Walk

a long walk out in the night will do me good, i thought to myself. there’s too much tension in the air right now, and i’m contributing to it. it would be best to make myself scarce at this point in time.

so i took my keys and a book (Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto), grabbed two bucks off the dining table and headed out. out into the crisp night air. and i just started walking, with no premeditated route or contrived destination in mind. i like it that way, because i dont have to keep asking myself ‘am i there yet?’ or ‘how long more is this going to take?’.

i walked straight all the way, without taking any turns in my path. it wasnt a conscious decision, i simply let my feet carry me away and take me wherever. i had better things to concentrate on, like how to unravel all these thoughts in my head, and how to come up with an overall solution, be it step-by-step or with one swift default annihilating movement. as i walked i was in a robotic daze, not particularly focused on anything, yet still very aware of my surroundings. it was very weird, like i was two people in one, or like i had someone with me, who was part of me, and assuming the role of pragmatic entity in my little midnight venture.

this was a strange walk, unlike any walk i have ever taken. it faintly reminded me of one particular walk i embarked on, many years ago when i ran away from home, if you can even call it that. the only difference was that back then, i had a purpose, and this time i did not. but essentially, i was turning my back on my home both times, frustrated and angry. that was how i felt then, this is also how i feel tonight. like i was shedding skin, clamping my hands over my ears, ignoring and avoiding and running away. taking an independent step forward. mentally saying out loud, i am deattaching myself from you.

and so i walked and walked until i reached a fenced-up field moated by a huge drain, and it was impossible to plough straight on. taking a left or a right turn at this point seemed to require too much energy, so i didnt. directly to my right was an HK cafe, lively but not burstingly and overwhelmingly so. i frequent this place, and although the food is not much to scream about, i like the warm orangey decor here. at the time, warm and friendly decor sounded good to steep myself in, so i sat there to read my book.

i remained in the cafe for a very long time, sitting there and reading until my eyes got too dry (damn contact lens) and no amount of pressing on them would alleviate the pain and annoyance. also, it was hard to really follow the lines on the book because my mind just kept drifting to other things, due to the fact that i hadnt really finished thinking out what i had intended to think out during my walk. i had to leave this sedentary place and continue walking if obtaining a conclusion to my pensiveness was of any importance.

so i headed back home. but oddly, on this walk back, i found it impossible to just THINK. it was like, because i knew where i was going, i knew how much more time i had before i reached my destination, and that knowledge somehow prohibited me from achieving any definite thought. it was frustrating, to say the least. it’s like feeling dead tired and aching for some rest, but when you hit the bed you just cant seem to fall asleep. it put me at a terrible and torturous unease, and i just wanted to get back as soon as i could.

my housing area is really quite different at night than it is in the daytime, and it reminded me of the streets in Corea when i was there on homestay. yellow streetlamps threw light on the empty roads and the sleeping houses with hulking roofs. trees looked like sentinels. cats were awake and they lounged atop indifferent cars, following me with their feline glares as i walked past them. ocassionally i would pass by some people who were also out and about at this odd hour, and their pace would pick up when they spotted me. i found that i did the same. like a ridiculous race to get to opposite ends of the world. each time someone brushes past me, there is an instance of halted breath for both parties. this becomes a conscious realization.

i see my apartment looming in the distance, and i jog the last few metres to the front gate. the glaring white lights of the guardhouse flings piercing lucidity on the state of my mental being. suddenly i get angry all over again. i take the stairs instead of the elevator on a whim.

i am home now. and still angry.

15 comments April 30th, 2006

Bak Kut Teh Steamboat

a whole bunch of us decided to meet up today for STEAMBOAT! not just any boring chicken-stock-soup steamboat, or even porridge steamboat, or tomyam steamboat .. but BAK KUT TEH STEAMBOAT!

haha the mind boggles. but it’s such a genius combination that we simply had to check it out!

the name of the place is New Taste Steamboat, and it’s located in Taman Billion, Cheras. it’s a typical steamboat-type place, albeit a little smaller and much cleaner. the 20 of us arrived at 7pm, and even though they’d only just opened 30 minutes ago, 3/4 of the place was already filled. and through the evening, more and more people just kept swarming in! hehe definitely a good sign for the picky eater. not me la. just picky eaters in general.

