The end of the roll

I found this on Facebook. It is so good that I decided I should post it here...with a translation for the definitions which do not really require French for understanding.

To be at the end of the roll: A very uncomfortable situation, especially when one is in the toilet.

Facebook: The only place where you talk to a wall without being ridiculous.

GPS: The only woman men listen to to find their way on the road.

Bus: A vehicle that moves twice as fast when you are chasing it than when you are sitting inside.

Key-chain: A very practical invention that allows you to lose all your keys at once instead of one by one.

State: The best mafia system ever organised.

Tie: An accessory used to indicate where a man's brain is.

Carla Bruni: Modern Snow White who prefers one of the seven dwarfs: Grumpy.

White House: At the moment, black barrack.

Car: An ingenious invention, making it possible to have 110 horses in the motor and a donkey at the wheel.

Parents: Two people who teach you to walk and talk to later tell you to sit down and shut your mouth.

Toe: An appendix used to detect door corners.

Equality of the sexes: A new concept created by men to no longer pay in a restaurant.

Any favourites? I especially like the ones about the toilet, the keys and the toes. :P

My (temporary) pet

I know, I know, I've been lazy. So let's talk about my pet.

Remember this post I wrote at the beginning of the year? (oh wow, seems that this is a year-long project) It seems that I have lots of case-making clothes moths in my apartment. But I had never seen the actual moth before...only the larvae and the cocoons. (or maybe I had seen them...and did not recognise them)

So I decided that I would "raise" one of those babies in captivity...and see the moth it would grow into.

I caught one at the end of May or beginning of June. I saw it moving around on the floor...and scooped it into a plastic container. I happened to have one that had a broken cover, so it suited me just fine...air could go through and yet the crack was too small for the insect to get out.

1st June - It's already hanging from the top of the container.

I fed it with hair...I picked up stray hair from the floor and put it into the container. (and yes, the hair disappears after a while)

5th June - It had moved in the container.

6th June - It was moving around rather actively.

Sometimes it would move around so much, I would wonder whether it was already a moth and was trying to get out. (though, in the end. I didn't see the "getting-out" process)

8th June - On the "wall". We can see its legs! (okay, it's not such a big deal :P )

9th June - Feeding time! (It doesn't mean that I gave it food and it came to eat it, just that I happened to see it eating.) And I think you can see its "waste" lying around its home.

Then for some time I couldn't see any progress...sometimes I wouldn't see it come out of its cocoon for so many days that I would wonder whether it wasn't dead (whether I didn't feed it enough). But it still came out once in a while. The last time I saw its head outside its cocoon was on the 15th of June. It looked pretty much the same as it did previously.

1st July - Transformation! It's finally a moth! See the bottom end of the cocoon from which it came out?

3rd July - And there you can see it properly.

In the end, I still don't think I've ever seen this moth around. But at least I know what it looks like now.

And that's it for your latest nature lesson. :P

A walk to remember?

The Penang Starwalk was held on the 17th of September this year. So I guess it's time I wrote about it!

The week before the walk, we had to go and collect our goodies at Penang Times Square. (we paid RM10 to participate) Here's what we received:

t-shirt

food

sunblock, shampoo, and medical aid (in case we get injured from too much walking? lol)

coupons

and a walker's guide

While walking we came across some wire art (I call it wire art but it's more like steel bars)

See how high up this one was

tok-tok mee seller

We received wristbands (which were actually hairbands) at the starting point and at another checkpoint.

We could participate in the lucky draw only if we had both bands at the end of the walk. (but they ran out of hairbands so some people only had one. So I guess everyone got to participate in the lucky draw. Not that it mattered much to me, I'm never lucky in these circumstances :P )

We also passed by one of the famous wall paintings. There were too many people posing with it, we didn't even bother.

I was lucky enough to get this photo without anyone there.

Then I saw this cute little Doraemon bag :P

And then...the finish line.

After 6km and 2 hours.

