Saturday, October 29, 2005

Slightly Out Of Routine

Am finally back home. It's been months since I came back to my parent's place. This time round, guess I'll be back home for a good 2 weeks seeing how mom is absolutely adamant on me being under her watchful eyes while recovering from the laproscopy which I'm going for tomorrow. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I know it's a small procedure, and I'll be drugged and too groggy anyway.

Babe took me out for dinner last night at TGIF. It's been a while since I ate at a Friday's outlet. Of late, both of us have been frequenting Chili's. Everytime we go for dinner, it's at Chili's.

I think I prefer the ambience at Friday's. And the staff here are definitely friendlier. They take time to say hello and actually chat you up! If you happen to drop by TGIF at One Utama, do go check out their uber cool "Bottomless Pit" structure, which is part of the Halloween decor. It's actually also super cool that they've combined Hari Raya, Deepavali and Halloween decor all under one roof!

The restaurant...
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The pretty ceiling right above us...
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Branches against painted glass above our heads...
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I thought my photography skills suck...
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But the waiter who took our pic is apparently much worse!
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And at the end of dinner, unfinished desserts - choc malt cake, and mocha mud pie!
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Nyam.

To fellow readers, the postings for the next 2 weeks will mainly focus on post-surgery day, recovery and the activities which I'll be doing back home here in JB.

PS: Babe, must read everyday k? Heh.

Posted by Doreen at 10:43 pm



    

Friday, October 28, 2005

Colours

The wonderful thing about being in Malaysia and being a Malaysian is that with all the different races and cultures that we have, the country celebrates many colourful festivities all year round (not to mention the public holidays!)

Sometimes, festivities celebrated by different races happens so closely that the two occassions are celebrated together, this year being DeepaRaya - a union between Deepavali celebrated by the Hindus, and Hari Raya by the Muslims.

It's nice to see races coming together like this. During Deepavali, everyone gets to taste delicious Indian curries, the golab sweets, etc. During Hari Raya, the Ramadhan bazaars sell all sorts of kuihs and savoury food usually only seen during the fasting month approaching Hari Raya. During Chinese New Year, everyone is seen eating mandarins, egg crackers, and children, regardless of race, all run home with red packets in their hands given by their Chinese family, neighbours or friends.

One of the best things I like about our national celebrations is the tv commercials that we see on tele.

Saw that TM Group DeepaRaya ad? That will have to be the best tvc for this season!

A caucasian is seen taking some food from the buffet line at a particular banquet with Malaysia's many other races. As he sits down on his table, he starts eating. A Chinese lady seated next to him told him that it's not time to eat yet and he is seen feeling slightly embarassed. In the next few seconds, Muslim prayers echo and then everyone tucks in merrily.

The next scene sees the same Caucasian attending another housewarming party. After taking his food, he takes a seat at the table and watches everyone in anticipation. In the background, we see Indians, Chinese and Malays all greeting one another, and some already eating and drinking. He is now puzzled. It is of course already Deepavali and/or Hari Raya day, but poor caucasian is still waiting for a signal to allow him to begin eating. The same Chinese lady then tells him, "Today can eat lah!" He mouthed and "Ooh", nods, smiles and then starts eating.

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Here is wishing all Hindus and Muslims a Selamat DeepaRaya!

Posted by Doreen at 11:28 am



    

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Spotted dick for you?

My third sister Elaine is currently pursuing a Medical degree in Scotland, while sis number 2, Daphne is in Singapore, and I'm here in KL. Meeting in cyberspace to catch up and chat to one another is always fun, and after today, I'm going to be looking forward to more of these!

Finding out more about her life in Scotland...

Me: So have you had a spotted dick yet?
El: Duh, plenty! They look gross!
Me: Yeah well, they sound gross too! But were they nice?
El: Nice dicks? Flappy thing hanging off the end, some people have nothing but a stump only!
Me: What? I meant the food? Spotted dick the food? Isn't it a British thing? A pudding with raisins and nuts?
El: Hahahah. I thought you meant penises!
Me: OMG!

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And here was I wondering, flapping thing hanging off the end? Whaaaaat?

Heh, the next time while doing her groceries, I bet she's going to look out for some spotted dick, and have a good laugh over flapping penises while eating the pudding!

Ahh.. things Medical school does to you!

Posted by Doreen at 4:31 pm



    

More Than My Wage!


My blog is worth $3,951.78.
How much is your blog worth?



Maybe I should make blogging my day job instead! *guffaws*

Posted by Doreen at 9:21 am



    

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Side by Side

A friend related this to me a couple of days ago, and I found it rather interesting.

