Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Confession of a Mak Cik Cleaner

"Dik. Adik tu sakit lah. Boleh akak buat sekarang?"

The cleaner walked in and asked if she could clean the showroom since her pretty face colleague is on medical leave.

"Ok. Tapi biasanya, pukul empat, kan?"

"Iyer lah. Tapi." She paused for a while, brushed her face with both her hands, looking a little worn out. Poor lady must have worked very hard since she has gotten here from Indonesia.

"Tapi hari nie akak ganti dia. Boleh buat sekarang?"

"Hmm. Ok lah!"

So she started her usual cleaning which I noticed she really didn't clean the showroom as thoroughly as her colleague. While mopping the floor in the office, she started talking about her colleague.

"Adik tu sakit teruk. Entah sakit apa lah. Mah."

"Sakit cinta kot?" I joked.

"Bukan lah saya pun tak pasti. Jarang nampak dia. Tapi sekarang dia tu kurus sangat. Mah!" she sucked in her cheeks, hunched her shoulders and looked at me whilst tapping her chest indicating to me that her colleague has a weak heart.

"Oh. Tak rasa dia kurus sangat pun. Mungkin diet kot?"

"Eh. Diet buat per? Kurus sangat tak best masa main, tau!"

Gasps. Did she just say ... Yes she did. She said if a girl is too skinny, it is not "fun to play". So, I let out a laugh and winced. Still shocked from her remark - a Mak Cik I respected before. I swear she didnt blush a bit!

"Betul I cakap. Perempuan kurus kering sangat main tak best!" I thought she sorta humped a bit just to make her point clear. I was a little uncomfortable, really.

"Suami I tu, orangnya nakal! Aku nie isteri keempatnya!"

"Wahhh.... suami you tu kuat main yer!"

"Memang! Jahat sangat dia tu! Memang kuat main."

Yes, I had visuals and yes, it was not pleasant. I think when she said, 'memang kuat main', I also thought of the ad campaign for Viagra Malaysia. LOL.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Le Lang Tengah

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Recent trip to Lang Tengah Island, off Terengganu. Except for the damn buggers, sandflies, the trip was really good.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Dark Knight



Returning from an island trip is not fun. More so when I had so much fun chilling out at the island with my friends. Except, of cos, the f*&^%$# sandflies that bit me all over my legs and my back. Urghh. Photos on the way - I am still in my "laidback mode" :)


Why so serious? (I should use that line more often.)

We managed to catch "Batman: The Dark Knight" last Sunday. Anticipation was ok especially since I just touched down hours earlier. The show was 2.5 hours long and as soon as the end credit appeared on the big screen, people started applausing. Secretly, I was applausing, too, because Mr. Nolan's work is not only a work of art - beautifully executed complimented by a really good soundtrack, he had also managed create a movie movie and not a DC comic movie.

I thought he created a classic.

The departure of (Heath) Ledger earlier this year also intensified people's curiosity of Ledger's last film playing the szchizophrenic, facially mutilated villain,the Joker. If you've seen the movie, you would know how good his performance was and how hardworking he was in bringing his character to life that it was quite disturbing to a certain extent. It was uncanny to watch him so convincingly playing the role and yet you know he had passed on.

To be fair, the rest of the actors played their roles really well. I thought the replacement of the character, Rachel from Katie Holmes to Maggie Gyllenhaal was quite fitting, too. Overall, top 10 movie of the year so far. I feel, too, it is not suitable for kids as it is the darkest Batman movie. Ever.


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Beautiful, Dangerous, Sexy

If there is one reason I should visit Sydney again, it is not cos of Darling Harbour (that's reason no. 2 and Oxford St, raison numéro trois), it is cos I am very curious to visit the super chic, super funky, super everything that is, the IVY by the Merivale group (owned by the super talented, visionary Hemmes siblings) on George St.


My discovery of this "it" place was months ago when I got hold of the May/June 08 issue of Vogue Living. Completely blown away by the sheer size of the place (massive) and of cos, the amount of work done on the interiors from exceptionally good taste in furniture selection to lightings, to the cutlery and crockery to of cos, the people who served you - ahem, the word HOT don't even do justice. Quite OMFG-ish if you know what I mean :)



Let these pictures speak for itself ...









