Posts filed under 'General'
i usually sit in the lounge at the lower deck when i take the bus back from singapore, because the seats are wider and a lot comfier, and also because there’s usually no one else there, which means i get unadulterated peace and quiet. it’s also great being able to pick whatever movie i want. but sometimes i’m not so lucky, and i get a hollering bunch of kids who in between jumping up and down the seats, fight with each other (ignoring the fact that i could put up a good fight too) over which movie to watch. i long to tell them that there really is not much of a difference between Balls of Fury and Talladega Nights; they’re both lame. but then again when i was younger i really liked Mars Attack so who am i to pass commentary.
then there is the occasional lone guy who tries to keep a tete-a-tete going even though i pointedly keep staring at my book (which then gets: oh hey that’s a really good book, i read that a few years ago, have you gotten to the part where he meets the sheep man, oh you havent oh i’m sorry did i spoil it for you, but even so another book you have to check out is blablablablabla) or loudly exclaiming how i’m so tired (yeah me too haih life is so difficult these days study study study then after school have to work like a dog to earn money hey what do you do anyway? i actually run my own business blablablabla), but much to my chagrin, i sometimes find myself being very curiously drawn into these conversations.
then there’s also the guy who talks too loudly and too long on his mobile phone. or worse yet, the guy who’s far too generous with his bodily gases and isn’t ashamed of it.
but the other day, i encountered a new species of lounge partners: The Caucasian Expat! there were four of them - an american couple and an australian couple - and they’d all been working in Malaysia for 3 years. throughout the entire 5 hour ride to singapore, they talked about Malaysia and all the gritty comparisons that will inevitably come to anyone who’s lived in another country besides Malaysia. it started when the american lady expressed her disdain at the service in Malaysian hospitals, but the australian lady said that when she was at Gleneagles, the service was wonderful - “they even gave me little sandwiches and drinks and everything, but i suppose that was because it was a case of ‘hello, white person!’”, and ended with the american man saying with much sprightliness, “coming into singapore from malaysia is like getting out of a jungle and being welcomed into civilization” upon arrival at the Singaporean immigration.
many other topics were touched on in between, ranging from our political situation and our taxis to the state of our toilets and our currency. (my favorite phrase of the day was: “it’s okay to pay extra, after all it’s only ringgit. the ringgit is like leaves off a tree!”) mostly these things made me sad, but i didnt know if it was because some of the things they said were glaring truths, or if i was upset that these foreigners had such a bleak view of my country. maybe a bit of both.
i’m two days away from leaving, and i feel like there’s so much left to KL that i havent even seen or fully absorbed. i’m going to be taking away with me only fragments of a big picture, only such small pieces of this city that i grew up in. there are a lot of things i havent done, and many of these things wont fit in a suitcase. it’s been a very melancholic couple of weeks. i know i will eventually come back one day, and there will always be summer breaks, but there’s just a lot that i will be missing out on. four years is such a long time to be away. it’s going to be a time so pregnant with events, opportunities, big things happening to loved ones, new restaurants, stories, political change, exams, weddings, graduations… and i wont be here to see any of these. sigh. i dont care what anyone says.. skype just isnt the same as being there in person.
i’ve been frantically eating all sorts of malaysian food over the last week. all my final meetups have been done over delicious things like a piping hot claypot bowl of bak kut teh or my favorite teochew porridge in pudu. yknow, the things i will miss. i really gotta have that SS15 rojak and a really good bowl of curry laksa before i leave. tonight: nasi lemak antarabangsa with Martian! and tomorrow, chili pan mee with the nuffnang folks!
though some of my friends are being cheeky. remember the New York Cheesecake sieutheng and the bunch got me for my farewell party? last week, i wanted to eat chili pan mee for my farewell lunch with the nuffnang boys, but they took me to this place called Yellow Cab Pizza instead, and ordered these pizzas called ‘New York’s Finest’ and ‘Manhattan Meat Madness’. then just yesterday, edmund passed me a box of Big Apple Donuts from his sisters, with a note attached - “Preparing you for the onslaught!” hahaha so cute all these people. i heart.
