FITS AND STARTS

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

For someone in my thoughts

The full moon, the dark skies
The scent of the night
You climbed in through my window
In a dream I once had
Long, long ago
Today I awoke
You were standing right before me
How funny that I couldn't sense you
Not your shape, not your smell, not even your voice
I drift back to soundless sleep
I guess it wasn't you after all

Sunday, January 29, 2006

GONG XI FA CAI!

Cahyadi, Suan, Joey, Gary and I went to the Mayflower restaurant in Chinatown for dinner yesterday. We were seated by 5.30 pm and we were pretty lucky to get a table because from 6 pm onwards, there was a consistent queue outside the restaurant. We ordered eel fried in honey (the restaurant's specialty), stewed pork belly with yam, Ma Po taufu, steamed chicken with Chinese mushrooms, and young bamboo shoots with minced meat. The bill came up to £55 i.e. £11 per pax. I think it was worth every pound I paid because the food was REALLY good. After dinner we went to Joey's place in Holborn - Suan left for badminton with the boys and Zhi Hui joined us a couple of hours later - and we hung out and played cards till about midnight. It was the most relaxed day out I had. When we were playing chor tai ti, I realised that even though we were keeping score I didn't mind losing because the others weren't sour when they lost. And I told Eugene and Azlan later - I'm only competitive around them and Lil because they can't stand to lose. Eugene especially, because to him losing is like dying. Snigger. And my mum used to tell me to be careful who I make friends with because the people you hang out will affect the way you behave :p

We were supposed to have dim sum this morning but I guess we all couldn't wake up. I stayed in today. One, because by the time I woke up it was already late in the evening, and two, I didn't want to go to Chinatown and get caught up in the CNY mob. Last year we were in that area and there was no way at all that you could dodge the masses. Any store remotely Chinese was flooded with people and it didn't help that there was also a lion dance procession in the streets. My mum SMSed to say that the only angpows I got this year was from her and my dad, and that it was more than enough anyway o_O

Aiman was over earlier and we played Taboo. Lil and I won against him and Chun How (ho yeeeaaahhh!!!). Zhi Hui was just floating in and out between teams. We cooked beef with ginger and spring onions for dinner. It wasn't too bad, for a first try. But I think we'll put in more ginger next time. After Taboo, I went to Art Cafe for coffee with Ifham, Azlan, Azim and Eugene. As a matter of fact, I just got home. And I'm going to watch Dodgeball now. Love that movie. Thumbs up to Ben Stiller man. "Okay, Mr. Jokey. Joker. Jokemaker" and "White. W-H-I-T-............. E." He gets me in stitches all the time.

Here's wishing everyone a prosperous year ahead! :D

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Chinese New Year Eve

This is the fourth year in running that I'm not getting any angpows. Sigh. I'm missing out on so much here!

Yesterday Eugene and I went to the Shaw Theatre in Euston to sign the hire contract of the theatre for our Brunei Night. Once Eugene put his signature to paper, I could sense this impatience - but a good sort of impatience - bubbling inside me. I REALLY want this B-Night to work out because we've got such a lovely script (all about poker, hee~) and we've got such an enthusiastic committee and cast. I honestly enjoy working with these people and I'm looking forward to rehearsals, which will be starting very soon. The good feeling didn't end even when we exited the theatre, because it was snowing outside. Eugene kept saying, "Xian, Xian, it's our first snow together!" Snow is fantastic. There's something magical about it, no matter whether it's a slush or a snowstorm. It makes you think of hot chocolate, warm fires, angels and happy faces and it just makes you feel all snuggly and nice inside.

By the way, Eugene and I SO do not have something going.

Just the other day, Bella, our Brunei Society VP asked me if we were together. I said no and she was like, ohh but you two look so cute together. Pleaasseeee. And Eugene and I thought Bella was the one who fancied him :p

RAWWWWWRRR!!!!!!!!!

I know I've been cheating with the dates on my posts, but I'm just so mad right now I can't even be bothered to pretend that this happened any earlier than when it should've. I'm too pissed off that I can't even pause to explain what happened. If I had a knife in my hands right now I think I'd seriously hurt someone. Perhaps I'll talk about it when I've calmed down. For now, I think I should get some sleep before I die of high blood pressure.

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*

Friday, January 27, 2006

Another big two

Happy birthday to my darling Debbie! She's probably the only other one I know (besides myself) to turn 20 this month. Fyi, Debbie was one of my best friends in Sri Cempaka. We used to hang out together with another girl, Mun Mun, and we were pretty inseparable back then. Then I left for CBN, Mun left for MCKL, Deb stayed on in Cempaka and went on to Help and now she's in LSE reading Economics. It's funny how most of my friends from Cempaka ended up in UK. Everyone was always talking about going to Australia or the States. I guess things always turn out to be the opposite of what you expect.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Candles ahoy!

