i discovered a "disturbing" trend -- those who i'm (or have been) rather close with would at one point in our friendship be jobless... 

i lost my job together with tab and she was bumming around a bit longer than i did before embarking on her ministerial path (this sounds so lofty :D) which i think she had been inclined toward but never really explored;

i remember starting to chat with chongy after she gave up her first job, and we got closer when i lost mine (again!), and then she went jobless for the 2nd time before miraculously (yeah i would call it that!) landing on her academic path which she has always sought;

and jazz who has been in her new job for less than a year when her company decided that they can't sustain the biz, about three months back (a little advice here -- don't join startups if financial security is a concern -- most won't work out) and after a good long break with nary a day where she's nothing to do (she's always out and about), she's now just signed off an offer letter! all the best, girlfriend. :D

ok, my memory might have been selective when i did this list, but that's a whole lot of soul searching hours there among us. hehe. for some of us, it was an excruciating period, for some, a much needed break, but for all, a time to stand back and review the years that was and deciding the next move.

so there, you have been warned: being friends with me might cause you to lose your job. proceed with caution! :D



someone else has indicated that they will join this list. be strong, my heart.
someone else has also indicated that they would love to join this list as they hated their job. the person would love to be my bff. :D

so yesterday i was window shopping in KLCC after lunch, and i saw this gorgeous red trench coat on sale in MNG -- RM269 from the original RM499. i was immediately and totally smitten, cos FYI, it's precisely what i had put down in the list of things i reeeeeealllly wanted (practicality optional) :D

so i tried it on for size and i loved it. srsly, i do.

ok, so i don't look as good as the model does (i'm way shorter -- the hem reaches my knees when i had it on) but... it's so pweettyyy..

i don't remember what stopped me from swiping the card, but i did. told the saleslady to hold the piece for me, and that i would come get it the end of the day. i didn't. it's a RM269 that i can't afford to spare right now, even though my credit card suggests otherwise. the heart is torn!

i hope i don't regret it!

it's so pweetttyyy..

i have a lot of pics i haven't uploaded.. and by the time i get to them, i suppose i would be too lazy to blog about them. bleh. anyways, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! :) i've had a good one.. hopefully you'll see why when i do get about blogging about it. hahaha..

two things first.

thanks to the darling hubs and my sibs, i'm now an iPhone 4 owner!! :D iWas pleasantly delirious when iFound out that iWould be getting a new phone for Christmas.. srsly stoked. been trying to navigate my way around the phone, and frankly Steve Jobs, iAm STILL not impressed. and why on earth isn't Google Sky Map available for iPhone?? and to be labeled a conformist by my friend (singular) -- oh the travesty. iKnow iShould stop complaining by now & start counting my blessings.. fail.

anyways, i don't know how i even deserve this, but thank you.. ;)
*bear hugs for everyone*






and the second thing.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY 

SHERYL CHONG!!!!!
[[]]

soundtrack for the moment --

sick puppies :: that time of year

i probably have said this more than enough times but i'm happy that you could look back to this year and declare it GOOD :) here's to many more :) *HUGS*

(checklist -- so i've tweeted, FB, called, emailed & now blogged my bday wishes 4u. just two more places :D.. to be unveiled before the year ends i hope..!)

oh i erm, still haven't wrapped your gift. :P but see you soon! (this Friday probably, if i could make it :)

a friend was in the US recently and bought this back for us.



i'm not a fan of hyperbole, but this is like the best snack evaarrr. :D
two of my fav things in one can of awesomeness: coffee and macadamia. :9

just 5 days ago, i was good with my pink phone -- limited of a communication tool it is. and then my hubby texted me with 'i know what to get you for christmas haha'. and it was another 2 days of prodding and guessing before he told me that i would be getting a new phone -- a smartphone!

NO! was my first reaction. it's expensive and i don't need it. i'd rather get a TV. blah blah..

then he had to show me the specs for the HTC Desire HD, which appears on my wishlist if you knew it, which made my hati lebih berbelah bahagi than it already was. how to say no? ;) plus if he insists, i wouldn't resist :D but i would love a new TV (which costs the same!)!

No! - Yes! - NO! - YESSS!! whyyyy..



there's a catch tho', i had to switch to DiGi, which made the decision all the more dizzying if it was possible. i've been with Maxis the past 10 years, and switching telco just seems so.. unfaithful. and i actually struggled with it through sleepless nights (ok, not the nights but the internal battle was real. this is what normalcy is like ok.)

and then i dropped by the Maxis Centre where i work and saw that they have a promo for the HTC Desire HD7. my heart cheered for a bit but i wasn't sure what to make of a Windows phone. the layout was nifty and its function competitive enough but its apps market has yet to mature compared to that of Apple and Android. and so i was madly reading up reviews after reviews and i still was unsure.

