another 28 things that i was thankful for..

* 28 feb :: found another place with mille crepe @cafe indulge, kuchai. free coffee (cashier forgot to incl, boss waived =)
* 27 feb :: outing w sis, cs & sheryl (i've missed u!! =) @ikea. awesome dinner & post-dinner chat w the family. mom said my siew yoke is better than those sold. <3
* 26 feb :: sibs are back! <3 spending time w them..
* 25 feb :: hubby going all the way to PJ to send me to class
* 24 feb :: movie w hubby
* 23 feb :: angpow from bosses
* 22 feb :: buffet lunch @MO
* 21 feb :: quiet day
* 20 feb :: open houses
* 19 feb :: short work week! :)
* 18-feb :: helpful & efficient staff @EPF counter; lunch with J :)
* 17 feb :: hubby picked me up fr work. new skirt & shoes (angpow $$ ^^)
* 16 feb :: finished Glee! :)
* 15 feb :: slept during car ride to/from segamat :)
* 14 feb :: angpow, angpow, angpow! :)
* 13 feb :: clear traffic back to Sban (on LEKAS highway)
* 12 feb :: porky dinner w hubby @eurodeli ^^ "walking exercise" aft dinner.
* 11 feb :: nite class (life of Christ). i might not rber ething, but i hope i got stg.
* 10 feb :: got hold of Glee eps 7-13 (thanks lil!) our isetan escapade is a story worth 2 laughs :)
* 09 feb :: evening at kopitiam w hubby
* 08 feb :: mom's discharged!
* 07 feb :: peter pork noodle, brickfields ;)
* 06 feb :: watched 2 of my fav movies ^^ - coraline &esotsm
* 05 feb :: mom is okay (it wasn't dengue)
* 04 feb :: i think i have a very good boss :) i ought to work harder.
* 03 feb :: meeting up T & S after forever. PORKY dinner. 'nuff said.
* 02 feb :: meeting up w S after 1 month^^ lip smacking beef rib soup @daorae ^^
* 01 feb :: sleeping in

had wanted to catch Little Big Soldier on CNY but the cinemas were packed (we were in Sban). finally managed to catch it today at KLCC with hubby.

mm, bromance movies are all the rage these days it seems. at least, the ones i've been watching were all that haha.. I love 'em! you wouldn't catch me paying to go watch Valentine's Day. rom com just ain't my cuppa!

here, Leehom is.. ok, he was covered in dirt throughout the movie (he played a General who was held captive by a deserting soldier from the opposing camp played by Jackie)(they have chemistry methinks =)(and that was what pulled the movie together)(Jackie said he wrote this movie 20 years ago, and would have cast himself in Leehom's role had it gotten made then) but he (Leehom, in case you're lost in the maze of my parentheses) was so ruggedly handsome. LOL. never thought i'd use that phrase to describe anyone, but it's getting late ya know.

so yeah, i really like it. obviously. :) there were some rather funny scenes, some moving ones, some huh-what? ones too.. quite balanced lah. can see Jackie's age showing, but his trademark stunt choreography was still pretty evident (and I don't think they get old!). the storyline -- 'twas nothing new la, but the ending is atypical so it gets some points for that.

sigh.. doesn't he just ooze charm?

as for Leehom (again), I'm not a big fan of his songs (don't like the sound), but he's one very talented guy. and he speeks england so well done. me likey! :D

*fangirly scream* leehom!! ^__^

grrr...
i was pretty angsty this morn. been so for a good part of the week.. the month? i don't know. ranted on and on to bom bom as we shared about church and christians and everything in between. traded war stories on obnoxious members and half hearted pew warmers. i've actually a pretty lengthy nasty post typed out.. but i'll let that simmer for a while. shdn't post things so impulsively kan. i'm still in a pissy mood la..