a picture from my farewell dinner with waifon, albert, skyler, arthur and nazrul, because it’s the cutest pic ever! arthur was teaching us a rude sign, so we all decided to take a photo with various rude signs:
the guy who’s seated second from the left is arthur, and he and i go way back :D one day i’ve gotta tell you guys the story of arthur and i. hahaha it’s a barrel of laughs. “i hate fish” hahahaha okay shhhhh dowan to spoil it. waifon is on the furthest left and she is seriously the most sweetly garang person you will ever meet. it’s hard to explain :P albert is behind me doing this very complicated series of rude motions with his hands. i met him at this play called Endgame, and i was very amused to see his confused and completely mind-boggled face after the show. i swear his eyes were glazed hahaha. nazrul is second from right, and he is one of the coolest guys ever. nazrul, i’m so glad we met :) skyler is on the furthest right, and working with her was a truly fun experience because there’s just so. much. to talk about! she’s also damn angsty wan, as you can see from her blog :P
and here’s the luggage bag i just bought. it’s so humongous that i can curl up in it, and there’s still extra space. and once i fill it with all the shoes and bags i plan on bringing, i hope i figure out where to put all the rest of my stuff :\
so many things to bring, so little luggage space. and dorm room space, too :( apparently i only get 110 sq feet. i’m going to be a mouse!
August 21st, 2008
hellohelloe! in between crazed attempts to cram my entire room into two suitcases, teary final meetings with loved ones as well as other frantic preparations for a long 4 years away in the US of A, i am here to introduce to you all the best ever micro-blogging tool i’ve had the pleasure of using :) it’s called Plurk, and it’s that orange-colored widget that’s been on my sidebar for a few months now.
i’ve been meaning to write this review for the longest time, but i’ve been putting this off. apologies to all the curious folks who’ve been emailing me and leaving comments asking me how to work Plurk and what it’s all about :( i actually told them all to wait for this post that i would be putting up “in a few days time” (ya i’ve been saying that for so long now, SORRY :( !!), but i think most of them went already ahead and figured out Plurk by themselves :P or at least, i hope they have!
in a nutshell, Plurk is like a mini-blogging site where you can post your updates (aka Plurking) either through the website or from your mobile phone. then, your Plurks will be displayed on your Plurk page (aka your Timeline) for your Plurk friends to see and interact with, OR your Plurks can also be displayed on your blog, should you want a display widget on your blog like i did. you can Plurk anything at all - what you’re doing at the moment, how you’re feeling, a question that you would like feedback for, your thoughts and opinions, etc. it’s a little bit like blogging, but a whole lot more instantaneous, mobile and random!
this sounds a little bit like Twitter and any other similar SMS-update/micro-blogging tools, but where Plurk differs is through two major features: one, its concept of a community timeline; two, it is feedback/comments enabled. i’m going to explain these two features first, and then later on i’ll explain a few other nifty things in Plurk that i really like.
1. THE TIMELINE
Plurk’s Timeline concept is something that’s really quite genius and is the backbone to the entire site. it confused me like hell the first time i logged into Plurk, but after some guidance from the almighty Puppy who introduced me to Plurk, i saw how simple it really was. it’s mind-boggling because it’s so simple.. kinda like when the iPod first came out and people couldnt wrap their minds around the one-button interface. anyways this is how the timeline looks:
the blue area is the timeline, and those white blurbs of text are plurks by me and my friends. it’s displayed in chronological order, with the ones on the left being the most recent plurks, and the further you go right, the older the plurks are.
clicking on the timeline and dragging left or right will take you through the timeline. this is helpful for navigation and catching up on plurks that you may have missed while you were away. you can go months and months back into your timeline if you so wish, just by clicking and dragging. it’s easy and smooth, apparently a programming wet dream (puppy not my words!!!).
your timeline will have your plurks, obviously, but it will also show plurks by your friends. i love it because i can be updated with whatever my friends are doing just by going into one single page, kinda like a compilation of everyone’s Facebook Status updates that is sorted chronologically. in this way, Plurk does away with all the fun frills of all other social networking sites out there, and focuses on what matters most: keeping in touch with your friends and loved ones. and um, people-stalking :P
2. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS ENABLED
i loooooove this function. i’ve used a couple of micro-blogging tools that didnt allow feedback, but i quickly grew disinterested because it was like talking to a wall. with Plurk, everytime you update, people can click on your plurk through their own timeline and leave you comments.
