Bills, Bills, Bills
No, this has nothing to do with Destiny's Child but the sentiments are there.

I just got back from paying my bills. Fortunately, I just got paid today. Unfortunately, 5 hours after being paid and already I'm poorer by RM1,300. And I haven't even paid for my credit card yet! Neither have I paid Celcom, Telekom nor Streamyx. Maybe I'll just stay home for the next 2 months and not go anywhere at all.

I'm just feeling sorry for myself right now. I can't see myself being in anything other than the profession I have now. At the same time, I know I'm going nowhere and it's just frustrating.

People say that there's no such thing as a free lunch. Yet why do I see so many people taking it so easy and getting so much? I guess there really is a sucker born every minute...

I'm going to shut up now. Oh, I got a LiveJournal account for a project I'm thinking of working on. But I'm not going to advertise the project too much yet until I actually start it properly. Maybe I'll just allow a limited few people access to it just so I can get some feedback.

Other than that, I'm going to go wallow in self-pity for a while and make myself even more depressed by calculating how much more I need to spend before the creditors stop coming after me!
4:58 pm | Category: | 0 comments

Hmmm....
"Who cares if someone likes that other someone based on their race. It's when you hate them, that's the problem". - Orked in Sepet

This remark has been bugging me ever since I watched Sepet last week. At first, I thought it was rather unfair a comment to make considering that she had just been ranting about racism. Then I thought about it longer and from another angle.

Orked was right in her analysis. A lot of people have preferences in their choice of partners. That's all right. In our multicultural society, there are some people who are very old-fashioned. Generally speaking, different races have different cultures. One example is that if a girl marries a Chinese boy, she'll have to move into his house and live with his family. Unless, however, she is a Malay girl. This means the boy will have to convert to Islam and move in with her and her family. For a Malay girl, this is a huge responsibility, having to teach your partner about your religion. Failure to do this is a sin.

Personally, this is the sort of responsibility which even I am not willing to undertake. I mean, if I am destined to be with a Chinese guy or any guy from another race, I would accept it as best I could. Before I went to the USA, my father only warned me against Middle Eastern men. He said if I were to hook up with one of them, I'd never see my family again because the Middle Eastern men are rather possessive. This warning had nothing to do with racism or anything. It was just that my parents prefer to be able to see me for the rest of their lives.

At the same time, I can safely say I have seen what hating someone based on their race can do. It has turned the African Americans into very bitter people. So bitter until they will kill you for calling them 'blacks' but it's OK for them to call everyone else 'white' or 'ching'. See how terrible racism is? It creates double standards.

When we don't give a race a chance, it's racism too. I used to not give local men a chance. Rin rants about this issue better than I do. But I did give them a chance and that's how I got to be good friends with people like Mac and then met Shook. I may have been overseas, I may have family from as far as Norway and Australia and England and the USA and Macau and Tibet and Hong Kong and Morocco and Saudi Arabia, but I have learnt so much and about so many things from these local men than I had learnt from my American friends or my 'orang putih' relatives. So who's to say that local men lack knowledge or are stupid or not worth my time? Having that thought alone makes us a little bit of a racist already.

I have seen way too many instances of racism, even here in Kuching. And I thought we are multicultural. It's there even in people who don't think they are racist. It's there in people who advocates anti-racism. It's there in various degrees. It's just that a lot of times, we blind ourselves to it because it's safer that way and we can feel much better about ourselves.

On the other hand, there is that problem with hating or not accepting someone based on their gender. But this is another issue altogether....
9:37 am | Category: | 0 comments

Strange
I was reading the Borneo Post today and came across a headline that jumped out at me. regardless of the fact that the letterings were huge, I also found them rather funny.

The headline was 'MILF denies planning attacks.' Only after further reading did I find out that it was the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It's just hilarious!
10:58 am | Category: | 0 comments

Movies
Movies worth waiting for this year:
So I was a little bored the whole afternoon. I've discovered that the best way to view the trailers was through my iTunes. The connection was much faster and there's an option for screen sizes.
Oh, while there, I found a music video for Constantine.
6:20 pm | Category: | 0 comments

Question
I had a very long conversation with Rin and Mac tonight after we left the Book Club Meetup and went to Tapanga. Elephant Cafe closed at 10.30 p.m. (on a Saturday night!!) so we adjourned to Tapanga where some rather thought provoking issues were discussed and a lot of angst was revealed and explained, especially to Rin.

Well, I did wonder if any of us would return home from that and blog about some of the conversation we had. However, while driving home at almost 2 in the morning, I came across some pretty erratic drivers. A thought came to mine, part of which was discussed tonight as well. A lot of people here drink and pretend to be very drunk because 1) they can have an excuse to be very loud, 2) by being loud, they can get attention therefore revealing their attention whore tendencies and 3) they think it's so cool to be drunk because they don't want to feel left out and they lack the self-esteem to admit that being able to hold your liquor and not be a lightweight can be just as cool. OMG....!!

