The Expectant

Gawd I feel like a pregnant lady, feeling hungry all the time. At least, I think that's how a pregnant woman would feel.

In any case, I've been keeping this up enough to have enough weight around my belly to feel pregnant.

Sigh.

Getting Panned

I've been called many things in my lifetime - fat, skinny, short, hairy, quiet, shy, stubborn, snob, pondan, gay, Thai, Malay, and even Japanese. Well I gained another two labels just today in a single sitting.

Fella #1: Don't you think he looks Malay?
Me: (Here we go again)
Fella #2: Not really. He looks more like... like... like a Filipino!
Me: (Pinoy boy! Whoo!)
Fella #3: No no no... more like Myanmarese!
Me: ...

Talk about Pan-Asian... I've gained eligibility for half the Orient and almost all of South East Asia by now.

An Idle Idyll

There I was having a simple, non-fussy lunch of chap fan, and I looked about myself. At the airy roadside shack I was in. At the grass and trees that grew all around. And the folks sitting at the other tables with their small talk.

And I thought to myself: How idyllic this is, really. To be away from the hustle and bustle. Away from the incessant traffic. Away from all the drama.

It lasted for all of one minute, then I remembered how bored I am without overpriced cafes, international cuisine and a perpetual internet connection.

Quiet Now

Oh but it's been a hectic week. And more hectic weeks to come.

But all is quiet now... I'm home, with a little vodka, and strains of bossa nova.

Tonight, I'm taking time out for myself. Being by myself, I celebrate being myself.

Life's beautiful, after all.

Work Bag In Hand, I Leave Home In The Early Morning

And the year is off to a slow start. Project schedule's been revised yet again so it looks like I'm gonna be hanging around the prawny river for a little while more, yet. Ah heck, gives me a little more time to plan my holiday...

Yeah, we're knuckling the dreams of new year parties from our sleepy eyes and finally getting back into the rhythm of day-to-day work, yet it's not quite full-steam ahead. No, not with the Lunar New Year just a waning moon away.

But it's not quite that that I've my sights set on. Weekends and festivals are good, but they're just fillers till it's time to take off.

Three months. And counting...

Time
I've been passing time watching trains go by
All of my life
Lying on the sand watching seabirds fly
It Might Be You : Stephen Bishop

It's Not So Quiet, Shh Shh

So the year's winding down, and everyone seems to be having a havoc time, holidaying (for those clearing their leaves) or working (or making a show of it, anyway). Over here in drownedglass land, all hell seems bent on breaking loose at my job site. No rest for the wicked? Mayhaps, but all I can do over here is pester those responsible to get the problems solved pronto, year-end holidays and annual leaves be damned.

In between placating clients, pushing colleagues and pummeling contractors, there's still time enough for me to patter away on my keyboard, perhaps reminisce about the year that's just about to pass on... but you know, the end-of-December miasma is not just making me slack on work, my brain's kinda on auto-pilot mode which means I can't really write this post either. Hence, the meandering (even more than usual). Ah heck, I'll just be lazy and recap the highlights of my 2008 that managed to get blogged about :P

January: The month of firsts... My first and (I swear) last experience of letting fish eat me. Also my first (and hopefully not last) taste of Delish cupcakes. And the first of what would turn to be a semi-regular gathering with a bunch of real titties!

February: What else, but Chinese New Year (it's a short month) and that never-to-be-fulfilled non-resolution.

March: I turned 32 *yawn*. More significantly, there was plenty of food, especially meat. And Cook said hello to me... ME!

April: Stork delivered a boy (like, finally)! Began mulling over migration about this time, though I'm lingering on still.

May: Went to heaven, then to hell, and found a little hope. It helped that I had a new toy to play with.

June: A lousy time, and not just because of the exorbitant fuel price hike.

July: Compensated by throwing myself into SYTYCD Season 4, and, inspired by the choreography and songs, made up not one, not two, but three stories. I guess dream therapy helps.

