senyum seindah suria

senyum seindah suria yang membawa cahaya
senyumlah dari hati, duniamu berseri

senyum umpama titian dalam kehidupan
kau tersenyum ku, tersenyum, kemesraan menguntum

senyum kepada semua
senyumanmu amatlah berharga

senyum membahagiakan
dengan senyuman terjalinlah ikatan

a messy home is a sign of character (you should see all the characters who live here!)

spent the evening in th company of some old industry friends. its funny how with some working partners, you need to put up the diplomatic front (LW calls it the PR smile *tilts head*), and with others, you can spew bad language (KC… tsk tsk tsk…) and laugh over issues like porky flu, overcooked salmon, undercooked chicken and kamus dewan bahasa edisi ketujuh.

if i had known i was going to live this long, i would have taken better care of myself

woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. which is weird, because J says my bed only has one side to begin with. well, now that just makes things worse, doesn’t it – getting up on the wrong side of a one sided bed.

pffft.

i spent yesterday juggling between drafting environmental policies, surveillance of an influenza that comes from pigs, and memorizing spanish verb conjugation. it is not a muy bonita combination and you’ll just have to take my word for it.

why do i do this to myself, you had to ask? spanish exam was last night and baby, i was this close to breaking out in one of those teaching methodology lectures on exam timing. having an exam at 6.30pm is one of the sickest form of torture for a girl who wakes up at 6am for work in the first place. by the time i met up with J later 10pm for dinner, i was so too pooped to party.

i know, i know. why do i keep doing this to myself? whateva.

filed in my income tax today.

i know.

things like this just not helping my mood.

on what may be a lighter note, i’ve finally figured out a plot for one of my writing projects this weekend. it is bad ass and i like it.

what do i want now? yogurt. frozen raspberry yogurt. the kind with icicles clinging on to them. neat.

now go fetch.

are we human ~ the killers

i did my best to notice
when the call came down the line
up to the platform of surrender
i was brought but i was kind

and sometimes i get nervous
when i see an open door
close your eyes, clear your heart
cut the cord

are we human or are we dancer?
my sign is vital, my hands are cold
and i’m on my knees looking for the answer
are we human or are we dancer?

pay my respects to grace and virtue
send my condolences to good
give my regards to soul and romance
they always did the best they could

and so long to devotion
you taught me everything i know
wave goodbye, wish me well
you’ve gotta let me go

will your system be alright,
when you dream of home tonight?
there is no message we’re receiving
let me know, is your heart still beating?

the more i learn about people, the more i love cats

can you believe it, i am still reeling in from a massive shrimp feast last sunday. now, i have never been one of those dietary picky people, but i actually went home that night wondering how soon all that seafood have shortened my natural lifespan in terms of cholesterol and junk like that.

i’m not complaining about the shrimp. man, those were good shrimp. but i don’t think i’ll be shrimping for the next week of so – i just don’t think my arteries would be able to take it.

yes, this is going to be a long one. mostly pictures. as you can see, the shrimps have infected my brain already.

after dinner, KW and i went about the place taking pictures of their quirky signages. yes, you know where this is leading, more pictures.

my brain is that damaged.

to know is nothing at all, to imagine is everything ~ albert einstein

there’s this one project that i’m working on, and it is taking forever to complete. it’s not that i don’t have ideas for it, i actually do. it’s just that this one is for a particularly elite audience – and i don’t know what kind of a sense of humour they have.

and to me, sense of humour is crucial. but not just any kind of lawak bodoh kind of humour. i need to know that my audience have a certain level of intelligence, in order to properly appreciate the humour. and yes, i do realise that i can be pretty cynical where this level of intelligence is concerned, but that’s just how i roll, and you really think that i’d switch my style to be more popular? heck no.

yes, some people do tell me that i tend to underestimate the intelligence of a lot of people, but from my perspective, i’d rather be nicely surprised by that, than to resort to stupid jokes. ada jugak people who say that my brand of humour is too sophisticated for them to undertand. my respond to that: too bad.

in my point of view, one really should not be so daft that they don’t get intelligent humour, and one should not be so hoity toity that they cannot see the lighter side of life.

so you can see my predicament. what if these people don’t get what i’m trying to say? can i say it in a more simplified manner – why yes, i can, should i? i want to give this project some style, some flavour, something that says that it has personality. and when i say personality, it means MY personality, duh. could i come up with something straightforward and dry and en punto? of course i can. you don’t need to be a features writer to be able to do that. but man, where’s the fun in that?

so i’m going to do it ala sinatra. i’m either going to hit the mark exactly, or miss it completely. i guess even if they don’t like my work, i’d like it. and kalau takde orang nak syok dengan kerja kita, terpaksa lah kita syok sendiri jer.

packing for europe (part 1)

planning a backpacking trip to europe is not the same as planning a trip around asia. PT and i met to exchange notes a coupla weeks ago.

