Model Mom? Part 2

FRI. 08/12/2006.

I was reluctant at first. When a friend called me up to model for his packaging/product cover, terrifying flashback from earlier attempts at modeling flooded my memory. I was so young then 17 and fresh from school, no experience whatsoever. (Teenagers at 17 back then was very different from the 17s now who are more well-informed)。 My friend who was a part-time model says that there’s a job which requires no experience. They wanted fresh faces, they said. So I went. And no guidance was given. Just ask me to look natural at the camera and smile. It was for a Singaporean magazine and I was like totally lost when they started clicking. I didn’t even know when to start posing. So I just stood there and froze. I could smile, but I froze, I couldn’t pose because I just simply don’t know how to. The photographers were mean. They didn’t help. They didn’t let me know what they want. I think they were just annoyed that I was the only one not “working hard” unlike the other talents. So the event was very embarrassing and unpleasant. I felt stupid. I hated myself for not being able to do such a simple thing. From that day onwards I shy away from all modeling jobs or things that would expose myself to public ("Phau Tau Loh Mien" in cantonese).

And then I told my buddies at work about the job. And in the midst of their jeer and tease, they actually encouraged me. (Now I understand what TAY means when she said, “Although he laughs at me, deep inside he still cares!” haha). Their advice came in various shapes and sizes:

Leonard: “Well, its an opportunity mar…There are so many girls around KL…Not so easy to get this chance leh… you’re not getting any younger.”

Kee: “Should go for it lah... no need money lah, your get exposure of different kind which is worth more.......Anyhow, they’ll just be taking your finger.”

David: “I think you are photogenic. Not to say you’re not gorgeous looking in real life, but you look even better in photos. Anyway, it’s their job to make you look nice, so no worries. Should go for it. No harm.”

LWee: “You should take it, may open up a new path way for you, in modeling, advertising etc, never too old to try cause got difference market mah, I saw there are plenty of advertising/modeling opportunity for aunties….”

Finally, I gathered enough courage to go. And boy it was great. The poses were all pre-fixed. They told me exactly what they want. And told me where my pictures would be fitted in (on a CD box cover of an SMS software they are going to market) and thus letting me know that my hands can only stretch so far. (Too wide and it’ll be off the CD size). They told me that my action and expression would be of an office girl trying to press a button and the button is actually a globe. Suppose to portray that with the product, one can be connected to the world easily with just a press of a button. All their instructions were clear and concise and we started taking pictures within minutes. I could easily produce what they want. I felt good when the photographer commented that I am easy to work with, as they didn’t need to tell me much.

Since it was an easy shot, they wanted me for another scene. Sitting down with arms open wide (not legs, mind you...) to portray an impression of "easy to get a job well done". I did that and it was over within minutes too.

Oh, and for the record, they really wanted to take my finger too as what Kee has predicted. They did a close up picture of my finger, trying press a button.

Well, I am glad I went. Everything went well, and I hate myself less for being stupid at 17. Sorta like a ego-redemption experience. And really it wasn’t the pay that counts. Not even the photo shoot itself. It’s realizing that after all these years, it’s not your fault. And realizing that you have great buddies who spur you on and pick you up when you need it the most (even though they did it mostly for laughs). Now that’s what really counts…..

Here are something to show from behind the scene. Not the actual shots but something taken with my friend’s IXUS 50 and his Dopod.

It’s pretty dark here.. wonder if it’s brighter with the Prosumer that the Lillian the photographer used. (looked brighter when I previewed on her camera’s LCD)

Opps... as I speak, another photographer wants me to help him with his pictures... excuse me... (*ahem)

Model Mom?

Thurs. 07/12/2006

Guess what,…. A friend called me up late last night and ask if I wanted to model for their packaging/product photoshot …. He was busy so he told me he’d give me the details this morning.

Come this morning, he told me that the packaging photo is for some IT or phone related product … all I had to do is to pose like a office girl pressing a button – (the button is actually the world). Something like to show that with the product, all you need is to press a button and you’re connected to the world.

I wanted to say yes… then I chickened out…. I told him I wasn’t in office wear. And I told him that I might not be able to make it on time for their shot…. I was thinking to myself, hmmm I don’t even know how to make up for a photoshoot….. In other words, I was just not ready…. He was disappointed (as he thought it’d be a win-win situation – he doesn’t have to pay high price to look for talents and I can get exposure for modeling), and so he said he’ll ask his advert personnel to search for other talents lor….

Soooo I was thinking …. Did I give up on an opportunity when it was already presented to me on a silver platter? Not that I want to launch a modeling career, too old for that luuuu…..

Bryan's first coloring contest!

I guess words fails me at the amusement that these 2 kids brought us today. It was Bryan's first coloring contest and thanks to Miao, he manage to pluck all his courage to get through with it. He was so excited that he was already talking about it the whole Saturday. When he woke up, he asked, "Are we going for the coloring contest today?" I suddenly remembered I had to sharpened his colors for him.... (later I found out that Miao was even more anxious about the contest that she sharpened and resharpened her colors and began to cry when they broke! ahahahah)

Anyway, we were at the Great Eastern Mall for the first time at around 1.15pm to register for the event. The response was so good that they ran out of application forms and receipts. Luckily, they let us participate anyway.

Bryan had the worse set of tools as he only had color pencils while the rest of the contestants came well equiped with water colors, pastel colors, crayons, 4B/6B pencils, magic ink, florescent pens... you name it, they've got it. They even bought their own coloring table!!!

We were quite worried since this was a free drawing and the title was "What Merdeka means to you." It was already difficult for Bryan to even do coloring, now he has to draw pictures from scratch....My goodness, I think he's going to draw blanks litterally. And what would Merdeka means to kids... How would they know what it means as they weren't even born 50 years ago.... Goodness.... Well, no choice.. they were already sitting in the contest floor, waiting for the contest to start... Let's just see what they'll come up with .....

Surprisingly, they were quite creative. Bryan actually explained to me that those stick people he drew were Malaysians of Chinese, Indian and Melayu (in his own words which meant Malay)... Amazing... And he says that purple thingy is a house for all Malaysians to stay... The brown thingy on the left is a Rocket, hmmm... pretty creative, huh... And obviously the flag were significant of Merdeka. The birds and rainbows were for freedom (I guess Miao Miao taught him this after hearing from the Judge/Artist who gave some pointers earlier). Anyway, Miao Miao helped him a lot as Bryan didn't even know what was going on!

Well, all's well ends well and Miao Miao won 3rd runner's up for being creative in using Color Pencils. Amists all the Magic, Pastel, Oil and Water colors, the conventional Color Pencils stood out. What a great day for a 6 year old. :) The funny thing was, Bryan keep asking me, when's his turn to take a prize and I had a tough time taming him. Each time they announce a winner, he put up his hands AHHAHAHAH.. So silly!!!

Anyway, Bryan did win a consolation prize... a goodie bag with some stationeries, notepads and a bag. However, he refused to get down from the stage! He wanted his ARTWORK back! What a funny scene.. ha ha... Anyhow, he got it back after I coax the organisers to return it....


All in all it was a great day to see those kids take their first steps into experiencing things they have never done before. It was a first experience for us too to see their reaction at this "contest" experiment. Good exposure for them I must say, and well, my effort in sharpening the color pencils didn't go to waste.. hahahaha...

