Murderers. Plain and simple.

The murder of the student from Chad in Wangsa Maju is SHAMEFUL. And damnable! How could some Malaysians behave like this? Is it so hebat that there are twenty of you wielding metal rods, knives and sticks? I'm sure the person who stabbed him in the back didn't intend to kill, but kill him he did and he shall answer for it, if not to the Malaysian police (whom I very much doubt will do anything about it, as much as the woman who asked my sister if she 'mau ais' in her drink twice, brought ice in her drink in the end), then to God. For as they were Malay youths, they were Muslims, and therefore answerable to their God. Where did they learn that it was okay to stab people or intimidate them?

Sure, big black guys can be intimidating, I've seen them fight amongst themselves and make a lot of ruckus in public, but I've never seen them disturb anyone they don't know. And even if they did, it absolutely does not warrant an attack.

In fact, some of the most respectful Catholics I've seen have been black. I don't know where they're from, so unfortunately, I can only refer to them as blacks, but I'd never say it in a disrespectful way.

The poor victim was 22, he had a wife and a newborn, and he was looking forward to returning home to Chad to celebrate Hari Raya. The killer and conspirators must pay for robbing so many people.

It's getting more embarrassing every day to tell people that I'm Malaysian because everything they hear these days is bad.

On another note, I can't believe some Malaysians don't even know what's going on these days. Type 'Free RPK' on your MSN and see how many people ask you, "who's RPK ah?". It's embarrassing! And it really winds me up. Sign of trouble? "Go Australia lah". No wonder people call you pendatang.

Where else in the world would we fit in, really? Nowhere, I'm telling you, honestly. Nowhere else.

Girl-on-girl action

Most of the male population seem to be turned on by threesomes, or lesbians, or just knowing a girl who has kissed a girl. Or is that a myth?

I've heard of straight girls turning lesbian, and even lesbians becoming straight. As a guy, though, would you get turned on knowing your girlfriend used to be a lesbian? I know I'd be freaked out if I found out my boyfriend used to be gay.

This post isn't sexist, or 'sexual-orientationist', but just an opinion of mine, and how uncomfortable I'd feel if I found something like that out. And I think I can speak for many females.

But how about males? Since they seem to love the idea of girl-on-girl action, would they also love to have a girlfriend who used to be a lesbian?

All opinions welcome. I'm curious.

Sketchies

Was clearing up the office (still work in progress!) and managed to clear out two cardboard boxes and my old school portfolio bag. I looked through all my past work from about 6-7 years ago and was just thinking, wow, I spent so much time doing all this! I'm so glad I don't have to anymore, although if I was getting paid for it, I'd probably enjoy doing a bit of sketching for a change.

Here's a selection of my better attempts:










And this last one is from a street artist in Paris in 2004. I hated him for ripping me off and hid this sketch for a loooong time so I wouldn't remember it. I think I've got over it now.

Cap'n Crunch?

So how scary is this new economy crisis in the States? I've been listening to BBC all day and it's started to affect the British banks as well. The Brits call it the 'credit crunch'. What a cute name for a horrid situation. Can we eat it?

And the Lehmans? Can you imagine, you're working in a huge, prestigious multinational, sure, you think you have job security. And one day it all collapses and you don't even get that month's wages. There goes all the wise naggings from your grandma about getting a good job in a big foreign company so you can reap the benefits, eh.

PHOTOS: When G was in KL

Whenever G's in town, we have to visit a bao restaurant. Any one will do, but his favourite this trip has been Din Tai Fung in The Gardens. It's quite a posh place and really does have nice food. In the spirit of bao, here's a photo of a special type, with crab and pork soup in it (this was from some resto at The Curve, can't remember the name).



And in the spirit of dumplings, here's another type of 'dumpling':



I know I've posted this signboard up before, but this is a better photo :P

Traffic in KL these days is so relaxing, isn't it? Almost therapeutic.



And to end today's post, aren't these the most beautiful bouquet of flowers ever? If anyone's interested, the deep pink flowers are called celosia and were probably the most expensive flowers in there.

The dogs r here

My dogs have finally moved in with me. And they're getting comfortable very quickly indeed.

National Service? Run!