Men are women are made to live alongside each other, by rule of nature that is. One of the most famous couple of all time would have to be Adam and Eve. Adam was the first human created by God, and subsequently, Eve from a bone from Adam's rib.

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Men are physically more active and capable than their female counterparts, dating back to their hunting days. This is their capability - action oriented, using their limbs, the arms and legs. Women's skills are however lean more towards the emotional and intuitional aspect of their minds and hearts.

To survive, men and women need to work together to complete the picture. Men and women are supposed to form a team and make use of the respective skills, capabilities and gifts that each are blessed with.

My friend picked up this "theory" during one of his Christian cell group meetings, but don't worry - it ain't preachy.

Men, in their day-to-day activities and decision making, ought to consult their partner, a woman, their wife before embarking on making the decision solely on their own. Why?

Women have gifts that men don't. We've got the "female intuition" that usually is right. If we look at someone, we'll probably be able to tell if this person is genuinely nice or being sly. Men can't. They are insensitive to issues like this and their decisions are based solely on the one-plus-one-equals-two theory. Women look beyond that. A woman's sixth sense about someone or something ought to be taken into consideration by their male partners.

Of course, the biblical reference of Adam and Eve would make women the inferior species because she was created from a a rib of Adam's.

But.

This school of thought came as a new thing to me. "Why do you think God chose the rib? And not a bone from the toes? Or a back bone?" said my friend.

"Because, they are supposed to be side-by-side".

Posted by Doreen at 2:12 pm



    

Monday, October 24, 2005

Some Coins For The Quake Victims

The Student Council went around the campus with a box to get donations from both staff and students alike, for the South Asia quake victims. They came by our office earlier this morning, and I pulled out a RM10 note from my purse and dropped it into the box, knowing that RM10 probably isn't much to those who've lost their homes and all their belongings to the killer quake. I would have loved to help out more, give more, but it's the end of the month and well, there isn't much left as well.

The girls gave a couple of bucks each. The students then approached
Mr. Art Director.

"Morning, we're from the Student Council and we'd like to seek donations from you for the Pakistan quake victims," said student as she thrust the donation box forward towards Mr. Art Director.

"Yeah, and...?" he asked, eyeing them up and down.

"So we are collecting donations from both staff and students for this cause," said the second student.

Mr. Art Director then fished in his pocket and dropped the monies into the donation box. I heard the shillings clanked against one another as they made their way into the box.

Coins. Lose change.

I was appalled and felt sick in my stomach.

Mr. Art Director is a middle-aged man with a family, and is holding a Director position in the company. He is not poor. He has a car. He lives in a decent suburb. He has a working wife. He is not a struggling student trying to make ends meet with a meagre allowance.

Yet he gave only lose change.

If it was a person who came up to you on the road claiming they are from so-and-so association, then maybe lose change doesn't look so bad because we don't know the credibility of these people, and cannot be certain if this monies will end up where it is supposed to go.

But this is different. This is for the quake victims. We know the earthquake happened. We know millions lost their homes. We know tens of thousands have lost their lives. We hear and read about their misfortunes on tv and in the papers.

And all you can cough up is lose change?

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Miser.

Bastard.

Posted by Doreen at 11:52 am



    

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Monkey-ing Around

Are you the office flirt?

The modern workplace is charged with sexual energy - an evolutionary hangover from the days when procreation and survival were the name of the game. We might think we've learned to control the primitive instincts which our ancestors relied on, but the trappings of modern office life merely serve to remind us that under the surface, we might not be so sophisticated after all.

The average office worker spends over 260 full days a year with their colleagues, and the ways in which we interact with one another in person, via email and even on the phone can be indicative of the ways we repress and sublimate our innate behaviour.

I took the test. I always take nonsensical tests *grins*

The Monkey

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Noisy and high-spirited, you are the office joker - a quality you use to your advantage when it comes to entrapping the opposite sex. Everyone likes you and enjoys your sense of humour and ability to be light-hearted, even when things aren't going well. You flirt constantly, even without knowing it, and use your comic approach to wheedle your way into people's affections whilst covering your real intentions. Work is your playground - and that applies sexually as well - you certainly wouldn't shy away from a few naughty games in the office. All in the spirit of fun, naturally. The only problem you may have is when your jokey outlook means you 're flirting isn't taken seriously by the true object of your affections.

So.. Take the Office Flirt Test!

Posted by Doreen at 2:50 pm



    

Tales from the Dark

A friend forwarded a link to me this morning - Drug Bust Jails 22 Innocents - and I read it with much interest.