the boxed numbers are the number of comments each plurk has. red means there are unread comments. clicking on the plurk will open up the comments box immediately and on your timeline:
besides the mobile phone version, this is THE function in Plurk for me. i love the interaction i get from my friends (especially those who dont read my blog or never leave me comments, hmph) and also the conversations with them about our everyday activities and events. every time i’m bored or waiting in line somewhere, i get onto Plurk via my phone and just start plurking with my friends, because there’s ALWAYS people on Plurk to keep me company :D it’s like an SMS chatroom, but FREE! hahahaha! and not to mention more ORGANIZED!
this comments function is also such a convenient way of getting feedback. for instance, i once asked for laptop advice and suggestions, and i got over 250 comments from my friends on Plurk and even blog readers who signed up on Plurk just to help answer my question :D
3. FRIENDS AND FANS
in Plurkville, you have both friends and fans. friends are people whose Plurks you follow and who can also follow your Plurks; fans are people who follow your Plurks but you dont follow theirs. basically, fans are people whose plurks dont show up on your timeline, but they can see your plurks on theirs and they can respond to them too.
this is a good thing, because if you have something like 1000 friends, you’re going to have one very busy timeline that is cluttered up with plurks by people you dont even know. when Puppy was explaining Plurk to me, this is what he said, “so plurk is like, if you have to choose 5 of your most important friends from your facebook friend list, and add them as your plurk friend, then you will start to see the beauty of plurk.” and now that i am familiar with Plurk, i totally agree :) Plurk is cool because it keeps you in touch with the people you care most about and are close to, yet not completely alienating everyone else.
there are also extensive privacy settings where you can choose to add someone as a friend yet not follow their plurks, or you can choose to ‘mute’ certain plurks that are getting way too much feedback that you are not interested in, or you can block non-friends from viewing your timeline at all (disallowing fans) and many other settings that you can customize to your own liking.
4. SEARCH PLURKS
if you look back at the first picture of the timeline, there is a little ’search’ button on the lower right of the timeline. you can use this to search for any keywords throughout your own plurks, your friends plurks, or EVERRRYYYONE in Plurkville! i had fun searching for ‘Phelps’ yesterday and reading how many people think he’s not human :P
5. MOBILE PLURK
a godsend! Mobile Plurk is basically Plurk for mobile phones. i love it. i can Plurk everywhere and at anytime, get feedback instantly, start chatting with friends on Plurk when i’m bored (naeboo, artreyu, wolfx and ionstorm are the most amusing bunch!) and also follow or stalk out all my friends lives anytime and even when i’m not at the computer.
of course, this is only for 3G phones, and would be best if you had an unlimited data plan, because going online with your mobile phone can get pretty expensive especially if you start downloading videos or picture-heavy websites.
my favorite Mobile Plurk moment was when i went go-karting at Shah Alam with Martian and my brothers, and i was in a two-seater kart with Martian, and i got bored of helping him steer, so i started plurking and telling everyone i was karting. hahahaha the responses were like “huh why are you on your phone then?? go play!” hahahaha because i CAN’T KART, you guys!!! i always end up last… T___T
6. EVERYTHING ELSE
so, some other reasons why i like Plurk in general! i like the fact that Plurk compiles day-to-day, diarylike updates from my friends, yet is not intrusive. i really dont like the micro-blogging tools that spam SMSes to my phone each time someone updates, especially since i had a lot of spammy friends on those networks, and it made my phone bleep all the time :\ at least with Plurk, there is the timeline which i can check at my own free time. also, props for a wide range of privacy settings, as well as the Private Plurk function where you can send Plurks to just one person or a couple of people or even Cliques that you can pre-determine!
and i also love that some of my best friends are on Plurk. it’s so cool because i get to see what they’re up to at any time of the day, whether they’re in PJ or Penang or Canada or London. this is going to be especially useful for me when i’m away in the US and will desperately want to be in touch with friends and family back home :(
this concludes my n00b review of Plurk! do give me a holler if you decide to join Plurk! to all friends and family reading this, SIGN UP RIGHT NOW so that i get to keep an eye on you guys when i’m no longer in Malaysia!!! yes that means you too Martian -___-
you can sign up easily at Plurk via the widget on my sidebar :) or sign up here at my referral link if you want to donate me Karma Points! Karma Points will earn me some really cool smileys and features in Plurk :)
August 18th, 2008
the air conditioner keeps switching on and off by itself; that never used to happen. are there many things that will subsequently change, i cant help but ask myself. today i packed all my clothes, shoes and vagabond earrings and scrunchies into a bag and left, leaving the cardkey on the shelf. i must admit i was a little upset by the vehemence, but we cant all be sentimental packrats. i did leave my pink bathrobe behind, but i’m not sure if i will see this place again, because, well, many things can happen in short spans of time, and i want to be prepared. for things like.. the shining, leonidas chocolates, radiohead songs.
tomorrow i am going shopping for a really big luggage bag. it sounds like an easy task, but it’s really not.