I wish I've more pics to share but I can't find any. Let's see if next year I get to physically be there. Or, come up with something similar if not better :) Till then

The Ivy is designed by Hecker Phelan Guthrie Design (Melbourne).

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Future is Now

My friend forwarded this email to us this morning which contains the future predictions of a Brazilian. He, apparently, had predicted the 9/11 and Tsunami that rocked the world (literally) on December 26th, 2004.

As I was reading the article here, I started calculating my age and that when I reached 66 yo (and still alive), there would only leave 20% of human race on planet earth and if all his predictions are accurate, Japan will be submerged in water and California is no longer the happy, sunny state it is presently.

Yes. It is more terrifying than "The Day after Tomorrow".


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Mr. Juseleeno, born in 1960(reportedly still alive in 2008), is a Brazilian who has made many predictions, and MOST have come to pass, including Princess Diana's death by car accident (which is instigated by someone near her and will probably unfortunately be written off as a car accident), 911 and the 2004 Indonesian tsunami.

He sees the future in his dreams, and has an average of 3 to 9 such predictions per day. When he wakes up, he will write them down, and send warnings to those concerned. If it concerns only a normal individual, he will write a letter to warn him/her. If it is a famous person(celebrity, politician etc.), or matters concerning the public, he will not only send it to the individual himself/herself, but also related agencies, government, and media. He urged the media to publicise these predictions, but the reply always went along the lines of rejection for fear of arousing public panic.

Future predictions:

2008, July: There will be an earthquake in Japan , which will cause a tsunami of 30 plus meters high to occur as well.

2008, 18th September: An earthquake with magnitude of approximately 9.1 will rock China , simultaneously causing a tsunami of more than 30 meters to occur, resulting in the deaths of more than 1 million people. Although this huge earthquake will happen after the Olympics have ended, there will be a series of relatively smaller earthquakes occurring in China before the huge earthquake. The China government, which is more concerned with the success of the Olympics, will most likely neglect to employ appropriate cautionary measures, thus the high casualty rate. If the China government does not publicise the occurrence of these minor earthquakes and evacuate people, the number of deaths will be as predicted.

2008, 17th December: Terrorist attack in America

2010: The temperatures in some countries of Africa could be as high as 58 degrees Celsius, and there will be a serious shortage of water.

2010, 15th June: The New York Stock Exchange market will fail, causing an international financial crisis.

2011: The research on the treatment of some cancers will be completed, but a new life-threatening virus will appear. People who are infected will die after only approx. 4 hours of coming into contact with the virus.

2013, 1st – 25th November: Research on treatment of cancers, except for brain tumors, will be completed. An earthquake, caused by volcanic eruptions, will happen on Bahamas Island of the Canary Islands . A gigantic tsunami of roughly 150 meters will result. America mainlands, Brazil etc. will be affected, with the tsunami pushing into the land as far as 15 to 20 kilometers. Before the occurrence of this gigantic tsunami, the sea/ocean water levels will sink by about 6 meters, and large flocks of birds will start to migrate.

2014: A small planet that has been gradually closing in on Earth might eventually collide with Earth, and this collision, if come to pass, will affect the survival of humans as a whole.

2015: By the mid of November, the average temperature of Earth could be as high as 59 degrees Celsius. Many people will die from the overheat, and international confusion and terror ensues.

2016, April: A huge typhoon will invade China , causing massive damage. The 43rd USA president, George Walker Bush, will enter the hospital, and faces a life or death situation.

2026, July: A super earthquake will occur in Sans Francisco, and it will be named "The Big One". Huge damage to surrounding areas. Many volcanoes will re-activate, and the height of resulting tsunami will be more than 150 meters.

Mr. Juseleeno made known his predictions in hopes that people will take heed of his warnings, so that these disasters may be avoided. He hopes there will be a major change in the thinking of people's mindsets in the time period 2007 – 2008. One factor will be the environmental issue of global warming, which is more serious than what some meteorologists assume.

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I am not instigating fears but merely sharing it with everyone especially when we know there is still hope if we do not give it all up. An excerpt from the blog said that from the Buddhist point of view, awareness of such predictions can have a sub-conscious influence on the course of future events. Our physical environment is intimtely connected to not only our actions but also our thoughts.

