Dead? I think not...

Why, yes, it's me. Back from the dead, or whichever hell/heaven that I've been cast to within your minds. Heaven. Hell. Heaven. Hell. Difficult decision on where I should belong eh? But that's another topic altogether now.

*blinks*

Frankly, I'm quite surprised I've been MIA for so long. 6 months to be more precise. But with so much sh*t going through my life, I've just been too hectic to really notice the passing seasons. (Yes, I know it's summer 24/7 here. Just let me use that damn line would you? Thank you.)

Anyway, the past 6 months have been quite eventful, to say the least. Hmm...or maybe I could call it tumultuous. Or maybe exciting. Or maybe crazy.

Whatever. Life's still been pretty good to me.

At least, I'm not bitching up to high heavens here, but heck, considering the fact that I had a bloody good time in Singapore in June & and outrageous blast in Japan in July, and then another funkalicious Youth Exchange Camp in August...

I think the big guy up there kinda likes me. Most of the time, anyway.

So to sum up my last 6 months or so, here's what occured:

1) Feb/March: My previous company folded in all its glory!
They waged an uber-secret, silent war with our parent company, lost and thus in 1 swift stroke, we joined the ranks of the unemployed. No warning absolutely, and I got the news while I was busy infecting my bed with flu germs. Sweet.

(In hindsight though, I found it to be a blessing in disguise...so I'm all cool about it.)

2) April: I discovered the life of freelancing full-time...
What started off as a 1-month trial stretched into a 4-month experience and honestly, I loved it to bits! I positively embraced the freedom to choose my hours and though it was even busier juggling several clients, freelancing life RAWKED my socks off.

P/s: I was very lucky that I had so many fantastic friends that helped me spread the word and gave me enough breaks to actually earn enough to pay for my trip to Japan! Love you peeps! *MUAH!!*

3) June: I went for the District 308-B1 Leo Forum 2008 in JB...
...and subsequently rampaged on to sunny SINGAPORE! Shopping! Shopping! Shopping! Lol. Yours truly had the great fun of descending into Singapore during the GSS (Great Singapore Sale). Luckily, we drove and didn't fly in. Otherwise, I can imagine the dent it would make in my purse paying for excess baggage. Huhuhuhuhu...

4) July/August: Invaded Japan for 12 blissful days with Kinky Kiwi!
I. HEARTZ. JAPAN. Land of the Never-ending-Quirky-Surprises where we shopped till we dropped, ate till we almost puked, and walked till our legs fell off. I swear, I'll never take for granted my Kelisa Raksasa again. God bless my car. Still, 12 days wasn't enough by half, but if I had stayed on and became a glorified illegal immigrant, I'd probably find myself reduced to begging on the streets to survive.

Conclusion: Japan isn't expensive. It's just financial suicide.

(But DAMN, I'd die a happy woman. Lol!)

5) August: 2008 Summer Youth Exchange!
Which kept me in a frenzy for this entire month, especially the Summer YE Camp at Eagle Ranch that was 2 days right after our return to good ol' Malaysia. Forget about unpacking from my trip to Japan, I had to pack for my camp instead. PRONTO! Lol.

6) September: Work beckons...
...so here I am, at my "new" job, which technically is one of my previous employers. Freelancing rawks, but steady income wins hands-down I guess. Humph.

So there you go, my past 6 months in a nutshell!

Okay, okay...I can hear screeches clamouring for my blood for this piddly little post. Geez, you guys are growing fangs alright.

Ok-lah! Since I seem to be (ironically) more free than when I was freelancing, I'll be uh...good and start editing my pics so I can regale you with a new blog skin and excruciating details of my Singapore/Japan/YE escapades within the next few days. Weeks. Days. Oh, whatever.

So be nice and wait for a while more.

After all, you've already waited 6 months and more, so what's a few days more eh?

Besides...patience is a virtue, ya know?

Pfffttt...

*ducks & runs away*

I'm In Love...

...with a pair of shoes.

Not just any shoes.

A pair of Stuart Weitzman shoes.

Stuart GOD Stuart Weitzman "Women's Hiside" shoes to be precise.

*DROOLS*

Ain't it just about the most pwetty thing you've ever seen? *wipes imaginary tear from eyes*

Okay okay, so I'm exaggerating.

The fact is, I've been searching high and low for a pair of wedges that would look absolutely fab with my "shorts + halter/tube tops"-Summer-fashion-combo to rampage across Japan in when I suddenly saw this baby.

And of all places for me to find it, I found it via the 'Shoes!' application in facebook. (Yeah I'm wearing it on my profile now).