Sorry, sorry, Kel (and others), I've been very preoccupied with having my boyfriend visit. Yes! He was here for two weeks (yippee!), but has just gone back to UK (sigh).

Anyway, I've been reading Ah Yap's blog, which is - according to him - "better than reading newspaper". Do pay a visit to him, he has a very humourous way of writing, and the best part about his blog are his notes on intelligent investing. But what I wanted to note down here was a comment someone left about the NS (National Service).

You'd think after so many years of running the NS, people would get used to it and stop objecting and avoiding it, but how can you start accepting it when there are still so many casualties? And these are teenagers, worryingly getting fatally sick, who are supposedly doing a useful and helpful activity. When will the people in charge learn to take these deaths seriously?

Ah Yap's post was on how to trick people into choosing the option you want them to. He asked his readers to give other examples, and Anon came up with:

Najib during fuel increase: Do you want to live moderate lifestyle or face higher inflation?
(doesnt mater because fuel increase will lead to inflation anyway and our moderate lifestyle become no lifestyle so that fella can keep the petronas profits for himself and cronies and other arms deals etc etc)
Najib about NS: You can go to NS or go to jail.
(both decision leads to somethig bad anyway, but at least if you choose jail you might not end up dead)

And I thought I was the only one who thought NS trainees had a higher risk of death at training than in war.

Chinese -> (not quite) English

I was clearing out the office a few days ago and found bits and bobs of rubbish that I hadn't thrown away cuz I meant to do something with them. In the interest of a neat and tidy workplace, I'm gonna attempt to clear all these things.

One such bob is the leaflet for Tang Long Imperial Wine which I've been meaning to post on this blog for ages because of its lovely translation from Chinese to English. They picked a few people to give testimonials on the benefits of the drink. They were obviously given in Chinese, and the English translator is obviously a doofus.

Here are a few of them:

Hooi Poh Sim
One year ago, I was having Lymph cancer (over for tea?). After the operation, the condition is become well, but due to long term take medicine, I always feel asleep and do not have appetite to eat and tire (mmm, I feel like eating tire today). On December 2003, my health condition is become after consuming Tang Long Imperial (become what?! what?! I'm in suspense!). My body would not feel tire easily and my appetite is improving a lot...

Leang Shee Meng
When I was setting the grill and always feel backache and cold. (feels like I walked in on a conversation halfway through) It was because I did not take care well when I was young and just took painkiller when I feel aching. Luckily, after medical hall introduced to drink Tang Long Imperial, I consumed one small cup before I sleep. I feel my backache problem is lesser and body would not feel so cold. My hand and feet muscle is become more active (here come the jitters!). I would like to thank you Tang Long Imperial have brought me so much health improvement.

Tay Yong
I am an old woman aged eighty something (and they stated everyone's exact age next to their testimonials). Due to aging problem (so how do we solve it?), I have been suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure for 10 years plus (I say only getting them when you're 70 years old is pretty damn great). But since my friend introduced me to drink Tang Long Imperial, I feel different in term of my health problem is improving a lot and diabetes level is not increasing and my backache problem is lesser and I am so touching about the health improvement. (take a well-deserved breath, old girl!)

Wee Yin Hua (this is my favourite)
My body is weak all the while and my digest system is not so good, as well as can't sleep well, I have been suffered for these problems for about 30 years. On August 2003, I knew Tang Long Imperial from radio station, so I tried bought Tang Long Imperial to drink for sometimes, I feel it really help to improve my health problem. I drink Tang Long on morning and night time after dinner (and in the evening, and underneath the moon), then I will fast asleep and my stomach air is lesser and more comfortable. I would not having unsleeping (??) problem since I have been taking Tang Long Imperial for 6 bottle (alcoholic?) and I fell more energetic on my work.

Hope you had a good chuckle.

Revenge

Some of you may know that I've been suffering for a couple of months now with my downstairs neighbours loud music-playing, banging and karaoke-singing/yelling. Most mornings I wake up to bass beats through my floor, making the bed vibrate. Most days, I call the management office to tell them to shut up. Most times, it works. For an hour.

I have been damning them to hell for a few weeks now but it doesn't seem to have worked. And as I write this, they are laughing and talking loudly at their balcony for all the world to hear.

