tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29479770111929241082012-02-10T15:11:00.167+08:00(The World Is My Oyster...)Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.comBlogger2131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-29516745944803768032010-07-01T23:19:00.009+08:002010-11-26T11:38:01.368+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">LEGAL DISCLAIMER : The post below are just meant for laughs...it doesn't represent my parents in any way...I don't think my parents will hang me for putting this up...if I'm lucky, they'll get a good laugh out of it...if not, God have mercy...<br /><br />1. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> RELIGION .</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-style: italic;">“You better pray that my car can be fixed or else someone's gonna get hurt real bad...”.</span>..I jammed my dad's car into a side wall...back seat doors was crushed as a result...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">2. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children LOGIC.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >"Because I said so, that’s why...”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">3. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> MORE LOGIC</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">...<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"I've had eaten more salt than you've eaten rice, how dare you question me??!!".</span>..a Chinese saying which means that the parent have had more life experiences than the child, and we should always trust without question whatever they say/do...that's a tyrannic act, I'd think...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">4. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> FORESIGHT.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-style: italic;">“Make sure you gotta 'blueprint' of what you're planning to study...where your funds come from?...what are you going to do after your degree?...how long will it take??...etc, etc"</span>...when I was a fresh naive 17 year old, give me a break, will ya!!!...jeez, at that time, the only source of funds I knew was from my PapaMama foundation...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">5. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> IRONY.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >“Keep crying, gal and I’ll give you something more to cry about...you see this cane??”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">6. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> about the science of OSMOSIS .</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >“Don't talk with your mouth full and eat your supper.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">7. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> about CONTORTIONIST.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-style: italic;">“Will you look at that stain on your t-shirt??...I just bleached it yesterday...</span>”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">8. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> about STAMINA and CONCENTRATION...</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >“Don't even think of movin' from your chair til' you've finished those veggies and your rice...”</span><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;">9. <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span> about WEATHER .<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“This room of yours looks as if a lightning storm, blizzard, flood, and tornado went through it...all at the same time!!!...”</span><br /><br />10 <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span> about HYPOCRISY .<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. And don’t exaggerate!”</span><br /><br />11. <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span> about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION .<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“Man, now you're starting to sound and act like your father/mother!!”</span><br /><br />12. <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span>about ENVY.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who can't afford a decent meal at home...now eat your Maggi mee...”</span><br /><br />13. <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span> about ANTICIPATION.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“Just you wait until we get home...you're gonna get the best thrashing you've ever had..”</span><br /><br />14. <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span> about RECEIVING .<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“You are going to get it from me when you get home...just you wait...(refer to Nu. 13)..."</span><br /><br />15. <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span> GENETICS.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“You got that crooked nose from your father...your drama skills from your grandmother...sadly, you didn't get inherit any bargaining skills from your mother...”</span><br /><br />16. <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span> WISDOM.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“It's too complicated to explain to you now...When you get to be my age, you’ll understand...”</span><br /><br />17. <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Parents teach</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> their children</span> about JUSTICE .<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out to be a pain just like you..."</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-2951674594480376803?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-80814044171415419072010-01-31T00:09:00.004+08:002010-06-17T10:40:10.317+08:00<ul style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"><li>Twas one night when her gear box wouldn't work...</li><li>Though she floored the clutch, it wouldn't go in gear...</li><li>She calls the mechanic...</li><li>Gear box would work only when the engine is off...not on...</li><li>You would have to drive the car to my place for a check-up...</li><li>I doesn't know how to drive a car, whose gear box doesn't work...</li><li>Its possible, but the roads must be clear or of light traffic to avoid any possible accidents...something like a jumpstart, the only catch is that you cannot stop the car AT ALL, till you has reached your destination...</li><li>I am in Seri Kembangan...</li><li>coincidentally Seri Kembangan is a suburb that never sleeps...NEVER...</li><li>the other alternative is for you to come to my shop, and take me to your car cz I don't know the way...</li><li>I will try....</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br /></div><ul style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"><li>She manages to get a friend who would so kindly take her to the mechanic...</li><li>thank you...</li><li>no problem...</li><li>Oops...</li><li>What??</li><li>I accidentally left my car keys in the car...could you turn back??</li><li>no problem...</li><li>and he U-turns...</li><li>Yikes</li><li>What??</li><li>I just remembered I locked the car door before leaving...with my car keys INSIDE the car...</li><li>no problem...</li><li>and he U-turns...again...<br /></li><li>crap, I also left my house keys all locked in the car...</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br /></div><ul style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"><li>She reaches the mechanic shop and called the mechanic...</li><li>I will follow you and your friend in another car...</li><li>okay...</li><li>Upon reaching Seri Kembangan once more, he tries to open her locked door...successful...</li><li>thank God, no trouble there...</li><li>her car keys and house keys retrieved...</li><li>nothing wrong with your car...</li><li>What the h-ll??</li><li>gear-box is fine...</li><li>no way</li><li>She insisted on test drive...everything is fine...</li><li>car sounds slightly sluggish for a certain reason, best to take it back to my shop...</li><li>crap...she needed the car for work the next day...but never mind...</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br /></div><ul style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"><li>The mechanic has gone back home...the assistant drove her car...</li><li>He was a friendly guy and they had a short chat on the way back to the shop...</li><li>She was sharing about how stupid things went, with her leaving her car keys behind, etc...</li><li>They reach the shop safely...<br /></li><li>thank you...</li><li>no problem...</li><li>He stops short and slaps his forehead...</li><li>what?</li><li>crap...</li><li>why?</li><li>I left the store keys in my car...</li><li>So? Go get it from your car...what is the big deal?</li><li>I locked my car...<br /></li><li>And?</li><li>My car keys is inside the shop that is locked...and the keys that open the locks of the shop is in my car that is locked...</li><li>....................</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">That was Lady Luck playing a joke on us...</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8081404417141541907?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-61911180058954945302010-01-11T10:09:00.005+08:002010-01-17T17:35:23.176+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Yeah, I did...the title says it all...dumped like an unwanted rag doll...left in the shivering cold...uncertainties like beyond me...am looking for the strength that I don't have...to move on to a...</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">HAPPIER YEAR 2010!!!!....</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Yup, you read me right...and no, I have not lost my marbles...<br /><br />I HAVE just been dumped...dumped and abandoned by one of my private students...that means a certain amount of pay-cut...which means I will have to find some other means that can compensate, so my debts will not mount up...<br /><br />Hang on...let me break out the champagne and bring on some party girls!!!...This is worth a dozen celebrations, oh...would you believe it...I just got dumped...<br /><br />Erm...no, I am not delusional nor hysteria...euphoric would be a much better word...*sigh*...such blissfulness...<br /><br />This student has been such a pain since I first taught her close to a year ago...I don't blame her, though...I blame her parents...I have never in my life come across such disrespectful child that I dearly love to slap...till now...and am at a lost when I come to handling her...so far, in my experience as a her instructor;...<br /></span><ul><li style="font-family: times new roman;">she lifted up her leg to my nose, while talking to me...</li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">told me that she hated me, for not "<span style="font-style: italic;">playing</span>" with her and for "<span style="font-style: italic;">giving me hard songs</span>" as her previous instructor did...not understanding that it was due to that, that resulted in her not being able to read a single note despite learning the piano for 2 years...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">spit at my face...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">hid my handphone and house-keys, only to return them an hour later...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">hit me, when I asked her to correct a mistake...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">with all her strength, refused to count even when I have written out answers for her...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">told me to smell her socks, if I wanted her to learn a new song...</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:times new roman;">And the list is never-ending...<br /><br />Sometimes, I wonder...how in the world have I managed to endure all these things for an entire year??...I am sure many of you may ask, why do I even bother at all??...surely it isn't worth the RM100/month that I am charging...teaching an hour a week...with her mum forgetting classes all the time, only to let me know when I was standing outside their house for close to 10 minutes...<br /><br />Yeah, I ask myself that too...all the time...<br /><br />I guess it has a lot to do with my inner good, I guess...despite her spoilt ways, I have always felt sorry that her music journey has always come to a "touch-and-go" cross-road...that in her 2 years of music learning, she has learned from 5 teachers, one after another...I am the unlucky nu.6...not one teacher stayed with her longer than a couple of months...which is rather sad, if you come to think of it...<br /><br />And in the short span of time that I've been teaching, I have always believed that nobody should get left behind...that everyone deserves a chance to be exposed to music...and this student of mine applies as well...I do not plan to be known as "The teacher who gave up on me"...though I must admit that I toyed with that fantasy in my mind several times....I still choose to believe that there is some good in her...that she is a diamond in the rough...just needing time to make a few adjustments...Also, Id rather I be dumped than her...at least I can tell myself that I've tried my very best to the end of that race...<br /><br />Her mum decided to end my service due to the fact that "<span style="font-style: italic;">my daughter is consumed by tuition homework</span>"...I, on the other hand, know that my service was terminated because I couldn't produce the same result as I have with her niece...whose progress has escalated since I took over...from simple songs to Bach inventions in less than a year...<br /><br />What she didn't know that unlike her niece, who is able to handle my frustrations and petty scoldings...and practices almost everyday...her daughter pouts and shows a thundering face, even at the slightest change of my voice...shows a tantrum when I try reasoning with her...and screams at the top of her lungs when I have come to the end of patience and tells her firmly not to play anymore...only to see her mum smile with the devoted "Oh,-you-can't-imagine-how-cute-she-looks-when-she-is-crying" face...<br /><br />And of course, her daughter never practices...oh, she plays the piano occasionally...but just those "Mary-had-a-little-lambs" and sorts...never moving forward...nor bothering too...<br /><br />Am I happier now than I was before??...Yes, because unlike before, I don't feel as if my energy has depleted even before I start...I look forward to my day with a big-pearly-white smile, because I know that I no longer have double standards...and can teach with a clear conscience...though sometimes, I still feel the hurt...disappointment...that this girl has stopped lessons...hence her musical journey comes to a halt...<br /><br />I can only hope that she will show her new music instructor (God bless that woman/man) more respect than she has to me...and whoever she/he is, I also hope that she/he is more resistant to verbal abuse than I...<br /><br />Now, if you'll excuse me...I am going to <a href="http://www.rwgenting.com/">Genting Highlands</a> to celebrate this momentous occasion...*winks*...<br /></span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6191118005895494530?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-18968575054324656022010-01-09T11:02:00.004+08:002010-01-17T17:31:10.884+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">One day, a man came home from work and his children ran to him, calling out...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"<span style="font-style: italic;">Father, father...you're back!!</span>"....</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">His neighbour who was working on the garden next door overheard this and got really upset...He spoke to the man..."<span style="font-style: italic;">Can you please tell your children to stop calling you "Father???"</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Surprised, the man asked, "<span style="font-style: italic;">But why??</span>"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The neighbour retorted, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Because my children calls me "Father" as well...They might get confused and mistaken you to be their father...</span>"<br /><br />If you're looking for more ridiculous laugh-lines, you might want to read <a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_474946.html">this</a>...<br /></span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1896857505432465602?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-72152647930997741682010-01-03T00:37:00.017+08:002010-01-17T21:58:06.002+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">If you noticed, I've not blogged much about Malaysia and its idiosyncratic government for quite a while now...If anything, I have successfully resisted from reading the daily newspaper, opting to do some research from good ol' www.google.com...and instead of indulging in nonsense of that sort and writing mournful posts that sometimes does sent me down in the dumps, I have chosen to occupy my time with things more worthwhile...it did work for a coupla months...<br /><br />But I could not turn deaf ears on a recent article...well, not so recent, actually...it came out mid-December last year ('09)...I just got myself thinking about it these couple of days...Sherlock Holmes and Watson would have loved sniffing about this mystery...The case of the <a href="http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/48258-zahid-a-gs-call-on-stolen-jet-engines">Missing Jet Engines</a>...<br /><br />Do allow me to outline the events that lead to this news...<br /><ul><li>four F-5E Tiger II fighters and two RF-5E Tigereye reconnaissance jets were part of the air force's 12th Squadron's (Scorpion) fighter planes back at the Butterworth (Penang) air base...</li><li>The still operational engines of these six 5Es were transported in military containers to Sungai Besi (Kuala Lumpur) for routine maintenance...Jet engines were stored in Sungai Besi warehouse, while service and maintenance records were kept in a safe in an office in the base...<br /></li><li>Year 2007 : TWO jet engines was discovered missing after an auditing was done...service and maintenance records can't be found...it is also reported that other equipments have gone astray the same year...<br /></li><li>Early 2008 : Police report was made...or so they say...</li><li>Dec 2009 : Matter came to the attention of the media and public...</li></ul>* Ah well, this is after all the average speed things run here in my motherland...2 YEARS...before an investigation is instigated...*<br /><br />Sources are from <a href="http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Malaysia/Story/A1Story20091220-187021.html">Asiaone</a>...<br /><br />I'm sure every Malaysian citizen has several questions on their mind...<br /><ul><li>Why no security checks, details and paperwork?</li><li>How was the safe broken into?</li><li>What are the 'other equipments' that are missing? Why aren't they brought to light?</li><li>How were those two engines (collectively worth RM100 million/ USD30 million) stolen in broad day light and how did they get transported without getting noticed?</li><li>If it was stolen, how come <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/23/nation/5352833&amp;sec=nation">legal and official documents pertaining sales and shipping of engines are found</a>?</li><li>Does anyone else besides me that suspects a large cover-up/work of corruption?<br /></li></ul>....and the list never stops...<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">It is not easy to just cart away [jet] engines without authorization and proper documents,</span>" so <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/24/nation/5363335&amp;sec=nation">says</a> Malaysia's Police Chief Musa Hassan...<br /><br />Unfortunately, I think he is being contradicted by <a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_470471.html">facts</a>...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">One being...our Police Chief <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/23/nation/5352833&amp;sec=nation">announcing</a> that three <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >low-ranking airmen</span> and a company agent were the ONLY ones involved...<br /></div><br />Yeah, and you expect me to buy that...pitiful low-ranking men looking to make a penny or two more...puts its life on the line...wrap their ever-so-muscular arms around the engine...and waltzes away with it...AND...they succeed...not once...but TWICE...all these happening...under the watchful hawk-eyed high ranking officers...<br /><br />Breathtaking, isn't it??...In fact, I would say that it is almost laughable...if it weren't such a serious matter...<br /><br />Just in case you may not have an idea how the engines look like...here are some pictures of it...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/S0DhLexWjxI/AAAAAAAAAO4/sXzzv2mBs1A/s1600-h/Engine+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 217px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/S0DhLexWjxI/AAAAAAAAAO4/sXzzv2mBs1A/s320/Engine+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422581538708950802" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/S0DhTRWbqRI/AAAAAAAAAPA/HrIMNwxZKN8/s1600-h/Engine+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 217px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/S0DhTRWbqRI/AAAAAAAAAPA/HrIMNwxZKN8/s320/Engine+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422581672545331474" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><br />And it doesn't help that our current PM Najib Razak <a href="http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Malaysia/Story/A1Story20091222-187388.html">claims</a> that "<span style="font-style: italic;">there is no cover-up</span>"...and that "<span style="font-style: italic;">the Defence Ministry and Royal Malaysia Air Force reported the theft to the police immediately after it was discovered</span>"...<br /></div><br />So..."no cover-up" + legal sales and purchase documents and shipping + 3 little green men and their green cards + 2 missing engines = ????????<br /><br />You do the maths...<br /><br />But wait...I think I am getting too caught up with these two engines...<br /><br />I have another question for the RMAF (Royal Malaysian Air Force) and for our dearest PM as well...here goes...<br /><br />~ <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >There were originally six jet engines altogether...two were "accounted for" and labeled as missing...but what about the other FOUR jet engines??...Are they still safe in the warehouse??...or they have sold, but not brought to light?....</span><br /><br />Knowing our current government and its reliability, I choose to believe in the later...I mean, four jet engines sold makes RM200 million/USD60 million more...and our nation's attention isn't on it!!<br /><br />Is anyone else curious to know??...Hey, after all, they are taxpayer's money...<br /><br />Erm, *grin*...I don't pay tax yet...so I am not feeling so much of the pinch...but I do feel for the people who does...<br /><br />Note : Should you find me not putting up another post within this week, you might want to alert my mum and dad...I might be one of those unfortunate bloggers that are arrested for sedition over my opinion above...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-7215264793099774168?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-4192778137552608202010-01-01T00:12:00.005+08:002010-01-01T12:07:42.863+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SzzUvcoEPLI/AAAAAAAAAOA/mUYzh85Xxn8/s1600-h/new-year1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 228px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SzzUvcoEPLI/AAAAAAAAAOA/mUYzh85Xxn8/s320/new-year1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421441963050417330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">It was a full moon against the clear blue sky...colourful fireworks light up the night sky welcoming the new year...while the wind was quite still, cool breeze stroked my face as I was playing on a swing in a playground nearby...It feels good to be a kid once more...even if it was just mere 5 minutes...the firework display was on going around my neighbourhood...some, you know were lavishly spend...while others were kept simple and nice...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;"><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_lantern">Kong-Ming lanterns</a> (or sky lanterns as the Westerners would call it) were lit up and was set free to start its journey towards heaven...A traditional act of the Chinese following the story of the Three Kingdoms, these red silk lanterns held wishes of the desperate, the needy and the sincere-heart...praying for their loved-ones, or giving thanks for joyful events...others choose to believe that they are sending away their problems and worries in a dignified manner...either way, it was really beautiful watching them ascend towards the dark sky...completely serene and undisturbed...<br /><br />Besides that, nothing seems to have changed much...My Utorrent is currently still at 3.6kB/s download...I don't expect it to go any faster than that these few days but that's alright...I am trying to start my year with more patience and perseverance...I have no intention of loosing my will to a dumb-arse Internet line, which I pay RM90/month for...which is quite expensive, even if you were to compare it to other countries...<br /><br />The stupid credit card tax has not been waived...I still feel it is crackers to have to pay RM50 tax for a credit card...to fund a penniless government and their penthouse...politicians here are still dealing the racial cards...and the new electricity tariff will be announced soon...and on the <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/1/nation/5400437&amp;sec=nation">first page of TheStar</a> newspaper, in the excitement of greeting year 2010...there will be an increase price in sugar...surprises never ceases, does it?...<br /><br />Malaysia has not snowed yet...still hot and humid as usual...*BAH!!*...Barbaric punk-like nerds still exist, in fact...they are still wading their way into an already crammed commuter...without complete disregard to the fact that there are people who needs to make an exit, in order that there would be room to accommodate them...I am still writing my year 2010 plans with scrape marks (an obvious error on my part, since I've dated them all as "2009" when it was suppose to be "2010")...my feet...my feet...has yet to grow an inch...still size 3, the last time I measured...*sigh*...<br /><br />My heart is of course, slightly hopeful...a new year, a brand new start...and hopefully better politics...wait, did I hear one of my many cranial nerves says..."HAH, FAT CHANCE!!"?????<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-419277813755260820?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-18494358678534184902009-12-31T00:56:00.004+08:002009-12-31T01:11:12.910+08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SzuHX_yJgbI/AAAAAAAAAN4/6unxfHOK95Q/s1600-h/edna_mode.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SzuHX_yJgbI/AAAAAAAAAN4/6unxfHOK95Q/s320/edna_mode.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421075422799036850" border="0" /></a><br /><p face="times new roman" style="text-align: center;"> </p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman;">“<span style="font-style: italic;">I don’t live in the past – it distracts from the now.</span>”</p> <div style="text-align: justify;"> </div> <p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;">~ Edna Mode of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317705/">The Incredibles</a>~</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Never thought I'd be taking advice from a 3-feet snooty little dwarf of a world famous costume designer of the fiction world...but still...<br /></p><p style="text-align: center; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:180%;">SO, WELCOME 2010!!!<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">p/s : By default, you will be a better year than the one we currently habit....</p> <div style="text-align: justify;"> </div> <p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">And may it be a Happy and Prosperous Year for us all...*grin*...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1849435867853418490?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-33510340386803644542009-12-29T00:15:00.002+08:002010-01-01T08:39:02.483+08:00<p face="times new roman" style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">I’m speaking only for myself here...of course, I am sure that there is at least 1 among the 6 billion people in this planet that may feel the same as I...<br /></p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p face="times new roman" style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Professionally and personally, 2009 was one tough slog...of course, it was all part and parcel of growing up, I guess...been tested by fire, to see how long I could withstand...tested by the strong winds, to see if I could stand on my ground...melo-dramatic disasters that threatens to reveal my vulnerabilities and true-self...the soft-shelled crap that I am...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p face="times new roman" style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">I’ve never been one to look back and re-hash all the shouldave dones, couldave dones, and wouldave dones...I mean, what’s the point in that?...Sure, there are regrets to live by...harsh decisions and consequences...but I'd take those anytime...rather than choosing to live on safe/hibernation mode...where all the grass is green, and the people grow wings, giving each other foot massages...I would thrive on adventure, and the dangers it has to offer...it keeps me on my toes...and it toughens me up...</p><p face="times new roman" style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">For me, being an adult has changed my perspective in many things...one has so many commitments that he/she has to <span style="font-weight: bold;">re-think his/her priorities</span>...I for one, had to decide that some things can stay, others can wait...I can remember how annoying I was when I was a kid, insisting on things I knew I couldn't have...squeezing all the innocence out of me to manipulate my mum into giving in...I failed at most times, of course...Gawd, no wonder my mum had grey hair in her 20s!!...It was me!!!...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">I've also learn to <span style="font-weight: bold;">step with caution</span> wherever I go...luckily for me, my conscience constantly reminds me that mama and papa isn't around to clean up my mess...so I'd better not mess up...one wrong step, and your shoe is covered with dung...sure, Dettol and soap always does the trick...but the stink always stays longer than it should...and good luck gettin' rid of that one!!...So far, no major disaster there...*touchwood*...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Bills and warning letters taught me <span style="font-weight: bold;">how difficult it is for money to come by</span>...I have made several investments in things worth while...(am paying in installment to my current official banker - my dad)...and it seems that I have not much savings after all...after I have deducted my monthly insurance, petrol, toll, gym fees, house rental, groceries, piano and wat-nots...I may have to re-work my savings scheme...I don't have any at the moment...will have to take note of that next year...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Have <span style="font-weight: bold;">rekindled some old friendships</span>...I used to feel guilty for not keeping in touch with friends...partially, I am always caught up with work...and as for my free time (which is quite rare), I chose to sleep in, and catch up with my ZZZZzzzzzz...but sure, that ain't an excuse...I've looked up some of my childhood friends...hopefully I'll do more of that next year...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">If you asked my mum, she would tell you that I was never one with a business mind...my intentions still pure and true...in fact, I have given many of my music students extra hours outside of their lesson...without pay...UNTIL, I noticed that many parents never reciprocate...in fact, they start demanding for more!!...So, with a heavy heart...I had to <span style="font-weight: bold;">put my foot down</span> and turn some students away...I have lost students in that manner...but I guess on the long run, its only for the best...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Well, this is an overall review of my life spent over year 2009...I do hope things were better for you than it was for me...a tumultuous year, that's for sure...but with no regrets...I feel more prepared with what year 2010 has to offer...and hopefully I would have a much clearer head and make wise decisions...instead of many slips of this year...*grin*...</p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Have a great year ahead!!...</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-3351034038680364454?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-56573408821887540642009-12-05T11:29:00.009+08:002009-12-05T11:52:53.614+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So, the four working days have passed...and still no sign of <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/12/talk-about-luck.html">cash return</a> in sight...I checked my account yesterday...I even went to Public Bank (PB), where my ATM card was issued to enquire about it...</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Told my sob story to Miss X...she was fortunately more sympathetic than the guard standing in the corner, but never mind...asked me to fill up the complaint form...sat down and explained the procedures for situations such as this...<br /><br />By the way, my bank account was started back in my hometown in Ipoh, 270km from where I am now...<br /></span><ol><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">PB from Kuala Lumpur (KL), where I filed a complaint will fax my appeal to PB in Ipoh. (I was no idea that I had to transfer my bank account to Kuala Lumpur where I am staying now)</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">PB from Ipoh will check their systems and fax my appeal back to the PB Headquarters which is situated in KL.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">PB Headquarters will then check THEIR systems, and fax my appeal back to PB Ipoh with a confirmation if my appeal was legal/not.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">PB Ipoh will then fax letter of approval/not to PB KL, which PB KL in return will get in touch with me...</span></li></ol><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So, my appeal/complaint will be wired as such...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Lessajinomoto --> KL --> Ipoh --> KL --> Ipoh --> KL --> Lessajinomoto</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />And the whole process will be "<span style="font-style: italic;">one to two months wait, madam</span>"...Oh, if only I can last that long...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I pray I can last that long...my cash flow is drying up, and I have none to spare for the rainy season...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-5657340882188754064?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-19104327716510000402009-12-02T10:43:00.018+08:002009-12-05T11:45:59.519+08:00<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">An ode to 1st December 2009</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><br /></span><br /><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" >Twas the week after Thanksgiving, I headed out for lunch.<br />My tummy was growling, mouth watering, so I set off for something to much.<br />Dried from cash, I stopped by an ATM machine,<br />It took so blardy long to register, I wanted to dose it with benzene,<br />There I typed my amount, A thousand Ringgit plus hundreds more,<br />Waited for another 5 minutes, my blood did boil, my legs were sore,<br />The ATM finally cracked into life *woohoo!!*, I hear yummy cash a-flippin' inside,<br />Lifted up a prayer of thanks only to find nothing comin' from its mouth open wide,<br />I waited a little longer, hoping that it was a mistake,<br />But an </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:lucida grande;font-size:85%;" >ink-less</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" > receipt shot out, stating that the money I did take...<br /><br />A thousand Ringgit plus hundreds more,<br />May not seem much but keeps my month ashore,<br />Pay my rent, my petrol, my toll, my bills,<br />my food, my groceries, my gym, my ills.<br />I checked the other machines to confirm this nightmare<br />Praying that it was just another prank-ly scare<br />I dialed 1300-xxx-xxx with my heart in my mouth,<br />straining to listen for instructions, while my brain has gone south<br />Was told to wait for two hours before filing a report,<br />I gave her a little piece of my mind and many other sorts.<br /><br />I went to the nearest CIMB bank to make my claim,<br />Vowing that if I don't get my money back, their good name I'll gladly defame<br />True that one may say that things like these do happen once in a while<br />But I having to suffer the consequences of their neglect just ain't my style<br />I filled in the form, details, trace number and all,<br />The counter lady flashed her Colgate Ad smile sayin, "It'll be </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:lucida grande;font-size:85%;" >FOUR workin' days</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" > before they call.<br />So that leaves me completely broke for one whole week,<br />with so many bills to settle my following days does look quite bleak,<br />Sat quietly at home, I did, not daring to move so much as an inch<br />I thought, If it was just a prank act, I'd let him/her go with just a pinch<br /><br />Well, you'd thought that as long as one has credit cards, one will survive<br />I thought that too, till I reached the KFC drive,<br />"I'm sorry, mam but your credit card didn't get through", said the lad<br />Asking me to pay in cash, cash which I wish I have had<br />Having no choice but to call my personal hotline,<br />Rang my dad for help, I did...how many hundreds? I asked for nine (for the 'just in case's)<br /><br />Returned back home, with no mood for food,<br />Marching towards my laptop, I wondered if this was only the prelude<br />My wonders were confirmed when my Firefox came crashing down<br />Some email replies unsaved, my face was slightly more than a frown<br />Several more tries and yet the same thing<br />Obvious isn't it, my luck is draining...<br /><br />I clocked in my washing machine only to watch it go belly-up<br />Looks like I'll have to hand-wash, especially my skirt soiled with tomato ketchup<br />An order I made for a rubber stamp, simple as it may seem,<br />Upon my reaching the shop, a mistake I spotted and I released some steam<br />A positive point was that I was allowed for a carpet exchange, (the carpet I purchased didn't match my theme)<br />but seeing how my luck goes, I am not surprise if it catches fire first and goes up in flames...<br /><br />And no, things didn't improve then...I refuse to dwell on them longer than I should...<br />It is times like these that makes me wonder...WHY ME???...<br />But then again...why NOT me???...<br /></span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1910432771651000040?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-88078652960297014312009-11-06T11:49:00.006+08:002009-11-07T12:09:45.283+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Check out what comes on the screen when you type LESSAJINOMOTO on Google to look up...*not that anyone will bother, I know...I don't know why I did it myself...complete waste of data transfer and virtual space..*</span><br /><br /></div><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;" href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/" class="l" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','res','1','','0CAkQFjAA')">Random Logics of A Perfect Mis-fit...cum Insomiac</a><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;" href="javascript:void(0)" id="LXPLSS_1927899939U1"><img style="visibility: visible;" onmouseout="HideFlyover(event)" onmouseover="PopupFlyover(event,'XPLSS_1927899939','1314208721','')" id="XPLSS_1927899939U1" src="chrome://searchshield/content/safe.gif" border="0" hspace="5" /></a><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;" class="s">I had "mothball-ed" Milo with milk, because of that...there are easier ways to die... ....*will update the next time*...<br />Posted by <em>Lessajinomoto</em> @ 12:56 PM ...<br /><cite>mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/ - </cite><span class="gl"><a href="http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:kRqk7qnC3NMJ:mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/+Lessajinomoto&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=my&amp;client=firefox-a" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','clnk','1','')">Cached</a> - <a href="http://www.google.com.my/search?hl=en&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;hs=jMc&amp;q=related:mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/">Similar</a></span></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="gl"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">and this...</span></span></span><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html" class="l" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','res','2','','0CAsQFjAB')"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Random Logics of A Perfect Mis-fit...cum Insomiac: September 2008</span></a><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;" href="javascript:void(0)" id="LXPLSS_1927899939U1"><img style="visibility: visible;" onmouseout="HideFlyover(event)" onmouseover="PopupFlyover(event,'XPLSS_1927899939','1314208721','')" id="XPLSS_1927899939U1" src="chrome://searchshield/content/safe.gif" border="0" hspace="5" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >...have asked Santa Clause for a bottle of </span><em style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">acid cyanide</em><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > this Christmas and just spare me the misery. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >...<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Posted by </span><em style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Lessajinomoto</em><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > @ 12:06 PM 0 tonality(ies) </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >....</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > </span><br /><cite style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html - </cite><span class="gl" style="font-family:times new roman;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.google.com.my/search?hl=en&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;q=related:mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html">Similar</a><br /><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="gl" style="font-family:times new roman;">Of all sentences that Google chooses to pick from my post...they just made me look like a walking disaster laced with unstable physiological tendencies... BAH!!...</span><br /></div><br /><span class="gl" style="font-family:times new roman;">Can you imagine the look on my mum's face if she sees this...I imagine her rolling her eyes...giving the well-known "THAT'S my daughter, the idiot" look...