burrp!
lunched at mandarin oriental today, courtesy of the company. the buffet spread was quite nice, but i wasn't adventurous.. went two rounds for the mains, and came back twice with almost the same stuff on my plate: sashimi, grilled prawns and lamb, arugula and romaine salad with smoked salmon.. mm that's about it. loved the greens.. my colon needed it after the meat fest that was CNY. hehe.. the dessert spread was quite nice. shared with sophia almost everything they had to offer. a special mention of the nian gao (a sticky chinese dessert[?] fried with a light batter) and ice cream (can't rber but the ones i tried had some pretty exquisite names).

post-CNY diet is SO ON. my pants won't talk to me til i drop some pounds. FINE.


whee!
i managed to gather a bunch of people to part with their hard earned money to go to the musical chongy is starring in (see poster below). quite proud of myself. *self pat* some of them do not know each other, except for me and/or chongy. gonna buy the tics tomorrow (for next Tue 2-Mar 8.30pm @KLPAC if anyone's interested! RM28 only. dai dou lan lahh ;), before these ppl change their minds.. haha.. i'm suddenly nervous that the tics would be sold out. :S

this reminded me of my Mount KK trip -- i somehow talked a group of strangers (to each other but me) into going on that grueling journey. admittedly it felt a little awkward but there were some cool ppl in the group who made things easier (i guess i was good at asking but poor at planning itinerary). anyways, if they liked me enough to agree to that, it just meant that they are great ppl la.. :) not saying that this would turn out to be like that, hahaha, but it sounds fun. meet new ppl mar.

kinda :( though thinking about the "fishes that got away" (friends who couldn't make it.. lol i dunno why i called you guys that). i sincerely wish you all could have made it. no, i don't get any commission because apparently, according to the cheeky thespian, our friendship *is* my commission. -__-"

oohh..
i can't divulge much here but i had a very interesting (fun, rather) conversation with J re a common acquaintance, who happens to know a certain friend of mine who's involved in the musical above. hahaha.. what can i say, it's a small world after all. and if a certain other arrangement work out, we'll all be.. happy. LOL!


sighh..
life. i've so much to say. going through a very cynical phase in my life if you don't know that already from what i've written. and the more i read, the more i listen, the more i know, the more discouraged i become. Ecclesiates Part Deux, i am thy scribe.

i'm barely hanging on by the threads of hope rooted in my faith.

When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

[psalm 73:21-26]

it's amazing to find that halfway across the globe there's someone walks in my shoes (in a way :D)..

I’ve wanted a pair of Chuck Taylor All Stars since I was in middle school. I never got them then. And then I wanted some in high school – but still didn’t get them for some reason. Then in college, I thought about it again. And I think I went out looking for them one day but just didn’t get around to buying them – don’t know why.

...

They are a very comfortable shoe – and it’s not that wearing them makes me feel like I’m back in high school…I’m not sure entirely sure what it is, but I just really like them. They’re fun shoes. And they kind of make me take myself a little less serious…which is probably a good thing for everyone.

[adam cleaveland (while you are there and if it interests you, do check out the rest of his "heavier" writing/reflection on post-modernity and the church)]

this has been on my list of wants for a while now.
and this is the exact pair that i want. wat can i say, i'm a simple gal who knows what she wants ;) hahaha.. and i'm surprisingly patient when i know i what, adamant even. so unlike my usual "wadever" self. :P

whee! Glee!

i practically "worshiped" my lappie over the CNY break -- spent most of my awake time with eyes glued to its screen, watching movies (more on that later, probably), and Glee!



caught season 1 from episodes 7-13, and started all over from eps 1-6 cos i'd wanted to refresh my memory -- i watched eps 1-3 over video stream way back when i wasn't working -- that was what, October? wow, that's like 4 months ago. ack! anyways, i only streamed the first three episodes then -- gave up watching when the connection was too slow. i then got eps 4-6 from chongy, which was all she had then, to watch on my (somewhat new) comp lappie hehehe.. and last week with the long CNY hol coming up, i knew i had to stock up on something to keep me occupied (i used to read, but mm, not in the mood to these days :( ).. i was asking around, and there were some kind souls who offered but getting them were logistically difficult.. but thanks to lils (who i wondered if she wondered why i was so insistent in meeting up with her the few days before CNY.. haha..) she completed my (tv watching) life with the remaining eps (plus other movies)! thanks, babe! ^^

so, Glee. i would not use superlatives here to describe it -- it's just a(n intentionally-so-i-heard) stereotypical high school drama with lotsa songs ^^.. i.e. it's FUN!

