Ain't it funny

It puzzles me when I speak a certain non-English language to an individual and he/ she feels the inclination to reply in English in return.

This morning, I spoke to this Malay guy in Malay and he replied in English. Fine. I thought if I continued speaking in Malay, he’d follow suit eventually but that wasn’t the case.

I’m like, what the hell?

Most of the time, my previous encounters were with Chinese (taking into consideration the fact that my Tamil vocabulary is, indeed, limited) who chose to reply in English when I speak to them in Cantonese. It seems that some of these people think that "Speaking got more standard mah, talk in Cantonese no standard-lah. You think I dunno how to speaking meh???"

This kind of situation makes me marvel - since when do I look like an English teacher?

It’s like me asking for the time and the person telling me that it’s a Thursday.

Here comes the hypocrite part…

I remember doing the same thing when I first started working in KL 5 years ago (Oops, did I just revealed my age?). My clients would speak to me in Cantonese and yours truly would reply in English or Mandarin because her command of the Cantonese dialect s**ked big time (even though she watched a lot of TVB dramas during her leisure time).

Those were the days.

Nowadays, her Cantonese has improved compared to the olden days. Although every now and then, being the banana that she is, she still doesn’t have any clue of some phrases that her friends use.

And when she can’t find the words in Cantonese, fret not, there’s always a substitute word in (i) English (ii) Malay and/or (iii) Mandarin.

Don’t we all love being Malaysians?

“Be what you would seem to be – or, if you'd like it put more simply – never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.” – Lewis Carroll in ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Amused,

One last cry

Right now, I feel as if I’m stuck in this never-ending tunnel. I can’t stop walking because I don’t have food with me and my water supply is diminishing.

I don’t even know whether I’m walking in the right direction. All I know is that I’ve made my choice and now I have to stick with it.

Every so often, I wish that I’ll get a glimpse of daylight, which will signal the end of my journey (no, in case you are wondering, I’m not talking about dying). And only then can I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But at times, I’m apprehensive that the only light I’ll finally get to see is the headlight of an oncoming train.

I can’t wait for this passage to end.

If my life is a storybook, I'll gladly flip over to the last page right away.

It better be a happy ending.

“It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end” – Ursula K. LeGuin

Patience is a virtue,

Green is my favourite colour

You know how it was when you were a kid and your mom bought both you and your brother identical shiny, new toys? You were happy playing with yours at first but then after some time; somehow, it seemed that your brother’s toy appeared more appealing than your own.

This morning I felt as if I was back in my childhood again. This time I was envying something that an acquaintance of mine owns. The thing is that the said item wasn’t particularly attractive but somehow I was asking myself: if she can have it, why can’t I?

Maybe I am capable of making it happen but it’s just that at this juncture of my life, I have made my choices and obviously, this is not one of them.

Sour grapes.

Sometimes, what we see on the outside may not necessarily be the real deal.

It could be or it could be not.

Only she knows best.

“Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.” – Harold Coffin

The monster which is

grazing on grass at the

other side,

Size does matter

While having my Guacamole Bacon Burger at Carl’s Jr. earlier, I was suddenly reminded of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility well into my third bite.

I think it had something to do with the bun, which wasn’t very fresh to begin with; coupled with the fact that they were stingy with the guacamole. Since I have this phobia of additional “seasonings” being added into my food complimentary from the waiter, I normally will not complain about my food if it’s well within my tolerance limit. (I know this will sound unbelievable but I'm not picky when it comes to food. Suprising, eh?)

After all, you don't really know what these guys are doing in the kitchen. Or even on the floor.

Anyway, the Law basically says that the more you consume something, the lesser you are going to enjoy it. I know I’m not the best Economics teacher in town, so if you’d like to refresh your memory on what it' is all about, you can read it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marginal_utility

And to think that I spent the whole afternoon looking forward to dinner time.

In some ways, it’s almost similar to having the hots for some girl/ guy and one fine day, when she/ he is finally within your reach, all of a sudden the whole idea doesn’t seem as appealing anymore.

I think this is what they meant by 'the thrill of the chase'.

“It is better to want what you have than to have what you want.” – Proverb

I'm no E.T.,

Excuse me, do you have the time?