August 15th, 2008
i am blurry with sleepiness, disappointment and fatigue. but nevermind that. short post because i have to get some sleep lest i die
1. apologies to all the folks who requested for the password for my password protected posts today.. i’m afraid i had to remove them because there is an error with my wordpress theme that only allows the password to be used once. strange thing, that is. oh well. i guess i’m just not meant to rant under cover :\
2. i watched Midnight Meat Train earlier tonight. zomg. never again will i.
3. i got nagged massively by an accounts lady at The Star today for not clearing the cheques they sent to me previously. it made me sad because i am TRYING my very best to navigate this life of bank accounts and cheques and ICs and visas and whatever documents that are so very confusing!! yet she still scolded me :( and didnt give me new cheques either :(
4. i went to apply for my US Visa today. the officers at the embassy are YUMMY. when the guy who took my file looked deep into my eyes through yonder dusty glass window and said, “please take a seat, we will call your number shortly”, i thought i was going to melt. he had this killer smile and these mischievously sexy eyes. and then the interviewer next to mine, who looked a little bit like Mark Wahlberg, could speak fluent Chinese. sigh. wo ai ni, embassy officers!
5. i have exactly two weeks left before i leave for the US. friends whom i have not seen in ages, please do call me! i would love to see everyone before i go.
6. i have been exceptionally early for everything over the past few days! this is good news! the birth of the new PUNCTUAL me!
7. i miss blogging about food and restaurants. soon, soon…
8. my dinner tonight was a bowl of rice with soya sauce drizzled over it. weep-worthy, my life is.
9. the Dell XPS m1330. what do you guys think?
okay that’s all i am capable of writing now. need. sleep. byebye with much love. proper post tomorrow when this pounding in my cranium goes away :(
August 7th, 2008
because there are so many upsetting things going on right now and i’m starting to feel very affected and stressed out, today i am choosing to take a breather from those things and blog about something happy.
and so…! this is a post about my dear friend wongwenqi, also known as wenqiwong or wwq or banana or lump or any other weird name that we, her dear friends, choose to accord her. because she is also very weird :D in a good, cute, irresistible sort of way! as you shall soon see…
i first met wongwenqi at the Nuffnang screening for Pirates of the Caribbean mid last year. she was sooooo shy and didnt say a single word to me except for some random comment about a Nuffnang badge. then at one point she let out an equally random squeak. i would later find that she dispenses such entertaining randomness very often, most of the time resulting in people staring at her in disbelief and then collapsing in laughter. then we will point at her and go “hahaha you so cute!”, at which point she will start protesting and squeaking like, “what! what! WHAAAAAAT!!”
after the movie screening, we met properly again on my first day as a Nuffnang intern. i only met her for about 15 minutes before the workday ended, and we both had to take the train to KLCC after that. she said she would come with me, and the very moment we stepped out of the office and closed the door, she turned to me and asked me THE QUESTION (wwq do you remember THE QUESTION!)… and when i gave her THE ANSWER, it was no turning back from there! we shared a bond! we were destined to be best friends forever!!!
it’s only been less than a year since then, but wwq is one of my closest friends, so much so that i miss her deeply when i dont talk to her for a few days T____T the simple truth is that she makes me happy and she makes me laugh. cos she’s so darn cute and innocent and random. and because you share a good thing when you have it, today ladies and gentlemen, i want to share with you …. The Chronicles of Wong Wenqi is Weird!!!
this is actually a very long-awaited post because i’ve been taking my time compiling material for it. i could spend more time baiting her, but i feel that this is a very appropriate time to write about wwq! so here goes!