Anyway, I digressed for a moment but the issues are connected. I was willing to bet 80% of the people on the road tonight were lightweights who were really drunk or pretenders who wanted an excuse to drive really fast and show-off their vroom vroom engines! (I sound like that engineer in that ad on tv. But hey, I'm no engineer so I have a legitimate excuse for using the vroom vroom expression! Since I don't know the correct term!)

My point is I know people who have driven home while being very, very, I-don't-know-how-I-made-it-home drunk. And you know what they all say? Someone who knows they are really that drunk will drive slower than they usually do, take less risks and they always, always use the routes they are most familiar with. So what do I say about the wannabes? Get a life, dude and stop being posers!

I admit that I drive fast a lot of times. But I only do that after I get to know my car very well, I know its limitations and I know what I can and cannot do with it. I also have to know the routes very well, I'm careful to stop at intersections, I'm aware of my surroundings (where the other vehicles are in relation to my car) and most of all, I only ever drive really fast when I'm alone in the car. I take risks only when I am the only life at stake. So if I get in an accident, I know I'll be the only one involved in it and I hope I die straight away so that my parents won't have to take care of my vegetable self for the rest of my miserable life. Above all else, I remember that my parents drive the old school way which requires intense concentration and a constant awareness of anything and everything around them. They know how to avoid accidents and they actually do know how to take evasive action while behind the wheel. I learn from them by watching them. And I listen to them with the knowledge that they lecture because they want to make sure I know what I'm doing on the road. Best part is, I must be pretty good by their standards because they hardly ever lecture me when I'm driving.

How many newbie drivers nowadays can say the same without lying through their teeth?


P.S. A lot of my driving skills also come from Shook. He drives old school style too. Scarily so. But hey, I'm still alive, aren't I?
3:25 am | Category: | 0 comments

Saturday laughs
People wonder why some businesses lose favour and go out of business....

One annoying thing which happened today was Selera Assam Payak over at Satok Road. All I can say about that place is that the food is good but the service is just plain horrible. I'm used to waiters not smiling at me and I'm used to them being curt and monosyllabic. But I am not used to waiters who mumble and eat leftovers out of the customers' plates before the customer is even out of the door! And the waiters laugh and smile among themselves but give us sour looks. This, too, is pretty normal here in Kuching. Heaven forbid that they be nice to the people who pay their salaries!! And this was lunchtime. Which only means that...don't go there for dinner!!

That, fortunately, was the only anoying thing. After lunch, I went with the family to Coffee Bean. As usual, we were laughing and smiling when we walked in. Unlike at Assam Payak, we got responding smiles at Coffee Bean. (I find this funny since Assam Payak is actually the name of a very sour food additive). Anyway, as we were leaving Coffee Bean, the guy behind the counter actually said, "Thank you. Carnival Male."

I looked at him and laughed because the Carnival Male incident happened 2 weeks ago! Coffee Bean has a drink called Carnival Mate. Being myopic that I am, I thought the board said 'Carnival Male' and I asked what it was. The guy behind the counter that night was the same behind the counter today! We had a good laugh about it that night. And he apparently still remembers the silly incident!

The thing is, it's little things like this which promote customer loyalty. The workers need to know what is appropriate to remember and what is not. Coffee Bean has my vote as long as they keep the cool guys that they currently have at the Sarawak Plaza branch. Also, at the rate that I am going there with my friends for meetups, the Coffee Bean guys are going to have more incidents to remember about us all.
4:35 pm | Category: | 0 comments

Book Quirks
There's a Book Club Meetup tomorrow at Elephant's Cafe!! I hope to be able to make it to this one this time. Well, I know I have to show up as I did promise Gette that I'll pass some books to her. Oh, I also got my 11 year old sister started on The da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It's a bit much for an 11-year-old to handle but I'm not too worried. Better than all those other Olsen Twins books and Barbie magazines she usually reads. Besides, she's already reached the second chapter. Normally, if anyone makes it past the first chapter, they're more likely to finish the whole book.

I just finished reading The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud. It's the second book in a trilogy. First one was The Amulet of Samarkand. Both pretty good and have a very important moral to be learnt from. As Shook puts it, Both books tell you that you should always cover every possible loophole when negotiating terms.

Talking about books, anyone noticed that the noisiest place in Kuching has got to be in the various bookshops we have here in town? Every bookstore I go to does not seem like a bookshop. Bookstores are supposed to be quiet. Not as quiet as a library but not as noisy as a fish market either. But if you walk into e-smart or Times, you will definitely hear the latest bits of gossip. The person at the counter will yell to the person in the back rows about her latest escapade. The worker at the magazine area will shout out to the friend who is about to take a break and the girls will be gossiping about their favourite movie star, singer, boyfriend, toy boy, lover etc. All in very loud tones and cackling laughter. I discover more about Kuching social life in the bookshops than I do at a coffee shop!! The only quiet bookstore I have come across in Kuching so far is The Leading Bookstore at Saberkas. The workers actually shush each other if they are too loud, which is a very surprising novelty.