PT, if you are reading this in vietnam: you’d better watch where you’re walking. you’re not the first friend i know who has tripped on the streets of HCMC. and don’t you dare get on one of those motorcycles, faham?!!!

i leave for europe in a coupla weeks and i realise that packing for this one is going to be particularly tricky. since i will be jumping cities via cheap flights and i’m not checking in any bags, my backpack will need to comply with the 55cm x 40cm x 20cm measurements.

on top of that, the airline websites tell me that hand carry luggage cannot weigh more that 10kg. and of course, there is that issue of LAGs. so folks, these rules will dictate all my packing for this trip.

i wonder if packing light for europe is even possible. i’ve been browsing around and everyone’s doing the one-bag thing. it should be early spring by the time i get there in the first week of may – i wonder how cold it will be.

will i need all that fleece i brought with me to america or will a windbreaker do? sweaters, yes or not? sandals, yes or no? sleeping bag (some people kata perlu because hostel beds), yes or no? extendable camera tripod, can or not?

lagi? lagi?

cat walking

the cat came back from his usual hunt and presented himself on the carpet before us HALF COVERED IN MUD! it lifts one paw in front of me and shivered. J rolls his eyes, picks the cat up and closes the bathroom door behind them. i hear cat shrieks and water splatters next.

five minutes later, the two emerge from the bathroom wet and smelling of shampoo. the cat looks scrawny with its fur wet. J towels the cat. he ask me to pass him the blue thing on the dresser.

the what?

the blue thing.

you mean the hair dryer?

SHHH!!! he knows the word!!!

holding it by the tail, J gives the cat a quick 2-minute run over with the hair dryer.

looking miserable, the cat sits under the dining room fan, drying off. we return to our movie.

i got it from my mama

hola chicos!

the week after next is my spanish exam and already, i am thinking of ways to sneak my verb conjugation formulas into the exams. oh, i don’t mind sharing my cheat notes at all, but there are only ocho estudientes in my clase! i’m thinking of writing the normal verbos in the palm of one hand and the verbo iregulares in the palm of the other hand.

knowing me, cakap je besar. i will chicken out on cheating at the very last minute. curse my morally straight and ethically righteous upbringing!!! all my glorious talents in scheming and planning wasted on birthday parties when i should be using these super spy powers to take over… THE WORLD!!!

J says that if only i had a criminal mind, i would probably be banking big time dineros by now instead of taking cheap shots of people around me on my blog.

oh well, nak buat macam mana? i got it from my mama.

the nationals were on over the weekend and i went there to support my ninos and ninas. of course, they looked awesome and performed even better – every single one of them. thing is, most of the kids are still at that age where everything is about having fun, fun, fun. diorang bukan macam kita ni – we take things way too seriously and far too competitively, that we forget that doing things we love are supposed to make us happy, not stressed out.

the mango and strawberry jelly i made for the kids’ easter party last weekend came out a wee bit too wobbly, but because of the bright colours, they swallowed it down and smiled anyway. mom tells me that kids are more forgiving like than.

i got an article to write that i really need to push myself to complete. i had all this semangat enthusiasm when i was submitting the proposal to the editor. now that she’s given me the green light, a bunch of other things suddenly seem so much more interesting.

mad world ~ tears for fears (roland orzabal)

all around me are familiar faces
worn out places, worn out faces

bright and early for the daily races
going nowhere, going nowhere

their tears are filling up their glasses
no expression, no expression

hide my head, i wanna drown my sorrow
no tomorrow, no tomorrow

and i find it kind of funny, i find it kind of sad
the dreams in which i’m dying are the best i’ve ever had

i find it hard to tell you, i find it hard to take
when people run in circles its a very, very mad world

children waiting for the day they feel good
happy birthday, happy birthday

and i feel the way that every child should
sit and listen, sit and listen

went to school and i was very nervous
no one knew me, no one knew me

hello teacher tell me, what’s my lesson?
look right through me, look right through me