i love to have dinner with Darren cos he’s sooooooo nice! he ordered all the liu for us, washed the utensils for us, distributed the chopsticks and saucers, gave out tissues, ordered the drinks, tended to the steamboat flame, called for extra soup when we ran out, and just basically looked after the bunch of us kids. heeheehee. we were all bullying him - “darren i want coke!” “darren i want leong cha!” “darren pass the tissue la!” “darren the soup finishing liao!” “darren WHERE ARE MY CHOPSTICKS” “darren FASTER LAH” - and the best thing about him is that he lets us do all that to him, AND lets us attack the food first before he takes his turn. ohmygawd. annjoe, how could you have let him go?!

anyway this is Darren, resident class genius, future neurosurgeon, Mr Nice Guy :

okay enough about Darren. so before the steamboat came we ordered side dishes of fried wantan (for the non-comprehending, it’s like fishpaste wrapped in dough and deepfried). they were so-so, not particularly mindblowing, but just your typical everyday wantan. it comes with a tartare sauce dip. and this other dip they have for the steamboat stuff is some special chili sauce thingy, which tastes really different from the usual chopped green chilli! it goes very well with the meatballs.

service here is actually a bit lembap. we always had to get the boss (his name is Andy, very friendly chap!) everytime we needed something done right. oh and dont get their leong cha (herbal tea) cos it is so not nice. stick with the chinese tea, really. and if you want extra steamboat soup, just go grab the pitchers yourself from the rack because they have so little staff for SO MANY TABLES, especially when more tables are opened up outside, so it takes yonks before they’ll tend to you.

everybody hates bad seafood when it comes to steamboat, so the freshness of the foodstuffs at New Taste was very welcome indeed. size-wise, the prawns coulda been bigger but we’re not really complaining. the stuffed fishcakes here are SO best. besides that, everything else is typical steamboat standard, we had no qualms.

the Bak Kut Teh soup base was so cool. correct me if i’m wrong, but i think this is the only place in KL that serves BKT as steamboat soup? novelty aside, i’d be lying if i said the BKT soup base was so fantastically good it shocked my eyeballs out. it was only fairly good - flavourful enough to be yummy, but not overpowering. i would have preferred if it had slightly more kick, then it would have been perfect. oh and IF ONLY they had served yau char kwai..!!! i must remember to recommend the introduction of yau char kwai (breadsticks) with much force the next time i go there!

price-wise, REALLY cheap. each of us ended up paying like .. eleven bucks?

we had a really nice time just eating and chilling, though i’m not sure if Darren feels the same way, hehehe. but hell yeah, steamboat is SO the get-together meal. we have to do this more often. and i think we’ll go back to New Taste instead of going allllll the way to Seri Petaling in pursuit of good steamboat.

next time we will come with yau char kwai!

New Taste Steamboat Restaurant (non halal)
Jalan Siput Akek
Taman Billion
Cheras
Tel : 0123862855 (Andy)

New Taste is on the same row as Charis Christian Centre and Kaki Corner, the street opposite Makro. Operating hours are 6.30pm till midnight.

18 comments April 29th, 2006

Habeas Corpus + Pointlesspinkpausurvey

despite being bogged down by superbly intense cramps and the icky bloated feeling that menstruation gives you (yeah you women know what i’m talking about. and yeah you men can go throw your celebratory parties, cos you know, IT’S NOT LIKE YOU HAVE THIS MONTHLY TORTURE CALLED THE PERIOD OR ANYTHING) i dragged my ass out of my bed to go watch Habeas Corpus at The Actors’ Studio.

and it was VERY worth it! oh man, the humour, the wit, the puns!!! i really really enjoyed myself. the play is centred around a perverted doctor with the typical cake-decorating, charity drive, garden-tea-party, sexually frustrated wife, their weird hypochondriac son, a breastless mousy female relative (sorry, didnt catch what her relation was. sister to Mdm Sexually Frustrated, i think?) and their TOTALLY ECCENTRIC FCKING AWESOME housemaid.

