Archive for February, 2006
Fuzzy Thoughts. Cotton Wool.
Posted on February 27, 2006, by soph, under Uncategorized.
I woke up this morning with a terrible sniffle and just like that, I’m down with a bit of a cold. I’m blaming it on the absolutely horrendous weather. I distinctly remember putting away several topics for blogging in the recesses of my mind, but because my brain is somewhat of a foggy blur right now thanks to the sniffles (or just because I am forgetful), all I keep thinking about is the phrase ‘cotton wool’. Which is downright absurd.
I was thinking over the weekend how colourful and varied Brit vocabulary is. The Americans pick all of two words and use it over and over - ‘cool’ and ’sucks’. But the Brits use the loveliest adjectives that we know but just don’t incorporate into our everyday lingo. I’ve been reading Simon Cowell’s book, I Don’t Mean To Be Rude But…, and it’s just the funniest thing. So I’ve decided I shall try to use more colourful words in my everyday speech. Our freelancer commented that our humour in hot is very Brit. I’m not entirely sure I want to be known as Brit just yet, but I suppose it is a good start. I shall give it more thought when I shall. I think Hollywood is ruining my vocabulary.
My weekend has been completely packed. I had a lunch appointment on Saturday, coffee after that with Tze San whom I haven’t seen in ages which was a treat (as was lunch), and a wedding dinner after that, which by the way goes on record as the first ever vegetarian wedding dinner I’ve ever had the opportunity to consume.
Sunday was church, lunch, and almost immediately after that, getting ready for a wedding at 5pm. The wedding was lovely (I suspect I’m becoming a real sucker for seeing brides walk in with daddy and out with hubby) and very entertaining. One of the best I’ve been to in fact.
And just like that, it’s now Monday and I have a full week ahead. Oh and I forgot to say, there is the cutest shoe shop in Plaza Damas, Sri Hartamas, called Rockin’ Reptile. I’m giving it free advertising because I love it. My mother and sisters went in once and helped themselves liberally, and I am pleased to say my turn came last Friday. Well I won’t say I ‘helped myself liberally’, but let’s just say I’ve treated myself well for doing that Citibank ad last week. It’s got really funky and unique stuff.
Okay, time to stop. Feeling very thick in the head right now. Literally. It’s going to be all I can do just to think what to order for dinner later.
No Comments
The Reason
Posted on February 25, 2006, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life.
Yay! J blogged… so I don’t have to.
To know why I slept at 5am even though I knew full well it was going to be wakey-wakey in just a few hours, go here.
No Comments
Sleepy Wednesday
Posted on February 22, 2006, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life.
You know you’re really sleepy when…
You get out of the elevator at the wrong floor, and keep walking even though a small part of your brain is telling you, ‘This is the wrong floor’.
You wear clothes you’ve never worn in years, because you couldn’t care enough to think about what you were pulling over your head.
You order ‘ghastly potatoes’ when what you really wanted was ‘garlic parsley potatoes’.
You feel like you’re floating all the time because you’re so light-headed.
You walk right past the store you were looking for, and think to yourself that it probably closed down, only to see it staring you in the face when you walk back five minutes later.
All I keep thinking of is American Idol later. Because when you work in an entertainment magazine, when your colleagues are TV addicts, and when you get satellite television right in your office, you cannot help getting sucked in hook, line and sinker. Either that, or this year’s contestants are really, really good.
Oh… why, you might ask, am I so sleepy today? I highly suspect it had to do with me getting to bed at 5am this morning. And why, you might ask, did I only get to bed at 5am this morning? Aah, now that, I’m going to leave it to the jyg to explain (Oi, you guys blog!).
No Comments
Toothy Update
Posted on February 18, 2006, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life.
I don’t need braces!
Apparently, the dentist says I have a fantastic set of teeth - very strong, very resistant to decay, and it’s genetic. He does not recommend braces because the crowding is very mild, and fixing it might compromise the health of my teeth. He does however, insist I need to remove my last wisdom tooth, which is buried in my gums because it can’t come out. That’s called minor surgery, and just thinking about it freaks me out, but at least I get general anaesthetic.
While I’m at it, I also have the option of fixing the jagged edges of the crowded teeth so they’re not as obvious - that’s called cosmetic contouring, and whitening the two or three extra yellow teeth I have - that’s called, well, whitening. I’ll probably have to get my tooth out in the next couple of weeks, but right now, I’m just relishing the fact that I. Do. Not. Need. Braces.
In other news, my youngest sister is participating in a fencing tournament tomorrow. In case you’re in the blur, that’s the sport where people wear masks and dress all in white and carry a long thin sword and try to poke each other. I can’t believe she’s actually fencing in a real tournament - my (other) sis and I couldn’t believe they actually let ditzy Jessie handle a sword to start off with - but I wish her the best of luck all the same. Contrary to what we may look like, we are a family of sporty people, so there!
