There is this under lying understanding of bribery. I use the term bribery because to put it bluntly and in layman's terms it is plain outright bribery. But you see, here its not seen as bribery. It is seen as a "token of appreciation". A token of appreciation that can apparently take you far. And its the only way things work around here. Well not the only but definitely the grease that oils the machine.
I can call a million dollars a token of appreciation too! I have been "asked" to contribute a few times now but I can't bring myself to do so. And no, its not a million bucks but still. Just the thought of it somewhat irks the shit out of me. It doesn't seem right. Maybe I'm just being naive and trying to be all idealistic and shit.
The point of my writing this out is because I had a moment of weakness. A moment of weakness where I jump on the "brib" wagon to oil my way into the hearts of certain eastern counterparts. And I'm like what the heck! No! I'm not doing it! I think my moment of weakness is caused by the sense of belonging and the sense of being left out. That makes me sound super pathetic right?
Ah well.
Ain't gonna do it.
____________________
It's Claire's birthday today. We (Amil, Michelle, Eugene and I) went out for dinner together and had a good time. And today, we're going out for lunch. Both Claire and I. She's 23. I was 23 two years ago. I'm turning 25 next week! omg! 1/4 century old! omg!
Now I feel like going on a shopping spree. fck.
Showing posts with label KL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KL. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Sunday, 18 April 2010
the door of the plane closes.
As I was lazing on the bed this morning, eugene throws me the today's paper and tells me to read it. And on the front page of the middle section is about the kids who don't belong... Here's the whole article..
___________________________________________________________
Who am I?
By CHAN LI-JIN
Having a foot in different countries gives children a wider world view. But they could end up feeling they don’t belong anywhere.
SO tell me, are you born and bred here?”
Barely seated comfortably yet, I was taken aback by Ruth Van Reken’s question as we settled down for an exclusive interview in Petaling Jaya recently.
Ruth Van Reken: ‘No one talks of the loss that comes with the closing of an airplane door.’
Even as I replied “Yes”, I knew it was a simplified answer. How could I explain to this foreigner that I was born in Johor Baru but had spent the last two decades of my life in Kuala Lumpur, yet my father was from Penang? And why would these details matter anyway?
As the interview progressed, however, I found myself telling Van Reken more and more of myself and the Malaysian context of our discussion. It was easy to sense that this 64-year-old author of two books, Letters Never Sent and Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, was as interested in knowing me as I was to know her.
This is hardly surprising, as Van Reken has been listening to others’ stories for the last two decades since Letters was published in 1987. Written as a journal and initially titled Letters I Never Wrote, the book was written in the form of letters to her parents, beginning with her first night at boarding school, when Ruth was six. It continues through the years when her parents stayed on in Nigeria after sending her back to the United States (her mother’s birthplace) at the age of 13.
When she completed the book, no publisher thought the story was worth any money, Van Reken recalled. So she published it herself. And when it hit the stores, she started receiving tons of letters from readers who said they could relate to her pain and grief of being a third culture kid (TCK).
So what exactly is a TCK?
Simplistically, it refers to the children of people who live and work abroad, away from their passport country. Research shows that these children who lead highly migratory lives tend to battle issues of rootlessness, restlessness, fractured relationships, cultural imbalance and lack of belonging, even though they were also developing a large world view, multi-lingual abilities and friendships with people from different cultural backgrounds.
In Third Culture Kids, Van Reken and sociologist co-author Prof David Pollock profile the practical, emotional and psychological benefits and challenges in the reality of what they refer to as “growing up among worlds”. The major challenges of this nomadic lifestyle are related to dealing with the often hidden losses and the perpetual search for identity.
The first edition of Third Culture Kids, published in 1999, became an international bestseller very quickly. Readers sent her heart-wrenching, humorous, sometimes thought-provoking stories describing their migratory lives. They ranged from military families to those in the foreign service, children of missionaries, and even children of multiracial families, immigrants and minority groups.
“That’s when David (Pollock) and I realised that the topic covered a much wider scope than we imagined,” Van Reken said. The revised version ofthe book, released in 2009, continues to draw global attention from people who feel they have finally found the reason behind their lifetime search for answers.
