Archive for January, 2005
The Russian triumphs.
Posted on January 30, 2005, by soph, under Sports.
“Of course (Hewitt) couldn’t have done it without (his) group so thank you (Hewitt’s) parents, coach, girlfriend, everybody.”
“Thanks to all of you who came out here and supported us throughout these last two weeks. Even though 90% of you were rooting for Hewitt, thanks.”
- Marat Safin, upon accepting his Australian Open championship trophy.
Isn’t he adorable?
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May the Russian win.
Posted on January 29, 2005, by soph, under Sports.
Safin won.
Sorry all you Federer fans, I’ve got nothing against the guy, but I just felt like rooting for the tall, dark, handsome and exotic dude this time round. I hope he totally whips Hewitt’s butt come Sunday. Unlikely, but I can hope, can’t I?
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Warning: Pure whinging
Posted on January 26, 2005, by soph, under Uncategorized.
It’s official. I do not like KL city. And I mean really, absolutely, positively do not like it. Why, you ask? Where shall I even begin?
For starters, there’s the traffic. It’s not even a public holiday and Jalan Bukit Bintang is completely jammed. At 3 in the afternoon. Not lunch hour, not after work. Where do all these people come from? Do they not work? Will I ever find out?
Then there’re the people who make up the traffic. Let’s see: rude taxi drivers who think they can and should swerve randomly into my lane without warning; pedestrians who take their time crossing busy roads, regardless of whether or not a car is coming; and of course, the infamous motorcyclists who swarm like bees, but weave among cars like flies. Or mosquitoes. Or anything that you can swat and eliminate with a loud clap.
Sure, you get people like that in areas outside of the city centre as well, but if you ask me, that’s where you meet the worst of them. I know it’s my problem if I have atrocious bearings and an abominable sense of direction - which was one very big reason why I was half an hour late for a launch that included models like Amber Chia (whoever she is) and 2 semi-cute Eurasian men, but I just had to have a whinge.
I shall stop now, but not before a word of thanks to my call-in road map Jonathan Chew. If I get lost going to Sungei Wang tomorrow, can I call you again?
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Tsunami Aid(s) Publicity
Posted on January 25, 2005, by soph, under Politics.
Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the tsunami disaster. The rest of the world has gaped, gasped and moved on, but for the victims, perhaps the longest four weeks of many of their lives were only the prelude to even longer year ahead.
While a part of me wants to go to Aceh, if only just to bring a smile into their lives for that one day, and another part of me wonders what would happen if I began to cry and had to be the one being comforted instead of the victims, a third part of me is afraid that it will all be a mere adventure that I will thankfully and happily return from, eager to forget the witnessed suffering and just get into my own bed.
But since I’m not going to Aceh…
I happened to pick up the newspaper yesterday - something I don’t do very often nowadays though I know I should, and came across the (familiar) 2 page spread listing all the people who’ve donated to the New Straits Times tsunami disaster fund, including photographs of the bigger and more important donors. What a lovely way to get publicity. If you have to part with your money, then you better make sure you do so in a manner benefitting yourself.
Then in a little box on the left, they listed the biggest donors: Sony RM250,000.
I should state at this point that I can’t remember whether it was the biggest donor of the day or the entire campaign, and that there was at least one other donor in that box with Sony which I can’t remember, but one thing I’m pretty sure: Sony wasn’t donating RM250,000 dollars a day or a week. It was their contribution.
Now I’m sorry to have to pick on Sony because I know there’re tons of other super-stingy, mega-rich, publicity-hungry, multi-national corporations out there, but I saw Sony yesterday so Sony it will have to be.
RM250,000?!!
What was that? Just enough to make sure they could get into a nice little box and not be lumped in with the few hundred other donors in smallest print possible? Just enough to have their name in bold and bigger font (and probably a photograph of their director or some such posing with the NST editor)?
Of course I may be overreacting here. Perhaps there’s a side to the story that I am unaware of, like maybe they’re going bankrupt, or that was all they managed to squeeze out of their staff, or they decided to drop RM250,000 in every newspaper in town so they could get their name in little boxes as many times as possible? Hey, it could be anything. And if it’s a worthy excuse, then correct me and I will apologise.
Otherwise, shame on y’all. Yep, not just Sony, but on all you massive capitalist corporations who are using this fund for publicity purposes, and being so darn stingy while you’re at it!
Man, that felt quite good. No wonder my university mates get such a kick out of protesting capitalism.
And don’t even get me started on all those people who thought it would be funny to donate used underwear and kindergarten trophies to tsunami victims.
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Jesus loves me this I know, for…?
Posted on January 21, 2005, by soph, under God.
While driving to work yesterday, the thought came to me: Do I know Jesus loves me?
I mean, I know Jesus loves me, but do I really, really know that Jesus utterly and absolutely loves me?
Mulling it over, the first thing that came into my head was the Sunday School favourite:
Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so…
I stopped. Now what is wrong with that song?
Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so? Is that all I can say about His love? I know He loves me because a book tells me so?
Sure, it’s not just any book, it’s God-breathed and Holy Spirit-inspired and all that, but this is supposed to be the greatest love in the world and all I, the recipient, can testify is I read about it?
