Thursday, September 02, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Poor Girl
A heartfelt article that I read from The Star's Weekender on 19 June 2010.
After so many trips to China, I was coaxed by family members to go to Guilin, a place famous for its tranquil mountainous scenery. While I was at a public toilet in Guilin, I was accosted by three Chinese nationals whom I'm sure were going to rob me. I was saved by a tour member.
Further down the road, at a night market, a young girl was following me and pestering me to buy a flower. After a few minutes, I felt her tiny fingers inside my pocket. A Penang auntie from my tour group saw what was happening and came to my rescue. She told me not to touch the girl and sternly told the girl to leave. The auntie said had I touched the girl, the latter would have created a scene and accused me of molesting her.
I observed the girl being reprimanded by her ringleader for failing to get any money from me. The poor girl, who was hardly four years old, was in tears. After so many trips to China, this was the worst experience I've had. I hope the China Tourism Association will curb this practice so as not to tarnish its tourism industry.
After so many trips to China, I was coaxed by family members to go to Guilin, a place famous for its tranquil mountainous scenery. While I was at a public toilet in Guilin, I was accosted by three Chinese nationals whom I'm sure were going to rob me. I was saved by a tour member.
Further down the road, at a night market, a young girl was following me and pestering me to buy a flower. After a few minutes, I felt her tiny fingers inside my pocket. A Penang auntie from my tour group saw what was happening and came to my rescue. She told me not to touch the girl and sternly told the girl to leave. The auntie said had I touched the girl, the latter would have created a scene and accused me of molesting her.
I observed the girl being reprimanded by her ringleader for failing to get any money from me. The poor girl, who was hardly four years old, was in tears. After so many trips to China, this was the worst experience I've had. I hope the China Tourism Association will curb this practice so as not to tarnish its tourism industry.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
10 Promises to My Dog
Today started like any normal day but at the end of the day I felt like I hadn't achieved anything in my life. I needed a good cry. I decided to watch a DVD. It was a toss between a French movie or Public Enemies. Then I looked through another CD folder and found 10 Promises to My Dog which I'd burnt last year but have yet to watch. My ex lent it to me, when our relationship ended I burnt the DVD before returning it to him. When I watch a film, it really depends on my mood. And now all I wanted was to watch a feel good film and I so wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come.
10 Promises to My Dog is such a wonderful film. The loving devotion of Socks, the dog made me wonder would I ever be able to love a person that much. Love a person unconditionally. I want to have a dog at home but I wouldn't be able to treat it fairly. Besides the food and vet expenses, I would feel so guilty for leaving it at home while I go and enjoy myself with my family and friends. Take things for granted.
I really gotta say I'm quite pissed with my colleague. What right does he have to poke his face into my personal life? I know he's just being caring and hopes I'll open up rather than be conservative and at times serious. Many times I'm speechless at what he says. I'm not answerable to him at all unless it's for work. So what if my life isn't as exciting or as colourful as I want it to be? Frankly it all boils down to money. Who wouldn't want to buy new clothes, look good in makeup and dress up nicely?
I really don't have that kind of money right now. I have to build up my finances all over again. I need to save up for now and for my future. That idiot had to embarass me in front of another colleague. I know it wasn't done on purpose, all he wanted was to advice me but he didn't know how to get through to me on this. He says I should let loose and not always think of what others think of me. I agree with him but not wholeheartedly. Maybe he doesn't understand I'm answerable to a lot of people especially my family.
When a friend told me she left her family and took off for a backpacking trip to UK, I could only listen in awe and think how brave of her. She quarrelled with her family and took off just like that. I would never have been able to do that because my family would've been worried sick. How can I even think of putting them through that? When the same friend told me she got married many years back I was shocked. It was a whirlwind romance and she registered the marriage even when her father was against it. Eventually her father had no choice but to accept he couldn't stop her from getting married and became her wedding registration witness. The marriage was soon over. Such are the mistakes that one makes when young but for me I'm unable to take that risk. I cannot let that happen to me because I'm answerable to myself and my family.
There's no point in explaining to that colleague because he won't understand. He would just say life is all about taking risks. I'm not a pessimist as I'm more to a realist. One can be idealistic for a moment but not for a lifetime. In the end, reality will set in. I was pissed but not to the point of telling off that colleague yet. But I'm not sure if I might cry if he continued doing it further. I just felt something piercing but I tell myself not to take him seriously on this. As long as I feel I'm doing things right then I'll go ahead and live my life the way I want it to.
