Twenty minus One

Here, I have a declaration to make - At the time of writing this, I am officially 19 years, 1 day and 13 hours old!

But for all my 19 years of age, I am totally embarrassed by how childish I acted yesterday.

Not childish-fun, but childish-bratty.

I procrastinated (again), had to pull an all-nighter just to finish my essays (submitted an hour before deadline!), and pissed everyone off for being pissed at everyone.

Sorry la everyone, I hadn't had much sleep lately.

So anyway!

I didn't even realize it was my birthday (really!), until I got the first SMS greeting at 11 p.m., because I was very pathetically glued at the computer, staring at the blank white of a Microsoft Word worksheet.

Still. I think with birthdays you get a bit of blessing, because Chooiyen was at her most prolific last night! Finished four $^&* essays in a single sitting!

As a result, was too tired to do anything else after that. I dropped my mom off in the morning, 'cause I thought I'd need the car for my appointment with Fui later, but I was in a daze on the road and was pretty much an accident waiting to happen.

I called Fui to cancel (and I think spoke in a very bad-mood sort of way), but eventually took the bus to Subang anyway.

I was surprised! By a buncha people coming in from behind with a cake and singing 'Happy Birthday'!

LOL was not expecting it at all, 'cause I thought I was just there to help Fui with something, and frankly up until I left my house I was still debating on whether I should just push it to another day.

And so, back to the apologies part. I'm so sorry for acting so whiny!

I was supposed to meet her at 2 p.m., ended up reaching there at 4, and I think I had such a storm on my face that Fui was worried I was mad at her.

LOL for the record, I think at that point I was mad at everything in the world, even the old lady on the bus who sat with her leg bent at the weirdest angle. Dunno, it just annoyed me.

Anyway, I found out people like ZiHui and Midge had been waiting since 2 p.m. Double the guilt!

You know, I was particularly touched because even I myself had somehow just let things go, kind of like, "My birthday today. So what. Don't care la. Very lazy to do anything."

So when I found out people cared enough to plan something, I was obviously surprised. And grateful!

Especially since the fact that it was my birthday was completely pushed out of my mind (because I was too tired by then), so much so that when they sang 'Happy Birthday' from behind I was actually confused, thought it was a different table celebrating.

I have to say though, EngFui, you are one heck of an actor! Haha!

You know, I had dinner with my family that night, and two other people were having their birthdays there!

Quick wrap. Thanks everyone who remembered! To that wonderful bunch of people (especially for staying on even though I kept wanting to cancel), and also to the text message-greeters!

LOL it is pretty funny, birthday text greetings, you realize?

When you're 17, everybody says it's a milestone, you can finally legally drive.

When you're 18, they say it's a milestone, you can finally go clubbing. (And I still remember one guy congratulated me 'cause I can finally "commit adultery". I don't think adultery is okay for any age? LOL.)

When you're 19, almost everyone tells you you've got "one year till 20".

It's like a trend or something.

So when you're 20 they'd tell you you've finally hit the big 2-0, and when you're 21 they tell you you can vote.

And by 22 no one knows what to say any more hahah.

* * * * *

On a completely different note.

My brother just gave a canoe tour (probably part of his campus job) to, guess who?

Prince of Terengganu! And His Royal family and bodyguards la.

I wonder how much the guy had to spend to get all of them to Hawaii. One-way plane ticket alone costs RM6000.

Anyway, my bro will be off on his 2-year missionary trip soon, and he'd finish his final year in university after that.

Seeing how things are, by the time he's done with his degree, I'd be probably halfway through mine. Which is a lot to say since the guy is 5 years older than me.


I feel like my intelligence level is decreasing by the day or something. That's what happens when you've got no school to go to, no university you've enrolled into yet.

No other friend of mine has such a long break.

Job? Too lazy.

Which again contributes to the degeneration of my brain.

I need something to stimulate my thinking cells!

010108

Very late liao, but nevermind - Happy new year!

Err I almost chose to forgo new year celebrations. Which is the most stupid thing to do, multiplied by 10.

It was so wonderful, that night.

We were at a somewhat non-strategic place when the clock struck 12, so that we didn't even realize it was 12 until the fireworks went off and people started screaming.

(Dunno who, went, "No la! Not yet 12! See my watch!" and poked at her watch. Who again ah? In denial sial.)


I was a taaad disappointed we didn't get to countdown (for we had noisemakers and glowsticks and poppers and all that jazz, given to us free by the restaurant we ate in).

So that very moment 2007 became 2008, the bunch of us were sitting on the pavement, marah-ing The Ling for wasting one of the poppers. (Those were weird poppers that don't work anyway. They failed on me also, those take-guna things.)

So I had on this "Aiyoh" sort of look on me, then The Ling went, "Nevermind what. At least we had each other when it happened."

Which is so, so true!

So. Much later in the night, right, Fui sent me this text message, cheering our 6 years of friendship.

Imagine! Since form 1 eh. Somehow I'm no longer worried about us going to US/Singapore/Aussie next year because I know know know what I can count on is that these people will never leave me behind. We'd still be as tight as ever!


I went to this Chinese wedding dinner last night, and there were these two Ah-Poh, trying to relive their younger years I think, they started singing with the mic on stage. And they danced.

They sang very horribly, they danced like drunken monkeys, and no one at my table was paying them much notice, except for myself.

'Cause they remind me so much of us! Especially during our er, karaoke sessions.

I remember there was one time, we turned off the lights so it was almost completely dark save for the glow from the TV screen, and started singing to 'Nsync's Bye Bye Bye, and trying to dance like 'Nsync what the heck!

Then everybody got really high and crowded in front of the TV. There were a bunch of us, but only 2 microphone, and I was sharing one of the mics with somebody.

But like I said, too high, right? So people started getting really possessive of the microphones, 'cause everyone wanted to scream into them, until one girl had her mic snatched away from her, and in a fit of rage (or she just too blur la, I dunno which) she went ahead and pulled the microphone's jack out from the TV.

Damn funny, man.

After the song was over and the lights were turned on, the girl who did the snatching of mic went, "Eh? Mic come out already? No wonder no sound la!"

She said she realized she couldn't hear herself sing.

Who is who, your guess!


I don't really know what I'm talking about I'm just typing as I go pardon me.

* * * * *

In all geng-chao-ness, I stayed up all night, just to finish off my applications.

Emphasis on all night.

As in come back from wedding dinner, bathe, go straight to work till 12 noon the next day.
(12 noon because the absolute deadline is 12.59 pm our time, i.e. 11.59 pm US eastern time. I am such a last-minute person!)

Can you believe ah?

This basically comes from unchecked procrastination, and from wanting to go ahead and enjoy myself even though I know perfectly well my app essays are not done yet.

