Post #300!

To honour this momentous occasion of my 300th post, here's a picture that reveals something about myself.



G took a picture of this picture (heh) from the newspaper about a little piglet who absolutely refused to walk in the mud! And so the farmer had to make little piggylet booties for it, and wearing them, the piggylet's happily romping around in the mud now! How amazing is that?

Yup, I'm a piggy zodiac sign and I hate getting my feet dirty.

Nothing to write so...

Stingy ain't good

A plumber came over today to check out all the problems with my... plumbing, of course... and to give me a quote for work that needs doing.

He quoted me RM600 for half a day's work! That nearly got me fainting, cuz I didn't expect the quote to be so high. Just leaking taps here and there and a blocked toilet bowl.

After that, I thought to myself, if a plumber can charge RM600 for half a day's work, why can't I? Why do people make noise if I give them a quote that is probably lower than a plumber's quote, hour for hour? I don't understand the mindset of these people who want nice things, nicely designed, nice stationery for their company, nice websites, nice everything... and yet can't bear to pay out for it.

Just remember... you get what you pay for.

Jonathan Strange casting

To anyone who has anything to do with the Jonathan Strange film:

Tom Hollander for the gentleman with the thistle down hair!
Tom Hollander for the gentleman with the thistle down hair!
Tom Hollander for the gentleman with the thistle down hair!
Tom Hollander for the gentleman with the thistle down hair!
Tom Hollander for the gentleman with the thistle down hair!
Tom Hollander for the gentleman with the thistle down hair!
Tom Hollander for the gentleman with the thistle down hair!

Can't stop the music!

I'm going crazy with Mark Mancina's Blood+ soundtracks! The music is driving me insane with its haunting beauty and emotion. Plus, I've just finished watching Blood+ till the end, and to say I can't stop thinking about it is an understatement. I'm traumatised by all that's happened. I'm going mad, I tell you. And I can't stop the music! I can't stop it!

Korean BBQ Yumster

Last weekend, I was feeling kinda bored, so I called a few of my kaki for dinner. Dan, Bin, Thila and Lapsap (sorry, dunno what other name to give ya) joined me for a Korean BBQ dinner at Seok Gun in SS2. My first experience in Malaysia.



Since Lapsap is almost a Korean himself, we bade him do all the ordering. Happily, he ordered in Korean and we put all our trust in his tastebuds.

He proved himself to us with a wonderful dinner of beef, pork (there was pork, wasn't there? Or did we accidentally get a double order of chicken?), chicken and 3 types of soup. All very tasty except for that beancurd soup thingy. Can't tell you not to order that since I've no idea what it's called.



Those are all the side dishes that accompanied our order. Had fun trying them all, but I dunno if I'd have all of them again the second time. Nothing really stood out for me but maybe I just had a taste amalgamation situation in my mouth with all the spices.



That's Thila on the left, dreaming of Jason Castro of American Idol fame. Unfortunately, Jason himself was dreaming of Bob Marley.

I just had a thought: Isn't it funny how all my dinners end up with 5 people, no more no less?

Review: Cirque Balagan in KL

The experience of watching Cirque Du Soleil is to have watery eyes (you dare not blink), shortness of breath (you hold your breath because the stunts just go on and on and on and on) and prickly skin (the music and performance engulf all your senses).

Today's show was nothing like that, sadly, although the clown did quite well, getting some laughs out of us and being very likeable, staying in character all the while. Another character who stayed true to himself was the 'ringmaster', in this case some funny bird-faced guy carrying a dusty book and huge feather quill around the stage.

However, the rest of the cast just didn't live up to expectations. Most of the acrobats were just not world-class performers, being not very fluid, and not having proper training in performing to an audience. Cirque Du Soleil cast members have the benefit of an amazing artistic director who directs them in every tiny detail, from whether their hands should be open to the audience, to what degree their arms should be stretched out from their body. Acrobats are not natural performers and have to be trained, after all.

I was expecting a better show today. On the other hand, I thought that maybe I'd been spoilt, having already watched two shows from the best circus in the world - so after the show today I asked Mumsy Bumsy what she thought, and she gave the same response as above.

The choreography was well below the standard it should be when they charge people over RM300 for one show. The acrobats naturally are not Olympic standard (as those have already been grabbed by Cirque Du Soleil). Although some of them weren't bad, like the contortionist and the Oriental group of ring jumpers (whatever they're called) - they could be much more enjoyable with better choreography and training.