Sigh... when I got home I didn't think my aunt would reprimand me for something that I thought trivial. I totally forgot about that incident but it was something which left me speechless. It was a call which I had no idea I had to make. Now I have to remember and keep reminding myself when I call someone to ask something I should never leave that person wondering what happened. In the first place I had no idea that person was left wondering until today. My aunt used some strong words on me - Maybe when you work that's not your policy but you have to start making it your policy from now onwards. I was shocked. I respect my aunt a lot and to hear her say that got me so shocked.
10 Promises to My Dog is such a wonderful film. The loving devotion of Socks, the dog made me wonder would I ever be able to love a person that much. Love a person unconditionally. I want to have a dog at home but I wouldn't be able to treat it fairly. Besides the food and vet expenses, I would feel so guilty for leaving it at home while I go and enjoy myself with my family and friends. Take things for granted.
I really gotta say I'm quite pissed with my colleague. What right does he have to poke his face into my personal life? I know he's just being caring and hopes I'll open up rather than be conservative and at times serious. Many times I'm speechless at what he says. I'm not answerable to him at all unless it's for work. So what if my life isn't as exciting or as colourful as I want it to be? Frankly it all boils down to money. Who wouldn't want to buy new clothes, look good in makeup and dress up nicely?
I really don't have that kind of money right now. I have to build up my finances all over again. I need to save up for now and for my future. That idiot had to embarass me in front of another colleague. I know it wasn't done on purpose, all he wanted was to advice me but he didn't know how to get through to me on this. He says I should let loose and not always think of what others think of me. I agree with him but not wholeheartedly. Maybe he doesn't understand I'm answerable to a lot of people especially my family.
When a friend told me she left her family and took off for a backpacking trip to UK, I could only listen in awe and think how brave of her. She quarrelled with her family and took off just like that. I would never have been able to do that because my family would've been worried sick. How can I even think of putting them through that? When the same friend told me she got married many years back I was shocked. It was a whirlwind romance and she registered the marriage even when her father was against it. Eventually her father had no choice but to accept he couldn't stop her from getting married and became her wedding registration witness. The marriage was soon over. Such are the mistakes that one makes when young but for me I'm unable to take that risk. I cannot let that happen to me because I'm answerable to myself and my family.
There's no point in explaining to that colleague because he won't understand. He would just say life is all about taking risks. I'm not a pessimist as I'm more to a realist. One can be idealistic for a moment but not for a lifetime. In the end, reality will set in. I was pissed but not to the point of telling off that colleague yet. But I'm not sure if I might cry if he continued doing it further. I just felt something piercing but I tell myself not to take him seriously on this. As long as I feel I'm doing things right then I'll go ahead and live my life the way I want it to.
Sigh... when I got home I didn't think my aunt would reprimand me for something that I thought trivial. I totally forgot about that incident but it was something which left me speechless. It was a call which I had no idea I had to make. Now I have to remember and keep reminding myself when I call someone to ask something I should never leave that person wondering what happened. In the first place I had no idea that person was left wondering until today. My aunt used some strong words on me - Maybe when you work that's not your policy but you have to start making it your policy from now onwards. I was shocked. I respect my aunt a lot and to hear her say that got me so shocked.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
9-months is 2-weeks old now
Our little one is born (so to speak). So proud to see your development thus far.
This was my Facebook posting on May 30th. A day after our shoot ended.
heavy rain. sunburnt. sweated like a pig. the bicycle gang. curious kids. friendly villagers. silly jokes. disciplined actors. friends whom we can count on anytime. end of production 70%. post production here we come.
Post Production started almost immediately on June 1st and ended on the 11th.
damn it! shooting on HD gave us problems during shooting. luckily the matter was resolved ASAP. then during editing, it was really hard to burn the DVD to an excellent quality. the first attempt resulted in blurry visual. eventually things worked out even though it wasn't perfect. even the damn subtitles gave us problems. whatever it is, it's all said and done.
All for the below and many more festivals to come for HOLD ME TIGHT (出走的美麗時光):-
Pusan International Film Festival 2010, South Korea
Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival Curta Cinema 2010, Brazil
This was my Facebook posting on May 30th. A day after our shoot ended.
heavy rain. sunburnt. sweated like a pig. the bicycle gang. curious kids. friendly villagers. silly jokes. disciplined actors. friends whom we can count on anytime. end of production 70%. post production here we come.
Post Production started almost immediately on June 1st and ended on the 11th.
damn it! shooting on HD gave us problems during shooting. luckily the matter was resolved ASAP. then during editing, it was really hard to burn the DVD to an excellent quality. the first attempt resulted in blurry visual. eventually things worked out even though it wasn't perfect. even the damn subtitles gave us problems. whatever it is, it's all said and done.
All for the below and many more festivals to come for HOLD ME TIGHT (出走的美麗時光):-
Pusan International Film Festival 2010, South Korea
Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival Curta Cinema 2010, Brazil
Lost in Translation
How does it feel when people talk in a language that you don't understand?
