RACONTEUR-ESQUE SCRIBBLINGS

For some strange reason, kids get drawn to me very easily. They wave at me from the back seat of their parents cars, they stick out their sticky hands to grab my hair or glasses, and occasionally stare me down till I look away before I burst out laughing. Last night, I had gone out after work to catch a movie with a friend from work, which was weird in itself as I don't really watch that many movies to begin with, and especially not on weeknights after a long day at work. But somehow it happened, and at 7:40 pm, a few minutes before we're scheduled to go into the cinema itself I find myself on a bench eating the driest, vilest doughnut I've ever had in my life. (I don't like doughnuts in the first place, but I was hungry) So, we're talking to each other and suddenly this kid shows up, all smiles, trying his best to say something to me in baby talk and some mumbling which I obviously didn't understand. My friend, (who kids are supposedly afraid of) translates t...

Note: This was an attempt to voice my feelings towards a particularly frustrating and tiresome part of something I had to do about a few weeks ago. Wrote it on a piece of rough paper while the sun was shining in brightly through the window as I stood near one of the machines in order to collect some data. Never got to finish it though... There was once a girl who was *preppy Her life was anything but crappy,      But some folks came down      An ugly blue they painted the town, And she ceased being happy. For two years they made her do stuff Sadly she could never pull a *bluff,      Though she tried her best      She could only detest, And occasionally wipe a tear on her cuff. Sometimes things were smooth Like the enamel of her tooth,      And then comes a strange request      That makes her go on a quest, For a flying phone booth. " Make your pr...

Note: Enticing procrastination tool ahead. If I called myself a movie buff, the stone lodged somewhere in the tread of my left safety shoe would laugh so hard, it'll get dislodged immediately. However, despite the number of movies I've watched over the years average less than the average of almost anyone else, I couldn't help being drawn to the picture below. Basically, what you've got to do is to guess the names of the movies creatively hidden in there (if you want to) and place your findings in the comments section (also if you want to)... I'll be away on a short holiday for the next few days, so guess away!  Oh yeah, click to enlarge the picture :) Picture credits: Lovefilm, I guess...  

Bukit Larut aka Maxwell Hill It was somewhere back in the year 1884 where the British Assistant Resident of Perak by the name of William George Maxwell founded a hill station, presumably to escape the sweltering heat of the sea level areas. It was one of the oldest in the country and still stands today and kept safe from the evil clutches of commercialisation that plagues other hill resorts in Malaysia. Today, the buildings of the old days still remain up on the hill, the old bungalows where the wood creaks as the temperature drops after sunset which were once used for rest and recreation. In fact, these bungalows are still where you would stay if you plan to put up a night or two on the hill. Of course, about more than a month before that we had called the people in charge, booked one of the bungalows, and paid for it by postal order (very, very archaic!) We used the land rover services for our journey uphill and downhill to and from the bungalow as there w...

It was somewhere in the early, dreary days of June where my sister and I suddenly decided that we'd hit the road again for an excitingly wild adventure after almost a year. This time around we took the trip with the parents, seeing that the wettest town in Malaysia, or Taiping as it's actually known was a place my mom once called home.   The Journey The weather was cool as we took the drive along the highway, a three hour journey along some very beautiful stretches of limestone hills, and an exhilarating drive through a tunnel and some creepy winding roads. After over three hours and a slight cramp on my right hip (for it was joined to my right leg which was destined to shift between the gas pedal and the brakes) we finally drove into Taiping town through the Changkat Jering exit. Needless to say, I was a wee bit disappointed at the fact that we were not welcomed with the slight showers Taiping is famous for. After all, as wikitravel candidly mentioned... "Locals do...

The good news is, I now know what catenative verbs are... As for the bad news, my initial amusement towards a certain title in an online paper seems to have disappeared. (see picture below)    It happens all the time, you see something *interesting, and you make a mental note... " I shall blog about that" . And you do. In my case, I click the Blogger button at the bottom of my sidebar, which then takes me to the dashboard, and I proceed to create a new post and happily type into it. For this post, I needed to print screen (lovely feature, I must add) the site I was on.  You see, something about a hurricane avoiding oil rigs tickled my funny bone. Now, I've always used the word 'avoid' in the context where the act is done on purpose. You avoid someone, or you avoid going to a certain place because it gives you diarrhea. But you can't really picture a hurricane avoiding oil rigs. In my mind, it looks like a particular thunderstorm cloud, with rain pouring in...