Jan 8: A dark, dark day in Malaysia's history

I was not prepared for the news that started coming in, about churches being burnt or were purportedly bombed, due to the reaction of certain ignorant parties in response to the High Court ruling that allows the Herald Catholic Weekly to use the word, "Allah".

I was in tears... in total shock as to what our country has come to, that we have to resort to violence in order to make our voices heard.

Then, I got mad! Only in Malaysia, do you have a government fighting for the exclusive right of Muslims to use a word to address their God. Is Allah the God of only the Muslims?

Where was I when the announcement was made that each faith worshipped a different God? Is there not ONE GOD? The same God that we all worship and pray to? We may have different names for Him, but He is the ONE and ONLY GOD.

And what's happened to a country that prides herself in being a home to many diverse ethnicities, cultures, religions and beliefs, but live together peacefully? Where was that tolerance and peace last Friday?

People, you need to educate yourselves!! That's what the internet is for!! Go find out the origins of the word, Allah! Go find out how long ancient civilisations have been addressing God as Allah!! Don't listen to ignorant rantings and finger-pointing unless you have your facts right!

If you don't, you will continue to lash out blindly, all because someone was playing batu api, by just jabbing you with lies, they can easily get you to do the crazy dance.

This explains the fear people have of things they are unfamiliar with or know nothing of.

Well, enough is enough! Arm yourselves with knowlege, for that is where you become powerful... when you are educated and informed, and then make your assessment based on fact, NOT fiction.

It's a new year! How time flies...

Happy New Year! We're only five days into 2010, so it's not screwy to wish everyone.

What a year 2009 has been. I can't believe I travelled more than I would have imagined, in one year. Bangkok, Siem Reap, Bali... the only thing stopping me from always keeping my backpack unpacked is the lack of money to jetset. :)

Having said that, I haven't made many big plans for travel. There is the one to Perth coming up in March, and then where...?

I do have one big goal to achieve this year (you could call it a resolution as well), and that is to lose massive amounts of weight so I can play sports again.

I was the ultimate tomboy back in the day. Anything boys did - like play games or sports - I wanted in on it! There were no limits for me. I climbed trees and hills when I was a kid. I joined a mini marathon at 13 (though I didn't finish, naive to the fact that one trains for marathons, and I hadn't!) and tried out for the hockey, netball and basketball teams in school.

But after my knee injury, I gave up. Everytime I ran or jumped, it hurt and I never said anything to my parents, so nothing was done. And I slowly let myself go. Now, I'm a ball of fat! Well, I don't look like a ball, I do have curves, but still, the weight I'm carrying around isn't making life easier for my joints. And having gone on those holidays last year, they were too much for me, evidence of an unfit heart.

So I only have one resolution this year - to lose it. I'm about 35kgs overweight. I plan to lose 30kgs, and I plan to do it slowly. If calculations serve me correct, losing 1kg a week would see me losing my goal weight by July. Of course, that would be wishful thinking, as there are bound to be obstacles like hitting a plateau midway throught your workout, and falling off the wagon once in a while. Which is why I'm giving myself a whole year to do it.

While I work towards this goal, I'm busy reading my books from the big bad book sale in Nov 09. Crazy me, I'm in the midst of reading three books, alternating between them.

The Big, SosoBAD, Fabulous Book Sale!

I read about the Big Bad Book Sale in the Sunday Star (Nov 22) and couldn’t believe I missed the first one!!

What rock had I been under all this while? I MUST pick up the papers more often, difficult to do when you work the night shift and all you want to do is sleep ALL day until it’s time to wake up and get ready for work the same evening. Sigh….
Anyway, after reading the article on the book sale and the fact that all books were going for 70% to 90%, I thought “Yeah, right!” but decided to go anyway. And I couldn’t have asked for a better first day of sale than Nov 26, when I had the day off, and so could catch up on my sleep once I got home. So I informed my book-crazy best friend, who was up for it as well.

Come Thursday morning, we met for breakfast, drove down to Amcorp Mall – where the sale was being held – and had to endure a long queue of cars entering the vicinity to find parking. Lucky for us, we didn’t take long to find a spot and promptly made our way into the building. It was 1030am when we got there, so the crowd wasn’t so bad, but within a half hour, it swelled. And during that time, I was picking up book after book after book!! I wasn’t too concerned about the damage it was about to do to my budget, but after a while, I couldn’t carry that many in my hands. I wasn’t prepared with my own bags, and the thought of lugging those boxes around looked like too much work. So I got a max of a dozen books, which were a puny amount, by my standards, and waited another half hour in line to pay for them.

My friend got about the same amount, and after paying for everything, I realized with dread, that I should have gotten more!! Then I realized that I had a big problem…. I was addicted to books!! So addicted in fact, I could feel myself shaking from not spending enough time at the book sale, not smelling and feasting my eyes on enough hardcovers, paperbacks, puzzle books, magazines!!!
When I got home, I told mum about the sale, and on Monday, Nov 30, she went there around 4 and came back with 6 books. Mum’s not much of book-crazed fiend like me, but she enjoys books all the same.

