So Mind-Bloggling

Chinese Diaries

2006-07-17T01:22:00.000+10:00

Day 1 - Friday 14th July

After 16 hours of flying, I finally touched base at Pudong International Airport in the afternoon. Not even an hour into my trip here, exciting things started happening. Yes, the first thing to happen was the disappearance of my luggage. I had to lodge a report at the airport, hoping that the bag was misplaced during the transit at KLIA and that it would be located soon. My sis had arranged for a driver to pick me up from the airport. I see this little Chinese guy holding a sign with my name on it, as though I was someone important, hehehe. My sis was already waiting for me at her apartment when I got into the city. It was located at the corner of Beijing Rd and Shi Men 2 Rd. Wow, did she have a nice place! I'll spare you the details, but just know that it's luxurious for one person to live in. So there I was in Shanghai with no clothes, no underwear, no socks and no walking shoes. So what do I do? I go shopping! Yes, bought myself a new pair of sneakers, socks, boxers, a t-shirt and short pants, all for 200 Yuan. I had Shanghainese dinner with sis and Tomas at the famous Wu Jiang road. After dinner, we headed home to pack for the trip to Huang Shan, a supposedly famous mountain. The trip was organized by my sister's friend. The 13 of us met up at Zhongshan Park and departed from Shanghai at midnight.

Day 2 - Saturday 15th July

The 13 of us were Edison, Dikun, Cheng Xin, Christabel, Henry, Kelvin, Larry, Thomas, Tomas, Yee Tian, Yun, my sis and I. We were cramped into a mini van, and there were two drivers who took turns driving. Boy, was it the scariest road trip ever in my entire life!! The drivers were driving like maniacs, speeding and cutting in and out all the way to Huang Shan. Never have I prayed so much ever. One of the drivers was falling asleep and we had to keep talking to him to keep him awake. Thank god I’m still alive and blogging right now... Finally reached Huang Shan town in the morning, where we had breakfast and met our tour guide Jenny. Jenny looked like a twelve year old girl. She was small built, baby faced, and had a cute voice. I later found out that she was 23 years old, but she sure didn’t look like it. So up we went to the foot of the Huang Shan. From there, we took a cable car up the mountain. The mountain was around 1800 meters tall. Apparently, it rains 300 days per year at the mountain, and today was of those days. We were greeted at the top of the mountain with rain and fog, and lo behold, we couldn’t see a single thing, no scenery, nothing. Okay, at this moment, my first impression of Shanghai is that it’s polluted and wet, sort of worse than Melbourne. Anyway, we didn’t pay 1000 Yuan to see nothing, so Jenny took us hiking around the mountain, explaining the history and historical spots. There were about 6000 stone steps around the mountain and we climbed about 4000 of it that day. Ask me what I saw today at Huang Shan, I would say rain, fog, stairs and more stairs. We arrived at the mountain’s hotel in the afternoon, all drenched from the rain and tired from climbing step after step. We all conked out on our beds for the rest of the afternoon, eventually waking up for dinner. Played some poker with my roommates after dinner and won some money. Lights out at around 1am.

Day 3 - Sunday 16th July

Suppose to wake up at 4am to see the sunrise, a must see thing at Huang Shan. Kelvin answered the wake up call and asked the caller the chances of seeing the sun actually rise. Very little chance came the reply and Kelvin, on behalf of Henry and I, thank the caller and went back to sleep. The people who did wake up for the sunrise must have regretted in the end as the caller was right. We checked out the hotel at 9am. The day before, Tomas and I joked about wanting to hike up the mountain instead of taking the cable car. Well, our wish came true today. The cable car service was not running due to strong winds and rain. So imagine us climbing down hundreds and hundreds steps with hundreds of other people in the rain for about 2 hours, that became reality. So there you are hiking down the mountain, trying not to slip and cause a domino effect of people falling over one another, can be really scary man. Yet, here’s the amazing thing. You see, the only means of transporting food and goods up the mountain is people. I prefer to call them transport machines. You can see these Chinese men carrying a thick bamboo stick on their shoulders. On each ends of the stick hangs a basket containing food and goods (e.g. huge melons, vegetables, meat, toiletry, cooking items, etc). Each basket easily weighs more than 10kg. Carrying these things up the mountain is already such a difficult thing for the average person. Running up and down the mountain with it, I salute them. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures of these transport machines. But I did have a run down the mountain with them. You see, hiking down the mountain can be real slow with the steps being really narrow and aunties and uncles blocking your way all the time. Halfway down the mountain, I decided to run down with a transport machine. These transport machines act like ambulances, where people move out of their way as they run up or down. I followed one of them closely, and man, it was challenging to keep up with him. I really had to climb the steps real quick, sometimes skipping steps in the process. Proudly to say, I managed to keep up with him till the end. The return trip on the bus was sleeping time for me. My sis took me to this Hong Kong restaurant for dinner, but I thought the food still wasn’t as good as Melbourne’s. Right now, I’m at home planning my trip to Suzhou tomorrow. Still no news on my lost luggage.

Day 4 - Monday 17th July

Something interesting happened today. I tagged a ride with my sis to Suzhou in the morning, where she had to meet some suppliers. On the way there, my sister received a call from the airport, claiming they had found my luggage! Yippee! After getting dropped off at Suzhou’s train station, I took a taxi to Tiger Hill (Huqiu) Garden. Although recommended by my parents, I thought there wasn’t really much to see besides the leaning pagoda and the thousand people stand where a thousand people were massacred. There was this rock where it tells whether you will have a boy or girl as your first child. You had to stand 3 yards away from the rock and throw a tiny stone on it. If it stays on the rock, you will have a boy, and if it falls off, you will have a girl. So I obviously gave it a go, and the result was... Anyway, after spending about an hour at Tiger Hill, I took a cab to the more prominent Humble Administrators (Zhuosheng) Garden. This garden was definitely more beautiful than the previous one. Its five hectares featured streams, ponds with huge water lilies, bridges and islands. A water lily leaf was up to 10 times the size of my hand!! Then the most interesting event of the day occurred. You can call it what you want, whether it was out of sheer curiosity or out of sheer stupidity, I prefer to call it an interesting but risky experience. Some of you might be disgusted with my actions, but I’ve decided to share this with the readers as it will serve as a warning if you do travel to China. Anyway, I was taking a tricycle taxi down to the city centre when the driver stopped by this building. A girl came out and asked whether I wanted to have a look around for 10 Yuan, and if I didn’t like it I could leave anytime. In the back of my mind, I have heard of this places where a girl would come up to you (usually they would target foreigners) and ask whether you would like to have a drink with her. If you accept her offer, you’ll be conned a lot of your money at the end of the day. I was very reluctant at first, but curiosity got the better of me, I accepted her offer, very well knowing it would be costing me more than 10 Yuan. I only had 100 Yuan left on me at that time, and maybe I was a bit overconfident of not getting conned as well. I was taken to this small room upstairs, where inside contained a sofa, a table and a karaoke set. I sat alone in the dimly lit room, waiting for what seemed like eternity, when suddenly the door opened and entered a woman. She looked young and attractive, but a dark room always does wonders with a person’s true complexion. She sat down beside me, and we started talking...23 years old...living in this building with mom and dad...studying something...this is her part time job...sing karaoke...give massages...eat and drink...blah blah blah. As we talked, their next con took place. A woman came in with two drinks, placed them on a table and left. After 5 minutes, the same woman came in with tit bits. After another 5 minutes, the same woman came in with fruits. I did not touch a single drink or food. My mind was racing like formula one. Yes, I know I’m getting conned, but what were they going to do when they find out I only have 100 Yuan in my wallet? They could either let me go for a 100 Yuan or let me go after a bash up. It was up to me to convince them the right way I guess. I stayed there till my sis called, saying she was on her way to pick me up. As I left the room with the girl, a guy came up the stairs and ushered me back into the room. With a calculator in his hand, he started the exciting world of typing out whatever figures that popped out from his head, adding them up...738 Yuan...yes, 738 Yuan...are you gasping yet? I started panicking a bit, wondering why my sis hasn’t called back yet? I showed the guy the 100 Yuan on me and he kept telling me that I can’t leave until I pay the full amount. I started speaking in English to him, trying to stall time, and luckily he couldn’t understand a word I was saying. Another guy entered the room. Finally my sister rang again and I told her to come and help pay the cost for me. Knowing she was surprise with the news, I passed the phone to the guy, and he was clearly agitated when talking to her because she couldn’t speak Chinese that well. As I was about to tell her the place to come get me, the line cut off because I ran out of credits. Now was the time for the punch line. I told the men that my sister and her foreign friends are coming to get me now and the line worked to perfection. They got really nervous. You see, in most cases, this business is the only bread and butter for this type of people. Having a bunch of foreign people coming to the place other than to do business is never a good thing for them. They have no clue the influential power a foreigner could have in the area. A powerful person could ultimately shut their business down. In the end, the men reluctantly accepted my 100 Yuan and I left the building unscathed. I must admit it was a very close call, putting your own life in danger is something I do not recommend even if you have an escape route. However, I did appreciate the experience of being conned, and for a 100 Yuan, it was worth it. And yes, I did take a picture of the lady. I think if she smiled in the picture, she would have looked 23...hehe... If I have triggered an growing excitement in some of you guys instead, please do bring at least a thousand Yuan and pay the freaking cost if you want to try it out!! I don’t want to be attending your funeral so early... Finally jumping into the car, we headed to the pearl factory to buy some pearls. Here’s how to check for quality pearls: Shiny, Round, Rough, Unscratchable and Unburnable. Once back in Shanghai city, we went to Wu Jiang road to eat road side food, including lamb sticks, fish balls, chicken wings and xiao long baos. We had very good desert at a Chinese restaurant, including steam egg white, coconut jelly, and mango smoothie. It was by far the best mango smoothie I’ve ever had in my life! I’m definitely going to have another one there before I leave Shanghai. My luggage finally arrived at night. Tomorrow’s events: wet market, haircut.

Day 5 - Tuesday 18th July

I had good 7 hours rest last night. I didn’t really know what to do today besides getting a haircut and visiting the wet market. A Shanghainese friend of mine from Australia had suggested I meet up with her friend, Sherry, in Shanghai. I finally got through to her this morning. She sounded really friendly and suggested we meet up for lunch. Ah well, I guess I had to get my haircut another day. We met up at Shimen Yi Lu station. My first impression when I saw her was that she wasn’t from Shanghai. She looked like she came from the middle part of China. I later found out that she is from Xin Jiang, which is located west of China, bordering Turkey. We took the subway to People’s Square, the heart of Shanghai, where shopping centers, and the old and new collide. Even on a weekday at a working hour, the area was packed with people walking in and out of shops. It was as though today was a public holiday. I walked around the area with Sherry as my tour guide. Lunch was interesting as there were dishes which I haven’t tried before in my life. I will list out the dish names once I get them off Sherry later. Lunch went very slow as we talked about Shanghai, our backgrounds, etc. After lunch, we walked around Nanjing Rd for little while more before heading to the wet market to buy groceries for dinner. Sherry was suppose to join me and my sis for dinner, but just I was preparing to cook in the kitchen, Sherry had to excuse herself as she had to attend an interview which was put forward to very early next morning. However, she did say she’ll take me for more sightseeing tomorrow afternoon. For tonight’s dinner, I made curry chicken, mince pork and egg plant with spicy bean sauce, winter melon soup and stir fry bak choy. I was suppose to go out with my friend, Ying San, later tonight for the opening of a night club but it was postponed as it was a bit too far away. I didn’t really do much today compared to the past 4 days, but I’m feeling more sleepy than usual. It could be the beer I drank for dinner. Currently looking forward to drinks with Ying San at the Bun, Black Eyed Peas concert on Thursday, Brazil Steak House BBQ buffet on Friday, Hangzhou trip on Monday.

