to do it for me. It was pretty fascinating actually. Of course, my naturally cynical self would have once made a whole big deal about it but if anything, the one big thing I've learnt over time here at 95% was to be more open to new ideas regardless how silly they may sound at first.

Will I disclose my reading here then? Perhaps not but I won't mind sharing that it did mention something about 'a big change'.

Yeah, big change at that. I've been counting down to the last day of my time here at 95%. I reckon that the feeling of leaving is really sinking in deeper with the passing of each day. Four more days till unemployment. As I was transferring my files, a huge archive of work done in the span of one year, into the office hard drive, there was a certain feeling of wonderment. Disbelief that I've actually done so much. I was also really surprised by how easy it was to delete chunks of drafts that had taken up so much time (and occasionally tears) to write. In my mind, they don't mean anything that much to me anymore. In a way, just like how I have to learn to let go of certain things, I need to learn to let go off my work as well. Not in the irresponsible sense that I'm no longer accountable for them anymore, but just in a way that it doesn't hold me back by having me think that those work are the best that I can produce. Ha. While this might seem unfortunate for someone who ought to keep a portfolio of previous work, I suppose I'll have to make it work for me somehow.

With that done, I've also finally transferred the entire creative department to my new designer (nestled in one huge WD drive). I suddenly feel so much lighter now.

So what's next for me now? I can't say with full certainty but I smell Singapore in the air. It feels that a certain youthful dream might actually be coming true for me after 4 years. Or something.

Keep watching this space won't you?

Like a puddle in the rain.

2011-05-22T23:10:00.001+08:00

It's down to the last few of May. The last few days of my employment at 95% The Advertising Academy.

I don't think I've actually mentioned the full name of the company that hired me for close to a year before had I? Nor had I ever mentioned what I really did there and what the job involved. Was it that I wasn't all too proud of it? Not entirely. Maybe I just didn't think it was anything much of a topic starter. Given a choice, I'd rather talk about sausage skins. Or rotten tomatoes.

Or not...

When I had tendered my resignation in February, it felt somewhat surreal. Like three months was really really long. And really really long it was.

But hey, it's down to the last few days of May. I sometimes have to remind myself that. It still feels like there's so much left to do. And that's because there is so much more left to do. There's always going to be work. And there's always going to be 'more left to do'. Knowing that I'm leaving in the midst of it leaves me feeling of helplessness.

And I'm starting to get sick of feeling bad.

I keep my smiles in a jar by the door

2011-05-12T14:48:00.000+08:00

Thursday is chicken rice day at Creepy Canteen. You know, come to think about it, that's going to be one of the things I'll definitely miss when I leave this place. Not just the chicken rice, but the cheap food that's neither to oily, fatty or blechy.

So while I write this, it's the post lunch hour where productivity plummets down to a negative. While I should be-well, working, I am instead blog hopping among DIY and artsy-crafty blogshops. And here's what I've noticed: these bloggers are really really happy. Like 'joy-joy-today's-a-gift-share-the-love-did-you-see-this-pink-fluffy-bunny' happy. Totally makes me wonder what they're smokin' yo.

But I apologise. I understand that not everyone sees the world as one sick joke.

It's really difficult to out on a cheery countenance and greet the socialmedia-gosphere with a smile. Typing this itself is taking more effort than I'd expect it to, so kindly bear with the author.

Aand... it's back to this

2011-05-11T14:35:00.001+08:00

Things get so unbelievably dreary around here sometimes. Especially after the lunch hour.

I've been counting down the days to the end of the month when I finally resign after serving three long months notice. (19 more days!!) I kind of wonder if I should be feeling sad, after all, this is my first proper job. Instead, I only feel a certain tinge of relief and (perhaps) joy as May 31st inches closer.

Looking back, I do wonder what is the one thing I'd remember about this job. The nights when I had to sleep over here to finish things up? The hours that I spent cracking my head and being annoyed at my colleagues? The times when I felt so utterly depressed because I didn't know what I was doing and no one dared to help for fear of being wrong? The first time I realised that I just 'can't do it'? Kind of funny that it's the bitter ones that stick longer. I mean, it wasn't all that miserable to think about it. There were some good things that happened and those good things were actually really good.

I suppose that the biggest lesson I learnt from this came from my regret that I was always looking for short cuts. I can't remember how many times I had said that I couldn't wait to finish studying back then, being obviously too eager to stop being a liability and become an asset, by making my own dough. Was that really the right way to go about? Perhaps, and perhaps not. There're no correct answers here but only the difference of how I feel and how I would have felt.

But I digress, 'if''s are mostly unnecessary.

All I know that while my last day here's looming nearby, I'm on the road back to the beginning. Somewhat figuring out what it is I'm to do.

One more time with feeling

2011-05-10T14:32:00.003+08:00

It was that hour after lunch when productivity is pretty much moot and this video showed up on Facebook.

Kids react to Osama bin Laden's Death

It's been two weeks since the big news but this was one question that kept recurring to me, had any kid asked me if it were a good or bad thing, how would I have responded?

I know it would have been a sparked a moral debate whether it was morally permissible to kill one guy in order to save many others. Not to mention, this one guy's moral compass didn't really point north. Naturally, logic would dictate his death as rational. But does that make it good?

And once again, monies make the world go round

2011-05-10T11:00:00.002+08:00

This is blasphemous.

Richest students to pay for extra places at Britain's best universities

Proposals could allow UK students to enrol in university of their choice as long as they pay vastly higher fees up front

Universities such as Oxford could offer extra places to students who can pay the fees up front rather than taking out state-funded loans, under the government?s plans. Photograph: Lonely Planet Images/Alamy

And I'm not even a British citizen! :P

But on the more local front however, I do have a bone to pick with certain private design schools that aren't much different either.

I do admit that I have been rather pampered, being sent to prestigious institutions when growing up, leading me to believe that only private universities would suffice for me. However, I must say that I was extremely disappointed that the school of my choice ended up being one of those pratty places where you just needed the monies to get into. While the teachers weren't all too bad, (if not too bad at all) I was shocked to find the pre-admission screening standards were moot. In fact, when I was supposed to be at college, I found myself surrounded instead by plenty who had not even completed high school.

It's no big surprise then why graphic designers always end up being looked down upon, and to be frank, the education system really isn't doing anything about it either.

Google doodles Mr Men!

2011-05-09T17:14:00.004+08:00

Blast from the past!

It's hard to stay emo the whole day when Google greets me with a new Google Doodle each time I land on their main page. :D

I remember reading this series when I was 6. Mum had bough Mr Fussy for me and Mr Quiet for my sister (which aren't featured here sadly). Hmm, come think about it, how did we end up with those specific titles?

I did remember wanting a Little Miss Sunshine book, but I can't quite remember why I didn't get one. ):

Here're all 16 Mr Men Google Doodles. Just for old time's sake ♥

Little Miss Chatterbox

Little Miss Curious

Little Miss Magic

Little Miss Naughty

Little Miss Shy

Little Miss Sunshine (I would think they'd add a Little Miss Emo for the 21st century kid)

Little Miss Tiny

Mr Bump

Mr Dizzy

Mr Forgetful

Mr Funny (I don't get why the small G's not laughing)

Mr Happy

Mr Messy

Mr Rush

Mr Slow

Mr Tickle

where be my mind?

2011-05-09T12:22:00.001+08:00

So it's come to this. I don't know what is anymore. And for the
record, that wasn't an incomplete sentence. I just don't know what is,
is. Anymore.

I have at least three active tabs on my Chrome browser everyday that
keeps me informed about the general news in the nation and of the
world. But is knowing every calamity or milestone around so important
to me that it affects my daily life?

I am on Facebook for an average of five hours each day. But until now,
I still don't see the site as anything more than a platform for
narcissist to look at pictures of themselves. Or to impress people
with their status updates. 'Look at me! I'm so cool because I'm saying
this.' 'Look how smart I am for reading things like this!' 'Look how
good my sense of humour is for finding this!' But who again are we
really trying to impress? When everyone's the impressor, who's the
impresee?

When I first started this blog, it was back in 05. Back then when
blogging was still all the fad. At least people still believed they
had things to say which required a post. Even if it were details of
their lives that no one would probably want to read sans their close
friends, stalkers or people who Google search themselves. Then along
the way, people started limiting themselves to status updates. Lack of
length = lack of depth. So I'd like to know what's the true meaning of
communication these days.

It's hard to share opinions when one's more concerned about
impressing. I myself hold back on a lot of words because I was told
that those words showed an insecure side of me. Ironically, the one
place that thought me that was the one place that claimed to
prioritise authenticity.

Yeah sure fine, I'll admit that I'm not exactly living the best sort
of life that I was hoping to live after high school. I have a day job
that I fell out of love with a long time ago. I spend the rest of my
time doing things to avoid screwing up with the people I love, and the
other rest wishing that I knew what I was doing. I'm saying this
because there's nothing I have left that can impress. I don't know
what's important anymore, and after such a long time not knowing,
nonchalance is kicking in. I don't quite care anymore.

I'm not depressed. I'm just temporarily disarrayed.

While I silently mourn for the arts

2011-05-09T01:24:00.002+08:00

Deviantart used to be a place where I went to for inspiration and to shamelessly steal ideas from. 'Used' being the operative word here.

Now, is it just me, or does it seem that the quality of art work submitted to Deviantart had totally jumped off from the 89th floor? I must say, it feels like almost everyone and anyone from the eleven year old kid who discovered brushes on Photoshop to the self-glorifying mass comm student who thinks they can 'design' (omg, yes, I'm so sorry for generalising, but they told me it was a free country) has an account on dA.

The result? Grotesquely insane attempts at creativity that often end up as disproportionate manga(e?), ridiculous teen angst poetry, and one too many macro shots. Even Google search churns out better images compared to those in dA! (and to think that just 6 years ago, any Google image search that exceeds page 7 ends up showing porn!)

And while on the topic, yes, I have great issues with 'macro-shots'.

Why is almost every picture taken these days by an SLR is a bloody macro shot?! Okay, fine- so maybe I know the answer: it's because macro shots are the easiest picture to take when you have got a rotating lens that focuses. No need for composition or timing. Notice I didn't mention lighting. Ever since the advent of auto photo filters, it's a natural default for people to edit their photos to get the trippy lomo effect thingy anyway. Ironic how people need to use the latest gadgets to achieve archaic effects non?

So forgive me if I scoff when you shove a macro shot under my nose.

We laughed so hard that we started to hate ourselves

2011-04-14T13:58:00.001+08:00

I write, but the words don't come out

Blank

Blankity

Blank

I have more fun watching grass grow

---

There was a riot outside

I picked up a stone

And the rest was history

---

I knew that he was the man

For me when I thought

I'd like to divorce him soon

---

I'd rather have a piece of toast,

Than a culinary feast on banana leaf

Sorry Brandon and friends

---

How did you get that much blood?

I asked a vampire today

He said he'd do my laundry,

So I gave it all to him.

'Normal wash or dry clean?'

He asked in earnestly

'A dry clean would be good' I said

Before realising what he means.

Goodbye world

---

I like the lines on your face

You're so old when you think

---

When I think about

running outside for a while

it is so damn hot

---

Yeah I'm a normal alien

I thought you were my friend,

But you ate my goddamn pen.

Now how am I to write,

My feelings all away?

You bastard

---

'Apple core' she said to me,

And I knew she was the one.

When she smashed it in my face.

Let me be your prince du jour

And I'll give you all my paramour.

But by the apple core she held,

My face begin to burn.

And I knew I'd give her a

subpoena instead.

I've been into some trippy colours

2011-03-30T11:00:00.001+08:00

We breathe the air, but we care

2011-03-29T13:49:00.001+08:00

As I was trying to put together my portfolio last week, I came across this half completed piece hiding in one of the folders. So I took some time to add a few more scraps and pieces while I still felt like it.

This is the product of really not thinking.

(:

2011-03-24T00:46:00.000+08:00

Do testimonials really work?

2011-03-16T13:58:00.002+08:00

So here's a question that's been bugging me ever since I started writing promotional material for things that people don't really want. Can testimonials actually change their mind?

You see, when you're a small company that doesn't sell the latest sport shoes or redundant gadgets named after fruits, but something more along the likes of 'Magic Mops', 'Mighty Supplement Pills' or more the common fad these days 'Trainings', no one actually cares.

Maybe it's just in my own opinion, but I like to believe that people are capable of making their own purchases without needing to listen to how 'Magic Mop' made Mrs J. Doe's life a whole lot easier. Likewise, I don't know if I personally care that Mr John D. is so inspired that he will begin with this new spirit after attending a team creation training. (wow-wee!)

Unless of course it's in a situation where one needs to make a purchase that he or she hasn't quite an idea of... Let's say you're asking me to choose a wireless broadband service provider and I have service X,Y and Z.

In all honesty, listening to just one close (and probably well informed) friend say 'Y & Z sucks' would compel me to get 'X' more rather than reading a testimonial from some stranger telling me how 'X' rawks. Now, do I see a lesson that promo material writers can pick up from here?

But I digress, everyone's entitled to their own opinions. What works for me might not really work for you - so in a business that's evidently customer dependent, what would work for you?

Company Description

2011-03-16T12:15:00.001+08:00

We provide trainings for the industry. Because we like to see people free. In other words, by the time we're done with your company, your people should either be completely brainwashed to do your every bidding, or gone.

Guess who?

2011-03-09T23:34:00.001+08:00

I'm at the bottom of Maslow's pyramid

2011-03-08T16:41:00.001+08:00

Yeh. At the end of day I'm still more motivated by money. Least till I make my first million or so.

Knowing that I have to stay back late without monetary incentives but given heaven points depresses me.

untitled

2011-03-03T16:20:00.001+08:00

I think it happens on too often on Facebook where I see links shared by friends that are meant to be motivational and inspiring. While it provides me with the temporary distraction that I seek, I actually really wonder if the person who shared this link really had such a breakthrough on reading such passages of positivity.

I do agree it's nice once in a while to read things that fuels the spirit and boosts determination but I must say that I am still rather cynical of it. For one, if motivational books were so effective, why are there so many of it in the market?

I think it must probably be an age thing.

in which we find out that this author has issues with pasta

2011-03-02T12:47:00.001+08:00

Page layouts will turn this author into a face mauling monster one day... you'll see...

2011-03-02T12:43:00.001+08:00

I constantly think that page layout-ing is the ultimate test of perseverance and adaptability. Margins are the general law of order. Columns are the points of segregation of what you can and cannot do and rows are the customary moral etiquettes that one should or should not do. Being able to fall in line with everything is great, but the layout loses aesthetic appeal. Falling out of line with everything on the other hand creates a picture of chaos and calamity. The best layouts are those that sits nicely in place without being too 'here' or too 'there'.

The golden rule of layouts is to know your rules well before you break em. Similarly, one ought to know their rules, limitations and boundaries before they can find their 'just nice' place that's neither too uptight or too loose.

In which we find out that people are depressed for good reasons

2011-03-01T22:53:00.001+08:00

So yes, it's perfectly normal to be sad that your life sucks.

What bothers me most is how many people actually really bother that much about themselves to feel the need to get fixed. Don't get me mistaken.. I'm not saying that one who has psychological tendencies to cause harm to others shouldn't seek treatment, but more than often, people mindlessly end up trying to get fixed for something that actually doesn't matter at all.

Now that bothers me.

Sometimes, someone

2011-03-01T11:52:00.001+08:00

Sometimes, someone comes along your way from a seemingly different universe.

A new colleague begins work today. While my mind has already begun scheming to train him in the ways of Adobe, it's annoying to have to remember that I can't usurp him solely to take my load.

Provided that something is on fire somewhere, I hereby declare the first half hour upon entering the office as moot.

2011-02-28T11:00:00.001+08:00

I should and could be happier. What a disappointment.

Important: Before procreating, always make sure you're okay with the intended person

2011-02-25T10:49:00.001+08:00

Parental disputes always takes a heavier toll on their kids than they know it.

It's great that we like setting people free to live their vision, it's just that we keep having to hire new people

2011-02-25T01:40:00.001+08:00

If anyone's looking for a job as a creative bastard, drop me a line. Design skills necessary, writing proficiency a must. Supposedly non-negotiable, but will consider based on merit and cookies (while the boss isn't around)

I've finally informed the company that I'll be leaving. It's been long enough that I was there. Besides, I thought everything else was justified. I simply can't confine myself to the workforce now. It's nothing to do with the company, now come to think of it. Had I been working in a real agency, I would probably feel the same way as I do now. There's just this unpleasantness of really working when you're only 20. I think it comes from the 'oh-no-it's-fixed-and-permanent-i-am-binded' feeling that working really is once you get to it.