Imagine my joy. My glee. My utter rapture at finding out I could actually buy the shoes HERE!

And then...


..................................


...finding out it costs a cool USD $275!!!


OMFG!

(T___T)


Alas, as much as I would love to, the sad-but-realistic truth is that I can't afford to blow a cool RM870 for a pair of shoes yet! (Lol. If only!)

Money trees don't grow nowhere in my backyard and as much as I've prayed, I haven't seemed to have won any lotteries yet. (-___-)

So even though it was a short fling, GOOD-BYE MY LOVE!

*Sniff!*

I shall dream of you often.

And then pray that Vincci or Nose has psychic "Heroes" who can hear my prayers and create a "twin" at a much much much more reasonable price by July.

Lol.

It's a sacrilege, isn't it?

But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

So my sincere apologies, Stuart Weitzman. I love your shoes but I'm realistic (and vain) enough to wish for a "Hiside Twin" that won't have me surviving on bread and water for the next 2 months to pay off the shoe.

*Kneels down to pray REAL HARD to God/Vincci/Nose/Any decent shoe companies in Malaysia*

Amen.




P/s: Kindhearted saints feeling particularly indulgent may proceed with "donations" to yours truly.

P/p/s: Just kidding! Deep down inside, I really find it ridiculous to pay such amount for a pair of shoes. Heck, everyone who knows me well knows my biggest sin is shopping for make up. MUST. STOP. SHOPPING. UGH.

Wanted: Jeanie, Genie, or Skin-fixing Elves

I want, nay, NEED a new blogskin. Like, NEED NEED.

In the past year I've been so freaking busy with so many things I've never been really bothered by it, but now that I'm relatively and sorta free due to some unpredicted office-drama, I'm feeling extremely sien in a childish, petulant way with this generic blogskin I've been using since my previous custom skin died-ed on me without warning.

Bad, bad blogskin. Humph.

Somehow though, everytime I find a skin I like and I try to use it, it inevitably fails - quoting some unknown script error that has me squinting from top to bottom of the HTML codes and not really figuring out anything since hey, the codes all look the same to me.

Does this make me 'script-blind'?

Whatever. I studied graphic design, not web design, and now I'm doing copywriting. Web-design-Houdini I'm not.

So even after days of staring at the screen, boring illusionary holes into my Macbook ala "If looks could kill" style...I'm still stuck with my blah generic blogskin.

I need Jeannie.

I need a genie.

I need some smaller-than-hobbit elves (who used to make shoes but has now moved on to web design in keeping up with the times) to miraculously fix up some canggih-manggih-looking blogskin for me.

Would leaving cookies and milk do?

No?

How about beer and chips then?

STILL No?

Booger.


*Traipses off hunting for "Dummies Guide to Lure Web-Design Savvy Elves" in MPH*

2008: Year of Le Ratatouille

Herro peepur!

It's been a loooonnngg while but hey, I'm finally back!

WOOTS!

I know, I know...it's almost March and CNY is already over! Where have I been parking my tush for the past 3-4 months and all those other questions...oh well, better late than never eh?

Btw, I never did get to wish a lot of you Happy Chinese New Year, did I? Well here's a cute wallpaper that I managed to scavenge online for you peeps!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! (Belated but who cares?)

Anyway, look at that! Look at that! Ain't it just too cute for words? Lol! Albeit it being cuteness embodied in a mock-rat Onion Head character. Bwahaha!

But sigh...isn't it depressing that CNY is really over? This means that until 2009 rolls around, hobbits and non-hobbits will no longer be able to:

1) Go on a never-ending culinary orgy rampage (Cookies. Cakes. Chocolate. Cookies. Cake. Chocolate...)

2) Pimp themselves in parentally-approved new togs (Think bright! Think RED! Pink! Orange! Yellow! Think BLIND. Guhhh.)

3) Attempt to rip off everyone else via mahjong/blackjack/poker or anything you can place bets wagers on...

4) Generally condone almost every single naughty thing we usually shy away from, short of murder.

[Pause].

Oh, and collecting 'Ang Pow' (红包) of course.

*sniff*

Unfortunately, even in the midst of my CNY recollection, I can't seem to ignore the impeding-flu-induced-mother-of-a-blinding headache pounding in my head now like a persistent jackhammer.

Think heavy, achy eyes & cranky disposition - the usual hobbity characteristics I usually display, minus the sore throat, runny nose and achy eyes of course.

But I digress, back to CNY.

For starters, we got a verrryyy nice hamper!