Day 6 - Wednesday 19th July

I finally had my haircut today. For 30 Yuan, I received a hair wash with scalp massage, blow dry, cut, wash, blow dry and style. I thought it was funny when I asked the young girl who was shampooing my hair her age, she replied that her fake age was 18 and her real age was 17. Why not just choose one? Later, I met up with Sherry in the city, and we took a cab down to the Dong Jia Bu fabric market on Lujiabang Rd. I had a cashmere coat tailored made over there for 400 Yuan. Super cheap!! Then we headed to Qipu Rd Shopping Center where we could buy fake goods...hehe. After shopping, we walked to the Bund (Wai Tan), the riverside of Huang Pu River, which overlooks Shanghai West, where you see the two tallest towers in Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl Tower and JinMao Tower. We took a ferry across the river to the west bank and headed up to the 55th floor of the JinMao Tower. We could only see very little of Shanghai East because of the pollution. We had dinner and yummy desert (durian pancake and sago with sea coconut) at LuJia Zui shopping center. The Oriental Pearl Tower with its color-changing lights at night looked really interesting, with its two big globes glowing in multiple colors. After, snapping off a few shots, we headed to the river bank to admire the Shanghai lights on the east bank. The buildings along the bank were lit with an orange-yellow color, all in unison with each other. The quiet river, the beautiful lights and the small breeze provided a very peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. Consider it a very romantic situation sitting on the bench with your date and staring out across the river for the entire night, admiring the beauty of Shanghai. I finally met up with Ying San later that night at City Diner. Ying San was one of the first people I met in Melbourne. She was only there to study for a year, before she left for Shanghai. Although we never saw each other much during that time, we managed to keep in touch all these years. To see her again after 5 years was pretty amazing. I still remember the time when she made me herbal chicken soup to drink. It was good to hear her doing well in her career, and having traveled to so many places already, something I also hope to be doing in the many years to come. We did not stay too long as it was already past midnight and she had to work the next day. Today was a day with lots of walking.

Day 7 - Thursday 20th July

I didn’t go out until after lunch. Sherry came over to eat the left over food from Tuesday night’s dinner. We later went to visit old Shanghai town. There was nothing much to see, and the town wasn’t really old looking, catering more for the tourists. The highlight of the day was the Black Eyed Peas concert at Shanghai stadium. I met my sister’s friend Grace and her bunch of friends at a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. Dinner was quick as we were rushing for time. By the time we got to our seats, the show had just started. I kept having déjà vu throughout the show, and it wasn’t until towards the end of the show when they performed ‘Let’s get it started’ that I realized I’ve seen the whole performance on television before. All the props and music sequences were pretty similar. Overall I gave the show an 8 out of 10. Although the sound system wasn’t great, the music was good; the crowd was into it, dancing and singing along; the hip-hopping by William, Fergie, Taboo and apl.de.ap were mouth-watering; it’s Fergie’s style which makes her such a hottie. Took lots of videos and photos until my memory card was full. We went to this bar called Tang Hui to have drinks after the show. The place was mainly full of overseas people, probably an expat hang out. Zzzzzzzzzed at 2am.

Day 8 - Friday 21th July

I took the subway down to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. I thought it was a waste of money as there wasn’t anything new to see. The place was mainly for schoolies. I had buffet dinner at Brazil Steak House with my sis, Tomas, Christabel and Dikun. Every few minutes, someone would come to your table bringing some meat on a metal stick and cutting some on your plate. Pretty cool idea as you don’t have to leave your seat and you get all the food you want. They had steak, pork chops, bacon, sausages, chicken wings, lamb chops, chicken heart, cow tongue, all the meat you can ever ask for. It was a meat fiesta and I felt really sick after that. I tried the traditional Brazilian drink Caipirinha, which is made of lime, cachaca, sugar and ice cubes. I found the taste actually pretty good. After stuffing up our stomachs, we headed down to the night spot in XinTianDi. The place was like Jln Sultan Ismail in KL, where there are clubs, pubs, cafes and restaurants all along a pedestrian walk. We had 3 drinks at this place called Tmsk, and it came out to 180 Yuan. Super expensive! Although there were lots of people over there, I wasn’t really impressed as I couldn’t really feel the lively atmosphere night spots usually give out. The reason we left early and retired to bed.

Day 9 – Saturday 22nd July

I woke up this morning still belching meat, followed by a big poop in the toilet. We went to have dim sum at 8:30 this morning! Early eh? Apparently this place starts packing up at that time and we would have to queue up if we went any later. We went to the Fabric market after breakfast to pick up my coat but found that they haven’t finished making it yet. So instead of just going there to grab my coat, I became greedy and made myself a suit today. I’ll be picking both up on Wednesday. Sigh, just can’t resist clothes with style… We went for a massage in the afternoon, with me getting a full body massage and foot reflexology. The girl that massaged me, Fang Fang, was from Huang Shan, a surprise as I was just there. I thought she did a really good job, my body felt much looser after. Later checked out the DVD shop across the road where I live, and ended up buying 145 Yuan worth of DVDs. I didn’t really do much at night, just going out for dinner and watching some movies on the projector screen at home. Must remember to buy train ticket to Hangzhou tomorrow.

Day 10 – Sunday 23rd July

Today was last day I would be seeing Sherry. She’ll be starting her internship tomorrow, while I’ll be away at Hangzhou. I spent some time planning my Hangzhou trip in the morning. I then met up with Sherry for lunch and bought my train ticket to Hangzhou. We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the shops at Huai Hai Rd and XinTianDi. I really like to thank her for taking to show me around Shanghai the past few days. She has been an awesome tour guide and a great and fun-loving friend. I met up with Kelvin in the evening for dinner and massage. He brought me to this place where they give out acupressure massage, which I found really soothing, easily one of the best massages I’ve ever had. Maybe I can make it there again on Wednesday before I head back to KL. Another short entry again as I need to go pack for the Hangzhou trip...

Day 11 – Monday 24th July

I woke up very early this morning to catch the 6:30 train to Hangzhou. Upon arriving at Hangzhou station, I saw a long queue at the taxi stand and there weren't any taxis around. Counted myself lucky, I met this small-framed guy, Xiao Huang, who offered to drive me around for half a day for 150 Yuan. He even introduced me to a nice hostel where I paid 300 Yuan for a small suite, the most expensive room they had. The room wasn't bad at all, with only the shower having some water problem. With the help of my new found friend, I got to see the Old Dragon Well (LongJing Quan) at the Dragon Well village, Lin Ying Temple, West Lake (HuXi), Qing He Fang market and the city. I also had some nice local food for lunch, which didn't taste as salty as the food in Shanghai. I met up with Sherry's friend's friend, Yang Di, who brought me around West Lake and Qing He Fang market. It's always nice to have the locals bring you around as you get to know more about the place. The more I travel, the more I appreciate having contacts around the world... I went for 2 massages at different outlets after dinner as I felt really sore from all the walking today. Sigh, I wished they had Shanghai-like massages in Melbourne, which are so much cheaper and feels better...mmmmm...those soft silky smooth hands...aiks, I said too much...

Day 12 – Tuesday 25th July

Oh, the laziest day of the trip. I was suppose to take a bus to Wu Zhen water village, but I woke up late and decided to just relax in Hangzhou. I had another massage and spa session, greedy greedy... Then I spent the rest of the afternoon cozed up at a Starbucks reading a book I brought along. The book was titled The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, an international best-seller, and I couldn't agree more. The book intrigued me to the max, the writing technique and knowledge of the author was immense. I wouldn't have put the book down if I wasn't rushing to the train station. I really do recommend everyone to read this short story book, and I can't wait to get my hands on his other similar works. I had a late dinner with my sis upon arriving at Shanghai, and then it was off to bed for me.

Day 13 – Wednesday 26th July

Nothing much happen during the day. I just headed down to the fabric market to pick up my tailor-made coat and suit. I was really happy with the workmanship, can't wait to wear them when I have the chance. Being my last night in Shanghai, I treated my sis to a nice western dinner at HengShan Road. Unfortunately, I can't remember the restaurant's name. After that, we met up with Kelvin and his friends at Zapatas bar and club. It was ladies' night, so they were handing out free Margaritas and Tequillas. I finally got to experience the clubbing scene in Shanghai and it was interesting. At around ten, you would see only local girls on the dance floor (one was wearing sunglasses, isn't it dark enough???), and these were the ones waiting to be picked up by foreigners. At quarter to eleven, the dance floor got busier, both locals and expats packing in, with some women dancing on the bar table. By the way, the club plays house and retro music. The hot local chicks were dancing on the table, while some foreigners were nodding their heads to the beat and oogling at the chicks. My sis left around 12. Kelvin and I decided to join the crowd and he was right about Shanghainese chicks being aggressive. As soon as we started speaking English, local chicks kept approaching us, trying to start a conversation. I remembered one asking me to buy her a drink and take her home or something, and another one was clutching on to my arm as I walked through the crowd. I learnt to ignore them after awhile, you know, just give them the friendly leave me alone smile...hehehe...I felt bad turning them away. They were all very friendly, but you never know what kind of intentions they have. After dancing for awhile, we went outside to order some food. I spotted two ladies on one of the tables and they agreed to let us sit with them. They were locals, Sian and Helen, and could speak good English as they were taking interpretation courses. Yet again, I was deceived by looks. Chinese women are so good at concealing their age with their never-aging skin. I thought they looked early 20s but they were much older than that. Anyway, we had a really good time at the table, drinking, talking and laughing. I spent most of the time talking to Sian, about the local people, travels, the internet, etc. Kelvin had to work the next day, so we said our goodbyes and left the place at around 2am. I thought it was an awesome last night in Shanghai...

Day 14 – Thursday 27th July

Goodbye Shanghai, I will be back. You have given me a wonderful holiday...

A bloody long birthday...

2006-05-15T20:40:00.000+10:00

This I have to blog about. It's about me turning twenty three last weekend. As quick as it has passed, I enjoyed every single moment of it. To those who missed out:

Sunday April 30th
A mention here, HK wasn't going to be around for my birthday, so he treated me to dinner at Pacific House a week earlier.

Friday May 5th
A night to remember. Met up with WW for dinner at Tomodachi after work. I wasn't really hungry but ended up ordering Okonomiyaki, which is a huge Japanese pancake filled with vege and meat, something like a murtabak. We finished just in time to catch MI3. The movie was my birthday treat from WW, which turned out to be totally sweet. I was very happy with the non-stop action movie, definitely up there with MI1 and MI2. Even WW, who doesn't really fancy Tom Cruise, enjoyed the show. The only thing that disrupted the night so far was the idiot who was sitting in one of our seats and being a prick, he wouldn't move. I do not like being bullied. I had to call management to get rid of him when the show had already started. Obviously being an idiot, he did not leave without making a fuss, annoying the crowd. After the who, we went to Lygon for hot chocolate and my most favouritest cake, Cheesecake. It was WW's treat again, sweeeeet...ended the night walking her home in the drizzle.

Saturday 6th May
Didn't get much sleep yesterday, too much on my mind lately. Had to get up early anyway for another day of birthday celebration. This time it was yum cha at Taipan with my primary school mates. Brunch ended with a mango cake (oh no! forgot to tell this batch my most favouritest cake) and an out of sync birthday song...hahahaha...awesome! Special thanks to SY for organizing the event!

Went shopping with my daughter at Westfield in the afternoon. Didn't really see anything I like, so we ended up trying out massage chairs at an OSIM booth. Spent about 45 minutes relaxing on the chairs, having our back, legs and arms shiatsued. After we got massaged 'kau kau', we took a bus back to the city and had Vietnamese coffee at Mekong. Oh ya, went to the 'make your on photo sticker' shop and got ourselves printed for fun. I haven't done it ages, didn't realized we had a time limit to get photo design done. So stressful, worse than taking an exam!

Got back home just in time to go out for dinner with my housemate Jo. He had planned a dinner a with a few of our friends at Bismi. Somehow, we ended up talking about strippers at strip clubs. Our friend, H, seemed to have lots of experience with these stuff. She even remembered the names of the really good strippers at Men's gallery. Just reminds me the kind of exposure one can get in Melbourne compared to being in KL. Went back to our house after dinner for a bottle of Chardonnay. Met up with the DOTA gang in the city for a few games after that. Wow, I seem to play better when a bit drunk.

Sunday May 7th
Not enough sleep again. Woke up early to go yum cha with my sis. I was pretty tired, so went home after lunch to rest. Headed down to Limor's for dinner with Melon and gang to celebrate my and Chilli's birthday together. We had the seadfood and bbq platters, which were really good as always. A good place to eat for large groups. Received a nice scarf from them, just what I needed as I lost mine during last year's Falls Creek ski trip. It was a really a full on weekend, and I considered it to be one of the best weeks I've ever had. A week where I still ate and ate on a full stomach. A week of realization of just how truly cool life is with the people around you. A week where 'lonliness' never existed. A week where joy and happiness never ended.