The business of creative bastardry and what has been

2011-01-21T12:55:00.001+08:00

In which Regina Spektor tells the author that 'You're so young, you're so god-damned young' in a sing-song voice.

Once in a while, I find myself having 'the talk' with myself.

Not the kind you have with your pre-teen kids about sexual health or the one you have with your since-forever-boyfriend about commitment and grownup things. More like the ones where you space out for a few minutes before you start wondering to yourself : what am I up to again?

It's been ten month since I graduated from Raffles. Nine months since I've started working as a creative minion at 95%. Eight months since I graduated from Idea Rawkstarrs. Seven months since I completed that intense copywriting training equivalent that broke me apart and built me up again. Four months since I got promoted to creative bastard of this place. And now that a new year has dawned again I have to ask myself again, what am I up to again?

Sometimes people ask me what it is I'm doing. Like what business are you in? And every answer I give is true in a way. Evil genius – yeah, creative person – yeah, designer – yeah, copywriter – yeah, slave minion – yeah, office bitch – well, sometimes, yeah.

But the flaw in that question is that the answer I give is always what I have been up to and not what I'm currently up to. So what is it that I'm currently up to?

...

Hold that thought and I'll get back to you once available. Of course by then, it'd be once again be the 'what I've been up to' and not the' what I'm up to'.

Wednesday morning haiku

2010-12-15T11:48:00.001+08:00

Wednesday morning,

Zen authors books on my desk.

What are they smoking?

Said the hamster to the girl one day

2010-11-22T14:52:00.001+08:00

Of Giant Hamsters and Mushrooms for Lunch

2010-11-07T17:51:00.000+08:00

Mid life crisis and fairy wings

2010-10-31T14:02:00.001+08:00

double bluh!

2010-10-29T13:05:00.001+08:00

GAH! Now it's the nuts!!!!

bluh

2010-10-29T13:04:00.001+08:00

The lone 'it' in the third paragraph of the previous post is driving me nuts.

On Day afters

2010-10-29T13:03:00.001+08:00

The day after a big event is always so dreary. Not only am I half dead from exhaustion but my legs have also decided on its own that it doesn't want to belong to me. Bummer. So here I am in the office at 12.42 pm and trying my best not to fall asleep over a pocket dictionary, and there's approximately 5 and a half more hours before glorious Saturday comes.

Oh the joy of being an employee.

But that aside I was privileged enough to have the joy of seeing our collaborative creatiavity gracing yesterday's Ad Unplugged. It was a tough month (or two?) for us peons at 95%, minions and slave drivers included. I think one of the best part of being in the creative team is seeing your work go live and having people walk pass it and live through it. Yeah, it was a Godly moment, like we were the ones who created somethine out of nothine and behold, there will be people in it.

The extra stress of course would come from the fact that this wasn't just an event, it was an advertising event, where advertising people and advertising students would attend to do advertisingy things. And we even had ECDs from the advertising agencies sitting there within the creative bubble we blew for the day.

Fortunately, there were no (visible) grimaces, eye rolls or snorts at our intented mutant theme throughout.

Szu, the ECD of McCann even sang in mutant.

But as quoted from Sa'ad from Creative Juice-Sil, having worked so long on these mutant thing, I feel like a zombie now.

This little peon will go back to work now.

I bet I'm going to make a fine spaceman when I grow up

2010-10-19T17:22:00.001+08:00

I think the best part about working at a young age is being able to bully the 25-year old intern who comes in. It makes me feel like those evil villains you see in the movies who're (often) short yet fearful. At least when they get to press the button that brings about world destruction.

On Lost Opinions

2010-09-23T11:41:00.000+08:00

It's no wonder that people regards youths my age these days as dumber and dumberer.

Not to say that I think it true in entirety - but I do not disagree with it at all. I'm not claiming superiority that I'm above the dumbers and dumberers. But the way I look at it, I'm not surprised why people would say that about us.

I refer back to my beliefs that even as little brats, people do not have innate ideas. Whoever it was that came up with the white cloth metaphor is probably as close to what's real. In my opinion, I believe that people aren't born with pre-conceived ideas and notions. We pick that up on the way and then form our own opinions about it. But here's the problem: the white cloth doesn't get exposed to new pigments and dyes. No, it receives the pigment and dyes that are already existant in the household. Not making sense? It means that we very often more than so, do not get to be exposed to raw and fresh ideas. By the time it reaches us, it is already no longer an idea, but someone's opinion.

To quote an example, I grew up having a less than positive image of the late Lady Diana. The way I saw it, I saw huge taxes,lavish spending and closing Hermes on a particular day for her to shop. I was appalled to learn that people cried at her funeral when I was 14. Reader's Digest had an exclusive content to commemorate 7 years of her passing that spoke of her charitable deeds and how she had made a difference. I was very surprised. Here I was, growing up to see one side of the story, when I had been unaware altogether that there was another whole new light to it. How did that happen? As a seven year old, I had only ever heard one side of the story, and that had been from beneath the walls of my humble abode. And that was only the starting of the many other believes I had thought were mine, only to find out that it was just a reflection of someone's own opinions.

So how then are we even given a chance to form our own opinions when from the start we are unable to grasp the rawest form of the idea? Are we condemned to having to spend the rest of our lives parroting an opinion that wasn't formed by us, but merely handed down to us? Like how we're born into religion?

Sadly, the way things are going, I don't see it going any other way. People my age are going to continue reflecting opinions that don't belong to them. And here's why: they're just too afraid of confrontation. The irony of course is that while they're all carrying mirrors at their chest, they put on hats, and say 'Look how different I am!'

So I talk now about the confrontations: To me, an idea is sometimes like a fuzzy image of a coin that's flipping over and over again. The more you understand about this coin, the clearer it becomes. When two people come to talk about the coin, there are three things that could possibly happen

a. they both see the same side and forget that it is a coin with two sides, thus becoming like those bobbing headed dogs who bob their heads at each other
b. they see the different side of the fuzzy image and argue about it factually
c. one person sees the clearer image while the other person only sees a fuzzy one. Being unable to accept the other side for the lack of facts on his side, he throws down everything and puts the blame not onto the other person's facts but onto their being using words like 'defensive', 'narrow minded' and 'stubborn'

of course there are occassion where there is a

d. they both see the idea as a whole coin and

i. they try to form even clearer images of the coin
ii. they get bored of each other as there's nothing else much to say
iii. they are astounded at finding someone else who sees things the way they do and elope

I am kidding about the last possibility.

But yes, I hate confrontations as much as the next person.

So hi. Call me dumb and dumberer.

Monday evening Haiku

2010-07-26T18:14:00.003+08:00

A Sunday morning,
Bromance begins ablooming,
I am sickened. Ew.

Sometimes I feel like there should be something more to this

2010-06-26T08:29:00.002+08:00

I can't help but wonder sometimes, is it really a default by nature that all humans should be full of empathy and care genuinely for each other? That out of some horrible past event only did they start holing themselves up, shutting the world around them. What are the odds that sometimes, someone comes along and decides that they don't like people all that much? Sure, it could be a limiting belief maybe, a past trauma that shatters hope on being able to believe in others, but what are the odds that it is a natural default? Is there really no such thing?

I know people say that you should always be true to yourself and search deep within for what you feel is right. Like as though we're truly all happy and loving deep within. I wonder... Surely all the happiness and loving came from somewhere too didn't it? And what was there before that came in? Surely it has to be a void of sorts. A natural default. As time go by, we just choose whether or not we care to fill up that void and with what as with who. And those are the things that we tell ourselves to look at when we look deep inside. Only that it has become a lie now, because if we were to truly look deep within, it should have been a void, starring back at us.

I admit that I don't exactly love people all that much. You'll never see me cajoling and mixing around with utmost merriment and delight. I reckon it's easy to mistake me as shy or anti-social, or even someone who hides away, but there's a fine line between me not being comfortable with people and me simply just not wanting to know them. Maybe I am a very first impression orientated person after all. If you fail to catch me the first time, what do you have so mighty that I should come to you the second time? Most of the time, I do prefer to be in my own familiar place with the several faces that I recognise. Things seem much less complicated that way. Easy.

But I suppose this is where they say that no pain, no gain. I am fully aware that should I choose to stay within the comforts of my own place, I would never ever grow to see what lies ahead. And as cliche as it sounds, this often cues for dramatic declarations for change. An act of conformism? Or plight for better living? I can't tell sometimes. I suppose I am rather obsessed with myself. And I do admit, it's because I like myself. I pay attention to my thoughts because I know they matter to me. I like myself enough to know that what I'm telling myself is true to me. Do I still really need to seek what others tell me to do then? To hold on to the words that others impart unto me?

Sometimes I feel worn out by this path that I'm taking. If I may say, there's simply too much emotional strains attached to it. It's fine if the emotions were just mine to deal with. But when you're writing for the emotions of others, it becomes wearisome. These emotions that I take and wallow in a while to see where they stand sometimes get too heavy for me to take and I'm just afraid that I cannot fathom what others are feeling. I know the easiest way is to meet these people and understand them - but how many people can I aimlessly let into my life before it becomes overbearing?

When you're standing at the edge of the ocean and realise that you don't like what you see, what do you change? Do you change the scene and look elsewhere? Or do you change yourself with tinted shades to see?

I wants to goes homes

2010-06-15T12:33:00.002+08:00

An employee's woe,
When the day goes by so slow,
Six hours to go.

I've got some joy in a cone

2010-06-10T16:56:00.001+08:00

My boss is awesome. She just came and gave me an ice-cream. I am really one heck of a happy employee today! ♥

I have taken the blame game to a whole new level

2010-06-08T12:42:00.001+08:00

I have recently came to note that anything meant to be random from me would either involve ninjas or monkeys.

As a conclusion, I drew up a possibility that there might be a small miniature ninja living in the crevices of my brain with his Russian pet monkey named Boris. My findings had also been supported by various other coincidences that all point to the same thing.

Random acts of violence from my person including pummeling, kicking, slapping and possum-facing could only be the ninja having anger management issues with occurs quite frequently and is triggered by the lack of sedatives which would have been coffee and ice-cream. Or both. (speaking of which, I have tasted and acquired a new favourite drink called Hot Ice Cream Coffee. It's indulgence in its rawest form in a cup)

A sudden urge to feel miserable and angst ridden is due to Boris' having eaten the last crepe that my ninja has to starve. (Now what is crepe doing in my head huh?)

An uncalled for anxiety attack is due to the ninja needing to use the bathroom.

In other news, all that you hear about schizophrenics and hearing voices in their head is declared null and void.

The Importance of Being Idle

2010-06-07T16:08:00.003+08:00

Monday afternoon and I'm feeling sleepy already. Looks like it's going to be a long day much to my distaste.

I'm sitting at my place in this little dungeon pretending to be furiously typing away at some important copy while the cup of prayers (some call it coffee) sits to my right. I wonder how long it'll take before anyone from the outside world tries to contact me, after which, the joys of multiple tabbing is appreciated when in an instant, my screen will display only pages of utmost intelligence and pompous contents. I am indeed a happy employee.

will work for food

Gimme!

2010-06-06T18:20:00.004+08:00

It's really weird actually that I've seem to be growing a certain fondness towards Japanese cuisine these days. Truthfully, it wasn't too long ago that I thought Japanese cuisine to be a waste of money. Why so? Because what you get from it is either raw, burnt or tossed into grease.

What about meeeee??!!!

This conversation came up with some girl named Jia Wei who claimed to be my sister during a buffet lunch at Genji, Hilton today (which was with compliments from my second uncle) when a younger 16-year old cousin failed to enjoy the buffet line up of joy and yet more joy and instead made a beeline for the dessert station (somewhat) This got me thinking that hey-- yeah, I used to dislike the cuisine too not too long ago didn't I?

It could be very well due to the age factor, as this girl (who's still claiming to be related to me) suggested. I thought that made a lot of sense. Sashimi does contribute a whole lot to Japanese dining and serving a plate of raw fish to anyone who's yet old enough to appreciate it would only be reciprocated with the face of a disgruntled possum. Think slab of orange and red myotomes accompanied with a very deceiving scoop of what would look like ice-cream that doesn't pleasure but instead stings. Not to mention, the rawness!!!

So if it's not raw, it's burnt and taste of rubber. Contrary to most kids, I've actually been a fan of seafood even when I was a puny child. And nothing makes me happier than decently prepped calamari rings. Passing by Japanese kiosks of Teppanyaki and the likes of it, I've always been tempted by such items only to be disappointed to find that it's not only horribly charred but also tough enough to use as a catapult belt.

Don't even get me talking about Tempura. I've always had the idea that Tempura was catered for people who didn't know how to appreciate original flavours.

I suppose it's only in recent years that I've started to accept having Japanese without the "Aww man" sentiment. Maybe it's also the choices of other more proper restaurants popping up that has been redeeming cheap sushi restaurants that fostered a negative image in my mind. I think that's really nice to know.

In the meantime, I am from now onwards absolutely bribe-able with Japanese food! (:

Friday smells of fried eggs

2010-06-04T10:49:00.003+08:00

Least today's one did.

You know that feeling with fried eggs that I get is how the smell seems to stick on to you despite you having fried the egg hours ago. I was told that "No, you don't smell like one" but I swear that I smell like fried eggs. And it's really distracting.

I wasn't suppose to have fried eggs anyways this morning. It was suppose to be half boiled. Which is fine by me, because you don't get any lingering aftersmell with that. But the egg maker decided to be all weird today and give us back raw eggs despite having had our eggs immersed in hot water for a good while. Which splatted onto our plates in the most disappointing way.

So now it's 10.30 am in the office and I'm the only one about in the dungeon smelling like eggs and deng- it's distracting.

But that's about it for eggy stories.

At least it's still Friday ♥

In other news, Apparently Nescafe with soya bean milk taste like miso soup. So says my creative head who decided to tried to concoct his own Hong Kong's Starbucks with the soy option to creamer.

And we now have a rat in the office called Adobe.

I'm not a morning person

2010-06-02T13:38:00.003+08:00

Garble warble sd fafsfdfjhfkdflsldddf djog sds

11.08 in the morning and like how most average 20 year olds out there should feel: horribly disgruntled.

I swear my face is still puffy from the just-rolled-out-of-bed symptoms despite having wrenched myself off 3 hours ago. What a drag. Literally.

It's sad but it is true. I have lived for 2 decades but I am still incapable of that thing called self discipline when it comes to getting up early. These days, with the job and all, I find that it actually takes great Herculean strength to be able to pry myself from beneath my blankets and into the bathroom. Heck- I swear my getting out of bed regime is so intense that I should be packing on muscles by just doing it. *Gurgle*

This morning as I sat infront of my laptop in the office with a solitary cup of my morning prayers (it's called coffee in most part of the world) I found myself staring idle at the screen for a good five minutes!!!! All a sudden, the screen turned black and there was this other girl in my laptop with the face of dishevelled possum staring back at me. And I was thinking "Oh man- possum woman!" before realising that it was my own reflection in the dark screen. Can you imagine the horror?! But hey... power saving does a lot to help you tell the time.

Next thing I knew, I was googling up "How to wake up early in the morning" and was astounded to see how many results were returned. "How to be an early riser", "How to get out of bed early", "How to wake up to your alarm", "How to catch the early worm" (?!!) were among the results that fixated themselves on my screen. Seriously, this whole sleepiness is more of an epidemic thing than I thought. And people were actually really doing something about it!

After going through several post and tips that were merely paraphrases and creative and different ways of saying "Self discipline biatch!" I got offended and decided to check my email.

What a drag!!!

On the plus side, I smell the weekends coming again (;

And they all had ice-cream for dessert!

2010-05-31T23:49:00.005+08:00

Me: Do fireflies conduct electricity? How do they light up their butts?
Kelvin: Bioluminescence
*blink*
Me: How did you know that?
Kelvin: By being nine years older

Pffttt... I'll be blown if there really existed a council that sent us a trivia a year that made us smarter as we grew older.

Either that or I'm still sore that someone just busted my theory that fireflies conducted electricity to light up their own butts. And that the tooth fairy existed.

*

It's the end of May today- which means it's 31% off take home packs at Baskin Robbins! What joy! Four people and 16 bucks a piece had us all happy with a half gallon tub of BR's chocolate mint, chocolate chip and caramel-whassit-cream. I wish I had a picture but then I'm a nice person and you know what they say about tempting the devil.

If anything, working at 95% should have packed on some pounds already on me. We brought the happy tub of joy back to the office and into the pantry and good times fell upon those at 95%. My boss came in a while later on her mobile and upon sighting the big tub of indulgence, mouthed out "Pigs!"

