Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year! The blog may go into hibernation until after the 1st week of January when exams end. Till then, write me letters and send me love songs!

I am home!

As it says on the lid

If you haven't got my number, email me. If you haven't got my email, msn me. If you're not on msn, facebook me. If you're not on any of those... how do I know you again?

Saying farewell to the winter freeze

I'm outta here!

In approximately 4 hours.

I can just about smell the hokkien mee!

The term ended on a good note with our Entrepreneurship presentation finally being put to rest. (The lecturers liked us, they REEEALLY liked us!). Deep down, I probably felt sorry for the mainland China team who were after us and presented a business plan that was not only incomprehensible, but incompetent... which resulted in several politically incorrect messages being typed on my laptop...

me: aku benci sgt org cina cakap bahasa inggeris!
iylia: but ur disowning ur heritage
me: eh, keluarga aku sudah 3 generasi di tanah melayu, okay....

...and several members of our team hiding under the table while trying to quell their desire to laugh out loud. We finally left for drinks at Harringtons where we sat in a corner and laughed at the poor China team.

I said a lot of my goodbyes last night at the Linstead Christmas party, where the nativity play really was a good laugh once I stopped being a prick about the immaculate conception not being Jesus (No, really! The immaculate conception is Mary!) and took up my part as... no, not a cow, sorry to dissapoint everyone... but as the angel Gabriel.

We ended the night with a round of horrible karaoke-ing, and I woke up this morning with a sore throat after belting out Uncle Kracker's Follow Me a few times last night.

Now for the important details. My plane will probably be touching down on Saturday evening, sometime after 7pm. And then I will proceed to spend the next few days eating everything in KL and working off the jetlag. Call me, you know my number.

I want it to be freaking 27 degrees!

Time check: 11.40am
Position check: Under duvet, drawn up to my neck, and a fleece blanket around my icey toes
Next move: What the hell? I am NOT moving!!!

When I turned in at 11pm last night, I resolved to get up at the break of dawn and start working on my interim report. That didn't happen when my brother, who had gone clubbing at Zoo Bar, knocked on my door and woke me up at some time between 4 and 5am. He's currently taking up a lot of the floor space in my room. It makes it difficult to get out of bed and navigate my way to the bathroom. Thus I think I will stay in my pyjamas, thank you.

I resolved again to get up at 9am for accounting lectures at 10. Have you ever tried teaching accounting management to an engineer? We great beings who can understand spectral estimation and empirical mode decomposition of non-stationary waves are completely clueless when you start talking to us about operating costs and insolvency, etc. etc. We think being able to debit and credit items are as good as it gets. Of course it goes without saying that we have incredibly natural management skills... because we're not so fussed about all those social science theories like opportunity costs and what nots. We've already taken it into account, differentiated it and plotted it's spectrum.

To make a long story short - I crawled back under my duvet and decided that the last lecture of Accounting for the term wasn't worth attending. I'll attend the tutorial tomorrow.

Then I thought I'll wake up around lunch time, and get cracking on that annoying interim report. No luck, it's freezing out there and I'm still under my duvet. I know I will eventually have to make it to my department by 1pm because of an entrepreneurship meeting that must go on by hook or by crook. Or Soha will DEAL with me...

Ok, it's about time to budge and face the 12 degrees of cold outside. Brrrrr...

As Christmas draws near

They say it's hard to be a Muslim these days. Sometimes I wonder that it's even harder to be a Christian.

Living in London, post London bombings and Heathrow bomb threats, everyone is very gingerly tip-toeing around any issue that might incite the wrath of the Muslims. Halal food, not shaking hands with the men, and headscarves are just a few, not to mention being careful not to represent the Prophet or God in any way.

However, what happened to Christian sensitivity? I know it sounds mad, but if truth be told, ignorance of Christianity is almost as wide spread as Islam.

This Thursday we're celebrating Christmas at Linstead by putting on a nativity play. I'm playing the part of one of the barn animals. One look at the script and I'm glad I have no lines. It's one thing to make things satirical and as far as everyone knows I am always sporting enough to laugh at myself and my beliefs. But it's difficult to know when to draw the line.

Should I feel bad about singing "While Shepherds smoke their pot by night?". Should I feel slightly insulted that Mary exclaims "Holy Shit" when told she is to give birth to the son of God? Should I be hopping mad that the moral of the nativity play is safe sex?

I don't actually know what I should be thinking or feeling. It has obviously irked me enough to write about it, but what exactly I am annoyed about I don't really know.

Perhaps it's just the idea that nothing is sacred anymore. That something so humbling as the joy in the birth of a baby can be misconstrued and spun into a tasteless story and the true joy of Christmas is no where to be found.

Genting is moving to Sentosa!

Lionel woke me up on Sunday morning with the very exciting news - Spurs had won 5-1.

Oh and Genting had won the Sentosa bid.

Part of me was waving the Malaysian flag and shouting "Malaysia Boleh! Genting Boleh!"

The other part was saying,"Siao boh? They're actually going ahead with the whale shark tank ar? If Michael Jackson come and dangle his baby outside his hotel window above the whale sharks, then how?"

Lionel was more upset that Nobu and Gordon Ramsay wouldn't be coming to Singapore as part of the Las Vegas 8th Wonder plan. The boy thinks with his stomach 30% of the time...

Anyway I just thought it was very suspicious that around the time the winning bid was to be announced, Najib had to come out and spew good things about Malaysian relations with Singapore. Did we just give our southern neighbours a part of the SJER so we could reap a few economic benefits from Sentosa? Such neighbourly love. Doesn't that make you feel all fuzzy inside?

Check out the video links on channel news asia. I wanna stay in the resorts on stilts. When Lionel earns enough money. I tried laying out my entire tai-tai plan before him but he will have none of it...

Home is so close

When was I last home?

In the blink of an eye, 3 and a quarter years have passed, and it feels like it's always been cold and rainy. Out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of a sunny land where it's always 27 degrees and when it rains, coconut trees sway. But it goes up in smoke before I can reach out for it.

I'll be home for Christmas. Just you wait and see.

Please have char kway teow, asam laksa and piping hot hokkien mee!

If I count 4 days down, it doesn't go by any faster.

Currently listening to...

Belief by Gavin DeGraw

Belief, makes things real.
Makes things feel, feel alright.
Belief, makes things true.
Things like you, you and I.

Tonight, you arrested my mind.
When you came to my defense.
With a knife in the shape of your mouth,
in the form of your body, with the wrath of a god.
Oh, you stood by me, Belief

Builds from scratch.
Doesn't have to relax, it doesn't need space.
Long live the queen and I'll be the king.
In the collar of grace.

Oh, tonight, you arrested my mind.
When you came to my defense.
With a knife in the shape of your mouth,
in the form of your body, with the wrath of a god.
Oh, you stood by me, belief.

I'm gonna yell it from the rooftops.
I'll wear a sign on my chest.
That's the least I can do, it's the least I can do.

Tonight, you arrested my mind.
When you came to my defense.
With a knife, in the shape of your mouth,
in the form of your body, with the wrath of a god.
Oh, you stood by me.
And I'll stand by my belief.

Weekend update...

I'm so busy, and yet I'm giving an update on why I'm so busy. You can skip this one if you were looking for a post with more substance. If you were looking for a blog with more substance, you are clearly in the wrong place. Check out the links on the right.

Amidst the end of term rush, I sacrificed all dignity I had to be a punching bag for the juniors in my accounting group (who are so proud of handing in our report 5 FULL MINUTES before the deadline). Perhaps if there had been less hijacking of my msn and less raunchy emails sent out involving cheesecake and meeting ON pool tables, we could have handed in our report 5 FULL HOURS ahead of the deadline. Oh well, if it was more fun to torture me, so be it.

Anyway, we ended off the week with the EESoc Christmas dinner - an evening of turkey, chocolate fountains and cheesy disco music. The highlight of the night must have been dimunitive Prof Cheung standing on two chairs to give his speech. That or the macarena. The night would have ended on a good note, if only I wasn't cornered at the cloakroom by a drunk Greek who harangued me with questions about whether I thought gays were normal. And because I wouldn't agree to his opinion that gays were infact abnormal... he proceeded to accuse me of being "westernised" and changing my way of thinking because I am now living in London... then I got accused of wanting to follow the great Western idea of secularism and that the Chinese have no concept of God's will that gays be segregated from society.

That pissed me off. Firstly because, I refuse to be associated with Chinese thinking. I am not from China. I'm Malaysian. I do not support secularism, in fact I grew up in a country with so many religions if you threw a stone you'd hit a mosque or a temple. Secondly, I am far from being westernised! I am as Asian as they come and believe in the rising of the Asian superpower that will kick America's ass. And lastly, if you hold such venomous hatred for gays - you are probably insecure about your own sexuality and hide it behind your pretentious hold on religion.
Moving on. Today was the OSC world cup. I witnessed a mini war brewing between Iraq and Iran and then Spain and Iran. Such hotbloodedness on the pitch.

Time to get going to Wei Kiat's birthday dinner anyway.

Incoherence... is that a word?

The Dress Code according to PAS

I was speaking to a Malay friend today who hasn't been keeping up with Malaysian news and hasn't been home in awhile. I told him and my Sri Lankan friends who were listening about the new RM500 fine for sexy dressing in Kelantan and how all Muslim women are required to cover up to their ankles and wear a tudung or headscarf to protect the chastity of women.