My situation isn't almost to that extent but it's almost there. I didn't go to a Chinese school.
I picked up Mandarin when I went to college. I learnt Mandarin by attending conversational classes, memorising artistes names and Chinese subtitles on TV. That's about it.
When I accepted this job, I knew their current projects were in the Chinese language. But they needed somebody who knew English. Someone who could liaise as in be the middle person between them and the other two parties. Then they asked me to help with some translation as they didn't have much to let me do at the moment.
I'd to admit I'd read everything but understood nothing. Totally lost. I could only pick up bits and pieces here and there. God knows how hard it was for me. But I found Google Translate by accident. I also used Dewan Bahasa Pustaka's online dictionary for Bahasa Malaysia and guess what, English. They were my life savers and helped me to translate two episodes from Chinese to Malay.
Today being my fourth day of work, I attended a meeting with the scriptwriters and director. My ex-colleague who's now my colleague was the person who introduced me to this job, is the PM for this project. I went without having read all the information. I ended up red faced, helpless and lost in translation.
Try as I might, the Chinese characters looked alien to me. I could only read a few characters here and there. The entire sentence didn't make any sense to me. To hear the director tease me as to why I'd only read a few episodes after having started working a few days back, made me want the ground to swallow me almost immediately. Please let me bury this shame with me six feet under.
Much later it dawned on them that I was a banana. Yup, a yellow-skinned-banana. I couldn't bring myself to tell them my Chinese was the pits much earlier because my colleague told me never to divulge any weakness in the presence of others. If not, people would start bullying you, climb all over your head and give you less respect. Sigh... I just did my best to write down what was needed from the meeting etc.
As I sit typing this, my heart still feels very heavy. I can almost feel the tears. I'm not a cry baby. I just feel so disappointed in myself. Just now, I was so tempted to tell my colleague I'm gonna quit. It's better for you to find someone else. Communication would be so much easier for everybody rather than have a dumb ass sitting there. But I didn't, instead I wrote a note in my notebook for him to read - "I need a translator badly. I can translate but it'll take me a long time to do it."
He said "I know. That's why from tomorrow onwards you don't have to do it. Someone else is gonna do it. You weren't hired to do any translation in the first place. We need you to be the liaison. And the fact you managed to translate those two episodes impressed me very much. I know how difficult it was for you."
Now I totally understand the meaning behind "lost in translation". The word quit didn't come out of my mouth yet because deep down inside I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. Not without fighting my way out. Things aren't gonna get any easier and this time I need to work 3 times harder because of the language.
My situation isn't almost to that extent but it's almost there. I didn't go to a Chinese school.
I picked up Mandarin when I went to college. I learnt Mandarin by attending conversational classes, memorising artistes names and Chinese subtitles on TV. That's about it.
When I accepted this job, I knew their current projects were in the Chinese language. But they needed somebody who knew English. Someone who could liaise as in be the middle person between them and the other two parties. Then they asked me to help with some translation as they didn't have much to let me do at the moment.
I'd to admit I'd read everything but understood nothing. Totally lost. I could only pick up bits and pieces here and there. God knows how hard it was for me. But I found Google Translate by accident. I also used Dewan Bahasa Pustaka's online dictionary for Bahasa Malaysia and guess what, English. They were my life savers and helped me to translate two episodes from Chinese to Malay.
Today being my fourth day of work, I attended a meeting with the scriptwriters and director. My ex-colleague who's now my colleague was the person who introduced me to this job, is the PM for this project. I went without having read all the information. I ended up red faced, helpless and lost in translation.
Try as I might, the Chinese characters looked alien to me. I could only read a few characters here and there. The entire sentence didn't make any sense to me. To hear the director tease me as to why I'd only read a few episodes after having started working a few days back, made me want the ground to swallow me almost immediately. Please let me bury this shame with me six feet under.
Much later it dawned on them that I was a banana. Yup, a yellow-skinned-banana. I couldn't bring myself to tell them my Chinese was the pits much earlier because my colleague told me never to divulge any weakness in the presence of others. If not, people would start bullying you, climb all over your head and give you less respect. Sigh... I just did my best to write down what was needed from the meeting etc.
As I sit typing this, my heart still feels very heavy. I can almost feel the tears. I'm not a cry baby. I just feel so disappointed in myself. Just now, I was so tempted to tell my colleague I'm gonna quit. It's better for you to find someone else. Communication would be so much easier for everybody rather than have a dumb ass sitting there. But I didn't, instead I wrote a note in my notebook for him to read - "I need a translator badly. I can translate but it'll take me a long time to do it."