August: Had started my exile at the end of June and barely had time for anything - be it friends, family or blogging. All work + no play = dull boy.

September: Seems like the exile was cutting off my social life to the point where I got all maudlin over meat.

October: Things picked up with the return of a certain prodigal, and gay ol' times were had with the ex- (and the practically-ex) bloggers - including the rather terrifying introduction of jiu hu char into my potluck repertoire and the uttering of what is most certainly the quote of the year.

Novemeber: A very good month indeed - completed my dream collection, a wish finally came true, and I rediscovered my roots... "di sebalik batu", so to speak.

December: With things to look forward to, I take a wistful look backwards. But the year is drawing to a close, and with that comes high spirits and the inevitable family drama (or perhaps it was just me storming in a teacup... as usual).

All in all, I had a very good year indeed. The job's so much better than my previous one; my circle of friends has grown wider, yet no less cosy; there's stuff to look forward to (at least for a little while); and generally things are looking kinda up, despite the downturn. Who knows what tomorrow would bring, but it doesn't really matter. I've learnt that I have grown enough to face all sorts of shit now, and what with such wonderful people surrounding me, everything will be quite alright, as long as we hold on together.

Happy New Year, everybelly!

Things A Mother Needn't Know: Example 19

Me: Hi, Mum!
Mum: Hi! Where are you?
Me: Oh just driving home from annual dinner.
Mum: You sound happy...
Me: Happy? Ah, no lah... I'm just drunk *giggle*

You just gotta love year-ends!

Pounds Lost, Pounds Gained

This is what happens when pong-pong people get bored on a day off and go berjalan-jalan aimlessly.

First, we eat (but of course): spicy gon lo pan mee in the heart of KL, in a restaurant called Kin Kin. Amusing anecdotes are scrawled (rather uglily) on the walls, and everything's standardised to the point where there's a sign proclaiming "no big no small", which I take to mean that you'd be rude to talk about the size of their... erm... servings.

Thereafter, it was off to have a walk in The Gardens. Amazingly, we spent quite a bit of time just strolling through a single floor. It's quite evil, really, with all the sales going on. Almost convinced some of the others to buy a really soft and comfy jacket from Puma...

And then the real shopping started. In, of all places, Robinsons. All those extra 20% off for Maxis users just did us in. How did four guys wind up spending over an hour just looking at bedsheets?! Everyone had something to buy - I myself ended up with an olive green bedsheet and olive green placemats. As the Hokkiens would say (sort of), it's cheap and it's green...

Tea was ice-cream (did that sound conflicting?) at BR Cafe. We were craving for the waffle ice-cream but the darn place was not offering the Maple Walnut ice cream to go with it! How can?! Talk about not doing their menu any justice. And the service staff, gawd, they're so slow-mo even their brains run in reverse... At least they were still serving Jamoca Almond Fudge, otherwise they may as well just close shop.

All that walking (and eating) made us wanna go try out massage chairs and such. So we went to all those usual places for sitting and kneading, and even ended up trying out body fat machines. Eeeks! I had the highest body fat percentage among the four of us... well, not entirely surprising to me lah. Even though my BMI was nicely average, my body fat was measured at 24% - that's like borderline acceptable... as in bordering with obese! Oh my gawd! I insist it's the fact I don't retain water all that well that's screwing with the bioelectric impedance analysis...

That revelation was such a downer that I had to bring everyone to eat BKT for dinner just to cheer up! (Actually I was planning that even from the night before, but as my mom said, I'm a "drama king")

What with all the eating, shopping, and eating again, it looks like my plan to save up some pounds (sterling, £) and shed some pounds (mass, lb) is going oh so perfectly well... just with my pounds mixed up. Urrrgh!

Sigh, and as if to add insult to injury, I had to go to a tailor to get measured for a uniform today (how many 'to's are there in this sentence?)...

Auntie: Your waist 35", okay?
Me: HAH??? But I'm wearing 32" pants!
Auntie: *measures again* Nope, it's 35.

