hello, November.

So we are entering into my most favorite month, no prize for guessing why haha! I think November is the Friday night of month. Like how Friday is the beginning of the weekend, November is the beginning of the end of the year, and like how the whole weekend is still ahead, it feels like there's still time at this point to revisit the year's plan and resolutions and work towards ticking off more items off the bucket/resolution list. Holidays are looming and half the fun is in the anticipation. Christmas will soon be in the air, but it's not quite there yet, no rush for gift buying, no pressure for year end activities. The new year is still kinda far away. I love November. :)

Revisiting a song here. Quoting the bits I like. Leaving out the bits I don't. This is so me, right? :)

I know a girl whose head is in a twirl
She has her own lovely little world
And cause she likes me I get to look inside
And when I do the things that I see
Like trips to Spain and houses in the trees
Makes me wish that my mind was just as free

So baby, I know it's fun to play
And let your thoughts drift away
Dreamer, that's what you are

Mayer Hawthorne :: Fantasy Girl (Cover)

Finally, today I found out what it really was. Haha! Took me long enough...

Have you ever heard a word?
Rather be lonely in love, than alive with you and dead
Have you ever heard a word?
Hear me out this time (Hear me out this time)
Have you ever heard a word?
Rather be lonely in love, than alive with you and dead.
Have you ever heard a word?
Hear me out this time (Hear me out this time)

Anberlin :: There Is No Mathematics To Love And Loss

i sure know how to embarrass myself :\

horror of horrors.

so last night i went back to my parents' place because they had a harvest of bananas and asked me to go back for some. the hubby wasn't free so i went back alone which i'm usually okay with cos it's my old home and i practically grew up there.. but then again, i haven't been back in a while as they have moved out, only that they go back there every morning to cook and prepare soyabean drinks for sale. oh have I mentioned my old house is right smack in the middle of a Chinese cemetery? it doesn't bother me though---I've never had any eerie experiences of any sort. it's just a place where home was.

the thing is, it is not so much the spirits than the serpentine that bother me. as i was reaching home, i remembered how my parents have been telling me about their recent encounterSSS with SNAKES OMG. if there are two things that i am most terrified of, they are syringes/needles and SNAKES. just thinking about them can make me stop dead in my track---i have vivid imagination, what can i say. anyway they told me about this HUGE snake (i think it's python) that they have seen around and how fast that bloody thing moves and all.

my imagination was already going wild the whole time but i didn't realise how scared i was until i parked. my parents were not home and it was quite dark all around. i left my car ignition and lights on and i walked to the back of the house to get in. the house is this dilapidated structure (my parents built it around the time i was born and it's made of wood and hasn't stood the test of time---anyone up for a tour haha) and it wasn't very well lit and images of snakes flying out from nowhere and mauling me had me close to tears - ok I cried a bit - it was a page right out of a horror movie okay no kidding.

i was so petrified that i stood at some spots for so long, wondering if i should turn back.. but i kept inching forward (like a classic protagonist who's gonna die in the next scene). getting into the house took spy-like ability (old house, tricky locks) and i was using my phone as flashlight but it was running out of battery so i had to get in before it was all dark. of all the days i didn't keep it charged.. -_-

i got in after some fumbling about and i stopped and looked at every spot in my house where i've previously seen a snake, half expecting one there. and i couldn't see where my parents left the bananas and they didn't pick up my calls until a good few times later. all i could only think about was my imminent death by then.. stuff like if i would have time to text everyone a farewell message, and which order that would go, or if i should just send a mass text in case i died quick.. my heart was pounding the whole time and my body was so tense and i probably heard my blood coursing through every vein and capillary.

thank God kitty was home and her meowing provided some assurance to me. i suppose if there were danger she would be hissing with hair standing up instead of rubbing herself against me and trying to get me to pet her, right? i was told that the bananas were in my old room which is like this spooky and dark room and again i contemplated whether to just leave empty handed. but i thought if i survived this, my parents might not be so pleased so i soldiered on. i ran in, quickly took a comb and dashed out of the room and patted the cat and left the house with my heart intact but really, what an ordeal i had to suffer for a bunch of bananas.

home schome, i am srsly never ever going back there alone again.

Here's a rundown of what happened last weekend if I don't get to write about the activities in details (I would love to, but hmm don't know if I have the time).

On Friday, the girls and I went for our US visa interview, and we got it! That's one step closer for us, a major hurdle crossed. Now down to getting the flight tickets and planning the itinerary. Am super excited -- obviously. Spent the late morning celebrating at a cafe in Ampang Hilir, and had a nice chat -- haven't met up like this in a while. I miss it. And guess we won't have the chance to do the same for another year, since S is moving to China to teach. Sigh. Went back to work. Was supposed to roll out a project but it didn't happen. Was miffed. On Fri night, I completed watching Death Note (got that write up out!)

On Saturday, I woke up early cos the hub said we should go hiking. He got lazy. I couldn't sleep after getting an email from my colleague about said project which incensed me. Didn't bother with work thereafter. We went for pork noodle brekkie in OUG and then in the afternoon I started reading Lisa See's Peony in Love. I decided that I should read in a book between my anime, because I should. That evening, I went to watch P Ramlee The Musical with J and M, and it was awesome. The night couldn't have ended on a higher note than when Tiara Jacquelina announced the Puteri Gunung Ledang Reunion Concert next month end. I was delirious.

On Sunday, we went for nasi lemak brunch at Village Park DU, and then spent the rest of the afternoon in Canaanland bookstore. Were poorer by RM400++ but so happy that I got some new books. Since we were not hungry, we spent the next couple of hours at a cafe in TTDI and read some more. More reading when I got home, and then it was the end of the day.

'Twas a quiet but another really awesome weekend. :)

I don't know why it didn't cross my mind to watch Death Note earlier on, but boy am I glad I did. I LOVE it! I read the manga back then and liked it, but I never went very far into the plot as copies were hard to come by. I love the characters, the drawings, the pace, the drama and the story line. Ok, not totally and I need to clarify that. But I can't do it without spoilers, so please click on the link after this image below to continue reading. Don't do it if you plan to watch the show. I'd totally recommend this to anyone who hasn't though. For me, it was definitely a worthy show to catch after the brilliant Steins;Gate, since I had worried about finding something I'd like that would match up.

Oh speaking of a worthy successor, I did start Cowboy Bebop since it was so highly recommended, but sorry fanboys and -girls, it didn't do anything for me and I stopped after Ep 4. I am not a fan of dated drawing (the anime came out in 1998, so the quality of the drawing -- to simplistic -- reflects its age) so it was hard for me to go through with it. Also I'm not fan of spaceships or bounty hunters.. I might be rewarded if I stayed on, apparently the show touches on deeper human issues like existentialism and other philosophical stuff.. but mm, mayybe another time ok? I guess why it appeared on the top of so many lists was because those people watched it when it first came out, and so it was a huge part of their childhood.. and nostalgia is a strong factor in such lists. To each her own... at least I checked it out. :)