He said "I know. That's why from tomorrow onwards you don't have to do it. Someone else is gonna do it. You weren't hired to do any translation in the first place. We need you to be the liaison. And the fact you managed to translate those two episodes impressed me very much. I know how difficult it was for you."
Now I totally understand the meaning behind "lost in translation". The word quit didn't come out of my mouth yet because deep down inside I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. Not without fighting my way out. Things aren't gonna get any easier and this time I need to work 3 times harder because of the language.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Our Little Baby
5-months...our little one has taken shape & form. When we found the right people we could not help but leap for joy. As we watch you grow, there's a sense of fulfillment. In time it'll be 7-months.
I consider this to be the first time I'd been so involved in something. Right from pre production stage. Our production stage is approaching in a matter of days. Am really excited. We're really close knit, just like family.
We'll be leaving KL soon. Things didn't go as planned but I'm not disappointed because in the end, some things did go as planned. We just gotta give and take, after all, life's all about give and take (my granny's quote).
I consider this to be the first time I'd been so involved in something. Right from pre production stage. Our production stage is approaching in a matter of days. Am really excited. We're really close knit, just like family.
We'll be leaving KL soon. Things didn't go as planned but I'm not disappointed because in the end, some things did go as planned. We just gotta give and take, after all, life's all about give and take (my granny's quote).
Melt in your mouth roti bakar
I'm really thankful to have a bunch of wacky, outgoing, funny and caring friends. Ten years, a decade since we first met each other on registration day. College was damn fun, damn good times I'd say!
Crazy Kia called me after midnite. Siao! My dad was like, go talk in the living room, your sis needs to get up early for work. Sigh... this is what happens when you've to share a room and when the house isn't that big after all. How I wish I'd privacy to myself.
Fine, fine, fine. Off I went to the living room and started Skyping with the two crazies, Kia and Mag. OK OK I'm interested in going for the photography trip but I'm not, I repeat, I'm not gonna be the model neither am I bringing any special wardrobe, cheongsam etc. Yes... I've friend who loves being in the limelight. Hehehhe! No lah... just kidding she loves photography and also likes having her photo taken unlike me. I absolutely shun the camera preferring to be the photographer, basically behind the scenes (that's my passion and bread and butter).
Then on Sunday night I found out we'd be going on Tuesday for the day trip. I was like...what!!! Why so sudden? I was preparing for the short film. A lot of things were uncertain, not confirmed etc. I hated to leave things undone and go on a short trip. It would be like a guilt trip. Going on a trip but still thinking about work. On Monday I was prepared to tell them I didn't wanna go. But deep inside I so wanted to go. Then I found out Yoko was joining us as well. Yerrr... I haven't seen her in ages. I so want to meet her. Luckily during the meeting I managed to get a lot done. The discussion with my Director cleared up a lot of things for me. I felt much better now. Anyway, it was only a day trip. A break would do me a lot of good.
That evening I took the Putra LRT and Star LRT. The last time I took Star was, wait a minute...more than 8 years ago! I even hopped onto the wrong train. It wasn't because I was ignorant. The fact was it would have happened to anyone. My dad actually called to ask what took me so long to arrive at my friend's place. Well... I had to clean my bag because I spilt some food which made me miss my train. Then I decided to not hop onto 2 trains because it was so packed (didn't wanna get touched or pickpocketed by anyone). And would I even tell my dad that I'd hopped onto the wrong train? Better left unsaid coz he'd be like hyper worried (yes, a new term which I just made up for my dad).
Finally arrived at the train station. Mag was on her way. Then this guy approached me. The entire conversation was in Mandarin.
Guy: Miss please help me, you're the last person for the day. After this, I can get off work. Are you waiting for a friend? Please open this.
Me: (I was like, can you please buzz off?) Err... OK.
I opened the envelope and inside was this silver circle. I attempted to scratch it (thinking it was similar to those scratch and win contests).
Guy: Miss, you don't have to scratch it. Oh my God, miss... did you see that?
Me: Err.. what??
Guy: The colour of the circle.
Me: Yeah, silver. So?
Guy: Oh my God Miss. You've won a grand prize.
Me: -_-" It's alright. You can have it. I really gotta leave. Thanks.
And off I hopped onto Mag's car.
When we arrived, I was surprised that none of my friends had taken their dinner. They were cooking dinner. I shared my mushroom and chicken feet with them. We'd a yummy dinner together. I forgot who mentioned we'd to be up by 5.30am the following day.
We were awakened by the morning prayer. Kia's alarm rang but she didn't get up. In fact, since nobody got up, I decided to sleep in as well. Suffice to say our 5.30am became 10.30am :p
Mag's car had no air cond so we hopped onto Kia's car which had no radio/CD player -_-"
It was a leisurely drive all the way.