That wraps up the news on Starwalk; there'll be more photos of the wire art and wall paintings...but that'll have to wait a bit. :P

Snake fruit

Do you know this fruit?

A friend gave it to me, saying that it was from Sarawak. (though I later found out that it can be found in Peninsula Malaysia as well) When I first saw it, I exclaimed, "It's like a snake!" And no kidding, it really is called snake fruit. (buah salak in Malay)

This is what it looked like, being peeled:

There were three lobes inside, this being the largest (there were two big and one small):

I didn't like the taste at all...I'm not sure whether it was because it wasn't ripe enough (how do you know whether it's ripe enough?) Anyway it was a bit sour, a bit...strange (haha, not really sure how to describe it), and it left a rather dry aftertaste in my mouth (the kind you get after eating pisang tali, which is why I don't eat that particular variety of banana)

So, I guess I won't be buying this. :P

Company annual dinner

I've been a little lazy lately, which is why there have been no updates here.

Last night was our company's annual dinner, so here's just a photo of my table (without me)

This was in Vistana Hotel's ballroom.


Photos of me will have to wait till I get them from other people. (or maybe I won't post them :P )

Another post coming right up!

Queen of hearts

It rained really heavily last night and this morning...and there was a massive traffic jam on the way to work. So for the first time, I was still in my car listening to the radio after 9am. Turns out that Lite.fm plays old Billboard chart songs at that time. I heard this song by Juice Newton this morning, really catchy, upbeat tune: Queen of Hearts.



Hope you like it... I love it! :D

Of not thinking an ad through

There's a new ad on breast cancer (by Wacoal) on the radio. It starts by saying, "There are some things that are meant to be in pairs. To lose one of them would be devastating." (or some word like that, I can't remember exactly) And it goes on to name those "things": "your parents, your other half, your breasts".

I feel that they really did not proofread this ad properly. Firstly: To lose one of them would be devastating? So to lose both would be okay? That's what the ad implies... And secondly: Your other half? That is not meant to be in pairs, it's only one person. *sigh* Some people would say that I am being nitpicky again...but really, when you write something that is going to be broadcast nationwide, you should at least make an effort to check it properly...

But then, maybe 90% of the target audience wouldn't be listening properly, anyway... :P

I don't want you

Me: Come, I'll play with you.
Him: I don't want you.
:'(

He wanted his dad. :P

Wrong pronunciation

Last night somehow we got to talking about different names for meats.

WW said, "Lembu is mutton right?"

I burst out laughing and told him, "Lembu is beef!"

He said, "Oh yeah, that was what I wanted to say. Wrong pronunciation."

I just started laughing hysterically...and I thought, yeah, I've got to blog about this.

My phone knows that I'm an engineer

You know the T9 input on mobile phones? The predictive input where you tap each key only once and the phone guesses the word you want to write.

Usually when the keys I hit have more than one option, if I use a certain word more often, after a few times that particular word will be the first one to come up when I type those keys again.

Today I was typing out an sms and I wanted to write "biscuits". The first word my phone suggested was "circuits". (the second was "biscuits") But the thing is, I don't think I've typed either one of those words into my phone before. And isn't "biscuits" a more commonly used word than "circuits"? For the average person, I mean.

So I can't think of any reason why my phone suggested "circuits" to me...unless if it knows what I do for a living. :P

You choose lah!

The other day we went to a porridge/mixed rice place for lunch. We decided to share the dishes, and two of us went to select them. We wanted one vegetable dish, and after staring at the available dishes for a while, I said to my friend, "You choose lah!"

And she went for the bitter gourd.

I went "No no no, anything but that." (No, I do not like bitter gourd...it's bitter!) So she said, "You choose lah!" I thought for a while...and I decided on the brinjals.

It was her turn to go "No..."

What are the odds of each of us choosing the exact thing that the other doesn't eat?? Must be our lucky day. Haha...

Anyway, we ended up with long beans.

Be nice, it confuses people

Who was it who said "Be nice, it confuses people"? I remember it being the title of a music album.