the thing is, this phone.. it's HUGE. which was a major turn-off for me. (*salutes* Major Turnoff -- this HIMYM moment is brought to you by a still-gushy me)



i would choose Android over Windows (Google over Microsoft anytime), but that would mean DiGi over Maxis. oh why can't i have everything? and by this point, the hubs have already convinced me that he isn't alone in giving the gift, that there are other ppl sharing -- and yet he didn't want to reveal who the others were. i can't believe anyone would get me a phone so i called his bluff but he kept mum. it's rather exciting but i think he finds my incessant remarks and questions annoying. hahaha..

oh in all of these, what about the iPhone, you ask. NEVER. i will not join the mass, declared i. i will not conform. and the HTC's screen is sooo pweety. :D

'haven't you learned your lesson with your MP3 player', asked my coll, in reference to my Zune player (which i got cos i didn't want an iPod -- and which i would get back if i got the Desire HD7) which konked after a year and couldn't be repaired cos repair service outside of the US costs a bomb. 'just go for iPhone la. it's reliable. huge app market. and everybody has it.' that last line is exactly why i don't want it.



but the hubs also echo that sentiment when he saw the dimensions of the Desire HD. i fought a valiant fight -- reading more review after review after review (FYI, the Desire is often declared the winner), but his 'the only reason you don't want an iPhone is cause of its popularity right?' got to me. ergh. sigh. i know, i was never known to make rational decisions. heh.



so there i will be one of these mornings, waiting in line at 8:30am at the door of the Maxis Centre to get my hand on an iPhone 4. i'm a sellout.

T___T


chongy has warned me NOT to be playing on my phone the next time we meet (i'm so guilty of this -- most time when we're together, i would be playing that one game on my phone while she and the hubs chat away). she has a point -- it's rude. but i... cannot promise thee this. :(

hehehehehehe ;)

had lunch with a friend whom i've not met for 15 years -- since we left school (urgh i dread every time a point of reference goes beyond a decade). she left for US for her studies way back when, thought she'd come back when she was done but didn't -- ended up working, marrying and having a kid and settling down in seattle. we hardly kept in touch with each other or other friends after form 5 -- back then, keeping in touch meant picking up a phone to call or writing actual letters -- i missed those cumbersome ways sometimes -- but thank you, mark zuckerberg. :) it was good to catch up again after all these years.. the turns that life takes, they are nothing less than surreal in hindsight.

i've often thought that here's where i will be for the rest of my life. but now i hope it would not be. 70 years is too long to have it spent it in one place. and i'm almost crossing the halfway mark.

maybe it's the friday speaking, maybe it's the wanderlust singing, maybe it's the new year calling. but here's to new experiences and strange faces and fresh perspectives.

nothing unusual, nothing strange
close to nothing at all
the same old scenario, the same old rain
and there's no explosions here
then something unusual, something strange
comes from nothing at all
I saw a spaceship fly by your window
did you see it disappear?

damien rice :: amie

have you heard of the Advent Conspiracy?

chongy's mentioned it to me a few times over last year and this.. but it didn't really hit me until i saw this.



actually, i saw this first:



(they are about the same)

and then it made sense!




(chongy, let me stop you here right now with the 'that's WHAT i've been telling you all this time' etc. i can practically hear you in my head alreadyy hahaha.. thanks anyway =)

(anyways it's weird how sense are made. like you hear the same thing over and over again, and it just goes over your head. and then one day out of the blue, it just hit you in the face. like algebra. or Physics. i failed Physics throughout all three terms in Form Four, but when i got back from the long school holiday, it just registered. i even got a high credit for it in SPM. go figure.)

The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love.
So, what happened?

What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists.

...

Is this what we really want out of Christmas?

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?

[via]

so yeah
i know what i'm gonna do next year!
well, not really. well, kinda.
but know what?
it will be legend... wait for it...


;)
 




...dary.


well, i hope.
but srsly, how awesome is HIMYM? :D
jazz thinks i need to get help for my obsession, but what does she know?! pfffbt.
hahahahaha..

in light of the marriage of the 14 year old girl to her 23-year old pedophile of a husband (previously her religious teacher).

Z: score one for eunice wong
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/12/14/focus/7612932&sec=focus


E: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold are haram

As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold will cause unwanted pregnancies


Z: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold is the root of all evil


E: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold will cause education
and opening of mind
a woman's place is in the kitchen, not with books


Z: item in bold will cause teenage daughter to become smart and resist child marriage


E: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.
items in bold will cause lesbianism


Z: most definitely
LOL


E: hahahaha :D

Z: As a mother, I would like my 14-year-old daughter to still be happy with her books, girlfriends, boyfriends and to fall in and out of “puppy love”, to go for excursions, attend birthday parties, pyjama parties, camping and have loads of fun with children her age.

item in bold sumtimes makes retarded decisions based on ridiculous religious decisions.

especially wen it involves perverted religious teachers who absolutely cannot hold their dicks in long enough for their prey to reach legal age.

we are saying goodbye to 2010 in about 2 weeks.

*GULPS*
i don't think that i'm ready.

"You mean it's December??!!! This 12 month per year thing is a conspiracy. I swear, a year only has 2 months: January and December."
- the self-proclaim-all-knowing-multiple-nicknames lord chongy

hear ye, hear ye!