Bryan and Miao Miao - First Day of school

Bryan and Miao Miao on their first day of Kindergarten.

How time flies.... Sigh....




Christmas 2005

Lily and Kevin's Wedding

Attended a hilarious wedding dinner on Sunday (15 July 07). I haven’t been blogging about the wedding banquets lately as I don’t find them a satirical write. Most of the weddings have ground to similarity and routine… even through my keen eye for humour….. But this one was fresh…

Lily and Kevin’s wedding was held at Ritz-Carlton, one of the finest hotel in KL, 6-stars to be exact. So you’d be expecting a lot of no-nonsense “Penguins” (men-in-tux) and partners hanging around, mingling with each other, getting drunk on business talks and world news. This wedding was a little different however. It was more of a small family reunion, finely organized for a table of six for close friends and relatives. Lily (oh, I am a friend of the bride by the way…) has been in Australia for as long as I could remember… not sure how many years… but 5 years at least! It’s amazing that she still keep in touch with all of us ex-colleagues of Aetna days. In fact, more than 3 tables were allocated for Aetna friends. Of course, most of the old “Aetna friends” have grown in numbers due to the expansion of family members (spouse, children, grandchildren? ahahah)….

Anyway, if you think 9 years friendship (I got to know Lily since 98 when we worked for Aetna’s Y2K project) goes a long way, I happen to sit next to Kevin’s 3 close friends who flew all the way from Sydney, Australia to attend Kevin’s Malaysian wedding (they already had one in Sydney I was told). And they told me, their friendship with Kevin goes back around 30 years. I heard them saying that they’ve known each other like since 12th grade. Now that’s something that deserves some respect. I mean, I am a sucker for loyalty and comradeship and this kind of “long term friendship” (I assume it’s a “through-thick-and-thin” kind of relationship) puts a lump in my throat. And the amazing thing was they were of different professions, which meant that they got together based on their own effort and not through work contacts. One of them was a treasurer in PWC, another a fireman, and yet another is a plumber who runs his own successful business. And Kevin and Lily are in the IT industry....

Well, far from expectation that this would be a serious wedding reception, Kevin, Lily and their family made it one of the most entertaining weddings that I went to. Kevin, an Australian, attempted to make a “serious” speech in Hokkien (Chinese dialect) which had everyone practically rolling on the floor laughing…we couldn’t understand a word he said (partly because I don’t understand Hokkien anyway). Well, it was a good attempt… and you could see that they both try hard to blend both the western and eastern cultures together.

Well, the dinner went on like any Malaysian weddings complete with the cake cutting (the layers signifying the many layers that they will go through together in life and achieving higher and higher together in life), champagne fountain (signifying prosperity and basically everything overflowing in abundance), and Yum Seng (Bottom’s up) toast sessions - the first toast is to thank everyone for coming, the second for good health, wealth and prosperity and the third toast's to bless the bride and groom togetherness until their wee old age (i.e. the western till death do they part) and also to wish them speedy expansion of their family so that their offsprings can accompany them on their journey together…

And then comes Karaoke. Yes, Karaoke is very much a “staple diet” of many a weddings in Malaysia nowadays. Most of the wedding couples nowadays try to make do without one, fearing that all the “Malaysian Idol” wannabes might hog the mic for the whole night. There was a wedding I went to in Ipoh where they didn’t have Karaoke, but the guests insist on singing for the couple by doing acapella numbers. And I also remember my own wedding when an old lady went up to sing some rotten Chinese song.... neither Brandon nor I admitted that she’s our relative. Until today, we still don’t know whether she’s from Brandon’s side or mine. ha ha.

Nevertheless, I don’t blame Lily and Kevin for having a karaoke session at their wedding since their whole family have been in Australia for so long and they miss Malaysia and the karaoke much. It was such a romantic scene seeing Kevin, a virgin at Karaoke, belting out a wedding favourite, “You were always on my mind”, with his beautiful wife, Lily by his side.

And then we could also see that Lily and her 3 sisters missed karaoke so much that they belted out 5 to 6 songs in a row and having fun at that (boy you should see them dance!). It was great to see them having so much fun… errr….even though the sound system was terrible … yeah I blame the sound system for the “chagrin faces” of fellow attendees of the wedding as they belted out number after number of yesteryears favourites ….. hahahaahah Even the 3 Australian friends of Kevin, (the 3 tenors?) had a try with “Love Me Tender”. You will have to watch their wedding video to know how they sound like.. ha ha (Air Supply perhaps?)

And oh, I am sure the wedding guests wanted to show off their prowess in singing as they didn’t need much coaxing to go up to the stage… hahaha. Kudos to Loo who was so brave to invite himself onto the stage to belt out a beautiful Chinese rendition of “Will you still love me tomorrow” for the wedded couple.

Albeit all the homour, it’s great to see this kind of “east meet west” weddings where there was so much culture exchange being shared amongst the family and friends. The food was delicious, entertainment (aka Karaoke) was great (have to say this since the camera is rolling ha ha), location setting was beautiful, timing was superb… definitely what a successful marriage is made of.

To dear Kevin and Lily, Congratulations again on your marriage and May you have many, many more happy days together ahead of you….

*Oh I just remembered something funny when David, Martin and the Fireman (*sorry I forgot your name) was about to eat the fine sharks fin soup. I explained to them that if you don’t like the strong fishy smell that Sharks Fin sometimes emit, you can use the vinegar to cover the smell….. and then at that very same moment, Loo asked them to try DURIANS, the King of fruits. And I was thinking to myself, “Boy, you definitely can’t use vinegar to cover the durian’s pong…. Ha ha”….. And then David exclaimed, “Yeah, the Durian smells like GARBAGE!!... “ Hahahahahahaa…. A really apt explanation to “one’s man mean is another man’s poison.. “ hahahaha

Lost my O2 mini

It’s a horrible feeling to lose something… Especially something that you have grown accustomed to on a daily basis. Yeah, I lost my dear O2 mini XDA II phone…. Noticed that I said lost and not stolen. It’s my fault entirely… which makes it so much harder to swallow and forget the whole incident. I know I must let it go and move on.. But the thought of my own carelessness in causing the lost is too painful..

Anyway, I have gotten over it a little.. everything takes time to douse the impact… ease the pain… that’s why I have the courage to talk about it now… Prior to this, I just want to forget the incident and move on… Oh, how I hated it when people ask me how it happened, and I have to relive the whole ordeal again and again to each and every nice person who cared enough to enquire about the incident.

Actually I am the type of person who will get close to something after some time together. When I first got my chevy… no feeling… after a while, the more I found out about the car, the more I love it. Some goes for my O2. When I first got my phone, I felt stupid coz I spend so much (RM2588) on a phone that keeps rebooting itself, or keep hanging… and then slowly, after playing with it almost daily, I would feel quite lost even if I didn’t play with it for just 1 day. It provided me with so much entertainment and solutions, i.e. games, movies, camera functions, calendar, reminders, tasks update, calculator, maps, etc etc… sigh.. I really do miss it a lot…

Right now I am not sure what phone to get. So far, ppl tell me IPAQ and Dopod is good and cheap but I feel like getting an O2 again… Coz everywhere I look, traces of my O2 is staring at me – my charger, my download cable, the extra stylus, my colleague’s O2 mini (which we bought together) etc .. AHAHAHAHA (sounds like a break off with boyfriend eh?).. every little thing around me seems to have fond memories connected to my O2… even those Annual dinner photos have shadows of my O2… (hahaha sounds so dramatic and pathetic…) Sigh…

Anyway, just to document down how it happened for the benefit of those who care….