And also from applying to 11 colleges. (Not kiasu. Quite on the contrary. Too insecure to apply to less.)

Made it in time for Jan 1 deadline, now there are colleges with more essays with Jan 15 deadline die die die I haaaate.


I don't care la. I'm applying to Singapore Unis. Applying to US is too cumbersome, might not get accepted somemore, what's the point.

Did you know for National University Singapore, you just fill in an online form (simple form, no CommonApp shit) and send in copies of school transcripts (no counselor rec, teachers rec, school reports what shit what shit)?


Hoo.


After-effects of serious lack of sleep. Pardon me.

My biological clock is as screwed as a cork in a wine bottle. For the past month I've been sleeping at 5, 6, 7 am.

I cannot help it - it's the only time I get a little peace and quiet at home.

Most other times you just get a Mother nagging, a Father watching Astro with the volume turned up too high, plus a Sister watching NTV7/8TV while talking to the (characters in the) television.

Damn noisy la my house.

I absolutely love how quiet it is when everyone's asleep.

Screwed up sleeping pattern doesn't bother me though, I don't have school to attend.

I repeat, NO SCHOOOOOL!

So while everyone is preparing for college/exams right now, all I do is go "no school no school" and give an annoying smirk. Oh and write @#$% essays, of course.

Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas all!

A day late but nevermind.

So how was your Christmas this year?

Mine went by without much fanfare or bright lights or very fancy parties.

But very special nevertheless.


The night before, the Ling said she'd pick me up at 9.30 am.

I woke up at 9.36 am, woken up by the text message of the Ling standing right outside my gate.

Went to church, stomach growling like crazy due to not having had breakfast, and after it ended, Ling and I decided to go have lunch at Satellite Chicken Rice near Jalan Gasing. For old time's sake.

And no drive to Jalan Gasing can end without a walk back to Catholic High, riiiight?

We ended up going to the reading corner, and spending a long time there Talking.

Frankly, I've not Talked like that since 2007 begun.

Weirdly, 2007 had been a very, very peaceful year for myself. No unnecessary drama, no tears, no urgent need to call up a friend to complain about something or other.

Until of course, yesterday, when I realize I haven't been sharing much about myself to my friends.

And so back at the reading corner (that place back in high school where many, many secrets were exchanged), I shared much more than I thought I ever would.

Man I miss the times when I'd go to the Ling's place, or she'd come into my room, get into my bed in her school uniform ("I told you dun mess up my blanket loh!"), and we'd talk and talk, about Things and Life In General.

It still amazes me how the things she says are so deep and insightful.


Had a very, very wonderful Christmas dinner.

Roast lamb, jacket potatoes and sour cream, garden salad, errr broccoli (eww), sparkling wine. And a very lovely Christmas log cake.


Speaking of Christmas dinner, Chooiyen single-handedly kind of ruined Christmas Eve Dinner!

Because she was supposed to be looking after the chicken in the oven, but was too busy surfing the web and the chicken ended up getting a little burnt.

Partially to blame is my sister who has managed to contract chicken pox so that my parents have to get her to the clinic and leave me at home to attend to the chicken.

We ended up having dinner at 9.15 pm.



I never had chicken pox.

I took a vaccine shot 3 years ago.

So did my sister.

But she still has chicken pox now.

Chicken pox is highly contagious.

I might get chicken pox.

Incubation period is 2 weeks.

2.5 weeks = my birthday!


Shit shit I will probably have chicken pox on my birthday!

I thought vaccines were suppose to prevent you from contracting the disease?



Merry Christmas y'all!

n. Australian. "Large, noisy celebration".

I was going through my photos folder (uploading photos I promised to share but have not actually gotten to sharing them) and look what I found!

Photos I never took.


















The photos people take when they know it isn't their camera.

A bunch of other camwhore-ish ones had very identifiable cam whores, which makes it wrong to post them I guess?

They were all taken on different days, so it shows how often I used to bring my camera to school.

Now compare that to the times I used my camera during college.

Other than taking the occasional photo, I hardly use it when I go out. Heck, I didn't even use it much during corroboree.

I still have the habit of feeling weird about giving my camera to Someone during group shots, when there are already 10+ outstretched hands holding out cameras to that Someone.

Obviously, I'd have to resort to stealing photos off people's blogs and bugging others to upload photos onto Friendster/Photobucket.

LOL by the 5th shot you'd get tired of smiling.

This is a not-so-subtle plea for photos of group shots! =)

* * * * *

Speaking of corroboree, which is the Australian term for Prom (SAM, baby!), here's a photo I stole off Esther's blog. She wouldn't mind. I think.





It was the prom I didn't expect.

For one, I was unusually laid back about it.

I got my dress the day before prom, I bought it even though I didn't like the colour because I was too lazy to go on looking for the Perfect Dress.
(Plus, day before prom = running out of time)

Would you believe, the budget I set on my dress is way lower than what I spent on the MCR concert ticket? I need to get my priorities straight, or sumthin'.

An hour before prom, I was still at my computer, having cramps (that time of month, unfortunately).

I think Adeline and I were the only ones who hadn't done anything to our hair (mine was still slightly wet from last-minute bathing), and I had close to zilch make up on.

I was almost an hour late (thanks to the massive jam - has anyone else realized that there seem to be more big-ass jams lately?), and when I got there I realized all the girls were dressed up - I mean, really dressed up, with curled hair and in make-up done by pros.

Anyway, it was REAL nice seeing everyone dressed up properly for once.
(The last time we saw each other was during the finals, and at that time everyone had on a thick sweater to combat the ridiculous temperature in the testing rooms, everyone was really dressed down like that.)

Even the girl who cringes at the thought of putting on a skirt, let alone make up and heels, was dressed so nicely! -nudge nudge-

Esther had the nicest cheong sam on! And, it didn't exactly cost as much as I thought cheong sams would cost.

Me mom still thinks buying cheong sams are a waste, because I wouldn't have the proper occasion to wear it. I dunno, wear it at home also nice guar?

When I got home and my mom asked me what we did, I had no idea how to answer her.

We didn't exactly eat, for we left the table early, to take photos. So basically the entire night was spent taking photos. (None of us danced, 'cause apparently you have to know how to dance really touchy-feely, kisskisskiss.)

Still, it was a good night.

I pretty much went only because I felt it would be the only proper closure to 11 months of being together, constantly knee chin-deep in tests and assignments.

It was a proper closure, because we didn't have a graduation ceremony or anything like that.

Woulda been even more wonderful if people like Catherine could join us though.

We took our last photo of G10 (with mentor Mr. Yap), and called it a night.

I know a lot of people were disappointed with the CHS prom last year, but I guess most of us have our own ideas of how the ideal prom should be, so anything less would be a disappointment.