*goes into DENIAL mode*


btw a quick review of the year that is soon to go by:


while we are on youtube, here's my pick for the awesomest music video of the year:

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass

and a close runner up:

David Crowder Band - SMS (Shine)

i wish i make more $$ than i could ever spend
then i wouldn't have to say NO to

this:

RM38

and this:

RM39 - 10% off
saw this at GladSounds and i held on to it forever before putting it back (bought a book though :) -- maybe next year! i've already downloaded a good number of christmas songs from NoiseTrade.com (it's all legal so do check it out! :) and i want this just because it's Relient K and i'm a loyal fangirl. :D

btw did you know GS has an outlet in the prestigious Starhill Gallery? i wonder how they afford the rent (they've been there for a year) -- i suspect francis yeoh might have generously waived it. :D

anyways
christmas shopping is VERY STRESSFUL and i hate it
it's tough buying one gift
let alone 20
in the short 3 weekends in December
so many factors to take into consideration
preeminently a limited budget

chongy said i should ditch the idea
true that
Christmas is not about pressies
yeah it's NOT

ok
maybe next year
i can convince myself that it's OK not to buy gifts
i'm still caving in to the tradition this year
:)

i would love to make something
i know my framed spongy cutout from three years back was a hit with the recipients :D
i still feel the ripple from the delirium
gift making is awesome
if i have the time and a good idea
and still, buy some


oh btw
that day i was grumbling about my financial situation
my bank account goes from XX to near zero within a week from month end
house bills and car loan and insurance and shoes and stuff
(srsly, how i managed with a RM1,800 starting salary last time escapes me)
(i had to save for a wedding and pay off my car loan plus other expenses then)

(but it's not like i earn tonnes more now pffbt)

so we were at BCM's 50th anniv celeb
so we sang this song
great is Thy faithfulness
and i was reminded
all i have needed He has provided
i think i chuckled and thanked God for the reminder
quite an overwhelming reminder actually


on a chirpier note, i gave in to this

RM24 after tax
i ate the whole thing, for once! *beams*
was xmas shopping at MV last Sat and by the time i settled down at Chilli's i was a tired, grumpy and famished shopper. and for some reason, i had to have a cheeseburger, no thanks to marshall and his quest. hehehe.. i was not let down. plus ww happened to be in MV so i had company to watch me down this huge@$$ artery choker!  ;)

i can't sleep again. the mind gets too restless even when the body screams, JUST GO TO SLEEP ALREADY. am currently watching a show (a rather boring one albeit being critically acclaimed bleh) in the background cos i've exhausted all five seasons of how i met your mother :( i'm practically obsessed with the show -- i'd hear bob saget narrating my thoughts sometimes, and every time someone IRL said something remotely close to what a character on HIMYM had said, i'd wanna point it out so we could chuckle silly about it but it'll just go over their heads and i'll be like all :| i'd watch youtube vids of season bloopers, cast interviews, neil patrick harris, read all wiki entries and blog posts re the cast and the show.. i'd laughed and cried (for real) and awww-ed and ewww-ed with the characters.. i can't remember the last time i got so crazy about something :D it's exhausting and thrilling and exciting and time-wasting at the same time *squeals* if there's a fan club, then i wanna be Prez! i can't to re-start watching from S1 again muahahaha i'd be checking into rehab once the show's over for good -- OK himym gush over & out), surfing the net, checking emails, reading blogs, writing this post, thinking about how i was 'reprimanded' at work, about the topics we talked about over a bakuteh dinner w chongy and the hubs just now, about the most major of house "refreshment" project we've undertaken since we moved in and the mess we are gonna need to clear, about Christmas and all things associated with it such as the cell dinner party, church service presentation, gift buying etc. mm it's a wonder that i actually fall asleep each night.

cheers! :D

it kinda hit me on Sat, so i was on observing mode on Sun, but last night sealed the truth for me: i suck at making small talk. ok, a lot of people are not great at small talks either (i think i saw a how-to book in BookXcess once -- i should totally get it).. cos i sure wasn't alone in mumbling my way through the occasions.

i attended two weddings over the weekend [congrats to Charlotte & Simon, and Liling & Michael! :)], and BCM's 50th anniversary celebration [congrats! :) thanks to Steven & Angeline for the invites :)] at Sunway Resort yesterday. met a whole buncha people i knew from the past, and yet most of the conversation was just nothing more than lingering umms and polite smiles.


how are you?
where are you now?


and then what?


i'd try to recall if the person had updated anything on FB, i'd try to make some remarks along that. but those don't really cut it sometimes, plus my gold-fish memory was no help at all.

so where are you now?
[company name]
oh yeah. i knew that. i follow u on twitter.
[awkward silence~]
*surreptitiously slides away*


so you are back for a hol?
yeah, leaving soon... last day tomorrow.
oh ok.
[awkward silence~]
ooh where's your baby?
she's with my mom. hehe..
[awkward silence~]
*furiously plans exit strategy*
oh food is here! i'm gonna go get some..