The revised version expanded on the TCK term, and included definitions for adult third culture kids (ATCK), cross cultural kids (CCK), and even people moving within their own country who feel ostracised by the differing cultures, social practices and unspoken community rules in each different state.
Their different experiences notwithstanding, they all share the same dilemma: Who exactly am I?
Van Reken explained: “TCKs always feel out of place and abnormal, especially when teachers ask, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ They face problems filling forms where they need to mark ‘race’ and ‘nationality’. Having to explain what they fill poses another problem!”
She speaks from experience. Growing up as a white person in Africa, she always knew she didn’t “belong” among the dark-skinned children. “Kids on the streets used to call out ‘white girl, white girl’ and tug at my clothes on the streets,” she reminisced.
Her parents were teachers and ran a small school for African children, so even as a little girl she knew she was among the privileged back in those colonial days. But she also knew she would leave one day, as her mother kept a small table at the end of the classroom where she was taught American culture to prepare young Ruth for the inevitable repatriation.
“But there’s only so much you can learn from books. When I first arrived in the United States as a young teenager, the first question my classmates asked was, ‘Where are you from?’ Having lived in Africa all my childhood, I replied ‘Nigeria’.
When her friends exclaimed with disbelief, “You don’t look African”, she realised it was the wrong answer.
“But Nigeria was my home for the first 13 years of my life – all my friends, my nanny and my world were there. What was I supposed to say?” Van Reken said, smiling at the recollection.
Although she now looked just like everyone in her predominantly white, mono-culture school in the United States, once again she felt that she didn’t belong.
“I never learnt to swim like everyone else, yet I could bargain really well in a wet market. My first attempt to get a hamburger was a huge embarrassment. I didn’t know there were extra tax charges so I only brought exact change.”
Identity crises tore at Ruth. By the time she turned 14, she no longer told anyone about her African childhood. She studied nursing, married a paediatrician at 22 and went on to have three children.
In her mid-20s, she returned to visit her parents in Africa when her husband was posted to Liberia. All at once, she was hit by the familiarity of the warm earthy tones, the pungent smells of cooking, the animated sounds of the Hausa language among the locals.
But it was no longer the same. Her parents had moved to a different place. She also had two siblings whom she hardly knew.
“My old house was gone, together with all I knew and loved. It hurt me deeply to know I’d lost them forever. I never even said goodbye.”
Van Reken stayed in Liberia with her young family for a few years until political unrest forced them to return to the United States. At every point, she always took everything in her stride, going with the flow until she turned 39 and went into a deep depression.
“Suddenly I was questioning everything that had happened in my life and why I felt this void deep inside. I didn’t understand why I felt such deep sadness when I had had such a happy and loving childhood surrounded by parents, grandparents, relatives and friends.
Van Reken’s books triggered a flood of response from readers who could relate to the pain of being TCKs.
“That was when I started Letters Never Sent, as part of my grief therapy. They were mostly letters to my parents, talking about everyday events and wishing they were there, as a six- or 13-year-old who had just been sent off to a faraway school. By looking back at my experiences, I discovered what I needed was a closure to my beautiful childhood days, which I’d tried to suppress since moving back to US,” she said.
“Whenever people mention loss, what always comes to mind is the loss of a parent through death or divorce, a loved one, a pet, a best friend. No one talks of the loss that comes with the closing of an airplane door, when one leaves a place.
“A part of me died the day I first flew out of Africa. And I needed to mourn the loss in order to overcome the grief.”
Since then, Van Reken has been travelling around the world to counsel and talk about the impact of high mobility on TCKs to teachers, parents and policy makers. She was in Malaysia recently to conduct similar programmes for some international schools in Petaling Jaya.
Her mission now is to help TCKs and their families deal with the challenges so that they can use the many gifts in their childhood as well.
“With their international exposure, travelling opportunities and cross-cultural upbringing, most TCKs have excellent social and adaptive skills. They are also more likely to see people beyond colour, race and nationality and have a broader world view.”
She points out that these benefits can be harvested to benefit the child’s wholesome development instead of being allowed to fester into a life-long sense of searching for a place to belong.