So, expectations aside, SAM Corroboree was good.

* * * * *

Tagged. My uh, second ever meme?


1. The person who tagged u is?
Yee Phang

2. Ur relationship with him/her is:
(ex-) classmate, lunch buddy!

3. 5 impressions u have of him/her:
Conservative (very!). Unpredictable. Daring. Homebody? Family oriented?

4. The most memorable thing he/she has done for u:
Gave me tickets to watch Good Charlotte live. VIP tickets somemore!

5. If he/she becomes ur lover, u will:
Probably not have babies. Haha.

6. If he/she becomes ur lover, things he/she has to improve on will be:
Stop getting lured away from the group by stalls giving out free stuff =)

7. If he/she becomes ur enemy, u will:
Uhhh be very afraid. Heck, be afraid even if she's your friend, this girl takes photos of you (without you knowing) at your most unflattering moment!

8. The most desirable thing u want to do for him/her now is:
Fulfil her, er, hope? Go to Miri once and for all lol.

9. Ur overall impression of him/her is:
A gooood friend.

10. How u think ppl around u will feel about u:
Eh? I dunno, different groups of people have different impressions of me?

11. The characteristic that u love about urself is:
Um, reasonably optimistic about the future?
Okay, very optimistic about the future.
(Is that a characteristic?)

12. The characteristic u hate about urself is:
My inability to accept praises. Dunno, just tend to "cancel out" praises by pointing out my own faults. (Fui says you should criticize me when you see me, else I'd be very upset. -Fui says!-)

13. The most ideal person u want to be is:
Myself. No one else.

14. For ppl that care and like u, say something to them:
Thanks. Like, so so much.

15. THE 10 VICTIMS:
You x 10. Anything la.

* * * * *

End of post.

Pre-Merdeka Excitement

I need to get this in before it's Too Late.

You guys, take as many photos as you can this thursday night / friday!

Because in case you haven't realized, this is a humongous milestone for our country, right, and 50 years later we'll all be almost 70 year-olds, and then you'll appreciate the photos you took.


You know how the old, yellowing photos are being published / displayed, and people look at them and go "Wow"?

It's going to be like that when we have grandkids.

They're gonna look at us celebrating our nation's 50th Independence Anniversary (also known as Malaysia's 50th birthday!), they're gonna see how far our country has come, and they're gonna go "Wow", too.

They will.

So. Take more photos.

And have fun celebrating!

In anticipation of CNY. And a new cam perhaps.

Almost every other day now my sister would ask, "Eh so how wanna go Muse not?"

(Yes if I were to go I'd be going with my sister because no one I know wants to go with me. Wait scratch that. No one I know wants to pay to watch Muse.)

Tickets are almost selling out now right, wait any longer and they'll be completely sold off right, but I cannot decide.

Grrr. College and Common Tests get in the way of everything.

My sister had two free tickets to watch INXS last year, but we had to turn them down because I had tuition on a Friday night and it was just before SPM trials.

And to cheapskate people like myself, free tickets to huge rock acts are everything.

Grr. School work makes your life a lot less enjoyable.

But it's amazing, only the first month of college, and already I'm slacking off on school work. Plus, I'm no longer the "new student in class" anymore, so I don't get excused from not doing my homework / not knowing what I should know in class.

It's like I'm living my Form 5 life, only twice worse. (At least in Form 5, I did my work when the teacher made it clear it is a DO YOUR WORK OR DIE situation, where as in college the lecturers just couldn't care less.)

On a different note, my Aunt-From-UK would be back this coming Saturday!

Which means I -

1. Have to clean my room.
(Clothes on my bed, remote controls and cable wires on the floor. Not going to be easy.)

2. Must behave.
(No more yelling from the top of the stairs to whoever's in the kitchen. "Scream like that for what! Come down and talk!")

3. Have more ang pao money!
(Pity the pounds-to-ringgit conversion rate has gone down though.)

4. Must pretend to be very interested in school work.

5. Have to listen to all the music I want now, and have the volume turned down once she arrives.

6. Will be celebrating Chinese New Year!

Food, travel, Ipoh, hometown, Ipoh sarhorfun, steamboat, Pangkor, cantonese CNY tv shows, ANG PAOS!

For some reason, the older you get, the more you anticipate Chinese New Year.

Nothing to do with ang paos though, it's the whole wear-red-not-black-speak-good-not-bad festive atmosphere.

My parents are very traditional.

We have to pour them tea and utter words of luck and prosperity (in mandarin no less) just to get our red packets. Which is weird because my parents don't even speak mandarin, and is hard for people like me, so I just say whatever comes to mind - mostly "shen ti jian kang" or "wan shi ru yi".


I don't know a lot of mandarin good-fortune phrases, but my brother is dead hopeless - he thinks "xin nian kuai le" IS a chinese good-fortune phrase in itself.

Hopefully I save enough money to get myself the Nikon D40.

It's already the cheapest one in the market.

After having used my brother's dSLR, point-and-shoot cameras tend to leave me feeling a little frustrated.

(That being said, I find myself looking at cameras in the market despite having my own Lumix for less than a year. I love cameras. At the end of the day, should you ask me to choose between cellphones and cameras, I'd choose the latter anytime!)

Eighteen.

I turned 18!

I get to watch non-'Umum' movies without trying to look adult to get past the cinema people who guard the entrance to non-'Umum' movies.

We were playing Truth Or Dare once, someone dared me to go buy a packet of cigarrettes, and the lady shopkeeper wouldn't let me. But I am 18 now!

And according to a friend, I can finally commit adultery! Um, I don't think he knows what 'adultery' is.


Milestone milestone milestone!


Was a wonderful birthday by the way, I got to have 3 cakes =)

Blueberry cheese from the loveliest bunch of friends ever, tiramisu from my classmates, Chocolate Indulgence from my mom and dad.



Thanks to the people who remembered and bothered to celebrate with me,
thanks to the people who remembered and bothered to send me greetings,
thanks to the people who didn't remember but was told about it and still bothered to send me greetings (don't think I cannot tell!).

Special thanks to DT8, for a wonderful Saturday.

Special thanks to friend-in-NS who called from Terengganu last night, despite running low on phone credits.

Special thanks to YeeWan and RuYuan for setting that surprise up, despite the fact that it was only my first week of joining G10.


Oh did I mention? I switched to SAM.

Ignoring the fact that I sitll have not found a suitable topic for the very important Investigative Studies, I am very, very happy that I'm doing SAM. I can tell I'm going to enjoy the class and the coursework. No regrets there!

* * * * *

I'm starting to show signs of KhengSaik-ism. (With Kheng Saik being my brother who is now applying into his 3rd university because he found the first two unsuitable).