so do you keep in touch with [another friend]?
erm not really.
[awkward silence~]
*stomach churns in discomfort*


so how is work?
like that la. busy period la, you know.
[awkward silence~]
*furiously plans exit strategy but realised i'm stuck in the same table*

 

yeah i had a bunch of those the past three days. the thing is, i was really excited to see some of these old friends again, cos u you know, at one point in my life, we actually had proper conversations and shared genuine laughter. and now all we have are reduced to how-are-you-fine-thanks-and-you?

and then there were the strangers on the table. i'd think -- ooh potential friends! -- but as you chat on, there's only so much you could ask in an introductory meeting without crossing the privacy/stalker line. and worse if the person does not ask anything in return, and the others practically pretended that i wasn't at the table. there was just a lot of cricket chirping after 15mins.

so how la? see why i'm not in PR? :|

today's post is brought to you be the letter B

B is for blog plugs*.

being an avid blog reader (which is like my main job, although my boss would disagree :P), these two are some of my favs. i'm like wow every time i read their blogs. i hope you'd like them:

1. wendy cooks up a storm or two
• wendy/wanyee and i were housemates back when we were studying in UPM. my impression of her was that she loves cooking and she really knows her way around the kitchen
• once we stayed up to play 'chor dai dee' (a card game) in her room til 5am, the morning i was supposed to sit for a test. i wasn't a very good student, could you tell?
• we kept in touch on and off over the years. she went into teaching and was sent to raub rompin for a few years. she got married a good few years back (some friends and i went to her wedding in sitiawan kampar :P) and is now blessed with two daughters :)
• her blog is very awesome and i shall warn you not to read it on an empty stomach. hehe.. she updates almost every day -- seriously, i don't know where she finds the time to cook and blog DAILY and be a mom.
• her blog is always very informative -- she doesn't just give you the recipe and pictures, she would go into details about some of the uncommon items she uses, such as the proper names, where to get them, cooking tips, web links etc. i've learned so much from just reading. i've also bookmarked the dishes i assume i could make -- but haven't gotten to them. hahaha..  

2. chingz sings and sews (say that now repeatedly & real fast :P)
• ching-ching was my colleague back in cyberjaya, we hardly spoke much less carried a proper conversation. my most memorable impression of her was of her mesmerizing smooth singing when she performed for the annual staff dinner. i'm not a fan of female voices, but hers are one of the few that i do. :)
• can't tell you much about her since we aren't really a friend haha.. but i love her quirky sense of style.. M and i have ooh-ed and ahh-ed in envy at some of her handiwork -- she comes across as a very funny and interesting and creative person. and jazz has called me not-so-nice names for stalking ching2. hahaha..
• she is one mean sewing tenggiling (her word, not mine :) -- she could turn something like this 

to

and make stuff like these (from scratch, or remaking): 

i think i digressed. was thinking more about intro-ing you to her band ATKK (the artists formerly known as Alaling & the Kaya Koks) -- they are giving away for FREE their latest EP which i really really like :)! [ooh, check out the MV for the song Really Hate It too -- it's so cute! :D]

btw i only have a handful of readers so they might not benefit from increased readership this but i really just wanna share the lurve :P



* i might be misusing the word here. probably blog promo is a better word?

'tis ten four two days eve before my 32nd burfday (muse kept going AWOL when i tried to write). and for some weird reason, i keeping that i'm turning 33 [o_O] but at the same time i haven't got out of thinking that i am 30.

[case in point, a snippet of my conversation with chongy a few days ago..

her: you've climbed mount kk before?!
me: i thought you knew that! yeah i did it when i was much younger la.. mm about 4 years ago, yeah in 2006. i was 26-year-old & in a much better shape then.
her: what? 4 years ago you were 28 la! still think you are 30 is it?!
me (performed furious calculations in my head): yeaahhhh :( ]

chatted w jazz recently of this being in our 30s thing and i think i remarked how it isn't as bad as i thought it would be. looking back, we kinda agreed that the stuff our 20s were made of emotional turbulence, maddening uncertainties, stupid mistakes, questionable decisions, frantic identity search, dismantled relationships, and unanswered questions. stuff like that (notice i tend to use 'stuff' a lot when i don't know what i'm saying :P).

while those things didn't magically go away in my 30s (yeah i wish but nooo, they hang on to you like a buncha stubborn barnacles), there was the growing up and a kind of stability that come with age. the folly that was my 20s has humbled me some and taught me much. i have changed, i have been molded. for what it's worth, i think i love God more. and i may love people more. i probably love myself enough already :P i don't expect to sail through life, and while i'm not one to delight in difficulties, hardship or persecution, i want to be made strong in my weakness. i don't want to be like the weed swaying in the wind, a headless chicken running through the streets.

i have an aspired ideal but still, i am still rather restlessly searching and wandering and waiting, and hoping that whatever i'm searching would look me up instead. watching your peers saving//conquering the world can be unnerving if not disheartening, but then again, meh to each our own. this race i am to run, there's no "reaching" in it, it just seems to be going [somewhere], going [nowhere] or going [there]. reaching is, well, the end of the journey, where the prize is given out. in a sobering moment amidst the 'merriment', i just found out that a friend of mine has lost her 8-month-old baby to a hereditary illness just a few hours ago. my heart goes out to them.. sigh :'(


mm, happy birthday to me. :|
 
...

