Fireworks & Ang Ku

Tonight marks the 8th day of CNY, which is the actual celebrated New Year's day by the Hokkiens. Historically, the Hokkiens were hiding in the sugar cane plantation during a war and only came out on the 8th day. Hence, the celebration on the 8th day. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyways, being in Klang, full of Hokkiens, the fireworks haven't stopped for over 3 hours now. And the government says there is a ban on fireworks. Riiigggghhhttt....

Poor Ang Ku has been scared out of his wits. He crawled into the house and was hiding between paper bags or whatever mess we had on the floor, as though it could shield him from the explosions. Then, just before midnight, KS vacuums the carpet and since Ang Ku doesn't like vacuums either, he shot out of the house. At midnight, the explosion of fireworks intensified.

We still can't find him to coax him back into the house. Poor poor baby.

Uncle Bob

Yes, I must admit I'm a bit worried since I read Wendy's blog about Uncle Bob trying to track us down for a dinner. I don't think I've mentioned him before as he appeared in a chapter which I thought ended way before I started this blog.

It's been so many years, perhaps 3 years now, but let me give a brief run down. He was my customer back when I was in my old company. He would often call up about once or twice a month just to chat. At first, it started off innocently, an old man wanting to just chat. And he was nice. Slowly, he kept insisting we meet up for dinner with his wife. Eventually, I caved in and brought along my ex-colleague whom he used to call before I took over her job. We went with our respective partners all the way to Klang for seafood which he paid for.

When I first saw him, I got a slight shock as he is bent double, walking with a cane with curved fingers, due to severe arthritis. I felt really sorry for him.

After that, he kept calling and calling. And I did the worst thing possible, I got Wendy involved by making her pick up the calls. He then started to call both of us and finally, when he met Wendy, he said she reminded him of his ex girlfriend from Japan. This intensified his calls to her and he kept insisting on another dinner. He found out our birthdays and sent us two expensive cakes to the office. His wife went to China and he saved us 2 bags as gifts.

So far this looks like this Uncle Bob is just showering us with gifts. But wait! He then starts to ask us for things, other products from our company, as gifts. This part I can't remember exactly but I know he manipulated our sympathy/friendship to get favours.

Somehow, we managed to shrug him off and he stopped calling. Our boss gave us permission to use her name to stop him from calling, it was that bad.

And now he's calling Wendy to ask for a dinner again. Sigh... On one end, he hasn't done anything harmful to us and is probably just wanting to be friendly. On the other hand, I don't care for the manipulation.

Should he ever find out I'm now staying so close to him and that I never invited him to my wedding, he's going to be very upset and say things I don't want to hear.

Happy CNY

In just a couple of days, my working clothes are now slightly snug after all that binging and sleeping. It's been a great CNY, busy with entertaining people (most of whom I don't know since they were all my in-laws guests and KS), catching up with friends and it's still not over! Tomorrow we head to Ipoh to KS grandma's place. More food!

Reunion Dinner 07

As promised, here is a photo of my cousins. Now that I look at it, we don't really look THAT alike. At least, KS can tell who is who in descending order. Next step is for him to remember their names.

We had great food and instead of our usual fare of wines, my cousin brought out his liqueurs and boy did we have some flushed faces after that! But the time was too short to catch up with my cousins. After taking this photo, only then did we start to really talk, as we were running around before that getting things ready etc.

Happy New Year! I'm off to Melaka now.

Romance

Yesterday everyone was asking, "Got dinner plans tonight?" with that twinkle in their eye. I get so frustrated because I don't believe in Valentine's Day at all! It's just a marketing gimmick to get people to buy expensive flowers and expensive dinners.

My colleagues were wishing each other Happy Valentine's Day, another got a rose from her boyfriend who came all the way to deliver it to her at work. That was really sweet though. So much so I myself got caught up a little in it and bought a single stalk for KS. Now he doesn't know what to do with it! Muahahaha... now I've put him in my position should he ever get me flowers.