Yen had a big birthday bash in Eastin Hotel last month to usher in her 21st year. There was a sumptuous buffet table, and she had TWO tables to accomodate her family members. The other three tables were for her friends. I was the emcee, and Kuan and Ming helped me out with the entertainment. Her dad, mum, boyfriend and two of her high school friends gave speeches. I had a really good time. AND it gave me an opportunity to flaunt my lame jokes in public. The adults didn't find them exceptionally funny though :p

Anyhoo, today's the real day that she should be celebrating. HAPPY BIRTHDAY YENNI! You know how much you mean to me. Mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah.

Here's a picture of her and Ming posing in the back seat of Kuan's car. (This was the same day she took 13 solo shots of herself in the Delicious "Ms. Read" cafe. "For Friendster," she said. Talk about vain! Hee.)

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

And Toi Toi joins the bandwagon...

Yep, you guessed it. SHE TURNS 21 TODAY! Hooray (cue balloons, flying streamers, confetti, etc etc etc, hee)! Here's her royal Moo-ness looking indescribably captivating, *koff koff* NOT...



The transition this woman has undergone is quite amazing. She used to be fantastically camera shy (I have a couple of pictures of her backside from our early CBN days). But these days she's gained so much more self-confidence... even her assets were the highlight of my little birthday bash ;) Toi, if you're reading this >> SWISH SWISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mish mish mish kabish you!!!

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Happy birthday Wenzhuang!

January really is a month for birthdays. Here's a picture of WZ "Russell" Chin taken early in 2003, looking like the goof he still is. He's actually one of the sweetest people I know. Ranks pretty well in the looks department too (when he can be bothered with his hair, that is).

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Dumdeedum

I am in school atm, waiting for Jacqui Bennett of Room 204 to return from the photocopying room so I can get the Jurisprudence Big Book forms from her, fill them up and return them immediately. But she's taking so damn loooonnnnggggggg to get back...

Check this site out:
http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2005/11/22/banned-xbox-360-ad-best-ad-ever/

On a separate note, HAPPY 21st TO KIN YAN! I didn't call you to wish you but you know my fondest thoughts are with you right? :) You have to come back soon so Ming Foong and I can take the LRT to Taman Melawati, you can pick us up and take us to go eat RM 1 nasi lemak for breakfast on a rainy day. And when we're done with nasi lemak, we'll continue stuffing ourselves with roti pisang, roti Planta and other whatnot rotis, and then we'll go back to your house and carry on watching One Piece which you deliberately potong stim-ed the other day. Much love!



HAPPY 21st TO JASMINE TOO! For those who aren't in the know, I happen to be the matriach of the Mah Tong family (a purely CTC product). I am divorced from Azlan, and I have three children - Andre (whom I found in a toilet bowl - hence the odd shape of his head), James (whom I picked up in a zoo) and Suan (whose origins remain unknown). We have a maid, Nadia; a perpetual house guest, Joey; and two pets, Ee Lyn and Michelle. Andre has a retarded daughter, Zhi Hui; Suan is unmarried and childless; and James has a daughter, Jasmine, whose lesbian partner is Nadia. Jasmine also has a younger brother, Andre Khoo, but we're not sure who his parents are. Feo is my only great-granddaughter (she's Jasmine's daughter) and she has a personal nanny, Lip Sin. Watta mixed up lot. Anyway, so it's also Jasmine's 21st birthday today! Yeaaah, January's just filled with birthdays. And how can my granddaughter possibly be older than me you ask? ... Oh don't ask silly questions :p


[l-r] Jasmine, Zhi Hui, Joey, Lip Sin, Xian - Imperial College Malaysian Night 2005

Saturday, January 14, 2006

I've had it with titling my posts

It's almost 5 am and I'm not asleep yet. Azlan's playing WPT online, Eugene's playing the guitar, Lil is nodding off, Dian is at work and she probably knows this post wasn't really written on the date stated. Heh heh. Okay, so I cheat with my posts, but I just don't want to seem like I'm not constant with the updates. Call me anal but that's how it is.

Some news: I've been fired as the producer of UCL's Malaysian Night. And I am SO angry about the way in which they got about doing it. Like, before I took up the post as director for Imperial College's Brunei Night, I told Eugene I'd run it by UCL's M-Soc first. I did, and Shasa (the M-Night director) and I ended up having a heated discussion about it before the Xmas hols, after which she told me she'd leave me to make my own decision; she didn't mind me being the B-Night director so long as I carried out my responsibilities for M-Night. Then just last week, Amir (our M-Soc president) approached me and told me that the committee didn't like my handling dual roles in two societies because they were afraid of a conflict of interest. He also said that they'd reached a decision: I had to choose between Brunei Soc and M-Soc. I told him I'd give him an answer the next day. I didn't, because I forgot all about it. The weekend flew by and on Monday I received a text from Amir:

"Hey how're you doing? I've spoken to the committee and their sticking with their decision. Oh well, it's their loss right?"

From that one must be stupid not to infer that my post has been released. I mean - what the hell?!?! First you tell me you'll accept that I'm working for two societies, then you tell me I have to choose, THEN without even waiting for my reply you fire me?!?! I am soooo riled up. With their blatant cowardice, with their backbiting, with their unreasonableness. Sigh. Oh well. I'll show them I'm not a bitter lemon and STILL attend M-Night on 23 February. HAH. I'm quite grateful that Amir backed me up. And I appreciate Eugene calling Shasa and trying to work things out with her, even after I specifically told him not to call her. That stubborn idiot.