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The author, A Better Malaysia, relates his account of the days he spent in jail following a drug raid at a local club. A Better Malaysia was eventually proven innocent based on drug tests from the hospital, but along with the other 22 innocent "victims", endured much cruelty and experienced first-hand, the corruption and operations of our friendly neighbourhood coppers.

I've heard countless of such stories before and those who've been in, you know, jail, or police lock-ups, have told me it's very ugly in there.

Stripping you off your dignity (and also stripping you literally, for the men usually), mocking and insulting, abusing and handcuffing you like a convicted criminal (eventhough no evidence or court hearing has been conducted), the extortion, the bribes you pay to make "your first phone call", to have a cigarette, to have a drink of water, and of course plenty more.

Read the blog to find out more though.

I also remember a friend who told me of this one incident which happened to him many, many years ago. He was in highschool then, and was eventually proven innocent because they finally caught the real baddies. He was suspected of setting fire to a classroom in their school and brought to detention at a police station.

Police brutality is nothing new I reckon. But my friend was about 16 then, and legally, a juvenile. He was of course slapped and punched during the interrogation and insults and accusations were hurled at him. At one point, the police emptied out the contents of his wallet and found a condom in there. So it's not uncommon for a teenage boy carrying a condom around. They of course started teasing him about the condom, and instructed him to unwrap the condom and fill it up with water. When he came back with the water-filled condom, they made him sit and proceeded to slap his face around with the condom repeatedly.

It IS comical to imagine someone being slapped around the face with an inflated condom filled with water, but then you think again, and well... it is, to put it bluntly, disgusting.

Anyways, what disturbed me about the whole "Drug Bust" story was the fact that heck, it could be you or me in there! What if I'm out on a weekend partying at a local club and getting drunk, and the next thing I know, after passing urine into a container and (if) failing the initial tests (which we all know is quite common because God knows the accuracy of these tests!), being herded onto a truck and handcuffed all the way to the police station and wait for the judgement, not knowing what is to happen, and how long it will take!

Aah.. don't we just love tales about our friendly neighbourhood coppers?

Posted by Doreen at 1:38 pm



    

Monday, October 17, 2005

The Blue Room

I have a new lamp for the room. Babe bought it for me from the Living Cabin when we were heading for dinner that night at the mall. We contemplated on the red for a while before deciding on the blue. No regrets of course.

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The blue lamp gives the room a soft blue glow and sitting on my bed last night, I tried to take a picture of the lamp and the blue glow it emits - but in vain. I still haven't completely figured out my camera, so with the flash on, it's really bright and you can't see the blue light.

But our blue lamp is different from the usual lava lamp. Instead of the usual bubbles of lava that moves about the tube randomly in clear liquid, our lamp has in it, blue liquid, with little light-reflecting pieces floating about in there. When the lamp heats up, the little pieces dance about in the blue liquid, and it's magical.

When we first bought it that night, me and babe sat in bed, eyes fixed to the lamp and admiring the "underwater" feel the light projected. After looking at it for while, the little pieces which reflected light felt like jellyfish swimming around in the sea.

I stared at it longer, and it became pieces of magnified planktons floating about in the water visible through that burst of sunlight which penetrated the water.

When you can't afford to go to Tioman every other day, falling asleep in a blue-lit room, and feeling like you're underwater swimming amidst the fish and colourful corals will just have to do.

Posted by Doreen at 11:07 am



    

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Censoring Virginity

I'm always amazed by the words that are being censored on prime television, while some more obvious innuendos escape their clutches.

It was Tuesday night and I'm usually bound to the bed cos of all the programmes which come on at night. I saw Oliver's Twist (my god, Jamie Oliver is the cutest thing on earth! And that British accent, and even a lisp to boot! *drools*), the Joey and finally Desperate Housewives before I called it a night.

DH was good last night, as it always is *grins* So Bree Van Der Kamp confronted her daughter's boyfriend John the gardener, who was also previously having an affair with Mrs. Sollis, and the remark she made was -

"Danielle was planning on giving you her virginity, and I'd rather you not take it!"

The censored word? Virginity.

I was left puzzled when I saw Bree's lips move to the word virginity, but that my speakers emitted no sound for that word.

Virginity has the meaning of: (1) The quality or condition of being a virgin, (2) The state of being pure, unsullied, or untouched.

If they censored the word "sex", I'd understand. If they censored the word "f*ck", I'd understand. If they censored the word "bonking", I'd understand. But "VIRGINITY"?