</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8807865296029701431?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-48743293631435561602009-11-05T12:56:00.001+08:002009-11-06T13:40:57.557+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SvO21wMBW8I/AAAAAAAAANg/kd182AYdt5k/s1600-h/WashingMachine.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SvO21wMBW8I/AAAAAAAAANg/kd182AYdt5k/s320/WashingMachine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400861412732001218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: times new roman;">So, for company, I've got a 9 year old Electrolux schizophrenic washing machine (courtesy of the landlord who wouldn't take it back) that either wouldn't stop vomiting foam, or go into bouts of seizure whenever it feels like it...*man, try stopping an 80kg male from throwing a tantrum!!*...This is my first time handling a side-door washing machine...so excuse my ignorance...I am still learning...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Its base isn't stable, so it does a Red Indian dance about the dry kitchen while it does its spinning...Its label is so worn down, that I've got to go figure on my own, what all the knobs meant...and blardy hell, why so many knobs??...yeah, so I realized that this ancient relic was not born in the 21st century, but still...and the landlady wasn't much use...she was just as clueless as we are...testing the knobs as she wishes till they came out loose...and it doesn't help that this Electrolux model is so old, that it was impossible to google up online for its manual...</span><br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Now, on to Discovery Channel...here is what I've found out...<br /><br />My washing machine is a female with a double PMS...and here is why...<br /></div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li style="font-family: times new roman;">she is highly temperamental and unstable...despite all the buttons I push and knobs I turn...she remains silent till I coax her with some TLC...</li><li style="font-family: times new roman;">freezes without any apparent reason...in the middle of the washing process...</li><li style="font-family: times new roman;">And with maximum patience, it is possible to get it to perform trivial task...such as open the side door...</li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">sulks A LOT...at any given chance...</span></li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">First of all, Jinxie...(yeah, I've given it a name...not that I am very fond of it...but we have developed a love-hate relationship along the way, y'know)...Jinxie would not start...I've checked the connections, checked the plugs...double checked it again...well, seeing how absent minded I could get at times...Power was switched on...but it just wouldn't get going!!...<br /><br />Man, I never thought I'd say this, but guys really do have a magic touch!!...I've pushed every button I can see...restarted Jinxie...and nil...nothing happens...my boyfriend comes along, ejects Jinxie's side door open...closes it again...and voila!!...Water gushes out from the pipe, brilliantly...and churns like a baby...His magic touch doesn't stop with Jinxie...there was the water heater, computer printer, etc...but I will leave those for a next post...<br /><br />So, Jinxie came back to live...not knowing very well how Jinxie functions, I allowed it to wash overnight, assuming that it would be ready for drying the next day...late next morning, after putting on the kettle boiler, I headed towards Jinxie and ejected the door...WHOOSH!!!!...water spills onto the floor and my dry kitchen was now looking more like a war zone...soapy water filled, drenched wet clothes, a really pissed off Lessajinomoto...and a laughing hyena of a boyfriend...somehow, Jinxie missed the spinning process...and vomited on me...I blame those stupid knobs...<br /><br />At that time, I couldn't help but think...if there is a Man up there...he hates me... *sigh* </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />I've also learned that Jinxie comes with a heated water and spinning services too...altogether a brilliant idea...except that it consumes a lot of electricity...and...well, I've managed to live with cold water and no extra services....no point for all these luxury...so I plan on turning it off...now, if only I can find the "heater" button/wire so that I can turn/cut it off...<br /><br />In summary, here are a couple of things I have come to know about handy-work and old houses...<br /></span><ol><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Women and hardware rarely get along with one another...Leave those jobs for real men...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Don't be a smart alec and pour more into the kettle boiler, than it can take...chances are, it will take revenge on you...and you end up with the mess...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Women in general have butter fingers when it comes to nails and hammer...I've stopped counting how many nails I've bent...and how many times I've aimed at my thumb...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Never ever get too fancy lights...you'll have a helluva time just putting the pieces together...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Never overdose your cupboards with mothballs...I had "mothball-ed" Milo with milk, because of that...there are easier ways to die...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">....*will update the next time*...</span><br /></li></ol></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-4874329363143556160?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-1707491064709853662009-10-03T21:39:00.004+08:002009-10-03T23:43:02.207+08:00<div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Jeez...its almost one month since I've updated this blog...its been lacking so much attention, I think it needs an overhaul...hmmm...will get to it soon...<br /><br />Anyway, just mere updates since I've abandoned this blog till now...I'll write about them in detail soon, and try to link them up as well...<br /></div><ul style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"><li>my cousin Jo has left for Japan to be with her husband who is studying there...I spent my short Raya holidays with her...doing lots of catching up...and just bonding...it will be a long time before I see her again...</li><li>in the process of setting up my personal music studio...A simpleton like me, never knew how much work it required...sorting out my finance, renting a house, furniture shopping, house designing...good, its keeps me real busy and occupied...</li><li>learned a lot about the bits and pieces about house renting...I've never really rented a house before...always been renting rooms and bunking with my friends...it was quite a hassle...while it did make me feel more "adult"-ish, I was relieved and happy that its over and done with...</li><li>I AM <span style="font-weight: bold;">FINALLY</span> INSURED!!!!...Life, Clinical Illness, Personal Accident...the whole hullabaloo...Man, the first time I invest in something, which I can never see a return...ah, well...the beneficiary will benefit from it of course...I'll be too dead underground to enjoy it by then!!...</li><li>written my first cheque...well, second actually...but it was the first time I've written a cheque for such a large sum, my hand was literally shaking!!!...Shaking because I am afraid I may make mistakes...which if I do, I'd have to cancel it off and start a new cheque...that cost me 35 cents...yeah, so I am a cheap-skate...I never claimed I wasn't...but hey, if you don't earn that much, don't have savings that much, and having other commitments...writing a cheque for an amount close to RM5000, you'd be scared too...</li><li>arranged two songs for the concert that I am preparing my students for...its been playing in my mind for three months now...I finally got my arse down, and wrote down the score to its details...hehe, am quite satisfied with it, actually...surprised too...I have great love for counterpoints, and listening to my friends (colleagues) play my arrangement was fulfilling...ah, well...bits and pieces of mistakes, of course...but who cares??...its done!!!...</li><li>went shopping...literally...it may mean nothing to you, but if you know me well enough, you'll know that I'd rather get swine flu than shop...I hate all the walking around, and the little indecisiveness in me...but just a few days ago, I shopped like crazy...had to get all the necessities for the house that I am renting...gosh, I've used my credit card so many times, I lost count!!...that too...has never happened before...</li><li>decided to delay my car purchase...I figured...with my music studio up and coming, I'd rather place my investment there instead of paying for something that I want, but do not need...besides, my beloved Toyota has just got an overhaul, and its now a beauty...ride is comfortable, suspension was perfect, and all that jazz...hehe...sorry, bro!!...I knew you had high hopes getting my car...*grin*...I think I will need it a little longer...half a year more...or maybe longer...hehe...keep your fingers crossed!!...</li><li>learned that my dad speaks dual messages...he is helping me out financially with my studio...backing me till I can stand on my own feet...so he says, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Girl, there are many things you can't rush...you've got to let time tell...now, we take it one step at a time"</span>...when I was thinking about the studio, and how it should go...and in that SAME line, he will add...<span style="font-style: italic;">"Girl, you'd better get things going...the minute we've rented the house, the expense starts rolling...time lost is money gone"</span><span>...??????</span>...*roll eyes*...you've got to excuse me...its my first time thinking in business language...and man, have I got tonnes to learn!!...</li><li>am in the process of planning a small recital for myself...sort of like a self-promotion...I'd thought it would be a good idea, since it will keep me on my toes musically...and it will be a step closer to getting rid of stage-fright...am also thinking of inviting my students to play along with me...will sleep on it tonight...</li><li>*sigh*...Malaysia is so screwed up politically, it has left me dry and devoid of all hope...so if you happen to find that I don't write nor comment on some issues about Malaysia...you'll know why...besides, I think its time I write about something positive that I feel about my country...but at the moment, besides the vast variety of food and culture...there is nothing to hope for as yet...</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">well, that's all I can remember for now...I won't have an internet line so soon, now that I've shifting...hehe...lets see if I can live through that!!...*grin*...</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-170749106470985366?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-13715292491038328392009-09-08T10:20:00.002+08:002009-09-21T11:17:28.142+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">I made it!!!...I sat through the whole film of IT...from the start till the end!!...Okay, okay...so I broke the film into a couple of sections...took a couple of breaks...shuddered just a little...what is the big deal??...Actually, it wasn't too bad when I watched it the second time...hehe...I knew when those gory parts were coming...so I just closed my eyes for those scenes, or just pretended to need to message someone on my phone...<br /><br />Tim Curry's portrayal of a clown is still first class, I think...the monsters...ah, well...it was a show made in the late 1980's...one couldn't compare to the graphic effects of the current years...nor can it expect much...If I had watched this movie for the first time in my 20s, I would have rolled my eyes, skipped those boring scenes...and just move to those juicy, bloody ones...(I contradict myself, I know)...yawn...and maybe laugh at those stiff monsters...But if a child were to see it, I can understand how traumatizing it could be...In fact, I'd realized that it wasn't the film that scared me anymore...but the image of Pennywise that is screwing with my mind!!...I did have slight difficulty sleeping that night...*sheepish grin*...<br /><br />Well, I don't think I am all that afraid of clowns anymore...though I can't guarantee that I won't cringe at the sight of one...my knees may buckle a bit, my heartbeat race a little...that's about it, I think...<br /><br />And just as I thought I had conquered clowns at last...someone in the house changed my computer wallpaper (without me knowing...I was bathing then)...clicked on my Firefox to hide the image...so that in all my sleepiness...I closed my Firefox...and saw <a href="http://wallpapers.infinitecoolness.com/halloween/2007/stephenkingsitdesktopwallpaper001.jpg">this</a>...<br /><br />I'll leave it to you to decide what happened after that...and the fate of that someone...the time then was 12:45am...in the still of the night...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1371529249103832839?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-36999622872908295232009-09-05T12:35:00.007+08:002009-09-21T11:16:41.910+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SqfKQBVHPVI/AAAAAAAAANY/n3xDiF1Q2hs/s1600-h/clown1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 289px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SqfKQBVHPVI/AAAAAAAAANY/n3xDiF1Q2hs/s320/clown1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379490656501054802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Note : Skip to the last paragraph if you happen to be short of time...or uninterested...</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />The white painted "jolly" expression, marred by blood-red eyes...the fixed smiling face, that makes you just a tad more than apprehensive...those mega huge dark red boots...the crude and colourful baggy clothes with elastic suspenders...The offensively coloured hair...they were once thought as amusing characters who brings laughter to people's live...revealing to them a whole new world of magic and entertainment...More often than never, now they seem to be anything but that...well, in the movies, at least...</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><strong style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:small;"><br /><br /></span></strong></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I've never hidden the fact that I always had a </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/man-of-my-nightmares.html">fear of clowns</a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> since childhood...its called "</span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulrophobia"><span style="font-size:100%;">coulrophobia</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"...man, I didn't know it was so common, that they actually have a term for it!!...I just found out online a few days back...I never was scared in the rigid-with-shock-and-panic kind of way...more of a case of the heebie-jeebies...seeing a particularly malevolent sight of a clown would cause my stomach to come undone...and I will avoid anyone and everyone dressed as a clown...be it the jolly old one down the street...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">People may ask...why the extreme??...Let me make it absolutely clear...that I am now all grown up...and have discarded beliefs about Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, clowns in the sewer, Mr. Sandman and all that jazz...even before I hit puberty...I am aware that there never were Santa's little helper elf that make tiny toys, and a Santa that knows if I were naughty and nice...There weren't any Tinker Bell's who was going to place a 50 cent coin under my pillow...I realized that for myself after my 2nd attempt of placing my baby tooth before going to bed...<br /><br />St. Francis of Assisi once said..."<span style="font-style: italic;">No one is to be called an enemy...no one does your harm...you have no enemy except yourself.</span>"<br /><br />I find that quite true...and applicable to every situation even for this...It isn't so much of a clowns' act that I fear...more of the mental image in my head that I am trying to escape from...vision of clowns that return to haunt my subconscious...that paralyzes me...of course, my imagination doesn't help...and has a tenancy to over-exaggerate...<br /><br />My first encounter of this clown conundrum was thanks to Stephen King whose novel IT and the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099864/">subsequent TV series</a> about Pennywise, a sewer-dwelling, child-eating clown...It was in the early 1990s...when I have just finished the novel (I was about 9-10 years of age, I think...)...and was really excited when I saw in the newspaper that IT was to be screened on TV...the novel gave me the creeps...and being a young-blooded soul, I was eager to watch the show...and to be "pumped with the adrenaline rush"...after all, it was the first time I had permission to stay up...and, it was my first horror movie...<br /><br />Nothing prepared me for the goriness of it all, though...That novel still scares the hell out of me...blardy thing...and I try to avoid it at all cost...For weeks after that, I felt the need to check under my bed before I went to sleep...look down the sink cautiously as I brush my teeth...leave the dirty dishes till the last minute...till it could wait no more...Everytime I think 'clown'...I see Tim Curry's portrayal of Pennywise...the sheer horror that inspired in me, even at my age now...my hair stands...<br /><br />So after all this nonsensical chatter...I am sure you would be asking...what am I doing to overcome it??...well, first of all, I have just finished downloading the TV show It (1990)...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">*my sanity here is questionable...I won't deny it*...I am going to watch it once more...and see where and which scene exactly that hits my nerve...maybe if I know and determine where I first got scared out of my wits...I'll know that there isn't much to be fearful of in the first place...save me thousand of dollars in therapy, wouldn't you agree??...hell, now that I am seeing it with adult eyes, I might just laugh through it all!!...Note: MIGHT...<br /><br />Krusty the Clown (from Simpsons) may be the ONLY clown that I can look at, without a cringe...at many times, it help tame the dark images that toys with me...for a short while...but still...</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-3699962287290829523?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-24300998886504541472009-09-01T16:01:00.008+08:002009-09-02T11:27:59.372+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">What would you do, if you had a really, really bad day...and everything that you do just coincidentally goes wrong??...</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">a) go through a self destructive mode...splurge yourself with money that you don't have...ram your car on someone's gate...hoping that the other party will have a worse day than yours...shove all your stationery on the floor...your life is messed up...doesn't make a difference if your room should look the same...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">b) shut everyone out for a while...and throw yourself a self-pity party...have some booze and potato chips...and plant yourself in front of the telly till your butt grow fungus...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">c)...(I'll add when I can think of one)...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">At the moment, I am doing option B (without the booze and chips...yet), while practicing self-control to resist from opting for option A...<br /><br />Hope you've had a better day than mine...*sheepish grin*...</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-2430099888650454147?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-48912553700953983452009-08-31T18:03:00.005+08:002009-08-31T19:04:30.493+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">When one touches down on Phuket International Airport, he would know that he will be heading for the people...people come here for two reasons :<br /><br />1. the Thai girls...somehow prostitution here is legal...sadly this is where the money is for them at the moment...'tourist' will spend a month or two there...for good company...and some other things...<br /><br />2. to enjoy what the beaches and the sea have to offer...beautiful corals, great ski-ing place...kayaking, canoeing among many other activities...and last but not least, a heart melting sunset...<br /><br />For those opting for option #1, they are usually sun-bathing in the morning...and back in the hotel by sun down...for more intimate activities...<br /><br />As for option #2, we wake up early in the morning...have a hearty breakfast, and head for the speed boat which will bring us to our destinations...<br /><br />Here is Lesson 101 : Before you jump down, learn how to swim...<br /><br />If you don't fancy swimming, and yet would still like to look at some corals...<br /><br />Here is Lesson 101.1 for you : Before you jump down, learn to put on a life jacket...properly...or ask the locals to do so for you...<br /><br />I was on my first trip to Phi Phi Island, where the activity of the day was snorkeling, swim, snorkeling...tonnes of corals to explore...and so little time...the speed boat I was in, had about 30 people in it...2 families from Hong Kong, one from Sweden, another from Australia, 2 groups from M'sia (including us) and a few singles...<br /><br />Our first drop off was at Maya Bay...for snorkeling...I being too excited, I think...was the first few to jump off...goggles only, and no life jacket...(yes, I am aware of the dangers...but I wanted to touch the sea corals, and the life jacket was restricting...)...<br /><br />At first, I did have some problems keeping afloat...the current was strong, and there was the sea temperature to adjust too...so I swam near to the back of the boat, where there was a rope...and I held firmly to it, while taking a breather...<br /><br />When all of a sudden, there was this 300 megaton hippo grabbed me on my shoulders and pulled me under...Caught by surprise, I had a few gulps of sea water, before I struggled to reach the surface once more...I looked out for the source...and, would you believe it...one fat dude (from the Hong Kee group)...had just jumped into the water...and was also struggling to float!!..the difference was...he does not know how to swim...I understood that he was fighting for his survival...but, crap...need he hang on to a small shrimp like me??...btw, he did have a life jacket...<br /><br />The local guide tried to pull him up...somehow he slipped once more...and dragged me down again...TWO-ZERO...I could not swim away in time...and besides, the under sea current was pulling me towards his direction...and yes, I had a few more gulps of sea-water...blardy hell...and this time, I wasn't in the mood to be nice...<br /><br />True, it may just be my luck, that I happened to be in the right place at the wrong time...I can accept that gracefully...but what pissed me off...was the fact that when the locals got him back on the boat, he turned to the tour guide, and scolded her for life jacket malfunction!!!...I was already up on the boat, watching this scene (I quickly climbed up after him, as I was tired after the struggle)...and it was obvious that he didn't buckle the strap between his legs...which not surprisingly, didn't keep him afloat...also, erm...there wasn't any life jacket that fitted him...he was WAY too big....<br /><br />Not only had he the audicity to scold the tour guide in front of us, tourists...he was so self-absorbed that he didn't apologize to me!!...and yes, I was expecting an apology...why not??...true, it was an accident...and I was an innocent bystander who got involved...but still, I would expect some courtesy...some sort of an apology for inconvenience or rather...or at least, a little concern to see if I am alright or not...<br /><br />But Nooooo....he never went down...and spend the rest of the trip (till the next stop, at least)...being his egoistic self, and proclaiming to his family/friends...how he struggled...and how he nearly drowned...and no thanks to the locals for pulling him up just in time...<br /><br />And with all the salt water I drank...I really wanted to puke...literally...<br /><br />So, learn to swim...if not, learn to put on a life jacket...properly...its for your own safety, after all...</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-4891255370095398345?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-67759544754113476852009-08-30T14:50:00.008+08:002009-11-07T00:22:08.207+08:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;">Just a few reminders for myself just so I don't repeat my mistakes :</span><br /><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Shopping in Phuket isn't for the faint-hearted...Conserve your energy to barter, barter, barter...if you're not up to it (like me)...walk away...window shop, and don't hope for too much...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Driving in Phuket or Thailand for that matter...is a dead No-No...You've got to be resolute, your senses sharpened...bold...and a jerk, at times...when it comes to confronting traffic...You can't be all four, and read the map at the same time...There are tonnes of motorcycles here...and there is no law that says you are required to wear a helmet...also, streets aren't systematic there...just as you thought you're in a one way street...you see a car heading towards you from an opposite direction...btw, the car/motorcycle that you rent there is NEVER insured...so damages are on you...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Gear yourself with motion sickness pills...you'd never know when you need one...be it in one of the speed boat trips in choppy waves, or in the midst of one of the twisted roads of Phuket...or in an air-plane...it'll come in handy...if not for you...your loved one...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Red <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">flags errected in the middle of the beach = strong waves, keep away!!...</span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Go for Thai massages BEFORE joining those crazy sun-stroke activities...sun-burnt skin and Thai massages are never good combination...its heart wretchingly PAINFUL!!!...man, you've got to be there to know it...<br /></span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">When hiring a driver/taxi/Tuk-Tuk...tell them you want to see beautiful sceneries and take pictures...not go shopping...especially in destined tourist shopping centres...insist on it...</span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Swiss army knifes aren't allowed on board the plane...neither are empty shell bullets-made-into-necklace...<br /></span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Tiger shows...are actually lady-boys display...and other sexual fancy stuff...not to be taken literally...and they are spelled as "Thai-Girl" shows...not "Ti-Ger" shows...bleh...when I heard it the first time, I thought it would be wild Bali and Caspian tigers...heesh...gave me a thrill of the moment...all for nothin'...<br /></span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">When in doubt, its <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALWAYS</span> a dude...that is a tip for guys out there...if you happen to be checkin' out some hot babes...and you come across one, that somehow looks slightly off the page...chances are you're lookin' at a brother...though there was ONE time, when I was wrong...</span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Make friends with a local...they are extremely friendly...and they will willingly help you buy the stuff that you want...at a local price too...so you don't get ripped off that much...they will also advice you on which shop to visit or not...trust the locals to know their market...</span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Remove footwear, when you approach a massage parlor...or dropping by a shop...locals always close an eye when it comes to custom such as these...but I can see that they appreciate it when they sense we know our place...and keep our shoes out of their business premises...of course, this does not apply to street vendors...</span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Geographically, Phuket is situated on the west side of the shore of Thailand...so the sunset rules there...don't waste time waking up early for the sunrise...you won't get any, you nimwit!!...like...DUH!!!</span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">When ordering food, always order ala carte...ordering singles will come to R350 Baht per person (equivalent to RM35)...while ala carte (all seafood, mind you) will only cost R130 Baht per person at maximum (RM13) after dividing the cost among friends...<br /></span></span></span></li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6775954475411347685?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-9294380065356958232009-08-29T11:15:00.008+08:002009-09-01T01:36:12.667+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">Ah, I've just returned from the land of the free and booze...hehe...It was a 9 days trip altogether...though tiring (I had to return to work 10 hours after touch-down)...but all worth it...I never gave a single thought about work...didn't have a care in the world if my students passed their exam or not...Now that I am back, I am back to worrying again...the obsessed person that I am...<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Am not going to go through every itty gritty detail about my trip e.g how I kept getting confused about the currency exchange...so much so, the locals there gave me 'that look'...and how I could not figure out their food menu...and all that jazz...<br /><br />[Note : if you aren't into long post...scroll all the way to the bottom for the 'summary'...]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Place...<br /></span>I stayed in Patong Beach...one of the many beaches of Phuket...the place was obviously built for tourist...with stalls on every corner of the street...This were <a href="http://www.phuket.com/phuket-beach-status.htm">one of many places</a> that were badly affected when the Tsunami of 2004 came raging towards them...5 years later (yr 2009)...the place have been rebuilt...everything has been restored and they are back in business...<br /><br />The waves are simply amazing!!...unlike the weak ones found in Batu Feringghi beach in Penang, or Port Dickson in Seremban...the winds in Phuket are strong...and it is just awesome to see two waves come together to make a great splash!!!...<br /><br />One thing that stood out, as I looked around the area...was the scary electrical wires that were intertwined...like a Rastafari hair-do!!...Just check it out...man, I've never seen so many wires connected to a single pole in my life...if there were an accident, and one of the electrical poles got shot-circuited *touches wood*...the whole Patong Beach would suffer a black out for sure...<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/Sptj8LqOApI/AAAAAAAAANA/r8zJ4qGwFVw/s1600-h/DSC_2800.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/Sptj8LqOApI/AAAAAAAAANA/r8zJ4qGwFVw/s320/DSC_2800.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376000465769988754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Food...</span><br />Marvelous!!...what can I say...Mamak tom yam soup in M'sia taste quite bland now...not as thick and rich in texture, as the one in Thailand...not to mention its spiciness too...I would have preferred it with less salt and MSG...but ah, it will do...tonnes of food available all night long, which suits my living style...*winks*...I am a big fan of Thai food...having visit many Thai restaurant in Kuala Lumpur...so I knew my way around the food stalls here...and had a clear idea of what I wanted...and oh...the mango sticky rice!!...Can't be missed...the glutinous rice here was much sweeter...toys with my taste buds...it will be a long time before I would succumb to tasteless, watery, pathetic tom yam soups in the mamak, that's for sure...prices are quite reasonable too...as long as you stay off the main road...and order ala carte...main dishes shared among friends, and a plate of rice for yourself...saves you $, and closes friendship ties...*grin*...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">People...</span><br />Quite friendly...with a ready smile at all times...and always polite...even when conversing in their language...it almost sounds like a professor lecturing you so gently it lulls you to sleep...Their English is quite limited, though...just enough to get around their business...not quite enough to spark a conversation...<br /><br />Not to forget...the street vendors can be quite a shark when it comes to quoting a price, though...I saw some thongs that were quite pretty and nicely decorated...factory-made, obviously...but the cutting was neat, and it fitted me perfectly...when I asked this man, Bangladeshi if I had a guess...how much it would cost me...he quoted me R600 Baht!!!...that is equivalent to RM60 in Malaysia!!...Daylight robbery, I tell ya...why, thongs/slippers at a night market in Kuala Lumpur would cost me only RM10....So I walked away...only for that same guy, to grab me in the arm...and give me another price...R350 Baht...for the same thong, I was once so keen on...<br /><br />Wrong move, buddy...haha...man, this is starting to feel like a game of chess!!...to see who gets the better of whom...I was then absolutely convinced that he saw us tourist like squealing pigs being led to the slaughter house...so I refused...for 3 reasons...One: I hate bargaining...though I'd love bargains...and no, I am not confused at all...I hate negotiation of these sort...but I love price-drop sales...Two: I felt that man has no business ethics at all...and I am turned off by that...anyone would...I mean, sure, he needed to put food on the table, but I as a customer would like to be sure I got my money worth as well...wouldn't you agree?...Three: I am no shopacholic, and I can do with/without the thongs...so that was that...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One day trips...</span><br />Visited Phi Phi islands, and James Bond island...it was rainy season, so the sun was out only in the morning...and by afternoon, cool showers followed...It went quite well...and we got it at a very good price, I think...we paid about R1000 Baht for each trip...which is equivalent to RM100 in Malaysia...there was this nice lady agent who saw to it that we were well taken care of...I could see that she didn't take advantage of us as many other agents would...a friend we got to know there, also a tourist from Japan...paid R1700 Baht for the same trip that we went...<br /><br />Travelling on a speed boat was quite a pain in the arse (LITERALLY!!)...especially when the seas are quite rough, during the rainy season...I'd find myself in mid-air...close my eyes, hold my breath and embrace myself for th-....owwww, shit...my butt feels sore and numb...ah, could have been worse...thank you, God...for my tonnes of fat!!...For once, I didn't mind that I wasn't skin and bones...<br /><br />And oh...to anyone who plans to go on day trips such as these...do remember to wear casual e.g, three quarter pants, shirt, swim-suit, etc...it doesn't make sense to come in a beautiful, sexy dress with exposed lingerie, thick make-up and mascara...and lingering perfume...pay R1700 Baht for trip, and not join in any of the activities...and to add insult to injury...squeal at any drop of water that hits you!!...<br /><br />Another note...there is one thing that I fail to understand, nor show compassion for...is why there are some people who will complain and scream bloody Mary, whenever a slight shower befalls upon them (due to the breaking current of a wave...or someone wet passing by them...or a drizzle) while on the speedboat...and yet, when we reach one of our stop points, they will eagerly jump off the boat, into the sea...and happily bobbed around with a life jacket as the sea current brings them...I mean, when we sign up for this trip, or even in any activity near a beach, we would already expect to get wet, wouldn't we??...then why all the fuss before??...so excuse me, for sneering...and not offering a helping hand...until I can fully comprehend, only then can I sincerely sympathize and hand over my towel...otherwise, heesh...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion...</span><br />So, would I go back to Phuket again?...Yes, definitely...it ain't a shopping paradise, but that's alright...I am no shopping diva either...but yes, because I was so busy visiting that outskirt islands off shore of Phuket, I forgot to visit Phuket itself!!...so I missed Karon beach, Kata Beach, Phuket town...well, not really...I used my last day to drive through all of them...and spent 30 minutes in each place...but that is hardly sufficient...<br /><br />Scenery was beautiful and breath taking...though it was cloudy, so we couldn't see any sunset...wasn't good time for the camera...can't imagine how it would look like on a good weather!!...plus...the cost is cheap...provided you stay off the tourist shopping area...back-pack and stay in budget hotels...my stay only cost me RM35 per night...comfortable bed, and good service!!...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-929438006535695823?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-36661275495252561352009-08-09T09:36:00.010+08:002009-10-03T22:24:27.894+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">A couple of months late : pay attention and learn from my mistakes...I've broken nearly all of the following...*sheepish grin*...So I'd thought I could save you guys the trouble...this applies to students of any music profession...<br /><ul><li>If you're going to be stupid, you've got to be tough (TM)...Happens to everybody, I'm sure...its just that people like me would need more "stupid-time" than others...</li><li>Don't lie...to anyone...even to your students...kids these days are smart as hell...and they can smell your 'poo' a mile away...</li><li>Be nice as you can...If you can't be nice, be silent...If you can't be silent, walk away for a while and count to ten...Never switch to strangle mode...After a tiring 12 hour work shift, 6 days a week...all you have left is your auto-pilot and your self-control...Doesn't pay to lose either one.<br /></li><li>Always answer your phone...you will never know that a very much needed gig is just a pick-up call away...though I must urge you to put your foot down, should you find clients/students calling you at 12am "<span style="font-style: italic;">just to chat</span>"!!...</li><li>Don't take criticism personally...if you must, step aside and do an honest self-evaluation of yourself...some critics does hold water...others, are just plain words from brainless morons who can't back up their statements...</li><li>NEVER ASSUME!!!!...</li><li>Don't assume that just because you've explained something, that the other party understands...Don't assume that just because you've said something several times, the other party remembers...Chances are, they will conveniently forget, so you will have to explain again...</li><li>If you have trouble with with your student/client/projects...don't give up...Keep trying...the breakthrough will come, but you have to keep trying...</li><li>Start planning when to take leave at the beginning of the year...or you never will...</li><li>Fake it till you can make it...you can't put off not talking to parents, apologizing for errors, PERFORMING on stage..."<span style="font-style: italic;">Being fearful</span>" is gonna be a helluva lifelong recurring theme...[Note : I learnt this from my dad..]<br /></li><li>Appreciate your fellow colleagues and college friends, they are your lifeline, music support, last minute band on call, food delivery, complaining partners and counselors...And they are the ONLY people who will know EXACTLY how you feel because they're going through it too...</li><li>Lastly, enjoy a great time ahead!!...Nothing beats the thought of one having the privilege to make music everyday...learn music everyday...and work with music everyday!!...</li></ul>Ah...such bliss...yet so much heartache...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-3666127549525256135?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-67465848979351141802009-08-08T00:41:00.013+08:002009-08-10T19:36:42.321+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So, my 1982 1.6 Toyota Corona have been giving me problems of late...the engine crankshaft has taken its toll, it being subjected to various forces...car bearings are bald, thanks to the lack of periodic maintenance...timing belt needed changing...well, to be honest, I have been talking about giving my buddy an overhaul...but have been postponing it due to financial constraint...and the fact that I couldn't afford to spare my car for a week long...<br /><br />[Note : I have just sent my car to overhaul a few days back...so now I am currently transport-less...and having my favourite Walrus to drive me around...*grin*...]<br /><br />Anyhow, my dad and I have been discussing about the <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/second-handism.html">idea of purchasing a new car</a> since April '09...my maroon red buddy wasn't exactly fuel economical in anyway...plus, it was due time that I passed this 3-generation buddy on to my brother for his usage...and I, having a salary should start investing on assets such as these...(A house is next on the list, but that will have to wait for now...Banks won't approve my loan based on my current salary, that's for sure)...<br /><br />Being a new graduate with a meagre salary, I didn't give much thought on Toyota and Honda cars, as they were very much out of my price range, and I would have to slog hard, just to keep up with interest alone...(Bank interest rate is 3.65% flat for local cars...I am not so sure about foreign cars now...)...<br /><br />So I had no choice but to toy with local made cars such as Proton and Perodua, which was more affordable...there wasn't much...a 1000cc Kenari/Viva, 1.3cc Myvi/Saga and a 1.6cc Persona...all ranging from RM41k-55k...<br /><br />After all these years of being away from my family, and being financially independant...one would have taught that I would be strong enough to sort out and make big decisions...this car hunting season showed the other part of me...<br /><br />I did have my eye on a 1.3 Proton Saga which was the cheapest of the car listed...No, I am not at all a Proton fan...nor am I for 'Support Local Made Goods' campaign...Proton as a company suffered badly throughout all these years, thanks to bad management and corruption...but, I...being a first time purchasee, wasn't looking for anything show-off-ish, nor sporty...YET...just something reasonably priced...and most importantly, with boot space...<br /><br />My parents weren't too keen on the idea of me purchasing a Proton car...they think that the quality may not suffice, and I will have loads of problem with customer services...and car maintenance in near future...yeah, we blardy anti-Protonians...but if I were to scrap out the idea of buying Proton cars, I am stuck with Perodua Viva or Myvi...which both comes WITHOUT much boot space...