RSS
 

Author Archive

The Dwarf Comes Back to Haunt Me

19 Aug

As a child, he haunted me with his evilness. This demented dwarf was ugly. I hated how he lied and played his silly games, making people feel like their lives were worthless and that you could be under his control. He was pure evil. I hated him. I would make sure all pictures of him were banished from my sight. I had to summon people to hide his pictures, and put him far away, anywhere, just not near me. Still, somehow, even though I tucked him way far back in my memory and I grew up slowly forgetting about him, he came back once again and haunted me.

When I saw him again recently, I did not really recognize him. He looked different. His hairstyle had changed. His height, however, remained. But, as he had done during my childhood, he made me annoyingly uncomfortable. Finally when I realized that it really was him coming back to my present life to haunt me, I wanted to make him go away, again, forever.

Rumpelstilskin… you made me hide your storybook as a child. I had to get my sister to put the book far away from me so that you wouldn’t come to me making me play your silly games.

When I saw you again, in Shrek 4, I did not recognize you at first. But after a while, I knew that only you, yes you, could make me feel uncomfortable like that. You’re such an annoying little guy, and surprisingly for your height, you have a lot of evil in you.

You still look as ugly as I remember. Maybe even uglier. Lucky for you, the Shrek people made you look cute at times. Still, you’re ugly. Wherever you are now, stay there and never come back.


I still don’t like you!

 
No Comments

Posted in film, growing up

 

The T

31 Jul

While I was living in Boston, I took the T a lot. The T is what people in Boston affectionately call the subway/metro/tube system. “I’ll meet you at the T stop” is a common line to say. Or, “I’m on the T now!” if you have reception on the train. I loved taking the T because it was a place where I could think for as long as my train ride would last. I spent time listening to my iPod, reading my notes for class, thinking about what to eat for my next meal, or just, like most of us do, think of nothing.

However, I’m talking about the T because of something else right now.

Very often, when we see something in a foreign country, we always wish we could have the same back in our own hometowns. We get envious of the things we do not have in our own countries. Often times in Boston, I would look at something and ask, “why can’t we have this in Malaysia too?”

But to be honest, that was only my initial mentality. After living in Boston for a while, I began to realize just how much living abroad made me appreciate the things I have (or don’t have) back home. Yes, I was envious of many things. But I learned to take that envy and make it teach me a lesson or two about how beautiful my own hometown can really be.

This is what I mean…

When my train passes the Charles River (the most beautiful part of Boston, my favorite spot, with lovely scenery – refer to my post on the Charles), I look at the people running across the bridge to exercise. I see people walking their dogs. But what I really love to see is the water: How calm it is and how in the winter, it is completely frozen. Yet, it makes me think of how lucky I was to grow up by the coast; I grew up in a city that was just along the coast. With that, I am reminded of how fortunate I am that across the city I grew up in, there are beautiful islands just a speedboat ride away. The Charles, though fills me with envy, makes me understand that I am lucky to have the sea breeze as I walk along the coast in Kota Kinabalu.

On the T, I also see people go off to work in their fancy office wear: branded clothes, expensive shoes, matching colors and all sorts of sophisticated electronic gadgets attached to them. I wonder why Malaysia can’t be a modern country like the US. Why can’t we  stop being a developing country and just be developed already. I look at the working class people on the T, they all seem happy because they are earning good money and probably working in a great company. I grow envy because they are earning US dollars, while back home our cost of living is higher and we don’t earn that much to begin with. Yet, underneath all that, I learn to appreciate how my country is slowly but steadily progressing, and while we may not be fully developed, we are working towards it and not getting lazy about it. I slowly begin to think about how 10 years ago, our country was almost nothing like what it is today. And so, I learn to be patient and understand that one day, I’ll be living in one of the world’s newest fully developed nations, and I’ll be proud of it.

