Archive for 2010
“your book not captivating you?”
and this is how it always begins. i took a split second to consider his choice of verb — why captivating and not something else? — but the truth is that i was immediately taken. i could repeat the umpteenth iteration of my affinity theory, but there was no need for such formalities when there was only one hour left in the streets of old san juan, and time was sliding away indifferently even as we exchanged quick opinions of our books. i had been waiting for the vintage store on the corner of calle de san francisco to open, but this stranger convinced me to get up and leave the vain endeavour. i’ll take you to the shore, i’ll show you the ghetto, you’ll be back before you know it. i went. i saw the shore, i saw the ghetto, and slummed it for an hour with the locals. everything moved very quickly and i wasn’t allowed to take any photos of people or houses. then he took me back to the vintage store and the hustle and bustle of the tourist avenues, and we parted ways, and i boarded the NYC-bound plane out of puerto rico. and that’s always how it ends!
but what a deliriously exciting hour.
spring break photos from old san juan:
#1 steph in her broad white hat, lending some modelesque quality to the streets of san juan
#2 narrow cobblestone walkways and dangerously asymmetrical homes
#3 nicholas and nicole outside the pablo casals museum
#4 plaster models of the doors of old san juan, found in an art shop
#5 a wedding was happening one of the days we were there. such gorgeous bridesmaid dresses!
#6 doesn’t this feel like a place to make a bond movie?
#7 these slot game machines are everywhere in puerto rico! usually found where fat old men are wiling the hot afternoons away
#8 a bar that was filled with pictures of marilyn monroe
#9 all curbside bars serve mofongo – a most scrumptious dish made out of mashed sweet plantains and meat. sounds gross but it’s not
#10 us on the sloping green hills surrounding the el morro fort. it’s the fort where amistad was filmed!!
#11 kites – popular pastime at el morro. remember when the skies at KL parks used to be full of kites?
#12 rolling down the hills in a race to the bottom – another popular pastime at el morro
#13 another picture for good measure
#14 view of old San Juan from el morro. check out the coastal cemetery! on this day i only saw the crashing waves from afar, and thought that they may just be the biggest waves i’d ever seen
#15 crow
#16 a strange sculpture outside the church that made me miss jovann!
#17 one of the many eccentric sets of windows
#18 the very retro ben & jerrys shop
#19 calle del sol at night; very quiet and domestic
#20 the bars with their gates thrown open to welcome the spring night crowds
#21 at one of the bars that had some very cool old beer and Coke ads on the walls. was tempted to ask if i could have one…
#22 party on the balcony!
#23 and finally- led by the hand to the slums and the unwelcoming coast
#24 the shore on rocks. i was so close! is it really that dangerous?
#25 graffiti at la perla, which was really all i could take pictures of
#26 couldn’t even take pictures of the ground cos of you know what :(
#27 sometimes a skateboarding haunt, sometimes a swimming pool, apparently!
#28 i still can never tell the difference between geese and really big ducks
#29 my oh my
more soon!
March 18th, 2010
i found more!!! sorry, huge philosophy midterm coming up in four hours, and my brain needed some happiness. these are cordial exchanges with everybody’s favourite alien, Martian:
11 May 2008
Subject: (No subject)
Dear Mr Ng
Could you please buy this for me? Would appreciate quick revert
http://www.thedog-clubs.com/pupography/jr1.jpg
Warmest regards,
Su Ann Lim
//
Dear Su Ann
could you pls enumerate the cost-benefit analysis of owning this little beast.
Warmest regards and hugs
Martian’s Earth Name
Martian’s Earthly Job Title
Martian’s Earthly Firm
(haha his email signature from work cracks me up every single time)
——-
22 October 2007
Subject: Notification
Dear Mr Ng,
I think you are extremely good looking
Best regards,
Su Ann
//
Dear Su Ann,
Why thank you for your balanced judgement. I would most appreciate it if you take note of the symmetry between us.
Rgds,
Martian’s Earth Name
Martian’s Earthly Job Title
Martian’s Earthly Firm
——
31 March 2008
Subject: Phone
Dear Mr Ng,
I write you this email to inform you that my phone batt has once again died. The new twist to this age old story is that the battery charger i bought at KLIA a week ago, is actually the wrong charger for my phone’s model. Needless to say I am very exasperated because I am now not contactable by the outside world.
I would really appreciate it if you would pick up a phone charger for me on your way back from work? The phone model is the Sony Ericsson W880i. I would be eternally grateful if you could do me this favour. As you know, my decision letters will be in today and there will be many phone calls to make. PLEASEEEE. :(
I even bought you that toilet paper!!
