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Thursday, 10-07-2008

Today, I Did Some Thinking

While walking back home from work earlier, I did some thinking. I usually do a lot of thinking and today was one of those days. Sometimes I unwind by drowning myself in music and my brain goes blank and I try not to analyze what I’ve done today.

Today was not one of those days. Today, I did some thinking.

I thought about rage. I thought about anger. Why are people so angry? What makes us so angry to the point we hurt other human beings, physically, mentally, by words, by cock-stares and all the other stuff? I was reading the front page of a local newspaper today, this young 18 years old girl was murdered by her boyfriend because she broke up with him. And on previous front pages recently, I read about passengers hitting bus drivers, passengers hitting other passengers because the other was talking too loud on the phone, man hitting a by-stander because the latter was staring at him arguing with his wife, employers abusing their maid, and …. you get the point.

These are the everyday people you see, on the streets, at the market, in the lifts, your neighbours, your everyday people looking normal on the outside, but waiting to burst like a wild animal that has been caged up for so long, unable to control their emotions, their anger, their rage, doing things I suppose they would never think in their lifetime they would do.

I thought about the everyday things that get me pissed off too. It didn’t help that next in my playlist was "Killing In The Name" by Rage Of The Machines, "Bleed It Out" by Linkin Park and "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette.

Just little little things irks me.

Like how my office’s next unit don’t ever flush properly after she finished shitting, leaving a stain of brownish dump in the toilet bowl which makes the water yellowish and it’s fucking disgusting.

Like how people hog the lift to go to just 1 level up or down when they can just take the stairs oh but no they have to take the lift.

Like how these 2 women just stood right in front of the MRT door selfishly because they want to be the first when the next train arrives but they’re blocking the whole world from getting into that train there.

Like how people with herpes refuse to move to the center of the train so that more passengers can board. Hey, the rest of us want to go home too!!

Like how people walk really really close to you cos they don’t understanding what it means by PERSONAL FUCKING SPACE.

Like how stupid they built walkways but it’s full of holes because it’s called ‘creative construction’ and that means I always trip when walking on it with my high pointy heeled shoe and if it’s not because of ‘corporate wear’ I’d wear sneakers instead.

Like how people who ride on bicycles ring their bells and ring ring and ring ring and ring to scoot you off because you’re blocking their way but it’s a PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY and they’re not supposed to be cycling on it because we have the right of way which most of the time I don’t give a flying fucking to scoot off and let them cycle their ass off slowly in a hot sunny day right behind me but better yet if they cycle off the pathway and onto the main road where a huge garbage truck would ram them over.

Like how people cut your queue but they pretend like they didn’t know there was a queue just because they are all in business suits looking high and mighty but acting low class with an iPOD.

Like how the Subway in my place is so fucking slow in service when I was hungry for a sandwich so I ended up eating that fried meehoon that has been under that orange light since this morning just because no one was queuing at that stall but I’d rather have a feel good meal like a burger but I didn’t because I was afraid of getting fat.

Like how when I was watching Friends on TV earlier but was instead bombarded by endless same fucking shit advertisements I can almost memorize the scripts already every 5 minutes into the show.

And you come home to these cold 4 walls and you scream at the innocent ant sprinting past you on the floor because you swear the place was clean but how come there are still ants sprinting around and you take the hugeass can of Baygon and you spray like the whole ant’s nest was there but it feels oh so damn good to finally take it out on something DIE MUTHAFUCKER DIEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Now just imagine having all these stress including the work stress delivered to you everyday, 5 days a week for the rest of the year.

(breathe in….. breathe out)

I really don’t know why I let these little things get to me. It’s like a whole new level altogether.

 

From anger, from getting pissed, I started to think about the meaning of life. Why am I here? What am I doing here? Where do I go from here?

Then from the meaning of life, I started to think about God. About how I abandoned Him, I totally lost myself in the process of chasing material pleasures and so-called dreams. And how these endless chasing is getting me nowhere because once I have the things I wanted, I never seemed to be satisfied and I keep wanting and wanting. I was happy when I was 12, just couldn’t wait to go to church, I felt peaceful, I felt contented, I felt spiritual, enlightened, healed. Now I’m just bitter.

And when I got to God, I started to think how selfish people are becoming because all we ever think is how we make ourselves happy. We don’t ever think that maybe in the process of making ourselves happy we make others miserable? But we don’t care as long as we are happy. I mean if other people get be selfish and get away with things, why should I be the virtuous one?