<br /><br />Why am I so particular about boot space, you may ask...just in case you didn't know...my Toyota Corona 1.6 is a large and conservative rectangular box...a comfortable saloon car of the 1980s...it holds a little more than 504litres in boot space alone...and that is where I have been keeping boxes of music books, my violin...and spare clothes to change...yea, there was a time when I literally lived in that car...<br /><br />Plus the fact that I am used to driving a big car with large space...hence, Perodua Viva (the smallest car of the lot) was definitely out of the picture...I had considered Perodua MyVi (should I have chosen it, it would have been deep blue in colour)...but it was such a common car...common not in terms of the design...but the fact that almost EVERYONE owns a MyVi...I look outside my window...and chances are...I will see a MyVi pass by me, every 5 seconds...and that has been giving me nightmares of late...<br /><br />So, I went to check out the Proton Saga 1.3 that has been launched a few years back...and I could not have been more disappointed...the design of the interior of the car, looked so cheap...and plastic...that I discarded this choice completely...I even refused to give it a test-drive...the allocated space was fine...bearable in the </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">least...but all those thinsy whimpsy buttons looked like they came from a toy keyboard or something!!...so that was that...Proton Saga...scrapped off my list...<br /><br />Proton Persona was next...while it wasn't the greatest design available...but it had sufficient boot space, and I didn't mind taking it out for a test drive...it was slightly cheaper than the Perodua MyVi...and since I was not crazy of those two options...I thought I'd might as well look for something that I could get my money's worth...besides, Persona had a 1.6cc engine, whereas MyVi had a 1.3cc...I gave it a test drive...performance was rather sluggish, for a 1.6cc engine with an auto gear box...especially when I was testing the highest class of the Personas...maybe the manual transmission would give a better performance...Well, that...I will never know...as Protons do not allow test driving for manual cars...<br /><br />So, Proton Persona was my best bet...now, came the tough task...convincing my anti-Protonian parents to allow me to purchase a Proton...and to get my dad to become my guarantor...that latter task was pretty simple...it was the first one, that is gigantic...<br /><br />Wasn't looking forward to that confrontation, though...I don't like unpleasant situations especially within my family...and while I know that my parents are more than willing to listen to my two cents worth...the idea of not agreeing with them give me knots in my stomach...it depresses me...have you ever felt that before??...I feel like a kid once more...wanting to gain my parents' approval...<br /><br />Anyway, to date...the situation has been solved...but not the way I thought it would be...*grin*...<br /><br />But that will have to wait...need to catch up on my ZZZZzzzz first...Part II coming up!!...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6746584897935114180?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-76113860716255302712009-08-07T00:34:00.012+08:002009-11-07T00:16:12.496+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Its now closing down to the 56th second of 34 minutes past 12am of 7th August 2009...As we all very well know...the time and date will be 12:34:56 7/8/9...a significant moment in history...one that we should celebrate with our friends over a drink at mamak's...do a count-down...hold a costume party...join a strip club...something memorable and exciting...as this line of numbers would never come to pass again....</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">And I am now...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">- doing facial...a disgusting brown-mud mask...</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">- clipping my toe-nails...</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">- watching a newly downloaded "Once Upon A Time in China" starring Jet Li...<br />- applying moisture on my already cracked heels...<br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">- debating if it is worth risking a cavity, should I decide to skip flossing tonight...lazy bone attack around the corner...</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The list above are my "something memorable(s)"...amazingly exciting, isn't it???</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Now, what are yours?...*grin*...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Updated as of 12:29pm of 7/8/09]</span><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Note : It has been brought to my attention, that 12:34:56 should be read as 12:34pm and 56 seconds...and not 12:34AM, as it would be read as 0034 in the 24 hour time system...oops...sorry, my mistake...</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Hence, my 'memorable(s)' would be...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">- laying on the bed, with the air-con switched on and my comforter wrapped around my legs...The Simpsons on the computer screen...and me having a good laugh...<br />- delaying my trip to the gym...<br />- Analyzing my breath...it stinks...must be all the garlic in the Tom Yam seafood noodle that I just had for breakfast...*makes mental note to gargle in mouth rinse for 15 minutes later*...<br /><br />Toodles!!...*grin*...<br /><br />p/s : Just in case you're wondering...I did floss after all...as lazy as I was...force of habit...so...no, I won't have to <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/02/little-shop-of-horror.html">visit the dentist</a> anytime soon...thank goodness!!!...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-7611386071625530271?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-10395902906378040062009-08-06T12:37:00.005+08:002009-08-07T00:48:48.342+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Holidays are approaching (Thank God!!)...my work load doesn't seem so dull and heavy anymore...in less than 2 weeks, I will be on my way to Phuket Island along with a couple of my friends...all sunshine rays, salty water waves, gentle breeze...and a cup of Pina Colada!!...*grin*...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I've been thinking if I should get myself a new swimsuit, as mine is quite worn-out....dust-mites got to it earlier than I did...and like most women of the 21st century, I am slightly cautious (not to the point of paranoia...YET), about how I look...especially in tight fitting clothes...(the UN-fashionable person that I am)...so yes, I am more than aware of my little love handles, thunder thighs and spots of cellulite coming along the way...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I myself have been victim of cruel and insensitive statements of how much weight I've gained and all that jazz...for starters, I have accepted the fact that I am no longer a teenager, hence...my metabolic rate has slowed down very much...unfortunately, my appetite needs retuning, and some readjusting...that has not worked out to my favour...and I have yet to convince myself it is worth the trouble...hence, my additional weight...and oh yes, I don't exercise all that regularly anymore...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Having said that, its only 4 kgs from my teenage weight till now...as far as I am concern, no big deal...but to the eyes of public, I have ballooned to a size of a whale...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">All these talk about "<span style="font-style: italic;">Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me</span>"...are loads of bull, I think...well, unless one is emotionally castrated, I don't see how that can happen...As I am neither skin and bones, nor fat...I am just being teased for being 'fleshy'...that is enough for me to stop at my feet...and feel SLIGHTLY pinched...yea, call me sensitive...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I can only imagine how overweight people must feel...with all the pressure around them to be thin, I am sure they are exposed to 24 hours taunting and riducule...I say 24 hours, cz when they out for a stroll, or window shopping...they see all these sexy manequins dressed in tight fitting clothes, drawing attention to their thin bony legs and 18-inch waist...only to be reminded why they should never dream of owning such clothes...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">And don't anyone dare tell me, that it is up to these overweight people to be mentally strong, and be confident...while committing themselves to exercising and diet programs...if there are any with such high self esteem, they are a rare breed...if not, beauty saloons would have been out of business and closed down...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So, it really bugged me today...when I came across a post from a blog (I can't remember it now)...that had a picture of a big sized lady, in a bikini suit...and the post-er commenting on it...somewhere along the line of...and I quote..."</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-style: italic;">please-i just ate----BARFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Well, in my own opinion (I tell myself this all the time...but my heart needs more convincing)...that as long as one feels comfortable in what he/she is wearing...that is most important...if I don't agree with one's sense of dressing (lacking cloth, etc), unless one is my friend, I will most probably keep numb, and shut it...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Now, I really don't care what people thinks about overweight people wearing bikinis...but some comments that I've read online concerning this issue was really inconsiderate...take this few for example...</span><br /><ul style="font-style: italic;"><li style="font-family:times new roman;">"I guess they have no concept (or no mirror!) of how they appear to others."</li><li face="times new roman">"However, most fat women will live out most of their sexual lives never getting laid, only giving head to guys drunk enough not to notice."</li><li face="times new roman"><span id="text-1490950232">"She's unattractive and unattractive people get judged"</span></li><li><span><span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"These people (overweight people) needs to be ridiculed if society deems them unfitting"</span></span></span></li><li face="times new roman"><span><span>"Fat people deserved to be ridiculed, though"</span></span></li><li style="font-family: times new roman;"><span id="text-1490947781">"Fat people do need to be ridiculed for their own sake."</span></li><li style="font-family: times new roman;">"I believe they're (overweight people) trying to test our "gag" factor."</li></ul><span style="font-family:times new roman;">THESE-PEOPLE-DISGUST-ME...<br /><span></span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><p><span>Come on...do you not think that these people are already self-conscious one way or another?...Everyone struggles with one common issue...the need to accept and love one-self...do you think any of these comments help their self esteem at all?...I can't imagine the confidence they have to speak to themselves, when they look into a mirror...If they read through those comments, it could really break their spirits...While I would definitely suggest a healthier life-style, calling them a beached whale is just...plain rude...Everyone is beautiful in their own way, and as long as they are covered up enough, I'd say; let them do what they want...</span><span>Ah, well...what can I say...if these people (bad mouths with an attitude) finds in necessary to make rude statements about other people, just so that it makes them feel better about themselves...so be it...I just needed to get vent it out here because I know the hurt...I've tasted it before...and it bites...</span>hard...<br /></p></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">On a comforting thought, though...Overweight issues can be handled, though it may not be easy...A nincompoop with a bird brain and bad attitude...that takes a miracle... </span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1039590290637804006?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-74070244085585282652009-08-01T00:31:00.001+08:002009-08-07T00:33:48.530+08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SnsFuhe3aaI/AAAAAAAAAM0/jtprKgHu0c0/s1600-h/frog20hanging20on20for20dear20life.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SnsFuhe3aaI/AAAAAAAAAM0/jtprKgHu0c0/s400/frog20hanging20on20for20dear20life.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366889677762029986" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman;">Going through some major changes in my life...exciting, yet scary...will post about it soonest possible...*grin*...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-7407024408558528265?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-83362547232988325932009-07-14T12:16:00.004+08:002009-07-14T12:55:45.522+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">So, hang on a minute....regarding my <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/07/doing-limbo.html">previous post</a>...<br /><br />the<a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/9/nation/4286168&amp;sec=nation"> Malaysia Education policy</a> goes as such..<br /></div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">starting from year 2012, students who are studying primary Year 1 and 4, secondary Year 1 and 4...are required to study their Science and Maths subject in Bahasa Malaysia...those in vernacular schools are required to take theirs in their own mother tongue...</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">BUT when it comes to the highest level, secondary Year 6 (or Form 6 as we know it)...and having to sit in one of the toughest exam (STPM) that determines our fate in public universities...we have got to revert back to Science and Maths in English...as that policy has not changed...<br /></span></li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">In conclusion...our future primary Year 1 and 4, secondary Year 1 and 4 would have to go through English education for another 2 years (2010-2012)...under the care of <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/02/confessionfinally.html">'mad' teachers</a>...having to take intensive English tuition classes to help cope with their studies...only to go through another bout of intensive Bahasa Malaysia tuition classes in year 2012 to adjust to the change that our clowns in the parliament chose to implement...<br /><br />And those who are nearing secondary Year 6, would have to endure the painful switch once more to Science and Maths in English...while having to cram in 3 modules of Chemistry, Biology, etc...excruciating activities, tuition...all in a span of 18 months...<br /><br />Those in secondary Year 4, would be able to adapt quite well, as they have to endure only 2 years of Science and Maths in Bahasa Malaysia, before returning to English...but man, my hearts go out to the primary Year 1 and 4 students...<br /><br />The change of policy was made when apparently there was quite a number of people who requested it, so that the exam statistics would not look all that bad...and their child need not suffer countless hours of candle burning...well, now I'd like to see how they will endure Form 6...or A Levels for that matter!!...<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8336254723298832593?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-25673146828079570422009-07-11T11:04:00.006+08:002009-07-15T02:09:02.670+08:00<div class="entry_body_text"><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">The news that caught the world off guard...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">The passing of Michael Jackson...I know I have mentioned about him a few <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/07/once-in-but-now-outof-my-life.html">post</a> earlier...at that time, I was not really able to find words that really mirror my thoughts...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Being born in the early 1980s, I will admit that my knowledge of MJ's history is kinda sparse...why, he was touring in Japan when I was just born!!...All I knew about him even till now, are mainly the controversies that engulfed him these recent years...But I must say, though... the proximity of the man portrayed in by media and paparazzi vs the man that touched and changed the lives of millions was, in my opinion...is a little more than disturbing...Those two didn't quite match up and I thought that there could be a missing link...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Michael Jackson didn't become the Michael Jackson we know today, overnight...He was, in truth, what we made him to be...With each performance, each hug, each smile, and each scandal we were taking a part of him to sustain our enormous appetite...He was undeniably a man with an amazing talent, and he was, the superlative musical performer of our era...I am sure most of you would agree...The more he was denied a "normal" existence that we all very well know...the more he turned to his monumental talent to preserve and keep him going...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">From the few videos I have seen of him of late...(and yes, I am outdated, I'll admit to that), the way his face would light up when he saw a fan was remarkable, and he always seemed to be very considerate and very generous with his time...He was a man that understood and knew he had the power to change lives and he desired to share this gift with as many people as possible...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">While this is often what we expect of those who are extraordinarily talented, many individuals of various stripes fall prey to their narcissistic side that comes with such fame and flattery...while some of this was inevitable with Michael Jackson as well, through his videos and concerts (though I have not watched him performed live)...I observed that he still continued to share himself and his gift with the world in a very selfless manner...He always came off as gentle hearted and generous, going out of his way to be courteous to his fans, often talking with them or giving them hugs when most people in his position would have had them snubbed off and whisked away...<br /></p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">I am not vindicating his personal behavior...He may have caused harm on a number of children, which, if it is true, is completely inexcusable...But I feel that we have to somewhat recognize that we all share certain responsibility for each of those acts...While he may have also had an abusive father and an almost non-existant childhood, we all denied him the chance for human growth in a way that would realigned even the most balanced of individuals...Michael Jackson was clearly a lonely man in pain, and we all share a responsibility for much of that...While the admiration of his millions of fans may have in some way sustained him, this dynamic was only symptomatic of the loneliness and isolation he was forced into...Michael Jackson lived for the adulation of his fans because we witheld him the hope of anything else...We almost categorically denied him the possibility of real and meaningful human connection...Like Janet Jackson has said, to everyone, he would always be Michael Jackson: dancer, singer, icon...but it is only to his family and closest friend, that he was a known as a daddy, a brother and a great friend...He became an image, he became an idea, he became a victim of his gift and genius because we wouldn't permit him to be anything else...We all wanted and demanded more Michael Jackson and he caved into it...<br /></p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">But beneath this image was a human being that yearns to belong...In giving us what we all desired, he was going further and further away from himself, something all us fans seemed unwilling or unable to recognize...And when we finally had a glimpse of the man beneath that mask, it alarmed us that this man was a very lonely and distraught human being, as if he could have become anything else under these circumstances...We screamed for more Michael Jackson (greater moonwalks and anti-gravity steps, pumping grooves, slick dance moves, etc), and while we did get more of him, we also got Michael Joseph Jackson...one which we didn't take the time to understand...And it scared us...And instead of reaching out to the man who first shared his gift with us...we ridiculed him, put him in tabloids, and causing him to become even more reclusive than before...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">He lived for us, and once we discarded him for what we had made him, he was understandably broken, lonely, and lost...While he may or may not have engaged in inappropriate behavior with children, in some ways it is understandable that he turned to the friendly company of children because they were most probably the only people he could turn to who would have no ulterior motive...trying to rip some benefit from their relationship, to use his extraordinary talent for their personal gain...Children may be the only ones that could enjoy Michael Joseph Jackson, whereas we were always asking for more of Michael Jackson the performer and artist...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">We collectively have become his surrogate parent...and MJ a perpetual child, constantly seeking our approval...He worked tirelessly to earn this approval...when we finally withheld it, not surprisingly, he was alarmed and hurt...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">As his physical ailments robbed him of his performance abilities, he became, a man who regularly endured an extraordinary amount of physical, emotional and mental anguish...I think anyone else would have long perished under such circumstances....but not Michael Joseph Jackson...Stripped of the talent that had long sustained him, he turned to prescription drugs and painkillers, and to what little sanctuary he found in the privacy of his own home...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">The demise of Michael Jackson seems to have been, in some ways, unavoidable...There is a saying..."<span style="font-style: italic;">The candle that burns brightest also burns fastest</span>"...and Michael Jackson's light was blindingly bright, much to the benefit of us all...But as we stoked the flames and the light burned brighter it inevitably burn out...when the flame was finally extinguished, and the candle ran out, we are left with no one else to blame but ourselves...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">I believe that Michael Joseph Jackson was not only a singular, once-in-a-century musical artist and performer, but he was also a sincere and kindhearted being...His greatest flaw (or is it even a flaw??) was that he expected of us what he gave in return...We forced him to create and live in a pseudo-reality that facilitated the offering of his amazing talent and gifts to us, and when he tried share himself with us, he was laughed at and mercilessly criticized and ridiculed...We asked him to live in the funhouse, and when he asked us to join him we scoffed and threw stones through the windows...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Michael Jackson should be remembered first and foremost for the way he changed the lives of millions of people...It will likely be a long time, if ever, before we see another musical performer with the incredible gifts and generosity that he possessed...We made him to appear super-human, and in many ways it seems like he was, but reality bites that he was just as human and just as frail and prone to mistakes as we all are...We were given the gift of this extraordinary man, and thus began the rise and fall, the slow and inevitable erosion, of Michael Jackson...The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, and so it goes...</p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;">Rest in Peace, Michael Joseph Jackson...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7Of7bHuV0wg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7Of7bHuV0wg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x2b405b&amp;color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:times new roman;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Have you seen my Childhood?</span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;">I'm searching for the world that I come from</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">'Cause I've been looking around</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">In the lost and found of my heart...</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">No one understands me</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">They view it as such strange eccentricities...</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">'Cause I keep kidding around</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Like a child, but pardon me...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">People say I'm not okay</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">'Cause I love such elementary things...</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">It's been my fate to compensate,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">for the Childhood</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I've never known...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Have you seen my Childhood?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I'm searching for that wonder in my youth</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Like pirates in adventurous dreams,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Of conquest and kings on the throne...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Before you judge me, try hard to love me,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Look within your heart then ask,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Have you seen my Childhood?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">People say I'm strange that way</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">'Cause I love such elementary things,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">It's been my fate to compensate,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">for the Childhood I've never known...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Have you seen my Childhood?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I'm searching for that wonder in my youth</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Like fantastical stories to share</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The dreams I would dare, watch me fly...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Before you judge me, try hard to love me.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The painful youth I've had</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Have you seen my Childhood....</span><br /><br />-<span style="font-style: italic;"> Childhood </span>by Michael Jackson...<br /></div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-2567314682807957042?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-71639395546184276542009-07-08T08:55:00.005+08:002009-07-14T12:54:04.826+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">Neil Armstrong phrase following his historical lunar landing "A Small Step for Man...larger step for Mankind"....<br /><br />Well, after all the big mess, debates, sneering and polls about the decision of scrapping the idea of teaching Science and Maths in English...our Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) have certainly taken us 30 years backwards this afternoon...<br /><br />So yes, <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/02/confessionfinally.html">those schools in urban areas</a> can breathe easily...<a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/9/nation/4286066&amp;sec=nation">Chinese and Tamil medium schools</a> can walk the corridors smiling and stressed free...now that DPM has <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/9/nation/4286168&amp;sec=nation">reversed our policies</a> after almost 6 years of implementing and emphasizing Science and Maths in English...<br /><br />This is a nightmare...one that does not go away when the alarm clock is cranked up...one that will further compromise the future of our generation...<br /><br /><span class="fullpost">In a perfect world, students would be learning all subjects in the best language for them individually, and also learning Malay and English perfectly fine regardless...But there is no such thing as a perfect world...so we can only imagine what is best in the interest of our students, we would have a CONSISTENT policy and competent teachers able to implement this policy...<br /><br />This being my country Malaysia, and our politics being nincompoop clown performers, what we got was a silly compromise that made nobody very happy, and a paralyzed bureaucracy uninterested in making this policy work...One of the most telling an article (which I have yet to link...can't find it at the moment), which shows only 20% and 10% of secondary and primary school science and maths teachers respectively <b>scored 67 or higher on an evaluation of their English proficiency</b>...<br /><br />So, it goes to show that their 6 year policy (year 2003-2009) of Science and Maths in English failed...on the other hands, 6 years is barely enough to move mountains...but our DPM decided to steer the wheel the other direction and try a different approach to enhance English learning: English literature will be reintroduced as a subject, along with grammar and composition...(I wonder if that is a misquote by The Star, because that would make a total of four subjects for the English language alone.)...The Minister also said that they would rehire retirees and foreigners if necessary to supply more English teachers...<br /><br />Maybe teaching science and maths in English is a fatally flawed idea, but we have no way of telling that from this six-year experiment, because the government so thoroughly messed up its implementation!!...(There is also the counter-argument that teaching these subjects in English worked perfectly fine for thousands of schoolkids before we switched to Malay as the national medium of instruction in the 1970s...)...Yes, we have been transiting from Malay to English language for a couple of times now...and still no progress...<br /><br />So we had a whole generation of students undergoing this massive change, all for nothing...And now we will have another generation of pain as thousands of kids get stuck in educational limbo while the government phases out this failure of a policy...<br /><br />All this was completely unnecessary...The government could have at least tried to make </span>ETeMS ( English for Teaching Mathematics and Science) policy<span class="fullpost"> a success by not virtually sabotaging it, but they did not...they could have increased the allocation of time to English, refocus the curriculum, and hired professional English teachers six years ago, but they did not...<br /><br />More importantly, the transition to teaching science and maths in English 6 years ago, would have been successful if only they had been patient and first prepared the teachers to use English in the classroom...But they did not...<br /><br />In short, we spent six years spinning our wheels doing absolutely balls, and we have nothing to show for it...I feel infuriated...</span>I was a victim of this non-policy (I completed my studies in Malay...didn't do all that well, due to rebellion of having to translate all my subjects to English for my understanding)...but to see our future generation going through this limbo game as well...infuriates me all the more...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-7163939554618427654?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-87967170514902531782009-07-05T10:10:00.003+08:002009-07-05T10:12:33.546+08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SlALyxh3dZI/AAAAAAAAAMs/OhoDq38TnN8/s1600-h/92577.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 407px; height: 143px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SlALyxh3dZI/AAAAAAAAAMs/OhoDq38TnN8/s400/92577.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354792923860268434" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Gosh, this brings back my good old teenage days...TOTALLY!!!...*grin*</span><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Have a great week ahead!!...</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8796717051490253178?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-44473450177126543832009-07-03T11:51:00.011+08:002009-07-05T09:19:56.910+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am not able to think in paragraphs at the moment...Engine stalled...and my brain modem is hanged...trying to reboot...meanwhile, I'll just write something in strings of sentences...whatever random thoughts that goes through my head...for this coming 25 seconds...starting from...now...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">1. I love the screaming colours of dawn and mysterious shades of dusk...But these days/months/years I have been having trouble getting out of bed which results me in being perpetually late...except those excruciating humid days when you've just sweat a bucketful...and its time to change the bed sheet...*Sigh*....</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">2. I actually feel a lot sometimes/can be quite emotional but I often try not to show it...I tell people this being called being 'professional'...my arse...lying through my teeth...</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />3. Haven't watched TV for years!!..Partly because my mum used to have this *thing* about watching TV and it being Full Of Trashy Shows...the other part was...ahem...technology...I have changed my focus to computer, Internet...and all the illegal downloads, which gives me much flexibility...I do not have to schedule my time around the tube anymore...</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />4. My home back in Ipoh...is antiquated...We still have dial-up (only recently, my dad changed it to Broadband...AFTER the herd has left the building...my bros and I), and the cathode ray tube TV that is ? years old. (Refer to point #3.)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">5. Am not a fan of shopping/too much girly stuff (books would be an exception), but I think I should learn a bit cos its a thing that seems to unite most girls, like how football unites guys around the world...And also cos...its something one should learn...I am a late bloomer...so tease me about it...then watch how I would enjoy torturing you...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">6. (related to #5.) Zero fashion sense...sometimes wish that I could save less on books to buy some decent clothing...that the other way around...nobody seems to be impress with my vast collection of books...though guys would gladly walk around with their tongues hanging out, while checking out a girl with a push up bra and 5 inch stiletto... </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">7. (also related to #5.) I do like baking and cooking though, but that seems to be becoming not a particularly girly thing in these times...though I must emphasize that I prefer to bake and cook in the comfort of my own home...or with a close friend...I am the boss of my own kitchen...so comments DURING the cooking process is not recommended...its annoying...ever heard of the saying..."</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >Too many cooks spoil the broth</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">9. I like heartwarming movies for a change...Sometimes I feel like there's too much craziness, violence, messed-up-ness and destruction in life already, no need to see some more on the screen...But ironically at other times ,I just don't care...I am thinking that I might be emotionally castrated in some way...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">10. I've a kind of wanderlust...Not the travel in comfort sort...If I were a guy in older times, I'd likely have joined a ship's crew and go gallavanting off to foreign lands looking for a near death adventure...Or, a gypsy circus. The trapeze artists are cool!..Heights don't give me thrills...but the adrenaline that kicks in after that does...ah, well...I know what you're thinking...and I completely agree...all talk and no action...which is true...I am sitting in front of a computer...and I can say as and what I want in my blog...put me in a real scene of mutiny and fights...I'll probably grow chicken feet...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">11. I have bilateral simian creases on my palm...I wonder what causes these single palmar creases...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">13. I love reading...well, I also like the idea of people THINKING that I love reading...*grin*...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">14. I kind of like acting (Hallplay!), dancing and singing but I'm not good at any...not at all...I can't do impromptu, I dance like a fridge, and have a voice of a slaughtered cow...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">15. It'd be fun to learn tap dancing one day...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">16. I am an alto!!...Probably an contralto, in fact...I can reach the C below middle C... which is kind of low for a girl?...I used to think that altos were inferior cz someone said they don't get the nice melody lines that stand out (the horribly misguided youth i was), but I've since left that misconception behind...*grin*</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">17. I like the outdoors, sailing, kayaking, camping, trekking, nature, and animals, especially birds...but I have done none of the above...trekking, yes...camping...well, does staying in a dorm near a jungle count?...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">18. I have been cycling ever since I waned out of my pacifier and pampers...then as I grew up, I started cycling to places, since my parents was never free to drive me around for my activities...though I must say I have yet to go any place outside a 20km radius with my bicycle...I will put that in my to-do list...sometime soon...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">20. I used to climb roofs, and trees at home/in school...that totally contradicts the fact that I have fear of heights, doesn't it?...I didn't have a choice...I was a tomboy then...and with all the rough games I was playing with the boys...and my shoes that were too big for my feet (my mum kept buying me shoes a size bigger, cz she was afraid I would outgrow them soon...I am still a size 3 now...)...somehow during the game, in the midst of kicking and all...my shoes would take a trip of their own sailing through trees and leaves...to land on the school roof...It was either death through heights...or facing the wrath Queen Mama of the House...I chose heights...I managed to retrieve it at times...other times, not...My mum had to buy me 4 pairs of school shoes that year...after having found my shoes mysteriously disappearing all the time...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">21. As a result of having communicating more with kids than adults, I have lost the ability to communicate comfortably with the senior citizens...I find myself struggling to correct my grammar...and change my voice to a much gentler tone...I am like a kid that would not grow up...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">22. I think it'd be cool to fly a plane, especially those fighter/acrobatic planes...Rarr...Should have tried applying to be a pilot....but I would not have made it anyway...thanks to my parents' genes that decides I should look behind a lense all the time...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">23. (related to #21) Having said that, I'd like to learn to like kids...it does not come very naturally for me...I care for them because its my responsibility...but annoying, spoilt brats are really difficult to embrace...still workin' on it...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">24. If I could live the last 7 years of my life again, I would do things VERY differently....But as Prof S says, things always look clear through a retrospectoscope, but when you're in the process its a different matter...And I is thankful for the friends who have walked with me during this very, very long winter...<br /><br />25. And lastly, yes...before you attempt to correct me, allow me to clarify that I am very well aware that I missed out a few numbers while I was listing these "Twenty Fives"...and no, it was not a fleeting accident...in fact, it was purposefully done with a good purpose...I've said it before...but I'll just say it again...<br /><br />"</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Engine stalled...and my brain modem is hanged...trying to reboot</span>..."<br /><br />Note : I have not been blogging for a month now, after having taken 'sabbatical leave'...no excuses for my absence...July is a crazy month...and I needed a break before to clear my brain memory space...and reformat...as you can see, this leave has made me a slight retard, when it comes to sharing and deciding how to string my sentences...a couple more post, and hopefully I'll be back in shape...*fingers crossed*...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-4447345017712654383?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-19301250460750796092009-07-01T23:13:00.008+08:002009-07-04T01:22:59.657+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">One of my earliest memories besides London Bridge, Ten Little Indians...Cyndi Lauper's "Time after Time" (my mom puts it on EVERYDAY while she does her DIY aerobics...so much so, I still have that song twitching in my head involuntarily)...was Michael Jackson's ever famous Beat It...which in my opinion, is still one of the groovy and rhythmic piece then...and still is now...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Fame now comes cheap...Take Paris Hilton for example...a blond airhead, who squeezes fame out of every opportunity...zero character and substance...but Michael Jackson has earned it though talent, amazing charisma and spirit...though as time passed, with much deviate and strange behaviour...and the curious case of child molestation or not...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Put any weight as you want on his qualities, but there is one sure thing...Jackson is...sorry, was...a singular talent who has stunned the world with his amazing singing...his moonwalk, crotch grabbing and thrusting and jerky body movements...and his ability to mesmerize with the crowd with his groove...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Over the years of my teenage life, he had a way of 'dropping by' in my universe...be it a marriage, or a divorce...court cases...and a performance where a chick would faint on his feet, etc...but as time passed by, other things started to interest me...and I slowly outgrew the hype of it all...I didn't have the chance to anyway...my family weren't financial able, to buy me MJ's casette album...and Internet never existed back then...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Then came MTV...I remember thinking “Billie Jean” was one of the first music videos that actually looked professional...Jackson was stunning, sharp, sophisticated...His moonwalking was perfect...his anti-gravity lean was superb...He revolutionalized MTV, the music cable channel, with his plots and storylines, instead of mere lip-synching videos...