I went for my annual dinner last Saturday. Everything was fine and well. All dolled up and ready to go before 6. This is one of the first times I got ready before the dinner starts… hahaha … Not that I was overly excited and started dolling up early.. but it’s because I didn’t bother to doll up. And then I decided to use a small handbag which doesn’t fit my O2 mini. So I decided to hold the O2 in one hand and the handbag in another - the first wrong decision made for the night.

And then all was well during dinner; laughing, jeering at friends, taking photos and good food to top it all up. All was well until they serve substandard performances one after another. It was aqua show after aqua show. And aqua here doesn’t mean water if you get what I mean… Not that I am prejudice, but the performances like this grounds to a drone when you watch it year after year…. So I made the next wrong decision for the night by going to the washroom. And that’s how it all happened. There’s a place for you to leave your belongings on top of the toilet roll holder and I left my handphone there. To make a long story short, and spare you of other lewd details, I left the cubicle without my O2.

Went to wash my hands and was surprised to see my user, Shanti, pregnant. So I made some small talk without realizing my O2 was shouting for help. And as we were walking out, I realized my hands were quite empty, and rushed back into my cubicle. IT WAS GONE!!!! Checked with the cleaner who was changing the toilet rolls then and she said she didn’t see anything. Funny as there wasn’t anyone in the cubicle except her. I didn’t try to interrogate her but instead, complain to the Sunway Hotel Receptionist who directed me to her manager and later the security manager came in “Men in Black” style. The funny thing was, the cleaner was no where to be found when I went to complain. She didn’t follow me when I went to make the complain. Anyway, the men-in-black handed me a form to fill and ask if I want to make a police report. I told him I can’t possibly go to the police station dressed like that, but if they can retrieve my handphone and return to me, I won’t question nor pursue with the police.

They were quite professional and called me the next day to inform me that they have done all checks and surprise checks and locker checks onto the cleaners but my handphone was not found.

Well, life goes on… and I have to let it go… It’s a real pity that I lost it… it has serve me well, but I didn’t take care of it enough..

Which brings me to the lesson learnt… Must take care of Brandon well… hahahaha…

Will you still love me... tomorrow...

When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now,
Will you still be sending me a valentine,
Birthday greetings, bottles of wine?

You'll be older too

And if you say the word

I could stay with you

I could be handy, mending a fuse,
When your lights have gone,
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride,

Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more,
Will you still need me,
Will you still feed me,
When I am sixty-four?

(Excerpt from Beatle's song, 'When I'm Sixty Four', 1967 Northern Songs.)

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13 April 2007, Friday.

Yesterday night, I worked till late, skipping dinner and all. I got a call from Brandon at around 10pm asking for my whereabouts and he sounded disappointed that I was still in the office and passed the phone to our son to wish me goodnight. I told him I’d probably finished at around 11 and reach home by 12, expecting him to tuck himself to bed first. When I finish, it was already 11:30pm. I literally flew home (KL to home in around 20 minutes!) as I was so tired and exhausted that I want to end the day as soon as possible. When I reached home, Brandon has thoughtfully left the non-auto gate open for me so that I can drive straight in. As I close the gate, I heard the front door opening, and a sleepy head peeked out from behind the grill. He smiled and that was the sweetest smile I have seen the whole day and it immediately took some of my fatigue away. I gave him a bear hug and kiss as I entered the door and I could tell that he missed me very much from his lingering kiss right at the gates (we are very shy people and usually avoid public expression of love haha). Then we suddenly realized that the neighbours might be watching, and giggled as we close the wooden door and walked hugging each other upstairs.


Now, if you think that we did something X-rated after that… no worries, no juicy details as I am having my monthly cycle. Ha ha. Our usual routine would be he’d go to bed and I will continue with my “getting ready for bed” ritual which may range from 30 minutes to 3 hours depending whether I get stuck surfing the internet. But yesterday was a little different. He was still awake after my bath and asked if I wanted to have supper. I was hungry, but I didn’t want to get fat, so I told him so.

Although we know that we’ll both get fat eating at 1 o’clock in the morning, he was adamant that I shouldn’t go to bed without dinner (an excuse I presume as he also wanted to eat! :P). So, he rushed down to the kitchen and fixed me my favourite Indomie Goreng (topped with a sunny side up) and an Ibumie Prawn Mee for himself. I was truly smitten by the perfectly done eggs…. I melted when he served me the hot plate of noodles capped with the wobbling orange egg yolk. I switched the TV to his favourite sports channel and we both slurped down our noodles watching the Champion’s League highlights where Man U thrashed Roma 7-1 and Arsenal beat Valencia 2-1. After I cleaned up all the dishes, we walked up again hand-in-hand, tired, sleepy, but fully satisfied. :D


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The above was a sneak preview of what an ordinary married life would be. Of course it varies from day to day and it definitely has its ups and downs, but these are the days we live for and cherish and try to remember till our dying days.

Recently I had a friend who was quite adamant in staying single, possibly due to pass failed relationship, bad experiences or the ever increasing divorce rate. I felt sad as I thought he was missing a little gift from God. I mean, I am not saying marriage is all bliss and seventh heaven, but it’s really not as bad as we all think it is. God created this life cycle,

born -> grow -> marriage -> reproduce

for a reason. I am sure He didn’t create it just to punish us sinners ahahaha…

So I hope the above snippet would spread a little cheer, give a little hope, maybe change some views about getting married…

The Beatle song serves as a reminder of how wonderful married life (or staying together with someone) can be in our golden retirement years (if we set our goals to achieve so....)

Yet Another Wedding..

Yet another wedding. Strange as it may be, but at our age, we still get a lot of wedding invitations. At least that’s what my sister thought. She said, most of the invites that we should be getting are children parties invites… not weddings, as most of my friends should have been married by now at our age. ha ha, What’s my age again? (Note: No offence to my single, unattached friends. I think you guys are great to be able to hold on to your own principles for so long!)

Well, the invites are mainly due to the diversity of friends that both Brandon and I have. And of course the influx of weddings is mainly due to the race to get the ‘Golden Boar’ baby by the end of the year (according to one of the wives during our casual conversations). The latest wedding we attended was Brandon’s futsal friend, Kien Mun’s wedding. One would have thought that after attending so many weddings by now, there’s really nothing new to look forward to. However, with Brandon’s friends, one can and SHOULD expect the extra-ordinary. Well, one thing for sure, if they are the “heng tai” (brothers or buddies or a member of the groom’s entourage), they will surely be early birds, no matter how drunk or how tired they were the night before or in this case, even if they had a tiring golf game just before the wedding banquet.

This time, Brandon had to be there at 5pm, for rehearsals, debriefing, organizing, the works. At the rehearsals, I found that 2 of Brandon’s friends, the Lees (coincidentally, both share the same surname but not the same blood), were given the chance to grace the banquet as Master of Ceremonies! This was their maiden attempt and gosh, I thought, these two comedians are going create some fun… and a lot of fun they DID create. I had lots of laugh when they were rehearsing their lines and trying to get everything right, down to the very last details and timing.