OH MY GAAAAAWD!

*faints*

If Wishes Came True

Naughty or nice? With X'mas less than a month away, I guess now's a good time to talk about the things I've been wishing for. Surely I deserve them, for I've been nice. Well, maybe I've been naughty too but we're talking about being naughty in nice ways ;-)

1. Things that make me go awww...

I'll start this easy. Despite being thirtysomething, I'm not ashamed of being still in touch with my inner Calvin. So wickedly adorable stuff like this raunchy reindeer is always welcome. Feel free to buy one for me, at kidrobot.com :D


2. A better bedfellow

I've said time and time again, I'm fine sleeping without air-conditioning. But the sad fact is, I'm a rare breed (rare enough to ask WWF for help, I warrant), and people who'd want to sleep with me, more often than not, aren't so cool about sweaty sex in an unchilled room. So it looks like, sooner or later, I gotta hook up an aircon in the bedroom, for the sake of nuzzling, cuddling and "dot dot dot". Of course, an Energy Star rated one would be good - save money, save the world! I suppose I could afford to get one but there are so many other things clamouring for my hard-earned money. Things like...


3. A 3G WiFi phone with GPS

Like, so much of my life is online these days I'd even be chatting with friends around the table and have side conversations online with those same people! Most phones would get you online but WiFi gets you online for free (when you're in a hotspot anyway). Unfortunately, there aren't too many models boasting WiFi and even less come bundled with A-GPS - not exactly necessary, but I've seen how well it works first hand, and it helps for people like me who like to get off the beaten track in the hunt for nice shots. Of course, shots like that would be best captured with the use of...


4. A Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera

And it's gotta be a Nikon! Don't get me wrong, I love my less-than-a-year-old P60, but obviously I can do so much more with a DSLR. And I'm getting so into taking photos I'm starting to feel like I wouldn't really mind lugging the baby around wherever I go.These things come with a hefty price tag, though, and that's before all the extra lens and accessories. The cost of D40 with kit lens alone would pay for the air tickets to get me to...


5. Melbourne

I so wanna go back there again, even though I've heard about how much it's changed. But somehow, something stopped me from hopping onto the free air ticket bandwagon. Probably I was worried about my work schedule, and the expenses I'd incur. But now I know it was really the holding out in the hope of a better offer. Something like cheap tickets to...


6. London

Yup, I've been wishing for this for almost two years! And as of today, it's officially OFF my wishlist. Although I had to be my own genie in this case and pay for my own air tickets, and I'm taking chances here by flying long-haul on budget air. Still worried about my work schedule and expenses, but ah heck, screw them! Just in case though, I'm updating this wish from "tickets to London" to "sponsors for accomodation, meals and transport".

*BIG HINT to all you people in London* :P


Bonus: World Peace

I really do want world peace! Joystick, peace and love!

The Ti*ni@s!ng Race Klang Valley

Whew! What a day it has been, running around the valley, trying to accomplish quite a number of things in a single Saturday. Got up early, gave the apartment a cursory scrub and I was out the door by 9:30 am.

Checkpoint 1: Suria KLCC
Task: Purchase a discounted copy of Absolute Sandman Volume IV
Found out that the tome was out, was available in Kinokuniya, and what's more, Kinokuniya's Christmas sale has started! Unfortunately it was not 30% off as I had hoped (could have saved RM100!) but 20% was still a good discount. Got in as they raised the shutters and left with the satisfaction of knowing I wouldn't have to wait anymore to get my grubby hands on the final volume of the whole series. Hooray!

Detour 1: Yulek, Cheras
Task: Service the car
It was time to service the car and I figured I really had to get this done this week in anticipation of maybe needing to do a spot of travelling next week. Decided to pay a trip to the old neighbourhood to see if, by some unlikely chance, the hot young mechanic was still working there. Alas, he was not, unless he had transformed into that fat and ugly AND short guy working there. Damn! On the plus side, I had a chance to have my brunch there, something I haven't done since I moved out of that particular suburb. Not that the food was great, but simply for its nostalgic value.