Such a pwetty, pwetty hamper...

Now, every year I also help Mumsie care for the pussy willow plant, a very traditional and popular ornamental plant for CNY.

Many people have complimented us for our knack in making our pussy willow (don't think naughty thoughts about the name you hentai pervs) flower nicely.

What they may not know is how many times I've frozen my hands off feeding ice and cold water to this baby twice a day to make the catkins (the flowers) bloom like it got fed with plant-viagra.

Lil' red ribbon butterflies to make it look more fantabulous!

For those squinting in vain to see how the catkins look like, here's an up, close & personal peek at it. It grows longer as it blossoms (okay this sounds wrong), and indeed, some might liken it to furry caterpillars stuck on twigs. (-_-")

Furry, furry catkins...meowrr!

For the uninitiated, according to traditional Chinese belief, live blooming plants in a home is a symbol of rebirth and new growth! Yup! Flowers symbolize wealth and high positions in one's career, so naturally many believe that the home with a plant that blooms on New Year's Day will lead to a year of prosperity.

(Or so they say.)

Now, the first day of CNY is usually reserved for family.

For my family, loads of family pics are usually snapped for the album before we head off for our family gathering, and this year was special now that we have an additional family member - my nephew, Kieran!

Just so you know, it's hell trying to take pics with babies. It takes FOREVER to get them to look at the desired direction and their attention span lasts all of 2 secs before their eyes will wander else where.

[Word of advice: Take multiple action shots. It's probably the ONLY way one might be able to grab a snap with the baby looking and sorta smiling at the camera itself. Lol.]

Out of respect for my family who prefers more privacy, I've not included their pics in here. Lest someone will try and babynap my uber-cute nephew. Huhuhu.

But here's one for the friend who made a fuss about wanting proof that I wore neither red, pink, orange nor yellow on the first day. Lol!

If I wore red, I could have stood next to the pussy willow to be a "live display"...

Other days are up to personal preferences. If you have like, gazillion relatives on each side of the family, you're bound to be stuck visiting relatives or being paid a visit by relatives for the first 3 days of CNY.

Moi? I'm usually out and visiting friends by the 2nd or 3rd day of CNY, and in recent years I'm already at a childhood friend's Open House party during late afternoon the 1st day who lives, oh, 2 streets away from me. Lol! (^_~)y

Visiting Kay who was back from sunny Singapore!

To me, CNY is great fun as most friends who are working or studying overseas usually hustle back for CNY celebrations. It's probably the only reliable time when you can safely judge MOST of your friends to be back at around the same time. Ish.

With Francis a.k.a Fatt Lan Sei who was also home from Singapore!

Needless to say, CNY is never complete without umm..uhh...GAMES!

Aforementioned uh...games

CNY is all about big gatherings and parties too!

In fact, most of my CNY is spent visiting gatherings after gatherings. House-hopping, we call it sometimes. My record was hitting 4 gatherings in the same day from morning till the wee hours of NEXT morning.

Now I can be a rather reclusive hobbit, but my house is always open for me Leo peeps!

OMG why is Tammy & Lingwei in BLACK?

They came to chill at my place before we descended upon said family friend's home that was 2 streets away for his Open House Party: Round 2 session. Muahahaha!

Here's Tammy, otherwise known as "Da Mei". Don't ask why. It's one of the nonsensical nicknames that everyone seems to get christened with when they enter our Leo club.




I call her my fellow paparazzi because I can usually rely on her to be toting her trusty Panasonic Lumix around and snapping secret candid shots like the evil genius she is.

P/s: Tammy insisted on taking 2 shots because she claimed she didn't look good in the first pic. (-____-)

And last but not least, here's Kiwi-babe & moi!

See? PINK! Lol...

Yup, this is the babe that I'm gonna be hitting Japan with this summer! Tickets have been booked! Friends have been informed! Woohoo!

24th July can't come any sooner!

Now all we can do is pray that our Visa application goes through successfully...huhuhu!

So tell me, was your CNY as good as mine? *Grins*

Mother of All Weird Weekends: Part 2

"Five lil' Japanese boys sat in a row..."

This pretty much gives a broad hint on how I concluded my Sunday, hot on the heels of my virgin foray into the world of local fashion shows.

See, a few months ago, Kiwi informed me that one of the ex-YEs, Daichi would be back in Malaysia on a school trip.

*blinks*

SCHOOL TRIP wei...hebat sial.

Yeah, I guess schools all over the world love organising lawatan sambil belajar (educational tours). The difference is our schools here usually organises such trips to oh, factories and such while Japanese schools organise tours to other COUNTRIES.