My Sri Lankan friends exclaimed "What? How can they? What about the men? Shouldn't they have a dress code too? Why are men never to blame?"

My Malay friend said, "What's wrong with that? It's according to Islam"

...
...
...

I'm reevaluating my choice of wearing a baju kebaya to the Christmas Ball this Friday. You see, even though it isn't really my actual traditional attire (ethnically speaking) and actually belongs to the Muslim majority in my country, it's body hugging, butt emphasising, bustiere like design is likely to erode any morals I am likely to possess as a woman. To ensure that my morality is kept intact, like money in a wallet, I should wear a burlap sack according to PAS.

Invisible kayaks

The odacian in me says: So cool!!!! I wanna try it!!! Imagine kayaking and being able to admire all the blue under you? Can batch xvii invest in one?

The charlotte in me says: Capsize drills *shiver*

The nerd in me says: Hoi! We're two days behind in getting that Database coursework finished! Stop blog-crastinating!


Click on pic for more info.

Typhoon Durian has struck the Philippines

Pray for them.

BBC - Hopes fade after Philippine storm
The Star - Grim search as typhoon kills hundreds in Philippines
Channel News Asia - Rescuers reach Philippine mudslide disaster

SPM Sejarah and I have some issues to settle Part II

As mentioned before, SPM Sejarah and I are old foes.

Anyway, I found the new syllabus here:
http://www.geocities.com/rozmansmkbm/
Click on 'silibus' and if you can't see the links on firfox, try IE

I haven't got the time to translate it right now. Will get to it at some point.

-----------------

I found some spare time (i.e. I'm procrastinating other things for the sake of SPM Sejarah). Everything here is very crudely translated. I have never tried translating History before!

Form 4
Chapter 1: The emergence of early civilisations
i) Definition of civilisation
ii) Characteristics of civilisations
iii) The process of the formation of civilisations

Chapter 2: The rise of civilisations
i) Aspects defining the rise of civilisations
ii) Contributions from civilisations
iii) The emergence of religion and teachings of the old world (Hinduism/Buddhism/Christianity/Islam/Confucianism/Taoism)

Chapter 3: Early civilisations in South East Asia
i) Forms of early governments (Agrarian and Maritime societies)
ii) The influence of Hinduism and Buddhism on early governments (Ruling systems/monarchy/temples/Sanskrit)
iii) Summary

Chapter 4: The beginnings of Islamic civilisation and its developments in Mecca
i) Early Jahiliyyah Arabic societies
ii) The life of Prophet Muhammad before being appointed as a messenger (rasul) of God
iii) Prophet Muhammad as a messenger of God
iv) The spreading of Islam to Mecca
v) The reaction of Arabic society

Chapter 5: The Islamic Government in Medina
i) First and Second treaty of Aqaba
ii) The Hijrah (Migration)
iii) The Constitution of Medina
iv) The spreading of Islam
v) The Treaty of Hudaibiyah

Chapter 6: The Formation of Islamic Governments and their contributions
i) The Khulafa Al-Rasyidin Government
ii) The Bani Umaiyyah Government
iii) The Bani Abbasiyah Government
iv) The Uthmaniyah Turkish Government
v) The meeting of Islamic civilisations with other civilisations

Chapter 7: Islam in South East Asia
i) The arrival of Islam in South East Asia
ii) The spreading of Islam in South East Asia
iii) The influence of Islam in South East Asia

Chapter 8: Changes and influence of Islam in Malaysia before the arrival of Western influence
i) The effects of Islam on politics
ii) The effects of Islam on social culture
iii) The effects of Islam on the economy

Chapter 9: Developments in Europe
i) Social and cultural changes in Europe
ii) Travels and explorations
iii) The agricultural and industrial revolutions
iv) Western imperialism in Asia

Chapter 10: The British policy and it's effects on its national economy
i) Traditional economy
ii) Trade
iii) The British policy on agriculture
iv) Effects on its economy

Form 5
Chapter 1: The beginnings and devlopment of nationalism in South East Asia
i) Western Imperialism in South East Asia
- Western Imperialists
- Factors of Imperialism
ii) Changes in political systems
- The introduction of Western bureaucracy
iii) Nationalism in South East Asia
- Factors concerning the rise of Nationalism
- Developments in Nationalism

Chapter 2: Nationalism in Malaysia pre and post WWII
i) The trials and tribulations (hehe... being poetic) of local leaders in opposing the British
- Reasons for opposition
- Opposition events of local leaders
ii) The Nationalist movement up till WWII
- Factors catalysing nationalism
- Islamic movement raises the thinking of the races
- Newspapers, Journals and Novels as instruments of awareness of nationality
- The nationalist fight by Malay organisations
- The Nationalist movement during the Japanese occupation

ps - I just refuse to translate the rest, because it is becoming rather depressing. Unless someone does it for me. *hints* I am also appalled at my translation skills... bleargh!

pps - Thanks for the help guys! I will eventually link some of this stuff up with wikipedia when my next bout of procrastination comes around again

Redecorating

By a flash of inspiration I decided that something needed to be done about the blank white walls in my room. So I did this:

Many Linsteadians from 03/04 will remember that Pink Floyd poster from the room I shared with Kristina in the first year. Phil Dolan will also remember that I said:
"Pink Floyd? Whatever made you think I was a fan? What a random question"
Only to have him explain that my poster (which I thought was a genius work of art) was an album cover.

Andrew (who flew over to London for Thanksgiving break) and Christina visited my room over the weekend. Andrew took a look around my room and said
"You like butts, don't you?"
Dammit, I forgot about that postcard sitting on my desk.

My cupboard on the other hand looks very plain now. It needs a bit of work.


But if you look very carefully, you'll see many dirty and probably stinky people on top of mountains, in canoes and dressed hideously in red. These photos are definitely worth more than a plain cupboard. I'll do something about it. Soon.

Feeling morbid

Outside my window
Hang telephone wires
My neighbour's dog
Is on fire
It barks
At everything and anything and bugs and birds and little children

Until one day
It lay
Tied up in a sack
By the littlest
Of the children
While birds watched
From the telephone wires
And bugs danced outside my window

SPM Sejarah and I have some issues to settle

Just 2 months ago, my mother gave my brother and I the excruciating task of coaching my little sister for her exams. Science and math are pretty much subjects we're able to coach her in with one eye closed. Give us history and we balk at the sound of it.

Clearly History and I were never the best of friends.

Anyway, I decided to tackle it since it's only Form 4 history. Sejarah Dunia. I never liked mugging dates, but world history was my favourite part of it, due in part to my love for art museums and other boring hobbies like spending 7 hours exploring mummies in the British musuem.

However I reeled in horror when my sister showed me her textbook. What used to be 4 or 5 glorious chapters on everything from the Reformation up till Imperialism and the brink of World War I, had been squashed into 1 chapter. And in place of all that was several chapters on Islamic history. Huh?!!

Now I don't abhore Islamic history. I'm pretty proud of the fact that I know the Ottoman empire was not a revolution of footstools. When I was travelling in Andalucia, I bored Lionel with more facts than he wanted to know about the great Islamic empire before those Catholic brutes came in and wiped them out. I know the life of Prophet Mohammed and I can name early Islamic Mathematicians and Astronomers and I know they invented the concept of zero (the nothing that is).

However, my impressive (pea-sized) Islamic knowledge aside, what is the point of this as we begin to prepare the next generation to face an ever-shrinking global world? My sister knows close to nothing about world history. She doesn't know the effects of the Renaissance, she thinks the industrial revolution is solely defined by the car and paper making industry, she doesn't know about the cold war nor about Napoleon. And it doesn't help that she doesn't read any books that aren't teen-lit!

After ranting for awhile about my sister's blinkered education to my mother who wasn't listening (and has frankly given up on Malaysian education after three children who bluffed their way through the system), I started wondering why no one has complained about the new history syllabus.

A quick check on the internet turned up... nothing! I can't find the new syllabus anyway. I mean, I didn't spend like half a day searching, but you'd think that it shouldn't be too hard to find. The MOE website returns nothing. In fact clicking on a link to Secondary School Education gives you a blank page. Clicking on Examinations tells you nothing either. I think I'm doing it all wrong. Search engines don't like me.

Anyway, if you find out, let me know.

I know I could just ask my sister, but she currently thinks I'm a trouble making nerd.

Time magazine's 60 years of Asian Heroes

... yet not one of them is Malaysian. Maybe I'm just short sighted and missed out one?

Di mana dia, wira Malaysia?

Colin Hay - Beautiful World

When people ask me what kind of music I like, I get pretty stumped. I don't think there's a genre for my type of music. But I like music just like this...

Drive to the ocean, stare up at the stars...

Civil Servants, how lowly art thou?

My daddy is a civil servant.

As a primary school kid, that was perplexing and I found it embarrassing to write the word "servant" on rough, yellow forms required by the school for mysterious reasons quite incomprehensible to a seven year old. Would they black-list me because my daddy wasn't a "doktor" or "pengurus" and couldn't afford to donate hundreds of ringgit to fund the new staffroom wing? Other kids would point grubby fingers at the papers on my desk, "Kakitangan kerajaan? Apa tu? Sapu lantai ke?". It was only when I was twelve did my dad spot the mistake, cross it out and write "pegawai kerajaan". My twelve year old self did not think a "pegawai" was any better than a "kerani" and was clearly not impressed.