I think it’s just sad. Because I know the first thing that comes to mind when someone asks me how I know Jesus loves me will be that song. And it’s sad because I should be able to say more than just “the Bible tells me so”.
Maybe that’s my problem. I know it in my head - I mean, any 6 year old in Sunday School knows it in her head - and that’s it. I thought I knew it in my heart and soul, but maybe it was just my head speaking. That song has conveniently become my answer, to anyone who might ask, and to myself. That song has become the easy stopper for questions that arise, for doubts that surface, for the true search of my heart: Do I really know the love of Jesus?
If I were paranoid, I would say that song is the Christian church’s way of dealing with doubts and silencing questions. You know, get them while they’re still young. But because I’m not (am I?), I’m sure the author of the song had every good and pure intention, but it is my fault that I, in my modern haste for a quick and easy solution, have used that song as an answer to a question that is just not that simple.
But - and here’s the interesting part - what if it’s not just me? What if it’s the same for millions of people who grew up singing that song?
Could it be then, that the reason many Christians are such poor witnesses in this suffering world is simply because we do not really know the love of God? I mean, I’ll be honest, if I asked someone why he believes his god loves him, and all he can say is because his holy book tells him so, what would I think? That he’s so unreal, that the poor man has been indoctrinated by his religion, that he’s basically full of crap.
Well, I guess that’s what people think of me when I give the same answer.
It’s time for me to start seeking a better answer. An answer that will take time and effort and actually living and experiencing in my heart and soul. And perhaps it’s time they stop teaching that song so much in Sunday School…
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Sole Woe
Posted on January 20, 2005, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life.
One of my pet peeves about Singapore is the way the people there stare at: a) people who wear shorts, loose t-shirts and slippers to Takashimaya; b) people who ride the free buggy from one end of Suntec shopping mall to the other.
Today, I extend that complaint to my fellow country men. Sure, they’ve probably never seen someone walk around KL barefoot before, and certainly not in and around some of KL’s premier nightclubs, but it’s not my fault my shoe strap decided to break!
So there I was, in the heart of KL, on an errand to see someone from Chanel, and Miss Malaysia/model Elaine Daly, and I had only one functioning shoe. It was a disaster to say the least. I managed alright with Chanel, because only one strap (out of two) broke, so I could at least hobble politely, but by the time I got to Elaine Daly, the other one had said ta-ta.
I resorted to carrying the incompetent shoe in my hand, put it on so I could at least stand on it and pretend nothing was wrong when I got to her, did what I had to do (which was really just to pass her some stuff), bid farewell, and with as much dignity as I could muster, pick up my shoe and leave.
As soon as I was out of sight, I took off both shoes and just went barefoot. It was easier, and funnier to see the reactions of the people around me. That offending pair of shoes is currently in the biggest garbage bin of the house. And I intend to leave a better impression when I see Elaine next week or so to collect some stuff, though I must say I had absolutely no idea who I’d been sent to meet.
Special mention however, goes to the uber-nice car park attendant who saw me limping with my shoe (when it still had one strap) and tried to fix it with a stapler, albeit unsuccessfully. And the nice security guard who tried - also unsuccessfully - to hunt out some cellophane tape for me. As you can probably tell, I was ready to try anything.
I’ll bet even Jon has never walked around KL barefoot.
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Recents.
Posted on January 19, 2005, by soph, under Uncategorized.
Due to time constraint, here is a quick rundown of the top 5 recent happenings:
1. Wedding. I finally did something more concrete than looking at magazine pictures and spoke to Pretty In White about wedding dress ideas. I have yet to get to the fun part: trying on dresses to see what suits me and what doesn’t. Now if we can only decide on a colour for the bridesmaids…
2. Shopping. Thanks to a photoshoot on hair accessories, I’ve been walking into Evita Peroni and Axxezz (among others) and picking out just about anything I fancy. Doesn’t cost me a cent, but I have to return them all this week. I’m the temporary owner of over a thousand dollars in absolutely gorgeous acessories, and I have no intention of buying them. I mean, who on earth pays RM300 dollars for a hair comb that doesn’t hold up your hair unless you insert hair pins?
3. Photoshoot. Of course I took pictures Alex, and I was thinking of you when I took them. Unfortunately, they’re in my colleague’s camera and she’s in far away Korea at the mo so that might have to wait. Just a teaser: she’s probably Yuchun’s height if not taller, 16 years old, Canadian and I thought, rather sweet. I just hope I don’t get into trouble for the clothes she ripped slightly while doing the photoshoot.
4. Manicure. An unexpected treat. In the name of research, I was sent for a manicure yesterday. My sister is insanely jealous, though it was a mildly traumatic experience when my manicurist received a phone call, suddenly ran into a room and burst into loud tears. And I mean Loud. From what the entire store could gather, her dog ran away. I got a new manicurist.
5. Summons. Another alarm (what else is new?). I ran out to see that the car parked behind mine had a ticket, and checked three times to make sure those sneaky people didn’t stuff mine somewhere obscure to bring my hopes up. It was a miracle. No ticket. I parked inside the compound and the security guard is not happy with me. It’s been almost 2 hours and he says I lied and told him I was only parking for 10 minutes to collect a letter. But I work here! And I most certainly did not tell him that. He must have gotten me confused with someone else but he insists it was me. Now I too, am not happy.