1. this is after i told wwq i was on holiday in china a few months ago:
wenqi says: i only know the long long uhhh..
wenqi says: what u call that again
wenqi says: the border thingy
wenqi says: the wall
wenqi says: yah
wenqi says: the long long wall thingie wtf
».¸.·* pinkpau says: THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA WTF
2. this is wwq trying to teach me the hanyu pinyin tones for Mandarin:
wenqi says: 1 is like.. no tone one
wenqi says: 2 is like the sound go up one
wenqi says: 3 is the sound like… low low go down one
wenqi says: 4 is like.. u shout u damn hate the person
3. wongwenqi is very well-known for how slow she eats. this is a 4-way chat between me, KY, skyler and her!
KYspeaks says: i see wenqi eat
KYspeaks says: i can pengsan
KYspeaks says: so slow
KYspeaks says: cut so many times 1 piece of blardy fish
wenqi says: i know lahhhhhhhh
wenqi says: wtf
wenqi says: ur boss always cannot wait for me
wenqi says: and then will leave me there alone to eat while he go walk walk wtf
wenqi says: fuck that shit ok
4. wwq is also very well-known for her cleavage-baring tops! you want to stop staring but you just cant help yourself!
KYspeaks says: everyone looks at ur boobies
KYspeaks says: the cut you wear
KYspeaks says: EVERYONE LOOKS
s k y l e r says: ya they always spill out
wenqi says: wtf
KYspeaks says: take it from a guy’s perspective
».¸.·* pinkpau says: EVERYONE LOOKS hahahaha
wenqi says: i wanted to wear a normal t shirt once but cannot find one wtf
5. and this is after i got a sponsored phone, which wwq had test-used for a while, and she’d left all her SMSes in the inbox. i saw a message from one JPWong saying ‘i love you!’ and decided to ask her about it:
».¸.·* pinkpau says: who is jpwong! why does he looooove u
wenqi says: HUH WTF
wenqi says: he’s my father! how u know one wtf
».¸.·* pinkpau says: why u call ur father jpwong hahahaha and why u call ur mother laura!
wenqi says: no lah
wenqi says: so that.. when i get kidnapped rite
wenqi says: they won’t know who is my father and mother
».¸.·* pinkpau says: -_-
».¸.·* pinkpau says: dont u WANT them to call ur father and mother -_-
wenqi says: uhmm
wenqi says: then later they ask for ransom then my father and mother broke d how leh
6. this is wwq teaching me about the deeper things in life:
wenqi says: it’s like playing the trumpet
wenqi says: if i dun open my throat and say like AWWWWW
wenqi says: instead of like.. closing throat a bit like EEEEE
wenqi says: then the sound comes out fatter… juicier… rounder wtf
wenqi says: and i think that applies to many other things in life
7. a rare economic analysis by wwq:
wenqi says: to me i think sex in kl is cheaper than having sex in penang
8. she’s so cute and so easy to bully!:
wenqi says: he once lied to me
wenqi says: saying if u dun finish eating ur ice cream fast.. it’ll evaporate
wenqi says: and i believed him wtf
9. and she is also indecisive! taken from a meme on her blog:
4. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
A place that I’ve never been before. Preferably a place with snow, but I would have to have the option to go to some place else if.. IF I realized that I didn’t like snow.
10. i even got collaboration for material for my WWQ is weird post!:
Timothy Tiah says: funny wenqi quote today
Timothy Tiah says: I saw a fly in the airplane on the way here to bangkok
Timothy Tiah says: she saw it.. flinched and tried to shoo it away
Timothy Tiah says: then she said
Timothy Tiah says: “poor fly…. going to end up in Bangkok alone and lonely because he doesn’t know how to speak thai to the thai flies”
———-
there are more but i will save those for another time :D maybe a WWQ is Weird Part 2 !
wwq has just left for Singapore to further her studies in music, and it was nice to meet up with her last week. she told me to meet her at Oxford Road hahahahaha why is she so cute! i am going to miss her so much when i go away T____T it’s going to be a 4-year US/Singapore long distance relationship… sigh. i dont know if i can cope with this!!!11
i’m so glad that i met wenqi. friends like her are hard to find. the man whom she will eventually love is a very, very lucky person.. because if there is any one person who is supportive, kind, thoughtful, genuine and cute all rolled into one, it is wong wenqi.
sigh! and she’s also very weird. but that’s why we all love her.
July 24th, 2008
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