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.

Re:牛年

Reunion. That's what it's all about isn't it? Already, the lunar new year is drawing to a close, and somehow it feels to have gone by with the fleetness of a speeding bullock cart. Maybe it's been a quiet celebration this year. Not that it's a bad thing - managed to avoid the temple throngs and the terrible traffic.

But I'm glad the spirit of reunion is still unmistakably there. It was good being able to take time out and just reconnect. Over the past two weeks I've been home with my family, catching up with old friends, getting to know new faces... and even for those who couldn't be back, my thoughts were with them as well.

Because that's what reunion is - the reaffirmation of ties. Even if we aren't together, it is the union of our hearts that matter. And so, even if the coming year proves to be a challenging one as it quite certainly will be, it'll be alright - because we know we'll be there for each other.

For the last time this year, happy new year!

Pili Pala Pa Lampa

Well, the Chinese New Year is nigh, and everybody's in a holiday moo-d. Exciting as it is right now, I know I'll just wind up sitting around at home with nothing much to do, apart for whatever housework that still needs to be done (and knowing mum, that won't be much), and those tired CNY programmes on the telly. Oh and swatting mosquitoes.

At least I've brought a book with me. And some mags. And a laptop. With a copy of Spore to play (thanks to Wingedman who totally understands the need for something like that to keep one occupied all those lonely nights away).

And if all else fails, I still have my *ahem* new 3G/Wifi/GPS touchscreen phone to fiddle with.
*Big grin*

I'll get through the new year, one way or another.

Happy 牛 Year, folks! May the ox bring you better things than just the usual bullshit.

New Year Must Wear Red!

So say de ol' folks ad home. So say olso de radio ad.

Well, bugger I have no red shirt, red shoes, red undergear nor (thankfully) red pants. But I did get myself this little red firecracker to carry about:

Gosh, can't stop playing, sharing, touching. On and on! Looks like my hands will be full this CNY.

Let's go, beep beep, gotta get up outta your seat
Get down, beep beep, gotta get up outta your seat
On and on... the beat goes
On and on... the beat goes
On and on
Madonna : The Beat Goes On

The Warm Winds of Spring Shall Awaken The Wide Earth

The Lunar New Year is just two weeks away now, but you'd be forgiven if you thought it's still two months away. Despite the red-boxed cookies, and the even redder decorations being sold everywhere, the usual air of urgency normally connected with an impending major festival is simply not there.

Barely anyone stops to check out the decorations and gift stalls, there's no queue at the bak kua shops, there's still crates and crates of mandarin oranges everywhere, and heck, was that a Christmas song still playing in FF?

Times are tough indeed and it would seem that everyone's already spent their last dimes celebrating the end of 2008. Looks like it'll be hard to get anyone to spend lavishly on the Chinese New Year preparations, though we hope that's all for the sake of conserving money for those all-important ang paos. Yes, we Chinese are ever practical and keep our priorities where our wallets are.

In a way, it's a not a bad thing to forego the glitzy and the gaudy, and get back to the true spirit of the celebration - reunion.

And economic woes aside, it seems everyone's flying back to the homeland from all continents (well, maybe not Antartica). Perhaps it's that bad times bring people together (it could also be said that bad times push airfares down).

Well, old schoolmates are coming back from Oz. Wandernut is already back from China, reuniting with her family (present and future!). JT is scheduled to be home from the UK by the end of the week. And I do hear there'll be a special appearance from... the Cute Cousin!

So what of the lack of crackling ang pao (red crackers) and the is-that-all-that's-in-it ang pao (red packet)? There'll be still be food, family and friends, and that's what festivities are all about.

冬天一到尽头
真是好的消息
温暖的春风
就要吹醒大地

恭喜恭喜

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!

I Love You But

You make plans for the holidays and I go along with it. After all, I don't see you guys all that much and even though I'll have to forego other things, I'd be glad to.

Then you make changes to the plans, and that's okay, I can accomodate that.

And then you change them again at the last minute, as if I don't have my own things to do.

And you tell me it's okay if I'm too busy to make time for you, like that's an actual option.

Now my holiday plans are screwed.

Thanks.

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!

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!

7 Days After...

And I'm standing there watching the counter go up.

And up.

And up.

...

Still going up.

Sigh. Around this time last week, I spent about $60 bucks to fill up the tank. Today, it's $80 for the same amount.

That's like a whole day's worth of meals gone into my petrol tank...

Weathering Storms & Living Long

Been meaning to post sooner but sigh, it's been raining, it's been pouring, and me love life's been boring me to tears...