A BBC report online quoted, "Malaysia has some of the toughest censorship laws in the world. The authorities exert substantial control over the media and restrictions may be imposed in the name of national security. The government is keen to insulate the largely-Muslim population from what it considers harmful foreign influences on TV. News is subject to censorship, entertainment shows and music videos regularly fall foul of the censors, and scenes featuring swearing and kissing are routinely removed from TV programmes and films". (Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1304569.stm

Another scene from last night's DH episode went like this..

John's room mate approached Mrs. Sollis and offered his gardening services to her free of charge. Justin told Gabrielle Sollis that he'd also be willing to offer her any other services which she require and specifically said "Any other services which John offered you".

Their conversation went somewhat like this -

"I'd be more than happy to mow the lawn and trim your bushes Mrs. Sollis," said Justin with a cheeky little smirk.

"Oh, my husband is home a lot these days, and if there are bushes that need trimming, he'll be able to do that" came the reply.

Now we all know what it meant. Their conversation was heavily loaded with sexual innuendo, but hey, no problemo! No muted conversations there. Then again, it's impossible for them to cut off a whole scene right?

Anyways. Virginity?! Argh, I still can't get over this.

Posted by Doreen at 9:39 am



    

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

White No More

I saw a news article in the Star yesterday - "HK Women 'fallen out of love' with white men".

Apparently, women in HK have stopped dating white westerners because they are no longer seen as fashionable and wealthy. According to reports, the women have claimed that since the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997, "the white men left behind were inferior specimens more likely to be seen clad in t-shirts, shorts and a pair of flip-flops and living in rural houses where locals used to house pigs".

Ouch.

But I find that amusing. These women proudly admit to dating white men as their passport to get out of the country and hopefully to greener pastures abroad, and now realize that hey, our Chinese men are doing far better these days!

"They no longer have cars or property. You might end up stepping on a penniless landmine. It's too much to sacrifice for a passport".

Coincidentally, Sarong Party Girl from Singapore has only recently started dating a local Chinese man, and has stopped seeing the previous mat sallehs whom she used to date.

Maybe it's not just HK, but a regional fad that whites are no longer THAT desirable. Oh well.

Kudos to the local men for having their women back!

Posted by Doreen at 5:20 pm



    

Monday, October 10, 2005

World's Shortest Fairy Tale

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Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl, "Will you marry me?"

The girl said, "No!"

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The guy then lived happily ever after and went fishing and hunting, and played golf a lot, drank beer and farted whenever he wanted.

Posted by Doreen at 5:23 pm



    

Monday, October 03, 2005

Our Friendly Coppers

"Sheeeeetttt!" I cursed at myself while trying to yank my seatbelt in hopes of securing it before any of them saw me. But of course, these cops are too fast. They always catch us in the act anyway.

So I pulled over and took out my driver's license. As he strolled up to my car, I wound my window down and handed him my ID.

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COP: Aah you lagi!

ME: Eeh.. mana ada! First time lah encik!

COP: Kerja kat mana?

ME: Cheras.

COP: So, I kasi saman ok?

ME: Ah OK, saya dah melanggar peraturan jalan raya, of course kenalah saman!

COP: Betul you nak saman?

ME: Habis macam mana?

COP: Oh, you boleh belanja I minum kopi ke..

ME: Tak nak ah.. member-member you kat belakang tuh ramai, takde duit lah abang.

COP: Wah you pakai seksi ah... (The slit on the skirt I was wearing falls sideways when I sit.. thus, showing some skin)

ME: Takde lah.. pakaian kerja biasa saja *smiles sweetly*

COP: You party tak? Ada gi karaoke tak?

ME: Takde lah.. mana adau duit nak party. Nak kena bayar saman nih.

COP: Ah, tak pe lah.. lain kali, bila you nak party, you telepon lah.

ME: Boleh jugak, abang kasi nombor lah.

(I produced a notepad on which he scribbled his name and number)

COP: Ahh.. kalau lain kali ada apa-apa kat Subang ke, Puchong ke, call lah I.

ME: Oh sudah tentu!

COP: Ah moi, ah moi, I tengok you pakai seksi macam nih, tak rela lah I kasi saman..

ME: *Smiles sweetly*

COP: OK lah, kali nih abang bagi chance..

ME: Terima kasih bang.. *pulled my seatbelt and buckled it there and then*

And as I drove off, I almost choked on my own vomit.

Urgh. Flirting with a fat, horny old cop is just revolting!

Posted by Doreen at 1:18 pm