But we're not pigs- we're just happy youths! Really happy youths (:

In other news, I've been working pretty closely to certain matters at the office of late. I think time here has got me reassessing more than I have on people. To be blatantly honest, I'm not a big fan of profiling and trying to analyse how other people think. It's got nothing to do with ignorance but profiling to me has always been like adhering a label on someone's forehead. Much like how the common perception of women are 'pink, thinks, and likes to shop' and men as 'blunt, grunts and rolls out of bed dishevelled'.

But I do think that these days, people do try too hard to custom their own individuality. And with that, they begin to lose their authenticity. It's just really different when someone is driven by passion compared to someone who is driven by the need to stand out. So which are you?

Scratching around in the same old hole

2010-05-30T23:42:00.003+08:00

Blast this whole blogger gmail thingy that kicks me out of my gmail when I have to sign in here under a different user that's not under the gmail account! Either that, or I need to figure out another way to change this account to my gmail account instead of leaving it to the bigsmile. Gosh... Is this blog already 5 years old??

Makes me wonder why I still leave the five years of archive up here where it's so easily accessible to many. Like a vault of potentially intimidating evidence. Meh

But then, who still blogs anyways? With the advent of Facebook and Twitter, blogs are almost obsolete. Why write a whole essay of sorts when you can share your thoughts one bit at a time huh?

People are such pigs. Pfft

I need a breather

2010-05-27T11:42:00.001+08:00

People are so weird.

The need to be individualistic is so rampant now that ironically, I'm starting to see "different" as the new normal.

But I wonder sometimes, if "individualistic" exists as such a thing that can be applied to someone as that. The way I see it, we are all our own art montages of pieces and bits we picked up along the way. Influences from advertising, our favourite tv character, society's moulds, peer expectations all become scraps to the montage that we live in. Yet, the slight mention of this would cause someone to have their defences all geared up. "I'm a person of free choices and individuality. How dare you imply that the way I'm living now is that of influence from others?"

The irony takes a step higher from this need to be individual and yet included. Sure, no one likes to be alone, so they flock together and hold on to what strands of thread that bind them.

"Normal" has become such a terrifying term.

But then, why the sudden mention now huh? I guess it goes without saying that I have come to a position where I face predicaments where an issue like this has been bludgeoning me in the kisser day in and day out. Is it just in my mind? Or have my people skills deteriorated that I seem to offend people easier these days? And why does it matter to me that these people can't digest the things I say?

When they say that silence is golden, I reckon it's because in silence, you hold the truth that could maim. That's why we lie so much. That's why I lie so much. Silence could just be an alternate easier option.

Phooey ):

2010-05-24T16:44:00.003+08:00

We needs stuffings

At the End

2010-05-22T23:30:00.002+08:00

I have recently come to realise that my posts are like episodes of the Simpsons. They start of with one thing, and end up as another.

May brings in the mid year soon after. But I have fond memories of such months. Never quite knew why but I always look forward to year ends over year beginnings. Maybe it's that sense of closure it offers. Over the more elusive start of the year. People see it as a "fresh new start". I see it as "here we go again".

People tell me all the time to leave all the bad things behind in the old year and start afresh with the new. Which sounds nice. Until you realise that what has been left unsettled, will always be unsettled.

There's a fine line between peace and truce. One is freedom from hostility. In the latter, it's an agreement for cessation - "I won't do this, if you don't do that."

It's only natural to want to start on a new sheet of paper when you made a mess of the previous one. Easier to start again than to deal with the mess you've made. But I like to think that no matter how messed up something can get- you'd still be able to clear it all up at the end of day.

And that's the beauty of being at the end.

I bet you don't recognise me without my cape

2010-04-18T00:49:00.003+08:00

It's repulsive the way anonymous comments get into post comments and you got to start turning on the word verification, making life a little harder for those genuinely interesting in sharing their two penny's worth with you...

But then again, who really does these days?

I spent an hour or so on the land line today with a friend. It's been quite some time since I spoke to anyone for that amount of time on the phone and it felt strangely nostalgic - like back to those days when exchanging telephone numbers meant seven/eight digit house phone numbers. And you had to be really careful at which hour you choose to call up lest you end up talking to an angry parent who isn't too pleased to have a girl call up her son at ten o clock in the night.

It's kind of funny that I speak of it like it was such a faraway tale. To think of it, I don't think it can be any less than six years ago, but somehow - it just feels so far away.

I kind of miss the direct exchange of opinions within conversations when you're talking to a person verbally and not through any means of networking services. Facebook, Twitter and messenger services kills what's left of human connectivity. They envisioned it as a world without borders. I see it as a world with no more initiative.

Getting gloomy huh? Moving on...

I've been suffering from a shorter than the usual attention span of late. Like I'm everywhere and no where at once. It just makes me realise how useless multitasking ever is. Or I'm just one who sucks at it. Sometimes I think even guys are better multi-taskers than I am. How unfair.

To even sit down and type this down feels a little of a drag.

It's just one of those still nights when you're just hole-ing up in your room, knowing that there's plenty yet to be done, but still nothing that you feel like doing. Or those yellowy kind of afternoons when you're home alone, knowing the myriads of possible activities that you could carry out...

while secretly knowing that you're probably not going to do any at all

On another note, I find simple pleasures in how pretty the msn status colours are when alternated

What I have learnt so far...

2010-03-15T19:39:00.002+08:00

Telling my kids that if they don't study hard enough, they'd be sent to a tissue box factory where they have to make perforation lines with a blade might just work...

As in 'Muruku, man' or is this a reference to the latest caped crusader who kicks bad asses by nights called 'Muruku Man'

2010-01-19T23:55:00.006+08:00

Hi Brian, I haven't seen you in a while,
Hi Eugene, I swear, I didn't swear,
Hi Tarrant, I see your watch just grew more hands

January 2010. Mid January 2010. I'm too late for an awe-inspiring year starter post or a conclusion to the year that would always be at was. Oh puff.

My sentiments exactly

It's a little past 12 am where I am now as I begin to type this out. Should I proceed to go on about how much has changed since the last time I scribbled in here? Like how much I miss you? Heh. Sometimes, even with the advent of new media (and easily updated ones too) it seems virtually impossible to keep everyone updated on what's new. And even if you wanted to, there is a creepy limit before you realise how easier it would be for people to stalk you. Either that or I have issues.

But hey, it's been a while anyways. What's new huh? No one ever believes me when I say nothing and no one also ever believes me when I said that I joined the circus, married the cotton candy man and had two football team of kids plus two substitutes and now lived in the wonderful glorious land of Potages in the largest mud house that you'd ever see. And we get our internets by placing tiny bits of potatoes in a repetitive structures. On another note, I reckon I'm looking out ~~for support groups for people who lie too much~~ and a new sister. Oh and I've also cleaned out my room.

Like for real this time.

I recalled a long ago post where I had once berated Ikea for placing illusions in our mind that it is virtually possible to live in a house with spotless sofas a wooden table in the middle of the hall and a bowl of lemons on it. When was that? Secondary three? Well, 5 years (damn, it's been 5 years already?) down the road and I'm still adamant that zen living is bull. Unless of course you ran away from home with nothing more than a pair of clean underwear and ended up living in a box, then yeah- I reckon that that would be just about the zen-nest anyone can go.

I've barely lived a quarter of my life. (or at least I'd like to think so) and itself, I have raked enough trash memorabilia to take up what would be considered a threat to the environment. Past year papers, primary school stories, newspapers clippings (Putin's among others, damn it Brandon), milk tooth (ew?!), old school socks, the horrible Hungarian dress up (what about you, Yoong Jie?), t-shirts with nice patterns from when I was 10, my first plush that has indeed become holier with age, autographs from people I can't remember anymore who had wished for me to burn my lips and remember them (were people really that cruel?) a best wishes card from someone who signed off as 'Your best friend' but spelt my name wrongly, brownie badges, pretty stones, assignment diaries, more letters, the collection of bouncing rubber balls (can't give that up!!), the first ever Nokia handphone that I shared with my sisters that could comatose a living hamster, souveniers and tourist brochures from all over the world, free publications, ~~dust bunnies, pet spiders~~ and what nots.

One man's trash, another man's treasure isn't it? But how much can you keep before you need to rent storage? Space constraints is a cruel cruel thing. So in the past month, I braced myself and did what had to be done: I decluttered.

Can I say that I'm proud of myself? Well, yes and no. It's been about three weeks since that eventful weekend but I sometimes still think of the contents in those white plastic bags that I threw out. Is it possible for something that has no soul to come back and haunt you?

The moral of the story is simple: Either get a bigger house in the near far distant closer future, or runaway with a pair of clean underwear.

Come Get Some Coffee For Your Glorious Leader!

2009-12-10T17:42:00.003+08:00

This one goes to that person who responds to the name Brandon.

Whew, to think that the last time I wrote in here had been in May. Why is that so? Hmm. I reckon that I could come up with a list of almost believable excuse for that but I'm a nice person, and nice people don't lie. Right? (Also, take note that Christmas too, is around the corner) Toodles to the part where I explain myself then, we're all happy and merry people around here!

As maybe it would have been probably been known by now of the August 9^th incident that involved neither an atomic bomb or any Asian countries but a mutiny of sorts (you know who you are!!) and my laptop, yours truly had been revoked her status of the resistance by her gloriousness of the resistance of 4-11C that actually have believed her name to be Jia Wei for two decades (Did I just publically announced her age? Wow. Go me!) by holding this apparent account:

(Damn it, i keep calling it mukubuku or mukabuka)

To those who should have known better, ~~I hate you~~ please be nice to me. I've lost something equivalent to a citizenship and to those who's wondering why I have yet to add you, it's because ~~I so hate you~~ it's because I believe that friends should not be added like cereal boxes in to shopping carts (you can either believe that or that my ego won't allow me to utilise this thing if not prompted in the first way) and to those who have added me since August and wondered why I have yet to confirm your request it's because ~~I fucking hate you~~ I'm living in a state called denial. It's a nice place actually, we've got cookies so come visit us!

***

On other news, I have come to realise I miss college (or going to school in general) Yeah, there's a certain bliss about that in all honesty. Weirder still is how I had been so eager to leave in the first way. Anyways, I guess this is one year that I'll probably be looking forward to the new year in any case. Yay January!

But then, year ends always go by so quickly!!!

And while you blinked, the author has been distracted by the hands on her watch because she won't accept anything on her hand that has hands.

Cheers!

Screw the masterplanner

2009-06-15T19:33:00.003+08:00

I am annoyed, sleep deprived and agitated.

And you know you're fucked when you've spent the last three months desperately trying to work on an idea that is never going to work out from the start. And making things pretty doesn't help here.

Won't someone hold my hand now?

Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand Euphoria!!

2009-06-09T15:58:00.005+08:00

Week 10

My sentiments exactly
*insert cry of anguish from CJ here*

Up to this point, everyone is either angry, anxiety ridden or missing in action.

Come to think about it, I don't think I've lasted more than an hour in the same classroom with any of the seniors since week 5. But all a sudden, I am aware that my world is just going to start getting smaller again. Come next semester when Suek Mei and all are only coming in once a week to complete their final projects and as for me, God knows how many days can you squeeze three subjects into (provided that the admin finally realise that I'm Malaysian and allocates me a LAN subject or better still, both) it means that I've pretty much finished up the modules that was suppose to be taken with them and probably won't be seeing them anymore come September. Woah.

Which in other words translates to I'm going to get stuck in more classes where the only other person is on a different channel. I blame linguistic barriers.

And today's lecture was depressing. Nia was absent leaving me the only student for morning class where what I suspect could be the lecturer's craving for otak-otak became our final assignment for advertising design. And the only thing productive about Portfolio later in the afternoon was the teacher. Which is not a nice thing for me to say, considering how many times she has indeed walked the extra mile for me during my stay at Raffles. So I shan't say anything more. But she's lucky. Not many women in this trade maintain their amiability, their passion for their job, are happily married and ready for broods and broods of pink squealing healthy children. Call me sore or jealous, since it's something I might not have.

As it is, several friends have already banished me to a perpetual single life. I don't mind, considering how many friends I have already banished to hell. Now all I need is that lawn so I can yell at kids to stay of it- what an awesome retirement plan!

And on the way back home, I came across three dead frogs and 15 cars with DBKL summonses. I kind of wondered whether it was some kind of omen or the sort. You know, the ones where you cross path with a black cat and the next thing you know, there's a piano hanging right above your head. Not a very pretty sight. But nothing that bad. Just so happened I had enough money in my Touch and Go to get home and the bus that never came. I have reasons to believe that there's only one bus now going throughout Taman Desa and back to Pasar Seni which stops for coffee breaks and to buy vegetables on the way. I took a cab in the end. Four bucks more expensive but time is money, and getting stuck in an area like brickfields where waiting men in their car/busses/lorries start singing like larks with lower decibels when you walk out in a skirt plus idling youths blaring out Neyo's confessing urge to fornicate isn't really my cup of tea either.

Another two weeks to go!

If you be my bodyguard

2009-06-03T02:36:00.004+08:00

I hate deadlines.

Yet another late night post after finally finishing up the almost what could be the last of it of our website project. I am exhausted, sleepy and starting to regret not utilising my weekend properly leading to a huge back flow of work. I am disgruntled.

Somehow, this term really flew by me. Strange cause it felt not too long ago when I was contending with Japanese cartons. The sick thing about irony is that it always hits you square back in the face. Or maybe May ended too soon. I wonder actually if it is even possible for a month to end so soon. But looking at the circumstances, it's actually more or less another three weeks before this semester is over- which would mean two weeks for us to finish up whatever we are suppose to be doing- which also means that we're all screwed- which then again on the other hand could just mean me- which would mean that that is not a good thing to begin with anyway...

No classes tomorrow, this person will not be up until noon.

Cheers.

p/s: Hitler was vegetarian.

The Man Who Sold The World

2009-05-22T17:34:00.002+08:00

Logging onto Yahoo is heart wrenching. I know there are probably mixed reactions to that statement,as for some, Yahoo owns Hotmail and for others, Gmail owns Yahoo. But there's always been that quirky reason as to why I stick to Yahoo after all these years, even though they greet me by Hello Jia! For one, Yahoo has an awesome jingle that we all love at one point in time- you got that right, it's that retarded Yahoo-oo-oo that even Bruce Almighty adapted into a Yah-Wee-ee and heck, there never lived a better jingle forever and ever amen.

But like I said, logging on to Yahoo can be heart wrenching. There's just something about the engine's interface: too messy, too cluttered and too updated.

Damn straight.

I was in school yesterday in the morning in the library (where it could probably the only library in town where silence is a mandatory rule) when Kevin brought up American Idol and I was like all "Oh ptooey, it doesn't take an idiot to know that Adam Lambert definitely owns the game by now, even a monkey knows that" followed by a whole long series of Kris-who and all.

Come later in the day a little close to 12 when I went back to class to check my e-mail and the first thing that hit me square in the face was the little square box about 200 pixels wide in the centre of the interface that made me a monkey in a second.

That was a real blow. Not that I'm an anti-Kris person or anything. I'm really more complaining about the stupid box than the results of the show.

Next thing it's Friday evening after my guitar class where Eddie claims to be the first music teacher who's ever going to die of hunger in the class when I go home and load up Yahoo to conveniently find out that the Queen has a Wii. She must be very amused.

Now as I type this, the other tab that's loading up behind this one's going to give me a list of songs that the Queen has on her I-pod. Sweet! Considering how three years ago, Sir Alan Sugar made his ipodoom prophecy then:

"Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput,"

Do you love the whole world? I sure do (boom de ya da boom de ya dah)

But anyways, I must confess, that small piece of knowledge wasn't obtained from a Discovery magazine but from Reader's Digest. Have you all wondered what's the deal with these kind of publications that at no matter what cost, you cannot, will not and shalt not throw a copy of Reader's Digest, Discovery or Nat Geo? True it's now taking the bulk of space in the hanging cupboard but everytime you want to take them out, there's just this- gah feeling that overwhelms you and stuff. Now we have copies of Reader's Digest dating back to 2 oh oh 3.

Ptooey.

Pipsqueak.

2009-05-18T02:20:00.002+08:00

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

2.2o in the morning. Another awesome late night up doing nuts and I'm going to shrivel and wrinkle up like a prune before I'm 30!

the misadventures of bubble boy and his usual suspects

2009-05-04T01:13:00.003+08:00

Dear Santa,

I'm writing to you in May because it's really come to a point that I have no one to write letters to.

It's only funny in a way because I'll never have to post this letter or stick a stamp on it. I don't even need to e-mail it to you because I know you'll never receive it anyway. It's just nice to write you a letter. And I'm a nice person. At least I like to think that I am.