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">But one thing I will always remember of him, is the depths of emotion he placed in his songs, and the words that were composed...inspirational songs that brings attention to the tearing down of racial division...that "</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >it doesn't matter if its black or white</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"..."</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >They don't really care about us</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"...all great songs that I have tapped my feet to...</span><br /><p style="font-family: times new roman;">Even when he was caught up in controversy over child molest claims, I could not help thinking that money was the driving force behind these allegations...while he was a victim to greedy accountants and lawyers...or he may be guilty as charged...I guess we will never know...<br /></p><p style="font-family: times new roman;">Having said that, I have truly been enriched by his music...from a fellow musician to another, I do admire his talent and sympathize with him for the spiral fall of his career which he so desperately wanted to reclaim, but never saw fulfilled...</p><span style="font-family:times new roman;">MJ has reminded us about love and unity, much more than politicians can...For this, I know his music will continue to live on... </span><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: left;">The fans won’t stop even if they have gotten enough...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"><i>I’m starting with the man in the mirror, </i></p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"><i>I’m asking him to change his ways. </i></p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"><i>No message could have been clearer, </i></p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"><i>If you wanna make the world a better place.</i></p><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"><i>Take a look at yourself and make a change.</i></p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: center;"><i>- Man In The Mirror by Michael Jackson</i></p><p style="font-family: times new roman;">I could not have said it better...</p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Note : Well, he isn't entirely out of my life per se...His pumping rock tunes keep my blood pressure steady, especially when I am on the road surrounded by idiots...or when I am hitting the gym...and there is a screamer beside me <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/07/gym-saga.html">'enjoying' multiple 'orgasms'</a>...</span></span></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1930125046075079609?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-24448350275223341772009-05-26T14:52:00.010+08:002009-05-27T00:01:05.386+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Today is the 4th day of your passing...so far, I've been quite okay...or at least, I try to tell myself that I am...or maybe I am living in denial...and maybe that is good too...cause I know if I were to share about how I truly feel...it would have revealed my vulnerabilities and I would have succumbed to a mental break-down...<br /><br />The house feels somewhat empty now that you have left...you weren't a man of many words, but your presence in our family was very much reassuring...it made my picture complete...now it bored a hole...and I am not sure if I should have it filled...or if it could be filled...the emptiness you left behind...it would be unimaginable to think that you could be replaced...<br /><br />I read from the Internet that people handles grief differently...<br /><br />Step-grandma has been keeping her hands busy, so to avoid thinking of you...everybody was keeping themselves busy somewhat...I have learned never to underestimate the focus and strength of an elderly woman like her!!...The memorial services ended at about 2am...so we voted that the tables should be cleared the next afternoon to be ready for the funeral service...Step-grandma lifted and stacked all the tables and chairs that very morning...and cleaned the entire house inside out!!...She said she was not able to sleep...<br /><br />First gran-aunt from Penang threw a fuss when she was informed that they would not be able to drive her down to Ipoh till the 2nd day of the wake...She was shaking from shock at your news...and could not sleep nor eat that night...Your nephew finally agreed to drive her down...being weak, she could not stop her knees from buckling at the sight of your casket...She cried, saying how she would never hear you tease her about modelling in a bikini suit...man, I didn't know you were that cheeky...Dad was there to hold her, before she could collapse entirely...<br /><br />I could see that your sisters loved you so much...Third gran-aunt cried bucket of tears, when they moved your casket to the living room...First gran-aunt was strong, even with much break-downs...considering that fact that she has lost her own daughter to cancer...and you...in a span of less than 4 months...she was sad, saying that the very 2 people who could make sure that she isn't sent to an old folks home has passed on...that she had nobody else to depend on...I'll see to it that it won't happen...<br /><br />Haha, your brother Patrick, actually challenged your sister to pay her last respects in a bikini suit...*laughs*...Patrick says that it could just wake you from the dead!!...<br /><br />Step-great-grandma fainted, when the doctor announced your time of death...she was walking into your hospital room when she heard the flat line of your heart beat...she didn't take your passing well, I am afraid...she would not be consoled...and she kept mumbling that you were always more like a son to her...instead of a son-in-law...she cried saying that there was no one to take her shopping or out for walks anymore...She could not believe that you's leave this world earlier than she did...<br /><br />Step-grandma seemed to be handling it well...or so I thought...when she came knocking on Steph's door the afternoon after the funeral, burst into her room...and said..."<span style="font-style: italic;">I miss your daddy so much!!!</span>"...and broke down...I guess it was when she woke up from her nap, and routinely turned to your hospital bed...and your favourite antique chair...only to find you gone...<br /><br />She has mentioned about moving down to KL, selling the house that you've all lived in for 30+ years...as it was all too painful to bear...especially for step-grandma, where her schedule was fixed to accomodate your hospital visits, medicine intakes, baths, feeding...I guess, now that you're gone, she has so much time in her hands, she does not know what to do with it...purposeless...and without a cause...<br /><br />Dad's been taking much stress too...my youngest brother was just preparing to go to Kampar for his University orientation day...Dad had to see to that, and to the funeral arrangements too...plus handling your hospital fees...well, his pocket isn't doing too good...but I am sure he will manage...as he always have...<br /><br />Oh, I forgot...Dad had to handle the stress of handling grandma too...can you imagine...she was crying because she was not allowed to give an eulogy during your memorial service??...I scratched my head, thinking...I would not be at all surprised that she wanted to give an eulogy, provided that you and her were still in good terms...But it was obvious to me that she wasn't...and she has always been jealous of us giving you extra attention in our visits to you...and she has never really seen you in good light, as she claims that she had to struggle and work during her marriage to you...well, we all know how she has wanted the 'high' life...<br /><br />By the way, grandma was telling all her friends that "<span style="font-style: italic;">My old man has left me</span>"...I don't know why she tells untruths...true, you have passed on, but you were not HER old man ('<span style="font-style: italic;">old man'</span> comes to mean 'husband', in Hokkien dialect)...you and her have been legally divorced for almost 3 decades!!...<br /><br />As for me...I don't know...like I said, I try to refrain from sharing my personal feelings for now...for fear that I may just lose it...Father's Day would be specially empty now...not to forget Chinese New Year...but I think my denial of your passing, is starting to show in other ways...for example, I can't focus when I am driving...and I have just went on a book spree yesterday...purchasing anything that sparks an interest...and peeling out money from my purse without a second thought...that is so unlike me...for now, I can only take things one at a time...I am safe...as long as I do not come upon our family photos...or your coin collection that is now in my possession..or I will just start to bawl!!!...<br /><br />My eyes might be bright...but my heart cannot lie...There is a part of me that can't stop bleeding...crying; why good men like you would pass so soon...my brain tries to be logical...stringing practical sentences, that fails to reach my heart...I knew how you hated to be nursed...to lose your independance in your sick times...gasping for breath when your body fails you...a knife stabs my heart when I see how skeletal you have become...from a 60+kg to a skinny 38kg on your deathbed...all this in less than one year...I tell myself, that it is a comfort to know you are now in a place where you are healthy...where you are in no suffering, be it mental or emotional...those are for the living...<br /><br />Step grand-ma is starting to give away all your collectibles...much to my alarm...I can only guess that she is doing this, as she thinks your collectibles will be a benefit to others...and most importantly, there is less things that will remind her of your passing and how much she misses you...but if you'd ask me, I want those collectibles to remain within the family...as those are the only memories that you would leave behind...so yes, it is extremely painful that you would have to leave...but I think it is much more painful...for me, at least...to have nothing to remember you by except for photos, and small remains...<br /><br />So if you could, could you please drop by her dreams, give her a hug and tell her to leave your collection as it is??...I don't want that part of you to disappear too...<br /><br />The chair that you sit during the afternoons is empty now...nobody sits on it...I wouldn't want anyone to...that chair has been a family chair for so long...it has a personality...it has a story...If only I could make it talk...I wanna know your thoughts that you've shared with it...the million hours on the phone...the countless sermons you prepared...dreams you dreamed while you napped...the tears you might have shed...your smile as you lovingly stroke its handle...<br /><br />If only that chair could speak...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">It is only when one has learn the pain of another leaving...and how precious life can be...that one can truly live...</span><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-2444835027522334177?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-78503363929985121702009-05-16T22:23:00.003+08:002009-05-16T22:52:52.415+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I had planned to hand in an official letter to my boss, about my intention to resign from my teaching position in his studio...and shift to another company, and also focus on expending my personal 'clientele'</span>...<br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I have been in quite good terms with him throughout my two years of teaching...and if it wasn't for the higher commission which I am about to receive in this new company, I would have no other reason to leave...I have enjoyed working in this company...there was no interruption nor questioning, in terms of my style of teaching...and my demands of my student...there was a mutual respect, and I have nothing against him...well, the management is another story altogether...<br /><br />So, resigning from this position did put me in quite a dilemma...I have a soft spot for my students, and I really hate confrontations of this sort...so I wanted to make it as painless and comfortable as I can...<br /><br />I have pondered about what I should write in my resignation letter...Should I tell him that I have decided to move to another company??...if so, what reason should I state??...I had thought of coming clean, and just letting him know that he could try raising the teacher's commission...but man, if that goes wrong...one stroke of a pen...and I could be black-listed...just what I need...pissing a boss at the beginning of my career...<br /><br />I feel bad, actually...I feel like I am abandoning his company for a selfish cause...call me the soft-hearted pussy all you want...so I typed my resignation letter with much thought (but no personal reason stated)...and clicked "Print"....<br /><br />A box popped up on my computer screen...telling me..."Paper Out!!"...and complete instructions on how to load the paper...and restart the printer...Damn it...I forgot I have used up all my A4 paper...<span style="font-style: italic;">Hell</span>, I thought...I'll just print it out in a used paper...and photostat it when I reach the studio later...<br /><br />So I went about my business...teaching, meeting the parents, and all that jazz...then I managed to find time to creep out of the studio, to head for the photostat shop down the street...it was raining heavily then...but I was too caught up with my thoughts to bother...<br /><br />The photostat owner photostated the letter for me, free of charge, that nice lady...then I headed to the stationary shop to buy an envelop...<br /><br />I was thinking to myself then...hmmmm....The boss' mum just passed away a week ago...maybe I should get him a condolence card or something...just to sweeten the whole deal up...will probably put him in a good mood too...<br /><br />So after choosing an envelope, I rushed to the card section, scanned through the little shelf, and took a card under the 'Sympathy' section, without giving it more than a read...I then parked myself in a little corner, and started writing on the card...<br /><br />Had a small chat with the stationary lady while I was there...smart lady, she was...she somehow put together the jigsaw puzzle, and understood that both the letter of resignation and condolence card was meant for the same person...<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">Erm, you're not going to send the resignation letter together with this card, are you??</span>" the lady asked me nervously...<br /><br />I replied..."<span style="font-style: italic;">Why not??</span>"<br /><br />In fact, that is exactly what I planned to do...just to get in the good side of soon to be ex-boss...yeah, I am apple polishing...so what...<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">Erm, you may want to take a look at the caption in front of the card..</span>."<br /><br />I turn the card...written in nice Italic words...size 24, if I were to guess...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU...</span></span></span><br /></div></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-7850336392998512170?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-2051514265243759002009-05-15T22:55:00.011+08:002009-05-16T08:08:09.650+08:00<p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Dear students...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Congratulations on your results for your theory exam...That moment was indeed rewarding and blissful, no?...All your hard work and commitment did pay off...I am very proud of all of you...seriously...</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Enjoy your much-deserved euphoric moment...Enjoy it for the next 2 weeks...</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Because come next month, we are all on level ground again on a harder and more tiring journey...Tempers will flare...at least, mine will....Patience may grow thin...(me, guilty again)...School exams will want to take precedence (as it always have been), and expectations will ride heavy on your shoulders...You may have arguments with your parents. Your teachers/parents/friends/fellow students of various clubs might send you murderous vibes for ditching lessons/tuition/being made to be your driver/listening to you playing over and over the same songs...or for just merely taking up too much oxygen and space...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">For those who didn't get through the exam, tough luck...that's all I've got to say...I have said all I have to, repeated myself like a CD player gone nuts...stressing on commitment, and perseverance...students of your age, I would have expected a certain amount of discipline and responsibility from you...but should you choose to go party with your friends, or one month of vacation overseas over extra theory classes...that is beyond my help...we have talked about this before the registration of your theory exam...and being well aware of the pressure standing before you, yet you chose the path you choose...well, like I said...tough luck...we will just have to aim for the next exam...and hopefully, no more parties and wat-nots...<br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">My advice for both parties – Suck it up...Don’t whinge...Don't cry...and move on....You're kids no more...<br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">For we’re not done yet...In fact, we are just beginning our journey...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">And it is on this journey that I would advice you to reflect on your past experience...How have you been learning so far?...Are you proud of the effort that you have put in?...How far more are you willing to go?...And most importantly...how much have you grown as a young adolescent and an intelligent musician?</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Contemplate on these questions… then remind yourself to be humble...</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Be humble...This is my advice which would also serve as a warning, for I would personally choose a student of humble nature over musical talent with a bad attitude...Bluntly put, if I sense any cockiness and smart-arsed remarks from you, I will sit on you real hard...or worst yet, you will be replaced....till you get your act together once more...<br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> Above all, enjoy the music making...Play with your soul...Play because you want to...</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Play, just because....</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">If you can do that, I think you’re the right person for this...</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">See you in June...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;">Hugz,</p><p style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"> Lessajinomoto<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-205151426524375900?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-22248422241426111652009-05-10T17:46:00.001+08:002009-05-11T19:19:39.481+08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SggH3I90FGI/AAAAAAAAAMk/JFYjfxJI3Fo/s1600-h/lonely-child-on-steps.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SggH3I90FGI/AAAAAAAAAMk/JFYjfxJI3Fo/s400/lonely-child-on-steps.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334522402501301346" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">He stars out of his bedroom window, his eyes blank and void of emotion...The clear evening sky was out to greet him...the sunset light caresses his face...but he never noticed it...the wind breathes a gentle cool breeze, playing with a strand of hair on his face...but he wasn't bothered...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Weeks before, the telly had gone on and on about special TV programs in honour of mothers and their sacrifices...Florist and gift shops wasted no time in planning promotions and packages in celebration of Mother's Day...His friends have been excited and boasting about their plans to surprise their mother...breakfast in bed, a little red rose, a great big hug, a kiss on the cheek...and all that jazz...<br /><br />His friends wouldn't leave him alone, constantly bugging him about his own lip-seal plan for Mother's Day...well actually, he didn't have one...he never saw the importance anyway, but his friends would never put the subject to rest...tired of the harrassment, he sheepishly replied that planning was in progress...<br /><br />He closes his eyes...trying to recall back the little memories he had of her...it wasn't much really...She left when he was 2 day old, in the hands of his father...without lingering touch, or the tinnest peck on the cheek...He does not know her name, nor does he have a photo of her...and his father didn't seem very interested to depart any information at all...<br /><br />He thought that he did have a glimpse of her once, when he was four...a lady knocked on the door of his house years back...he opened the door and greeted the stranger; a tall willowy figure, compared to his 2 feet tall body...<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">Hi, son..I am your mo-...</span>", she started before being interrupted by a call from his father back in the kitchen...<br /><br />His father was just walking out when their eyes met...and his father's countenance changed...The lady wanted to borrow some money...but that was all he heard...for the next thing he knew, he was carried up to his bedroom and was firmly told to stay there...<br /><br />There were many a times he felt a twinge of sadness and pain whenever he sees his friends run to their mums for a long awaited embrace...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Makes him wonder what that would have felt like...But as the years passed, he has grown numb to it all...He does not feel much pain; or so he thinks...hot bitter tears still accompany him to sleep at times...<br /><br />His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his bedroom door...<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">Heys, I am starving...Do you wanna join me for some Domino's Pizza??</span>"<br /><br />He smiles...His father looks exhausted, and didn't look like he was in a mood to cook...which was good...his father would not be able to tell the difference between a wok and a frying pan at all!!!...<br /><br />But nevertheless, he was home...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Legal disclaimer] : </span></span><em style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am well aware today is Mother’s Day. I wish all my friends who are mothers, and my mother, a Happy Mother’s day. Today, however, I’d like take a different route and remember those who do not fancy celebrating Mother’s Day because they find no meaning in it. It is really sad, but that’s the reality. For those who do not have mothers and those whose mothers have left them, for some reason or another, my heart goes out to you.</span></em> <p style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" ><em><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Many a time, society’s thoughts flow on a one way street. I am always guily of forgetting that not everyone is as lucky as I am, or as fortunate...Hence, I am writing this to remind myself to count my blessings...</span><br /></em></p><p style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman;">The story above is a real narrative of a boy whom I used to teach music to during my social working days...He later learned that his biological mother have always been living a lifestyle of the rich, and couldn't bear to be held down with the responsibility of caring for a child...He is now a degree holder in business management, with a dream to own a business of his own next year...I wish him all the best...</span><br /><em></em></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-2224842224142611165?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-39875584492424133112009-05-08T00:22:00.001+08:002009-05-14T01:17:26.461+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">SECOND HAND<br />adj.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> ~ </span></span><b style="font-family: times new roman;">used goods</b><span style="font-family: times new roman;"> that are being purchased by or otherwise transferred to a second or later end user.<br /><br />I've always been one of gazillion people on earth, to have had hand-me-downs all my life...from childhood stuffed toys, clothes, shoes, books, textbooks, and the list never stops...Of course, my most recent hand-me-downs are dear old trusty 1982 Toyata Corona 1.6 (3 generations already!!), and a Compact lap-top (which I have also passed down to my brother)...<br /><br />Well, I can't complaint much, can I?...I would have to remember the fact that I am in the very least, more lucky than my youngest brother, who wore clothes that were passed on from my first brother, who got them from my mum's friend who didn't want them anymore!!...<br /><br />Yeah, those times were really hard...I remember having outgrown Nancy Drews, Christopher Pikes and Agatha Christies by the tender age of 11...shifting my attention to more meaty ones such as Stephen Kings, and Jeffery Archer...but since nobody had books of that genre, I would sit my butt down for hours on end in the Popular bookstore till late in the evening when the last town bus arrives...<br /><br />I am all grown up now...having the power to purchase, since I started working full time last year...I used to wonder at times, if I had a sun-stroke or something...for I would buy books that I love, till my pockets run dry...and yet not feel a pinch...in fact, I wanted to buy more!!...<br /><br />*Note : Sadly, it only applies for books only...I wish I could have the same enthusiasm for clothing, fashion, make-up accessories and all those girly stuffs...yet, maybe not...*<br /><br />You know that you've officially reached adulthood...when you are able to buy things at your own will, till your piggy suffers a gastric...but yet, that little piggy will never fill up....till your next salary, that is...no wonder so many young adults fall into the trap of over-charging their credit cards...believe it or not, I very NEARLY join those statistics as well!!!...well, luckily for me, it never was my habit to pull out my sub credit card so easily...I try to walk around the mall aimlessly, trying to shake off my itch...and when all fails, I empty my purse...<br /><br />Recently, I had a chat with my dad, toying with the idea of purchasing a compact car...I have accepted more private students now, which means more travelling...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">more travelling = more petrol consumption + car maintenance...</span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">...one equation that my Toyata Corona isn't able to support nor help out...with a heavy heart, I have decided that I should probably start thinking of upgrading to a car with smaller engine...and does not have a big an appetite like my Big Boy in red...<br /><br />My dad suggested that I could consider buying over my mother's metalic dark orange Perodua MyVi...to my surprise, my heart (and head) immediately thought...NO SALE...I pondered on my reaction a few days after that...I mean, I've driven my mom's car before...besides a careless bump on the driver's front side (courtesy of my mum's parking), the car was in perfectly good shape and condition...well, metalic dark orange would not be my best cup of tea, but it wasn't all that bad...<br /><br />Well, I always liked the design of Honda's, which are more chic and stylish...Toyota and Perodua brands are quite dependable in terms of customer services and spare parts...though I must say that I am not all that excited about their designs...I thought it lacked art, and passion...*heys, I am a musician after all*...<br /><br />But since most Honda and Toyotas are out of my financial reach, my mum's Perodua MyVi would be the most logical answer to my pocket and budget...but why am I so resistant about it??...<br /><br />It took me a couple of days to figure that out...It suddenly hit me; as I was surfing through the Net for car brands, researching their specifications and purchase prices...while in my mind, I slowly formed an idea of which car I wanted to purchase that was also within my monthly budget...<br /><br />I realized that in this 20 odd years of receiving hand-me-downs...I never really had a say to weather I loved the clothing that was passed on to me, or how I had wanted to look...I just took those second hand things (while mum reminds me to be grateful), and never complained...sometimes I found the courage to rebel and discard...things that were almost horrifyingly ugly...I couldn't even bring myself to wear it at home...<br /><br />Now, finally with some money in my pocket, I feel a certain satisfaction that I am paying for something that I have decided...and something that I really like...<br /><br />Don't get me wrong though...if someone were to have something that I would not mind having, or better yet, that I love...I would not mind paying big bucks to own it...books, for example...used books does give it...some attitude...a character...a soul...*I don't mind second hand books so much, since I found RM10 in one of the books I picked up from the store last time...heehee*...<br /><br />Well, after a few days of thought...I decided that my mom's orange MyVi isn't a bad choice for purchase afterall...but I do wish at times, that she had choosen the colour black...or deep red for that matter...not silver metalic, though...its almost like asking a clown to dress in a tuxedo...<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">[ Latest news as of 13/5/09 : My mum decided to keep the Perodua MyVi afterall...so I'll be looking into a new one myself...with the colour of my choice...*winks*]</span></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-3987558449242413311?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-45425171702606399042009-04-23T22:24:00.002+08:002009-04-25T22:43:18.815+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">Dear self esteem,<br /><br />You suck, you know that??...long have I entertained your whiny little voice (20 odd years!!!)...your words tells me that you would rather not be involved in whatever that I have hoped to do...your actions show that you would prefer to stand back, and watch the world go by...but you're such a domineering little dweeb, aren't you??...<br /><br />Quit hogging and leeching on me, will ya...if you ain't gonna help me, then stand aside...thanks to you, I have seen opportunities dropped by to say hi...only to leave, when I am afraid to approach them...times when I'd rather sleep, to escape those depressing thoughts, just so I can get a moment's peace...<br /><br />Stop moping around and get back on your feet...throwing yourself a self-pity party never works...you should have known that by now...I make and live my own life...and I am responsible for what I think or do...and you're going to work this out with me...no more demeaning thoughts...they stay outside...no more sorry and regretful statements of how I were never given a chance in the past...shut up...cause the present and the future is all that matters...the present and the future, the story isn't written yet...every minute of one's future, is an opportunity in itself...so I am given a chance afterall...so you can stop grumbling...<br /><br />Back to work, you twerp...smile once in a while, will ya...if you don't feel like it, at least fake it...it will help me more than you'll ever know...<br /><br />By the way...you OWE me...its high time, don't you think??...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;">Lessajinomoto<br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-4542517170260639904?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-59392676617504705092009-04-15T23:21:00.005+08:002009-04-16T04:45:36.473+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">There was this dog, that was wandering outside of my house...well, there are dogs aplenty in the neighbourhood...the security guards in the guard house keeps them for company...but this dog caught my attention today...<br /><br />It didn't look like much...a brown bitch...not of any special or famous breed...you can see that it wasn't in the healthiest condition...for one, it could sure use a bathe, and scrub for ticks...secondly, that wound on her shoulder, needs some attending to, though she doesn't seem to care...obviously, she got into a fight of some sort with her own kind...<br /><br />She was scrambling through my neighbour's garbage today...looking for some food, I suspect...but its funny, though...the security guards here do feed them...not all the time, of course...but the stray dogs here rarely goes through any of our garbage...not in my street anyway...<br /><br />I saw her, on my way out to collect some stuff from my car...she perked up at me...ears twitching, eyes alert...she didn't growl or anything...just checked me out for a moment...and went about her business while still keeping an eye on me...<br /><br />Just as I was coming back, she scrambled off, with what I thought was food of some kind...I wondered if she was bringing her food to her young pups...I knew she gave birth to a few, just less than a month ago...I ran after her...I wanted to have a closer look at those cute pups...I have always watched them from a distance, playing while their mother was keeping a sharp look out for them...<br /><br />I followed the dog, into the back of a house...true enough, I saw her young pups...but I saw more than that too...I saw two young kittens...who couldn't be more than a month old as well...the little kitten's mum must have gotten lost or something...probably ran over, which is the most common possibility...<br /><br />The young pups rushed to their mother...cheekily pushing each other away, in their attempt to reach their food...I noticed that the kittens were no match for them...and they stood alone...completely abandoned for a while...<br /><br />I then saw one of the most noble act, that will probably stay in my memory for a long time...the mother dog, dragged the plastic full of food scrapings, and placed them in front of the little kitties...obviously inviting the hungry ones to eat...<br /><br />I stood there for a while...in both admiration...and humbleness...admiration, for the mother dog, who has chosen to care for the kittens, as her own...humbleness, watching her ignoring the fact that she already has so many mouth to feed...or the fact that she being a dog, and they, a cat...making them worlds apart...a mother's love, as Socrates has said...knows no bounds...<br /><br />Makes me wonder why at times...we, the human race...are not able to accept one another as we are...<br /><br />Here we boast, that we are the most intelligent species in the planet...yet, we have failed in providing the most basic need of a being...a need to be loved and accepted...no matter what the skin colour...no matter what the race...<br /><br />In Malaysia, we have such people of the extreme...just a couple of days back, our newly chosen Deputy Prime Minister; Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has commented that the <a href="http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/23266-muhyiddin-blames-ungrateful-fallout-on-chinese-media">Chinese community has betrayed the government</a>, by not appreciating the government's effort in building them vernacular school...and therefore are to be blamed for the fall-out from the tri-election this early April...when most of the Chinese votes fell to the opposition party...<br /><br />This, I'll say...please...Enough of these racist remarks...Malaysia is made out of three main races and more...the Malays, Chinese and the Indians...without Malays; there won't be a Malaysia...but on the other hand, if Chinese or Indians are missing from the context, Malaysia would not have existed either...so quit barking up the tree, and get to work, will ya??...<br /><br />If a stray dog I met today, could show a little kindness and love to another different being...why can't we do the same, to our own people??...<br /><br />Man, sometimes I do wish that aliens would attempt to take over our planet Earth or a disaster of that equivalent..I am sure, we will then see the whole world unite together as one, regardless of race and skin colour, fighting for our rights to be free...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-5939267661750470509?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-19890544986011782372009-04-12T13:18:00.004+08:002009-04-12T13:58:57.605+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span><p>Th<span style="font-family:times new roman;">ere's something about </span><strong style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: normal;">Astor Piazzolla</strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> that mirrors the frustration inside...Then the moment comes when you play his pieces, and all hell breaks loose...and you will find yourself relishing in the whole mish-mash volume of energy...His tangos are always either rhythmically intense or heart-breakingly lyrical...Like being smitten by someone so much, you don't know if you want to caress his cheeks or hug (or in the case of a one-side attraction; punch) the air out of him...</span></p><p style="font-family: times new roman;">I know...I'm rambling....</p><p style="font-family: times new roman;">I still don't get the diva-ttitude phenom and how it rises exponentially with talent...I am not generalizing here...Just giving my two-cents based on personal experience...I don't understand and I completely disagree the whole issue trying to take credit or stealing one's limelight...Jeez...before long you'd be thinking of how many people you need to brown nose and step on just to get to the top...Oh hang on, you already are...If you're thinking of working your 'womanly charms' to win em over, well... more power to you, sweetie...</p><p style="font-family: times new roman;">Reality really bites...<br /></p><p style="font-family: times new roman;">I know, I know already...I'm rambling....</p><p style="font-family: times new roman;">I want my vacation...NOW!!...<br /></p></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1989054498601178237?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-87967929117894592462009-04-11T10:11:00.019+08:002009-04-13T19:31:06.391+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">You drive away from your house...heading straight for the main road...you will stop at the traffic light as it turns red, as any courteous driver would do...though there are some bastards who are honking at you to jump the red light...you feel like giving them a third finger, when they wind down their window shouting at you...but you hold your peace...it ain't any good trying to fight them anyway...there is three of them...and only one of you...<br /><br />The traffic light turns green after a while...you step on your clutch, and switch to first gear...its a tiring work-out you go through every time you drive this junk...but man, you do love the wide space, and the security you feel about it...there is a U-turn sign ahead...you turn on your indicator...and make your turn...after all, you have got to head the opposite direction...<br /><br />You travel a small distance, preparing to switch to gear three...followed by gear four...when suddenly you slam your brakes as you see what is ahead of you...seas of car...all honking their blessed souls out...ALMOST not moving at all...damn it, you thought...and looked for an escape route...there is a U-turn sign 50 meters ahead of you...well, it does bring you back to where you have first started...but at least, you will be spared the misery of having to wait the traffic out, while some crack-pots fixes the road at this unholy hour...<br /><br />You wipe away your sweat from your forehead and neck...crap, you just bathe...barely clocked in 15 minutes in the car...and here you are sweating your pores out...and worse still, you smell like exposed cheese...you try looking for your trustee mp3 player...hoping that it will bring you something to groove to, while you wait almost impatiently...to get to the U-turn...you sit for a while in silence and penetrating heat...only to realize in complete wonder, why your mp3 player isn't playing your favourite Incognito tune yet...you stare at it...and just as your luck would have it, your mp3 player blinks...LOW BATTERY!!!...<em>Shoebox pickle blowfish</em>!!!!!, you shout aloud...It doesn't make any sense, and you know it...but you're trying to control the habit of cussing to much...and though it is a mouthful, it does include many sounds in the usual traditional swear words...and most importantly, it makes you feel a lot better...<br /><br />After a good 18 minutes, you were able to step on the pedal, make the U-turn and flee...as you are in the opposite direction, you see the whole 3 kilometre jam...and you feel like shouting out...<span style="font-style: italic;">SUCKERS!!</span>..you head for another route...there isn't much time left...your piano lesson starts in half an hour...which you will be able to get there just in time, should you not head for any traffic jams...but it is a Saturday, after all...so we will have to see...<br /><br />Ah, the alternate route...it is usually a traffic jam there...but it shouldn't be too bad, and all too long...much more bearable than the one you just went through...besides, it....<span style="font-style: italic;">Ludwig Van Beethoven!!!</span>...bumper to bumper, impatient cars honking poli-rhythmically...all recognizable symptoms of time-that-will-be-wasted...*sigh*...the cars from the previous traffic must have been as smart as you...to turn to this route as well...making it quadruple the traffic then it normally would...hey, wait a minute...the balding guy in the car on your north east, does look a bit like the uncle who jogs around my neighbourhood...yikes, a sense of fear creeps in...one you can't understand...nor do you know how do describe it...it feels somewhat like an extreme case of claustrophobia...but can anyone blame you??...here you are, stuck in the car, on your east, west, north, south, north east, north west, south east, south west...cars again...well, if you had the brains to make sure your mp3 player was all charged up and working, it would not have been so bad...but without it, the agony is just unbearable...and to make things worse...both your legs, one to the clutch, the other alternating between the brakes and accelerator...you can't feel your legs no more...<br /><br />The traffic win hands down this time...you pick up the phone, and send a message to your teacher...you feel a slight 'crappiness' in your guts as you type the message...you hate it, when you have to cancel a class, using traffic jam as an excuse...but when you think about the number of traffic you still have to go through...just to get your teacher's house...you shudder unvolunteerily...the Phoenix Plaza highway jam, the MidValley highway jam, the Petaling Jaya highway jam, and last but not least, the Damansara jam (though the Damansara jam ain't too bad...the traffic lights there are quite generous with their greens, so its tolerable)...<br /><br />Kuala Lumpur, where half our life is wasted on highways...