Random Snippets On... Lizard skin

It distresses me to no end that my right hand is suffering from the grave affliction of lizard skin. I don't even know why my right hand almost exclusively becomes dry and chapped around my first two knuckles and my index finger's middle joint. Maybe this is the beginning of my transformation into some reptilian hybrid (Voldemort anyone?). 

If I begin to make sibilant sounds, I'll be concerned. 

Random Snippets On... Happiness #2

Thank you for making today a day to be treasured and preserved in my memory. I laughed and smiled so much today that if I don't lose any fat around my jowls I'll be sorely disappointed.

Although skyping is sufficient enough to fill the distance between all of us, there's no substitute for being able to see each of you smiling in person. Clearly Skype's video resolution doesn't do justice.

Even though it was so rare for us to be all together, I'm glad we were able to see each other this time (albeit for such a short time). Let's try not to make this a bi-annual event.

And so with all the sappiness I can muster, let me just say guys (insert J's sappy voice), I was so very happy today. :D

Random Thoughts On... Wendi Deng

Due to the time difference, I was ensconced in the warmth of quilt and sleep when the parliamentary inquiry into media phone hacking occurred. Had I forgone sleep, I may have been able to watch live Wendi Deng being a pro-volleyball player uh... coming to the defense of her husband when he was attacked by a cream pie:

She spiked that man's head reallll good.

Random Thoughts On... Idiosyncracies of the parentals

I must be getting overly-sentimental to think that particular traits of my parents, which I found previously annoying, are now rather endearing. One such trait is the tendency of both parents to be suspicious of any form of contact I have with the opposite sex. 

I'll be fair in saying that my parents have made progress since the early days of their behaviour. For instance, in high school my parents' favourite maxim for a situation that involved extensive communication with any human male, was to simply "turn around and walk away". I think the following sign most appropriately summarises most of my high school interactions:

(via Snippits and Snappits)

As I left high school, my parents resigned themselves to the inevitability of a co-ed environment in uni. And so, being ever so adaptable, their tune changed. (I still wonder whether it's intentional on their part but my parents are rather ingenious in that most of their boy-centric lectures occur during medium to long drives. I mean really, the car's just the most strategic place to have a monologue because I'm hardly in a position to exit a moving vehicle.) Their new angle was based on the premise that once males and females were friends, mutual attraction was unavoidable and one thing would lead to another and bam! The birds and the bees would make an entrance. Platonic friendships? Psh! Non-existent! In my mom's own words: "It's not that we don't want you to have male friends. We just think you shouldn't get so friendly with males." My parents were... helpful at best.

And then we fast-forward to how they are now. My pater and mater have finally wrapped their heads around the concept of platonic friendships (albeit with a sizable dose of suspicion). They still require an extensive back-story on how I came to know (insert male name) and whether I'm attracted to said individual (which is accompanied by a satisfied "good!" when the answer is always given in the negative). Nonetheless, my parents and I have come a long way since those high school days. Well done team.  

Random Snippets On... Happiness #1

The more that I think about it, happiness is the amalgamation of small, even minute happenings.

Happiness is:

- Walking with my parents

- Enjoying the rare sunny winter's day

- Waking from a pleasant dream

- Unexpected sweet gestures from an unexpected source

- Hearing Titan snorting and sneezing because he's so excited

- Daydreaming about sweet nothings

So all in all, I had a happy day. Did you?

Random Snippets On... Pronounciation and limits

So is it just Melbourne weather that's bone-chillingly cold or is it winter that's thrashing out its wrath? (And on that note, do you pronounce it as either 'rath' or 'rȯth'?) 

I've been pleasantly surprised these holidays. Whenever I've run, the distance of running from one destination to another has always weighed heavily on my mental attitude. If my dad proposed to run somewhere that had an estimated travel time of more than 40 minutes, something about it would make me balk. I'd be reluctant to go since I could imagine myself struggling all the way with heavy legs. Or maybe I would be put-off by a particularly steep hill that I knew we'd have to climb along the way. Whatever reason I had, I was a reluctant runner. 

Then suddenly (or maybe not so suddenly with imperceptibly incremental improvements), I've come back and the mental limits I seem to have previously self-imposed were no longer existent. I still find that Wattle Park hill as hard as ever (although I can now climb it without losing my pace horrendously) and it's still a hard mental game but I have a more open mind about running. I suppose this change has come at the right time (and not a season too late) to aid the shedding of Jabba the Hutt-esque fat before the summer months come. Otherwise I may have been a bit of a wobbly sight if I attempted to Baywatch-run across a popular beach. 