Anyway. In my part of the office there are two air-cons. One day only one of them was switched on. My colleague, whose seat was more in the direction of the other air-con, remarked, "Isn't this air-con switched on? No wonder it's feeling a little stuffy today!" I didn't feel it because my seat was directly in the air flow of the first air-con (the one that was switched on), and I said so.

Now his seat is in a corner...whereas I was right at the entrance (bad seat! Everyone sees you when they walk past. And your PC screen, especially. :P ) So I went off to get the air-con remote control, to switch it on. (also because I wasn't in the middle of anything especially urgent) Oh yeah, this is where I should explain that the remote control is shared with another part of the office.

As I walked off, he said something...I guess he was going to say that he would go himself (since he was the one feeling hot). But seeing that I was already halfway to the remote control (it's not really that far away...6 metres, maybe?) when I turned around, he said, "Ok ok, you go..."

And when I came back with the remote control, he said that after switching on the air-con he would go and put it back. Haha...


A search found me the album I was talking about...it's actually Smile... It Confuses People and it's by Sandi Thom. I think I've only heard one of her songs...when I was in France listening to UK radio: I wish I was a punk rocker. (oh, I miss listening to that, there are some gems to discover, like this other song by Mumford and Sons that I will embed below)  I quite like it... so here it is. (the music video is blocked in Malaysia, so here's a lyric video)



And here is Mumford and Sons' The Cave.

Benefit of the doubt

The other day I used a certain word in a certain context. My friends stared at me and said, we don't use it that way. But the thing is, the language is just as native to me as it is to them.

Which brought me to thinking... If I were to hear someone use a word in a way that I wouldn't have, I would be thinking, "Hey, I didn't know it could be used that way." But it seems that their thinking would be, "Hey, we don't use that word that way!" (Of course, this might not apply when the person in question is just starting to learn the language...)

This has happened to me twice that I can remember. And both times, I thought back and could recall instances of when other people used the words the way I did. (I don't invent words, after all...) So what's this with immediately rejecting what you have never heard of?

Benefit of the doubt, anyone? Unless if it's a language you invented...in which case I'd gladly listen to you.

Of depreciation

WW told me a story about value depreciation. He got it from a friend of his, a girl. She said that a girl's value depreciates very quickly.

At the beginning, when you are young, you are like a football, with 22 men chasing you. Then you will be like a basketball, with fewer men after you. When you get older, you will be like a tennis ball, only between 2 men... And in the end, you will be like a baseball...with men hitting you far away. *sniff*

Hmm...but maybe it's the same way for men? Just slower? Haha...

Some oldies

Or are they oldies? I'm not sure how old some of them are... I heard these on Lite-fm this morning, and decided to search them up.

Wild World by Mr. Big



Don't Talk to Strangers , Rick Springfield (this one was hard to find...I didn't hear the singer's name and when I typed in the title it seemed that the more famous songs were by Dio and Hedley (whoever they are)



Rasputin, Boney M

This one is like a history lesson...I really don't know much about Rasputin, though, so I can't tell how much is true. Go to Wikipedia if you want to know more! (I didn't :P ) I just like the catchy tune of the song...

Of lucky numbers

Two months ago, I saw this bus in front of me.

Notice that all the telephone numbers end with 8877? And that the number plate is 8877 as well?

Seeing this, I was a little intrigued...so I snapped a photo and decided to take note of other buses from this company.

It wasn't until recently that I saw a van from the company (I don't know whether I saw a few other vehicles of theirs without noticing them...). The phone numbers weren't listed this time, but the number plate was also 8877.

Then, a few days later I saw a vehicle (can't remember whether it was a bus or a van) from the same company with the number plate RB 9577. I guess they couldn't get their favourite number...or maybe they bought more than one vehicle at the same time! :P

Silly post, I know...but hey, on s'amuse comme on peut! (we try to have our fun!) ;)

Slipper size

WW asked me to help him buy a pair of slippers if I happened to see one like his. So I asked him to check his size. He had two pairs of slippers on the floor outside... He picks up one from the first pair. It is a 9. I ask, how about the other one? He picks up the other slipper from the same pair and says, "Also a 9."