ok, maybe i shouldn't end on such a dour note. i'm actually happy. not bubbling over, but yeah, happy. God has been good to me. he has dealt with me quite a bit this year, and while being disciplined makes me defensive and unreasonable sometimes, i have accepted it as necessary. ye ol' character building, as calvin's dad might say. :) i have been much blessed, and i want to give more of myself, i want to say 'yeah i'm running as to get the prize'.

i echo st francis's prayer, in that:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is discord, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is error, truth.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is sadness, joy.
Where there is darkness, light.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console.
To be understood, as to understand.
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving, that we receive.
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned.
It is in dying, that we are born to eternal life.

so, here's to emotional maturity, better self control, never repeating mistakes, wiser decisions, being comfortable in our own skins, healed relationships, and more unanswered questions til kingdom come. cheers! ;)


...

derek webb, one of my fav artists, has just released his latest album titled 'feedback', an "instrumental electronic worship album, based on the Lord's Prayer". it's superb, as expected. :) chk out this short, set to one of the songs from the album, give us this day our daily bread. Like! :)

mothers know best.

in a chat with a bumming buddy of mine a.k.a. left barnacle a.k.a. jazzy "iwanttoseemynameontheblog" ching (-_-) tis morning:

there's this movie im semi watching while chatting and doing my work
its christmasy show between mother and daughter
mother is like this writer and mother comes to visit...
overbearing but fun woman
so she comes in and goes through her daughter's wardrobe and goes..
all black???? dont u have any colors?
and the daughter was sullen and replies.. yes.. brown and blue.



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
im in blue today


...
touche
hahahahaha
but the daughter's annoyed la...cos she was like fussing over the daughter, get a wax, trim ur eyebrows etc

ahhahaha i can so relate!
wads the movie's name

Smothered.

aahahahahahahhaah
mothers.
:P

[i'm not sure if i've blogged about this, but once my mother called me out of the blue and our e-n-t-i-r-e conversation was about how alllll my clothes are black and how she would never see me in brighter colours and how this would affect my health my life and the planet's political and geological balance. the Queen of England even made a cameo in the conversation because apparently mom read in the newspapers that the Q always travel with a pair of black suit, in case there is a funeral to go for, and so black is for funeral.

and then she made me promise that i would never ever ever buy another black piece of clothing. and when i didn't wanna say no, she tried guilt-tripping me! aww mom. i know she meant well but i was sooo annoyed (called my sis to rant but instead sis got annoyed). but the next time i shopped for a dress, i got this cute red and white number cos i could hear her in my head the whole time.

after that purchase however, my next were 2 black and a grayish blue (the one i'm wearing today =) dresses. i have no idea how that happened. :D

btw a few days after that conversation, we dropped by their place on the way back home. it wasn't a planned visit. i was in black officewear from top to toe, and it was my hubby's bday. go figure how the tête-à-tête with mom went. hahaha..]

i wrote on my FB that 'there are few buzzes comparable to that of buying a book' the day i made my third purchase in as many month from bookdepository.co.uk. but when i received the package bearing its logo on my table yesterday, the first thing that came to mind was 'this tops that', that being the aforesaid FB stat. gotta lurve that feeling! ;)

i don't remember where i first read about this book (update: it was on boingboing). being somewhat a fan of memoirs and a nominal japanophile, it's one of those books i immediately knew i wanted soon i read its review. took me a long time to finally buy it because prior to shopping on bookdepository, shipping cost from amazon.com just ain't worth it (not sure why i didn't check the local bookstores -- they probably have it too). plus the MYR has strengthened much against the USD in the recent few months (bad for my comp's profits, but good for my purchase habit w00t! =)

just finished reading the book last nite (yay - another step closer to my 'read a book a month' goal for 2010 -- which is more like 'not reading anything the first 3 quarters of the year and squeezing everything in the last' but that's quite a mouthful =P anyways...)

author Jake Adelstein is an american journalist who spent 12 years in japan as a crime reporter for the yomiuri shinbun (this is quite something as -- surprisingly -- japanese are rather xenophobic -- many places do not admit/serve foreigners; and yomiuri shinbun is the widest circulated newspapers in japan and the world). the book is about his years there and the japanese underworld a.k.a. yakuza.

reading this book made me rather uneasy. this isn't the japan i know. it reveals the other side of the nation that i'm not acquainted with at all - its print media, a misogynistic society and of course, the yakuza, who are virtually unknown outside the country other than what have been portrayed in movies.

i kept thinking 'all that are going on beneath the glossy kawaii stuff?? how can they (lawmakers and civilians alike) knowingly allow this? these people are outrightly perverted and depraved and ignorant. did you know that japan is a hub of human trafficking and prostitution ring and forced labors, with little or no law to protect their rights? it's sick. :(

Human trafficking is the modern day practice of slavery. Also known as trafficking in persons, human trafficking comprises the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, based on the recruitment, harboring, and transportation of people solely for the purpose of exploitation. Every year traffickers generate billions of dollars in profits at the expense of victimizing millions of people around the world.