Two most heard phrases for the week:
1. Happy Birthday!
2. May all your dreams come true...

Tuesday 9th May
Life can't be sweeter than having your parents arrive in Melbourne to celebrate your birthday with you. Yes, my parents are in Melbourne. Celebrated me and my dad's birthday at a Thai restaurant in Bundoora. Food wasn't that great but who cares, after the past 5 years of absence, my parents are finally here to celebrate with me once again...so sweet like chocolate!

Big bear hug to everyone who made it possible...

Dear Thelma...

2006-02-28T17:57:00.000+11:00

It's always nice to listen to the opinions of your friends. These angels come from all walks of life, bringing with them different perspectives on social and cultural issues, determined by their upbringing into the busy world, basing their views on experiences, pure intuition and gut feeling.

I sent them a 'Dear Thelma' one fine day.

Here's what it read:

Hey,

I've got a question which I need your opinion on.

Here's the scenario:
You meet this girl, which you find attractive. You ask her out on a date. It was great. At the next date, she tells you that she likes you very much, and that she also living with her current boyfriend. Maybe she's at that stage where she's bored already and she found someone else she likes, or maybe just not on good terms. So you continue to see each other. One night you invite her back to your place for a chat. You could tell that she really likes you, but she hasn't broken up with her boyfriend. Then in the spur of the moment you end up having sex.

Tell me, was it okay for you and her to do it, since she already liked you, and will probably break up with her boyfriend to be with you? Or was it a stupid thing to do? Who is right or wrong here? Should they have waited until they were together?

Please give me your opinion. If you believe in sex after marriage only, discard your beliefs for now and tell me what you think.

And here's the responses that I received (edited to cut out some crap of course):

from Angel H
Erm.. very interesting story..
Anyway, I don't think sex after marriage apply anymore in current society..

But to justify this relationship, questions to ask:
- the main reason the girl fell for the guy. Is that because she had a fight with her bf and she feels sad n disappointed, etc or she's bored of her current bf and need some other guy to comfort her (just temporarily).
- whether the girl has a heart for the guy is not really important coz girls change their minds easily (easily influence by some situation and can be very emotional, so don't get caught).

There is no right or wrong but I would feel bad if I did that..is not really appropriate to start another relationship before ending one..the guy would be stuck if the girl end up choosing her current bf..and the girl will be in a dilemma whether to tell her bf what had happened.

So, not really a good choice to have sex before everything settle..and I think is a bit too fast..be patient and understand each other more first, this is the best way not to ruin any relationship (either friendship or intimate relationship).

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from Melon
Tough question. This situation really depends on your own moral values, on what you perceive as right or wrong, on what constitutes "crossing the line".

Was it okay for you and her to do it? It depends on her relationship with her boyfriend. They could have a no-sleeping-with-others-while-in-this relationship policy: in that case it wasn't right for her to do so; or they could have an agreement, where as long as they're not married, if they found someone else they like, they could always end the relationship and move on.

Or was it a stupid thing to do? It was a pretty stupid thing to do - I hope it wasn't unprotected sex.

Who is right or wrong here? Both are wrong because you went out for "dates" a few times behind her boyfriend's back. If the girl has "heart" for you, why didn't she leave her boyfriend after the second date?

Should they have waited until they were together? Maybe, but again that depends on question 1.

Another thing: always remember, if she can do this to her bf now, she can 'potentially' do that to you again.

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from Colleague 1
You can have sex whenever you want, but if she does that to her current boyfriend what will stop her from doing it to you when you are in a relationship with her..and don’t say it will be different with me as it never is.

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from Mr Jolly
Quite a dilemma in that scenario. If it was me, I probably would wait. I would do that because if I was the other guy, I wouldn't like to have something like that happen to me (particularly if I knew the other person).

Anyhow, that's all in the past. It's happened and all you can do is put it behind you. No point analysing it too much.

I was listening on the radio once, and they had a segment talking about similar issues. There are actually a lot of couples that have started in this way. Some ended in happiness, others not so. Ultimately, time will tell whether it was worth it.

That's my two cents worth.

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from Joan of Arc
Basically, if u don't know the bf, then it's alright. I mean, the worst thing is that she gets caught cheating, but that's her problem..until the bf comes after u if he is crazy..haha..but for me, I think that things would've been made a lot easier if u had waited until she had broken off with her bf, then give her time to cool things off. e.g. 2 weeks - a month is more than enough time.

But then u gotta think about other things. I mean..if she can do that to her current bf, if u go out with her, what's stopping her from doing the same to u. Just be careful la..

But seriously. u got nothing to lose. Definitely go for it if u think that it will work. If u truly love her as much as she loves u then u shud definitely give it a try. If u don't have the same feelings, then it's seriously up to u.. =]

Now that things have happened, maybe..just wait till she is completely broken up with her bf...the hardest thing for a girl is to leave a guy she is already living with..too many complications that will not end for the next 6 months. e.g. rent payments, bill transfer of names, getting all the clothes and equipment back and moving out..everything..

But yer..just remember..do whatever makes u happy..just do what u feel like doing.. =] love is always complicated, but it will pave its own way no matter what u do anyways. =] just enjoy the ride!

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from My Sis
Well first of all you cannot reverse what has already been done. So hopefully it was good and worth it!! You shouldn't worry so much about what happened but more on what is going to happen. Is she going to break up with her bf or not?? Don't hang around if she is not. This you need to get a firm commitment from her and is what she has to be sure about otherwise you will find yourself waiting for a long time and nothing happens and you end up disappointed.

At the end of the day if she breaks up with her bf its because she already has something not right with him - so this may happen eventually. But don't drag yourself into a 3 way relationship. She must decide what she wants (without pressure from you).

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from Angel S
Well i think it's unfair to both of them (although the guy has the advantage). The gal should settle her own problems first b4 stepping into another relationship. If the guy really serious bout the relationship, he should request for clarification and not procrastinate the whole thing. Although both enjoyed the sex, the other half was suffering, who knows?

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from Angel A
The gal shouldn’t go into another messy relationship before she settle the previous one..there is a big question mark on my point of view here, is she serious on both relationships?

The girl is hurting her self and her own reputation man.. how can you have 2 guys at one time? (Howch to Angel A: it's called a threesome..hehe)

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from Colleague 2
From the girls perspective perhaps a wrong move as she has technically cheated on her boyfriend. Would she do this to the next boyfriend she gets bored of?

From the guys perspective..its ok..just depends on how much he likes the girl..is she stringing him along? Is she really going to break up with her current boy?

Do you want to continue seeing each other? Or is it a fling?

Well if he is wanting more than sex..I would advise to let this one go

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from My Daughter
Urmm..when it comes to relationship, it's really hard to judge what's right and what's not.

If the girl is really in love with you..I am stressing on "LOVE", then you should really think about your future with her. What's done is done. You have to really make it clear to her, she's either with you or him. The theory is simple. There's no point keeping a relationship that won't last, and there's no point doing things that will hurt her current bf. Even if he's an indecent person, he's still deserved to be treated fairly, and of course being respected for who he is.

As for the sensitive issue..S**, I don't think it's a good thing at all to have it with someone other than your bf, because as I said, he still deserved to be treated fairly. However, you gotta be careful though. Depends on who the girl is. Has she been a person like this? A person who flirts around? A person who's been with a bad guy who she loves, and doesn't love her back in return, and hence she's looking for comfort somewhere else? Or it was purely a fling with you..you know..when the "time's right" with the "right feeling" without considering the consequences? etc etc..

And also it depends on who you are.

Well. At the end of the day, no one can promise any relationship to last forever. Can you?

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from Chit
The girl seem to be pretty immature in the way she handled the situation
(either that or she's a manipulative player), I seriously doubt that
something like that will lead to any good.

It sounds more like the guy is taking advantage of a mere *spark* that came
about at random, if the guy is serious, he should step back and avoid
getting himself tied in the mess, what's done is spilt milk, what comes next
however is not beyond the guy's control.

The guy should never have done it in the first place. In reality, I believe
any guy who can wield the girls' "spur of a moment" intention as an excuse
for sex is a desperate wuss, I seriously doubt that the attraction will
last.

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from Ken
Well, I can see what you are going through now. Seems complicated but then its easy. It sounds like the gal likes you very much that she's willing to have sex with you although she has a bf. But do you know that she has a bf in the 1st place? or maybe she is taking advantage of you coz she's too bored with her current bf?? Well, it's hard to say from here.

Thats no right or wrong answer here. It's between you and the gal, and now it has become a love triangle. If she really likes you, then she should be breaking up with her bf. But what advise I can give you is, if she can do that to her current bf, she might do it to you.

It seems that I didnt tell you any solutions here, coz you need to settle it yourself with your own heart. Good luck and keep in touch man.

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from Sis 2
sorry..the girl is playing with the guy! She is happily enjoying the whole cake! Living with her boyfriend showed that she is already in a committed stage living with someone. Even if she claimed that she doesn't like him anymore, which you didn't not mention here, she would have moved out and would be too upset to jump into another relationship.

WARNING BELLS are ringing:
If she can cheat on her boyfriend, she can also cheat on you!
If she is really breaking up..then you are just a rebound relationship..
Conscience - do you want to be the cause of a breakup?

She can have both of you..she may try to sweet talk you into believing that she doesn’t like him anymore or have difficulty to breaking up.

WATCH OUT for excuses!:
I don't want to hurt him..can't break up with him..
Can't move out..as no place to go or lack of finance..
I need to find the right time to talk to him..
We are now just good friends..
Takes time for me to find a place/move my things..

OR WORST you decide to go out with her:
- get hurt..she may just say..boyfriend and I decided to work things out..sorry bye bye!
- get bashed up by boyfriend
- bad reputation as blur or stupid!
- have to share her - remember she goes back home to him every night!
- stressful - wondering if she is with the other guy now!

DON’T WASTE any more of your heart, time and money..unless..
If you really feel this is the right girl...then do following:
Get rid of baggage first! Do not go out on any dates until she has a clear cut break up and moved out (accept none of the above excuses!)
Get to know her. Be friends first...let her have time to get over ex, you don’t want to just be a rebound.

Unless you are just going out with her for fun and don’t care she has boyfriend or not! but remember what goes around comes around!

As to whether it was ok to do it? Just asking this question perhaps..subconsciously you didn’t feel it was right??? Anyway, sex always complicate things as emotions get involved..unless both of you just wanted a one night fun..but then one or both party always expect more after that..otherwise you can feel quite used or cheap or the person is so easy! So very complicated lah! You can do lots hot intimidate things together..but try to avoid actual sex if possible till you are sure, especially not on the first few dates..with a girl who has a boyfriend! Also, the first few initial "sex tease" always makes it more exciting and more enjoyable when the actual sex happens later on..makes it more "mysterious", "less cheap" and "no doubt it was right thing!"

So whatever you want from this relationship and whether it was right or not..talk/communicate more (and hopefully honestly) including doubts, feelings, expectations, with each other..only then you would know what you and she wants and expect, and whether it is the same or not!..and whether it was right or not!

Do I pass the "Dear Thelma" test??? I hope it's helpful!!!

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from Haven't Met You Yet
Hey..if I were the guy I definitely won't have sex with that gal coz the gal haven't broken up with her bf yet..it sounds like that gal betray her bf..(try to think..if you were her current bf..how would you feel? sure your heart would break into pieces right?)

And one thing you must remember..you think that she already got bored with her current bf...right? I'm sure one day she also would get bored with her next bf..ppl always tend to be greedy..after get bored with something..they will try to look for another target..

There is no who's right or wrong coz
1. If the gal got no feeling on that guy..she definitely won't have sex with that guy
2. I think both parties knows what they are doing..they are adult, mature enough to think and should be responsible for what they have done..

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from Mr Choe
It's a tough situation here man, because what I'm scared is that the girl was bored that night, and needed somebody to talk with, or comfort. In this case, she doesn't really care what story goes on..after the incident, she might feel a bit guilty and might go back to her bf..

2nd scenario
She likes you, it's true. But somehow, she is not ready to start a new relationship by breaking up with her current bf.