I laughed until my stomach hurt and I was unable to move from a squatting position for a while.

Sunday is a fun day

10am news on Fly.fm this morning.

The newsreader was speaking in a really funny manner. I don't know how to describe it, but it was a bit like he was in some crazy-happy mood, or was trying to copy someone. I even wondered whether it was the actual news or just a joke, and checked the time (yes, it was really 10am). Then I thought maybe they had a new guy come in.

Then at the end of the news, he said, "I'm Rashid Ghazali, and remember, Sunday is a fun day!" Um, I guess that was why he was speaking that way? I don't think it's a new guy either; I think I've already heard that name before!

Stating the obvious

Allergy information: This product contains peanuts.

Well, what do you expect when the product is this?

The story of a selfish man

I finished reading The Very Man by Chris Binchy yesterday. A big disappointment, actually. I wasn't expecting it to be very good, but I expected it to be better.

In short, it's about a self-centred man who messes up his whole life but refuses to believe that it's his own fault. And the back cover promises a "saviour", which was what kept me reading till the end (because I wanted to find out how he was saved), but the saviour turned out to be someone who just treated him better than he deserved. And the story ends there. I didn't get the feeling that he was saved...I felt that he would just stick to his ugly ways.

Oh well, you might have to read the book yourself if you want to verify my opinion. But the book isn't worth it. Really. :P

What's for dinner?

WW: So what's on the menu tonight?
Me: Tomyam cauliflower.
WW: Huh? That's all? I didn't hear the word "chicken"... I saw chicken earlier.
(I was thawing out some chicken)
Me: That one is for soup.
WW: Aiyo... 
(The meat lover doesn't like swimming chicken :P )
Me: I will fry an egg for you.
WW: Oh...cannot eat chicken, so eat baby chicken.

Poor chickens... Hahaha...

Reading list, past and present

I just wanted to write about a couple of books I read recently, both of which I got from the library here. One is Sullivan's Justice by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. The protagonist's brother is accused of murdering his girlfriend, and somehow the case ties up with something the protagonist (she's a probationary officer) is working on. It was an okay read, and the ends were tied up pretty neatly, but somehow I didn't find it that enjoyable. Just...okay.

Now the second book was better... a lot darker, though. It's The Traveller by John Katzenbach. It's about a serial killer who kills for fun. He gets a writer to travel with him so that she can chronicle his journey. (talk about immortalizing yourself...) The story is well told, from the points of view of four main characters: the killer, the writer, a policewoman going after the killer, and the killer's brother. A psychological thriller, the back cover (or was it the front cover?) says. And yes, you get to go inside the killer's head, and listen to his philosophy...

Neither of these books use the first person narrative. Not even the omniscient kind, which was a glad change for me. ;P

I'm now in the middle of Judith Kelman's Every Step You Take, which is about identity theft. Now this one is using the omniscient first person...argh! Hopefully the story will make up for it...

Edit: Oh, I've finished the book. Although the story is interesting, it is highly unbelievable... could you imagine that someone would risk her life to find out who is stealing her identity, without even making a police report first? And there are unexplained bits as well, though we could argue that some facts are just not meant to be known. Sorry, Ms. Kelman, this one doesn't get my vote.

Of stereotypes and leg room

I came across this blog post which looks for stereotypes for the different states in America. (which I actually found through this page)

Not being American, I was more interested in what people thought of the country as a whole. So I typed:

Why are Americans so...

And came up with:
fat
stupid
arrogant
rude

And why not search the same thing on Malaysians?

Why are Malaysians so...


It seems that we are:
stupid
ugly
rude
racist

Well? What do you think? Any truth in that?

I'm not hardworking enough to go and do the same on a world map, though (no way!!) :P


And on an unrelated note, this guy got into the back seat of my car and exclaimed, "It's so roomy!"