plot-wise, there’s not really much to say, but oh man you gotta watch this play simply for the dialogue and the acting alone. Nor Hazlin who played the housemaid was easily the star of the show, with Sabera Shaik doing an amazing job as the sexually frustrated wife. Sarah Shahrum, although not playing too big a role as Mrs Rumpers (mother of the hottie Felicity), totally commanded the stage during her scenes.

also, after watching this play, i assure you that you will never again go to see a doctor.

besides being a fantastic comedy, Habeas Corpus is also a very good commentary on our instinctive sexual nature, euphemised with many innuendoes and puns. i really liked it. oh and TODAY’S THE LAST SHOW!!! so quick, call 03-20940400 before 8.30pm to book your tickets. they still have seats. and while you’re at it, buy your tickets for the May run of Actorlympics too! i will so be there, assuming i am in town and not off gallivanting in HK with Jovann my dearest, heehee.

and because i cant sleep, i am going to sedate myself with 45 questions about .. myself, in hopes that this will put me to sleep. well. even if it doesnt put me to sleep, at least it will put YOU to sleep.

9 comments April 28th, 2006

The Sweetest Things

i may have a flarey temper, but it’s just as easy to make me happy again.

small things that can brighten a sour mood for me ..

taking a shower

walking around a shopping mall aimlessly with a good friend

Grey’s Anatomy

warm water

peanut butter

finding 10 bucks in the back pocket of an old pair of jeans

a surprise bouquet of flowers

good music recommendations

that 2nd kiss

finding you suddenly have inspiration to blog

a long lost friend calling up to say hi

wearing white tops

feeding your boyfriend icecream

being fed icecream by the boyfriend

watching your drunk friends make fools out of themselves, heehee

pretty hairclips

smoothies

melted chocolate

chick lit

finding the keyboard and mouse at your cyber cafe PC works

winning at Dota!!! (not often, sniff)

ticking stuff off a to-do list

naps

:)

what small things make you happy?

19 comments April 27th, 2006

Saving Face

so it looks like Microsoft has announced that they are going to be taking a huge step forward in the direction of an anti-piracy utopia! starting today with your next Windows Update, if your copy of Windows is a pirated copy, you’re gonna be getting pop-ups screaming ‘PIRATED COPY!!!’ on your desktop from time to time, rudely reminding you of your clandestine counterfeit-supporting secrets in the most unpleasant manner possible.

local newspapers here did write-ups on the issue yesterday, and i find it very amusing how there was so much emphasis being placed on the ‘embarassment’ that corporate execs and businessmen would face if their bigshot clients were to glimpse their ‘tattooed’ desktops. upon reading that, i started laughing and thinking to myself how true that is, that we’re all such a concerned bunch of face-savers. and if anything, i’ll bet the prospect of that potential embarassment probably had all the companies dispatching their IT teams on a mad quest for Windows a la Authentique yesterday.

fear of embarassment is such a powerful tool. i know cos i utilize it sometimes when dealing with one of my brothers, who is DEATHLY afraid of anything that may cause him to seem slightly different from his peers. some of my classmates back in school were like that too, but from an academic vantage point. even the stronghold of my life (daddy) occasionally displays phobic tendencies when it comes to the idea of embarassment. a fine example would be last week when he went out and bought a spanking new HIGHLY EXPENSIVE set of golf clubs simply cos someone remarked that businessmen should always have clubs worth a month’s pay. rollseyes.

sometimes it’s funny to see adults behaving like that. heehee. maybe i should tell him that it’s an elite thing for businessmen to give their teenage daughters half of their month’s pay every month. and perhaps quote a made-up survey by Forbes. or even PRINT out said made-up survey. kakakakaa.

oh, shoot. i’m going to be late for my lunch date if i still sit here blogging. but never mind lah.

okay okay no no i have to go. it’s not nice to keep people waiting.

BUT I WANT TO CONTINUE BLOGGING ABOUT MAN’S INHERENT FEAR OF EMBARASSMENT.

cannot cannot. you must learn to be on time instead of being 2 hours fashionably late.

okay lah. cibai.

12 comments April 26th, 2006