Random Accounts

Imagine if someone said these words to you, "I can read you just by the way you sit." o.O

Yikes.

Those were pretty much the words that came out of the mouth of the speaker who gave us this seminar on 'grooming ethics at work' yesterday. Now, lemme make this clear to you.

I did have the meeting.
But, I didn't know that it was a marathon meeting.
Which, stretched all the way from morning to afternoon.
Minus, the 2 - 3 hour interval that was spared for this seminar.

I felt appalled, apprehended, and amused all at the same time upon hearing the "I can read..." Now, I feel like somewhat crazily diving into a course of study in psychology or counseling or something like that. I mean.. what?! You could read me and the others?!

Not that the seminar was bad in any way.. the speaker is good (an alumni of the school who has somehow made his way to the top - speaking of "the top" makes me think of one of Daron's blog entries).

There was more than a thing or two that I learned from this seminar. I'm glad I was there ;)


Other accounts of yesterday:








All the pics were taken at some place where all the staffs and their family later had dinner at.

Good. That's the way how it should be.

As for the later accounts of today.. that.. I care not to think much about. I'll simply anticipate - willingly or unwillingly.

No ~

That above, is so not right. Never serve a drink like that to your customer. Ever. Or else that will be your first and last to see that customer walk into your territorial business space. Adios.

And.....

This staff meeting that I'll be having in a few minutes' time from now is also so not right. Not when my mind is in non-working mode. I'm being childish and immature right now. And I know this is not the right attitude for a working person. There is nothing right about it.

I don't like to wear formal work clothes.
Not during a school break.

I - Don't - Like - Meetings.

I bet my mind is going to wander off.


*The name and location of the restaurant in which that drink was served will be kept discreet. This is to avoid any of the concerned to 'lose face'.

Lost Generation

I've vowed to myself a few months back that I would learn up my mother-tongue and know it well by the end of this year.

I am nowhere near 50% of achieving this goal.

I belong to the dying generation of where one cannot converse in a decent enough conversation in his/her own mother-tongue. Who is it to blame? The parents? The children? The society? Or all three?

I have this secret plan.. if I ever have children of my own (and assuming that I still haven't mastered the language by then).. I will throw them into the 'kampung' and after a year, I will get them back and ask, "Have you learned how to speak the language?" If yes, then they may stay home and never return to the 'kampung'. Ever again. If no, I shall put them through another year of agonizing "proper language education" (the authentic-total-exposure way, I'd say).
*snickering away*

I am fortunate enough that this never crossed my parents' mind.

Extra 9

Pebbles, my pet mouse, was fat and pregnant. That was until somewhere in the morning or afternoon of yesterday - I do not know when exactly. Now it's back to its normal size. It's a busy mama-mouse now nursing its baby-mice (or 'pups' according to Wikipedia.. this I did not know until right about now).

Damn. Wish I had the chance of witnessing all that giving-birth process. I got home yesterday afternoon, went to have a look at my mice (I have 2 actually - the other one's named Checkers), and noticed that the tummy of the now mother Pebbles wasn't as big as before.

I was a little worried at first because I wasn't able to spot the baby-mice. I looked in its little 'house' but nada.. nothing. And then to my great relief, I spotted it below on the base of the cage all covered with a piece of cloth that I had originally placed in the little 'house'. Smart mouse. It had dragged it all the way down to cover its babies. Aww..... I am touched by its motherly-mouse instincts. Ok, I don't wanna get all touchy with my feelings here. Geez, it's just a mouse.

So now, I suddenly have from 2 to 11 mice. My life is transformed! Duh. I'll have to dig my pockets to get an extra cage.

Sabar ya mice-mice sekalian (patience my dearly mice).

My parents unexpectedly dropped by that afternoon. They were utterly disgusted with my mini pets. How could they?! You buy me one of them cute expensive puppies from Gaya Street lah.

* Gaya Street market - an open market at Kota Kinabalu that runs every Sunday mornings.

All the baby-mice are well and alive for now. Now you little baby-mice grow quick so I have more mice to play with. Also, I shall keep track of your life span. Tick-a-tock.

Will post some pics sometime later. Maybe.


Titik nokta [.]

Hunger At Its Best

MUAHAHA!!! I think the crocodiles are the ones who have to beware of me.