Our first stop was Nottingham University. Then we went to Broga for lunch. After Broga we went to Titi but along the way we stopped for another photo session at this construction site. There were these huge cylinders which made for some awesome photos. Titi is a really charming place. It felt like home to listen to people speaking in Hakka. And did I mention that we had the most delicious roti bakar. Yeah the butter simply melted in my mouth. Another round of photos and off we went to Broga Hill.
Oh my goodness. I nearly died from the walk. It was only 1.7km but seriously it felt like 10km... I admit I'd never been fit and it was also the first time I'd attempted to go up such a steep hill (in my terms). And we went up in flip flops except Mag. When we reached the top, it was simply a sight to behold. All of us sweated like pigs. When we got back to the car, I felt like I'd just lost 2kg - a flat stomach.
Mag, Kia, Charlotte thanks for the wonderful company, laughter, sense of adventure. Here's to another makan/jalan trip.
Crazy Kia called me after midnite. Siao! My dad was like, go talk in the living room, your sis needs to get up early for work. Sigh... this is what happens when you've to share a room and when the house isn't that big after all. How I wish I'd privacy to myself.
Fine, fine, fine. Off I went to the living room and started Skyping with the two crazies, Kia and Mag. OK OK I'm interested in going for the photography trip but I'm not, I repeat, I'm not gonna be the model neither am I bringing any special wardrobe, cheongsam etc. Yes... I've friend who loves being in the limelight. Hehehhe! No lah... just kidding she loves photography and also likes having her photo taken unlike me. I absolutely shun the camera preferring to be the photographer, basically behind the scenes (that's my passion and bread and butter).
Then on Sunday night I found out we'd be going on Tuesday for the day trip. I was like...what!!! Why so sudden? I was preparing for the short film. A lot of things were uncertain, not confirmed etc. I hated to leave things undone and go on a short trip. It would be like a guilt trip. Going on a trip but still thinking about work. On Monday I was prepared to tell them I didn't wanna go. But deep inside I so wanted to go. Then I found out Yoko was joining us as well. Yerrr... I haven't seen her in ages. I so want to meet her. Luckily during the meeting I managed to get a lot done. The discussion with my Director cleared up a lot of things for me. I felt much better now. Anyway, it was only a day trip. A break would do me a lot of good.
That evening I took the Putra LRT and Star LRT. The last time I took Star was, wait a minute...more than 8 years ago! I even hopped onto the wrong train. It wasn't because I was ignorant. The fact was it would have happened to anyone. My dad actually called to ask what took me so long to arrive at my friend's place. Well... I had to clean my bag because I spilt some food which made me miss my train. Then I decided to not hop onto 2 trains because it was so packed (didn't wanna get touched or pickpocketed by anyone). And would I even tell my dad that I'd hopped onto the wrong train? Better left unsaid coz he'd be like hyper worried (yes, a new term which I just made up for my dad).
Finally arrived at the train station. Mag was on her way. Then this guy approached me. The entire conversation was in Mandarin.
Guy: Miss please help me, you're the last person for the day. After this, I can get off work. Are you waiting for a friend? Please open this.
Me: (I was like, can you please buzz off?) Err... OK.
I opened the envelope and inside was this silver circle. I attempted to scratch it (thinking it was similar to those scratch and win contests).
Guy: Miss, you don't have to scratch it. Oh my God, miss... did you see that?
Me: Err.. what??
Guy: The colour of the circle.
Me: Yeah, silver. So?
Guy: Oh my God Miss. You've won a grand prize.
Me: -_-" It's alright. You can have it. I really gotta leave. Thanks.
And off I hopped onto Mag's car.
When we arrived, I was surprised that none of my friends had taken their dinner. They were cooking dinner. I shared my mushroom and chicken feet with them. We'd a yummy dinner together. I forgot who mentioned we'd to be up by 5.30am the following day.
We were awakened by the morning prayer. Kia's alarm rang but she didn't get up. In fact, since nobody got up, I decided to sleep in as well. Suffice to say our 5.30am became 10.30am :p
Mag's car had no air cond so we hopped onto Kia's car which had no radio/CD player -_-"
It was a leisurely drive all the way.
Our first stop was Nottingham University. Then we went to Broga for lunch. After Broga we went to Titi but along the way we stopped for another photo session at this construction site. There were these huge cylinders which made for some awesome photos. Titi is a really charming place. It felt like home to listen to people speaking in Hakka. And did I mention that we had the most delicious roti bakar. Yeah the butter simply melted in my mouth. Another round of photos and off we went to Broga Hill.