My radio alarm clock is indicating 12.30am while my watch shows 12.28am. I know my watch is 5 minutes faster than the clock in my office and the alarm clock is a few minutes faster than the former simply because I have difficulties waking up in the morning.

And I dislike being late.

Well, actually I hate waiting for people as I feel like they somehow have total disregard of the other party’s time by being fashionably late. And you know what they say about doing unto others what they do unto you… (Remember THE Miss Righteous-ness from the cinema?)

But often, when you know that the time shown is ahead of the ‘real time’, you actually don’t make much effort to hurry up.

And the Malaysian mentality is always somewhat along the line of: since whoever I'm going to meet is going to be late anyway, so why bother being punctual?

“Just around the corner, traffic jam-lah” must be high on top of the list of reasonings that we use for not being on time. When the actual fact is that there is not one normal school-cum-working day when the streets of KL are not jammed up during rush hour.

I think we really should come up with some better defense the next time around since this excuse is getting pretty stale.

How about my dog swallowed the car key? Since dogs are capable of eating a child’s homework, I don’t see why bosses or important clients won’t buy that excuse.

So back to the issue of time, a couple of months ago, the battery on my watch went kaput and obviously, that meant that the time shown after that was never the same again.

That is assuming that the initial time was indeed, the correct time.

So can anyone tell me exactly what is the time now?

"The trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate it." – Franklin P. Jones

Dazed,

Is age nothing more than a number?

You know you are getting old when you:

(1) actually had a blast at Velvet Underground last night even though it was Mambo Night – the most hated night during your uni days.

Hail The Village People for introducing YMCA to us!

(Note: Readers below the age of 24 may proceed to disregard the last sentence)

(2) noticed that you are amongst one of the oldest in the crowd when you entered Phuture, the newest R&B room at Zouk.

(3) know the lyrics to most, if not all, of the songs aired on Mix.fm.

(4) don’t have much cravings for any food in particular because it’s been quite some time since you were prohibited from eating all the stuff that you love to, whenever and wherever you feel like doing so without anyone telling you not eat too much of this or that because it’s bad for health, it'll make your hair fall out, etc.

(5) don’t know whether to address the cleaning lady in the office as ‘Kak’ (big sister) or ‘Dik’ (younger sis).

Last but definitely not least:

(6) after washing your face at night before you jump into bed under the duvet, you suddenly began to question whether you have already brushed your teeth.

And if you did, was it before you washed your face or after?

“You know you're getting old when everything hurts. And what doesn't hurt doesn't work.” – Hy Gardner

Aging gracefully,

"Are you the exception...or the rule?"

Just came back from watching this movie.

It made me wonder if 90% of women on the face of this earth are delusional.

Sounds sad but true. And to think that I may be one of them.

Sometimes we hang on to petty issues like they are matters between life and death when the fact is that they don’t really matter at all.

Guys, they just let their egos and occasionally, their ‘the other heads’ get in the way.

Gigi: Girls are taught a lot of stuff growing up. If a guy punches you he likes you. Never try to trim your own bangs and someday you will meet a wonderful guy and get your very own happy ending. Every movie we see, Every story we're told implores us to wait for it, the third act twist, the unexpected declaration of love, the exception to the rule. But sometimes we're so focused on finding our happy ending we don't learn how to read the signs. How to tell from the ones who want us and the ones who don't, the ones who will stay and the ones who will leave. And maybe a happy ending doesn't include a guy, maybe... it's you, on your own, picking up the pieces and starting over, freeing yourself up for something better in the future. Maybe the happy ending is... just... moving on. Or maybe the happy ending is this, knowing after all the unreturned phone calls, broken-hearts, through the blunders and misread signals, through all the pain and embarrassment you never gave up hope.

As for me, I don’t think I’ll ever give up. No matter what happens.

Because that’s just the way I am: hardheaded as hell.

“Dum spiro, spero” (While I breathe, I hope) – Latin Proverb

Hopeful,

The best things in life are free

Today I’m thankful for…

(1) The fact that it didn’t rain at all even though it has been raining almost every day of the week – I had just done my laundry last night.