<br /><br />(Never underestimate the power of classical composer...when you feel like swearing, try a Gustav Mahler, or even Shostakovich for that matter...these composers' name are so liberating yet foreign, your friends won't be able to tell if you're swearing or not...)<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8796792911789459246?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-60681626270188293282009-04-01T12:47:00.003+08:002009-04-01T12:58:27.946+08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SdL0aQY1wJI/AAAAAAAAAMc/pb0LjtGft4g/s1600-h/171567_f520.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SdL0aQY1wJI/AAAAAAAAAMc/pb0LjtGft4g/s400/171567_f520.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319582841790906514" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman;">Today, he will be sitting for his music audition in Bangkok...he has been gone for 3 days now...that isn't much...if you would compared the years we've been together...but I'd never thought I'd miss him this much...looking forward to his return...*grin*...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6068162627018829328?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-60342573594894336602009-03-31T23:50:00.022+08:002009-04-13T00:18:38.632+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Quite a purposeful day...for me, at least...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I managed to get a much needed opportunity to practice on the piano...refreshing, would be an understatement of how I felt when I placed my hand on the keys...these days I was feeling restless...as if there was something in the cosmic world poking at my back...but I couldn't figure out what it was...tried to brush it aside...trying to convince myself that I'd probably mis-placed something...and my subconscious is ringing a bell...or probably it is trying to remind me that I forgot something...well, if it was, it would be useless anyway...I have no clue to what I should be remembering that I ain't remembering...<br /><br />But upon touching the keys, and playing some jazz standards; 'You Don't Know What Love Is', 'Body and Soul', etc...the restlessness melted away...and for once in so many days, I felt at home...the prodigal child has returned...<br /><br />Goes the saying...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life</span>. ~ Berthold Auerbach<!--CAM--></span><br /></div><span style="font-family:georgia,bookman old style,palatino linotype,book antiqua,palatino,trebuchet ms,helvetica,garamond,sans-serif,arial,verdana,avante garde,century gothic,comic sans ms,times,times new roman,serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hence, I was able to produce some solid work during my piano lesson with my teacher...we discussed a lot about arrangements and big band sounds...the musical shades and colours...melodic contours...horizontal harmony...and triggering of an image...inspiring and challenging...really gets me on the move...<br /><br />Decided to give myself a break and pamper myself with a reading marathon...Since I was looking into some fresh topics such as Sociology and Criminal Minds, I decided to head to Kinokuniya bookstore in KLCC...which was about 45 minutes drive from my teacher's place (including traffic jams and all)...got lost a bit, damn the stupid Malaysian road signs...but all was well...<br /><br />Got bitten by an unknown bug, I think...while all the gals my age are enjoying chick lits such as <span style="font-style: italic;">Confession of A Shopaholic </span>by Sophie Kinsella<span style="font-style: italic;">, Sex and a City, </span>by Candance Bushnell which covers the breadth of post-feminist issues like love, courtship, and gender...I am now going through the online crime libraries, reading about the unfortunate <a href="http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/cobby/5.html">rape and murder of Anita Cobby</a>, <a href="http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/family/caylee_anthony/1.html">Caylee Anthony case</a>, etc...all homicides that never failed to make me feel sick in the guts...the murderous details and thoughts of the criminal give me creeps...but nevertheless, my eyes were glued...my interest grows...in wanting to understand what goes through the minds of these souless souls...my curiosity has a much bigger appetite than I can imagine...<br /><br />So while in Kinokiniya, I managed to rake up some books on criminal psychology...confessions of a serial killer, behavioural sience...nothing makes my day, than a good book to read, comfortable seats with background classical music...and of course, a cup of hot coffee for the finishing touch...<br /><br />Then comes the most memorable part of the day...I made my way down to the parking lot, and queued up to pay my parking ticket...I didn't bring much cash with me...just RM15, as I didn't plan on buying anything in the bookstore...I took out RM10 from my purse...I didn't know how much exactly was the parking rate in KLCC...but I gather it should be about RM2 per hour...making my whole bill to an approximate RM9 seeing that I've spent exactly 4 hours and 24 minutes in that mall...<br /><br />I slot in my ticket..."<span style="font-style: italic;">Please pay the amount shown on the display</span>," the stupid machine repeated in a most monotone lady voice...I looked up on the screen...RM13.50...WHAT the???!!!!...Forgive me...but I very nearly cursed aloud...I couldn't help myself...I looked around...for a moment, I thought the machine went nuts...then my eyes caught the sign listed with the parking rates...RM3 per hour...blardy hell...I then suddenly remembered why I have always refrained from driving to KL town, opting to take the monorail instead...man, that was complete daylight robbery!!!...<br /><br />I made my way to my car...RM13.50 poorer...was thinking, that I might as well have bought the book, and left earlier instead...at least, my money would be well spend investing on a book, instead of contributing to this high-class mall and its taxes...but on the other hand, if I had left earlier, I would have been caught in a peak hour traffic jam, which would have annoyed me terribly...either way, I still lose...I had tried to save myself some cash by reading books of my interest in the bookstore itself, instead of purchasing them...but I guess my efforts are all down the drain...*sigh*...<br /><br />Was lost in my thoughts for a moment there...and when I looked up, I realized that I have walked way past my car, and got slightly disorientated...no worries, though...just a slight detour...car should be just around the corner...nil...well, probably the other corner...err...nope...haha...those poor guys in the car who was looking for a parking space...I didn't realize that they were tailing me with a hope to get one...it broke my heart to wave them away, and see their flickering hopes vanish...NOT!!...haha...cruel, aren't I??...*grin*...I was exaggerating...of course, I never thought of that...But after a while, I finally decided to head back to the parking machine booth, and start from there once more...when I reached, I realized what my problem was...I was in the wrong floor/level...I paid my parking ticket in P1, while my car was parked at P2, a level lower...blardy hell...<br /><br />Got into the car, and headed for the road...Man, the last time I drove to KLCC, was light years ago...The signs were most helpful, though...a bit to helpful, perhaps...cause it wrote the names of every street nearby the mall, and showed the arrow, left and right...that will lead you to that specific street...such an ingenious idea, isn't it??...the problem was, they have then put misery upon people like me who are completely uselss when it comes to street names!!!...Don't recognize a single one of them...Pinang Street, Tun Razak street...hopeless...<br /><br />Tossing a coin, I decided to head for Pinang Street...the road took me to Impiana Hotel, and I just followed the traffic from there...I saw a road sign on my right, that writes "Cheras", the destination that I am suppose to head...the taxi in front of me, turned to the right, following the sign...so I did as well, tagging behind him at a consistent speed...and while there wasn't a traffic jam, there were plenty of cars...still, I was not panicking...as long as I followed the traffic...<br /><br />Suddenly, the taxi swerved to the left...no light indicator switched on, nil...man, what a road jerk!!!...when all at once, I understood why he did what he did...the lane he and I was in, the most right...was headed for a hidden tunnel...with a sign in white, and bold green letters...KLCC PARKING...blardy hell...stupid road signs!!!...what are the signs for, if they are placed in a position, impossible to view...till its to late for the driver to make a safe turn??...damn it...<br /><br />While the taxi managed to escape from entering the fateful tunnel, I on the other hand, weren't so lucky...there were many cars behind me, and I was to much an obedient citizen, to cross the double line drawn on the road...so I went in...took another parking ticket...again...and came back out...thank goodness, that the first 15 minutes of parking entry is free of charge...<br /><br />Well, that was the Lessajinomoto adventures for the day...If I were suffering amnesia in years before, I am telling you that I am remembering everything today...<br /><br />#1. Never ever drive in KL, unless you are willing to have your life considerably shortened...the stress, handling both the traffic, and brainless moronic drivers...is just ain't worth it...chances are, a majority of people working in KL town suffers from high blood pressure...I could feel mine just tipping the scale...<br /><br />#2. KL shopping, are meant for the yuppies...the parking rate says it all...man, RM13.50 can last me two main meals (rice, veg and red meat and a cup of chinese tea)...and even that, I would have balance left!!!...<br /><br />#3....ah well, if you happen to have any tips on surviving in KL, do drop me a note...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6034257359489433660?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-79611658878471660042009-03-26T16:52:00.005+08:002009-04-13T00:20:42.648+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Malaysia mourns today...at least, I did...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was declared <a href="http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newspolitic.php?id=399226">new UMNO president</a> today...this would mean that he would be succeeding current Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, and taking his place...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Corridors of power opens, and nothing to hold him back...he is literally invincible...and above the law...<br /><br />He has won his seat, not by election but at the expense of many other politicians who have been crucified on the alter of political sacrifice...Political heads that is deemed a threat to his hold in power, have been decapitated and outlawed...<br /><br />This is truly a sad day, I feel...Don't get me wrong...I am not saying that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has done such a terrific post that he should stay and retain his post...Neither am I saying that we are to give Abdullah Badawi a chance to redeem himself...<br /><br />I am saying...that I personally feel Abdullah Badawi is the lesser of two evils, compared to Najib Tun Razak...Abdullah Badawi may not be the most capable leader in Malaysian history...but his departure for Najib's grand entrance would make haste, for my country; the path to a swirling disaster...Many called for Abdullah's resignation, when the walls of Barisan National (BN) fell apart...they seek his blood for the humiliation that (BN) had to endure...but many also failed to forsee possible consequences of having his successee, Najib Razak take his place...<br /><br />I am not at all excited for my country...and the new UMNO president and coming Prime Minister does NOT have my support, whatsoever...<br /><br />Now that I am older...as I devote the same amount of attention to the ongoing politics, as I do to the growing pimples in my face...I learn to understand how important it is, for one's Prime Minister to have the trust of the majority to run the country...to cradle his nation in the palm of his hand...Hence, I would expect a Prime Minister to be of great integrity...not only in terms of character...but in handling his office...and personal life...<br /><br />The way I look at it, Najib Tun Razak holds none of those...Without any intention to accuse Najib, he had his name tarnished...smeared beyond recognition...plenty of allegations to his name, which none of them were cleared...hence fuelling more doubt in the hearts of the nation...fuelling more fear too...<br /><br />And this does help, especially when these allegations were not confronted, he remaining silent when being challenged...and to find the challenger being suspended from the office for a year, without giving the challenger an opportunity to defend himself...<br /><br />This certainly is a Dark Age for us fellow Malaysians...Democracy has been buried, following the power grab of the Perak State by the BN...with all the seize power tactics, which includes disappearance of certain important politicians, money-politicking, blockading of assemblies by police...I can't help but wonder what kind of age and leadership is Najib going to bring our country to...<br /><br />I don't think I can talk about this anymore...for once, I am truly depressed...truly sad...the days for our nation looks bleak...all I can do, is to have faith...and believe...not in Najib...but in our nation...that democracy will one day prevail...justice will be seen to....<br /><br />If you don't mind, I think I will be dressing in black and white this entire week...and if I had a flag, I would hang it half-way down...</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-7961165887847166004?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-89676961853295046562009-03-22T23:59:00.002+08:002009-03-23T00:12:57.159+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">If I were to compare the 2008-Lessajinomoto and the current standing one, I would definitely say that I am now much more committed to my work, more passionate about the things that I do, and more aggressive in achieving goals...hence, I now see much improvement and I am able to stay focused much longer...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">~ am learning to give myself a pat on the shoulder, and cut myself some slack...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">But somehow, I have missed looking into finer details, such as mastering some specific bowing techniques on my violin, brass attacks on my compositions, using altered scales for my solo improvisation...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">And what's more, I have missed the main practice...to list out more achievable goals, and taking them out one at a time...instead of aiming for the biggest piece of cake...and getting somewhat discouraged and disillusioned at times...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">I need to jump-start my engine...re-look some goals and work my way around it...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">I need a detox...</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8967696185329504656?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-72536376643320203092009-03-20T19:22:00.009+08:002009-05-16T08:12:32.627+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">To the leaders of Malaysia, </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Last year, President of USA, Barack Obama made a moving speech, on the 'Change We Need'...Though I live at the other end of the world, I too, would echo his words, as I too believe in change...many will say that I am pretty naive and idealistic to even hope for one...some have even advised that "<span style="font-style: italic;">This is the reality of life...accept it...life will be less disappointing when you do</span>"...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">well, I have not lived through life long enough to be broken-spirited (yet)...*fingers crossed*...so as long as there is still breath left in me, I will continue to hope...<br /><br />I must confess, though...that there are many a times when things seemed all too depressing, and beyond help...makes me wonder, if hanging on to my stands and principles in life, were of any good...so far, they have brought me ridicule...of course, for my own self, I earned self-respect...but in general, it tested my faith...and I find myself standing on shaky ground...<br /><br />Our beloved country is in crisis...the leadership transition has never been this crucial...whomever is chosen, will either lead us to great success...or drown us in a gut-wrenching sea of chaos...Democracy is hanging by a thread as it is...everyday, newspaper are filled with certain politicians being accused of money-politicking...bribery...all obvious moves to bring down one's opponent...to tear down the integrity of your fellow mate, whom you once called friend...<br /><br />Its a jungle out there, in the political world...one that I would never comprehend, nor would I be interested to...but our land of glory needs a clear direction...she needs to hear the shouts of war...fighting to overcome the financial tsunami that has hit her fellow children...The recent economic depression has led to much social unrest...I do not think we need dosage of political adventure in our daily lives...watching you amuse yourself with petty arguments and differences when clearly, you should be looking out for common interest...and for your people who is in need of your help...<br /><br />Hence, here is my plea...<br /><br />We want to hear of concrete evidence and wise actions of our leaders on getting on top of the economic downturn...we want to be assured that we are able to fend of the effects...and survive the darkess hour...United, we stay strong...Divided, and we become weak...as we have yet to recover from the hit, dwelling on the past and dealing political cards for a win is hardly helpful...<br /><br />So the UMNO presidential meeting would be coming up next week...but before any cabinet is established, whatsoever...it is in my opinion, that the government is in need of a good detoxification before it can function as one body...literally, an internal cleansing...starting from the top...<br /><br />Yes, I am asking that the leaders of Malaysia hit a growth spurt, and start taking their jobs seriously...I would want to hear more about our economy, and less about the foolish pussies that has nothing to do, but to pick a racial card...and start throwing members out of the Parliament...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">If I were to come clean, I will tell you that I am on the brink of slipping into skeptical hopelessness...as I watch tensely from the bench...I am constantly fighting the tempation within myself...the temptation to forgo all hope...and live a life void of all emotions...but as much as I may rant and complaint about my country...I am still willing to stand for Malaysia...and all that it represents...</span><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-7253637664332020309?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-35369616752107838612009-03-14T23:19:00.018+08:002009-03-15T09:27:56.341+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I once had a close friend that was dear to me...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">She has been hurt much, and there has been many times I cried for her...as she shares with me, her personal problems and her struggles, I feel her pain...and yet, I know that I am not the person to counsel her...God knows, that her pain is way past the surface...and would need a qualified counselor to get her through this well...all I could do, was be her friend...be there for her when she needs me...be her shoulder to cry on when she calls...and keep her in my prayers as I bid the night goodbye...<br /><br />That was in year 2003...about 6 years ago...through the years, she has been loved...many friends gave her care...lend her an ear...gave her shelter, for a moment's escape...prayed for her...as for me, we grew closer as the years passed...at first, I felt that she demanded a lot of my time...meeting her a couple of times a week, and 3 hours in average, each date...but I managed to convince myself that it was worth the sacrifice, as she goes through emotional healing...<br /><br />Time passed, and I thought that she was be strong enough to stand on her own. to feet..I believed that she was...it seemed as if she was...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">as months passed, </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I decided to draw clearer and clearer lines about our meets, and the time that we could spend together...I was in KL then, studying and working full time...not to forget that every leisure minute I have, I have to spend them on piano and violin practices, and extra band rehearsals...I was physically and emotionally drained...so it came to an agreement that we would meet once a month, and when I am on my college break...<br /><br />This went on for 3 years...there were times I were not able to answer her calls, or reply her messages immediately, as I was either in class, or working...and doing so, would reflect my un-professional-istic ways...so while waiting for my call/reply, the demon would brew thoughts of insecurity within her...and I would then re-organize my words, and explain my situation nicely...so that she would know that I still do care for her...<br /><br />She understood my situation...or so she says...for after some time, she messaged me to tell her that I have hurt her too many times that she could not continue with the friendship no more...and that was that...that hurt me...and hurt me deep...I kept quiet...and explained to her, that although I felt disappointed, I accepted her decision...<br /><br />It was only then, that she replied saying that it wasn't her intention to end the friendship, but it was a way she used to "<span style="font-style: italic;">get my attention</span>"...unknowingly, that hurt me even more...it made me feel cheap...and I didn't know what to think...I admit that I am quite naive and idealistic in many ways...and that is my downfall...She wanted to continue the friendship, but my heart isn't wanting...my mind tells me to "<span style="font-style: italic;">forgive and forget</span>" as she asked of me...but it was easier said than done...Forgiving wouldn't be my biggest hurdle, but fear...so I kept quiet...<br /><br />I was tired...I still am...I recall back the many times she shares her frustration and rants...to date, I realized that many a times, the issue isn't only with the people that hurt her...but is the fact that I feel, she is still gripping hard to the past...sometimes, I wonder if she unconsciously feels happy holding people guilty sometimes...I know it is cruel of me to think that way...<br /><br />I came to that conclusion, because of the situation that is before me...she says that I have hurt her much, by not spending time with her...but I did and have made it clear, that since I am being more occupied with my studies and work; I would not be able to spend as much time as I did before...when I was gallivanting my time away...she says she understood...but if she did, I believe that she would not feel the need to seek my attention as she did...but ah, I am not a shrink, so who am I to say...<br /><br />And now, she has taken a step further, and tried to commit suicide...I am not sure how, but that was the message she sent me...the latest news is that she went for another counseling, and discovered that she was suffering from self-rejection...and she would be going through another bout of healing...<br /><br />So here is my confession....<br /><br />6 years ago, I cried for her...I allowed her to enter my life...and I symphatized with her...no matter how much the time it required of me, it didn't matter...as long as she was heard...and knows that she is loved...friends and counselors came to help...and I knew she was in good hands...<br /><br />But it looks like, emotionally...nothing significant has changed after all...she is still hurting...and depressed...even to the point of suicide...the circle continues...<br /><br />Last time, I would rush to her, at every call, every cry...today...I find myself hesitating...holding back, just a bit...I feel like a jerk, for even wondering...could she be trying to get people's attention??...<br /><br />I want to believe she isn't...but my thoughts can't deceive me...<br /><br />Now, I am beating myself up...I wish I could be there for her...to tell her that I care...that she needs to hang on tight...that I would want to help her...<br /><br />But I hold on to the telephone...I am not the person that she needs...her pain, isn't something I am capable of handling...as much as I would want to lend a hand...I am not sure I can trust her with my heart...not the way I have in the past, anyway...<br /><br />I see friendships in black and white...if I can get along with that person, he/she holds my heart...110 percent...I may not keep in touch with everyone of them...sometimes even for years, but they are in my thoughts...and for those I decided that is not worth my while (jerks of wat-nots), I would not even bother saying a sincere hi...so call me a snob...I believe my definition of friendship will be clearer as I see more of the world...but it will stand as it is now...<br /><br />I feel like crap, being caught in this dillemma...for any friend, I would have stayed by their side...and fight for them...then why do I find myself hesitating??...<br /><br />This is one that I can't sort out...or at least, I am afraid of the answer, that I may already know...but may not be ready to admit...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-3536961675210783861?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-37699698144255265152009-03-12T23:09:00.011+08:002009-03-14T13:04:39.078+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Pardon the silence...and no, I have not died...<br /><br />This is by far the most agonizing week of the year...ever...</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">It is the ABRSM Theory Exam next Monday...and I, being ambitious (but rubbish at many times), have registered 10 students (8 of them which are of high grades)...<br /><br />And it is this week, that they choose to grow mushrooms on their brains, and forget the most basic of music theory...yes, that includes grouping of notes according to time signature, key signatures of scales, chord inversions and wat-nots....all very careless mistakes...<br /><br />*groan*...of all times, why do they prove to be specially dumb this week?...why can't it be the week after next?...or did they do this, just so they can enjoy seeing me freak out throughout their lesson?...<br /><br />Understandably, I have been running around, chasing my kids for the entire week...I have been giving them extra classes, even during my off days...but it just doesn't seem to be sufficient...and funnily enough, I have already completed their syllabus last year in October, so that they have abundant time for review, go through past year exam questions, etc...went through with them every itsy bitsy detail and mistakes...but today, I can't help but feel that my work has been undone...<br /><br />I need a miracle...really...<br /><br />I know I am aiming really high for my students...but I am confident that they can get it...now if only I can get them to drink some Red Bull just before the exam...<br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />I just had a short break, just two weeks back, spending a day in Genting Highlands...and I came back the next day, all pumped up and raving to go...but I am now looking forward to another break next week...Penang...my cousin and childhood mate, Jo is getting married...and secondly, I need a breather...<br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />I send two of my jeans and a long pants to fix a couple of days back...and had to pay quite a hefty sum for it...I think I just got ripped off...man, I have got to learn how to do extensions on my own next time...<br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Plan to go back hometown next week, over the school holidays...and back to my ever-dramatic life with my grandma...and being her chauffeur for the week...and most probably drive her to Penang, so she can join her friends for another gambling session...so what's new...<br /><br />Btw, my boyfriend has really mastered the art of pampering...*grin*...after <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/brainless-morons.html">last week's incident</a>, he took us out for an eating spree...and some book shopping...clothes shopping...more eating...not at all good for my waist definition...=)...haha...he definitely knows the way to a gal's heart...*winks*<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-3769969814425526515?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-25299591899982500302009-03-09T17:22:00.009+08:002009-03-14T13:05:25.646+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbTjP2LvRrI/AAAAAAAAAMU/WqgdqmHFVZM/s1600-h/angry_boy_cartoon.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 205px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbTjP2LvRrI/AAAAAAAAAMU/WqgdqmHFVZM/s400/angry_boy_cartoon.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311119721958950578" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So yes, I am going to rant a little today...a lot, in fact...if only I could get my brain to work normally...I think I have a right to feel pissed...and I have a feeling that I am going to stay that way for a long time more...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Some moron parked his car so close to mine, that I could not open my driver's car door...that a**hole...can't even stay within the blardy parking box...you had to tread in mine...and to make things worse, my driver's door has a chip mark as big as a 10 cent coin...no prize for guessing what happened...it must be that moron's friend who was PMS-ing on the passenger seat...choosing to open his door so freakin' wide and rough, the door brushed against mine and got stuck...in its impatience, he pulled his door back, resulting to chipping some paint off my door...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">FYI, I just painted my beloved car, a year ago...deep, maroon red...really nice...and expensive too...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">If it was just a black scrape, I would not mind so much....nor be bothered about it...my car is a maroon red, so you would not be able to see the mark, unless you were to sit in front of it and stare...But in this case, the paint was chipped off...And now, at the driver's side, you can see a glaring white spot where the mark lays...all spoiled beside its glory...no apologies written whatsoever...just me, my car with THAT mark, and my seething anger...<br /><br />(this is the part where you may want to cover your ears with cotton balls)...<br /><br />Don't say I didn't warn you...<br /><br />"<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >WTF!!!!!</span>"..........<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Dearest Moron who chipped my car...<br /><br />You have the right to remain brainless...but man, if I ever do see you around, I will kick your arse...LITERALLY...mark my words...I am warning you...<br /><br />Hear me roar...<br /><br />Lessajinomoto<br /><br />p/s : I need some anger management therapy...any suggestions???...if not, my boyfriend is going to get really bruised today...*sigh*...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-2529959189998250030?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-51391608376574597842009-03-08T09:00:00.012+08:002009-03-08T17:36:57.911+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So I happen to have a lil' darlin', who is an artist in the making...and like any well-known artists like Leonardo Da Vinci, Georgia O'Keeffe, Wassily Kadinsky; he would find inspiration through any possible means...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">For example, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh">Van Gogh</a> had a brainchild, when he came across a beautiful lady by the name of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Arl%C3%A9sienne_%28painting%29">L'Arlesienne</a>... and came up with this...<br /><br /></span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMdRD8vjKI/AAAAAAAAALs/owI165EHn58/s1600-h/428px-VincentVanGoghDieArlesierin1890.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 285px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMdRD8vjKI/AAAAAAAAALs/owI165EHn58/s400/428px-VincentVanGoghDieArlesierin1890.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310620564555009186" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Potrait of L'Arlésienne (Madame Ginoux)</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">- February 1890<br /><br /></div></div> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso">Pablo Picasso</a> (a personal favs), using bold colours, produced a painting of a young little girl, believed to be of his daughter...</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMeWAzBgWI/AAAAAAAAAL0/-QkzJlMYQ_g/s1600-h/picasso.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 364px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMeWAzBgWI/AAAAAAAAAL0/-QkzJlMYQ_g/s400/picasso.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310621749119910242" border="0" /></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_with_Doll"><i style="font-family: times new roman;">Maya with Doll</i><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> (</span><i style="font-family: times new roman;">Maya a la Poupee</i><span style="font-family:times new roman;">)</span></a> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">- 1938<br /><br /></span> </div> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">And of course, our bro, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci">Da Vinci</a> obviously had Virgin Mary in mind when he painted this picture...</span><br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMfCvU_VqI/AAAAAAAAAL8/_4bOmtK9Qgw/s1600-h/madonna-of-the-yarnwinder.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 313px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMfCvU_VqI/AAAAAAAAAL8/_4bOmtK9Qgw/s400/madonna-of-the-yarnwinder.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310622517524649634" border="0" /></a></div><div face="times new roman" style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_of_the_Yarnwinder"><span style="font-style: italic;">Madonna of the Yarnwinder </span></a> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">-c. 1501</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Ah, such beautiful people, aren't they??...unique styles, great depths of meaning, such antiquated concepts...I have always wondered what I look like if someone as talented as them, would have the courage to draw me....</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />And it just so happens, I got lucky...I needn't look very far...I did have a Leonardo Da Vinci in the house after all (product of Malaysia, mind you)...and with me as his only ever-so-divine inspiration of the moment, he drew me...<br /><br />Presenting my first portrait ever...</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMht6PsEGI/AAAAAAAAAME/_C1sswe3fEs/s1600-h/P1080048.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMht6PsEGI/AAAAAAAAAME/_C1sswe3fEs/s400/P1080048.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310625458212835426" border="0" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >The Portrait of Lessajinomoto</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">- 7th March, 2009</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I sure hope he is hiding somewhere...cz he just lost me my potential suitors...and my dignity...<br /><br />This is a complete exaggeration...I don't have long protruding teeth!!...and my nose 'whiskers' does not dominate the entire land fill of my 'snout'...and those flippers...*sigh*...<br /><br />But, yeah...I am all meat, fat and bones...so there!!...I prefer to be stuffy, then an aneroxic look-alike of Keira Knightly...an ironing board with a face...<br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMmHA5tO3I/AAAAAAAAAMM/4x1Cseg_ASQ/s1600-h/michaeljackson.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 372px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SbMmHA5tO3I/AAAAAAAAAMM/4x1Cseg_ASQ/s400/michaeljackson.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310630287542926194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Keira Knightley</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Man, it just striked me...there is a striking resemblence of her...and Michael Jackson!!...the face, I mean...strong, defined jaws...erm, slightly unproportionate to her body, etc...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Having said all that, I do wish at times, that I could control my need to eat excessively...but do not be weary...it isn't the way I look that I am concern about...it is because my eating habit is difficult to sustain...financially...well, physically too...<br /></span></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span></div><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >Semolina pilchard, climbing up the eiffel tower.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Elementary penguin singing hari krishna.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >Man, you should have seen them kicking edgar allan poe.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" ><br />I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" ><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I AM THE WALRUS</span>,<br />goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob g'goo...</span><br /><br />- I am The Walrus by <span style="font-style: italic;">The Beatles</span>...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">[note : the song is an inside joke...and I still adore the Malaysian made artist...as horrendous as he made me look...*winks*....</span>]</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-5139160837657459784?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-84735665085496437702009-02-28T09:04:00.006+08:002009-03-01T03:16:46.302+08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SamNhlWxc2I/AAAAAAAAALk/6GSMXNF0ru0/s1600-h/Zits.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 182px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SamNhlWxc2I/AAAAAAAAALk/6GSMXNF0ru0/s400/Zits.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307929243935667042" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Image credit : Washington Post</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Kids, ye bewarned...<br />Never, ever leave your Facebook/Friendster/MySpace/Youtube account unlocked and in plain view...</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">...*winks*...<br /><br />Have I ever mentioned...Zit comics are completely classic??...hahahaha....<br />Thank God my parents ain't that cruel...<br />*fingers crossed*<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8473566508549643770?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-29734815970349482572009-02-27T09:50:00.011+08:002009-02-28T01:53:55.889+08:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;">Just a short post before heading to the gym...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">This post came to my attention yesterday night...and I nearly fell out of my chair reading it...</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">'</span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/26/nation/3352480&amp;sec=nation"><span style="font-weight: bold;">TEACHERS GOING MAD TEACHING SUBJECTS IN ENGLISH, SAYS REP</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">'</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> - theStar newspaper</span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Excuse me, but at this moment, while our teachers are 'going mad', I am sure the parents of the future generation are already mad, so are our students...and I stand next in line...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Before I continue, do let me state clearly, that I am aware that I do have errors aplenty when it comes to usage of English grammar and wat-nots...To be completely honest, I never learned grammar back in school...I have no clue as to how adjective works, how verbs and nouns co-join to form a beautiful sentence, what are the difference between conjunctions and prepositions, etc...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I learned English through a lot of reading in the past...haha...I still remember, that as a child, while being potty-trained, my dad would stack up books after books for me to read...I ended up sitting in the freakin' potty for 3 hours!!...had a nice red circle mark on my bottom, and couldn't move for a while after that...lack of blood circulating my butt...*grin*...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So excuse me for all grammatical errors in my posts...but coming back to this issue...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">How in the world, did teachers without a decent command of English, get hired to teach English subjects in the first place??...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(I bet its just to fill the quota system...)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">This really brings out the worse in me...why would our government be willing to gamble with our children's future, by offering this people jobs of this sort?...I feel as if we are bringing our future back to pre-historic years (excuse my extremism)...instead of bringing them a foot forward...tying a slab of concrete on the students' leg, pushing them of the boat and into the sea...waving goodbye while watching them sink...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">It saddens me to see that it has become an accepted trend nowadays...for people to join the teaching profession...not out of passion...but due to lack of choice...some who is looking for an easy way out...some looking for a stable salary cum benefits from the government...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Teacher who were once seen as a beacon of light...deserving respect of the highest order...have dropped so many levels, thanks to uncommitted people of sorts...There are undeniably, many gems among the rocks...but they are now a rare find...and difficult to come across...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">This is definitely a mortification and chagrin of our Malaysian Education system...to want to abolish teaching subjects in English, just because many of our teachers are unable to be proficient in English...and "</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >it does not bring any success, thus its a loss for Malays</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"...some have even lowered the minimum passing mark of the subject, "</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >to ensure a rosy picture is painted of the move</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"...*sigh*...the very words of our politicians...such mentality...