I was so excited about going back to the sale on Dec 2, I sit here behind my work desk, narrating this. So the last day of the sale, I was there at 12pm, and saw a smaller group of people browsing what was left after the whilwind that hit the first few days of the sale. This time though, all books above RM5 were going at that same price. FOr one last time, I made my rounds, picked up book after book of what I thought would be good reads, and this time I carried a shopping bag to put them all in. My brother, needless to say, join in the fun, and after picking up his 4 book, was afraid that he may taken too many (four is too many??) but I encouraged him along, and the damage later on, was a mere RM88, for about two dozen books. Still too little, but it was my first massive book sale experience.

I'm already waiting in eager anticipation for the next one, which may probably only happen next year, MONTHS away from now. For now, there is a pile to go through, and I've already finished reading two. :D

Seven days and counting...

It's a wednesday morning, OCt 21 to be precise.
I'm at work, multi-tasking - working AND googling - and couldn't be happier, in spite of the freezing cold confines of my office.
You see, exactly one week from today, I'll be on my way to Siem Reap, Cambodia - home of the Angkor Wat - one the greatest Hindu temple ruins in the history of the world's civilization.
I've always had a fascination for old buildings - structures that have stood tall and proud for hundreds of years and perhaps a milennia - with the most unfathomable stories that tell of its past.
It's going to be an early flight in, but I don't mind... i've been dreaming of going to Siem Reap for the longest time, and I can finally afford to fly there and soak myself in the rich history that was part of the Khmer people of Cambodia.
When I return, it'll be with a memory cardful of pics as well as great memories... ;)

I CAN'T WAIT!!

I've been hibernating

I'd like to think I've been hibernating the whole time I've gone AWOL, but really it's been nothing more dramatic than me working and not having any strength for much else after.
But I promised myself that I will continue to write something, ANYTHING, so that the more words I print on my virtual journal, the more Hemingway-esque my musings will be...
Onward!!

A Fab Film! And that's the ugly truth. :P

I haven't been here for a while now and that's because I have not been inspired lately to spew gibberish all over my page.

But on Sunday, I fell madly in love with The Ugly Truth that I'm shouting it from the rooftops, sotospeak!

Aside from the fact that the sexy and funny Katherine Heigl and the yummiest Irishman on celluloid - Gerard Butler - were the main players, the film speaks to all of us who've been in love or are still looking for it.

Heigl plays this stiff knowitall and fixitall television producer who is a control freak and we find out just how this plays into her social life when she does a background check on a guy she was about to go on a date with, and later at dinner, spits out facts about bottled water really being tap water, when he orders some to go with his scotch! Needless to say, she goes home alone and (duh) to her pet cat.
She then chances upon Gerard Butler's character on a low rating tv show when her cat accidentally steps on the remote and finds him dishing out advice to women who are having trouble meeting men. Shocked by what she hears, she calls him up to tell him that not all men are shallowminded pigs but he shoots her down with more of his mcp bullshit.

I'm not going to ruin the rest of the movie for you but rest assured, it's plenty of laughs and brash one liners, mostly coming out of Butler's mouth! How hot is he!!
No guesses for what happens to the two characters at the end of it, but it is still worth your RM10, trust me!

I'll be spending another RM10 when I go see it again with another friend!!!

A Taste of New Orleans Jazz right here in KL!

I love jazz music!

Any chance I get, I'll drag my friends with me to a jazz fest or concerts that are held year-round in the city.

The Petronas Philharmonic Hall, situated between the Petronas Twin Towers, hosts jazz bands, mostly uncommercial but widely popular in their country of origin, from time to time. And I don't think I've missed a single show there (actually I did.... HARRY CONNICK, Jr!!!), especially since the tickets are dirt cheap!

Anyway, we were there to watch the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans, who performed at the hall on Aug 15 and 16. I hadn't heard of the band prior to the concert, but I was aware of the rich history and legacy of the city of New Orleans in its contribution to jazz music. So I was really looking forward to hearing them perform.

Concert night, my buddy Kim and I went straight to the box office to collect our tickets and get dinner before heading up to the hall. I had forgotten that the dress code for this type of concert was smart casual. Still, I was shocked at what some of the audience were wearing!!

Does no one know what the term, "smart casual" means?? It does not mean wearing three-quarter drainpipe or cargo pants; neither does it mean wearing round neck tee shirts OR sneakers OR slippers!!! Yet, there were aunties that looked like they'd just gone grocery shopping before making their way to the show. Yikes! It looks some of us need to educate ourselves on what constitutes smart casual whenever an event calls for this kind of dress code.