(2) Finding a ‘bungalow’ lot amidst a fully occupied car park (mind you, this is a fee-paying car park)

I guess these are some of the things that even money can’t buy.

Unless, of course, if you own a dryer at home and can actually afford to have a chauffeur on your payroll.

This is supposed to be a ‘Be Thankful’ post so thou shall not moan and whine about how horrible the traffic is and how difficult it is to get a decent parking space these days. Ever since the price of petrol was hiked from MYR 1.92 to MYR2.70 and then finally down to MYR1.80; all in less than 6 months, my life has never been the same.

(Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. But you have to admit that there is indisputably a flow between the above paragraphs right???)

Price History of RON97

01-05-2004 RM 1.37/L
01-10-2004 RM 1.42/L
01-05-2005 RM 1.52/L
31-07-2005 RM 1.62/L
28-02-2006 RM 1.92/L
05-06-2008 RM 2.70/L
28-08-2008 RM 2.55/L
15-10-2008 RM 2.30/L
01-11-2008 RM 2.15/L
18-11-2008 RM 2.00/L
02-12-2008 RM 1.90/L
17-12-2008 RM 1.80/L

I know this sounds pathetic but I'm beginning to miss the days when 1 liter of petrol cost me 2 glasses of ‘kopi ais’.

Nowadays, each liter only comes at the price of 1 glass + 1/2 hour worth of sleep in the mornings of Mon-Fri + more grey hairs + anger management classes + a measly MYR0.50 balance to tip the waiter.

What a bargain!

“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Indebted to life,

And now I see that you're so happy

Had lunch today with a close friend who made time for me amidst her wedding preparations.

Although I haven’t known her for a long time but I know that she’s a kind person at heart, a very rare find these days.

I’m glad to see her so happy because I believe that someone like her deserves all the happiness in the world.

All I can say is that he’s damn lucky to end up with someone like her as his wife.

“Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry.” – Tom Mullen

P/S: the roast duck was extremely delicious!

Blissful,

"Let me give you my advice"

Someone commented the other day that he thinks that I’m a little too emotional; a conclusion he made after what he heard others said about my blog. He claimed that he has never read it because he doesn’t want to invade my private life.

I’m like, what??? If it’s top secret then I wouldn’t have been blogging about it.

I guess some people are still living in the Flintstone Age.

Perhaps he meant well (only God and himself knows) and although everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, I’m not about to let what people say dictate what I should and shouldn’t do.

I don’t listen to my mom (sorry, mom, but that's the truth), so what makes him think that I’ll take in what he said to me?

After all, it’s called my life for a reason and since it’s mine, guess what? I get to call the shots.

So what if I’m an emotional train-wreck? At least I’m not that person (yes, it’s a she, AGAIN, but this time it's different from the previous one) who pretends to be your friend, then turns around and gossips behind your back. You may think that you are very clever in your own cunning ways but the truth is that almost everyone you know knows what kind of person you are and they have their reservations when talking in front of you.

I suppose some women just don’t know how and when to shut up.

So if you happen to be reading this, I just want you to know that from the moment he spoke to me, I knew it was you. My advice to you is that you better watch out, or else.

“I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.” – Oscar Wilde in ‘An Ideal Husband’

Not made of stone,

Dilemma

Have finally grasped the significance of the phrase ‘Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” - down to a T.

And I just can’t wait to see how the rest of this TVB drama unfolds.

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." – Buddha

All she wants to do is dance,

The Window

by Author Unknown

A young couple moves into the neighbourhood. The next morning, while they were eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbour hanging her wash outside.

That laundry is not very clean, she said, she doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Is there such a thing as ‘washing correctly’???

Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time the neighbour would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.

The husband said: I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows. My gut feeling tells me that the wife must be a dumb blonde, don’t ask me how I know, I just do.

And so it is with life:

What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

Before we give any criticism, it might be a good idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves if we are ready to see the good rather than to be looking for something in the person we are about to judge.

Sometimes we have this negative perception about a certain person and so every tiny mistake that he/she makes, we just use them as an excuse to further re-emphasize that we were indeed right about this person in the first instance.

Perhaps all we wanted was to make ourselves feel better, at the expense of somebody else's feelings.

Always bear in mind that nobody is perfect, including you and I.