Bonus Task: At any point in the day, get a Toffee Nut Latte from any Starbucks outlet
Despite having to do all that, I managed to arrive at my next destination at about 12 pm. Plenty of time to stroll around, check out CD's, buy some toiletries, and yes, grab a takeaway coffee. The Toffee Nut Latte is one of the things I look forward to when Christmas swings around. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy, not to mention feeling like a New Yorker when I strode down The Street with that cup in my hand. Got stopped and pestered by a rather desperate credit card salesman (not a cute one though) who wouldn't take no for an answer. I smugly told him he was gonna make me spill my coffee, flipped my hair, and I waltzed off, leaving him gaping like a fish that was not drowning. More or less.

Checkpoint 2: The Curve
Task: Locate buddies and complete one Body Jam class
Toffee Nut Latte in hand, I found Eugene and Kyen easily enough, sitting in a kopitiam. I blatantly sat down with them with my "outside drink" (see, I can walk on the wild side too!). Caught up on the weekly gossip (these two are capable of accomplishing in one week what I might need a month to do), then dragged our butts to gym. Did not actually complete the class but I suppose it's alright cos I only skipped the cool down and I'v always made it a point not to cool down to the strains (literally) of Beautiful Liar, anyway.

Detour 2: Bukit Jalil
Task: Meet up with several people, one of whom will lead everyone to the next destination
Supposedly we were to go to Port Klang for seafood. But the combination of distance and lack of familiarity led us to consider other options. In the end , it was qwazymonkey who led us to...

Checkpoint 3: Kelana Jaya
Task: Eat sea creatures. And some land ones, too.
With WiFi, Saoba, qwazymonkey and assorted hubbies-in-tow, I found myself in a restaurant with a suspiciously red-sounding name, City Star, not too far from Dataran Prima. Service was wanting - it took them forever and then some to put our orders on the table. Thankfully, the food was pretty good, so all was forgiven once our bellies were full and happy.

Final Task: Present cakes and gifts to the birthday boy
After dinner, everyone adjourned to my place so that we could sing off-tune birthday songs, play with the presents, and generally act silly in private. The birthday boy walked in to find a tray of mini cuppacakes and a basket of bitches waiting for him. A fun time was had by all. Well, maybe except for the token straight fella who was missing his football game but we're not the type to understand such things.

Man, I'm now looking forward to spending Sunday doing nothing much altogether.

Flowers In The Wind

I didn't have a boyfriend at that time
T'was supposedly a love just to pass time
Friendship was the excuse that I gave
So why is it that I'm still giving chase?

(Reinterprated from here)

It would seem that I never pursue, much less fight, for what I want. Perhaps it's just the way I am. But it seems that way because what I want is not quite as concrete as what most people want. And what I want most is often what the people I care about want.

I do fight. Just not so obviously as most would, for the reasons most do.

I do dream. But they're dreams built of emotion rather than ambition.

And when I love, all I seem to do is let go.

But this is me, dreaming.

This is me, fighting.

Halcali : Long Kiss Goodbye

The full song's available here, complete with lots of neon gear :P

The One That Rules The Roast

One thing good about living in the valley - you can find some really good char siew around here. And I do mean really good. So when (admittedly, quite some time back) Cubitt proposed to have dinner at a restaurant that serves THE BEST char siew, the lesbians, the Londoner and I all flocked over to Hoong Loong in Damansara Jaya to find out just how true those rumours are.

Of course, this being a full-scale Chinese restaurant, we didn't just have char sio p'ng. We ordered a few fancy dishes (which cost quite a fancy bit).

We had mango chicken, which was nice; tofu with seaweed and mushroom, which was delectable; and the kailan was green and crisp.