So does Van Reken feel “at home” in Indianapolis, where she lives now?
“Yes and no, because I’ve got little bits of me all over the world. I’ve learnt to make myself at home anywhere in the world. All that matters is making the best of things right here, right now. I don’t try to fit in any more, now that I know where I stand as a TCK.”
As we parted ways, I thought of what Van Reken said about not knowing what to cross under “Race” in official forms. My children are of Chinese and Malay parentage, and I often wonder what they should fill in this section. Then again, I thought about us Chinese “bananas”, second- or third-generation Chinese Malaysians. Most of us cannot read or speak Chinese any more; we attend Malay national schools, yet think, read and write in English.
Then there are the people from Terengganu, Kelantan or Sabah who have settled in Kuala Lumpur or other parts of the country. Their children will very likely never speak the dialect distinct only to their state, and many will never know the culture and lifestyle of their parents and ancestors.
Are these children TCKs too?
Definitely. In today’s highly mobile and complex environment, perhaps there will come a time when every Malaysian is a TCK in one way or other. Except here, we have a different term for it – 1Malaysia.
■ ‘Third Culture Kids’ can be obtained through Navigate Together Sdn Bhd (navtogether.com). For enquiries, e-mail admin@navtogether.com or call Mike Cannon at 017-200 3685.
_____________________________
I have to say. Its been a long time since I read a really good article from our local newspaper. Well.. I liked it anyways. I know I have only been away for a very short period of time. But by the third year I was away, I began to feel alienated from my own country, some of my friends and even sometimes, my own family. I feel like I'm now beginning to learn to ropes of my own birth country again.
I have no clue about what have been going in the last 5 years and I'm slowly (but surely) learning about it. I have friends who are sick and tired of the Malaysian night life while I'm slowly beginning to enjoy it again. It's like my growing up process in Malaysia took a back seat while I explored life in Australisia.
I miss being away from home. There are times when I wish I was going back to New Zealand and enjoying a cuppa and a cig with Jess and Janice in Governors or visiting Elaine and Darren in Wellington or going fishing with the boys or just bumming doing absolutely nothing on a super boring monday night with CC and Eugene. Come to think of it, maybe its not so much the place but the lifestyle in general.
Maybe I'm still getting used to the working life while missing the student life of being away.
Now one thing is for sure, I'm moving out. Just the matter of when and stabilizing my finances then I'm outta there.
ps. Melvin turned 21. Tristan turned 2. I'm going to Langkawi. I still have a job. Amen.
___________________________________________________________
Who am I?
By CHAN LI-JIN
Having a foot in different countries gives children a wider world view. But they could end up feeling they don’t belong anywhere.
SO tell me, are you born and bred here?”
Barely seated comfortably yet, I was taken aback by Ruth Van Reken’s question as we settled down for an exclusive interview in Petaling Jaya recently.
Ruth Van Reken: ‘No one talks of the loss that comes with the closing of an airplane door.’
Even as I replied “Yes”, I knew it was a simplified answer. How could I explain to this foreigner that I was born in Johor Baru but had spent the last two decades of my life in Kuala Lumpur, yet my father was from Penang? And why would these details matter anyway?
As the interview progressed, however, I found myself telling Van Reken more and more of myself and the Malaysian context of our discussion. It was easy to sense that this 64-year-old author of two books, Letters Never Sent and Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, was as interested in knowing me as I was to know her.
This is hardly surprising, as Van Reken has been listening to others’ stories for the last two decades since Letters was published in 1987. Written as a journal and initially titled Letters I Never Wrote, the book was written in the form of letters to her parents, beginning with her first night at boarding school, when Ruth was six. It continues through the years when her parents stayed on in Nigeria after sending her back to the United States (her mother’s birthplace) at the age of 13.
When she completed the book, no publisher thought the story was worth any money, Van Reken recalled. So she published it herself. And when it hit the stores, she started receiving tons of letters from readers who said they could relate to her pain and grief of being a third culture kid (TCK).
So what exactly is a TCK?