People tell me that you are fake and I absolutely believe them. Of course, only a kid would think you are real. However, even as a kid, I knew the truth about you even before I knew you. Same applies for the tooth fairy. It sucks in that way cause I somehow feel that I have missed out on a lot. I've seen you many times before on shopping bags. Especially the one Isetan gives out during the Christmas season.

I wonder how you stay so happy and merry all the times.

Don't you ever get fed up and stressed up there in the North Pole?

I mean, I know you have got like 364 days to prepare for a single celebration day and all, but do you really work all the time during that 364 days? Doesn't it get boring?

Not to mention, I always kind of wonder how you afford the labour cost for all that toys. Do your workers have monthly salaries and an EPF contribution? What about workers insurance? Are elves even considered foreign and if so do you buy a foreign workers insurance plan for them? Are those necessary too? I mean, what if an elf hurts himself while working- is it payable?

There are so many questions I'd love to ask if you were real. I guess right now, you're just lucky that you aren't huh?

Well anyways, it's nice spamming you.

Hope you have a great day!

Love,
Me

An Ode to What Was and What Will Be

2009-03-09T17:08:00.004+08:00

The time now is 5 in the evening and I really am suppose to be doing my homework

Anyways, with regards to time, it's been four days since the 33rd of February and I would have posted this up sooner but time constraints and Singapore forced me to delay this post for a bit. But anyways, I'm back now and so I post.

So where do I begin?

Last Thursday was an interesting day. With what started out as an ordinary day turned into a pleasant surprise and I guess I really have to thank all you guys out there who made it the way it was- =)

(Be yer warned that this post may contain excessive thanks and gratitude it might make the devil spit)

I begin with

BRANDON YEW ZHENTOA. BRANDON- YOU ZHENTOA, YEWPAPA, YEWTUBE, MANMAN, MOFA, MOFA MAN, FISHBALL TOFU, THE TOUGH LITTLE CUSTARD PUFF, MY FAVOURITE JEW

YEW.

YOU.

Are the bestest kind of guy I'd like to meet.

I got to know you a little better in form 2 (remember how you always eavesdropped on me and Li Ann?) and I guess we just got closer in form 4 when you spent an entire year sitting next to yours truly, listening to my never ceasing complaints and random musings. But hey- It was either me or Wee Lik (Remember him?) Remember those double lab lessons in the physic/bio/chem labs? Remember our soap experiment and you practically did all the work? (Oh- I believe I'm still keeping muy half of soap)

You were the kind of guy that was always there for me whenever I need anything from glue to advice. And as strange as it is- I recall being mad at you before over petty reasons but never recalled you ever being mad at me. Seriously Brandon- I'm not sure if I have ever hurt your feelings before (But I guess I might have- considering all the weird names I've given you) But if I have, please know that they were never intentional and whatever it may be, I apologise now.

Thank you for all the times you hung out with me and made me feel like I did belong. Thank you for all the times you stood by me despite all the crap it got you through. Thank you for those Monday afternoons you spent waiting for my art class to be over so it wouldn't be that boring while waiting for six o'clock. Thank you for not being calculative when it came to taxes everytime we ate out. Thank you for all the times you helped me buy stationeries at Popular. Thank you for not laughing at me whenever I watch a movie with John Cusack, Keanu Reaves or James Marsden in it. Thank you for not making fun of me when I called myself Mrs Raikkonen. Thank you for somehow imparting all the general knowledge and country capitals to me (No one can ever replace you in that game by the way)

There is too many things I can think of to thank you and they can never be done in a single blog post. Give me an entire blog to fill about my gratitude to you and even it would not suffice. That is how much, a friend you mean to me.

And I know that I haven't been really in touch with you the past few months due to my work and your exams and my crappy timetable but nevertheless- you still had the initiative to make my 19th birthday the best bitrthday it has ever been. I am speechless- really. Brandon, if the day really comes that you leave to Warwick- I'd definitely miss you and feel your absence. Life would be so weird without your cynical wit.

Yes Brandon- if the day ever comes- you'd definitely be my maid of honour (only if you want to) because I can't imagine what I'd be if I have never met you. And if Mitch Albom was right in his book- I'd definitely dedmand that you be in the list of the five people I meet in heaven.

PYOONGJIE PANG. MY SON.

If it's true that I never have kids- you'll be the closest to a son I (n)ever had.

I met you in Form 1 when you were still so much shorter than me and somehow I believe we've always been friends. Of course the turning point was in Form 4 and above when we started to become closer.

It feels that I've watched you grow physically and mentally since I knew you when you were 12. From the little boy that Brandon bullied to tears, you've matured to be the tall, fair and thoughtful guy that you are now. You've always been the most sensitive on people's feelings among most of the other guys and I don't know if you even hold any grudges.

You've always been the better one at math and analytical thinking and I believe that it would bring you far next time in your career. But it does not stop there. You are also known to be one of the most creative among my friends. You might not be able to paint a brilliant picture definitely ace creative thinking. I've loved all your ideas and presents for they're always budgeted and most importantly, thoughtful.

Your custom made pack of cards are along the best presents I've ever received.

Thank you so much for that. And thank you for that video you made for me too. I'm sure to request that it be played on my wedding day x)

Now you're aiming for the US and might be leaving soon too. Somehow- thinking of that gives me a sense of emptiness. It really feels like the empty nest syndrome that most mums get when their kids leave home. But of course you'll be back right? Cause heck- I'm sure I'll miss the little boy I can't find when I leave him behind the lamp post. ^^

EUGENE LOW. THE STICK MAN. DARK FOX. (WHAT'S THE TIME?)

For all the times that I asked you the time. For all the times you gave me a lift home no matter how late it was even if it meant going out of the way. For all the times you paid for the taxes whenever we ate out. For all the times you kept me company. For all the times you remembered to remember me.

So maybe my only regret was knowing you a little later in high school. But even so- you have outlasted some of the friends that I knew earlier in high school.

Back then, we might have had different group of friends but at the end of day- you always knew how to juggle us out so no one feels left out.

You were there in the middle of the night when I needed to complain and you never let anything out. Whenever I'm in doubt- you'd always make the big scary things seem practical and small. You may not be very tall in height but you're definitely the strongest when it comes to emotions security. I don't even know if you ever get scared of the dark because you think of the ghost that might come out and eat you.

I love your taste in music and your sarcastic wit. Your lame jokes have left an impact on all of us and I'm certain it won't be gone too soon. Not to mention- when everyone else were talking about the great plans they had- you were the one who actually did what you planned. Your recent success of your book launch made me look up to you even more as a man who actually walked the talk.

Eugene, for what matters, you're one of the guys I can see as being funny and smart. Now all you need is the rich factor and chics will be throwing themselves at you so much so I'll need to actually make appointments with you three months in advance. x)

SUET FONG. THE SUNSHINE IN MY LIFE X)

I don't know how often you read this almost neglected blog but if you do- Yays for all of us ^^

You're definitely one of the closest few girlfriends I have and I feel really bad for not keeping in touch sooner. But nevertheless- you remembered my birthday and actually took the trouble to come to Mid V just to celebrate for me. Although it had been nearly a year since we last saw each other- our brief "berbonding" session made me remember why I enjoyed my years hanging out with you and that whole year I sat next to you. The best part was that wasn't awkward.

You're sunny optimism and cute demeanor has always marveled me and it feels that I've never actually seen you get mad since I knew you in Form 1. You're always the smiling face behind every dark cloud and I believe I've never even seen you emo. And whining about exam results doesn't count. You've always better at the whole math and science thing actually x)

Remember how we used to kid that you were the most prone to suicide because of all the above? And Bradon's accusation of you having an eating disorder because you liked bite sized food? Remember Li Yen and Brandon's dispute where we laughed at them because one was curly and the other was Patrick the Starfish? Ha ha. Seriously, those were the best days of my life- and I'm so glad that you were a part of it.

DEXTER FOONG.

You

Old

Man

Yes you are.

And indeed, you are the oldest among my friends from the class of 2007.

I've known you since form one and though I cannot recall drawing a dog for you for pendidikan seni- I do recall sitting next to you. You've always had a messy desk and a habit of sitting on two legs of the chairs. Little did I know that ten years down the road, you'd be sitting on the lap of Brandon and your other victims.

I've known you the longest and to see you there on Thursday was really- amazing. I'm glad to know that even despite your hectic and busy schedule- you's still take the time off to remember my birthday.

I have loads to thank you off too. For all the times you stood by me and defended me. For the times you tolerated with my crap and the guys I went out with. For the times you spent on me and the 4 am call you took when I was so down last year.

You are another one I felt that I had watched grow. The only difference was that you always seemed so much more matured. I don't know how you did it but you always knew what to do. I've never seen you upset- even through your darkest days- you never showed it and you've always been strong. At times I wish I could be like you. But then- if I were like you- it wouldn't make knowing a guy like you become so special.

CHOW. JASON

For all the times you listened to my crap.

You've always been the jack of all trades, master of all- the wisest of all my friends which somehow makes you seem 10 years older than the rest.

Not to mention- you're such a gentleman I'm sure the world would be a better place if all guys were like you. Either that or we'd be reliving the Marxist era. But whatever it is- I'll let Dexter be the judge of that.

Thank you for the number of hours you spent on the phone with me when I was in despair. Thank you for the lifts you offered to places I couldn't go to. Thank you for the great ideas you always conjure and thank you for making my high school year a memorable one. Thank you for being there. Thank you for loving thy neighbour (syiok sendiri xD)

GAH.

I think this has got to be the longest post I've ever written by far and it's scary that it's not even over yet-

But either way- I feel that the following people deserve recognition because life just wouldnt feel the same without them:

PIA- FOR REMEMBERING MY LAWN

STEVEN NG- For not falling asleep during WATCHMEN and so much more- you know that I cannot summarise all the things in a post. x)

LIANG CJ - For the Nasi Pattaya and all the rides to and from school. You definitely made Raffles a better place to be at

JAN- For really being born on September. Thank you for not hurting me for all that lame jokes. And remembering the 33rd of February

I have no pictures of you but this is how you would look like:

=D

SUEK MEI - Because class does actually get boring without you x)

Finally-

THE GHECKO ON MY BED
JIA WEI- YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU. NOW GIVE ME THE BEAR AND I WONT BEAT YOU FLAT.

2009-03-05T00:32:00.002+08:00

It's 12.30 in the morning as I write this

Another year has gone by silently while we were all busy learning how to get on with life. Little things and the big ones- New ones and some revisited- moving on, moving along, moving out. Going on, along and going out. Those sort of things. I've never been one to take into accord the little things that happen for I thought I was the big picture kind of person, or maybe in the least- I've always hoped to be one. But now as time progresses. I've learnt to accept the undeniable. That no matter how much you compare the drastic difference between the gradual increase of your mass to the perpetual expansion of the universe, the facts are still there: no matter how much you deny and crap- it's still the little details that form the big picture (on any ordinary circumstances- I'd add a bracketed note here that I'm not saying that the world expands to accomadate our gradual growing asses but I don't really feel that tonight- although as ironic as it seems, I believe I've just inserted that insight in the end)

(If you've read up to this paragraph- Be ye warned that this is going to be a long and wordy post)

Nevertheless- it's another year and although it might not really feel like it, it's obvious that we won't be growing any younger as each day wears out. Even scarier still is that although we don't maybe feel older and think that nothing has changed since our jolly days in high school- people are never stagnant- you're either losing or gaining.

I thought that I hadn't changed much since form 5, that at the end of day- I'm still the same girl who hung out with Brandon and Yoong Jie. The girl who told people that she wanted to marry a rich man. The girl who called herself the blue amoeba. The girl who somehow did well in class and hated sports. The girl who made mistakes and regretted it later. The girl who didn't believe in God and the girl who taught she found love in high school (it's a growing process)

So maybe some of the above mentioned are still applicable. Yeah- I haven't really differed much when you compare the current situation to that of two years ago. Like I said- just the small things.

Like how I'm slightly embarrassed to go by the name of Boo Amoeba. Or that I ask myself why I gave myself such a childish MSN address. I've even changed my MSN name to Jia Ming instead of Jiam because it felt more proper. Heck- I've even started punctuating my sentences with proper casing. (!)

I don't know to what extent when the small details start building the big picture. But people tell me that I've still got a long way to go and they're probably right. I know that on the grand scale of things, being 19 is still pretty much a kid.

Sure- you're probably legal enough to drink, drive and fuck but in this current age, I somehow doubt that being able to do all those would make you secure enough to survive alone without mummy's help. I don't know why I thought that turning 18 automatically makes you grown up enough- you know, more matured, independent, wiser, being able to make your own decisions and the whole package.

I never expected maturity to be so ad-libbed.

I mean, there never even was a maturity button to push. Who am I kidding?

Being in a whole new surrounding where peers your age are scarce makes you realise that. I have peers who are in their mid 20's and juniors who're six years older that me. Some of them are rational enough of course- and some halves are still as annoying and spoilt. I guess most of us are still in that "long way to go phase" regardless whether you're 18 or 24.

But that's what makes it even stranger. I have lecturers who complain to me that they already feel the strain of turning 30. And all of my lecturers are below 40.

Eddie complains to me all the time that he feels the career complex pressure and he's only 31 this year.

Somehow- it feels like as though you need to accomplish "something" by 30 in the and failing to do so makes you the loser in life. Does that make sense? How long is the "long way to go" phase supposed to be anyway? And who gets to decides these sort of things?

Reading back my last few paragraphs- maybe I waste my time wondering about these sort of quandaries. True- I make myself more miserable by writing endless posts like these but I sometimes can't help myself. Does that make me happy to be unhappy?

You know, when I left high school, I thought I could hang on to the things there that mattered most to me. It was barely two years ago. And I thought it takes at least maybe five years or so until no one remembers you. When you eventually diminish into the ghost of what used to be.

It took faster than that.

Come January 09 when I found out that practically all of the lecturers that made WMS seemed WMS have left or have been posted to Klang.

Just the other day, a friend gave me a link to the student social community blog. And not one of the names there did I recognise.

It has barely been two years. But we've already been reduced to phantoms of what used to be.

of blisters and hulks

2009-02-13T17:39:00.003+08:00

it's friday 13th today-

i busted my wacom tablet AGAIN and gave myself blisters on both hands trying to pry the pen apart.

I'm suspecting the manufacturers purposely made it impossible for anyone short of the incredible hulk to take it apart so we'd have to buy replacement pens. Damn.

Of angry things with wings

2009-01-02T23:04:00.003+08:00

So- I'm being swarmed by angry insects these days.

Kind of weird considering that I live on the 11th floor of a 19 floored apartment.

But even as it is, the number of floors apparently does not discourage even the tiniest of the little bugs to fly all the way up here. Maybe that would explain why there has been a moth on my computer screen for the past two hours or so- I mean, which little moth wouldn't in the very least feel exhausted after a 11 floor flight? Maybe it fell asleep on my screen. I'm sure it's warm and cozy. Would that explain why I'm trying to type really quietly at this moment???

But then again, I digress.

This bloody moth just wouldn't budge. I've tried blowing at it, adjusting the inclination of the screen and even flicking it's excretion laced body off. Only to have it flutter gently by again probably shaking off the light layer of moth poop onto my keyboard. ^#$#%$@?!!!

So I thought that it was kind of pathetic for me to be combating with a creature hardly half my size and decided that then when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you moths? ~~Make mothballs~~ Take it's picture.

Tadaa!

But it still wouldn't move.

So I thought "Hey, it didn't want to leave, maybe it wants its picture taken. So heck why not?"

But it still didn't go away. So I thought maybe I'd fool its little brain into thinking that he's somehow somewhere else. You know, one of those cheap vacation things?

But it still didn't move.

So I thought, "Hey, you know that song where Peter Rabbit had a fly upon it's nose?

Fudge.

And finally:

The time now is 11.30 pm. The wretched moth is still on my screen.

I Write Weird Things At Midnight That I Don't Understand Either

2008-12-28T00:34:00.003+08:00

It's 12.30 in the morning as I type this in my room on Sunday, 28th of December 2008. Super Power is on my lap and IT is lying on my table, the front cover by now slightly curling and a spine forming down its spine of a thousand pages. It is not a dictionary. I am listening to The Strokes and talking to Steven and wandering if Eugene has slipped into those comas where you bang your head into the keyboard and wake up the next day with QWERTY on your forehead. Four days ago, Jia Wei nearly put the kettle in the refrigerator and in the next four days, it'd be a new year.

We'll all be a year older. I get to make fun of Jia Wei and Angeline for turning 20 and 30 respectively and risked getting my kidneys fed to Monty and Pudding. Those hamsters are similiar in the sense of mass. As usual, I'll still mix up the last two digits of my mum's birth year with her age. Steven will turn 24 in August and we'll all rub it in because we can. It doesn't matter. Age is just a number non? Albeit a very important number.