Oh my goodness. I nearly died from the walk. It was only 1.7km but seriously it felt like 10km... I admit I'd never been fit and it was also the first time I'd attempted to go up such a steep hill (in my terms). And we went up in flip flops except Mag. When we reached the top, it was simply a sight to behold. All of us sweated like pigs. When we got back to the car, I felt like I'd just lost 2kg - a flat stomach.
Mag, Kia, Charlotte thanks for the wonderful company, laughter, sense of adventure. Here's to another makan/jalan trip.
Monday, May 24, 2010
31/30
A post that came two-months late...
It happened many, many years ago when I was in primary school. My Chinese birthday fell on the 2nd of April while my actual birthday was on the 3rd of April. Yesterday being April Fool's Day, I went to see the HR assistant about leaving on the 2nd rather than the 3rd. I don't wanna work on my birthday least of all have it as my last day of work.
It wasn't meant as an April Fool joke but she diverted my attention to something else. She was aware the 3rd was my birthday after I told her my reason for leaving early. But she asked me the same question she asked the week before. Please consider staying on. Boss hardly asks anyone to stay least of all ask me to ask you to stay on twice!
My guilty conscience pricked me all of a sudden. Would anything change after this? They will continue recording the lower primary level and upper secondary level, none of which interests me. The promotion and salary increment was there but was it what I wanted? Or was it just monetary reward and a promotion that hardly befits me which enticed me into considering staying on?
My ex-colleague even mentioned what right timing. I'm like what right timing? I never planned it that way.
It happened many, many years ago when I was in primary school. My Chinese birthday fell on the 2nd of April while my actual birthday was on the 3rd of April. Yesterday being April Fool's Day, I went to see the HR assistant about leaving on the 2nd rather than the 3rd. I don't wanna work on my birthday least of all have it as my last day of work.
It wasn't meant as an April Fool joke but she diverted my attention to something else. She was aware the 3rd was my birthday after I told her my reason for leaving early. But she asked me the same question she asked the week before. Please consider staying on. Boss hardly asks anyone to stay least of all ask me to ask you to stay on twice!
My guilty conscience pricked me all of a sudden. Would anything change after this? They will continue recording the lower primary level and upper secondary level, none of which interests me. The promotion and salary increment was there but was it what I wanted? Or was it just monetary reward and a promotion that hardly befits me which enticed me into considering staying on?
My ex-colleague even mentioned what right timing. I'm like what right timing? I never planned it that way.
Friday, March 05, 2010
Work in Progress Road short
A bickering young couple go on a road trip/holiday to repair their marriage. They quarrel along the journey in their Austin Mini Cooper (car is like Mag's). The husband didn't get the car serviced beforehand, so it keeps dying along the highway. The husband has to push while the wife starts the car. The wife rants and raves about her husband being good for nothing.
Like Mag's car, the husband would bring up the two wires and try to start the car. Like stealing a car. When they get down the car, they don't lock the doors because the driver's seat door lock is spoilt.
The husband/wife wins a 2 day 1 night stay at ....... hotel in .... (outstation). Lucky draw or enter contest.
Along a stretch of golden paddy, they took a trunk road and the car suddenly stalls.
There's a rest hut at the side. Lalang that almost reaches the knee. The wife says "I can't believe this! Not again! It's the fifth time today!"
The husband pushes the car to the side. He tries to check out the problem. He opens the .... He opens the boot and takes out some tools.
The wife can't take it anymore. She takes out a rattan / weaved basket.
She walks towards the rest hut. She keeps fanning herself with a fan/magazine in the sweltering afternoon heat.
The husband's shirt/T-shirt is stained with sweat. Along the long stretch there was nobody. There was no signal on his handphone either.
The wife takes out a flask and pours some coffee/tea. She takes a sip. There's some Chinese kuih inside - sweet potato kuih, angku kuih, kuih talam.
Her husband is still trying to figure out what's wrong with the car.
She looks in the other direction. The weather was perfect. The sky was pinafore blue. Perfect for a nice tan. Perfect for a swim. Perfect for everything except THIS.
Her husband makes hand gestures. He's tinkering with this and that but nothing works. He gives up. He walks towards the rest hut.
The wife still looks in the other direction. He pours some coffee and takes a huge gulp. He reaches for some kuih. While munching on the kuih,
an old Volkswagen / old Nissan / old Toyota drives by. Then the car stops a short distance away. The driver reverses the car.
The Indian driver walks down. The wife gets scared. She looks at her husband. She pulls his shirt. The husband stands up, coffee in one hand while munching
on the kuih. The Indian driver's wearing a checkered shirt with blue jeans and slippers.
"You punya kereta rosak ka?" the Indian driver asks.