And when I got to selfish people and that people are naturally selfish, yes people are naturally selfish, I thought about getting away from this shithole. No wonder everyone is always talking about going away for a holiday. Everyday I have someone asking me to go for a holiday with them when they just got back from one! I think people just want to get away just because they don’t want to be here, this cramped Lion City.

Truth is, I really don’t know what’s going on anymore. Everything is just so clouded. I’m lost at this part of my life.

Am I thinking too much? Am I stressed? Is this what they call mid-life crisis?

I need an output. I need to bash things up, things like zombies or monsters or patients!!!!!

Tuesday, 20-05-2008

Jia Xiang Sarawak Kolo Mee

You know the food is good if I can finish mine! Hahaha! Best theory ever.

After work today, I tried calling my girlfriends for dinner. Chern was at Penang like dunno since when, Pek Bee needs to head to the gym and Fay disappeared, ignoring my calls. My boyfriend was still at work, as usual, that workaholic.

Which lead to a good thing so I had to dinner alone, and I bought a new handbag. Ah, don’t worry, it cost only $10. I have never believed in buying expensive branded handbags because I get bored of it so easily, like Singapore’s political scene. But cannot cheapo on backpacks, because you really need to invest in a good, quality one, like mine, which I love so much and carrying heavy stuff is a breeeeeeeeeeeze.

Today I discovered a new eating place in my area, which I have never been to before after staying here for nearly 2 years. As usual, I couldn’t decide on what to eat, so I just talked to my feet.

“Feet ar feet, take me to a new place lar, damn bored of the eateries here oredi.”

“OK”, feet simply said to me, and I trusted it.

So off they took me to…. JIA XIANG SARAWAK KOLO MEE. Hahahaha. And only because feet understood me, and feet walked to the shop where NOBODY was eating, so I don’t have to queue and wait long time.

I’ve tasted the Sarawak Kolo Mee in KL before. Not too bad, but it’s not something you’d want to eat everyday.

I was really expecting the worse lah, the mee must taste horrible like wanton mee here, really sucks. Completely tasteless. Actually, completely taste like flour.

But surprisingly, it didn’t wor. It was actually quite nice and acceptable. I ordered the recommended dish, which also served wanton, char siew and abalone (you can choose prawn). The sambal was really good, and the wanton was really fresh. I finished the entire bowl! And the portion was just right for me. In fact, it even tasted better than the local mee pok / mee kia, which is quite crappy, actually. You can only taste vinegar, and that’s about it.

I wanted to take some pictures but I didn’t because I was too occupied with enjoying my meal. Then I tried to google some pictures and read some blogs about this Jia Xiang Sarawak Mee. Most bloggers, especially Singaporean bloggers, dislike the taste of this kolo mee. Just try and google and see what I mean.

I find Singaporeans disliking everything that’s Malaysian. So for us Malaysians who finally found good Malaysian food in Singapore, these restaurants don’t usually last long because they don’t have enough ’supporters’. We should do our part to support Malaysian food here in Singapore, like Klang Bak Kut Teh, Ampang Yong Tau Foo (though quite misleading here), KL Chee Cheong Fun and finally, this Sarawak Kolo Mee.

OK, next time I will try the curry flavour.

Thursday, 24-04-2008

Job Titles

Singaporeans are very into their titles. Their job titles, that is.

Even though the company pays peanuts, it’s ok. As long as at the end of their title, there is a “MANAGER”, they’ll be happy as a lark. Even if they don’t have people to manage, they are still called managers. It’s all about face, I tell ya.

For example, let me ask you this.

What do you call a person who takes care of your garden? A “GARDENER” right?

Here, they call it “LANDSCAPING ENGINEER”. Apparently, Gardener is too lowly sounding?

Best hor????

What do you call a person who prepares sandwiches at a fast food restaurant? Well, at most, nothing right? Hahaha! OK, usually it’ll be outlet supervisor or rep or something like that.

Here, it’s “SANDWICH ARCHITECT”!

Pretty soon, there’ll be a “Plumbing fixture and disposal system for the disposal of the bodily wastes: urine and fecal matter ARCHITECT” as opposed to Janitor.

Or, “Substance that can be metabolized by an organism to give energy and build tissue ARCHITECT” as opposed to Waitress.

Sunday, 20-04-2008

19th April, Review of David Tao’s Concert, Singapore Indoor Stadium

I am fresh.

I mean, I just got back from David Tao’s concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and the details are fresh in my mind now so I ought to write down my thoughts about the concert before I forget about them, as usual, like I always do.