(I would have inserted some picture of an actress running from Baywatch but the ones that I browsed were a little too eyebrow-raising for my liking)

Countin' down the days 'till Wed! :D

Random Thoughts On... Makgeolli

With my beloved laptop all newly repaired and as sleek as ever, I thought blogging would be appropriate so that I could publish my happiness to the blogosphere. No I joke. Just who would be that self-important and egotistical? I'll just be twiddling my thumbs and looking innocent.

Yesterday I met up with F, V, S and E. The highlight of this epic time was for me the sampling of "Makgeolli". Actually, 'highlight' is probably not the right word to use since it suggests positive connotations. So really, when I say highlight, I really mean major let down.

You may know of my penchant for Korean dramas. The peak of my K-drama phase was probably last year when I devoured watched numerous a few historical dramas. I could guarantee you that in almost every episode some character would be downing a bowl of makgeolli and finishing with a satisfying "Ahhh...". I became curious to know about this mystery drink and I did my research by youtubing all I could about it. One interesting result was the following:

Fake smiles and bad acting aside, the makgeolli stuff looked pretty tasty. As a bonus, it's apparently brewed with "love and care" and it's rich in dietary fiber and lactic acid bacteria. So far it was looking pretty good. 

Then, I get a brainwave and ask the cultural expert on Korean liquor: my mother. My mom tells me about how she could still remember from her childhood the soothing smell of brewing rice and other nostalgic memories about the rice liquor. She then declared that makgeolli is her favourite liquor. Given that this drink even has my mom's seal of approval, I was becoming pretty well excited about finally sampling it someday. 

And then, yesterday happened. 

V said this about makgeolli: "I think I'd prefer to drink vodka over this"

And S said: "Don't be surprised if I stop along the way and buy an alcoholic drink to wash away the aftertaste of this"

All in all, it was pretty terrible. It was the shattering of a year-long fantasy of a holy drink that tasted like roasted rice with only a touch of alcohol. I actually have no idea how people drink the stuff but maybe it's an acquired taste (Mom????). 

Random Thoughts On... A cold winters night

It's freezing in our house and I wish I was safe and warm in L.A. I've got The Mamas & The Papas' California Dreaming stuck on repeat to somehow give lyrical solace to my chilled-to-the-bone body. And on that note, here's a really nice cover of the song:

One of the things that I always seem to conveniently forget when I come home is that my dad happens to be even more Asian than I'll ever be. Squinty eyes aside (I still maintain that my dad has even squintier eyes than I do despite however much he denies it), my pater is the master of stinginess. Actually, this is probably when my dad would have liked to step in and beg to differ on this point.

With all the passion that he commands, my father would argue that by not turning on the floor heating he is doing his part to combat global warming. Why sacrifice the environment (and gas bills) when one could easily just wear a few more layers of clothing? He would then close his case by adding that he hadn't actually turned off the heating but merely re-set the temperature at which the heater automatically turns on to 15°C. 

Granted that I've never been much of a green individual. Probably the best contribution I've made to keeping my carbon footprint as minimal as possible was catching the tram to and from school for 6 years and even then, I jumped at every chance to get driven. So maybe my dad's noble gesture is lost on my environmentally-ignorant self, but I'm sure there has to be a line drawn somewhere.

Well, while I'm pondering the existence of said line, I'll be emulating the Michelin Tyre Man. 

(via Wheels Of Italy)

Random Snippets On... Post-High school cleaning

It seems that my room is in need of a long-overdue clean from all the piled junk from high school. I never actually did the whole post-high school cleanup so I'm still hoarding Geography and History papers from Year 10. It's almost like a time capsule.

Here's a sample of what my year 10 self noted on Henry VIII:

- Had 6 wives, one after the other

- Was a Protestant, the old church was Catholic

- Made a new church because of his personal needs

- Made himself the head of the new church

- Big, fat

- Beheading

- Was highly intelligent and educated

I find it amusing how I had to define that Henry VIII didn't have six wives simultaneously but "one after the other". At least we know that my year 10 self knew the difference between a harem and re-marrying.