RACONTEUR-ESQUE SCRIBBLINGS

Dear 2009, Hey there, I believe we haven't met just yet, though we most probably will in a few hours. To be honest, this is the very first time I'm writing a letter to a year. I suppose you should know that I along with a few others have not made any resolutions to celebrate your arrival, but that's beside the point. The thing is, I was kind of hoping to catch you before you descended upon us. It's just hours away where people will be ushering you in with fireworks, countdowns and laughter induced by champagne bubbles... So before anything happens, I'd like to request just one thing. Be nice. Just that. I'm not hoping for anything spectacular, but it would be nice if 2009 (that is you, if you've forgotten) could leave out unnecessary pain from your list of things to do. So many people have a lot of hopes on you, you know. I'm sure that at the end, you don't want to be rated the same as 2008 - unpredictable and only getting a five out of ten.....

For 2008, that is. This is an attempt at an annual review of the year that was. I just checked back my older stuff and was reading through years 2006 and 2007 . It came, it saw it conquered. That was 2008. And now, it's almost over, a bit like a bad movie that you're forced to watch because your eyes have been taped open. On the personal front I'd say that 2008 was the year of the unexpected . You'd be moving along one path (not so comfortably, mind you) and the next thing you know, there's a sharp corner which you have to take, and one small wrong step will leave you, well... you know. There were so many changes that were thrown my way, that I can't even remember what changed, and when. Everything is just a blur as though I had been blindfolded and put in the middle of a non stop carousel which kept spinning and spinning and taking me along with it. When there are no resolutions to speak of there are none to break, so I took the easy move and did not mak...

In the past 80 hours or so, I have clocked a cumulative of only 10 hours of sleep. The rest were spent awake (either working, walking, sitting, being on the net, and lying on the bed worrying about nothing in particular) Although I feel fine now, I was sleepy by 10 pm last night. No doubt I slept only to be suddenly wide awake at 2:30 right until I had to wake up at 6:30 am. Will this never ever end, I wonder.... I do hope that I don't end up like the machinist . That would be just sad.

First of all, Hugh Jackman has got to be one of the most gorgeous people on this planet. Now that we have set that straight, life can go on as it normally does. With themes we are all familiar with, such as love, the search for an answer to life's mysteries, and death, this movie captures you from the very beginning with it's amazing cinematography. A tree, mostly almost dead stands alone, and a bald (but still good looking) Hugh Jackman sits crossed legged, and then there's all these memories flashing back and forth as the story moves from the inter-related lives of the characters that had spanned over centuries, from the days when Spain had a Queen, to the modern world we live in , right up to the futuristic view of life. What's captivating about the movie is the fact that it incorporates Mayan folklore, and discusses the existence of the tree of life and how it is death that creates life (a suggestion by Rachel Weisz character, Izzi) Despite the movie being ...

Yeah, so here you have a person who envisioned pushing down her form two art teacher down the steps taking a quiz on (drum rolls please) art. It's all HelloQuizzy's fault. They have so many quizzes and they're all fun, and especially good when you have nothing profound to say but want to blog anyway (Well, there usually isn't anything profound that I would say but... ) And besides, the blog needed some colour. Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test... Extroverted, Progressive, and Intelligent 5 Cubist, -5 Islamic, -5 Ukiyo-e, 3 Impressionist, 2 Abstract and -19 Renaissance! Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque . It revolutionized European art and inspired changes in music and literature. The first branch of cubism, known as Analytic Cubism. It was both radical and influential as a short but highly significant art movement between 1908 and 1911 mainly in France. In its second p...

No... I'm not talking about spam in the tin. I got this in my mobile phone message inbox the other day, and figured why not have some fun with it. And just to make it clear on why I'm calling it spam... it's because this is the second message I received from the same number. "Em quen roi! the ah gap luc nao ah noi cho em mot vai thi du de em de nho ra hon co dc kg ah?" The strangest part of all is that it was sent via a local number, and it actually got me thinking if there are any foreign workers of Vietnamese origin hereabouts. Or could it be a distressed Vietnamese bride seeking help? I mean what are the odds of you receiving a message from a foreigner (whom I'm assuming to be Vietnamese but I could be wrong!) And yeah, sympathies to the sender, a question was asked but there was no reply. Translations, anyone?