If you haven't seen this kind of cirque performance before, go and check it out anyway just to find out what it's like. Just buy the cheapest tickets and opt for the matinee show because the hall won't be full and they'll ask you to move to the front anyway. They're on for another 2 days.

Magic Sponge?

I've been receiving so many enquiries about the Magic Sponge I wrote about several months ago (type 'Magic Sponge' in the search bar at the top left). And every time I tell people it's at Village Grocer in Bangsar Village, they don't seem to be able to find it. So I decided to go for myself and check if they're still selling it.



Here it is.

It's still at the same place at the back of the store. To be exact, just walk up the Japanese food aisle towards the shelves displaying kitchen/cooking utensils.

Price is now RM5.90, but I still say it's bloody useful so go buy it and clean up that shit-infested laptop!

Men

I've been intending to write about so many things here but they all seem to require much thinking and planning before the writing actually gets achieved. But it's been a while now, so I thought I'd just jot down the topics instead of writing a full-blown post about them.

I had a meeting today, after so many weeks, at Hunky Jap Guy's office. So there I was, all hopeful, ringing the doorbell. I'd been to the office next door every day last week, but never had the opportunity to go to his office, so I thought, finally, today's the day! Anyway, I rang the doorbell and peered inside, but he wasn't at his desk. "Uh oh", I thought. True enough, he wasn't there today. Sigh. Hopes dashed, expectations dissolved. At least I know his name now, anyway.

I bumped into him a couple of weeks back at Mid Valley. He was with a girl. Hopefully not a girlfriend. Although it doesn't make a difference to me, seeing as I'm already in a relationship myself! But you know... I'm sure you girls out there will understand what I mean.

On the other side of the world, G has finally decided to buck up and work hard at his photography career. View his photos at gooodputty.com. They're really good. If anyone's looking for a photographer for an event, party, wedding or to take photos for a catalogue or ad, do contact him via email. He'll be available in KL from August 2008.

At least, he'd better be if he wants me to stick around.

What else is there? Oh, lots! But... my mind is suddenly a blank now and I'm starting to feel quite hot in here with all the windows closed.

Do I sound unfaithful?

May: Why don't you...

I know it's a bit late to be talking about doing something in May when there's only a week left, but "it's never too late" should be everyone's motto. So why don't you...


Image grabbed from official website

Watch Cirque Balagan, showing for only 5 days from 28 May. It is so rare for Malaysians to catch a performance in this genre - European circus - locally that no matter how expensive it may seem (RM93-RM353), it will be worth it. Sure, it isn't the Cirque Du Soleil, but you take what you can get! And this promises not to disappoint, based on the music I'm listening to on its website right now! Click here to listen.

For more information, visit Time Out KL.

Thank God for Fridays

Because...

1. Clients can't demand things for the next day
   
2. Everyone you meet is just a little happier (except clients)
   
3. Midsomer Murders is on TV
   
4. Sleeping late is guilt-free
   
5. Another week gone, another week closer to G's arrival
   

I love Fridays!

Change is necessary

It annoys me somewhat whenever people say that kids these days are overweight and obese because they stay inside playing their computer games and PlayStations instead of going out to the park. And then they'll go on to the topic of "I used to walk to school every day and now kids get sent in their 4-wheel drives and don't have to walk at all... that's why they get so fat!"

Well, you had to walk to school and play outdoors every day because those were the times and those things were done. In modern days, how do you expect kids to play outdoors and walk anywhere alone when there're so many mental people about to kidnap, rape or kill them?

These are the days when you have to find other ways to keep kids active. Can't just keep moaning about "those were the days, tsk tsk". Sure it's sad that your kids can't do the same things you did, but times change and you have to change along with it.

Art Grabbed

Dropped by Central Market today to see what was on offer at Art for Grabs, where everything is RM100 or less. Sounds potentially rewarding, doesn't it? So Bea and I went eagerly looking for hidden treasure.

Well, the Annexe Gallery was full with everyone displaying and selling their wares. I must say I was hoping for more art, rather than the abundance of crafts that were available. Sure, crafts is art too, but really, you don't have to go far to find crafts for under RM100, do you?



Ex-colleagues Danny and Winnie were there selling photographs. Very nice, but... I don't buy photographs. Why buy when your boyfriend is a photographer who takes brilliant photos? Plus, I don't frame photos of places I haven't been to, or of people I have never met. Having said that, though, please buy photos if they really take your fancy.