I hunt down the crocs.. I want the meat of the so-called Frankie/Franky the Crocodile.. I end up being sued by this..


I'm damn hungry now but so damn lazy to move my butt to find food so as to ease my hunger.

That's why lah you.. didn't fix yourself breakfast before leaving the house.

Heard this saying once, "Never go shopping (or go food hunting to be exact) when your stomach is empty."

I tried doing this more than once. I get too ambitious with my appetite and end up spending more than I should. Such a waster!

~ Mesmerised ~

Ever heard of the The Prima Vista Quartet? They hail all the way from the land of Poland. And these talented musicians flew all the way to M'sia to enchant their audience with their brilliant classical tunes.

So here they are... "The Prima Vista Quartet of Poland"

You can follow up more on this from Dennis Chua.

I was privileged to be a part of the musical experience where they performed at one of the local universities here last night. Good thing the venue was not too far from where I'm presently living at.

First, we were rendered with some jazz tunes performed by local and foreign musicians of the university itself - two guitarists, a violinist, a saxophonist, a keyboardist, and the drummer. At one point, they played a tune of the well-known ethnic Kadazan-Dusun song, "Pak Pak Kang Ku Doh". I knew it was some tune I was familiar with but it didn't quite hit me until my cousin mentioned about it later that night.

Ah well... I haven't quite acquired the ear for that jazzy version of notes just yet.

Yup, so that jazzical intro pretty much buffed up the event for the evening ;)

Well, well, let's not forget the main performers here. They were an awesome group. And I was brought into my own different imaginary identities and scenes as I immersed myself into the string repertoire.

A peep of what was playing in my head:



No, I don't ballet in real life.

The best thing about this whole event was that admission was free!! I'm talking free tickets, people. I can so totally live with that.

Also, I was able to meet up with a good friend of mine =D

Bottom line... yesterday's happenings were all pleasant. I like!

Fillers

lah... bah... kah...

I once said this, about the above... "Without them, I feel so incomplete."

By the way, "bah" is used by Sabahans extensively.

So don't you dare strip them away from me. I've been growing up with them and using them in my everyday conversations with others or to myself. If you do try, you'll hear these words from me...

"You get lost lah!"

Sense Made Perfect

I'm gonna take a break from all the picture posting for today. I'll leave it solely to the words to do the job of telling ;)

As I was washing myself up earlier this morning, a thought struck me about how we humans communicate with one another.

The big question mark: Why is it so that we grown-ups or adults (I might use the two interchangeably here) have to use the big words when it comes to communicating with each other?

See, the thing is, kids don't need all that big load of words. What they need (or so it rightly seems) is simply the simple smaller words. And the little wonder that they create is they can communicate perfectly with their little friends. Even with their bigger friends. We.. the grown-ups.

Why do we need the big words anyway? Is it so that we can run our daily businesses successfully? Or so we won't be left behind? Is it to show that we are the one with the bigger brains? So we could get to Harvard? Or be the prime minister? Or perhaps be elected as the next running president of America?

I mean no offense to anyone of you out there. I don't have anyone specifically in mind. Cause in my right human mind, it is only normal for us adults to use those words. You know how it works.. we get bigger with our words (and sometimes bossier) as we get bigger with the figure every year. And it is only normal that kids use the smaller words (up to a certain age, of course). They still have a lot of learning to do anyway.

But still, in the back of my mind, there's still the thought, "Kids.. and out of their innocent simplicity of words, they create a world of their own 'perfect sense'.

Monochromic Affairs etc

I will not forgive myself for having landed my eyes on a particular framed picture that I spotted yesterday late afternoon at a home deco shop. At this moment, the image of it still lingers beguilingly in my mind. Damn me.

I wish I was not tempted to feed my curious desires before I left that floor. Why did I choose to go over that box of pictures? One of these days, I think curiosity will kill me. Ok, no, I don't want that to happen.Let the cat be killed by that.

The thing that's torturing me is the fact that I couldn't buy it cause I simply didn't have enough cash. I could only afford to console myself that I could get it another time.

Sooo... since that picture is still on my mind (obviously), I did my usual web browsing in hopes to tame the dissatisfaction.

I came up with this:

Nigella #1 by Mike Finley

You might want to go for a monochromic touch for those of you who are aspiring photograhpers. If you read the opening paragraph on Finley's page, a line of words goes, "...monochrome concentrates the mind on form rather than colour, and so emphasises the elegance of form." I just can't agree more.