They ask the groom to time their wedding march down the aisle, so that when they enter the dinner hall, the correct melodies were aired and the right video was projected and the precise words were uttered. Since the bride was busy preparing herself, another “heng tai” had to play her part and it was hilarious to see 2 men in tuxedos waltzing down the red carpet while waving their hands and blowing kisses like beauty queens walking their walk of honour. They timed everything exactly, from the music to the beat whereby the groom must step in, to the pause in the middle of the hall to wave at the guests, to the timing of the photo-video, to the seating of the bride and moment when the MCs starts to entertain. What’s even more hilarious was, when it was time for the actual thing, the groom was so nervous, he just marched straight into the dinning hall, forgetting his waves and forgetting the pause in the middle. I guess his thoughts was with the Bride all the time that he totally forgot his rehearsed steps.. awwww… how romantic…

Talking about romance, the couple had earlier shot a documentary about their romantic courtship and it was the first of its kind that I have seen, so I was truly taken by its novelty. (yeah, I am a sucker for romance!) The short movie clip included interviews, behind the scenes, the actual shot of the proposal (shot in the jewelry shop, much like in the movies!). It was really romantic of the guy to go through the trouble to plan and get everything in place. Brandon will not even participate even if I had planned all these things… he’s the shy type and thinks romance is a dirty word ahahaha…

The MCs, being their first attempt, was exceptionally smart and funny that night, especially the time when they panicked when they realized that they had lost their scripts just minutes before the ceremony starts. They later found it under their own seats. One wonders how on earth it ever got there in the first place…. (*hmm what were they doing under the table???!!!)

Well, as I type this, the blissfully married couple is enjoying their honeymoon in Europe, and is now in the romantic city of Paris…. :) Congratulations again to Kien Mun and wife, and may you have a Golden Boar baby (better yet, twins!) by the end of the year!

Oh, will upload some photos if I ever get my hands on one. I noticed Lee always made sure the ‘heng tais’ took some photos at the end of each wedding…. So I am sure there are some good photos to be uploaded in the near future. Watch this space for the photos okay.. :)

Of Wedding Dinners and Ceremonies....

Wednesday, OCT 11, 2006: I attended the wedding dinner at Tropicana yerterday and I found it quite different from the usual as the ushers are mostly guys, in fact, ALL guys. For a pleasant change, we girls get to sit down and gossip about them while our hubbies did all the work (from checking the name liststo ushering people to their seats to bringing drinks to them - the whole works).The groom had around >10 buddies (or brothers or "Heng Tai") and as they were all new to ushering, they were all very excited ("Chin sai mei jou ko" – Last life didn’t do any work – as one of the wives told us ahahahaha). So we had a good time laughing at them especially when the real waiters were just grouping and loitering around as they didn’t have much work to do, as the bulk of the work was already taken over by the buddies… ha ha…)Then another wife told us that his husband was so eager to be at the dinner early that he called her to get ready at around 3 to get ready (right after his golf game). His wife was actually still working at that time but had plans to leave early but she never expected him to call as early as 3!! Then of course other wives chipped in and said, “Yeah, at around 4 my husband asked me to get ready and wait outside my office so as not to waste any time. I had to get my children ready by 4:30!” I felt a little lucky as Brandon came to fetch me at 5:30 but was already waiting at the back of the office by 5:15pm. You see, the ushers has to “check in” by 6:30.

Another funny thing was the “coat” or “blazers” which all of them had to wear. One of the wives told us that her husband never liked wearing “coats”. Even for his own wedding, which we attended and witnessed, he just wore it for awhile to enter the dinner hall and took it off after a while….. However, for the sake of his buddy, he borrowed the coat to wear and kept it on throughout the wedding morning on Sunday and also throughout the “usher session” yesterday. Hmmm… love must definitely be in the air to be able to make such drastic “sacrifices”. The wife was saying, “He’s not even as excited as this during our own wedding!” to which we all laughed.

Then they talked about the convoy of 6 cars which followed the Groom’s car to Klang (the wive’s house). They had everything “planned” and even had walkie-talkies in several cars to ensure everything goes well. The reason why we found it so amazing is because these husbands of ours usually NEVER planned ANYTHING… but yet seems to have planned this wedding so meticulously. Most of the guys/buddies are married for a few years and most already have kids, so the wives reasoned that them being so excited this time must be due to the fact they wanted to “re-lived” their “glory days” as it’s been a while since there was any weddings for them to “plan” ahahhaaha… So it was a chance for them to let loose their suppressed childish self inside …hahahhahah…

Anyway, I had a good time too and I noticed that their photos were quite good. Since they had the wedding ceremony on Sunday and dinner on Tuesday, they had a bit of time to process and show off their wedding ceremony photos as a slide show. He had a few photographers and there was this particular short photographer who likes to take pictures from the bottom, or from-the-floor-up angle. Even during the dinner, when the brother’s (about 10-15 of them) was having a “group hug” (sorta like rugby players grouping together to get the ball), the photographer actually crawled into the middle among the legs of the guys and slept on the floor to take their pictures. Something really different I suppose….

Gong Xi Fa Cai! 2007 Part 2 : The legend continues....

And it’s back to work again for most of us after the long auspicious week of resting (for some), or frenzied visiting (for others). Notably, it’s the 9th day of the CNY today, which incidentally is actually the first day of CNY for the Hokkiens. For those who are not familiar, according to verbal legends, long long time ago in China, there was an ethnic cleansing activity done on the Hokkiens (maybe due to some “kongsi gelap” or triad fight). The Hokkiens seek refuge in their sugar cane farm but their enemies were persistant with their searched and destroy agenda and proceeded to burn down the farm. The Hokkiens prayed hard to the Jade Emperor (one of the Chinese Deities) and miraculously, the skies begin to pour and dowse the fire and washed away the assassins. Coincidentally, this happened during the midnight of the 8th Day of the Lunar New Year, when the Hokkiens came out of hiding, unhurt and safe from being wiped out. Since then, the Hokkiens celebrated their Chinese New Year on the midnight of the 8th day of the CNY by giving thanks and praise to Tin Kung (God of the Sky) for having mercy on them on that fateful night and preserving the existence of their clan. It is also noted that it usually rains on the 9th day of CNY. Like it did just now during the Lion dance performance in my company.

While we're on the subject, I have another story to tell regarding the lion dance. How did the lion dance came about? Well, according to Chinese legends (again!), The Year (Nien) is a fearful monster which terrorized humankind once every 12 months, at the beginning of the Lunar Year. There were no Superman or Ultraman then to battle the stealthy Nien so people live in fear of the Nien for many years, each time spring arrive. One day, a monk from the mountains (Not sure if he’s from Shaolin Temple though but legend has it that he has a big head and a big fan) tamed a Lion and converted the Lion into a vegetarian. Together with his vegetarian lion (which explains why Lion dances usually come with that Green Vegetable as a reward for the lion), they found that loud noises and the red colour will scare the Nien Monster away. And with that discovery, the Chinese were free from The Year Monster. From then onwards, the Chinese celebrated this overcoming of fear as Chinese New Year, which incidentally is also called “Kuo Nien” ( which literally means “overcoming the monster, Nien”). Each year during spring, they will make lots of noise via fireworks and lion dances (lead by a monk with a big fan called Tai Tao Fatt in Cantonese) and put up lots of red decorations and give red packets to each other as blessings and protection from the Nien Monster.