He's 5 years older than me, but with all the time he's wasted, and with him starting all over again at his new U, I'm only a year behind him now (when it comes to studies la).

But like my parents have said (I think they're trying to console themselves and the hole in their bank account), "At least now he has found what he really wants."

So it took him 4 years, but at least now he knows his passion lies in sculpting.

So it took me being enrolled in 3 different classes, but at least I know I love doing SAM.

Eheh.

I cannot imagine how sien my parents are, what with my bro switching to this and that, and me making my dad come to college to switch classes/courses twice.

* * * * *

Regarding that ShihTzu birthday wish, I'm not getting it after all.

We were in the car when I brought it up, which caused my mom to start complaining how my sister never bathes her cat, which lead to my sister complaining how my mom always say she doesn't bathe her cat when in fact she bathes Puss "so often".

So in the end everyone was in a bad mood, and I think they were mad at me for bringing the subject up.

Too bad.

* * * * *

[CL update]
She's having a lot of fun doing National Service. She's gaining weight despite doing hours of rigorous physical activities everyday, and that's 'cause they have 7 meals a day.
And they get to go to the kedai kopi at night. How nice.


* * * * *

A little bit of info I have no where else to insert into -

Did you know, a meal at McDonald's in KLCC (for 5 people only okay) can cost up to RM80?

For that amount, we could've have a better meal at a proper restaurant.


And the Prosperity Burger wasn't even nice.

Celebration of a wonderful ending-cum-beginning

The biggest problem that comes with having my brother back from Hawaii, is that we have been having one heck of a time trying to keep up with the guy and his craving for Malaysian food.
(All he has there are mashed potatoes, burgers and - you know, american stuff.)

The good : We have good food almost every meal.

The bad : We have good food every meal. Which means we have been eating A LOT more than usual.

Sometimes we'd go out an hour after dinner for 'supper', which is actually dinner #2 with a different name.


Last night, for example, we had dinner twice - 5pm, when we were hungry, and 8pm, when we were hungry again.


But nevermind, a few extra kilos wouldn't kill.

* * * * *

From this point on, this post is going to sound like a diary of daily events. More for my own record than for anyone else's reading pleasure. I'm just saying lah.

So anyway.

We had a great Christmas eve, with a candle-lit dinner at home, full-fledged english meal.

I was told it was my fault we couldn't have turkey for dinner, because I woke up a little late (12 pm to be specific) and by the time my parents got to the market the turkeys were sold out.

But we had chicken, which isn't as good as turkey but still pretty good.

Spent Christmas at a friend's place.

I feel a little bad, because it was supposed to be a 'pillow-talk, expose-all' kind of gathering, since it was the last time we'd hang out together, what with one going for NS and another one heading overseas before that NS trainee comes back.

But I was holding back a bit, actually, holding back a lot.

I get very paiseh when I have to talk about sentimental things. Like what I told my cousin who later quoted me on it, "Chooiyen feels weird talking about these kind of things."

(I came back that day in a weird kind of funk, 'cause you know, it dawned on me that we're all moving on now, we're no longer schoolmates, by the time she comes back, most of us would be away already, so this pretty much marks the End of DT8.)

Thursday, went to CHS for my sister's PMR results.

This is where it gets interesting.

I remember going through my sister's Form 3 stuff with her right before her Exam, while my Biology textbook was open right beside me, looking all forlorn and study-deprived. SPM trials, you see.

And I remember thinking, "This had better be worth it."

So it came out that she had an A in both science and maths.

Which was a HUGE deal, because we're talking about the girl who gets 40+ for science and failed her maths. Who didn't know basic Form 1 maths three months before The Exam.

Anyway, my mom offered to pay me for giving my sister tuition classes.

To which I politely declined.

To which my mom replied, "No no, I said I'd pay you for tutoring her, so I will pay you."

Oh well. If she insists.

So right after that, we got our butts to Times Square where my brother, sister and I stayed a few nights.

I didn't think it'd be so enjoyable, but it was.

We had sushi for dinner, then went to Starbucks for supper, and later on, caught a midnight show that lasted till 2 in our pyjama shirts.

It was all easy-going, no-hurries, slack-slack-slack. Real nice.

It was kind of stupid of us not to get money from our parents.

Our lunch costed us quite a bit, and we left most of our money back at the room. I tell you, digging for money from your pockets is not a very nice sight.


But we tipped the waiter. 4 cents.

(The worst thing about the holidays is that you don't get your monthly allowance because you're not going to school, but it's also when you spend A LOT more than usual. Ironic eh.)

We spent the new year's eve at, where else, Times Square.

This time, we had our cousins with us, so that was nice also.

Bintang Walk was uber crowded, but it's not like we expected anything different.

It was completely crazy, with people going mad spraying ribbons and all that foam stuff, and my cousins being my cousins, they bought 11 cans for 30 bucks.

We only had it for 10 minutes before the cops stopped us and stripped the spray cans off us. Killjoy killjoy killjoy!

We got back to the apartment, rested a bit and worked the camera before my cousin's freshly-cut carefully-styled hair got even more de-styled by the mad celebration.


We spent the next half hour walking around Bukit Bintang trying to find the best place for the countdown, but the very second it reached 2007 and the fireworks went off, we were at the worst place possible - right under a giant tree.

But it was mad. At times, there were so many people working their sprays, it got pretty hard to breathe.

Long story short, we went back to the apartment, bathed and stayed up doing stuff till 5 something.


It wasn't exactly comfortable, what with 8 teenaged guys and girls crammed into one smallish apartment.

While the others woke up at 11.30, Chooiyen, who never wakes up before 12 unless utterly necessary, who sleeps at 4 a.m because she loves the midnight still, who takes long naps 2 hours after waking up, woke up at an outrageous hour of 9 a.m.

Hence the photo above, with everyone still asleep. 'Cept my bro lah.

Packed my stuff, cleaned up a bit, and headed for Midvalley.

Met up with a bunch of my classmates, and the ironic thing is, the guy who suggested the dinner couldn't turn up, and the guy who suggested we do lunch instead of dinner, well he was too stoned and didn't turn up either.

How stoned from the celebration can you get?

I slept at 5.30, woke up every 15 minutes throughout the night, and was still up and about at 9.

( A little bit of irrelevancy : Of the 6 who DID come, 5 were going to Taylor's. I'm telling you, save for the 2 going to INTI, 1 going to Help, 2 going to TAR, 2 going to Sunway, and one going overseas, everyone I know is off to Taylor's. -Sigh- It'd be like I never left CHS )

* * * * *

It's almost like my hair has a life of its own, y'know.

I had thought of perming it, but I was told that it'd instantly make me look aunty-ish.