Simplistically, it refers to the children of people who live and work abroad, away from their passport country. Research shows that these children who lead highly migratory lives tend to battle issues of rootlessness, restlessness, fractured relationships, cultural imbalance and lack of belonging, even though they were also developing a large world view, multi-lingual abilities and friendships with people from different cultural backgrounds.
In Third Culture Kids, Van Reken and sociologist co-author Prof David Pollock profile the practical, emotional and psychological benefits and challenges in the reality of what they refer to as “growing up among worlds”. The major challenges of this nomadic lifestyle are related to dealing with the often hidden losses and the perpetual search for identity.
The first edition of Third Culture Kids, published in 1999, became an international bestseller very quickly. Readers sent her heart-wrenching, humorous, sometimes thought-provoking stories describing their migratory lives. They ranged from military families to those in the foreign service, children of missionaries, and even children of multiracial families, immigrants and minority groups.
“That’s when David (Pollock) and I realised that the topic covered a much wider scope than we imagined,” Van Reken said. The revised version ofthe book, released in 2009, continues to draw global attention from people who feel they have finally found the reason behind their lifetime search for answers.
The revised version expanded on the TCK term, and included definitions for adult third culture kids (ATCK), cross cultural kids (CCK), and even people moving within their own country who feel ostracised by the differing cultures, social practices and unspoken community rules in each different state.
Their different experiences notwithstanding, they all share the same dilemma: Who exactly am I?
Van Reken explained: “TCKs always feel out of place and abnormal, especially when teachers ask, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ They face problems filling forms where they need to mark ‘race’ and ‘nationality’. Having to explain what they fill poses another problem!”
She speaks from experience. Growing up as a white person in Africa, she always knew she didn’t “belong” among the dark-skinned children. “Kids on the streets used to call out ‘white girl, white girl’ and tug at my clothes on the streets,” she reminisced.
Her parents were teachers and ran a small school for African children, so even as a little girl she knew she was among the privileged back in those colonial days. But she also knew she would leave one day, as her mother kept a small table at the end of the classroom where she was taught American culture to prepare young Ruth for the inevitable repatriation.
“But there’s only so much you can learn from books. When I first arrived in the United States as a young teenager, the first question my classmates asked was, ‘Where are you from?’ Having lived in Africa all my childhood, I replied ‘Nigeria’.
When her friends exclaimed with disbelief, “You don’t look African”, she realised it was the wrong answer.
“But Nigeria was my home for the first 13 years of my life – all my friends, my nanny and my world were there. What was I supposed to say?” Van Reken said, smiling at the recollection.
Although she now looked just like everyone in her predominantly white, mono-culture school in the United States, once again she felt that she didn’t belong.
“I never learnt to swim like everyone else, yet I could bargain really well in a wet market. My first attempt to get a hamburger was a huge embarrassment. I didn’t know there were extra tax charges so I only brought exact change.”
Identity crises tore at Ruth. By the time she turned 14, she no longer told anyone about her African childhood. She studied nursing, married a paediatrician at 22 and went on to have three children.
In her mid-20s, she returned to visit her parents in Africa when her husband was posted to Liberia. All at once, she was hit by the familiarity of the warm earthy tones, the pungent smells of cooking, the animated sounds of the Hausa language among the locals.
But it was no longer the same. Her parents had moved to a different place. She also had two siblings whom she hardly knew.
“My old house was gone, together with all I knew and loved. It hurt me deeply to know I’d lost them forever. I never even said goodbye.”
Van Reken stayed in Liberia with her young family for a few years until political unrest forced them to return to the United States. At every point, she always took everything in her stride, going with the flow until she turned 39 and went into a deep depression.
“Suddenly I was questioning everything that had happened in my life and why I felt this void deep inside. I didn’t understand why I felt such deep sadness when I had had such a happy and loving childhood surrounded by parents, grandparents, relatives and friends.
Van Reken’s books triggered a flood of response from readers who could relate to the pain of being TCKs.
“That was when I started Letters Never Sent, as part of my grief therapy. They were mostly letters to my parents, talking about everyday events and wishing they were there, as a six- or 13-year-old who had just been sent off to a faraway school. By looking back at my experiences, I discovered what I needed was a closure to my beautiful childhood days, which I’d tried to suppress since moving back to US,” she said.