Best,
Su Ann
//
that guy at klia- he shd be murdered. cos you did say w880i.
hey why don’t we go together?
Earth Name
Earth Job Title
—-
11 April 2007
Subject: Greetings and Salutations
Dear Mr Ng,
It is with great pleasure that I inform you of the soon-to-be arrival of a totally cute pink egg shaped muffin on your doorstep. Estimated time of arrival is 2130 hours at the Hong Kong International Airport and 2230 hours at the IFC Airport Express station on the 11th of April 2007. We trust you will handle the delivered goods with the utmost care. In the event that you do not, we would like to pre-empt you that the aforementioned egg shaped muffin can and will be prone to bouts of sulkiness. Should such a situation arise, the solution is simple: you have to give it lots of lovin’. Either that or a Krispy Kreme donut. Or the Grey’s Anatomy Season 2 boxed set. Or a Fendi Spy. Or maybe just a lot of lovin’.
We hope that everything is to your satisfaction. Should you require further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.
With best regards,
The Pink Egg Shaped Muffins Dispensary
//
haha it is with utmost cuteness that this is sent out. you can certainly expect great non-hesitation in contacting your good self.
Please note my new email: (Martian’s new work email)
Best regards
Earth name
Earth job title
<3
okay okay back to work. i’m this close to being done with midterms!!!
March 10th, 2010
it’s midterms week on this side of the planet, and because i have a huge propensity for distracting myself with frivolous things during times of high stress, i did some brief excavating in my email account today. there are always such cool fossils to stumble upon in my inbox. the below exchange is one of them, and i came across it while searching for a future finance minister (long story). the context is that this person X and i ‘met’ for the first time via email when he sent me a really cordial message introducing himself. so every now and then i like to send him an equally cordial email introducing myself with my new persona of the day. this is just one of many such silly emails.
it made me smile so :)
10 August 2009
Dear X,
We don’t know each other, so I apologize in advance if this is too abrupt. I’m Su Ann, a friend of Chen Chow’s and am currently studying in New York. I’ve just completed my freshman year.
I’m having some issues regarding my major, and Chen Chow reckoned that you would be a good person to get in touch with. I really hope you don’t think this is too random, but I am truly quite confused and in need of advice. I’m thinking of getting my degree in the same combination as yours — applied math and computer science — and am seriously considering a career in options trading. Which firm isn’t important, but I suppose the bigger the better.
I’m currently one year into this plan. I love Economics, but Columbia’s econ program is a lot more quant than I’d bargained, and I’m flunking all my math-heavy classes. However, I heard that one doesn’t have to take a single course in Economics to secure an options trading position. Is this true?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m hopeless at math. And I just want to do cute things, but I’m receiving pressure from every angle to remove all cuteness in my life and tend towards a more practical route. Did you ever feel like this? Did you ever feel completely prickly and just wanted to hide away from the world and eat duck rice and ice cream (sequentially; not simultaneously) when you decided on your major and career path?
I would really appreciate it if you could impart whatever advice you have with regards to my questions. Chen Chow said you’d be nice — sweet, even :)
Best regards,
Su Ann
(this apparently needs a disclaimer, albeit at the expense of the joke — i don’t actually want to be a trader at the ‘biggest’ firm. this email isn’t even serious!) anyway. his reply:
Dear Su Ann,
Good to hear from you. First off, I must commend you on your successful completion of freshman year, especially at Columbia University, which is a reputably challenging institution. Congratulations also on choosing your major and career path so early on — it is surely reflective of considerable thought and maturity. I assure you your chosen track will be replete with setbacks and adversity, but will nonetheless enrich and inspire.
I suppose Chen Chow thought it useful to get in touch with me as it would seem we share the same proclivity for duck rice and disdain for mathematics. Truth be told, though I majored in Applied Math and Computer Science, I can’t even integrate. I have been able to conceal this embarrassing fact quite well, save for this one instance I tried impressing said non-ability upon a really cute but prickly girl — but that is another tale for another time. But the fact remains that work ethic, a pleasant demeanor, a good attitude and an unparalleled passion for the financial markets are really all you need to get your foot in through the door. I assume you grew up in Malaysia as well? If so, we are both able to bring our bi-continental experiences to the table; employers truly value that.
As for a firm, I highly recommend Firm Y. If you have no qualms about devoting long hours to a cause — and a firm — you truly believe in, there is truly no other financial institution that invests so heavily and genuinely in its troops.