Sweet.

Anyway, that aside, it would seem that most Japanese school tours have CRAZY schedules. It's amazing. They really expect young teens like 'em to lights out at 10pm and wake up at 6am.

On a school trip. Right. Someone really should clue them in or something.

But yeah, thanks to their insanely-packed schedule, Kiwi & I had no choice but to meet up with Daichi at their hotel for a ONE-HOUR break.

(Celaka, drive through the mad traffic around his hotel on a Sunday night. *shakes fist in air*)

So we arrived at the hotel 6pm on the dot. But of courselah...meeting up with Japanese friends = punctuality and none of our infamous Malaysian timing.

In fact, Daichi had told Kiwi earlier that he would "Stand by the hotel entrance waiting for us". Uh. Right. (O_o)

Like a eager boyfriend.

Something which I pointedly asked Kiwi,

"You sure he's not into you? I mean, you're the only one he kept in touch with you know? And I've slipped on enough boy-drool in YE Camp to know your effect on guys..."

(Yeah, Kiwi is UBER CUTE. Duh.)

Kiwi, being Kiwi...went "Nahhhhh..."

"Uh. O-K-A-Y. If you say so..."

Now, if it wasn't because they were coming back from Malacca in a MALAYSIAN-driven bus, I think he would seriously be waiting at the entrance.

So, there we were waiting by a pillar since there weren't any empty seats around when all of a sudden we heard Daichi saying hi.

We turned around...

...and CHAOS ERUPTED.

"えええ〜！やべ！だれ？すげい〜！”

(-_-")

Daichi's friends went WILD x 10

If I didn't see for myself that their female schoolmates outnumbered the guys, I would have thought they've never seen FEMALES before.

The whole scenario had a "M'sian-GF-meeting-Japanese-BF" vibe to it. No shit.

Bemused, I could only give Kiwi a pointed look. Taking the respite we had while the guys boys went to change, I muttered under my breath to her, "You see? Told ya...".

Now, prior to this meeting, Daichi had informed Kiwi that he would be bringing A friend. Which we were cool with, of course.

Somehow, when the boys finally joined us though...A FRIEND became FOUR friends instead. *smacks forehead*

........................................

[At this point I was trying hard not to snort out loud and laugh like a mad hyena]

So there we had them...5 lil' Japanese boys sitting in a row.

Pretty sight yeah? Or it would have been if I didn't feel so old.

Boys being boys (especially cheeky Japanese ones), they asked a lot of questions. Out popped their electronic dictionaries. Out popped their questions. Questions like:

"How old are you?"

(-_-")

Ignoring the fact that this is one question men should never ask women within the first 15 minutes of meeting them, it was very entertaining when I blithely informed them that I was SEVEN YEARS OLDER than them.

Keh. Apparently, they thought I was only 20 years old. The same age as Kiwi. Ahh..such nice boys. I like 'em more already. Hee!

5 minutes later...came the thousand-dollar question:

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Damn. These boys are really gunning for it. I couldn't help it. I snorted out loud and left it to Kiwi to field the question.

But of course! Given a choice of someone 7 years their senior, and someone who was only 3 years older, what's the most logical choice for them eh?

Smart boys.

At this point, I must confess something rather naughty. It would seem, that my informal education of the Japanese language must have improved by leaps and bounds.

Because I UNDERSTOOD ALMOST EVERYTHING THEY SAID as they were arguing with one another in Japanese.

"Did you bring camera?"
"I want to take pic with them?"
"Can we take pic with them?"

[Me: (Must. NOT. Laugh.) Urk...guhhh...cough!!]

Then they argued over how to ask us for a pic, which was solved when their OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER (What ho? Official photographer?) came over to kepoh and exclaimed this and that and terus shot us the request to snap a pic.

And then, get this...them cheeky fellas actually asked us:

"Which of us do you prefer?"

Guh.

I don't think I can take this anymore. *bangs head on wall*

Oh brother, talk about bringing out the big guns! I buey tahan. I keeled over LMAO and abandoned Kiwi to answer this question.

Seriously, if I wasn't there, those 5 boys would probably have jumped Kiwi. Or like, wheedled her email, address and life story out and proceed to "court" her via email from Japan or something.

How did a supposedly normal reunion chat turn into fielding a mini-interrogation from 5 cheeky fellas like some surreal warped dimensional dream??

*shakes head*

These, and other questions...

Mother of All Weird Weekends: Part 1

Holy cow!

I was checking out RiceBunny's xanga when I came across THIS, and frankly speaking, I'm stunned.