3rd scenario
She's ready to dump her bf and be with you, but guess you gotta voice up.

Anyway, I'm like answering a serious question here..plz forgive me as this is just my thoughts. Anyhow, just try to hang out again with the girl and notice if anything unusual from her, or I guess both of them should really have a good talk since it's already been this stage. Honesty is the key solution here I guess?

I wish them both all the best..and hope they'll cherish the moment of love together..

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from Sex Addict
I think u chose the wrong person to ask this morally correct question cause this is exactly what happened to me and **** when I was with my ex. So guess what happen now.. :P

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from Pumpkin
Hell NO!!!!! It was a terrible and foolish thing for them both. Very well knowing that sexual intercourse involves both person, I sincerely believe that the blame should not only be placed on the girl (not to mention that she's attached..!) but also on the guy.

Regardless on how much she had expressed her feelings for this guy or perhaps this guy "felt" that she likes him, the ultimate point is that she's attached..!!!! And am living with the current boyfriend. Gosh! I can imagine how heart-breaking it is from the boyfriend's point of view. Getting bored in a r/ship is not a good excuse to "fool around". Besides, in any other r/ship, after a couple of yrs especially, it is bound to be mundane and less exciting compare to the first 3 months. Feelings for the guy? Hmmmphhh.. it might even jst be infatuation. Some ppl fall in love more easily than others so it is not bizarre to have feelings for several ppl at the same time. But of course, that is still not a good excuse to fool around.

Another point to consider is that, if this girl can do such things even when she's currently attached, what makes the guy think that she will be sincerely loyal to him after she left her boyfriend for him..??!???! *ponders*

So in short, it is NOT OKAY to do it with her even if she "might" break up with her boyfriend to be with the guy. And YES, it was extremely stupid to do it at the spur of the moment.. they should've waited until they were together.

But of course..all of the above are just my two cents worth of comments. ;P

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from A.
Will reply in more detail later, but...she doesn't have the heart for you until she has broken up with her boyfriend. Find out why she hasn't broken up with her bf yet. You might have to get used to the situation as a friend of mine waited for nearly 2 years till the girl broke up with her bf. And he had to fly up to Queensland to speak to him first. Do you have the patience?

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Chinese New Year Eve

2006-02-01T21:49:00.000+11:00

Had a Chinese New Year and house warming pot-luck party at my house last Saturday. There were lots of food. Fried garlic prawns, sea cucumber with chinese mushrooms, hainanese chicken, chee cheong fun, curry chicken, vegetarian, sushi, fried noodles, grilled honey chicken wings, KFC, fried brocolli with sausage and char siew. And alcohol of course! Met Jo's friends for the first time, and one of them caught my eye. *wink* As usual, Jo being the still growing up son in the family, didn't tell us that she was vegetarian. So she ended up eating the only vegetarian dish there, a nectarine and Uncle Toby's OTs. Sheesh! Hope he feels very guilty, because I'm sure she must have been really disappointed. Like any chinese new year tradition, we gambled, played poker, and I was the first person to be kicked out of the game. My excuse: so I can entertain my other guests hahaha. No ler, I just suck at that game... The party went on till 5 in the morning! Only 6 people left by that time.
All in all everything went smoothly, thanks to great organizing by me and my housemates. Thumbs up!

Today, I received a surprise SMS from Pumpkin!
Here's what it said:
Hey! Hey! Hey! No new yr msg fr u? What the heck? Happy new year to u! Bet u dont feel a twitch but still.. Hope celebrations are great bck in melb..!!

Uh Oh, feeling guilty now. Will give her a call later tonight to wish her personally...

Ma Maison

2006-02-01T21:27:00.000+11:00

Yes, finally moved into my new mansion. 2 storey townhouse actually. Spend the first week cleaning and tidying up the place. My housemates are brothers Jo and HK, and it looks like it's going to be both fun and challenging living with them.

A brief description of my mansion. It's location is fantastic. Opposite a big park, near a golf course, 5 minutes from Safeway, Coles and K-Mart. We've got a car port in the front and HK just bought a Honda Civic to make use of it. As you walk in the front door, you are greeted with a huge living cum dining room. Look further ahead and you'll see the sliding doors which opens up to a beautiful courtyard, where BBQs and clothes drying take place. If you look to your left, you will see a guest toilet, and a kitchen with a bar. If you look to your right, you will see the spiral staircase that takes you up to the second floor. On the second floor, the first door to the left leads to HK's bedroom, the smallest one. The first door to the right is my bedroom, the tidiest one...hehe. The second door to the right is Jo's bedroom, the largest one. The other two doors leads to the toilet, laundry and bathroom with 2 sinks, a shower and a bath tub.

After living here for a month, I can finally see our roles as a family. HK plays the husband, a doctor, who works long hours trying to put food on the table. Jo plays the son, who's still learning the art of cleaning up your own mess. And unfortunately, I play the person who cooks, buys groceries, and cleans up any mess made. Yeah, can't complain ler, I grew up with so many women in the house, where as the bros did not. Anyway, it's all about being able to live with others and learning from each other. A brighter future ahead ya!

3rd Week

2006-01-02T02:07:00.000+11:00

Last week of eating in KL:
Honey Dew Sago, Cantonese Fried Kuay Teow, Johor Laksa, Famous Amos Cookies, Long Yok

Oh well, the rojak can wait another day...

Didn't do much really this week. Tried to spend more time with family, especially with my little nephew and niece. Man, are they cute little things...so wonderful to play with them. Caught up with WS and Dyonne (my closest primary mates) for mamak.

Took another trip to Paris on its birthday. Lunch and a movie The Promise. Pretty good show with a 26 mil budget I thought. Celebrated New Year's eve at Sri Hartamas with German food and friends from Penang. BH wanted to go back to his aunt's house to shower and come out again for the count down. I thought it was a waste of time but everyone just went along. Not to my surprise, we ended up counting down in the car. Yes, we were the cars on Federal Highway honking and waving glow sticks at midnight.

Went for dim sum and then to KLCC on New Year's. Caught up with someone I haven't seen in 5 years. She's the first and only person so far to make me go, 'Woah' right in front of her when we first met. Yeah, she really caught my eye back then. And yes, she finally met her first boyfriend.

I didn't want to leave KL on Monday, already started missing home, but I had to. My life in Melbourne isn't over yet, it has only begun...

2nd Week

2005-12-25T17:43:00.000+11:00

What else I've eaten:
Steamboat, Bak Kut Teh, Otak-otak, Assam Prawns, Kankung Belacan, Peanut Pancake, Coconut Pancake, Taiwai Sausage, Sotong Balls, Butter Prawns, Marmite Crab, BBQ, Lamb Chops, Buffet, Chicken Rice, Roast Pork, Char Siew, Roast Duck, Peking Duck,
Durian

What's left to eat:
Rojak and Honey Dew Sago, not bad, I'm almost done...

It was an interesting week. Spent lots of time shopping and catching up with family and friends. Bought more clothes to meet my spending budget. Met up with my primary school friends, one whom I haven't seen in 11 years, RP. Surprisingly, absolutely nothing has changed about her, except the long hair. Spent the whole Wednesday at Paris on Wednesday. Spent Thursday with Cupcake inclusive of a King Kong movie. It simply amazes me. These two have personalities that are quite opposites, yet both of them have the qualities that I appreciate in a woman. Maybe another outing will do me good. Great to catch up with CC on Christmas Eve, a brother to me always.

People have been asking me whether I'll settle Melbourne. My answer will always be: I'm just there for the work experience. At the end of the day, Malaysia is where I want to be. It's where I grew up and it will always be my true home.

1st week

2005-12-18T16:56:00.000+11:00

It's nice to be back in KL.

What I've eaten so far:
Home Cooked Food, Char Kuay Teow, Assam Laksa, Lobak, Dim Sum, Wan Tan Mee, Curry Laksa, Porridge, Seafood, Nasi Lemak, Roti Canai, Mee Rebus, Cendol, Rojak, Burger, Ipoh Sar Hor Fun, Sotong Rojak, Satay, Cheong Fun, Har Mee, Mee Goreng, Ampang Yong Tau Foo, Shark Fin's Soup, Suckling Pig, Buddha Jump Over The Wall, Hot & Sour Soup

Spent most of the time learning how to create a wedding video for K and PL's wedding in Penang. It was quite fun but very time-consuming. Thanks to Cupcake for contributing ideas to the video, could see the difference between someone who's experienced with film production and one who's not.

Then came the wedding day in Penang. A church wedding. We had to sing some joyous songs. Could finally see who were the Christians among our friends because they were the ones who were really into it, singing their heart out, with their hands raised in the air. But the priest spoke really well during the ceremony. He was saying it's okay to be nervous at your wedding. It's okay if it's not perfect. Mistakes may happen. He has even seen the groom put the wedding ring into the priest's finger. Muahaha. A line to remember: There's no such thing as a perfect marriage. It grows all the time. It's not a relationship between the bride and the groom, but with god as well. With god beside you, your love would grow stronger as time passes. You want to love each other 5 times more in 5 years time, 10 times more in 10 years time. Wah, that's what I want in my marriage next time...such a good feeling...

There was a surprise package in Penang. The first girl to ever make my heart flutter was there for the wedding too. Though I've never gotten to her yet, did find out she'll be KL for awhile, so maybe I will finally have the chance.
We'll see...

American Lady

2005-12-10T00:29:00.000+11:00

This night back home on the tram,
Sitted opposite a late 30s American,
Comes from the 1st US state Virginia,
Located between Florida and Washington,
Its capital Richmong population 1 million.

A free lance graphic desginer,
Three years in Melbourne she lived,
Over to the south at St Kilda,
Lots of drug dealings over there,
Hes now moved to the north at Thornbury.

A traveller who enjoys Australia,
Pretty soft spoken for an American,
Christmas is coming in a few weeks,
Her mom's coming in six days to celebrate it,
And I too wish her a Merry Christmas!!!

Memories of Ms Pumpkin

2005-12-03T23:30:00.000+11:00

It's time for me to dig deep into my memory bank to see how much I remember of Ms Pumpkin, and since it's about you, you get to read it too! How exciting! It's nothing much, just a recap on the times I've hung out with ya especially some mentionable hightlights about our outings. Enjoy!

P.S. Just read it with a light heart, and please do not check my grammar :P

SKI TRIP
Met you on the bus taking us to Falls Creek. You were pretty excited about the trip because it was your first time with the snow and skis, a ski virgin hehe. Reminded me of how excited I was when I saw snow for the first time driving along the mountains of Lake Tahoe with my parents. Unfortunately, when I got out of the car to take a closer look, the snow had already frozen to ice. So I guess the time I actually touched light soft snow was during the trip to Mt Buller in 2001.

Anyways, not much of a conversation on the bus as we were tired, weren't we? It was 3am in the morning, and sleeping beauty needed her beauty sleep. Didn't see you next till afternoon at Cloud 9 cafe. My first thought when I saw you was, 'is that a playboy beanie? Hmm...interesting...' Suggested we go ski down a beginners run, but accidently took the wrong run and ended up going down the intermediate Towers run. Man, wondered how angry you were at me after that..hehe. You were really struggling to get down that hill, I think it took us like one hour to get down. I did feel pretty bad because it was my fault for taking you to the wrong run. But hey, at least you can say you did an intermediate before...so geng...

Met up again the next evening at the pool. I think that was when I actually started to know you lor. Finally get to see you without that ski goggles on. So when I actually got a good look at you, I remember saying to you that you could be a model, so pretty. Then you go into a hysterical laugh, the first of those contagious laughs I would be experiencing. What were you thinking when I complimented you ah? Sounded like either 'Wah, what a very nice comment! He knows how to compliment girls! Pretty happy!' or 'Oh my god! What did he just say? What kinda silly comment is that! I think he needs to wear glasses!' But honestly lor, thought that with a touch of make-up along with your naturally beautiful hair, you would look, ahem, stunning. Are you flattered yet?

Your eye's lit up when I brought in the bottle of Baileys to your room, you sure know how make a person feel welcomed. 'Eyyy, got alcohol har, come in come in!' Haha, pretending to be extra nice. Thought you were fun that night along with everyone else, happily going along with the games we were playing and really enjoying yourself. Taught me a new game called 'Ducky Fuzz, Fuzzy Duck'. Pretty cool game, but had to change the rules a bit when some people like you could not lose at all. You had your contagious laugh switched on that night. Got the best reaction from you when I did my card trick. Phew, at least I managed to entertain one person. I think you were the only person that said 'Wah! So cool har!' Thanks for that!