Oh yes, I also bumped into ol' Fahmi F who was bouncing around the place carrying some intellectual literature, or mind-provoking prose, or whatever it is he's championing at the moment. :P.

After buying a pair of handmade mengkuang earrings and some mini cupcakes for Mumsy Bumsy, I went downstairs to They Art Gallery to look for some real paintings. Everything's very affordable there with canvases ranging from RM25 into the few hundreds (but very worth it considering the size and technique of the artists).

By the way, I was speaking to an artist selling his paintings at the event upstairs, and found out one of his paintings cost just under RM2000, so I peered closer at the work to see what could make it worth so much. After which I still saw black and white lines and a huge smudge. To each his own, I guess.

Anyway, back at the gallery, a piece of art by Damis of Super Sunday, a graffiti artist, called out to me. So I bought it. Very nice, simple and good display of technique. It's now hanging on the wall next to the main entrance.

Viewing by invitation only.

An Enigmatic Post on Life and Love by One

After being virtually single for an extended period of time, one's mind (or eyes) can't help but start to wander. It should have happened before the four years it's taken, but in this country, somehow, guys just don't get it right.

(Until now, but technically, the wandering eye is looking towards the Far East)

And now that one's mind has started to wander, one starts to see the benefits of not walking down the aisle. Not committing to any one person frees one to steal as many glances as one might like to.

And one would really like to :) So she has stolen a little glance through the glass doors of the next door office today.

But can one continue doing this without consequences? I think not. And not, especially, to someone who is perfect for her in almost every way.

And, so, one guesses, there will be at least one path - a very desirable path, one might add, desirable but morally forbidden - that one will never be following.

Sigh.

Restaurant Review: Cova

There's something about a nicely made bed. Especially mine. It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

---

There aren't many restaurants in KL that are really good in terms of service and/or food. Cova is one of the exceptions.

Located inside The Gardens just off the walkway from Mid Valley, it looks like any other ultra-modern, clichéd and personality-less restaurants. But we were hungry and it was close by. So we went in. And like any other ultra-modern, clichéd restaurant, the smoking area outside was full of yuppies. But we should be thankful enough that it's actually separated from the non-smoking area by an actual glass wall and not just by 3 feet of air.

Prices are pretty decent there - I ordered the chargrilled chicken wrap (felt like being healthy) which was under RM20, and a carrot and orange juice which was RM10.50 - also really decent for a genuine freshly-made juice.

The waiters were friendly and courteous, and the manager came over to explain some of the dishes and to tell me what it was that smelt so nice (fried chicken wings, by the way).



Unfortunately, the food took its own sweet time coming. I didn't keep time, but it was well over the usual wait. However, when my meal came, I have to admit it was worth it. The chicken wrap tasted just right, and the chips were authentic potato chips and cooked to perfection. Yelleh Belleh's pan-seared dory fillet waited another 20 minutes to show up, but the manager brought her a wildly tasty wild mushroom soup to tide her over in the meantime. And judging by the look on her face when she had the first taste of the fish and mashed potato... the wait was definitely worth the fish ;)



This restaurant comes highly recommended. I normally hate waiting for my food, but you can tell that this restaurant takes pride in their dishes - which makes it all worth it.

Me, my shelf and I

I'm sitting here in front of my 24" Intel iMac (gloat, gloat), eating Square Fruit Jelly, thinking of what to type tonight. How long has it been since you've had Square Fruit Jelly, by the way?

Oh wait a minute... it's not Square Fruit Jelly, it's TENTEN Fruit Flavoured Jelly. I'm sure they're the same thing anyway.

---

I think I'm growing up.

I can see it in the different magazines I pick up now. The old me (before the quarter life crisis) collected GLAMOUR magazine every month without fail. And then Mumsy Bumsy dumped her copy of Harper's Bazaar UK on me.

In the past I'd pick up magazines like Vogue and Bazaar, but I'd pooh-pooh them, saying that they're just full of ads and a waste of money. In fact, they ARE full of ads, but I find now that I'm just as interested in the ads as in the articles. Because the ads show what current fashion trends are. Just like the fashion section of any mag. With better photography.