"Ahh... ya rosak," answered the husband in a half worried half scared tone.
"Saya mechanic, boleh tolong tengok apa masalah," said the Indian driver.
"He doesn't look like he can be trusted," said the wife in Cantonese/Hakka to the husband.
The husband keeps quiet. The wife tugs at his shirt.
"Ki ling gwai. Ngak cheen," said the wife.
"Saya ada toolbox dalam kereta sekarang," said the Indian driver.
"OK," answered the husband. The wife looked at him dumbfounded/shocked.
The husband and the Indian driver walks towards the Austin.
"Lu punya kereta kena tukar .... Kalau tak tukar nanti selalu breakdown." said the Indian driver.
"You datang dari outstation kan? Kena servis kereta sebelum pergi outstation lah," said the Indian driver.
"Ada service tapi saya rasa itu tempat tipu saya lah. Kata servis tapi tak buat betul-betul," said the husband.
"Sekarang saya tak ada itu .... Saya kena balik woksyop saya ambil," said the Indian driver.
The husband looked worried. Is he out to con me? Give me false promise.
"You tunggu sini sama ibu saya," said the Indian driver. He walks to this car. An old Indian lady close to 70 years old steps out of the car.
She's wearing a light blue blouse, sarong and a pair of slippers.
The Indian man accompanies his mother to the rest hut. The wife looks at them. She gives an awkward smile. She offers them some mineral water
from the basket. The Indian man drives off. The husband stays near the car.
The Indian lady and the wife strike up a conversation.
"Dia lu punya boyfriend?" asked the old lady.
"Suami saya," she answered.
"Oh, ya ke. Sudah berapa lama kahwin? Ada berapa anak?" asked the old lady.
"Sudah satu tahun. Belum rancang mau anak lagi," she answered.
"Saya ada empat orang anak. Krishnan paling tua," said the old lady.
Like Mag's car, the husband would bring up the two wires and try to start the car. Like stealing a car. When they get down the car, they don't lock the doors because the driver's seat door lock is spoilt.
The husband/wife wins a 2 day 1 night stay at ....... hotel in .... (outstation). Lucky draw or enter contest.
Along a stretch of golden paddy, they took a trunk road and the car suddenly stalls.
There's a rest hut at the side. Lalang that almost reaches the knee. The wife says "I can't believe this! Not again! It's the fifth time today!"
The husband pushes the car to the side. He tries to check out the problem. He opens the .... He opens the boot and takes out some tools.
The wife can't take it anymore. She takes out a rattan / weaved basket.
She walks towards the rest hut. She keeps fanning herself with a fan/magazine in the sweltering afternoon heat.
The husband's shirt/T-shirt is stained with sweat. Along the long stretch there was nobody. There was no signal on his handphone either.
The wife takes out a flask and pours some coffee/tea. She takes a sip. There's some Chinese kuih inside - sweet potato kuih, angku kuih, kuih talam.
Her husband is still trying to figure out what's wrong with the car.
She looks in the other direction. The weather was perfect. The sky was pinafore blue. Perfect for a nice tan. Perfect for a swim. Perfect for everything except THIS.
Her husband makes hand gestures. He's tinkering with this and that but nothing works. He gives up. He walks towards the rest hut.
The wife still looks in the other direction. He pours some coffee and takes a huge gulp. He reaches for some kuih. While munching on the kuih,
an old Volkswagen / old Nissan / old Toyota drives by. Then the car stops a short distance away. The driver reverses the car.
The Indian driver walks down. The wife gets scared. She looks at her husband. She pulls his shirt. The husband stands up, coffee in one hand while munching
on the kuih. The Indian driver's wearing a checkered shirt with blue jeans and slippers.
"You punya kereta rosak ka?" the Indian driver asks.
"Ahh... ya rosak," answered the husband in a half worried half scared tone.
"Saya mechanic, boleh tolong tengok apa masalah," said the Indian driver.
"He doesn't look like he can be trusted," said the wife in Cantonese/Hakka to the husband.
The husband keeps quiet. The wife tugs at his shirt.
"Ki ling gwai. Ngak cheen," said the wife.
"Saya ada toolbox dalam kereta sekarang," said the Indian driver.
"OK," answered the husband. The wife looked at him dumbfounded/shocked.
The husband and the Indian driver walks towards the Austin.
"Lu punya kereta kena tukar .... Kalau tak tukar nanti selalu breakdown." said the Indian driver.
"You datang dari outstation kan? Kena servis kereta sebelum pergi outstation lah," said the Indian driver.
"Ada service tapi saya rasa itu tempat tipu saya lah. Kata servis tapi tak buat betul-betul," said the husband.