So I have been trying to think of revenge tactics, but none that I can do that can make them as annoyed as I am by them. The best thing would be to have them kicked out of the apartment, but how do you do that? The management office says there are a few of them living there, Indonesian students, apparently, renting. There are no bloody colleges in this area, why do they live here?

Tonight I went online in search of 'neighbour revenge tactics' and found a few funny and also malicious ones, none of which would really stop their music-playing. But then I stumbled upon a discussion which really grabbed my attention and made me read to the end.

Ideas for dirty deeds to annoy an ex-neighbour

I would recommend reading that even if it is a bit lengthy. I think Timstone might, since he loves reading :)

It starts out with revenge tactics, but it then becomes a debate between the "why do you need revenge?" people and the "they deserve it" people. honestly, the people on the first team really mustn't have had any bad neighbours before. plus, it really irks me when people post arguments on a thread which is about something else. If you have a problem with revenge tactics, STOP READING! And don't even bother posting, will you?

Anyway, it really becomes an interesting debate, because the person who posted the problem - although insulted by the opposing team - still explains rationally and maturely without getting angry as most people would do.

Still hasn't helped me with the neighbour problem, but it gave me a really entertaining read for half an hour though.

Why hangovers are good for you

No, not because it shows you had a great time the night before. Besides, once you wake up with a hangover, you're virtually dreading the next time you go out drinking. Well, almost.

No, what I realised is that when I've drunk a lot and need to rest till past noon, I also tend to go to bed earlier that night. And then it becomes a habit. So I start waking up earlier as well, and feel fresher and nicer cuz I've had enough rest at proper times.

I was doing that for about 2 weeks until last week when I started sleeping late again. And couldn't stop. These days I feel tired and sleepy and lazy.

I really need to get a hangover soon.

J'adore Nuages Du Monde! Je l'adore! Woohoo!

I don't know why it's taken me so bloody long to blog about this, but I FINALLY HAVE NUAGES DU MONDE! This is Delerium's latest album - okay, I say latest, but it was actually released in 2006, and I didn't know about it because none of the music shops here brought it in!!! Anger and resentment.

Incidentally, the smart-ass joker at Rock Corner sucks. It'll take too long for me to explain what he did, but basically, he thinks he's smart, and he bloody well is NOT.

Anyway, searched online, but all the US sites didn't accept Malaysian credit cards, and the UK shops were too expensive. So I asked lovely G's help to use his credit card. In the end he bought it from a UK site cuz he didn't wanna use his CC on a "dodgy US website".

Waited, waited, waited... and he finally got it a few days ago! He ripped the CD and sent it to me.. been listening every day since. And it's awesome awesome awesome!

It's actually playing here now, in case you're wondering why there's music playing. TURN UP YOUR SPEAKERS! All the music is from Nuages Du Monde, except for Satellite Girl, which is by Conjure One, my second favourite musicians. Hmm, this song is also causing me a lot of angst as I can't find it anywhere to download or purchase. So the only time I can listen to it is if I visit my blog. Which isn't such a bad thing, I guess.

Cream of the crop: Tectonic Shift (seriously lovin' this track as it's like an 'advanced' Delerium - if possible) and Apparition (which is on the blog playlist - scroll to the bottom to select it).

Beijing Olympics opening ceremony

It was AMAZING! AMAZING! You really can't beat the Chinese when it comes to organising mass performances with thousands of participants, can you? The ceremony was so awesome and planned so well. I really don't know what other superlative to use before it gets repetitive :P

My favourite part was the tai ji quan performance, but that was just because I love seeing those kind of things - body movement and control. But otherwise, I'd say all the performances were on par with each other - excellent!

I don't know if they'll repeat it anymore, as they've done so twice that I know of. Unfortunately I've not subscribed to the sports package on Astro so I can only hear audio (when I press the 'R' button), and there's not much use in that. Gotta run over to dad's to watch if I want to.

I am so DEFINITELY going to watch the closing ceremony!

Alexis @ Ampang

It's been a few years since I last went to Alexis in Great Eastern Mall, but it doesn't seem to have changed. Still has a great vibe, and everything looks as it was. I just love the interior of the place.