"Interesting" would be the perfect word to describe the twin-style pomfret. The meat was carved out and wrapped around slices of mushroom then steamed. The bones were then deep-fried into crisps. The crispy bones were just like a snack; while the meat, though very nicely steamed was kinda lost when eaten with the mushroom. I think I would have enjoyed the pomfret more if it had been done Teochew style.


But of course, the whole reason we were there in the first place was the char siew. So did it live up to its reputation?

Well, the meat was succulent and well-flavoured. The honeyed sweetness of it made me think I was eating bak kua, except with "real" meat, so to say. Which is a good thing. I loved it, and it definitely ranks among the best in the valley.


But is it THE BEST? Well, yes, if you like your char siew lean with no hint of fat to threaten your diet. Personally, I prefer my char siew sinfully layered with porcine grease.

Therefore, as far as my tastebuds go, the top three char siew places to go to in the Klang Valley are:

#3: Hoong Loong Restaurant, Damansara Jaya
If you like char siew to be all meat and no fat, this is the place to go. It's tender, sweet and juicy and definitely the best lean char siew ever! Do expect prices beyond the norm though, as it's a real restaurant.

#2: Meng Kee, Glenmarie
They've crowned themselves the Char Siew King but they're number two on my list cos twice I've been served the lean portions which were quite dry and not so palattable. But if you ask for (and get) the fatty parts, well then it's really really mouthwateringly yummy. Pricier than the average char siew but well worth it.

#1: Sungai Besi Wan Tan Mee, Chan Sow Lin
Melt-in-your-mouth fatty char siew, complemented with out-of-this-world shrimp sambal paste, this is my personal favourite. If that's not enough, they serve kick-ass wild boar curry and yummy-tummy suey kao as well. Not cheap but not actually expensive, you'd just have to risk the possibility of getting smashed by a random wayward Merc while savouring the superlicious char siew there. Which, as I see it, isn't too bad a way to go after all.

Keeping Life Simple

Being over thirty is certainly not over-the-hill, but still I can feel I'm not so young anymore. Two consecutive nights of disco-dancing last weekend had left me quite exhausted and susceptible to minor ailments. Heck, even two consecutive nights of potluck parties is leaving me a little worn out.

Which is why, I would suppose that it's just as well there's nothing much going on in my life right now. Well, that's not exactly true since work's been keeping pretty occupied. But it still adds up to the fact that I don't have much of a life.

So whatever life goals I might have had are now shelved away and collecting dust somewhere in some forgotten corner. Only two things occupy me these days:

1. Eating

2. Boy-watching

Luckily for me, I can normally count on having good company for either (or, more often than not, both). Best of all, it's served with freeflow gossip and bottomless bitching.

So I say thank you for the gossip
The scandals I'm bitching
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it?
I ask in all honesty
What would we be?
Without a rumour or some slander, what are we?
So I say thank you for the gossip
For giving it to me

Hell

I strolled languidly past the large mirror on the wall and from the corner of my eye, noticed my reflection in profile. It was hard to miss - I reminded me of Demi Moore, on the cover of a magazine.

You know, the one where she was naked and pregnant. Very pregnant.

Except that this picture exuded less prettiness, less glamour, and more body hair.

Oh well, I, at least, can say that this (punctuating with that Afro-American woman finger waving thing) is all natural wholesome goodness, honey.

Hallelujah!

Harrumph

It probably says a lot, when I think of my childhood and see that the characters I've most identified with back then were these...


This is me then, and now you know.

If Life Were A Movie

I'd be a meaty 32-year old, sprawled out on the couch alone at home in my shabby PJ's, getting wasted and lip-synching dramatically to the Dion version of All by Myself.

Oh wait.

I don't wear PJ's.

32

So what's the perfect antidote to that huge-ass, meat-stuffed brunch I had on Sunday?

I don't know, but surely it can't be all the lemak I had for dinner that same day! Still, what the heck, I just had a craving for it and strangely enough it's one of those things that's not so commonly found in KL, and when you do find it, half the time it's just not done right. Surprising, since it's not all that hard to make.