It's funny. I used to use blogging as a form of distraction from the idiocity of daily life, and suddenly I find myself being distracted from blogging by the idiocity of daily life. Oh well.

Between the hours spent being awake, either forced or voluntarily and a very skewed definition of the word "rest" in the last few years or so, I have managed to make myself very, very tired. And somehow, during those lost hours, something I used to rely on very heavily to make things better seemed to have disappeared from my vocabulary: The afternoon nap. I remember hating those afternoon naps as a child. I'd always want to run around, play, or just do something, but I had to succumb to the pressure in the end. In recent times however, as soon as I attempted taking a nap, I'd be wide awake, just like that. Even the most boring, long winded 18 th century literature could never put Terra back to sleep again. What's worse is the condition seems to have detriorated as time goes by. Earlier this week, I had an extended weekend, which instead of leaving me refreshed, made me even more tired than usual, although I did try my best to sleep well. Anyway, yesterday was...

A few of us had a distressing few weeks when we realised with horror that the charger we use to recharge the batteries of the video camera which is practically the lifeline of the 10 year project had disappeared without a trace. All accusing eyes turned to B, the last person believed to have used the video camera. A thorough search in all possible locations proved to be a futile effort. It seemed as though the charger might have developed a few legs and ran off in the middle of the night. The owner of the video camera (Our sales department) wasn't very happy with the knowledge, and it was finally decided that all the members involved in the using of the said camera would pool in some money to get a new charger. So, last week B went to the shops with the video camera to get a replacement charger. And much to his dismay (and ours later), none of the shops had the type of charger we needed. In fact, they had no replacement units at all, but gave B an unconvincing promise of atte...

It is a known fact that a certain number of babies are born every minute somewhere in this world, and there are also a certain number of people who kick the bucket every other minute, so there is supposed to be a certain balance, right? However, it feels as though the world is suddenly very very crowded for no apparent reason. I have a question to ask... if someone (a friend for instance) asks you how you are after a long time of not meeting each other, and your meeting is a brief one, an encounter at the bank or something. What do you say? Do you assume the question to be a rhetorical one, give a smile and say you're fine and ask them how they are, although deep down inside you feel like wielding a sword on a high speed horse and take the heads off ever person that gets in your way? I can't say why, but when I get this question, I automatically say everything's allright although a part of me wants to say, "No, I'm not allright. Can I cry on your shoulder, pleas...

You'd think that people would learn good lessons from tragedies past and attempt to prevent them from recurring and causing pain and injury all over again. Based on what's going on though, that seems to be not the case at all. About two days ago, a landslide happened near a commercial area near Damansara Heights, where the roads were closed and the buildings evacuated. And even before the shock of that incident had blown over, another landslide happened in the hillside residential area of Bukit Antarabangsa near Ulu Klang in the middle of the night, killing four, injuring several others and destroying houses in the process. So far, about 3000 to 4000 people have been asked to evacuate the area. Back in 1993, a tower block of this place called Highland Towers, another hillside residential area around the same area of Ulu Klang collapsed leading to the deaths of 48 people, and the formation of SMART (Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team), because we never had ...

Of all the things that I could have inherited from my dad, I inherited his eyebrows. Now because there is a policy of these pages here being under strict rules of semi-anonymity, I cannot provide any pictorial evidence, nevertheless, suffice to say that they look almost similar to Bert's eyebrows. You know, Bert, the yellow dude from Sesame Street (Fine, it's not uni-browed like Bert's but still) It would have been much nicer if I did inherit some of the tall genes. I could do well with at least two extra inches, mostly for getting stuff off the higher places without looking for a stool each time. If I had been born a boy, this will be a non-issue. In fact, I wouldn't even be mentioning it here (or even have a blog in the first place for that matter. I don't know why, but I always think that if I were a guy, I'd be a very different person from what I am now) Being a girl though, it is a big issue, because eyebrows (on a girl) should be neat, and thin and shap...

It might have started somewhere in June if my memory of things like this can be trusted to any extent. Vehicle owners were requested to fix seatbelts at the rear seats by August and could be fined if the belts weren't there in case any law enforcement personnel decided to take a peek at your backseat. The ruling to actually use the seatbelt at the back seats is supposed to begin come January 1st 2009, which is much nearer to us than anybody may think it is. Hearing all this, I'm beginning to wonder if this new ruling will ever see people at back seat sitting straight and properly instead of placing themselves in the middle. Even now with the front seat rule fully enforced (since eons ago), there are still people who pointedly refuse to use their belt until they see a cop and then panic and start frantically looking for the belt while hoping the cop didn't notice! Anyway, I heard the news this morning, and this topic was discussed... most normal cars are 5 seaters, meani...