Last night, I went there for drinks with Sookie. It was a Thursday night and there weren't many people there, but enough to make it cosy. I felt chocolate-cakey (since that night at Duck King when I chose to have gui ling gao instead of chocolate cake) so I had a look at their selection. Most places only have 1 or 2 chocolate selections, but this place is great! It had chocolate mousse, chocolate cinnamon, chocolate brownie, chocolate something else and 1 or 2 more. Yum!

In the end, I chose the chocolate cinnamon cake with ice cream and I wasn't disappointed. It was so so so yummy! I really recommend that if you like chocolate cakes. It tastes like flourless chocolate cake with a hint of cinnamon.

Well, that's all I wanted to say. Just go try their chocolate cinnamon. It's RM14, which is an obscene amount for cake, but really good, nevertheless.

Oh, and one more thing. If you go on a weeknight ie. Sunday-Thursday, don't park in the basement if you're going to stay past midnight. Sookie and I (in one car) drove past the open boomgate happily thinking we didn't have to pay for parking, but when we reached the exit, the roller shutter was down! We drove all round the carpark looking for the alternative exit, but there wasn't one. Then we drove to the security room whose lights were on, but there was no one inside. Typical!

So we had to park the car in front of the shutter and walk up again looking for a guard, whom we eventually found Starbucks-ing with his co-worker. And he got the shutter open for us. But what a hassle! Just park outside lah. Don't have to pay for parking either.

I'm a queen bed

Have any of you seen this Swedish Furniture Name Generator before? It's hilarious! Click the picture below to try it out and do us all a favour by coming back to leave a comment on what your name is!

Just say No

So this week I've had a little more free time than I've had for the past few months, and I got a little worried: "Will I have enough money to eat? Is this the end of Goodputty?" :)

So I decided to post my profile on more creative databases online. I've had a profile on coroflot since I was a uni student and I get one or two offers of work a year from it. I figured this creative database thingy should be helpful during lulls in workload.

I found two listed in a reputable magazine and joined up. The part I hate most about these sites is that I have to upload my portfolio. So I end up just uploading 4 or 5 pieces of work. This probably doesn't really help, but when I find a project I'm interested in I'll just refer the buyer to my website.

Truth be told, I think most buyers prefer to work with people from the same country, ie. US, cuz, well, you don't know what these unscrupulous and untrustworthy Asians might do. That's how I lost out on one of the projects I was quite interested in. Our prices were pretty close to each other (and I'm not gonna accept that the other designer's work is better as a reason :P), but the designer was from US, as was the buyer.

Anyway, to the main point of the post. I bid on another project a few days ago, and I got a reply asking for a mockup. Now this put me in a dilemma. I did want the project, but I don't do mockups if I'm not guaranteed a project. This is like pitching, something ad agencies love to do, but which I hate. But then, ad agencies spend RM5000 on a pitch, for a chance to win a RM500,000 account, so, well, they're entitled to do it. And they do get paid for pitches sometimes.

Sending pre-contract mockups aka spec work (defined as producing a piece for a potential client with no guarantee that your work will be chosen and/or paid for - No!Spec) is not something that I've just decided against out of whim or arrogance. It's an actual issue that affects the design industry and undermines its value.

Facts are: I see a project I'm interested in, I contact the buyer detailing how I can benefit him with my work. He replies and asks me to do some work before he can decide if he will pay me. What a raw deal! Imagine that he has 10 designers sending him mockups. He has at least 10 designs to choose from, all for free. Most of them will also be of a quality good enough to send for final print. He has an idea - just take that, send it to the printer, and print. No charge to him at all.

It sounds fair for someone to know what your ideas are. But you have to be adequately compensated for it. Do you go to a restaurant and ask to sample each dish before you decide what you want to eat? No, you look at words or you look at pictures on the menu. In the same way, I ask potential clients to look at my portfolio to see the quality and style of my work before I do anything at all for them. Time is money, and I value my time and expertise too much to give away for free.

Stuff. And money!

Went to New Zealand Natural in The Curve a couple of weeks ago to get chocolate ice cream with chocolate sprinkles. That's my standard order at every ice cream shop I visit. And New Zealand Natural's chocolate ice cream (Chocolate Ecstasy, or that brownie flavoured one) is really awesome.

