Bubble Fans

"Twenty eight bubble-eyed fantails embellished with 24K gold..." with reference to goldfish was translated to this in BM: "Dengan adanya dua puluh ekor kipas yang berbentuk buih air..."

Now, language is not one of my strongest points but at least I know that is some crap translation! I'm trying hard to imagine how the heck does 20 (even the quantity was translated wrongly) fans that look like bubbles look like?

So now I'm armed with the tast of telling the translater, "Your translation sucks. Big time, buddy. And forget about sending us the bill".

Ah, if only I were so direct..

Books!

After whinging about not having any books, I went to a book warehouse sale. I came back with 3 new books, David Sedaris, a John Grisham and a Mary Higgins Clark (Jan said she was good). Now I can't wait to finish up my Harry Potter and get on with the rest!

And with relation to books, I finally caught Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Armed with a bar of choc, I was disappointed that I didn't have the urge to eat chocolate while watching it (it doesn't take much to entice chocolate eating from me but I chewed it right before the credits rolled). Johnny Depp was fantasticly eccentric but aside from him, there was something missing from the show. Sure I enjoyed myself but it just didn't have that oomph factor.

50th Anniversary

Last night I attended a relative's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Usually, I would only see these relatives once a year, during Chinese New Year when we would just greet them with a "Hello! Gong Xi Fa Chai Uncle So-and-So" then we would quietly blend into the chairs/wall/background and make an occasional dash to the food laden table to grab a bite.

Unfortunately, because we aren't able to communicate (in my own mother tongue!), we never really got to know our relatives very well. However, last night was sort of an eye-opener as this lovely couple shared how they met each other 55 years ago, as they reminisce their first date, what they thought of each other etc. It was very heart warming and although I didn't understand what they were saying, KS kept up a good commentary of what they were saying.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and just felt closer to them somehow. Will put up the photos of them later. They also had this huge cake, weighing 12 kgs made out of layers of sponge cake with slices of mangoes covering the 3 tiers. It cost RM700! Phew! Of course I took a photo of it.

Oh, of course there was the usual singing, they were made to sing and they sportingly did so. KS was mentioning that when we celebrate OUR 50th wedding anniversary, we'd be singing "Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'" or "Crawling in my skin". Well, as long as it's not "Bohemian Rhapsody" or the "Bicycle" song...

NST Scoop!

I've only seen it in movies, about how newspapers vie for the latest scoop just to have an exclusive on the front pages the next day.

Well, today there is such an incident whereby News Straits Times is ahead of the Star. The secret wedding of the Home Affairs Minister and an ex newscaster became public gossip over the last couple of days. Star reports that their journalists exhausted all their contacts trying to locate her as the engagement was supposed to take place last night. They were at her kampung in Johor but no one there knew anything about the ceremony taking place.

NST front page today happily reports of their marriage last night. Oh, I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the Star newsdesk team today.

The Urge

I haven't read a decent book in yonks. The last one I read (am half reading) is another Perry Mason one but because it's my last Perry Mason in my collection which I have yet to read, I'm savoring it.

At the moment, I'm re-reading the 4th Harry Potter. It's a good thing I skimmed through it the first time because I can't remember it at all! So it's almost like a new book again.

One complaint I have is that new books here are expensive (in relation to our Malaysian pay) so it's a luxury. Going to the second hand bookshops only leave me disappointed because I'm not familiar with the authors and I usually can't find what I'm looking for.

So, if you've read a good book lately, do let me know (I'm already hunting for The Time Traveler's Wife).

Strange Beliefs

Sometimes the things people believe in are incredulous. My mum used to scold me for walking over books for I would turn stupid, KS grew up thinking that if you point your finger at a full moon, your nose/ear will fall off. His dad of course disproved that gleefully to both KS and his sis (this episode ended with wails and howls of fear from the two kids running to the mum). The list goes on.

I remembered this response in the newspaper for someone who wanted to get rid of their body odour. This reader told BO boy to put a freshly steamed plain pow (yeah, the type used for char siew pow) clasped under their armpits and to walk in the easterly direction for 12 minutes! I can so imagine the neighbours waking up to such a sight! 12 minutes is a pretty far distance unless you shuffle but that would only make you more obvious with 2 steaming white pows sticking out from under your armpits! Oh, and one is supposed to do this like for 12 days or 14 days. I'll tell you what you'll get rid off - your neighbours!

Why is it...

...that my period knows exactly when to ruin an important meeting/event? It will be delayed for days or come early, whichever suits it's evil plans, and will wait for the most important day in that week to come. Then I'd get all bloated, stomach cramps, pimply, lack of appetite and irritated and go for a meeting. Blast it! 12 times a year I'd wish I were born a boy.

So when my wedding was approaching, I knew it might happen so I took precautions. Thank heavens nothing happened but I can't succumb to medication to foil my period's evil designs every month!

Bengkak

So I walk into the office this morning, after napping in the car since we were stuck in a jam for over half hour. A factory staff whom I know stopped and looked at me strangely. I immediately clutched my hair and thought it must have been tousled so badly in the car that it looks like it just came out of dryer. Hurriedly running my fingers through my disobedient strands, I greeted a few more colleagues who also looked half a second longer than it usually takes for someone to say hi.

Then I bumped into my friend who immediately reared in shock - he's not one to mince words (or what we call her as laser mouth) - "EEEEeeee! Your eyeshadow so doesn't suit you! Your eyes look bengkak (swollen)." He's one of those guys who belong to my "Queer Eye for the Straight Gal" - well, actually, he's the ONLY one in that list - so I immediately wiped off my eyeshadow.

I don't suppose the bengkak look will ever be in fashion so I promise never to wear make up in the dark again. And to also not sleep on the way to work (coz now I just feel like sleeping) as it must have contributed to the look.

Cat is Away

My boss, or sometimes referred to as Totoro (the famous Japanese big "cat" - we actually don't know what creature Totoro is), is away for the rest of the week. Hurrah!

I can't wait for the weekend too, with cakes to bake and jelly to make. Double hurrah!

Anti-Drug Notices

Heard over the radio that the government will be putting anti-drug messages on utility bills and phone bills. And since Most Malaysians Choose Maxis, Maxis will also be forced to print them on their bills.

So, in a couple of months time, we will all see "Don't Do Drugs" "Drugs are BAD" on all our bills and it will surely discourage the drug users. NOT.

Sometimes one wonders what actually goes into the thinking of this, if any at all. This is pure desperation and stupidity.