Seen from the outside stairs that led to the almost deserted carpark, the crescent of the moon looked like a small mouth smiling in the distance. Upon a closer look, two brightly shining objects, looking like stars stared out from above the moon like a pair of eyes twinkling on a face. I read on Saturday about the phenomenon that was supposed to occur on Monday night , where the moon, Venus and Jupiter could be seen in a cluster and thought to myself how none of these things can be seen from the Malaysian sky (like a countless number of eclipses) or how it could be another hoax that even haunted my dreams a few years ago and with everything that happens on a daily basis I completely forgot about it... that is until I saw it, thanks to a largely cloudless sky. It was so simple, yet so cool. Being enthusiastic about phenomena like this, I went for my camera as soon as doing so was possible. Nevertheless, clouds had begun to gather and the twinkling planets were slightly unclear, and...

November ended with a local blackout. Really... I had just finished ironing my clothes for the work week and sat down with the laptop on the floor, a cushion on my lap and was contemplating on putting up yet another complaint post, throw a couple of comments here and there but even before anything could happen, the lights went off with a bang. It was about 7:15 pm and it was already dark. Using the light from my laptop which was running on battery, I looked for my mobile phone as a temporary torchlight until I found a real one (by the way, mobile phone lights are lousy for situations like this) The first torchlight that I picked did not work and neither did the second one... so I traipsed into the kitchen and found matches, but no candles. A few phone calls later, I found a torchlight after rummaging in the dark, and also found some candles. I took a tin, the candles and the matches to the hall and lit it. Then I turned off the laptop. Since there was nothing else to do, I decide...

Dear Mr. Time (or whatever else you may be called), I hope you can read, because this is a desperate plea for more time, please. I just cannot stand spending as much time as I currently do in front of the computer with a mix of processes in mind, a big file, and highlighted segments in numerous excel files that leave me very very confused anymore. It is so annoying to be not able to do anything else (which I'd rather be obviously doing). So yeah, if you're reading this... try to do something. Stop time, or make everyone freeze or something. I don't care! yours truly, Terra.S.

The place where we trained. The pink actually matches the blog. Ha! Ha! Not one of the best looking buildings around, though. I spent two days of the previous week right in the middle of the city, in KL, where the buildings reach dizzying heights, and the unseen boundary between land and where it supposedly ends is practically non-existent. It was for a two day training stint which we were sent for so that when we get back, we will be able to tackle more work related to that training and therefore lead more meaningless daily existence. Of course, it being the city and all, we went there together in one car. From our workplace, the journey took us about an hour plus. Although I do go to KL at times when meeting up with friends, I usually take the train and only end up seeing what can be seen from the railway tracks... nevertheless, when you actually drive into the city using the normal streets that are usually famous for their bumper to bumper traffic jams, you actually get to see s...

Every year without fail, the place I work organises a bowling event for the workaholics who spend most of their lives working. Every year without fail, I do not submit my name. It wasn't any different this year... I did not submit my name but someone else did. So when the group list came out the other day, I was a bit surprised to see my name there, listed in Group 19 with 4 other people from various other departments. My initial thought was, should I go? If I did, I might make my team lose. Yes, I have a very unfortunate condition called drainitis (or kelongkangan as I usually call it in our local lingo), where the balls I throw will somehow manage to enter the drains at either side of the alley. Nevertheless, I also found out that if members did not go for the competition, the whole team will be disqualified, and me being the person that I am, dragged myself out of bed at an unearthly hour to get to the bowling place in time so that my team does not get disqualified (but it...

There's like a million things swimming in my head right now, ready to burst out, but I have such limited time to sit down and properly compose something that is worth reading, what with the atrocious spelling that sometimes accompanies my post and weird sentences that seem to hang midway without any purpose.... but... I shall go through one topic at a time. So what if I'm a few days late and there is no relevence to what I post (am I making any sense here? - Oh, i don't know) by the time it gets up. Well, first things first... I recently submitted my blog for a review at World Blog Council and was worried because, well, you know how things can get when you decide to have it reviewed and all. Allow me to explain.... it was one of those in between hours of Friday night and Saturday morning, and I was reading Lizza's blog because I didn't want to sleep just yet. She had posted her blogworld Saturday, and I was clicking on the links and I ended up there. As I said, i...