“Whenever people mention loss, what always comes to mind is the loss of a parent through death or divorce, a loved one, a pet, a best friend. No one talks of the loss that comes with the closing of an airplane door, when one leaves a place.
“A part of me died the day I first flew out of Africa. And I needed to mourn the loss in order to overcome the grief.”
Since then, Van Reken has been travelling around the world to counsel and talk about the impact of high mobility on TCKs to teachers, parents and policy makers. She was in Malaysia recently to conduct similar programmes for some international schools in Petaling Jaya.
Her mission now is to help TCKs and their families deal with the challenges so that they can use the many gifts in their childhood as well.
“With their international exposure, travelling opportunities and cross-cultural upbringing, most TCKs have excellent social and adaptive skills. They are also more likely to see people beyond colour, race and nationality and have a broader world view.”
She points out that these benefits can be harvested to benefit the child’s wholesome development instead of being allowed to fester into a life-long sense of searching for a place to belong.
So does Van Reken feel “at home” in Indianapolis, where she lives now?
“Yes and no, because I’ve got little bits of me all over the world. I’ve learnt to make myself at home anywhere in the world. All that matters is making the best of things right here, right now. I don’t try to fit in any more, now that I know where I stand as a TCK.”
As we parted ways, I thought of what Van Reken said about not knowing what to cross under “Race” in official forms. My children are of Chinese and Malay parentage, and I often wonder what they should fill in this section. Then again, I thought about us Chinese “bananas”, second- or third-generation Chinese Malaysians. Most of us cannot read or speak Chinese any more; we attend Malay national schools, yet think, read and write in English.
Then there are the people from Terengganu, Kelantan or Sabah who have settled in Kuala Lumpur or other parts of the country. Their children will very likely never speak the dialect distinct only to their state, and many will never know the culture and lifestyle of their parents and ancestors.
Are these children TCKs too?
Definitely. In today’s highly mobile and complex environment, perhaps there will come a time when every Malaysian is a TCK in one way or other. Except here, we have a different term for it – 1Malaysia.
■ ‘Third Culture Kids’ can be obtained through Navigate Together Sdn Bhd (navtogether.com). For enquiries, e-mail admin@navtogether.com or call Mike Cannon at 017-200 3685.
_____________________________
I have to say. Its been a long time since I read a really good article from our local newspaper. Well.. I liked it anyways. I know I have only been away for a very short period of time. But by the third year I was away, I began to feel alienated from my own country, some of my friends and even sometimes, my own family. I feel like I'm now beginning to learn to ropes of my own birth country again.
I have no clue about what have been going in the last 5 years and I'm slowly (but surely) learning about it. I have friends who are sick and tired of the Malaysian night life while I'm slowly beginning to enjoy it again. It's like my growing up process in Malaysia took a back seat while I explored life in Australisia.
I miss being away from home. There are times when I wish I was going back to New Zealand and enjoying a cuppa and a cig with Jess and Janice in Governors or visiting Elaine and Darren in Wellington or going fishing with the boys or just bumming doing absolutely nothing on a super boring monday night with CC and Eugene. Come to think of it, maybe its not so much the place but the lifestyle in general.
Maybe I'm still getting used to the working life while missing the student life of being away.
Now one thing is for sure, I'm moving out. Just the matter of when and stabilizing my finances then I'm outta there.
ps. Melvin turned 21. Tristan turned 2. I'm going to Langkawi. I still have a job. Amen.
Monday, 18 January 2010
long time coming...
Alot has happened since my last post.
So a little recap of my three plans ya?
Item one:
1.1: Stay away from trackies and over-sized t-shirts | big t-shirt for sleeping and NO TRACKIES IN SIGHT!
1.2: sales, shoes, clothes, bags, clubbing, concerts, road trips, late night bumming in parks, coffee till 3am and mamaks at some un-Godly hour. | yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, not yet, and yes.
Item two:
2.1: Job hunting | sent out my resume to about 6-7 places and so far, nothing. been going thru job search engines and newspapers. nothing.