anyways, my fav scene so far is the guys' mash-up - where they combined bon jovi's it's my life and usher's confession. i super lurrrve it! hehe.. the energy, the song combo, the other asian guy ;) (check out 1:21 in the vid below, isn't that like the coolest dance move!?!).. ^__^[yeah, i broke my earlier no-superlative rule.. but it's a well deserved mention.. hehehe..]

apology for the video (it's like watching from behind the mirror) but it's the best on youtube i cld find rite now. this song was on loop the whole of today. makes me wanna... grab a mic and sing out loud here in my cubie!! ^_^ karaoke wld be a safer and saner option. *excited*

[managed to rope zul fel n jazz to go K with me.. but when i called to make reservation for Mon night at Red Box Gardens -- this is after a longgg logistics discussion [cheers to gtalk group chat! i missed using this.. reminds me of my very fun Cyberjaya days..] -- they informed me that it would cost RM48++ per pax 0_o sorry ler, i got no $$ to spare this month :( sighhhh.. i really really wanna go..]

minor grievances abt the show aside, i'm proudly wearing my Gleek badge! ^__^w00t!



note: ep 13 is the mid-season finale (the remaining 9 eps will be available for illegal download soon as they are broadcasted. hahaha..)

p/s: CNY this year was so so hot. but NOT HOT ENOUGH to melt away my fats. arghh..

ooh so pretty! she squealed
her heart pounded as her eyes feasted
ravishing sapphire and sublime ruby
oh my i can't decide, she hesitated
mm.. but i've always loved blue

and she lives happily ever after.

O God, hold me now
O Lord, hold me now
there's no other man who could raise the dead
so do what You can to anoint my head
O God, where are you now?
O Lord, say somehow

the david crowder band :: O God where are You now? (in pickerel lake? pigeon? marquette? mackinaw?)




please be here.

but you are!

[from tumblr]

*doubling over in giggles*
tee hee! whee! ^__^

all together now..

awwwww... SO KIIIIIIUTTTT!!!!! :D

i've never really been a fan of this franchise, i just don't mind watching it la. let's see if this was any good. :)

"welcome to the real world", she said to me condescendingly
take a seat, take your life
plot it out in black and white
well, I never lived the dreams of the prom kings and the drama queens
I'd like to think the best of me is still hiding up my sleeve

john mayer :: no such thing

argh, john mayer.. you disappoint me. i just started liking your songs (after all these years!) -- your acoustic set is pretty nifty and i rber thinking, wow he's a funny fella! when i read your Esquire articles -- and then you had to do that utterly uncouth bordering vulgar interview with playboy? you think you are just being open, being who you are, and you know that some people will love you (or who they imagine you to be) no matter what.

i wonder if i should separate your arts and the person that is you, the same question i ask when i think of tiger wood and roman polanski and amy winehouse and james cameron. i've ignored the media attention surrounding your string of public romance cos i think it's never easy having a relationship under scrutiny, but this..

i thought i'd just appreciate your works and ignore the kind of person you are. who am i to judge right? but i can't separate you like that. just as (i know this is a lofty example) how God's glory is reflected in his creation, your initials brands your songs. when i press play and bob to no such thing, i hear you saying all those things you shouldn't have. so why, john, why?

gimme some time to think about this, but for now, i don't think we are going to work out. i'm not proud of it but i've already judged you.



update @10.30am: oh you apologised. got tears somemore. aish. i know how lembut hati i am. i know how the media works sometimes, and i know integrity is a word bandied about like it's to be revered, but we know they don't care s*** about it. it's always about revenue and circulation and shareholders. (yeah, i'm quite frustrated with them right now. stupid mkini.) but yeah, let me think about this some more..