Met up the next day to build Frosty and have snowball fights. I remembered you accompanied me to look for sticks for the snowman. I remember this because it was just the two of us for a short moment, away from the group for once, like a mini-date. Can say we had a stick-searching date haha!! Noticed you were pretty good at the throwing snowballs, hand-eye coordination was there, probably would be good at sports. Also, thanks for calling me 'real', never heard that one before. After knowing for few months already, do I still have that 'real' on me?

FIRST OUTING
Our first outing in Melbourne was insteresting huh? You were the one who suggested to have our sittings to be boy/girl at the restaurant. Didn't work out in the end because some people (you know who la) were very sticky to one another. PURRPLESLY poured a few strong ones for you but you seemed to be okay the whole night. My conclusion, you very good drinker and me no good, sucky sucky. Remind me to give you a bottle's start next time. Unfortunately, I only gave 5/10 for the dance you did with Cupcake, tak cukup untuk 'panaskan' saya, but cute :P Saw the caring and comforting, or should I say the motherly side of you that night. Oh, by the way, thanks for checking to see whether I was still alive after my car accident...

DATE WITH BREAKFAST
The breakfast tour of Vic Market was damn cool la. There I was being led around by a superb tour guide who loves adventurous eating as much as I do. We gobbled through bacon and cheese buns, sausages and donuts, eating and talking at the same time, very rude of us but who cares. When I say this woman is adventurous, I don't just mean adventurous with food, it applies to other aspects of life, including her romanctic fantasies (if you know what I mean la *wink*). Now that I know you're a chocolate lover, I won't have any problem getting you gifts or getting your attention hor...

MOONCAKE ORGY
Mmm, when was our next outing? Oh ya, Laksa King. 'Guess what I'm thinking of?' Bacon and cheese bun! So clever you! So you played basketball in school last time, no wonder you could throw those snowballs. But you know what was the funniest thing that happend that night? Definitely the Pumpkin and Jo show during Articulate. Muahahaha!

'You never ask me what colour I want!'
'Oh sorry, which colour do you like?'
'Oi, let me move la!'
'Oh, here you can move it'
'Why you never ask me whether I want to spin or not?'
'Oh sorry, would you like to spin?'

Aiyoyo, you two ar, one wants consideration but the other don't give. Must be like my partner and I, what a team we were man! But I guess some passion and fire-fighting also helped you win la. Unfortunately, our mooncake orgy didn't turn out as dirty as expected, definitely not the best of mooncakes. And of course, our first hi-five that night. There'll be many more to come...you're the woman!!

You must be tired reading this. Have a 1 min break la. Ever heard of an Irene joke? Here's one:

Cina girl Irene went for a job interview for the position of an English teacher.
'Just to start off, I would like to test your grammar skills. Can you please construct a sentence using the word 'Irene'?, asked the school's pricipal.
Irene said,'Aiyo, that veli easy mister. One day my boyfliend tell me that he veli horny, so 'Ilene' against the wall and let him be happy happy wif me.'
Principal,'?????'. Was that farneeee or lame?

ON THE PHONE
Really enjoyed the phone conversations. At first, you always think I have something to ask you every time I call. Always ask me what it is I want to ask or tell you, as though I've got a motive like that =_= Don't you now know just how popular you are that people like me just like to call and have a friendly chat once in awhile? Plus, I get to hear your contagious laugh over the phone and keep interrupting you until you frustratedly say, 'Oi, let me finish what I want to say first!!' Oh ya, can't believe I managed to get you to admit that you went to a drive through movie date. Finally confirmed Chit's and my prediction that you had someone already. Not bad huh? And hey, don't let your phone ring when you're busy lah, people like me cannot just sit there like 'ngong guay yen' and wait for no one to answer. Give me a special discount and press the hang up button ya.

MEET THE FAMILY
My sisters are very cool leh!! I think so too. Hahaha. They also really liked you and said that you're pretty outgoing and friendly. Asked them which of you two girls I should ask out on a date, they said you wor. *chuckle* If only they knew Cupcake better...choco pizza, yum yum!!

LUNCH AT CHAPEL
Nothing much to mention here, because attention was on the brithday girl. Nevertheless, you said something that highlighted my day.

'...you're very sensitive...sensitive to a girl's needs...fuiyoh...can't believe I said that!!' That was gold...you can cheer me up with that line anytime girl...

SURPRISE!!
It's been a long time since I told a white lie, but whatever it takes for you to get the ultimate surprise. You reaction was priceless, and I'm glad to be part of it. You were so estactic you totally forgot I was there, I think if you didn't have Cupcake to hold on to, you'll be jumping around like a crazy woman. By the way, I've never waited so long for a girl to come down from her apartment until I met you. *grumble grumble* (I probably remember you for this...muahaha)

EGG FIESTA
Harhar, so what does it feel like to have me cook you breakfast? You wish you could have this more often hor. Well, if you are still here next year, you can have go at my other breakfast specialties like pancakes, french toast and roti telur, but you're not, and you might never know the feeling of biting into Howch's other breakfast delights *wink wink* Anyway, I think we had an overdose of eggs that day, but you did a very good job of stuffing everything into your mouth I must say, you little piggy. Now that I've shown you all the styles of cooking an egg, you must at least cook me one style in the future upon my request ya. Pleasure to finally meet your bro, a very nice guy, wish him all the best in finding a job. Hey if you can find me someone like your bro's gf, that would be great! Someone who has a car to drive me around and can cook really well...mmmm...my wish is your command, I'll be waiting...

I think it's so cool that I wrote what I just wrote. One day I'll look back at this and read through the hightlights of our first ten meetings, and think to myself, 'So that's how Irene was like...and has she cooked for me yet?' ^^

All in all, three words to sum up Pumpkin, sweet, sexy and intelligent in my eyes. She's a person who becomes more and more beautiful the more I see and get to know her. Part of that beautifulness is the fun and laughter you get from her during the hang outs. I think she's also very considerate, always thinking about other people, and if I'm not wrong, an extremely good listener. To tell you the truth, I haven't got anything negative to say about her. I recall her advising me not to see her at those times of the month. Maybe one day I'll bump into her when she's got PMS or something, then it might be interesting. Until that happens, if you can think about all the positive things you can say about someone, I think she's got it all la.

Hey Pumpkin, if you manage to drag your eyes all the way down to this paragraph, I did a good job. And I just want to say that it was great hanging with you in Melbourne, and I wish you all the best in your career, your love life and your future. (Crack open fortune cookie) 'Confucius say, you will find a good job very very soon at a good company, gaining heaps of experience and earning lots and lots of money' I always believe that by consistently putting a right amount of effort into your work, you will reap rewards. Work hard, play smart. Hang out with the right crowd, get to know the people who will help you develop a successful future. Learn from them, their experiences are invaluable. Most important of all, always put God and your family first because they are the only ones who truly love you and will always be there for you whenever you need guidance. And of course there's that someone who is still waiting for you to call him for once...me...*wink* Don't forget me because if you do, I will seek you out and ketuk your head. We probably be doing some catch ups in the years to come, whenever we are around in the same country. Maybe you'll finally dye your hair one day. Oklah, that's it from me. You take care and I'll see you around buddy... High Five!!!

JW

2005-11-22T23:55:00.000+11:00

Ah, the oldest gang in my life. Just me and JW. We were the best of friends during our primary years. We were in the same class from year 1 to year 4 before he trasferred to another school. He was the smarter one in class, always ranked a few places in front of me. The memories are very vague, but I know we had lots of fun. I remember my parents always dropping me at his house at Kenny Hills to play. I loved going there because his house is super big man, 3 floors, so nice to run around and so many places to hide...haha. Hey, we were kids, what else you expect us to do? Talk about work? JW also had lots of toys, board games and computer games to play with. The best of the lot was the huge bicycle track he had in the backyard. We would cycle along the track over and over again until we were tired ans sweaty. Visiting him at his house was always like heaven to me, and I'm always reluctant to leave when it's time. We also hung out at the club during weekends, swimming and having Tae Kwan Do lessons. He's a really good swimmer, his name is always on winners list. We always laugh and joke a lot, probably also talk lots of crap. Haha...those were the days when we were young and care free, where everything you do looks like fun.

I don't know what happened but we kinda lost touch over the years. None of us really made the effort to contact each other after he transferred to another school. Guess both of us were too busy concentrating on studies, coz I know we were pretty high-achieving and determined kids. Like how the adults would say, 'Aiya! Sorry didn't contact you for so long, been very busy with work la!' Later in high school, found out he had moved to Perth to study.

I guess when such a close bond has been formed with someone, there's always a chance of meeting again when you least expect it. And that's exactly what happened, when I bumped into him again at the Melbourne University Sports Centre in 2001. The feeling was really cool, to see someone you used to be so close with turn up right in front of you after MIA for 5 years, a happy feeling. He has changed so much, no longer the smaller size kid in primary school, but as tall as me now. And standing beside him was his girlfriend, a really nice person (and she can really give good neck massages). He was only going to be Melbourne for half a year before he goes off to the UK to study medicine. So we tried to hang out together as much as possible. It had been a long time, so I guess the closeness wasn't as it used to be but the fun was still there la. We would go over to each other place to have dinner or lunch sometimes, or head down the city once in awhile.

Before he left, JW, his gf and I planned a 2 day trip to Philip Island together. We only manage to watch the penguins on the 1st day as we arrived pretty late. We stayed in a caravan park and for $20 per person, we got a whole caravan to ourselves. I had a hard time choosing which of the 6 beds to sleep on. The next day we borrowed bikes and we literally cycled around the whole island. Went to the Koala sanctuary and the small science museum, climbed lots of hills, and saw lots of nice scenery. It was so fun but damn tiring. Our butts were hurting like mad when we got back. Was very impressed with JW's gf, I think she did a pretty good job keeping up with us.

The next time I saw him was to wish him farewell. It was good to see him again. No more losing touch from now on doc!

The gangs in my life

2005-11-16T15:51:00.000+11:00

I remember during a conversation with Pumpkin on the tram, we were talking about about the friends around us. I realized I have a pretty nomadic style of keeping in touch with my circle of friends. I've made lots of friends through out my life, have moved from group to group, and I've manage to keep in touch with most of them. Of course, except for those people who live in solitude, we all have our usual 'gang' of friends, the ones we hang out with most of the time, and the many other 'gangs' of friends that we hang out with once in a blue moon.

One can probably say that within my circle, there are lots of pokka dots of friends. Each pokka dot has its own personality, its own atmosphere, and different levels of closeness. It's interesting to hang out with other groups of people other than your usual group, because you get the chance to experience different things, different kinds of feelings you've never seen or felt before. My groups of friends have consist of the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the exciting and the boring. The experiences have been fulfulling. It has helped me answer lots of the questions to why certain people do certain things a certain way, why this group of friends who never do what that group of friends did. At the end of the day, rather than putting yourself in other people shoes all the time, better to just join the group and live life like they do and see what it's like.

I must admit it's not easy to dump yourself right into a new group of people. It's not like I've never failed (some people just snob you off in the beginning). Some groups tend to be more welcoming than others. I've learnt that personality isn't the decisive factor for fitting into a group. I might be wrong here, but I think it's all about presenting yourself physically and talking your way in. It's all about choosing the right type of conversation (maybe bit of little acting here and there as well). Your overall personality remains indifferent. It usually works, for me anyway. However, I think honesty and sincerity is pretty important during these conversations, because some people can see right thought you if you're lying to them, and it is much harder to build up their trust. Anyway, I'm not here to remind myself how to make friends. I think with my memory still intact, I just want to list out the gangs that I've shared my life with through the years, and hopefully I haven't left any gang out. I will list a few each day when I have the time, in chronological order.