By the way, the picture that I wanted had monochromic elements - a major part of it, in fact. And right there, which I can't exactly show you where, there was this twist that gave such contrast to the entire theme of the picture. Now that, fellow reader, was the beauty of it.

Here are the etc's:

Floral Column I by Bill Mcconnell


Into the Mystic I by Chris Donovan


Magnolia Branch by Fernando Leal

I think I'd like to have this look of pattern for my quilt if I had one.

Modular II by Michael Marcon

Know what? I think if I had my own place to live in, and you happen to drop by, you'd see a whole lot of these type of artframes sticking around the walls. Yeah, like I'll have a showcase of them. You'll see so much of them that you'll be sick of the sight and feel like secretly coming back in the middle of the night (how dare you!) to tear them off my walls.

That, I remind, is just one heck of an imagination. I'm suffering here, ok.

When will I ever land my feet there again? Plus, the cash of course.

Little song plays in the background...
"All I want for X'mas is this (the picture.. that was what this post was all about), and ma.....ny..... more!"

Let It Twirl Away!

[This is a 2nd and a final draft. 1st drafts are meant to be fixed. Always. Yes, as bizarre as it may seem, there is such a thing for me even when it comes to blogging. The content, let me shamelessly stress, has not diverted in any minimal way from the intended truth. If you have read the original post, there is no need to read further on.]


I was browsing through some images of none other than the famous "hula hooping" moments ago. Well, it's not so famous here over my part of the world.

See, I remembered trying hooping, once or twice - or a little more than that, before. That (if only once) or those (for the more than twice) hula-hooping moment(s) stretches way back (don't go so back) into those childhood days. Ahh.. the joys of being a kid.

Never had one though. Never asked for one. So I never got the chance to perfect the point one percent (as in 0.1%) skill that I had only begun to kindle in me at that point of time in my life. Such a saddening truth.

I reasoned that why I was never able to let it successfully rotate around my figure was either because my body was too small (yeah, I was a tiny skinny kid), or the hoop was simply too big (in diameter wise) for me. Or maybe, let's just nail down the slap-to-your-face fact... "I Just Couldn't Hula Hoop." There.

Tell me, tell me.. who happens to own one of them hula hoops? Who knows, you know, now I can somehow perform a magical twirl. No harm to dream, right? Now, I'm hoping for one nod at least.

Enough with all the babbling now. The image on the net that captured my interest the most (and I mean a fabulous eye-catching piece of art) has got to be this:


Bless the photographer who captured this shot. Mr~Miss photographer's just damn lucky to snap the shot at the exact moment.

And bless the girl who has the knack for hooping.

Now, remember earlier on I brought up the small body issue?

Take a look at this.


Ha. So much for claiming that I had a body too small. Pui!

Therefore, the lesson for the day goes, "Ask and it shall be given".

I should have applied that a long time ago.


Side note: Yay! It's my 7th post.

The Beauty of Friendship

We're approaching the weekend. I'm not sure how many of you can actually say that you truly look forward to it.

Whatever your personal response is, I'd like to leave you (the reader) with a little note or three from me =)

I. Spend this weekend with a friend, or with a significant one, or with a wonderful bunch of people. If you have this option.. go for it and don't spend your time alone.

II. Don't talk too much about yourself when you're with someone else (blogging different case), or in the company of others unless you're told to. Share. Listen. Keep aside other matters that concern with work or studies or anything else that displeases you. Those things will stick to you constantly around the clock when it's the time. Spare that (for this weekend).. for your own sake.

III. Have fun laughing away, talking about the good times or simply silly random things that either you made up or got from somewhere. Anything that makes you (and others) happy.

IV. Eat. There's a luxury of different tastes for you to try. Prepare yourself some good tasty meal. Simple can do if fancy one's too much. Or.. eat out. Like some of my blogger friends do (and the millions out there). What better thing to do when you can share your 'eating experience' with others? Ting!

"SUGAROMA" I want to go there again! I WANT!! (chill.. ok, that's me shouting out)

V. ...... >>>I'll leave you to fill this in<<<


[So peeps, have a good weekend. I'll try to have a good one myself. So the saying goes, "(Gotta) practice what you preach"] These words were originally absent from the 1st post.