Also on the T, I look at the many different kinds of people that hop on and off -
..the cross-dresser who is always waiting for the train at the same time every day, with his pink boots and pink hat, pink skirt and pink vest
..the MIT students who can’t stop talking about how the world could possibly have started with just a single blueberry (ok, not really, but they probably would have a chat along those lines on the T!)
..the black father and his white wife and their two brown children
..the blind man and his guide dog
..the woman who always appears at the same time every day yelling in the train to everyone about how her husband left her with her 3 children and how she has nothing but the clothes on her back and how her children are also out looking for money because today (everyday, actually, because she always has the same story whenever I see her) she walked into the store and couldn’t even buy a loaf of bread for her children.
I see all these people and think to myself, how diverse and how spectacular this city is to have so many interesting people. Yet, as I swallow my envy and reflect on it, I realize that diversity is actually something we truly own in Malaysia. How much more diverse can our people be? I begin to understand that my country is just as interesting, and although I have gotten used to its diversity, I should rekindle that spark and enjoy how colorful the society I grew up in actually is.

Taking the train in Boston for the whole time I was there really did help me see how much more I should appreciate where I come from.

Maybe I should start taking the LRT?

The only good picture I have of myself on the T was taken on Halloween.
Thanks Su Ann for taking this picture.

 
6 Comments

Posted in Life, boston, growing up

 

Generation Gap

17 May

I was talking to a friend earlier this week about some cartoons, and he did not know what I was talking about. He, in return, told me about his favourite childhood cartoons, and all I could say was that I have heard the names, but could not visualize the cartoons at all. Then it got me thinking, so much has changed since the 80s and 90s.

For example,

this was a WOW thing back then when I was around 18 years old. Seriously, it’s not like I was 5 or 6 when this was the best thing you could hold in your hands. I was already 18, and if you had that phone, people would go WOW!

And then it was that phone above, the super hi-tech Nokia phone that, if you had one as a student, you’d be the rich kid who had the best of everything. I was around 19 when this was the best phone around. Imagine what happened a year or two later when polyphonic ring tones came in to fashion? Everyone went crazy when ring tones finally became polyphonic. And the screens had colours!!

What else was fashionable and hi-tech back then?

Having a Game Boy in your hand was something to show off. Kids would be jealous if you had a Game Boy.

Or at home, we had no Play Stations or Wii or whatever you get today. If you had a Nintendo console, you were part of the “in” crowd. And the most popular game back then, was the very hi-tech and super high-def graphics game:

Imagine what we have today. Phones that play TV shows for you, and can hold thousands of songs and play them anytime you want. Phones that can tell you where you are if you are lost, and tell you how to get to where you want to go to. Phones that let you access the World Wide Web, and tell you where the best eating places are in your area. Don’t even get me started on the games kids play these days!

 
4 Comments

Posted in Life, growing up, technology

 

Something from the Past…

27 Apr

From my old blog (slightly revised).. something I wrote in 2007. I am still laughing at this.

TRUE POLICE STORY
- based on a true story -

Based on a true incident that happened more than a year ago.

This scene takes place on the road, the main highway leading towards Cheras Leisure Mall. Luke, the main character, is steadily driving in a brown Waja car, turning left at a roundabout. He is talking on his Nokia mobile phone in his right hand, confirming with his friend Magdalene if the supper that night is still on.

Suddenly. a police man on his motorbike flashes his small little tiny blue siren, and waves his hands.. making it look like he is clearing traffic for Osama bin Laden’s limousine to drive through.

Luke understands what it means, and stops at the side, waiting calmly in his car for the police officer to walk over.

Luke smiles, then opens his window. But deep inside his well-built muscular torso, his heart paces as though Osama bin Laden were hiding in his car boot.

The car window is fully wound down. Police officer stands next to the window and bends down.

POLICE:
Bagi IC dengan lesen.

LUKE:
Oh, ok. (smiles and hands over the 2 documents requested)

POLICE:
Hmmm, dari Sabah ni. Mana hemfree? Kenapa tidak pakai?

LUKE:
Huh? What’s that? (giving a look as though he is very uncertain what the police officer is saying)

POLICE:
Hemfree di mana? Kamu cakap talipon tadi kan?

LUKE:
Errr, what? Sorry I don’t understand. (acting innocent)

POLICE:
Tidak faham Bahasa Melayu ke? Pandai speaking sajer?

LUKE:
(keeps quiet, but thinks in his mind ‘no, i not only know how to speaking. I also know how to jumping, laughing, crying, shitting, and dancing too)

POLICE:
Hemfree where?

LUKE:
Hemfree?? Ohhhhh… you mean hands-free? (laughs and smiles)

POLICE:
Ya, hemfree. Why no hemfree?