So today, I was at Czip Lee in Bangsar (only because I'd been uber lucky enough to find a parking spot right in front of it when I was heading to Eon Bank, and thus decided to make the spot worth it by spending some time in Czip Lee. Kiasu? More like, thankful), and I was looking for May's issue of Bazaar UK. Sadly (for me) and shamefully (for them), they didn't have it! They had Bazaar Malaysia, but it was wrapped in plastic and I was afraid it would contain pages of Aunty and Datin fashion. A HUGE NO-NO. So I put it back down (but with the option of picking it up again if I ever saw it without plastic).

I looked around some more and saw Vogue UK. Okay, I thought, I can't go wrong with Vogue. So I bought it. I've so far gone through the first 30 pages and... I prefer Bazaar. Vogue does have awesome pictures, but Bazaar has more interesting articles. Better written as well. Vogue's articles are really really dry - articles that you can't concentrate on or understand if you've not got a stilettoed foot in the fashion world.

I'm growing up. You can tell by my magazine shelf.

Eye Candy!

I'd been feeling pretty overloaded with work for the past three weeks because since I came back from the UK, Slavedriver has been tossing pretty much all his work my way. So I've had to meet and learn up everything on his clients - which I had no time for, because I had to finish projects that had already started and start on new ones I knew nothing about!

So, yes, pretty stressed :(

But earlier this week I finally caught up with Slavedriver at the office, and he gave me a run-through of some things I was working on. Now I don't feel quite as lost as I did, and talking to him kind of motivated me because I needed someone to tell me that, YES, I could do this work. I guess he kinda threw me the life jacket I needed.

Another perk this week was... Hunky Jap Guy.

He works in the office of one of my clients. I'd seen him twice before but first time was just a 'Hi', and second time was when he asked if I was leaving and opened the front door for me. Naturally, I'd already noticed that there was this hunky dude sitting in the corner, but as I had no work to do with him, we never really talked.

But this Monday... he opened the door for me again (these office doors always gotta be opened by some electronic magnetic thing) and we spoke a bit more about being late for meetings (not my fault, my watch was 10 minutes slow, and I'd even arrived 10 minutes early by my reckoning). Okay, so there was a third guy there too, some local uncle-type person I'm working with on this project, but he's pretty negligible, right?

So I'm pretty thrilled that I finally am on speaking terms with Hunky Jap Guy. It's just so hard to find real, live, male eye candy in KL. And boy is he eye candy :P I wonder when my next meeting is?

Fascinating Food

The UK has an amazing food phenomenon - the ready-made meal. You just drop by a supermarket, pick a frozen pack of Chicken Madras, Spaghetti Carbonara, Chinese Fried Rice, whatever you like (and often 2 for 1), bring it home, chuck it in the oven for 4 minutes and it comes out amazing. I mean it. It tastes really good.

But, as always, things go in circles, and the return of the "fresh local farmer's food" seems to be at our doorstep.

One such place which sells really cool farmer's produce is in Whitchurch, where we stopped by one day to get some food for dinner (and ended up buying loads of freshly made food, one of the best-tasting being the tomato and mozzarella meatball).

Tell me, will you ever see an onion this size in a KL supermarket?


No kidding, actual size. And don't you just love those little handwritten tags? Well, I do, anyway.

But wait a minute, Malaysia has its special food too. Mumsy Bumsy and I were in the kitchen. She was slicing a papaya and I was pottering about doing nothing as usual. What's special about that?

Check it out.



We considered putting it up on eBay for a fortune, but I guess common sense took over and we just ate the special little thing.

Azrin's Birthday @ La Bodega

My first party after arriving home was last Wednesday at La Bodega, Telawi. Azrin turned a whopping 27! We've now known each other for a bit over a decade! Whew!

Was a really good night. Bodega's always a good place to hang out because they have the BEST SERVICE EVER. I haven't experienced any better in KL (besides 789, but that may be because they know me?)

Here are some photos stolen off Jo P's Multiply album.




An innovative cake! There was a bottle of Bailey's and milk with a straw barely sticking out for sucking :P


The cake was really really tasty! Somewhat in between a cake and a brownie. Mmm!!

Breakfast at Tiffany's

I just watched Breakfast at Tiffany's. How amazing was Audrey Hepburn? How could she be so good-looking and such a good actress too? Made me cry at the end cuz it was kind of a sad, happy ending. Quite a different type of romantic movie. Can't they make movies like this anymore?

OK, back to work!