Back to the concert... It was love at first sound for PHJB! The band members consisted of seasoned professionals both young and old (the band leader is 36-year-old cutie, Mark Braud) who've played with jazz greats and legends, past and present.
They not only entertained the audience with their talent playing their respective instruments, but got us laughing as well, with their solo vocal renditions that were more like stories told to the sound of bluesy, soulful jazz.

I still have goosebumps thinking about last week's show, which was way too short and ended way too soon. My love for jazz just quadrupled after watching them perform.

The band will be in Taipei on the 28th and will end their Asian tour at Taipei on Sept 1.

Man, I soooo wanna go to New Orleans now!!!

Another lame-assed weekend...

The weekend is here... and I'm broke!

Not like it makes a difference since I hardly do anything on weekends. I'm done at work early on Sat mornings, then I head home and straight to bed. It's usually 7 or 8pm when I wake up to dinner, some rerun on HBO, but this weekend at least there's live football on tv.

By midnight, I'm in bed again until 630am on Sunday, when it's church day. And for the rest of the day, there's nothin to do but veg out... which I hate doing!

But I have discovered a new hobby which is making stuff, like bags, for instance. I was so gung ho about bringing designs to life that I broke the sewing machine my mom bought for a steal!! My toy broken, I'll have to wait patiently for it to be repaired when I bring it over to the service center this weekend to have it fixed.

Looks like I'll have to go back to my beads and think up new designs... ones that'll hopefully make me some money.... :D

The Season's back, baby!!!

I'm stoked! It's the new football season!

It's back to noisy Sat/sun nights, cheering on the boys with mum and the siblings.

It's an ugly scene when I watch my team play live. Real ugly.

I love them! And it's about the game, not about the men, where women football fans are concerned. So get with it boys!

LFC RULE!

My daily grind

It's a friday morning, on Aug 14 2009.

I'm at work. Yes, I work the graveyard shift, permanently. It's not difficult to figure out the kind of business I work for. My employer is a BPO. Our clients are a major pharmaceutical company and we run the HR call center to take care of their staff in the States.

I started out as a voice on the phone, now I monitor the performance of those voices on the phone. It's a fun job, sometimes. But it's no fun being the bad guy (that's what the call center people think of you anyway), analysing the performance of these employees and telling them to suck it up and do their job cos that's what they're paid to do! Alas, that is what I'm paid to do.

Sometimes, though, I wonder if there is more to life than just this job I'm in. I'm certainly grateful to be gainfully employed, what with today's recession being felt the world over, but really... have you ever stopped and asked yourself what all this will lead to in the end?

Think about it! You go to work to get paid at the end of each month, only to use 1/10 of your hard earned money to pay for the food you eat daily (mostly takeaway from a mamak restaurant near work). Let's not forget the hire purchase payment you have to make on that car you don't-really-own, plus gas and toll money to help you get to work so you can get paid and start the cycle each month without fail!

Some of us may not even like what we do for a living!

When fresh graduates join the workforce, their first job is a stepping stone to something bigger. So they stick with a company for one, maybe two years, and once the experience is gained, they add it to their one page resume and put as much detail about their first two years on their first job to make it two pages. Then ship off this newly updated resume to other companies offering not necessarily better jobs, but ones that pay more. They continue to do this until they find: a) a job with a dream-employer (read: one that has a better benefits package); OR b) a job that will take them up the corporate ladder.

I started my first job after leaving secondary school. The initial idea was to save up enough money to go to college, as back in the day, banks didn't offer study loans. But the money earned from working was just too good to put away for something better like tertiary education! So I worked, and with each job, with promised myself to go back to school each year or stay long enough to earn a promotion. But I was always bored with every job I found! I could only do something for two years at the longest. And then I'd get restless, which is when I start making plans.

Before I knew it, I turned 30! I was ashamed. I had accomplished very little in my 12 years of being corporate slave. It wasn't too late to do something about that though. So I enrolled in college part time, to study law. Three years later, I've put my pre-law exams off (for the last time, I swear!) as I've had trouble juggling the graveyard shift, evening classes, and completing assignments.

Today, as I sit in front of my company-owned laptop, waiting for my ride to finish her work for the day, I am trying to figure out what life has planned for me. What the heck am I here for? There has to be a reason for living, and it's not just about slogging at the office 8-12 hours a day, five days a week, to bring back a paycheck where you only get to enjoy 10% of your earnings.

If I die tomorrow, I'd like to have a good life flash before my eyes, one where I've accomplished what I was set here to do, and not just that of an average human being who worked like everyone else, didn't contribute much to society and is now dead and buried with nothing to show for her 30-something years of living!!

While I wait for God to whisper my life's purpose to me, I will simply fill my time and eliminate boredom by banging on the keyboard a bunch of gibberish I call my blog entries, while trying my hand at crafts, a new hobby I'm so into at the moment.

Somebody get me a cup of instant coffee!!