Victims of human trafficking are people forced or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. Labor trafficking is widespread in variety of situations that encompass domestic servitude and small-scale labor operations, to large-scale operations such as farms, sweatshops, and major multinational corporations. Sex trafficking is one of the most lucrative sectors regarding the illegal trade in people, and involves any form of sexual exploitation in prostitution, pornography, bride trafficking, and the commercial sexual abuse of children.

[via]

note - adelstein is now the public relations director of Polaris Project Japan which combats human trafficking.  


the book also reveals how extensive the reach of the yakuza empire, and how progressive they have become with time, with their 9 fingers (apparently, one telling sign of a yakuza is a missing digit) in the multi-billion dollar sex and loan shark industries pie and an unmistakable grip over the political and economic scenes.

while adelstein's candour is engaging and sometimes amusing, there were also some poignant anecdotes about the people he has known and lost. it's a cruel and violent picture that he had painted, but also one of unlikely friendships and binding word of honour.

sometimes it's hard to wrap our head around things like this. we shouldn't be surprised at the depth of human depravity, and yet we are. sigh.

on the other hand, we cheer as burmese democratic icon aung san suu kyi is released from her 7-year house arrest (she's spent 15 of the past 20 years under h/a). Burma has been under military dictatorship for the past 48 years. have never really followed her movement, and not quite sure why she's released but i pray that may this signify better things to come for the burmese, that their nation will be rebuilt and they would no longer need to escape their homeland.


listening to some christmas tunes with thoughts about the above swirling in my head. almost surreal. oh hello kitty. good kitty.

#1
dinner with prema, hema & pet: my colls from the first job
piccadily’s at section 17
food was bordering on terrible, even when i tried to not be fussy :P
haven’t met them for like 9 months, and I almost cancelled on this one
cos I had needed to go home and pack (I was leaving for china the next morning)
glad i went
always enjoyed being in this group cos I’d be the youngest hahaha
my (ex)boss turns 40 this year, can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I’ve known her




#2
my most recent haul from bookxcess

zits – love it. could half relate to it. what more could i say? :D

calvin & hobbes – I just can’t get enough of the boy and his tiger. I half want my entire C&H collection be buried with me but that would be a waste, so who wanna call dibs on this most marvelous of collection? Gimme a tinkle. Hahaha..

jeeves – I was soooo glad that I decided to buy this cos I lurved it to bits. Ok, that might be a wee bit exaggerated but really, this is the kinda book that make me wanna stay up whole night and once I’m done would love to read the next one available. this was the 2nd book i brought with me to china, and the rest is history. hahaha.. I can’t wait for the coming Big Bad Wolf Sale!! I’m gonna get my hands on the entire collection (please God let them be dirt cheap!)




#3
supper at papa rich, pj old town
had our drinks al-fresco which was made it all the more awesome when lil whipped out her android phone and showed us this app
can’t remember what it’s called, but it shows all the constellations (neatly labeled) in the sky at any direction the phone is aimed at! ohsofascinating!!! :D
we were waving the phone all over ogling at ‘em shiney heavenly bodies :P
saw most of the major constellations, but couldn’t find the scorpio though :|




#4
one of the five times we had xiao long bao that day
despite Shanghai being the origin of this dish
and this restaurant on “Cheng Huang Miao” which purportedly serves the best
all five times were rather disappointing
trust me, any of the Canton-i restaurants in KL serves much better tasting xlb

for more pics of our china trip, go here and here.




#5
the Mexico pavilion
one of the last few pavilions we visited on our trip to the Shanghai Expo
I like how these look like giant geometrical mushrooms against the dusky sky :)




#6
also taken at the expo
I title this piece “night/day”
go figure ;)


for more pics of us at the shanghai expo, go here.




#7
porridge from this Cantonese restaurant (cannot rber the name – 18 something :P) in Fahrenheit 88
we got quite a deal as there was an branch opening promo (buy 1 free 1) so this cost us like 6bucks per bowl
really yummy – it has like 8 items inside – century eggs, chicken, fish, prawn, scallops, crunchy cruller, etc




#8
tackling the TTDI jogging trail with lil
a relatively easy one
(i know, cos i could talk the entire time, and i spent twice the time here compared to the bukit gasing trail which leaves me huffing and panting in 15mins :D)
last Sunday evening was my third time in three weeks going for a walk
I hope the streak won’t be broken




#9
dinner with hubby at fig & olive in sunway pyramid
the night before deepavali
that was maghribi chicken and olive rice
quite delicious and looks healthy
this place is worth a second visit




#10
view from my parents’ bed
the now very dilapidated home where I grew up
the plank wall is as old as I am
that wall light hasn’t been working since I was in school
and the cheesy calendar pages from c.2005 covering the two walls
dropped by my parents’ place on Saturday after a very nice dimsum brunch w J
chatted about stuff, and mom trying to serenade me with her guzheng skill (I’m not very impressed but don’t tell her that HAHAHA I’m just glad she likes whatever she’s doing)




