trippin on the beach trip

PD.12 pm and we're drinking. 7 eleven. chill. mexican food. bob marley. smokeables. fruit shop. beer. Superhuge Special Dutch Lager Beer. hot pink girl. hot family. happy annoying chinese lalas. B-2-8. the feel of sharpie on paper. feeling lazy. relax. feeling too lazy. mocktails. low tides. nilai. piggy. tanning session. no water, all we had was coke, beer, and soya bean. sea breeze in my face. obscenely huge fishes. penyu that look like a bird, birdyu. rabbits. people in blue. family gatherings. we need to crash a wedding one day. cactus virgin. your drawings. alcohol stories. rendam air. "sad dissapointing chinese girls! dress up like you're chinese!".

we never wanted to leave.

sunday night and i felt like crepe

so i made some.

homemade (burnt) chocolate chip crepes with golden honey drizzle


and this was the one that got away


see them crusty black bits? yeah those are the chocolate chips that didn't survive the heat.

i know how it looks like, but trust me, it didnt suck badly. it was good and edible!

Crepes brings back loads of childhood memories.. Mom used to make them at night for supper and i would help her in the kitchen. She'd be measuring and I'd be sieving the flour, and then we'll fry it together.. when its done and ready and its late at night, i would yell up the stairs and my brothers, sometimes dad too would come down and gobble up the fresh warm crepes while mom makes us hot milo. the best part was breakfast the next morning, I was always so excited to have crepes for breakfast from the leftover batter...

Mom stopped making these pancakes after awhile, and it was long forgotten, tucked in a little corner of my memory vault. It all came out again mid year, the week before I left US. It was the last time i had crepes, bro was in high gear and made them for breakfast. my roommates, my brother and i, yummy warm crepes in the cool cozy apartment while it snows ourside.

this time, i made the crepes independently. moms out, brother's out. but making, tasting, and thinking about crepes is just blissful nostalgia.

the next time i think about crepes, i will not only think about my yesteryears with mom, or my US bond with bro.. I'd think about my grandpa giving me a thumbs up for my first try of making crepes tonight.

:)

45 minutes late

on the first day of training/work.

thanks to the rain that stormed and blew like nobody's business just when i wanted to leave excitedly. They rained on my parade, literally. Funny enough it only rained in Klang, roads after the second toll was dry. I'm starting to believe that Klang IS a country by itself. not.

First day of training as an 8TEAM member was pretty fun! we go to hang out spots and play with the crowd giving away freebies! It seemed like a pretty easy task y'know, just hanging out and having fun with random strangers.. the trainers made it look super easy and super fun. but when it was us trainee's turn to take the stage, wooh! lemme tell you, keeping a mixed (and confused) crowd that does not know anything about what you are promoting interested in you is not an easy job!

and it doesn't help when your trainer is so scary strict it makes you tension. being 45 mins late doesnt help with the goof first impression either.

i underestimated the job. but, it was only my first try kan? I'm bound to only get better! :)

for now its 7 days unpaid training, and they'll either hire or fire me at the end of training. Very ala The Apprentice eh?

unpaid training. i payed 11 bucks for parking. 3 for toll. (lemme be chinese for a moment!)

i believe, this is going to be so worth it.

its been a long day so good night people! I have 5 year old kids waiting for my nurturing tomorrow morning!

lets dream lullabyes shall we?

i'd fail at being in cognito

Me being

African

Amazonian

English

Chinese

Vegas

Malay

Japanese

Korean


Me being me.

Malaysian

Me.

firsts of firsts and another first

she's limping, dad say's pigeon's leg is broken. its been 2 days and she's still grounded. Uncle havent take a look at her yet, he's a vet see.

here's to hoping she takes flight soon. :)

the kindy's good, the kids says hi, if they actually know who you are! the only problem i have with working is, like all other jobs are, the boss. The boss who asks for more than what she is offering, who is giving too much extra not to mention last minute work, and the boss who is asking for too many unrecorded overtime work. the teaching is actually fun and fulfilling! but everything else that I'm not supposed to do part is a pain.

here's to hoping i can tough it out another one and a half month happily. :)

and now, for the exciting news!!

sent my resume in to 8tv a couple weeks ago to work, obviously. and i got a call. the guys goes "Hi, this is Kumar from 8tv! you sent in a job application the other day right?" I go excited. then he goes "this is not about the job" and I go, dissapointed. He asked me to be a participant on one of them wacky game shows but i was too bummed that i gave him a tentative no. I know right, I should have just say yes and go on tv!

but thats ok, cause when I figured i didnt get the job, at the most unsuspecting and expecting hour, i got a second call from 8tv, and got the interview! wentto Sri Pentas today for the very first time, registered my car, went to the lobby, up the 3rd floor, past walls and walls of 8tv posters, out to the balcony, and had my interview under the clouds.