So I perah-ed the kelapa (by which I mean I opened a can of coconut extract), chopped the carrots and long beans, shredded the cabbage, ground the dried shrimp, and threw everything into a pot to boil. A dash of turmeric powder and a scattering of salt, and there you have it... Sayur Lodeh, mixed vegetables cooked in coconut milk, which forms the basis of any lontong.

I opted for the lontong darat style, which basically is a dry-ish version of lontong. It's less messy, and more importantly, I don't have a pot big enough to cook sufficient gravy for the regular lontong. Hehe.


Just to make sure my guests got a bit more of variety, I got sambal sotong, satay and tea eggs to complement it. PLUS, meat floss to top it all off.

[ Hostess's Hint: Meat floss adds flavour, texture and fun to an otherwise bland dish. Try it with steamed rice, porridge, instant noodles, or like me, when making lontong for the first time and you want to have something to conveniently cover up any inadequacies ]

This year's birthday dinner turned out to be a much quieter affair compared to the previous two years. Everyone's so busy these days (or maybe my friends just don't love me anymore). In any case, it was kind of a relief because I always hate having to deal with the logistics of a dinner party for a dozen or so people. Sorting out what to seat people on, what to entertain them with, preparing enough food and diningware... I'm just not a party-planning person.

So in a way it was just nice that there were only six of us that night. We could sit comfortably around the dining table, and I could serve my guests using real plates and bowl and forks and spoons and glasses. And my pots and serving bowls are just big enough to cater a group this size.

Well, my thanks to C&J for ditching C's final company dinner in favor of my little do. Perhaps I should have organised a lucky draw to compensate your missing out on that one!

Thanks to the monkey and his McCutie for bringing the satay, the nasi impit (couldn't have had lontong without that!) and most of all, for doing the washing up. And yeah, thanks for the book as well... think I'll love it *Hugs*

And, of course, thanks to WiFi, for having the foresight to bring a cake, despite my telling everyone they needn't bring anything. Like, how was I to know I'd fail at making a cake, even if said cake was prepared from a store-bought premix per instructions on the box?

Actually, the cake turned out fine but fell apart when I tried to take it out of the pan. Seemed that I missed out on the instruction that said "line the pan with baking paper". Sigh. So while we could technically still eat the Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Crumble (formerly to be known as Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake), it would have been a little bit difficult figuring out where to stick a candle on that mess of cake pieces, sliced bananas and melting ice-cream.

Incidentally, WiFi bought a "Crystal Orange" cake. I wondered if it was by coincidence that the baker had come up with batches of this, so soon after Chinese New Year.


All in all, I had I nice weekend before my birthday, what with the brunch I had and then the dinner. My birthday itself was spent quietly with no fanfare whatsoever in the office, followed by a relaxing spot of BodyBalance at the gym.

It turned out that there was a teensy bit of fanfare, after all. Joining yw[2k] and the other gym kaki for dinner, I was surprised by Wingedman popping up with a cake (with a cake, I said, not out of a cake). Eeeks! Just what I need, more cake... but at least it wasn't some space cake from Amsterdam!


Thanks, everyone, for making this a nice, cheery, drama-free 32nd birthday! I can only wish the rest of the year would be as pleasant as the last few days have been :-)

Farewell, Thou Voluptuous Sow

Gong xi fa cai, wan shi ru yi!
Bu bu gao shen, xin xiang shi chen!

And just like that, it's the Year of the Rat.

With random auspicious sayings out of the way, I have to say it's kind of wistful in a way to see the Year of the Pig already gone. Piggy's been pretty good to me, you see, blessing me with all sorts of... erm... blessings. A new job's that proved to be so much better than the last one (granted, it's quite difficult for any job to be worse than that last one), being able to get new stuff for my apartment, even a sweet affair.

Also, perhaps unfortunately so, I was blessed with a very healthy appetite.