i spent sunday night watching the R-rated satirical bromance flick harold & kumar: escape from guantanamo bay (yes, i've been watching a lot of movies these days. making up for the lost years.. haha! on the same note, i also watched knocked up, upon which i knew for sure that i would never deliver a baby the natural way if i ever got pregger. just cut me up and take him/her out, my dear ob-gyn).

back to H&K.. it was quite a mindless but funny show, with some nudity (i'd rather they didn't), a lot of vulgarity, and the ever awesome neil patrick harris. :)

the reason i posted this so-called review is cos my fav part of the movie is this poem recited by the titular kumar to the "only girl he's ever loved".. it's so cute and aww-inspiring. *giggles*

I fear that I will always be
a lonely number like root three

the three is all that’s good and right,
why must my three keep out of sight
beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

for nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic
I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321
such is my reality, a sad irrationality

when hark! what is this I see,
another square root of a three

as quietly co-waltzing by,
together now we multiply
to form a number we prefer,
rejoicing as an integer

we break free from our mortal bonds
with the wave of magic wands
our square root signs become unglued
your love for me has been renewed

david feinberg :: square root of three

[]

an early happy valentine's to all integers.. & sq root nos too! ;)

i would text my parents in Chinese sometimes, using whatever limited characters i could recognise. and i think my mom kinda overestimated my ability to read Chinese.. cos i woke up at 6.30 this morning to her SMS which, among others, contained these characters:

孩子们,妈妈打胜病魔..你们回家后可以好好为我......精力.. and 4 last characters which read like a CNY greeting like 恭喜发财 or something like that (it wasn't la, but i don't know what it meant. the pinyin goes stg like 'yuan man ji chang'{?})

in my groggy state, i could only recognise 孩子们 (dear children), 打 (hit), 魔 (demon), and 你们回家后可以好好为我 (when you reach home, you must do [something] for me).. 精 (spirit?)..

this obviously freaked me out because she was still in the hospital.. what's this about hitting demons?? and do what when we go home?? you can imagine what went thru my mind. i dialled her number immediately.

me: what happened, ma? what is your SMS saying??

mom: you ah.. sometimes when i call you, the phone will ring off the hook and you wouldn't pick up. what are you doing up so early?

me: yaaa.. i gotta get to work, ma. so what's going on??

mom: no la. i just said that i [reads out SMS to me]. you understand?

me: err no.

mom: 打胜病魔 means i've overcome my fever already (literally, have victory over the fever demon.. wha-? who talks like that?!). and ["CNY greeting"] is.. [lost in translation]..

me: *relieved but still groggy* uh huh. glad u r ok.. take care, ma. i gotta wake up dy..

aiyo MOM!

^__^

[from lolmart]

mommy
my mom was admitted to the hosp on Thu on suspicion of dengue, as she's had fever for more than a week running now. thank God the blood test came back negative, but she's still being warded for observation. her temp's been oscillating between 38 & 39 degree celcius the past few days. doc said there will be another round of blood test tmr. :|

i pray that she wld be all right soon. it's her birthday on Sunday. she's turning 55. like, wow.


coffee, tea and me
i became a "tea person" sometime last year. i don't quite rber exact details surrounding the epiphany, but i was aware of the events leading up to it.. helping myself to a bunch of free tea bags from hilton when we had an event there, buying green tea teabags from the hypermarket, occasionally choosing tea over coffee to go with the cake at dessert.. it just happened.

one reason i like tea is that i could drink it without sugar. milk with tea is a definite No-no. my body plain rejects it. but coffee's all right. one of my fav tea place is societea, a fortuitous find for both chongy and i [can't wait til we get to hang out again, when her theatrical endeavor ends (expect another promo on this soon :)]. love the ambience and the selection of tea. :)

depending on mood, i usu get either mocha or americano -- weirdly these are both extremes, one very sweet, the other rather bitter -- from the ubiquitous starbuck joints. it's in the 'indulge' category right now, it's just too pricey for a poor office worker like me. boo hoo. anyways, i don't take latte/cappucino after seeing how it's prepared -- the amount of milk put in just puts me off. blergh.