But I digress.

Meteoroligical and political storms aside, my parents have been squatting in my "loft" for half a week. So of course, there's been a little loss of privacy, and zero gym time for me.

On the plus side, my house is spick and span, even the fans and windows have been cleaned, my goodness. The laundry gets folded up neatly, and all the shirts and even t-shirts get ironed. There's breakfast waiting before I leave for work and dinner greeting me when I get home.

Sigh, but it's back to living like the slob I am now.

Sob sob.

Here's a token picture of food.


Mee sua, or longevity noodles, customary meal for chinese people celebrating their birthday (yes, for us, it's almost always about either prosperity or longevity, preferably both). As it so happened, my chinese lunar birthday fell exactly one week after my roman calendar birthday.

Which reminds me... happy belated birthday, darling!

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 :-)

Unpretty

To be honest, I'd rather stay home these days.

Because when I step outside, my eyes get sore from seeing all the pennants and banners and posters strung up and across lamposts, from tree to tree, and even pavilions wrapped from foot to pinnacle in party symbols.

Oh. My. Gawd. The ugliness of it.

It's like the streets are strewn with officially condoned rubbish. Do they really think that making me see all that stuff stuck on every available surface would make me want to vote for either of them? Well, they seem to think so, don't they?

Give me a prettily made-up campaign and I might think about voting for you.

But right now, I'm simply indisposed from bouts of nausea and bleeding eyes.

Daidai

Again, we have come to the end of the beginning of the Chinese lunar year.

Again, many of us find ourselves with a surplus of mandarin oranges in our homes. Even for one like myself, who only brought a handful of these back with me from my mom's home, plus a couple from the office. I do like these things, though I don't eat too much of them, and one easily gets sick of it over the fifteen days of Chinese New Year. Really, I only get them for their ornamental values.

That, and the prospect of attracting wealth (apparently, oranges, or kam, are symbolic of gold).

Perhaps it is this yearly surplus of tangerines that led some people to come up with a strange idea of disposing them - throw them into the nearest river. Of course, nobody would be bothered to do this, and some may even complain of river pollution, but for the carrot (or rather, orange) dangled.

The fifteenth day of the lunar new year is supposedly the "Chinese Valentine' Day" (maybe he was called Hua Lan Tai in China). Therefore, single girls should throw oranges into the water, hoping to find their perfect match, out of a bevy of prospective suitors standing downriver in the hopes of landing the right orange. I suppose it might work if they wrote down their mobile numbers in waterproof ink onto silk kerchiefs and stuffed said kerchiefs into the poor oranges, so that the guys would know whose orange they've picked.

Personally, I think it's rather silly. The girls managed to throw out the excess oranges from new year, but the guys willingly bring home discarded fruit. This may be one of the rare days when Chinese parents would be thankful for not having sons. At least, not straight ones prone to fishing for rotting mandarins.

I'm thinking it might be a better idea to just throw a party. It is the last day of new year, after all, and all the more reason to have a party. Besides, you're more likely to get lucky with a guy at a party, as opposed to crowding around a very large drain.

And of course, the theme of the party would have to be "Orange". But don't tell your guests that because if they knew they were going to help you finish eating all the oranges in your home, they'll quite likely find themselves suddenly preoccupied with an appointment for washing the neighbour's sixth aunt's colleague's daughter's dog's hair or something.

I'm thinking the meal could be something like that:

Starters: Bacon-wrapped Tangerines
Mains: Mandarin Pork Roast, served with a side of Mandarin Orange Couscous and a Spinach and Pine Nut Salad (just because there's no "orange" in the name does not mean there isn't any in the salad)
Dessert: Mountainous Mandarin Pie
(Disclaimer: I've never tested any of the recipes, so I can't vouch for any of them. But they sure do sound worth trying out - just maybe not all at the same time)

After dinner, you could watch some orange-related shows like Bleach (featuring a really hot-looking Shinigame, despite the orange hair) or for something short, No Doubt's Don't Speak MV (not really auspiscious, but Gwen looks so good with that orange in her hand). You might wanna leave out A Clockwork Orange though - haven't seen that one but I'm guessing it's not exactly festive.

And afterwards, when the party has quieted down and there are still leftover mandarins, well, I'm sure you can think of ways of using them to celebrate a Chinese Valentine's Day with one (or more) of your guests.