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Oh, damn...I just got sparked off again...in times like these, I feel that no words came describe my feelings than a license to curse...why the h*ll would we want to look good in statistics...when the truth is, we all suck??!!...does it secure us a prominent career in future??...will it gain us the respect that we so hunger?...will our self-confidence be boosted up or torn down??...what the teachers and the government care about, are the good images on the outside...but I bet they have never given much thought about the substances on the inside...what quality of education are we providing our future generation??...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">These scumbags of a government...still hiding behind a beautiful, yet worned out picture...those cowards...It really feels as if they have not matured and nor gone through puberty at all...I would understand if little children were to sweep issues underneath the carpet, to avoid being scolded by papa...but the people whom we trust to run the country, has got chicken guts to admit that somewhere in their education...something went wrong...is downright shameful...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I have to head for the gym now...with the fire fuming within me (not for the right reasons, though), its going to be a good workout for sure...</span><br /></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-2973481597034948257?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-53326979304565160312009-02-25T23:34:00.050+08:002009-03-15T00:28:40.144+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW, PRIVATE or join your fallen comrades in the darkness of the abyss!!</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I stand resolute and silent, determined not to give in to the demands of this wretched animal...I look into the eyes of my team mates, trying to find in them a flicker of strength, as mine was waning...we never really had a chance to know each other to a personal level, really...I mean, we all have our day jobs...I am a musician...and a music teacher...the guy with a swollen jaw and in chronic pain, is a cook down the street where I lived...the lady standing beside me...I see her occasionally, bringing her daughter to the playground in the evenings...and many more...the eyes of my fellow brothers mirrored how I felt...how we are fearful within...wanting to piss our pants...how we were tempted to surrender to the ridiculous expectation of this insane villain to save our neck...but we were here together on a mission...and we will see that it is accomplished...no matter what the cost...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">All of us, awaiting our fate with our arched enemy who dragged us to this House of Death...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >WHERE IS THIS I.R.S. BASE??!!...TALK!!!</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"...he screams at the top of his lungs like a mindless lunatic...going all manic, while all his servants look on from where they were standing...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">A slap landed on my face...with a force so strong, I was flung to the left corner of the room...my nose started to bleed profusely...my breath heavy...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >Still quiet, eh??...Well, we have special ways to make people talk..."...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Still silent</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">...</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" ><br /><br />"To the torture chamber!!</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"...he roars, so close to my face, I could smell his foul breath...his two assistants grab my arm, shoving me quite roughly towards an intimidating room...I know that room all too well...many of my fellow mates went in...some made it out barely breathing...others, I've yet to know their status...I raise my hand in protest...I am perfectly capable of standing on my own two feet...gathering my courage, I insist on retaining my dignity and walking upright...instead of being dragged on my knees like a whipped cow...I must say, that I thought I felt my heart flutter an irregular rhythm...butterflies in my stomach, thinking what they would do to me...I wish they would gas me, so I could skip a level, and join my fallen brothers in heaven...but no such luck...they know that death would only be to easy...and they needed me to talk...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">There it was...that chair...innocent looking to a child's eye...but we all know what happens to the poor soul who entrusts his/her life on it...the light on the ceiling shone upon it, giving it more attention that it deserves...otherwise, the room was cold, musky and dark...yet, I am not deceived...hidden in this room somewhere...were tools/objects with different degree of sharpness...some were drills, meant to puncture a hole in your skull, so that they could enjoy your brain juice...and is that an electric switch with some electrodes on it??...I can't really see clearly...maybe it is...but I sure hope its not...saws of various kinds, some to cut off a part of your body anatomy...others, just enough to make you bleed to death...axes of different size...sledge hammers...swords so long, and shiny...they seem to glint in the dark...and I'd bet a hundred dollars that those barrels standing quietly in the corner were acid cyanide...I felt a chill run down my spine and shuddered...there are blood stains everywhere...undeniable evidence of excruciating torment and butchering of my mates...Even now, I can hear agonizing screams of my brethren in the next room...God bless them all...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">And I am next...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Without an invitation, I take my seat on the chair...the assistants takes my hand to each end, and ties them just in case I put up a struggle...or so they wish...I promised myself, that I will never bring shame to my family's name...promised to face the agony without a flinch...I will stare at the fear and evil, dead in the eye...I will have my victory some day...I will not give this Sadist a chance to gloat and cheer in my expense...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My torturer comes in...snickering and grinning away...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >So how is my 'patient' feeling today??</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"...he sneers mockingly...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Not a squeak from me...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >Are we both ready for some fun?...I know I am!!</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"...he laughs in glee...more evil sounding than the devil himself...but I keep my silence...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">He wears his rubber gloves...and lowers the upper half of my chair so he can take a good look at me...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Be still, my heart...Pain and other emotions can be controlled...you just disconnect it...at least, that is what John Conner's father said in the 1st Terminator movie 20 years ago...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >Why so serious??!!!...Let's put a smile on that face, shall we??...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">This sadistic butcher looks hideous even in the dark...his facial scar that stretches from his right eye to his lower left jaw...his wrinkled and soulless eyes...almost void of emotions...bad breath, black and blue spots on those broken-sized ugly teeth....his pimply moon-crate faces...leaves much to be desired...plus the fact that he was perspiring, left an unpleasant stench in that already unpleasant room...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The assistants holds me down, one with a gun to my head...another, a knife to my throat...The spotlight is burning into my eyes, so I close them...say a prayer...and embrace myself for another session of 'friendly interrogation'...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I hear him start the drill just above my ear...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >Well, well, my friend...shall we start??</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Just so you know, my 2nd visit to the dentist wasn't all that bad...beside my nerves being an extreme wreck, my visit was some-what fine...the lady dentist wasn't all that wicked and irrational sounding as I pictured her to be...And she DOES NOT have bad breath...of course not...quite a sweet petite lady, if I may say so myself...the room quite bright and relaxing...the music soothing to the ears...(though quite annoying, as it was on repeat mode the entire time)...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">3 fillings, and I was out of there...quite relieved, actually...that discoloration on one of my back tooth have been bugging me long enough...I finally managed to get it off my back today...and the old silver fillings, I had them replaced, so that the colour matches the one of my tooth...it does not stand out so much...the vain-pot that I am...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am still quite nervous just thinking about the ordeal...I remember the dentist constantly having to remind me to breathe through my nose, instead of my mouth...as my hot breath was creating moisture on her small mirror every time she was working on me...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">And to be honest, at that time, I could not even tell for sure...which I was doing...breathing through my mouth...or nose...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">But I made it!!!...I didn't cry for my mum as I thought I would...I didn't flinch as much as I would have had years before...and I walked out of that dratted room with not more than slightly wobbly legs...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">That is quite an achievement, wouldn't you agree??...*grin*...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am reminded of something my kindy teacher once told me...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" >I can forsee you being a dentist in the future...you have such a talent in causing pain!!</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I rest my case...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Now, if I could only summon my courage that easily...to see my hair-dresser for a new hair-cut...not so soon, though...I need to recover from my recent experience...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Stay tuned!!</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-5332697930456516031?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-70586686325430166212009-02-22T08:56:00.002+08:002009-02-24T09:14:13.096+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><p>The best way to get a sexy smoky eye is to trace black eyeliner heavily along the top and bottom lashes before bed. In the morning, after a shower, simply clean up where needed with a cotton tip and voila! Perfect smoky eye!!!</p></span><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><p> - <em>Cleo</em> magazine beauty tips, <span style="font-family:times new roman;">according to make-up artist Rae Morris, </span></p></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><p><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >...You've - So - Gotta - Be - Kidding - Me...</span><br /></p></span></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><p><br /></p><p>The only look I'll get at max, especially in the mornings would be an <span style="font-weight: bold;">undignified </span><strong>sleazy eyed, oriental</strong> <strong>roadkill</strong>...and a slash of black smudge across my face...and pillow...and my little Po-Po (this cute teddy that my boyfriend bought me...*grin*)...<br /></p><p>'Nuff said...<br /></p></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-7058668632543016621?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-47703749022132289832009-02-20T15:16:00.003+08:002009-02-20T15:30:05.330+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">My grandmother won something during a lucky draw this week...She was all excited about it, and wanted to share her gift with me...It wasn't something all that expensive (if it was, you'd bet that she would keep it to herself)...but I was the lucky one among her grandchildren to be chosen for this gift...<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;"><br />Since I am far from my hometown, I politely declined, and suggested that she gave it to my brothers instead...Funny enough, she insisted the it wouldn't do, and that only I could use this gift to the fullest...<br /><br />It started to spark my curiosity as to what this gift was...that even my own brothers were not allowed to touch it...<br /><br />I asked my mum this morning...she gave me two clues...<br /><br />Firstly, it was an electronic subject...<br /><br />Secondly, it produces sound...<br /><br />Even I got all excited...tonnes of images ran through my head...<br /><br />A blasting room Audio system??... (for a while there, I forgot that she mentioned the gift wasn't expensive)...A handphone??...A synthesizer??...I've been dreaming of one for dinosaur years...<br /><br />I was THIS close to the answer...half correct, actually...<br /><br />It was....<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SZ5bdvP9q4I/AAAAAAAAAKk/289ZyG6LBV0/s1600-h/6a00d8341c501653ef00e54f8e80cf8833-800wi.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 280px; height: 197px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SZ5bdvP9q4I/AAAAAAAAAKk/289ZyG6LBV0/s320/6a00d8341c501653ef00e54f8e80cf8833-800wi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304777977546779522" border="0" /></a>A toy keyboard...<br /><br />*sigh*.....<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-4770374902213228983?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-61352037156674727882009-02-16T10:09:00.014+08:002009-02-17T00:28:56.643+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SZmHWkEHX6I/AAAAAAAAAKU/0Vu7fDL4fjY/s1600-h/chinese.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SZmHWkEHX6I/AAAAAAAAAKU/0Vu7fDL4fjY/s320/chinese.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303418857913278370" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I've done it...I had to give myself the almost impossible challenge...of the many things I've learn so far for leisure, this is by far the toughest...It first started with swimming...(yes, I started swimming at quite a late age, but we'll go to that later)...then it was charcoal drawing...followed by cross-stitching, etc...but now, I've just topped it...by choosing to conquer </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/02/confessionssecretsit-goes-either-way.html">reading and writing in Mandarin</a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> once and for all...why, learning HTMLs to build a website now sounds way easier!!! (though I've yet to master that at all...gave up learning the codes after awhile...found that it didn't really interest me that much)...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />(Note : Yes, so now you know I am a complete 'banana'...A Chinese living on a white skin...Am I to be held responsible that my parents would decide to send me to a national school, which deprived me from learning my mother tongue??...And so what if my mum did offer to teach me conversational Mandarin after I graduated from high school?...I was happy with the way I was then...So I refused...besides it was a complete struggle, trying to string a sentence and cracking my head open to do so...and it doesn't help when your friends are entertaining themselves at your expense...I just want to be able to converse, without rambling and feeling foolish... furthermore, I was proud...and rebellious...and stupid...there I said it, you happy??)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">What I have learn so far :<br />1. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The writing system is completely HOPELESS...</span><br />I've seen many of my friends pen down strokes after strokes of Mandarin words...and when they wrote their names using the calligraphy brushes, it is pure ecstasy...The Chinese characters, originated by images are both intriguing and fascinating...Hence, I've decided that I won't be happy learning just conversational Mandarin alone...I would have to learn to read and write as well...<br /><br />It is said that one has to learn at least 2,000 words for basic literacy (reading Chinese newspaper, etc)...I've learned 10 words so far...10 out of 2,000...that makes it 0.005% of my target...all adjectives...definitely not enough to function literally...not even the Mandarin translation of 'Peter and Jane' books...And to think that to form ONE word, one has got to learn 26 freakin' strokes...and having to write them from top to bottom, left first to the right...Why won't my Chinese ancestors just stick to normal basic alphabets???...A-Z comprises of 26 alphabets...mix them together...and voila!!!...you can write a thesis on it...but Chinese characters??...just understanding the strokes would make my eyes cross...let alone form a word...<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Trying to pronounce the Mandarin phonetics is a joke...</span><br />Every vowel, consist of 4 distinctive sounds...With all the classes of ear training that I had to go through during my music college years, you would have thought that differentiating the vowels would be a piece of cake...But the first pronunciation and the fourth sounds almost the same to me...and I am still unable to tell the difference between the second and the third one as well...<br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Looking up the dictionary for a Mandarin word, is pure torture...</span><br />While using an Oxford English dictionary is completely user-friendly, looking up a word in the Chinese dictionary is definitely what I would term as 'user-hostile'...in fact, wading for high elusive characters in a welter of unfriendly lexicons would only be for individuals with exceptional stamina, fortitude, determination and other classical disciplines...<br /><br />Usually, a dictionary would be arranged alphabetically...but in Mandarin, one has got to figure out the radical character of the word...then you will have to go through the homonyms to find the right character with the right meaning...to make sure it is the right word, you will have to count the number of written strokes required and radical identification...which of course, is beyond my comprehension...man, this way it will take me a much longer time, than if I were to learn...Braille and the Dewy decimal system altogether!!...<br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />So learning Mandarin has yet to make a mark on me...*sigh*...but I am determined to hang on tight...this issue has been lugging in my head long enough...its high time I either sit on it...or I move on...<br /><br />My mission is to be able to read the proper Three Romantic Kingdoms (that would require knowing 4,000-5,000 Chinese characters, mind you)...not the one with comics and English dialogues...that's just pure baloney...I also want to be able to appreciate the beauty of Chinese poetry...I have heard it many times before...and even though I never understood it, it was music to my ears...and last, I want to be able to read Confucius' original writings...but, that is another task to breakthrough...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I'll have to save that for later...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">This state of affairs have been disheartening to me so far...especially for me who is impatient to devour the vast riches of Chinese literature...so far, it has been nothing but boring and bland diet of pre-school books,(which I can't even make out the instructions, let alone understand the exercises), t</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">extbooks and carefully edited kiddy books...it certainly looks like I'll be bound to this for the few years to come</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">...I feel as if I am being on a weight diet...painful...and depressing...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> </span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6135203715667472788?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-13559455931090357002009-02-13T08:46:00.005+08:002009-02-13T11:29:39.096+08:00<div style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman;">I think I've over-done it this time...I've given more than I should, and now I am feeling the heat...sometimes I think that it does not pay to be a nice person...no matter how or what you do for your students, there are many parents who fall short of appreciating it...I'm not a baby, that constantly requires praise and compliment...what I do for my students...whatever extra I give my students, are on my own initiative...and that is when parents start on their list of demands...I would give in to their demands, if it suits me...but I can't possibly give-in to all of them...and now, I feel as if I am being treated like trash...they would not even bother to call in to give me a heads up, when they are not able to make it...kept me waiting and wasting my time...and they demand that I replace the class, or they won't pay the studio their monthly fees...<br /><br />Give me a thousand kiddos to teach than a parent of these character to deal with...<br /><br />Being a music teacher or a teacher is no joy-ride, that's for sure......you've got to major in counseling, human resources, people-relationship, childcare, business administration, secretary, student pedagogy and music all at the same time...<br /><br />I am exhausted...mentally and emotionally...<br /><br />Lights out...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1355945593109035700?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-48488461548799690042009-02-11T10:20:00.012+08:002009-05-15T22:10:55.403+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">When I was young, I used to keep a small little diary...where I would share my deepest secrets and wildest imaginations...of course, at that time, it used to be about how I would want my future house to look like...my illogical infatuation with some guy down the street...who I would want to be when I grow up, etc...to keep little busy-bodies away (friends with a keen eye for secrets), I used to encode it...so no one will ever find out, nor will they ever know...lest they will laugh at me, and shatter me of my childhood fantasies...of course, I encoded it so well, that my older self have never been able to decode it, ever...hence, my dreams died along with the young Lessajinomoto...now that I have an online blog, I am tempted to share my secrets here as well...have been struggling within myself...debating if I should or not...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">just in case my mum goes berserk upon reading my blog...or go to the other extreme, and laugh at my sport...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">but heck...this is MY blog...I should at least be able to practice my freedom of speech right here...<br /><br />So mum, if you're ever reading this...I guess that you will learn that this is one part of your daughter you have never known...bellow your anger/frustration if you want...laugh and even cry if situation calls for it...Just as long as you promise you would not squeal on me and tell dad...<br /><br />Here goes...<br /><br />1. Have been considering gett<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span></span>ng myself a pet sn<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span></span>ke...if you were to read <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">M</span></span>y profile, this should not be of a<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >N</span>y surprise t<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">O</span></span> you...Most of the people I kno<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >W</span> hates snake...<br /><br />If you ask me, this is a typica<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">L</span></span> situation of 'shooting th<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >E</span> messenger'...The unforgiv<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >A</span>ble act of tempting Eve in the Ga<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">R</span></span>den of Ede<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">N</span></span> has stereotyped the m<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span></span>nds of people, i<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">N</span></span>to believin<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">G</span></span> that anything that slit<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">H</span></span>ers and crawl on the gr<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">O</span></span>und, is completely undeserving of tender loving care...but here is the breaking ne<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">W</span></span>s...<br /><br />There are many people like me, who love snakes for the very same reason people ha<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >T</span>e them...these creepy crawlies, as I called them when I was a kid, was amazingly designed...t<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">O</span></span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> </span>be able to adapt to all kinds of envi<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">R</span></span>onment...the eleganc<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >E</span> in their 'footsteps', side-winding...is just incredible to look <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span></span>t...Some people tries to kill them, but en<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">D</span></span>s up getting bitten inste<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >A</span>d...All the more reaso<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">N</span></span> to give them the respect that they <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">D</span></span>eserve, doesn't it?<br /><br />2. Tattoos are another thing that intrigue me a lot...I have always wanted to get my o<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">W</span></span>n tattoo the minute I received my 'golden key' (Its a Chinese t<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">R</span></span>adition...we rece<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span></span>ve a 'key' once we reach the age of 21...symbolizes freedom to ac<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >T</span> on one's fre<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">E</span></span> will)...<br /><br />But the act of plung<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">I</span></span>ng a needle into my ever-so-delicate ski<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">N</span></span>, would be anything but a divine experience...yea, call me a chicken, but I a<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >M</span> afraid of the long term effect, if I were to get a t<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >A</span>ttoo...will it age me terribly?...also, I don't thi<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">N</span></span>k I am comfortable with the i<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">D</span></span>ea that it would be something perm<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span></span>nent, that I would car<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">R</span></span>y for the rest of my life...I would l<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span></span>ke to get a bird or a hamster tattoo...but I am sure my taste would cha<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:webdings;" >N</span></span>ge along with fashion (yea, laugh now...see if I care)...I may not like birds so much...probably a snake then,why not??<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">!!</span></span>...and I don't think that my bird/hamster tattoo would like to co-exist with a snake tattoo, you get my drift??...<br /><br /><br />*whispers*...snakes have birds/hamsters for their early breakfast...<br /><br />Ah, will you look at the time?...I'll just have to leave this here...and continue with my spelling later...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-4848846154879969004?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-47496470668550860462009-02-10T15:34:00.022+08:002009-02-17T11:30:51.454+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">[<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Legal Disclaimer</span> : A long-winded post below...It started as a short one, but that was during the pre-heat...whatever that is written follows..is a 'once-in-a-while-brewing-steam' moment..if there is anything I wrote,that one may find offensive,or incorrect, I would appreciate it if you will let me know..if not, bear with me..]<br /><br />I have not written much about my point of view as far as Malaysia's political turmoil is concern...<br /><br />Reasons being :<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">1. I've not been following the political news of late for a few months now...therefore, I dare not write in detail nor comment any further, just in case I may have missed a bit of news, that could bring me into shame later on...<br /><br />2. If you noticed, my rants about Malaysia politics are usually about the foolishness and stupidity of the politics...and sometimes the obviously biased rule/statement made...I rarely would complain about the changes made in the Malaysia's NEP (New Economic Policy), etc...being frank, I must confess that I can hardly remember nor understand fully the inner dealings of the government...whatever I know about the governmental policies, are either 'sped-read' in the newspaper, or hearsay...both, which I feel cannot be considered as factual...<br /><br />Reasons for not following political news :<br />1. It sickens me to the guts to see how the operation works...the government intertwined and laced with very strong, arsenic hints of money exchange...<br /><br />2. I've never heard of any positive news about the government's handling since last year's general election back in March...the politicians, I feel...has forgotten its people...they are just merely taking the seats for the power and integrity...hence, all the slandering, back-stabbing, name-callings...completely childish and immature...and if I may add...somewhat depressing...<br /><br />3. News from other countries were more interesting, not to mention, inspiring...the heated election of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008">US presidency</a>, for example...the historical moment...the <a href="http://news.google.com.my/news?q=Israel+Gaza+war&amp;oe=utf-8&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;um=1&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;hl=en&amp;ei=IjyRSZSeLsPDkAWoquXwCw&amp;sa=X&amp;oi=news_group&amp;resnum=1&amp;ct=title">Israel-Gaza war</a>...not that it is inspiring, but it sparked off concerns of the heart...and distracted me from my country's state of wretchedness...<br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />I've always considered myself a Penang-nite...and yes, that was out of bias-ness...I was born in Penang, and raised in Penang throughout my childhood years...so the very making of me, started in Penang...for my brothers, it is a different story altogether...I was almost 12 years of age, when my dad shifted us to Ipoh...by then, while I was approaching juvenile age and tendencies, my brothers were merely micro-toddlers, good for sitting on...<br /><br />But having said all that, I have spend all my teenage life in Ipoh, Perak...I have found in it, life-long friends to grow up with...good memories to keep, bad ones to toughen me up...the place was not all that great, in terms of food and government...but it was home...<br /><br />Hence, I felt completely short-changed with the recent political scenario in Perak...<br /><br />We were governed by the opposition, PKR (People's Justice Party) for almost 10 months now...sure, there were many issues of disagreement...of money laundering within a one or two members of the Parliament...while I'm sure nobody agrees to any of that act, we are willing to close an eye...as I believe we have one goal...as Barack Obama would say..."<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122567490887592021.html">A Change We Need</a>"...<br /><br />We have been long under the hands of BN (Barisan National)...and we have seen little progress in Perak so far...it is still under-developed...and while our nature's beauty is still very much 'intact', we have been extremely side-lined when we come to the issue of economy...<br /><br />On paper and report, Perak have been allocated gazillions of money...but as a fellow Perak, besides a conventional fly-over, over-loading of useless street decor over the past 8 years...I've yet to see how the money is spent...Oh ya, silly me...there is one ENORMOUS multi-million dollar building that was errected years back, to bring together all the government offices...it now sits as a white elephant...completely empty and abandoned...they have since shifted...a great display of how unorganized the previous Perak government was...<br /><br />So, we wanted change...and in the latest election, the opposition won 31 seats in Perak (someone please correct me, if I'm mistaken)...and Barisan National won 28 seats... close competition, but a clear one nevertheless...<br /><br />Note : for exact chronology of events, check out this <a href="http://www.mysinchew.com/node/20852?tid=14">site</a>...<br /><br />And just a few days ago, we lost it again...Jamaluddin and Osman, both PKR representative and members of the Parliament from Behrang and Changkat Jering respectively, <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/1/nation/20090201115534&amp;sec=nation">went missing</a> for a couple of days...before re-appearing to announce their intention of going <a href="http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/17512-jamaluddin-quits-pkr-to-be-independent">solo independently</a>...only to <a href="http://www.mysinchew.com/node/20845?tid=14">pledge loyalty</a> to Barisan National several days later...<br /><br />For your additional information, these two froggies, were facing <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/21/nation/22135022&amp;sec=nation">16 corruption charges </a>worth RM180 million just last year itself...if you ask me, it is my wildest guess that Barisan National offered them complete pardon and million dollars more, if they were to hop over and belch/croak their loyalty to them...sounds completely familiar, doesn't it?...and it becomes even more convincing, now that they have done their disappearing act again...by not <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/10/nation/20090210095044&amp;sec=nation">showing up for their trial today</a>...probably in hiding, until the heat is over, and BN to erase their name of the black books?...(the latest news, just hot off the oven...the corruption case, which was scheduled three days from now has been <a href="http://www.mysinchew.com/node/21055">postponed to June 15</a>...haha...now am I right, or am I not??)<br /><br />Anyway, one of our trusted politicians of Perak, have done her disappearing act too...I'm really ashamed to say, that Missing In Action, seems to be a common practice among people messing in the government...<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hee_Yit_Foong">Ms. Hew Yit Foong</a>, another PKR representative and exco <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/2/nation/3175462&amp;sec=nation">could not be contacted,</a> just after Chinese New Year, creating much speculation about her 'jumping ship' and joining the BN...for an extra sum of money, of course...The same old story...resigning with the 'sincerest' intention to become an independent...and was found happily shaking hands and sitting side by side with the BN...<br /><br />Her action was the last straw, that caused our opposition government to topple and fall...in situations like these, one would have expected the Sultan to hold fresh state re-election once more...but much to our disappointment, we were dead wrong...Not only did our <a href="http://www.mysinchew.com/node/20892">Sultan Azlan Shah refuse a state re-election</a>, he gave consent and support to the formation of a new government by BN, when the existing government has not been resolved...to add insult to injury, a <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nation&amp;file=/2009/2/5/nation/20090205093949">new state representative has been officially selected and sworned in </a>(all in less than 12 hours) while the existing one is still in office!!...<br /><br />This is a complete mockery to our intelligence, I tell ya!!...I have had Malaysian Studies during my college days, and I have learn that State Representatives can only be removed by State Assembly by a no-confidence vote or via the <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/5/nation/20090205151104&amp;sec=nation">dissolution of the whole State Assembly</a>...(man, hard to believe that all the countless hours wasted in the college lecture hall actually paid off!!..*grin*)...<br /><br />BN, completely lacking in originality...is buying <a href="http://anwaribrahimblog.com/">Anwar's</a> (PKR opposition leader) previous idea, when he encouraged what I would call, 'political hopping'...only difference is, in their desperation, BN revised it a bit to make haste the 'hopping'...and introduced 'political buying' instead...I'm not a big fan of Anwar, if you'd ask me...but I am more inclined to see him as the lesser of two evils...If we are really honest, I'm sure you'll agree with me that political integrity is hard to find...In fact, it is almost impossible that the word 'political integrity' can co-exist together...with Anwar, openly ambitious and being so impatient to form the new government last year, </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">we are now watching him being beaten in his own game...<br /><br />Any attempt to save the current government has been faced with <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/8/nation/3222317&amp;sec=nation">accusations of treason</a>, <a href="http://www.mysinchew.com/node/20941">revocation of honourary titl</a><a href="http://www.mysinchew.com/node/20941">e</a>, <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/9/nation/3224306&amp;sec=nation">arrest and detention by the ISA</a>...reasons being that we should honour and respect the Sultan's decision...if <span style="font-style: italic;">"we were to look at it from the point of royal customs"</span>, says a BN representative...*sigh*...I must say, they are completely re-writing the definition of a democratic institution!!!...<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><br /><br />In my opinion, BN is on a self-destruction mode...making one mistake after another...if blatant corruption is not enough, slandering and empty promises is added to the pot...PKR has lost the battle...BN looks as if they have won...but I would consider this a victory that has forfeited itself of its honour...they may have come out 'triumphantly' in the battle, without much lost except in the finance department...yet the war has yet to be conquered...that is the trust of the whole nation, who is looking at this situation in disgust...I can't wait for the next election in year 2012...it will most certainly be an interesting watch...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">wouldn't you agree??<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-4749647066855086046?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-35653670176883388622009-02-08T18:33:00.007+08:002009-02-13T08:59:28.015+08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SZG6uv2h9QI/AAAAAAAAAKE/vyaQD03Du54/s1600-h/mob1900_buying_them_over1+%28Large%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SZG6uv2h9QI/AAAAAAAAAKE/vyaQD03Du54/s400/mob1900_buying_them_over1+%28Large%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301223548673717506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(updated 10th Feb : source from <a href="http://mob1900.blogspot.com/2009/02/barisan-najis-oldest-trick-in-book.html">Mob's Crib</a>)</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I absolutely love this poster!!!...this 'movie' screened live all over the news in Malaysia, describes our current political scene and the chaos...</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br />Stay tuned to see how much it cost, to buy people over...(at the average : RM30 million per pax...or so I have read)...man, I hope I am wrong...these money are of our tax-payers!!!...</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-3565367017688338862?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-85100442770406582442009-02-06T13:59:00.010+08:002009-02-06T17:08:52.669+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">When I was a kid, back in the 80's, my friends would be in their own world pursuing constructive endeavors such as attending Kumon classes, ballet, piano classes, etc...I, chose to watch cartoons...<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Now, before you start pointing fingers at my mum, for allowing me to be 'baby-sat' by the mindless tube, let me explain, that I use to be a pain in the neck, constantly looking to be with my mum, even when she is working...so the tube and books, were my only distraction, to give her some peace and allow her to get some breathing space...<br /><br />I never forgot any of those cartoons, even till now...I mean, I can't really say that I can recall each and every detail of the cartoons that I have watched...but now that I come to think of it, many of the cartoons have taught me a valuable lesson...<br /><br />For example...<br /></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Smurfs</span><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SYvgBdjFNnI/AAAAAAAAAJU/NcO7F7_zVoM/s1600-h/new_smurf.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 219px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SYvgBdjFNnI/AAAAAAAAAJU/NcO7F7_zVoM/s320/new_smurf.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299575702247782002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">One elderly blue male in the red hat, who has no real power, but it is generally understood that he was a respected leader of the community...One female in the entire population of blue males with white pointy hats...<br /><br />Everybody has a house of the same size...no bigger, no smaller...Everyone has equal authority and power, and no one gets side-lined...Everyone has a special talent that is used to contribute to the harmony of the community...they look the same, dress the same, talk the same, live the same...and they are all united in fighting the mean old Gargamel and that hungry, misunderstood Azrael...<br /><br />The most important lesson I learn : COMMUNISM actually works!!!...Can you believe it??...China and Russia must have really gone wrong somewhere...