Having said that, I think thoughts can become things. So, let's try to turn it around by thinking positive and acting positive. Start today for tomorrow maybe?

A friend who is based in BKK visited a photography exhibition recently by Mr. Yann Arthus Bertrand - a well known photog who takes pictures from aerial view around the world simply known as "Earth From Above".


I googled Mr. Bertrand and discovered that his work is truly amazing. So good can cry kind :) Most importantly, quoting my friend, "...the true meaning of his work brings awareness to the public. we can do our own part to save the earth. bring your own bag especially when doing grocery shopping, use less plastic bags..etc..small things doadd up :-) i read The Edge, an average Malaysian uses 15 plastic bagswhen doing grocery shopping!"













All photos from Yann Arthus-Bertrand






Monday, July 14, 2008

Take a Bow

Today was an interesting day aside from the heavy downpour. But, I think the heavy downpour was akin to a fresh start.

The morning started with a friend who sent us a mass mail saying she has got us souvenirs from Manila and would like to pass it to us sometime soon. Prior to checking my email, I was still in slowly albeit steadily getting into gear to clear up the weekend in tray. It - the email - was a welcoming surprise. Seriously. So, we settled on a location to meet up, Of cos, I can't wait.

Before the dinner meeting tonight, I had the opportunity to speak to a few interesting people at work and one of whom is a "high profile" CEO from a company - well suited in his Zegna and Thomas Pinks. Speaking to such egocentric person can be rather irritating (to say the very least) especially when half of the time he was very much ahem, right. It went on like this ...

i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.ur wrong. i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.ur wrong. i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.i'm right.ur wrong.

Sigh. It was a delirious attempt to wrong the rights. Kinda like two weekends ago when I attempted to take over an uncle at the Siemens marathon in town - of cos, half way trying to playing catch up, I remembered what my mom said to me: It is not who you should compete with but yourself.

Yes, uncle, all dolled up in "Just Do it" gears, was in front of me at the end of the race. And, yes, so was Mr. Right. I sighed (rather silently), and took a slight bow to Mr. Right. I only wished then I could play Rihanna's Take a Bow. You know, kinda like in a movie with soundtrack.

Ohh, how about a round of applause,
Yeah, standin' ovation,
Ooh ohh yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah.

[Verse 1]
You look so dumb right now,
Standin' outside my house,
Tryin' to apologize,
You’re so ugly when you cry,
Please, just cut it out.


I told my friends and we all had a good laugh. We all agreed that at this point of life, with all the turmoils around the world (and apparently more to come) we should enjoy every bit of what we have now. Screw these people, cheers to vacations!

Now, ladies and gentlemen, good night.

*Take a bow*

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Quirky, sexy, naughty

Some pretty interesting stuff I've come across on the internet like this billboard by McDonald's at Chicago (by Leo Burnett) in the form of an egg. Yes, and egg that cracks open displaying a sunny side up.



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Self-promo (which INSPIRES me *wink*) of two budding Art Director and Copywriter. I love the whole concept and photog.





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Gene Ho, Spotted! I love that she makes a borrrring raincoat look so refreshingly stylish. And, who wears raincoat anyways these day? Of cos, aside from making raincoat so chic, she also dabbles her art on furniture, and home accessories like cutlery. Tres chic.





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The Paul Smith's Ping Pong table. Make no mistake. It is THE Paul Smith's ping pong table. What's the diff from your regular lawn green ping pong table at school? This is definitely more gay. LOL




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Latest campaign by WWF ... and this is NOT as cool as Abraham Sapien from Hellboy, yeah. (And, btw, I'm rating Hellboy 2 one of the top 10 movies of 2008. Guillermo Del Toro is a great story teller, and a visionary Director.)




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Can architecture ends the Arab-Israeli conflicts? And, has architecture gone a little whack? I don't think whack is the right word but definitely a whole lot more creative than say 5 years ago. Budding architects in Msia, it is time to change the skyscrapers in the city.



Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Carbon Foot Print

Carbon Foot Print. Just so how many of you know the meaning of Carbon Foot Print? If truth be told, I only heard of the phrase whilst watching Kimora Lee, Life on the Fabulous Lane (I think *grin*). Yes, it's all about the fabulosity. Don't ask - it's a love and hate thing with me and Ms Lee.