I had thought of straightening it, but I had always been an anti-rebonding kind of person, so why stop now?

I had thought of highlighting it, but golden / red highlights are boring, and anything other than those two is an indication of lala-ness.

Then I realize, I don't want my hair to drop off by the time I'm 40, what with all these harsh chemicals they're subjected to, so I'd just stick with what I have and maybe shave it off when I'm in a more liberal environment.

(Two times, I tell you, I was very close to choping all my hair off. Twice.)

(That it how much I hate my hair.)

True blue Malaysian, an' PROUD of it!

Murphy (as in Murphy’s Law) is right – whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

It’s like getting caught in a traffic jam; the lane that you are in will always be the slowest to move.

Or like queuing up at a pay counter, and you’re in a hurry; inevitably a problem will occur with one of the product pricing, to the person queuing right in front of you, no less.
Too late to switch to another lane, you think. So you wait it out.

It was 5 minutes to the Merdeka countdown, and we were queued up at Ikea (to pay for a bunch of stuff), and I was thinking, faster faster faster!

But because Murphy’s Law lurks at all corners, something HAD to happen to the guy in front of us.

So while we were stuck in line, the entire nation (and everybody gathered outside the building) was gleefully screaming the numbers down to the customary ‘3… 2… 1… MERDEKA!’.

But it was okay, ‘cause we went out later and the fireworks was still going off, and I gotta say, it was beautiful.

The place was totally crowded, and all around you could see people holding up their cellphones and taking photos / recording videos of the fireworks show.

And every time one of those really awesome-looking fireworks went off, everybody went, “ooooooooh” and “waaaaaaah”, and then they’d start clapping. Wonderful.

I think I even kind of got that weird tingling sensation, of knowing that as the thousands of people at the venue stared up at the sky and ‘ooooh-ed’ ‘aaaaaah’-ed concurrently, every one of them could well be thinking of the same thing – how proud they are to be Malaysian.

Because no one NOT proud of Malaysia, no one wanting to get out of the country a.s.a.p., would have driven to a place at a time where parking lots would be extremely sparse, stood there amongst the huge sweaty crowds, and waited till 12 to countdown to our very own 4th of July.

No one but a proud Malaysian would do that.

By the time we got home, it was 2.00 am. The roads were completely jammed up, and it took us one hour to get out of the parking basement. (No, not exaggerating.)

It sounds a little silly, to go through all of that, when I could have stayed within the confines of my own home, in an air-conditioned room, studying for the trials that are going on next week, which incidentally I have not completely prepared for.

Tapi apa yang boleh saya kata, saya hendak menyambut hari kemerdekaan dengan beribu-ribu rakyat Malaysia yang lain.

Why I Like Being A Malaysian
(homework requested by Manwir last year, one of the few articles that ChooiYen actually enjoyed writing, and the only one she still keeps because SHE IS PROUD TO BE MALAYSIAN.)

The meet up was supposed to take place at 8.00 pm. I was already half an hour late, but upon reaching the meeting point, I realized I was the only one there. That’s one good thing about Malaysians and their sense of time. You could be late for a meeting but it wouldn’t matter because almost everyone else would be later than you. My friends arrived much later, one after the other, with the latest one arriving at 9.00 pm. I couldn’t be mad at them though, they all had the same valid excuse – “Got traffic jam lah.”

That’s Malaysians for you.

Despite their lackadaisical, tidak apa attitude, Malaysians are generally a jolly bunch of people who are easy to get along with. In fact, we’d prefer to be called laid-back and easy-going, than you very much. In most other countries, arriving late for a meeting meant you would have to endure venomous glances and under-the-breath mutterings from associates whose minutes are much too precious to spend on waiting for late-comers like you. But fortunately for all, Malaysians are sympathetic enough to understand your plight as long as you have a valid excuse (with traffic jams being the most plausible).

And true to the myth of where jolly people live, foods are aplenty, Malaysia has an abundant variety of food from different cultures. It is the only place where people with various skin colours enjoy plates of nasi lemak, char koay teow, chapatti, fish n’ chips and the tarik, all at the same table. And after the meal is over, you’re bound to hear the familiar, “Eh, today’s meal I belanja!” That’s racial harmony you can’t get anywhere else.

With so many different races and religion and ethnicity, it’s amazing how Malaysians manage to live so peacefully with one another (if you ignore the occasional hiccups). Malays and Indians are studying in Chinese schools, and the Chinese are speaking Malay more fluently than ever. Malaysia is definitely a cultural melting pot. This is especially evident during the festive seasons. Malaysians no longer celebrate just one occasion; now they celebrate Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Christmas. It’s almost impossible to pass up an invitation to an open house when you know there are plates of rending and turkey and sweet meats waiting to be devoured.

On the topic of food, Malaysia definitely has the best array of local foods. Food connoisseurs who take pleasure in tasting the finest of fine cuisine would admit that after mouthfuls of foie gras, at the end of the day, a good plate of nasi lemak or wantan mee fills them up nice and full. Just ask any young Malaysian who has, or still is, studying overseas. Their luggange is heavier than the dumbbells at the gym, and most of them would be packed with packets of Milo, rending curry powder, and Malaysia’s all-time favourite – Maggi instant noodles. They would write letters back home every now and then, with one of the main reasons being asking for extra fixes of pre-mixed spices of Malaysian food.

I had an American friend who once asked me innocently enough, “Do Malaysians still lived on trees?” I couldn’t answer him, not because I didn’t know the answer to the question, but because I was somewhat surprised. It shocked me that some foreigners think Malaysians still live and think like the prehistoric cavemen. But Malaysia is set to conquer the moon in a few year’s time! Malaysia may not be the most developed country in the world, or even in Asia for that matter, but we are definitely well on our way. With our somewhat advanced technology, and our capable leaders, and most of all, our “Malaysia Boleh” spirit, Vision 2020 is not so far away from being achieved after all.

* * * * *

BTW, that part about the American thinking we live on trees, is completely true.

What’s funny is that sometimes, you come across Malaysians who seem to worship the Western culture, who seem to think once they move out of this country their lives would improve loads and loads, who thinks all that is local-made, is definitely of inferior quality.

Haven’t they read accounts of Malaysians coming back to Malaysia after years of living abroad, because living in Britain/Australia/the States wasn’t exactly what they had expected, and because Malaysia is after all, HOME?

Though sometimes Malaysians work in a weird way, (like the presenters at Siti Nurhaliza’s wedding introducing artists and reading out of small cards they held in their hands, shouldn’t they be completely prepared beforehand? You can bet no one reads out of card notes at, say, Princess Diana’s wedding), but we all know working in weird ways is what Malaysians do best, and that’s what makes us, us.

