Beneath A Bent, Grey Sky

Sigh, the downside to having a big holiday to look forward to is having nothing much to look forward to when said holiday is over. Oh well, there's still Labour Day and Wesak, at least, so it's not too gloomy.

In the meantime, I'll just rummage through my photos, and remember what a fine time I had.

Oh and p/s... remember this raunchy reindeer? I have one now!

Ada Udang...

Journeys are wonderful things. Seeing different people in different places, living minutely different lives. But sometimes, it's the journey home that truly surprises you, particularly when that journey is taken with people who do not know this place as well you do.

You get the chance to see familiar sights through a visitor's eyes. You explore roads you often simply pass by without a second thought. And just like that, the town where you have lived half your life suddenly seems fresh again.

Thanks guys, for being such fantastic company. And thanks also for taking me on this journey of rediscovery.

Round my hometown, memories are fresh
Round my hometown, ooh, the people I've met
Are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of my world
Adele : Hometown Glory

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!

Afterhours

Sometimes it's nice to see a place after hours. After the sun's gone down. After the lights go off. When the facades are free from the maddening crowd. And the souvenirs are safely hidden behind closed doors.

Unravel

while you are away
my heart comes undone
slowly unravels
in a ball of yarn
the devil collects it
with a grin
our love
in a ball of yarn
he'll never return it
so when you come back
we'll have to make new love
he'll never return it
so when you come back
we'll have to make new love
Bjork

Sundays are meant for chilling, so the monkey and I, with token straights in tow, waddled our fat asses over to Pavilion to unwind. Did we do anything new or novel? No.

Well, almost not.

There are certain places which I would never ever go, save when the generosity of my heart prevails over self-interest, and I wind up accompanying my friends there as a show of support. The Eye is one such place. Kenko Fish Spa is another.

Honestly, I hate touching fish. I wouldn't handle guppies with my bare hands, if I could help it. So why in the world would I willingly subject myself to frenzied fish feeding on my feet? I must be masochistic. And no, it really doesn't help that I'm rather sensitive (ie., extremely ticklish).

After several traumatic attempts at getting my feet wet (involving bouts of nervous giggling and grinning through gritted teeth), I finally managed to leave my feet in there for the fish to kiss (and boy, were they kissing all over my feet) by distracting myself with some other fun activity - camwhoring! I think it must have taken me fifteen minutes or so to get used to all the pecking enough to ignore it. And about another five minutes more for the fish to uncover a piece of loose skin and attack it. Voraciously. It was about then I decided I had had enough for the day.

Make that for a lifetime.

The tranquil atmosphere belies the hunger that lies beneath

Gentle massage that will help relieve stress and tension? Really? You mean my tightly curled up toes and those hands pressed into the floorboards were actually a sign of me relaxing?

Comfort, for me, would involve me eating fish rather than them eating me, thank you very much.

Which is why it's a good thing that Pavilion has a got a rather nice food court in the incarnation of Food Republic. Here's something I understand, and one sure fire way to provide me with warmth and comfort.

I want citizenship!

Anyway, one man's fish is another man's torture, and thankfully for Kenko, people seem to enjoy the fish spa thing, bar the occasional nervous gigglers (like me), and one squeeler (thankfully, not me). Oh and spotted! Fly Guy with wife and a rather cute male friend dipping their feet in.

In the meantime, parents with chaotic children and terrible teens, who need stronger therapy than that found in either a food court or a fish spa, well they might want to head over to Times. Seems that this bookstore will be happy to relieve you of your screaming kids and give you some books in return so that you can finally go chill out at the bistro in peace and quiet.

New books for used kids

Now that's what I call stress relief!

Corcovado?

Quiet thoughts and quiet dreams
Quiet walks by quiet streams
And a window that looks out on the mountains and the sea
Oh, how lovely

The Eye

Quite a while back, I ventured up into the overglorified ferris wheel called Eye On Malaysia. Never really knew why they called it that since, obviously, you can't see the whole of Malaysia up in that contraption.

Come think of it, I didn't get a good view of KL, either. Just a lot of water. I had a much better look back when I was up in KL Tower, and even up in the oh-so glam KL Hilton.

Still, it did provide a rather nice photo opp :P

Sand In My Shoes

Beach holiday, oh beach holiday. I've been wanting for... well, a long time. So did I spend the past week away on a beach holiday?

No.

I did watch The Holiday, which was a nice, sweet film (I cried a little but I cry at children's movies too). Then spent most of the week away travelling around on business.

It so happened one of my stop-overs was at a little seaside town on the east coast. So even though I wasn't on holiday, I did get a beach. Not a great beach, but still one takes what one gets.

Token picture of coconut trees.

Spot the crab!

Foamy, bubbly, briney thingy.

Token seashell pic.

Twiggy thingies.

Hey Geekchic, you gonna be doing this?
Try it in a traditional Chinese wedding dress!

Peek-a-boo!

I woke up at 6:30 for this. You'd better put on a good show!

Mud and rocks. So much for beach.

This is making me want a real holiday. On a nice beach. Or even up in the mountains. Under the stars.

Who's coming?

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Here's the crab. Actually, a different one but who can tell, eh? It still blends into the muck.