THE PRIMARY BOYS GANG (PBG)
Like everyone else, we have our little gang from Primary school. Mine consisted of WS, WK, YY, GM. These 4 were the closest to me then. We would hang out everywhere together. Being boys, I remember the times we would buy bowls of curry mee, puts lots of chilli in it and compete to see who could eat the spiciest. We would play games under the table during class. We created the most noise and chaos in class. We were a pretty naughty bunch, always getting into our mischievious ways and ended up being punished by the teachers. Proud to say that we were a damn cool and popular gang, people always talked about us. Sometime we would hear about a certain girl 'liking' one of us. Haha. We boys also had 'likes', and of coures we choose the pretty ones, because we were young and stupid then...muahaha. I remember liking this one girl so much, I didn't know how to talk to her. I knew she liked me too, but both of us damn scared to say anything. So for the whole bloody year, we usually exchanged smiles when we bump into each other. Regret man. Imagine if we became a couple, we would be the first in our year and the bragging rights were there to be owned. The popular boy with the cutest girl in year 5. Yeah man! The shyness has gone now, had no problem talking to her the last time we met about 4 years ago.

We boys also played badminton or baskteball together after school until we got really sweaty and sticky. After that, we often go to the canteen to buy junk food and drinks. I used to be crazy on Kikapoo then. I don't remember what the stuff we talked about, but we are always laughing and joking around. I considered WS to be one of my best friends at that time. He was the tallest boy in class, so he was like my bodyguard, always looking out for me, and no one dared bully me. I used to go to his or WK's house, and we played cards, played computer games, watched cartoons and take walks around the neighbourhood, visting other friends. We celebrated our birthdays at the school canteen by treating lunch or something. I remebered having a birthday party at McDonalds Ampang Park once and it was great to see all of them there. A moment to remember.

If I dig deeper, I'll probably find some more memories of this gang. Sadly, I've lost touch with WK and GM. Everyone's grown up and have their own things to do now. Saw YY four years ago. He came to ISKL to participate in the forensics competition. Saw WS 3 years ago. Went to his Chinese New Year open house, had supper with him, and he took me to try my first Kajang satay. I know few of my other primary schoolmates have kept in touch with them, so I really should organize a gathering with them when I return to KL. Should be interesting...

For anyone who's interested:
The boys -> Me, WS, WK, YY, GM
The girls -> KS, KY, RP, MY
The connection -> Me liked KS, KS liked me, RP liked me, WS liked KS, KY liked WS, WK liked KY, YY liked MY, MY liked WS, GM 'loved' RP.
That's all I know at the moment, maybe there's more to it...

We were young,
we were cool,
we were naughty,
we were playful,
we were popular,
we were care free,
we had really good times,
we were the PBG.

The detention center

2005-11-13T00:08:00.000+11:00

Met Cupcake's friend Mr Rich yesterday. Gotta know bit bout him. A very nice boy from Alor Setar, living a modest life in Melbourne, 6 months away graduating from RMIT, a enthusiast of TV and film production, at the crossroad with deciding where to start his career and a superfast eater.

Heat not opening on Friday was a real sucker punch. Seven exclusive to members only pissed me off. Tried not show my frustration but couldn't hold it back in the car. Rarely you woule see me swearing under my breath. We did not get into Billboard until after midnight. Once the 8 of us started dancing, my frustration is gone in an instance, and I'm there enjoying myself like there's no tomorrow. Wow, some of my friends can really dance, especially Duckling (Chit later told me he was turned on by her moves, muahaha). I was getting entertained by Pumpkin and Cupcake's cute dancing instead, cuter when they're bit high. Mr Rich made me laugh when I asked him why he stopped dancing for awhile. He answered, 'I'm checking out the girls mah'. Hahaha, told him he can still check out while he's dancing, which I was doing already, chehhh. It looks damn obvious what you're doing if you're standing in the middle of the dance floor and juz looking around.

It was nice to see all of us letting more of our guard down at the club, showing more of ourselves. It's nice to see the togetherness in a group whom just met 3 months. Of course, I got to know a bit more about them that night. Saw Jo's secret dark side, Chit's body language when's he's turned on, Duckling's getting irritated side, more of Pumpkin's coolness, and Cupcake's actual intolerance to alcohol plus unseen before manja frown from her. Found 2 new dance moves I could learn, one from Ian and another from a this guy dancing on the side. Good music and good company leads to a great time!

They make me feel young again. They know how to have fun, they know how to entertain and they know what friendship is all about. I do feel it's kinda sad that a few of them will be leaving Melbourne for good. Feels like an end before a start. I'm glad not all is gone though...

Untitled

2005-11-12T22:25:00.000+11:00

Was going through to the phone book on Tuesday, and was surprise to find N's number. Gosh, I haven't talked to her in almost two years. Damn good to hear her excited shock when she answered the phone. The last time we met up was in KL when we went to watch our friend perform at Actor's Studio with the gang Melayu. Yes, me the only orang Cina in the gang. Felt very honored to be part of a such a cool and friendly bunch of Melayus. Anyway, was excited to find her living just minutes from me, coz that meant we could meet up anytime.

We caught up on Thursday night, dinner at Nando's. I realized her birthday was the day before, so dinner was on me. It was good to see her again. Although looking as good as always, she did spot a pierced nose and a pierced eyebrow. Reminded me of when I got my ear pierced first year in Melbourne. The urge to experience new things away from home, things that your parents might oppose of. She said the piercings were a way of dealing with stress, by doing something extreme. Her next piercing will probably be the top of her ear, where the cartilage is. Ouch! I think one is enough for me.

Walked her home after dinner. I had an essay to work on, she had to study for her exams next week, but the urge to have a drink at her place was to strong. I ended up indulging in green tea and Cadbury chocolate at her place the rest of the night. Boy, she's a real junkie, chocolate lover, pretty unhealthy, and she knows it. We talked about lots of stuff that night. Her part-time work at Starbucks, her fascination with law, updates on the people from our gang, our thoughts on Melbourne, her current relationship, my accident of the year, my work and studies, our personalities, some stories of our past, shopping, the people I hang out with now are just a few topics. Can't believe I even told her the story of my current little crush, from the time I met this heart-warming person till the thoughts and feelings running through me now. Geez, she's the first person to know the whole story. Think I should be telling this to my little crush instead. Too bad this crush is still attached. Bummer! I did get a pretty good response from N though. Haha. A special to mention to a friend of ours who has been having a wild time in Melbourne, and her reminder to us, 'What ever happened in Melbourne, stays in Melbourne'. Hmmm, I wondered what kinda stuff she's done...

We talked till pretty late so I took a cab home, cost me $6.60 for a 5 minute trip!! Hope to meet up with her and gorgeous A soon before I go back to KL. I must really make sure I keep in touch with these people.

Thought of the Day: Somehow the situation with my crushes are always so complicated. I wish liking someone can be much more simple than my experiences. What you get out off is what you put into it. Surely something to ponder about Howch......

The dole bludger

2005-11-05T22:37:00.000+11:00

Today Pumpkin got a surprise from Cupcake.

I treated lunch at Sumo, reason was the tax refund I just received, which was probably a stupid reason.

Watched Final Fantasy VII at Chit's place. Thought the CGI was superb, probably the best I've seen so far for a cartoon show.

An Aussie guy on the tram started talking to me on the way back. He was wearing an orange cap, quite unshaven and had a wrist bandaid on his left hand. Said it was quite chilly at the moment. Yeah, I agreed, it was colder compared to the last few days. I found out he just move down from Brisbane 3 days ago, coming back to his home town here. Was staying at some place near the museum for $160 week. Said it's better than sleeping out in the streets, an experience which he didn't enjoy. He's still getting used to colded climate over here. Asked him whether he was gonna look for job, but he said nah. Was a bit surprised with his answer, because I was wondering how he was gonna support his rent and other expenses. I don't think he was drunk, but definitely look like a dole bludger to me. Mmm...wonder if he could really afford the rent or he's just going to disappear somewhere else when rent is due. Don't really like this type of people, people who don't care about life, people who do nothing every day, people who do not make any effort to improve their lives, as though expecting some miracle to fall upon them one day and solve all their problems. Are any of these people really happy deep down?

Deeparaya

2005-11-03T22:37:00.000+11:00

Today's the first day of the latest addition to our company. Her name's Samantha. She'll be working as an internal sales personnel, so she'll be in the office most of the time. Looks to be in her early 40s, seems like a nice person. I'll get to know her better in the next few weeks.

I like the name Samantha. It's nice name. Can easily call a friend 'Sam' or 'Sammy' for short. Used to have a tiny crush on this girl named Samantha. Then there's the Samantha from SATC, the one that only looks really hot in bed...geez...I'm such a perv...

This week's Deeparaya, a combined celebration of Hari Raya and Deepavali. A week of low productivity for Malaysia as every Indians and Malays are taking long holidays. Maybe we'll get Cinaraya in the future as well. If an Islamic year is shorter than an official year, then all Muslims should be much older than they are now.

Anyways, bumped into Shiyas from my MBA course on the tram today. He was wearing his customary Indian outfit, so I assumed he was celebrating Deepavali. Lo behold I was darn surprised when he said he just came from a Hari Raya house party. I assumed wrong. He's Muslim! Surprise surprise. Think he's the only Muslim Indian I know. Apparently, he's part of the minority Muslim population (approx. 20%) in India, where it's mostly populated by Hindus and Christians. Come to think of it, he's outfit seemed more Malay now. We then started talking about MBA stuff, which was boring and pointless to include in this blog.

For a few seconds during the conversation, I suddenly started thinking about Shiyas being a potential terrorist. Don't know what got into me. I think watching all this news on terrorism is makes me unconciously have these thoughts on Muslims. I don't like it one bit because I think until there's prove, I should be treating and judging people equally. I guess it might be fear, and just a little thought like this acts as a precaution for me when I meet people.

I mean I wouldn't want to be knowing someone for awhile, only to find that person sitting next to me one day, with a bunch of C4s strap around his/her body, then only think to myself,'Oh, this person is a terrorist, I should be more careful with meeting people next time!'. Will there be a next time for me?

Melbourne Cup day

2005-11-01T21:41:00.000+11:00

It was a pretty hot day today.

Makybe Diva will retire a legend of horseracing after a thrilling third consecutive Melbourne Cup win.

Bought L and R the wedding kettle.

Picked up my swimming stuff and Krispy Kremes from ML's.

Finally started researching on my HRM essay.

Listened to In This Together by Apoptygma Berzerk for the hundreth time, a pretty addictive song.

There goes my long weekend...sigh...

The restaurant manager wannabe

2005-10-31T19:54:00.000+11:00

An Indian girl caught my eye while I was waiting for J and HK at Rose Garden. Pretty attractive. Very nice eyes. She was busy talking to her friend. Definitely not the right occasion to go up and talk to her, but was hoping for her to look in my direction and exchange smiles at least. After a few minutes I totally lost the interest. That's when I had a self realization. Just realized that if a person who I find attractive at first sight doesn't smile within 5 minutes, I will not find her attractive anymore. I guess to me it's a way of saying that she's too serious about life and do not have much sense of humour. Definetly not what I look for in a woman. But of course, you don't want her smiling at her mom's funeral, probably be something wrong with her.

Was waiting for a tram at Bourke St late that night. Didn't know whether there was still tram. Ask this girl whether she was waiting for the 86. Yes. Hopped over the 7-11 to get a slurpee. Maybe I'll have a chat with this girl. She seemed pretty friendly. Wondered what my opening line would be. She was sitting on the bench, shoulders drooping, bag on her lap, casually dressed, looking tired, smoking a cigarette. I think she must have just finished work. I asked. Yes, she just finished work at Hawker's Cafe on Russell St. Recommends the Laksa there. And so the conversation begins...

Her name's Jess, 18, from Mildura. That's pretty far I thought. Read about it on the tourist brochure. It's up at Murray River, place for fishing and wineries. Population of 44K. Anyways, she's just moved down to Melbourne in April, living in student accomodation in Reservoir. First time someone tells me that they live near tram stop 53. Haha. Usually, they will use unusual landmarks to describe where they live. She currently attending cooking school. Cool! A future chef! Currently doing the third certificate (there's a total of 4 certs). They don't have exams or assignments, just assessed on their cooking. Wah...so lucky...just need to cook to pass. How good does that sound?

Family's in Mildura. Her mom's a nurse, dad works in the post office. Started talking about travelling. Says she wants travel and work in the future and Eastern Europe is her first destination. Having been there, told her about the wonderful things you get to see there. Her green eyes seem to light up hearing about it. Haha.