i was sweating quite abit, not because of the nerves, but because it was so warm out. the interview went well, it was brief and casual, the lady was nice and friendly.

so for nows, I will be going for a week's unpaid training here and there and everywhere. and then they'll decide if Im cool enough to be on the team. (shhh... but we know i secretly am!)

here's to hoping I get the job! *stoked*

she squirmed in pain

saved a flightless pigeon from the doors of death today.

she was finding solace and shelter in a dim corner.

oh so cute.

shes sleeping with the chickens, caged away from my 3 doggies and their merciless teeth.

here's to hoping she regain flight and embrace the clouds again.

radioactive romance

2.15pm.
Ms Ford came into the room, with a secret sinister smirk on her face.
"I want you guys to put all your phones on my table" she said, and then there was muffled pitter patter of feet across the carpet floor, the cold sound of metal against metal as phones departed half-heartedly from the owner's fingers.
Everyone was now seated quietly, some staring at Ms Ford with confusion, the others, at their phones. By now, Ms Ford's sinister smile was no more secretive. "I want to try this new Media Studies experiment with you guys. Tonight, I am going to take all these phones home with me. Lets try a day without using handphones shall we? And see how we turn out, it shall be quiet an experience for all you phone junkies."
A wave of objections flooded the classroom. "But miss! no! Thats my alarm clock!" "I need to call my mum to pick me up!" Everyone was upset and unwilling, I smiled. During the end of the class Ms Ford asked who was only thinking about their phone throughout the whole class, half of the class raised their hands. She smiled, and returned us our phones. Dang, I was so looking forward to the experiment!

Phone Dependency Syndrom. It might be a term i just made up, it might be called something else idontknow. But what i do know is it exists. The feeling of helplessness when your phone is out of battery or when you left it at home. You feel incomplete without your phone, like part of you is missing, like you're not wearing underwear, naked. You reach in your pockets every 5 minutes to check your phone only to be met with lint and you're restless. You can't wait to go home asap just to check your inbox. Phone Dependency Syndrom.

How pathetic is it that we are all controlled so much by a simple device. Like zombies. We worship them so much a few decades later when Iphones are super smart we might as well just bow down to them and let them be our wordly leaders.

I personally despise to be so attached and dependent on a phone. I hate having to check it every 10 minutes for new messages I hate having to have it beside me everywhere i go even when im moving between rooms at home I hate being so relient on it. So i dont. I dont really check it every 10 minutes, i dont realy carry it around when im at home. It feels inconvienient when i leave my phone at home but Im so glad that i definately dont have Phone Depencey Syndrom. Well, I probably do slightly but way less then most! In fact, i like not having my phone with me, sometimes. I remember once i left my phone in a friend's car and didnt have it with me the whole day. Gosh, for once, it felt like freedom. It was blissfully refreshing! And I miss that feeling of emancipation. (but replying all the message and missed calls was a pain though)

Sometimes i dream about living life as an Amish. Not having to depend on technology at all. Maybe thats also why i love going into the wild so much. Out there, I dont need my phone with me, i dont need the internet or my ipod. To just enjoy the bare neccessities in life. Too bad, so sad, the realities and responsibilities of life somehow made this luxury into a necessity. Miss a phone call and there goes your social and/or professional career. To me, phones (and facebook!) are like that annoying catcy tune stuck in your head. You hate the song but its too catchy or in this case too fun and convieniet to not be addicted to it!

a twig and fresh cement

in 2009 i

went halfway around the world without getting lost.
survived US.
skydived.
cooked a full meal.
got sick and tired of working in restaurants.
got myself a scholarship.
found a family <3.
let go of old friends.
found a true friend in an old relationship
learnt the meaning of a true friendship.
tasted love.
worked as a Kindy teacher.
pole danced.
had my first international-skype interview.
got kicked out of a bookshop by high hippies.
snucked into bars with a korean passport.
tasted speed on a snowboarded without breaking myself.
learnt the real weisin.
tasted second hand weed.
made my mum cry.
made my parents proud.
lost myself.
had fun.
had the most humiliatingly embarrassing dance performance.
hijacked a car and made it mine.
lost 2 phones, 2 touch and go cards, and one perfectly new water bottle.
got laughed at for mistaking an auto for a manual.
spent 2010 new years in Melaka.
spent 2009 new years alone.
spent Chinese New Year away from home, and in a hospital.
learnt to love Malaysian food.
got fat-er.
got inspired.
tasted almost-freedom. for a short while.
learnt how to drink.
caught a snowflake on my tongue.
slept alot.
became unmotivated and lazy.
lived the dream.

in 2010 i will

be more environmentally friendly. (a metal spork in mah bag, and no plastic bags!)

go Meatless Mondays! and eat more healthily.

not procrastinate. or at least, procrastinate less.

stay motivated.

bring back the jist.

go on an adventure!

get better at dancing.

spread the holy name of Mei across the waters.
hahhahhahaaahhaha -.-

happy 2010 people!
may your year be as awesome as you let it to be!

hey.. better late then never right!?
thanks for actually reading my posts.
the fact that you people actually bother to read amazes me!

paper glass against flourescent neon lights

Grandpa 2009, you've served us well, Thank you for the months, days and minutes well spent.. rest in our blissful memories, and be assured that baby 2010 will give us as much fun and experience as you've given!