LUKE:
Not hemfree, hands-free. Got ‘s’. Handsssss-free. (smiling but heart is pounding like 50 basketballs at once)

POLICE:
Ya, hemsfree where?

LUKE:
(smiles innocently). I don’t have my hands-free, sorry.

POLICE:
Kenapa?

LUKE:
What? (raises eyebrows and looks blur)

POLICE:
Why no hemsfree?

LUKE:
I don’t have it. I don’t have a hemsfree. But my hands-free is at home.

POLICE:
Apa? Errr, Cannot speaking phone when you on driving, tau?

LUKE:
Oh, ok. Sorry.

POLICE:
So? How?

LUKE:
Ya, so how?

POLICE:
This must give saman. I give you saman. (takes out a notebook looking thing from his pocket)

LUKE:
Ok.

POLICE:
You want saman?

LUKE:
Errr, no choice right?

POLICE:
You want saman? You don’t use hemsfree driving tadi.

LUKE:
Ok.

POLICE:
How? I give you saman.

LUKE:
Ok. (already reading the police officer’s mind. He wants some money to buy his pirated DVDs later after duty)

POLICE:
You want I give you saman?

LUKE:
If not? You said I didn’t use hemsfree so must give me saman. No choice.

POLICE:
Why don’t use the hemfree?

LUKE:
No, no. Handssss-free.

POLICE:
Ya, why no hemsfree?

LUKE:
Don’t have.

POLICE:
So saman lah.

LUKE:
Ok.

POLICE:
Next time you driving mesti use the hemfree, cannot talking talipon.

LUKE:
Ok I will look for a hemfree.

POLICE:
I give you amaran pertama.

LUKE:
You give what?

POLICE:
I give you first amaran.

LUKE:
Errrmmm, first what?

POLICE:
This first warning. Next time use hemfree.

LUKE:
No it’s han…… Oh ok first warning. Sure. (trying very hard not to burst out laughing)

POLICE:
Careful ya. Jangan buat lagi ya.

LUKE:
Huh? (acting all innocent)

POLICE:
Janga….. tak ape lah, You go. I give warning.

LUKE:
Thanks. I’ll go look for a hemfree. (closes window, smiles, and tries not to laugh).

The police officer walks back to his motorbike. Luke winds up the window. Luke smiles, drives off, and doesn’t look back. Luke’s heart is still beating like crazy.

And this is how a poor police officer failed to get some extra pocket money, and how a smart Eurasian boy used his mixed-blood  looks to practice the art of deception.

So much for the ‘Saya Anti Rasuah’ badge on the police officer’s shirt.

 
4 Comments

Posted in Life, humour

 

Singing with Harvard

27 Apr

And thus, my journey with the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus ends with a Requiem, literally. Faure’s Requiem, to be precise. And if you don’t get it, a Requiem is the music set for a funeral. How interesting.

At the rehearsal just an hour before the concert at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater

We also sang Psalm 42 by Mendelssohn, a piece that I think has some of the best choral melodic lines ever… at least in my opinion. Mendelssohn always has lovely melodic lines anyway.

It was a pleasure, too, singing under the baton of Dr. Dr. Leong. (Dr. Dr. – because he has two doctorate degrees… one in neuroscience, and one in choral conducting!). And just in case you don’t get the joke, Dr. Dr. is just a funny nickname given to him because of his two phds!

This reminds me of something random… For my funeral, I’d like the choir – whoever is in it – to sing “It Is Well With My Soul” :)

 
2 Comments

Posted in boston, music

 

Packing Up Life

25 Apr

I see my clock ticking, reminding me how fast time will fly. Before I know it, it’ll be time for me to fly back to Malaysia with another academic degree to my name and a whole bunch of junk in my luggage.

I was cleaning up my room a few days ago, doing my “pre-packing” just to make sure I know what I need to pack and what should be thrown away.

The throw-away pile was, well, just a small pile. My things-to-keep-and-bring-back pile, was, well, a MOUNTAIN! Immediately I panicked! How am I going to bring EVERYTHING back? Yes, I could throw away more stuff, but I don’t want to get rid of program booklets and brochures of places I’ve visited and old train maps and the books I used here for my studies and the papers I wrote and re-wrote with angst at the last minute for my classes and the winter clothing I bought here and…. So Much To Pack! So Much!