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transformers<br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SYvgeCEt_aI/AAAAAAAAAJc/1zGopxB4trI/s1600-h/transformersanimated_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SYvgeCEt_aI/AAAAAAAAAJc/1zGopxB4trI/s320/transformersanimated_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299576193088880034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Robots from an alien world, has chosen our earth as their 'playground', the good fighting the evil...Robots with capability of transforming into vehicles...the good ones, usually transform to old-fashion commercial transports such as lorries, family cars and wat nots...the evil ones usually take on vehicles of a higher level...helicopters, and jet planes...Robots changing into bigger robots...then they combine powers together to destroy an even bigger robot...and usually they are successful...all in a day's work, isn't it??...ah, who could ever forget dear old Optimus Prime and the Autobots??...<br /><br />The most important lesson I learn : One : Never judge a robot by its cover...it is usually "<span style="font-style: italic;">more than meets the eye</span>"...Two : If I don't behave, the Decepticons will kill us all...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Popeye The Sailor Man<br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SYvgnHVXw8I/AAAAAAAAAJk/jJBabWKI9z4/s1600-h/olive+in+popeye.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 309px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SYvgnHVXw8I/AAAAAAAAAJk/jJBabWKI9z4/s320/olive+in+popeye.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299576349119726530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">If you want to win the love and affections of your leggy, tight-skirted Olive Oyl, one can of spinach will do the trick. It always starts with a losing battle between Bluto and Popeye...and Popeye would, with much pain and agony crawl towards an available can of spinach conveniently lying around the corner...Sure, as we kids know, spinach never tasted as good as lollies, ice-cream and cheese...but man, it is so full of essential vitamin goodness, that it is bound to make your biceps explode like canons...then it will be followed by Popeye's gusty, yet short and sweet 'fight' with defenseless Bluto...and Olive Oyl with come to Popeye, smothering him with kisses...forget it that Olive was a complete bimbo, with flirtatious character...having fallen for Bluto a few times, for his 'macho-ness'...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The most important lesson I learn : One : Eat your veggies...Two : Muscles can be build in seconds...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Third : Protein shakes are shit, veggie vitamins will do...<br /><br />Note : I would love to share more examples, but it is starting to eat into my time...hence, I have to cut it short to just a couple...<br /><br />Now, would you mind sharing a few of your 'lessons from the tube' with me?...*grin*<br /></span></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8510044277040658244?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-62221615051252841042009-02-05T08:25:00.021+08:002009-02-05T14:51:26.497+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">It was nightfall...we were in Penang, staying on top of a hill, that faces the rough sea...for some reason, it was peaceful that night...and, if you were to really lie still and concentrate, you could hear the crickets sing their songs and the frogs croak their symphonies...but of course, we all know that is way beyond my capability...<br /><br />Still, I looked out of the window...the sky was deep crimson blue...not many stars out there, despite a clear sky, I observed...and the jungle has lost its mystifying beauty...more than half of the hill, was bald and exploited...after years of constant abuse, it has changed into a concrete zone...trees were uprooted, and now 3-story houses stood in their place...the ones next to where I lived were still under construction...they looked extremely bare and desolate...lonely...and outcast...<br /><br />That's when I saw a small fireball some distance away, that dropped down from the sky...and sizzled off, as it landed on the deep blue sea...and then there was another one...and another...I looked up...meteorites!!!...well, at least I thought they were comet fragments, the way they shot across the sky...<br /><br />It was a rare occasion, I'm sure you'll agree with me...yet, I did not budge from my seat to alert my other ex-school mates...I sent up a prayer of thanks, and made my wish...(yes, I happened to believe that wishing upon a star will make one's wish come true...go ahead...say that I've lost my marbles...see if I care...*grin*)...then I returned to the room where the others were, listening to a pastor preach his sermon...<br /><br />As usual, I made my way to the back of the hall, where the rest of my friends were 'hiding'...we, young immature people of 20s and below, are most well-known for doing that...cause everyone knows that it is sitting at the back, that is the safest...away from point blank target of our parents' watchful eyes...where one can fall asleep, without worrying that it may insult the preacher...or pass cheeky notes around...or chat in soft whispers, without getting a disapproving stare from one of the elderly...I learned that one of my cousins were adopted by the preacher's wife...funny...I don't recall any adoption taking place at all...plus, it feels really weird, hearing the preacher's wife referring to him as her 'son'...<br /><br />One of my friends suddenly gave a loud shout and pointed out the window...everybody's attention was distracted and off the preacher for a moment...they raced to the window to see what the fuss was all about...I knew, of course...but still, I joined the others...just to see more fireballs fall, at a more consistent rate...thank goodness, we were surrounded by sea waters...they just swallowed those little babies whole, and they sunk deep into the abyss...completely oblivious to all possible dangers, we continued watching from our 'sanctuary'...<br /><br />It was one of the fireballs that struck the roof of one of the houses, that brought us back to reality...the flames were licking up everything in their way ferociously...then came pitch darkness...the power station must be burning too...instinctively, I tried to get help...it was difficult...there was no light to aid my footsteps, and to make things worse, the situation turned chaotic, with people running directionless, trying to escape...I somehow managed to scramble my way to the phone, and started dialing 911...the numbers were jumbled up, and in my moments of panic, I kept pushing the wrong buttons...when I finally got through, an operator answered my call...described the scene, gave the address of the place I was in, and asked for the fireman to hurry...probably it was my voice that didn't sound urgent enough or something, the operator didn't believe in my report and thought of me as a prankster who called in to liven up their spirits...she didn't give me a chance to explain, and hung up the phone...I was getting more desperate...in my desperation, I accidentally dropped the phone...and the phone cable got disconnected...it was almost impossible to find the telephone and cable in the dark, so we all rushed out...I struggled to make my way through the mess, while calling 911 again, through my handphone this time...<br /><br />There was no network, damn it...and the fire has given us no choice, but to head for a pavement, that leads to a huge waterfall, that drops off a mile away...I looked around to find my family...my two brothers, mum and dad, and grandma...amidst the chaos, people were pushing and screaming...children crying for their mothers...finally I heard my mum call out my name...I answered in relief...when she handed me the bad news....<br /><br />My brother didn't make it, my mum told me...people said that he managed to escape to the main road before the fire engulfed the building...but while he was asking for help, he was shot at by an ice-cream man riding a motorbike and robbed him of his money before speeding away...<br /><br />I didn't believe it..searched for my dad and found him after a while...his blank eyes and stunned look spoke a million words...I fell to the floor and cried...I could not breathe...I wouldn't let anyone touch me...I was mumbling words...but couldn't make out what I was saying...I wished for death to have taken me instead...<br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Darn it...sometimes I wish Mr. Sandman could leave me alone...my dreams have a bad habit of turning into melodramatic soap operas, which leave me more exhausted instead of well-rested...my mind is still in hyper-active mode thanks to him...<br /><br />Man, that felt so real...the pain of losing a loved one...I could feel it with every cell of my being...I thought that someone just chopped off half my body, I could not feel them...I can remember it even now as I am writing...5 hours after my waking time...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6222161505125284104?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-55215298237944788792009-02-03T01:16:00.017+08:002009-02-26T23:46:35.491+08:00<div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;">Nobody likes me, everybody hates me,<br />I'm gonna eat some worms.<br />Big fat juicy ones, Eensie weensy squeensy ones,<br />See how they wiggle and squirm.<br /><br />Chomp off their heads and squeeze out the juice<br />And throw their tails away<br />Nobody knows how I survive<br />On worms three times a day...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I learn that song back when I was a kid...kindergarten teacher taught me...sang it throughout the 2 hour ride for a holiday, and drove my parents crazy...taught MY students how to sing it...and play it on the piano...and THEY drove THEIR parents crazy...ah, those naughty, naughty devils in disguise...all in a days work, isn't it?...*grin*<br /><br />My body sure does hate me for some reason...Every single time I think I am about to recover, my body decides to pick up the same illness...sometimes with more vengeance...annoying, really...Throat feels raw now...my nose is blocked...and it does not help, the fact that it is still Chinese New Year...which means I am not able to smell the sweet aroma of my dad's cooking...and it also means that the majority of the Taoist people are still burning joss sticks, and paper money...the thick smoke is starting to settle down and merge with my mucus...(imagine you having a stuffed nose, and an ass-hole of a guy, smokes his cigarette and blows on your face...I would have punched him, I tell ya)...<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Well, just to describe my Chinese New Year in a nutshell...<br /><br />We didn't get to enjoy our usual Chinese New Year feast...grandma claimed to have lost one of the three pairs of shoes she bought...and has turned the whole house upside down to find it, and still failed...caused a bit of tension in the family, as she was consistently muttering accusations that one of us must have taken/stolen them...Dad finally defused it, by taking her to buy a new pair of shoes...spent a day or two hunting for that specific model...drove my dad insane...finally told my grandma, to either be happy with a different pair of shoe, or to forget about it...she chose to be happy...unneeded pain in the neck...<br /><br />Grandma insisted that we should all start our cooking a few days ahead, despite having been told time and time again, that it is best to keep the food fresh...too much stress and pressure, we felt...completely unnecessary...so my dad decided to abandon the cooking mission...we all had KFC for reunion dinner instead...and Pizza Hut the night after...<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Grandma got mugged twice in a week, at the same spot and about the same time...once before the CNY...and once after...she lost quite a bit of money and some jewelry during the first time...but did not sustain injury...second time, not so lucky...first robbery, she claimed the thief took her house-keys, which we then promptly changed the locks for our house...only to find out later, that she actually left her house-keys back at home...the second robbery, she remembered her house-keys this time, which she placed in her hand-bag...and that got stolen...so we had to change locks for the second time...<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Referring to a <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/01/im-just-saying.html">previous post</a> I wrote...the person I'm referring to...let's call her *Charmaine...I didn't get a chance to settle things with her...she decided that by not making time for her, I have hurt her...and therefore, she has decided to send me an SMS in the wee hours of the morning...to cut off the friendship...just like that...I responded by sending her a message, expressing my disappointment in her selfishness...and she begged to have our friendship back...it made me feel like a 6 year old kid...were friendships that cheap, that it can be taken apart and mended through an SMS??...I decided to stick to her decision of cutting the friendship...cause I just feel this emotional burden, one that hangs on my shoulders all the time...and I just don't need that right now...I think, if she doesn't respect my need for privacy and having other friends...it would be difficult for me to accomodate her...so it happening now, can prove to be a good thing after all...<br /><br />*Note : name changed to protect privacy...<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Maternal grannie fell down a day before CNY...had an open wound on her head...so it required some stitches...fractured her left wrist too...plus the fact that she doesn't not have the strongest set of bones, its gonna take a while to heal...<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Paternal grandpa seems to be losing weight drastically...my last visit back in Dec '08, he weighed about 52kgs...and looked much healthier, despite me being aware that it is merely a deception...it was his steroid meds intake, that made his face as round as a moon, and as smooth as a baby's buttocks...now that the doctor has removed him from steroid meds, he has sunk...literally...to a 43kg...that makes it a 9kg weight loss in two months...makes me fear, at times...that he may not make it through the year...*touchwood*...<br /><br />Just reminds you, doesn't it...how precious life can be...one may have the whole world in his hands, all the money he/she can spare...but nobody can make it past mortality...a good knock on the head, to remind us...that though at times we act and think we're gods...we aren't...<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Am facing some changes in my life...certain cross-roads...need to re-think my priorities...make a check-list...most importantly, I need to sort out my thoughts...I've been almost ignoring every problem hurled at me the past week, thanks to CNY...now I find that I am all jumbled up...can't seem to focus...darn...<br /></span></div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-5521529823794478879?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-50781011067389993802009-01-22T09:57:00.010+08:002009-01-22T11:48:10.375+08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">What I love about Chinese New Year..</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfmSiS5GhI/AAAAAAAAAIk/EqIGc-zqgsA/s1600-h/dancer-in-sydney-parade.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfmSiS5GhI/AAAAAAAAAIk/EqIGc-zqgsA/s320/dancer-in-sydney-parade.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293953093115386386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The opera dances...</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfnSBhQ3pI/AAAAAAAAAIs/qdpIGaFJsb0/s1600-h/decorative-lantersn-at-the-thean-hou-temple.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfnSBhQ3pI/AAAAAAAAAIs/qdpIGaFJsb0/s320/decorative-lantersn-at-the-thean-hou-temple.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293954183828922002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The decorations...</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfnppHO7qI/AAAAAAAAAI0/Kw6c7Emiq2w/s1600-h/204093-Chinese-New-Year-drum-performance-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfnppHO7qI/AAAAAAAAAI0/Kw6c7Emiq2w/s320/204093-Chinese-New-Year-drum-performance-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293954589594152610" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The Chinese drum performance...</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfqyjd804I/AAAAAAAAAJE/1eBHmu0Y9W4/s1600-h/CNY-Fireworks1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfqyjd804I/AAAAAAAAAJE/1eBHmu0Y9W4/s320/CNY-Fireworks1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293958041232528258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The fireworks....<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfsDQNkOtI/AAAAAAAAAJM/1pj5tQ2beGI/s1600-h/ccms-liondance-013.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfsDQNkOtI/AAAAAAAAAJM/1pj5tQ2beGI/s320/ccms-liondance-013.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293959427632937682" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The Lion Dance...<br /><br /><br />and of course...</span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">The Chinese New Year is never complete without...<br /></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfn3N1amMI/AAAAAAAAAI8/qwvn3bL_udU/s1600-h/20080227+Ang+Pow.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfn3N1amMI/AAAAAAAAAI8/qwvn3bL_udU/s320/20080227+Ang+Pow.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293954822789830850" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">the ang pows!!!<br /></span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">(little red packets with bits of money in it...*grin*)<br /><br />Have yourself a Happy Chinese New Year!!!...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-5078101106738999380?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-86099592983526932202009-01-22T08:37:00.009+08:002009-02-06T02:09:32.456+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfSKR9j2-I/AAAAAAAAAIc/4IQA2jr5-2k/s1600-h/_41171844_china_ap.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SXfSKR9j2-I/AAAAAAAAAIc/4IQA2jr5-2k/s320/_41171844_china_ap.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293930961059437538" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Ah...you've got to love and hate celebrations at the same time...this is the time where food takes a strong presence in celebratory festivities...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Chinese New Year (CNY), especially...there is always another reason to put aside one's diet, isn't there...*grin*...These are one of those times when weight-watchers are put to the test...(not me!!!...hehe...)...and most often then not, they fail to prevail...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My holidays have finally started...*yipee!!!*...the excitement mounting, adrenaline pumping...its almost like I am rolling up my sleeves, and getting ready to sprint run...towards the multi-course culinary feast, that is!!!...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My family does not really celebrate CNY in a very big way, though...While neighbours lavishly decorate their houses with traditional </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >red</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> paper lanterns, poetic couplets written on </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >red</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> paper, repaint their houses, etc...mine would just go through the normal routine of giving the house a mega-cleaning up...you hardly see much red in my house...the only tell-tale of the celebration would be the shamelessly large amount of food, stored up for the event...*grin*</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(Note : colour </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >RED</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> is believed to be able to scare away evil spirits and bad fortunes)...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">If it wasn't for grandma, we wouldn't be observing the taboos and superstitions so strictly...while we have nothing against superstitions, my grandma would create the most embarrassing commotion should we ignore any of them...leaving the entire family all tensed up...so we would usually humour her a little, and try to keep to the taboos as much as we can...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Man, come to think of it, I can barely remember all the superstitions that I was not suppose to forget...erm...</span><br /></div><ul style="font-family: times new roman; text-align: justify;"><li>purchasing new clothes, enough to last the 14 day celebration (my family only buys enough to last ONE day),<br /></li><li>no using of scissors and knifes (for fear it will cut away fortune and prosperity),<br /></li><li>no cleaning of house on the first day of New Year,<br /></li><li>no washing of hair on the first day New Year as well...(it is believed to be washing away your own luck)...of course, I would insistently argue then...that modern hygenic concerns should and will take precedence over this tradition...hence, have been ignoring this taboo all these years...much to grandma's despair...</li><li>no purchasing of books as the word 'book' in Cantonese sounds all too similar to the word 'lose'...I almost always forget that, unfortunately...</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Of course, there are other superstitions that I hardly keep...bathing myself in pomelo leaves, for example...that is suppose to keep me healthy for the rest of the years...personally, I believe that I am what I 'invest' in me...should I decide to drown myself in whisky and alcohol, increase my junk food consumption, ignore my gym membership, not keep up with personal hygiene, poison myself with cocaine...even bathing myself in a house-fill pomelo leaves and aromatherapy would not save me...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Now that I think of it, I am not sure if living in ignorance and bliss about our Chinese superstitions is actually a good thing...I am not saying that I believe bad luck would befall on me, just because I should forget any of this traditions...but I feel that these traditions outline our Chinese culture...our very identity, brought from the past...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Probably I should try keeping to these superstitions, not just to seal my grandma's nagging...but also with a hope that my children, and my children's children will also have a chance to remember their roots, and have a certain connection with their (almost diminishing) ancient culture... </span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8609959298352693220?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-83518338974858808122009-01-17T00:19:00.013+08:002009-01-20T09:41:33.911+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">Dearest<br /><br />I am not going to mention names here, as this isn't the issue, nor is it important...I am not writing this post on my blog, just so I could see you humiliated...and just so you know, this ain't a people-bashing post either...I just need a place to vent out, a place to sort out my thoughts...I would need to have this talk with you sooner or later...but I'd thought that writing it down, would keep me emotionally sane...and I may not come to sound too offensive later...<br /><br />I have finally come to the point that I realized, keeping numb isn't a choice anymore, hoping that everything will one day blow away and resolve itself...the way I see it, it is starting to destroy our relationship from within, and soon, I can foresee that it would erode beyond repair...I would have lost you...and that isn't what I want at all...<br /><br />There is still so much more, I feel, that we need to understand of each other especially when it comes to the definition of a relationship...the care and concern that you shower on me, for that, I am truly thankful...you have given so much more, than anyone would have asked for...you and I knew, that I would never have done what you have done for me...<br /><br />For me, my gift to my friends and my family, is my time...despite my busy schedule, whenever you decide to meet up, I have kept to all the appointments (except once, but that was due to unforeseen circumstances)...I didn't like it when you questioned my sincerity and said that I could have had better controlled my time, when the 'circumstance' happened...all these...without giving me a chance to explain...I felt insulted...it is not as if I have missed our appointments all the time...<br /><br />Keep in mind, I have even made it a point, to let you know in advance, the times that I will be returning to hometown, just so that we are able to schedule a meet up session...and I must say, even my mum does not have that privilege...For that, I am truly ashamed...my mum, bonded to me by blood...and yet, the only time I spare for her, is right after I have met with you...which is only a few minutes before she heads to bed...without realizing, I have acted like a complete jerk...and at many times given you priority over my family...they said nothing...<br /><br />Not that you have not, of course...you have always mentioned that you have treasured me over your siblings...and though I may not agree with that train of thought, I respect you and how you feel...but like I have always said, I am a completely different individual, and am not able to respond to you the same way you do me...<br /><br />It is only now, though...that I just felt I've been slapped on the face...Chinese New Year is coming, a time where all the family and relatives will come together for a reunion...you would be going back to your family, and I will go back to mine... Why would you then, ask me the biggest favour of all time...to spend reunion dinner with your family and not mine??...I know that you having good intentions, wanting me to get to know your family...but on Chinese New Year Eve??...or even on the first day of Chinese New Year itself?...or probably you have forgotten that I have a family of my own to go back to...<br /><br />I sent you a message to apologize for not being able to attend your reunion dinner, and you took it harshly...even to the point, that you say I am "hurting you again and again", by rejecting your offer...but do you realize that if I were to join your family on the reunion table, I would then be expected to turn my back on both my parents and siblings??...<br /><br />Chinese New Year gatherings, isn't something that I take lightly...and as much as you consider me part of your family, protocol calls for me to go back to my family...I respect your parents and family for who they are...and like I said, I would not mind joining you guys for any other dinners, but this special occasion is definitely not one of it...<br /><br />I hate to say it, but it does seem to me...that things are really getting out of hand...should you feel hurt, that I have rejected your dinner offer, then allow me to say that I too, am hurt that you, despite having known the significance of CNY reunions, still chose to ask me to attend your own family reunion dinner...as if my family does not matter at all...and by not taking my rejection well and understanding, I feel as if you are asking me to do the impossible, putting you, over my family..I would never in my life, have placed you in such a position...that would just be completely unfair...wouldn't you agree?<br /><br />I don't know about you, but on my part...I am emotionally tired...your messages have always managed to make me feel guilty for not being able to give you the same attention that you would give me...and at the end of the day, I would feel like crap...but the truth is, there isn't one day where I would not worry that the things I say/do would hurt or affect you in some unpleasant ways...it drives me crazy at times...<br /><br />One can smell trouble a mile away, especially when I feel my energy level drop drastically, just the very thought of you...when I don't feel like answering your calls, because I feel it like to be an interrogation...I have felt this way all these years, but I decided to bear with it, as I know that you meant well...<br /><br />If I had a choice, I would want to save this relationship...but God knows, I am worn down and broken...I guess all these years of "sweeping it under the carpet" has finally taken its toll...I am done with having to consider how you would feel or react, every time I do something...and even to summon my strength to explain my point of view on why I do certain things...<br /><br />For now, I need a break...and a peaceful CNY...<br /><br />Probably its better for the both of us, if I do not approach you just as yet...maybe later...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8351833897485880812?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-89513857609427667922009-01-12T18:14:00.002+08:002009-01-12T18:21:22.394+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">I've been scaring myself silly lately...not that I am doing it on purpose, of course...but these strange dreams that gets my adrenaline pumping good all the time...<br /><br />On top of dreaming about losing my tooth, just less than 12 hours back, I dream about multiple forming tornadoes forming (it is amazing how clear tornado formation is, in my dream...I've never seen one live before!!!)...and the desperation of looking for my brothers...(yea, a nightmare in the middle of an afternoon nap...I had to catch my ZZZzzzzz...I hardly caught any last night)...<br /><br />Both evoked strong emotions...stretching my mental strength...depriving me of a fit sleep...probably something is unsettled at heart...or maybe, there is something I am afraid of, but am not aware of it yet...<br /><br />Either way, I have issues...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8951385760942766792?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-11471156554493051992009-01-12T13:47:00.010+08:002009-02-17T00:45:58.443+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">I lost a tooth...no, 4 teeth actually...four front teeth...at first, I was messing with my teeth, using my tongue, when they felt loose...I looked into the mirror...and there it was...four of my front teeth (two up, and two down), were on the verge of decay...to the point that those teeth were half gone, and all you could see was discoloration and black spots...not at all pleasant to look at...<br /><br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />I would never have let this bother me if this dream were to happen once in a while...it freaks me out, of course...the helplessness, and the horror of having a gap in my smile...scary, I'd tell ya...<br /><br />But it has been happening two nights in a row now...and many times before...I dreamt about losing my teeth just the night before...and yesterday night, I dreamt that the dentist couldn't attend to me, despite me having made an appointment (strange, isn't it?...how my dreams continue a similar pattern night after night...its like a telly drama, with seasons and episodes in it...*grin*)...and I was frantically looking for another dentist available, just so I could do my teeth...in that process, I dreamt that I left my purse in the car...and when I came back, I found my credit card, driving license, etc...missing...<br /><br />Man, it felt so real, that I was crying...LITERALLY...<br /><br />Dreams about lost of teeth, is quite opened to interpretation actually...Sigmund Freud would choose to interpret dreams of these sort, as a over-powering guilt of masturbation (that guy always relates everything to sexual activities, doesn't he??)...while I have nothing against masturbation...I'll have you know that sexual activites does not haunt my daily activities...so I will outwardly discredit that from my case...that sexual moron!!...<br /><br />(Legal Disclaimer : If you didn't know already, I am an anti-Freud person to a certain extend....well, as far as dream analysis are concerned..I am just not able to accept that everything I dream of, would be a message of my unchecked sexual suppression and lust...why does everything I do, would have to be linked to that idea?...I must say, though...I don't know Freud very much to continue ranting about this matter, so I'll leave it at that)<br /><br />If you ask me, a non-psychologist, I would choose to relate my dreams of losing teeth, to a certain form of anxiety...in this case, a fear of dentist...well, I am not afraid of THEM...but those cruel drilling tools that they use...the sound, when they penetrate into my tooth enamel, the constant digging...never left a good imprint in my mind...<br /><br />In other words, I am also suffering anxiety of losing my actual teeth, since I have a fear of dentist, and never made it a habit to get my teeth checked on a regular basis...it has been 3 years since I have last had a check with my dentist (that was because I was getting my braces off)...and I am afraid that if I were to check into one now, I will find many things wrong with me...There is also a mark on my tooth that is bothering me at times...some say that it was an after-effect of taking too much meds...others say that it could be an early sign of cavity...either way, the fact that fixing it, would require those grossy drilling tools...is enough to scare the day-lights out of me...<br /><br />Nevertheless, I have taken prompt action, by making an appointment with the dentist, this coming Sunday...We'll see if this plays into my subconscious tonight...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1147115655449305199?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-13402918360668831102009-01-09T23:18:00.007+08:002009-01-09T23:31:48.149+08:00<img src="http://www.psych.upenn.edu/%7Ejsiev/zits021201.JPG" alt="Zits #1" /><br /><img src="http://www.psych.upenn.edu/%7Ejsiev/zits021301.JPG" alt="Zits #2" /><img src="http://www.psych.upenn.edu/%7Ejsiev/zits021401.JPG" alt="Zits #3" /><img src="http://www.psych.upenn.edu/%7Ejsiev/zits021601.JPG" alt="Zits #5" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.psych.upenn.edu/%7Ejsiev/zits021701.JPG" alt="Zits #6" /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I know I do...*grin*</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1340291836066883110?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-83915755279033505522009-01-09T09:02:00.008+08:002009-01-18T02:04:55.473+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Note : This happened a couple of months ago, but I could never bring myself to post it up, as I found it a tad too depressing...so here it goes nothing...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SWarx-GGYPI/AAAAAAAAAHk/G-zyGqbP-KM/s1600-h/lg_cheese_club_mongers.jpg"><br /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">She always had the best relationships with food, as far as she could recall...thanking God for blessing her with good </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">genes, that enabled her to gulp down any amount of food, of different varieties without a second thought...though she dislikes the sight of raw-eggs, she was also grateful for the fact that she isn't allergic to any sort of food...and have been able to enjoy a humongous range of food for her 20 plus years of life...<br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SWarx-GGYPI/AAAAAAAAAHk/G-zyGqbP-KM/s1600-h/lg_cheese_club_mongers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SWarx-GGYPI/AAAAAAAAAHk/G-zyGqbP-KM/s320/lg_cheese_club_mongers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289103687363748082" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Cheese...especially...ah, the food of the gods...God's second best gift to human race...Cheese...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">*salivates...*</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">If there ever was one food that she would have chosen to eat for the rest of her life...well, besides seafood, ....cheese would be it...<br /><br />She loves cheese...she really does...She could never turn cheese down...ever...In fact, if anyone were to ask her what she would like for her b'day/Christmas/Valentine, etc...it would be a bouquet of roses, and a large box of cheese...more cheddar cheese, if you please...a Danish blue cheese would be a great addition...oh ya, throw in a </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Limburger cheese as well, for personal touch... (the list of demands never stop, does it?)</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />The taste...you can't miss it...the tangy flavor that is bound to drive your taste bud all loony and bonkers...Nachos with cheese paste, enchiladas, grilled cheese sandwiches...French fries too...cheese cakes...</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">a perfect compliment to a glass of red wine</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">...the full sense of its deep, sour-ish spasms inter-twined with a mild twinge of saltiness before it mingles with the alcohol and slides right down your throat...leaving an aftertaste...your taste buds yearning for fresh supplies...is there a more perfect food that that??...<br /><br />Then there came the fateful day...she could have never seen it coming...even if she had, she wouldn't have believed it...impossible to comprehend...20 plus years of enjoyment coming to a halt...<br /><br />She threw up...<br /><br />Real bad...<br /><br />Took note that it only happened after she devours a big pan of pizza, or spagetthi with mozerella cheese...or a small tea-spoon of marble cheese cake...<br /><br />Went to the docs after a week of continuous throwing up sessions...(well, she did have several takes of cheese that week...every alternate day, actually)<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">Hmmm </span>(gives her this wise-arse look)...<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">cheese</span> seems to be the culprit here...I think you should stop eating anything cheese-based...your stomach doesn't seem to be producing enough enzimes to break it down...hence your throwing up...</span>"<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">@%$#(&amp;^#$@*&amp;#$#%^#*@#$*</span>!!!!!!!!!!!!"<br /><br />Tragic, you would say??...It is a CATASTROPHE, that's what it is!!!...<br /><br />~ feeling extremely short-changed...</span><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8391575527903350552?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-67774208171303348282009-01-07T09:02:00.011+08:002009-01-08T00:35:41.190+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I have always managed to convince myself...though there are countless books that I have purchased and yet not read, I will still be able to catch up with my reading when I retire...yea, and Samy Vellu will be Prime Minister tomorrow...heard the latest news?? (...Man, I've not posted anything on this guy for eons!!!)...<br /><br />I was just thinking...if I were to compile all the books that I have YET to read, from every corner of my house, I suspect that I will be looking at quite a number of trees that I have deprived Mother Nature of, and having wasted gallons of poisonous printer ink...<br /><br />My books can be found in all crook and nooks of the house, starting from my room (back in hometown), to my brother's, my parents, my washroom, the dining area, the living room, car, and to my dad's house in Kuala Lumpur...and my room here...My mum have persistently said that I should start '<span style="font-style: italic;">giving them away so that it can benefit others'</span>...but I have never done so...<br /><br />I suspect I am suffering from CBKD = Compulsive Book Keeping Disorder...<br /><br />Yes, so what if I made up those acronym on my own just a while ago...it may not be in the Biology books for now...but someday it will find its way there, for sure...someday...if there is ever such a disease, I am positive I have it...<br /><br />I keep...<br /><br />Books that are page-turners, because I may feel the urge to read it again one day...<br /><br />Books that taught me something...because I may need to reminded of the lessons I've learned...<br /><br />Books that has followed me since childhood...because I might just want to go back being a kid one day...<br /><br />Books that were given to me as present...for its sentimental value...they may be a crappiest books ever sold...but I'll still hang on to it...<br /><br />Books that are boring, because I might just need them, should I have difficulty sleeping...<br /><br />Books that are expensive, because of the price I've paid for them...<br /><br />Books that smell good...because...well, because they are MINE, of course!!!...<br /><br />This is a shameful thing to say...but with so many trees sitting in my house, I am very much guilty of the fact, that at least one tree, has died for baseless reasons...me accumulating a collection of books, that I know I may or will never touch...<br /><br />At this rate, I'll probably need to just stop working tomorrow...and spend my remaining years reading one book every few days...so the trees would have lived an accomplished life...and so would I...And what's best is, thanks to my ever-fading memory, I may never need to buy another book ever again...I would just need to 'eeny-minny-minnie-moe' through my old books, and voila!!!...I am bound to find one, that my memory cease to remember...and it would be as if, I am reading a fresh material once more...<br /><br />I hate this...you may laugh...but I am not a wasteful person by nature...so looking at all these books starving of love and attention, does prick my side a little...well, a lot...Hence, I will now devise a plan to reduce the ever-growing mountain by...putting a book in my car, and bathroom...so I could finish off a couple of lines when I have an appointment with nature...but yes, I know that isn't the best option...but it will have to do for now...<br /><br />Maybe I should just stop reading book reviews...<br /><br />Stop dropping by the book-store every time I visit a shopping mall...<br /><br />Go cold turkey for the early half of this year...or until I have finished reading the books that are currently in my possession...<br /><br />Go through all my books, and see if there are books that I don't plan on reading anytime soon...and give them away...<br /><br />yea...<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">M-A-Y-B-E</span></span>...<br /><br />Btw, the next book I am planning to get...Mein Kampf (English translated), by Adolf Hitler himself!!!...well, I know its available online...but I'd like to have it on hard cover so that I'd....Oops...</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6777420817130334828?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-31400679500955650002009-01-06T08:09:00.012+08:002009-02-17T00:49:55.565+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I'm sure all of you guys have an online profile...Friendster, at least...or even Facebook, or similar likes...filling the cyberworld with information of how amazingly unique you are, by doing exactly what the rest of the world is doing...<br /><br />I was just looking at a couple of my friend's online profile today...and checking out friends of theirs as well...when I suddenly realized, something of a common line, found in most of the online profiles...These people can really be complete posers!!!...These really, really self absorbed individuals, take their picture of their faces (only)...while staring wistfully into space...portraying endearing emotions.. dramatic make-up...some even porn-like... depressed, or even cute, pout-y, slutry looks...well, a couple of photos of these sort, I can probably take...I try to think of it as, they trying to explore the artistic side of their photography...but ONE HUNDRED PHOTOS???!!!...