Did I mention that I have a new Mac? Woohoo! Yes it's true! A glorious 24" Intel iMac desktop. Power-nya! Makes work such a joy. Or as much of a joy as it can be. Mmm. 'Makes work less torturous' is more like it.

OK, back to work!

(Well, after I find a new wallpaper. Because now that my screen is so BIG, I need one that strettttcccches further. Hoohoo.)

No wonder my hair is dropping out

Do you think the paper clip factory purposely makes their paper clips link together in the box to irritate you when you try to take one out?

I am so OVERLOADED with work!

Plus, I've been sleeping late every day, and working (almost) every waking hour since I came back from England that I'm about to have a meltdown. Can't wait till G gets here and he can do some of the running around for me.

A bright spark amongst the clutter of paperwork on my table though... I just received my copy of the MATAHATI book I worked on together with Gwyn. It accompanies the MATAHATI exhibition currently on until tomorrow (April 13) at several art venues, including Galeri Petronas in KLCC. Haven't gone to see it yet, but will do tomorrow afternoon.

The book looks good!

A very, very irritating thing

Tell me, if I say "UK", do you hear "London"? If I say "England", do you hear "London"? If I say "Manchester", do you hear "London"?

If you do, I hate you.

London is London, for pete's sake! Stop assuming everywhere in the UK is called London and start opening your eyes and ears!

The next time someone makes that mistake in front of me, I'm going to damn well throttle them.

It's goodbye and hello

It's back to reality time...!

It's awfully sad to be leaving MD and G and family, but, well, life goes on and home beckons.

I'm leaving tonight and will be back in KL on Monday night. It'll be good to be back... although I'm not looking forward to rude and inconsiderate people. And inefficient service workers. I AM looking forward to seeing my family, my dogs and my apartment. NOT looking forward to endless hours of work, but AM looking forward to working those brain cells anyway :P

So goodbye MD! And hello again, my friends!

'Is this me?'

A few days ago, I was sitting down in a pub having dinner with G's mum, sister, brother, uncle, aunt and G.

I looked around and thought to myself, 'how surreal this situation is!' I never could have imagined being in this sort of situation, ie. being accepted into and considered part of, an English family, much less being in the hospital every day, with G and his mum, visiting his frail-looking dad.

But as I was having dinner that night, I looked around, tuned out the English voices, and allowed a thought that had been coming to me every so often to resurface. Call it a quarter-life crisis or whatever, but I asked myself, 'Is this really me? Or am I only acting as someone I think is me?'

Have I been acting happy, carefree and successful, or am I really those things? Am I really myself, then? And if I'm not, why am I acting like this? And if I'm only acting, why do I not know what I'm hiding from?

Why am I asking myself this? Am I afraid to be myself? Am I afraid of having a white boyfriend? And why do I sometimes feel like I don't fit in anywhere?

Sometimes I feel like I don't think the same way my peers do, and that scares me, because then I'm afraid that I won't have any friends. And then, I find that I think the same way G and the like think. Maybe I was born in the wrong country. But I hate to think that way, because I love Malaysia. I love being Malaysian and I wish I was more like my friends. But if I was, I'd probably be as fearful, unadventurous and self-centred as them (generalisation).

Not that I'm not.

But I like to think I'm more world-savvy, if not Malaysia-savvy.

Perhaps I've just gotta wait a few more years for the answers. To gain more wisdom. Or maybe I just need time to settle down in this new stage of my life.

Your questions answered

Haven't had time to select and resize photos yet, but thought I'd unveil my new plan first!

Since I'm always wondering what things mean, and why things are the way they are, I thought it'd be nice if other people could also send in their questions and get their answers here. Course, I don't know how many people will really do that! But thought I'd give it a try.

So do leave your questions in the Comments section after the newest post, and sleep better at night :P

MIA

I wanted to do a quick post last week announcing that I was about to embark on a week-long road trip to Scotland, but I forgot... so that's the reason I've been MIA. I'll be back with a proper post tonight or tomorrow, with some photos, stories... and a new plan for this blog!

Only in England?

I forgot to wish everyone Happy Leap Year yesterday!

I don't know if it was a big thing over in KL, but February 29 is the only day (traditionally) when girls get to propose to men. There were some programmes on TV here following some girls about to propose, but I didn't watch any of them. Had better things to do.

I did catch an advertisement promoting one such programme, and they had a clip of this girl going to her boyfriend's factory workplace, and she nervously said...