To be honest, I am fucking dead tired cos I only slept for 4 hours and this afternoon I had 2 hours of badminton and 15 minutes of a retarded public gym session with Stan, Law and B-Yau (hah!), and now this concert. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me too.

Let’s get on with it.

David Tao is one of my favourite Chinese artist. I took notice of him after I heard his song “I Love You” and “Regular Friends”. Whenever I listen to these 2 songs, it brings back certain memories of my previous relationship. But that is all gone now, of course. I also bought one of his albums called “Ultrasound”. Although he is well-known for his R&B style of music, I personally think he is better in rock Chinese songs, songs like “Black Tangerine”, “Sula Lampa” and “Ghost”.

One of the good things about staying in Singapore is that, you get a lot of opportunities to attend concerts here, more than in KL. Just this year, I’ve attended Amei’s, Linkin Park’s and My Chemical Romance’s concert. Including David Tao, would be 4 concerts already.


Before concert, in a cab also must take picture.


What I Liked About The Concert

  1. The lightings and lasers were awesome. Videos during songs were beautiful and pretty and sets you in the mood of the song.
  2. We had pretty good seats, with nice view of the entire stage.
  3. David sang perfectly. He is really great at singing live. This is what an artist is made of. Bravo. Salute.
  4. David’s interaction with the crowd. Love it. Love him.
  5. The sound was clear and booming and best-lah.
  6. The back-up singers were really good. 2 girls, Ke Wei from Singapore and Elisa from Taiwan. Elisa is like a freaking awesome talented person, she sings, play the trombone, the flute and the violin, omg.
  7. David singing retro dance songs!!!!! My favourite session of the night!!!! He sang September, Kungfu Fighting, Addicted To Love, it felt like I was at MOS Retrobar for that moment. We stood up to danceeeeee.

What I Didn’t Liked About The Concert

  1. I thought the music arrangement in the entire concert… kinda sucked. Here’s comes a really good rocking song and everyone’s high and up in the mood to dance and scream and bang heads, then immediately the next song is s l o w. Then again a fast song. Hmm…
  2. And partly because of this, it confuses people and nobody was in “the mood”. Or should I say, don’t know what’s the mood. The crowd tonight was so passive.
  3. Everyone around us were just sitting and watching the concert. Sien. Not that we fucking cared la, cos we got jiggy with the concert.
  4. A stupid bitch behind me tapped my shoulders and asked me to kindly lower down my flashing stick because it was blocking her view. I smiled. Of course in normal situations I would say, “Lady, this is a concert. People wave sticks. Deal with it. If you don’t like you can go back to China” but it was too noisy and saying that half-way and then she goes “Har?” pretend cannot hear will lose all mood of bitch-slapping her. Then didn’t care and continued waving the stick. Mahai, if she tap my shoulders again I will pull that Hong Kong bus uncle episode on her.
Overall, I’d rate the concert 7 out of 10 points. Eventhough I knew all the songs tonight, as compared to Amei’s concert, Amei’s was definitely better. I was so highhhh. But this was… a forgettable concert.

Even Stan and Law, my concert mates for both Amei and David Tao, felt the same.


Me, flashing stick and Stan


Me and Law with the thumbs up sign and the flashing stick

And before I leave, my trademark pose:

Tuesday, 15-04-2008

There’s something very wrong with the people in Singapore

I’ve been working here for a while now. For a while, as in like almost 3 years.

And you know, there is something very wrong with the people in Singapore.

Well, initially I wanted to say that there is something very wrong with Singaporeans but I suppose that is quite an unfair statement to make since the people I observed may not necessarily be Singaporeans. They can be from Malaysia or from China or from India or from Thailand or from Indonesia, they can be from anywhere.

Singapore is becoming almost like London. Any kind of people also got.

And here’s what I’ve noticed.

The people in Singapore are very into looking good outside. It appears that all they ever care about is where’s the best place to shop, what makes a great handbag, what brands are classy, from hairclips, to nail polish. They are like plastics. And I’m not referring to just girls, even guys here are so vain. They check their reflection in the mirror, they care about what brand of bags they carry, even right down to the brand of slippers.

I’m not saying it’s wrong. In fact, there is nothing wrong in wanting to look good.

The problem is, they all look good outside, but inside’s like SHIT. TAHI. CRAP.

I have, on several occasions, observed that most people dressed office-like with shirts and ties and dresses and smart looking are the worst. These are the least gentleman and the least polite and least civic minded.

These are the people who stand right in front of MRT doors and block the fucking way and think they are so great.