That’s my story for this Chinese New Year which I hope will somehow bring forth some insights to the rich Chinese culture that has been brought down many generations since thousands of years. There are many more myths and legends that come with the Chinese New Year (like the deity Nuwa making humans from clay on the 7th day of the lunar calendar and thus making it everyone’s birthday every 7th day of the CNY). All these makes the celebrating of the coming of the lunar year so much more meaningful and exciting. I view myself as almost at the end of the Chinese generations in my family to observe the Chinese traditional practices/prayers (yes, I guess I shame my ancestors as I don’t know how to set up the altar etc …with the excuse of westernization and modernization *blush*). As such, I only hope that in my writings, I can at least carry on some of the Chinese Legends and Cultures for my future generations.

Chinese New Year 2007

The Big Chinese New Year is finally here. Yes, the Golden Boar (I wont use the other “non-halal” word as a respect to muslim readers) has arrived and has been bestowed the honour to bring luck, prosperity and happiness to one and all. The “Dog” has done a good job before handing over the year to the Boar by starting the stock market rally, treating many happy punters to big fat bonus just before the Chinese New Year holidays. And the Boar continued the rally by bringing in foreign investors to make Bursa Malaysia history (KLCI hits 14-year high in record volume on the first day of trading after the CNY break!).

It’s been a “boar-ing” new year for me. Maybe it’s due to the fact that I had to report for work on the 2nd day of CNY which dulls the whole event. Not even the ang pow which I received from my boss could cheer me up. Somehow everything seems sluggish. Even on the first day of New Lunar Year, we didn’t do much but eat and sleep a lot… signature habit of the boar? Ha ha. Up until today, the 5th day of Chinese New Year, we haven’t done much to celebrate except to sleep and eat dried meat, cookies, and Yee Sang. When we visited friends and relatives, we end up eating more dried meat, cookies and Yee Sang. In fact, the biggest event that happened to me this year is having Yee Sang with my Malay friends. Now, that was a very meaningful lunch for me - to be able to have a happy “muhibbah” lunch with my friends (ex-MBA classmates). For one of them, Azhar, it was his first time tasting Yee Sang and he found it very good (even though we found the Genki Sushi’s Yee Sang a little too bland). So that’s even more meaningful. J Incidentally, I want to add that Chinese New Year is not a Religious Celebration, but a spring festival to celebrate the coming of Spring, so that’s why you see Chinese who are of various religions celebrating it together.


Eating Muhibbah Yee Sang at Genki Sushi

Besides that, nothing interesting happened to me thus far, so I will keep this blog short and simple. Oh, a frown on Brandon’s face when I say nothing else is interesting reminded me to thank him for making me the “unofficial” product endorser for Nike Golf. Have been wearing nothing but Nike Golf shirts, Nike golf culottes, and Nike golf shoes for the whole of CNY… ”I would like to thank God for getting me where I am today and Thank you, Brandon for making all this possible.” Note that I am saying this ala Grammy’s style. Ha ha… Have a great Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai, to all who are celebrating and to those who don’t, hope your long holidays was a great one.

Chinese New Year 2006

Happy Human Day - 04 February 2006

I can’t believe it. So far, this chatterbox has nothing to write about for Chinese New Year this year until now. In fact, I haven’t much inspiration after King Kong. Was even too lazy to write about Geisha, although initially I thought the story was a tat too simple to be a blockbuster. However, after watching Last Samurai today, I realized that these kinds of shows amazes the westerners as it brings forth the deep and mysterious culture and heritage that only we Asians have the fortune to have. And seriously, if I didn’t watch Last Samurai and Geisha, I wouldn’t have the slightest idea what these rich cultures (or ways of lives) of the Japanese were all about. These traditions that the Japanese fight fiercely with their lives, carries profound meanings and intense substance that most of us do not understand. After all, the Japanese can proudly boast that these cultures belong to them and them alone.

Of course, we Malaysians also have many things to be proud about. Our multi-culture and multi-ethnic group population makes us even richer with cultures and traditions even though much have been altered, enhanced and omitted through the years due to various reasons such as inconvenience, social welfare and adaptation. Even the Chinese New Year traditions albeit rich, are not resilient to these evolutions.

Yee Sang, for example, is a locally “invented tradition” where the Chinese in China, Taiwan or Hong Kong do not practice serving this dish as part of their Chinese New Year Cuisine. In

Malaysia

, it’s a must have traditional CNY cuisine to symbolizes good luck, increasing prosperity and successful business. In fact, even in

Malaysia

itself, the Yee Sang has evolved from being served only on “Human Day” (the seventh day of CNY which incidentally is today) to almost everyday even before the CNY starts! Those who are doing marketing courses can cite Yee Sang as a classic example of successful marketing. Extremely successful in fact, as the margin for a plate of these colorful cheap vegetarian ingredients plus a few slices of fish and a packet of crisps, can be up to 300%-400% (especially if served in a fancy restaurant)! Hmmm, come to think of it, the restaurants are getting all the “good luck, increasing prosperity and successful business” which the Yee Sang brings. Having said this, I would still pay for it as I like the taste and it reflects our own significant CNY culture (aiyah, only once a year).

As we put our chopsticks together to indulge in boisterous flipping, mixing and tossing the “al cheapo” ingredients (except if you’re having abalone Yee Sang (Note: aha, the ingredients itself show an evolution of tradition here. It used to be only raw fish as the name Yee Sang suggested but the innovative Chinese has invented various other ingredients such as abalone, jellyfish etc)), I am sure you get that quintessential feeling of family togetherness/bonding/affirmation of ties/social unity all at the same time! Well, that is what cultures and traditions are all about - creating unity and family/friendship bonding. If we don’t uphold them (not necessary to fight with our lives like the Last Samurai), then the cultures and traditions will be lost forever! And strong family ties and friendship will slowly fade away.

Have a wonderful Chinese New Year 2006 – The year of the Dog. As I write, the Hokkien families are already beginning to prepare for the second family reunion dinner tomorrow which continues to midnight to “Pai Tin Koong”, (the Ninth day of CNY where Hokkiens offer prayers to the God of Heaven or Jade Emperor). This is another tradition that should be proudly passed down to the younger generations. Excuse me while I peep out my window to get a glance of the beautiful fireworks released by authorized parties (note that the usage of firecrackers as tradition to scare away the “Nien” (New Year) monster/dragon has been omitted in view of the welfare and health of children and insomniacs).

Alright, I will end here with some auspicious or lucky sayings (Traditionally these lucky sayings, which usually rhymes, are written in beautiful calligraphy only red strips of paper called “Fai Choon” to be pasted onto the doors to welcome good luck):

May you have a year of health and joy,

And an abundance of good fortune which you can enjoy!

Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Gong Xi!

Kelly Rivers

p/s. The above article is not an endorsement or declaration of all the Malaysian Chinese New Year traditions and cultures. It is just a recollection of my personal experience and thoughts in conjunction with the Chinese New Year. The article is written just to promote the festive mood and bring you well wishes.