And yes, it is true that you need not take a single course in Economics, but you need to beguile and charm the socks of your interviewers. As such, I would advise you to doggedly work at retaining all cuteness — it will surely be a key quality in the days to come.
I’d be very happy to discuss more in person. In fact, I will be in KL later this week if you’re interested? I’m not a fan of crowded spaces and Malaysian humidity, so if you’d like, why don’t you come over to my place? We can maybe take out some desserts and watch a dvd? Of your choice, of course :)
Best,
X
/giggle! what a toucan.
March 9th, 2010
did any of you have to read The Dead Crow by A Samad Said for the literature component in Form 1?
i’ve just found the original Bahasa Melayu version. it’s a wonderfully nuanced poem. see for yourself what the differences are between the BM and English versions.
makes you wonder why they told us in our syllabus that the themes of the poem are worsening pollution in the country, and that the politicians of our country are the ones who should plan how we may live our lives with dignity “now and always”.
GAGAK PARIT
Dilihatnya gagak yang lara
kini kejang di parit
antara pejabat pos dan pangsapuri.
Disaksinya cungapan sorang
pesara, sawan seorang bayi
di klinik sesak sepagi,
semakin kurang dimengerti
inti kemakmuran jasmani.
Kerana di sini hanya kawasan
bersih bagi kehidupan cicitnya,
dituntutnya usah
dungu mencemari rimba
yang tak akan dapat lagi
subur menyegari buminya
tanpa sedia bermaruah,
beratus tahun, merancangnya.
THE DEAD CROW
He saw a dead crow
in a drain
near the post office.
He saw an old man
gasping for air
and a baby barely able to breathe
in a crowded morning clinic.
This land is so rich.
Why should we suffer like this?
I want clean air
for my grandchildren.
I want the damned fools
to leave the forest alone.
I want the trees to grow,
the rivers run free,
and the earth covered with grass.
Let the politicians plan how we may live with dignity,
now and always.
March 7th, 2010
i stopped at the window on the 18th floor to press my hands against the cold glass and to breathe onto it. outside, the snowflakes were flying and tumbling against the grey skies, whisked along by the wind in a manner that seemed so carefree. from up here, i could see people and their black umbrellas fighting against the difficult snow as they walked the pavements. it’s funny, but as a person who’s been living for the past two years in new york, a city where tall buildings are quite unavoidable, i don’t look out the windows of high-rise buildings very much. i live on the 8th floor and that’s about the highest i will go.
the truth is that i avoid the views. i know they’re pretty but they’re also painful. they remind me of so many things, like the 30th floor, the 22nd floor, the 19th floor, and even the 12th floor. flashes of the different views from various apartments and hotels come to me, and these are the kind of things you approach only when you’re strong enough. the last time i’d dared to look out the window of a room that high was when a then boyfriend had come to visit in the springtime– we’d checked into a hotel in times square, and then he told me that this was a special hotel for him because he’d had a moment here with an ex girlfriend. some things, like many other things, one just doesn’t need to hear. the other more recent time that comes to mind was the weekend of my last birthday, and i was briefly happy and prancing around the hotel room, while he ironed his work clothes. i stopped to look out the window (there wasn’t much to see) but he came up from behind to hold me. these burst of moments are short but so splendid.
then, there is also the 17 year old me, in a spaceship that hovers above the glittering city of kuala lumpur. look at the view, i had said, and he had wrapped his arms around my waist in a sudden move that felt so out of place and strangely unfitting. how many times has this happened, i had wondered curiously, but pessimistically. and then, the 18 year old me, in the month of march, in the mid levels of hong kong — i was sitting on a window ledge that would come to be so familiar in the future. we sat and talked as i peered tentatively down at the vast expanse of mad skyscrapers spread across the horizon. we listened to the most ubiquitous sound in hong kong — the ticking sound of the traffic lights — and giggled like children. that’s how it started.
and so, now, i hate windows and the views from high above. it’s more of a scared, frightened aversion than anything else. i was going to end this post by saying that i feel like just dropping everything and running away to somewhere foreign and new for some time — perhaps the street corners of suburban Seoul, where houses are small and rest above a fruit shop, or the whirling sidewalks of Kaohsiung, or even a dorm room in the aloof land of Tokyo, where i might meet Watanabe, and disrupt his life. but that’s my problem. i am an escapist. always trying to run. do i run to be found? have i been found? is this the very last time that i will be lucky?
February 26th, 2010
Previous Posts