"Today is the day girls are allowed to propose to guys, and so I'm asking you now... will you marry me...?"
Boyfriend looking dazed (and maybe drugged), replies: "Yeah, go on."

Damn! If my boyfriend replied me in that manner I'd so totally bosh his head with a sack of potatoes (assuming I could lift one up that high).

---

Anyway, I forgot to mention a coupla days ago, that something exciting and completely new happened to me and G. We were in an earthquake!!

Might have been in the news all the way in Malaysia, but probably not. It was a Monday or Tuesday night, and G and I were in the room watching a DVD on his computer when we felt slight swaying and we looked at each other with eyes wide open... the swaying got stronger, but not worryingly. This continued for about 5 or 6 seconds and it slowed down again. I was like, "What was that?!!" And G insisted it was a poltergeist under our beds. Sheesh.

The next day, the earthquake was on the news, and our little town was actually mentioned! The epicentre was actually quite far away in Lincolnshire, but the newsreader said that it was the largest earthquake in Britain for 25 years. No fatalities, but a 19 year old was sleeping in his bed when his chimney fell on his arm and he had to be taken to the hospital. Several houses had sustained large cracks in the walls and roof tiles falling apart. And here's where we were mentioned: "In M.D., a chimney fell on the High Street."

How exciting!

In The Sun yesterday, which is a real tabloid of a newspaper, equivalent to Malay Mail in KL, they had a short story accompanied by a huge photo... of a teenage couple quite near the epicentre of the quake, who had been doing "intimate things" when the earthquake happened. They told the paper that they didn't realise it was an earthquake but thought it was their lovemaking causing the shakes. Excuse me while I roll my eyes. Apparently they asked each other:

"Did the earth move for you, darling?"

Oh oh, I think my eyes are stuck in the back of my head now.

My medical discovery

I've been pretty busy the past couple of days - shopping in Telford and dinner in Chester on Tuesday, then Birmingham for a photographic exhibition and drinks with Lowri T. Meant to take some pics with her, but forgot, so here's a random pic of some things I bought at the market here.



Nice, eh?? :P

For the past 2 months, I've been suffering, and annoying others, with a terrible phlegmy cough. I've tried chesty cough medicine, herbal solutions, downing lots and lots of water, even skipping dairy milk and opting for soy milk (for a while, but eventually gave that up). But nothing worked!

I made a breakthrough this week, though. I noticed that my throat was noticeably less congested and realised what fixed it. And I think this discovery ought to be made known to everyone... the solution to the chesty cough and thick phlegm is... the digestive biscuit.

I don't know how it works, but since eating heaps of it every day this week, I'm definitely coughing less and my phlegm is easier to cough up and out. My theory is that all the fibrous bits of the digestive biscuit must be catching hold of the gooey phlegm and ripping it apart, separating it into tiny bits that can be either coughed up, or processed by the stomach and got rid of through the no. 2. That's my theory anyway.

So the next time you get a phlegmy cough, just stuff digestive biscuits down your throat and you'll be alright in no time!

And what do we get?

It's really cloudy today. It's nearly noon, but the sky is as grey as the 6.30pm KL sky.

I've been watching TV the past few nights and seen some good movies and programmes. Which got me thinking... the satellite company we subscribe to is Sky, and it has, literally, hundreds of channels. Their programmes are hardly ever repeated, and if they are, it's only 3 to 4 times a week at different times.

ASTRO, on the other hand... ho ho... ASTRO. They play the same movie every day, at the same time, for a month! And Mumsy's been telling me that all her favourite shows are repeats. And have been for several months. I hardly think people are going to watch different programmes just because theirs aren't available, do you? What's the point of bringing in new channels with different programmes, if you're not going to update existing ones? If I watch E! Channel all the time, and see something that I've seen before, am I likely to switch to Discovery Real Time until I've seen everything, then switch again?

Sky provides satellite TV, telephone services and even broadband in one package - at a grand total of... £19 (approx. RM130) a month. Shit, that's what we pay for a typical family's Astro package! And the broadband is up to 2mbps download speed! This is for a home user, mind you. In KL, we're paying RM188 (approx. £30) for the same download speed. No TV. No phone.

Okay, I'm not here to complain about broadband prices (and reliability), although researching it now is making me more pissed off. I'm here to complain about Astro. As the biggest satellite TV provider in the country, it should look less on profiteering from us, and more on giving us value for what we pay for. It snows, it hails, it's damn heck windy here in Northern England and yet there are never any interruptions in our TV-watching. £19! Shite... just thinking about what WE get for the same amount sickens me.