And while I’m on the subject of siblings, I looked through my sis’ graduation pictures the other day, and realised with a fair bit of surprise that my twelve-year-old bro is turning out to be quite a hottie. He’s only going to be thirteen in April, and really it’s too early to tell if he’ll stay cute, get cuter or lose it completely, but for now at least, my bro is a mini-hunk (and a damn photogenic one at that).
Man, it’s been pouring every single evening without fail since like, Monday or something.
No Comments
a lil’ bit of this and that
Posted on February 17, 2006, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life.
10.30am Blueberry cheesecake
12.30pm Char Siew Wan Tan Mee
4.15pm Smarties
5.30pm Starbucks Ice Mocha, Lay’s Potato Chips, Cheezels, Silverbird Butter Cake
Trust me when I say I probably won’t be wanting much dinner, but supper on other hand… I have recently discovered the joys of Apom Manis at this one particular mamak stall in Taman Tun (near my house).
Enough of food. If you’re wondering what I did about my Valentine dilemma, I eventually sent the guy an sms along the lines of Option A. I say along the lines because I tried to make it sound a lil’ less harsh by adding a smiley face at the end of my thanks. Smiley faces always soften the tone of any message.
Two minutes later, I was glad I did. Because the dude replied with an apologetic message saying he didn’t realise I was happily wed (hello? rings on my finger?) and sent his best wishes. Awww. And that, I presume, is the last I’ll ever hear of him.
Weekend tomorrow! Weekends are one of those things that no matter how many times you’ve experienced it, will still bring thrills and much joy every Friday. Tomorrow I will find out whether I really need braces. I had a scan taken of my teeth last week and tomorrow is my second appointment to see whether my last wisdom tooth - which I’ve been told might never surface - is causing my bottom teeth to crowd. Obviously I’m hoping I won’t need braces, but the crowding is, admittedly, kinda bad. Shit. Fingers crossed. Stay tuned for updates.
P/S: I seem to have sprained my right thumb. One minute it was fine, the next minute it hurts when I type. How did that happen? I suspect I must have done something to it when I reached into the brown paper bag for my Starbucks. Or when I was trying to dig more Lays potato chips out of the tube. Sigh.
No Comments
Be My Valentine
Posted on February 15, 2006, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life, Married.
For Valentine’s Day, I received a bouquet of flowers and a gift, delivered to my office… not from my husband. My colleagues thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. Y thought it was wonderful that I was receiving pressies, and wanted to know why the sender didn’t send him a gift too.
As one colleague put it, “It’s great to see that your husband has got his priorities right.”
I should have known it was coming when a delivery guy called me on my mobile, asking for directions to the office so he could deliver something. Y can be totally sweet in his own way, but sending flowers to my office definitely didn’t have him written all over it (I don’t think he even knows what my office address is, I definitely don’t know his.)
So there I was, aided by my amused colleagues, Y, G (who happened to be online) and my sister, trying to think of a nice way to let the man down, a man who I’ve only met once and barely spoke to. In case it wasn’t obvious, I’ve never had to do a dear-john-i’m-married sms before. I mean, isn’t that what wedding rings are for? To tell people that you’re married without you actually having to tell people you’re married? And I was wearing both my engagement ring and wedding band when I met the guy!
Said abovementioned colleague, “I think it’s time to tell your husband you need a bigger diamond. This one clearly isn’t obvious enough.”
Hmm… interesting point. But anyway, after many minutes, we - collectively - came up with the following options. Which would you have picked/preferred? Do share, because I really want to know.
Option A
Hi So-and-So, thanks for the gift. I think it is only fair that I tell you that I’m not entirely comfortable receiving it as I am happily married.
Option B
Hi So-and-So, thanks for the gift. My colleagues and husband are very jealous. Perhaps you should send them something too. Just kidding… Happy Valentine’s Day.
Option C Neither of the above. Fill in your own: ________________
Many thought A was too harsh; others that it wasn’t and that there is no better way than to tell it directly. Most preferred B but thought B would also be teasing. Both had guy and girl votes. What would you have done?
No Comments
Linky Links
Posted on February 15, 2006, by soph, under Uncategorized.
Because I’m too lazy to post pictures up, and because things are so much better when they come in their original packaging (generally anyway), click on these:
Little highlights of Summer 05/06
This little Yinnie got engaged!
More on what happened yesterday on Valentine’s when I get round to it…
No Comments
Hello, wrong number
Posted on February 14, 2006, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life, Uncategorized.
For two days now, I’ve been receiving calls from this place looking for someone we shall call A. I think it’s a photo centre or something, I don’t know, but the phone conversations go something like this:
Them: (in Mandarin) Hello, A?