Not to say I hate flowers, I do like them. Attached to the stem, to the roots, to the pot or ground in someone else's house. Or arranged in a vase on our dining table. I can accept that as you don't have to pay someone to put it in a fancy bouquet. Terrible, aren't I? Monster, stop cringing.

Antique Belling

I'm on my CNY leave and am clearing my camera again hence so many photos. Took this one at my in-laws place. It's a really really old Belling oven. It's coated in enamel which is still in good condition and it actually works. KS's mum sent it in for repair and she's going to try bake something in it. Isn't it quaint??

How You Know You Are Fat

Scene 1:

Jan comes to stay over at my place. As she drags her back up the driveway, my neighbour says, “Long time no see! Did you just come back from a slimming center?”

To which Jan replies, “Er… I’m not Jo. I’m her sister.”

Uncomfortable pause. “Oh, but you two look so alike”

Scene 2:

Pastor Jen stops Jan at church, “Send my regards to your parents. Oh, and you DO look so much slimmer! And your face is sharper too! What have you been doing to get rid of the weight?”

To which Jan replies, “Er… I’m not Jo. I’m her sister.”

Uncomfortable pause. “Oh, but you two look so alike”

Babi! But heck, I'm going to the gym now, awright?? Not like I'm losing any weight from it since I stuff my face right after each session.

Yes, we look so alike that we get this very frequently. But wait! This not only applies to my sisters but my cousins too! In fact, I’ll prove this to you. This CNY, I’m planning to take a photo of all my cousins and do a “Where’s Jo?” contest. Sometimes, I myself can’t tell the difference at a glance.

Voodoo Doll

I finally got myself a little "voodoo" doll to match my handphone. It's rather funny to see people's reaction to it. Some people gasp and really think it is a real one. Absolutely hilarious, especially when I poke the green pin into it and see their looks of horror. Well, since my boss isn't limping or castrated as yet simply shows it doesn't work, does it? Shown here is me trying to give him a headache or, at worst, a bald spot.

Some people...

Yusof Gajah

Yusof "Gajah" is a local artist who became known to me from my previous job. He is well known for his paintings of elephants and did some nice work with us back then. However, because I am not well versed in the local who's who especially in the arts, I assume not everyone knows of his works either.

So I was surprised when I noticed my colleague who had just purchased some postcards with his recognizable elephant prints. Yusof has a new gallery open near my office so I paid it a visit and bought some cards.



Aren't they cute? This is a Mother - Baby series, the mother trying to instill good habits onto the child.

No Work Mood

I couldn't get any work done today! It's less than a week before Chinese New Year starts and I'm really excited about it! I took this Thursday and Friday off so that I can spend time with my nephews and sister. Am soo looking forward to seeing them after such a long time. Oh, and the food we'll be consuming!

Speaking of stuffing myself, the gym hasn't been really helping. Somehow, KS and I feel that we've put on weight rather than loose any. Perhaps it's because after every session, we go wolf down something large and fattening. Just maybe. It's like, "I deserve this ice cream after that work out!". Man...

Stupid Burnings

So much for talking about going green and global warming awareness when you live in an area where dickheads don't bother about open burning.

I swear, last night when we arrived home from a weekend at Melaka, visibility was about 100m due to the smoke. To our horror, just outside our home where there is a large shopping mall being built, there was a pile of construction bits which were being engulfed by large flames. And there was this van from the Fire Department, who only stood there to ensure it didn't spread.

We could hardly sleep as the smoke was in our rooms. I slept with my shirt covering my face so that I could breathe through the cotton.

Thank God it rained today so there's no burning. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Shovel Needed

One of the things that my senior pastor is well known for is his ability to remember his congregation's names. We have over 2500 people who attend and he greets almost every one by name as they step in every weekend. Visitors like my parents who only come once a while, he will also take the effort to remember and greet them by name.