Hahaha, okay that doesn’t quite make sense, we really should stop our weird ways and get a bit of improvement going on.

And in regards to the Reader’s Digest article on courtesy, well they just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time, that’s all. Besides, those are just the small stuff; when something big happens, like someone being in trouble, I’d put in all my chips and bet that there WILL be people all too willing to lend a helping hand. And you can bet they’d be Malaysians, too, not some blonde expatriate who happened to be there.

And I’d not even go on about Malaysia food, ‘cause it goes without saying that every Malaysian loves their Malaysian food.

Conclusion to today’s post – Why be anything else, when you can be Malaysian?

CNY drowsiness

Hm. Chinese New Year this year didn't have the atmosphere it had during previous years.

Ipoh and Melaka weren't bad. But except for the angpaos, nothing else reminded us of CNY. 'Twas just like any other holiday.

To be frank, all this holiday did was tire me out, besides making me that much richer. We were on the road so much.

Especially when we were coming back from Melaka. We had lunch at 2 pm. Then we drove home right after lunch. Melaka isn't too far away from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, 47301, but we only got home after 9pm.

Read it again. 9 p.m! There was a heavy jam, and my uncle's car broke down. Yeah.

Nevermind.

At least I still got to try out my camcorder. And I am very happy with it.

My sister and I were supposed to make a home movie, a spoof of Little Red Riding Hood, and she had my mom's red t-shirt on her head for the cape (unbeknownst to my mom), and a green shopping bag as the basket of goods. But we only got to "Little Red Riding Hood walking in the forest". Because we spent too much time planning how the movie would go, instead of actually shooting the movie itself.

Nevertheless. I have no complaints.

I was just on the phone with Chuan Ling. We were waiting for an answer through SMS from another friend of ours.

"So, how?"

"Dunno leh, I just sent her an SMS. Wait for her answer first loh."

"Oh, okay."

"................................................................................................"

"................................................................................................"

"Eh. You want to wait like this until the SMS arrives?"

"OH YEAHOR! Didn't realize. SMS arrive only you call me back!"


And it's a good thing we didn't 'wait like that'. Because it took that someone 20 minutes to answer me.

See what I mean when I say the holidays only served to tire me out?

Anyway. This is just a filler entry. I just came home. I have to go out again tomorrow. I need to sleep.

Speaking of sleeping, nothing gets as bad as this. I just realized, I need more Sleeping Hours than a lot of other people I know.

I know Wen Chuan goes online 'till 5am, then wakes up at 11am the next morning. And he considers that late.

I go online 'till 3am, and wake up at 12pm the next morning. And I consider that normal. How sad is that?

I go to sleep with the a bunch of people at the same time, but I would wake up two hours later than them.

Back in Ipoh, on the first day of CNY, my aunt had on this beautiful dress, waiting for my sister and I to get on with the proper CNY celebrations, and my parents were already up and all, and I was... what else, sleeping.

(I've got to mention, my mom was very weird that day. I was sleeping, and she was in the room, and she was waving the angpaos in front of me, and going, "You want angpao? Huh? Then go pour tea for me!" And 5 minutes later, "Want angpao not? Want then pour tea first!" And then, "Want angpao then pour tea!"
And then it repeats again.
And the weird thing is, neither my sister nor I was paying attention to her. Not begging her to give us angpao also. We just slept on. She was pretty much entertaining herself.)

But that's just me. I need 9 hours of sleep if I want to be at my best. Any less than that, and I would be sleepy all day.

Any more than that... I would feel lethargic and headache-y, and also be drowsy all day.

Make long story short. I am always yawning. 'Nuff said.

By the way, happy Chinese New Year to all!

(Not such a filler entry after all.)

Older, but not much taller

Okay. So Zihui finally uploaded the photos she took of my 17th birthday.

Emphasis here on 17th birthday.










Means I'm SEVENTEEN years old.










Means old enough to drive.







Yeah, like an ADULT.

So I should LOOK like one, shouldn't I?

So I was browsing through her MSN Spaces photo page, which you could only view photos one by one, and not all of them as thumbnails (maybe can but I dunno only).

So I was clicking 'next', then 'next', then 'next'....

And suddenly I came upon this photo.
















It is of Li-Ann and I, obviously.

Now, I wasn't feeling very well when I was going through the photos, 'cause I was tired from my walk from school to LRT station and all, and I also had a bad headache.

But this photo cheered me up considerably!

You see, Li-Ann and I are supposed to be of the same height. Our heights are the one thing we've been rivaling each other at since Form 2.

Look at the photo again! See, Li-Ann is tip-toeing-stretching-up to take photo with me! And I don't even have to TRY to be taller than her! SEE, no effort at all!
(Click on it and you'd get a much larger image, and you'd see what I mean! Hahahahahah!)

And today, Aaron told me I am of average height, just like other normal girls.

I was very happy, 'cause when my mom and friends say I'm short, I can say, "I AM NOT!"







But then, I clicked 'next' and just HAD to see this photo...



















Michelle isn't that tall also. Why'd she have to hunch like that? =(





Most deppressing photo of the bunch, however, was this.









He was the only one I remembered to tip-toe while taking photo with, so I was obviously assuming that I would more or less be of the same height as him. Or at least, not so short.

Imagine my horror! I mean, I was on tip-toes, dammit!



Honestly, it is very deppressing.

But nevermind. I have consolation; I am taller than Li-Ann! (Eh Ann kididng ah! I am not that happy.)





Perhaps one day, I will grow very tall. I mean, I'm not 21 yet. That's the age where you stop growing, right?

Because if it isn't, and if this is the maximum height that I'll ever reach, imagine what'll happen when I turn 60 and start shrinking.

People on the streets would knock into me by accident, turn to their friends and go, "Eh, just now I knocked into something, leg damn pain, but I dunno what it is. Cannot see wan. Damn scared!"





Bah. Whatever.


Here, just for the fun of it. Group, minue one, photo.

Did I mention, I was secretly glad I didn't leave anything embarrassing around the house that day?

One time I was dealing with the laundry, and I dropped my undies on the stairs, and didn't realize until much later. That would've been embarrassing.
















So chio, so kawaii nye!

Speaking of photos, did I mention, I got a new Digital VideoCam! It's for my birthday.

Woot!

17, not 16!

I did try to post yesterday, but there was a stupid glitch in the server after I hit "Publish Post", which resulted in me losing everything I had typed.

So very Fishing frustrated.

And see how Blogger tries to redeem itself with that 'Recover post' thing? If there's "Error in Server", 'Recover post' also no use la!

What if I've typed a really really long post, including photos uploaded using Blogger and all, and I've even done up the entry in really rich fonts and colours, then I hit publish and lose everything?
I would personally go to Mr. Admin of Blogger and make him pay for all my trouble.