Sea Park School Alumni - Tang Lung Festival 2005

SAT, SEPT 24, ARA DAMANSARA: Last weekend I went to a tang lung celebration (yeah I know, it’s 1 week late but hey it’s a great way to dispose leftover mooncakes ha ha) … organized by my High School Alumni, The Sea Park School Alumni. It was a great event as I haven’t seen my high school mates since leaving school 13 years ago. I brought my 3 year old son and there were lots of other kids there to play with him. He mixes well with other kids … and was immediately made popular by his electronic dragon lantern which has blinking lights, and can walk, flap its wings and sing…. The sound emitted from that dragon is truly annoying (it’s like chipmunks singing “Old McDonalds”… I am sure you have experienced those noisy electronic lanterns and how irritating they can be… but the children just love it. Just for the record, I didn’t buy it. My mom did. My mom must be silently punishing me for all the noise I made in her house ha ha). My son was dancing along to the music and it caught a little girl’s attention and they clicked immediately. Hmm... talk about ease of picking up girls ahahahaha kidding…

Well, the event went well, with lots of people from my year coming, most of them whose name I have totally forgotten (sorry *blush*). There were lots of food and you can easily identify who used to be Scouts as they were extremely good at BBQing. The ones that they made were all just right… they knew just how much margarine and honey to put on those wings in order NOT to serve cancer-inducing burnt chicken wings. Well, I took the easy way out and serve myself and my son with those boiled sausages and fishballs. Mmmm, taste good all the same. Of course, there were still plenty of bee hoon, potato salad and of course leftover moon-cakes but my carnivorous son wasn’t too keen on those.

To make it sound grand, there were people who came all the way from the US, well, at least 2 people I know came back from the US. I didn’t get to mingle with everyone as I was busy watching over my son in case he sets fire to the beautiful house. It was doubly hazardous with the BBQ fire and the candle-lanterns. The highlight of the night, besides the Malaysian Idol Grand finale (oh, for your information, most Sea Parkians thought Daniel would lose), was the lantern walk where all the kids get to walk around the park with their lanterns. Of course my son had to aggravate the neighbours’ dogs which made them howl and bark and woke the whole neighbourhood.

It was my fault really, as I told my son, “Oh look, can you see the dog lying over there?” and my son gave an evil grin, “Oh yeah, a dog, mua ha ha ha, woof woof”. He was imitating the naughty Sid from Toy Story. This triggered the other kids to start teasing the dog as well. It is no wonder that I stepped on dog poo after coming back from the Tang Lung walk. Hmmm, now I am a believer that God sees all and punishes accordingly.

When I came back into the house, my friends immediately picked up the stench and asked me, “Phew, you smell bad.”

I tried to defend myself and blamed it on the poor rabbit. (Oh, Tuck Loong, did your rabbit die after being inflicted with so much torture from the kids? The poor rabbit was trembling the whole night with the kids trying to poke it and scare it into insanity with the silly “Old McDonald’s” song).

It was a blessing that the commotion of a burning lantern at the park took the attention away from me and my pong. As a devoted father quickly ran to replace the burnt lantern, I quietly went to the side of the drain to scrub away the ugly patch of dung which stubbornly stuck to my shoes like glue. Gosh, wonder what this dog has been feeding on, UHU glue?

All in all, it was a good outing. We have Tuck Loong (the current President) to thank for offering his beautiful house for our destruction. Thanks to him, my son has learnt to use his crayons on my walls. Oh, Tuck Loong’s daughter is a budding Picasso as Tuck Loong has generously converted the wall of his porch into a huge canvas for his daughter to draw on. And I am truly sorry that son influenced other kids to turn your Sunflowers into Light Sabers, but rest assured that my son has nothing to do with your Rabbit’s continuous shivering. Oh, did I mention that Mei Yin’s kids were like angels? What’s your secret Mei Yin? They were so well behaved (except for the time they became willing victims of Hui Theng’s abduction. Earlier in the evening, Hui Theng had tried to runaway with 4 children but they only manage as far as the playground).

The other day I heard my friends saying, “Assunta’s Alumni is sooo “tight” (US colloq. for intense). It’s really awesome!” Let’s hope that our Alumni would be envied by others in days to come. With the current growth rate of our alumni, it wont be long before we can proudly tell other people that Sea Park School Alumni is ssoooo awesomely “tight”!

Chinese New Year 2005 - Part 2

Happy Valentine's day and Human Day (Part 2 - 15 Feb 2005)

Wow, I didn't realize that my quest for a "Hot date" would gather so much feedback and interest! For those who sniggered at my ability to find a hot date (What? Can an Auntie get a hot date? Dream on!), well, wait till it's your turn. Oh, btw, let me remind you that I am not a girl but NOT YET an auntie (sung to the tune of Britney Spears, "I am not a girl, not yet a woman").

For those who gave their well wishes and prayed for me, thank you very much as you have proven that the power of group prayers does work! Initially I didn't think anything would happen. Well, I did receive a few disappointing sms, emails and calls from guyfriends asking me if I managed to find a hot date for the night. But they did not follow up with an invitation. Their main purpose of calling was just to see whether cobwebs have grown on me and another was worse, he asked me for directions to Mont Kiara as his hot date is waiting for him there! I even got turned down when I tried to camouflage my endeavor with a "lo sang" invitation. Harrummpphhh...!!! Anyway, these are really close buddies of mine and I guess they were just poking fun and rubbing salt coz they know they can.... Ha ha... (errr... guys, I guessed right, RIGHT?)

And then my luck changed when I received a phone call from a girlfriend who happened to be at the next building finalizing her air tickets. Not wanting to depend on the opposite sex for some valentine's fun, we decided to go to the movies after I dropped off the hardcopies of my final assignments at the college. And then all the invitations started coming in through the phone. At first, I thought I was just sympathy calls from well meaning friends but it wasn't!!! There were like 20 continuous smses for us to join a group of friends at a Japanese restaurant in Mont Kiara. Boy, I wondered what is wrong with men and their timing. I couldn't even concentrate on the movie as I was busy deleting the smses!!

Anyway, to cut the long story short, we had a great dinner and proceeded to Neway where we croon (croak rather) to our hearts content. The best thing was - we manage to claim our 3 free bottles of Hennessy from the Director himself (Hmm, another long story which shall be told another time - thanks to our dear friend Michelle -> No worries Mich, there's still another 2 bottles left!). The night was filled with joy and laughter and everyone laughed their hearts out. As we bid our goodbyes at around 4am, we wished everyone Happy Birthday as today is the seventh day of the lunar year, i.e. a day to celebrate the creation of human (according to the Chinese believe).

Well, I took half a day off today to recuperate from the hangover and I came in earlier to write this update as many were interested in knowing how my "hot valentine's day" went. Hmmm... not as romantic as it should traditionally be, but still it was just simply superb.... Thanks B for spicing up my life and saving the day!

Till the next edition, Happy Birthday everyone!!!


Regards,
Kelly Rivers

Chinese New Year 2005

Happy Everyday to you! (14 Feb 2005)

My CNY begins today. Yes, the gruesome exams which has almost taken over my life is finally over. Yes, no more assignments and books for a very very long time.... I finally understand the feeling of lazing on the couch, with dried meat on one hand and a Chrysanthemum drink on the other, watching endless DVDs and Astro with no worries of unfinished assignments! Yes, that feels good. Too good. In fact, I wanted to finish watching both Kill Bill 1 & 2 in one sitting after watching Jiang Hu, New Aces Go Places and other Wah Lai Toi series and variety shows. Well, as I had to come back to work today, I content myself with watching only Kill Bill 1, after all the Chinese movies on Astro (Awww, how unfortunate to be working on the supposedly first day of CNY which coincides with Valentine's Day). I figure I could continue with Kill Bill 2 tonight. More dried meat, soft drinks and lazing around for me... Yippee...