Now, I have lived only three decades and being the unsociable person I am, by right I shouldn't have problems remembering those who have passed through my life, right?

Yesterday, I had lunch at a popular place and across the next table, this guy looked really familiar and he was staring at me. So I stared back while my gray matter was trying to match the image with whatever data stored in my mind. He nudged the person beside him and by golly, HE looked familiar too! We all stood up while I was still delving into chapters of my life when I said, "I know you were my ex-colleagues but I can't remember..."

"No, we were uni mates, remember? I'm So-and-so. You're Jo, right? How's KS?"

Lesson learned, always start off with a neutral sentence like, "You look really familiar!" or "Hey, how's your mother?"

Clark Hatch

Today, we went to the gym again. My second time. This is fantastic! I'm going to a gym for the second time this year! Put it in my scrapbook ... anyways...

This time we went to Clark Hatch in Sheraton Subang. I prefer this place compared to the gym in Centre Point because it is smaller, with several angles so that you can do your lunges or stretching while hiding behind some pillar or an obscure corner. And the shower room is so much nicer with a jacuzzi (not that I'd use it) but yeah, the place is great!

Perhaps it's also because there wasn't anyone there, only about 3 other guys. So I had the whole locker to myself. Bliss. The equipment were a little old but still functioning well.

Now to stuff myself with more food after the workout.

Drifting

You have GOT to watch this video by Andy McKee. I've always liked acoustic guitar but this guy brings playing the guitar to a new level. The song is called Drifting and I've been hooked on it since KS discovered it on youtube a couple of days ago. Check out his other songs too.

Ringtones

Now with my new Sony Ericsson phone, I am allowed to use mp3s as my ringtones instead of the shrill polyphonic ones I used to have on my Nokia. Now, selecting the appropriate song for your ringtone is very imperative as it reveals an essence of your character to others who hear it, don't you think? I mean, I can so relate the Malay rock song my colleague uses to his character or another who has a typical Chinese love song that really matches the type of person she is.

Sometimes, the song selected is also meant to reflect the person who's calling. But I've already discussed that before.

Currently, my ringtone comes from a Stephen Chow movie as he tries to merge Shaolin Kung Fu with singing in Shaolin Soccer. Of course, he and his friend sings it horribly and makes it arguably the best part of the movie.

But that has been my ringtone since I got my phone in Nov. Now I'm itching to change it but haven't felt an affinity to any song as yet. Essentially, it needs to be loud enough so that I can hear it. I wish wish wish I recorded the gecko in Cambodia. That would have been unique! Am toying with the idea of Chariots of Fire but it's a crescendo which won't catch my attention soon enough.

So, what's your ring tone? Maybe I'll get inspired from there.

Angry Cat

Since Ang Ku's stomach hasn't reduced in its swelling since, oh well, April last year (since he adopted us, to be more accurate), we decided to buy him some deworming pills.

So, when we got home and he came begging for food as usual, I ambushed him after his meal. Boy, was he absolutely livid! Managed to force down a quarter of the pill but by the time I wanted to force the second quarter in, his mouth was foaming and saliva dripping.

Poor, poor boy. I hope the quarter tablet works though.

Record

Today, I went shopping. Massive shopping. Supposedly for Chinese New Year clothes. Yeah right. They were mostly brown and black. Six (6) tops in 4 hours at the Curve. Two of which were of the same design but different colours. I'm doing an Auntie Jancey.

Jan felt exhilarated while I felt guilty for spending so much.

Now I understand why people keep saying they like shopping at the Curve. Most of the shops are unique, not the common branded ones found in the bigger malls. You'd less likely bump into someone who'd be wearing the same clothes from The Curve.

Experiments

Sometimes you have to take advice from the Internet with a pinch of salt. Somewhere it says that urine will cure smelly feet.

Let me tell you it doesn't work. Dammit!