No matter. Guess what? I'm finally Old Enough!

I'm so Adult!

And I had an awesome birthday. It was made awesome by (who else?) the Big Heads.

Prior to my birthday, Fui told me not to expect so much. She said everything failed, because January was a difficult month. She even went:

"The least you expect, the better for us."
"......"
"No no! For you!"

Hah, that made me laugh.

Anyway, the utmost Love to you guys for having planned all this, and Thanks to the rest of you who came.

I guess I have to agree, the good parties are the ones you don't have to organize yourself, better are the ones that come as a surprise, and Best ones are when you've got all your bestest friends together with you.

I'll post photos up when I get them. I haven't gotten my mom to bring me go buy camera yet, so I pitifully have to rely on people like ZiHui and WenChuan.

And I thought the birthday canteen-mee lou-sang during recess was the climax. Haha.

My dad told me some of my friends asked him about me taking Driver's Ed while they were at my place and I was at school having house practice, and he said he told them I'd have to wait until after SPM.

But I've got news for you! I pretty much managed to persuade my parents into finally giving in! Unfortunately, unlike all my other January-birthday peers, I haven't taken the theory exam yet. Hopefully, I'll be taking it together with Nicole. We agreed to. Her birthday's on the 23rd of February, and her parents are pretty lenient. So yeah.

It is very very weird. Like a conflict within myself. One half of me so very much wants to grow up, be an Adult, which explains why I'm so eager to take Driver's Ed. The other half of me is very much afraid of growing up, and to leave behind all the fun that the teenage years are. It really does give me a sick feeling in the stomache. I look at my parents, and I know I never want to turn out to be like them. I don't want to go to work in the mornings, come home in the evening, arrange transport for my kids, worry about meals and money, and watch as my kids have all the fun of going to crazy teenage parties and experiencing teenage crushes and... have friends throw them parties. 'Cause then I will be jealous of my kids.

But no matter. I'm growing up anyway! And if Zi Hui stays true to her letter, and I stay true to the words I said to Lu, we would be growing up and growing old, together! I would make them Godmothers of my children. And if I name my children Charlotte Boy and Butt Bunny, it would be just like right now.

And it would be perfect.

LOVE, to you guys.

Happy New Year!

So we're finally into the new year. And I so dread going to school.

Think about the worrying over exams (OMGWTFBBQsauce? SPM!) and endless lists of homework and my mom's perpetual nagging. Shudders.

And the 6 a.m. alarms and wishing there's no 10th period at the end of the school day and thinking about whose homework you can copy from.

Most of all, I dread having to sit through 6 hours of boring classes in the classroom of 5S6. There would've been a bit of excitement if we were reshuffled and all. But nevermind.

I'm hoping next year would be better than this year. I don't want to spend the year wishing the days were shorter.

Anyway, I'm back from camp. And it has been fun! The worst part is probably the nights, and even that wasn't that bad at all. I couldn't sleep much, mainly because I was in a foreign bed, and also because the slightest sounds wake me up.

And, the girls in my dorm are obsessed with this "impossibly cute guy". Impossible, because he is pure chinese, but looks ang moh. There were supposedly only three of us who weren't at all affected by his good looks, but one of the three eventually caved and wanted to get his autograph. And he didn't even know we existed.

There are a whole lot of things that I only got to know after camp, some of which are the fact that people think Li-Ann and I do not look 16 at all, that there are so many girlie accesories that we didn't know existed, and that other people do not enjoy camwhoring.

Better yet, I got to know that my sister actually misses me everytime I go out. I know there are a few times I have said, "Tomorrow I'm going out with friends", and she'd ask me to stay at home and not go. I thought she was only saying it, without actually meaning what she said. And everytime I go on trips, she'd lament that nobody would be at home to accompany her.

I had my cellphone switched off most of the time during camp, and one evening I realized I had 4 missed calls from my house phone, the first one from 12 a.m. the night before. Now, I obviously thought there had been an emergency or something, because nobody calls repeatedly after midnight.

But it turned out my sister had finally found a certain album I had been trying to find for the past 5 months (and eventually given up altogether), and she had bought it, and she was really excited to tell me that. It's great you know, because for one I don't have to pay for the CD out of my own money. Haha!

And, she also called me on my cellphone on the last day, just to make sure I was coming back. That's really sweet, I probably wouldn't have done the same if she was away.

Well, whatever. I'm just glad I finally got that album.

But it's not like she didn't get herself an album also. I've got to say, she's been buying so many CDs this year, I wonder if she listens to all of them. I'm still proud of the fact that she didn't cave in and buy pirated CDs instead of original ones. Because buying more fakes than originals is so wrong!

It's Christmas!

Well, I'll be off this week, so expect an extremely short hiatus.

Anyway.

I was on the phone with someone this evening, when someone called in. Since I wasn't done with my conversation, I kind of ignored that second call.

Turns out it was my brother calling from Hawaii, right after his mass. It was only a few hours into Christmas Day for him, and he was calling to wish us a merry christmas. Obviously my parents weren't too pleased with me not answering the second line, because heck, THEIR SON WAS CALLING THEM!

Goodness. At 8 p.m. yesterday evening, my brother had already called us once, just like he promised to. And throughout dinner, my dad kept looking at the clock and going, "Eh, still got 15 more minutes." Then later, "Hmm. 5 minutes left." Then a little later, "Eh, past 8 already la. How come he still hasn't called yet?"

Seriously, that phone call was almost the only thing they talked about the entire afternoon. Like, "Eat dinner earlier. Later your brother call."

So when the phone finally rang, my dad practically jumped out of his chair and hurried to the phone. He didn't want his precious son to have to wait, ya know?

Now I know how much a phone call home from a student studying overseas is so very much anticipated. Next time I study abroad, I'll make sure I'll call home every single week. Provided my dad pays for my calls.

But getting to talk to my brother was VERY nice. Apparently, he had "a lot of Christmas gifts", and Christmas was very much celebrated over there. Well I wouldn't be surprised, him being in a Mormon school and all.

He got our hopes real high earlier this year when he told us he would be coming back for Christmas, but then "something came up". Even my cousins were thoroughly disappointed when we went over to our aunt's for Christmas gathering. "Why your brother didn't come back wan.."

Anyway, my turn on the phone with him came after everyone else already had their turns. And when I was done and went back to the dining table, the food were already gone. In fact, the dishes had been cleared, too, save for my plate.

By the way, did I mention we had roast lamb and big bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy and fried giant clams and roasted caramelized baby carrots (which I thought were weird but tasted great) and salad and chocolate dipped cheese sticks (which I also thought were weird, but my sister is weird like that), all home cooked! Add mango sorbet and bottles of sparkling juice, and we've got a near perfect Christmas eve dinner!