Anyway, there are countless things that I want to do, like clearing all the DVD backlogs, going for exercise (this is a lie but I have to TRY to fulfill my new year resolution), learning cooking and baking (this could be another lie too ha ha), picking up music and singing (too much complains on my croaks during karaoke sessions!), updating my blogs page, visiting places etc etc. But first thing's first. There are still truckloads of laundry which I have conveniently put aside due to the exams. My room looks like a tsunami has just swept by, my car needs a good wash and spring cleaning (yes, my car has become a warehouse for my notes), and the utility, phone and credit card bills needs sorting out. I still haven't changed my IC to the new card format yet, knowing very well that this is the last year to do it.

Well, with so much time in my hands now... I guess I can insert a chore at a time while indulging in more dried meat, soft drinks and DVDs.... Have a great CNY and Valentine's Day. Happy Happy Happy Everyday to you!!! J

p/s In case you're wondering why there's no mushy love stuffs in this edition, well, maybe tomorrow I'll have a story to tell (that's if I land myself a real hot date tonight). Hmmm... if you don't hear from me tomorrow, you can guess how well the date went ahahaha

Chinese New Year 2004

January 20, 2004

. Chinese New Year edition -

Chinese New Year Greetings with a twist... Pepsi Twist!

With the frantic simultaneous Chinese New Year spring cleaning during the weekend, it's no wonder that KL has been a little hazy lately. Luckily, the heavy rain yesterday night cleared the air a little so we can at least breath some dust-less air (not dustless, just less dust..... haha). However, the rain indirectly has caused tremendous traffic jams in and around KL. It was still slow moving when I left at around 11:30 last night!

Talking about traffic, I am quite surprise to see so many people still in KL. This morning when I left around 6:25 am, traffic was already building up. What was I doing up so early you ask? Do I hear some of you say, "It's not like you to be so early"? Well, it's a stupid mistake really. The alarm clock was telling the wrong time and with me going home so late last night, little did I realize that it has run 1 hour ahead of the actual time! So the alarm went off at the preset time (6:30 am) and I was ready by the time the alarm clock shows 7:15 am.

As I was about to leave the house, I realize that my watch was showing 6:15am. I couldn't believe it! A quick check with the handphone and kitchen clock confirms it! Darn! Wasted one whole hour of beauty sleep! Oh bummer, might as well just go for breakfast! Hmm.. the Roti Bom and Milo Tarik is the main culprit for my drowsiness now (not to mention all the fat around my waist! I must change my principle of "not letting food go to WASTE" to "not letting food go to WAIST"!)

Anyway, back to traffic conditions. It's really funny how traffic is getting more and more congested nowadays. Hardly any more room to move about! Have you ever listened to those daily radio traffic updates? Most roads in KL are reported having slow moving traffic or have been converted to a massive car park (imagine an almost stationary traffic on a major highway!). Even during this week when some of the cars have already gone back to their respective hometowns to celebrate the festive season! Does this mean that most families have emigrated to KL and thus are celebrating the festivities in KL? Well, I don't have any statistics with me now but the shopping complexes, hotels and even city council have done their bit to improve the festive mood around here with street lights, lanterns and Chinese New Year songs. Nevertheless, I am sure it's still a far cry from the boisterous and jovial sub-urban reunion celebrations!

Well, no matter where you're celebrating the new year, I am sure it will still be as joyous, fun and exuberant as it has always been the previous years! There's no stopping the Chinese from their traditions of "gift exchanging" and generous ang pow giving! So here's wishing all those celebrating Chinese New Year, good health and a happy, prosperous Chinese New Year. Hopefully we'll be able to slot into our busy schedules to meet up during the Chinese New Year as part of upholding the Chinese New Year visitations tradition! Those who are not celebrating, have a nice, and enjoyable holiday! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Celebrations... (Wedding Anniversary 19/1/2006)

If you are looking for a romantic western eatery to celebrate a special occasion, I know the place just for you. On Monday, Brandon and I went to San Francisco Steak House in Summit USJ to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The place looks quite ordinary from the front but when we reach the interior, we were pleasantly surprised by the spacious and warm cozy ambience.

Then we ordered. The waitress was extremely friendly and funny. She even joked about the lobster saluting to us when she showed us our live lobster. We ordered 1 live lobster to be shared and they allow 2 different flavours for it, i.e. Cream Cheese Mushroom and Bake Tomato. Both was extremely good because the lobster was really fresh (it's live!) and I love the succulent sweet taste of the lobster meat. A bit pricy for an Australian Lobster (or was it Boston..not sure lar) at RM19 per 100gm. Averagely, 1 lobster comes to about 800gm - 1kg. Ours was 950gm.

We also had escargots, which was quite good. The garlic and cheese was abundance.

The sharksfin soup however was not too good as it was done in western cream style. I would prefer the Chinese clear soup style.

Anyway, food portion wise was quite reasonable. We shared most of the dishes and I was very full and well, Brandon (being his size) was just nice. If you spend above RM100, you get a complimentary special Sugar Coffee (sugar is burnt onto the outside the glass and you're to sip the black coffee while laying your tongue on the sugary glass).

You also get a couple of complimentary roses, which the waitress will playfully force the guy to give to the girl. If you are celebrating an occasion, they will bring a piece of cake complete with a candle for you. Actually I think they will give complimentary photo also but I think they forgot as we asked for the bill right after the main dish (Brandon wanted to go Karaoke after that).

Best of all, if you have children, there's a playground for your kids complete with slides and other play things just beside the lounge where you can have a seat to relax while waiting for your dessert or waiting for a seat before your food comes. There are magazines there if you're waiting for someone to arrive.

The bill came up to about RM260 or RM280 (cant remember coz I didn’t pay for it) but I think it was quite alright for a nice evening out, complete with a full course of starters, main dish and dessert (and a beer). We couldn’t even finish the small piece of chocolate brownie.

Go have a try... you will feel that you want to celebrate every special occasion there!

Wilting Flower Getting Excess Flab

Sunday- 26/11/2006.
It’s a week now. The beautiful sweet smell of lilies and pink roses (Oh, incidentally Richard thinks pink roses meant “indecision”!!! Gosh! I haven’t confronted Brandon yet though) have reduced to somewhat of a pong. And to avoid the pollens from staining everything it falls upon, I had to throw them away (yes, the stamen of lilies produces yellowish pollens which will stain everything, even your hand, like iodine - and being the male reproductive organ, they can be kinda sticky,... hahaha). Hmmm so RM250 lasted for about a week – (not so value for money eh Kee?).

Brandon forbids me from keeping the feather scarf as he didn’t want me to go out with that “thing”. *Actually he doesn’t want to be seen with me in feathers. I thought it was quite kinky though. Ha ha. So I decided to keep it for my sister. She always wanted a feather scarf (if my memory doesn’t fail me… hahaha…)

Talking about wilting flowers, I felt like one over the weekend. We went shopping at Times Square (yeah, one of the rare occasions when Brandon would bring me shopping!). Actually it was Bryan’s request as he wanted to watch IMAX dinosaurs again to prove that he is not afraid. The last time we went, he took off his 3D glasses, covered his eyes and turned around shouting, “I can’t see this, I can’t see this!!!” Well, he was only 3 then and it was his first 3D experience, he was quite terrified. Unfortunately for him, he can’t prove himself as Nicol David did with winning yet another British Open to remain World #1. There wasn’t any 3D movie till late evening due to 007’s Casino Royale taking up most of the screening times. Anyway, back to the shopping experience. I needed a couple of new outfits to attend a couple of Brandon’s friends’ weddings and parties. Incidentally, I have used up all my fancy dresses last month after attending 4 weddings (True enough, there was a funeral too but I won’t talk about gloomy stuffs here.). So we went to Metrojaya which usually houses a lot of party dresses at this time of the year.