Not until I was in turqoise coloured pinafores, feeling quite proud of reaching teenhood and a 'big girl' in secondary school did I realise the effect I had on teachers when I mentioned that my dad was a civil servant. Teachers, civil servants in their own right, recognised how rare it was to find a non-Malay in the service. Better yet, one who had decided to send a child through the national school system instead of straight into the strict Chinese education system. Maybe it was faith in the national system. Maybe it was ignorance. Nevertheless I was happy to go on at length telling everyone my daddy worked for the government and was an integral part of the development of our great nation. A day in my daddy's life was akin to moving mountains and parting rivers, and the ministry of trade and industry was the heart of the Malaysian Plan. My daddy was making history.

The fact that by working for the government, my daddy would never be able to afford to send me or my siblings to university, never crossed my mind. The innocence of youth is precious.

It didn't take long to shatter that illusion, of course, when JPA turned away my scholarship application and my parents had to send me to Singapore where I could study for free on other tax payer's money. So what if my daddy had spent all his life growing industries from dust for Malaysia? Let Singapore fund his kid's education.

The glamour of my daddy's heroic job is fading. The respect for civil servants which existed in my grandfather's time has been eroded by corruption and monopolisation by a single race. When once only the brightest minds could seek out a government position, now it is only a dumping ground for unemployable graduates as the Badawi administration pledges to absorb them into the system. And my dad's face grows weary from the disheartening interviews with graduates who cannot speak a word of English. "How to work for MITI? How to bring investors into Malaysia like that?"

Today our Prime Minister has called on civil servants to be more efficient to fulfil the NEP. And this is a cry we all know too well, the semi-annual plea to the government sector to buck up and stop making us look bad. But how do they do that when you've stripped all their dignity away from them. How do you keep the pride in my daddy's eyes when you deny him his promotions and push his juniors forward? I needn't even mention what race they belong to. At the same time how dare you beg my daddy not to retire after all that he's been through because you suddenly realise he's the last of the good men. He's the last one who fought the good fight. And what have you given him in return?

Once, a long time ago, I wanted to be just like my daddy and serve my country. But like unrequited love, it is only a matter of time before you give up on someone who is constantly pushing you away.

I took a walk...

It's dark out. Not the 5pm winter twilight kind of dark.

Proper dark.

My muscles are aching crazily after an overenthusiastic weekend at the gym. Hobbling past the library, out Falmouth gate in the cool evening breeze towards Sainsbury's. Nostalgia hit pretty quick.

A weird kind of nostalgia. Bits of 2003, 2004 and 2005 all rolled into one. As if forming a dizzy patchwork design of memories.

The aching pain after M-Nite dance practices in the first year. And I saw myself, gingerly making my way back through the darkness of Princes Gardens, back to Linstead. Looking out for the light on one of the sixth floor windows. Maybe Lionel will still be awake to hear me grouse and grumble. Maybe he'd be writing Spanish essays and I shouldn't bother him.

The lights bring about a strange glow to Gloucester road as the remaining drops of rain glisten like watching eyes in the dark. And I see myself, running home to Emperor's Gate after long hours of M-Nite rehearsals. Running home to the welcoming warmth of its kitchen. Maybe Yi Shan and Lu would be teasing each other like little kids. Maybe Lionel will be waiting with an episode of The Amazing Race to watch on the sofa under fleece blankets and I'll fall asleep before the hands on the clock touch midnight.

The cars racing down Cromwell Road towards Earl's Court make me want to follow them. Back to the strange rustic mess that is Earl's Court road. And I see myself, Sainsbury's groceries in hand, a bunch of experimental recipes in my head, and my keys are nowhere to be found as I buzz the doorbell to the apartment and Lu answers with reluctance. Maybe there'd be CSI on the telly. Maybe Lionel will be up in the attic blasting sappy James Blunt music. Maybe there'd be a welcoming, cosy duvet to snuggle under and a plump and well-fed boyfriend to cuddle.

And then I find myself walking the other way down Cromwell Road. Back towards Linstead. It still feels strange and unfamiliar to be on the other side of college. But would I rather be walking the other way?

I've been blogging a lot these days, you say? Yeah, naturally when I've been so used to constant company (i.e. taking for granted my being able to bug Lionel at any given moment, even when he's sleeping), when I'm in my room in halls and there's no one to talk to... I just have to talk to myself.

Non-halal turkeys for Christmas this year? Lucky chickens...

I was reading Jeff Ooi's post and the Bernama article on non-halal turkeys being imported for Christmas this year, while sipping my morning cappucino (chilled, mind you) and giggling to myself.

While I think it's wonderful that Jakim is being very considerate to allow the import of more turkey for Christmas and New Year (macam inilah masyarakat muhibbah!), my mother never buys turkey but orders a very fat chicken from the local wet market (cheaper, ok?) and serves it roasted - stuffings, chestnuts, cranberry sauce et al. I don't know whether the chicken is halal or not lah, but it's juicier than dry turkey!

There's one chicken who didn't get a lucky Christmas break.

It's never too early to start a Christmas wish list...

And yes, I've gotten over wanting Lychee scented ironing water, in case you were wondering.

It's come to that time of year again when I ponder laboriously over the perfect gift for my loved ones. (Xiaokai, that does not include you in case you were wondering)

So I go about my usual routine - walk up and down Oxford St/Regent St/Covent Garden/Sainsbury aisles... in the hope of finding something that will make the receiver gasp in awe at my wonderful gift selecting skills. Something tells me that isn't what 'giving from the heart' is about. *shrugs*

Now the problem with the perfect present is that is always costs way above what I can afford. And that's when I go snooping about eBay in the hopes of spotting a good bargain. But then my Scrooge-like attitude catches me off guard and I resign to the fact that I do not have the heart to give anyone a second hand present. With the exception of some presents I've received over the years which go into a recycling box and are picked up again and rewrapped when in desperate need of a last minute present. Don't look at me that way. You do it too!

Is there any point to me telling you this? Is there some anecdote from my daily life that I am going to share with you regarding Christmas presents? Nope, none at all.

Except that the Christmas displays on almost all the London high street shops too freaky and distorted for the Christmas spirit. What do mannequins that are dolled up like Marilyn Manson and his equally freaky gothic, burlesque queen wife Dita von Teese, have to do with that warm, fuzzy Yuletide feeling?

The days are long and the nights are lonely...

First off - Happy 21st Birthday Vidu!!!
The poor girl's celebration of adulthood is being completely overshadowed by her sister's wedding, nevertheless we're still gonna celebrate it next week. Now that I've written it on my blog, I'm obliged to attend without any excuses... and I am good at making up excuses as my ISE classmates will attest to.

My weekly organiser looks like a warzone. I have too many things... TOO MANY THINGS! I had to repeat that with emphasis, because I clearly haven't realised it myself.

I have nothing to blog about now. Except that I swam 30 laps and did about an hour at the gym over the weekend. Aren't you proud of me? My mum is, so you should be too!

I'm taking the Linstead freshers (approximately 60 of them) to Chinatown for dinner on Sunday. It's time these gwailos were exposed to authentic (well, almost authentic) Chinese food. There will be NO sweet and sour chicken, no matter how much they plead and beg. And there will be kung po "paddy chicken". I didn't bother translating it properly.

Ok, time to head off for an EESoc meeting. Then to sort out some accounts stuff. Then hopefully I can fit in an hour at the gym before dinner. I hope to get addicted to the gym and swimming before Christmas. Sherene is gonna be my inspiration for getting rid of a summer's worth of flabby fats!

On the NEP...

I wish I could speak as frankly as Wan Aimran does, but I'm scared to because I'm not the right race

and the money keeps rolling in (and out)

Like Nero fiddling while Rome burned... wake up, Malaysia!

Look at what they are saying about us in Australia!

And don't be too quick to lash back.


I personally am going to use the last line ad infinitum ad nauseum...
"That's not Malaysia "boleh", that's Malaysia "bodoh" (stupid)."

Studying is a burden

but I only have one year left to enjoy it (psst, does that not frighten you? yes, a little...)

8 months, to be exact, to see how far I can push my brain, my weakening eyesight and my caffeine limits.

I have not learnt how to study in the last 15 years of my life. I don't think I'll ever start.

I have only learnt how to be kiasu and overachieving. That's so Asian. It's not much to be proud of.

Maybe one day I'll miss studying enough and return to academia to earn my PhD.

Oh what a joke! The only reason I want a PhD is so I can say I've made it one step further. So I can say I'm better than you. Screw it. I'll just go into politics, like I said I would.

The ultimate procrastinator

Although it's almost pointless to compete with Xiaokai for the title of 'Best procrastinator in the Universe', I am still somewhere at the top of the league. (Xiaokai thinks just being the best procrastinator in my course lacks ambition, but not that I ever really care what Xiaokai thinks).