Last year my brother made us all go for Christmas eve dinner at church. I say made, and make us sound reluctant, because home cooked Christmas eve roast lamb has always been a tradition for us. It wouldn't feel like Christmas eve if we didn't have roast lamb and potatoes. So it's nice that this year we went back to our tradition.

When my aunt spends Christmas at our place, Christmas eve was even better. We'd have better food, like turkey stuffed with glutinous rice. Delicious. But the best would be when she would bring out this large Christmas pudding, pour wine over it, turn off all the lights in the house, and set fire to the wine-drenched pudding. Beautiful, really. The entire place would be dark, save for the flames of the pudding. The fire would kind of burn the alchohol away, so what would be left is this really sweet taste. Gah. Nice.

Over at our aunt's, we had this Christmas cake, which was basically blueberry cheese cake with "Merry Christmas" piped on top. Apparently my cousin had been so fussy over the cake and the writing, the girl on duty at the confectionary shop actually just shoved the pipe over to him and told him to pipe the words out himself. But the cake was lovely.

Did I mention that Christmas seems so much more celebrated than Chinese New Year? At least, judging by the amount of Christmas-greeting SMSes that were going around on Christmas and Eve. I guess everybody just gets into the Christmas spirit.

So anyway, I've got to go pack. Anticipate my return, people!

Merry Christmas, (insert-your-name)!

Good food. Good company. Merry Christmas (everybody)!
Since everybody is doing this, and since I haven't gotten a few things that I wanted, and since I don't have money to buy them myself...

Well, here it is. My wishlist.

Item #1
- White tiger soft toy found at ToysR'Us.

Item #2
- Nine Inch Nail's "With Teeth" album.

Items #3 and 4
- Nightmare Before Christmas DVD. The LOTR trilogy DVDs.

Item #6
- Book. "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell" by Marilyn Manson.

Item #7
- New set of acrylic paints

I don't have to do this you know. And I woudn't have, if I had the money to buy them myself. So if you happen to have extra cash you've got nowhere to stash, or if you got them for Christmas but have no interest in them.. you know what to do lah.

Seriously, I would be more than just grateful. I would go to the extremes of worshipping you. Really.

But since Christmas isn't about receiving as much as it is about giving, tell me what you want and I (might) give it to you!

But only if you give me something in return.

(Hey, nothing in life comes free!)

If you think you're Santa, and you actually like going through the whole rigmarole of making a list, checking it twice and finding out who's naughty and nice, then okay, I'll give you reasons as to why I've been nice this whole year.

FIRST, I studied for my exams.
Good kids should study hard, and study hard I did during the school exams. At least, I studied reasonably hard. At night. Couple of days before examination day.

SECOND, I didn't cheat during exams.
Good kids should never cheat. The fact that I tried to see the answers from the person beside me should be overlooked. Because that person happened to be EuJoe, and he needed help himself. Important thing is, I didn't cheat, regardless of whether I attempted to or not.

THIRD, I didn't copy quite as much homework.
Good kids shouldn't copy from other people what they should have done themselves. The fact that I didn't quite "do it myself" should also be overlooked. Just as long as I didn't copy.

FOURTH, I kept my room clean.
There's still chaos, but that's organized chaos. There's a difference.

FIFTH, I didn't steal anything from anybody.
In fact, I've never stole before, period. Extra points for me!

SIXTH, I didn't curse in front of any teacher.
Considering the fact that I tend to accidentally do that previous years, this year is an achievement. (By the way, keyword here is "accidentally". Like, for example, I was framed.)

SEVENTH, I haven't cam-whored.. yet.
I'm not saying camwhoring is bad. I'm just saying you shouldn't get a Christmas gift if you camwhore. Hahah! (Kidding!)
Okay so I am an occasional camwhore myself. But at least I don't post my camwhoring moments on the web. People tend to find it disturbing when I do that. Heh.

EIGHTH, I have exercised extreme pateince with my sister.
With the fact that she is a complete BRAT taken into consideration, I congratulate myself for being able to stand staying with her in the same four walls. Oh, of course, I didn't strangle her. Yet.

NINTH, I hadn't complained when I didn't get my Dwarf Rights.
I didn't say anything when KerLei and I (who both happen to be shorter than average) were put at the LAST ROW in class. We were the only girls in the last row. Instead of complaining, I looked at the bright(er) side. At least my neck got a reasonable amount of stretching exercise. But really, short people should have their rights, you know. It should be made a law.
Nevermind.

I would write you a tenth reason on why I have been good and deserve a present, but I can't think of one. So let's pretend there's already a tenth on the list.

Now go exercise that put-hand-in-wallet-take-out-money-give-cashier procession!

Go! Go! Shoo!

Merdeka!

Wahai kawan-kawan.

Oleh sebab hari ini merupakan Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia, negara kita yang tercinta, yang ke-48, saya pun membuat keputusan untuk mem-blog dalam bahasa negara kita, iaitu Bahasa Malaysia.

Maafkanlah jika penggunaan Bahasa Malaysia saya tidak begitu baik.
Ini mungkin kerana saya tidak begitu baik dalam bidang bahasa, kecuali bahasa Inggeris di mana saya sekurang-kurangnya dapat menulis sesuatu perenggan tanpa memalukan diri sendiri.
Tetapi, saya haruslah dimaafkan, atas sebab saya telah mem-blog dengan BM atas kehendak sendiri, walaupun tidak disuruh.

Saya amat bangga kerana merupakan rakyat Malaysia. Walaupun di Malaysia, kita tidak dapat experience (?) musim sejuk dan salji, Malaysia masih ada banyak kebaikannya.

Misalnya, orang Malaysia generally (?) pun tidak begitu tinggi. Oleh itu, tidak ada orang boleh mengetawakan saya kerana terlalu pendek, kecuali beberapa orang kawan saya yang suka panggil orang "Shorty". (Seseorang haruslah memanggil mereka tengok sendiri dalan kaca. Mereka tidak tinggi juga.)

Orang Malaysia juga jarus berasa bangga kerana generally semua orang Malaysia pun tahu sekurang-kurangnya TIGA jenis bahasa. Oleh itu semasa kita berbual-bual dengan orang putih yang adanya hanya tahu INGGERIS sahaja, kita dapat mula menunjuk-nunjuk kemahiran kita dalam pelbagai bahasa!

Kesimpulannya, Malaysia adalah negara yang sangat baik, dan kita haruslah berasa puas hati dengan apa yang kita mempunyai sekarang.

Malaysia Boleh!

Sekian, terima kasih.

(Three cheers for Malaysia!)