Think she's a person who live in her own little world and live by her own rules. Says she likes to make her own style of cooking, don't like to follow the steps given to her in cooking school. Told her I like cooking too and that I also try to make up my own dishes. I think that's how famous dishes are made, through trial and error. But I also think you also need to have to be natural, the talent in choosing the right ingredients and the right amount. The cooking intuition...hehe. However, says cooking's not her dream, she want to manage a restaurant in the future.

Noticed she's got a missing tooth on the top 4th right from the middle. Started talking about interests. She's into reading. Recommended Bryce Courtney. I'll check her out. Also into shopping, esp music, goes to JB-HiFi at least once a week. Did not get the chance to ask her what type of music she likes. Doesn't like Melbourne that much, think the people here are snobbish, difficult to make friends. I can see where she's coming from coz she's comes from a town where she knows everyone.

I think she's very mature for her age. She seems to know what she wants in life and seems to be heading in the right direction with what she's doing now. She's pretty shy though, kept looking down when we talk. Giggles lots too. Can see that she's not used to talking to people, and giggling's a way to be in her comfort zone.

Everyone has a comfort zone. Sometimes it's easy to spot, sometimes it's not. In my opinion, it's those people who get out their comfort zones that go far in life. It's all about knowing when to get out of it...

The property developer

2005-10-04T22:58:00.000+10:00

Was on the tram heading home one day, sat next to this asian girl. She looked bored. Was about to start a conversation with her. Then something funny happened. This greek-looking, bald on the top, big-bellied guy, whose shirt was so short that his hairy belly was showing, sitting opposite me, let out a yawn. Then he asked me if I was from Vietnam. Instead, I talked to him in the end. Haha.

Name's Tony, a property developer. Got his licence suspended for maxing out his demerit points, the last violation was talking on the mobile while driving. He was on his way to visit his parents, and we later found out that we were getting off the same stop. His dad just had stroke and isn't doing too well at the moment. Anyway's we got into talking about property developing. He was a partner in a propety developing company, and it's good field to go into if you're looking to earn lots of money in a short period. One of his partners who got into the field very early on became a multi-millionaire within 10 years. Did not show my surprise, but deep down I was like 'Wow! That's pretty good!'. He said his company usually build factories and town houses. Asked how it worked. He said you need to start of by finding the right land, reasonable and good location. Then you need to get contracts to build the buildings, the longer you're in the field, the better your contacts are, the better contractors you will get. Obviously, you want builders who will finish the job on time and on budget. They usually build about 6 townhouses a year, but the profits there already. Tony used this example, a townhouse is built for $100k and sold for $300k, you make $200k gross profit, $100k after tax. You should be basically making 100% profit for each building. Maybe I should consider this kind business in the future...

He asked me if I was married already. Muahaha. Do I look the marrying type? Or do I look that old enuogh to get married? Told him I was still pretty young and definitely not ready. He said he's divorced with 2 girls who's he also visiting at his parents home. Things didn't work with out with the wife and told me to make sure I find the right woman to marry. I will keep that in mind Tony.

Started talking about his millionaire business partner, who's still single and pretty sick of the business. Been around the world 3 times already. But desn't seem happy with life. He must be in his mid-40s already. With the wealth he has, I think he should retire and start a family already. Wonder why it's so hard for him to find a wife? Too high expectations? Or not good with women? Or maybe afraid that she'll marry him for the money? Jeez, I guess it's true when they say money can't buy happiness. This guy has done everything in life except find happiness.

Maybe I should marry a rich woman who I'll be happy to be with for life. Sort of killing two birds with one stone.

From Latvia with hope

2005-09-26T20:16:00.000+10:00

Met this guy on the tram. Was asking me how long it takes to get to the McDonalds at Bundoora. Name's Vadimir, from Latvia. Tall, brownish hair. Said he just came down to Melbourne to work, and will be staying with a people he met through this backpackers website (I can't remember the URL) until he gets a place of his own. Wish I remembered the website, coz it might be useful in the future when I go travelling around the world. Asked him why he wanted to move down here. He said that althought it's easy to get a job in Latvia, the pay's no good, just not enough to support himself. So he got this special working visa through some course he did in Latvia to work in Australia. Interesting. His girlfriend is coming down to Melbourne soon to stay with him. Started talking about Latvia. Still a third world communist country. Seems like nobody wants to work there because of the pay, and everyone's going to other Europe countries to work. Only bout 5% of the population are well off.

Started talking about him. He's got some diploma in the electronics field and knows little about IT. He was pretty enthusiatic about getting a job in IT here, and was really hoping to get a job within the next week or so. I know it would be hard for him to land a good job here with his education background, but of course not to disappoint him, told him that the market's pretty hot at the moment, but it's difficult due to many people applying. Told him it's better to take up any job offered to him now, casual or part-time, could be some reception job, help desk, etc. What he needed to do was build up his CV as he hasn't got one at the moment. Slowly work his way up. Think he sort of understood me.

I knew he did not have that much money. I knew he had to look for work quick. I think he knows that too, but he did not show it. The expression on his face was one full of hope and calmness, as though it didn't bothered him at all. It's amazing how hope makes people take sacrifices in their life, and it's no different for this guy. He has sacrificed his family, his aging parents, to come to Australia to earn a better living, but with no certainty that he will. Boy, I hope everything goes well for him, that he finds a job soon. He seems like a really nice person.

Surprise to bump into him again a week later in the city. He's found a place to stay for 70 dollars a week but is still looking for work. Gave him some websites where he can search for jobs. Asked him to be patient and continue to keep trying. Exchanged mobile numbers as well. I believe that he'll eventually get work, might not be what he wants to do, but it's better than nothing. His expression's still the same, still full of hope and positiveness.

Maybe if he calls me to catch up one day, the hope that he carries will have been realized.

Return of the blogger

2005-09-18T18:09:00.000+10:00

People are just interesting creatures, especially the ones that you just meet of the streets. Think I will dedicated this blog to the strangers I get to meet everyday, whether it be on the tram, on the streets or a friend's friend. It's about time I remember how much I would know about these people, talking to them in such a short time frame of my life. Maybe add in my thoughts on them as well, maybe some assumptions, maybe some predictions...I don't know. I think I'll see how it goes...

Just a reminder

2005-07-04T01:07:00.000+10:00

Just want to remind myself what happened the past few months.

Been exactly 6 months since I started working at Impact Data.

Been on a few company incentive trips. The fishing trip. The ski trip. The dinner and Circus Du Soliel outing.

Been on a couple of drives with the Toyota Echo Club. Torquay. Sorrento. Mt Dandenong. Sugarload Reservoir. Runs at Werribee.

And catching up with friends.

Suspended

2005-02-07T00:53:00.000+11:00

Man, I think blogging's no fun anymore. Mabye it's beacuse everything seems to be rountine nowadays. Nothing much to say about life other than work and weekends. Mondays to Fridays, I wake up in the morning, go to work and come back tired, then head to bed. I would spent Saturdays at the badminton club and Sundays at the soccer field. Yes, it's become quite routine for me and I think it would be stupid to blog about the same thing every week.

I think I will take a break from blogging until I can find something interesting which I can blog about constantly. Sigh...

My first day

2005-01-04T21:46:00.000+11:00

Today was my first day full-time work. I found it pretty fun and challeging because I'm learning everything from scratch again. There's not much that I've learnt at Uni that I could really apply here, which is good, because I didn't really enjoy the work at Uni, sad to say. Met all my colleagues at work today. They are a really friendly and helpful bunch, and they made me really feel welcomed at the company.

And the benefits are great!!!
I work in the development deparement with 4 other guys. We would have breaks every 2 hours where we would do some stretching, which I found really relaxing. We also have a ping pong table where we can play ping pong anytime we want, as long as we get our work done of course. Later, I found that we get a massieur in every fortnight to give us massages. How cool is that!! Definitely can't wait for my body to be pampered...hehe

So far so good...

The end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one

2004-12-28T23:33:00.000+11:00

Graduation day wasn't all that exciting. The ceremony lasted for 3 hours, and it felt bloody hot wearing that gown in a tiny hall crowded with graduates and their families. After it ended, had to walk around taking pictures with family and friends under the hot sun. Then we had to wait in a long queue at Union House to get shots done by a professional. Then had to rush to return the gown to avoid paying the penalty. It did not sound like fun, but deep down I was very happy and relieved to have completed my degree and moving on to the next stage of my life.

Been searching for jobs and going to many interviews for the past six months, and it's finally paid off! Got a call last week for an interview at this small firm called Impact Data, and they hired me straight away after the interview. Guess I made a really good impression. Haha! My soon-to-be employers seemed to be very friendly and good people, looks promising. Can't wait to start next year!

Geez, blogging can be pretty boring sometimes.

K's birthday

2004-12-02T16:19:00.000+11:00

Talk about carelessness turning into luck. Here's the story:

It was my friend's, K, birthday dinner yesterday. After dinner, we're taking group pictures outside the restaurant. So he left his present, a 50ml ACQUA DI GIO, on one of the seats to go pose for the cameras. He totally forgot about it , and when we went back to look for it, of course not there la. Then a guy standing there said that someone walking a dog took it. So we drove off looking for the bastard, but no luck. Later, we suspected that the guys standing there took it because his story wasn't very convincing. But that's not the story.
So of course we all felt bad for K, especially K's girlfriend PL, but at the same time we thought he was very careless. So guess what we did? K's friends went to get a 15ml ACQUA DI GIO from L's gift pack at L's house and gave it K. PL called up her mom, who was at KLIA heading here, and ask her to get a 100ml ACQUA DI GIO for K. From 50ml to 115ml. Geez, talk about carelessness turning into luck...and bless the person who stole K's present...

From the Da Vinci code

2004-11-07T02:05:00.000+11:00

"…his great golden spear…filled with fire… plunged into me several times…penetrated to my entrails…a sweetness so extreme that one could not possibly wish it to stop." - St. Teresa

Memoir of 440

2004-10-28T19:58:00.000+10:00

"Girls wear skirts when it's cold to lose weight. When it's cold, they start to shiver, and shivering burns up fat." -- Just Julz

"What's red and yellow and floats on the pool?
A slashed baby with floats."
"What's green and yellow at the bottom of the pool?
The same baby 2 months later." -- Baby Jokes by Raunchy Rob

"Crap..." -- Said at least once per day by Jolly Jamie

"10 minutes?" (Quake playing time)

"How come you're so big?" -- Just Julz

"Oops, keep forgetting you're vegetarian" -- Me after offering meat to Likeable Lenneke again

"When you add the licence, coming from the product, you need to passing in the parameter, it seems backend is wrong to get the value..." -- Alex
"WTF?" -- Lenneke trying to understand Awesome Alex's powderful England

"How do you turn on the remote control?" -- Julz as a dumb housewife

"How can you play soccer with a g-string on?" -- Me

"Huh?...Huh?...Huh?" -- Jackal Joseph

"Do you have a...what is that called...a dildo?" -- Alex asking Julz

"This is a dildo" -- Terrific Tony holding a french fry

"Wayne, you were suppose to design part of the poster" -- Me
"Yeah, I'll get it done by Wednesday" -- Wanker Wayne on Monday, after we handed in the poster last Friday

"Ask our lawyer, Jarrod" -- Team TWAIN preparing for Viva

"Let me give you a massage" -- Pey hitting violently at Rob

"Why does mine take so long to load?" -- Me
"Try to stop downloading so much porn" -- Lazy Peter

"Stainless Steele" -- Team TWAIN supervisor's nick

"So full from eating beans, Java Beans..." -- Humble Hendrik

"Do you miss you girlfriend?" -- Me
"Na...I mean yes..." -- Hendrik

"You look like gangster" -- Alex Gunawan

"You got a haircut!" x 10 to Jarrod by everyone of us in a space of 5 minutes and almost getting annoyed by it

"So what does your system...hey look at that cool car!" -- Endeavour Day with our booth beside the mechanical engineering project

"You can have my cream" -- Me at 440 dinner

"Is Wendy well hung?" -- Janice from Team D

"You suck!" -- Jamie favourite comment to Tony
"You swallow" -- Tony's reply

"I hate software engineering" -- Rob, Lenneke, Peter, Juliana and Hendrik in no particular order

"Should I give you a kiss?" -- Hendrik to Tony

"We managed to get through another audit with only minor problems mainly due exclusively to Rob Moss" -- Wayne

"Despite popular support for Team Raunchy Rob, I urge people to reconsider before making any decisions that we'll regret later on... :)" -- Jarrod

"Whoever gets the highest mark for 443 has the honor of doing EVT" -- Team TWAIN

What names did people come up for the team?
Team Antidote
Team Anaemia
Team Agenda
Team Anaphylactic
Team Anabolic
Team Anti-Christ
Team Armageddon
Team Autopsy
Team Ars
Team Asexual
Team Ant
Team Assault
Team Atrophy
Team Arachnophobia
Team Amadeus
Team Amphetamine
Team Advertisement
Team Awww fuck it...
Team Without An Interesting Name (TWAIN)
Team Accident
Team Aggression
Team Alliance
Team Abandonment
Team Aggregation
Team Aim
Team Awful
Team Awe
Team Amazement

"Come on... which one of you guys changed my .bash_profile while I was away? grrrrrr...*" -- Julz
"Yeah, mine too" -- Tony

"What is FOC?" -- Jamie & Tony (apparently Aussies don't use this abbreviation)

Do Re Mi

2004-10-23T10:25:00.000+10:00

DOE, the stuff that buys me beer
RAY, the guy who sells me beer
ME, the guy who drinks the beer
FAR, the distance to my beer
SO, I think I'll have a beer
LA, la, la, la, la, la beer
TEA, no thanks, I'm drinking beer
That will bring us back to DOH!