2.2: Money | no job = no money. however, I do get some sort of an allowance. like 100bucks a week! kinda sad that I'm turning 24 soon and I live on 100 bucks a week. I don't think I have ever felt this pathetic in a damn bloody long time. Yes.. there is some sort of frustration here and I'm trying to stay positive...
You know, staying positive is also staying in denial. The simple act of writing it down just made it worst... because it gives me this jolt of reality.
Item three:
3.1: Moving out | I have set goals. Yes. GOALS. I'm giving myself until June to move out or 3 months after I get a job. Because than, I would have some money saved up to move out in peace and no worry about money so much like a sad poor uni student.
----------
So thats my update of my three items. Because I am an official unemployed bum, I had a lot of time to think about stuff. I realise that I am not getting any younger. I am turning 24 in about 2 weeks. I have decided to make short term goals.
1. Move out (the obvious)
2. Get my PADI Licence.
3. Climb Mount Kinabalu.
4. TRAVEL at least 3-4 times a year. (Anywhere out of Klang Valley)
5. Save my money towards getting my own place.
-----------
More bumming thoughts..
Here's my birthday wishlist.
1. Gillette Mach 5
Reason: It gives a better shave. I don't understand why women's razors are not like that. Haihz...
2. Gym Membership.
Reason: It rather obvious for those who knows me now.
3. A Job
Reason: Yet another obvious question. Let's just say this girl has alot of materialistic needs which needs satisfying.
4. Spa treatment or just the simple reflexology.
Reason: Because a girl needs to pamper herself la! ask Rodney, he knows best! =)
5. A new handphone and line.
Reason: My phone is falling to pieces. Been using the same phone since 2006. Yes, the horror... BUT this is only reserved for my dad! not like he know about it yet... but he will... by this weekend. =)
6. shopping vouchers
Reason: I HAVE NO WORK CLOTHES! seriously! NONE! and every girl lovessss shopping! =)
That's all I can think off...
OHHHH... and spending new year's with Jess, Elaine, Astrid and the rest of the church people was an awesome start to the new years.. and and and going for bassment jaxx with Tracy and my darling sister on the second day of new years and bumming into sherinaz and firman was AWESOME! =)
=) GTG.. amil and claire old town word board games session.
Elaine: I get you!! I feel like my brain cells are dying..
Unemployed Bum Out!
So a little recap of my three plans ya?
Item one:
1.1: Stay away from trackies and over-sized t-shirts | big t-shirt for sleeping and NO TRACKIES IN SIGHT!
1.2: sales, shoes, clothes, bags, clubbing, concerts, road trips, late night bumming in parks, coffee till 3am and mamaks at some un-Godly hour. | yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, not yet, and yes.
Item two:
2.1: Job hunting | sent out my resume to about 6-7 places and so far, nothing. been going thru job search engines and newspapers. nothing.
2.2: Money | no job = no money. however, I do get some sort of an allowance. like 100bucks a week! kinda sad that I'm turning 24 soon and I live on 100 bucks a week. I don't think I have ever felt this pathetic in a damn bloody long time. Yes.. there is some sort of frustration here and I'm trying to stay positive...
You know, staying positive is also staying in denial. The simple act of writing it down just made it worst... because it gives me this jolt of reality.
Item three:
3.1: Moving out | I have set goals. Yes. GOALS. I'm giving myself until June to move out or 3 months after I get a job. Because than, I would have some money saved up to move out in peace and no worry about money so much like a sad poor uni student.
----------
So thats my update of my three items. Because I am an official unemployed bum, I had a lot of time to think about stuff. I realise that I am not getting any younger. I am turning 24 in about 2 weeks. I have decided to make short term goals.
1. Move out (the obvious)
2. Get my PADI Licence.
3. Climb Mount Kinabalu.
4. TRAVEL at least 3-4 times a year. (Anywhere out of Klang Valley)
5. Save my money towards getting my own place.
-----------
More bumming thoughts..
Here's my birthday wishlist.
1. Gillette Mach 5
Reason: It gives a better shave. I don't understand why women's razors are not like that. Haihz...