Me: (in Mandarin) Pardon?
Them: A, please?
Me: Sorry, I think you have the wrong number.
Them: Oh. Sorry.
Two minutes later…
Them: Hello, is this A?
Me: No, you called me just now. This is the wrong number.
Them: Oh sorry.
Later that afternooon…
Them: Hello, A?
Me: No, this is the wrong number.
Them: Oh, what’s A’s number?
Me: (thinking, ‘what the?’) I don’t have A’s number. I don’t know her.
Them: Oh, ok. Thank you.
This morning…
Them: Hello, is this A?
Me: (thinking, ‘I can’t believe this’) No, you have called this number before. It’s the wrong number.
Them: Oh, sorry.
Aargh! But apparently I’m not the only one. My colleague got a phone call this afternoon that went like this:
Lady: Hello, is this Ambank?
Colleague: No, you’ve got the wrong number.
Lady: Oh ok, can I speak to so-and-so from Ambank please?
Colleague: (losing his patience) This is not Ambank. You have the wrong number.
Lady: Oh ok.
What the?
No Comments
midnight mullings
Posted on February 11, 2006, by soph, under Psychobabble.
past midnight on a friday. i should be elated that the weekend is here. for maybe the first time since i began my new job, everyone decided to leave before 5.30 today. by the time we actually got round to it it was closer to six but hey, that’s total lights out before six.
i’ve been mentally moody of late. meaning, i’m not overtly moody, i don’t act or feel moody, but my mind is. it’s very weird. i go through my day as usual, but ever so often i become aware that my brain is feeling kind of heavy, like there’s something weighing on it. i call it mentally moody because for some reason it doesn’t translate into physical or emotional moodiness. i think it’s because i’ve been thinking a lot lately. about lots of things. and so in typical XX chromosome fashion, i’m going to attempt to regurgitate the causes behind this very odd sensation in the form of literary therapy.
one. i finally solved the mystery of the talking computer. Y’s ibook has recently developed a habit of saying ‘hello’ periodically. freaked me out somewhat the first time it happened and i was all alone. i thought it was weichern calling me so i shouted at the door to ‘come in’ but no one did. then the computer said hello again and i shouted at the door again. the third time it happened i finally figured out the sound was coming from my speakers and not the door. silly me. tonight, i accidentally discovered the cause: a silly banner advertising smiley faces. everytime my mouse passes over it, it responds with a hello.
two. i’ve been thinking about well, let’s just say, relationships. because my, nay our, lives revolve around relationships. husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, parent to child, friend to friend… i’ve contemplated them all at some point or other in recent days. the ups and the downs, the issues of loyalty, respect, courtship, brotherhood, even matchmaking.
my editor told me today i need to counter my sarcasm in the gossip i write with something more ‘cheerful’ or ‘good’. in other words, i need to be less bitchy. it reads well, she said, but we don’t want to intimidate the readers. she’s right. i was especially, really, bitchy about a kevin federline cheating on britney spears story i wrote. like, really. and so i thought about why i reacted so to that particular story, because really, writing it was a breeze. the thoughts just flowed. and (through more of that self-awareness mumbo-jumbo i like to indulge in) i finally put my finger on it: kevin federline is scum. not just any scum, he’s an irresponsible father, a constantly-straying husband, and a man who does nothing more than party and pretend to be a rapper so he can say he has a ‘job’. he left his pregnant partner to latch himself onto britney and although i’m not condoning what britney did - she wasn’t exactly a saint in the whole matter either, i’m really starting to feel sorry for her. kevin stands for everything i cannot stand in a man - an ill provider, irresponsible, unfaithful, disrespectful, not necessarily in that order of course.
i don’t know why i dislike men like that so much. or maybe i do. but i’m not telling. that’s for some self-awareness revelation some other time. but never mind the big, all-too-apparent things. few men realize the power and effect they have on their spouses/girlfriends/kids just through little things. for example, their manner of speaking. raising their voice, speaking scornfully, replying in a condescending or inconsiderate and rude tone… these are the little things that chip away bit by bit. when it’s directed towards their spouse or girlfriend, it hurts. but when it’s directed towards their kids or towards their spouse in the presence of the kids, it does so much more.
i remember a good friend once told me how he was taught never to raise his voice to a woman. whether he kept to it i don’t know, but that was the example he was brought up with. his dad never raised his voice to his mum, and the children watched, and learnt. a little thing, but it matters so much. men don’t realise how powerful they are in the eyes - and minds - of their children. the mothers nurture and comfort, but the fathers will make men and women out of their kids. too bad a lot of men don’t seem to care, hey. and as for raising their voice or speaking disdainfully to their spouse, i can’t help but wonder if it shows a conscious/unconscious scorn and disrespect for the missus. after all, there must be a reason why they are adopting that tone and manner, mustn’t there? i’m sure they don’t speak like that to just everybody, they just don’t care enough not to speak differently to their spouses. which sucks.