On a last note.. that picture above was taken some time back on one of my morning walks to work. Just in case you were wondering.

I Wish

I convinced myself today that one of these days, I'll run out of things to write/post. Fine. But, in the meantime, while there's still to write (provided that I'm physically and mentally capable), I'll make that happen.

So here goes the day's entry of words:

Unlike the other posts, I'll be grumbling a bit. Yes, we all have those moments once in awhile (I salute those who never had them). Sometimes there's an overdose of it. Today, however, I must let it out.

Over the past few days, I've been feeling quite, but not so, frustrated with me not being able to make full use of my free calls and messaging. I'm entitled to this 'free service' (with those using the same type of sim card) for a week long. And that's only for this one and only month. All because of my handphone. At the moment, I'm using my lousy one which I care not to elaborate more. The other one decided to fail on me when I least expected it. Just.. Like.. That. Now, I have to get it fixed.. again. Maybe, it's got something to do with the way I handle it. I doubt it though.

If I were still in Thailand, my DTAC Happy Dprompt become "DTAC Un-Happy Dpromt".

From this...






To this...







Why? Kenapa? Nokuro? Wei shen me? Bakit?

Tam mai??

The next time around, at around this time of the year, my handphone must make the "owner" happy.

Does the Outside Really Matter?

Meow-ish Greetings To One And All!

Please forgive the flash spot in the center.

I find the cover look of R.D.'s October Issue to be quite charming. I guess what makes me think so is because of the meow-ish wink and beckoning (or whatever motion you would describe that as). You know the funny thing is that sometimes I'm attracted to a book/magazine because of its cover (does not apply always).

Cover first, content second.

Some of the other details that I look into is the font type, font size and page layout. You call that picky? Choosy? Fastidious? Meticulous? Up to you lah.

Anyway, I haven't finished reading through my October's issue yet. I didn't subscribe to it just to later abandon it somewhere in the house. So yes.. I shall start digging into it sometime this week.

Something extra...

it's not piercings (at least not yet or better never)...

it's something else...

on my right lower side of my back...

it's a tattoo!

and it's damn sure a permanent one...

ha. nah. it's not.

here it is


As you can see, it's not exactly a super neat job. If I get one that's real, I'll make sure the tattooist does a good job. Or else I'll ask for a full refund.

Anyway, my good friend Fiona, was the one who brought up the whole idea when my cousin, Julie, and I went over to her place on the recent Sunday. I was like.. hmm.. why not? Truth be told, I was actually thinking about buying one of those cheap sticker tattoos just the night before when I was out with another friend (that was an exclusive twosome girl's night out). She (the another friend) told me that getting a henna tattoo was better.

Serious note: I wasn't thinking of those cartoon designs. Please, ok.

We three girls decided to get all the same design. The only difference was the choice of color and where we wanted it. Well, now you know where I chose mine to be.

Whether mine is at the right angle or not, or whether it's the right design or not.. I wanted one. I can make it right the next time I want another one. And the next time.

I heard, I heard.. that someone else wants it too. And this is gonna be the real deal. Hoho. I'm wondering now, what will be the choice of design. Floral? Tribal?? ...???

A spiritual based design?

Source

Imagine an angelic sound effect for the intro.

Not bad. But then one will have to be half naked (if not entirely) to get this tattooed on his/her body.

My fake tat is gonna stay awhile depending on how well I can remind myself I have it on my body.

Oh well, I'm loving it ;)

A Break Indeed~

School breaks are fun. And mine begins tomorrow. Or more so, the second when school hours ended for the school term of '08. Today was the last day of school and now I can rub off my hands from all the load of teaching and all that.

Mmm.. such a great feeling.

I feel so free now up to the point that I feel almost guilty that I am. Why should I? It's what I had been waiting for. It's what my colleagues had been looking forward to as well, I'm sure. I'll stop feeling all guilty and just sink into the freedom feeling.

VII

They say that number 7 is a lucky number.
Who they? I can't exactly pin point who.

Whatever it is, I begin sharing today.
All the little things playing in my head,
all the happenings of this and that,
all the significant and vice versa.. everything (almost) goes here.

Hey, everyone's got a story to tell.
Sometimes we keep it to ourselves.
Other times we don't.

So.. voilà. I'm stepping out.