Of course my life doesn’t just revolve around work (it doesn’t, I’m telling you, it doesn’t), the Arts legacy in me has been ruminating over such vague themes as marriage and blogging, but they will just have to wait. Need to work, you see. Perhaps tomorrow…
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Adrenaline rush
Posted on January 13, 2005, by soph, under Uncategorized.
Looks like it’s back to office happenings.
I got my second summons 2 days ago. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that offending piece of white flapping under my wiper. I mean, come on, 2 in 3 weeks? A colleague of mine was saying yesterday morning that she’d never gotten a summons before. Then she got one yesterday afternoon.
Yep, the police came 2 days in a row. Wait, I meant to say, 3 days in a row. They came again this morning.
It would have been funny if it didn’t involve paying money. One of us received a phone call, jumped up, screamed, “Saman, saman (summons, summons)”, grabbed her car keys and ran out the door. Yesterday, it was the nice security guard uncle who came into the office and shouted “Saman”. My colleague jumped up so hard something on her desk fell over with a thump.
I didn’t run out yesterday because my car was parked too far away for a) them to write me a summons; b) me to run fast enough to salvage it should they have wandered that way. Today, I did.
The good news is, most of us managed to drive off before the police got to our cars. The bad news is, as soon as they saw us driving away, they left. I suppose we took the fun out of their game. The good news is, this adrenaline rush I’ve been getting is keeping me awake and life exciting. The bad news is, they will probably be back, if just for the kick of watching all these people running out and frantically moving their cars.
I think I’m getting:
a) exercise
b) improved driving skills from having to park and repark and repark
c) a suntan
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Road trip
Posted on January 13, 2005, by soph, under Travels.
I can’t remember the last time I went to Melaka. Oh, actually I do. I was maybe 9 or 10 years old, and we were at Ayer Keroh. There’s a crocodile farm there. That’s all I remember - big, hard, mean, reptiles.
This trip was a blast.
I love the little shops along the road, the quaint buildings, clogs in all shapes and sizes, and they still have trishaws! I loved the food, the night market, and most of all, I loved the people. No, not the local folk, (though I’m sure they’re really lovely people), I meant you guys I went down with, and all of you I met there. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss ACCF.
It was so worth waking up at 7am on a Saturday morning.
Yuchun and I got into trouble for this. The owner of this antique stuck her head out the door and said: “If you break it you pay for it ar, twelve thousand dollars.”
Good thing quick-thinking Winnie took the picture before she could finish her sentence.
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To everybody. From me.
Posted on January 7, 2005, by soph, under Uncategorized.
It has been rather quiet on this blogging front. Though ironically not due to decreased free time since this blogger started work. Internet access at said workplace has been preposterous to say the least. First it was the server, then it was Streamyx our un-lovely Broadband provider. All in all, we have been world wide web-less for the better part of this week.
With deadlines coming up in slightly over 7 days, the staff of Marie Claire is understandably perplexed. No, that is hardly strong enough to describe us. There have been frustrated screams, expletives in varying tones and volumes, banging of tables… The fact that almost half the staff chose this week to suffer PMS probably didn’t help either.
Blogging aside, I have also been unable to get on with my work (which involves lots of emailing and surfing the Internet), and I am, in the words of a certain White Chick, “so frickin’ pissed”. I doubt my 4 columns will be meeting my first deadline, which really doesn’t say too much for me, but then again, it’s not like I can help it.
Whinging aside, I do believe I am finally happily settled at Marie Claire. Work is getting increasingly interesting, if only because I am only in my second week and everything is an experience. I attended a L’Oreal press conference today, which although started late and went on a wee bit too long, taught me more about wrinkles and sun damage to the skin than I might ever have learnt.
Yesterday brought me to a photography studio where we do our product shoots and where I witnessed a Padini ad being shot. Their heavily preferred medium of communication is Cantonese, and since I understand they are going to be my new best friends for a while to come, I think my Cantonese is going to improve. But don’t test me on it.
Next week, I have in my organiser, a DKNY perfume launch, a Clinique event, an Escada fragrance launch, and plenty of “shopping” trips to source for clothes and accessories for a photoshoot. My sister would kill to have my job, and anyone who knows me will tell you that I am no shopper. But it sounds like a lot of fun, and I think it will be, though trust me, the launches are bound to get old after all of 5 of them. In the meantime, I can always make lunches or quick drinks during my excursions so if anyone wants to catch up, just give me a call and I’ll check my organiser.
Enough about work. It’s the weekend and I am oh-so-happy. Every Friday I say a little prayer of thanks for my 5 day week job, though now I come to think about it, I say it on Thursdays and Wednesdays and Saturdays too. Another road-trip has been scheduled for tomorrow so maybe the next time I check in, I’ll have something else interesting to say besides work.
In the meantime, take care y’all. Am missing all of you I do not see, and loving all of you I do. Which doesn’t mean I don’t love those of you I don’t get to see, you know that right?