2009, what a year it was! one full of new experiences, new friends, and great achievements!

***

Chapter 1: Setting Up Camp.

She started the year with a confused sleepy blur, fresh from the plans with cabin breath, gracing Vail, Colorado USA with anxiousness, and a whole lot of awesomeness! She didnt know what to expect for the next few months in a foreign land, she didnt expect to expect anything. There was too much of getting used to, the bone chillin winter cold, the topsy turvy time difference, the alien accent on difffernt lips, so, she decided to just be like a bear, and hibernate the first few days of 2009 away.

It was a whole new firsts for her. 3 transits, one missed flight, and 24 hours on a plane was the first of firsts that kept her confidence. Through the months, naive and confused as she was, she survived independent life in US: she saw another side of her brother that she loved, she talked to strangers, she met new friends from all over the world, got the fucking of a lifetime for sneaking into bars with a fake passport, she got drunk, she learnt how to snowboard without killing herself (although she almost did), and she jumped off a plane.

US was one helluva ride! but work was work, money was an issue, and ugh, work, was work. She loved going into work to talk to the customers, and snatch some free food! After bussing tables, breaking glasses, sitting guests and making coffee for months, she finally step out of Vail Marriot Mountain Resort and Spa a different woman for the very last time.. giving a grateful hug to her lovely manager Vanessa and giving fake pleasantries to the boss that was more of less, a pain in the ass.

From then on, it was airport to airport as she and her brother boy enjoyed the fruits of their hard sweaty labour in Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco! And then , plane flights to plane flights back to sweet land of Malaysia, that she missed heartedly.
Big mess up on the way home. Note to self: always check the AMs and PMs on the flight itinerary!

US, was an experience of a lifetime for her. Though it was only months ago, it felt like a chapter closed far far away... She was in places she never thought she would be, doing things she never thought she would do. Stepping back into Malaysia, she tasted so much, saw too many, most important of all, she learnt to love Malaysia even more!

***

Chapter 2: Mounted Flag at the top of the Summit

Through the months before and during and after US, she was frustrated. Not only frustrated at the frustration of visa procedures, she was worried about college. The age old questions and puberty-stricken teens got sick and tired off: where the fuck am i going to study? What the fuck am i going to do?

But it was all answered in August. Thank Heaven's mercy that she got practically free admission to spent the next three years of her life as a Comm Student with Taylors. It solved a whole lot of problems: where to study was crossed of the list, and not spending her mother's EPF on tuition fees was a good thing. Though reluctant as first (Taylors wasnt her first, second, nor third if given a choice), she grew to absolutely love the school. Mainly, and only because she found herself bonded in the midst of colourful characters that is the Berry family!

AppleBerry she became, and she was here to stay.

Relunctance resided, she then geared up and set determination to conquer and prove her priceless worth.

***
Chapter 3: A Little Taste of Everything.

There was alot of bumming around in between holidays. Between ending an adventure and staring a new identity, she bummed around at home for months. She just didnt want to do anything but dance.While the bees buzzed about her head and the mushroom grows, She got so sick and tired of fossilfying at home but she just couldn't bring herself to do anything else. Maybe she was so focused on dreading Taylors, maybe she was just so tired from finishing chapter one, or maybe she was so rusty at dancing that it was all she could think of. Either way, she couldnt help herself but be unproductive. Even when the first weeks of Uni finally crept in, she stayed away from the busy clubs and societies that she usually frequent. She looked at herself in the mirror and despised the person she grew into, the jist was gone.

The end of semester one came along with 3 months of nothingness. For reasons that she herself couldn't comprehend, she gave up priceless opportunities to intern at magazines, radio or tv studios, and instead, landed herself at a Kindergarten, working as a Kindy teacher to sweet, innocent, bratty 5 year olds.

For all the amount of work she's contributing, even show monkeys earn more peanuts than her. Its like, exploitation! It's all about the kids, she tells herself, its all about the experience!

and that was what 2009 was all about, the experience. I was reluctant to do US, i was reluctant to start Taylors but it was well worth the misery. Believe me, it was a vibrant year, like paper glass against fluorescent neon lights. I slid down all 7 colours of the rainbow slide, basking in each of its golden glory...

P/S: the jist is not gone, it was just deep inside, recharging!

now tell me, is it annoying to listen to someone talk about themselves in the 3rd person?