Carbon Foot Print, or CFP is defined by wikipedia as a "measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide".[1] It is meant to be useful for individuals and organizations to conceptualize their personal (or organizational) impact in contributing to global warming. "

Gasps.

"An alternative definition of the carbon footprint is the total amount of carbon dioxide attributable to the actions of an individual (mainly through their energy use) over a period of one year. This definition underlies the personal carbon calculators. The term owes its origins to the idea that a footprint is what has been left behind as a result of the individual's activities.

Carbon footprints can either consider only direct emissions (typically from energy used in the home and in transport, including travel by cars, airplanes, rail and other public transport), or can also include indirect emissions (including CO2 emissions as a result of goods and services consumed). Bottom-up calculations sum attributable CO2 emissions from individual actions; top-down calculations take total emissions from a country (or other low-level entity) and divide these emissions among the residents (or other participants in that entity). "

Se-ree-ious sh*ts. Even Ms Lee was taken aback when she consulted a, erm, "green guru" in LA to check on her CFP. She scored, not suprisingly, for a fashion mogul slash diva slash entrepreneur extraordinaire slash billionaire slash DQ slash slash .... 27 tonnes. An average CFP is only 7.5 tonnes for individual according to the "green guru".

Astounded and feeling miserably, she took away the green guru's mac and manipulated her score. Cheater. Daft as she might be, some say, ditzy, she went on to shop for more "green" friendly products from bedlinens, to cosmetic products to food after her consultation. Thumbs up for that, I'd say, especially for someone who loves flying on a private jet (FYI, each time she fly on a private jet, it releases the same amount of carbon dioxide as a hummer - that is, one year of a hummer on the road) . And, if it isnt for her, I wouldn't have known what is CFP.

So, I started googling for CFP and found a site that actually calculate it. And, my score ...

Cheng, cheng, cheng.....

12.293 tonnes

Gasps.

FYI,

  • The average footprint for people in United Kingdom is 9.8 tonnes.
  • The average for the industrial nations is about 11 tonnes.
  • The average worldwide carbon footprint is about 4 tonnes.
  • To combat climate change the worldwide average needs to reduce to 2 tonnes.
I think it is time that all of us, not only Ms Kimora Lee, should start to do something for the mother earth because it is ultimately the place that we are living in and that we want the future generations to continue to enjoy what our generations had.


Footnote: I hope more govt officials are aware of this and not be so anal retentive (pardon my pun) or power hungry.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

MAD House

Guess where is this located?







Answer: Hong Luo Club House, Beijing

Saturday, July 5, 2008

God, actually

Goodbye June, May, April, March, Feb and Jan 2008.

And, Hello July.

Yes. 6 months had passed in a blink. In a blink, literally. All that had taken place in the last 6 months had been fruitful and I am happy of what I had achieved so far - blessed even. I may not be closed to God as some might say, but I know that each day if you continued to believe in yourself, God will be by your side.

I know. I'm talking about God, actually.

Fast forward to just a week before, I had this interesting conversation with, no, not God. With a friend about God, Alfie.

Alf: Someone quoted something about God today at the office.

Me: Hmmph?

Alf: Yes, I know. Hmmph, huh? It was astonishing at first how that came about but when he, my senior colleague aka DQ*, started lecturing me on sales and how to succeed like he did, err, like 20 effing years ago, I started seeing stars and somehow his face turned hairy, and I thought I saw him started scratching himself all over. And, still successfully whined on until...

Alf rolled his eyes.

Me: Hahaha... Oh, you are talking about TK. TK the DQ and the DK.

Alf: Yes, Donkey Kong slassh Drama Queen.

We laughed out loud at Old Town cafe whilst sipping our "cham" ice.

Alf continued, "Yes I was saying, until he started quoted God. He said there are individuals who are smart, articulate, hardworking but if God is not on their side, their work is not blessed. On the other hand, there are individuals who not necessary hardworking nor intelligent but if God is on their side, their work is blessed. So, Alf, life is NOT fair.

Me: What the EFF.

Alf: Yes, what the ALF! Just what does this drama queen thinks he is? Playing God now?

Alf started pretending like a chimpanzee and starting scratching himself all over.

Me: Sigh. How can he assumed that you are not blessed, right?

Alf: God, actually!