So, there's an accounting exam on Wednesday. I've just spent the whole day doing close to nothing in college and then proceeded to spend the two hours before dinner skimming through old photos. Then after dinner, by a spur of inspiration I picked up my accounting text book and a calculator, dumped it on my bed... and proceeded to blog surf, followed by facebook stalking, followed by several spam emails to my accounting project group (I cannot believe they made me group leader just so they can extort cheesecake from me!) followed by a bath to refresh my mind and get me into a studying mood, followed by "ooh! new podcast on Mr. Brown", followed by Ebay surfing...

and all of a sudden it's nearly midnight. And somewhere across the atlantic, Lionel is shaking his head because he knows I need to be checked on almost every 20 minutes just to be sure I'm not doing something that's a waste of time. Like blogging.

Oops!

The red cups are back!

Chugging Starbucks gingerbread latte
Listening to Savage Garden's Santa Monica
I'm a sucker for old times
Advanced databases - thou shall be my Everest today...

Saving money

My brother has decided to leave Oxford for another weekend and spend it in London. This is why I tell people to study in London and not be smitten by Oxbridge. Follow the lights, baby. London is where the life is!

I'm supposed to meet him in awhile. It's the second time in 2 weeks that he's asked to meet me for a meal, not because he misses his sister terribly. It's all part of his expert budgeting. Making me pay for his meals. It's quite easy to tell when he's looking for sisterly love and when he wants a meal ticket. The meal tickets usually start of with "Chae-chae...", otherwise it's no point addressing me by my older sister title, unless of course there's a need to sort out Matlab coding.

I on the other hand have been rather terrible at saving money this term, no thanks to graduation and the number of meals out with friends I've missed greatly. When you think you're not going to see someone for a good number of months or ever again, what's 20 or 30 pounds? Yeah, it's about 150 ringgit... thanks for doing the math. Still, when you're feeling melancholic you'll spend money on a good bottle of wine, Italian food, platters of grand thali's, Nobu even! Although, sitting on the benches outside the Science Museum with Ayish, Tao and Chien Liq for a good hour or so, in the middle of the night, (not to mention in the COLD!) was probably the fun-nest thing I've done for free!

My brother's calling. He's hungry. I'd better go.

Must speak Engrish liddat!

The very talented Tyler Creasma who's spent 7 years perfecting his Singlish. Hoh boh?

Thoughts on a number 10 bus

(or random sightings of Oxford Street being decked up for Christmas when you're stuck in a traffic jam)

"It's almost Christmas, but I can't recognise Christmas in the concept behind Selfridges' androgynous mannequins. Avant garde window displays are in. Baby Jesus is out.

"An old woman poses beside Marks & Spark's 'mix and match 3-for-2' posters. Why does she want a photo with bright pink baubles screaming '3-for-2'? "But then again she looks like she just arrived from Andorra. The don't have pink baubles over there, do they?

"It's starting to look festive along Oxford Street, even if it's a warm 16 degrees outside. [n.b. this was written about 2 weeks ago, before the temperature nose-dived off the scale!]. You can't ignore global warming effects now - at the height of its glory.

"A blind man is playing his violin outside Debenhams. I feel for him. I can't even play a violing with both eyes open. IS it all about musical feel? I don't know. I study music but I don't feel it.

"I like the penguins at John-Lewis. I obviously lead a superficial hydro-plastic life. Two in one? Lasts for longer? As good as the real thing? I'll take it. And as if to endorse it, I find myself staring at a crackling fire place... on a plasma screen TV. Nothing's real except virtual reality. You've gotta love technology. I should know. I study at the heart of technological innovation where our mission statement is to cure cancer and make everyone else fat and lazy. It's all about automated voice control and self dusting vacuum cleaners. Here's a toast to science.

"Ponchos are not in season anymore. I have three. Dammit.




And then I decided to jump off the bus, forget about heading to Tottenham Court Road, and meander down Wardour Road until I hit Leicester Square where Lionel was waiting with a mini panettone and gelato! What self-absorbed thoughts I think of when I'm alone...

Code Pink

Maybe it's rather lazy and convenient for me to sit behind a computer screen and idly click on links to show my form of protest against war. But it's better than not doing anything at all I suppose.
And just as an added note of interest. I have to admit that I don't usually listen to what goes on in church on Sundays. I have a short attention span, but I'm working on it. However yesterday, I woke up from a stupor in time to hear Father Geoff say "and if we're happy about the fact that Saddam has been sentenced the death penalty, maybe we need to re-examine ourselves". His homily for the day was about 'loving thy neighbour' (I *was* paying attention at the beginning). But who is thy neighbour, if not everyone else? Even Saddam Hussein.

Thanks for not blowing up the Parliament

If it wasn't for some nutter called Guy Fawkes whom in 1605 inspired the Gunpowder Plot to blast the Parliament into smithereens, we wouldn't be able to construct gigantic bonfires and fill the air with fireworks.

As I pushed my way through the crowd at Battersea Park, closer and closer to the flames which were consuming an effigy of Guy Fawkes himself (poor guy, I really hope he isn't burning in hell because it sure is hot enough in that fire), and once I got close enough to feel the heat on my face I refused to budge. Not when it's about 8 degrees anywhere beyond a 3 metre radius of the fire.

It didn't take long to focus my attention skywards, as did all the under 10's standing around me.

Nothing is more fun than standing in the crisp cold air, as a bonfire burns beside you and the smell of hotdogs is wafting through the crowd, and watching a haphazard display of fireworks bursting in the air.



The best part of the night had to be sipping mulled wine as I walked back to the bus stop and warming my hands while the alcohol muddled my brain. I bet Alex and Charlie, whom I met at the bus stop, wished they had mulled wine. Especially Charlie who just wanted to get home and get drunk.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! The 5th of November is easily remembered

Talking Cock in Parliament - Hossan Leong

Abit late on posting this one - Lionel introduced me to Hossan Leong when I was in Singapore and he's absolutely endearing! I don't care which side of the fence you're on... but this is funny!

Oh, what a circus!

I called my mum yesterday after disappearing into the abyss for nearly 3 weeks. My mum's pretty good at yanking me out of the abyss though. She sends me guilt-ridden smses.

"Your dad's not feeling well" - Yes mum, but a cold is a cold - "... and we musn't take things for granted because he's still in remission"

or "Your little sister misses her kor-kor and chae-chae" - Yes mum, but when I call she's too busy watching The Next Top American Model.

"Your grandfather just left KL and went back home, leaving your grandmother behind" - Now, that's new! AND interesting to boot.

My grandparents have fought each other with such venomous rage for approximately 50 years. That's a good waste of a lifetime. My grandpa's an awfully nice old man, even if he asks me the same question three times. I put it down to him being hard of hearing these days. However, nice as he is, he was a strict civil servant and ran his home like the Penang court of justice - and that included my grandmother.

I have nothing nice to say about my grandma, which may appear to be positively shocking to most. But you spend most of your childhood having to pick out 4D numbers and being scolded for ludicrous reasons, most of them related to just being a child, and you'd have nothing nice to say either. My grandma never doted on her grandchildren. In fact I applaud how she's rather tolerated us. There are all the usual hugs and kisses when we've travelled the 4 hours up to Penang to see her, but after that it's "go away and don't make any noise!". Lovely childhood memories that.

And nothing scars a childhood (apart from the lack of doting grandmothers - I have no grandparents on my dad's side) more than your grandparents practically hating each other. It just needs something as small as a drop of soya sauce to spark a world war in the house. My mother, aunts and uncle bear the scars of their battles. My cousins try to make our own happy worlds, but we're affected too. My eldest cousin once said there has never been a family more blessed and yet doesn't recognise it. Eccentricity is clearly a strong trait in this family.

However for all their long-drawn fights, I've never seen my grandparents apart. But clearly something clicked in my grandmother's head when she flung open the front door of our house a week ago and announced to my mother that she was staying and NOT going home. Dammit! Why do I always miss all the drama! It's a welcome ceasefire. And my grandmother who for sometime has been complaining of suffering from every ailment in the world is suddenly very able-bodied. My grandpa is enjoying the luxury of the peace and quiet in which to read his Chinese newspapers.

And I am wondering what could possibly make two people who have nothing nice to say to each other everyday, stay together for so long? 50 odd years is a long time to suffer somebody 24 hours a day.

Nevertheless I'm doing what most of my family is doing - kicking off my shoes, sitting back, and letting the real show begin...

No time, no time!

And just when you think you have time to breathe... the sky comes crashing down on you and the ground beneath begins to shake.

I have many many delayed posts with many many photos of Lourdes, Florence, Rome, Geneva, Paris and graduation day (no, not mine! I graduate NEXT year, yes with a Masters, no I do not get a ceremony for my Bachelors, yes they think its a waste of time to make me wear the gown twice, and no I do not get a mortar board)... but that's what Facebook is for and I shall spare this blog.

Just to fill the void. Lionel was back for graduation and so I followed his happy family entourage on holiday to Geneva and Paris and came back with a cold. Graduation was quite a long and draggy affair and I'm not looking forward to my own, despite the fact that it will coincide with Imperial's centenary celebrations. 100 years of living science. That's what they're promoting. It's lovely to be back in a sciency environment and soak in all the natural goodness of being a science geek.

Today marks the start of week 5 and to my horror I've discovered an accounting exam 2 weeks from now. My final year project readings have begun - Brain Sonification for Computer Interface. So so cool!!! To harness the power of the brain in the form of music through signal analysis and estimation! It's frightening but oh so cool! Did I not say it's cool? It's COOL!