And things will probably seem to stay the same although so much has changed. And with each change, the past will somehow fade out. Like how I had to pause a while to try and remember if that girl in the maroon tie was in my class in form four and five. Then the next minute, I'd realise it doesn't matter because I can't really remember her name anyway. But what's creepier is that much later at night when I'm lying awake in my bed for that short time in before sleep comes, I'd remember her name and then like as though it didn't matter, I'd fall asleep, wrapped in my blankets like a burrito.

I will wonder aloud and blog about wondering how Brandon is getting out of National Service because it feels like ages since I've seen him and we all miss him. Well, at least I do. Fortunately (and he will hate me for saying this) he has exams in January and he'd be back soon. Because I have yet to complain to him about my timetable next sem. I don't like the fact that I have classes on Friday afternoon until six.

I will also have to stalk CJ down soon enough because he's been very emo in his posts these past few days. Not to mention, he blogs in chinese. I find it amusing how a UN recognised language is like a ciphertext to me. But he's never online when I'm online. Maybe he's learnt how to be a ninja over the past few days.

And it just occured to me that Eugene doesn't sleep. He's not nocturnal. He just doesn't sleep. Maybe he's a secret agent working for the intelligence of some country where men in grey dresses don long grey hats and grow long beards and live in mudhomes. There, his name is not Eugene. It is Strawberry Pie. And he wears aprons.

The time now is 1.09 am. I took about half an hour writing this post.

The new year is just a few days away.

The turtle is not always right.

Of Lies They Tell You When You Read Books

2008-12-23T17:21:00.003+08:00

When I was younger, I used to read books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory whereby Charlie's father was the man at the end of a very long bench at a toothpaste factory screwing toothpaste caps onto thousands and what nots tubes of tooth paste.

It was this insight that led me to believe that not only is it true that at some point, people are still paid to screw at work, that there are such monotonous jobs still in the industry where you end up working "if you did not pass that math exam". Jobs like screwing toothpaste caps onto tubes of toothpaste, putting tiny perforation on tissue boxes, writing little numbers on phone keypads and you name it.

Fortunately, it didn't take that long before I found out that there were actually machines for all these odd jobs. The ones as menial as cutting folding lines into take-out boxes. As you can see, as a result of reading books at a young age, I was shamelessly being lied to and made to believe things that aren't true.

But even now that it's been about ten years ago, oddities like these it still makes me wonder about the existence of other more monotonous works. Especially now when you're older and seeing things that are supposedly "real"Like you know those policy schedules you get in your renewals? There's always at least two sets meticulously stacked nicely and stapled together. I wonder who does the tedious jobs of stapling those papers together. And you know those calls you get from the bank when your cheques are rejected because you forgot to put the "only" at the end of the sum of ringgit? Who actually checks that???

Or maybe there's some kind of machine that reads people's handwriting and I'm seriously living under a series of coconut shells nots to know. For the thought of cheque checkers put to mind a small room with a solitary man sitting at the table with boxes and boxes of cheques on his desk, the floor and outside and he is slowly pulling out single sheets of cheques on by one and closely examinig one. Successful cheques will be placed into a tray marked "passed" while the ones that are rejecte would instead be placed in another tray marked "old fart forgot to put 'only'".

Like that time when Brandon and I made soap as part of Chem PEKA last year for SPM. We had to continously stir mixtures of oil and NaOH for at least two periods before anythign substantial came out. And it wasn't fun at all... I wonder if people manufactured soap like that in the past? Where there are benches and benches of soap stirrers somewhere in a factory and each stirrer is assigned to a 500ml beaker of mixture at each time.

I think it would be brutal.

But that's for everyone's own thought process if they even have that much of time to think about it. I know I really should have better things to think about. So with that, I put them at the back of my mind and grab a sweet on the counter. Then all a sudden, I wonder: Who wraps the candies individually?

Is This It

2008-12-21T23:48:00.003+08:00

Yes it is.

And it takes approximately nine months for anything to lose value. Half a year if you're a car and a quarter of year if you're a mobile.

But nine months is enough if you're the cluttering type.

Nine months means that you're finally able clear that magazine folder on your working table that instead of being utilised in the proper sense has instead become a temporary stash for impromptu memorabilia. Clothes receipts, movie tickets, and even pages from my differentiating days of add math. (yes, I still like to remind myself that the first ever red mark in my report sheets came from that subject- Of course as too how add math is impromptu memorabilia is beyond me. But eitherways, I kept pages from science log books only to end up scaning and using them as classwork processed montages. Very hardy they are indeed if the edges haven't become yellow round or have been eaten up somehow. Heh heh. (we have really weird things flying into the house these days))

But who cares? It's cleaner now and at least I am actually able to see the wood surface of my table once more (albeit being horribly scratched and bladed) Because right now I have on my table the latest catalogue from Ikea and a firm mind that it is still- no matter what they say- impossible to ever have clean white wooded furniture around the house without any form of clutter- be it old handouts or chopsticks from take outs because you'll never know when you need 'em. Although logically speaking, no one would ever use chopsticks that has been exposed and lying on a table for over a year now leaving the only plausible excuse to use it being to poke the next cataract ridden eye of a one eyed ogre that decided to take a peek into my room. But I digress, you don't have many one eyed ogres roaming the streets anymore these days...

So yes, at least I'm proud to say that I have decluttered my work table for now but that still doesn't settle the score where no one is allowed to touch the mess in my cupboard- Not even myself and any force attempts to do so will be met with violence involving a hammer and a spontaneous volatile cat that would spring from underneath the doors exclaiming "Defend the Mother Cupboard!"

Damn, I read too much comics.

Besides that, there's a little receipt on the floor now that has been lying there for three days. I'm curious as too see how long it stays there before it gets blown away to preferably another room or I give in to it and chuck it out.

So if you're wondering if you can have that bottom drawer of mine, you know, the one filled with rubbish? Well- ask me again in nine months time. Meanwhile, I'll go back to looking at Ikea catalogues.

Empty Decorations and Reality Brings me to the Ground

2008-12-15T00:27:00.002+08:00

The best part about year ends is the ends at the back of the year.

I have no idea what I just said but I doubt it'd probably make a difference anyway. It's December!
December! December! December! DECEMBER!!!!DEEECEMBEERRRRRRR!

And we little ming mings love Decembers because with Decembers are so Decemberry x) You know? Like berries with the Decems in them. Pretty ironic because I'm not really a berry person. Imma chocolate person, or even better- COFFEE. But I doubt they'd let me remane the month the Decembefee anyways. I bet there's probably like a Ministry of Month (MoM??!) somewhere over the rainbow where you need to tekan the butang A and get a number of 91984544932 while they are currently serving number -0.001932984692 and will be with you shortly. Ptooey

Then again, Decembefee would probably sound like someone died and made Daffee king :s

On other views, this is actually the first December of my academic life where I actually have classes... Pretty cruel considering everyone's on holidays and all but I guess that if I were to use that argument, someone's just gonna tell me that I've got it easier since I'm like only going to school for like two days or something irrelevant =.= PFFT. People are so cruel aren't they?

And also for the ears (or eyes) of those generous enough. I am very broke this Christmas.
Very broke.

ALSO, I AM OFFICIALLY HAVING AN AFFAIR AT THIS POINT.

*insert cries of dismay here*

I'll leave this cliffhanger here for a while more.

I'm actually going to be performing at KLPac on the 22nd of this month.

Sounds so grand huh?

Until I mention the part where I'm only part of an ensemble for my music centre's pre-grad recital.

I'll be playing with the rest of the guitarists for two numbers, one being an acoustic arrangement and the other a collabo with the violin chamber and a pianist. Which by the way, is a little boy. ~~Almost cute.~~

Best part is that I get to molest my school's classical guitar while leaving my poor acoustic at home wondering what it did wrong. I kind of regret not taking Yoong's advice with the classical last year but what's been done has been done. Unless someone out there's feeling really generous this Christmas x) eyh? eyh?

Okay- so that's about enough ramblings while I'm here. I'll post soon hopefully and update Qekoe too if I get the chance. Till then, I bid thee adieu.

Ta!

Tidings of comfort and joy to you too! =)

you need to be a spaceman

2008-11-30T22:40:00.003+08:00

If you listen to the end of Nirvana's Marijuana, there's this really funny sound effect that goes on for about a minute or two.

i put this post up tonight being the last day of November so that the blog archives do not skip a month.

And in my absence, it seems that I have been tagged twice by Jian -_- but Jian, I apologise I do not really feel by tagging mojo as of now, I blame society and Steven because I can. So there. x)

And whew, I can't flipping believe it's December tomorrow: my favourite month of the year! Christmas and year ends. I just love that feeling of closure it brings. Not to mention long term break. Bwahahaha.

Then before we know it, it's Chinese New Year and I'll be forced to hear that annoying fa song and i WILL regurgitate my soul. Gah.

So-I'm a happy child.

And there's a recent new addition to the family courtesy of a little boy that we know. I'm pleased to introduce Jude.

Or formerly known as Super Uber Rawr Rawr Bear Power because his former owner was such a retard. -_-

And this I found shortly after in the crevices of my camera's memory.

*bear pr0n!!!*

I shall leave you all now feeling emotionally paedophiled x)

i've just seen a face

2008-10-04T16:50:00.000+08:00

Yay!

Qekoe's been updated!

i am not the walrus

2008-10-02T15:02:00.004+08:00

I'm not one to respond to tags but today, I break the believe.

Besides, it's CJ's doing. God knows what he'll do if I don't.

Probably make me walk all the way back home after kicking me out of his car in the middle of the highway.... -_-

Tagged
Of the CEEJAY.

1. What is the relationship of you with him/her?
strictly professional of course- the favourite junior who sends me to college and back

2. Your 5 impressions towards him/her.
ohkay- must answer this that I do not find myself walking home from the highway- *inhales*
CJ's a very sweet boy.
CJ's a very tall boy.
CJ's also very available
CJ's also celebrating his birthday soon
I am not pimping CJ- Tarrant, don't even dream of it.

3. The most memorable thing he had done for you?
Pick me up and send me to school. Send my assignments to the printer. Listen to the endless complains I have.

4. The most memorable thing he have said to you?
Umm... I have a terrible memory. I'll need to skip this or somehow answer lamely in the sense that it would be "do you need me to send you home?"

5. If he become your lover, you will...
take advantage of the fact he drives x), okay i kid.
I cannot provide you an answer until I can imagine myself dating Brandon

6. If he become your enemy, you will...
be very afraid.. be very very afraid.

7. If he become your lover, he has to improve on...
Tricky question. He'll have to agree that Across the Universe owns Mamma Mia ! XD

8. If she become your enemy, the reason is...
He kicked me out of his car along the kl-putrajaya hghway and drove off at 12o km/h laughing like a saddistic madman.

9. The most desirable thing to do for him is?
Bank in a six figured amount into his bank account? I don't know!

10. The overall impression of him is...
Sweet...

11. How do you think the people around you will feel about you?
Me? I'm perfect! :D

12. The character of you for yourself is?
HAHAHAHAHA
CAN YOU SAY SUPREME ROYALTY???

13. On contrary, the character you hate of yourself is?
No contrary. I love myself. :D
(FINE- maybe megalomaniac Issues)

14. The most ideal person you want to be is?
Myself. With a lot of cash.

15. For the people who care about and likes you, say something about them.
I love me too XD and yous....

Ten people to tag.
1. Brandon
2. Steven
3.Tarrant
4.Yoong Jie
5. i know too few people who blag
6. Brandon
7. Brandon
8. Brandon
9. Brandon
10. Brandon

Who is number 2 having a relationship with?
Oh God. I don't know.

Is number 3 a male of a female?
Hmm... I'm not too sure actually... *grins*

If number 7 and 10 were together would it be a good thing?
Of course! That way, I'd be able to go out with him when he's on a date- with himself! x)

How about number 5 and 8?
=D

What is number 1 studying about?
A Levels. He wants to be a spaceman...

Is number 4 single?
Sadly- no...

Say something about 6?
My tough little custard puff!!!!

9?
I rest my case. Tags are a waste of time -_-

On other views, i'm adding a strange acquaintance I met at Eugene's party to my list.

Cheers

for the benefits of mr kite

2008-09-30T11:49:00.002+08:00

Guys don't take tea.

Was at Pastis the other day with Eugene for tea and it was so amusing how he was the only guy there at the restaurant while women of all creed, gender and age dominated the scene. Which would thus emphasize our point that guys don't take tea. Ha!

And they served molecular coffee. Edible coffee or so they claim and I would have to admit now that for that particular moment, I fell victim to the whims of advertising whereby the only reason that drew me to spend ten bucks on a single shot of espresso froth was a pretty little picture.

It's not my fault! Honest! The picture exhibited viscosity of the coffee where turned upside down, it- still stuck to the cup??? Well, something along those lines and before you know it, Eugene and I were staring into a tiny espresso cup like this:

Espresso froth.

I could have espresso ice cream at NZN for that! PFFFFTTTT.

Anyways, it's now the last day of September, meaning that it is time to wake up all the msn contacts who have left their pm's as "Wake me when September ends" for some time. I believe that there're at least ten or so to drag out of bed now.

And it also feels that all the good summer movies are over (though much to my horror and my dismay, I still have yet to watch Wall-e and it's all, ummm... Brandon's fault. Again)

Though honey, an outing with the family resulted in this:

should I turn to hide away or laugh at the fact that this movie ended up as sweet serendipity for know that I'm not the only one who sings like a toad who has been dumped.

I was actually surprised at first with the cast staring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan but whatever the case, this movie proved ace if you wanna see the above two act out their mid life crisis in the most amusing way of all.

Story line itself was as light as a summer's breeze. You have this young ciku of 20 years or so commiting herself to the big M with the supposed guy of her dreams. Half the time you just can't help wonder whether it's due to the fact that they live in some desolated (almost) island without better enetertainment albeit breaking into songs at random intervals or procreating but you get the gist.

But eventually, almost like a Nicholas Sparks novel, the story shifts attention to the once upon a time promiscous Donna (Meryl Streep!) who's gets all funny wunny after finding the three men she's once "dot dot dotted" in her little holiday inn the day before her daughter's wedding.

And for the record, Pierce Brosnan sings like- well- *sits in the corner and cries*

I don't know. I guess I might be a bit biased towards Mamma Mia but maybe it's because I can't help but compare it to this:

Yes Jia Wei, I understand your burning loathe for this movie and at any chance you'd get, you'd rather hop down to the port down Liverpool, set the yellow submarine ablaze and watch with your silver hammer as the walrus watches you drag out Evan Rachel Wood to safety as you think she's the only one in the movie worth watching.

But that aside, I personally felt that Across the Universe had a deeper story line which fared better than the do-re-mi of mamma mia. How many movies can actually cram partial american history with a sideline of romance into it *insert cue for Jia Wei to say romance with a sideline of history- pfft- mere paraphrasing* where you have the death of Martin Luther King Jr, the Vietnamese War and the 12th Street Riot?

Not to mention, you have the oh-so-sexy accent of Jim Sturgess and pinning strawberries to outstretched canvasses! *fetish!*

Across the Universe also incorporates songs form the Beatles the same way Mamma Mia does with songs from Abba but somehow, I felt that Across the Universe would fare better in the sense that the cast were chosen with perfect vocals whereas Mamma Mia looked more for recognisable faces and there you have it, ex 007 belching to the sounds of - Our Last Summer. Needless to say, I'm not very sure if the songs used in Mamma Mia were at all different from the original but I thought that the alternative covers of the Beatles in ATU were quite not bad- I especially liked the electric riff cover that Joe Anderson and Sturgess did for "With a Little Help from my Friends"

If Mamma Mia had worked the same way for their songs, I wonder if it would have been better. Then again, I'd be lying if I were to say that Meryl Streep's own rendition of the leading title song wasn't commendable as it was very indeed entertaining. As for her own encore call performance at the credits, I thought it was a leeetle bit tooo awkward...

Then again, in terms of relevance, I'm glad Mamma Mia fortunately lacked the awkward moments of running into an extremely acid mode for the mere sake of incorporating Bono while the audience are left wondering as to why the movie took on psychedelia for a whole half hour. In that way, Mamma Mia scores to ATU undeniably.

I don't quite know it, what's the deals about musicals these days whether or not you have Disney-esque bubblegummers jumping on the stage for teenyboppers or Patrick Dempsey playing the knight in shining armour alongside James Marsden *joy!* but musicals make actors appear oh so different as an aftermath.