These are the people who continue to *tit* out eventhough on the otherside, a person in a wheelchair is waiting for his chance to *tit* in, at the bigger MRT exit lanes, specially catered for families with baby prams and the disabled. Well READ THE FUCKING SIGN! GIVE WAY TO THE DISABLED AND BABY TROLLEYS!

These are the people who complain loudly in the MRT when that admin girl in the office doesn’t cooperate and as if the world is going to end.

These are the fucktards who pretend to sleep in the MRT with their eyelids closed yet still battling, so that they can pretend not to see an old man or pregnant woman stand in front of them, and they don’t have to give up their seats.

These are the people whom, when you say “Good night” to them they say “Thank you”. What kinda fuck is that reply?

These are the people who will squeeze from the side of the escalator just to get ahead of you first, as though they are rushing but they are not cos they stood on the left side.

These are the people who will squeeze from your side to go out of the MRT first eventhough you are already standing right in front of the MRT door and about to go out.

And these are the people who spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on clothings and shoes and perfumes, thousands of dollars in cosmetics and make ups and slimming packages, but has NO MANNERS, NO CIVIC MINDEDNESS, NO CLASS, NO BRAINS, NO COMMON SENSE, NOTHING.

See? Money can’t buy you everything.

Alright, finished whining.

Thursday, 03-04-2008

We Will Rock You

This is an official review from me on the musical play of We Will Rock You, and I am a Queen fan. I attended the play yesterday, April 1 at Esplanade Theatre in Singapore.

we will rock you

There is no unofficial review.

It was just by coincidence that the date we chose to go was a Gala Night. I had no freaking idea what was Gala night, until zearth told me. Got celebrities, got media, got door gift, got free food.

He was wrong. Especially on the important ones.

Got celebrities, got media, NO door gift, NO free food.

But we were each given a glowing light stick! Hehehe.

I was quite nervous as the day approached and I had very very fucking high expectations of the play, and eventhough I haven’t watched the play, I managed to convince a few friends to go watch the play too, because Queen rocks and only Queen rocks.

And I got front row seats, as in the first row from the stage! The speakers were right in front of me and I was still complaining it wasn’t loud enough.

I also saw celebrities like Gurmit Singh (my boyfriend made an arse of himself by doing the hoo-ha hand thingie omg and shouted Gurmit’s name omg and that made me waved at Gurmit hysterically and Gurmit waved back!!!!!!), DJ Ross, Hossain Leong, Jonathan Leong, Paul Twohill, Hady Mirza and Joakim Gomez. I’m sure they were more celebrities there but, like who cares. As long as got Gurmit Singh and the embarassing boyfriend hoo-ha, can already.

Oh sorry, if you haven’t watched the play or perhaps intend to in the future, please do not continue reading but I won’t stop you if you want to.

Thanks.

Alright, the play was OK. If I were to rate it from 1 to 10, and 10 being the bestest and greatest, I’ll rate it 5. It was just average.

Phantom of the Opera was a so much better play than We Will Rock You, although in the beginning, I would have thought that, which so much hype from my boyfriend who has watched the play, We Will Rock You would definitely be better.

First, let’s talk about the storyline. Oh, what storyline? I felt that the presentation and the flow of the play was messy and sometimes nonsensical, it’s like they create the scene to force a Queen song. Not natural enough.

And the ending was so anti-climax. They took 99% of the time building the plot and the suspense as to how this Galileo, which is the main character of the play, as in THE ONE like Neo was like THE ONE in The Matrix, will be able to defeat Killer Queen and her organization, and when he did in the end, it was like HAR???? THAT’S IT AR???? Damn potong steam. I thought Killer Queen very ‘keng’ wan? Sigh.

Also, this play used very little props, I think too little. The entire play was not vibrant enough when it should be vibrant, not dark enough, when it should be dark and not grand enough when it should be grand. And I was seated right at the front, man. You know, eventhough I’ve only seen the show yesterday, I cannot remember any outstanding props or backdrops that really caught my attention.

But I can still remember Phantom’s clearly. Especially the chandelier. Oh the chandelier. And the toy monkey. And the Christine doll look-alike. And the sampan. And the pathway. And the cemetery.

The only consolation was, Mig Ayesa, who played the lead role Galileo, was righttttttttt in front of me I can even see his pimples, if he had any. Hehehe. *dup dup dup* my heart was beating so fast when he came on stage wooo hooooo.

I loved the Killer Queen character the best. Her character has the most character. Annie Crummer was very good, big applause for her.