I looked back at some old pics taken just before the last Chinese New Year. There I was, slim enough to fit into a bloody size 30cm jeans! By the end of the 15 days, I could no longer wear that. And for the rest of the year, it only seemed that I could only get fatter.

I suppose it was a combination of things - my energy levels had dropped (perhaps due to aging, but more likely to be from pure inertia), work commitments, clashing schedules, lack of motivation, getting posted to the food capital of the country for several months, and of course, having a PIG for the patron animal of the year.

Oh, I've known what was happening. In case I had forgotten, more recent reminders popped up. Like when I did Body Balance a week or so back, only to discover I could no longer hold the poses as well as I did before. More specifically, I was having trouble supporting my own body weight. Like wtf?

And then there's the time I was in Body Combat (just for a few rounds, I am no longer fit enough to take a whole class these days). Imagine... just jogging on the spot made me think I should get a sports bra.

Sigh, I guess there's only so much body fat one can ignore. I don't make resolutions but I am thinking that perhaps, just perhaps, chubbiness has gone out of fashion, right along with the Year of the Pig. Maybe it's time once again to put my gym membership to good use - and I'm not talking about the steam rooms or the soda fountains. It's said that under the Rat's dominion this year, us Dragons will enjoy what the Chinese call tao hua yun - literally, peach blossom luck (ie. love luck). Still, it would be better if I can help it along and hopefully, point it in the right direction.

After all, I do want to be attracting desirables, rather than oh, say, bitchy aunties who like their boys to be... meatier.

Junk. Food

Yeah, the season of the dong dong dong qiang with the gong xi gong xi draws ever nearer. In fact, it's just around the corner. Spring dosth cometh down to ye mortale realmes. And of course, for many a chinois household, this means it's the weekend for frantic spring cleaning.

For many a household I say, but not for this one.

No, I'm already overwhelmed by the need to sort through piles of junk (literally, PILES) and reorganise my stuff to bother about little details such as changing the curtains (not that I have a spare set lying around... or maybe I do, somewhere in all that junk), cleaning the ceiling fans, and wiping down every window in the apartment. Heck, it looks like I'd have to leave sweeping and mopping the floor till I get back from the homelands, which really is too late but heck, not like there'll be any visitors (and if there are, too bad, I won't be home till some days into the new year).

But yeah, talking about junk. The state of my apartment follows the universal law of nature - where the is space, it will be filled. Ordered chaos (or chaotic order), if you will. So if I don't put anything that's functional or at least decorational there first, some stuff or other will eventually find its way there, and most likely that stuff would be junk.

Digging through my stuff the past week or so, I've found that my junk generally belongs in one of three categories:

1. Stuff that should be thrown away, but I had never gotten round to doing it. Example, old newspapers.

2. Stuff that I had wanted to keep, and keep them I did - in the piles of junk, never to be touced or even seen again. Most of these things were the random stuff I had brought with me when I first moved in, only to pile them all into one room, to be sorted out later (later turned out to be now, which is about... *gulp* two years later).

3. Stuff that I would use from time to time, but wind up getting lost in all that junk, so that I keep buying new ones. Especially stuff like stationery.

Thing is, I had finally bought shelves for the 'store' room, which spurred this sudden need to reorganise and junk stuff. So, on the plus side, I'm finally setting that room to rights, and it's now slowly taking shape as a study/utlity.

Sorting through all that junk that accumulated in all my years of whoring hording though, is tough. I'm the sort who would think, "Yeah, but no, but yeah, but... maybe I would want this one day". Never mind that that one day hasn't appeared in the last several years the thing has been sitting in an ever growing pile of untouched junk. And it's always the small things that add up. Things like old VCD's, old floppy disks (come think of it, I can't read these disks at home anymore), old gifts...

Big things are easier. The old PC (sans hard disk, which had long ago reincarnated into an external HDD) and its monitor, and the old computer table - one of those designed with a recess to hold the monitor at an angle, which is now redundant since I use a laptop. These were things I gladly let go of.