Like the other time in Made of Honour where you have Patrick Dempsey throwing the windows open in the big manor of the grand Scottish plains the night before his best friend's wedding to look out and gaze. I swore- that was the perfect cue for him to break into a song then and there regardless if it was Made of Honour or Enchanted. But eitherway, I would have cried in the cinema.

So there you have it, Abba and the Beatles, what next? Led Zeppelin???!

because all you need is love...

i lack the ability to curse in chinese

2008-09-23T00:09:00.001+08:00

Clearly, I lack the ability to curse in Chinese.

*sniff*

i don't know my 华裔。。。

anyways, it has been six days since i sliced my finger. Here are a list of things I cannot do so you'll know who to avoid calling when the ogre holding you by the neck gives you an ultimatum of saving your own arse by doing the following:

1) play the guitar
2) open a soft drink
3) poke the hamster
4) make lemonade
5) play the piano -__-
6) play the mandolin
7) play the tin whistle
8) play the ukulele

I'm starting to pity the point of my existence. Poor Ming Ming. Always whining at her own misfits. And vowing vengeance on Jiaw wouldn't work because she is smelly. And vowing vengeance on the next person to text would be as useless- because it was some innocent senior instead of Brandon. So as it is, it's all your fault Tarrant! I blame you!

Pffffttttt.

But then, when life give you a plaster- give it a smiley face.

On other news, I am on holiday for the next two weeks or so which would mean degeneration of my neurons or more mitochondrias in what's left of my muscles. Rule of Jiam states that if she is walking slightly faster than the average of herself, it would mean that she is either being chased by an angry dog- scratch that, two angry dogs, or have been desserted in the quite plains of Elbonia where she has got to find her owny back to KL. On foot.

Oh.

My registration for undang last year expired. I think it's destined that I'm to be cheffeured around. Or maybe some people aren't meant to be on the road. Though to be honest, I'm not entirely surprised. Here I am, the mighty genius Ming who's barely stable on her own feet and still walks into glass doors. -__- Friday at the Raffle's main foyer was the most recent and a couple of times when trying to enter the library. And it's so not funny.

But then again, there are plus sides to not having a car. Never getting to be stuck in a traffic jam is one. Not having to bother about petrol, road tax or insurance is another, not to mention, paying parking meters that OMG is mushrooming everywhere these days!

Has anyone seen it? Those big yellow boxes with the P sign on it that sucks your coins in for a max of three hours before you need to come down to extend your parking limit again? It's everywhere! It's like someone ran through town with a handful of magic parking metre seeds and sowed them all over the place. What about assesment fees?

oH yes!

Before I end my post today, I'm going to go into an ultranerd mode to remind the whole world of the autumnal equinox that takes place today!

So long sweet summer!!!

And this comic on techno makes me laugh. Aye. I'm laughing at you if you're reading this

we did not invent the algorithm

2008-09-19T18:26:00.003+08:00

i am destroyed

i am crushed

i am bereaved

i is miserable.

i is injured.

i is genious.

i somehow managed sliced the tip of my finger yesterday a la jiam style while mounting some shite and now i am lame.

sort of.

This would be the second injury twice this week, once the other day when i was slicing up paper to a3.

So what's the story? morning glory?

enslavement of the next to do all further cutting for me from now on. i figured that kidnapping isnt as hard as they make you think it is. course, i might have to consider getting that underground chamber with 52 separate rooms or i could hijack a hospital since there's cable in each room. that and enough supplies to keep a locked up victim alive enough to do the cutting for me.... i wonder how much it'll cost annually to keep a kidnap victim around... hmm... considerations, considerations, considerations.

it is actually at this point that i'd love to bring into the picture Jiam's eleven. a cheap rip off of Ocean's because kids these days have nothing else better to do than sit in their rooms playing with big guns.

That's right! im pretty certain peako and i came up with the whole list of jiam's eleven last year anyways which unfortunately, i regret to say is quite lost as it was written on a thin sheet of kleenex tissue. It's not my fault. monday stay backs are boring. but eitherway, im sure it'd be something anyway.

but digress.

maybe i could rent someone's kid sibling to do all future cuttings for me. all's fair at love and war. and the probability of cutting themselves is only 50:50. if you dont cut yourself, call it a close shave. slice yourself and welll.....

im sure it'd build character or something. =D

and that is how i stay so happy...

on a side note, how much would it cost to have brandon yew name his future kid Damn?

it'd be so darn cool. imagine this:

"hey kid, what's your name?"
"Damn Yew!"

For the record, it took several hours and a msn conversation for brandon to realise the pun behind this. -___-

how long did it take you?

greetings from the federal high court of estonia!

2008-08-28T12:16:00.005+08:00

I was just reading Kenneth's blog when I came across this quote he got from Mrs Matthews during Independence Day in our school some year(s?) ago:

Loyalty to my country does not mean loyalty to my Government...

Deng.

I don't care what you guys say about her now man- that woman has got one heck of a great mind.

But anyways, another week, another trip but this time, it was for Photography and guess where?
Putrajaya! The almost estranged brother to Kuala Lumpur because no one actually goes there despite how maju it is. The Hollywood for politician stalkers. (and NO, we weren't there for a stalking politician assignment)

And we also went there on the 26th of August. The same day as Brandon's birthday and the Permatang Pauh elections. So no, we did not see any big shots.

-_-

But anyways, if i recall correctly, the last time I went to Putrajaya, it was for some horribly planned school trip, probably coined up to instill a sense of patriotism in our young souls or merely just so that we can say "yeah- i've been there before. it was so horrible i could cry" even though we only ever went to the ambiguously pink mosque and the ironic barren botanical gardens. That was when I was a little brat in Form one though and the only thing I can remember was that it was equivalent to abandoning us in a freakingly smouldering ghost town for kicks.

and yes, it still is a ghost town

However, it's been five years now and going back there was just a pain. The only plus side was that on contrary to the freak heat that accompanied us in Form one, it actually rained the whole time. Perfect if you aren't lugging an expensive camera around...

And the only thing I remember about the journey to Putrajaya was CJ's endless harping about NS (you know Brandon, there is actually a .4% you might actually enjoy NS- not that I'm telling you to go. I'm still up for you becoming a fugitive somewhere, seeking political asylum XD) And the NS pick-up point was for some odd reason, in Putrajaya. I wonder why. Part of me thinks it's their way of laughing at you by making you come all the way to a city with buildings, facilities and wi-fi before they abandon you for three months in the wilderness. Ha!

But we got in trouble with security again.

See, there's this building/structure-like thingy in the Perbadanan Putrajaya which is apparently reserved only for special guests and big shots or what not. For what reasons I do not know, but whatever bites...

But anyways, none of us knew that it was actually meant for that purpose especially me, since the only reason why I was there was because CJ called me into the lift with Suek Mei and Kevin. And funnier still, we went up to the 9th floor, before realising that there was a security guard who was by now, chasing after us to get the hooters out of the place.

So we got confronted by a somewhat angry security. Interesting. But in the end, we just faked out by saying that we're not local and didn't know, all in English. And the poor security who probably couldn't speak just kept saying something on the likes of "tak boleh naik, tak boleh naik" or something.

So when we got chased out, then only did we realise the sign outside the lift that we swore wasnt there a while a go

Lif Khas, Urusan rasmi, Pejabat Presiden & Tetamu Presiden.

Ha!

Tetamu Presiden konon!

It was just amusing.

And we also went to Alamanda Putrajaya for lunch and deng, talk about ghost town. I wonder how the shops survived.

And much to my horror, Suek Mei, Kevin and CJ wanted Sushi King so yours dearly had to once again, succumb to the horror of Japanese food. >.<

and no, i did not eat all that, this was between me and CJ

And the bill for the four of us came up to a hundred over.

CJ'S hand. I have prettier fingers.

And Putrajaya is also an aeroplane route evidently. Every now and then, you'd just hear an engine and call it strange fetish, you look forward to an accompanying "kaboom!" or something.
But it never happens >.<

The mosque was not the object of my interest at the time this photo was taken. I was more interested in the little black speck in the distance XD

and we are also out of chocolate

:(

we are bacon

2008-08-25T15:19:00.004+08:00

Gah!

My friends have tuned pigs. They are either reduced to pictures, on hiatus or still celebrating chinese new year on their blogs

pssh

phooey...

2008-08-22T16:47:00.003+08:00

whew...

well, today i bore you with long cryptic texty posts because we're suffering from eddie-withdrawal syndromes XD

okay, okay, i kid...

i was actually feeling a little emo earlier this afternoon before meeting brandon for lunch because for some strange twisted reason that i still cannot explain now after a whole long walk in the rain after i got off the bus, i was swarmed over with pure concentrated guilt for being overly mean and unnecessarily defensive.

i take it that i've been doing a lot of that lately... people are already starting to think it my natural cognitive to be- well- like this. i even had a teacher asking me why the blazes aren't i doing law or something. pfft. like as though all law studs are defensive.

i don't know. maybe i'm starting to have that whole people issue again. you know the ones when you meet new people but you just kind of get kind of a bit too paranoid to know them better you end up making yourself look like a complete bitch/prick to hide the fact that you're kind of scared?

yeah, if only people saw it that way. i feel terrible but i'm too thick-faced to apologise.

so i blag.

but to be honest, we never meant to call anyone shallow...

so i'm sorry

this is me- trying to attain yet another zen moment before proceeding to do a research paper

2008-08-20T21:49:00.004+08:00

i think the only reason we blog is to give ourselves the impression that our life is actually more happening than it really is. x)

anyways...

i went out for some random excursion coined up entirely at the last minute on tuesday morning with the seniors. and yesh, last minute was real last minute coined up. here's how:

Monday morning at 9.30: woke up to phone call from unknown number. Horribly disgruntled, picked it up, turns out it was shirly using the school's line to tell us that the trip was on. No idea whatsoever where the place would be but just that the trip was on. all at 9.30 on a perfect rainy beautiful monday morning when you know you can go back to bed because there isnt any class that day.

talk about missing proper wms-esque old style organisation. i bet no one had to wake up at an obscene hour to know we're gonna be placed on a lousy bus for some random outing >.<

ironically, that wasn't the highlight of the day. we did end up going to the MYC! office in Jaya one, but to be blatantly truthful; i think the highlight of the day must have been when a bunch of us got trapped in the elevator for a whole 40 minutes.

stupid huh? you'd think the sensors would react and the doors wouldnt close or anything if we had exceeded the lift capacity by at least one but it did so we all thought that it'd be fine, until we pressed the button to the second floor.

that was when the lift lurched upwards before dropping a mere distance. nothing as dramatic as you see in the movies but enough to scare a bunch of 12 teenagers in a lift at the time.

for the first five minutes or so, we thought that it was pretty hilarious (you would too at the time) and didnt do much short of pressing the alarm however, after five minutes of no response, only did the reality of our predicament kicked in that we were actually stuck in the small elevator and no one was going to help us unless they were threatened with big sticks. and that sucked

it was a good thing that augustine wasn't stuck in the lift with us though, else i don't know how else we'd get out. pretty much, he was the only one who ran around finding security and all to get us out of the lift. and you know how malaysians are most of the time with their sick "bukan saya punya pasal" mentality.

so after half an hour of barking at security personnels and their superiors, they got the stupid key and after 40 minutes, managed to open the door to get us out. and that was the only one time we realised that the sunny tropics actually felt good.

*insert cue for eye rolling here*

and as of date, i'm pretty convinced that i'm probably the only person alive who has yet to watch the dark knight (save jiaw the jew) and it's all brandon's fault! -_-

brandon, when we're both old and grey and sitting in our rocking chairs, i will call my grandchildren and tell them how you abandoned me to watch the dark knight while i was stuck in the lift. then my grand children will beat up your grandchildren and we'll begin the war of the families like the corleones and the tataglias in the five family war in the godfather.

and the sanitary department will spend winter cleaning up more dead bodies on the streets than before *dum dum dummmm*

all because brandon watched the dark knight without me XD

anyways, brandon turns 17 next tuesday!!!! *insert wild cries of riots and ~~malicious damage~~* yay!

but i digress anyway, so its my fault i told the boy to watch it without me for the sake of avoiding a five family war in the near far future when brandon tells his grandkids on how he missed the one great movie of the year because his stupid friend was stuck in a lift.

fine fine, so at the end of the day it's still my fault but gee, the thought of a five family war- it's just so enticing that i had to come up with my own twisted version of a four family war. because i don't trust the otehrs with their sense of humour except the following. and if i had, i'm pretty sure it'd involve the this:
________________________________

*disclaimer* the following is entirely fictional and based on the twisted imagination of the sick author. any resemblance to the living is entirely coincidental*disclaimer*

timing: of course maybe somewhere in the near far future when we're all sitting in our own rocking chairs and telling our tales of the vietnam war. actually, scratch that, by then, we'll be talking about how the hike of fuel prices made us eat grains and potatoes during he nuclear winter o0

setting: crap, probably STILL in good old kl...

and the lot:

being the don jiam. PREFERABLY ROYALTY or as i would like to place it, the ace of spades. why? because i say so.

because we exploit hamsters to no end...

and her descent who would probably bear names like jude, kurt, tyler, noel or lennon. and im guessing a lot of hamsters would be involved. and from the sounds of it, i would probably be owning some power generator where we generate eletricity from exploiting hamsters by making them run in exaggerated amounts of hamster wheels. woot!

then we'll have don yew papa and he's evil aide don fox (only because i have this one picture of them together) and by now, you will find that yew papa is really an evil evil old man who watched the dark knight alone many years ago without her royal highness jiam and thus sparked the beginning of our four family warfare whereas mr fox is an old revengeful man who is sick after being asked the time by HER ROYAL HIGHNESS JIAM after 50 years or so...

"so what is the time now mr fox?"
"dinner time"

dum dum dummm!

(oh please, just ignore the fact that they're on the same bed. i don't even know how i got this picture)

then finally we have CJ who by now, has already earned 2 more alphabets to his name because CJ sounds ambiguously short. so it shall now be don CCJJ!

(he who has to learn that the cake is a lie)

the oil tycoon who loves his coconuts and despairs over the amount of petrol wasted over the years he has sent her royal highness jiam home. and all he wanted was cake but dear CCJJ, you need to learn that the cake is a lie... *insert cue for ominous background music here*

now add a whole lot of hamsters, foxes, riot on the streets and dark clandestine affairs... you only have it once...

because age is just a number- a very important number

2008-08-15T21:19:00.003+08:00

today, i bore you with long text filled posts.

I have had the most interesting time finding out that men (guys in my case, since I would hardly consider any of my male friends to be- men-just yet) are as sensitive about their age as we girls are.

Well, we girls being the general statement and yeah fine, I beg to differ because I'm probably the only 18 year old who can pass off as a form 2 kid whenever and wherever I want. Not that I'm complaining anyway, cause that's the good thing about looking young. You're forever young. Think- 30 years from now when we're all 48 and looking old. All my glamorous friends now, gee- they'd probably old then while I can pass off as who knows? 20, 30? and be a goddess for then and evermore.

x)

then again, that's just wishful thinking thrown in with self denial to create self contentment but whatever bites. I'm still gonna be a goddess. :)

But back to my point, guys are as sensitive as girls are with their age! I mean, now that I'm meeting a lot of people who're at least 5 to 12 years my senior, it's really funny once you start talking about age. I get all kind of responses,

"Old enough"

"Older than you"

"NOT that old but older than you"

"Maybe a little bit older"

"Damn you"

Yeah, the last one's ultimately common.

The conversation then steers into a game of 20 questions where you end up guessing their ages and then you need to say something like 25 to flatter them. Anything above that limits, and they get awfully offended.

Gosh, what happened to the times when you could ask men anything albeit how much they earned? Men now are more conscious than us I believe sometimes...

But on a side note, there was this woman at the jewelry fair last month who taught me that the easiest way to find out how old a guy is is by giving an age so ridiculously impossible like 40 and 50 because their natural defensive system would kick in and they would hence reveal their true age. I don't know if that was true but it did work on the guy we were questioning. So if anyone begs to differ, well, you know how to reach me XD

But hey, isn't age suppose to be just a number? (insert cue for jiaw jew to say "a very important number" here)I mean, the more people I meet, the more I realise that age does not necessarily distinguish you really...

Okay, fine- so I still find the vast difference between a 16 year old and the average 18 year old now but sometimes, a 21 year old and a 30 year old- they're still pretty much the same. Not like just because he's 30 he's like way too above us all and totally can't speak our language. It's not that once you're 30, there's like this button to press where your paternal/maternal instincts turn to full blast and you start having different views and read only the newspapers yadda yadda yadda...