This is old news, first I heard it on the radio (by the way, my two most favourite DJs are back with a vengeance, and loads of my type of music), and then I saw it on Tazeens blog, and because I'm tired of complaining about how tired I am from all the long hours at a certain place, but am still irritated, I give you this, and as usual my own (addled) thoughts in parentheticals. The top ten most irritating phrases: 1 - At the end of the day (Yes, every day ends at some point... but do we need to stress on it?) 2 - Fairly unique (Surprisingly, this is the first time I'm hearing this one!) 3 - I personally (Reverse that to Personally, I ...) 4 - At this moment in time (Lol! Very dramatic. At this moment it time, I feel like I'm dying, but I just can't drop dead) 5 - With all due respect (Sure...) 6 - Absolutely (Why not? Short and precise) 7 - It's a nightmare (Yes, everything is... ) 8 - Shouldn't of (No comment, sorry) 9 - 24/7 (Yeah, more drama, b...

I'm at a point where I could fall asleep standing, and yet I'm reluctant to hit the sack seeing that it's only 10: 22 pm at the moment I'm typing this out because it means that I'm acknowledging that whatever is left off the weekend is finally over. There's something I noticed... November is not fond of me at all. From the very beginning, November has been an intense month. I was getting some documents stamped with something that makes it valid, and I got into conversation with the person who is in charge of ensuring that it is really valid, and she seconded my notion that this November has indeed been cruel! The weird thing is, it has been so the past few years since 2005 with the exception of 2007 (because there's no evidence of me proclaiming it to be a terrible month like I usually do) So, I shall sit here and ponder about what I'm gonna do in the next hour and a half before it's officially Monday. Hmmm...

It's Sunday evening, and I'm still at work. This has been the longest week ever, career wise (If you can call it that.. Ha! Ha!) Just finished a report about half an hour ago, and was about to head back until I saw the condition outside. It's pouring. Like there is no tomorrow. So here I am, waiting for the sky to clear up a bit as I highly doubt it's possible to drive back in that. Sigh...

As strange as life can be, nothing beats technology. And above that, nothing I know beats the hell technology puts me through. In September, I highlighted an issue regarding something that allows me to put my thoughts up here, that is the internet and my ISP (not an ex yet) which is hell bent on putting me through a series of miserable days that eventually turned into weeks and now into months. Although I had gone ahead and subscribed to a new ISP which provided a spiffy new modem which can fit into my palm (It is very cute, I tell ya), I regret to admit that it's service has been less than satisfactory. I can't download anything - especially my i-tunes upgrade, games, and listening to songs on the online radio station is a mission impossible. The following was a comment by an anonymous reader in the earlier post where I expressed intentions in changing ISPs : " You think Telekom's bad....try Maxis...same piece of shit with the luxury of extra price. I even had ...

A strange sound echoes through the night, Through the morning, and right up to the evening It's a now common plight, That leaves her complaining For a fortnight it has hung out, Relentless in it's aim It's something to talk about, Or so that's the claim There's a pain in the gut, Due to shaken ribcages, She feels like she's stuck in a hut, Where there's a table full of pages! The cough, it comes and goes, It stays, enough to torture, Even if she stands on her toes, The cough, it's there to endure.

I'm feeling sort of loser-ish at the moment, a suspected root cause is most possibly a stress inducing competition that I had brainlessly signed up for because I apparently am not under enough stress as it is. The past week saw me staring at my word document. I'd type something that seems interesting only to delete it all a little while later. It's hard to say it, but I think I'm going to cave in to the urge to hide my pen under the carpet and never look at it again for sometime. Nevertheless, this less than anticipated outcome has made me learn a few things about me attempting to write in general, and they are: 1. If you are female and your name is not Sue Townsend, do not attempt to make your 'ahem' protagonist a male, because it will only end in disaster. Or worse, he will be effeminate and be the laughing stock of all your other characters 2. As much as JD Salinger made it work with Holden Caulfield and his first person narrative in Catcher in the Rye,...