2. Gym Membership.
Reason: It rather obvious for those who knows me now.
3. A Job
Reason: Yet another obvious question. Let's just say this girl has alot of materialistic needs which needs satisfying.
4. Spa treatment or just the simple reflexology.
Reason: Because a girl needs to pamper herself la! ask Rodney, he knows best! =)
5. A new handphone and line.
Reason: My phone is falling to pieces. Been using the same phone since 2006. Yes, the horror... BUT this is only reserved for my dad! not like he know about it yet... but he will... by this weekend. =)
6. shopping vouchers
Reason: I HAVE NO WORK CLOTHES! seriously! NONE! and every girl lovessss shopping! =)
That's all I can think off...
OHHHH... and spending new year's with Jess, Elaine, Astrid and the rest of the church people was an awesome start to the new years.. and and and going for bassment jaxx with Tracy and my darling sister on the second day of new years and bumming into sherinaz and firman was AWESOME! =)
=) GTG.. amil and claire old town word board games session.
Elaine: I get you!! I feel like my brain cells are dying..
Unemployed Bum Out!
Monday, 3 August 2009
The I want list (Episode 2)
Here's the next list of movies I want to watch.
1. Veronika decides to die.
2. Post Grad
3. The Proposal
4. Julie & Julia
5. The Ugly Truth
6. Year One
And here's the list of things I want to do when I get home.
1. Have my teh o'ais limau.
2. Shop for shoes for wedding.
3. Spend time with my friends.
4. Laze on mummy's couch.
5. Banana leaf at PJ.
6. Nasi Lemak on Jalan Kuching.
7. Must have dim sum (because I have not eaten dim sum in Malaysia since I was a kid!)
8. Alot of swimming.
9. Party party party!
10. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with Nashreen.
1. Veronika decides to die.
2. Post Grad
3. The Proposal
4. Julie & Julia
5. The Ugly Truth
6. Year One
And here's the list of things I want to do when I get home.
1. Have my teh o'ais limau.
2. Shop for shoes for wedding.
3. Spend time with my friends.
4. Laze on mummy's couch.
5. Banana leaf at PJ.
6. Nasi Lemak on Jalan Kuching.
7. Must have dim sum (because I have not eaten dim sum in Malaysia since I was a kid!)
8. Alot of swimming.
9. Party party party!
10. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with Nashreen.
Saturday, 1 August 2009
LIfe in bullet points..
- So little time left to finish all my work. I really hope I'll be able to complete everything. But at the same time, I can't wait to get home... I think I really need it... big time. I can't wait to see mummy, claire, melvin and michelle. I can't wait to see Kevin and Layka. I can't wait to laze on mummy's couch watching star world and hbo. I can't wait for Bangsar Nasi Lemak or Nasi Lemak Bapak. I can't wait for banana leaf and cheap movie tickets. I can't wait for shoe shopping and cheap clothes. I can't wait for the wedding and all the wedding stuff to do. I can't wait to see my bride's maid dress. And hopefully, I'll get a chance to meet up with Nashreen after so many years...
- Its yet another sunny day in winter. And I'm in bed, typing out an entry after so many weeks and hoping that I'll be able to just do both my presentations today. But I might be hoping for too much. I'm really starting to freak out about my thesis presentation. Thank God I'm not the first so if I ever need to change something at the last minute, I'll still have the time.
- I want to go fishing. But from the looks of things, I won't be going fishing for a LONG time. And I didn't even get to test out my new purple fishing rod yet.
- I need to start looking for a job.... haihz. Hating the fact that my life is finally about to begin. Its scary out there... but I don't have much of a choice I suppose. Job hunt! Here I come!
Monday, 25 May 2009
Little updates,
Its been a while huh..?
Well.. its apparently confirmed.. that woman is gonna have a baby boy and he is raving about it to everyone. It is after all his precious wife. out with the old and in with the new right?
on a happier note, kimberly gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. I'm so happy for her. and darling tristan just turned one. so anymore babies anyone???