So hey, I mean, really, the next time I ask someone their age, I expect to get a straight forward answer. A direct number would be simple enough. You don't even have to tell me what year, what month and please for the love of humanity and peace on earth forever more, please PLEASE do not tell me something like "I'm a pig" Because I sometimes get that. And it annoys me

Ever experienced this? You ask someone their age or how old someone is and you get answers like these:

"I'm a pig"

or

"She's a monkey"

Because dengit I don't know my zodiac signs! Heck- I'm a certified true yellow banana! I don't speak mandarin, I don't read chinese and I definitely don't know my zodiac signs so next time, just tell me you're age and not that you're a pig because I know you're a pig and I'm glad you admit it, oh man...

Nevertheless, it's been fun watching people squirm about the age question. And I know it gets funnier once it's over 20 but hey hey, it's just me your goddess speaking here.

:)

they have crazed deranged crushes on geeks

2008-08-14T13:57:00.002+08:00

mmm... geeks... :D

megalomaniac issues

2008-08-03T19:30:00.003+08:00

thou shalt not attempt to punch royalty in the face...

especially in front of the camera

hello world. there are many ways of creating programs which print out hello world. i know so cause i know. and royalties have their means of knowing :)

anyways, busy week and a pretty eventful one... for one, i watched x files with eugene on wednesday for that tinge of nostalgia when tv2 showed x files after the simpsons and le femme nikita back in 98. ahh... how the familiarity of it all comes flooding back to me now...

nevertheless, i still have yet to watch the dark knight for that matter and i blame brandon and his stupid maa and relatively cheap tickets for panic. though brandon, heck i won't pay 60 to watch them in a big tv in bukit jalil.

and while you're reading this (and probably telling yourself what the hell is wrong with this woman) royalty demands you come out next this coming saturday or i beat you with so many things you'd think you were a taiwanese politician!!!! XD

and gosh, i went to the butterfly and orchid park on tuesday for some photography assignment and pretty much- that place hasn't changed one bit. For one, they're still selling drinks at ridiculous prices (probably trying to cheat foreigners) that we'd rather walk back to the car under the hot sun to drink our by then, close to boiled water. i hate living in the tropics sometimes.

though, it was lucky CJ drove us there else i don't know how else we'd probably survive walking all the way from the blasted butterfly park to the orchid parks. (oh- and just for the record: butterflies are too pretty for my liking and i have more fun watching grass than flowers.)

and can you believe it? we actually got lost on the way there! don't know how that happened, we missed the nine o clock at the round a bout and ended up going all the way to kl sentral before getting on the correct road and then missing the turning to the blasted park again -_- i gather that you should have a pretty empty tank after that CJ?

though that wasn't really so bad... you so totally wouldn't believe how impudent some malaysian drivers are!

we were on the way back, leaving the parks and there was like this y in the road. so we had to take this turn or something and then this stupid motorcyclist came speeding our way just as we were about to turn as well and go then you can probably figure the scenario at that moment. luckily no one got hurt then but then this motorcyclist practically gave us this face like as though his grandfather owns the road and and started following us and stopping somewhere ahead, probably wanting us to stop as well or something... it was like only the two of us in the car though else it probably wouldn't be that scary and i was like "omg CJ go faster, don't stop" and we didnt. but a few seconds later, that motorcyclist sped after us (i'd say he tailgated us actually) before speeding taking over us taking time to glare at us and curse at us probably in malay (i wouldn't know cause the windows were closed XD). How impudent! he was the one speeding in the first place!

and as horrible as it sounds, i really wondered what would happen if he had crashed into a divider or something while taking the time to glare and curse at us...

sheesh.

but on a lighter note, the college party on friday wasn't really that bad. the enrollment of new 1.1s this semester were pretty reasonable and i wonder if me and nia broke the record for visual communications with only two students. though pretty obvious that interactive multimedia broke the record with having no students at all in the january 2008 intake XD

and behold the birth of my eddie made of felt and the remaining polyester i had. CJ I WANT MY STUFFING BACK!

<3

though eddie here (god knows why jiaw jew named it after my guitar teacher though- if i recall, he's not bald or blue and she's never seen him before XD) is only the first prototype. i expect to have more eddie juniors soon so i can have a whole family of eddies!!!! *joy!*

and christian has left for america. ~~i think i'll actually miss that idiot~~ and it's so weird cause i've known that guy for more than half of my life now... we've been to the same kindergarten, the same primary school, the same high school and he went to the same college as jia wei. it's weird that he's gone now cause so repulsively memorable. for one, he's probably the only one (asides eddie, who's older so it doesnt matter much) i know who knows how to do the mc hammer slide o0

but anyways, there are things to do as of now, i am not spam. i am royalty.

cheerio!!!

p/s: PYOONGJIE TURNS 17 NEXT WEEK!!!!

P/P/S: oh right, yeah. with reference to the previous post, im sorry suet 0.0 i meant no offense to you, my dear psycho student yang disayangi. XD

and i dont know who else i offended cause i forget names. leave your smelly name in the comments and i'll give you a public apology so you can stop cursing me at night when i'm trying to sleep...

have a pleasant day!

i draw smiley faces on condensation

2008-07-24T16:40:00.002+08:00

Busy week.

I found out how blogs can affect your working career in the distant future.

So over the last weekend I got meself a job at the Malaysian International Jewelry Fair as a sales promoter to one of the retailers stores. The pay was semi-okay but the job was tedious. Pretty much, for the whole four days, we were pretty much just walking around the store and stalking customers who enter our booth and naming every stone available. It was sickening sometimes, how women are around their stones.

Some of course didn't really give a hoot on what stones they wore as long as it was shiny and pretty. Others on the contrary demanded to know every single name of the semi precious stone they picked up. If that's not bad enough, some women demanded to know the 'feng shui' attributes to each stone.

So having lived though that, I'd best say that my four day experience there had thought me a thing or two about lying convincingly. For example, any stone that's shiny and clear is a quartz and anything that was milky is some sort of moonstone.
Anything blue is an amazonite and everything had a feng shui attribute for beauty and something beneficial to the spleen. I don't care.I mean- come now, you don't expect them women to recall the name of the stone they bought say a month now and which attributes it holds?

So that's that anyways, long hours and procrastination of assignments are over so i was working on a research topic for my ARCS class becasue i had pullled that one off for too long. Wasn't too easy though to find a topic and stick to it till the end of the term. If it were some research where we just do a short paper on i'd probably choose something easy like something that i can't really think of right now.

Jia wei gave me the idea for curiousity. And I pictured myself standing in the courtyard of raffles, starring at block B just to see the reaction of respondents and how long it takes for their curiousity to be piqued... Somewhere here...

Okay, so that was pretty random. This shot was taken by Daffee randomly when he was using my camera. It's interesting what you get when you let someone handle your camera for a few minutes. Say for example I had a lot of shots of the staffroom when I let Augustine use my camera.

But coming back to my point, I don't really like sociology or any study that attempts to analyse the human mind. I would ratehr take my chances with robbers and terrorists than to be analysed by anyone be it my boss, the government or even a psychologist sometimes.

Like how Randall Munroe puts it...

I take it he's not very fond of sociologists and psychologists either XD

Anways, being the secret leader of some underground top secret female movement who plot to anihilate the next y bearer in the vincinity, Jia wei told me to do a research on gender bias. So be it, I'm done and happy and ghay as the next person can be.

*joy*

Which leaves me a somewhat bearable of workload to procrastinate next.

MCKL Treasure Hunt this Saturday. It's nice to be able to team up with a guy who lets me call our group the federal high court of Estonia. Right Brandon?

Oh. And there are weird signboards in Bangkok. Really weird ones. Like this:

The alien is green in colour

second best. as it is...

2008-07-09T16:00:00.002+08:00

Love. It's something we should all know by now. Or at least some of us claim to know it. Some of us actually do know it. But then some of us merely don't. To be honest, I don't think I do.

I figured that the masses would probably interpret it as the kind of adrenaline and mind chemical stimulation in the brain when they see someone they fancy. The whole usual make-my-knees-weak-while-i-fumble-for-the-right-things-to-say-so-i-don't-end-up-
looking-like-an-idiot-to-you thing... Hollywood has to take the blame for that. How else do you describe love to someone? There never was a Love 101 course for beginners to begin with.

So since when did love have to be about meeting the someone who gives you the fuzzies? Why do we so often tend to overlook the little things like your fat stretching hamster that makes you want to poke it with the blunt end of your pencil? Or the really loyal friend who was up with you all night until four when you needed him most? Or the fact that your mother forgave you when you made her so pissed with the myriads of things you do from not keeping the dry dishes to having being caught by her when you were secretly seeing someone?

Personally, I think that maybe we try to dig too deep to find the meaning of love for that matter. To me, I guess it would be about trust. Placing your trust in something or someone by knowing that no matter what, your trust is returned even without it having to be said verbally. But don't take a leaf out of my book yet, for I am probably without a doubt the one most likely to have a screwed up interpretation of the accursed word.

Close friends and family (perhaps?)would probably have known what I've been through lately. It wasn't easy and it really did hit me right in the kisser when i least expected it. But it can't be denied that it did happen and there was nothing I could do but transcend from each five stages of acceptance one by one. To say that I am fully cured from it would be a lie. The reality might have sunken in, but the hurt has not really gone.

So compromise. We hate it. No one likes second best. But sometimes we just don't have any other choices. Take it from Hobbes. He said that it's wiser to hold fast when you can and compromise when you have to. And I'd say that that's way more mature than I expect to be. But with age comes maturity and like the rest of us, it's something I have to embrace. And even when it pains me to do so, I have to. Because we've all learnt that you may not have the best. But you can still have second best. Or a cookie.

I'd rather the cookie sometimes.

But to compromise, sometimes we need to fabricate the truth. Whatever that will keep us going, and as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Would I say that I'm proud of myself? Not really. But it's like living with regrets. You just need to live with it and get on...

At the end of the day, I've learnt to be more careful with my trust.Because when the truth comes sailing your way at wind speed, it will bludgeon you in the face. Antibiotics might heal it. But no cosmetic surgery will ever be able remove the scar that it has placed on you.

It's true. I hate the truth. Because there isn't an intermediate with the truth. It either offers you salvation or throws you into the pit. That's why people lie so much. That's why I lie so much.

I don't know where the roads will go from here. It's cold out and dark. But I sure wish I could find it. Because all I want to do now is go back home. But as I turned to find my way back home, the snow turned into rain.

talking to the songbird yesterday

2008-06-26T15:17:00.005+08:00

yes i was and no, i'm not schizophrenic cause it wasn't a voice in my head.

the songbird wanted to know if all fans of psychedelic rock were heathens and sick people who would die an untimely gruesome death seeing that almost all the gold rated psych songs have been framed to contain certain messages of doom and evil and whatever it is that people who say it is, is...

and i really didn't know the answer to the question but i thought that in any case, amnesty should be granted to those people for having a pretty damn fine taste in music in the first place and then i thought, hell yeah- we deserve our amnesty!

so for that matter as well, i think double amnesty should also be granted to those who spent their whole life trying to pronounce this:

and for the smart alecs who're going to tell me that it's pronounced as "jimmypagejohnpauljonesjohnbonhamrobertplant", i will beat you up with sticks.

for what matters, the only person i found who seems pretty confidant of pronouncing this album's name (in case you're wondering where this strange inscription came from) is christian.

for me, i pronounce it as the four symbols. :) ahahaha!!!

(alright, alright, i was kidding, no really, put that rock down, i wasn't trying to insult your intelligence, i was just trying to prove my point that certain things just can't be pronounces as a single word like "xkcd" and aeiou")

wait, wait- i'm not done yet. in case you're wondering, NO, i'm not going to devote this whole entire post to led zeppelin and beg jimmy page to have my kids cause that would just be ambiguously GHAY on so many levels and because i'm above that. and also the fact that to be really really honest, i'm not say led zeppelin's biggest fan girl because fair and square, listening to only a few songs doesn't make you a fan. it just makes you adventurous.

:)

and after all, LZ'S only synonymous with several songs. and i believe that's enough. but then say for example you've never heard of stairway to heaven, (note, i said "heard of" not "heard". because everyone has heard of stairway to heaven but not necessarily they've actually listened it. yet) have a moment of silence (while i'm triumph over my getting amnesty) and have a go at this pretty picture of a stairway to heaven. the song's about say 8 minutes longer but that's pretty much short. konstantine goes on for 9 minutes so this is still undoubtly, shorter :)

and i DON'T know quite really how this is even relevant in the first place but i've been told by overzealous religious people that getting to like stairway to heaven puts you on a highway to hell.

maybe someone out there knows why and would like to share with me.

oh do note jimmy's page solo at about 5.34 (which people say is his finest o0) and the higher verses that follow. and i mean "higher" as in literally.

jia wei swears the solo is extra long to enable robert plant to get into a tighter pair of jeans and hence, the higher decibel...

see why i say sciencey people shouldnt be granted the amnesty??? -_-

though, most people tend to get turned off by this song in the first two minutes due to the slow progression about the lady who knows when the shops are all closed but i beg to differ as the first two minutes of the songs is the only part that i've somehow mastered on the guitar. yeah yeah- i know- the whole song's just basic chords plucked in a fixed pattern but i'm still a green horn at this alright so you might as well just let me have my two minutes of being smug *smug grin* yeah- so let me know when you'd like to listen to smug ming play a tune and i'll get back to you.

on another note, apparently in the immigrant song (bbc sessions) christian says that you can hear them tuning. i wouldn't know but i guess you could check it up and get back to me... *shrugs does the person who can't tune her own guitar without a ~~tuna~~ tuner*

but on a side note- you know you're pretty lifeless and ought to shot in the kneecaps when you're ringing tone is highway to hell during chinese new year... ahahah-ha-ha-ha..... (okay- fine so that was prety bad but oh well)

and on another note (crap! why do i love notes so much?!) maybe i'm not so much of a led zeppelin or an acdc person ... i also like things that go "i want to hold your hand"

and things that tell you that they wanna take you down cause they're going to strawberry fields and nothing is real.

... it's a pretty song that really incorporates the psychedelic groove to it. i wouldnt know of course if the beatles did the song while high on cannabis ~~or what it is pia has to offer~~ but it's a pretty song.

dumb music video of course, and call it weird or call it a strange fetish for watching jim sturgess pin strawberry to a white canvas while it bleeds juice in the most exaggerated way, i quite like the cover that across the universe did... it's goes something like this

^^ joy!

though, i fail to comprehend why across the universe didn't include help (the song and not the college as a setting you stink eyed anti matter)and penny lane in the movie. it would have justified things better cause no offense, i am the walrus was toooo- psychedelic if i say so myself. and technically speaking, i say i am the walrus doesnt require you to have a drug to feel it. heck it is a drug by itself!!!

and no matter how you slice it, i've always preferred the beatles when they looked like this:

gay, happy and young.

and from that- they became- this:

...

and omg this post is evident proof that i have nothing else better to do or it seems..

and gosh- there's this other song called sing by blur that's so psychedelic i'm like o0 and 00 and 0o. (eugene says i have abnormal eyes.)it's pretty much some random song i stumbled upon when i was compiling an entire project on one of the bands for an assignment, but no matter how you slice it- you don't hear this kind of songs anymore. i don't know why. whether or not it's cause the stations are afraid that someone'd end up like this:-

exploding into smaller colourful liquid components while playing the electric and wherever you are, the entire room will turn into a bright shade of red and blues and uber cool hues.

or because people these days prefer to listen to people asking them to touch their bodies and are wanting to bring sexy back- i think it's either me being born waay to late or i'm mud. (and no- i've never brought sexy back, though there were a few occasional times when idiot came instead o0)

but hark! there will come a day when the world is a much better place and jiam dates men who pins strawberries to outstretched canvasses. people will cross the streets in bright blue tunics and yellow and red spirals will emit from their back in the most psychedelic way ever possible and peace be on earth forever more for all humanity and mankind and the many blessed generations to come!

of chauvinistic bitches and insensitive bastards

2008-06-25T18:10:00.005+08:00

people are such jerks sometime you're considered lucky if you do find someone who you can stand.

otherwise, they're just all the same: selfish, insensitive and hypocrites.

or maybe it's just the guys who are such jerks sometimes.

click here if you have nothing else to do because you know i'm a very sweet girl

i can write poems too honey, you just don't understand it yet.

2008-06-16T15:10:00.003+08:00

0000100001100001
00010111011001001
0010001010010101
01101010
0110011010100010
0001100001000011001
0001000110000100011
000100010000100000
00011100101001010101
010001000101010
0010001001
001100010001000
001110010110111000
0110001000010000

because i only date men who write love poems in binary numbers
=)

cheers.