I'm lovin' it

I've just fallen in love.

In a country which labels sweet chilli sauce as "spicy", I've just discovered their little secret. It's Tabasco's Habanero Sauce! Omg, it's powerful. And tastes yummy. You need just 2 drops on a slice of pizza to have your tongue burning and prickling nonstop.

Good for clearing blocked noses too.

Here's a quote from Lewis, a British cop series, which I really like...

"Is this 'good cop bad cop'?"
"No, this is two good cops."

See the pun there? :P

Wintry Landscapes

Mancunian weekend

Am back from a weekend in Manchester with Zlynn.

It's gone cold again over the weekend. Even colder than when I first arrived. At night it goes down into the negatives... -10℃ on Saturday night in the Midlands, apparently. And when we went out for the night in Manchester, there were girls everywhere in minidresses and bare legs! Wearing minidresses with tights is bad enough, but with their bare legs, I'm surprised they could even keep their legs from shaking.

We had lunch at Wagamama, a trendy Japanese restaurant just by the Arndale Centre. It was yummy (and packed), as usual. Then we just walked around taking pictures, and paid a visit to a Chinese minimart to get some Indomie and Maggi mee. And then to a Chinese bakery for some really good egg tarts.


Wagamama



Manchester's quite a mixed city, with lots of old buildings combined with very modern glass buildings. Quite different from London, which has mainly old buildings. I guess that's because Manchester was bombed quite a few times in recent decades, plus they're trying to modernise Manchester to attract more tourists. There're also lots of Chinese people living there, I think mostly from Hong Kong and China.











On Saturday night we visited The Printworks which houses lots of restaurants, bars and clubs. Great thing about it is that smoking is prohibited in the entire building (as are all pubs/bars/clubs in the UK), so going out in England is really awesome since you don't go home all stinky and sickly. We partied at this bar called Henry J. Bean's... which I'm told is an American whisky. There were some drunken white dudes who were making a fool of themselves but they were alright. It was the creepy Eastern European dudes who were like "vultures" (according to G), standing all around the dancefloor just watching and staring at the girls dancing.

Since Zlynn hadn't done many touristy things since coming here, we took her to the Manchester Art Gallery (free entry, optional £3 donation) and spent a few hours admiring some pretty wonderful paintings. We also shared a tasty Double Chocolate Muffin during tea at the gallery cafe.

(Euh, I'm watching Life In Cold Blood now by David Attenborough, showcasing loads of interesting reptiles. I usually feel quite "geli" by them, but his shows are so amazing I can't help but be fascinated. I think he has to be the only one in the whole world who could make me watch reptiles with such fascination. You guys HAVE to watch it if you ever see it's on. Also watch the documentary series Planet Earth which is amazing.)


Poison Dart Frog. Photo credit: DBowen, obtained (without permission, I might add) from this blog)

But I digress... after the art gallery, we stopped by Wong Wong Bakery to pick up some delicious egg tarts. Oh! I can't believe I FORGOT... on Saturday night we visited Trafford Park to collect some Krispy Kreme!! Gosh I've been yearning for it ever since G reminded me that I'd forgotten to get some in London.





Well, we had to have some dinner before doughnuts, and we were actually at Trafford Centre in an Italian resto called Pesto, which serves tapas-sized Italian dishes. Good food.



Well, back to my TV programme now. How hot is it in KL now, I wonder?

Valentine's Day

I woke up yesterday to my first Valentine's Day with G.

We've been together over 3 years now, but this is the first time we're actually together to celebrate it. Well, I say "celebrate", but we didn't do anything anyway, besides getting each other gifts. So far, we've been together during my birthday once and our first anniversary... that's all!

Anyway, I woke up on V Day alone since G left for work at 6.30am, but to my delight, I found a rose on the keyboard, with a heart box of chocolate truffles (my fave!) and a wrapped book. He also left a card which made me smile. How sweet. I left him a card on the door for when he left for work in the morning, so he thought I'd only got him a card (since I told him I'd been lazy and hadn't been to town at all this week... which was a lie!).