--Homer Simpson

Get well

2004-10-21T21:46:00.000+10:00

My dear buddy has fallen for sick, how she fell for such a thing, I would never know. :) Hope she recovers soon. I'll take a break now, while I write this get-well poem to her.

When you have an headache, take panadol
When you are coughing, take cough drops
When your throat is soar, take strepsils
When your nose is running away, take flu tablets

When you have all these symptoms, you got a bad virus
What do you do then? You take all of the above
But hey, you're missing the best medicine of all
Laughter, happiness, friends who care for you

And like you said, a hot cup of honey lemon drink...

Get well soon dude!

A quiz

2004-10-19T16:53:00.000+10:00

I scored a 47% on the "How Hong Kong Are You?" Quizie! What about you?

Ode to Friendship

2004-10-04T22:55:00.000+10:00

Yesterday, we had a good time
Overnight, it was the total opposite
Uncalled for, such misery
Definitely time to put it out
On the next lines I will write
How good memories should be kept
Apples I bring you bite first
Very cute chubby faces we have
Emoticons, emoticons we play
Aiding each other during exams
Silent farts all around
Parties == high and drunk
Eating yummy durian gelati
Complaints we listen to
In lala land you go without me
All those nice talks we had
Laughing everywhere we go
Puke virgin no more
Lots of nice messages sent
All those good times at your place
Chit Wai's stories
Encouragement and support we give
In the labs hanging out
Nicks that keep on changing
Melons are not dumb
Your warmth and presence
Having you around is a joy
Endless is my memory of us
A handful I mention here
Reconsider please
This is harder than I thought it'd be

Mixed emotions

2004-10-03T21:54:00.004+10:00

Mixed emotions I'm feeling now
And no, I didn't sleep well
Yesterday, was one saddest day of my life
And yes, my heart feels it too, that knife

Been only a few months, but enough said
Lots of happiness with you I've had
Until now, I've been unsure
Such joy cannot last forever

Decided, hurt, sorry...I know how you feel
With this following words I leave you
Do skip through this once more, first
You will find my something from me, then

You know how much you mean to me.

2004-10-03T03:36:00.000+10:00

Today is one of the saddest days of my life. I want to remember this day.

I dreamt...

2004-09-19T22:39:00.000+10:00

Alien vs Predators - It was a peaceful night at the village. Some of use were gathered at the house, having a good time. I looked out the window and stared across the barren land in front of me, blinded by its darkness. I heave a sigh of relief. Maybe not tonight I thought to myself as I turned away from the window. Suddenly, we hear RUMBBLING...oh no...they are coming. I look out the window again. Yes, they are coming. I see them, hoards of them, running towards the village. A guy starts shouting, "get back to your houses! get back to your houses!" Within seconds, they sweep past the village like hungry wolves chasing its prey, with purpose in their eyes. They are not after us, they are after them. I think to myself, why the hell are we right in the middle of a war zone, a war between Aliens and Predators. Oh no, some of them stopped, climbing over the fence that protects the village from these ferocious beasts. I won't be safe in my house for long. But what can I do? I have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I stare out the window again. It's them. The predators. Have they defeated the aliens already? Have they come to kill the rest? The aliens come into the house. I need to escape. I run into an elavator. Hurry. I enter a supermarket. I'm running as fast as I can with the alien closing in behind. I turn into an aisle. The alien skids pass me, unable to grip the floor with its sharp claws. A turn again, another alien, shit! He is real close. Suddenly he pounces, I duck in time to see the alien fly over me, landing into a pile of canned food. Can somebody please stop this war...please...

Sex in a Kancil

2004-09-11T22:03:00.000+10:00

An article I found on the web.

Subject: SEX IN A KANCIL..........
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 11:19:00 +0800
Thursday, August 05, 2004

Dear Lai Ma on 'Sex in Kancil'
The recent hoo-ha over a couple having sex inside a Kancil has spilled over to the 5Star. Many readers have written in to asked for our expert advice.
Our 5Star columnist, Ms Lai Ma(formerly a karaoke lounge singer), is more of a 'Mercedes type' rather than a 'Kancil type'. Nevertheless, she will try to answer your questions as best as she can. And we wish to remind you that the 5Star is 5 times better than that lousy dipshit one-Star competitor.

Dear Lai Ma
Every time I and my girlfriend make out in a Kancil, the car will start rocking up and down. This motion attracts the attention of passing cops who then come and park their motorcycle in front of the car. Is there a way to prevent the Kancil from rocking up and down? I have already changed the absorbers, tyres and even the cushion covers, but nothing works. I hope you don't mind my asking you this very technical question.
Nuclear Scientist

Dear Nuclear Scientist
This is a very technical problem and needs very specialized knowledge to solve. I know that my departmental office boy makes out with his girlfriend in a Kancil in the car park at night. He uses a car jack to first jack up the side of the car a bit. When the weight of the car rests on four wheels and one jack, it will not rock very much. Don't be afraid to ask us technical questions. We, at the 5Star, are all very technical people.

Dear Lai Ma
I have made out with guys in both Mercedes and Kancils. I find that I am able to achieve better orgasms inside a Kancil. Does that mean that Kancil drivers are better lovers than Mercedes drivers?
Beh Pai Seh

Dear Beh Pai Seh
Kancil drivers are not better lovers. The reason why you have been getting better orgasms in a Kancil is because the car is very cramped inside, which gave you a much tighter feeling. The tighter the better mah......

Dear Lai Ma
My boyfriend just bought a new Kancil and I find that there is not enough space in the back seat for proper lovemaking. My legs would stick out of the left window and his legs stick out of the right window. Do you think we should modify the car?
Miss Contort

Dear Miss Contort
Your legs.....left window....his legs......right window. Oh...I understand now!
Please do not, I repeat, do not attempt the "sixty-nine" position inside any car. Get a hotel room instead.

Dear Lai Ma
We read so much about people having sex in a Kancil. My girlfriend and I decided to try it. So yesterday she went down on me in the front seat. But I find that the Kancil is really cramped, and her head keeps blocking me from reaching the gear shift. Is this normal?
First Timer

Dear First Timer
You want to reach the gear shift, for what? Oh....my.....gawd......!!! You are awesome !!! But I think that in future, before you and your girlfriend try oral sex, you should stop the car first.

Dear Lai Ma
I hear everybody talking about having sex with kancil nowadays, like it is the hottest thing to do. I orso want. So I go to the jungle to see if I can catch a female kancil. But I catch nothing. Because I think everybody caught all the kancil already. Never leave some for me. Why like dat? Why the world so fucked up?
Chin Tu Lan

Dear Tu Lan
You are a pervert. Also retarded. Very. People have sex in Kancil, not with kancil. You understand the difference or not, idiot? Ni Na Beh. I don't want to answer this type of sick questions any more. And how many times must I tell you not to write to me? But my talkcock editor said that we are a 5 star paper and we should not discriminate against perverts. He said that dirty perverts need love too. What a moron. But okay, if you want to make love to Kancil, go right ahead. Just stick your dick into the exhaust pipe, and have fun. And tell me which Kancil you are using. Because I want to come and start the engine.

Lesson Learnt Today: Never have sex in/with a Kancil. I recommend a Toyata Landcruiser instead.
Quote Of The Day: Don't throw the baby out with the bath water, hold on dearly to those most important to you.

I dreamt...

2004-09-11T13:08:00.000+10:00

We were in a room. You asked me to help you out. I agreed. We left the room. You told them what you wanted. Everyone was against you. Parents, friends. I didn't defend for you. You cried. I saw you cry for the first time. I felt bad. I was sorry. You avoided me. You wanted to go. Listen to me first. 11 boys and 2 girls in a b-ball team, they might not mind. That was my best advice. It wasn't much but I wanted to make you feel better. You smiled. We parted. I hope nothing has changed.

I dreamt...

2004-09-08T21:55:00.000+10:00

I probably should go home now. Let's see what time it is. It's 2am already? I can't possibly get home now.
"Can I stay over at your place? There's no more trams."
"Sure, see you downstairs."
"You're still at ICT?"
"Yeah"
I go downstairs. What the hell is everyone doing at 2 in the morning? Fuzziness creeps in...

Metaphorically, the word "dream" stands for "hopes" and "wishes". In fact, life is full of disappointments, and it is a normal thing that one fails in reaching one's goals and making one's hopes come true. Thus, in order to escape this low feeling of depression, one tries to look on the bright side by means of dreaming. I disagree. I believe you can still dream even if you lead a happy life, much better dreams...

Today, I saw an asian dude tumbling down a flight of stairs. My first time. He didn't move, in crunched up position, seemed like he was passed out. As usual, people just looked on. I went over to him and shook him lightly, asking him if he's okay. No response. He was moving slightly though, looked like he was wincing in pain, maybe partly concious. What should I do? Is the scene safe? Yeah, it was. Right at that moment, I couldn't remember what I learnt in first aid. Damn, or maybe I was to afraid to perform it. Never had to before. Go get help. That security guy in the little room of his came out. He did the rest. Nothing left for me to do here. Head off to my lecture. Wonder how he is now?

Lesson Learnt Today: Always be prepared to help someone in distress even if you screw up your first aid.
Quote Of The Day: Some men see things as they are and say, "Why?" I dream of things that never were and say, "Why not?" - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

My first post

2004-09-07T21:52:00.000+10:00

This is my first blog, and what should I write about? My day? Good.

You know, I tried starting a diary years ago, way back during high school, but I think I only got to page 10. Yes, page 10. How I loved to write. Just wondering why I want to start writing my thoughts again. I love thinking but I hate writing. I think it's just a waste of time. To me, expressing your personal thoughts on paper (or better still over the free for all internet) is for people who are lonely, who have nothing better to do, or just want to have some part of their memory kept in another place that probably isn't safe, you know, with all those spycams lying around, waiting patiently for you to expose some nasty secret so they can tell the whole world how you broke your foot doing a reverse flying kick wearing slippers in the car porch. Anyways, I was rummaging through my stuff last year, throwing away anything that smelt bad in the room, and I came across that "10 page" diary. I read and I just laughed. Was that all I wrote about during high school? No wonder I am what I am now today. Have I changed? Yes, I guess, but that's only because I of the bloody situation I'm in now. Software engineering! Why the heck did I choose software engineering! I could have done psychology. Ahhh, psychology, the art of manipulating people's minds. Imagine being able to make people like something that they don't like and make them not like it after but they can not not like it because they already like something that they don't like and they get really confused on what to and not to like and blow up into little pieces. Muahaha. Forget that. I will stop here. Need to sleep. I have no idea what I just wrote.

Lesson Learnt Today: Melons are dumb, try talking to them and you'll see what I mean.
Mystery Of The Day: How the hell did the toilet bowl side in the ICT level 2 men's toilet get covered in shit?
Another Lesson Learnt Today: Idiots probably don't know where their ass holes are.