*update*

it's 10.55 pm

and i've found my geek friend

this is me- trying to attain a zen moment after illustrator just crashed on two hours worth of work

2008-06-12T16:40:00.006+08:00

Hello world!

due to the massive amount of pictures that will follow, i'm realigning the alignment for this post.

i'm listening to what seems like a bunch of hobos singing in a drunken stupor into the microphone. i like it =)

aye, yes, i know. i really should be working on my assingments for now but illustrator, the brainchild of the guys at adobe when they were high, had just crashed on me yet again.

which makes me realise how photoshop really isn't that bad!

That among other stuff as well.

but in any case relevant,

i was at the f&n freestlyz design competition last saturday if you recall my previous ramblings. three days pretty much, at the curve where the 8 finalist including yours truly was treated to a four day three night stay at the Royale Bintang for hooks.

MING, MING get it right for goodness sake you MENG-ERS!

at least it's in the other town. imagine if it were a stay at cititel. i'd be able to open the windows and go "hey jia wei! look that's where we live! woot! let's throw things!" and that would be so weird on so many levels -_-

though the competition was really on saturday, we were pretty much taken up from thursday to then since we had to attend one off workshop which really wouldn't be that bad if they had proper time management- but then again, that's just one of the things you need to be malaysians right? lambat skit tak per la. (even if it's for a whole 2 hours !@#!$??!)

but for the competition, i got tarrant to help me anyways, since everyone was so concern if i could reach the top of the six foot mocker. (sucks to you brandon) it was a pretty big can and we had to get the last one. can number 8, the can right in front of the speakers WHICH wouldn't be that bad if i were a fan of hip hop or r&b. nevertheless, it was pretty much me and him for the next six hours that followed.

me attaining a zen moment with my big can

the piazza

Yay! MING it is!!

yes, it actually rained.

then of course there was augustine and shirly, the world's best lecturer's who actually came to support us and tell us what to do for the whole six hours XD

shirly in the hoodie

augustine walking about.

a bit of a cheat- but hey, that's just plain living right? of course i did get the privilege to see augustine's other half later on, heh heh.

...

the voodoo doll that was more the favourite

last minute touch up
then of course kudos to suek mei too who would have been helping me instead of mr ming saver if it werent for a last minute back ache. still, she did come anwyay, all the way from cheras which was pretty thoughtful in any case. =)

i think this guy's from tar

i thought this one was pretty cool actually

...

heh, a darkness and demon can done by a not entirely emo 17 year old

i believe she's from lim kok wing

love his dragon.

the winning can.

was also suppose to meet the other guys (being my favourite mr fox (people call him eugene. i dont know why), my darling pia and that thing that responds to the name dexter. (incredible huh?!)) later that night for dinner (on me- see jason what you've missed out?) and i really didn't realise that dexter had came so early until i was looking through some photos and saw him there.

^and i saw him standing there

^my shirt! i ruined my shirt!

tarrant trying to get his point across that he needed to wash his hands

dinner was japanese. laugh if you must. i never understood why people like japanese food when half the time, you're either eating something raw or something lethal. i have issues with japanese because i usually do not eat noodles that has a thicker diameter than 0.3 mm, and japanese soba, udon or whatever it is, are all thicker than the limit. see. i have issues....

pia tried on a pink dress. i can't believe dexter didn't take a picture. ugh!

the winner of the competition was announced later on that night anyways. pia had to go back cause she wanted to take a ride in a fire engine and the guy with the bra won.

no seriously. this dude came from kedah and he had the alge-bra on his can. pity i dont have a picture of it though. the person holding my camera probably thought it was too vulgar for me =( but it was really amusing on so many levels. how la not to win??

thats the open zip. unleash your imaginations.

but all in all, at least daffee's lame joke about getting a year's worth of f&n beverages remained a fiction or i would have regurgitated my soul.

...

it was pretty entertaining though for a whole weekend worth of stuff even if it meant that i had to bribe my lectureres with donuts due to my incomplete work later on.

and YES! i finally got back my wacom stylus. the poor thing that i threw across the room the otehr night when illustrator corrupted my file. it was a sudden burst of emotions- you can't blame me! but here i have it now, brand new and working <3 and to top that up, i have three cans on my table now should the same predicament occur again

^^

anyways, i should be going now- don't forget to check up on tarrant's long awaited realisation that the whole john lennon phase wasn't going to get him anywhere even if he stood on the third floor and sang come together at the top of his lungs that we could here him from the top floor.

cheers to all you smurfs and bohos!

the misadventures of bubble boy

2008-06-02T13:17:00.005+08:00

i have not updated this thing for a month now and to be honest, the only reason why i'm doing this perhaps is due to tarrant who happened to bring this up yesterday.

did i also forget to mention that ever since i started at raffles, i have not written anything longer than 5 sentences when most of the time, i'm usually writing my name, my class and the subject. description boards do not count because they're written on illustrator so i hardly count that as writing, but typing.

my g2's are still fully loaded and i need not had to buy refills since spm. i have lost the need for correction tape, or liquid paper because white paint markers had taken their place.

my stationeries have become dusty and miserable and my language has deteriorated since the day i said "he is going to ipoh to find relatives."

my writing had been replaced with fonts. mostly tw cen mt. and although helvetica is no doubt the most common font used by graphic designers, i can attest that finding free helvetica fonts is hell (pun not intended) for half the time, you're forced to download the rip off called coolvetica or some other replacement. your best bet would be to download it off ares or if i'm feeling nice, i.m me and i can send you the ttf but don't be too excited though- i personally don't really like the font that much compared to other sans serifs but everyone's his own so get it from me if you want to and see for yourself why this font is so widely used.

but on another note, i really did not start writing here again to promote ttf fonts or ares.

aye- this is merely a side track to the documentation that was suppose to follow but eitherway, guess what? i won 1000 for this!

this in case you're wondering is the f&n freestyle design competition which to be brutally honest, i wouldn't have joined if shirley had not forced it unto us as part of our assignment. eitherway, she sent this for the preliminaries and i got shortlisted as 8 of the finalist who'd be going to the curve this saturday to draw on the 6 foot mock can.

for that, i won a four day three night stay at royal bintang damansara and 1 grand. easy money huh? ka-ching!

of course the catch is that most of the cash would probably be gone to buying materials to coat the 6 foot mock. when i go to central market to buy my ten cans of red spray paint, i wonder if i would be suspected a loan shark... hmm...

but anyways, what i find most ironic about this whole competition is how i don't want to win the grand finale. guess why? the prize is an art learning trip to japan. of all places- why japan? the country situated on three tectonic plates and most disliked by me preceeding blackmores land. japan? hello?? even hong kong or lithuania or heck even elbonia would suffice. but japan? what did i ever do to deserve this blasphemy?!

will be heading to central market on thursday anyway. the one place where cheapskate artists like me go to buy our stuff cause we can't afford nanyang and the one place where people do double takes when i come out with an oversized mounting card under my arm for they may be hoping i'm a proud nudist for PETA. well- tough luck busters! PBBT!!!!

by the way- singing the chorus of won't go home without you at the top of your lungs annoys jiaw jiaw to no ends. brandon and tarrant, are you reading this? =)

cheerio!

mr blue

2008-04-21T17:29:00.004+08:00

my first attempt at illustrator didnt go too bad as i expected. =D anyway- the original's on the left. the mounted one on mounting board was a vectorised conversion of the original which christian gave me a math formula for. i didn't find it funny at all.

things i want to do before i kick the bucket (part one)

1) ~~go to nuntucket~~
2) scream profanities down the stairwell (sounds easy enough but i can't bring myself to do it. yet)
3) get caught in a hailstorm
4) witness a demonstration and watch brandon get arrested. (without needing to bail him out)

sickening itsn't it- how brandon actually went to KLCC on monday to watch the ending of the torch run. just so happens that i didnt have class then else KLCC is like what- one stop away from my school? ish *swears* not fair! and to add salt to the wound, it sucks worse that this year was just a lucky year that they choose to come here- but nooo0000--- smelly protestors like brandon have to go and create a ruckus for the whole thing.

don't get me wrong- i am in for human's rights as much as the next person is- and at the same time, so am i in for China as a developing nation. but somehow, i just don't agree that people should really go on bringing in this issue at of all things- the olympics... i mean- come now- how is it going to help at all besides a few broken bones and a more defamation suits against china- like it isnt bad enough already how people in the "west side" go "mainland chinese" in that peculiar manner.

how would rioting or attempting to blow the flame out help out much anyway? i mean- it's not like they can cancel the olympics and have it is elbonia or somewhere like that now can they? and since when did politics enter the sports arena.

don't get me mistaken- i'm not one of an olympic enthusiast who subscribe to astro for this few months to get life coverage- cause truth be told- i'm not at all a sports person- i don't even know who's going and who's representing. the only reason why i'm making this point now is merely because i was hoping that brandon would get arrested or watercannoned or something seeing how radical he is. heh heh

but on a lighter note- did i ever mention how i despise two day weeks? i

for one- it's dead boring ><

i mean- sure, you'd think it'd be nice and all- so relaxed but in actual fact- it's equivalent to study breaks. cause you know you're suppose to use those three day breaks to finish up your assignments like these instead of hatching the next plot on how to find an oil rig in your back yard or something like the sort...

this was for graphic design on typography. the whole thing was hand drawn with artline pens and a lot of ink. i believe this was the third or fourth attempt...

seriously- and for some of the foreign students like christopher (he's indonesian by the way) he's so bored since he doesn't have to do moral he practically has a one day week that he's thinking of getting a job part time as a waiter. and you think that going to school/ college sucks

but then again, i guess the grass is always greener on the other side eh?

speaking of green- it was world earth day yesterday and instead, i switched on the computer and the laptop in one go probably contributing to the mass of heat being emmited somewhere out there. *guilt* and i guess it'd only be fair to point partial blame to someone else that i had to settle certain things with. blecch

this one didnt go so good anyway- meh

i wonder how it'd feel like screaming profanities down the stairwell all the way from the 11th floor....

2008-04-16T14:14:00.003+08:00

very tempting indeed....

so...

everybody wants to be a critic now. politics dah stable dah mula nak marah schoolbook pulak? it's amusing... from our the guy among kevin rudd's people and his friend still in kl to the two time senior in mckl that doesn't quite have anything to do with the class of 07's yearbook. everybody hates it huh?

well-
to be honest, i haven't quite seen it yet as i sadly lack a sibling in wms to pick it up. in fact, the only glimpse i had of it was of small little pictures in peak sheng's blog. yep. and to be honest, i guess it's really no one's fault actually that the little things weren't taking into consideration before sent for off set printing.

it's funny how spending only four months in this trade and i can actually trouble shoot the entire problem. i guess they are teaching us the right stuff at raffles anyway. joy.

but other than that, i refuse to join the band wagon of throwing stones at the school magazine because in a way, i can picture worse stuff that could actually happen to the mag. way worse stuff...

i mean-come on- the cover really isn't that bad! i mean- i seriously think it'd suit the cover of a malay resaturant pretty well. just add two holes in the corner and bind it up with a chopstick and hay stack string and i think it'd actually look like a darn impressive menu for an asian fusion restaurant =D (only that wms isn't an asian fusion restaurant. phooey)

yerr... so kesian la- the people behind it who're probably being ambushed right now... i mean- maybe their shift button wasn't working when they were resizing the pictures? i mean- you can't go wrong with the shift button when you want to maintain dimension while resizing pictures right?

awww.... but i guess their main problem was the colour mode i suppose... maybe if they had switched the mode from rgb to cmyk it wouldn't be that bad. At least the colours would appear closer to the original that way. i myself actually made that mistake several times when i sent things for print.

probably the only thing which i'm not too fond off could be the fonts. but that's about it. i guess in a way, we should remember that wms isn't a design institute after all... oh well...

anyways, silly bedtime party on friday. i can't believe we're actually going to have to go to schoool in pyjamas. for a barbeque. you know, i never quite realised how dirty barbecues are until i had to get the wire mesh for the pit that day. ew!

new students aren't particularly to pleased with the ordeal too i guess... CJ kept making cynical remarks and being absolutely stingy about the cash. people like him make me want to spit.

awww...

signing off with deepest regrets to them who can't sleep at night because classes of 07 are mad at them.

Semi-Protect the Constitution!

2008-04-07T16:20:00.005+08:00

I seem to be reading a lot of XKCD lately. Not my fault!

I write this in the office today. Volunteered to help for reasons unknown to even myself. Don't you hate it when you do something without knowing why you did it in the first place?

And for the record, since so many seem to be questioning my almost ominous presence on messenger lately, I'm only having a three day week this term leaving my Mondays and Thursdays free for psychedelic mushrooms. Don't expect it to last though, the term barely begun. Before we all know it, I'd probably be ranting about being unable to get what nots and what dos as I did for em smelly chalkboards.

Friday's are no longer as enjoyable as they used to be. I have classes until six on that day (although we know that my classes are never quite the four hour classes they're suppose to be) and trust me, switching form one labs to another for digital illustration and image processing is like a total re-enactment of last year's ICT classes minus the Brandon who'll be dozing off half way through Access and the other things more pleasant to the eyes to view after class.

Worst off still is the in between breaks between the two classes that either leave you with no place to go or an hour worth of Sinfest and more XKCD. You'd think it'd be fun but I personally have more fun watching grass grow. I suspect that my constant gazing at the computer screen's the cause for my insomnia. >< oh whine.

I still can't forgive Augustine for making us waste our time and ink on this. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Mona Lisa who has apparently gone dotty.

Call me a cheap bastard who has no value on art, but now every time I see the Mona Lisa, I just keep thinking about this one instead:

Marcel Duchamp is a genious. And for the record, L.H.O.O.Q would read "Elle a chaud au cul". Let's just overlook it's horny meaning pretend it means she's hot. X)

Oh. Guess what? I still haven't received my Honour's Day invitation yet. Guess the postmen must really hate me huh? But speaking of which, the subject prize award for ICT really did come as a surprise. I now have license to delete your BIOS.

Anyways, i don't cam whore enough, so here's replacement:

I c0uldn't help but realise how Mr. President here looks a bit like a meercat. XD. Sorry Jason, love thy neighbour!

i have an issue with bad english

2008-04-05T00:09:00.003+08:00

i know i have found my hero when i enter stairway to heaven in you tube and get this.

click here to see what my kid will be like

my first narrative post in ages =D

2008-04-01T21:55:00.005+08:00

so today was my first day back at college following our one week break which albeit the fact is really only for a week, it sure beats those nights staying up to three to work on my balcony model and other miscellaneous things (like the creative journal. man i'm a bit worried about that one, i thought the last entry looked obviously rushed... >,<) and your's truly is now a 2.1-er.

so totally beats being a 1.1. the number ones usually give me a feeling of insecurity. you know, with the whole 'standard one', 'form one', '1.1'. but speaking of em 1.1-ers, those lucky bastards supposedly only come in next week so i guess i'll probably be seeing more of them around, hopefully.

i yearn for other spm freshies, but you know how it is, always being the crumpet in the dim sum tray. only that this time round, the crumpet's not in a dim sum tray anymore... i think i'll probably call it an asian buffet. yeah. "like crumpets in my asian buffet" i like that name... XD

Anyways, it was shirly's class today, Graphic Design where she actually dismissed us at 10.30. can you imagine that? i got to college at 9.30 and we were actually done by 10.30. WTF?!! so for that matter, i refused to leave college until 12 cause i thought it'd be weird to spend a longer time getting home than in college and spent rest of the time reading xkcd and sinfest. joy...

Of course there wasn't much we could do, i mean, with the 1.1's probably joining us next week and all, but that didn't save us the assignments eitherway.

yet another bloody research on graphic designers/firms, half of the names on the list i hardly know (actually, i take that back. there were 23 names on the list and the only names that struck me were paul smith and manolo. i guess i really don't know my designers at all huh?)

yeah, in the end, i got stuck voluntarily with some design consultancy firm named Graphic Thought Facility that apparently did the business environment for Mark & Spencers. Don't ask me how I got stuck with this in the end.. the initial idea was to run a quick search on all 23 names to see which had the longest entry in wiki but that backfired due to time constraints and i ended up looking for names that appealed to me.

of course the name Experimental Jetset did but for a moment i was worried that all they did were jet sets and that'd just be pushing this project into a tight corner.

This was suppose to emulate the design concept that GTF used for their Frieze Art Fair which featured mostly photography... i know what brandon and jia wei's thinking. cheap rip-off from GHOST right? you know, the part during the beginning credits when nazruddin rahman's name is mentioned amidst a black and white image of a barren tree. yeah. i thought so too. but not many people watch Malaysian series so shhh.... let this be our dirty little secret (albeit the fact that it has just been typed out for all to see...)

the ori ones are obviously so much nicer but jiam's a lazy bastard.

Makes me wish i had a better camera. one that's not too noisy (yoong jie, that pun was for you)

cheers!