It was after 9 p.m. and a woman walking alone was abducted by four men with less than honourable intentions. They took her for a joyride which only they enjoyed, and had confiscated her mobile phone. What they didn't know was that she had two mobile phones, so one still remained in her pocket. Finally after hearing her pleads, they allowed her to get off into the bathroom of a petrol station to do her thing. The smart chick locked the door and immediately called the police. They arrived, and the four men drove away. So one woman was saved from being another number in the papers. The thing is after reading the article, we kind of discussed what the emergency numbers are. I think the general number is 991, and they connect you with the relevent authorities to help you out. However, an even older incident from the news comes to mind, where the number 991 was used from a mobile phone and it didn't work. Apparently 991 is only accesible from land lines. But in the case of an emerg...

Technology comes and goes whether you like it or not. From the bulky, heavy types, now you have cameras so slim they fit comfortably in a woman's clutch purse. Back in December 2005, after getting a good review for one particular brand which not many people use because the brand name is better connected with film than with cameras (in this part of the world, anyways) I went in search for it. Coincidentally, at that time, an obscure little shop in an equally obscure mall was having sales and I went and got it. The camera is pretty cool, a 4MP with the normal functions you get on other cameras. It has served rather well all these years, even falling onto a rock near a shallow pool while I was once attempting to get a photo in the jungle. The camera fortunately did not break although I was afraid that it was the end of its life span because it turned crazy for a bit by eating up several pictures I took.. Anyway, other than a permanent scar, it is fine. Quite a number of people I k...

It's hard to leave something unattended for a bit too long especially after it's been given a new set of clothes, so blogger's block or not, here goes... 1. Yeah, it's still there. In fact it questioned my appearance here. 2. How is it possible to lose both earrings from one ear, and that they are nowhere to be seen? I feel like a pirate with only 1 ear with earrings. Soon, each hole is going to sport lone designs as a homage to their lost partners. 3. I don't feel it yet, but I'm going to miss the smiley earring. 4. My NaNoWriMo story this year sucks. If it were in paper, I'd send it for recycling. I also have a NaNo block 5. The French word for water is 'eau'. I had a tough time recalling it last Friday during a conversation. Just so I don't forget, it's 'mizu' in Japanese. 6. That proves the point of how lousy I am at languages 7. You learn a lot of things about your colleagues during a fire drill. 8. If it was a real fire...

What I'm about to share is creepy enough that I'm only brave to type this out in the broad daylight. This story was told by a friend of my sister's, and apparently happened in a location not too far away from where I live (and the sister was under the impression that I used that route to work and told this story so I'd be careful - but how, I don't know) The place in question was once an oil-palm estate. Today, oil palm trees still sway in the wind in a patch of land which goes almost as far as your eyes can see, but most of the area is now littered with medium sized industries, a road leading to/from the highway, the local Road Transport Department building and some small stalls, a mechanic's repair area and trees. It looks like the most normal area there ever was. At night, the family members of my sister's friend set up a stall in that area, and one day (in the early am) which was as normal as any other day, one of the family members saw something fro...

She can't say why. Her sister thinks it's so unlike her. And after about an hour and a half of copying, saving and deleting and republishing, she still asks herself why. Pink is good, she thinks, and the yellow/orange/white combo has served her well. Maybe for a tad bit too long, she thinks. Besides, we can't live without shoes, and ahem! nice legs... Her only regret is she can't change the font to Arial unless she goes back to each and every post (about 298 or so) and republish them one by one. Not a very appealing idea she thinks. She's a bit crazy but not that crazy. And then there's the time factor as well. Hehehe... And then there's the issue of not having the dashboard at her disposal... Nevertheless it's not such a big problem, she says to herself... Nothing she can't solve, anyway. A bit of tweaking needs to be done, she admits, and if she doesn't like it in a few days/weeks/months/years (ha! ha!), she can always revert to the old on...

It must have all begun with the strange weather we've been having lately. Rain, either in the form of sheets so thick you can hardly see 10 meters in front of you, or in droplets that somehow manage to wet you even if you're exposed to it just a bit, extra cold temperatures from the air conditioning units, as well as too much talking led to a scratchy throat, and perhaps an overdose of Fisherman's Friends, and eventually the infamous influenza, which sort of hovered for only a day or so. I was supposed to get back to work today after a short break earlier in the week, but I was a bit weakened from the fact that I had not eaten any solid food from the night before due to a situation whereby eating/drinking anything would have led to worse consequences. A visit to the doctor confirmed one particular suspicion of food poisoning (I beg to differ, though), but how, where and why remains unanswered. Others who have been eating the same meals as me seem to be in the pink of heal...