On the other hand, B-Night is looking really promising. Everyone's so enthusiastic about it and everyone wants to put in their two cents worth. I had a good discussion today with some Bruneian girls who are not too happy about some things in the script and I must say it reminded me of all my girlies back home whom I really miss. I know Dian misses hanging out with me too because she said so in her blog. Heeheeheehee. I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT DIAN THAT ALOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW. Here's a hint woman - you told me this when I was at the airport. WAHAHAHAHHAHAHA.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Someone's getting old

Happy 21st to the brother! Okay, Chun How's obviously not my real brother and don't ask me how we came to be "siblings" either. All I remember is that it happened one day about 2 years ago. Somehow we were inducted into our own little family and became "brother" and "sister".

Anyway, I made him a celebratory drink for his "coming of age" :p What started off as a harmless base of chocolate milk gradually became a sickly concoction of miscellaneous junk. Sesame oil, ketchup, thai sweet chilli sauce, pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce (his favourite condiment), teriyaki sauce, herbs, jam, HP sauce... I finally topped it all off with a sprinkling of coffee grains and told him it was Milo. You should've seen his face when he drank it! The lot of us also presented him with a 2-player gun set that gives off minor electric shocks when one is shot. Plus a poster of nude chicks, so he can wake up every morning with a huge smile on his face.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

No. 2

Over Christmas I got to meet my 10-month old nephew for the very first time since he was born. Up till then I'd only received pictures of him. I thought he was cute, but nothing prepared me for the real thing you know? Because Gabriel's not only dazzlingly adorable, but well-mannered too. He's like the most mild-tempered baby I've come across. And I'm not just saying this because we're related, but I really think he's ace. He's bloody active, and you should catch him in one of his singing moods. He just goes "AAAA AAAA AAAA" for 5 minutes and then he'll suddenly snigger to himself with one of my cousin's (his dad) trademark heehee's. He can't speak coherently yet - the only thing he says is "Teteh!" (don't get any ideas you sick people) and some other incomprehensible gurgly words. He can high-5 as well. Really! You just put your hand up in front of him and say, "High five baby!" and he'll stick his hand out to meet yours. I tried to teach him the peace sign but it was too difficult. I tried to teach him to flap his arms and say "RAAAWWRRR!" as well. I got the flapping down but he still can't say rawr. He'll be moving to Tasmania some time in February. Sigh. Usually I'm not a sucker for babies, but there's just something overtly irresistable about this one. Melt!


Friday, January 06, 2006

London calling

So I'm back in dreary old London. The churning in my stomach as the plane took off from KLIA was unbearable and for a moment, I wanted to run to the cockpit and tell the pilot to stop and let me off the plane. I will miss KL. So much more than usual. I think the novelty of being away from home is wearing off. And each time I go back to KL, I leave a piece of my heart there. In my pink room, in my grandma's food, in Bangsar, in teh tarik... aiyo I just wanna go hooooommmeeeeeeeee~

School starts on Monday. Looking forward to it, baby!

NOT.

Monday, January 02, 2006

The big two-oh

Happy birthday to yours trulyyy~! Thanks to everyone who shared the day with me. I felt extra special... I've to add the 'extra' because I feel special everyday, bwahahahhaha. I got slapped with cream in the afternoon, thanks to Nat who was sullen about the fact that I made her sit through two more rounds of Taboo when she had to go home to study, and ketchup by Yen at night. The ketchup fiasco was terribly unfair because Yen took advantage of a defenseless me who was entertaining a call from June in England. I got some really neat prezzies too - shotglasses from Dian, handmade earrings from Hooi, perfume from Nad and Ee Laine, Body Shop products from Toi, Phing, MF, Siew Wan, Nat and Sookie, more jewellery from Suet Kwan, Ming Li and Yen, and angpows from the family. I'll post some pics up once I get them from the people who're supposed to send them to me.

It feels different now that I'm 20. It's not just the increased first age digit. I think it somewhat carries an awareness that you're almost at the prime of your life, with adulthood pending on the cards. Not a pretty future at all. The past 3 years of my life has taken some unexpected twists and turn, nasty emotions included. I've learned from those experiences, but it's left me rather wary of what adulthood holds. But I realise that the thing I fear most is loneliness, and for that I'm thankful for the abundance of people who stand by me day to day. I take a shitload of pride in calling such people my friends, because with them it's a whole lot easier to withstand any trial. So adulthood might be a murky gray unknown, but I'm prepared for it because I've got people who love and support me and give me immeasureable strength. Muchos gracias bebehs. You all mean so much to me!

Today, I wished for a good year for all my friends. And that when I come back again in the summer, we'll go out and yum cha and eat like pigs and yak about everything and tease each other mercilessly and more importantly, be able to laugh without a care in the world. And I hope it'll continue to be like this even when we're old and graying in our rocking chairs...

Sunday, January 01, 2006

The first post of the new year

Happy 2006 everyone!