#11
outside the house, on the way out to the main road
i've always loved the view
and the quietness
the lush trees
i guess all the nutrients from decomposing bodies help hahaha
and in broad daylight it doesn’t seem so scary right :)




#12
the last time Jersoon played for me
he and Clara have recently graduated and more recent still have received and accepted job offers in Spore
I think I’m still trying to come to term with this loss to the team

but I wish them the very best – at that age, the world’s their oyster :)




#13
lunch with chongy
departure lounge, damansara utama
she had to layan herself for a whole hour cos I was ignoring her :D
I had needed to work on the powerpoint slides for my church anniversary the following day
my fault for having delayed it (sorry, chongy + anniv organizing comm.)
btw I concur with the her friends’ observation that she has developed a sense of style and dressing that go well with her ;)

for pics of my church anniv, go here.


last but no least:
i just *HEART* this music video from David Crowder Band – it just oozes the awesomeness that are stop-motion and Lite-Brite. see it pwease! :D

david crowder band :: shine (SMS)

"I was watching BET one night, and they were interviewing a man about jazz music. He said jazz music was invented by the first generation out of slavery. I thought that was beautiful because, while it is music, it is very hard to put on paper; it is so much more a language of the soul …

The first generation out of slavery invented jazz music. It is a music birthed out of freedom. And that is the closest thing I know to Christian spirituality. A music birthed out of freedom. Everybody sings their song the way they feel it, everybody closes their eyes and lifts up their hands."

"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes.

After that I liked jazz music.

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way."

[via donald miller, blue like jazz]

read the book on the way to shanghai (oh btw i ended up bringing two books for the hol, despite the 'ambitious' tag. am thankful i did :D the flight was about 5 hours, by which time i almost finished with one book.

this was easy reading, much like reading a blog, but it left me wanting by the end of it. like how he has described jazz music, the book didn't resolve. maybe the hype of "more than one million copies sold" got to me. maybe it wasn't meant to be. ah well. appreciate his honesty though. a lot of us are jerks but we wouldn't admit it, what more have it published and publicized. also i could relate to his "in my own world" thingy -- not the best of traits by any measure, but it's just who he is. heh - he feels like a friend now. the book's gonna be made into a movie -- wonder how it would translate on screen. it would not likely be shown here, so here's to torrents and downloading.

happy friday!

duke ellington & john coltrane :: in a sentimental mood

happy 8th, hubby!

:)

i know what love is
i bask in its splendor
i balk at its sacrifice

and i pride myself of these things
sometimes

but who am i kidding.

He is jealous for me

loves like a hurricane

I am a tree bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy

when all of a sudden

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory

And I realise just how beautiful You are

And how great Your affections are for me

And oh, how He loves us so,

Oh how He loves us,

How He loves us all

We are His portion and He is our prize,

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,

If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.

And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,

I don't have time to maintain these regrets,

When I think about, the way?

#1
saw this gorgeous sky from the putra train, after work, on the way to meet jazz for a dinner of fish head noodle in bandar puteri puchong. didn't get the name of the restaurant, but it serves salmon sashimi and even cod in place of the normal fried fish with the noodle. a bit the pricey though, but yummeh!

back to the pic, my hat off to the awesome Painter. =)




#2
my siblings came back -- on separate trips -- a couple of weekends ago. sis came back first w her bestie ah jane, then kel, then mel with his gal liyani and her dad, so there were some wonderful meals with a lot of catching up. heart! brought mel+liyani+L's dad to putrajaya for a night tour after one of the dinners. it was my first time there (at nite as a tourist) as well.. :)

oh well, they've all gone back down south. and i reawwy, reawwy miss them. :(












#3
this was after dinner w hubby at an indonesian restaurant in taman desa. i had some kinda nasi with fried chicken (not unlike ayam penyet) while hubby had the same with fish (not unlike otak-otak). food was decent -- definitely will be back for second round cos i spied sambal petai udang on its menu. yums.

was too full after dinner so walked around -- there was a korean shop (not unlike lotte mart)(yes, there are a lot of 'not unlike' in this para hehe) in the neighborhood so we dropped by and bought some korean ramen perisa sotong (we had two steaming bowls of them by the next day - nice!) -- before settling here at hailam kopitiam for coffee. =D



#4
saturdays are made of these: pampering and good food. hehehe. since i fell sick (on a weekend no less! grrr..), i self-prescribed a pedi to make the days easier to bear. and not surprisingly, ww also shared my sentiments, so there we were, sniffling and coughing and wrapping paper wantons away as our feet were washed and nails trimmed and painted. oo-ee! haha.. was supposed to have lunch thereafter w another friend but she ffk-ed me last min, so ww and i just cont'd the afternoon with lunch at woo pin fish head noodle restaurant (very near that indon rest in #3)(i wuv fish head noodle, can you tell? hehe). it was my first time eating the sang yu (un-fried fish) version of the noodle. bunchabones aside, it was goood, and i finished all my soup. hehehe..

spent the rest of the day at my mom's place, sewing away. whee! got all six pillow covers done, and just started on the curtains. just gonna close one eyes to the senget lines. hahaha..

admiring my pedi on the new quilt sheet. you can't see it here, but the shade on one foot is darker than the other. i couldn't decide which one i liked better, so i had one on each feet.