Besides that, EESoc, OSC and re-apping are just turning my life upside down. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. Money to handle, lists to compile, events to sort out. Given its a lot easier than juggling all of MSoc and M-Nite, but I think I need to cut myself some slack.

So that's all I have to say. This onion bagel smells too good to eat! But I think I will have to.

Lionel just flew off 20 minutes ago.

Sometimes life seems like a dream, I'd hate to wake up from.

This is for the original bloggers...

Remember when we were this young? When boarding school life was the bane of our existence and the only things that made it worthwhile were the friendships, the dinner chats...
There were the birthdays, the dressing up and down, the jokes and the singing...


There were the late nights and snacking and discoveries and romance battle-plans...






















And boy did we wish (or at least I did) we had better looking hair back then...





Then we left TCHBS, took our results and moved on with our lives... and all that kept us together was a promise to update a blog

March 2003

We obviously didn't move on with our cameras...

August 2003

And some of us had to go to far away places... and not meet up for months on end... 2005

But hey, at least we're better looking now! August 2006

I miss you guys!!!

Pardon the sentimental crap... hehe,
but I couldn't resist posting this

Asian Film Fest

So one of the wardens has decided that he will film a foreign film every week. It must be of high artistic quality (a Cannes candidate if possible) and original and powerful in its mastery of cinematography. In other words there probably will not be a single Asian movie on the list, unless it's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (I never got the ending, just like I didn't get House of Flying Daggers, but don't get me wrong - I loved watching it!).

Being the protector of all things Asian in my hall, I'm coming up with my own list of movies.

So far my list includes:

1. Raise the Red Lantern
2. Hero (I liked it, ok!!!)
3. The Road Home
4. Devdas
5. Swades
6. Asoka
7. The Soong Sisters
8. Children of Heaven
9. Farewell my Concubine
10. The Wedding Banquet
11. Monsoon Wedding
12. Zatoichi
13. The Way Home
14. Salaam Bombay


And of course we have to have the all-too-popular Kungfu Hustle. I'm not too sure of its artistic quality, but it's one hell of a good laugh!

Any other suggestions? I know there aren't any Malaysian selections in the list, but how well received will Sepet or Puteri Gunung Ledang be here? I'm just asking.

Charlotte is a happy yellow ducky

Did I mention that regardless of my many nights of prayer for a puke-free landing, one of my freshers still had the audacity to vomit on my landing? Thankfully it was in his room and not the corridor, but still the stench of regurgitated salmon lingers on.

I'm cooking again and that makes me happy. (There are also only 4 days more before Lionel gets here, and that makes me even happier, but lets focus on the little things for now). I persuaded my freshers to let me cook claypot chicken rice for them because it's damn hard to cook something nice for just one person. I, hands-in-the-air, white-flag-raised, cannot do it! It seems a strange concept to persuade people to let me cook for them. It's usually the other way around.

I'll be off to Geneva on Thursday with Lionel and family. We're fearing the worst of the weather. Anyone who's been to Geneva has any tips? Nic Osman said I should go see the longest bench in the world. They're apparently big on bench construction in Geneva. Then I'll be off to Paris on Sunday where the Parisien ISE bunch (Hugo, Adam, Hai and Kunal) are. See, I kept my promise when I said I'd come visit you. I didn't think it'd be this soon either!

And then it'll be graduation day and everyone will be back and we'll sit on queens lawn, some in gowns, some not, and wonder how time rushed by us so fast. wonder if we'd have made it this far without each other. wonder where all of us will go from here.

Just in case you're wondering, the title to this post has absolutely no meaning at all. In the mean time, I'm going to get back to my cooking in the kitchen. Wheeee!!

Elegantly wasted

It's 5 in the morning.

There's a screaming in my head, possibly from the copious amount of wine I was made to down last night at the coming up dinner, an annual ritual we put freshers through that involves forcing them to dress up to the nines and party at a swanky hotel. Re-app pressure is not a good excuse to drink, but you do it anyway. You'd do anything to be a part of the team.

But strangely enough the alcohol has woken me up and I just can't go back to sleep. My mind and body are not synchronising and definitely pretty pissed off with each other. One's dead beat but the other is just refusing to give in to fatigue. Bah!

And my mother is probably not going to be very happy to find out that I partied in my newly tailored baju kebaya. Getting a tailored kebaya is like a rite of passage. It means I'm old enough to be trusted with dry-cleaning my own clothes and not spilling wine on the sari cloth my dad bought from India for me to make it. I didn't get any wine on it, and thanks to my mother's ingenious plans to make it a size too small for me, I also couldn't eat as much as I wanted to. My mother has crafty ways of keeping me slim. It's not fair, but it works.

It's about time I tried to get some sleep before daybreak. Damn the pounding in my head!

Let me grow old in peace...

I cannot keep up with this! What on earth possessed me to supervise barely 19 year olds who are testing their limits with every vice on earth? (God, if there is anything I want more - except for my aunty to be cured of cancer, and maybe for Lionel's PhD to be approved, oh and maybe for peace on earth... it would be for not a single fresher to empty his or her stomach contents onto any space of floor on my landing while I'm still the re-app in charge).

I was working behind the bar tonight, with Alex, and totally winning at Dai Dee. Sorry, Jason, if you ever read this - you so totally got owned! And really that's all I was doing, but I'm completely beat! Back in the glorious days of my first year, being on duty at the bar was soooo much fun. True there was actual alcohol in the bar back then and there was a lot more work to be done and not a moment to stand still and watch the world go by, but I never felt this tired and drained.

Now I'm conceding to the fact that I'm old, 4 years older than most of these kids. And I just want to get my subscription for a pair of new tortoise shell glasses and shuffle into my carpet slippers and grow old in peace...

(expect whiny, ranty posts from now on...)

Aku rindu...

Do you know what I miss?

Waking up in the morning and smelling nutella on onion bagels
or the sound of you tip-toeing out the door for lectures

Dancing on cold kitchen tiles as the kettle gently bubbles and becomes my morning cup of Milo

Dashing red-faced and breathless into the lecture theatre to find a seat waiting for me in a crowded room.

Gossiping in the labs and laughing till tears come streaming down and talking about love, life and dreams; some gone, some real, some floating in the stratosphere.

Sauntering into the JCR to find a ready table laid with Bridge and good company.

Shopping at Sainsbury's with an experimental recipe in my head.

Cooking.

Snuggling under a fleece blanket while CSI flickers on the telly.

Singing in the shower.

Climbing up to the attic in search of warmer duvets and better music (Buona Vista Social Club? why yes, please!) and falling asleep in the mean time.



the starkness of difference is hollow and silently screaming. but life changes and I chose to change it. why stop now?

Oversensitivities

I think (and I'd agree with you that I usually don't) that the world is becoming much too sensitive. I was on my way to Rome when the Pope came under fire from the Muslim world. I came back to London to find Badawi demanding an apology from Lee Kwan Yew on the marginalised Chinese community (not true meh?). And today the first thing I see on BBC.com is a heated debate on Jack Straw's views on the tudung.

We should all just bite our tongues from now on. Opinions are not welcome. It's enough to spark off another casual Monday morning bomb attack.

--------------

The world and its affairs aside, I'm feeling particularly lazy. I really should be getting dressed and going to see the bank about not being able to change my address online. But these Thai fisherman pants my brother bought me are reeeeally comfortable, and I don't feel like changing out of the just yet.

My room is a big big mess. I have a pile of stuff. Just stuff. Because I have yet to find out what's in that pile. But no time to sort that out now. Final year projects to sort out first.

It's been meeting after meeting. Lecturer after lecturer. And a list of 180 projects. I've scaled mine down to just signal processing and control theory projects, and I'm refusing to even look at the computing selections because it'll just make it worse. I'm adamant about doing a proper engineering project this year. It may be my last chance to play with wifi's and visual imaging and 3G networks and sensors, before being sent home to deal with roadworks and water plants in my sponsor company. God forbid I end up in the IT helpdesk.

It's a boring life these days. Freshers are distracting when they only have to worry about having fun...

And she resurfaces

I'm back in good ol' rainy, smoggy, dusty, sainsbury London!

Granted I actually left Malaysia more than 2 weeks ago and I've been on a spiritually fulfilling journey which encompassed Lourdes, Florence (not so spiritually fulfilling) and Rome. And then the Linstead Hall wardens bundled all the re-apps (officially we are now to be called hall seniors) up and dumped us in the middle of the New Forest to camp in heated wigwams for a night.

But now I am back and firmly rooted on London soil, awaiting the chaotic arrival of freshers who will think I belong to the Jurassic period. We've painted the welcome signs, we've filled up their fresher's packs with goodies, and we're going to smile all day tomorrow. It really is going to be a lot more fun than I make it seem.

On the other hand its strange to be in this position, especially in my final year. London's become smaller now that so many have left. Lionel's feeding his bacteria and lab mice or whatever in Singapore. Nicole's fending for herself in Stanford. Tao's eating the whole of KL. CL's gone soul searching again back in his kampu-, I mean Kuantan.

And I'm here. Missing Malaysia, missing Singapore, missing Hong Kong. I swear one plate of real char kuay teow a year is an awful, awful punishment! I miss Hokkien mee so much, some nights I cry myself to sleep.

Life's going to be hard this year... if I don't make the most out of it.

Extension of the Wan Mohd. Aimran fan club...