Quiz borrowed from Aunty and Lizza Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz... You Are a Jackie! You are a Jackie. "I do everything the right way." Jackies are realistic, conscientious, and principled. They strive to live up to their high ideals. How to Get Along with Me * Take your share of the responsibility so I don't end up with all the work. * Acknowledge my achievements. * I'm hard on myself. Reassure me that I'm fine the way I am. * Tell me that you value my advice. * Be fair and considerate, as I am. * Apologize if you have been unthoughtful. It will help me to forgive. * Gently encourage me to lighten up and to laugh at myself when I get uptight, but hear my worries first. What I Like About Being a Jackie * Being self-disciplined and able to accomplish a great deal * Working hard to make the world a better place * Having high standards and ethics;...

Ah, what a wonderfully festive October we have here. Barely two weeks after one major festival ( Eid ), we are once again greeted by another (Diwali/ Deepavali ) which will arrive without much aplomb, I'm afraid on the 27 th , which is totally awesome because festivals transl ate to public holidays, which I always look forward to every time. Just checked the calendar and regrettably there are no public holidays listed for November. For the uninitiated, Diwali is the festival of lights, about the forces of good winning over the evil and mankind rejoicing because of that win, though seeing the world as it is today, I think the good never won at all. They were just in denial over their losing the battle and the evil forces for once left it at that and chose to remain silent. And it is almost always commemorated with the lighting of oil lamps all around the front porch at night, and visits to family and friends houses, as well as eating (yes, even people who claim that they are on ...

It's been 6 days since I last blogged, and it feels like I'm starting blogging from scratch all over again. In fact, my very first post over 3 years ago seemed to have come off much more easily. Otherwise, I would have never stuck to it for this long. Anyway, it has been a long week. Longer than usual, and longer than I expected. A combined total of about 9 hours of talking about an important topic in two days has left me with a scratchy throat, which I believe may leave me voiceless over the next few days. Scratchy throats aside, I have a story to share. It seemed funny at that time, and hopefully by the time I'm done, it will still be funny. This story relates to one of the three day sessions with our foreign advisers on the unavoidable 10 year project the other day. Bearing in mind the need to be punctual when dealing with these foreign people who shake their heads (contemptuously - if I may say so myself) at our so called "Malaysian time", I practically r...

Markets everywhere are tumbling just like sandcastles crumbling after a rogue wave. And yet, the finance portfolio holder says everything is just fine and dandy, and we shall all be happy and continue with what we've doing all this while. Oh, what a pretty picture! Admittedly, my knowledge on economics is almost non-existent thanks to the education system I grew up in. If you're a science stream person, you stick with chemistry, physics, Biology and Additional Mathematics, and put your nose far away from the Social Sciences, arts and economics classes. No school (except maybe private schools, but I'm not sure) gave the option for you to take up a selection of subjects that you dig. I guess, inadvertently, it may have been some evil ploy to keep us only knowledgeable in certain areas so that we don't end up being too smart and start asking dangerous questions... hehehe. And due to that, most of the stuff I 'learned' about the economy is from a fellow blogger Z...

I have a thing for: a) Numbers (Not the tv show although I think the main character is kinda cute!) And it's pretty cool to have hit post number 100 for the year... especially after the slump in blogging for 2007 b) A lot of other things which I can't seem to remember because I thought of this post before sleeping last night and I've forgotten everything right now. I sure will most probably win an award for most forgetful blogger if there ever was such a thing! c) Music, which brings forth this meme I pilfered off Woozie's blog because I think it's awesome, and yes, I have a thing for memes :D 1. Put your iTunes on shuffle. 2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer. 3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS! 4. Tag your friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the meme from. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY? Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd WHAT WOULD BEST D...