#5
that's my nephew eu jin (BIL's baby) -- so cute! he turned one (obviously) recently. was supposed to have a small party yesterday but he was down with the flu -- the poor thing -- so we just had a simple cake cutting ceremony. the jelly cake was nice and ohsoprettyiloverainbow, but i could only take two bites as i was really, really stuffed from our banana leaf lunch w chongy, whom i've not seen since forever (a month?!). well, hubby was already asking of her whereabouts, which means that it's been too long. too long, ya hear! don't be a stranger ok. and have an awesome holiday!! :D

kitty looks on approvingly.

#6
one of the harder decisions to make when going on a vacay is "which book to bring?" something too deep and my brain will hurt (more likely that i won't be interested), too simple and i'd be done before the plane touch down at the destination. bringing two books would just be too ambitious and unnecessarily taking up space meant for holiday loot ;), but not bringing any is inconceivable. urgh.

well, i've gotten it right before, but i've also experienced lugging along a hardcover book which i didn't even flip through, so it's all touch and go when it comes to such decisions.

anyways, that book came in the mail today. i literally squealed when the mail room guy passed the envelope  to me. hahaha.. wouldn't you?! at 239 pages, it should be just about right (if i don't start reading now la). so yeah, grandfatherland, here i cometh.

happy birthday, sis!!

30 years of sisterhood. this is surreal.

...

don't really know what to say. hahaha..
just this: love & miss you lotsss!! :D


[sorry a bit the late, but i've backdated this post :D]

hey [sister], do you remember when

we used to play outdoors

'till the light was absorbed by the night.

hey [sister], it was an innocent time.

we used to laugh 'till we cried,

but still [girls] on the inside.

(I wanna do it again)

first time staying out all night.

last time that we got away with lies.

I can hear it in the back of my mind.

over and over again.

(I wanna do it again)

late nights and early lights.

never thought it would come to a goodbye.

I replay it on the back of my mind

over and over again.

(I wanna do it again)


anberlin :: younglife

Hellowwwwwwww, did anyone miss meeeeee? :D

the date of my last post was 7 September -- i think that was about the longest (in?)voluntary break i've ever taken from blogging. heh. oh well, it's been a busy month, but in a good way cos despite the long hours, i kinda love what i've been doing -- but i do hope that by the end of next week, i'd be clocking shorter hours again. can't wait.

some random pics since i last posted (won't gonna be bothered with chronological order:


church camp at cameron, early september

 

#1
dimsum at the famous foh san in ipoh with the entourage going up



#2
i forgot what the joke here was already. seemed funny then.



#3
strawberry moment cafe - weiwen - strawberry strudel



#4
mamak session opposite where we stayed (cool point hotel)
there's a starbucks a few shops up.oh the commercialisation of it all.



#5
kea farm, near equatorial hotel -- auntie arul buying vegetable




#6
i saw a guy woking his rubik's cube on the train ride to the office one morning
and i thought to myself
hey i wish i could solve one of these like u know, one thing to do before i die kinda thing
so i got myself one
and it's in the corner collecting dust
some day.




#7
eggs, asparagus, tomatoes & some intoxicating mushroom -- everything fresh from cameron (eggs fr supermarket though) -- our first meal home from camp. major YUMS.

 


#8
dinner w hubby at zang toi's west 57th cafe
it was a convenient but ended to be a very poor choice
its banana chocolate cake is still to die for
but the food quality was terrible



#9
no. 8 was supposed to be a bday dinner but it failed so bad so i made it up
food here was the yums
cost about the same as the above, but we loved this!
went to the j. ampang branch -- quiet, lovely ambience -- there was hardly another soul there, save for another table

 


#10
farewell lunch for the brainiac couple
debbie's off to nottingham for the year to complete her masters degree in law
while yingks would be finishing his PhD in about the same time
i hope they'd catch some good musicals and visit those old castles they like
best wishes!




#11
the office tower in which i work
waiting for hubs after work one night




#12
hub's friends from tawau - ps george and his wife - on a 3 day stop by KL en route to china for a 2-week missions work
hope to visit them next year!



#13
yumcha after lunch on sunday
this was at K3K in kuchai


#14
at glad tidings, jalan gasing
two of hubby’s friends were ordained recently – congrats rev Joel & rev Tryphena!
rev joel, ps george (from #13) and hubby first knew each other from our recent trip to lahad datu and struck a quick friendship
life's like that sometimes.


apology for the poor captions
it's a lazy Saturday afternoon so please don't hold it against me
i'll try to fix them later if i could
i proofread two annual reports back to back yesterday
so i'm really zoned out
thank God for the weekend