Of course, the remnants of the kampung boy that I was convinced me that with the trouble it would take me to junk the stuff, I could put just a little more effort into it and send it to the scrapyard. You know, being an occasional greenie and all (not to mention the promise of some spare cash to line the ang paos for other people's kids). So I enlisted the muscles of Joshua and we sent the stuff, along with my old newspaper collection, to be sold to the junkieons.

To thank the little bugger for his aid, I bought him lunch at a nice-ish restaurant, called Bumbu Bali, in a place literally called Princess City (ie. Bandar Puteri, over in Puchong). I remember the food there being quite nice. It still was nice, though not excellently so. The prices were rather steep for a place like this but otherwise, it was OK.

I found it most disturbing to see Soup Buntut among the specials. Like, really? ASS SOUP??? EEEW!

The drink I had was pretty good - Banana with Palm Sugar Ice Blend. A little sweet at first, but once the ice melted somewhat, it was better. Joshua had the Cookies and Cream. You wanna know if it's any good, go ask him.

The food was alright as well. We had the BBQ chicken with nasi kuning, and the BBQ fish with nasi ubun (or something or other). And despite the tiny mound of rice, it was immensely filling. I'd give it up a one thumb up only though, cos I felt the food just wasn't quite worth the price.

By the way, the money from the scrapyard didn't even cover lunch expenses, much less make it into red packets for overeager children.

*wipes away the solitary tear running down my cheek

Oh well, at least I managed to clear some major junk from my place. And it even paid for lunch.

...

Almost.

Memorable Musical Moments

Ah, The Man has tagged me with yet another meme. Well, I'm not saying I'm not doing it but, erm... it's going into my KIV tray. Indefinitely :P

Meanwhile, since my last post, musicals have been playing in my head. So I'm gonna pull out a few of the more memorable (as far as I'm concerned) scenes to share. Haven't caught as many theatre musicals as I would have liked, so I'm gonna throw in some from the movies too.

Belle (Beauty And The Beast)/Good Morning Baltimore (Hairspray)
"There goes the baker with his tray, like always, the same old bread and rolls to sell. Every morning just the same, since the morning we came to this poor provincial town"
"Good morning Baltimore, there's the flasher who lives next door, there's the bum on his bar room stool, they wish me luck on the way to school"

These two share a spot, since they're so similar. Perky girl wakes up in the morning and goes out, all bubbly, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and sings her hellos to every fucking person on the street.

How fun!

Peron's Latest Flame (Evita)
"We have declined to an all-time low, tarts have become the set to know"

The one I watched was the movie (actually a feature-length MTV) starring Maddy. Aside from the superbly bitchy lyrics, this particular scene stands out in my memory thanks to that full-frontal shot of strapping, young, well-endowed army lads showering. Well, yes, they were clad in towels. But those towels were small. And white. And wet.

Very wet.

With One Look (Sunset Boulevard)
"To my people in the dark, still out there in the dark"

With the lights off, and Norma Desmond singing directly to the audience, you just know she's singing to you, for you. All of us, sitting out there in the dark.

Best tribute to the audience ever!

Overture (Phantom Of The Opera)
Tuh... tuh tuh tuh tuh tuh...

Like, so there are no lyrics. Just that famous Phantom pipe organ piece. But who's listening to lyrics, when the chandelier lights up and floats out and up above the audience, as the stage transforms before your very eyes into the Paris Opera.

Sheer theatrical magic, and an unmatched opening!

Finale (Les Mis)
"To love another person is to see the face of God"

Starting off slow, with Valjean and his regrets, he is soon joined by whine and whinier, erm... Cosette and Marius. My favorite part's where the spirits of Fantine and Eponine sing him to death. In perfect harmony, mind. Then the entire cast appears, marching behind a gauze curtain to close the show with Do You Hear The People Sing.

Revisiting the major musical themes and then bringing the entire cast on stage to render a rousing finale. What a way to end a brilliant show!