Um...that's because I'm short and you're sitting behind me... lol

Pikachu and a mighty bear god

Pikachu has been a little out of fashion lately. (at least in Malaysia...I'm not so sure about Japan) When it started out being popular, we could see Pikachu soft toys everywhere...but nowadays it's hard to even find one.

So I was surprised to see a bunch of Pikachu (yeah, the plural of Pokemon names don't take an 's'; that's what I learned from watching the US version of the series :P ) hanging out in a store in Queensbay Mall.

There's at least another one behind these four

There was another, bigger one (but not as furry).

There was a bigger version of this one on a higher shelf, but I didn't take a photo of it.

And at the entrance of the store, welcoming the guests...

The bear god and his subjects

With the lights shining above its head, it really looks like some sort of mighty god...and those little bears below it (they are on a bouquet) are his subjects! :P

This huge bear has been there for as long as I can remember...I'm not even sure whether it's for sale. It's sitting on a swing, in case you didn't notice...

I appreciate you. Really.

The other day C asked me to program a few test units for him (I'm doing software, remember?). But a wire had come off on the programming jig, so I had to go and get it fixed. When I was halfway back to my desk with the repaired jig, C and P came and asked me to do something else first. C says, leave this for afterwards. We were just beside the lab then, so I handed the jig to him and said, put it in the lab for me. I expected him to scold me and say something like "go and put it there yourself", but instead he took it into the lab without a word! :O

Not that he wouldn't have taken it into the lab for me if he had scolded me...but I expected him to complain...at least a bit! Something like, "Cannot do it yourself ah?" "So near also lazy to walk ah?" Something like that... that's what he usually does, after all...

And that's not all... later when we came back, he went into the lab and picked up the jig. (I was going to do that myself...) Immediately after that, R called him over to look at something, and he said to me, "wait a while", and went over to see her stuff. I was pretty confused then...because I could very well take the jig myself (it's so small!) and do the programming while he was discussing whatever it was with R. After he had spoken to her for a while (and showed no sign of finishing soon), I took the jig out of his hands and went off to do my programming...

*scratches head* Are you okay?? :P

Anyway... another time when I asked him to do something for me (not for the first time), he said "you should appreciate me!" Yes, I do appreciate you...that's why I'm posting this on my blog! ;)

Noisy birds

When I got home from work today, there were some birds chirping away out on my balcony. They were making so much noise that I looked out to see where they were. When I saw them, I dashed off to get my camera. :P

After a while, they flew off...down to join another bird, it seems.

the parking lot, below my balcony

Continuing on my thoughts...

Remember when I wrote about censorship overdone? Some time after that I noticed another mangled song. It is Fun.'s We are Young. The lyrics start with
Give me a second I,
I need to get my story straight
My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State

And what did our radio stations do? They blanked out "higher" (or was it just "high"?) I take the same line of argument as I did the last time...not letting people hear a word will not help in any way. Not looking at something does not mean it will no longer be there. It's like what they say about turkeys sticking their heads in the sand to escape their enemies. (which I have heard is a myth...the turkeys are actually foraging for food)

A second "thought" I want to continue on is the hokkien mee one!

There are actually four separate stalls selling hokkien mee in Relau. Three for breakfast, and one for dinner. (did I miss any? lol) The other day I wrote about the one selling it for dinner...and today's one is one of the breakfast ones. The stall is just on the roadside. I didn't like it much in the beginning...I felt that it was just "okay". But then I thought that maybe the reason I didn't like it much was that it wasn't spicy enough... so I asked for extra chilli...and oh yeah, it was good! :D

And very red. See it for yourself:

(Again, I destroyed the egg :P )

Anyway, this is with the extra chilli...without it the dish is practically not spicy at all, which is why WW loves it so much. :P

Baby...

Lately I've been seeing people compare old and new lyrics on Facebook. More precisely, the "new" lyrics are the lyrics from Justin Bieber's Baby. Yeah, that famous chorus that goes
Baby, baby, baby oh
Like baby, baby, baby no
Like baby, baby, baby oh
I thought you'd always be mine

They compare these lyrics with some beautiful words from older songs, which actually say something. 