While I was at e-smart the other day, I also heard a few Chinese guys making fun of the books on the shelves. Can you tell they don't read much? People who really read hardly ever make fun of books. They make fun of the type of books a person reads but not ever of the books themselves. I also even managed to overhear what the managers were discussing their office. Yes, they were that loud.

So is it any wonder that a huge, beautiful, heavenly bookstore like MPH or Kinokuniya or Barnes & Nobles or Borders will probably never reach Kuching? Our society's sad and pathetic. Readers are a dying breed. My father even says that there's not much business in opening a bookstore. We can do better opening a food place. See what I mean? Sad...

Current song: Almost by Bowling for Soup
3:02 pm | Category: | 0 comments

Rant...
Shook and I went to the KFC at Sarawak Plaza tonight to get our dinner. When we walked in, I thought at first that KFC suddenly decided to get organised and create queue lines for people to adher to. Then I saw the sign. Challenge championship in progress. Or something like that. I can't remember the exact words; only that it was a challenge of some sort.

Well, they set up 2 lines out of 3 for that. Apparently, it's a challenge where some people had signed up much earlier with orders and the challengers had to compete on who can complete the orders within either an amount of time or within the shortest time.

My rant though is not this. My rant is the girl behind the only available counter left. I suspect that since there was a customer service competition going on,this girl decided that she had to be extra extra competent. So for the first time in my life in Malaysia, I had a fast food server greet me ultra nicely and introduce herself to me. The thing is she spoke so fast as if she was in a race. Then she proceeded to take our orders.

Tonight, I finally realised just how very very patient Shook is with these people. Hey, I work in a service industry too. I just happen to realise the difference between being helpful and sounding dumb. The girl asked Shook if he wanted the drinks at an added value. He said no. I shook my head and she saw me. After she confirmed our orders verbally, she asked again. He said no again. When she took our money and confirmed the order once more, she again asked if we wanted the drink.

Now at this point, 2 things got on my nerves. One was her forced perkiness. The second one was the overzealous effeminate person playing the customer in the next row. I can take perkiness. I find natural perkiness almost cute. But forced perkiness makes me want to take a gun and either shoot the perk or shoot myself.

By now, my nerves were on edge. After the 3rd 'Would you like the drinks for an extra RM1 with your order?', I snapped. I looked her in the face and said, "No, we only want our orders. No drinks. Just our meals. Thank you." Quite curtly too.

Needless to say, she lost some of her perkiness. Which told me there and then how forced it was in the first place. Naturally perky people don't lose their perkiness in the face of adversity. In fact, half the time they don't even notice the adversity. The other half of the time, they just laugh the adversity away anyway.

Besides, have you ever met a perky person who gets depressed? I have yet to meet one and I know a lot of naturally perky people.

And another thing is that everyone behind the counter looked like they went on a rampage in the make-up department. There were a lot of Raggedy Anns and Raggedy Andys there.
1:58 am | Category: | 0 comments

...and rave
I just registered at the Global6 website. It was introduced to me by one of my best friends. She's currently living in London and she's one of the moderators in the forums. I go to the site mainly to take a look at the pictures to see what she's up to. Haha! I only registered because she asked me to and I trust her judgement. Besides, she said we could chat if I registered.
1:50 am | Category: | 0 comments

Long time...
It's been awhile since I've updated. It's been a busy few weeks. Right now, it's the school hols so I've finally got the time clear up some mess and get my things in order. I mean that quite literally too. I've got this bet going with Shook that if I don't clean up my room by Friday, I will allow him to smack me. Such privileges are far and few because I always try to avoid his smacks. They smart and usually leave my skin red for a while. However, I figured the pain was a good motivation to get me moving. If left to my own devices, I'd find ways and means to avoid cleaning my room. What makes it worst is that I have not allowed anyone to clean my room for me since I was 12 years old and I'm too full of pride to change that now.

The holiday has also allowed me to play the one game I have been wanting to play since I heard about it last year. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. I have always been fascinated with vampires and I used to play the RPG for Vampire the Masquerade when I was in the USA. We used to do it what Mac calls the old-fashioned way - no dice, maybe a pen and paper to keep track of what we said or did and a whole lot of environment. Some friends even went as far as to behave like vampires. I remember these 2 guys who signed up only for the classes that were available at night. And since it was in America and they catered to working adults as well, my friends actually graduated without ever going to a class during the day!

So far, Bloodlines is pretty cool. You get to pick to be in any of the 7 vampire clans and then you can customise your stats. For those who are not sure of what stats they want, there's even a series of questions and the game will determine which clan to put you in. I opted not to go for this as I just reverted back to my Toreador clan and the stats that went with my RPG character. Here is an icon I took off the Bloodlines website.

Toreador

Anyway, I also figured that playing this game is a good way to get rid of all the angst I've been experiencing. I guess all the loudness and whining I hear at home are getting on my nerves. I would like to have a nice quiet break not constant shouting and doors slamming and loud exaggerated laughing! Sheesh! No wonder some parents love school days!

2:29 pm | Category: | 0 comments