"Sekarang saya tak ada itu .... Saya kena balik woksyop saya ambil," said the Indian driver.
The husband looked worried. Is he out to con me? Give me false promise.
"You tunggu sini sama ibu saya," said the Indian driver. He walks to this car. An old Indian lady close to 70 years old steps out of the car.
She's wearing a light blue blouse, sarong and a pair of slippers.
The Indian man accompanies his mother to the rest hut. The wife looks at them. She gives an awkward smile. She offers them some mineral water
from the basket. The Indian man drives off. The husband stays near the car.
The Indian lady and the wife strike up a conversation.
"Dia lu punya boyfriend?" asked the old lady.
"Suami saya," she answered.
"Oh, ya ke. Sudah berapa lama kahwin? Ada berapa anak?" asked the old lady.
"Sudah satu tahun. Belum rancang mau anak lagi," she answered.
"Saya ada empat orang anak. Krishnan paling tua," said the old lady.
Childhood Memory
It was the crack of dawn. Mama's eyes were closed. I was in my top with holes and white undies. Kids my age normally wear tops with holes. Comfortable and easy to breathe in.
I adjusted my coconut shell bangle. I don't know since when but I've always had my bangle on my left wrist and leg bracelet on my left leg. When did Mama or perhaps Maternal Popo slip it on me hand leg? Did I wriggle when they were doing it? Did I resist their good intentions?
What is the significance of the coconut shell bangle? For starters, the Chinese believed it was supposed to ward of bad spirits. Bad spirits who intend to bring the child away from his or her parents. The Chinese believed babies being so pure and innocent, are able to see spirits. That explains why some babies have bad dreams, it's because they saw something terrifying during the day.
Papa was awake. He had on his TWP shirt and long striped blue pajama pants. Papa didn't have proper pajamas. He often wore his company shirts to sleep. Most of this shirts were so worn out, there might be a hole in them. But Mama would just sew it back for Papa. When some of Papa's pajama pants get worn, Paternal Popo would alter them. She would cut here, shorten there, sew here and voila, it has now become my pajama pants. In a way, I was Papa's mini me even though I was a girl!
No matter how hard I try to deny it, the fact is, I look like my Papa. I'd thick, black hair. I'd the big the nose, something handed down genetically from my grandfather. I was stubborn. I'd a temper too. Che Che was a victim of my fury. Up till now, I'd no idea what possessed me to take a bite of her stomach.
It was a Saturday, Papa was awake but Mama wanted to sleep in. As I was awake, Papa tempted me with visions of hot, oven baked butter buns from Tong Kee. I love their butter buns!
I jumped out of bed and reached for my Kodomo Lion toothbrush. I squeezed my Kodomo Lion orange flavoured toothpaste on my tootbrush. Even at a tender age, I was very particular about what I should wear and was extremely picky about food. I disliked eating vegetables but I made an exception for fungus. I loved eating mushrooms cooked in oyster sauce.
I adjusted my coconut shell bangle. I don't know since when but I've always had my bangle on my left wrist and leg bracelet on my left leg. When did Mama or perhaps Maternal Popo slip it on me hand leg? Did I wriggle when they were doing it? Did I resist their good intentions?
What is the significance of the coconut shell bangle? For starters, the Chinese believed it was supposed to ward of bad spirits. Bad spirits who intend to bring the child away from his or her parents. The Chinese believed babies being so pure and innocent, are able to see spirits. That explains why some babies have bad dreams, it's because they saw something terrifying during the day.
Papa was awake. He had on his TWP shirt and long striped blue pajama pants. Papa didn't have proper pajamas. He often wore his company shirts to sleep. Most of this shirts were so worn out, there might be a hole in them. But Mama would just sew it back for Papa. When some of Papa's pajama pants get worn, Paternal Popo would alter them. She would cut here, shorten there, sew here and voila, it has now become my pajama pants. In a way, I was Papa's mini me even though I was a girl!
No matter how hard I try to deny it, the fact is, I look like my Papa. I'd thick, black hair. I'd the big the nose, something handed down genetically from my grandfather. I was stubborn. I'd a temper too. Che Che was a victim of my fury. Up till now, I'd no idea what possessed me to take a bite of her stomach.
It was a Saturday, Papa was awake but Mama wanted to sleep in. As I was awake, Papa tempted me with visions of hot, oven baked butter buns from Tong Kee. I love their butter buns!
I jumped out of bed and reached for my Kodomo Lion toothbrush. I squeezed my Kodomo Lion orange flavoured toothpaste on my tootbrush. Even at a tender age, I was very particular about what I should wear and was extremely picky about food. I disliked eating vegetables but I made an exception for fungus. I loved eating mushrooms cooked in oyster sauce.
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