Truth is, I DID go to town on Wednesday which was market day, but by the time I reached town, they were just packing up. I was too lazy to walk down in the morning so guess that was my punishment! Anyway, G came home last night to find a Kinder Surprise Egg with a note on the kitchen counter asking him to look in the jam cupboard... which led him to a jar of homemade lemon curd (he likes that)... which asked him to look in the toilet (yes, the toilet, but that's cuz he was to find a mint and tea tree shower gel... he likes weird stuff)... the shower gel took him to his bed where there was a flower there, and underneath was his favourite magazine, which led him back to the kitchen to find two bottles of beer hidden behind the lettuce!

I could tell he was excited by this mini hunt cuz he was leaving all the cupboard and toilet doors open, lights on and all. How cute :P Anyway, I felt that it was all worth it seeing him find all the things he likes around the place. And when he went to sleep, he removed the top pillow to find one last chocolate champagne egg there.

Sex is back

Look what I found! This post is especially for Yelleh Belleh who will know EXACTLY what I'm talking about!

Do any of you watch the US version of So You Think You Can Dance? If you've been watching since season 2, you'll most definitely remember the characters that are Dave "Sex" Soller and his mum. Wooooo... wow I just have no words to describe what they're like.

Here's a video off YouTube so you guys can see for yourselves. I normally don't like watching videos online cuz of the waiting time, but this is tremendously worth it, and doesn't take long to load.

This is Sex in Season 2 auditions. Watch this first.



Sex, the following season. He ACTUALLY CAME BACK.



Have you fallen off your seat yet, Yelleh Belleh?!

News from the UK

I was sitting in the car yesterday listening to a programme on BBC 2 that has guests in the studio and people calling up giving their comments on current news headlines.

Sounds boring, but it really is interesting. One of the issues I listened to yesterday were the matter of the "batty old booby" Archbishop of Canterbury saying that Muslims in the UK should be given the opportunity to live under Syariah law. Wow, needless to say, loads of people calling up angry and annoyed by his comment. And the guest in the studio was a representative of some Muslim community in the country. To sum it up, my observation on the whole thing was that NO MUSLIMS CALLED the show (and it's a popular show) to comment on or support the idea. And some of my opinion is that most Muslims came to the UK in the first place because it's a free country and they won't be restricted by the Syariah law in whichever country they came from.

To read more on this very interesting issue, click here.

Another interesting story is of Chalford, a very hilly and steep little village in England, where its inhabitants (about 30 houses of them) have come up with the idea of using a donkey to help them carry their shopping and plants up from the bottom of the hill. Quaint and eco-friendly, you think, right? After all, horses and donkeys are used widely in the countryside where there are acres of land for them to be kept. But noooo... a representative of Animal Aid (who sounds like he's on his deathbed, incidentally) was in the studio to say how the villagers shouldn't be "using and abusing" this animal and what's more... when the spokesperson from the village was explaining the idea and calling the donkey (they don't have one yet) an 'it', the old man protested, saying, "Look, you're already calling the donkey an 'it', which denotes an object without feelings... this shows what you already think of the donkey"... something to that effect. He also said that people use donkeys to carry explosive devices for suicide bombers and terrorists, which of course, is akin to abusing the animal.

Can he blow anything else out of proportion? Explosive devices? Sheesh. People are talking about helping them carry their shopping, for goodness' sake. Thing is, if the donkey doesn't work, there's a very low chance that anyone will want to keep it. It costs a lot to keep such a big animal on your land. Some are sent to be slaughtered for meat. And secondly, animals DO like to work. It makes them feel useful and they would relish the attention they get from the villagers. Doesn't anyone read Enid Blyton anymore? :P

The birth of a scone

When I write on my blog, I like to enlighten or share knowledge with people. I think it creates a sort of interactive thing, where I get to tell people how I feel about things I've seen, and they, in turn, can think about what I've said and respond to it.

Today, I thought I'd write about staying here in England. I don't think many people have been here as long or as often as I have, so it would be interesting to read about life here in the English countryside. It's quite different from studying or working in the city! Problem now is, I've been here so many times and for so long, that nothing is really new to me anymore, and so it's kinda difficult to write about it.

Therefore, I've decided to just write about what I do every day (or most days anyway, since sometimes I just sit and watch TV at home and do nothing interesting AT ALL) and you guys can read for yourselves, how it differs from where you live. Today, though, I've nothing exciting to tell, except that I baked scones! I present to you, a picture diary of G's and my baking process.












Okay, I know they look more like crusty rolls than scones, but trust me, they do taste yummy!