Haha, just teasing. But you know I'm a big fan.

Stop beating the racial drum - by Imperial's resident Malaysian writer is just one of many of his brilliant pieces. And I have to thank him for being the voice that dares to speak while the rest of the rakyat grumble, yet are too chicken to swim against the tide. (I'm one of them because my mum says she won't visit me if I'm arrested for insinuating there's even the slightest bit of racial disharmony in Malaysia)

Kudos again, Wan!

Where the sun don't stop shining

I could kiss every palm oil tree that flanks the highway back from KLIA!

It's good to be home. Where the teh tarik is schweet, the banana leaves green, the air hazy, the police corrupt and where most motorists seem intent on meeting their maker before their appointed time. I don't know why I ever left this place. I'll probably remember after 2 weeks when I'm fed up with the weather and just want to hide in an air conditioned space.

Anyway, call me, email me, write me. I don't care where in the world you are.

What did I get myself into?

4th year is going to be a killer year.

My schedule for the year ahead looks set to be punishing. Linstead Re-app, Overseas students committee vice-chair and Electricl Engineer's Society Treasurer. It's Charlotte at her best, and trying to top herself.

Who said anything about studying?

Hmm...

My mum sms-ed me in the middle of the day, on Tuesday while I was rushing to prepare a presentation and was walking back and forth between the data resource table and my desk.

"Do u want your results?"

I'm not sure that my mum realises the inpact that one phrase has on me. All of a sudden, whatever work I was doing was absolutely insignificant when faced with this awful feeling of failure.

Anyway long story short. I got my first. Despite my mother complaining about my dismal marks in DSP and Operations Research ("You can sit for the paper yourself, Mum!") and surprisingly awful marks in Decision Analysis. What can I say. I was never able to make decisions. I can't care what the rest of my marks are... I'm just happy that I don't need to work so hard next year.

Total slacking, here I come!

In the meantime, I've got 4 weeks more to go in Hong Kong. And I'm surprisingly wishing it wasn't coming to an end so soon! Quick, come visit me while you can!!

On a day like today

Sometimes it gets a little overwhelming here. Distractions come easily when I start to think of the things happening back home. Lionel's sister getting married today. My cousin's baby celebrating it's full moon (I had no idea there was a new baby in the family, and until I figure out whether I have a niece or a nephew, it shall be an 'it').

As much as I love my life in Hong Kong, there comes a time when you think that 10 months away from home is when the cracks start to show.

Thai-erd

That says it all.

Will get back to you when I wake up.

(But I'm more likely to be at work)

One more thing - in my hurry to pack my entire wardrobe to Bangkok, I brought a camera without batteries. Go Charl!

More Memes

Name 20 people u can think of and then tag 5 more people to do the survey. Do not read the questions before you write.

1. Lionel
2. Sugania
3. Anushia
4. Charmaine
5. Sherene
6. Chien Liq
7. Wei Kiat
8. Yi Shan
9. Lu
10. Nicole
11. Ayish
12. Cheng Chun
13. Baa (Khim Nyang)
14. Bhai (Sachpal)
15. Ravi
16. Jere
17. Tao
18. Chris Tock
19. Hugo
20. Xiaokai

** Disclaimer **

I SWEAR the list isn't in order of preference or in ANY order at all... I just put down the names as and when they came to mind (and in the order that I was checking my msn list). If your name isn't here, that does not make you any less special to me!!!



1. How did u meet #14 (Bhai)?
Dammit! Why do you have to be #14, Bhai??!!

Bhai and I have had a love-hate relationship since the beginning of time. Bhai went to the same school as my first boyfriend and big surprise - he hated him and thus hated me, and Bhai has probably never agreed with any other boyfriend after that either. Getting rid of boyfriend #1 was just the beginning of a great friendship built on insults and sarcastic remarks (as well as almost identical Capricorn traits)... and in Bhai's words "The smartest thing you ever did, Charl". The only problem he has with my boyfriends now is that he thinks they are all Ah Bengs and they are never good enough for me.


2. What would u do if u hadn't met #1 (Lionel)?
Dated other guys.



Oh wait, I meant to say that I would never have found my soulmate, best friend, pillow-talk companion, adventurous travel buddy, consumer of everything I cook whether tasty or nasty, free compliment service, opener of container lids that are too tight, destroyer of bugs and cockroaches and rats that scare me, fetcher of my water, coffee, snacks, etc. when the kitchen seems too far away, supporter of all the ridiculous endeavours I come up with, sugar daddy of all my meals and soft toys, download centre for all my tv series, and provider of unlimited hugs and kisses.

I know it sounds like I can't do anything for myself. Lionel would agree.


3. What would u do if #20 (Xiaokai) and #9 (Lu) dated?
*wide-eyed look* Match made in heaven!! Here's how it'd go. They'd both meet on the World of Warcraft server and hit it off famously. They'd talk about gaming, their pure loathing of studying and small, fair, bespectacled girls. And then they'd try and meet IRL. And I'll be tearing from laughing too much. As I always do.


4. Would #6 (Chien Liq) and #10 (Nicole) make a good couple?
OH... MY...
HAHAHAHAHHAAHAHahahahAHAHAHAHHAhahahhaAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

No. Not unless you want a repeat of the Holocaust.


5. Describe #3 (Anu)
a. Cries before exams
b. Bites her fingernails
c. Adores Ronan Keating
d. Puts on her baby voice when she wants something
e. Calls me a pandi (pig) when she doesn't get her way
f. ...
Ah heck, this list will never be exhaustive enough. Anu's one of my bestest friends who'll one day be the skinniest doctor Melbourne has ever seen.


6. Do you think #8 (Yi Shan) is attractive?
No.

I'm sorry, that was too harsh. I don't think Yi Shan is attractive but I think that Yi Shan thinks he's cute.

7. Tell me something about #7 (Wei Kiat)
He likes to hurt people. Physically. He also likes guns. I mean the ones that shoot. I mean the ones that shoot fire. I mean... oh what the heck. He's also very apt at writing secret admirer letters to himself.

8. Do you know anything about #12 (Cheng Chun)'s family?
Has 2 sisters who have really swanky London/US apartments!

9. What is #1's (Lionel) favourite thing?
ME! and maybe his Nikon.

10. What would you do if #11 (Ayish) confesses that he/she likes you?
Aww... so flattering!

11. What languages does #15 (Ravi) speak?
Idiot-speak.

Oh and a smattering of English, Malay, Chinese swear-words, probably some Vietnamese too now...

12. Who is #9 (Lu) going out with?
His duvet

13. How old is #16 (Jere)?
Last time I checked... about 12. I mean so what if his I.C. says he's 22, the national registry has been known to make mistakes from time to time.

14. When was the last time you talked to #13 (Baa)?
When I was still in London, on MSN

15. Who is #2 (Sugania)'s favourite singer?
Madonna. This is easy.

16. Would you date #4 (Charmaine)?
Hell yeah! I mean who wouldn't? Charmie's hot and smart and funny and such a babe and we'd have a hell of a time, you know it!

17. Would you date #6 (Chien Liq)?
Are you kidding?? Oh, I'm sorry... that was about as harsh as saying Yi Shan's not attractive. Actually it might be fun... not as fun as dating Charmaine because CL isn't as hot and he whines all the time.

18. Is #15 (RAvi) single?
He shouldn't be single. Ravi's like the sweetest darling there is. Why aren't all the girls lining up for him. Oh wait, they probably are. Ravi, why are you being so fussy and pick one already!

19. What is #17 (Tao)'s last name?
Cheah! How many people have tried calling him Mr. Tao?

20. Would you consider being in a relationship with #19 (Hugo)?
Lol!!! This is seriously funnier than the idea of dating Charmaine or CL. Hugo wants me to be his trophy wife, to cook for him make his mum happy. I can have boyfriends but I'd be constantly worrying about Hugo stealing them away. He IS the better looking one.

21. What schools did #17 (Tao) go to?
Schools my mother doesn't approve of for Penangnites. Lol!!! Sri Inai and KTJ.

23. What is your favourite thing about #5 (Sherene)?
That she's absolutely CRAZZZEEEEE!!! She's such a babe and she's got the personality of a firecracker! You can never never never be bored with Sherene, and she's the bestest girlfriend you can have! And of course for the fact that was both LURVE Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black... especially when he's eating peanut butter.

24. What do you think about #13 (Baa)?
He's the greenest wooliest mammal there is. Baa's so clever and he tells the lamest jokes which is so funny!!! And of course he's a great friend who made dinners at THE Chinese High Boarding School so much more entertaining.

25. What do #4 (Charmaine) and # 18 (Chris Tock) have in common?
They both have names starting with "CH"? They don't like to study? They like to procrastinate academic work? You have to catch hold of both of them, sit them down and tie them to a chair to force them to study? And yet you can be sure their mind has wandered off to something else.

26. What special qualities does #5 (Sherene) hold in your life?
Sherene (and Charmaine too) were possibly the only girlfriends I had at that point of time in my life when I met them... and have remained my best girlfriends till now.

And I shall tag... EVERYBODY. I'm not fussy.

Guns in the Hands of Babes V

When will I stop harping about this? When my government grows more brains.

I hate how news reports are ever so slightly (oh why am I being diplomatic?) skewed in favour of gun training.