i like the kopitiam variety too. the proliferation of kopitiams around KL in the past few years made getting a cuppa local joe almost effortless. i usu go to oldtown or hailam (not pappa rich cos they are so expensive. the rich in their name must have referred what we would make them). i also like cafe chawan in bangsar, which has like 15 various types (maybe more) of coffee from all over msia.. ipoh, kluang, tenom, kemaman, cap kapal api, cap tupai, you name it. the only thing i don't like abt that plc is that it's open air = smokers. urgh.

nevertheless, a nicely chilled H2O is still my fav bev. ;) think i'll go get a glass before i con't writing. :)

i would so lurrve this tea sub. and while milk repulses me, this jug is so cute!!!!

focus
i read/edited 28 pages of text in under 2 hours on Wed. mm, so i *can* focus if i *need* to, but not if i *want* to.


test
i crammed one month's worth of notes in a 45min revision, in the train on the way to class. the test paper creamed me. it was awful. sigh.


project 365/2010
life sucks. right now it does. which is all the more why i make myself count my blessings. looking back at the 31 items that i had in January does remind me that yeah, it wasn't that bad. another part of me might argue otherwise.. perspective, girl, perspective.

mm, this kinda remind me.. where's yours? :P

i watched two movies today - both of which i've been itching and scratching to watch for ages! THANK YOU, BIT TORRENT!!!! hehe.. it's a shame i never used you earlier.

anyways, because you my astute readers *ahem* know i only recommend the best and nothing but*, so do be an angel and catch these if you haven't already. :)


so. i started the morning with a delicious serving of coraline

ooh the movie posters are so pretty i don't know which to choose, so here are all of them!




don't we sometimes wish for an alternate universe where everything we don't like about this is reversed? your parents are your best pals, your boyfriend is the dream, your housekeeping skills rival that of martha and your corporate skills matches the donald.. it's a nice castle to build, but everything has a price. how much are we willing to sacrifice?

but ooh, i so wanna read the book!!! neil gaiman might as well be my new fav author. :)


for lunch, i had a simple pasta and eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

the premise of this movie has long intrigued me: that you could undergo a procedure to completely erase the painful memories of a person or an event or whatever it is that so grieve and cripple you, so one is liberated to move on. don't we all want that at some point of our lives? no? oh wow.

how happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
the world forgetting, by the world forgot.
eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.

alexander pope :: eloisa to abelard

but do we really want to forget? do we really want hazy memories of ripped diary pages and drawing blanks? well, at the points when emotions are at their most intense, when vivid memories cause long nights and wads of used tissues, who wouldn't say yes? but again, do we really want to forget? mm.. my jury is still out on this one.




you know, i'm envious of movie review writers who are able to articulate so clearly what they see and beyond in what they watch. me, i just went with a simple rating of how emotionally moved i am on a scale of 1-5, but it's just something rather subjective and almost impossible to quantify. like, what does 3.5 mean?

* maybe i should warn against crap like ninja assassin which still gives me the hives. i really do hate it to have wasted time watching turkeys like those - i would much prefer staring into blank space - at least what goes on in my head is farrr more interesting!

** yeah i don't know what's up with the CAPS and exclamation marks! just excited i guess.

google told me first thing in the morning that it's norman rockwell's birthday today.
you might not know him, but you would definitely have seen his work, esp if you've been to isetan on christmas. :)

doth this jolly ol' man look familiar?
he's on your isetan xmas paper bags. :)


self portrait


sweet, sweet Gossip. nah.


if i were a boy.. or beyonce. ;)


is it the same lil boy all grown up? :)


u might have seen this before. still my fav.

i'm feeling the hollow echoes of ecclesiates 1 superpoking me.

⁸ All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.

⁹ What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

[ecc 1:8-9]

but i'm kinda numbed.
...


or not.

our God is an awesome God
he reigns from heaven above
with wisdom power and love
our God is an awesome God

hollow echoes? -__-"