To get to work, I have to cross the same river in two places using an old motorboat that lost it's motor a couple of years ago. Ok, that was a joke, a bit bad in taste perhaps seeing that some people still need to cross rivers that way... Naturally, with rivers, the water occasionally decides to seek higher ground especially when their friends from the sky visit, and then there's also the fact that my glaring at people who indiscriminately throw rubbish on the roads, floor or everywhere else but the bin (and only god knows what monstrosities are thrown into the rivers... so sad!) seems to not have any effect whatsoever, which most probably leads to this crazy flooding after a few hours of rain which seems to happen oh so frequently these days. The road that I usually take was partly submerged in water in one small stretch and a double lane was reduced to a single lane. Even last Friday, I ended up staying back in work until almost 9pm because I heard about the road conditions...

Firstly, I should make it clear that in the actual process of conducting the activities listed below, no one's hair stood on ends, no one suffered from static electricity shock per se, and the best part of all, it was not necessary to get any firemen involved (although I personally am of the opinion that they have one hell of a cool job despite the heat they have to face) Now that all wild ideas have been put aside, we shall continue. A couple of days ago, I found myself in front of an audience of about twenty per session (we had to split it into three sessions) which makes it about 60 guys where I attempted to make them understand the shaky concepts behind static electricity, why we give such a damn about it and what we can all do to reduce the effects of static electricity even though I was completely unprepared for it (mentally, that is... because we're supposed to kick off these marathon training sessions, and this topic was selected to be the first and so there I was - d...

Stupid blogger's block You are nothing but a pain And a great big joke There's nothing like a haiku to save the day, and then there's only this... (although there is no connection, whatsoever)

It's cold. It's been cold for the past few days and it's an odd feeling saying how cold it is seeing that I'm here, in a country that is 'hot and humid' according to geography lessons from the yesteryears. Nevertheless it is still cold, and my fingers really, really don't like it. Anyway, it was last Friday I think when I noticed an increased occurence of goose bumps caused by involuntary shivering. And it takes a few minutes of heating my hands together so that they're warm enough to put the bumps back where they belong. I was in an air-conditioned place when it first started, so I thought it was because it was cold, but it didn't stop there. Throughout the week, I'd be doing something I normally do, and the next thing I know I'm all in shivers even when everyone else is not. My mom thought I might be having some sort of internal fever and told me to see a doctor. But then again, how do you tell a doctor that you think you might be havin...

People say the third time's a charm, but I'm fervently crossing my fingers and hoping that the second time can be a charm as well, because I don't know if I could attempt it the third time (not that I'm giving up so easily even before the attempt, but just because you never know what may happen) So, I've gone and signed up to torture myself for 1 whole month with the yearly writing frenzy that is best known as NaNoWriMo after not doing so last year because I knew beforehand that I was to be away for about a week in November, unlike the previous year where I went on with it despite having a major exam, but gave up somewhere in the final week of November when I realised that I had to pass the exam by hook or by crook. That sucked big time, and till today that old story still remains at 34,000+ words and unfinished. Enough with the old stuff... So far, I don't see anything impeding my progress in getting those 50,000 words this year besides myself, sudden bout...

It has been quite awhile since I ever acknowledged to having a best friend. Growing up, I had a small belief in best friends, those you share your deepest darkest secrets with, from silly crushes to favourite tv shows and books and secret desires to push annoying people down the stairs because I had read about such things and lived mostly in the world of make belief due to lack of entertainment. I've always been surrounded by people, so called kindred spirits but rarely had anyone particularly close whom I could call my best friend. The closest friend I ever had was when I was in my early teens, where we rode the school bus together, joined the band in school (although only for 1 year) and spoke in F language about everything under the sun (much to the annoyance of some others who didn't know the 'language'). And then one day, without any warning, we just drifted apart (where she got chummy with some other kid whom I thought was the most boring person ever) none of u...

There has been an argument since the time people ceased having to hunt down game bigger than them, club it to death or spear it (to death as well) and drag it home to their caves so that the whole group could sit down to a decent meal of uncooked meat torn off with crude cutlery, or worry about when they themselves would be food for someone else or some other creature. The argument is, do we live to eat, or do we eat to live? I was watching the local news this morning, something which I don't usually do due to the holier than thou approach they use in addressing issues and their reporting which quite a lot of people agree is slightly biased. So much for clear and transparent reporting. Nevertheless, once the local news segment was over and done with, they ventured to the world news, one of it being an International Hamburger eating competition in which the contestants are required to wolf down as many hamburgers they can in 8 minutes. Now, no offense against the competitors ...