While I agree that those other lyrics usually sound a lot better, I think we can't really blame Bieber, either... I mean, these days people don't listen any more, do they? That is why he needs to keep repeating himself.

Imagine Bieber hanging out with his girlfriend. (Is it still Selena Gomez? Well, if it isn't, let's imagine it when it was.)

Bieber: Baby...
Selena: Hmm...? (manicuring her fingernails)
B: Baby... (Did she hear me?)
S: Hmm...? (checking her fingernails)
B: Baby... (looks at Selena) oh... (so that's why she's distracted)

Oh, this post is for a joke, yeah? Though the reason lyrics get lousy can only be because good lyrics aren't that important for the market any more...

If you are looking for mission spiciness...

Today I want to present you a super-duper spicy, super-duper yummy hokkien mee in Relau. (yup, "spicy" comes before "yummy" here :P )

I usually buy it home for dinner. Here are the noodles, right out of the packet, with the soup poured on the side. (so as not to disturb the chilli paste)

Look at all that chilli! :D (Well, for me it is :D but for WW it would be :s )

And the soup, which is all clear and probably not spicy at all, becomes this after mixing:

(Okay, so I destroyed the egg :P )

Okay, it's a bit hard to see the soup amidst all those noodles. But let me tell you that it is very, VERY spicy! I go "ah ah ah" while eating it...but it is so yummy that it is worth it. :P I'm not even sure whether the reason I like it so much is because of the chilli or because of the soup...


But you know, even with such spicy noodles, once I heard a couple of Indians ordering it, and they asked for extra chilli. :O I will definitely NOT do that...spicy is good but let's not go too far. I'll just trust the seller to give me the optimum amount of chilli. :P

I even made a half-half picture to compare the colour before and after mixing the chilli in.

What do you think? Personally I think the difference is hard to see because of all the noodles...I guess you have to look at the edges of the bowl or something...

A friendly shoe

When I was in Kuantan, I saw this in a shoe shop.

Side view:

My father saw me looking at it and said, you should buy it! You can put one beside your bed in Penang, and one beside your bed here.

........

Actually, I thought he was going to say to put the second one in the living room... hahaha.

Flowers, fish, sunrise and food

If you still remember, I wrote about going to Cameron Highlands a while back. Here are the rest of the photos!

A nice house we saw near a strawberry farm, while walking back to the cars.

a temple

There were lots of huge fish in the ponds there! (the finger is for size comparison :P )

another pond

the temple

a break from moving around...and the guys took the opportunity to check their cameras (as an amateur I'm not sure what has to be checked :P )

Then we went to a huge strawberry-and-cactus (and other plants too) farm. I'll just post a few photos of the plants here...

The second morning, we attempted to catch the sunrise again, this time from our balcony.

the moon before the sun came out (thanks to clear skies...)

the 4 cameras on tripods

the sunrise (well, sorta)

a panoramic view

then the sun came out...

reflection on the...glass wall? (what do you call that? :P )

Later we went shopping for things to bring home.

showing off the strawberry jam they bought (at least I think it was strawberry jam...)

There were a lot of strawberry earmuffs being sold...but we didn't buy any. Wooi Kiang helped me and Nichole to take a photo, though :P

just ignore the little boy playing behind us :P

Then we went somewhere where Samson could buy a horned beetle

everyone taking photos of the beetle...what a star! :P

On the way back to Penang, we stopped in Ipoh for some bean sprout chicken.

lunchtime!

We also bought some kaya puffs in a famous biscuit shop...they say that there is always a really long queue to buy this! And yeah, it's really yummy...

there were five in a box but I didn't think of taking a photo earlier :P

And Nichole got a photo of the queue...this is considered short, they say...

Well, this post took some time coming up...but it's done now! Haha...I don't think anyone was holding their breath for this, though :P