three. i’ve been reading captivating by john and stasi eldredge. john, if you know, wrote the male-liberating book wild at heart. captivating is the female counterpart. i’m barely halfway through yet, so i can’t say i’m qualified to make much of a comment, but it struck me in the opening chapters that the book makes plenty of sweeping generalisations about what women feel and think - generalisations that i can’t say i identify with. and it struck me for the first time, the danger of reading a widely-acclaimed ’self-help’ type of book, without stopping for a moment to think that just because the author is an ‘expert’ in his or her field don’t make him or her always right.
for example, the book mentions how every little girl goes through a stage wanting some sort of adventure with horses, and a stage where they want to wear twirly skirts, jump on the nearest coffee table and seek to be told that they are lovely. i swear i never went through that. i never liked horses and i only started really liking skirts in the last couple of years. but reading it made me stop to think, but did i? when stasi says ‘every girl’, maybe i did too, only i didn’t realise it. maybe i should be feeling this way, or that way? and i found myself doubting if maybe i felt (or should be feeling) what the author is saying. now with something like horses and skirts, i suppose it don’t matter much, but when it deals with bigger issues of the heart… well, you’re probably ahead of me on this one, but i just realised how potentially unhelpful ’self-help’ books can be.
oh well, i never did like reading those much anyway, something with a plot and a story to it has always been more attractive, but hey, i’m just clearing my accumulated thoughts and this is one of them. maybe when i finish captivating i’ll post my ha’ penny worth on whether you should read it, or dump it like i am the backlogged thoughts oiling the cogs of my mind.
No Comments
The Difference Between Us and the Brits
Posted on February 9, 2006, by soph, under Reading and Writing.
Forwarded to my inbox:
Malaysia English vs British English … Who says our English is teruk?
Just see below - Ours is simple, short, concise, straight-to-point, effective etc. The English did invent the English Language, but they cannot use it economically when communicating their intentions. Compare these phrases that Malaysians and Britons use to say the same thing. So, why make things so confusing and waste of money when you are and a long distance call.
WHEN GIVING A CUSTOMER BAD NEWS
Britons: I’m sorry, Sir, but we don’t seem to have the sweater you want in your size, but if you give me a moment, I can call the other outlets for you.
Malaysians: No Stock.
RETURNING A CALL
Britons: Hello, this is John Smith. Did anyone page for me a few moments ago?
Malaysians: Hallo, who page?
ASKING SOMEONE TO MAKE WAY.
Britons: Excuse me, I’d like to get by. Would you please make way?
Malaysians: S-kew me
WHEN SOMEONE OFFERS TO PAY
Britons: Hey, put your wallet away, this drink is on me.
Malaysians:No-need, lah.
WHEN ASKING FOR PERMISSION
Britons: Excuse me, but do you think it would be possible for me to enter through this door?
Malaysians: (pointing the door) can ar?
WHEN ENTERTAINING
Britons: Please make yourself right at home.
Malaysians: Don’t be shy, lah!
WHEN DOUBTING SOMEONE
Britons: I don’t recall you giving me the money.
Malaysians: Where got?
WHEN DECLINING AN OFFER
Britons: I’d prefer not to do that, if you don’t mind.
Malaysians: Doe-waaaan!
IN DISAGREEING ON A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION
Britons: Err. Tom, I have to stop you there. I understand where you’re coming from, but I really have to disagree with what you said about the issue.
Malaysians: You mad, ah?
WHEN ASKING SOMEONE TO LOWER THEIR VOICE.
Britons: Excuse me, but could you please ! lower your voice, I’m trying to concentrate over here.
Malaysians: Shaddap lah!
WHEN ASKING SOMEONE IF HE/SHE KNOWS YOU.
Britons: Excuse me, but I noticed you staring at me for some time. Do I know you?
Malaysians: See what, see what?
WHEN ASSESSING A TIGHT SITUATION.
Britons: We seem to be in a bit of a predicament at the moment.
Malaysians: Die-lah!!
WHEN TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED
Britons: Will someone tell me what has just happened?
Malaysians: Wat happen Why lidat????ADUI!!! (jumping to conclusion)
WHEN SOME ONE DID SOMETHING WRONG
Britons: This isn’t the way to do it here let me show you.
Malaysians:Hoi!!!u pig ar lidat also doe no how to do!!!!
WHEN ONE IS ANGRY
Britons: Would you mind not disturbing me
Malaysians:Celaka u/LANCAUUUUUUUU/ Maa Ke Cau Hai Lai Ye!!!