Just a question. Are we going to tighten gun laws now that 1 tenth of Malaysian 18 year olds will know how to fire an M16?

I am not a supporter of anti-gun societies. Give me a strong and valid reason for training our young ones to hold firearms and I'd support it, whole heartedly. Right now reason #1 "it will instill discipline and make them braver" and reason #2 "Singapore has implemented it" only makes me wonder WHY we bother to spend money educating Malaysians if they are going to take in such pure rubbish as valid substantiations. (I think I spelt that wrong... but I've been working over the weekend and I can't care to stare at my computer screen while I type).

A few weeks ago Lionel asked me if there was anything in our constitution regarding firearms. According to most war conventions, anyone who picks up a firearm is no longer considered a civillian, regardless of age, and is allowed to be shot during war because they are now considered soldiers. That's a rather interesting train of thought. Care to explain that to our youngsters who are so eager to hold guns?

In fact the naivety of their responses is worrying:

Trainee Sharifah Rabiatul said it was a privilege to learn to use an M16 because the opportunity was not given to everyone. “I think it will make me braver, tougher and stronger. I don’t think it will be dangerous at all,” said Sharifah, who was among the 350 trainees who left Bukit Jalil for Bandar Muadzam Shah, Pahang.

Yup, spending 2 days learning to fire a bullet will do that.

Of course it won't. The mental preparation for fire arm training does not start a day before holding your weapon. You want to know why they can do it in Singapore? It's because the mental preparation and discipline is instilled long before the first gun theory lesson. You want to make them tougher and stronger? Try waking up at 6am for a 2km jog every morning. You want to make them braver and independent? Try solo camping. I have a sneaky feeling that more teens would rather choose the cowardly option of firing a gun over setting up their own tent in the middle of the jungle and spending the night there. I dare say the jogging and camping would be far cheaper than spending more money on guns and ammunition. And a much healthier mental and physical exercise too.

All this talk about exercise and hx's comment on the odac blog about obese snails is reminding me of what a little pig i'm turning into. My mum has been reminding me over and over that walking cannot be my only form of exercise. After all the only reason I walk home from work is because I'm miserly trying to save on cab money. Everything has a hidden agenda. Even NS.

Guns in the Hands of Babes IV

Not sticking by their guns now are they? Well not completely.

What is the point of an exercise being implemented in a program meant to foster unity when you make it optional? You either train a reserve army or you encourage bonding amongst teenagers. You cannot do both.

As the ministry of defence tries to pull the wool over the nation's eyes... it's a rather feeble attempt.

“Using blanks at the shooting range is not appropriate. What is there to worry about if there is security?” says Najib.

There is everything to worry about.

Were the NS trainees given ample mental preparation? Were they given psychometric tests to weed out trainees with weak mental strength and not prepared for the repercussions of firing a gun? (You may think this is stupid when they're probably only going to fire one bullet, but it's a required procedure that army/policemen go through... and firing one bullet can shock you). Were they given full warning about the dangers of holding a gun that if loaded wrongly, not cleaned properly or misfired could results in deaths of not just the shooter but the people around?

Or as in the true Malaysian style, was nothing else but a short term goal to discipline our wayward Malaysian kids the only thing on the minds of the powers that be?

Dim Sum Girl

Only dim sum girls will be talking this summer.

Have a great one folks. Summer, not the dim sum girl!

One Guinness, please

We've got a new dog at home. My Malaysian home that is. In London we have a 'no pets' rule, after the disaster that was house training Yi Shan.

Anyway since I wasn't around, my brother decided to get the biggest, meanest (not to mention ugliest) dog he could find... and eventually settled for a German Shepherd Labrador mix. I wanted a jack russell, but when you're not on Malaysian ground you have no say, like all other things. At 3 months old he (the dog, not my brother) is bigger than Chelsea, my aging cocker spaniel, and is scaring the living daylights out of her. For the record though, Chelsea is scared of everything. Chelsea doesn't think she's a dog and I'm quite sure she isn't very happy having this young pup running circles around her. But she's growing too old to guard the house (or knock over pots which is her greater talent) so bring on Guinness - good dogs come to those who wait (and have dog treats)!

When my mother sms-ed to announce the arrival of the latest bundle of joy, I turned to Lionel and said "How much more tak halal can you make a dog in Malaysia?". My sister wants to change Chelsea's name to Carlsberg now, but my mother has stopped her from confusing the old girl even more.

I shall end abruptly here. I have to finish commenting code which seems to be taking longer than actually programming it.

The day they deported me from the UK

... was the day I didn't support England in the World Cup.


No, seriously... what is it with all of you and the fact that I don't support England? It'd make *some* sense to me if you accused me of not supporting a phenomenal team (sorry, but that's a term that only refers to Brazil). It'd make sense if you accused me of not supporting England's best players (Theo Walcott? Hello?? Has England no other strikers? Come on!! The kid's never even played in a first-team game for Arsenal before). It'd make even the slightest sense if you accused me of not supporting a team with a savvy manager (Sven-Goran isn't even British! And he's playing a team that's half unfit/injured... and one with a broken metatarsal, who claims the doctors don't really know anything because in reality he's just broken his foot! It's Swede swede revenge on the English... oh that was a bad pun, you know it!).

But no... what I get is a whole bunch of nonsense about "But you live in England, why aren't you supporting your home country's team??!!??" with a dollop of wide-eyed horror.

The world is full of idiots. I'm convinced!

Now if I did support my home country while I was living in Singapore, I doubt the sentiments would have been the same. No, they would have been far far different.

Oh the fights!

Newspaper headlines in Malaysia these days reek of a Korean soap drama. If we're not careful, we'll end up like the Taiwanese government (look out! *bitch slap*). I have great respect for Dr. Mahathir. After all as most commentaries put it, he's the only prime minister most Malaysians have known in their life time. But I'm also feeling really sympathetic towards Badawi. His wife just died and now the former premier is wagging his tongue towards the media and demanding answers - NOW!

But there's one thing preventing me from getting too obsessed over it.

Bring on the world cup! Hugo's trying very hard to prove his football knowledge (or lack of). I'm beating him at it. England and Paraguay start in a few hours. I've booked my seat in front of the TV

Guns in the Hands of Babes III

This is the scariest picture I've seen in awhile. 17/18 year olds learning to shoot M16s after 1 day's worth of theory, for what purpose? To instill discipline and make them more robust! (Click on picture for article). You know my stand on the use of firearms in Malaysian National Service (which mind you, is NOT in any way a reserve army in training ala Singapore). Sometimes my government does things which are so insane it makes me want to throw my passport away and cut up my MyKad into little tiny pieces.

They really ought to start listening to me.

Khidmat Negara = Serve thy country

Blessed are Daddy's girls

I've never been much of a daddy's girl. Instead I'm my mum's number one staunch supporter and blame her for everything I am. It's strange that way.

When I was 8, daddy taught me to draw still life orchids, ride a bike and wanted me to be a novelist. Mummy caned me for coming out 5th (out of 45!!!) in class. Draw your own conclusions.

Disjointed thoughts ahead.

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I live to impress my parents. But my dad isn't too concerned with the little things I deem successful. I took him for a tour around the top science college in the UK. He asked why the buildings were so modern and ugly. I wanted to show him our superb labs and plasma screen TVs in EEE. He spent more time carefully observing the ugly statue in the EEE foyer. I tried to persuade him to drive past all of London with the little time he had left. He just wanted to stroll down Bayswater Road so he could choose a painting for my room.

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The London my dad left 23 years ago hasn't changed at all for him. As we were walking down Bayswater Road, where the artists have displayed their wares in the sunshine...
"Daddy, don't we have that one at home?"
I whip around and find my dad saying to the artist, "Alex? How long have you been here! You remember my wife? She bought your paintings in the 70s. Yes, we still have 3 of yours hanging at home"

My dad has no trouble navigating through the little alleys of London town and very confidently navigated the Londoners to Katherine Docks and back again. My dad knows the entire stretch from St. John's Wood to Westminster like the back of his hand. I get lost walking from North End Road to Fulham Broadway.

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When you don't see your parents for really long spells, they always look older. Cancer added years to my dad. But 9 months away from home has deepened the wrinkles, and slowed his gait. Painful to watch? Almost heartbreaking to realise. My mother seems to be all skin and bones everytime I return home. But my parents are made of steel. How long more will I go on believing that?

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When you think 23 is much too old for you parents to embarass you...

... your dad walks right up to a convertible BMW with its young, lady driver still in it, and exclaims what a nice car it is to no one in particular...

... or while you're talking to a friend you've just bumped into, your dad is asking the folks enjoying the midday sun what shisha is and why they are smoking it. Is it the new pot?

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Totally unrelated:
I've finally got my bank to work and I just need to clean up some stuff and do some error checking. I've also got my satay chicken marinated and I just need to clean up some stuff and do some agar-agar checking.
Isn't life glorious when you have so many things to do?

and Charlotte does the bi-weekly update thing...

My daddy is in town. So apart from the two-hundred and fifty one things I have to get done, I also have to make sure daddy is spending enough quality time with daughter number one and not suffering too much from hayfever. AH-Choo!! So far, I've followed him to an official headquarters visit, taken him for lunch at Nonya (where Daddy pushed away my credit card) and brought him to my Godmother's for tea and noisy children. My Godma's granddaughters barely make up 5 years of age in total, so I had to excuse the barrage of stickers, whistles and tealeaves-cum-mud "potions" thrown at me the moment the door opened. The children of the world adore me. I wish the feeling was mutual.