Candlelit Dinner For One

Aiyoh, it's Thursday lah. Weekday, you know. Weekday! Tomorrow still got to work one! What for lah go and cram cram with so many other people paying through their noses to go and sit and wait long long time just to eat the same thing as everyone else? So special is it? Just because the newspaper say it's the most romantic day of the year so that means it's very very romantic lah to be spending half a month's pay check for dinner and flowers and chocolates lah.

Maybe I am not so romantic lor.

I rather go home and eat, thank you very much. Home cooked meal, you know. Very warm and touching one. Better to eat food made by your own loving hands. But not right after your hands have been busy loving loving and touching touching lah, unless you have already thoroughly cleaned your hands with soap and disinfectant first lah, hor.

So yah lah, I go home, cook instant noodles. But some more I take time to cook some cabbage also... last week go back home for Chinese New Year, mummy already pesan must eat more vegetables mah. And some more got one can of tuna. And then some fried vegetarian frozen flour thing... because, kawan-kawan semua, carcogenic carbs are an important food group. Yah, yah, I cook like Inoue Orihime.

Then hor, I see my place so messy, I also cannot tahan lor. So I turn off the lights, mou ngan tai, you know - no eye see. Konon can also cut down my carbon footprint some more, siul. But then hor, because today supposed to be most romantic day of the year hor, so I light some candles lor (I hope the perfume will halau all the mosquitoes also).

Ah see? Romantic, what. Nice, what. Had lovely dinner, what.

Oh yeah, still haven't opened that lychee liquor I had bought in Langkawi, leh. I think it's time to try it out, see what kind of weird drink I can concoct with it. Alcohol... should be good together with fireworks, hor?

After that, I can go to bed and love myself some more.

Happy Valentine's day, kawan-kawan semua!


Perhaps it's just another night, just like any other night.

But tonight, the soft, warm glow of candlelight permeates the room. No busy restaurants and soppy love songs on the radio for me. Just a simple dinner of tuna pasta with sauteed cabbages, a treat in itself compared to the daily rounds of packed dinners.

The world may be celebrating couplehood by way of commercialism, but there's no need to feel left out, single as I am. It's a good time as any to tune the world out, and take a little time to remember to love myself. But do leave that Whitney song out.

The fireworks have started, crackling through the midnight sky. A cocktail, perhaps, would make good company now.

Perhaps it's just another night, just like any other night... but it is still Valentine's night, after all.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

nanimo te ni tsuganai
shirokuru no hitomi de
watashi wa tada hitasura
there is nothing I can do for you

ano koro no watashi wa
nani ni kandou shite
nani ni manzoku shite
jibun wo rikai shiteitano

doko ni mo ikanaide
please don't go anywhere

itsuno ma nika, anata wo kizutsukete
omoikakenai koto wo hashitteita
amaeru kiki tsuzukenuita watashi wa
kondo wa nani wo motomeru ka naa

modore ni ikanaide
please don't go anymore.

I can't piece things together
with these eyes of black and white.
I tried my best
there is nothing I can do for you.

the way I used to be...
something touched my heart...
something made me feel content...
did I understand myself?

please don't go anywhere
please don't go anywhere

I never meant to hurt you
I was running from emotions I wasn't ready for
but what am I supposed to do next time
if I don't have you to depend on?

please don't go anymore
please don't go anymore

Chatmonchy : Daidai (Orange)

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.

The Clock Struck Twelve

And just like that, it was time.

Time to ring out the old and bring in the new.
Time to start writing dates that end with a different digit.
Time to say goodbye to another year gone by (and such a good one it was).

Time to welcome a new day...
a new dawn...
and the rest of your same old life.

How did one second change so much?

Happy 2008. May each step leave you feeling better than the last.

But as for now, right now... it's time to watch the fireworks bursting across the valley.

Made A List. Checked It Twice

Camera... checked.
Sunnies... checked.
Books... checked.
Shirts, shorts, flip flops... checked.
Swimgear and sunblock... checked.
Air ticket... checked.

I'm all packed, all set, all ready to go for my little island escape! Finally get to go on a real seaside vacation (no beach though, but I guess it's close enough). Will be flying on a fokker, so, fingers crossed, let there be no flight delays.

In any case, I'm feeling all happy, smiley and gay! I've finished working for the year, which is a great feeling (even if there's only a week left in the year); my new television's here, spurring a whole redecorating frenzy (not quite done yet, but almost); and I'm gonna be jingling all the way to the new year!

So will I be naughty or nice?

Considering I'll be with family it'll be pretty much be a PG thing. But, one never knows, does one?

Keep my fingers crossed on that as well ;-)

Merry Christmas, all! Jingle all 'em bells!