I feel so young and old at the same time. young because i am still rather naive about the real world aka. working life. and at the same time, old because people my around my age are getting married or already married or married with a kid. I'm not where near such life changing stages yet. I'm a young old 23 year old.
Pictures of Wellington is up on facebook btw. Did i tell you.. I'm in love. *wait for it* With. *wait for it* Wellington!!!
Oh ya. and Yoong wei and Yvonne was in dunedin. They arrived on friday, so Gene and I took them for drinks at Toast and they liked it alot. Then the next morning, they went to Bluff for the bluff fest. Back in Dunedin on Sunday. Had dinner with him and Yvonne then drinks at Barakah. And they headed back to Hamilton on Monday morning. He looks the same. It was 5 years since I saw him. So meeting up with him was good.
Anyways..
Time to fold the clothes, change the bed sheets and start on my report and abstract.
Tata for now.
Well.. its apparently confirmed.. that woman is gonna have a baby boy and he is raving about it to everyone. It is after all his precious wife. out with the old and in with the new right?
on a happier note, kimberly gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. I'm so happy for her. and darling tristan just turned one. so anymore babies anyone???
I feel so young and old at the same time. young because i am still rather naive about the real world aka. working life. and at the same time, old because people my around my age are getting married or already married or married with a kid. I'm not where near such life changing stages yet. I'm a young old 23 year old.
Pictures of Wellington is up on facebook btw. Did i tell you.. I'm in love. *wait for it* With. *wait for it* Wellington!!!
Oh ya. and Yoong wei and Yvonne was in dunedin. They arrived on friday, so Gene and I took them for drinks at Toast and they liked it alot. Then the next morning, they went to Bluff for the bluff fest. Back in Dunedin on Sunday. Had dinner with him and Yvonne then drinks at Barakah. And they headed back to Hamilton on Monday morning. He looks the same. It was 5 years since I saw him. So meeting up with him was good.
Anyways..
Time to fold the clothes, change the bed sheets and start on my report and abstract.
Tata for now.
Thursday, 8 January 2009
bobara
Once again, its been too long. I'm back in KL since the 21st but because there's no more internet at mummy's, I only check my emails and facebook whenever I'm in Old Town. And you know what?! old town is popping out everywhere like pimples on an adolescent kid!
anyways, Its nice to be back. The shitty part of being back is that everyone is busy working! Yes, working. I'm like trying to prolong my entry into the work force but i know that won't last long and I would eventually have to start working for real. Haihz.
Been to Singapore last weekend. And let me tell you something, I'm so abso-fucking-lutely love my grandparents to bits. Hehe..
Anyways, Tracy has been filling me in on everyone. And its great to know that everyone has graduated and working and making a life for themselves. Its really awesome I tell you.
I really want to go to Penang... sometime this weekend I hope. I miss ms.lim laaa.. haihz.. hehe.
Must get Richard and Gene and Layka and we GO!
I saw Ron for like 5 minutes and met up with Adrian for coffee a couple of days ago. Been catching up with ALOT of people I haven't seen in years! And its nice... plus there's the comfirmation reunion coming up. I honestly can't wait~ =)
Anyways gtg now, need to go to Cheras then back to Mummy's and then we're heading to paint the town red!
ciao!
anyways, Its nice to be back. The shitty part of being back is that everyone is busy working! Yes, working. I'm like trying to prolong my entry into the work force but i know that won't last long and I would eventually have to start working for real. Haihz.
Been to Singapore last weekend. And let me tell you something, I'm so abso-fucking-lutely love my grandparents to bits. Hehe..
Anyways, Tracy has been filling me in on everyone. And its great to know that everyone has graduated and working and making a life for themselves. Its really awesome I tell you.
I really want to go to Penang... sometime this weekend I hope. I miss ms.lim laaa.. haihz.. hehe.
Must get Richard and Gene and Layka and we GO!
I saw Ron for like 5 minutes and met up with Adrian for coffee a couple of days ago. Been catching up with ALOT of people I haven't seen in years! And its nice... plus there's the comfirmation reunion coming up. I honestly can't wait~ =)
Anyways gtg now, need to go to Cheras then back to Mummy's and then we're heading to paint the town red!
ciao!
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