So I am going to have to strategize my homeward bound journey. Sacrifices must be made. Small ones, but hopefully they will lighten my burden, and my luggage. I must probably sell some stuff like my winter boots and some books that I know I’ll be able to buy again if I ever need them again.

Packing life into a few bags isn’t easy. It’s a heavy burden, so to speak.

Maybe I should just pack light?

 
2 Comments

Posted in Life, boston

 

Weekend in Chicago

23 Apr


 
No Comments

Posted in travel

 

Reflections – Charles

23 Apr

The Charles River is where I feel most at peace here in Boston.

The ducks swim so joyfully when spring approaches, and the leaves start blooming and falling all at the same time. It’s just like heaven.

Joggers come here to stay healthy; people walk and run with their dogs, and you see everyone smiling.

It’s just gorgeous, that feeling you get knowing you are in a city with the sounds of sirens every few minutes blasting in the background… yet knowing you are still close to nature and that everything around you is serene.

I go here to study. I lie down on the deck, with the sun setting in front of me, and I take out my book and read. I hear the ducks swim and fly, hear the dogs chasing the ducks, hear the cars driving past just across the riverside, and then I sometimes fall asleep and let the wind, actual real balmy wind, blow in my face. The feeling is truly sensational and I wish everyone who comes to Boston experiences Charles.

It’s one of those places where you don’t feel like leaving even when the sun has set and the temperature has dropped drastically. You feel like just letting the wind catch you and send you somewhere else. Not exaggerating here! :)

And the sail boats are quite a sight to see against the backdrop of the big blue Charles.

Reflections of all sorts happen here at the Charles.

 
No Comments

Posted in Life, boston, pictures

 

Life is Full of Surprises

11 Feb

I have a friend, who has a PhD, who works as a barista at Starbucks. Next time you order your coffee, please don’t judge the person who makes your morning brew. You never know who or what they are. Doctors serving at Starbucks, I like that!

 
4 Comments

Posted in Life

 

Oh?

11 Feb

Tiger Woods is an INTP.

So am I :/

 
2 Comments

Posted in Life

 

Did you know?

06 Feb

Using extra virgin olive oil as make-up remover, is actually better than using actual manufactured make-up removers.

Not that it has anything to do with me though.

 
5 Comments

Posted in Life

 

Give Me Reese’s

06 Feb

Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter. Finally.

 
No Comments

Posted in Life

 

Legally Atlanta – Day (1) & 1 & 2

21 Dec

So as I said, I am in Atlanta on a host family program for international students. I arrived here last Saturday, 19th December, by plane from Boston. After arriving at the airport, I took the subway to a station where the organizers would meet us after we call them to inform them when we have arrived since all 30 of us wouldn’t be arriving at the same time. Me and two other Japanese students who study at UNT who arrived from Texas around the same time I did from Boston, both went to check-in and register ourselves. I then met my host father, who at 9pm, brought me and welcomed me into his wonderful home and to meet his wife and two young daughters.

So, for my first 8 days, this is the house I am staying at:

house

After a nice bath, I mingled with the family a bit, got used to my new “home” and hosts, and played a bit with his youngest daughter, Laura, and their cute pet dog Skipper. Laura had fun showing me what Skipper’s fashion sense was:

skooter2

skooter

The third day (first day of formal activities with the other students), we were taken downtown, and I met Santa who was trying to cross the road, ho ho ho:

santa

Then, we went to the court house.

We were guided by this guy who is a Law professor in Atlanta, and we were shown a video about jury duty, the same video shown to the people who get selected for jury duty in Atlanta:

juryvideo

Then the fun part began. We went to a real court room, to witness a mock trial! We had final year law students to act as the lawyers and a witness, and we had a real judge.