But, dammit! They don't serve choc sprinkles anymore! How disappointing is that?

(I still bought - and enjoyed - the choc ice cream plain anyway)

---

I just heard... an English paper ran an article on those exclusive London nightclubs and how much people spend there. They also printed a copy of a receipt which contained orders of Cristal champagne - 49 bottles and 6 magnums - among others!

The bill for all that - ONE bill, mind you - was £26728.33 and the tip was £2969.

...course a few quid from there would be used to clean up the champagne spray-filled walls, but who bloody cares?

Who wants to own an exclusive London nightclub put up their hands.

I love Borders

Went to Borders yesterday to look for a corner cutter, but they didn't sell them. So I just started browsing through some books to pass the time. I stayed away from the Basheer section cuz I knew I didn't have any money to get anything but would be sorely tempted to anyway.

Now I usually don't browse much in bookstores other than Times cuz I have their membership card and I get a discount every time I purchase something. Besides which, at the end of every year, they send me a whole list of what books I've bought from them so I can send it in to the LHDN (it is the LHDN, right?). Which is why I didn't pay much attention to the majority of books in Borders, but headed straight to the BARGAIN section.

Woohoo, I love a bargain, don't you?

Anyway, I'm so pleased... I walked out of there with 3 books which only cost me RM60! Two as presents for my lil sis and cousin, and one dog book for myself...mmmmm...

The Green Fairy

"The first stage is like ordinary drinking, the second when you begin to see monstrous and cruel things, but if you can persevere you will enter in upon the third stage where you see things that you want to see, wonderful curious things." "Absinthe has a wonderful colour, green. A glass of absinthe is as poetical as anything in the world. What difference is there between a glass of absinthe and a sunset?" - Oscar Wilde

After reading that, who wouldn't be even slightly curious as to what this green fairy does to your mind? How about this?

"Let me be mad, mad with the madness of Absinthe, the wildest, most luxurious madness in the world." - Marie Corelli

According to Fairies World, the appeal of Absinthe to the creative person (I say creative because they were the only ones to write about it) is the contradiction of its properties and what it does to the mind. It contains a formidable amount of alcohol which is a depressant, but also contains herbal subtances which stimulate the brain keeping it clear and aware of thoughts going through it.

This line from the article sums it up perfectly:

Alcohol relaxes inhibitions and invites in new ideas, and the stimulants allow you to logically process the new data.

Hey, if Wilde and Toulouse-Lautrec were fans of it, look at their work and tell me you're not tempted to fall in love with the fairy? Oh, make sure you have someone with you though, or you might wake up one morning, not with a hangover or an ugly creature in bed, but with one less ear.

To Tim

I finally dropped by your blog today and am so honoured and touched that this blog, my website and my side project are all linked from yours :P Many thanks, mate.

I liked your post on the sexy dance contest, by the way. Made me chuckle out loud.

Malaysia, a developed country?

I didn't realise it'd been so long since I last posted till Mumsy Bumsy pointed it out. I've had lots of things on my mind, but not ones that I particularly wanted to talk about on this blog.

I wish restaurants/bars/clubs/pubs would ban smoking indoors. I know lots of you out there are gasping in shock and disgust, but it's such a bad habit, and smoking does not only affect you, but non-smokers. I know you've all heard this a million times, but doesn't this phrase then come to mind - "truth prevails"?

If Malaysia is so keen to be modernised, advanced and considered a developed country, why not follow their good examples? The UK and Australia have already enforced a ban on smoking indoors, even in pubs (UK). I'm not very clear on Australian rules or how it's like in America, but I know for sure that smoking is banned virtually everywhere indoors in the UK. And that's a great thing. How many smokers are killing non-smokers slowly? This is not like drinking alcohol, where it only affects the drinker. Smoking affects EVERYONE.

Why am I so upset about this? Because every time I go out to party or to have fun, I come home coughing, my clothes stink and I feel so unwell. Out of the 7 months that have passed this year, I have NOT COUGHED for 2 months.

Do I have to make myself sick in order to have fun with my friends?