The only scene I liked the most and the only scene I could really remember, was when they paid tribute to those who died young, to Elvis Presley, to John Lennon, to Kurt Cobain, and more. I, too, think it’s really a pity that Freddie Mercury left us so early.

Other than the ending, the other potong steam part was when the band came to the stage. Ah man, that was totally wrong, it cut the mood of the play. Like was this a play or a concert or what? I was so confused.

Still, overall, I felt like the play did not do justice to Queen’s songs. Yeah there were a couple of jokes (sometimes adult jokes), they made fun of celebrities, they threw in some local names, we had a good laugh, but then again, stand up comedies also do that right?

Yes, I enjoyed the musical but will I watch it again?

Hmm, probaby not.

Thursday, 10-01-2008

Good Food, Good Memories

I found a very good Chee Cheong Fun KL style hawker stall near where I stay. The sauce is really really like KL style. If you’ve watched the movie Ratatouie, you know there was a funny scene when the food critic ate a dish cooked by both the human and the rat, and he sort of went back in time to his childhood days and he teared?

Yeah, that is how I felt when I first tasted this Chee Cheong Fun. No kidding!

Finally, I am able to find something good here in Singapore that tastes exactly like how I like it in KL.

There was this Chinese Rojak stall beside too, that has a queuing system. Yes ladies and gentlemen you heard me right, a queuing system. You place your order with that really nasty and cranky old lady, you pay, you take your number, then you observe the digital LED board for your turn, then you collect your Rojak. And Singaporeans are very into food ratings with celebrities and all the other Makansutra eat eat shows. They proudly show off their articles, newspaper cuttings, awards and all that jazz and I can tell you, honestly, the ratings can’t be trusted.

Everytime I go and try the food from a 4-5 chopsticks rating stall, I end up cursing and spitting. I tolerated the behaviours of the stall owners; usually arrogant, obnoxious and like don’t want to do business like that, to try their food. I want to know, what is so big deal about this stall that has so many bloody newspaper cuttings and good ratings.

Ptuih lah. All the exaggeration for nothing. Just like that rojak shop with the queueing system. Really spit saliva. You pick any damn Rojak stall in KL also better than this over-rated stall. Even Malays make better Rojaks. Even Mamaks make better Rojaks. And the old lady is really cranky. Every time of the day. No customer service, no smiles. She probably thinks she can afford to be arrogant and be pushy cos she’s got too much to do. And Singaporeans don’t go there for the food, they just like to be in the hype.

When I was younger and staying at Pekeliling Flats, there was a market right in front of the flat, where part of the section of the market were food stalls. I remember my mother or my grandpa, always tapao (pack back) breakfast for us to eat from there, and one of my favourites was the Chee Cheong Fun. We were very close to the auntie who sold Chee Cheong Fun too. Until one day, word got around that there were worms in her Chee Cheong Fun. Aiyah you know lah, how when neighbours gossip, the whole market including my mother also knew about it. Gossips spread like fire you know, so we never buy Chee Cheong Fun from her anymore.

And there was this really good Chinese rojak under a huge tree at Pekeliling Flats. It’s right opposite the KL General Hospital. That was my family’s favourite. The uncle who sold the Rojak also knew us very well. Sometimes he gave extra pineapples cos he knew those were my favourite. You know sometimes I request for the Rojak with just pineapples and yau char kuey cos I wouldn’t eat the rest hahahaha.

I have since shifted to a new place but during my dinner earlier, while eating this KL style Chee Cheong Fun, I am reminded of those times when everyone was younger and things were simpler. I guess sometimes it’s not so good to be educated or be knowledgable. You learn too much, you absorb too much and the knowledge you have becomes a burden and it brings more pressure in life to succeed more than success itself. You are more a bitter person than before.

I don’t know what I’m trying to say, but… I miss my childhood days. I wish I could go back and stay there forever. I used to complain so much about it, and I wanted to grow up quickly to get out of that rotten place.

Now I wish I could go back.

It’s like when I am back in Malaysia, I can’t wait to get out of the rotten country. Issues like banning ‘Allah’, Chua Soi Lek, HINDRAF, BERSIH, lawyer issue, corruption, crime at all time high, ministers asking my race to go back to China, Port Klang bail out, AP issue, petrol hike, tol hike, squat issue, ISA detainees, Lina Joy; I wish I could leave the country quickly.

But now that I’m in a foreign land, I want to go back home to Malaysia. I miss Malaysia. I miss everything about it, the people, the smell, the traffic jams, the take 2 hours to find parking, the huge ass variety of food and the beaches.

Life is such irony.