As I stepped in, I was quite excited as they had already started to promote Xmas shopping which meant they have a lot of party dresses. True enough, we both found a glittery bluish grey lacy dress that we both liked just seconds after setting foot into the women’s department. However, it only came in XS size. The sales girl reminded me to “be careful” with the dress when she told me that they were out of S or M size. Hrrmmmpfff….. Do I look like an M size? Anyway, I strode into the dressing room and excitedly tried it on. Hmmm… all was fine except the reflection on the mirror. Who is this Fat Lady staring back at me? It was awful. The soft t-shirt type material clings on to me, making me look like a “dumpling” (Kuih Bah Chang). It was a strapless gown which made my shoulders and arms look like Chicken (maybe Turkey) drumsticks. I didn’t even have the guts to show Brandon. I just took it off and it has completely ruined my shopping experience. Then Brandon suggested perhaps it was the color that was a problem and selected another red get-up for me to try on. Boy, it was the same… it didn’t flatter my curves (or whatever that’s left of it) at all!!!!

That’s it…. Let’s go to the shoes department…. my legs couldn’t possibly be fat… but wait….. As I was looking at the mirror to admire my beautiful long legs with those stylish shoes, .. “eh, what’s that dimple doing on my thighs?” ….. Arghhhhhh, CELLULITE!!! Those sneaky b**tards have somehow found their way to latch onto my legs…. Arrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhh…. This shocked frenzied mother need to go home to calm down…

Hmmm, let’s switch on the tele to take my mind off the whole “FAT” thing. Oh, our favourite movie, Mr and Mrs Smith. Darn, Angelina is sooooo pretty. She purposely showed off her cellulite-free thighs and stick thin torso and meatless shoulders and stick-thin arms…. Hrmmmpfffhhhh… this is too much… I thought I had better go to bed to think about work the next day. Hmm, it really didn’t help that I have 3 male colleagues who is as thin as Justin Timberlake. Even the one who is of William Hung’s size thinks I have a fat (yes it’s not a typo, he said FAT not FLAT) tummy… Arrghhhh I think I will go and get an OSIM U-zap during lunch…. Or maybe seriously rethink my decision of not needing to join a gym. Incidentally, my colleagues gave me a whole new reason to go. They say gyms are filled with rich Datins and Gigolos!!! They also say gigolos usually come in six-packs and good looks… so I might add that to my Pro-Gym list. What’s in my Con-Gym list? Well, no appropriate gear is the #1 excuse (I told Brandon that I didn’t have any gym shoes and he asks me to get one from BATA!). Con-Gym list #2 - #30 is filled up with the word Lazy!!! Hahaha… So now that I have found an entry onto the Pro-Gym list, only 29 to go before I decide to join a gym ahahhaha,,,,,

20/11/2006 - Pleasant Surprise

It was a pleasant surprise. It’s been 5-6 years since I last received any bouquets from Brandon (not that I am counting ha ha), so when I saw the flowers on my desk after coming back from the hair salon (again?!) after lunch, it was a pleasant surprise. I was so surprised that I was oblivious to the fact my big boss (Head of the Solutions Division) followed me to my desk and started snooping about the flowers. He took out the card and I jokingly said, “Hey, I haven’t even read the card!” And he said, “Aiyah, the rest of the team have already all read it lar, I am not the first. I just came here!”. I couldn’t think of any smart retorts then. In fact, I couldn’t think at all then… I was too shock. I remember I murmured under my breath that “Luckily, it’s from my husband!”, to which my megaphone boss reiterated, “Huh, lucky ah? Why lucky?” … hahahaha… I just laughed and let his imagination answer that (not sure if he has any imagination hahahah)….

Only in the morning I was telling my buddies that I don’t want flowers as they were a total waste of money and they can’t be eaten! (Really, when I found out the price of the flowers, I thought I could make better use of it to go for hair treatment instead or maybe Geoducks!!). And I was so confident that Brandon understood me well enough to send something more practical (or perhaps edible!). But what do you know!! A bunch of flowers unveiled before my eyes just as I stepped foot into the office on that unsuspecting afternoon.

Anyway, after calming down for a few seconds, I started checking out the bouquet. Hmm, Lilies of the valley… and some pink roses and Forget-Me-Nots …. And some red seeds which I have yet to find out the names and their meanings. Anyway, a fellow colleague, Richard, said that pink roses are not appropriate, it should be red. I have yet to find out the real meaning but Richard sounded suspicious when he asked me “why pink roses?”. Well, knowing Brandon, he would just tell the florist to get me some lilies as he knows I liked them. The rest, like he puts it, are just mere decorations. And I don’t think he would bothered to be so meticulous as to find out what matches with which flower and what each colour/flower meant. So it was really a surprise that he even took the trouble to go to the florist at all. (Well, later I found out that the florist was located next to his agent’s shop ha ha. He was there on a business meeting). Oh, the funniest thing was the flowers came with a “Kinky White Feather Scarf”. Well, colleagues were laughing their head off because of the term, “Kai Mou Ngap Huit” in Cantonese (Chicken Feathers, Duck Blood). And they were implying that Loke Wee, a male colleague who had received flowers and a cake for his birthday just 2 weeks ago, has caused other’s to be in “Kai Mou Ngap Huit” situation as they were using him as a “Standard” or “Benchmark” for receiving flowers on birthdays. Loke Wee said that he has already given serious (*but not harsh) warning to the girlfriend not to send those next year. Pity the girlfriend ahahaha… I remembered getting the same warning from Brandon when I sent him some yellow roses years ago.

Well, the celebrations went on at the karaoke. We sang our hearts out with mostly duet ballads. We even took some videos of our singing. Boy, were those videos funny! It captured our horrendous singing and also my “hearty” laughter. Now I know I am not that petite after all hahahah…. We left early as we wanted to celebrate with our son too, so we bought an ice-cream cake home so that son can blow the candles as well. My son was happily jumping around like a frog and stopped in front of me and asked me to kiss him. I thought he just learnt the Frog Prince at school and wanted to turn into a Prince with my kiss. So I obliged and gave him a peck on the head. When I did, he jumped up and said he has transformed…. Into DONALD DUCK! Hahahaa… Then he told me he has just watched “the frog prince” on Playhouse with Mickey Mouse. Hahaha, the things they teach on TV nowadays….

All in all it was a beautiful celebration, one of the best I would say. But then again, every year I would say it’s the best, much like the James Bond advertisement which always claim the current 007 movie to be “THE” best James Bond movie ever each time a new James Bond movie is produced. Ha ha. Didn’t manage to catch the Casino Royale as planned but will probably catch it next week when it’s under “free list allowed”. Must make use of the free birthday ticket, you see. Hahahahaha… Cheapskate….

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Have a great year ahead too!