I'm currently sitting in the attic, programming a bank. The bank isn't at all interesting, so don't ask. And you read that right. We have an attic. It just nicely fits Lionel's bed, half a tatami mat, a small bedside table, a chest of drawers and a tiny raised landing which Lionel uses as a desk. I'm currently taking up 30% of the space with my laptop. I can't use my room. It's cluttered with all my packing.

Anyway, I just wanted to make a tiny squeak in the blogosphere. It's back to work.

Posts that bore everyone to tears should be made a criminal offence

Strangely enough, I'd be guilty of it most of the time.

I'm multitasking avoiding reading up more on interest rates and oil/information pricing because it's starting to confuse me and blogging instead. Hugo suggested it anyway. The blogging I mean. I am really very bored right now. There isn't a single person in the lab that I have the liberty of disturbing and annoying the hell out of. Woe is me.

Ironically, everyone (not in Imperial) seems to think I'm very free an gallivanting around London and Europe. Even my mother seems to think so. The fact that I sms her everyday saying "No, I can't call home now. I'm doing project work in college" doesn't seem to register.

I'm making a desperate attempt to revive my dying dormant blog. But I don't have anything interesting to say. Except that any Friendster testimonials written by me on Wei Kiat or Chien Liq's profiles are completely fabricated and a result of stupidly leaving my account open on Wei Kiat's terminal. There, Wei Kiat! I just increased your Friendster traffic. Happy??

Moving on to current affairs:
1) Da Vinci Code was so dissapointing and even as a Catholic there were times I wanted to strangle Tom Hanks and scream "Enough with the politically correct bullshit!!!"... aah, that was nice to get off my chest.

2) X-Men 3 is a nice watch if you're not a loyal geek comic book fan. Wolverine basked in all 100 and 5 minutes of glorious adamantium screentime! Cyclops got a measly 5 minutes to look broody and drunk. That made Lionel sulk like a 2 year old. No one said he wasn't a loyal geek comic book fan.

End of current affairs.

Did you really think I was going to discuss the Java earthquake or Sarawak elections?

I'm tired. My comment box has been spammed with articles about racial discrimination in Malaysia and reading it makes me feel even more tired. There's no question about whether it exists or not. Of course it exists. We'd be living in denial not to notice it. And you know what? It exists everywhere. In all my years of living in different countries, I've been a minority and an outcast in all of them. But you deal with it, and move on IN SPITE of it. You don't (and NEVER) bow down to it. You find a way around it, and prove how ridiculous and needless racial discrimination really is. The question now is, when is the right time for Malaysia to deal with affirmative action and bumi rights, and how are they going to do it? Most would say the answer is NOW and IMMEDIATELY. I'm not sure. I'm not the one in charge. I'm not the one who will have rights and crutches taken away from me. Nor will I be the one who'll reap any outright short term benefits.

The Malaysian Higher Education minister came to Imperial last week. He's quite a nice guy. At least more sincere and honest than Najib was. He didn't have the air of a politician which is refreshing. I wish we had more people like him who said what they really felt and not what they think needs to be said to increase their polls. I do wish he had done his research before meeting with our Rector though. It clearly looks shoddy, stepping onto Imperial grounds and saying "Oh, but Imperial College students don't do business, right?" when you're standing in the foyer of Imperial's Tanaka Business School (ranked 8th in UK by the Financial Times and 47th in the world).

Lionel's FINALLY decided to pry himself away from his lab and his infected mice. Yay! I'm going home to cook rendang. Is anyone interested in a Satay party this Sunday?

No rest for the wicked

The 'end of exams' in no way equates to 'going home'. Please stop asking. It'll be an eternity and a month before I'll even get to kiss the 30 degrees sunny air back in KL.

Oh how I miss home. I wake up in cold sweat at night from dreams where I am denied char kuay teow and assam laksa! I want to sleep without a blanket, wake up to the smell of mee yoke, run to the nearest mamak in Teva's sandals and shorts for roti canai (with garlic cheese, please), lie on my bed with the latest Cleo magazine and listen to monsoon rains, drive my sister around, flip through the pages of The Star and listen to Light & Easy on 105.7fm.

But home is so far away, when you're spending 8 hours a day in labs, and the remaining hours at home brushing up on Java and getting up to speed on things like multi agent systems and robots and virtual timestamps. They are as foreign to me as they are to you.

The mice in my house seem to be having a better time than I am. They were even so kind to leave me a note after I made them chocolate oatmeal cookies.


Note to self... have to apologise to mice for lack of time to make more cookies.

A little bit of everything

My mother called just now while I was making a strawberry cheesecake.

"Why didn't you call in? Didn't you get my sms? Were you out?"
"When did you send it?"
"10 minutes ago!"
(my mother wholeheartedly believes I have my handphone sewn onto me and the moment a text message is sent, I should read it and reply)
"I was in the kitchen"
"What are you doing in the kitchen?"
"Is there a law against standing in my own kitchen? Making a cheesecake"
"So free ah?"
"No lah. I'm trying to finish up all the stuff in the kitchen so I won't have to pack it over summer."
"You sound like you're really trying to relax after exams"
"Is there a law against relaxing after exams?? No, mum. I'm trying to stress myself out even more Uhuh."
"So when are you going to help your sister with her t-shirt design? Your father is no help. All his designs are so old fashioned. She needs something modern and cute."

All of a sudden the strawberry cheesecake does seem like the greatest crime on earth. It's obviously not as important as using my precious free time to help my sister, and then my mother unleashes the final blow.

"You're so good at these kind of things. I know you can do it."

And before she launches into a tirade about God-given talents, and using it to help other people (other people always being my brother or sister), I say "Okay, okay..." and she passes the phone to my sister.

My sister is ever so cute to talk to. Last week I told her about the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ride at Alton Towers and she asked if I could bring back some of the chocolate for her.

"Will it make me smarter?"
"Erm, you're allergic to chocolate."
"Oh!"

Isn't she so cute?

So anyway, I did go to Alton Towers and I did go on the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ride.
It was a chance to get out of the rain (and an excuse for me not to go on Oblivion). The weather pretty much required umbrellas throughout the day. And cutesy OomPah Loompas do not make up for it.


Ok, so I went overboard with the Photoshop paintbrush. I was trying to recreate the magical childish fantasy of being inside a chocolate factory (as opposed to CL's sex fantasy no. 5: to be spray covered in chocolate, thanks for letting us know). I haven't photoshopped in a while. Give me a break.

Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself in terms of my Alton Towers story. The day started out like any other. With Wei Kiat failing to check the time of the train and thus having 5 very sleepy people yell at him for making us wake up at 6am to catch a train that was only at 8am.


Nevertheless, we let bygones be bygones and tried to look happy upon entering the place where they try to make "happily ever after" work, but it doesn't last on cold, gloomy (your basic English weather) days.


Following Wei Kiat's lead, we headed first for Rita Queen of Speed. I had already psyched myself up in order to get over my roller-coaster phobia, so I was in a kind of daze. It was probably a good thing that it was rainy and the queues were short. The longer the wait, the more frazzled my nerves get.



Big surprised, I survived it! And Chien Liq screams like a girl.

Anyway it was still raining. But we were still quite happy.


By 11.30am, I had 2 rollercoaster counts to Yi Shan and Wei Kiat's one. Go me! Soha had hit her ear and it was bleeding, but being the brave trooper that Soha is, she went on all the coasters in Xtreme park, while the lazy bums (CL, Su and me), sat in KFC polishing off a 10 piece pack. After such gluttony I didn't feel ready for more head spinning, and as a result this happened:
Now you know the real reason they brought me along. It wasn't so bad really. I just stood there preparing to snap a photo of their whizzing carriage, when I heard the unmistakeable girly scream bursting through the air. Yup, that's them. SNAP! Anyway, they managed to persuade me to go on the spinning whizzing pinball machine thing a second time round. I screamed my lungs out. It was therapeutic.

Anyway, despite the gloomy weather we still managed some pretty nice group shots.

And some pretty bad ones
And some where we just had no clue at all
In search of more rides (namely Nemesis and Air) we took a stroll through the woods
And even climbed a few trees
In the end we reached the Forbidden Valley, and I became bag carrier amah again while they went on Nemesis (the words "most intense roller coaster experience in the world" wasn't very comforting, even though Wei Kiat and CL tried to block the sign). But to my credit, I went on Air which was the most superb flying experience ever!
Then just to humour me, we rushed over to the river rapids (the only ride I initially consented to go on) to get royally wet! [I'll put up the group photo later... I'm getting lazy, in case you can't tell]

Finally it was the end of the day, and with just 10 minutes before the bus was scheduled to leave, Wei Kiat led us to the wrong park entrance - on the OPPOSITE end of the park! This led to an Amazing Race - worthy dash to the park entrance upon discovering our mistake (Non elimination! Non elimination!)

And on the bus we were pretty much like this:
Stuffy busrides make me more nauseous than any ride at Alton Towers ever could.

Ok I'm done for now. It's back to Facebook absorption - or to quote the name of a Facebook group: "Facebook is eating away my life, and MSN is polishing off the remains". How true!