Not just stunned. I'm stunned speechless. In awe. Dumbstruck. Gobsmack. (Okay okay, I'll need to check Thesaurus.com for more words if I continue on my praise parade here.)

Let's face it, I've never met a guy with a voice like him. Heck, I don't think I've met any GIRL who sings like that, and I've got quite a few friends with fantastic voices!

Damn. I think if I ever do meet a guy like him in future, I'm gonna kidnap him and tie him to a corner of my room and make him sing whenever I want to.

Just to sing, people. What were you thinking about? Tsk. You naughty people!

But yeah, I voted for him within the first 10 seconds of hearing him sing, and damn, I hope he'll get his dream of getting on Broadway cause I think he's really talented.

So what are you guys waiting for?

Vote for Nick!

Lol. Anyway, let's backtrack a little back to moi, moi, moi.

I've just had the WEIRDEST WEEKEND EVER in my entire life. Like, back-to-back weird happenings. For a while I was tempted to pinch myself to see if I was in some cracked-up dream.

Where should I start? Right, one of the MIFA 2007 Fashion Shows.

On an impromptu invite from Mel, yours truly attended an actual fashion show last Saturday. No, there aren't any pics 'cause it was seriously quite impromptu and I didn't think.

[Pause].

Okay, I admit...who wouldn't think "PHOTO" when the word "FASHION" pops up. (ME!). Sue me, whatever. I'm probably the last person to go into ecstatic raptures over haute couture.

Mind you, most of the clothes were not bad. Some I could seriously appreciate. Some looked as if the designer went mad. Think glazed expression when the models strutted past on the catwalk.

As it is, I swear some of the models probably moonlight as professional poker players. Either that, or some of them were plain stoned. Some were sexy as hell, while some pranced by as if they were puppets being jerked erratically.

But I'm being harsh here. Of course I would be. I'm a 5 ft hobbit here. But I'm serious about the stoned expression. And the jerking, really.

The one similarity apparent was they're all enviably slim. And pretty. And tall. Okay, that's THREE similarities. Sheesh. (Did I ever tell you I totally suck at maths? Right, now you know.)

Several nipple slips, precarious tottering on sky-high heels, and jiggly boobies later, both Mel and I concluded at the end of the show, it was definitely interesting. No doubt about that.

VEE HAV BEEN ENLIGHTMENT.

We've now been officially enlightened. Oy vey!

Would I go for another fashion show? That's a good one.

I. DON'T. KNOW.

Knowing what I now know, the next time I attend another fashion show I might come out of it either:

1) Dazed & confused (Whaa...?)
2) Paralyzed with a permanent crick in the neck
3) Forever convinced that some people should not be allowed to hold an extremely dull needle, let alone handle a pair of scissors
4) All of the above

Not that I think about it, maybe not. (o_O)

*snorts*

And that's all I'm gonna say about that memorable Saturday of mine. Pfftt....


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Next on Mother of All Weird Weekends: Part 2 -

"Five lil' Jap boys...sat in a row..."

What are you, a phone retard?

You know what annoys me worse than rude idiots who somehow stumble over me via dialing the wrong number?

BIMBOTIC RETARDS who calls up people at bloody 5 in the morning, going:


"WHO ARE YOU?"


.................................................


At bloody 5 AM??

W-T-F?!!??

Seriously, I know I shouldn't be swearing like that with such relish but good lord, what kinda airhead calls up an UKNOWN number at this godforsaken hour of the day ON A MONDAY?




And of all the possible asinine things to say, what's up with the f***ed up greeting?

At the very least, even if your brain cells had all deserted you, one would think you would have the decency to go "Sorry but may I know who is this?" instead.

I couldn't help myself.


I TOTALLY READ HER THE RIOT ACT.


With all the "seafood vocabulary" thrown in.

(Read: Think fish, prawn & crab in Cantonese)

In my book, you don't go around calling random strangers anytime BEFORE 8 am, unless it was some life or death situation, which it so obviously wasn't, was it?

And lady, when I in return shoot you back the question of "Who are YOU?", don't go regurgitating the same shit to me. I'm not the twit who doesn't understand what "You've got the wrong number" means, aight?

And don't, for the love of God, ask me "WHAT NUMBER IS THIS?"

Didn't you just bloody dial it?


*bangs head on wall repeatedly*


Goddammit. Now my whole morning is spoilt.

Just because some dumb broad decided to play investigator at bloody 5 in the morning.

RETARD.



[Image sourced from 1984 "Sorry, Wrong Number" movie via Google]