<br /><br />And it gets worse...not contented with single photos of themselves...they have to assemble these 100 photos of their ever-so-beautiful faces into a collage of some sort...so that when one checks are their photos, they are completely swarmed by a gazillion different camera angles of their eyebrows, facial hair, flakey skin, nostrils, pimples, etc...etc...<br /><br />I take it, that they are so opened about themselves, they want to share with you every details of their physic body, which includes their facial features...but this is just a tad too much...how annoying...<br /><br />I have a male friend whom I have known back in high school...where he placed a photo of a guy (not him, mind you) that has smooth skin, Naruto-like hair, and has a dangerous, bad boy air around him...absolutely gorgeous looking...And when I checked out his profile, you can see through testimonials, after testimonials, many (especially girls) calling him, 'hot', 'super-licious', 'sexy thing' etc...all bordering on the pronographic...I mean, how freakin' desperate can you get???....btw, this friend of mine is just a normal ah-beng uncle, who sells pirated DVDs to the night...sells pirated computer CDs by morning...and is no way a hottie, Brad Pitt kind of way...<br /><br />(For privacy purposes, I decided not to reveal his name...he is afterall, still my high-school friend...as much a fraud he is in cyber-space, what he does online, isn't of my business...and I will keep it at that...)<br /><br />Of course, online profiles do have their perks as well...but it is sad how many people overdo it...I have seen friends of mine, have MULTIPLE friendster accounts...overloaded profiles and blogs, each one detailing their personal life to the second...and they have thousands of friends...<br /><br />But this is my two cents thought...if one has more than 150 friends, he/she can be considered a celebrity with a small fan club of their own...and he/she no longer need an online profile...heesh...I mean, how many friends can one actually catch up with??...So, do people like me a favour...stick to about 100 friends or so...and pass the rest to me,alright..I need to update my social network too...<br /><br />Some (mostly girls, sad to say)...are what I call...Facebook Whores...making a career out of clicking on the Facebook link...I met up with one of them, and upon expressing my dis-interest in facebook, she gave me a look, that could have suggested that I might as well just have defecated, vomited and spat on her bed...<br /><br />But I will stand firm on my beliefs...I personally think that we homo-sapiens have been spending too much time at home with our white box...I would prefer a personal touch...talk to an actual living person...one that breathes...gossip a bit...do something worth while...hug a bit more...spread a bit more love...<br /><br />Can you imagine...60 years down the line, on their death bed, people will no longer say, "<span style="font-style: italic;">I</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> wish I have had spend more time in the office</span>"....but "<span style="font-style: italic;">I wish I have had spend more time online</span>"...how pathetic can that be?...what kind of existance is that??...Or one telling their grandchildren..."<span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, do you know, my ever suffering grandchildren...that your grandpapa had an awesome online profile at your age...I even jazzed up my HTML on Friendster, so that it sung a tune, while people are checking out my profile!!...can't believe that your grandpapa was that cool, eh?...Look at what you are doing now...tsk...tsk...</span>"<br /><br />Talking about that...I've spent too much time online...almost an hour, to be exact...I need to walk my talk now...and get out of my house...<br /><br />And so should you...*winks*...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-3140067950095565000?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-67170908732068940562009-01-04T00:35:00.002+08:002009-02-17T00:52:30.612+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">A brand new year...and hopefully, with improved habits...<br /><br />I could start this post by stating the list of reasons of why I have been infrequently posting these past few months...and while I am at it, I would probably add that I have been traveling back to hometown more often, last month especially...and there weren't any internet line...my family isn't too big on Broadband/Streamyx stuff...The majority of the blame, would fall on my internship, which I was slogging to ace and pass, so that I could get a good credit on my paper...Results isn't out yet, so I am still trying to keep my fingers crossed...<br /><br />But of course, nobody likes to read a post that starts with tonnes of insincere apologies and claims of how busy their lives have been...<br /><br />So I'll just keep it short and simple...I have not been blogging, because I couldn't get myself to put my thinking cap on, and think about a blog entry...hence, my disappearing act...I've been suffering a lazy bone lately...<br /><br />I envy people/authors/bloggers, who are able to write effortlessly...their brain juice are seemingly endless...while I struggle for the right words to come to me...and many times, it is as hopeless as leaving a bed unmade, and wish that the blanket will fold itself...maybe someone would be kind and care enough to do this ever-so-painful chore for me...Words have been absent as I have been...<br /><br />I wish for a burst of creativity now...<br /><br />Year 2008, have been all in all...quite generous, I must say...no monstrous challenges, unlike years before...or probably experiences of the past, has made me tougher...or maybe I am just living in denial...I don't know...<br /><br />Am trying to find my own identity at the moment...what I want to be remembered by...I am now an official graduate student of UCSI, having passed all my subjects (finally...thank God!!!)...but I am not sure if I want to be bound into this comfortable concept of 'music teaching' for life...that the society perceives us to be...<br /><br />Many times, I feel incomplete...inadequate...I feel there isn't anything that I am doing...one that makes me stand out...that would become my forte...one point against my music college...is the fact that we are introduced to everything that a music industry can offer...but we aren't given the hands on experience, so we could actually explore what we would really like to do...in other words, I do have a general idea about recording and producing, composition, performance...but it is all basically theory and facts...<br /><br />I worry too much, some people say...and I guess they are right...I am a jazz piano major...and I should work at being good at it...instead of crouching in a small corner, and throwing myself a small pity-party...*yea, I need a good kick in the butt at times...no, all the time*...I always worry about not being able to catch up with my peers...but constantly worrying and beating myself up...yet, doing nothing about it...gets me nowhere...<br /><br />I just need to learn to cut myself some slack...get my fingers grinding the chords...I've been too careful ...just playing safe last year (2008), a protective layer I placed around me after all the hurts I have suffered in terms of friendships...but I have rested enough...<br /><br />Time to let go...and just enjoy the ride...<br /><br />Happy New Year, everyone!!!...May your year be as exciting as mine will be...*winks*...<br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6717090873206894056?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-83617481463338013882008-12-13T09:53:00.002+08:002008-12-13T10:00:34.965+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Damn it...I hate the whole process...the shame of having to cancel classes...the guilt one faces..."what will people think" thoughts...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">I broke my car number plate yesterday...parked slightly too front to the curb...so when I reversed out, my frail plate couldn't take the friction...and just broke away, like a dead tooth...you'd think that I would just cut the complaining...tie the blardy thing up...and just keep moving forward...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">But no...it was crushed, into pieces...and like pounded garlic...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">And after the frequent police checks, I am just too petrified to step out of my house, till I get this fixed...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">As for now, my life is in total chaos...dramatic as usual...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">I want some order!!!!...</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8361748146333801388?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-90054403634437085832008-12-11T23:43:00.013+08:002009-02-17T00:56:47.774+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SUHRFf6BsCI/AAAAAAAAAHc/1mOsGj7JUdE/s1600-h/starlounge_mannequins04_ci.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/SUHRFf6BsCI/AAAAAAAAAHc/1mOsGj7JUdE/s320/starlounge_mannequins04_ci.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278730130649362466" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am aware that I have mentioned this before...but I realized that I'm not quite done with ranting so I'd like to add something to the </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/02/on-shopping.html">post</a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> I wrote some time ago...</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >I </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >H-A-T-E</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" > SHOPPING!!!!!!</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, there are certain times when I would make exceptions of course...nothing is completely absolute...minus book bargains, and an occasional wine tasting (that doesn't count as shopping, does it??)...I absolutely detest shopping...you know when I hate it most??...its the days just before Christmas, Chinese New Year, Raya...any big celebration that shopping malls will maliciously unleash their ultimate weapon...the BIG GRAND SALES...<br /><br />You'd think that it is the one and half hour long queue of cars scouting for parking spaces that could annoy me...or maybe it was the bad disco-tized Chinese New Year music distorting on an inflamed amplifier...it could also be all those bitches of destruction that threatens to rummage through every neatly folded clothes on sight...<br /><br />But no...I'm not going to rant about that today...<br /><br />For all my friends who have seen me...or if you have actually met me more than once...you've probably seen my whole wardrobe...plain t-shirt and long jeans...an occasional sleeveless shirt thrown in (which I will then attempt to cover with my jumper/sweater, sweating my blessed pores out)...I am just no good with fashion...nor have any interest to shop for clothes...my friends usually recoil in horror, upon discovering my dis-interest...but surprisingly, I am not at all affected by it...even till now...my mum usually has to drag me to a shopping mall, at year end...but she gets so turned off by my bored look...she usually lets me hang on in the book-store while waiting for her to finish...<br /><br />But here is the fundamental issue of shopping for clothes...<br /><br />Most clothes that you see in shopping malls...are usually NOT designed for ladies with...a certain volume...<br /><br />I mean...if one is a stick insect, that has a twig for a figure...and with small breast like split peas stuck on an ironing board...then she can sleep well...she is completely 'insured'...everyone designs for her...hell, she could wear a potato sack and still look great!!!...<br /><br />However, if you are not-so-proportionally shaped, like me...y'know...undefined curves, a love handle here and there...TONNES of cellulite...then you're in for a tough time, pal...completely out of luck...all those elegant clothings that fits on those blardy mannequins look shit on you...but we all know it, don't we??...Yea, those darn mannequins never have got to wear bras...<br /><br />Fine...so I go inside a shop...looking for some light-coloured top, to go with my green pants...I saw some interesting clothes (shirt and pants) on various mannequins...so I decided to pick a similar design, with the right size, of course...and headed for the fitting room...<br /><br />So far, so good...but as soon as I try on those dainty clothings that looked so good on those plastic figurines...I looked into the mirror, and at once...was confronted by what looked like a hideous and freakin' whale...not a pretty sight at all, I'll have you know...the top spurts with flesh that has no place to go...not the expected sexy "<span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, you can see a bit of my bra</span>" kind of way...more of the "<span style="font-style: italic;">OMG, I hope it didn't take more than 4 people to strap you into that little gizmo!!"</span> kind of way...and also, the pants were revealing bits of underwear that they shouldn't...<br /><br />With the little pride I have left in me, I gracefully and undauntingly made my way out of the shop...when I realized...those mannequins will never have to deal with such a traumatic experience as this...Not only are they more than modestly proportioned...but the clothes they were wearing was ever so cunning pinned so that they look as if the clothing fits just right...and like I said...they never had to wear bras...<br /><br />Lucky hussies!!!!</div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-9005440363443708583?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-64184981142117926642008-12-08T23:07:00.006+08:002008-12-09T10:59:03.732+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/ST3bbtAJTAI/AAAAAAAAAHU/Mlk8hNg-hCg/s1600-h/Christmas+tree.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/ST3bbtAJTAI/AAAAAAAAAHU/Mlk8hNg-hCg/s320/Christmas+tree.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277615607331245058" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Got stung by the Christmas bee early this year...Christmas isn't much in Malaysia...more commercialized that I had hope it would be...decorations and lights hung all over the shopping mall...christmas songs (remixed, mind you) played over and over again...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;"><br />Well, there isn't much going on in the neighborhood, I must say...life still goes on pretty normal...we don't really see much Christmas excitement going on around...it is as if, Christmas celebrations are only contained in shopping mall and churches...nothing beyond that...though the celebration exist, the warmth does not...people here are kinda cold...no smiles, everyone going about their business...<br /><br />Of course, millions of people swarm into the shopping mall, for the BIG YEAR END sales...I, on the other hand, go there to "wash my eyes"...it brings a smile to my face, whenever I see people buying gifts for their loved ones...imagining the smile and delight of their toddlers that Christmas morning, knowing how much care and thought their parents/loved ones have given into the choice of gifts...<br /><br />I have always wonder how Christmas abroad would look like...a pure white Christmas, I would say...<br /><br />Lights lit up, door to door...even around the trees...stockings hung near the fire-place...little children with their mittens crouching near the fire to keep warmth...snow-mans, and snow ball fights...hugs from one family to another...peace and good will wishes...everyone extends a merry Christmas...even to a stranger...beggars in the street are invited in to keep warmth....and of course, there are carolers as well...<br /><br />I don't know about you...but there is something about the carolers singing that tugs my heart...singing all those Christmas carols, just warms my heart even at the darkest hour...<br /><br />If it warms my heart here, I wonder how God would feel hearing the angels sing...<br /><br />Have yourself a Merry Lil' Christmas!!!!...<br /><br />p/s : (Photo taken by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottfeldstein/66473478/">scottfeldstein</a> displayed in <a href="http://www.flickr.com/">Flickr</a>)</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-6418498114211792664?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-57655764833838296942008-12-07T22:33:00.011+08:002009-02-17T01:04:57.760+08:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;">I'd never thought I'd do it...and best of all, I'd never thought that I would be able to convince my Boyfriend to let down his guard and join me, in this un-dignify-ing act!!!...</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;"><br />A year ago, if someone were to tell me to cough out RM38 for little fishes to feast on my skin, I would have given you THAT look...the look that I usually reserve for idiots...*grin*...hehe, yet, despite all my vows about not being tempted/influenced by the trend of the society, I, without shame and only a slight hesitation...summoned the little guts that I had left...and head down for a fish spa at MidValley...<br /><br />Being my compulsive character, this trip wasn't really planned and quite spontaneous...many of my friends came back with positive reviews, and were raving about it so much...that it really got me curious to see what the whole fuss was all about...yet, since I didn't want to go solo, I dragged poor Boyfriend along to join the experience...<br /><br />For all the positive and exciting words they had for the fish spa, they sure forgot to mention how blardy TICKLISH it could be!!!...Yes, I am ticklish at all sides...my Boyfriend is especially ticklish at the foot...so he is at a slight disadvantage compared to me...*grin*...<br /><br />So yes, for a good ten minutes, my Boyfriend and I were giggling...with complete disregard to other customers who were peacefully having a chat/reading a magazine...etc...While those fishes were having an eating frenzy, I struggled to not fidget around, and let them go about their business...just so that I can get my money's worth...yes, that is the China-man mentality, I am aware of that...thank you very much...<br /><br />These fishes were supposedly able to clean off any dead skin flakes, therefore leaving your skin smooth and refreshed...as if having gone through skin exfoliation...The way the fishes were going for my feet, you'd would have thought that they were starved for days or something...(which btw, the thought did occur to me, while going through the whole procedure)...<br /><br />Having gone through the nibbling sensation for 30 minutes, one of the staff informed us that our time was up, and we were to proceed to the massage parlour (the package we paid for, came with a massage)...I left the aquarium...NOT without a souvenir!!!...Somehow the bigger fish managed to nibble my big toe raw...till it bled...funny, I read somewhere that these gentle fishes were supposed to be toothless...<br /><br />I did some reading up online upon returning home, happy with the general experience, yet slightly disturbed by the fact that the fishes were behaving agressively, unlike kind-mannered mud-sucking species that they were supposed to be...and here is what I found out...<br /><br />Turns out, that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_fish">Dr. Fish/Garra Rufa</a> are actually slender little fishes (as I originally thought) with a mouth like bottom feeder fish...I wasn't sure about the 'beginner' fish tank that I first sat in...they were quite small, so I couldn't tell...but the 'hard core' fish tanks were larger and wide...resembling little phirannas...just not as aggressive...Dr. Fishes, when nibbling on dead skins releases a certain compounds that reputedly help skins problems...whereas, fake fishes (I believe it is called Chin Chin Yu), are starved, so that they feed on whatever is touches their water...in this case, it was my foot...and sunk their blessed teeth into it...<br /><br />I dare not accuse the fish spa of deceiving their trusting customers and marketing a fake fish spa experience...but I'll definitely show you this...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/STvslY293QI/AAAAAAAAAG8/q1UYuhBGbWg/s1600-h/159321-eaten-alive-by-fish---fish-spa-singapore-not-my-foot-btw-singapore-singapore.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 211px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/STvslY293QI/AAAAAAAAAG8/q1UYuhBGbWg/s320/159321-eaten-alive-by-fish---fish-spa-singapore-not-my-foot-btw-singapore-singapore.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277071515466980610" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is how a real Dr Fish/Garra Rufa is suppose to look like...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/STvsvOYuLQI/AAAAAAAAAHE/fBO596_SK9w/s1600-h/2446924169_196f6d8345.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/STvsvOYuLQI/AAAAAAAAAHE/fBO596_SK9w/s320/2446924169_196f6d8345.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277071684454460674" border="0" /></a>And these were the monsters found in the spa I was in...<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Need I say more??<br /></div></div><br />But nevertheless, I must say I still enjoyed the foot and shoulder massage...I'll probably go back for that...but for fish spas...I think I'll need to go for another bout of scouting again...<br /><br />Wait!!!...whatever am I talking about?...Why shouldn't I reveal the name of the spa I was in?...Man...I must be getting my priorities all wrong...<br /><br />Its the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.kenko.com.sg">Kenko fish spa</a> (it has a rather loud music when the link appears, so make sure your speaker/ear phones volumes are down)...ever heard of it??...if yes, don't ever drop by there again...if no...don't ever drop by there at all...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-5765576483383829694?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-46059700238546783252008-12-06T23:52:00.001+08:002008-12-08T00:11:44.192+08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"....residents living in slope areas should be more sensitive to their environments as landslides can happen anywhere."</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman;">- Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor<br />(report <a href="http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/6/nation/20081206180714&amp;sec=nation">here</a>)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/STvx9GSY6RI/AAAAAAAAAHM/oDuLVoVxwBU/s1600-h/DSC_0205.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/STvx9GSY6RI/AAAAAAAAAHM/oDuLVoVxwBU/s320/DSC_0205.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277077420356725010" border="0" /></a>That's the way, old dude...suddenly the victims play a role in causing the landslides of Bukit Antarabangsa...I bet the developers and local councils sits down at a corner...smiles and waves???<br /><br />It is situations like these...that our frustration take its toll...<br />Avoidable landslides happen, politicians take their place...and says what needs to be said...political talk...<br />"<a href="http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/7/nation/2744941&amp;sec=nation">More researches</a> need to be made..."<br />"More task forces to be prepared..."<br />"More reviews of land to be done..."<br />"<a href="http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/6/nation/20081206125138&amp;sec=nation">Construction permits</a> to be frozen for now..."<br />"Will <a href="http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/7/nation/2744941&amp;sec=nation">get to the bottom</a> of this..."<br /><br /><a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/6/nation/20081206155158&amp;sec=nation">"Stop hillside projects"</a>, says PM Abdullah Badawi...so the stop work will be effective for 1-2 months...till the noises are pianissimo...but in the 3rd month, you'll see contractors swarming the land again...not after having given some under-table money to respectable politicians...<br /><br />Touch wood...but if one of their family members were to be a not-so-fortunate victim in this incident and having lost a life, I bet he would be saying things of these sort so calmly, that's for sure...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-4605970023854678325?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-88791862142674725052008-12-03T01:00:00.003+08:002008-12-03T01:08:27.704+08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/STVqoDOkZXI/AAAAAAAAAG0/VjtNC0gjRrc/s1600-h/baa39ecfacb1268b149fbbe2aab34325.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHtApVq0fGY/STVqoDOkZXI/AAAAAAAAAG0/VjtNC0gjRrc/s400/baa39ecfacb1268b149fbbe2aab34325.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275239774828127602" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman;">Heaven smiling back at us, while bidding us good night...There is hope for humans still...Yesterday's sighting...of Jupiter, Venus and our moon 'uniting' together...photo taken from <a href="http://www.nowpublic.com/node/1922097/footage/list?page=2">this site</a>...<br /><br />Blessed dreams, everyone!!...<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-8879186214267472505?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-16358158587793101192008-11-30T08:54:00.018+08:002009-04-15T09:46:15.854+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><ol><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I love history and mythical legends...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I prefer not to make empty talks, trivial conversation...it makes me feel like a fraud...a hypocrite...pretending that I am concerned, when I barely know the person...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I love crowds in a concert, but hate crowds in the night-market...an irony, I know...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I'm an acrophobic - an irrational fear of heights...I can't look down from a tall building, or enter a lift (that provides a marvelous view of the city) without feeling nervous...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Yet I don't feel any motion sickness boarding a plane...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I have always wanted to go to the Genting Theme Park when I was a child...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My wish to play in the theme park came through when my dad had to attend a meeting in Genting...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My dad paid for the tickets for me, mum and my two siblings...it was bombshell for my dad at that time...but we didn't participate much...(long queues, didn't want to go alone, mum didn't want to come with me, siblings need taken care of, and many other factors)...dad was upset...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> I always felt guilty about that...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">When my college had permission/license to upgrade themselves from a University College to a University (these British systems), they changed their name from <a href="http://ucsi.edu.my/">UCSI</a> (University College of Sedaya International) to UCSIU (Unwavering Commitment to Serve Intentionally University)...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My intestines and colons auto-knot themselves every time I am reminded of that...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My degree certificate will be carrying the name :...<span style="font-style: italic;">I hereby certify Lessajinomoto has completed, blah, blah, blah..</span>."...and signed " <span style="font-style: italic;">Unwavering Commitment to Serve Intentionally University (UCSIU)</span>"...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">If that does happen, I will hang myself....with shame...man, what a mouthful of name...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Raw eggs gross me out...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So does a nest full of cockroaches...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I can play the piano and violin...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">But I've still a long way to learn...painful finger exercises to endure...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My Cantonese is "half a cup full"</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">So is my Hokkien (a Chinese dialect), which is supposedly my mother-tongue...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My English can be considered reasonably okay...both Westerners and Chinese alike understand me well...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My Mandarin is painfully "whole cup empty" if there is such a word...I can barely string a sentences, without my mum snorting water through her nose...laughing...HARD...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I think there should be a special place in hell for animal abusers, and child rapist...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I love having chunky peanut butter as a whole...bread-free...just me dipping the spoon into that piece of beauty, and licking it off like ice-cream...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I would never call an unmade bed, or a slight creative chaos in my room...a state of national emergency...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I can drink...wine especially...but never really had the guts to go full blown pissed drunk...even back at home...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I would want to rule the world for a while...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">If I were a world ruler, I would take a shot-gun, blow off the heads of every single <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samy_Vellu">Samy Vellu</a>(s) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Hamid_Albar">Syed Hamid</a>(s) in this world...and happily toss their bodies overboard...the world would be a happier place without them...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I don't get angry easily...I only save it for times when I have reached the end of my patience...and God knows there is no turning back...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">But when I do...be somewhere else...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I can still be short tempered at times...but I am never bad tempered...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I pity people who has life too easy...I wish for hardship on people, not to make their life a living hell...but so that their life would hold more meaning...and there is self-respect found in the process...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I don't agonize over mis-understandings in friendships...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I believe mis-understandings just make us understand each other more...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am not much of a looker...I gain and lose weight easily...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am OK with that...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I never smoked a ciggie nor pot...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I don't intend to do so...ever...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I always believed that scoring a B- or C for my final term subjects does not make me a sore loser...Bad attitude when scoring an A does...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">But I have to keep telling myself that...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I love Bargain shops...but I'd hate to bargain a price with dealers...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I drive a Toyota Corona 1.6...he is older than me by two years...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I find the guitar and violin femininely sexy...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">As for the piano, I find him upright and macho with firm abs to show...and square...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I don't know much computers, but I am no bimbo...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am no rocker either, but I don't mind listening to Metallica the whole night through...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My childhood all-time favourite cartoon...was Care Bears</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My teenage all-time hated tv show...was Telly Tubbies...and Winter Sonata...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My now all-time favourite cartoon...is The Simpsons!!!...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Being a girl, I don't see whats the big deal with Formula One racing and England Premier League...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">But I will happily watch Top Gear (car show) and join the crazy nuters to watch the World Cup Final. live...no matter how late they may be...I never claim to understand what the tv announcer talks about...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I never voted in my country before...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am not proud of that...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I didn't vote for Abdullah or Najib...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am proud of that...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Most embarassing movies of all time...Antoo Fighters (2008), if translated, is just merely a lame version of Malay ghost fighters...and Cicakman (2006), also known as Lizard Man...trust the local production house to come out with such an UN-Marvel like name...lizard, of all things...a house-hold pest...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Talking about house-hold, mum thought of ways to get me to love doing house hold chores...even to the point of suggesting to her friend to pay me some wages to clean her house...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">That failed MISERABLY...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I love to cook...my mum doesn't believe that and I don't blame her...I always ran/found excuses when she asked me to help her around the kitchen...what she doesn't know is I prefer to cook...explore, I would call it...alone...save me the nagging...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I hate formalities/protocals of any kind...be it for culture, family, or work...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I wear a 3 and 1/2 size shoe...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">To date, I hold 3 visible scars and 5 not so visible scars...all thanks to a clumsy childhood...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Unlike normal gals, I only own 3 pair of shoes so far; 2 silhouettes and a sports shoe...excluding sandals, of course...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am proud owner of 4 handphones...but only 2 works...others just help me take up space...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I love rum and whiskey...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I thought Johnny Walker was a macho man, until a friend of mine burst my fantasy bubble 2 years ago...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">When friends mention XO, I always mistaken it as "ass-hole"...and they laugh at me...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I thought Maybelline was a friend of my friends...until they gave me THAT look...it was a make-up brand...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My pet peeves are endless...I shall not waste time listing them here...just check out my <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/12/pet-peeves.html">post</a>...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I dance with 2 left feet...fridge style...completely stiff...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I've never been to a prom or any official school functions before...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">But to be honest, I don't feel I've missed out on any of those things...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My idea of a good time, is a few of my loved ones/friends in a beach, each holding a cup of pina coloda and just talking the night away...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I love watching Johnny Depp and Edward Norton movies...but I don't think they are that attractive...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I just wish they would explore more personalities instead of different characters but of same personalities : Depp, funny and quirky; Edward Norton, intelligent with duo personalities...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I don't call myself a sexist...but I absolutely detest guys who thinks gals should be seen and not heard...therefore need not be knowledgeable...a gal who loves reading, doesn't make her a threat to your already dim-wit mind, you morons...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Did I say 'detest??...I meant to say 'hate'...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">As a new-born baby, my dad welcomed me home with the biggest car one could possibly find...a lorry...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Dad placed me on the passenger seat, and he had to hold me, just in case I fell over...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Record time for longest meal; 3 and 1/2 hours when I was about 4 years old...I fell asleep on the sofa, with half-chewed food still in my mouth...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I still take my own sweet time to eat; so my friends complain...old habits die hard...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">My childhood friend was a gal, who was with me everywhere I went...she disappeared when I found my real childhood friend at age 10...she still drops by occasionally...especially when I feel low or down...introducing...Marcy, a figment of my imagination...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I keep an account book that records every single penny I receive/spent every single day...even till now...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Many people finds that weird...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I find it weird too...it doesn't go along with my compulsive personality...but money runs out of my pocket faster than I can remember...so it helps to keep a record...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Believe it or not, I was once an extrovert...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Now, I am completely a hermit crab...almost reclusive, except during book sales and get-togethers...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I've learn the hard way, that there are times you've got to be cruel, to be kind...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I can be too kind at times, I don't know it, <a href="http://mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/11/show-me-da.html">until it kills me</a>...<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am physically inproportionate...wide shoulders, undefined waist...not-so-slim legs...but small hands and feet...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I THINK I am okay with that...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I never thought it would be that difficult to think out 100 things to share about myself...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am thinking that now...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I can't believe I am saying this...but I miss high school...and I wanna go back...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton scares me...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am sure you'll agree with me on that one...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I think that finding a good politician, is almost as impossible as finding an honest thief...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Talking about that, I never hid my dis-taste for politicians like Samy Vellu, and Syed Hamid...check #27...I am honest, as far as that is concern...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I am starting to regret writing this post...it is sucking my brain cells dry...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Have I shared that when my brain doesn't work, my tummy does??...Lessajinomoto hungry now...*sniff*...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I never found Facebook to be fascinating!!!</span></li></ol><span style="font-family:times new roman;">There!!!...I am done!!!...I thought I will never finish...*grin*...now...mind sharing one of your own??...</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2947977011192924108-1635815858779310119?l=mislaidthoughts.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lessajinomotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864751885158506666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2947977011192924108.post-61072738143705831132008-11-30T01:06:00.003+08:002008-11-30T01:56:04.901+08:00<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman;">It has been a while, since I've last taken slow-paced walking steps...observed the drama around me for a while...sat down to gather my thoughts, etc...I'd never thought I'd be swallowed whole, by the demands of my work...constantly worrying and being kept awake by the countless calls and decisions that I've yet to make...<br /><br />Living the fast paced life...it just hit me, that despite all my complaints about how life is sometimes being unfair...I realized that I actually do have quite a good one...blessings I've yet to count; a roof over my head, electricity and air-con at my expense, a car to drive (as old as it may be...its a manual...but I LOVE manual cars...)...a music degree...and best of all...no ARRANGED MARRIAGES!!!...<br /><br />Besides, I realized that we live in a completely fool-proof world...Instant everything... Just a while ago, out of curiosity, I decided to google up the word "INSTANT", just so to see what kind of instant stuffs we have...and believe it or not...I just realized that there is such a thing as <a href="http://www.flooble.com/fun/bloggen.php">Instant Blogging</a>!!...<br /><br />Yea, no kidding...now, keeping a blog no longer requires brain-juices nor any effort to share!!...In that link, you can instantly generate another blog post, until you find one that satisfies you...following that, you just copy and paste!!!...no copyrights, whatsoever!!!...start a blog without breakin' a sweat...<br /><br />I mean, how much more lazier can we homo sapiens be???...we invent cars that winds down windows for us, starts the engine, auto-switching gears (man, I can go on and on with this...)...its idiot proof too...completed with air-bags, auto-lock systems, electronic stability controls, tire-pressure monitors for the dummies...take all these technologies away, and our death rates will go up by a 200%....and that is probably an under-estimation...<br /><br />Instant noodles, instant photo-printing, fast food, instant cash withdrawals...I'd be honest with you...without these unhealthy yet "good" technology, I would not have survived this long...imagine a world without microwaves, I'd be forced to learn how to cook...I'd be doomed to spend eternity in the kitchen, churning butter and ice-creams...wringing my blessed hands sore...chair with rollers, so you save yourself the trouble of walking 3 steps forward