I got to sit where the jurors sit, and for an hour, I was a member of the jury, so fun:

juryseats

We were briefed about what kind of case we will be witnessing:

courtintro

And then we had to rise when Judge Newkirk entered the room.

judge newkirk

And he told us that if we misbehave, the lock-up room is just.. there:

misbehave

And so the trial began.

secondtime

The detective was at the crime scene, and he “thought” he took fingerprints, but his police report “seems” to have no record of it. Lawyer Smith (who is defending Mr Ferhad, a former policeman who is being accused of killing his wife) points at the detective, “you careless detective!” (or something like that):

will-crossexam

As jurors (ehem!), we must observe body language:

bodylang

An objection!

objection

The lawyer on behalf of the State, trying to prove that Mr Ferhad is guilty (always innocent until proven guilty in the US), makes her closing statement.. “The proof is overwhelming… beyond reasonable doubt… just look at the evidence… don’t be fooled by a man… he killed his wife and you know it”:

thestate

“Don’t be stupid! (something like that!)… The evidence is flimsy… my client is innocent and you know it because… Are you willing to put an innocent man to life?… Just think carefully, why would he do such a thing….?

closing-defendant

He did NOT kill his wife!

innocent

Jurors ARE YOU LISTENING?! (no that did not happen)

will

And because the burden is on the State to prove a man is guilty, she gets to speak one final time:

closing

This was a reenactment of a real court case. In the real story the jury declared the defendant guilty.

The we went to the State Capital, to see the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Governor’s office:

statecapital

houseofrepsa
senate

And in the building, the 25-foot Christmas tree was being blessed with a stroke of natural sunlight, such beauty:

christmasunlight

And in the building is also a museum.. with lots of random stuff.

georgiaonmymind

Went to see Turner Field, where the 1996 Olympics games were held. The stadium was HUGE when they held the olympics there, but demolished a big part of it to cut on maintenance cost.

turner
olympictorch
More random pics, slowly, as I am tired now and need my sleep.
 
No Comments

Posted in Life

 

Atlanta

19 Dec

atlanta_fountains

I’m waiting for my flight to Atlanta. Will be there until the 6th of January.

From today till the 26th of December, I’ll be staying with a host family, and the from the 26th onwards, I’ll be staying with a different family. And during the day time, I’ll be with other international students visiting Atlanta.

My flight leaves in about 45 minutes. I love free wi-fi, and I’ll have free wi-fi on the flight too.

Ok GTG!

 
No Comments

Posted in Life

 

What Dreams May Come

18 Dec

dream-catcher-283x300

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked a question on Facebook about whether we dream in colour or in black & white.  I answered her that my dreams are usually in colour, unless I dream that I’m in a B&W movie. Someone laughed at my response, and yes it was meant to be a bit silly, but it was also serious.

Since that day I began to crystallize, in my conscious state of mind, the dreams I have been having for the past few years, since I usually recall bits and pieces of dreams. Or sometimes, they just come back to me in a very deja vu kind of moment. Or, sometimes, too, I have the same dreams several times with only slight differences.

The interesting thing that I realised about my dreams is that most of the time, and really, I mean most of the time, they are like movies. When I dream, I dream that I am in some kind of story. When I dream, there are all sorts of people I’ve never met: Europeans, Americans, Australians, Asians, of different shapes and colours and sizes. When I dream, there is usually a soundtrack playing in the background, like a movie. When I dream, there are sound effects, realistic sound effects (the kind that could win an Oscar). When I dream, the characters speak the same way actors would speak in movies, almost real, yet not quite.

I don’t know why, but yes, most of my dreams are like that. Sometimes the people in my dreams, including myself, say words I’ve never heard before. And when I wake up, if I can remember the word, I’d check it up in the dictionary, and most of the time those words exist. Interesting. I learn vocabulary even as I sleep.

And as for the soundtrack, the music is generally well composed and written in my dreams. I can’t tell if those are songs I have heard before somewhere or whether my brain just makes them up as I dream. Either way is very likely and possible.

The dialogues in my dreams are also very similar to scripted dialogues in movies. The people in my dreams speak to each other in the exact same way you observe characters in a movie interact with each other. And most of the time I don’t know who these people are in my dreams. They just, I don’t know, auditioned for my dreams?

The stories I dream of range from car crashes to simple stories about friendship, or planning a rescue. And interestingly, I sometimes even have a narrator in my dreams, just like some movies do.

I am not a dream analyst, and I don’t really bother interpreting dreams. I just enjoy the free movies I get to watch while I sleep.

Dream maker – you heart breaker,
Dom

 
No Comments

Posted in Life, dreams, film

 
« Older Entries